Ok Sorcerer masters how do you do it :)

like1tiger

Ok all you sorcs out there. What am I missing?
Im have now hit lvl 37. Feeling like im under preforming, I die alot I thought I would be much stronger than my NB but im not seeing it so im guessing im doing it wrong. Anything over 2 mobs and im doomed. Most World Bosses kick my arse..
Running fire destruction staff. Just got impulse.
Skills crystal fragments, endless fury, impulse. Mage rune (trying to lvl for pvp) and my pet clanfear. Im always running out of mana. I have mana enchants on my gear 26 magika 10 health. Wearing 5 peices of magnas set... 5 light 1 med 1 heavy. My other set is duel weld daggers that I have been trying to lvl for an aoe spec and I only switch when handing in quests. I im so squishy and it seems alot of things just ignore my pet and kill me. I can do a bit with my storm ulti but hopless without it. I have theif mundas stone..

Maybe its just how it is at my level but I owned easy up to 30 now struggling so im guessing its just me and not the class as I had huge hopes for stomping faces haha

Troponin

Running out of magicka a lot early on is normal, especially spamming Impulse. AoEs are magicka intense. My advice is to pick up the level 20 warlock accessories (all three) and that will help you out a bit. Once you pick up the last passive in the destructive line, spamming impulse to kill packs of mobs because a bit easier. It scales based on a % of your total magicka, I believe, so every time something dies with impulse, it replenishes some of your magicka. With two points in that, the magicka you get back is pretty nice and down time is very little, if at all.

The other thing I did was picked up a 5 piece seducer set. Ask a guildie, friend, or have your clother make it for you. For a fee, someone in zone could make it for you as well. These last a loooong time. I kept mine from level 40 to VR1 and it was STILL better than any non-set pieces. Unless you REALLY want ot level up medium armor, I suggest you go all cloth too. Better magicka resources.

Lastly, I put 10 points in to magicka, then rest in to health, and put all magicka enchants on my gear. Once I hit VR1, I went all health, since the enchants and gear gets better.

on a final note, I will point out, critical surge + impulse + inner light = easy mode. If you're feeling squishy, add bound armor to the mix.

xChewtoyx

I would not presume to be a master but I'll share a few things I do in the PVE setting.

I only use impulse on my bar when I am in a group AOE clearing trash mobs. If I'm out soloing it never gets all the mobs down fast enough before one of them kills me. Consider trying out crushing shock in its place. Combined with critical surge and inner light its very potent.

For multiple mobs, if you want to use a pet then send it in to attack first. You then attack one of the others. I prefer to use the dark magic skill rune cage morphed from rune prison, removing one of the mobs for about 25 seconds in the morphed version. Just make sure to position yourself so you don't break the spell as you are fighting the other mobs.

World bosses are mostly about tactics, some things work better than others you just have to experiment and try different things sometimes.

When fighting I use spellpower pots to restore magika and get a short boost to spell damage and spell crit. I would recommend switching mundus to the mage for added magika until you are leveled up and geared. For PVE I use gear that has infused on head chest and pants and divines on the rest. I put magika enchants on everything until I can hit softcap with food and then health on the rest. I use 5 twighlights embrace 3 willows path and 3 soulshine for the spellcrit and spellpower but there are lots of other options depending on what is available to you and what you want to do.

Hope this helps

SienneYviete

Agree on the Warlock gear, on my Sorc I used lvl20 warlock gear all the way through to VR1 then used the VR1 set all the way to VR12 and then grabbed the VR12 set, instead of the Magnus set use the seducer set, this combined with the Warlock 5 piece bonus (Focus/Signet x 2/Cowl and Robes) is a massive boost to your Magicka sustain.

Taking on multiple mobs is easy with the right skills on your bar I generally buff with critical surge open with Velocious curse and follow that up with crystal fragments then streak through the pack a couple of times and if anyone is still up finish off with Mages wrath.

With these 2 sets your Magicka sustain will be excellent allowing you to use the Thief Mundus for extra crit and do more damage for the Magicka you are consuming.

like1tiger

Thanks for the help guys. I will try all the advice. I have a vr12 NB who has 8 traits in medium and heavy as well as nearly 6 in light so I can craft my own gear.
I started playing a sorc as I had seen so many just face stomping through areas and everyone said that sorc was easy mode so I didnt think I would be struggling like I have been there is only so many times u want to do the quests Im pretty sure its just me and not the class haha. I really appreciate people taking there time to reply thanks.

Paralyse

I use Degeneration, Crystal, Endless Fury & Destructive Clench with Unstable Clannfear and Greater Stormy. Swap in crit surge or a CC for clanny in groups. Destro staff. Full light armor.

