Stamsorc PvP Tips For Beginners

StaticWave

Hello, my name is StaticWave (IGN: @MadeInVN). I'm a 4 year stamsorc main who primarily PvP on the PC-NA server. I've played just about everything available in ESO, from 1v1, 1vX, ganking, to BGs, smallscale, and largescale. I'm making this thread to share some of the knowledge I've gathered throughout those years. Hopefully it will help people who are new to stamsorc.

NOTE: These are tips for people who already know the basic mechanics of PvP such as buff/debuff rotations but lack experience in playing stamsorc. If you don't know how to do that, then you need to first learn how to keep up buffs and debuffs as it's a fundamental aspect of ESO.

This thread will have 3 components: Offense, Defense, and Miscellany. Let's first start with tips for Offense.

Offense:
1) Don't put your eggs in 1 basket - You want to diversify your offense by including both direct burst damage and DoTs. A mistake I often see many stamsorcs do is only spec in direct burst damage. Don't get me wrong, it's viable, but it's going to fall short when you fight a competent player because direct damage can be blocked/dodged. Moreover, you're not going to fully take advantage of Crit Surge, an amazing offensive heal, by only speccing in direct damage. By including several sources of DoTs and direct damage in your build, you can address your weaknesses and be prepared for any PvP scenarios.

2) Don't be too aggressive - This is technically a basic tip, but I have to mention it because it's really easy to make poor decisions on this class due to having Streak as a get out of jail card. I can't count how many times I see a stamsorc player be too aggressive and pay the price for it. You have to remember that despite having several sources of offensive heals and Streak, stamsorc lacks the defensive healing power compared to other classes. Sure, you can be really aggressive against players less experienced than you and Streak away if you're in trouble, but it's not going to work against someone of equal or even higher experience level. You can't be too aggressive, especially against other classes because a competent player will take advantage of your class's weak defensive heals to punish you for being too aggressive. Instead, you should react accordingly to your opponent's aggression. For example, if a Templar puts Purifying Light (PL) on you, then it's not the time to be aggressive. What you should do is prepare to be defensive knowing that they will try to stack as much damage as possible for that PL, while also looking for key gaps in their offense for a counter attack.

Now let's talk about Defense, which is in my opinion much harder to learn for someone who's new to the class.

Defense:
1) Percent modifiers are key - I see many stamsorcs put too much emphasis on getting as much weapon damage as possible to increase their heals, but it's actually not efficient. If you're one of those players that use a hybrid sorc build with resto staff, then ignore this point. However, a standard stamsorc build without resto staff will usually have these sources of heals: Dark Deal, Crit Surge, Blood Magic, Vigor, Rally/random offensive heal. As you can see, the only healing abilities that scale with offensive stats are Vigor and Rally/Random offensive heal. Dark Deal and Crit Surge don't have a base scaling, and Blood Magic only scales with max HP. By only stacking as much weapon damage as possible, you are only amplifying 2 sources of healing in your build. Instead, you should stack percent modifiers such as Mending, Vitality, and Critical Healing to amplify ALL sources of healing. This will greatly increase your survivability.

2) Abuse your evasiveness - Much like a mongoose fighting a cobra, you want to abuse your speed and evasiveness to always stay out of reach when your opponent goes on the offense. It's not going to work all of the time, but it should be a major part of your defense. Unfortunately, to accomplish this you must have combat awareness and learn how every single class fights. It took me thousands of duels to know every class' combo by heart and how to exactly counter them.

3) Don't ignore blocking - This is a basic tip but I have to include it here because many stamsorcs think they're invincible because of Streak and movement speed(again lol). Crutching on Streak and movement speed is only going to work so much until you run into a build that counters you (aka speedy gapcloser or ranged builds). Instead, you should know when it's necessary to block and when it's ok to let go of block for a bit. For example, when fighting a Warden of Necro you want to block while in melee range and drop block when not in melee range. Against a Magsorc, you want to block everytime they cast Crystal Fragment, and let go of block when they don't. It's going to cost stamina, so you will need to invest in some sturdy traits or use SnB (which I think you Should).

Finally we have Miscellany, which is basically some extra tips I think can be helpful for your gameplay.

