All Nightblade abilities for Elder Scrolls Online

There is an assortment of skills available to try in Elder Scrolls Online, with Nightblade abilities focusing on critical damage and stealthy gameplay with high sustain and health draining. This class is for those who wish to hide in the shadows but can still fight when needed.

When choosing the race for your Nightblade character, you have to consider what role you’ll play. Khajit is the best race for DPS characters, while Bretons are best for healers. If you wish to be the tank of the group, go for a Nord.

How classes work in ESO

You can play any role independent of your class in ESO, but some classes work best with different builds. Nightblades don’t have a strong connection to Magicka, for example, but you can play as a healer with this class.

The focus should always be to have fun, so try experimenting with different builds by playing any class with any role build if taking into consideration the roleplay aspect of MMOs. There is no right way of playing ESO.

Related: How to create a Sip of Health in The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO)

The main difference between classes is the skill lines available for each class. All classes have three skill lines that allow you to choose what ultimate, active, and passive skills your character can use. The three Nightblade skill lines are Assassination, Shadow, and Siphoning.

The ultimate and active skills are the attacks you can use during battle while the passives are effects you can get after triggering a condition. As you gain experience, you can morph that skill to make it stronger.

When starting out a new character, I recommend choosing one skill from each skill tree so you can handle yourself better from an early game stage. You can choose other skills later if you need them.

All Nightblade Ultimates, Active, and Passive skills in ESO

Nightblade’s Assassination skill-line in ESO

Assassination Ultimate Skill

• Death Stroke: Ravage an enemy with a swift strike, dealing damage and causing them to take more damage from your attacks.
  • Morphs
    • Incapacitating Strike: The same, but deals more Disease Damage instead of Magic Damage. If cast with higher Ultimate, the enemy is stunned, and while slotted you restore Magicka and Stamina when you deal damage with a Light or Heavy Attack.
    • Soul Harvest: The same, but it causes more also Magic Damage, the healing of the target is reduced, and while slotted, any time you kill an enemy you gain Ultimate.

Assassination Active skills

• Assassin’s Blade: Thrust a magic blade with lethal precision to stab an enemy.
  • Morphs
    • Impale: The same, but deals more damage to enemies below 25 percent Health.
    • Killer’s Blade: The same, but the blade deals Disease Damage, deals much more damage to enemies with less than 50 percent Health, and heals you if the enemy dies within two seconds of being struck.
• Teleport Strike: Flash through the shadows and ambush an enemy, dealing damage and increasing the damage done.
  • Morphs
    • Ambush: The same, but deals more Physical Damage instead of Magic Damage. Also increases the damage of Heavy Attacks against monsters.
    • Lotus Fan: The same, but after teleporting you unleash a fan of knives, dealing additional Magic Damage to the target and nearby enemies. 
• Blur: Surround yourself with a phantasmic aura to reduce damage from area attacks.
  • Morphs
    • Mirage: The same, but also reduces damage from area attacks and increases your Physical and Spell Resistance for 20 seconds.
    • Phantasmal Escape: The same, but also removes all snares and immobilizations for a couple of seconds.
• Mark Target: Expose an enemy’s weaknesses to reduce their Physical Resistance and Spell Resistance. When a marked enemy dies, you heal to full Health.
  • Morphs
    • Reaper’s Mark: The same, but if the marked enemy dies, you also increase the damage done.
    • Piercing Mark: The same, but it lasts longer and you can detect marked enemies if they use stealth or invisibility.
• Grim Focus: Focus your senses, increasing your Weapon and Spell Damage with every Light or Heavy Attack.
  • Morphs
    • Relentless Focus: The same, but the duration is increased and allows you to fire a spectral arrow for half the cost that deals Disease Damage.
    • Merciless Resolve: The same, but allows you to fire a spectral arrow for half the cost that deals Magic Damage, and heals more.

Assassination Passive skills

• Master Assassin: Increases your Physical and Spell Penetration against enemies you are flanking and increases the duration of the stun from Sneak.
• Executioner: When an enemy dies within two seconds of being damaged by you, you restore Magicka and Stamina.
• Pressure Points: Increases your Weapon and Spell Critical ratings for each Assassination ability slotted.
• Hemorrhage: Increases your Critical Damage. Dealing Critical Damage grants you and your group Minor Savagery, increasing your Weapon Critical rating.

Nightblade’s Shadow skill line in ESO

Shadow Ultimate Skill

• Consuming Darkness: Conjure a ring of shadow, reducing the Movement Speed of enemies and reducing your damage taken.
  • Morphs
    • Bolstering Darkness: The same, but the reduced damage taken effect continues for some time after leaving the area.
    • Veil of Blades: The same, but enemies also take Magic Damage over time.

