Nightblade

[Maximus(Brit)]

Most guides of this type would start by discussing which class lines to take. However, the answer is all 3. Depending on the focus of the time, all 3 lines contain abilities which are pretty critical to the Nightblade builds. Let's face it, Nightblades are a bit underpowered right now, compared to DKs and Sorcs, but we also have a toolbox that allows us to do some things no one else can.

Assassination:

Death Stroke - Ultimate - I tested this one out for a while and it's not terrible. Deals solid damage and reduces healing by 50%. The damage on this scales as you "overcap" ultimate, up to 275%. It's a decent ability, but not the best ultimate available to us imo.
- Morph > Incapacitating Strike - Also stuns for 3 seconds if the targets health is numerically higher than yours.

Assassin's Blade - Deals Magic Damage, and deals 300% damage to targets below 25%. This is our "Execute" ability, and it needs to be on your bar. At V7 with mediocre gear (at best) this hits for over 600 damage on low-health targets. Fights become a race to 25%, as you will quickly finish off enemies below that.
- Morph > Impale - Allows it to be used at range. No question here, better morph by a MILE than the 15% heal when killing an opponent.

Teleport Strike - Again, an ability that simply NEEDS to be on your bar. This is your gap closer, but it's much more than that. In PvE it also has a 1.5 second stun component, which can be used to interrupt abilities (specifically "hidden blades" type abilities which HURT).
- Morph > Ambush - Next attack deals 30-36% more damage. Again, not close. The other morph snares, this one allows you to follow up with a powerful attack allowing strong burst damage. Following this up with an already high-damage ability will put your target very close to the 25% mark.

Blur/Haste - These abilities simply don't make the cut on a 6 slot bar.

Mark Target - Currently bugged by all reports I've heard. I noticed absolutely no difference in testing on Live, so I'm inclined to agree. In theory, this is solid in PvP, and potentially strong in PvE vs bosses, but until it's fixed, it doesn't really do much.

Passives - There's not much to say here. Take all 4 passives, and rank 2 them. All are beneficial, and there's no downside to having them.


Shadow

Consuming Darkness - Ultimate - I haven't spent much time testing this, but it seems like the PvE dungeon Ultimate to have. The momentary invisibility will disrupt any charged attacks on the target, but more importantly the AoE Snare effect can help control mobs, while reducing allies damage taken by 30%. Just a solid support ability for tough, bursty fights when your group needs a chance to recover.
- Morph > I'm torn here, as both have merits, which are completely opposite. Bolstering Darkness will help take the pressure off of your healers, providing some momentary health regen to the group, while Veil of Blades is identified as doing damage every .5 seconds. That means 24-30 ticks of damage to all enemies in the Area of Effect. Unfortunately, the tooltip does not say how much damage, so this would require testing.

Shadow Cloak - Invis for 2.5 seconds. PvP this is a MUST. This is your escape ability, but it's also much more than that. This allows you to utilize Surprise Attack mid-combat and gain the stun component off of that ability. This can also be chained while escaping for as long as you have Magika. It's gotten me out of more than one tough jam.
-Morph > Either. Both morphs for this ability have merits. I personally run Dark Cloak as it removes Damage over Time effects which will immediately pop you back out of stealth. That said, Shadowy Disguise provides a 70% crit chance during the duration, which allows this to be used offensively, effectively guaranteeing your next attack crits (and Surprise Attack crits hit HARD).
- Note - This ability also can sometimes override the "hidden" lockout, allowing you to go hidden immediately after a kill. In PvP there is usually a delay before crouching allows you to be hidden. Hitting this ability, then crouching afterwards USUALLY (not always) keeps you hidden once the ability ends, allowing you to slip away.

Veiled Strike - Deals magic damage, if stealthed, also stuns target for 4 seconds. This hits HARD. In addition to that, 4 seconds in PvP is a lifetime. Literally. We are a burst damage class, which is capable of flooring an opponent in less than 4 seconds.
- Morph > Surprise Attacks. Reduces targets armor by 40% for 12-15 seconds. Remember what I said about bursty damage and killing things in less than 4 seconds? Take away nearly half of your targets armor. Do the math. Ouch. Concealed weapon is neat in that it improves stealth movement speed, but 40% armor reduction is, honestly, a bit absurd on an "anytime" ability that hits hard and has the upside of stunning out of stealth.

