Nightblade Tank

A block-heavy shadow brawler. Dark Cloak heals far more while you're bracing, and the Cutthroat's Focus and Share the Spoils masteries feed damage and Ultimate to the group.

Update 51PvE · TankPure classAdvancedLast reviewed 2026-10-19

Good to know

Written for Update 51. Tooltips summarise each skill and set; follow the UESP or ESO-Hub link in any preview for exact numbers, which shift between patches.

Overview

The Nightblade tank wins by holding block. Dark Cloak heals much more while you're bracing, Shadow Barrier gives Major Resolve whenever you cast a Shadow skill, and Siphoning Attacks keeps your resources topped up. With the Cutthroat's Focus mastery, casting a Nightblade skill while blocking makes you dodge attacks, and enemies you dodge take 5% more damage.

The class has few group buffs of its own, so this build leans on Scribing: Shield Throw taunts, Soul Burst shields you and gives the group Courage, and Wield Soul pulls adds and applies Major Cowardice. Share the Spoils makes your Siphoning casts send Ultimate and resources to your group.

Strengths

Excellent healing while blocking from Dark Cloak, plus built-in sustain.
Very high Ultimate generation for yourself and the group through Transfer and Share the Spoils.
Cutthroat's Focus is a unique tank damage debuff.

Weaknesses

Few group buffs from the class itself. The taunt, Courage and Cowardice all come from Scribing.
Cutthroat's Focus needs Nightblade casts while blocking, so it takes good timing.
Needs the Scribing system unlocked and four grimoires scribed.

Group support

At a glance

Race

Nord

Health, Armor and Ultimate when hit.

Imperial

Extra Max Health and Stamina for blocking.

Mundus stone

The Lord

Max Health. Use The Lady if you're under the armour cap.

Attributes

64 Health (54 / 10 Stamina if block costs bite)

Food

Bewitched Sugar Skulls

All three max resources plus Health Recovery.

Potion

Essence of Health

Tri-stat restore.

Skills

Assassination

Nightblade

Soul Harvest for Ultimate on kills.

Shadow

Nightblade

Dark Cloak heals and Shadow Barrier's Major Resolve.

Siphoning

Nightblade

Siphoning Attacks sustain and Transfer Ultimate.

Skill bars

Hover (or tap) any slot for the tooltip; click through to UESP or ESO-Hub for full numbers.

Front bar

One hand & shield · War Machine

1

2

3

4

5

R

Back bar

Ice staff · War Machine

1

2

3

4

5

R

Slot	Skill	Why it's slotted
Front 1	Shield Throw One Hand and Shield Scribed with the Taunt focus and a Breach affix: ranged taunt plus Major Breach.	Scribed with the Taunt focus and a Breach affix: ranged taunt plus Major Breach.
Front 2	Soul Burst Soul Magic Scribed for a damage shield, Ultimate and group Courage.	Scribed for a damage shield, Ultimate and group Courage.
Front 3	Dark Cloak Shadow Your main heal. Much stronger while blocking; also procs Shadow Barrier.	Your main heal. Much stronger while blocking; also procs Shadow Barrier.
Front 4	Siphoning Attacks Siphoning Sustain, and it triggers Transfer and Share the Spoils.	Sustain, and it triggers Transfer and Share the Spoils.
Front 5	Resolving Vigor Assault Self HoT and Minor Resolve.	Self HoT and Minor Resolve.
Front R	Soul Harvest Assassination Ultimate on kills while slotted, and Major Defile.	Ultimate on kills while slotted, and Major Defile.
Back 1	Elemental Susceptibility Destruction Staff Boss Major Breach and status effects.	Boss Major Breach and status effects.
Back 2	Wield Soul Soul Magic Scribed with Pull and Cowardice: chain adds in and apply Major Cowardice.	Scribed with Pull and Cowardice: chain adds in and apply Major Cowardice.
Back 3	Elemental Blockade Destruction Staff Keeps trash Chilled.	Keeps trash Chilled.
Back 4	Refreshing Path Shadow Group Major Expedition, and keeps Shadow Barrier going on this bar.	Group Major Expedition, and keeps Shadow Barrier going on this bar.
Back 5	Ulfsild's Contingency Mages Guild Scribed for an extra shield. The first slot to swap if you lack Scribing.	Scribed for an extra shield. The first slot to swap if you lack Scribing.
Back R	Aggressive Horn Assault Major Force for the group, and it triggers War Machine.	Major Force for the group, and it triggers War Machine.

Flex skills

Swap these in when the content or your group composition calls for it.

