To be very clear, this is a fun, concept style build. It is not Meta*… even so, this build is fun to play, and works well for solo play and normal dungeons.
My main is a magicka Nightblade, but I do miss the stamina playstyle and I wanted something that was inspired by Nocturnal and the Nightingales in Skyrim. Those who read my blog, know that I am a sucker for a thiefy bow character. Anyway, this is what I came up with:
- 5 pieces of Unfathomable Darkness (summons a Murder of Crows dot) from Clockwork City (also Guild Traders)
- 5 pieces of Grace of Gloom (on damage, become a Living Shadow) from Summerset (also Guild Traders)
- Monster Set: There isn’t one that shouts Thief or Assassin afaik, so use a set which either boosts your damage or survivability as you need. I’m using Velidreth at the moment.
The above sets work very well, I can easily solo Public Dungeons / Dolmens and things die quickly… It does the job. I did consider the Deadlands Assassin set, I tried it out and couldn’t see the set proc’ing which… was boring so I switched back to Unfathomable Darkness (the one disadvantage to this set is that the crows are very noisy!) Alternatively you could pair one set with something like Hunding’s or Briarheart (tbh I’d swap out Gloom of Grace as the stats aren’t dps oriented).
I use Darloc Brae (reduces radius & cost of sneaking, plus a heal when you are stealthed), plus Shadow Dancer (removes the movement speed penalty of sneak*). You can use both or just switch in one set as needed.
The Shadow Cloak skill is really useful for heists, even for stamina characters, and Veiled Strike>Concealed Weapon can replace the need for Shadow Dancer. I wrote a guide for stealth gear and skills, (not just for Nightblades!)
Dual Wield: Flurry; Whirlwind; Blade Cloak; Siphoning Strikes; Assassin’s Blade. Ultimate: Incapacitating Strike
Bow: Volley; Grim Focus; Summon Shade; Mark Target; Poison Arrow. Ultimate: Soul Shred
NB. This character is still a WIP, so not all morphs are available yet. The skills and morphs are very flexible – whatever you find best really. I like this setup as it has a good mix of survivability, power management and damage. I think the skills that really add to the Nightingale feel are Summon Shade, Mark Target and Killer’s Blade but all of the Nightblade skills are very fitting. I like Dual Wield but you could adapt to a 2-Hander instead. With Bastian healing, there is less of a need for a direct heal, however Vigor is always an option.
For the Warfare and Fitness trees, I use Alcast’s setup. For the crafting tree, I have active: Gifted Rider, Steed’s Blessing, Treasure Hunter and Homemaker. Increasing Gilded Fingers, Fortune’s Favour and Infamous also fits in well with the thief concept but really this tree should be built for your favourite activities.
I’m using Bastian set up as a healer (and dressed as a pirate 
) Obviously he gets sent to the pub if I’m on a stealing spree. I have Mirri set up as bow dps, she would also work well.
I use AlphaGear2.0 to build and switch setups.
I generally put around 6 points into health and the rest into stamina.
All the passives (Nightblade skills, weapon skills, medium armour, race skills, plus Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild & Legerdemain)
Hope you enjoy!
*Honestly, the Meta builds are great and I do use something along those lines if I am doing any properly challenging content – but they’re not really needed for most of the game. There are lots of build sites out there, I usually look at Alcast or Dottz for the first step. I use them (and others) as a springboard and adapt to my needs.
**huh yeah… my best shot of the Gloom set, I happened also to be on fire, haha. Was a nightmare to get a shot of the effect.