Explanation
The purpose of this build is to reduce time spent inside vet DLC dungeons by rebalancing the way a stamina Nightblade focuses on dealing damage. As many people are aware most PVE stamina meta builds tend to focus on high single target DPS but typically lack AOE damage, and when steel tornado is substituted on the bar the AOE damage dealt is significantly better but very costly in terms of sustain. In a typical Stamblade dungeon run, 50% of the combat time could easily be spent fighting mobs between bosses. Even during a speed run where some of the mobs between bosses are rounded up in one fell swoop, the combat time fighting trash could still be around 40%.
This Stamblade build makes use of a new item set and combination of skills that are intended to shave off a minute or two from Vet DLC dungeons, where crowds of trash mobs can have 200k+ health. Another benefit of this build comes from reducing the need to use up power potions while fighting scores of trash mobs.
This build has shifted to dual wield because of the Clockwork City changes, though I still list the 2H build as an option. The AOE damage provided by the 2H forceful passive has been reduced, and a new item set, Mechanical Acuity, enhances this AOE focused DPS build:
The accumulated time spent fighting trash mobs in a dungeon can be pretty significant in a Vet DLC dungeon, but each of those fights are generally short, about 5-10 seconds when using this build. 5 seconds of 100% crit in a short fight is a significant buff, even in the absence of a 4th and 5th set bonus of a set like Hundings Rage. If the Mechanical Acuity set is partially comprised of front bar weapons, then the set will be a controllable proc. A Stamblade can wait for the right time to move into a fight, then switch weapons to the front bar and gain 5 seconds of strong direct damage.
DPS Comparison between Nightmother's Gaze and Mechanical Acuity within 12 seconds of combat time:
![LoeUF4B5Sayd6G9pelV34A.png]()
Spriggan's, Kragh's +
Mechanical Acuity, 12 seconds of combat
![AmYl3CPOS-mO7WAbR7tP5g.png]()
Spriggan's, Kragh's +
Nightmother's Gaze, 12 seconds of combat
In long sustained fights Mechanical Acuity seems to be approximately on par with Hunding Rage, perhaps slightly better if everything was executed flawlessly against a stationary target.
Mechanical Acuity / Hundings Rage Tested
I'd still recommend 2H for dungeon runs where extra survival is needed against a giant group of mobs, like when players have low CP or they're running without a tank or healer. The 2H build is still listed below the dual wield spec.
Here's a snapshot of the same 12 second time frame, using the same skills as shown above with a 2H Mechanical Acuity weapon:
![eHFhWEA2Q_iFBa7Y4jT8Cw.png]()
Spriggan's, Kragh's +
2H Mechanical Acuity, 12 seconds of combat
Armor/jewelry: 5x Vicious Ophedian - for good sustain (Alternate: War Machine, Twice Fang Serpent, Spriggan's)
Armor: 3x Mechanical Acuity
Head, Shoulder: 2x Kragh's (Veledrith for large groups using penetration debuffs)
Weapon Bar 1: Mechanical Acuity Nirn Axe / Sharpened Mace (Sharpened sword for large groups that reduce target resistance down below 9000)
Weapon Bar 2: Sharpened Maelstrom Bow (Nirn for large groups using penetration debuffs)
Glyphs
Armor: Stamina
Jewelry: Weapon Damage
Weapon Bar 1: Poison Glyph / Weapon Damage Glyph
Weapon Bar 2: Disease or crafted Poison
Skill Arrangement for using Dropped Green Potions
Weapon Bar 1
Deadly Cloak - 5 meter radius DOT / 25% AOE damage reduction that lasts 15 seconds.
Power Extraction - 8 meter radius burst AOE damage that gives Nightblades Major Brutality. It's about 30% cheaper than steel tornado and does more damage initially.
[Alternate] Use Shrouded Daggers if preferred.
Surprise Attack - single target burst damage that debufs an enemy with major fracture for 20 seconds. It's a great spam skill for single target DPS.
Relentless Focus - for the minor berserk and endurance, It's a good skill to boost all types of DPS. It procs Scourge for free 2-times for -TONS- of DPS if you can weave light attacks quickly enough.
Killer's Blade - Powerful Execute. Very powerful if spammed while Mechanical Acuity is active.
Flawless Dawnbreaker - Strong AOE damage, passively buffs weapon damage, spam this any time you can to demolish trash mobs with ease.
Weapon Bar 2
Endless hail - 10 seconds, 20 damage ticks to everything within a 5 meter radius, it adds up to a significant portion of the overall AOE DPS.