Anything that actually gets in melee ranged gets knocked back, the Clannfear keeps them busy, Degeneration is a dot + a heal, EF is a strong finisher, Crystal is a great knockdown with high DPS when it procs. If you have a resto build you can swap in a Resto ability for self heals vs. Degen. For a nuke build I'd take Crit Surge & Curse.

AoE build: Crit Surge, Impulse, Lightning Pool, Bolt, Daedric Mines. (YMMV)

My Dark Elf Sorc is 50/50 DM and mid 40s on SC/DS, 50 light armor, 50 delf skills, 50 destro, 30s resto staff, rest of the points are in crafting. Build is 50/50 health/magicka, 0 stam.

At VR2 the only time I die is if I overpull.

flintstone

Impulse is over rated in my opinion.....it's ok in a group fight, but I never use it solo. I use inner light for the crit, surge for the heal, and spam endless fury for magic regin. I also use crushing shock and crystal fragments........both very powerful if used correctly.

On my other bar I use 2 handed sword.......except I replace crushing shock with the 2 handed charge skill which always crits.

I also mix in many of the other skills here and there as needed.......nothing works 100% all the time.

I have a vet 12 sorcerer and a vet 12 dragon knight.

Stannum

Have no any problems with my sOrc in any PvE. I have heavy torso+med legs+5light seduser 5 + ashen grip 3 sets. 3-2-1 proportion in magika-hp-stamina.
Main build is carve-execute-inner light-liquid lightning-velo curse \\ energy overload.
On overload bar I have endless fury-lightning form-inner light-liquid lightning-velo cusre.

So I do very heavy AoE dmg with curse-lightning-carve spam combination while getting lots of ulti. That combination whipes any standart mobs groups in a seconds long before you will be shot of magika, you only should keep mobs together (trying attack archers & mages first & close) and be ready to block CC mobs attacks. Against world bosses after first strikes I switch to overload which I've fully charged allmost all the time thanks to carve and I also have no problem with magika as morphed overload regens it, when boss hp lowers to <30% I switch back to 2H and finish him with execute. In group dangeons the tactic is combination of previous 2, When i have enought magika & stamina I use 2H bar when magika is low swith to overload to replenish it then switch back to 2H to replenish ulti.

Stannum

like1tiger wrote: »

and it seems alot of things just ignore my pet and kill me.

If you want mobs to aggro your pet try to open you attack with daedric curse and wait while yor clanfear attacks.

Troponin

flintstone wrote: »

Impulse is over rated in my opinion.....it's ok in a group fight, but I never use it solo..

You must be thinking of Impulse being over rated because of the PvP spamming issue. Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to PvE AoE though. It's extremely powerful in AoE farming and AoE intense dungeons encounters.

Lord_Wrath

Here is my set up and I feel like a master at PvE. These are all morphed so you may have to research the name for the original skill. As for attribute points, ive been balancing them in health and magicka.

Attack - Destruction Staff
1 - Crystal Fragments - your big hitter
2 - Restraining Prison - crowd control, stop large groups together
3 - Lightning Flood - AoE spell that works perfectly with Restraining Prison.
4 - Endless Fury - Instantly kill low health targets and regain some magicka. Also splashes damage to nearby enemies.
5 - I normally leave open to experiment other skills. Currently I like Elemental Blockade (Wall of Elements?) in destruction staff for extra AoE damage. I did use a summoned pet for extra support at a low level.

Support/Boss - Healing Staff
1 - Crystal Fragments - Cant go without it
2 - Bolt Escape - Because you will need a get away plan
3 - Dark Deal - A life saver regenerating health and magick for stamina.
4 - Rapid Regeneration - Heals yourself and 2 others instantly over a period of time.
5. Combat Prayer - Instantly heals anyone infront of you for a good chunk. Also heals yourself of course.

You probably dont need two healing spells though.

flintstone

Troponin wrote: »

flintstone wrote: »

Impulse is over rated in my opinion.....it's ok in a group fight, but I never use it solo..

You must be thinking of Impulse being over rated because of the PvP spamming issue. Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to PvE AoE though. It's extremely powerful in AoE farming and AoE intense dungeons encounters.

By over rated, I mean that it has a reputation as being some sort of dps super weapon......I can do much better without it when I'm solo. If it works best for others though.......thats fine, use it.

It's fine in a group setting....and mixed with damage from the other players, and that is the only time I really use it.

