Nigthblade is the rogue, assassin or thief archetype class in The Elder Scrolls Online. Befriended by shadow and stealth, a nightblade will quickly surprise and dispatch their unsuspecting enemies.
Nightblade Skill Lines
Nightblade’s skill lines are Assasination, Shadow and Siphoning.
Each skill line comes with one ultimate skill, five active abilities and four passive skills. The ultimate skills and active skills can be morphed. There’s two morph options available for every morphable ability. Morphs change the original skill in a specific way, enabling you to choose a right set of skills for the right situation. Once you have morphed an ability, it will replace the original ability.
Ultimate Skills
- Instant
- 5 m. range
- 50 ultimate
- Deals 0 damage while reducing healing received by 50%. Damage increases as player’s Ultimate charge increases, up to 275%.
Morphed from Death Stroke
- Stuns for 3 seconds if caster has lower Health than target.
Morphed from Death Stroke
- Passively increases Ultimate recharge from successful kills while slotted.
Active Skills
- Instant
- 5 m. range
- 25 Magicka
- Deals 14 Magic Damage. Low Health targets take 300% additional damage.
Morphed from Assassin’s Blade
- Increases range to 15 m.
Morphed from Assassin’s Blade
- Heals player for 15% Max Health when killing an opponent with this ability.
- Cast time 0.75 seconds
- 22 m. range
- 53 Magicka
- Player moves through the shadows, appearing next to the target. Deals 17 Magic Damage to enemies and stuns monsters for 1.5 seconds.
Morphed from Teleport Strike
- Deals 20 Magic Damage to enemy and stun monsters for 1.5 seconds. Next attack on target deals 30% additional damage.
Morphed from Teleport Strike
- Teleports player to enemy and unleashes a fan of knives for 7 Magic Damage to all nearby enemies. Affected enemies are snared 60% for 6 seconds and bleed for 12 Physical Damage.
- Instant
- Target: Self
- Duration: 20 seconds
- 49 Magicka
- Enemies have 15% miss chance when attacking you, for 20 seconds.
Morphed from Blur
- Enemies have 15% miss chance when attacking you, for 26 seconds. Misses have a chance of setting attacker off balance, for 3 seconds.
Morphed from Blur
- Enemies have 15% miss chance when attacking you, for 26 seconds. Miss chance increased by an additional +15% for 2 seconds.
- Instant
- 50 m. range
- Duration: 60 seconds
- 70 Magicka
- Marks a target for death. Player’s attacks ignore 75% of target’s Armor and Spell Resistance, and target’s attacks ignore 75% of player’s Armor and Spell Resistance. Killing a marked target restores player’s health by 37%.
Morphed from Mark Target
- 53 Magicka
- Killing a marked target restores player’s health by 40%. Marked targets are revealed to player.
Morphed from Mark Target
- Killing a marked target restores player’s health by 60% and increasing Weapon Power by 12 and Spell Power by 12, for 30 seconds.
- Instant
- Self
- Duration: 17 seconds
- 49 magicka
- Increase attack speed with light and heavy attacks by 30% for 17 seconds.
Morphed from Haste
- Duration: 20 seconds
- Increases attack speed with light and Heavy Attacks by 30% and recovers a total of Stamina for 20 seconds.
Morphed from Haste
- Duration: 20 seconds
- Increases attack speed with light and Heavy Attacks by 30% for 20 seconds. Every 10th weapon attack immobilizes enemy for 2 seconds.
Passive Skills
Master Assassin (0/2)
- Increases Weapon Damage while using Invisibility or Stealth by 5%. Successful crouched attacks stun for a longer duration.
Executioner (0/2)
- Killing an enemy with an Assassination ability restores 12 magicka over 6 seconds.
Pressure Points (0/2)
- Increases Critical Strike rating by 1.5% for each Assassination ability slotted.
Hemorrhage (0/2)
- Increases bonus Critical Strike damage by 5% while you have an Assassination ability slotted.
Ultimate Skills
- Instant
- 5 m. radius
- Duration: 12 second
- 200 ultimate
- Creates an area of darkness for 12 seconds. Enemies in this area are snared 70%. Nearby allies take -30% less damage and caster gains an additional +100% of this value. Grants allies in the area Slip Away, granting them invisibility.
