nightblade beginner guide
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ByArzyeL

ESO Nightblade Class Beginner Guide

This Nightblade Beginner Guide will teach you everything you need to know about the Class in ESO! The Nightblade is the Class of Shadow and Stealth in The Elder Scrolls Online and the closest to an assassin or rogue-like class in the game! Available with the base game, the Nightblade can help you create strong Builds for PVE or PVP Gameplay! Nightblades also make excellent Thief builds! If you wish to learn more about every available ESO Class, you can read my ESO Class Guide!

Why Choose the Nightblade Class in ESO

The Nightblade is one of the most popular classes in The Elder Scrolls Online, exactly because of its similarities to a rogue, assassin play style from other games and the ability to cloak. It is also one of the hardest classes to master and the least beginner friendly in ESO! It requires a lot of practice to learn how to play the Class properly and take advantage of its unique gameplay.

Nightblades rely a lot on animation canceling to trigger powerful attacks and effects. Having some basic gameplay knowledge is necessary to get the most out of your Nightblade. In general the Nightblade can reach a high damage output in PVE but is not recommended for brand new players. In PVP, the Nightblade is somewhat easier to play, thanks to the ability to cloak and hide from enemy players.

Both Magicka and Stamina Setups can deal significant damage in PVE and be an asset to every group. You can set them up in any way you like but they work best with single target, direct damage attacks. The Nightblade is an excellent class against strong Boss-like targets but also quite good against groups of enemies. They lack Class skills to work as a good Tank so it is best to avoid that role with a Nightblade. They can be decent in Healing but again you will have to practice a lot to make a Nightblade Healer work well in harder content.

Nightblades are very common in PVP because of their cloak ability. Their stealth allows them to remain hidden and strike at the right time to get the kill. This type of PVP Builds is called a Gank Build and the Nightblade excels at this type of play style. It is possible to create Sturdy Nightblade Builds too but glass cannon, Assassin builds are a better fit for the Class.

Finally the Nightblade is the number one option if you are interested in stealing and Thief Builds in ESO. The ability to stealth will help you remain hidden from NPC and steal or pickpocket everything in the area. Overall, Nightblades make great Damage Dealers and Thieves, decent healers and poor Tanks.

nightblade beginner class
Nightblade Class

Nightblade Beginner Builds:

What Skills are the Best for Nightblade – Nightblade Beginner

Before we go through the most important Nightblade skills, you have to decide what kind of Nightblade you wish to create! A Magicka Nightblade or a Stamina one. This will determine the type of gameplay and the morphs of skills you should choose as you level up. To create a Magicka based Nightblade(DD or Healer) allocate all your available attribute points to Magicka. To create a Stamina one, allocate your points to Stamina. You can also mix them up if you wish to make a Tank character.

Leveling a Nightblade and its skills is similar to leveling any other class in the game. There are several methods you can follow to level up fast and efficiently, like grinding XP at specific locations, clearing Dolmens and completing group content. You can find a lot more info on how to level up a character fast and efficiently in my ESO Leveling Guide.

There are several important skills you should unlock and level up as soon as possible. Class, Weapons and Guild Skills that will help you create the build of your dreams! To level up skills and skill-lines, always have one or more of their skills in your active bar, even if you are not using them. So let’s start with the most important Nightblade Class skills.

Class Skills – Nightblade Beginner

The Nightblade has three unique skill lines with abilities suitable for every role in the game. Both Magicka and Stamina Nightblades benefit from the Class’ skills and can use them to create strong DPS builds along with other abilities.

The Nightblade Skill lines are:

  • Assassination, with several offensive skills
  • Shadow, that puts emphasis on stealth and support skills
  • Siphoning, with more support and healing focused skills

Assassination

Very important line for Nightblades with some of their strongest skills! Death Stroke is a powerful Ultimate that offers two different morphs for Stamina and Magicka Nightblades. Incapacitating Strike and Soul Harvest increase the damage you deal to enemies and are very important for your DPS Builds.

Assassin’s Blade and its two morphs, Killer’s Blade and Impale are also a must have for every Nightblade DPS Build. A powerful execute ability that allows you to kill enemies faster. Veiled strike offers a potent spammable, Surprise Attack for Stamina and Concealed Weapon for Magicka Nightblades! Teleport Strike and its morphs are mostly used in PVP to close the distance to enemies. Mark Target reduces enemies’ resistances and can be a good Solo PVE ability to use but is not very important to focus on from early on.