Miscellany:
1) Advanced Streak mechanics - There are several advanced Streak mechanics that you will need to learn if you want to truly master this ability and be uncatchable. I've made a separate thread for it here: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/615131/advanced-streak-ball-of-lightning-mechanics-you-probably-do-not-know-about#latest

2) Oversustain is a good thing - Many players think it's ok to build for low stamina recovery because stamsorc has Dark Deal, but this is NOT something a beginner should do. As a beginner, you're going to panic in a fight and overcompensate by mashing buttons trying to survive. With low stam recovery, you will often run out of juice in 10s. Dark Deal is your main source of sustain, so you're going to try and use it. Here's the problem: it's interruptible. Yep, I've seen too many stamsorcs with low recovery die because they're unable to break free from their Dark Deal getting interrupted by a Crushing Shock cast. Only experienced players who are confident with their mechanics can pull off a low recovery build. As a beginner, you should be aiming for at least 2000 fully buffed stamina recovery so that in the case you panic and overcompensate, you aren't gassed out. Furthermore, a high stamina regen build means you can save magicka to use Streak offensively more often, or be on the offense for longer because you no longer need to cast Dark Deal all the time for sustain.

Those are a few tips I can think of the top of my head. I will continue to add them as I remember more lol. If you guys have any tips you would like to share for everyone, please feel free!

OBJnoob

Okay so... Wouldn't say stamsorc is my main but it is one of 3 characters I'm confident pvping with, and I've been maining it lately in Ravenwatch.

I'll try to keep my questions brief, understanding that you already understand the nuances.

My bars on a bow/bow build: FB: crystal weapon, camo hunter, streak, curse, mages wrath, ballista ulti
BB: hurricane, crit surge, vigor, race against time, dark deal, temporal guard ulti.

Question: which skill should I give up for poison injection? I have been feeling the need for more dot pressure exactly as you have said but don't know what skill to give up.

And uh... You're on PC you said right? I'm on console still... Is crystal weapon crap now? And if so what have you replaced it with?

What offensive ultimate do you recommend between overload, ballista, or ice comet? All three fit my play style I believe.

Theignson

Great post, thanks for writing up your experience.

I spent the first few years in PvP on pure melee. When I started Sorc, these habits got me killed a lot! Sorc is an art form. I am not at all good on it. But playing all the classes really helps you understand the game!

"Against a Magsorc, you want to block everytime they cast Crystal Fragment"

I wonder if there is a video tutorial showing what all the different killer casts look like and how to see them coming? This is another one of my weaknesses. Originally I was a very tanky DK back in the days when DK were so strong and had reflective wings, etc. So I didn't get in the habit of paying close attention to what the other player did. Also, I was never that interested in dueling.
A video showing all the "tells" of the major class damage spells would be awesome

StaticWave

OBJnoob wrote: »

Okay so... Wouldn't say stamsorc is my main but it is one of 3 characters I'm confident pvping with, and I've been maining it lately in Ravenwatch.

I'll try to keep my questions brief, understanding that you already understand the nuances.

My bars on a bow/bow build: FB: crystal weapon, camo hunter, streak, curse, mages wrath, ballista ulti
BB: hurricane, crit surge, vigor, race against time, dark deal, temporal guard ulti.

Question: which skill should I give up for poison injection? I have been feeling the need for more dot pressure exactly as you have said but don't know what skill to give up.

And uh... You're on PC you said right? I'm on console still... Is crystal weapon crap now? And if so what have you replaced it with?

What offensive ultimate do you recommend between overload, ballista, or ice comet? All three fit my play style I believe.

Hey @OBJnoob, for your first question, I think you should give up Mages Wrath for Poison Injection. Bar Mages Wrath, your build has 4 magicka abilities, 2 of which will be used a lot offensive (Streak and Curse). Adding Mages Wrath will unnecessarily strain your magicka pool. Poison Injection is a pseudo execute and can replace Mages Wrath in that regard.

For your second question, crystal weapon is still very good. It's not as good compared to last patch, but it's better than the original version. Crystal Weapon gained an extra 2 second of duration, costs about the same, and has 2 stacks now. It's a very reliable source of blood magic heal and I think every build must have it.

