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My really successful Nightblade build...some cookie cutter, some not
dan0311
✭✭✭
I seem to have stumbled upon a really nice build for a Breton Nightblade and I thought I would share. This is geared more toward noobs and those who have never played a Nightblade before. Experienced players have seen much of this before. Anyway, here we go...
All my attribute points have gone into Health and I load up on Stamina with enchants and pots. I haven’t done anything to boost Magicka but with this build, you really won’t need much. Since Stamina based builds finally became viable, I thought I would try one out and I have had an easier time mowing down mobs with this guy (Night Terrier, he is cleverly named) than any other build I have attempted.
Some of it is cookie cutter, but some is not. Have a look.
Running five pieces of Medium armor for the passives plus one light (Sash) and one heavy (Cuirass) so they will level up along with the Medium. When crafting new pieces, I use Infused where possible, since I enchant all my pieces with Stamina buffs. Some like Indestructible but this is mostly for PVE and I want to concentrate on dealing damage as quickly as possible, so Infused it is.
At low levels when crafting I usually go for four pieces of Ashen Grip and four of Night’s Silence. The five piece bonuses are not that great on either IMHO and by using four of each you get lots of Stamina and Weapon Crit. I am developing my Clothier skill line and will build a five piece set of Hundings Rage as soon as possible, but in the meantime these two sets work well together.
Jewelry is all about cutting the amount of stamina used by abilities. I use the Tower Mundus Stone which adds…wait for it…Stamina.
So what shall we do with all this Stamina, besides mightily impressing our girlfriends? Let’s kill things with weapons! Wood and steel, baby.
My main weapon is a bow, simply because I’ve never tried making it to level 50 with just a bow… so far so good.
On the bar I use with the bow, the first spot goes to the Nightblade’s greatest health sustainer…Mark Target (morphed to Reaper’s Mark). You can lob arrows at enemies from a great distance weakening their Armor and Spell Resistance for 20 seconds. But the REALLY cool thing is that every time one of the marked enemies dies, you regain almost half of your health. THAT is an impressive sustain ability, my friend.
So how do we kill these enemies? In the second slot I use Bombard, morphed from Scatter Shot. Darn fine way to take down multiple enemies…mark them from afar with Reaper’s Mark then take them out with Bombard. Three or four bursts is usually plenty.
The third slot has the best “oh sh*t” ability in the game…Shadowy Disguise which makes you disappear for about two seconds. Why is that a big deal? Because when you disappear, the baddies immediately break off any attack they were brewing. They just...stop...attacking you. And the morph gives you Precision, which means the next attack you make is guaranteed to Crit.
And that next attack, is a doozy…Ambush, where you flit from here to your distant enemy in about a nanosecond and slash them, causing lots of damage and a one second stun…plenty of time to spam it for two more times, killing just about anything that walks. Another good option coming out of Shadowy Disguise is Surprise Attack which, when performed from the stealth that SD provides, creates a lot of damage plus stun.
My fifth bow slot is filled with Snipe…a lovely long range bow ability that can take down most mobs in two shots. However, I also am prone to use that slot for Impale, which is a good Magic based damage dealer that I use on the rare occasions when I run out of Stamina.
All of these abilities are Stamina based except for Shadowy Disguise and Surprise Attack, neither of which use much Magicka. If you do happen to run out of Stamina, just hit Shadowy Disguise and run away for a second or two, or just kite them with light and heavy bow shots and peck em to death. Or switch to your big ass sword and just give ‘em a couple of whacks. By the time you run out of Stamina, just about any normal enemy will be almost dead anyway, so it won’t take many final blows to put ‘em down.
The second weapon is a two handed sword…not a standard item for a NB, but I wanted it for Critical Charge, which is the best gap closer in the game and one of the strongest, most powerful attacks. The biggest drawback is making sure you’re not too close to your enemy, because that button just won’t work if you are.
The second slot goes to Uppercut, morphed to Wrecking Blow, since using it gives you 5 seconds of extra weapon damage on your next blow…plenty of time for one more finishing whack. Also a good muscle memory go-to when you realize you are too close to use Critical Charge. 1 1 1 1 1 oh *** 2. Theeeeere they go…flying majestically backwards while cursing your big sweet mama.