Path of Darkness - sets a "path" on the ground which hurts enemies in it, and gives you a run speed buff. It's just... not very good. I tried this one out and tried to find viable applications for it, but nothing that really warrants a slot on your bar. Yeah, it could help you chase down someone due to the speed buff, but it's not going to keep up with Sorc's Bolt Escape, so whatever.
- Morph > Either. Both are just mediocre. Gaining health likely has more upside, but again, this ability really isn't worth a slot.

Aspect of Fear - Fears 2 enemies. I used this a bit while trying to better handle groups of mobs. It's ok at what it does, but ultimately didn't warrant the bar slot. It's cost tends to be a bit high, and we have better Crowd Control options available.
- Morph > Mass Hysteria - While setting a trap that can fear 4 mobs is neat, if you ARE taking this, Mass Hysteria adds a snare component to take the mobs out of the fight even longer, while also reducing their damage. Just higher upside on MH. Still not a huge fan of this ability on a limited bar.

Summon Shade - Does what it says. Summons a shade to attack the target, reducing the damage done by 15%. It's cute, and it got me out of one jam on a quest that I was struggling with.... but not worth slotting.
- Morph > Summon Shades - Summons TWO Shades, which is certainly twice as cool. They do 30% (27% at IV) less damage, but it's effectively a 40-46% damage increase on the ability.

Passives - Again, take them all, rank 2 them. This is a recurring theme.


Siphoning

Soul Shred - Ultimate - Our best Ultimate, imo. Enemies within 6m of you take damage (600+ at v7 in my "meh" gear) and are Stunned for 3 seconds (4.5 seconds at IV). What else do I need to say. AoE damage, lots of it, and a LONG stun. This acts as both an escape ability, and an offensive weapon, as again, 4.5 seconds is a lifetime in a 1v1 fight.
-Morph > Depends. For 1v1 PvP fighting, Soul Tether is obviously more offensive in that it also tethers them to you, dealing damage as long as they stay nearby. For group PvE action, I actually like Soul Siphon as it helps take pressure off of healers, healing 3 nearby allies every .5 seconds, and has a 15m range as opposed to the normal 6m.

Strife - Ignore the tooltip you see a lot of places. This is not a DoT. It deals one punch of damage (ranged) and heals you for 25% of the damge done every 2 seconds for 10 seconds. This sounds a bit confusing, but what it does is say, you hit for 300 with this, it will heal you for 75hp every 2 seconds, for 10 seconds, gaining you a total of 375hp. Imo, this is a pretty much must-have ability when soloing, as it adds sustain that we desperately need while fighting multiple mobs due to our poor AoE.
Morph > Swallow Soul - Increased your healing received by 7% while this is slotted. Healing 2 allies is nice and all, but unless you are going some weird Resto Nightblade Spec (which I'll let someone else break down, as I haven't look at it AT ALL), it isn't really where we want to be. I can see an argument made for it in Group PvE, but it's kind of narrow.

Agony/Cripple - In a world where we were not restricted to 6 abilities per bar, sure. As it stands, we don't have ANY room on our bar for these. This may change with 1.1 if the 12 man content requires NBs to assist in Crowd Control, but that's a discussion for another day.

Siphoning Strikes - This is a must-have for Bow users. Being that pretty much any offensive Nightblade should be running Bow as their second weapon set, well, that makes this must have for all of us in PvE. THIS is the ability that allows me to take on boss mobs with relative ease. Don't worry about the reduction of 'white' damage (light/heavy attacks). The constant refresh of Stam/Magika allow you to continuously use abilities, increasing your overall damage, while providing an incredible amount of sustain. The primary reason this is huge, is for mobs that can be knocked back, or knocked down via Silver Bolts. You can effectively chain the knock down/back between 2-3 light attacks and a Magika Attack (usually Strife/Swallow Soul) to keep the mob from ever reaching you, or in the case of Daedric/Vamp/WW, from ever doing more than standing up and falling down again when timed correctly. It doesn't matter how long it takes to burn them down, as the regen + proc from this ability allows you to chain the knockback endlessly with this active.
- Morph > Leeching Strikes - Adds a health gain component to it. Adds sustain, and in combination with Strife/Swallow Soul, can keep your health climbing. Still a PvE only ability, but very strong for bow.

Drain Power Deals magic damage to nearby enemies (up to 6) and increases your weapon damage by 11% per mob hit (at IV). What can you really say. It's one of the few AoEs available to us, and in combination with Whirlwind from Dual Wield is really THE AoE set for us in dungeons. I swap these in and out on my bar during dungeons for AoE pulls. Worth noting, not only does this make Whirlwind hit harder, but allows us to utilize both resource pools for AoE.
- Morph > Power Extraction - increases max targets from 6 to 9. Not only does it hit more enemies, it means an increase of up to 99% weapon damage (instead of 66% normally).

look out for part 2

[Maximus(Brit)]

Part 2 - I'm a Nightblade... what weapons should I use?

