A Nightblade Assassin build - For those that doubt it.

cbbouletb16_ESO · May 2014

I see lots of people complaining about NIghtblade. Here is a nice build you can pick up to assassinate almost anybody walking by.

You want to take 7 pieces of light armor. Warlock head, Warlock robes, Warlock ring.
If possible you want to obtain the legendary Lich set that only drops from dolmens. Warlock is just fine, however.

You goal is to hit 1900 magicka.
Your other 2 pieces of jewelry should have the Spell Damage enchant. A v10 legendary enchant will add 12 spell damage. This will increase your damage substantially.

The skills:

The races:
Khajiit, Woodelf, Breton are the best. Dark Elf is also acceptable because you are also running Vampire.

The weapon:
Any restoration staff with Sharpened.
I use:

Why Restoration Staff? That's easy. A free 10% damage boost across all your abilities, along with increased healing on yourself. It is recommend you even use a restoration staff on swap so that you are able to heal yourself to counter the reduced regeneration from Vampire.

The rotation:
The rotation uses Ambush to increase the damage of your conceiled weapon by about 40%. Spamming Shadowy Disguise allows all your abilities to cause critical damage.

Rotation 1:
Shadowy Disguise -> Conceiled Weapon -> Ambush -> Shadowy Disguise -> Conceiled Weapon -> Impale

Rotation 2: (further opponent)
Ambush -> Shadowy Disguise -> Conceiled Weapon -> Shadowy Disguise -> Conceiled Weapon -> Impale

The first Conceiled Weapon will stun for 4 seconds, allowing you to get the second off before they are able to CC break and gain distance. The 15 range impale will finish them even if they manage to get some distance.

These rotations still leave you with plenty of magicka due to 7 light armor and warlock set, allowing you to Shadowy Disguise to safety, comboing with the movement speed boost from Conceiled Weapon.

Vampire is a must for stamina regen and sneaking speed.

Sets to combo with Warlock?
Seducer, Night Mother's Gaze, Twilight's Embrace

Questions? Comments?
Go for it.

khele23eb17_ESO · May 2014

A robe and a staff. Uhm... assassin... right.

cbbouletb16_ESO · May 2014

khele23eb17_ESO wrote: »

A robe and a staff. Uhm... assassin... right.

How naive...

OkieDokie · May 2014

cbbouletb16_ESO wrote: »

The rotation uses Ambush to increase the damage of your conceiled weapon by about 40%. Spamming Shadowy Disguise allows all your abilities to cause critical damage.

Questions? Comments?
Go for it.

Didn't know about the 10% damage on resto staffs. What's the damage you are reaching?

cbbouletb16_ESO · May 2014

OkieDokie wrote: »

cbbouletb16_ESO wrote: »

The rotation uses Ambush to increase the damage of your conceiled weapon by about 40%. Spamming Shadowy Disguise allows all your abilities to cause critical damage.

Questions? Comments?
Go for it.

Didn't know about the 10% damage on resto staffs. What's the damage you are reaching?

My rotation will kill 95% of all players in the game.The other 5% you can either use another Shadowy Disguise - Conceiled Weapon combo or just walk away if you don't want your magicka to get too low. You would still have magicka to stealth away but it would be risky. Becomes a judgment call on whether the kill is worth the risk.

All the Nightblades in my guild runs this build because of how successful it is at assassination.

OkieDokie · May 2014

Yeah, it is pretty much my build, except for the staff (I'll give it a try). But, have you checked your damage with any addon? I'm curious

ps: I really like the akavari combo though, I'll probably keep to 1h/shield.

Harakh · May 2014

How much crit do you have with this build? i thought conceald weapon, ambush goes on weapon crit.

Gisgo · May 2014

Thats a nightmage not an assassin.

Post an effective stamina/medium armor build if you want to surprise us.