The third slot is Reverse Slash, which is not impressing me but it looks cool. It will probably get replaced with something else soon.
The fourth and fifth slots are usually taken up by Shadowy Disguise and Ambush, the best combo for when you have mobs in your face and your long range attacks have failed. I try to remember to go into Shadowy Disguise before every attack of any kind to guarantee a crit, but sometimes I forget and sometimes it’s just overkill anyway.
So if I am facing your typical three man grouping of mobs that ESO likes so much, I will first use Mark Target on all of them. They don’t really register being “marked” as being attacked and will continue to mill around, remarking about how many enemies they have made lately and such. You have twenty seconds to kill them all and that’s more than enough time. No hurry. Point your guy’s body toward the middle of the group and spam Bombard until they are all dead. (Did I mention that the Bombard morph also immobilizes them for two seconds? It does) I say “point your guy’s body” because Bombard doesn’t aim using the reticle. If you are facing away, the arrows will miss, even if the reticle is right on the mob’s forehead. Takes some getting used to but not much.
If one of the enemies survives Bombard and rushes you, no problem. You started out by hitting key 1 to Mark and key 2 to Bombard, now you need to hit key 3 to invoke Shadowy Disguise and then key 4 to Slash the hell out of them. Key three causes them to say “Where the hell did he go?” and key four causes them to say “oh…THERE he is!” The last part of that sentence is usually only heard by the doorman at the entrance to Hell.
Okay that’s for groups. If you are dealing with a single enemy I usually start off with Mark Target and then switch to the two handed sword bar. Critical Charge plus Uppercut plus one or two light spanks and they are dead. If they prove ornery or tough, I use Shadowy Disguise to break agro and then finish them off with Ambush or, if I’m out of Stamina, Impale. For big baddies, I use the sword a lot because its incredibly powerful while not using a ton of Stamina.
The point of marking your targets is that if you decide to rush the group and just take them out with a sword or other weapon you get a big rush of health when you kill one so you can just keep the fight going as long as you want without being too concerned with the damage being done to you. The other two may be whacking you mightily but Honey Badger just don’t give a f*ck. If I kill the guy I’m fighting, I get about half my health back, and at that point I will turn around and ask the other mobs what the hell’s the big idea putting little cuts in my nice leather and then kill the second one which puts my health back at 100% and then the third one, who has been waiting patiently to die and will be accommodated. Killing heals and sustains, so I recommend it. (Thumbs up emoji)
Mark Target softens ‘em up and gives you your sustainability. Critical Charge and Uppercut give you massive melee damage plus stun, and Bombard can kill any size group in about four shots. Not bad for a guy running around without pets or a staff.
I should also mention that if you come across a big mob battle and you can’t easily tell their guys from yours, Critical Charge and Bombard will find your enemies for you. Just point yourself in the general direction of the mess and hit the button.
I keep a few tri-pots on me but frankly I rarely have to use them since with Bombard and Snipe, much of the death is happening waaaay over there where you have to squint to see if they have a yellow drop aura. ("Hey!...you!...way over there....are you dead? Can I have your glyph?")
When zerging in a delve or in a group, I let the tanks and DK’s rush in while I stand in the back and use Mark Target and Bombard, which makes their jobs a lot easier. I sometimes kill all of the mobs before the heavy guys can reach them all, and I get a little piece of every kill that way. I don’t feel bad about hanging back…hey, tin cans…I’m wearing freaking LEATHER. I can see you all in your nice shiny armor just fine from back here. Go get em, tigers. Rowr. Pfft pfft pfft pfft they’re all dead.
Anyway, the Big Ass Sword and Bow plus stealth and medium armor combo is working well for me and you should give it a try too and let me know what you think. I didn’t mention some of the other skills that you can mix in occasionally. With the Bow, Greatsword, and Nightblade skill lines, there is an embarrassment of riches available to you. Enjoy and lemme know how it works for ya.
