The Assassin — The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind eGuide

Class: Nightblade

Race: Khajiit

Attribute Focus: Stamina

Weapon Types: Dual Wield, Bow

Armor Focus: Medium

Mundus Stone: Thief

Bar 1: Dual Wield

Key Abilities

Ability	Description
	Surprise Attack: Morphed from Veiled Strike (Nightblade > Shadow). This is your main single-target attack. It also applies the Major Fracture debuff, reducing the target’s Physical Resistance. Using it while stealthed or invisible sets the target off-balance.
	Blood Craze: Morphed from Twin Slashes (Dual Wield). This is your primary damage-over-time effect and your only source of self-healing. Keep it active for the duration of any fight.
	Steel Tornado: Morphed from Whirlwind (Dual Wield). This is your primary area-of-effect attack. Its damage increases as targets lose Health. Use it whenever you face multiple enemies in close combat.
	Killer’s Blade: Morphed from Assassin’s Blade (Nightblade > Assassination). This is your execute ability. Use it when your target’s Health drops below 25%. If your target dies within two seconds of using this ability, you recover 20% of your Maximum Health.
	Camouflaged Hunter: Morphed from Expert Hunter (Fighters Guild). Slotting this grants Major Savagery, increasing your Weapon Critical rating, and causes your Critical Strikes from crouch to grant Minor Berserk, increasing damage done. Using it reveals nearby stealthed and invisible enemies.
	Flawless Dawnbreaker: Morphed from Dawnbreaker (Fighters Guild). Slot this Ultimate Ability to increase your Weapon Damage by 5%. Use it to deal heavy AoE/DOT Physical Damage to enemies in front of you.

This is your main damage Bar. Use it during close combat or when you’re attacking from stealth.This loadout uses every slot on the Action Bar. Camouflaged Hunter is probably the least vital Active Ability, but removing it will likely cause a noticeable drop in DPS.

Bar 2: Bow

Key Abilities

Ability	Description
	Ambush: Morphed from Teleport Strike (Nightblade > Assassination). Upon activation, this ability teleports you to your target, deals damage, applies a stun, and grants you Major Empower, increasing the damage of your next attack by 20%. If the target is a player, they’re briefly snared instead of stunned.
	Relentless Focus: Morphed from Grim Focus (Nightblade > Assassination). Grants Minor Berserk and Minor Endurance, increasing your damage done and Stamina Recovery for 20 seconds. It can also be used to fire a spectral bow for heavy damage.
	Poison Injection: Morphed from Poison Arrow (Bow). This is your primary ranged attack and damage-over-time effect. It deals bonus Poison Damage to enemies below 50% Health, so it also serves as something of a ranged execute ability.
	Razor Caltrops: Morphed from Caltrops (Assault). This attack deals AoE/DOT damage while snaring affected enemies. Use it for crowd control or for a nice boost to DPS.
	Ice Comet: Morphed from Meteor (Mages Guild). This Ultimate Ability combines heavy AoE/DOT Frost Damage with excellent crowd control.

This is your ranged/utility Bar. Use it to buff yourself, attack from a distance, or impede your pursuers. It also contains a nice damage-over-time attack, so expect to do a fair amount of weapon swapping during prolonged encounters. Use the remaining Bar slot for any ability you feel is useful.

Priority Passives

Core Passives are your priority, but make sure you invest in Improved Hiding (Legerdemain). It’s an important part of stealthy playstyles. Dark Stalker (Vampire) is also an appealing option, but the penalties of Vampirism can outweigh the benefits. Passive Abilities from the Assault skill line can be safely ignored outside of PvP.

Equipment Recommendations

Weapons
Priority Trait: Sharpened
Priority Enchantment: Weapon Damage
Your best weapon options come from the Maelstrom Arena or high-level sets. Until you manage to obtain such weapons, use the highest-quality versions you can find.
Once you’ve invested in the Dual Wield Passives, each weapon type provides a different bonus. The Weapon Critical bonus from daggers will probably result in the greatest damage gain, but find the combination that works for you.
Sharpened is the trait that most Damage-Dealers prefer, but Precise is also quite good. As for enchantments, favor Weapon Damage for your main hand. A Crushing enchantment would be a good choice for your off-hand weapon.
The combination of Sharpened and Weapon Damage also works well for your bow.

Armor
Priority Trait: Divines
Priority Enchantment: Maximum Stamina
Always equip at least five pieces of medium armor. The related Passives grant you some very important benefits. If you’ve invested in the Undaunted Mettle Passive Ability, you’ll probably want to equip light and heavy armor pieces in the remaining slots.
Equipment that grants suitable set bonuses is always your best option. Look for medium armor that offers Maximum Stamina enchantments as you work toward obtaining high-level gear. Divines tends to be the most useful trait for PvE content, but Infused can be very effective on head, chest, and leg pieces.

Jewelry
Priority Trait: Robust
Priority Enchantment: Weapon Damage
Until you manage to track down useful set pieces, use anything that increases Weapon Damage.

Archetype Advice

Whenever possible, open a fight with a Surprise Attack from stealth. It does great damage, applies Major Fracture, and sets your target off-balance. Follow up with a powerful attack, or use the time to switch Action Bars to activate buffs and apply Poison Injection.

Against a single target, use Surprise Attack for direct damage until your enemy’s Health drops below 25%—then switch to Killer’s Blade to finish them off. In multi-target situations, Steel Tornado should be your attack of choice.

Blood Craze is the closest thing you have to a self-heal, so try to keep it active on all enemies, at all times. Of course, the best way to mitigate damage is to avoid taking it. Make good use of stealth, ranged attacks, and crowd-control abilities.

Flawless Dawnbreaker is a fairly inexpensive Ultimate Ability. Use it often to boost your overall DPS; use Ice Comet when you need to attack from range or escape from dangerous situations.