
Stamina Nightblade PvP Build ESO – Phantom
Build Written By: Dottz Gaming – PC NA
Role: Damage Dealer
Patch: Markarth
Table of Contents
Introduction
Welcome to DottzGaming.com’s Stamina Nightblade Build PvP, Phantom, for the Elder Scrolls Online! This build is intended for PvP of all kinds: battlegrounds, Cyrodiil, dueling, and Imperial City. This build can be played in both CP and no-CP pvp.
This build is a medium armor stamina nightblade build that packs a major punch. This build works to beat through tanky opponents and opponents that stack damage shields, both of which we are seeing more and more in today’s Cyrodiil climate. In Greymoor, damage has gone up and overall tankiness has gone down. For this build, I decided that my stamina nightblade would rely primarily on movement and dodge roll for defense, and am favoring a fully offensive play-style for maximum damage! This build has amazing sustain, awesome damage tooltips, and enough tankability and movement to kite out opponents so that you can open up your burst window!
Do keep in mind that if you’re new to stamina nightblade or nightblade in general, nightblades have a higher skill floor than other classes. But, if you practice your character and this build, you will be out there bringing the pain to your enemies!
Keep in mind that PvP builds are very personal. This is what worked for ME. If you don’t like something about it, change it to fit your playstyle.
Setup
Gear
Stamina Nightblade PvP Build | |||||
Gear Slot | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchant | Acquisition |
Head | Balorgh | Heavy | Impenetrable | Prismatic | Vet March of Sacrifices |
Shoulders | Balorgh | Medium | Impenetrable | Stamina | Undaunted Chest |
Gloves | Shield Breaker | Medium | Impenetrable | Stamina | Imperial City or Guild Trader |
Legs | Shield Breaker | Medium | Impenetrable | Prismatic | Imperial City or Guild Trader |
Chest | Shield Breaker | Medium | Well-Fitted | Prismatic | Imperial City or Guild Trader |
Belt | Shield Breaker | Medium | Well-Fitted | Stamina | Imperial City or Guild Trader |
Boots | Shield Breaker | Medium | Well-Fitted | Stamina | Imperial City or Guild Trader |
Necklace | Stuhn's Favor | Jewelry | Robust | Weapon Damage | Crafted |
Ring | Stuhn's Favor | Jewelry | Robust | Weapon Damage | Crafted |
Ring | Stuhn's Favor | Jewelry | Robust | Stamina Recovery | Crafted |
Weapon 1 | Stuhn's Favor | 2h Maul | Nirnhoned | Poisons/Disease | Crafted |
Weapon 2 | Perfected Caustic Arrow | Bow | Infused | Weapon Damage | Vet Dragonstar Arena |
NOTE: If you don’t have access to the the Master’s Bow, use Potentates (for the 3% damage mitigation) or a set that gives magicka recovery.
Gear Explanation
- Balorgh: This set is currently one of the strongest offensive monster sets in the game, and adds a ton of pressure to your burst by giving you extra weapon damage and physical penetration whenever you use Incap. If you dont have Balorgh, my recommended alternative would be either Selene or Slimecraw.
- Shield Breaker: This set is an absolutely amazing damage boost to stamina nightblade. This set gives 6% flat damage at all times, and doubles if attacking against a shield, making our offense against magical opponents that use shields that much more potent. In addition, since this set has a line of stamina recovery, you’re able to squeeze more damage out of your jewelry glyphs, making the build hit that much harder.
- Stuhn’s Favor: Penetration is one of the strongest offensive stats for PvP, and this new set gives a ton of it. Stuhn’s has less uptime than something like Spriggan’s, but gives more damage, and nightblades who lean heavily into damage this patch are ripping people apart. If you dont like this set or cant craft it, just use Spriggan’s in its place (jewelry should be infused instead of Robust).
- Caustic Arrow: The Master’s Bow unlocks a ton of damage for any build that can afford to back bar this set. Between this set and the glyph we have on the bow, we add 725 (unbuffed) weapon damage to the target we are attacking, allowing us to burst them down that much quicker.