So, this is a fun one for me as I've actually tested out all 3 melee weapon combinations (44 DW, 45 2-handed, 47 1h + Shield) a good bit, and always run with 2 of the 3 spec'd out to give me options on the fly. Let's start with the easy one, though....


If you are a Nightblade, and are not going the Resto or "Warlock" Destro Staff build, there is one very strict rule.

Your "alternate weapon" is the Bow.

No. There's no debate here. No arguing. It's bow. Shhh. It's going to be ok. Diz is here for you...

Why bow? Well, let's discuss!

Bow

Let's get the obvious out of the way first. Bow provides us with 2 things. First and foremost, range. While Swallow Soul and Impale can do damage at range, bow provides us a very real form of ranged DPS. This is beneficial in PvP, especially, for knocking opposing players from their horse with a Heavy Attack from stealth, as well as in PvE both solo and in group situations.

The Second thing Bow provides us, is Mob Control. Now, most MMO Vets are familiar with CC (Crowd Control) but I hesitate to use that term as you can't REALLY control a crowd, so much as 1 or 2 mobs. The line does include an AE Snare, but I'm not a huge fan of it. This improves survivability by an incredible amount, as well as making many solo dungeon/quest boss mobs trivial at best, due to being able to chain CC them.

To the abilities!!!!

Poison Arrow - Pretty basic, bread and butter ability. Deals a burst of poison damage, followed by a DoT. I used this quite often, though it is currently not on my bar due to simply being pushed out by other abilities.
- Morph > Venom Arrow. End of Story. Gives this the ability to interrupt casts, setting the caster off-balance for 3 seconds. Ranged interrupt. Huge.

Volley - Deals AoE damage to targeted area for 3 seconds. I wanted this to be good. But it's not. The damage is weak compared to other AoEs and keeping mobs in the circle for 3 seconds is unlikely solo. There are just better AoE options out there.
-Morph > Scorched Earth - Improving range/radius is nice, but the damage is what really matters and this adds an additional 6 seconds of Fire Damage to the ability, not to mention, making it VERY clear where the targeted area is.

Scatter Shot - Absolute, must have. Deals damage and knocks target back 6 meters. That's great. What's better? It disorients them for 5 seconds. As long as you do not hit them, they're out of the fight for 5 seconds. Against 1 mob, this allows you to charge a heavy attack, switch weapons, whatever your heart desires. Where it shines, is against 2+ mobs where you can quickly tag an add with this, bouncing them back and keeping them locked down for 5 seconds while you focus your primary target. With Leeching Strikes, this ability allows you to chain knockback on many boss mobs allowing you to endlessly keep them off of you. Mobs without a ranged attack can literally never deal you damage, allowing you to burn them down regardless of their total health.
- Morph > Either. This is really a choice of preference. Many people swear by Magnum Shot due to the increased damage and the fact it knocks you back 6m, providing a total of 12m separation. These arguments have their merits. I personally prefer Draining Shot due to the snare component which comes in handy (and at 50% means the same as doubling the knockback distance) but also because I don't like being knocked back into things I can't see behind me. I want to control the mobs position, not adjust mine. It's a control thing.

Arrow Spray - I'm not a huge fan of this ability due to the low damage, but I will admit, I need to test it further. Cone area of effect damage + snare does provide you an additional method not only of dealing AoE damage but helping control a group of mobs. I may just need to practice more with this and will update later if my opinion changes
- Morph > Either. Acid Spray deals some number of poison damage over the 5 second duration. I would have to see the numbers, but I expect them to be low. Bombard makes this a stronger CC ability as it immobilizes enemies for 6.5 seconds at IV. That's a very real CC ability, worth consideration, and is the reason why I may need to revisit this ability for testing.

Snipe - Pretty much exactly what it's name implies. Long range, 3 second charge, high damage ability. The real downside is that the target has to remain 20-60m away from you. If they step inside of 20m or outside of 60m during the charge, the ability is canceled. That's a pretty big detractor. Ultimately I didn't find this worth a bar slot and would rather charge a Heavy Attack from stealth and save the slot for other abilities.
- Morph > Focused Aim - Increases weapon power of ranged attacks. While I love the anti-heal capability of Lethal Arrow, the additional weapon damage is more likely to come into play, as Bow does not include enough burst damage to really take advantage of the reduced healing in PvP.