Razor Caltrops - 12 second DOT applied across an 8 meter radius.
Poison Injection - Strong DOT for single target situations.
Rearming trap - for the minor force buff and a good, cheap DOT.
Leeching Strikes - For the Stamina management. [Alternate] Mirage/Double Take for more survivability
Soul Harvest - 6 second buff that lifts all Single Target damage quite a bit.
Skill Arrangement When Using Crafted Power Potions
Weapon Bar 1
Deadly Cloak - 5 meter radius DOT / 25% AOE damage reduction that lasts 15 seconds.
Steel Tornado- 9 meter radius burst AOE damage with an execute component. The skill is costlier than power extraction, but when used with Mechanical Acuity's proc this skill hits extremely hard, and as a result it has more efficiency.
Surprise Attack - single target burst damage that debufs an enemy with major fracture for 20 seconds. It's a great spam skill for single target DPS.
Relentless Focus - for the minor berserk and endurance, It's a good skill to boost all types of DPS. It procs Scourge for free 2-times for -TONS- of DPS if you can weave light attacks quickly enough.
Killer's Blade - Powerful Execute. Very powerful if spammed while Mechanical Acuity is active.
Flawless Dawnbreaker - Strong AOE damage, passively buffs weapon damage, spam this any time you can to demolish trash mobs with ease.
Weapon Bar 2
Endless hail - 10 seconds, 20 damage ticks to everything within a 5 meter radius, it adds up to a significant portion of the overall AOE DPS.
Razor Caltrops - 12 second DOT applied across an 8 meter radius.
Poison Injection - Strong DOT for single target situations.
Rearming trap - for the minor force buff and a good, cheap DOT.
Leeching Strikes - For the Stamina management. [Alternate] Mirage/Double Take for more survivability
Soul Harvest - 6 second buff that lifts all Single Target damage quite a bit.
Two hand
Item Sets
Armor/jewelry: 5x Vicious Ophedian - for good sustain (Alternate: War Machine, Twice Fang Serpent, Spriggan's)
Armor: 4x Mechanical Acuity
Head or Shoulder: 1x Veledrith or Molag Kena
Weapon Bar 1: Mechanical Acuity Sharpened Maul (Nirn Greatsword for large groups using penetration debuffs)
Weapon Bar 2: Nirn Maelstrom Bow
Glyphs
Armor: Stamina
Jewelry: Weapon Damage
Weapon Bar 1: Weapon Damage Buff
Weapon Bar 2: Disease or Poison Damage
Food
For max DPS build: Dubious Camoran
If you choose to wear Ravager: Lava Foot Soup and Saltrice, +4575 Stamina, +457 Stamina regen. The Ravager jewelry+set offers plenty of health.
Stats
All points in stamina, perhaps OCD non-Imperials would add 2 points into health to see 17k health on their bow bar.
Potions
Cheap, green Stamina Regen Potions. Major Brutality and Major Savagery are covered by skills.
Skill Arrangement for More AOE DPS
Weapon Bar 1
Brawler - 7 meter cone damage / DOT / damage shield. It offers a similar function to Rending Slashes and Deadly Cloak, only now it's a massive cone damage and shield buff. People are always saying Nightblades are squishy, but the big shield from this skill makes it easier to survive through little mistakes like standing in the red. It procs the Ravager set very often.
Power Extraction - 8 meter radius burst AOE damage that gives Nightblades Major Brutality. It's about 30% cheaper than steel tornado and does more damage initially, all great reasons to slot this skill. It procs the Ravager set very often.
Surprise Attack - single target burst damage that debufs an enemy with major fracture for 20 seconds. It's a great spam skill for single target DPS. Procs Ravager set.
Relentless Focus - for the minor berserk and endurance, It's a good skill to boost all types of DPS.
Reverse Slice - The biggest AOE DPS finishing move in the game, it provides up to 300% extra damage to enemies below 50% health, based on missing health, while splash damaging all who stand within a 5 meter radius of the target with 65% of the damage. So use this on low health targets, enemies standing around you with full health will be cut in half by this skill. It functions like killers blade and procs the Ravager set very often.
Soul Harvest - This skill would typically be on the bar that yields the most kills if you want to spam loads of ultimates, like flawless dawnbreaker. There's more single target DPS to be had by slotting this on the back bar and moving flawless dawnbreaker to the front bar.
Weapon Bar 2
Endless hail - 10 seconds, 20 damage ticks to everything within a 5 meter radius, it adds up to a significant portion of the overall AOE DPS. It procs Briarheart more than anything else.