PS I have played previously as a Sorc and DK and struggled the whole way. This build has been the equivalent of pushing the "Easy" button. Give it a try.
All my attribute points have gone into Health and I load up on Stamina with enchants and pots. I haven’t done anything to boost Magicka but with this build, you really won’t need much. Since Stamina based builds finally became viable, I thought I would try one out and I have had an easier time mowing down mobs with this guy (Night Terrier, he is cleverly named) than any other build I have attempted.
Some of it is cookie cutter, but some is not. Have a look.
Running five pieces of Medium armor for the passives plus one light (Sash) and one heavy (Cuirass) so they will level up along with the Medium. When crafting new pieces, I use Infused where possible, since I enchant all my pieces with Stamina buffs. Some like Indestructible but this is mostly for PVE and I want to concentrate on dealing damage as quickly as possible, so Infused it is.
At low levels when crafting I usually go for four pieces of Ashen Grip and four of Night’s Silence. The five piece bonuses are not that great on either IMHO and by using four of each you get lots of Stamina and Weapon Crit. I am developing my Clothier skill line and will build a five piece set of Hundings Rage as soon as possible, but in the meantime these two sets work well together.
Jewelry is all about cutting the amount of stamina used by abilities. I use the Tower Mundus Stone which adds…wait for it…Stamina.
So what shall we do with all this Stamina, besides mightily impressing our girlfriends? Let’s kill things with weapons! Wood and steel, baby.
My main weapon is a bow, simply because I’ve never tried making it to level 50 with just a bow… so far so good.
On the bar I use with the bow, the first spot goes to the Nightblade’s greatest health sustainer…Mark Target (morphed to Reaper’s Mark). You can lob arrows at enemies from a great distance weakening their Armor and Spell Resistance for 20 seconds. But the REALLY cool thing is that every time one of the marked enemies dies, you regain almost half of your health. THAT is an impressive sustain ability, my friend.
So how do we kill these enemies? In the second slot I use Bombard, morphed from Scatter Shot. Darn fine way to take down multiple enemies…mark them from afar with Reaper’s Mark then take them out with Bombard. Three or four bursts is usually plenty.
The third slot has the best “oh sh*t” ability in the game…Shadowy Disguise which makes you disappear for about two seconds. Why is that a big deal? Because when you disappear, the baddies immediately break off any attack they were brewing. They just...stop...attacking you. And the morph gives you Precision, which means the next attack you make is guaranteed to Crit.
And that next attack, is a doozy…Ambush, where you flit from here to your distant enemy in about a nanosecond and slash them, causing lots of damage and a one second stun…plenty of time to spam it for two more times, killing just about anything that walks. Another good option coming out of Shadowy Disguise is Surprise Attack which, when performed from the stealth that SD provides, creates a lot of damage plus stun.
My fifth bow slot is filled with Snipe…a lovely long range bow ability that can take down most mobs in two shots. However, I also am prone to use that slot for Impale, which is a good Magic based damage dealer that I use on the rare occasions when I run out of Stamina.
All of these abilities are Stamina based except for Shadowy Disguise and Surprise Attack, neither of which use much Magicka. If you do happen to run out of Stamina, just hit Shadowy Disguise and run away for a second or two, or just kite them with light and heavy bow shots and peck em to death. Or switch to your big ass sword and just give ‘em a couple of whacks. By the time you run out of Stamina, just about any normal enemy will be almost dead anyway, so it won’t take many final blows to put ‘em down.
The second weapon is a two handed sword…not a standard item for a NB, but I wanted it for Critical Charge, which is the best gap closer in the game and one of the strongest, most powerful attacks. The biggest drawback is making sure you’re not too close to your enemy, because that button just won’t work if you are.
The second slot goes to Uppercut, morphed to Wrecking Blow, since using it gives you 5 seconds of extra weapon damage on your next blow…plenty of time for one more finishing whack. Also a good muscle memory go-to when you realize you are too close to use Critical Charge. 1 1 1 1 1 oh *** 2. Theeeeere they go…flying majestically backwards while cursing your big sweet mama.
