Do I need a different setup for Maelstrom Arena and Vateshran Hollows?

Strongest One Bar Subclass Solo Build - ESO Guide

Solo One Bar Stamina Subclass Warden Nightblade Arcanist

Up to date for: Update 46 - 18th June 2025

Last changed: Update 46 - 18th June 2025

This build is capable of soloing every Veteran dungeon that doesn't have a specific mechanic that requires multiple people. It's also capable of soloing most Hard Mode dungeons, and with some adjustments even the more difficult ones.

In this guide I'll be regularly using the terms Regular and Difficult. Regular refers to content that is intended to be solo-ed (such as Maelstrom Arena or Vateshran Arena) and to any overland content such as World Bosses, Dolmens, Dragons, Volcanic Vents, Harrowstorms, Mirrormoor Incursions, etc. Majority of dungeon fights will also fall under that category. Difficult refers to extremely difficult dungeon fights.

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Subclassing

Combination

Animal Companions

Warden

Assassination

Nightblade

Herald of the Tome

Arcanist

Base Class

This build doesn't use any class set or class script so the base class can be either Nightblade, Warden or Arcanist

Skill Setups

Base Setup

A base setup that will work for most situations and which should be your starting point when making situational setups

Front Bar	Back Bar
Slot 1: Cephaliarch's Flail	Slot 1: Inspired Scholarship
Slot 2: Pragmatic Fatecarver	Slot 2: Relentless Focus
Slot 3: Inspired Scholarship
Slot 4: Deep Fissure
Slot 5: Bull Netch
Ultimate: Soul Harvest	Ultimate: Soul Harvest

Cephaliarch's Flail - an AoE spammable that generates Crux, heals you if you hit any enemy and increases the damage enemies take from you by 5%. It will also trigger the Splintered Secrets passive, increasing your penetration by 1240
Pragmatic Fatecarver - extremely powerful Crux spender that deals full damage in AoE, has massive range of 22 meters and grants you a big damage shield while you channel it. It will also trigger the Splintered Secrets passive, increasing your penetration by 1240
Inspired Scholarship - an ability that deals lots of damage and ensures you'll have at least 1 Crux when your beam ends. It will also trigger the Splintered Secrets passive, increasing your penetration by 1240. Having it also on the backbar doesn't matter in the base setup, but it can be useful if you replace the frontbar Inspired Scholarship with another ability
Deep Fissure - deals a lot of damage per cast, applies crucial Major and Minor Breach debuffs and provides 5% Critical Damage through the Advanced Species passive
Bull Netch - gives Stamina back over time, grants Major Brutality and Major Sorcery, and every 5 seconds either removes one negative effect or, if none is removed, increases your damage done by 5% for 5 seconds. It also provides 5% Critical Damage through the Advanced Species passive.
Soul Harvest - a cheap ultimate that increases target's damage taken from you by 20%. You need it on your frontbar to trigger passives of the Assassination skill line. Having it slotted will also cause you to regain 10 Ultimate whenever you deal a final blow against an enemy. Having it also on the backbar doesn't matter in the base setup, but it can be useful if you replace the frontbar Soul Harvest with another ultimate
Relentless Focus - an ability that will passively grant you 400 Weapon and Spell Damage if you're not using Oakensoul Ring

Bull Netch is the first skill that has to go when you need to slot something situational, unless the situational skill specifically says that it's replacing something else

Revealing Flare - slot it for more difficult fights where you need more damage mitigation. It's a skill that passively grants Major Protection, reducing your damage taken by 10%. It will also trigger the Magicka Aid passive, which increases Magicka Recovery by 10%
Wield Soul ( Flame , Lingering Torment , Resolve ) - a 10 second DoT that provides Major Resolve which increases your armor by 5948. Better defensive option than Revealing Flare in Single Target fights. You'll also have better Stamina sustain with this compared to Revealing Flare because it's a Magicka ability that has to be used every 10 seconds. It's mostly useless if you're already getting Major Resolve from Oakensoul Ring
Resolving Vigor - a strong 5 second Heal over Time. Use it in fights where bosses have immunity phases during which you can't heal through Ring of the Pale Order or Reaving Blows
Precognition - an ultimate that breaks you out of some otherwise unavoidable stuns, you'll need it to get around some mechanics which are otherwise impossible or very difficult to solo, like for example Inferno's Hold in Zaan the Scalecaller fight
Piercing Mark - replacement for Deep Fissure when you're replacing Soul Harvest with Precognition. It's a worse source of Major Breach but you need a Nightblade ability on frontbar to trigger passives of the Assassination skill line