Trample
Hyperioxes' front-bar pick; the first slot to swap in hard fights.
Inner Rage
Trash taunt instead of Shield Throw.
Power Bash
Interrupts casters on trash.
Razor Caltrops
AoE snare for holding packs in place.
Healthy Offering
Another Siphoning cast for Transfer that also heals an ally.
Bolstering Darkness
Group Major Protection dome for raid-wide damage.

Gear

Slot	Set	Type	Trait	Enchant
Head	Archdruid Devyric Heavy (monster)	Heavy (monster)	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense
Shoulders	Archdruid Devyric Heavy (monster)	Heavy (monster)	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense
Chest	Lucent Echoes Heavy	Heavy	Sturdy / Reinforced	Prismatic Defense
Hands	Lucent Echoes Heavy	Heavy	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense
Waist	Lucent Echoes Heavy	Heavy	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense
Legs	Lucent Echoes Heavy	Heavy	Sturdy / Reinforced	Prismatic Defense
Feet	Lucent Echoes Heavy	Heavy	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense
Neck	War Machine Jewellery	Jewellery	Infused	Magicka Recovery
Ring 1	War Machine Jewellery	Jewellery	Infused	Magicka Recovery
Ring 2	War Machine Jewellery	Jewellery	Infused	Magicka Recovery
Front: main hand	War Machine One-handed sword	One-handed sword	Infused	Crusher
Front: off hand	War Machine Shield	Shield	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense
Back bar	War Machine Ice staff (two-handed)	Ice staff (two-handed)	Infused	Crusher

Traits and enchants

Sturdy and Divines are interchangeable on armour; Divines buffs your mundus stone, Sturdy lowers block cost. Tri-Stat glyphs on jewellery and Prismatic Defense on armour are fine substitutes if you need more resources.

Set breakdown

Archdruid DevyricMonster

2 pieces · Earthen Root Enclave (veteran) + Undaunted chest

(1 item)Adds Offensive Penetration.
(2 items)A damaging Heavy Attack releases a line of Shock damage 1.2s later that hits up to 6 enemies and applies Major Vulnerability for 7 seconds. Once every 15 seconds.

Lucent EchoesTrial

5 pieces · Lucent Citadel (Gold Road); perfected on veteran

(5 items)Above 50% Health, group members within 28m who aren't wearing the set gain about 11% Critical Damage and Critical Healing. At 50% Health or below, you take 20% less damage from monsters.

War MachineTrial

5 pieces · Halls of Fabrication (Morrowind)

(5 items)Casting an Ultimate in combat gives you and nearby group members Major Slayer for 1 second per 10 Ultimate spent.

Alternative sets

Powerful Assault
Dungeon swap for War Machine. Resolving Vigor and Aggressive Horn trigger it.
Turning Tide
Extra Major Vulnerability from block-then-bash, which fits this playstyle.

Champion Points

Slottable stars only. Spend passive points in each tree along the path to these stars.

Warfare

Ironclad
Less damage from direct attacks, which covers most boss mechanics.
Duelist's Rebuff
Less damage from single-target hits.
Bulwark
Free Armor with a shield or frost staff. Swap for Enduring Resolve at the armour cap.
Unassailable
Less AoE damage taken. Best on trash pulls.

Fitness

Boundless Vitality
Max Health powers Dark Cloak.
Fortified
Armor until you hit the cap.
Bastion
Stronger Soul Burst and Ulfsild's shields.
Celerity
Movement speed for positioning.

Craft

Steed's Blessing
Run between pulls faster.
Gifted Rider
Faster mount.

Class Mastery

Pure-class characters with all three class lines at rank 50 can slot two Class Mastery passives (added in Update 50).

Cutthroat's Focus
Dodge attacks while blocking; dodged attackers take 5% more damage.
Share the Spoils
Siphoning casts send Ultimate and resources to your group through Transfer.

Tip

For progression, swap Share the Spoils for

An Eye for Exploitation for more survivability.

How to play

1Open with Shield Throw on the boss, then chain adds in with Wield Soul. On unpullable enemies, use it just for Major Cowardice.
2Hold block. Cast Dark Cloak and Siphoning Attacks while blocking so Dark Cloak heals harder and Cutthroat's Focus fires.
3Recast Soul Burst on cooldown for shields, group Courage and Ultimate. Stay close to the group.
4Heavy Attack about every 15 seconds to trigger Archdruid Devyric, and keep Elemental Susceptibility on the boss.
5Cast Siphoning skills regularly so Transfer and Share the Spoils keep feeding Ultimate.
6Save Aggressive Horn for burns; every Ultimate also triggers War Machine's Major Slayer.
7On trash, swap Shield Throw for Inner Rage, and slot Power Bash if you need to interrupt casters.