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Our latest featured ESOTU player build is the Shadowscale, an Argonian Nightblade build inspired by the legendary Shadowscales of Black Marsh. This assassin-themed build is all about high Weapon Damage, Critical Strike Rating, Stamina, and stealth. Read on to unlock the secrets of the Shadowscale!
Welcome back to the Battlemaster's Corner, where we feature character builds created by you, the ESOTU community! In this article you'll meet the Shadowscale, a classic assassin-themed Nightblade build with an Argonian twist. Stealth, high damage output, and Stamina sustainability are the Shadowscale's primary strengths. Coupled with dual-wield and bow skills, this build can quickly and effectively dispatch single targets from any range. Try out this fast-moving, hard-hitting Argonian Nightblade build and see if life as Shadowscale is in your future!
We always enjoy receiving your character builds and seeing all the creative ways you combine abilities and equipment. If you have a character build you'd like to see in a future Battlemaster's Corner, please send it to us at community@elderscrollsonline.com. Don't forget to include a handful of high-quality screenshots of your character for us to choose from!
THE SHADOWSCALE
Today, I present to you "The Shadowscale." This build provides a perfect blend of burst- and sustained-DPS—it's also a lot of fun! Your enemies will fall faster than you can say "Hail Sithis."
For those of who haven't played an Elder Scrolls game before, a Shadowscale is a member of the Argonian race born under the sign of the Shadow. Shadowscales are raised their entire life as assassins in tribute to Sithis, Daedric Prince of Death and patron deity of the Argonians. This build follows those traditions to the full extent that the game allows.
PREFERRED RACE
The preferred race for this build is Argonian, for obvious reasons. You can't be a proper Shadowscale as any other race! As an Argonian you'll get increased healing from potions, increased Health, boosted resistance to Poison/Disease, and general increased healing.
MUNDUS STONES & ATTRIBUTES
For Mundus Stones, go with Shadow—it fits with the Shadowscale theme, plus it grants you increased damage when you land a critical hit.
This build is meant for DPS, so you'll have lower Armor and Health—you really won't need it. Your primary attribute is Stamina. I know many prefer to place most, if not all, attribute points into Health, but that's less important than you may assume if you aren't a tank. I also recommend you invest a small amount attribute points into Magicka for a couple abilities, but it's not entirely necessary. Your attributes should look something like this: 4 points in Magicka, 20 points Health, and 38 points Stamina.
ARMOR
This build also utilizes Medium Armor. Max out all your Medium Armor passives, but don't take the Ultimate. You will enchant for Stamina, which may seem like overkill but it has proven effective. The Medium Armor will provide increase Critical Strike Rating and Weapon Damage, and will help keep your Stamina up. This allows you to remain in stealth, which you will be using any time you are not in battle. As a bonus, try to use armor that increases the effects of Mundus Stones—not absolutely necessary, but it increases the build's effectiveness.
PRIMARY WEAPON: DUAL WIELD – SWORD & DAGGER
Your primary weapon skill line of choice should be Dual Wield, as it matches the assassin motif best. You'll also be diving deep into the Assassination Nightblade skill tree. Grab all the passives for both!
To optimize damage, use one sword and one dagger. This will increase your Attack Power and Critical Strike Rating, respectively—you can also use two daggers for the sake of role-play authenticity! As Maces aren't very assassin-like, I avoid them. And axes are unnecessary as you already have a decent bleed.
For your Dual Wield abilities, you'll really only need Blood Craze (Twin Slashes morph) and Rapid Strikes (Flurry Morph.) Since this build is designed primarily for single-target DPS, you won't need Whirlwind, Blade Cloak, or Hidden Blade.
As mentioned earlier, you primary Nightblade skill tree will be Assassination. (No surprise there, right?) It pairs perfectly with the stealthy playstyle this build is all about. Stealth-based attacks will do more damage and stun enemies for longer periods of time, preventing your victims from attacking. Here's a quick breakdown of the abilities you'll want on your primary ability bar:
Twin Slashes (Blood Craze) – Blood Craze will add bleed damage and heal you, just in case a battle goes on longer than expected.
Flurry (Rapid Strikes) – Rapid Strikes is all about speed and precision, which fits the build and is just plain fun.
Assassin's Blade (Killer's Blade) – This move does 300% more damage against low health enemies. As such, it's the perfect finisher and heals you if your target dies within 2 seconds of using it. As an added bonus, this morph scales from Weapon Damage and uses Stamina, so it perfectly fits the rest of the build.
Teleport Strike (Ambush) – Next, you'll want Ambush (Teleport Strike Morph.) It stuns your opponents, making it a great opener, and the stun will be increased with stealth. Also, it increases the damage of your next attack by 20%.
Mark Target (Reaper's Mark) – This ability does double duty if used properly. It lowers your enemy's defenses, and heals you for 57% of your maximum Health if your target dies within 20 seconds before the effect fades. You also gain Major Berserk, which increases your damage dealt by 25% for 5 seconds—it's a great ability for trash pulls.