Priority List

This is just a list of priorities. Simply recast abilities when they run out and follow this list of priorities when there are multiple things to refresh

1. Use Deep Fissure
2. Use Inspired Scholarship
3. Use Bull Netch
4. If not at 3 Crux, use Cephaliarch's Flail
5. Use Soul Harvest
6. If at 3 Crux, use Pragmatic Fatecarver

Pre-buff

These abilities can be pre-cast before entering combat

Final Setups

A few examples of final setups you could end up with after applying the situational skills to the base setup

Front Bar	Back Bar
Slot 1: Cephaliarch's Flail	Slot 1: Inspired Scholarship
Slot 2: Pragmatic Fatecarver	Slot 2: Relentless Focus
Slot 3: Inspired Scholarship
Slot 4: Deep Fissure
Slot 5: Revealing Flare
Ultimate: Soul Harvest	Ultimate: Soul Harvest

What Changes

Changes compared to the Base Setup

Revealing Flare replaces Bull Netch as it provides 10% damage mitigation. This might cause Stamina sustain issues which you should solve by changing food to Orzorga's Tripe Trifle Pocket and/or slotting Bloody Renewal. It shouldn't cause sustain issues if you have racials that provide Stamina sustain.

A setup you should use when switching out Ring of the Pale Order for Oakensoul Ring

Front Bar
Slot 1: Cephaliarch's Flail
Slot 2: Pragmatic Fatecarver
Slot 3: Inspired Scholarship
Slot 4: Deep Fissure
Slot 5: Bull Netch
Ultimate: Soul Harvest

What Changes

Changes compared to the Base Setup

Oakensoul Ring provides Major Resolve so Wield Soul is no longer needed and it's being replaced with Bull Netch

Passives

Class - Animal Companions

Bond with Nature - Low Priority

Savage Beast - Medium Priority

Flourish - High Priority

Advanced Species - High Priority

Gear

Base Setup

This is my suggested setup for regular content, such as Solo Arenas, World Bosses, Dolmens, Dragons, Volcanic Vents, Harrowstorms, Mirrormoor Incursions and majority of the dungeons.

Gear Slot	Set	Weight/Type	Trait	Enchantment
Head	Slimecraw	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Shoulders	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Chest	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Hands	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Belt	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Light	Divines	Stamina
Legs	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Boots	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Necklace	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Ring of the Pale Order	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Frontbar Main Hand	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Dagger	Nirnhoned	Poison
Frontbar Off Hand	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Dagger	Charged	Shock

If you want to switch to a situational set it's best to replace Ansuul's Torment if the situational set you're getting has a Minor Slayer line, and replace Tide-Born Wildstalker otherwise. When replacing Tide-Born Wildstalker with a Medium armor set, change your Slimecraw head-piece to Light armor type.

For example, a default setup for trash packs would replace Ansuul's Torment with Sul-Xan's Torment

The strongest gear combination without any trial gear is Order's Wrath combined with Tide-Born Wildstalker

Gear that can be stronger than the setup from the table in specific situations or when specific circumstances are present

Sul-Xan's Torment - the best set for trash packs and for bosses that regularly spawn smaller adds

Final Setups

Other gear setups for getting started or maximizing damage

Example of a beginner setup made with just crafted gear.