Passives Take 'em all, rank 'em 2. All ya need to know.


Dual Wield

This hurts to say... but Dual Wield is likely the weakest of the 3 Melee options (for now). Chief among the reasons is the lack of a viable "anytime" stamina ability. Twin Slashes hits for slightly more than a light attack, with a DoT bleed component making multiple uses of this diminish returns in a hurry. Flurry requires the target to stay in range for the duration and is back-loaded on damage where the last strike is the one that matters. Hidden Blades is the real gem of the bunch, due to both range and snare component. The real reason to go Dual Wield is the passives.

Passives
Slaughter - 20% dmg vs Low Health enemies with DW abilities
Dual Wield Expert - Increase Offhand damage by 25%
Controlled Fury - Decreases Cost of Dual Wield Feats by 20%
Ruffian - 15% extra damage vs stunned/immobilized/disoriented/silenced targets
Twin Blade and Blunt - Axe = Bleed, Mace = 5% dmg vs Heavy Armor, Sword = 2.5% damage increase, Dagger = 5% crit

TB&B and Ruffian are the standouts, as the direct damage increases. The rest are DW specific cost reductions and reducing the penalty on offhand damage.


Two Handed

Two-handed gained a lot of popularity due to the video released on Youtube showing the "Double Burst Blade Spec" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpPBeFvDxiM

The primary gain by utilizing a Two Handed weapon is the ability to have dual gap closers, one Magika based, one Stamina based. Additionally, Heavy attacks from a Two Hander have solid damage and can be pulled off during the available stuns the Nightblade class has. Additionally, Uppercut is a VERY strong attack with a 1 second "cast time" which stuns, and has 2 solid morphs. Reverse Slash provides a Stamina based "Execute" ability, with the 300% bonus to Low Health targets. This gives a lot of options for a PvP build which can utilize both Stamina and Magika effectively, but it comes with the downside of 1 less piece of gear from which to gain stats through Enchants/Traits.

Passives
Forceful - Light/Heavy attacks deal 25% damage to an additional nearby enemy
Heavy Weapons - 2h Axe = Bleed, 2h Mace = ignore 80 armor, 2h Sword = Deals 5% extra damage
Balance - Reduces 2h ability cost by 20%
Arcane Fighter - Increase chance of applying burning/chilling/etc by 100%
Battle Rush - Killing an enemy increases stamina regen by 50% for 6 seconds

Heavy Weapons is the only one of note here, making 2h Sword significantly better than Axe of Mace (80 armor is laughable at best). I'd like to do more testing to see the real impacts here.

One-handed and Shield

Currently, Sword and Board is incredibly strong for solo PvE action. This is predicated on what can only be referred to as a busted "Bash" ability. Bash currently deals more damage than a light attack, and equal damage to most weapon abilities at a lower cost, and with the added benefits of both interrupting casts, and blocking incoming attacks. This is what I currently use while soloing due to the increased survivability gained from "always blocking". Additionally you can "stack" abilities to trigger all at once utilizing what amounts to a bug, allowing a light attack, ability, and bash to be queued up rapidly in order, having all 3 fire off simultaneously, resulting in spikes of damage (while blocking still!) that are not intended. I'm not going to go too deep on that, as it's GOING to get fixed soon (rightfully so) and I'm not here to teach you exploits, but the actual mechanics and benefits of the line. That said, I can't condemn anyone "Bash Spamming" their way through PvE content like I currently am!

Aside from the bugged Bash ability, the line provides a couple of interesting tools. Namely, a Stamina-based Gap Closer, similar to the Two-handed line in Shielded Charge which has a stun component that can be lengthened via Morph, or provide a damage shield. Power Bash is a useful tool for taking someone out of the fight, providing a 2 second stun followed by 8 seconds of disoriented. Puncture is the big one with a 40% armor reduction for 12 seconds, though the "taunt" side of it makes this un-usable for group PvE. Low slash is just a generic snare with some damage on it that can help keep a target from running away, but again, Bolt Escape negates that completely.

Passives
Fortress - Reduces cost of blocking by 30% and cost of 1h/Shield abilities by 10%
Sword and Board - Increases weapon damage by 5% and block mitigation by 20%
Deadly Bash - Bash deals 100% more damage and costs 50% less. (This WILL get nerfed. Count on it.)
Deflect Bolts - Blocks 15% additional damage from ranged attackes
Battlefield Mobility - Increases movement speed by 50% while blocking (so you can just keep right click held down all the time wooo!)

