UPDATE for patch 1.6 (on PTS not final) Welcome to our ESO Nightblade Skills Guide. The Nightblade (NB) has some of the best and most powerful skills in Elder Scrolls Online and we’re here to show you how they work. This is part two in our Nightblade class guide, covering skills and morphs. We cover all the skills and morphs we feel are the best. Note, depending on your play-style, the best morph might be different than ours, regardless we’re going to explain each skill and how to use them. Let’s get started!
Assassination
Ultimate
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Death Stroke – Ravage enemy with a spinning attack to deal X Magic Damage and increase your damage against them by 20%. Also causes Major Defile, reducing the effectiveness of healing on the enemy by 40% for 6 seconds.
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Soul Harvest – While slotted, each kill generates increased Ultimate.
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Incapacitating Strikes – Stuns if caster has lower health than target.
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Active Skills
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Assassin’s Blade – Thrust a magic blade with a lethal precision to stab an enemy for X Magic Damage. Causes 300% more damage to low heath targets.
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Killer’s blade – Now scales off stamina and weapon damage and heals you if target dies within two seconds of use.
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Impale – Ability may be used at range.
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Teleport Strike – Flash through the shadows and ambush enemy for X Magic Damage, stunning them for 1.5 seconds. If the target is a player, they are immobilized for 1 second instead of being stunned.
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Ambush – Ability now scales off weapon damage and max stamina. Next attack against the target deals extra damage.
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Lotus Fan – After teleporting, deals damage and snares enemies in the area.
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Blur – Surround yourself in a phantasmic aura to gain major evasion, increasing your dodge chance by 20% for 20 seconds.
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Double Take – Bonus movement speed on activation.
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Mirage – Also increase armor.
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Mark Target – Expose an enemy’s weaknesses to afflict them with major fracture and major breach, reducing armor and spell resistance by X for 17 seconds. When a marked enemy dies, you are restored for 37% of your max health.
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Piercing Mark – Increased duration and you can see the target if they stealth or go invisible.
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Repear’s Mark – Gain damage bonus and a bigger heal when killing marked target.
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Grim Focus – Gain Minor Berserk for 20 seconds. While active, hit with 8 light or heavy attacks to turn this into Assassin’s Will and fire a spectral bow to deal X Magic Damage. Minor Berserk gives the player 8% bonus damage done.
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Merciless Resolve – Assassin’s Will does more damage and snares.
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Relentless Focus – Adds stamina regeneration.
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Passives
Master Assassin – Increases weapon and spell damage while invisible or stealthed by 10%. Successful stealthed attacks stun for 100% longer.
Executioner – Killing an enemy with an Assassination ability restores X magicka over 6 seconds.
Pressure Points – Increases critical strike rating by X for each assassination ability slotted.
Hemorrhage – Increases bonus critical strike damage by 10%. A successful critical hit gives nearby allies minor savagery, increasing weapon critical strike rating by X for 20 seconds.
Shadow
Ultimate
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[ap_column span=”2″]Main Skill
Consuming Darkness – Conjure a ring of shadows, reducing damage to you and your allies by 30% and reducing enemy movement by 70%. Low health allies in the target area can activate Hidden Refresh, granting invisibility and healing them for X over 4 seconds.
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Bolstering Darkness – Caster Takes less damage.
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Veil of Blades – Enemies in the area take damage over time.
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Active Skills
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Shadow Cloak – Cloak yourself in shadow to become invisible for 2.9 seconds.
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Dark Cloak – Removes damage over time effects.
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Shadowy Disguise – Guarantees a critical strike on next attack.
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Veiled Strike – Slash an enemy for X Magic Damage. Attacking with Veiled Strike while stealthed or invisible stuns the enemy and sets them off balance for 4.6 seconds.
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Surprise Attack – Ability now scales off weapon damage and max stamina. Reduces target’s armor on hit.
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Concealed Weapon – Increases stealthed movement speed while slotted.
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Path of Darkness – Create a corridor of shadows, dealing X magic damage to enemies in the target area every .5 seconds. While on the path, you gain major expedition increasing your movement speed 40%.
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Twisting Path – Affects a larger conal area and deals more damage.
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Refreshing Path – Path also heals allies.
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Aspect Of Terror – Summon a dark spirit to terrify up to 2 enemies, causing them to flee in fear for 4.5 seconds.
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Manifestation of Terror – Creates a trap that fears nearby enemies.
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Mass Hysteria – Enemy snared and deals less damage when effect ends.
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Summon Shade – Summon a shade version of yourself to attack an enemy and fight your side for 13.8 seconds. The shade’s attacks deal X Magic Damage and cause Minor Maim, reducing the target’s damage by 15% for 4 seconds.
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Shadow Image – Ranged shade deals more damage and you can activate again to teleport to the shade.
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Dark Shades – Summon 2 shades.
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Passives
Refreshing Shadows – Increases stamina regeneration by 30%.
Shadow Barrier – Activation a Shadow ability gives you Major Ward and Major Resolve, increasing Spell Resistance and Armor by X for 4 seconds. This duration is increased for each piece of Heavy Armor Equipped.
Dark Vigor – Each Shadow Ability slotted increases your Max Health by 3%.
Dark Veil – While Using Shadow Abilities, Increases duration of Shadow abilities by 15%.
Siphoning
Ultimate
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Soul Shred – Ravage nearby enemies’ souls with a night rune, dealing X magic damage and stunning them for X seconds. An ally can target an affected enemy and activate soul leech to steal X health.
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Soul Siphon – Heals nearby allies but deals less damage and no longer stuns.
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Soul Tether – Also deal high damage over time to a single enemy.
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Active Skills
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Strife – Steal an enemy’s life force, dealing X magic damage and healing you for 25% of the damage inflicted every 2 seconds.
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Swallow Soul – Received more healing while a ability is slotted.
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Funnel Health – Also heals a nearby ally.
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Agony – Shackle an enemy in torment stunning them for 30 seconds and dealing X magic damage over 5 seconds when the effect ends. Stun is broken if the enemy takes damage.
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Malefic Wreath – Deals area damage when effect ends.
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Prolonged Suffering – Damage over time last for longer.
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Cripple – Sap an enemy’s agility and bolster your own, reducing their movement speed by 40% and granting you major expedition, which increases your movement speed by 40%. Affected enemy also takes X magic damage over 8 seconds.
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Debilitate – Gain magicka when target dies.
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Crippling Grasp – Immobilizes and damage on impact.
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Siphoning Strikes – Imbue your weapons with soul-stealing power. Each basic attack restores at least 3% magicka and stamina and has a chance of restoring 15%. While toggled your attacks deal less damage weapon and spell damage is reduce by 28%.
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Siphoning Attacks – All attacks have a chance to restore magicka and stamina.
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Leeching Strikes – Attacks also restore health.
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Drain Power – Siphon the vigor from your enemies’ blood, dealing X Magic Damage to all nearby enemies. If an enemy is hit, you gain Majority Brutality, increasing Weapon Damage by 20% of 17 seconds.
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Power Extraction – Increased damage and now scales off weapon damage and max stamina.
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Sap Essence – Also heals nearby allies and increase spell damage.
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Passives
Catalyst – After Drinking a potion you gain 8 Ultimate.
Magicka Flood – With Siphoning Ability Slotted, Increased Max Magicka 8% while a Siphoning ability is slotted.
Soul Siphoner – While Using Siphoning Abilities, Increases the effectiveness of your Healing done by 3% for each Siphoning ability slotted.
Transfer – While Using Siphoning Abilities, Boosts your Ultimate by 2 whenever a Siphoning ability deals damage. This effect has a 6 second cooldown.