Powerful Nightblade Tank Build for ESO – Elder Scrolls Online

Table of Contents

• Dungeons & Trials Setup
  • Gear
  • Skills
  • Champion Points
  • Important Info (Food, Mundus, Race, Potions, Passives, Attributes)
• Resource Management
• Outfit Style Showcase
• Update Log

Welcome to the Nightblade Tank Build PvE “Siphoner” for ESO (Elder Scrolls Online). Make sure to bookmark the link as I will keep updating the build for each new Update of ESO. The Nightblade Tank Build Siphoner is optimized for Dungeons and Trials in ESO. Keep in mind there is a huge variety of different tank builds out there that synergize well depending on your group setup. Each Dungeon and Trial will require a small adjustment to the build.

Other Tank Guides:

• All Tank Guides
• Beginner’s Tanking Guide
• Advanced Tanking Guide
• Endgame Tank Sets

We are using a Health build with this setup, you really want to make sure to have enough health to absorb damage, especially in boss fights. The Nightblade Tank shines in having both great damage mitigation and sustain. Having a lot of health also increases the heals that we get from Dark Cloak. This ability scales off health, so we get a decent amount of health per second thanks to our big health pool as long as we keep this ability up.

The Mirage skill gives us constant 20% AoE damage mitigation, which really helps a lot to mitigate a lot of the incoming damage. More info in the skills section of the build.

• Dungeon & Trial Build
• Tank/Support Build
• Heavy Armor
• Great Sustain
• Easy Survivability

Dungeons & Trials Setup Nightblade Tank Build

In this section, we are going to take a look at the ESO Nightblade Tank Build setup.

5x Turning Tide, 5x Powerful Assault, 2x Nazaray, 2x Puncturing Remedy with Bewitched Sugar Skills on a Nord.

• Unbuffed: Out of combat, buff-food active.
• Buffed: In combat, Raid Target Dummy buffs, Powerful Assault and Puncture Remedy set, Tri-Stat Potions active.

Gear Nightblade Tank Build

Gear Setup

Gear Combo: Combining the sets Turning Tide and Nazaray creates a powerful combo. You can apply Major Vulnerability with Turning Tide and then activate an ultimate to proc Nazaray to get a very extended duration on the Major Vulnerability debuff. Basically increasing the damage output for the whole group for a long duration. If you have 500 ultimate points saved up you get an additional 25 seconds of Major Vulnerability, increasing the total time to 35 seconds!

Backbar Weapon: We use a Frost staff as a base back bar weapon, because of the Ancient Knowledge passive. However, you can also use a Lightning Staff or another sword and board if you wish to do so.

Puncturing Remedy: If you don’t have access to the Puncturing Remedy set you can simply use Powerful Assault on the frontbar too.

Powerful Assault: We only backbar this set because we use the Echoing Vigor skill on the backbar to apply the buff to yourself and allies.

Beginner Gear Setup

This beginner setup is here for people that do not have access to the other setup now. You can ask a friend to craft Fortified Brass and Torug’s Pact for you. You could also use Plague Doctor instead of Torug’s Pact as it is very cheap available in the Guild Stores.

Where can I get the gear?

Turning Tide: Shipwright’s Regret dungeon
Perfected Claw of Yolnahkriin: vSunspire
Claw of Yolnahkriin: Sunspire
Nazaray: vShipwright’s Regret dungeon, Undaunted Enclave rewards.
Fortified Brass: Craftable
Torug’s Pact: Craftable
Night’s Silence: Craftable
Plague Doctor: Deshaan, Guildstore

Skills Nightblade Tank Build

Make sure to adjust your skills to your needs, this setup is not maced into stone, make sure to adjust skills depending on the situation of a fight.

• Lotus Fan can also be used for the setup to apply Minor Vulnerability to the enemy.
• Silver Leash can be slotted if you need something to pull monsters to you.

Skill explanation:

• Heroic Slash: Debuffs the enemy with a 5% damage reduction debuff and also gives you Minor Heroism, increasing your Ultimate generation.
• Dark Cloak: Heals you based on Max Health and grants Minor Protection, increasing your damage mitigation by 5%.
• Pierce Armor: Your main taunt, also debuffs the enemy with Major Fracture and Major Breach, reducing Spell and Physical Resistance by 5948.
• Inner Rage: This is your ranged taunt, in case you can not get to a mob fast enough.
• Defensive Stance: Applies a shield to you and increases the amount you can block by 10% and reduces block cost by 10%.
• Replenishing Barrier: Failsafe ultimate. Only use if you are in need of a big shield to bolster your health and absorb damage for you.
• Leeching Strikes: One of your resource management tools, keep this active all the time.
• Mirage: Keep this up as it provides you with Minor Ward and Resolve, plus a 20% AoE damage mitigation effect.
• Spell Symmetry: This gives you unlimited Magicka, just be careful when you activate it due to the Health loss.
• Echoing Vigor: Applies an AoE heal and also activates the set Powerful Assault.
• Elemental Blockade: If you are using a frost staff, this can proc Minor Brittle and Minor Maim on the enemy, which increases enemy critical damage taken and reduces enemy damage. Also provides a small shield to allies.
• Aggressive Warhorn: Your main Ultimate, to buff the group with 10% more max resources and crit damage boost.

Champion Points for the ESO Nightblade Tank Build

Below you can find the Champion Points setup for this build. Work your way from top to bottom in your allocation. For more information on Champion Points, please visit the Champion Points Overview Page on ESO-Hub.com.

Important:

• Warfare Tree: This tree gives you a mix between damage, healing and damage mitigation.
• Fitness Tree: This tree gives you extra health, sustain and defensive buffs.
• Craft Tree: This tree is mostly optional, nothing really “impacts” combat, therefore you can pick whatever you prefer, or use the preset below.
• Perks: Hovering over each perk will give you insights on what it does. Presets are also provided for each of the allocations below.

