ESO Thief Build

The Best Thief Build for ESO! Cloak and Dagger is a fun Nightblade Thief Build in The Elder Scrolls Online that will help you Become Rich from the activity of Stealing without being Detected! The Build offers a fun and 100% Pacifist Play style in ESO!

This Thief Build relies mostly on passive abilities from Legerdemain, Thieves Guild and Vampire Skill-lines. It is also a great Build to complete Daily Quests for the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood, if you wish to increase your rank with them or earn more rewards! Cloak and Dagger offers a great setup that you can also use every time the Crime Wave Event is live! More Nightblade Builds and Guides you can read:

• Nightblade Beginner Guide
• Nightblade Builds
• Pure Class Builds

Best Skills for Thief Build ESO

These are the Best Skills for the Build!

• Shadowy Disguise(Shadow Cloak)
• Refreshing Path(Path of Darkness)
• Repelling Contingency: Knockback+Gladiator’s Tenacity+Protection
• Mirage(Blur)
• Mass Hysteria(Aspect of Terror)
• Soul Tether(Soul Shred)
• Stupefy(Mesmerize)
• Mist Form(Elusive Mist)
• Concealed Weapon(Veiled Strike)
• Siphoning Attacks(Siphoning Strikes)
• Resolving Vigor(Vigor)
• Bolstering Darkness(Consuming Darkness)

Class Mastery:

• Above and Beyond
• Cutthroat’s Focus

Rotation

Stay in the shadows and pickpocket everything that moves! Very easy gameplay, just be careful of NPC proximity. If you are caught, use one of your many defensive skills to escape. The Hasty Retreat passive from the Bow line can also give you a speed boost when in combat to help you escape faster. You will never have to kill anything unless you want to. Which makes this build the perfect option for an ESO Pacifist Gameplay.

Important Passive Skills for ESO Thief Build

Very important Passive abilities that will help you play as a Thief in ESO! Try to unlock them as fast as possible, so you can make more Gold from stealing faster. These are the Passive Skills you should unlock for the ESO Thief Build.

• Legerdemain: Improved Hiding, Light Fingers, Trafficker. Must be at least level 3 to be truly effective as a Thief.
• Vampire: Dark Stalker(Stage 1), Undeath(Optional, Stage 3).
• Thieves Guild: Haggling, Clemency, Veil of Shadows.
• Dark Brotherhood: You do not need any skill from this line. Take Blade of Woe if you do not mind killing innocents! NPC can carry only 3 items you can pickpocket from them, so you can use Blade of Woe to “reset” empty NPC.

ESO Thief Build and Subclassing

With Subclassing available, you can now turn your favorite ESO Class into a Thief! To achieve this, you can add the Shadow Nightblade Skill Line to your favorite Class and benefit from its skills. Shadowy Disguise is an important ability for every Build that wishes to move in the shadows and steal items. Refreshing Path can also help with heals and faster movement. Like this you can make Thief Subclassing Builds with every Class!

ESO Thief Build Setup

The Build is using helpful Sets that will help with Sustain, decrease Detection Radius and reduce the cost of Sneak!

Piece	Set	Type	Trait	Enchantment
Head	Armor of the Trainee	Heavy	Divines	Tri-Stat
Shoulders	Armor of the Trainee	Light	Divines	Tri-Stat
Hands	Vesture of Darloc Brae	Medium	Divines	Tri-Stat
Legs	Vesture of Darloc Brae	Medium	Divines	Tri-Stat
Chest	Vesture of Darloc Brae	Medium	Divines	Tri-Stat
Waist	Vesture of Darloc Brae	Medium	Divines	Tri-Stat
Feet	Vesture of Darloc Brae	Medium	Divines	Tri-Stat
Necklace	Night Mother's Embrace	Jewel	Swift	Prismatic Recovery
Ring	Night Mother's Embrace	Jewel	Swift	Prismatic Recovery
Ring	Night Mother's Embrace	Jewel	Swift	Prismatic Recovery
Two Handed Weapon	Night Mother's Embrace	Bow	Defending	Hardening
One Handed Weapon	Night Mother's Embrace	Dagger	Infused	Prismatic Onslaught
One Handed Weapon	Night Mother's Embrace	Dagger	Defending	Weakening

Best Armor Sets for ESO Thief Build

These are the Best Armor Sets you can use with the Thief Build!