Morphed from Consuming Darkness
- Duration: 15 second
- Creates an area of darkness for 15 seconds. Enemies in this area are snared 70%. Nearby allies take -30% less damage and caster gains an additional +100% of this value. Grants allies in the area Hidden Refresh, granting them invisibility and healing them for over time for 4 seconds.
Morphed from Consuming Darkness
- Duration: 15 second
- Creates an area of darkness for 15 seconds. Enemies in this area are snared 70% and take 4 Magic Damage every 0.5 seconds. Nearby allies take -30% less damage and caster gains an additional +100% of this value. Grants allies in the area Slip Away, granting them invisibility.
Active Skills
- Instant
- 35 m. radius
- Duration: 2.5 second
- Gives player invisibility for 2.5 seconds.
Morphed from Shadow Cloak
- Gives player invisibility for 2.5 seconds and grants 70% Critical strike rating for duration.
Morphed from Shadow Cloak
- Gives player invisibility for 2.5 seconds and removes 1 damage over time effect.
- Instant
- 5 m. range
- 35 Magicka
- Deals 22 Magic Damage. If stealthed, attack sets enemy off balance and stuns them for 4 seconds.
Morphed from Veiled Strike
- Deals 25 Magic Damage. If stealthed, attack sets enemy off balance and stuns them for 4 seconds. Reduces enemy Armor by -40% for 12 seconds.
Morphed from Veiled Strike
- Deals 25 Magic Damage. If stealthed, attack sets enemy off balance and stuns them for 4 seconds. Passively increases stealthed movement speed by 15% while slotted.
- Instant
- Target: Self
- Duration: 10 seconds
- 53 Magicka
- Enemy targets in front of player take 2 Magic Damage every second for 10 seconds. Paths may only be seen by player and increases movement speed 50% for duration.
Morphed from Path of Darkness
- 15 m. radius
- Enemy targets in front of player take 5 Magic Damage every second for 10 seconds. Paths may only be seen by player and increases movement speed 50% for duration.
Morphed from Path of Darkness
- Enemy targets in front of player take 5 Magic Damage every second for 10 seconds. Paths may only be seen by player and increases movement speed 50% for duration. Player healed for 0 every 1 second.
- Instant
- 6 m. radius
- Duration: 3.2 seconds
- Cost: 60 Magicka
- Induces fear in 2 nearby enemies for 4 seconds.
Morphed from Aspect of Terror
- Instant
- Target: Self
- Duration: 30 seconds
- Cost: 56 Magica
- Creates a trap that lasts for 30 seconds. When triggered, manifestation induces fear in nearby enemies for 4 seconds.
Morphed from Aspect of Terror
- Cost: 56 Magica
- Induces fear in 2 nearby enemies for 4 seconds, then reduces affected targets’ Power by 27% and snares them 50%, for 3 seconds.
- Instant
- 28 m. range
- Duration: 0.8 seconds
- 35 magicka
- Summons a shade to attack target enemy for 17 seconds. Attacked enemies deal 15% less damage for 4 seconds.
Morphed from Summon Shade
- Summons a shade to attack target enemy for 20 seconds. Attacked enemies deal 15% less damage for 4 seconds. Activating again teleport player to shade.
Morphed from Summon Shade
- Summons 2 shades to attack target enemy for 20 seconds. Attacked enemies deal 15% less damage for 4 seconds. Shades deal 30% less damage.
Passive Skills
Refreshing Shadow (0/2)
- Activating a Shadow ability increases
Stamina regeneration by 15% for 6 seconds.
Shadow Barrier (0/2)
- Increases Armor and Spell Resistance by 17 for 4 seconds when coming out of Stealth or Invisibility.
Fortitude (0/2)
- Increase max health by 2% per shadow ability
slotted.
Dark Veil (0/2)
- Increases duration of Shadow abilities by 8%.
Ultimate Skills
- Instant
- 6 m. radius
- 150 ultimate
- Nearby enemies take 33 Magic Damage and are stunned for 3 seconds. An ally may activate the Soul Leech synergy initiating a high damage life-stealing attack.
Morphed from Soul Shred
- 15 m. radius
- Duration: 2.5 seconds
- Deals 16 magic damage.
