Nightblades in The Elder Scrolls Online are typically characterized by the use of Medium Armor in close combat and a reliance on Stamina. Though this is true for most Nightblade builds in The Elder Scrolls Online, some rely on Heavy Armor or Light Armor to serve different purposes in group content.

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While Nightblades aren't generally great Tanks, their damage output is extremely high and they can be good combat healers, too. Nightblades get the most use out of armor sets that can increase their DPS in some way rather than sets that raise their survivability. After all, their DPS is often also tied to their ability to be an effective Support player.

Updated November 24, 2021 by Erik Petrovich: The ESO best armor for Nightblade players are sets that build off of critical damage and generalized damage buffs. Players are split between Stamina or Magicka being the best resource to base a Nightblade build on, and thus there are a lot of good armors for Nightblades to choose. The most important things to keep in mind when looking for a new armor set are what the set bonuses are, how many pieces you want to get, and the means of acquiring the gear. With an ESO Plus subscription most of the DLC is available, but unsubscribed players may need to think about buying a DLC or two to access some of these sets.

5 The Tzogvin's Warband Set

Elder Scrolls Online Armor Sets Tzogvin’s Warband
  • Two Item Bonus: Increases Critical Chance by 657
  • Three Item Bonus: Increases Critical Chance by 657
  • Four Item Bonus: Grants 1487 Physical Penetration
  • Full Set Bonus: Player gains a stack of Precision for each Critical Hit. At ten stacks, the Minor Force buff is applied, further increasing Critical Damage.

The Tzogbin's Warband armor set gives good stat bonuses, as well as a special effect that vastly increases Critical Damage when the player makes use of its full benefit. This armor set is considered by many to be the best armor for Stamina Nightblade ESO players, almost without contest, thanks to its huge Critical buffs.

Nightblade DPS players tend to build into Weapon Critical anyway, which means players can expect to have the Precision buff active at all times. Look for the pieces to this set in the Frostvault dungeon in Eastmarch, part of the Wrathstone DLC.

4 The Hunding's Rage Set

Elder Scrolls Online Armor Sets Hunding’s Rage
  • Two Item Bonus: Increases Critical Chance by 657
  • Three Item Bonus: Adds 1096 Max Stamina
  • Four Item Bonus: Increases Critical Chance by 657
  • Full Set Bonus: Weapon Damage increased by 300

The Hunding's Rage armor set is a craftable set that gives some basic buffs to three useful stats for Nightblades. The set is perhaps not quite as exciting as the special ability granted by the Tzogvin's Warband set, but nonetheless, the Hunding's Rage set is up there with other ESO best Nightblade sets.

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It's a lot less to keep track of, as passive bonuses mean less to worry about in terms of maximizing combat potential. To craft this set, look for the Wether's Cleft in the eastern part of Bangkorai, the Trollslayer Gulley in the central part of The Rift, or the Broken Arch in the southern part of Reaper's March.

3 The Briarheart Set

Elder Scrolls Online Armor Sets Briarheart
  • Two Item Bonus: Increases Critical Chance by 657
  • Three Item Bonus: Adds 1096 Max Stamina
  • Four Item Bonus: Increases Critical Chance by 657
  • Full Set Bonus: Grants 450 Weapon Damage for 10 seconds after every Critical Hit, during which every Critical Hit heals the player

The Briarheart armor set gives some basic bonuses to Weapon Critical and Stamina, alongside a useful self-healing ability. Nightblades have a whole tree dedicated to healing and Support-based abilities. However, players who don't spec into Siphoning need alternative healing methods, especially for soloing.

The Briarheart Set gives a basic heal alongside a powerful temporary Weapon Damage buff, which procs more often the more the Nightblade has specced into dealing critical hits. Look for the pieces to the Briarheart set all over Wrothgar in the overland, particularly from world bosses and difficult enemies spread throughout the zone.

2 The Kinra's Wrath Set

Elder Scrolls Online Best Nightblade Armor Sets Kinras Wrath
  • Two Item Bonus: Increases Weapon and Spell Damage by 129
  • Three Item Bonus: Adds 657 Critical Chance
  • Four Item Bonus: Increases Weapon and Spell Damage by 129
  • Full Set Bonus: Light and Heavy Attacks grant a stack of Burning Heart. At five stacks, player gains Major Berserk, and allies within 12 meters gain Minor Berserk

The Kinra's Wrath set is a Medium Armor, Jewelry, and Weapon set that hugely increases Weapon Damage, Spell Damage, Critical Chance, and grants a powerful buff to the player and their allies with the full set bonus effect. It's powerful for both Magicka and Stamina-based builds, though it's definitely more geared towards players who stay near their allies in combat.RELATED: Elder Scrolls Online: The Best Damage Dealer Build For Each ClassThe Kinra's Wrath set is found in the Black Drake Villa dungeon from the Flames of Ambition DLC. This DLC is available in the Crown Store as an individual purchase, or can be accessed through a subscription to ESO Plus.

1 The Arms of Relequen Set

Elder Scrolls Online Best Nightblade Armor Sets Perfected Arms of Relequen
  • Two Item Bonus: Increases Critical Chance by 657
  • Three Item Bonus: Grants Minor Slayer
  • Four Item Bonus: Increases Critical Chance by 657
  • Full Set Bonus: Heavy and Light Attacks create stacks of Harmful Winds, damaging enemies based on the current stack total.

The Arms of Relequen set is a Medium Armor, Jewelry, and Weapon set that gives players huge boosts to Critical Chance, gives the Minor Slayer buff, and has a powerful stacking Full Set bonus. With five pieces equipped, the player will create a stack of Harmful Winds with each Heavy or Light attack, dealing damage over time to a maximum of 10 concurrent stacks.

The Arms of Relequen set is good on its own, but the Perfected version of the set also gives Max Stamina and the improved Major Slayer buff. This set is found in the Cloudrest Trial in Summerset, and the Perfected version is only acquirable from the Veteran version of this dungeon.

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