Again, the only REAL reason to go 1h/Shield is because of Bash. 2h is strictly better for damage without the bash spamming and has the same 5% damage/Stamina Gap closer available while also providing a stamina based stun and a stamina based execute, giving you much more flexibility in your build.


So what's a girl to do?

Right now, my honest opinion is that for solo PvE, just rock the 1h/Shield combo and abuse bash. Against 1 or 2 mobs, you can open with Teleport Strike, Surprise Attack, Bash, Bash, Impale, which is enough to kill most mobs even without much in the way of crits, and allows you to keep block up the entire time. As I am approaching the end of my solo PvE days, I'll likely be moving back to Two Handed due to the powerful individual hits, and the versatility of Stamina based gap closer, stun and execute to compliment similar skills from Class abilities and maximize resource management.

I will also be toying with Dual Wield again, possibly trying to utilize Hidden Blades as the "anytime" Stamina ability with the Sword/Dagger combo for 5% crit and 2.5% damage increase, but I don't currently expect this to outweigh the benefits of Two-handed Sword. It comes down to an argument of 5% crit (which is hard to replace) vs 2.5% damage and more versatility in abilities. As crits only deal about 50% extra damage (base), 5% crit and 2.5% damage average out in the long term, but is lest "bursty".


Stay tuned for the Next Episode - What's a guy to wear?

[Maximus(Brit)]

Part 3 - It's time for the ball!!! Where's my dress!?

Obviously, you want to wear something that is going to accentuate your natural figure, and possibly bring out the color of your eyes.... umm... wait...


This is a pretty straight forward topic, with really only 3 "realistic" options. Again, this is not including any consideration for Nightblade Healers or the "Warlock" DestoStaff build, which should have their own conversations, as that might as well be a different class all together. Ultimately, you will either rock 7 pieces of Medium armor, 5 Medium 2 Light, or 5 Medium 2 Heavy.


Medium Armor

Complete with Chaps and Whips!

Let's state the obvious. Nightblade is the "Rogue" class. Rogue's wear Leather. Leather is Medium armor. It should come as no surprise that the Medium Armor passives are best fit for our class. That said, let's take a second to look at them.

Evasion - Active - 15% dodge for 20seconds. Can be morphed for an additional 1% dodge for each piece of leather (so potentially 22%). Not worth a bar slot. Period. Nightblade Tank option in PvE... if such a thing exists.
Dexterity - Increase Critical Strike chance with Physical attacks by 3% per piece of medium armor (21% crit with 7 peices!?)
Wind Walker - Increases Stamina Regen by 4% per peice of medium armor equipped
Improved Sneak - Decreases the detection radius by 5% and the sneaking cost by 7% per piece of medium armor
Agility - Increases attack speed by 10% when 5 or more pieces of medium armor are equipped
Athletics - Increases Sprint Move Speed by 4% and the stamina cost of Roll Dodge by 4% per piece (I assume this is a typo and it means REDUCES the cost of Roll Dodge)

There's really not a whole lot to say here, maximizing critical change, minimizing sneak cost, and getting additional stamina regen. Less utility than a "mixed" set, with more focus.


Light Armor

Because dresses are cool!

A number of people have advocated utilizing at least 2 pieces of Light Armor due to the Magika bonuses associated with them. Personally I am not a supporter of this, as the reduced armor values are a detractor, and the tradeoff from the Medium Armor passives does not feel worth it. That said, here's what you get.

Annulment - Active - Creates a damage shield for 20 seconds, players take 50% less damage while the shield holds. Morphs can increase shield strength or provide magika regen. This would never go on your bar, so moving along.
Evocation - Reduces the magika cost of spells by 3% per piece of light armor equipped
Recovery - Increased Magika regen by 4% per piece of light armor equipped
Spell Warding - Increase base spell resistance by 8% per piece of light armor equipped
Prodigy - 10% spell crit if wearing 5 or more pieces of light armor
Concentration - 6% Spell Penetration (ignore spell resist) per piece of light armor equipped

You gain some Spell resistance and Magika efficiency at the cost of Crit, Speed, Armor and Stamina regen. I just don't see the allure here.


Heavy Armor

Sometimes you just gotta slap on some plate armor and dive right in!

The obvious first step in making yourself more "tanky" and improving your survivability is adding Heavy Armor. The increased armor values certainly help make you less of a glass cannon, but again, come at the cost of reduced Crit. Personally, I feel you get far more upside from mixing Heavy armor than Light, but let's look at the numbers.