- Your allies may activate the Soul Leech synergy: A high damage life stealing attack
- Three nearby allies take 11 healing every 0.5 seconds for 3 seconds.
Morphed from Soul Shred
- Duration: 8 seconds
- Nearby enemies take 33 Magic Damage and are stunned for 4.5 seconds. Closest enemy is tethered to the player, taking 5 Magic Damage every 1 second while they remain nearby. An ally may activate the Soul Leech synergy, activating a high damage life-stealing attack.
Active Skills
- Instant
- 28 m. range
- Duration: 0.5 seconds
- 35 Magicka
- Deals 18 Magic Damage and heals player for 30% of the damage inflicted, every 2 seconds for 10 seconds.
Morphed from Strife
- Deals 21 Magic Damage and heals player and two nearby allies for 30% of the damage inflicted, every 2 seconds for 10 seconds.
Morphed from Strife
- Deals 21 Magic Damage and heals player for 30% of the damage inflicted, every 2 seconds for 10 seconds. Player also recieves 7% more healing from all sources while ability is slotted.
- Cast time: 1.5 seconds
- 28 m. range
- Duration: 12 seconds
- 42 Magicka
- Stuns enemy for 12 seconds, effect is broken by damage from any source. After effect ends enemy takes 8 Magic Damage over 5 seconds.
Morphed from Agony
- Stuns enemy for 12 seconds and deals 14 Magic Damage when effect ends. Damage is increased by 2% for each second the effect lasts. Effect is broken by damage from any other source.
Morphed from Agony
- Stuns enemy for 12 seconds, effect is broken by damage from any source. After effect ends enemy takes 30 Magic Damage over 7 seconds.
- Instant
- 28 m. range
- 42 Magicka
- Siphons movement speed from enemy and gives it to player while dealing 40 Magic Damage over 8 seconds.
Morphed from Cripple
- Siphons movement speed from enemy and gives it to player while dealing 64 Magic Damage over 8 seconds. On impact, deals 6 Magic Damage and immobilizes target for 1.5 seconds.
Morphed from Cripple
- Siphons movement speed from enemy and gives it to player while dealing 64 Magic Damage over 8 seconds. Enemy weapon attacks are 17% slower.
- Instant
- Target: Self
- While toggled, basic weapon attacks restore 2% Magicka and Stamina, but deal 23% less damage. 10% chance on basic weapon attacks to restore 15% Magicka and Stamina.
Morphed from Siphoning Strikes
- While toggled, basic weapon attacks restore 2% Magicka, Health, and Stamina, but deal 20% less damage. 10% chance on basic weapon attacks to restore 15% Magicka and Stamina.
Morphed from Siphoning Strikes
- While toggled, basic weapon attacks restore 2% Magicka, Health, and Stamina, but deal 20% less damage. 10% chance all attacks to restore 15% Magicka and Stamina.
- Instant
- 8 m. radius
- 46 magicka
- Deals 11 Magic Damage to nearby enemies and increases Weapon Damage by 6% for each enemy damaged, for 17 seconds.
Morphed from Drain Power
- Deals 11 Magic Damage to nearby enemies and increases Weapon Damage by 8% for each enemy damaged, for 20 seconds. Max number of targets increased from 6 to 9.
Morphed from Drain Power
- Weapon Damage is increased by 6% for each enemy damaged, for 20 seconds. Nearby allies are healed for 5. This value is increased 20% for each enemy hit.
Passive Skills
Catalyst (0/2)
- Increases potion effectiveness by 10%.
Magicka Flood (0/2)
- Increase max Magicka by 4% while you have a
Siphoning ability slotted.
Soul Siphoner (0/2)
- Increases Healing from Siphoning abilities by 8%.
Transfer (0/2)
- Bestows 1 Ultimate when dealing damage with a Siphoning ability.
Assasination
Assasination skill line focuses on dealing a lot of damage in a short period of time.
Death Stroke is probably the best ultimate skill a Nightblade gets in terms of pure damage. There’s two main reasons for this. First of all, it only costs a minimum of 50 Ultimate to use, which is incredibly cheap. Secondly, you can choose to use more Ultimate, charging the damage up to 275%. The more Ultimate you use, the more damage you will deal. On top of this, Death Stroke applies a -50% healing taken debuff on the enemy.
