Hircine’s Hammer – ESO Nightblade Werewolf PvP Build

Anyone who’s spent time in Cyrodiil knows the problem. Shield stackers everywhere, layering Hardened Ward, Harness Magicka, Healing Ward, and sometimes even Barrier on top. Breaking through it can feel pointless.

Hircine’s Hammer is built specifically to deal with that. This Nightblade Werewolf PvP build is designed to shred shields directly, turning shield stacking from a strength into a liability in The Elder Scrolls Online .

As targets drop lower on health, your light and heavy attacks hit harder. When enemies panic and start stacking shields, this build does increased damage to shields, ripping them apart faster instead of stalling on them.

Shield spam burns resources. Resources run out. And once that happens, the fight is over.

On-Foot Setup & Werewolf Transition

Outside of Werewolf form, the build is still strong. You can pressure enemies, survive in large fights, and build ultimate consistently. The high stamina pool lets you block comfortably on the sword and shield bar while staying active.

Sword and Shield is there for a reason. It provides key debuffs, and extra tankiness through stamina glyphs and impenetrable traits, all of which help you stay alive longer once you transform.

How the Build Wins Fights

The most important thing to remember is not to panic. Keep Rally up and use Siphoning Strikes if you get low on resources, and make proper use of your light and heavy attacks. They hit hard in and out of Werewolf and are key to your sustain.

Applying Defile is critical. If you don’t reduce enemy healing, some targets can drag fights out forever, especially heavy sustain templars and shield-focused builds.

Once targets are pressured low, shield stacking usually ramps up. That’s where this build shines. Shields get shredded, resources drain fast, and execution pressure takes over.

Strong damage scaling as targets drop to low health
Exceptional light and heavy attack pressure in Werewolf
Bonus damage to shields that punishes shield stacking
High survivability through stamina pool and resistances
Extended Werewolf uptime through constant pressure
Pack synergy that rewards coordinated Werewolf play

Buff before you transform, use your heavies intelligently, and pressure both shields and healing at the same time. When played patiently, Hircine’s Hammer turns one of PvP’s most frustrating mechanics into something you can reliably exploit.

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Fashion First – Hircine’s Hammer

Fashion is not important for this build. Once you are in Werewolf form, armor styles are irrelevant. The only requirements are FUR, TEETH and CLAWS! AWWWOOOOO!!!

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Hircine’s Hammer – ESO Nightblade Werewolf PvP Build Skills

Hircine’s Hammer uses its humanoid bars to debuff targets, stay alive under pressure, and build ultimate. Once transformed, the build fully commits to Werewolf form where the real pressure, sustain, and kill power begins.

Front Bar – One Hand & Shield

Slot	Skill	Skill Line
1	Ambush	Nightblade – Assassination
2	Dark Cloak	Nightblade – Shadow
3	Pierce Armor	One Hand & Shield
4	Leeching Strikes	Nightblade – Siphoning
5	Reverberating Bash	One Hand & Shield
Ultimate	Werewolf Berserker	Werewolf

Back Bar – Two Handed Maul

Slot	Skill	Skill Line
1	Resolving Vigor	Alliance War – Assault
2	Dizzying Swing	Two Handed
3	Phantasmal Escape	Nightblade – Shadow
4	Rally	Two Handed
5	Reverse Slice	Two Handed
Ultimate	Incapacitating Strike	Nightblade – Assassination

Dawnbreaker is a valid alternative ultimate on the back bar if preferred.

Werewolf Form – Primary Damage & Pressure

While in Werewolf form you lose all weapon passives and bar bonuses, but gain massive stat increases, built-in sustain, a powerful self-heal with resource return, and access to Defile to significantly reduce enemy healing.

Slot	Skill	Skill Line
1	Brutal Pounce	Werewolf
2	Hircine’s Fortitude	Werewolf
3	Deafening Roar	Werewolf
4	Howl of Despair	Werewolf
5	Claws of Anguish	Werewolf
Ultimate	Werewolf Berserker	Werewolf

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🏆 Champion Points – Hircine’s Hammer Setup

Champion Points for Hircine’s Hammer focus on raw damage, survivability, and sustain while enabling aggressive melee pressure before fully committing to Werewolf form. The setup balances offensive power with enough durability to survive brawls and extended engagements.

Once you reach level 50, CP enhances your build across three constellations: Warfare (Blue), Craft (Green), and Fitness (Red). These selections support high pressure damage, sustain during heavy combat, and survivability both in human and Werewolf form.

Master at Arms
Ironclad
Deadly Aim
Resilience

Rationer
Liquid Efficiency
Treasure Hunter
Steed’s Blessing

Boundless Vitality
Rejuvenation
Fortified
Bloody Renewal

These Champion Points reinforce aggressive melee combat, sustain through kills, and survivability during extended pressure — especially once transformed into Werewolf form where sustained damage and healing are critical.