Immovable - Active - Increases Armor and Spell resistance by 17 for 8 seconds, and prevents knockback and disabling effects for the duration. Ever wonder why vamps were impossible to catch? This is the ability they were abusing. The morphs on this are pretty sweet, increasing duration or providing additional melee attack power. I still would struggle to find room for this on my bar, ever.
Resolve - Increases Armor and Base Spell resist by 3% per piece of heavy armor equipped
Constitution - Increases health regen by 4% per piece of heavy armor equipped
Juggernaut - Increases melee attack power by 1% per piece of heavy armor equipped
Bracing - Reduces the cost of blocking by 20% when 5 or more pieces of heavy armor are equipped
Rapid Mending - Increases healing received by 1% per piece of heavy armor equipped

Slightly more "Tanky" while actually providing a slight Melee power boost to help compensate for the lost Crit chance. Not terrible.

To comapre:

7 Medium
21% Crit
28% Stam Regen
35% Reduced Detection Radius
49% Reduced Sneak Cost
10% Attack Speed
28% Sprint Speed
28% Reduction of Roll Dodge cost

7 Medium 2 Light
Lower Total Armor Value
15% Crit
20% Stam Regen
25% Reduced Detection Radius
35% Reduced Sneak Cost
10% Attack Speed
20% Sprint Speed
20% Reduction of Roll Dodge Cost
6% Reduced Spell Cost
8% Magika Regen
16% Base Spell Resistance
12% Spell Penetration (Not really relevant)

5 Medium 2 Heavy
Higher Total Armor Value
15% Crit
20% Stam Regen
25% Reduced Detection Radius
35% Reduced Sneak Cost
10% Attack Speed
20% Sprint Speed
20% Reduction of Roll Dodge Cost
6% Armor
6% Base Spell Resist
8% Health Regen
2% Melee Weapon Power
2% Increased Healing Received


While that's a lot of numbers to consume, it really comes down to the trade off of 6% Crit Chance vs increased armor, resists, and some minor health regen. While I do want to test the numbers specifically utilizing Chest and Pants for the Heavy Armor slots to maximize the Armor Values, I am a firm believer in the theory that "getting them dead" quicker is better for survivability than a few points of armor. Critical Strike Chance is one of the hardest stats to "Soft Cap" and is one of the most important stats to ANY Rogue-type class. Personally, I think 7 Medium is just the best way to go. I can understand the 5/2 Medium/Heavy build and it's merits, I just disagree personally.

So now that we know WHAT to wear... the real fashion question is WHO do we wear?

[Maximus(Brit)]

final one

Well that's a mighty fine suit you have on there, who made it?

Delving a bit more in detail on Nightblades, is the discussion of Set bonuses, Traits, Enchants, Procs, etc.

In terms of Enchantments, I still have a lot of research to do as far as the actual values associated with each level, and how these impact our damage/mitigation/utility etc. However, just looking at the basic premise of each Glyph we can determine the ones which are LIKELY to be beneficial as a starting point to the testing.


Armor Glyphs

These are incredibly basic. You have 3 options, and they are used to fill in the gaps between your current stats, and the associated Soft Caps. As such, these should be chosen after the rest of your gear is chosen.

Glyph of Magika - Increases Max Magika
Glyph of Stamina - Increases Max Stamina
Glyph of Health - Increases Max Health

Like I said... as basic and plain as it gets. Combined with your stat distribution from levels, you want to maximize all 3 stats while staying below or at the Soft Cap for each. This is kind of a fill in the blank area, though Health is likely the more important stat as it improves your survivability, whereas the others simply increase your resource pool.

Weapon Glyphs

These are your weapon procs which can do a couple of different things from dealing elemental damage, to reducing armor, to increasing your power. Extensive testing needs to be done regarding the impact of "Power" increase vs Damage increase to see what the effect is, as well as the impact of reducing armor.

Glyph of Frost/Foulness/Poison/Shock/Flame - Deals X damage of the associated element (frost, disease, poison, shock, and fire). Basic direct Damage proc
Glyph of Rage - Increases your power by X. Base physical damage increase
Glyph of Hardening - Grants a Damage Shield absorbing some amount of damage
Gplyh of Absorb Magika/Stamina/Health - deals a small amount of magic damage while recovering a small amount of Magika/Stam/Health
Glyph of Decrease Health - Deals "unresistable" damage. Less than other proc damage, but bypasses all resistances
Glyph of Weakening - Reduces targets Power by X. Base physical damage reduction.
Glyph of Crushing - Reduce targets armor by X.

