Last updated: Update 46 - 9th August 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.
Combination
Necromancer - Grave Lord
Warden - Winter's Embrace
Nightblade - Assassination
This build uses Necromancer’s Grave Lord, Warden's Winter’s Embrace and Nightblade's Assassination skill lines. Your base class does not matter.
Necromancer’s Grave Lord is basically the backbone of the Death Knight theme, but it’s also an extremely strong skill line for Solo play, because it grants us 3271 penetration through the Dismember passive and 20% Crit Chance against low health enemies thanks to
Death Knell passive.
Winter’s Embrace fulfils the “Frost” part of Death Knight theme, although from a purely gameplay perspective this skill line is rather weak and we’re nerfing ourselves by using it.
Nightblade’s Assassination is extremely strong and it does kind of fit into the Death Knight theme because of the Soul Harvest ultimate which allows us to drain slain enemies’ souls and get Ultimate out of it.
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: Wrecking Blow | Slot 1: Ice Fortress |
Slot 2: Skeletal Archer | Slot 2: Arctic Blast |
Slot 3: Relentless Focus | Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility |
Slot 4: Camouflaged Hunter | Slot 4: Elemental Blockade |
Slot 5: Smash | Slot 5: Ulfsild's Contingency |
Ultimate: Soul Harvest | Ultimate: Northern Storm |
Arctic Blast 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. If it has to be a front-barred skill you can replace
Smash but then you'll also have to change the
Intellect and Endurance script on your
Ulfsild's Contingency to
Force to make up for it
Priority List
I don't use a static rotation so 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
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
A setup with lots of damage mitigation for bosses that hit very hard
Front Bar | Back Bar |
---|---|
Slot 1: Wrecking Blow | Slot 1: Ice Fortress |
Slot 2: Skeletal Archer | Slot 2: Arctic Blast |
Slot 3: Relentless Focus | Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility |
Slot 4: Camouflaged Hunter | Slot 4: Elemental Blockade |
Slot 5: Revealing Flare | Slot 5: Ulfsild's Contingency |
Ultimate: Soul Harvest | Ultimate: Northern Storm |
Class - Assassination
Master Assassin - High Priority
Executioner - High Priority
Pressure Points - High Priority
Hemorrhage - High Priority
Base Setup
A base setup that will work for most situations and which should be your starting point when making situational setups
Switching gear for trash packs isn't worth it unless you're using gear-swap addons
Default setup
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
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![]() Head |
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Light | ![]() |
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![]() Shoulders |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Chest |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Hands |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Belt |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Legs |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Boots |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Necklace |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Ring |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Ring |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
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Greatsword | ![]() |
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![]() Backbar Main Hand |
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Ice Staff | ![]() |
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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
Essence Thief otherwise. Remember that in order to sustain without
Essence Thief you'll need to change your food to one with more sustain and re-morph
Relentless Focus to
Merciless Resolve
Gear that can be stronger than the setup from the table in specific situations or when specific circumstances are present
Gear that is easier to obtain and can be used while you work towards the best gear
Crafted:
All of these are tradable and can be bought from other players
No Overland, Dungeon or Trial gear is listed as the Crafted options are superior.
Final Setups
A few examples of final setups you could end up with after applying situational rules to the base setup
This is the crafted gear setup you can start with
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
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Medium | ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Shoulders |
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Medium | ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Chest |
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Heavy / Medium | ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Hands |
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Medium | ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Belt |
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Light | ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Legs |
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Medium | ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Boots |
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Medium | ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Necklace |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Ring |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Ring |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
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Greatsword | ![]() |
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![]() Backbar Main Hand |
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Ice Staff | ![]() |
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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
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 CP setup
This is a setup you should use if you have no access to any Trial gear
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
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Light | ![]() |
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![]() Shoulders |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Chest |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Hands |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Belt |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Legs |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Boots |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Necklace |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Ring |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Ring |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
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Greatsword | ![]() |
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![]() Backbar Main Hand |
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Ice Staff | ![]() |
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This is the ideal setup for trash packs
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
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Light | ![]() |
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![]() Shoulders |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Chest |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Hands |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Belt |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Legs |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Boots |
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Medium | ![]() |
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![]() Necklace |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Ring |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Ring |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
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Greatsword | ![]() |
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![]() Backbar Main Hand |
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Ice Staff | ![]() |
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This is my suggested setup for soloing extremely difficult fights in dungeons.
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
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Medium | ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Shoulders |
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Medium | ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Chest |
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Heavy | ![]() |
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![]() Hands |
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Medium | ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Belt |
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Light | ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Legs |
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Medium | ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Boots |
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Medium | ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Necklace |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Ring |
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Jewelry | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Ring |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() |
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![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
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Greatsword | ![]() |
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![]() Backbar Main Hand |
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Ice Staff | ![]() |
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Warfare
Fitness
When it comes to solo PvE, you need both damage and survivability so pretty much all races have useful racials.
The best race for dealing damage is Khajiit. While the Critical Damage from Feline Ambush can sometimes be wasted due to Critical Damage being capped at 125%, it will never happen in solo content, because there will be no tanks or healers providing you with the Major Force buff.
The best race for survivability is Nord. The Rugged racial will provide around 6% damage mitigation.
You should use The Shadow Mundus which increases Critical Damage.
For extremely difficult dungeons you should consider switching to The Lady Mundus, which increases your Armor.
HEALTH
0
STAMINA
64
MAGICKA
0
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.
Your sustain can vary greatly because it's impacted by your armor weight composition, your race, whether you're wearing Essence Thief and how much blocking/dodge rolling you're required to do in a certain fight. Choose the food with more recoveries if you can't sustain
Most of the time you should use Tri-Stat potions (Restore Health, Restore Stamina, Restore Magicka). They'll greatly improve you sustain. You can craft them by combiningColumbine,
Bugloss and
Mountain's Flower.
There are better potions but they're expensive. Heroism potions (Heroism, Restore Stamina, Restore Magicka) can provide a 100% uptime on Minor Heroism buff which generates ultimate, but they're extremely expensive because they're crafted by combiningDragon Rheum,
Dragon's Blood and
Columbine.
60.9k on the 6mil dummy using Regular setup
Recording of the 60.9k parse
Crafted - 56k DPS
Here you can see this build tackling Veteran dungeons
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