Gear Slot	Set	Weight/Type	Trait	Enchantment
Head	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Medium	Training / Divines	Stamina
Shoulders	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Medium	Training / Divines	Stamina
Chest	Order's Wrath	Heavy	Training / Reinforced	Stamina
Hands	Order's Wrath	Medium	Training / Divines	Stamina
Belt	Order's Wrath	Light	Training / Divines	Stamina
Legs	Order's Wrath	Medium	Training / Divines	Stamina
Boots	Order's Wrath	Medium	Training / Divines	Stamina
Necklace	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Frontbar Main Hand	Assassin's Guile	Dagger	Nirnhoned	Poison
Frontbar Off Hand	Assassin's Guile	Mace	Charged	Shock

The setup in the table uses only crafted gear, but if you already own parts of the Regular setup like Ring of the Pale Order you can start using them immediately

If you want to Solo some difficult content without Ring of the Pale Order you'll have to add Reaving Blows to your setup, but for the easier stuff the healing from Cephaliarch's Flail and shielding from Pragmatic Fatecarver will be enough

The weight distribution of the setup from the table is 1 Heavy 5 Medium 1 Light so that you can start leveling up all your armor skill lines. Once you transition to Regular setup you'll be using 6 Medium 1 Light most of the time, switching to 1 Heavy 5 Medium 1 Light only against more difficult fights

You don't need to start with crafted gear, simply pick 2 sets from the Alternative section that are easiest for you to obtain

The strongest gear combination without any trial gear is Order's Wrath combined with Tide-Born Wildstalker

Gear that might be easier to obtain and can be used while you work towards the best gear

Dungeon gear isn't always an upgrade to Crafted/Overland gear. It's listed in case you already own some of it

Crafted

All of these are tradable and can be bought from other players

Overland

All of these are tradable and can be bought from other players

Mother's Sorrow (Light) - Deshaan
Back-Alley Gourmand (Light) - Galen and Y'ffelon
Dragonguard Elite (Medium) - Southern Elsweyr

PvP

All of these are tradable and can be bought from other players

Deadly Strike (Medium) - Bruma Elite Gear Vendor

Dungeons

Tzogvin's Warband (Medium) - Frostvault
Pillar of Nirn (Medium) - Falkreath Hold
Essence Thief (Medium) - White-Gold Tower
Leviathan (Medium) - Crypt of Heart 1 & 2

Use Training traits if you're still leveling. If you're already max level and have enough Champion Points you can instead use Divines and Reinforced on the chest piece
For overland content, you don't need as much penetration so you can replace Maces with Daggers

Setup for maximizing damage in fights that don't hit very hard. It also has better sustain and damage mitigation so sometimes it can be straight up safer than the Ring of the Pale Order setup, especially in fights with lots of adds where Reaving Blows hitting multiple targets will heal you enough. To give you an example, it was superior to the Regular Ring of the Pale Order setup in the Hard Mode Thurvokuun fight

Gear Slot	Set	Weight/Type	Trait	Enchantment
Head	Slimecraw	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Shoulders	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Chest	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Hands	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Belt	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Light	Divines	Stamina
Legs	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Boots	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Necklace	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Oakensoul Ring	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Frontbar Main Hand	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Dagger	Nirnhoned	Poison
Frontbar Off Hand	Tide-Born Wildstalker	Dagger	Charged	Shock

Since this setup doesn't use Ring of the Pale Order it will need Reaving Blows to survive most fights

In terms of DPS, Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet is similar to Oakensoul Ring in Single Target DPS and a decent amount stronger in AoE DPS, but you'd be losing out on the sustain and mitigation from Oakensoul Ring . It's an option for AoE fights with a DPS check. In the Gameplay section, I've used Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet instead of Oakensoul Ring against the 2nd boss of Veteran Fang Lair in order to kill the boss before the Cadaverous Senche-Tiger's Death Grip mechanic

Champion Points

Warfare

Master-at-Arms

6% Direct Damage

Biting Aura

6% AoE Damage

Fighting Finesse

8% Critical Damage and Healing

Wrathful Strikes

205 Weapon and Spell Damage added to damaging skills

More Mitigation

When soloing extremely difficult dungeons you should replace Wrathful Strikes and Fighting Finesse with 2 of the 4 mitigation CPs (Ironclad, Duelist's Rebuff, Enduring Resolve, Unassailable)