Not to bash your build, sounds good, but nobody is having a problem creating a light armored magicka based character.

tommipalub16_ESO · May 2014

i'm running a simmilar build. The problem with it is, that the dmg of the chosen abillities is based on spelldmg and magicka, BUT on weaponcrit instead of spellcrit (so there is no use in wearing seducer set) and on armorpeneration instead of spellpenetration.
So the point is: there is no use for wearing lightarmor. I decided to wear 5/4 pieces of medium and 2/3 pieces of lightarmor.
The only use of lightarmor is the decreased magicka cost and the faster manareg.
I'd also use a crit enchant on weapons, no matter which one u choose.
Another point is that u will go oom with this build in longer boss fight.
I recommend using siphoning strikes instead of the drain in bossfights. This will prevent going oom.
I'm on vet8 currently , i run at 450 dps at bossfights in the sewers.

All in all this build is very good, no mater if u use staff or daggers, or whatever.
I add , there is no sense in using stamina and magicka based skills at the same time.

ArgonianAssassin · May 2014

That's not an assassin, I'm looking for a traditional assassin with dual daggers and medium armor, not dresses and staves. Get back to me when you make a viable ASSASSIN build, not another mage.

Gisgo · May 2014

This is my pvp assassin skillbar:

1 - flying blade
2 - blood craze
3 - blinding flurry/immovable/evasion/whatever
4 - concealed weapon
5 - dark cloak
U - flawless dawnbreaker

5/5 Hunding's rage + 3/3 Night mother crafted set
7/7 medium armor, stamina above 2000 (buffed with food), both magicka and stamina regen around 80, unbuffed crit rate at 36%.

Magicka is only used to keep shadow cloak, the armor buff and the stamina regen buff up.
No teleport strike means no cheap gap closer so you will have to learn to use flying blade (it stuns from stealthed). Its a great skill, very versatile, can be a kiting tool, a ghetto gap closer and it does moderate/good damage.
Blood craze is GOOD.
Blinding flurry is... hmmm, situational. Its a good spike and a good finisher, but sometime i regret having it on the skillbar instead of immovable.

Im not sure i would call this build "effective" but its being a fun, high risk high reward character, the second skillbar is dedicated to anti vamp skills.

CapuchinSeven · May 2014

Not to bash your build, I know it's good, but as said, this is a Nightmage, not an Assassin build.

vicNBitis · May 2014

Any "solution" that includes vampire isn't a solution at all. It's like posting in every tanking thread "spam bash" and thinking you've proved anything.

wretch200 · May 2014

My NB build includes: Ambush > Suprise Attack > Shadowy Disguise > Ambush > Shadowy Disguise > Flying Blade. And the flying blade will crit for about 800~ish on most players as well as the first ambush and suprise attack, adding up to most players health bars in pvp (2400). Theres a stam build.... kinda O.o

tommipalub16_ESO · May 2014

Opening with ambush is nice due to +dmg. Well and the distance of course. On v8 i Do 1400 + sneak crit, then surprise attack with 800 crit, maybe 2 times or another ambush. If target Is below 25% its killers blade spam with about 1200.

weirdkitten · May 2014

Reduce the build to:

- slot shadow cloak (either morph)
- slot assassins blade (either morph)
- slot veiled strike (either morph)

last two skills can be whatever you feel like. armor and jewelry can be whatever, as long as your magicka/magicka regen are high it still works the same with minor variations. Medium/dual wield is pretty much the same light/resto staff, with more dodging/stealth and slightly higher magicka costs. Could use heavy armor too, and gain those bonuses instead if thats what you want. It's just as stealthy as light armor.

nez · May 2014

wont kill DK, wont kill Templar, maybe will get lucky with Sorc. What this build is about cos i like looked at the bar only and can say for sure this is bweh.

Glissando · May 2014

Let me know when this will be viable in vet dungeons or craglorn... yeah...never.

Sylveria_Relden · May 2014

Yeah, I'd have to say I came into this thread with hope that got shattered as soon as I saw the resto staff, robes and magicka. I think the "point" everyone who's commented thus far regarding this is trying to make, is that Nightblades (not Nightmages) as a class isn't quite what the majority of players had expected. You shouldn't have to don robes and a resto (or destro) staff in order to make the class "playable".