Razor Caltrops - 12 second DOT applied across an 8 meter radius. This also procs Briarheart.
Poison Injection - Strong DOT for single target situations.
Rearming trap - for the minor force buff and a good, cheap DOT.
Leeching Strikes - After much testing, this skill seems to provide my cp 620 Bosmer with just enough stamina to eliminate the need for heavy attacks to recharge. 2- H heavy attacks are inefficient on a Stamblade when single target DPS is the goal.
Flawless Dawnbreaker - strong AOE damage, spam this any time you can to demolish trash mobs with ease.
Skill Arrangement for More Single Target DPS
Weapon Bar 1
Rearming Trap - For the minor force buff and a good, cheap DOT. Also lifts weapon damage on this weapon bar another 3%.
Relentless Focus - This will give you Hemorrhage on this bar since Soul harvest is moved to the other bar. It now procs Scourge for free 2-times for -TONS- of DPS if you can weave light attacks quickly enough.
Surprise Attack - Single target burst damage that debufs an enemy with major fracture for 20 seconds. It's a great spam skill for single target DPS. Procs Ravager set.
Expert Hunter - Major Savagery, that's pretty much the only reason to slot this here. 2-handed weapons need all the crit they can get.
Killer's Blade - It was nerfed somewhat with Morrowind, but still deals good damage.
Flawless Dawnbreaker - Buffs the 2-hand weapon bar Weapon damage another 8%.
Weapon Bar 2
Endless hail - 10 seconds, 20 damage ticks to everything within a 5 meter radius, it adds up to a significant portion of the overall AOE DPS. It procs Briarheart more than anything else.
Razor Caltrops - 12 second DOT applied across an 8 meter radius. This also procs Briarheart.
Power Extraction - 8 meter radius burst AOE damage that gives Nightblades Major Brutality. It's about 30% cheaper than steel tornado and does more damage initially, all great reasons to slot this skill. It procs the Ravager set very often.
Poison Injection - Strong DOT for single target situations.
Leeching Strikes - After much testing, this skill seems to provide my CP630 Bosmer with just enough stamina to eliminate the need for heavy attacks to recharge. 2- H heavy attacks are inefficient on a Stamblade when single target DPS is the goal.
Soul Harvest - 6 second buff that lifts all damage quite a bit.
Skill Rotation - AOE Setup
Flip on enemy health bars, it will show you who to hit with reverse slice. The rest of the time do what you would do with a dual wield setup. Continue to use caltrops and endless hail as always.
Use power extraction instead of steel tornado. Dawnbreaker will be ready at least once with every dungeon pull. Light attack weave on anything all the time for the 2-H forceful passive. Heavy attack with 2-H to regain stamina and slam everything around you with a massive forceful. Use reverse slice in place of killers blade, Brawler in place of Rending slashes. All three sets (Kragh's, Ravager and Briarheart) will proc continuously with no issues as you swap back and forth between weapon bars and hit a few mobs around you. It's easy to get 20k+ dps per secondary target around you if you hit low health enemies.
Skill Rotation - Arrangement for More Single Target DPS
Maybe I should rephrase that to "Cheap", high single target DPS.
After extensive testing, I found that Power/Crit pots don't really lift single target DPS for a Stamblade with a 2-hand weapon beyond just a few percent. There just aren't that many useful Stamina DOT skills to add to the bar in place of Expert Hunter and Power Extraction.
This single target setup would be optimized with 5xTFS/ War Machine Greatsword +4 other War Machine pieces / Maelstrom Bow / 1 piece of Veledrith or Molag Kena. Or go in with high weapon damage sets like Automaton, Hundings or Ravager +1 piece of Kragh's and any sharpened bow for lower 30's kDPS self-buffed. There's plenty of damage for any content, even with non-optimized gear and no power pots.
2H bar: Buff with Relentless focus, swap bars
Bow bar: LA+ Caltrops, LA + Endless hail, LA+ Power Extraction, LA+ Poison Injection, LA+Leeching Strikes (use once every two rotations)
2H bar: LA+Relentless Focus (Hit with free scourge), LA + Rearming trap, LA + Surprise attack, LA + Surprise Attack, LA + Surprise Attack, LA + Relentless Focus (Hit with free scourge buffed), LA + Relentless Focus (Reset), swap bars.
Replace surprise attack with Killers Blade when enemy health dips to 25%. Make sure to use Poison injection at least when the boss's health is 50%. Heavy attacks aren't needed for my Bosmer, though they might be needed for non-stamina regen races or low CP characters.
There should be screaming there, and other places. Will it ever be worked out/fixed?