Click the tab below to open the allocation.

Important Info for Nightblade Tank Build PvE

Buff-food

In general, most Tanks like to go with max resource buff foods such as the Bewitched Sugar Skulls or the cheaper version Longfin pasty with Melon Sauce. However, you could also use Jewels of Misrule which provides Health and a lot of Magicka and Stamina recovery.

Longfin pasty with Melon Sauce (Max Health+Max Stamina+Max Magicka)

Bewitched Sugar Skulls

The Bewitched Sugar Skulls is a slightly more advanced version that has a bit higher stats and also includes health recovery. Though it also costs more.

You can also visit the Buff Food and Drinks Overview Page for more information on all food and drinks.

Mundus Stone

The Lord is a good Mundus Stone to increase maximum Health. However, you can also use other available Mundus Stones if you don’t need the extra Health. For an overview of all the Mundus Stones in ESO you can check out the Mundus Stone Overview Page.

The Lord Mundus Stone (Max Health)

Race

You can find more about racial passives in the ESO Race Overview page.

Nord (Fast ultimate generation, extra resistances)
Argonian (Best sustain)
Imperial
Orc
Redguard
Dark Elf

Potions

For hard content I recommend using crafted or crown store Tri-Stat potions.

Tri-Stat Potion
(Health, Stamina, Magicka)
(Bugloss, Columbine, Mountain Flower)

Passives

• Assassination: Master Assassin, Executioner, Pressure Points, Hemorrhage
• Shadow: Refreshing Shadows, Shadow Barrier, Dark Vigor, Dark Veil
• Siphoning: Catalyst, Magicka Flood, Soul Siphoner, Transfer
• One Hand and Shield: Fortress, Sword and Board, Deadly Bash, Deflect Bolts, Battlefield Mobility
• Destruction Staff: Penetrating Magic, Elemental Force, Ancient Knowledge, Destruction Expert (Note: Do not activate Tri Focus passive)
• Heavy Armor: Resolve, Constitution, Juggernaut, Revitalize, Rapid Mending
• Medium Armor: All if you have enough spare skill points
• Light Armor: All if you have enough spare skill points
• Undaunted: Undaunted Command, Undaunted Mettle
• Racial: All
• Alchemy: Medicinal Use

Attributes

You have to make sure to have a bit more Stamina than Magicka. Because of the Synergies you pick up give you back whatever stat is higher. You can change this to your liking, if you do not need that much health, get more stamina.

20 Magicka, 20 Health, 24 Stamina

Resource Management for the ESO NB Tank Build

Leeching Strikes helps us sustain our stamina better, you will get a big burst of resources when the effect ends and when you do light or heavy attacks.

Energy Orb is a skill that Healers use to throw into the group. You can use the synergy this skill provides to regain around 4000 resources. Our max Stamina is a bit higher than our Max Magicka, that is because you will get resources depending on your higher max Stamina or Magicka. And because we are a tank, Stamina is definitely more important.

Heavy Attacks restore a big amount of stamina, if you hit an off-balanced enemy it gives twice the amount back. You don’t need to permablock, try to find time to do Heavy Attacks in your rotation.

Potions are also a key to manage your resources well, I recommend using Tri-Stat potions to regain all three resources at the same time. Further below you will learn how to craft the right potions.

To increase our Magicka sustain, we want to make sure to use Spell Symmetry to manage our Magicka resources.

• Leeching Strikes
• Spell Symmetry
• Heavy Attacks
• Potions
• Orbs (Undaunted skill-line)

Choosing an Argonian as a race for your tank will also increase sustain due to the Resourceful racial passive.

Outfit Style Showcase of the Nightblade Tank Build for ESO

Update Log for the Nightblade Tank Build

11.08.2019 Updated Build for the SCALEBREAKER DLC, Elsweyr Chapter, Nightblade Tank Build PvE.
20.10.2019 Updated the Build for the DRAGONHOLD DLC, Elsweyr Chapter.
20.02.2020 Updated the Build for the HARROWSTORM DLC, Greymoor Chapter.
07.05.2020 Updated the Buld for the GREYMOOR CHAPTER.
20.08.2020 Updated the Build for the STONETHORN DLC, Greymoor Chapter.
29.10.2020 Updated the Build for the MARKARTH DLC, Greymoor Chapter.
05.03.2021 Updated the Build for the FLAMES OF AMBITION DLC, Blackwood Chapter.
26.05.2021 Updated the Build for the BLACKWOOD CHAPTER.
11.08.2021 Updated the Build for the WAKING FLAME DLC, Blackwood Chapter.
01.09.2021 Updated the Champion Points and Buff Food links, WAKING FLAME DLC, Blackwood Chapter.
18.10.2021 Updated the Build for the DEADLANDS DLC, Blackwood Chapter.
03.03.2022 Updated the Build for the ASCENDING TIDE DLC, High Isle Chapter.
12.05.2022 Updated the Build for the HIGH ISLE CHAPTER.
09.08.2022 Updated the Build for the LOST DEPTHS DLC, High Isle Chapter.
24.10.2022 Updated the Build for the FIRESONG DLC, High Isle Chapter.
09.03.2023 Updated the Build for the SCRIBES OF FATE DLC, Necrom Chapter.
30.05.2023 Updated the Build for the ESO NECROM CHAPTER.
25.10.2023 Updated the Build for Necrom Update 40.
06.03.2024 Updated the Build for the Scions of Ithelia DLC U41, Gold Road Chapter

Tags: Health Nightblade Tank, Nightblade Tank Build, NB Tank Build PvE.

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