That said, I've been leveling a Nightblade (who was my main till I saw that sorc was waaaaaay easier to level, now swinging back around to her again) and have reached level 30, and I've flip-flopped between weapons a few times (respecc-ed about 5 times now) and now back to dual wield again. Good thing we retain all the trained skill xp for the other lines, however- in case it doesn't get "fixed".

One thing I've noticed in my experience as well as many, many (many) posts in other threads that rings true is that stamina scaling vs magicka scaling when it comes to ability use is just very imbalanced. I run out of stamina quick no matter what weapon, what ability, what stats I've chosen (I went heavy stamina like a fool at the very beginning, just like most did) or what sort of gear/stat stacking I use. But if I go magicka, I end up actually being able to survive- that is as long as I focus one mob at a time. Groups of 3 or more are still a big problem, even with Siphon, potions, etc.

Just because you *can* don a staff and robes and stack magicka, doesn't mean you should *have* to in order to make the class viable for play. It's a sure sign that something's just not working right... simply put, it's treating the symptoms of a problem and not the problem itself. Flame on.

Sleepydan · May 2014

Thank you for sharing. I never would have thought to use a restoration staff to improve my stealth burst damage on my own. Very clever.

Decimus_Rex · May 2014

Gisgo wrote: »

Thats a nightmage not an assassin.

Post an effective stamina/medium armor build if you want to surprise us.

Not to bash your build, sounds good, but nobody is having a problem creating a light armored magicka based character.

AGREED!!!!

Every argument for this class NOT being gimped in every thread of Lightblade frustration is this build or the tank build

The archetype is dual wield/bow not GenerOSorc or DKesque knock off

It's fine that you can play these styles if you choose but the most obvious one is off the table ?

The OP's post is a great reference point for all those that parrot the people who say NB is fine just L2P which equates to, pick the two builds that work

When I picked this class it was for what it TRIES to do but fails to because of it's underpowered poorly synergized stamina skills and of course the plethora of bugs.

A work around is a poor substitute for the INTENDED class dynamic which everyone agrees doesn't work well.

Enough of the work around

Fix the damn thing!!

kitsinni · May 2014

I doubt any of us started a NB to play a caster with a Resto staff but for those of us that want to stay a NB and get through content it is a temporary substitute. I'm sure at least 99% of use would have just rolled a sorc if we wanted to ba a caster but it is what it is.

Sleepydan · May 2014

kitsinni wrote: »

I doubt any of us started a NB to play a caster with a Resto staff but for those of us that want to stay a NB and get through content it is a temporary substitute. I'm sure at least 99% of use would have just rolled a sorc if we wanted to ba a caster but it is what it is.

I never understood this train of thought.

The sales pitch for the game was you could do anything on anybody. Each class could do some things better than others, and has some limitations to match.

If you wanted to be a badass caster, why would you ever choose the "caster" class with the "caster" limitations?

Seems much smarter to start with the tank, healer, or rogue class and build a caster around their respective limitations. Which aren't really the limitations that stop a traditional caster.

I mean really, knowing you have a limited mana pool why would you choose to cast a variety of damage spells when you could cast damage spells and give yourself invisibility, or dark talons and dragon blood?

My first character was a nightblade mage build. I wound up scrapping it early because I got frustrated with resource management, but still.

I'm pretty sure the best assassin is a dragon knight, just based on green dragon blood and reflective scale.
Snipe with a bow and reflect everything if your enemy fights you ranged, swap to dual wield and heal through everything they do to you while you hit them with sparks in melee. They flee, flying blade.

kitsinni · May 2014

Sleepydan wrote: »

I never understood this train of thought.

The "train of thought" is that eventually they will fix the NB so we can be the rogue character type that we wanted to play. I didn't really see NB being a poor choice until VR content. At that point it was more important to me to be able to still play with my friends doing VR content than rolling the most powerful class of the month.

disexistencenub19_ESO · May 2014

This build looks exactly like the character I just made a couple days ago, based on my cleric/thief, an old DnD character of mine. He also had vampires tied into his story line, which is oddly coincidental. I planned to have one bar for quick single killing/stealth and one for healing using almost the exact same skill setup. The healing set more along the lines of a bloodmage. Good to see I'm not the only one who thought this would work well.