The third slot is Reverse Slash, which is not impressing me but it looks cool. It will probably get replaced with something else soon.
The fourth and fifth slots are usually taken up by Shadowy Disguise and Ambush, the best combo for when you have mobs in your face and your long range attacks have failed. I try to remember to go into Shadowy Disguise before every attack of any kind to guarantee a crit, but sometimes I forget and sometimes it’s just overkill anyway.
So if I am facing your typical three man grouping of mobs that ESO likes so much, I will first use Mark Target on all of them. They don’t really register being “marked” as being attacked and will continue to mill around, remarking about how many enemies they have made lately and such. You have twenty seconds to kill them all and that’s more than enough time. No hurry. Point your guy’s body toward the middle of the group and spam Bombard until they are all dead. (Did I mention that the Bombard morph also immobilizes them for two seconds? It does) I say “point your guy’s body” because Bombard doesn’t aim using the reticle. If you are facing away, the arrows will miss, even if the reticle is right on the mob’s forehead. Takes some getting used to but not much.
If one of the enemies survives Bombard and rushes you, no problem. You started out by hitting key 1 to Mark and key 2 to Bombard, now you need to hit key 3 to invoke Shadowy Disguise and then key 4 to Slash the hell out of them. Key three causes them to say “Where the hell did he go?” and key four causes them to say “oh…THERE he is!” The last part of that sentence is usually only heard by the doorman at the entrance to Hell.
Okay that’s for groups. If you are dealing with a single enemy I usually start off with Mark Target and then switch to the two handed sword bar. Critical Charge plus Uppercut plus one or two light spanks and they are dead. If they prove ornery or tough, I use Shadowy Disguise to break agro and then finish them off with Ambush or, if I’m out of Stamina, Impale. For big baddies, I use the sword a lot because its incredibly powerful while not using a ton of Stamina.
The point of marking your targets is that if you decide to rush the group and just take them out with a sword or other weapon you get a big rush of health when you kill one so you can just keep the fight going as long as you want without being too concerned with the damage being done to you. The other two may be whacking you mightily but Honey Badger just don’t give a f*ck. If I kill the guy I’m fighting, I get about half my health back, and at that point I will turn around and ask the other mobs what the hell’s the big idea putting little cuts in my nice leather and then kill the second one which puts my health back at 100% and then the third one, who has been waiting patiently to die and will be accommodated. Killing heals and sustains, so I recommend it. (Thumbs up emoji)
Mark Target softens ‘em up and gives you your sustainability. Critical Charge and Uppercut give you massive melee damage plus stun, and Bombard can kill any size group in about four shots. Not bad for a guy running around without pets or a staff.
I should also mention that if you come across a big mob battle and you can’t easily tell their guys from yours, Critical Charge and Bombard will find your enemies for you. Just point yourself in the general direction of the mess and hit the button.
I keep a few tri-pots on me but frankly I rarely have to use them since with Bombard and Snipe, much of the death is happening waaaay over there where you have to squint to see if they have a yellow drop aura. ("Hey!...you!...way over there....are you dead? Can I have your glyph?")
When zerging in a delve or in a group, I let the tanks and DK’s rush in while I stand in the back and use Mark Target and Bombard, which makes their jobs a lot easier. I sometimes kill all of the mobs before the heavy guys can reach them all, and I get a little piece of every kill that way. I don’t feel bad about hanging back…hey, tin cans…I’m wearing freaking LEATHER. I can see you all in your nice shiny armor just fine from back here. Go get em, tigers. Rowr. Pfft pfft pfft pfft they’re all dead.
Anyway, the Big Ass Sword and Bow plus stealth and medium armor combo is working well for me and you should give it a try too and let me know what you think. I didn’t mention some of the other skills that you can mix in occasionally. With the Bow, Greatsword, and Nightblade skill lines, there is an embarrassment of riches available to you. Enjoy and lemme know how it works for ya.
PS I have played previously as a Sorc and DK and struggled the whole way. This build has been the equivalent of pushing the "Easy" button. Give it a try.
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