Grim Focus on the other hand is a skill you should unlock as soon as possible. Its two morphs Relentless Focus and Merciless Resolve activate an extra skill, a spectral arrow, after five Light/Heavy attacks that deals significant damage and heals you. Death Stroke, Veiled Strike, Assassin’s Blade, Grim Focus and their appropriate Morphs, should be your number one priority if you are making a damage dealer Nightblade!

Shadow

Consuming Darkness and Morphs are mostly support skills that you can avoid if you are focusing on DPS gameplay. Blur and its morphs offer extra defense and PVP utility while Shadow Cloak is the skill that makes the Nightblade Class unique. The Shadowy Disguise morph is your stealth ability that also boosts your next attack. Invaluable for PVP and Thief Builds. Dark Cloak is a helpful skill for Tanks.

Path of Darkness offers two strong AOE abilities, one that deals great damage and another one that heals you. Aspect of Terror is a fear ability that will help you mostly in PVP while Summon Shade, summons a shadow to assist you in combat. Dark Shade is an attack shadow that deals AOE damage while Shadow Image works mostly as an escape in PVP environments.

Siphoning

Swallow Soul(Strife Morph) is a valuable skill for Solo gameplay since it can deal damage and heal you at the same time. Malevolent Offering offers two healing focused morphs while Cripple gives you access to the amazing DOTs, Crippling Grasp and Debilitate. Siphoning Strikes is another great skill for Nightblades. Its Siphoning Attacks morph offers superb passive sustain and self healing! Drain Power and Morphs hurt enemies and boost your damage while Soul Shred and Morphs absorb Health from nearby targets.

Nightblade Subclassing

Subclassing allows you to combine skills from up to three Classes in ESO, in order to create powerful Builds! The Nightblade is a superb Class for Subclassing Builds. Its Assassination skill line is perfect for DPS roles, since it grants access to a powerful spammable, an amazing execute and great Passive abilities that also boost your overall damage. Siphoning is another great line for Solo Builds, thanks to Debilitate and Siphoning Attacks!

Skills Priority – Nightblade Beginner

Unlocking and leveling up your Class active skills and passives, should be your number one priority. This will unlock the potential of your Class and allow you to combine them for better results. Weapon and Guild Skills should follow after. Of course everything depends on your goals and preferred play style. Getting a strong spammable and a good AOE ability early will allow you to level up faster and more efficiently. Regarding Passives, I always recommend getting everything from skill lines you are using. Again Class Passives, along with Racial ones, should come first, followed by Weapon and Guild ones.

Mundus Stones – Nightblade Beginner

Mundus Stones offer strong buffs to your character that can help you complete content faster. They are located all around Tamriel and based on their offered buff are more suitable for PVE or PVP gameplay. When you are leveling up you should get the Atronach Mundus that boosts Magicka Recovery or the Serpent Mundus that boosts Stamina Recovery. This will assist you with sustain and allow you to use your skills for longer.

As you are getting more experienced and can sustain better, switch to the Lover Mundus. The Lover boosts your Offensive Penetration, making it easier to kill enemies. A great option for early gameplay but also Solo content. For group PVE you want to switch to the Thief (better Critical Chance). For PVP get the Warrior(more Weapon Damage), the Apprentice(more Spell Damage) or even the Atronach/Serpent for better sustain! Tank characters can benefit from the Atronach Mundus while Healers can use the Atronach, the Apprentice or even the Ritual(better Healing).

Champion Points – Nightblade Beginner

After level 50 you will start earning Champion Points. These allow you to unlock Passive and Slottable Stars in the Champion Points tab, that can further empower your character. You can earn Champion Points by simply playing the game and leveling up. In total there are three constellations in the Elder Scrolls Online:

  • Warfare
  • Fitness
  • Craft

Each constellation offers different Stars that can help with different roles and activities. Warfare is the constellation that is focusing more on combat and provides bonuses to Damage Dealers, Tanks and Healers. Allocating your Champion Points appropriately and unlocking the right Stars for the role you wish to fulfill is rather important. You can find more info on Champion Points and the right Passive and Slottable Stars for every Role in my Champion Points Guide.

Vampire or Werewolf – Nightblade Beginner

Being a Vampire or Werewolf is not necessary to fully enjoy your Nightblade. You can find a lot more info on Vampires and Werewolves in my ESO Vampire vs Werewolf Guide.

Build Examples

There are more than one ways you can setup your Nightblade. It all depends on your favorite play style and the content you wish to complete. Some setups are better for Solo PVE, other for Group Trials content and other for Battlegrounds or Open World PVP. Here are some more Builds you can use, depending on gameplay.