And for anyone that cares, he was a cleric of secrets, wisdom and knowledge. He would sneak around to attain the whispers of others and share them to whom he could, for the right price of course. He would seek dangerous delves to unearth lost secrets or hunt down wisdom of a forgotten age. All this, in pursuit of a cure to a strange vampiric plague beset upon his father; eternally sealed in a comatose state to prevent his ravaging hunger.

He also wore an eye patch, even though he was perfectly fine, to share the symbol of his god, a single open sighted eyeball. He also had a habit of switching this to other side of his face when people weren't paying attention, to throw them off or make them uneasy; or merely to question his intent and sanity. He was quite the character.

khele23eb17_ESO · May 2014

Sleepydan wrote: »

The sales pitch for the game was you could do anything on anybody.

Exactly. Not 'you can do anything with your class except the one playstyle that is most obviously associated with it'.

I'm pretty sure the best assassin is a dragon knight, just based on green dragon blood and reflective scale.
Snipe with a bow and reflect everything if your enemy fights you ranged, swap to dual wield and heal through everything they do to you while you hit them with sparks in melee. They flee, flying blade.

Hows that an assassin?

frwinters_ESO · May 2014

cbbouletb16_ESO wrote: »

I see lots of people complaining about NIghtblade. Here is a nice build you can pick up to assassinate almost anybody walking by.

You want to take 7 pieces of light armor. Warlock head, Warlock robes, Warlock ring.
If possible you want to obtain the legendary Lich set that only drops from dolmens. Warlock is just fine, however.

You goal is to hit 1900 magicka.
Your other 2 pieces of jewelry should have the Spell Damage enchant. A v10 legendary enchant will add 12 spell damage. This will increase your damage substantially.

The skills:

The races:
Khajiit, Woodelf, Breton are the best. Dark Elf is also acceptable because you are also running Vampire.

The weapon:
Any restoration staff with Sharpened.
I use:

Why Restoration Staff? That's easy. A free 10% damage boost across all your abilities, along with increased healing on yourself. It is recommend you even use a restoration staff on swap so that you are able to heal yourself to counter the reduced regeneration from Vampire.

The rotation:
The rotation uses Ambush to increase the damage of your conceiled weapon by about 40%. Spamming Shadowy Disguise allows all your abilities to cause critical damage.

Rotation 1:
Shadowy Disguise -> Conceiled Weapon -> Ambush -> Shadowy Disguise -> Conceiled Weapon -> Impale

Rotation 2: (further opponent)
Ambush -> Shadowy Disguise -> Conceiled Weapon -> Shadowy Disguise -> Conceiled Weapon -> Impale

The first Conceiled Weapon will stun for 4 seconds, allowing you to get the second off before they are able to CC break and gain distance. The 15 range impale will finish them even if they manage to get some distance.

These rotations still leave you with plenty of magicka due to 7 light armor and warlock set, allowing you to Shadowy Disguise to safety, comboing with the movement speed boost from Conceiled Weapon.

Vampire is a must for stamina regen and sneaking speed.

Sets to combo with Warlock?
Seducer, Night Mother's Gaze, Twilight's Embrace

Questions? Comments?
Go for it.