AlexDrago

like1tiger wrote: »

Ok all you sorcs out there. What am I missing?
Im have now hit lvl 37. Feeling like im under preforming, I die alot I thought I would be much stronger than my NB but im not seeing it so im guessing im doing it wrong. Anything over 2 mobs and im doomed. Most World Bosses kick my arse..
Running fire destruction staff. Just got impulse.
Skills crystal fragments, endless fury, impulse. Mage rune (trying to lvl for pvp) and my pet clanfear. Im always running out of mana. I have mana enchants on my gear 26 magika 10 health. Wearing 5 peices of magnas set... 5 light 1 med 1 heavy. My other set is duel weld daggers that I have been trying to lvl for an aoe spec and I only switch when handing in quests. I im so squishy and it seems alot of things just ignore my pet and kill me. I can do a bit with my storm ulti but hopless without it. I have theif mundas stone..

Maybe its just how it is at my level but I owned easy up to 30 now struggling so im guessing its just me and not the class as I had huge hopes for stomping faces haha

As i remember, at 37 till vr1 the better way is using Daedric pets.
So i may looks like this:
1 Endless Fury for mana return and for coup de grace.
2 Restraining Prison for crowd control.
3 Cannfear.
4 Twilight.
5 Crystal Fragment.
ult - Absorption Field or aoe Atronach.
Then you need to use 7 pieces of light armor. It would give you mana regen and reduce mana cost. You can enchant them as you want, but it must be mana+++:). And don't forget about Resto staff with mana return enchantment.
All points, at least 39 you need spent to health, for better survival.

Troponin

Troponin wrote: »

flintstone wrote: »

Impulse is over rated in my opinion.....it's ok in a group fight, but I never use it solo..

You must be thinking of Impulse being over rated because of the PvP spamming issue. Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to PvE AoE though. It's extremely powerful in AoE farming and AoE intense dungeons encounters.

Go to the 2:05 mark. That is what Impulse could do before the cap. Almost full mana and full health after beating down almost 15 mobs at a time, solo, in VR10+ zones. Notice one of those areas was a public dungeon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzFC4RYM518

flintstone

Another thing about Impulse. In large group fights constant spamming of impulse by more than one person makes it very hard for the outside players in the group (bows, sorcerers, ect) to find a target and really puts a damper on overall group dps.

As a sorcerer (and I know bows may do this also).... I can lay down fairly constant dps (800-1500dps) from a distance.....but not when I'm nearly blinded by impulse spam. I spend more time searching than killing (-:

like1tiger

Thanks again guys. I know once u get to vr1 I can boss grind to vr12 and I wont have many problems. Most problems I have now are with groups of enemies (over 2) and bosses that have adds. I have changed my set up alot using shards, surge (unmorphed), endless fury, crushing shock and inner light. My spell crit is at 30%. If I fight 2 mobs or single boss the damage is amazing and things die b4 they get to me but as most ppl know there are lots of times from late 30s-50 where there are alot of mobs in areas and I cant just drag a group as I die fast once they are close when I have nothing to take the heat from me.
Feel very glass cannon and not powerful, that could be just this lvl range. Does everone use destruction fire staff? Or is there a better staff/weapon.

I'm glad there are alot of helpful people on here I appreciate it

xChewtoyx

I use a fire staff with precise trait and a magika return glyph as well as a resto staff with precise trait and a shock glyph.
Don't forget to weave in light attacks with your casts for extra damage.

AlexDrago

like1tiger wrote: »

Feel very glass cannon and not powerful, that could be just this lvl range. Does everone use destruction fire staff? Or is there a better staff/weapon.

I'm glad there are alot of helpful people on here I appreciate it

Destro staff good with first destro skill - Destructive clench. It helpes to control mobs near you. Impulse on lowlvls is very expensive and costs as iron bridge on Mars. For big groups of mobs i used Summon Charged Atronach. Since he was nerfed and he is not taunting mobs, you need to pull 1 mob, and when most of group near you - drop Atronach on your own head. ^_^
Your first enemies - archers and mages, try to kill them first. May be Conjured Ward (if you use pets) will help.

like1tiger

Im going to craft some sets and see if it makes a big difference... I was toying with trying another element on the destro staffs. Maybe frost to cc mobs? I dropped crush and went back to clanfear
He is very squishy though. Ran into a sorc running 2 pets with resto staff soloing dolmens but he was vr1 in lvl 38 zone so that would explain that.

Stannum

like1tiger wrote: »

Ran into a sorc running 2 pets with resto staff soloing dolmens but he was vr1 in lvl 38 zone so that would explain that.

Kidding? I've done 15lev dolmen with 17 lev DK solo.

like1tiger

Has anypne tested a frost staff in pve and had any success?

xChewtoyx

like1tiger wrote: »

Im going to craft some sets and see if it makes a big difference... I was toying with trying another element on the destro staffs. Maybe frost to cc mobs? I dropped crush and went back to clanfear
He is very squishy though. Ran into a sorc running 2 pets with resto staff soloing dolmens but he was vr1 in lvl 38 zone so that would explain that.