Shadow Active skills

• Veiled Strike: Slash an enemy. If you strike an enemy from their flank you set them Off Balance.
  • Morphs
    • Concealed Weapon: The same, but when you leave Sneak, invisibility, or cast Concealed Weapon while under the effects of Major Expedition while in combat, your damage done is increased. While slotted, you increase your Movement Speed.
    • Surprise Attack: The same, but deals more Physical Damage instead of Magic Damage, applying the Sundered status effect. It will also be guaranteed to be a Critical Strike.
• Shadow Cloak: Cloak yourself in shadow to become invisible for three seconds.
  • Morphs
    • Dark Cloak: Shroud yourself in a protective shadow to heal over time, increasing your healing when you are not moving and reducing your damage taken.
    • Shadowy Disguise: The same, but your next direct damage attack used within three seconds will always be a Critical Strike.
• Path of Darkness: Create a corridor of shadows, granting you and allies in the area, increasing Movement Speed.
  • Morphs
    • Refreshing Path: The same, but it also increases Stamina and Magicka Recovery and heals you and allies in the area every second.
    • Twisting Path: The same, but reduces the cost and the path deals Magic Damage to enemies every 1 second.
• Aspect of Terror: Summon a dark spirit to terrify nearby enemies, causing them to cower in fear, reducing their Weapon and Spell Damage.
  • Morphs
    • Mass Hysteria: The same, but it lasts longer and doesn’t have a cap of how many targets it affects anymore.
    • Manifestation of Terror: Conceal a sinister trap at the target location. When the trap is triggered, up to six enemies in the area become terrified, causing them to cower in fear for two seconds. It still reduces their Weapon and Spell Damage.
• Summon Shade: Summon a shade version of yourself to attack an enemy and fight at your side. The shade slashes at an enemy dealing damage and reducing the enemy’s damage.
  • Morphs
    • Shadow Image: The same, but the shade stays in place and deals more damagefrom a range. While the shade is summoned, you can teleport to the shade’s location at no cost by using the skill again.
    • Dark Shade: The same, but it deals more damage and occasionally whirlwinds all enemies around it dealing extra damage

Shadow Passive skills

• Refreshing Shadows: Increases your Health, Stamina, and Magicka Recovery.
• Shadow Barrier: Casting a Shadow ability grants you Major Resolve, increasing your Physical and Spell Resistance. This duration is increased for each piece of Heavy Armor equipped.
• Dark Vigor: Increases your Max Health for each Shadow ability slotted.
• Dark Veil: Increases the duration of your non-invisibility based Shadow abilities.

Related: Best Elder Scrolls Online Nightblade builds (PvE)

Nightblade’s Siphoning skill line

Siphoning Ultimate skill

• Soul Shred: Ravage nearby enemies’ souls with a night rune, dealing damage and stunning them. An ally can target a ravaged enemy and deal Magic Damage to them, healing for the damage caused.
  • Morphs
    • Soul Tether: The same, but deals more damage, heals for half the damage, and enemies hit are tethered to you. You deal constant damage and heal while tethered.
    • Soul Siphon: Sanctify your soul and the souls of nearby allies with a night rune to heal you and your allies, and also increase your healing received, while still dealing Magic Damage to them, healing for the damage caused.

Siphoning Active skills

• Strife: Steal an enemy’s life force, damaging them and healing you or a nearby ally of the damage inflicted.
  • Morphs
    • Funnel Health: The same, but it deals more damage and heals an extra target
    • Swallow Soul: The same, but it deals much more damage while reducing the healing caused and is now focused only on yourself.
• Malevolent Offering: Pour out your lifesblood and channel the arcane, healing yourself or an ally in front of you for Health, while draining Health from yourself.
  • Morphs
    • Shrewd Offering: The same, but it drains less health from yourself and for less time.
    • Healthy Offering: The same, but it heals more and increases the healing done.
• Cripple: Sap an enemy’s agility and wrack them with pain, dealing damage and reducing their Movement Speed.
  • Morphs
    • Debilitate: The same, but it deals more damage and further reduces the target’s Movement Speed. Each tick applies the Overcharged status effect, causing you and your allies to restore Magicka when damaging the target.
    • Crippling Grasp: The same, but it deals less damage but deals more damage overtime and immobilizes the target for two seconds.
• Siphoning Strikes: Imbue your weapons with soul-stealing power, causing your Light and Heavy Attacks to heal you for Health. Fully-charged Heavy Attacks restore twice the value.
  • Morphs
    • Siphoning Attacks: The same, but heals more and restores Magicka. Fully-charged Heavy Attacks restore twice the value. You restore additional Magicka when the effect ends, based on the length of time Siphoning Attacks was active.
    • Leeching Strikes: The same, but heals more and restores Stamina. Fully-charged Heavy Attacks restore twice the value. You restore additional Stamina when the effect ends, based on the length of time Siphoning Attacks was active.
• Drain Power: Siphon the vigor from your enemies’ blood, dealing damage to all nearby enemies. If an enemy is hit, you increase your Weapon and Spell Damage.
  • Morphs
    • Power Extraction: The same, but instead of Magic Damage, you deal Disease Damage. It also reduces the target’s Weapon and Spell Damage.
    • Sap Essence: The same, but it heals you and your allies with extra damage for each enemy hit.

Siphoning Passive skills

• Catalyst: After drinking a potion you gain 20 Ultimate.
• Magicka Flood: Increases your Max Magicka by eight percent while a Siphoning ability is slotted.
• Soul Siphoner: Increases your healing done by three percent for each Siphoning ability slotted.
• Transfer: Casting a Siphoning ability while in combat generates two Ultimate. This effect can occur once every four seconds.