I have used a similar build since i was like level 15 and it works great. However I use different morphs and dont use Impale anymore at higher levels.

http://esohead.com/calculator/skills#mcsz9s8GFlT8w2lm8IryJ8IPU48IrtP8IPwB85ot7mrsgW8C7mLzqq8D7mrzdM6Lzdm8F7xLzrO6Lbut8zz7zztyfm8zf7zzNbo8zu7zzHfYE6zHfZd8zG7zzHQ3F8zI7zzJIoX6zJIkL8zN7zzJZcY8zA7zzKpUN8zL7zzK4EX

I play Khajit so i get my stealth damage bonus and I roll 5 Medium and 2 Light. My rotation starting in stealth is similar to yours:

Ambush > Surprise Attack (Stuns), Heavy Attack(Knockdown)

Now in most cases by here with crits, the enemy is either dead, or a few light attacks they are done. If they live I continue with:

Rapid Strikes > Dark Cloaks > Surprise Attack Etc Etc

This is how I even take on mobs of three. I will usually have the first enemy dead before the other two mobs start to attack. Then I Dark Cloak, Surprise attack the next one and repeat. When Stamina/Magicka get low i kick on Siphoning Attacks and the magicka comes back flowing.

Now I like to PvP a bit more do that's why i use Dark Cloak more (negates effects) and Surprise attack for the armor penetration.

This has been working very well for me though im level 47 and have not hit any VR content. In Coldharbour now and still having no real troubles.

Oh and I use no set pieces just gear i find as im still leveling and im not a vampire not a werewolf. I think I have close to 1700 Magicka at level 47.

OkieDokie · May 2014

He uses the staff just to maximize damage, you don't have to (I use 1 hand and shield for an equipment combo).

I have tried bow, 2 h, dual, destro, 1 hand/shield, since I stopped forcing some skills in my action bar I was able to just walk over the content. "Oh, but we should be able to play anyway we want".

Yeah, kinda. Clearly some skills are better than others.

I fail to see why you guys think an assassin is stamina based. An assassin, in my opinion, means stealth, hit hard, get rid of single targets quickly. I couldn't care less what is the main resource in order to do that, if it is magika or stamina. However, magika makes A LOT more sense than stamina. It is a spell > invisibility, teleport, etc.

In addition, what's the reason you would insist in wearing the worst armor in the game? Why would you do that to yourself? Just because you played a rogue on another mmo that used to wear it? Seriously?

In skyrim assassins are magika based as well. Illusion spells, yep, a caster.

Sleepydan · May 2014

I guess I'm the only one who approached character creation the way I described.

khele23eb17_ESO wrote: »

Sleepydan wrote: »

The sales pitch for the game was you could do anything on anybody.

Exactly. Not 'you can do anything with your class except the one playstyle that is most obviously associated with it'.

I'm pretty sure the best assassin is a dragon knight, just based on green dragon blood and reflective scale.
Snipe with a bow and reflect everything if your enemy fights you ranged, swap to dual wield and heal through everything they do to you while you hit them with sparks in melee. They flee, flying blade.

Hows that an assassin?

I suppose I didn't paint a big enough picture. Let me try again, with a few more details.

A dual wielding archer sneaking around in mostly medium armor picking its fights is the "assassin" part. Sorry I left out the medium armor and sneaking. I assumed it was implied, my fault.

I know the dragon knight class is throwing you off as well. Let me rename their abilities for you as well just to help with theming.

Green dragon blood heals and regenerates stamina. Let's call it "adrenaline rush"

Reflective scale reflects spells. Let's call it "swerving dodge".

Does that feel like an assassin rogue type enough for you yet? I would hope you wouldn't call it a cleric, mage or fighter archetype.

My point was that these "tanky" abilities are just what the "assassin" needs. I mean it's not even necessarily the zomgbestbuildever I'm not really qualified to say that. I hope you don't decide to nitpick the validity of that specific build.

What I'm saying is that maybe the nightblades assassin abilities make a better mage or a tank than rogue, and MAYBE it's not a bad thing.

Does it really matter if your stealthy leather wearing stabby sniper (assassins go both ways nowadays) has red magic swords come out of their hands, or some fire, maybe a touch of purple "crystal" magic or even no magic at all?

You only have 5 abilities, how many are you really committing to your magical class abilities anyways? Aren't you trying to be a stealthy melee weapon using person to begin with?

BloodStorm · May 2014

A good post to show how Magicka is the only good stat besides health. Stamina is broken. One of the reason people are complaining about how OP sorcerers are when its actually the amount of magicka you can have and reduction for it not the class.