The real standout of the bunch as far as Nightblades are concerned is the Glyph of Crushing for PvP (PvE armor penetration doesn't seem to have a large effect). This allows our weapon line and Light/Heavy attacks to deal significantly more damage as the values per level are no joke. Again, this is all somewhat of a placeholder if you will, as significant testing would need to be done to compare the damage increase against players provided by reduced armor vs the actual damage done by a 30-40 point Frost/Flame/Shock etc proc.

Additionally, player resists would need taken into consideration to see if the "Unresistable" proc outweighs the damage done AFTER resists/armor by the other procs. Tanky builds will enjoy the straight forward Damage Shield provided by Hardening, which is worth some consideration in PvP/PvE.

This is all a long way of saying "We need to test these" to identify the real values. I believe in burst damage, especially in PvP, so the armor reduction is the one with the greatest appeal.


Jewelery Glyphs

Insert your resistances and some abstract bonuses here. 3 Slots for resists isn't much, but fortunately the values are numerically high on the enchants. I would want to see some testing done before and after to see the tangible reduction of damage from the resists.

Glyph of Increase Physical Harm - Adds X Weapon Damage
Glyph of Health/Stam/Magika Regen - Adds X Appropriate Regen
Glyph of Bashing - Increase Bash damage by X
Glyph of Potion Boost - Increase potion effect by X
Glyph of Increased Magical Harm - Increase Spell Damage by X
Glyph of Frost/Fire/Shock/Poison/Disease Resist - Increases Appropriate resist by X
Glyph of Reduced Spell Cost - Reduce Magika cost of SPELLS by X (don't think this affects our class abilities, needs tested)
Glyph of Decrease Physical Harm - Increases Armor by X
Glyph of Decrease Spell Harm - Increase Magic Resistance by X
Glyph of Shielding - Reduces Bash and Blocking Cost
Glyph of Potion Speed - Reduces Potion Cooldown.

While there's a lot of testing that needs done to see what the actual mitigation levels are for the resists, the one Glyph that really jumps out is the Increase Physical Harm, as it directly increases our weapon damage which is likely our most important stat. We aren't really built for the long-term in PvP and are more about dumping as much damage as quickly as possible on a target and getting out. Certain builds/situations may call for Resistance or Armor increases (i.e. Vamps + Fire Resist), but for the most part I believe damage is the primary attribute we should be looking for. I need to test the effects of Increase Magical Harm to see if it increases the damage of our class abilities (I'm leaning towards no, but haven't tested) at which point a combination of the two, or possibly leaning one way or the other depending on build/impacts of Resists/Armor mitigation.



Armor Sets

There are a few Armor Set bonuses that are hugely beneficial to Nightblades. While some are situational or merely passive bonuses, these are effectively "Free" Glyphs in that they add additional bonuses that do not take up Glyph/Trait slots and can be used to augment Stats or Regen, or provide powerful effects.

Death's Wind - 3 Items - If struck by a melee attack while below 35%, triggers and AoE knockback. Once per 3 minutes. Obviously beneficial at getting some space when low on health, potentially opening up a gap closer, or in a close fight, ranged Impale finishers

Night's Silence - 3 Items - While hidden increased Health Regen by 40% - situational at best, allows you to vanish away, establish "hidden" and recover health quickly to get back in the fight. Likely not worth it.

Ashen Grip - 3 items - 10% chance to "Breath Fire" for X damage on melee hits, once per 4 seconds. Bonus damage on melee attacks. Depending on the amount of damage dealt, could very well be worth the 3 slots.

Magus Gift - 3 Items 5% chance to negate the cost of a spell - If this affects class abilities, it's something, likely not worth the slots though.

WhiteStrake's Retribution - 3 items - if wearer's health is below 30% gain a damage shield for 10 seconds, once per 3 minutes. Helps win close fights by mitigating some damage. Maybe.

Song of Lamae - 3 items - 11 Health Recovery. Passive bonus.
Song of Lamae - 5 items - When health drops below 30% deal X damage and recover health equal to damage dealt. Similar to above but more aggressive. At 5 pieces I find this hard to justify.

Night Mother's Gaze - 3 Items - Critical Attacks also reduce the targets armor by 20% for 5 seconds. Oh, my. We are built to crit, and doing so reduces their armor by 20% meaning MORE damage. This is THE set.

Hunding's Rage - 3 Items - 11 Stamina Recovery. Yay passive bonuses
Hunding's Rage - 5 Items - Increased Weapon Damage by 5% when using weapon abilities. Certainly useful, but 5 item is a lot to ask.