• Armor of the Trainee: Starter zones of Khenarthi’s Roost, Stros M’kai, Betnikh, Bleakrock Isle and Bal Foyen, Overland
• Vesture of Darloc Brae: Northern Elsweyr, Overland
• Night Mother’s Embrace: Deshaan, Overland

Best Mythic Sets for Thief Build in ESO

There are a few Mythic Sets you can also use with the Build! They are optional though and not necessary to perform well. These are:

• The Shadow Queen’s Cowl: Highlights NPC and Guards behind Walls when you crouch. Stuns NPC when you pickpocket them.
• The Prowler’s Talisman: Boosts your Pickpocket Chance and is great for Beginner Thieves in ESO!
• Ring of the Wild Hunt: Boosts your speed in and out of combat, making it easier to move around.

Best Champion Points for ESO Thief Build

Below you will find the best Champion Points setup for the Build. When allocating Champion points to Slottable and Passive Stars your primary goal is to create paths! Allocate the minimum required points to stars along your path in order to reach your desired Slottable Stars faster.

Once you have unlocked all Stars, start allocating more Champion Points to them to fill them out. Focus on Slottable Stars first, then Passive Stars. If you would like to learn more about Champion Points and how they work, you can read my ESO Champion Points Guide.

Warfare

• Slottable Stars: Arcane Supremacy, Endless Endurance, Duelist’s Rebuff, Ironclad
• Passive: Eldritch Insight, Tireless Discipline, Piercing, Battle Mastery, Mighty, Quick Recovery, Hardy, Elemental Aegis, Preparation, Precision, Blessed,

Craft

• Slottable Stars: Sustaining Shadows, Steed’s Blessing, Fade Away, Friends in Low Places
• Passive: Infamous, Cutpurse’s Art, Gilded Fingers, Fortune’s Favor, Out of Sight, Wanderer, Steadfast Enchantment, Fleet Phantom

Fitness

• Slottable Stars: Fortified, Rejuvenation, Boundless Vitality, Celerity
• Passive: Sprinter, Hasty, Tireless Guardian, Hero’s Vigor, Mystic Tenacity, Tumbling, Defiance

Best Food and Potions for Thief Build

Jewels of Misrule is the Best Food for the Build while Essence of Magicka or Tri-Stat Potions are the best options as Potions.

Info for ESO Thief Build

Important info for the Thief Build.

Attribute Points

20 points to Magicka and 44 to Stamina!

Mundus Stone

The Steed for better Speed!

Race

The Best Race for a Nightblade Thief Build in ESO is Khajiit. This is because of their amazing stealth and stealing racial passives. Cutpurse passive boosts pickpocket chance while Feline Ambush reduces Detection Radius in Stealth.

Vampire or Werewolf

At least Vampire Stage 1 for the Dark Stalker passive. Vampire Stage 3 if you also want the Undeath Passive.

Best Companion for Thief Build ESO

If you wish to bring someone along while stealing with the Thief Build, you can choose one of the available Companions! Companions in ESO are helpful allies that can assist you in combat and make gameplay more enjoyable. Every Companion can fulfill every role in the game and help you enjoy ESO more by clearing content faster or by simply interacting with them and their charming personality! There are various Builds you can use for every available ESO Companion!

As a Thief focused character my recommendation is to bring along a Companion that will not judge you for your actions! The Best Companion for a Thief Build is Ember, Tanlorin or Sharp-as-Night! You can use them in various setups. Damage dealer to defend you if you have to fight, Tank to draw aggro from guards or Healer to keep you alive while escaping! To find out which ESO Companion is the Best in every role you can take a look at my ESO Best Companion Guide! To further maximize the potential of your chosen Companion, you can wear the Telvanni Efficiency Set! A Crafted Set that reduces the cooldown of your Companions abilities, improving their damage and overall effects and assisting you further in combat.