Ultimate: Death Stroke (Incapacitating Strike) – Finally, you'll want the Incapacitating Strike Ultimate. Now, I know this Ultimate is frowned upon by some, but give it a chance. It's easy to only see its damage and not its full potential. Incapacitating Strike may not do as much raw damage as other Ultimates, but it makes up for it by increasing your damage to the target by 20%. Also, it reduces your target's healing received by 40% for 6 seconds and stuns them if your health is lower than theirs. (This is another reason why Health is a less important attribute than Stamina for this build!)
From stealth, your rotation will typically be Reaper's Mark, Ambush, and Blood Craze/Rapid Strikes. Repeat the last step during the fight while mixing in light attacks. Utilize your Ultimate halfway through boss fights/PVP duels, and finish your opponent off with Killer's Blade.
SECONDARY WEAPON: BOW
Your secondary weapon is a bow. Now, bows don't have quite the same damage output that dual-wield blades do, but they are a great option for ranged attacks and crowd control. This makes them a great pairing for the Siphoning and Shadow Nightblade skill lines.
Take all the passives again. They'll help you do more damage with your bow, and provide you with increased speed after dodging.
In the Shadow Nightblade skill line, you really only need to grab the Refreshing Shadows passive for the increased Stamina regeneration it gives.
In the Siphoning Nightblade skill line, you'll be prepping for this secondary ability bar setup. Take all the passives for increased Magicka, healing, and Ultimate gain. Here is what your secondary bar should look like:
Poison Arrow (Venom Arrow) – You'll want Venom Arrow on your bow ability bar. For one, it specifies the use of Shadowscale poison (fun!) It also adds a damage-over-time effect after dealing poison damage, and interrupts spell casting. It's a great crowd-control option.
Volley (Scorched Earth) – Next take Scorched Earth, a powerful area-of-effect ability. After you pepper the area with arrows, you set the ground on fire to deal even more damage to the enemies in the area.
Snipe (Focused Aim) – Your final must-have bow ability is Focused Aim. This ability deals damage plus increased range against enemy, and reduces your target's armor for 10 seconds. Take that!
Strife (Funnel Health) – This ability heals you and two allies. It's a great utility option for Trials and PVP situations.
Drain Power (Power Extraction) – This ability scales off Stamina and Weapon Damage, making it a perfect pairing for this build. It also deals increased damage, and increases your Weapon Damage by 20% for 20 seconds upon hit. And it's an area-of-effect, making it another great option Trials and PVP.
Ultimate: Soul Siphon (Soul Tether) – An area-of-effect that heals you and stuns your targets? What's not to love? And the damage ratio is a great nuke!
For your normal bow rotation, use Focused Aim, Funnel Health, and Venom Arrow. For groups of enemies, you'll rely on Power Extraction and Scorched Earth at a close range, and Soul Tether when it procs. Seems crazy, but works!
ADDITIONAL ABILITIES
Go to the Fighter's Guild and train in Slayer and Banish the Wicked. This will give you increased damage to Daedra and Undead, and there are plenty of those everywhere you go.
In the Soul Magic skill line, grab Soul Summons and Soul Lock. They're handy “just in case" skills to have in your back pocket.
I also recommend mastering your craft skills, especially Clothier, Enchanting, Provisioning, and Blacksmithing. Woodworking and Alchemy are nice, but a little less fun and useful (in my opinion, at least.) You'll want Clothier for armor, Blacksmithing for weapons, Enchanting to be awesome, and Provisioning for food buffs.
Lastly, pick up Improved Hiding from the Legerdemain skill line. The Stealth cost reduction is a must-have for any budding assassin of Sithis.
CHAMPION SYSTEM
When investing points in the Champion System, cycle through the following constellations:
The Apprentice
- Blessed for healing abilities (primarily Siphoning.)
- Spell Erosion to increase the damage of your non-weapon based attacks.
The Atronach
- Blade Expert to increase damage with Daggers and Swords.
- Bow Expert to increase damage with Bows.
The Lady
- Elemental Defender to reduce damage from Frost, Fire and Shock.
- Hardy to reduce damage from Poison, Disease, and Magic.
- Thick Skinned to reduce damage taken from damage-over-time effects.
The Lord
- Nourishing for Potion Effectiveness. (Currently stacks with the Argonian Racial Passives.)
- Quick Recovery for extra healing.
The Lover
- Invest points in every passive in this constellation. Doing so will help you to conserve Health, Stamina and Magicka.
The Ritual
- Invest points in every passive in this constellation. All of them increase your damage in some way.
The Shadow
- Invest points in every passive in this constellation. Doing so will grant you PVP benefits, and allows you to conserve Stamina while in stealth.
The Steed
- Medium Armor Focus for increased damage.
- Resistant to decrease damage from critical hits.
- Spell Shield for increased resistance to spells.
The Tower
- Magician to reduce Magicka costs.
- Warlord to reduce stamina costs of spells and abilities.
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