GOALS OF BUILD

It's a solo build designed around good damage and survivability, thus we need a source of HoT, DoT and of self-buffs. Our damage comes primarily through the offensive powerhouse of Assassin's Blade (swappable with Executioner from 2H, though less optimal), Surprise Attack (debuff) and Brawler, our AoE spammable. Poison Injection should run on Big Bads at all times.

Buffs of note are Rally and Reaper's Mark. Level Fighter's Guild literally ASAP, it is a huge priority. I like my luck with Public Dungeons, Delves and the occasional group expedition into Imperial City. Fighter's Guild 6 is a minimum to grab some sweet passives and our source of Savagery. Brutality we get through Rally. Bow is backbar to ensure the "Berserk" feel of the build, but for the DoT provided by Poison Injection. Other Bow DoTs are ommitted, as AoE is not the focus of this build. If you want AoE, you can tweak this build's first 3 skills on the main bar. I find Brawler to be sufficient for my needs.

Why Nightblade? It gives us Assassin's Blade, sweet passives and the ever useful Surprise Attacks. Also, self-healing at low levels through passives and Siphoning. Plus DKs are overplayed IMNSHO. Why solo? It's fun, and you never have to deal with queuing up with fools. Also, less lag.

GEAR AND ITEM SET INFO


Gear is negotiable, but Vicious Ophidian and Twice-Born are recommended. Hunding's for DPS. Lots of good DPS options. This build assumes a Two-Hand sword for max damage output. It performs well in both AvA and PvE. Our Bar 2 (back bar) is for buffs and debuffs. Particularly Rally, Reaper's Mark and so forth.

Abilities:


Why do I not use Executioner and Wrecking Blow? A few reasons, if you'll hear me out. They cost more, and they tend to stagnate the stamina cycle. The stamina cycle is our regeneration. We get our regeneration from a few places, which I'll talk about later in the build. The NB abilities Surprise Attack is our spammable, and it performs better than Wrecking Blow or Reverse Slice in terms of damage-per-stamina. Our executioner, Killer's Blade, is dirt cheap in cost and does more damage. Wrecking Blow is omitted from this build due to its casting time and its sheer cost. But if you need it, I'd take out Brawler for it.

For buffs, keep up Relentless Focus and Rally at all times. Elude and/or Siphoning Strikes are for when you need that defensive oompf. Reaper's mark is a great debuff for certain situations such as bosses, also great in solo.It costs magicka, so its good to refresh. You want Savagery, Brutality and ideally Berserk at most times running. Use potions to bridge the gaps in the late game.

Why use a Bow? Glad you asked. It's purely optional as 2H/2H is fine (sword preferred). It's mostly to have a ranged option and DoT. Poison Injection and Silver Leash or Silver Shards are preferred. Silver Shards is a Flex slot that may go to Unresolving Vigor or another self-healing ability. Late-game, this build is for solo play and thus doesn't care a damn about survivability. Add Elude or Unresolved Vigor if you need to.

Passives:

Redguard - Lots of overwhelming win here for resource management, max stam and so forth.

Medium Armor - Grab them all. Literally all of them.

Two Hand: heavy weapons. battle rush. Forceful is alright too, its free AoE splash. All of them are decent enough

Shadow: Lots of win here. 15% resource regen. Free resistance. Take it all if you want, its all decent
Siphoning: Nothing mandatory.


Assassination: This. This is why we played a Nightblade, boys.Pressure Points gives free crits. Crits beget more crits, and add on DPS for your party. This is what makes NB stand out in the late game, adding to a trial groups DPS.


Fighter's guild: Lots of win here. I'd consider taking them all, but if we slot 2-3 abilities, then at least Slayer makes it worth being in this tree. Also out Ultimate is here, and the coveted Savagery slot bonus from Evil Hunter or Camouflaged Hunter.

Assault: Only if you're PvP. This line does have Vigor however, a great source of a HoT for healing yourself.

Werewolf: Again we're here for the ultimate. But the abilities aren't bad. I'd recommend not transforming as it actually can decrease your DPS in most situations due to weapon abilities not carrying over. Great for flavor. The passives are sort of meh and mostly require you to be in WW form to see benefit. They are not a priority. Level WW abilities and sink points here in late game, if you're bored.

Undaunted: We're here for the passives, and that's all folks.



GENERAL INFO


This build is about good old fashioned berserker rage. It plays by starting on Bar 2, throwing down debuffs and self buffs, and heals as needed (self-heal). Bar 1 has our Single-target and multi target DPS abilities. It's strength is in burst damage and in big numbers. It falls behind DW in terms of sheer output, but it makes up for it in how fun it is to play and the big #s. This build shines on boss fights.

Weaknesses are its squishy, though not as squishy with Elude (dodge) and Resolving Vigor (self heals) as many DPS builds are. It isn't as good at AoE as a DW or Bow build, by game design mechanics in 2.6

Possible skill alternatives: What comes to mind is Brawler adds little to this build. We could switch it out for a Fighter's Guild ability such as Rearming Trap if you have the STA to support it. It adds another 3-4% DPS as well from the Fighter's Guild passive. Alternatively you could just add in Wrecking Blow or a utility damage ability, or any slot-bonus you care for. Lots of options here. Brawler is here for an AoE option and for its shield. For trash clearing in dungeon runs.

We spend 80% of our time on Bar 1, and only go to Bar 2 for buffs. This all said, while leveling this author suggests you use Pack Leader over Flawless Dawnbreaker. The NB ultimates are sort of "meh" other than Death Blow for our buil. The regeneration is so amazing that even Dawnbreaker might not be "worth it". If you go this route, dump Rearming Trap and keep brawler. The Bererker's Rage ultimate costs a lot and ultimately needs to be reworked IMNSHO. It's simply not worth using for anything other than fluff. It's a good backbar option though if WW isn't your thing! Flawless Dawnbreaker is by no means a bad choice for this build, if you have FG rank 10. I merely opted to not have it.