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How To Play Hircine’s Hammer

Hircine’s Hammer is very straightforward. You apply pressure in human form, build ultimate safely, and once the timing is right — you Wolf Out and end the fight.

Human Form – Pressure & Setup

While in human form, your job is to pressure, debuff, and survive while building ultimate.

On your front bar (Sword & Board), apply debuffs and defend when needed.
Reverberating Bash is a strong debuff and an excellent bash — use it often.
Ambush is your gap closer if you want to apply melee pressure or force an engagement.
Keep Rally active at all times for Major Brutality and the heal at the end.

On your back bar (Two Handed), apply pressure with:

Dizzying Swing spam for pressure and burst.
Once the target is low, finish with Reverse Slice.

Generally speaking, you play patiently here. Once your ultimate is high enough, it’s time to change forms.

Werewolf Form – Kill Mode

Once transformed, everything changes. You lose your weapon passives, but gain raw pressure, bleeds, sustain, and control.

Claws of Anguish must be maintained on all targets.
Keep Howl of Despair active to apply the debuff.
Maintain Deafening Roar for control and pressure.

Light attacks hit hard and apply bleeds, so feel free to weave or spam them, but always watch your resources too from skill useage. Heavy attack when needed.

Hircine’s Fortitude is your main heal. Keep it available — don’t burn it unnecessarily. Using it at full health restores around 3k Stamina however, making it a massive sustain tool.

Use Brutal Pounce as your gap closer to stay on top of targets.

TL;DR

In Werewolf form: Claws on target → Howl debuff active → Roar up → then beat them to death.

It’s not complicated — just maintain what sticks, manage your resources, and keep hitting them.

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Attributes, Race, and Mundus Stone

This section outlines the core stat setup for the Hircine’s Hammer build, focused on raw Stamina damage, pressure, and strong Werewolf scaling.

✔️ We are using the Warrior Mundus Stone to maximise flat Weapon Damage.

✔️ All 64 Attribute Points are placed into Stamina.

✔️ The chosen race is Wood Elf for sustain and mobility. Redguard, Imperial, and Orc are all excellent alternatives, with differences coming down to minor sustain or damage bonuses.

Potions, Poisons & Food

Potions are flexible on this build, but they provide crowd control immunity, strong recovery bonuses, and an instant burst of Health and Stamina when needed.

Food is kept simple — use the highest-level two-stat food you can access that provides Max Health and Max Stamina.

🧪 Immovable Potions

Mountain Flower + Columbine + Wormwood + Lorkhan’s Tears

☠️ Drain Health Poisons

Nightshade + Nirnroot + Fleshfly Larva + Alkahest

🍲 Food Options

All options below provide Max Health and Max Stamina. Choose whichever recipe you prefer.

Sticky Pork and Radish Noodles — White Meat ×1, Radish ×2, Flour ×3
Garlic Cod with Potato Crust — Fish ×1, Potato ×2, Garlic ×3
Braised Rabbit with Spring Vegetables — Small Game ×1, Greens ×2, Seasoning ×3
Dubious Camoran Throne — White Meat ×1, Insect Parts ×1, Guts ×1, Beetle Scuttle ×3

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Original Setup – Hircine’s Hammer Nightblade Build

Slot	Gear Set	Weight	Trait	Enchantment
Head	Molag Kena	Heavy	Impenetrable	Stamina
Shoulders	Molag Kena	Heavy	Impenetrable	Stamina
Chest	Kvatch Gladiator	Medium	Impenetrable	Stamina
Waist	Kvatch Gladiator	Medium	Impenetrable	Stamina
Hands	Kvatch Gladiator	Medium	Impenetrable	Stamina
Legs	Kvatch Gladiator	Medium	Impenetrable	Stamina
Feet	Kvatch Gladiator	Medium	Impenetrable	Stamina
Ring 1	Shield Breaker	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Weapon Damage
Ring 2	Shield Breaker	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Weapon Damage
Necklace	Shield Breaker	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Weapon Damage
Weapon 1	Shield Breaker	One Handed	Nirnhoned	Weapon / Spell Damage
Weapon 2	Shield Breaker	Shield	Impenetrable	Stamina
Weapon 3	Shield Breaker	Two Handed Maul	Nirnhoned	Weapon / Spell Damage

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✨ Highlights

Kvatch Gladiator – Massive execute pressure, allowing you to delete low-health targets faster than almost any other setup.
Shield Breaker – Hard-counters shield stacking builds by dealing direct Oblivion damage through damage shields.
Molag Kena – Huge burst window when weaving properly, trading sustain for devastating kill pressure.
One Hand & Shield plus Two-Handed bars provide survivability when pressured, with brutal execution potential when swapping to offense.

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