Table of Contents
Updated: January 2022 – Deadlands.
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Introduction
Welcome to the Potion Addict ESO Nightblade Tank Build.
Please be aware that this build is not something you would use in an organised and optimised group. While this build provides some support and it’s fun to play, some aspects of the build such as the gear used would likely not be viable if you were participating in organised Veteran Trials or Veteran DLC Dungeons. You would need to utilise the Main Tank, Off Tank, and Dungeon Tank builds that we have on the site.
Other Information
You can use whatever Race you want for this build however Argonian is the preferred option due to how we have this build set up.
Race
Mundus
The Atronach
Attributes
31 Health
33 Stamina
Food
Bewitched Sugar Skulls
Potions
For the Mundus Stone we go with The Atronach for the additional Magicka Recovery as most of our skills are Magicka costing.
Our Attributes are set with 31 Health and 33 Stamina. This is to help us gain a good balance of stats.
We will be using Bewitched Sugar Skulls for the food so we can get all 3 Max resources higher which are all valuable for Tanking.
For potions we use Essence of Health Tri-Stat potions.
Gear
| Piece | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchantment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head | Swarm Mother | Heavy | Sturdy | Prismatic Defence |
| Shoulder | Powerful Assault | Medium | Sturdy | Prismatic Defence |
| Chest | Arkasis’s Genuis | Heavy | Sturdy | Prismatic Defence |
| Hands | Powerful Assault | Medium | Sturdy | Prismatic Defence |
| Waist | Powerful Assault | Medium | Sturdy | Prismatic Defence |
| Legs | Arkasis’s Genuis | Heavy | Sturdy | Prismatic Defence |
| Feet | Arkasis’s Genuis | Heavy | Sturdy | Prismatic Defence |
| Necklace | Powerful Assault | Jewellery | Infused | Potion Cooldown |
| Ring | Ring of the Wild Hunt | Jewellery | Swift | Magicka Recovery |
| Ring | Powerful Assault | Jewellery | Swift | Potion Cooldown |
| Main Hand | Void Bash / Puncturing Remedy | Any 1H | Decisive | Prismatic Onslaught |
| Off Hand | Void Bash / Puncturing Remedy | Shield | Sturdy | Prismatic Defence |
| Main Hand Backup | Arkasis’s Genuis | Ice Staff | Infused | Crusher |
The first set we use in this build is Arkasis’s Genius. The reason for this is because we are layering the fact that we are Argonian and get the Resourceful which boosts the amount of resources gained from potions. We then have the Nightblade Catalyst passive which gives us 20 Ultimate each time we use a Potion which means if we also use Arkasis we gain 44 Ultimate for ourselves and our group members which just makes sense if we are already planning to use potions as often as possible. Just make sure only to drink potions on the back bar. We use Chest, Legs and Feet of Arkasis as they provide the highest armor value.
Next we use Powerful Assault. We want to optimise the best we can for the group and this is a great group buff, and the fact this is Medium Armor is important as we are going to be use 3 body pieces of PA to give us additional speed advantages from the Medium Armor passives.
The next set is Swarm Mother, we just use a 1 piece for the additional max stats but you could use any 1 piece set here such as Magma Incarnate for more recovery or different set for other stats. The reason we only have a 1 piece is because we use a Mythic item, but if you wanted you could use a full Monster Set if needed.
We use a Mythic item in this build which is the Ring of the Wild Hunt. The reason for this is we are pushing the sprint speed cap so we can be rapidly moving through content to get ahead of our group to control the adds and stack enemies. You could also use the Death Dealer Fete or Spaulder of Ruin in place of this if you want.
Finally we use the Void Bash set. This is vital for adds because the Nightblade is not strong at dealing with add pulls because their only pull skill is Silver Leash which is an expensive Stamina skill so chaining 8 enemies can be very tricky on sustain without Void Bash. When it comes to boss fights you can switch this out for the Master Weapons since they will offer more benefit.
Where to Obtain:
Swarm Mother – Veteran Spindleclutch I, Maj al-Ragath.
Arkasis’s Genuis – Stone Garden Dungeon
Powerful Assault – Imperial Sewers Tel Var Merchant or Guild Traders
Void Bash – Vateshran Hollows Arena & Veteran Vateshran Hollows Arena (Perfected)
Puncturing Remedy – Dragonstar Arena & Veteran Dragonstar Arena (Perfected)
- Greenshade – Symbol of Y’ffre – World Bosses
- Grahtwood – Face of the Serpent – Elden Hollow I Last Boss
- Glenumbra – Band of Water – Public Dungeon Bosses Bad Man’s Hallow
- Malabal Tor – Face of the Wolf Beast – World Bosses
- Murkmire – Charm of the Shapeless – World Bosses or Teeth of Sithis/Tsofeer Cavern Delve Bosses
Other notable sets that you could use:
Drake’s Rush – Black Drake Villa Dungeon
Spaulder of Ruin – Mythic
Death Dealers Fete – Mythic
Abilities
- Pierce Armor – Our main Taunt which also debuff the enemy with Major & Minor Breach and will heal us via the Master Weapons.
- Heroic Slash – We need to recast this every 12 seconds to maintain the Minor Heroism which gives us Ultimate. We also inflict Minor Maim on the enemy reducing the damage they do.
- Leeching Strikes – This is a sustain and healing skill that requires you to perform Light and Heavy attacks to generate both Health and Stamina. Really helps the Nightblade to sustain and is also slotted on the front bar for the Magicka Flood, Soul Siphoner and Transfer passives.
- Dark Cloak – The Nightblade Tanks main healing skill. This is a strong heal over time that scales with Max Health but it also procs the Major Resolve passive and gives Minor Protection making you take less damage.
- Power Bash – This is used simply to proc the Void Bash set.
- Ultimate: Incapacitating Strike / Barrier – Incap will be a good Ultimate if you are using Leeching Strikes well and Light Attacking. If you are blocking more and not using Light Attacks then Barrier would be a better replacement.
- Inner Rage – This is needed for range taunting enemies so they are attacking you and can be pulled in by the Swarm Mother set.
- Razor Caltrops – This skill is used to proc Powerful Assault but its also an AoE snare and Major Breach which will help control adds better and also debuff them so your group and kill them faster.
- Elemental Blockade – We use this to proc and maintain our back bar weapon enchant but the Ice Staff is also a useful utility for Tanking.
- Mirage – This skill boosts our resistances with Minor Resolve but you get reduced AoE damage via Minor Evasion.
- Silver Leash – This is the failsafe for situations when the Void Bash set doesn’t work and you have adds far out that still need pulling in.
- Ultimate: Aggressive Horn – Our main ultimate and extremely useful group buff which increases our max stats and crit damage for our whole group.
Other Skills that could be used:
- Refreshing Path – A great group Major Expedition skill that also provides a little healing.