Attributes
- Health: 18
- Stamina: 46
NOTE: This attribute breakdown is for when you’re playing an Imperial. If you play a different race, put as many points into health as you need to get your HP outside of Cyrodiil (also assuming you’re CP 300+) above 18.5k – which will translate to 25k in Cyrodiil – and then put the rest into stamina.
Skills
Main Bar – 2h: Camouflaged Hunter, Surprise Attack, Relentless Focus, Executioner, Rally, Incapacitating Strike
Back Bar – Bow: Venom Arrow, Shadowy Disguise, Resolving Vigor, Shadow Image, Shuffle, Temporal Guard
NOTE: For group play, substitute Dawnbreaker of Smiting for Incapacitating Strike and Soul Siphon for Temporal Guard.
Vampire vs. Werewolf vs. Mortal
For this build I recommend playing as a mortal. Vampirism and Lycanthropy dont offer the build anything that it needs.
Champion Points
CHAMPION POINT 810 SETUP
THE MAGE (BLUE)
- Blessed – 19
- Physical Weapons Expert – 39
- Master-at-Arms – 81
- Mighty – 56
- Piercing – 31
- Precise Strikes – 44
THE THIEF (GREEN)
- Warlord – 56
- Sprinter – 25
- Siphoner – 1
- Arcanist – 32
- Mooncalf – 75
- Tumbling – 81
THE WARRIOR (RED)
- Ironclad – 66
- Resistant – 46
- Thick Skinned – 37
- Hardy – 49
- Elemental Defender – 49
- Quick Recovery – 23
Other Important Info
Buff Food
Lava Foot Soup and Saltrice: Maximum Stamina and Stamina Recovery
Mundus
Warrior – Increased Weapon Damage
Race
- Imperial
- Wood Elf
- Dark Elf
Potions/Poisons
- Potions: Tri-Stat (Bugloss, Columbine and Mountain Flower)
- Poisons: Your choice on poisons, but I personally prefer Double DoT poisons, Hindrance Poisons or Vulnerability Poisons.
Passives
Class (all), Medium Armor (all), Heavy Armor (all except the ones that require you to wear 5 pieces), Two-Handed (all), Bow (all), Undaunted (all), Racial (all), Alchemy (Medicinal Use), Psijic Order (Clairvoyance and Concentrated Barrier) Assault (all), Support (all except the first)
Tips & Misc.
- Maintain your venom arrow on your target to make sure that you’re getting the weapon damage boost from the master’s bow.
- Maintaining Relentless Focus will help make sure you’re always benefiting from the offensive bonus it offers, while also allowing you to weave Assassin’s Scourge into your rotation.
- Maintain Rally and Shuffle to maximize your defensive capabilities. Re-cast rally if you need a heal in a pinch, and casting Vigor will also give you a good heal and heal-over-time to supplement that.
- Stamina Nightblades mitigate their damage best through being hard to pin down. Use your mobility via dodge rolling and major expedition from your bow passives, as well as your shade, to your advantage.
- Picking your opponents and learning how to weave yourself in and out of combat via cloak will be instrumental to your success.
- Don’t over commit to a kill. You’re a medium armor stamina nightblade – you’re squishy. If you over commit to a kill and your opponent survives, they can easily turn the fight on you.
- Always be aware of your surroundings. You want to get the jump on your opponents, not the other way around.
- Use a medium weave before your burst while your target is set off-balance; this, as well as Surprise Attack from stealth, are your primary means of stunning your opponents.
Contact
If you have any questions about the build, join our discord server and ask @Dottz about the build!
Update Log
11/20/2019 – Build created
2/24/2020 – No changes for Harrowstorm
5/27/2020 – Monster set, skills, CP and race recommendations changed.
6/2/2020 – changed mSet
6/11/2020 – changed spriggans to stuhns
8/25/2020 – no changes for stonethorn
11/2/2020 – no changes for markarth