Uploaded August 2018 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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- Summary -

This video showcases two strong Stamina Nightblade setups that I will be using in the Wolfhunter update.

For those wanting to learn (new to trials, Stamina Nightblade etc), hopefully, this will help. For the experienced Stamblade, you might prefer to compare and share ideas.

For information about the rotation itself, please visit this dodgy link for further information, as it's too long to fit here: http://txt.do/d727x
I would recommend giving this a read if you want a breakdown of how I think about my rotation, how to get the best burst, how to execute, and a few tips on how to read combat metrics reports to measure the quality of a given Stamina Nightblade parse.

It is an adapted version of the description I wrote in Summerset, which is found here: youtube.com/watch?v=b_Ic1NqMXZA

Here though, I will primarily focus on results from testing enchants and traits for weapons. In Wolfhunter, the way that weapons proc enchants have changed, as well as the fact that one infused trait no longer affects both weapons on a dual wield set up.

I would say overall DPS on Stamina Nightblade is roughly the same compared to Summerset. The change of enchants both raised and lowered DPS in different ways. Max HP Max Stamina food gives the normal amount of resources again, which is a few hundred less (Summerset was the exception), and 10 more blue CPs can be allocated.

For the record, Stamina Nightblade should still be the highest Single Target DPS class in the game, slightly ahead of Magicka Nightblades.

I wanted to get this out sooner, but I didn't have any War Machine Daggers until Thursday (thanks Fallen), and the PTS was a buggy mess.

Thanks to @stileanima for trying to keep up 100% major fracture, and for the orbs.

- Gear Comparison -

Relequen remains the best set to wear on the body for the majority of fights. Advancing Yokeda most likely remains the best 'selfish' set to wear. War Machine is an extremely good alternative if sources of Major Slayer are required in the group.

Whilst testing, given major fracture and orbs, Advancing Yokeda versus War Machine on frontbar (with daggers) gave almost identical results consistently.

Combat Metrics Screenshots from the video:
First setup - (Advancing Yokeda, Relequen, Selene's) - 58.5k - https://i.imgur.com/VEz3r9k.png
Build - https://i.imgur.com/rtdFkiJ.png

Second setup - (War Machine, Relequen, Selene's) - 58.3k - https://i.imgur.com/xkbtxjh.png
Build - https://i.imgur.com/QLJY481.png

For comparison's sake, these setups are yielding me 55-56k DPS on a 6mil dummy when solo.

- Enchant and Trait Testing -

The best combination for the majority of situations I found was this:
- Main-Hand : Nirnhoned Disease Enchanted Dagger
- Off-Hand : Infused Berserker Enchanted Dagger
- Bow : Infused Poison Enchanted Maelstrom Bow

For fights where you can use a Prismatic Enchant, it is likely to be this:
- Main-Hand : Nirnhoned Poison Enchanted Dagger
- Off-Hand : Infused Berserker Enchanted Dagger
- Bow : Infused Prismatic Enchanted Maelstrom Bow

I tried a bunch of different dual wield setups. One control variable, which is very likely to be best, was the Infused Bow with the Poison Enchant. All of the below setups are within 1k DPS of each other on average. However, they are also 0.5-1k+ DPS lower than the above option. Notable mentions:

1. Infused Disease Enchant, Infused Berserker - (I've lost the parse, I'll try and make a new one some time)
Very strong setup.

2. Infused Absorb Stamina, Infused Berserker - https://i.imgur.com/TWupfed.jpg
This is a really interesting setup because the Infused Absorb Stamina Enchant did around 1k DPS but also returned 110-130 stamina per second, which works out to be roughly 12-14k stamina returned over the course of a 6mil dummy for me. I would consider using this setup in stamina intensive fights, such as The Mage in vAA, or the Refabrication Committee in vHOF.

3. Nirnhoned Berserker, Infused Absorb Stamina
This set up performs very similarly to the setup above. Again, the stamina return is great for the same reason as already mentioned.

4. Nirnhoned Disease, Precise Berserker - https://i.imgur.com/TvIYOlj.jpg
Best set up if you are looking for raw stats. Could be useful in Multi-target fights.

Note: I didn't test any Sharpened Off-hand weapons since I wanted to have consistent penetration. It could be a very good option in groups or fights where you expect weaker penetration debuffs.

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