Oblivion's Foe - 3 Items - 10 Magika Recovery. The 5 pc is uselss, but if you need Magika recovery, this is an option

Spectre's Eye - 3 Items - 47 Max Magika (FREE STATS!)
Spectre's Eye - 5 Items - Gain 20% dodge chance for 3 seconds after casting a spell that costs Magika, 6 sec cooldown - If this triggers off of Class Abilities, it could very well be worth the 5 piece bonus.

Kagrenac's Hope - 3 Items - 12 Stamina Recovery. More passive bonus options

Orgnum's Scales - 3 Items - 119 Max Health
Orgnum's Scales - 5 Items - IF below 50% health, increase health regen by 50% Solid combat health regen boost.

Shalidor's Curse - 3 Items - 12 Magika Recovery
Shalidor's Curse - 5 Items - When attacking a target below 20% health, gain 15% health, 30 second cooldown.


Unless you find a piece of Jewelry that is part of one of these sets, you will typically have 8 or 9 slots for set bonuses until Jewelcrafting is introduced. This means typically 2 sets, either a 3 and a 5 or two 3pc sets, though you COULD potentially run three separate 3pc crafted sets while Dual Wielding, though the set will break while using your bow. Night Mother's is an incredible effect for only 3 pieces, while some sets like Orgnum's Scales and Shalidor's Curse provide incredible 5 piece bonuses. Be aware, these require 8 traits for crafters to make and thus will be very hard to acquire.


Traits

There are a number of traits which are highly beneficial, and a few that need tested. Helow are the ones worth mentioning.

Armor Traits

Impenetrable - This one needs tested, but decreases the chance to be crit. The values provided in the tooltip are meaningless in terms of associating an ACTUAL value as instead of providing a percent, it provides a value (70, 80, 90) which thus far, does not equate to any known value. At it's core, this stat is still solid as reducing crits reduces the amount of burst damage you take, thus improving survivability.

Reinforced - Increases armor value of the item by X%. This is much more tangible, at least in the number of "armor value" it provides can be measured. The amount of mitigation this provides still needs tested (as does armor mitigation in general).

Divines - Increases Mundus Stone Effects by X% - Again, a tangible value if you can identify the base improvement given by Mundus Stones. Many of these can be determined by checking the character page, acquiring the Mundus Stone Buff, and then checking the new value, then doing basic math to see what the improvement would be.

Infused - Increases Armor Enchantment by X% - Again, tangible. Adds a % of the enchanted stat. Helps get closer to the Soft Cap on stats


Weapon Traits

Precise - Increases Crit Chance by X%.

Sharpened - Increases Weapon/Spell Penetration by X%

Weighted - Increases Weapon Speed by X% Light/heavy attacks swing faster!

Defending - Increase Total armor and spell resistance by X%

Infused - Same as armor, increases the enchanted effect by X% (improves damage done by procs, armor reduction value, etc)

Powered - Proc more often.

 

hope all this helps :)

[Twitinator666]

THIS IS AMAZ_BALLS!!!!! just what i need for my lil rougue stabber lol. will read this more indepth latter but as of now WOW. great source of info

[BreakBeard]

Thanks for the information Max, you really know your stuff and glad you're using your knowledge to simplify things. I also run Nightblades for my main characters as their skillsets are just my style. I currently am using a Restro Staff build and it is proving to be a tough nut to crack. I have soloed a couple world bosses in Stonefalls like Shivering Shrine and Cave of Memories being just a level over the boss.

A great combo to keep health up is a strife(funnel health for group heals or Swallow Soul for a solo aspect) and Regeneration morphed to Rapid Regeneration to get more health per second for a shorter period of time. If you want to learn more about the skills then look above :D. This combo along with the passive "Essence Drain" helps with the extra small heal either to you or a friend. I'll also post my build maybe tonight at the hotel or when I finally get all moved in.

[Twitinator666]

Im currently using duel daggers and siphon skill set. Am finding that i not hitting very hard and do struggle with harder dudes.

[BreakBeard]

Ya Dual wielding can be underpowered or overpowered depending on what you spam. What abilities do you use in your slots? 

Make sure you have flurry(or whatever you have it morphed to) as that does the best DPS in the skillset. Do you utilize the attacks from assassinate or shadow skillsets? Veiled Strike does a godly amount of damage for the little magicka it requires. Also Killers Blade is great for low health targets and if you morph it you can get a health bonus after killing someone.

[Twitinator666]

I'll post up my build in next few days. I can tell ya I don't use n e other night blade skills I.e. assassin just siphon and duel weld skills.