I've soloed most of the even level dolmens and group bosses up through VR 9 so far. Seriously...check out rune prison and its morphs as well as negate and its morphs. You will be suprised how easy they make some fights. I would even go as far as saying rune cage makes most fights laughably easy.

Troponin

like1tiger wrote: »

Has anypne tested a frost staff in pve and had any success?

In most cases, when you're leveling, just use the staff that has the higher damage. Fire staves will certainly give you an advantage, but can fall short to a much better or higher level frost or lightning staff

Mzuleft

What I did on my Sorcerer when leveling was putting 100% of Character points into Magicka and enchant all armour with health thus not having to update gear as much because you are not low on magicka. At Vet ranks you may want to respec your character stats but ive had no issues with 49 points in Magicka in Vet areas. Ive found more damage the less i need health.

Mendoze

I don't recall at what level I got heavy and medium armor to 50, but after that you should go 7/7 light armor. Restoration staff for single target and destruction for AoE builds. If you need more protection in single target spec, maybe you could try sword and board. Restoration staff is only for that 10% damage buff and to get mana back with heavy attacks. If you die a lot, then sword and shield could be better idea. If you can increase spellpower with equipment and magicka with enchants, that should be the ideal situation. If possible, I'd say try to keep magicka at soft cap as much as you can. Makes grinding much faster and easier.

My single target bar was usually enough to handle most encounters. Start fight by using Rune Cage to CC at least one mob. That alone should be enough to hold one mob down while you handle 1 or 2 mobs still attacking you. Rune Cage used to work for most normal level and some world bosses too, so when you get pushed too much, just Rune Cage them. There's couple of nasty mobs that are CC immune, and in those I usually used that tanking pet. In DPS department I had Velocious Curse, Endless Fury and Crystal Fragments. Start with curse, then spam fury until you get fragments proc and then use that. Rinse and repeat. Final spot was for Inner Light for more crit change.

In AoE spec I had Critical Surge, Pulsar, Inner Light and Immovable. You can place anything you want for the last spot, but maybe Bound Aegis to get still more protection. So build your gear for spell crit and make sure you have surge and Immovable up all the time. With immovable and bound aegis you should hit way over soft cap in armor, so critical surge should keep your health up without any problems. Other way to increase crit chance is to use restraining prison, but that root seemed too expensive to me, so I didn't really use it much.

Like you, it seemed that I was lacking mana at first all the time too, but with better equipment and passives it slowly got better.

wllstrt75b14_ESO

Dude critical surge is your friend and overload will save your arse when u need quick massive damage.

As critical surge heals you on crit hits up your crit percentages. With crit surge and impulse with the manna back passive on destro staff you should be able to stand I middle of trash mobs and have fun the more the better.

Gillysan

I'm wondering how people setup their mouse and keyboard. I've been using a G600 mouse for a few years and that's how I trigger all my skills. The ring finger button took me some time to learn (long before this game though), it's my weapon swap button. There was a time the ring finger button was disabled heh. Now it's sooo valuable.

The reason I point this out is that I have had tough fights that it looked like I shouldn't win except I was constantly dodging and weaving around mobs. Like soloing dolmens (at my level or higher) and even soloed some group dungeons. This constant moving around, dodging and sometimes kiting mobs, has worked for all my characters, I've done it on all 4 professions.

Updating: my fights look like yoda fights. Except maybe where interrupts are absolute necessity for a particular mob. Don't forget blocking, this is an important part of any combat, at least in pve.

Osmiumium

How? Critical Surge in Storm line. Once you get this and pair it with some decent crit, such as Inner Light (Mage line), Precise weapons, Light armor, Thief mundus, Dark line passive + Encase, etc....well, then just about anything you do will work. As long as the buff is up and you have mana to spend, you will outheal the damage done to you while you kill.

And there are a number of ways to get that mana: Endless Fury as a finisher, destro staff finisher, or possibly the best, the Energy Overload morph.

Just always keep the buff up, even when using Overload.

PS. I just single-target mobs unless there are more than 3.

spinedoc

I'm just a noob at VR8 but I've found that just spamming crystal blast with the AOE morph is MORE than enough and I never run out of magicka, it also kills faster than impulse and is safer because you are far away, and 1 mob is always knocked down. I run warlock gear for magicka regen and otherwise try to raise up critical and damage %, healing staff, magelight etc. Groups of 3 or 4 just melt, I send my pet in first then 4 or 5 crystal blasts and entire group is dead and I'm at 1/4 to 1/2 magicka. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong but I always feel much less safer with impulse, even using it with block and I usually run out of magicka before the group is dead. I've tried several variations, using crit surge, etc and I'm just not that impressed.

Troponin

If you want "more safe" then use bound armor and lightning form morphed for longer duration. Your armor will be insanely high and you will get a little added damage