Assasin’s Blade is an execute ability or a finisher. It deals 300% more damage to low Health targets, making it the skill of choice to use once an enemy hits a low Health percentage. Killer’s Blade morph heals you for 15% of your total Health every time you kill an enemy with it, making it a very useful skill for levelling. The other morph option, Impale, is a more PvP oriented skill which increases the range to 15 meters. You’ll be able to finish off enemies that are running away more comfortably with it.
Teleport Strike is a great mobility skill for Nightblades. It closes the gap between the Nightblade and its target. The short stun is useful against monsters, but only works against non-players targets. Teleport Strike is a nice way to quickly catch your enemy. When morphed to Lotus Fan, the skill also deals AOE damage around the target. It may not be a huge amount of AOE damage, but for Nightblades who severely lack in that department, it will be useful.
Blur gives the Nightblade a buff which increases the chance that enemy attacks will miss by 15%. The skill is a lot better than it looks like on paper, but in my opinion only for Nightblade tank builds.
Mark Target is an excellent single target ability: 75% ignore Armor and Spell Resistance plus heals for 37% of your Health if you kill the marked target. The skill does have a hefty Magicka cost, though. Reaper’s Mark morph will bump the Health restore even more, up to 60%. The self healing capabilities of this skill are amazing.
Shadow
Shadow skill line is the trademark Nightblade skill line, focusing on Stealth.
Consuming Darkness is a very powerful ultimate skill for many reasons. It makes your allies in the area invisible, reduces the damage they take and snares enemies. Whilst the skill doesn’t do any damage by default, giving your allies invisiblity accounts to a lot of damage on its own, because stealth attacks always crit. Bolstering Darkness morph grants the allies a synergy which will also heal them over time on top of granting invisibility. The other morph option is Veiled Blades, which adds a damage component to the original skill.
Shadow Cloak is probably the reason you’d want to play a Nightblade in the first place: invisibility. It lasts for only 2.5 seconds, but allows you to get a critical hit off or escape from fights you don’t want to fight. You can increase the duration of Shadow Cloak slightly with Dark Veil passive. Shadowy Disguide morph allows you to get a near-guaranteed extra critical hit off.
Veiled Strike is a skill which greatly benefits from Stealth. If attacked from Stealth, it sets enemy off balance and stuns them for 4 seconds. Concealed Weapon may be the morph of choice for players who enjoy sneaking around, as it passively increases movement speed in stealth.
Siphoning
Siphoning skill line brings a lot of options for Nightblades: crowd control, utility and even healing.
Soul Shred is a great Ultimate. Not only does it deal AOE damage and stun every enemy, but it also allows your allies to active Soul Leech synergy which drains Health. Soul Siphon morphs also grants your allies a heal-over-time effect, whilst Soul Tether helps you deal more damage to a single target.
Strife is the bread and butter for every Nigthblade. It is possibly one of the biggest reasons along with stealth why Nightblades make such strong solo classes. Strife is an instant cast and heals the Nightblade over time depending on how much damage was dealt. Funnel Health morph extends the heal to two nearby allies.
Agony stuns the target for 12 seconds, but the stun breaks on damage. It’s a nice ability to have for control in any case.
Siphoning Strikes is the only Nightblade skill which doesn’t actually cost anything. It’s a toggle-skill which gives you a chance to restore both Magicka and Stamina, but at the same it penalizes the damage you deal. It’s an useful skill for situations where you know you don’t necessarily have to deal a lot of damage, but may need to soon. You can toggle Siphoning Strikes on to pool resources for the incoming burst window.
Drain Power can potentially be a very good ability, especially for Nightblades who focus on Physical Damage (melee weapons or Bow). Drain Power is an AOE attack which also increases your weapon power for each enemy you hit. There is a cap for this skill: at default it is 6 enemies, with Power Extraction morph it’s increased to 9. The reason it’s useful for Physical Damage Nightblades especially is because it’s easier to have a higher uptime of Drain Power buff if you focus on weapon abilities instead, which use Stamina as resource. Class abilities and most other skill lines use Magicka as resource.