Full Damage Setup

When using the Full Damage setup you'll have to replace Wrathful Strikes with Reaving Blows in most fights

Fitness

Boundless Vitality

1400 Max Health

Bastion

15% stronger damage shields

Rejuvenation

90 Health, Stamina and Magicka Recovery

Fortified

1731 armor

Sustain in fights with lots of adds

In fights with lots of adds Bloody Renewal can be stronger than Rejuvenation. It can also replace Bastion if you need lots of sustain

Block Mitigation

Use Bracing Anchor in fights where you have to block a lot attacks and where you don't have to move that much

Movement Speed

Use Celerity in fights where you have to move a lot

Craft

Steed's Blessing

20% Movement Speed out of combat

Extremely useful utility

Quality of Life

Green Champion Points don't affect Combat, choose whatever Quality of Life you prefer

Race

For solo you need both damage and survivability, so every race brings something to the table, but these two stand out as the best options for damage and survivability respectively

Why pick this

The strongest race for solo damage. Critical Damage is one of the most valuable stats in Solo play and Khajiits get 12% of it from Feline Ambush passive.

Feline Ambush 12% Critical Damage

Lunar Blessings 915 Max Health, Stamina and Magicka

Robustness 90 Health, Stamina, Magicka Recovery

Why pick this

The tankiest race. Nord is also what I use for soloing Veteran Hard Mode DLC Dungeons. Rugged provides around 5-7% damage mitigation (depending on your current armor), making difficult content significantly more forgiving without sacrificing much damage.

Rugged 2600 armor

Stalwart 1500 Max Stamina, 0.5 Ultimate per second

Resist Frost 1000 Max Health, 4620 Frost Resistance

Mundus

Default

The Thief

5.53% Critical Chance(9.04% with 7 Divines)

Use most of the time. It increases your Critical Chance
Difficult Content

The Lady

2744 Armor(4489 with 7 Divines)

Consider switching for extremely difficult dungeons. It increases your Armor

Attributes

For most content you should put all 64 points into Stamina. For difficult content you should devote as many attribute points as necessary to Health - for some content you'll be able to get away with 32 Health 32 Stamina, for the extremely difficult stuff you'll need 64 Health.

Health

Stamina

Magicka

All points into Stamina. Use it for most content

Health

Stamina

Magicka

Split evenly between Health and Stamina. Use this whenever you start to struggle

Health

Stamina

Magicka

All points into Health. Use this for very difficult fights

Food

Default

Braised Rabbit with Spring Vegetables

Max Health +5,395 Max Stamina +4,936

Use it as your default food
Sustain

Orzorga's Tripe Trifle Pocket

Max Health +5,395 Stamina Recovery +493

Use it if you can't sustain the Max Stamina food

Potions

Default

Weapon Power Potion

Restore Stamina Major Brutality Major Savagery

Use the Weapon Power potions (Increase Weapon Power, Weapon Critical, Restore Stamina). They'll greatly improve your sustain and provide the Major Savagery buff which is crucial.

Craft with: Blessed Thistle Dragonthorn Wormwood
Expensive

Immovable Stamina Potion

Restore Stamina Major Savagery Immovability

Immovable Stamina potions (Restore Stamina, Weapon Critical, Unstoppable) are much more expensive than Weapon Power potions, but can provide a very slight edge, as they can make you CC immune for a short time.

Craft with: Columbine Wormwood Dragonthorn
Full Damage

Stamina Armor Potion

Restore Health Restore Stamina Physical Resistance

When using the Full Damage setup you should instead use Stamina Armor (Restore Health, Restore Stamina, Physical Resistance) potions, because Oakensoul Ring will already provide Major Savagery.

Craft with: Columbine Mountain Flower Beetle Scuttle
Situational

Armor Potion

Restore Health Spell Resistance Physical Resistance

Another option when using Oakensoul Ring are potions which provide both resistances (Restore Health, Physical Resistance, Spell Resistance). You can use them in fights which deal a decent amount of Magical damage, but you'll most likely have to get additional Stamina sustain from another source like food, CP or racial.

Craft with: Bugloss Mountain Flower Mudcrab Chitin