For your third question, it really depends on what PvP you play the most. If you primarily play BG or do any GvG stuff, then I would pick Toxic Barrage. If you primarily solo or duo PvP, then Overload is a no brainer. If you primarily do outnumbered small scaling, then Ice Comet is the best choice for that type of PvP.

StaticWave

Theignson wrote: »

Great post, thanks for writing up your experience.

I spent the first few years in PvP on pure melee. When I started Sorc, these habits got me killed a lot! Sorc is an art form. I am not at all good on it. But playing all the classes really helps you understand the game!

"Against a Magsorc, you want to block everytime they cast Crystal Fragment"

I wonder if there is a video tutorial showing what all the different killer casts look like and how to see them coming? This is another one of my weaknesses. Originally I was a very tanky DK back in the days when DK were so strong and had reflective wings, etc. So I didn't get in the habit of paying close attention to what the other player did. Also, I was never that interested in dueling.
A video showing all the "tells" of the major class damage spells would be awesome

Hey @Theignson, there is an in depth dueling guide made by a very good player who unfortunately doesn't play anymore. Although the patch when he made that video was 2 years ago, I think the concepts still apply regardless of what patch you play. I know you aren't interested in dueling, but I think it could be a useful resource in case you do run into a 1v1 in Cyrodiil or BG.

https://youtu.be/P0BQDdsbAac

As for your question, I don't think there's a video tutorial showing the different killer casts. I'll look for some of my old clips to see if I can put together a video as well and I'll get back to you on that.

auz

Which dots are worth running on stam sorc? I play as melee 2h / 1hs or dw/ 1hs.
Thinking to try bowsorc this patch, they still seem strong but not sure of set up.

OBJnoob

Interesting that you say toxic barrage (assuming you mean ballista morph,) for GvG. It works fine in bgs, sure, but when my guild comes up against real competition I turn myself into a bombard--streak--negate sorc. Obviously that can be some less-than-heroic feeling gameplay, but its absurdly effective. I appreciate the advice about ice comet I've been meaning to try it and now I will.

As for your other point... Give up mages wrath huh? I'll try it. I was thinking about crafting/buying some kinda immovability/health/crit pots or something and removing camo hunter... But your idea is something I could much more immediately give a whirl.

And... In that same vein... So my stamsorc wears 5L1H1M. Probably has better magic sustain than most but uh, out of curiosity what do you think of a light armor stamsorc? Silly or feasible? Doing it for the crit, obviously. And its a defensive set.

StaticWave

OBJnoob wrote: »

Interesting that you say toxic barrage (assuming you mean ballista morph,) for GvG. It works fine in bgs, sure, but when my guild comes up against real competition I turn myself into a bombard--streak--negate sorc. Obviously that can be some less-than-heroic feeling gameplay, but its absurdly effective. I appreciate the advice about ice comet I've been meaning to try it and now I will.

As for your other point... Give up mages wrath huh? I'll try it. I was thinking about crafting/buying some kinda immovability/health/crit pots or something and removing camo hunter... But your idea is something I could much more immediately give a whirl.

And... In that same vein... So my stamsorc wears 5L1H1M. Probably has better magic sustain than most but uh, out of curiosity what do you think of a light armor stamsorc? Silly or feasible? Doing it for the crit, obviously. And its a defensive set.

Nope I actually meant Toxic Barrage as it applies a decent DoT on the target and hits pretty hard. In an actual GvG stamsorc’s more of a support/CC bot anyways. Not that it can’t deal decent pressure but it’s more suited for that role.

I think giving up Mages Wrath is a better option because you will be weaving Crystal Weapon with Poison Injection. If you run a charged bow, then there’s also the potential to proc Poisoned status effect which is an extra DoT source along with the Poison Injection DoT. Camo hunter will significantly boost your spell crit rate and combined with bow and minor prophecy you are looking at 40%+ spell crit rate. Keep in mind that the game takes your highest offensive stat now, which means on stamsorc it’s going to use your spell crit instead of weapon crit.

Light armor stamsorc is fine. Armor weight doesn’t really matter much anymore. It’s more so the stats you need for your build. If you’re using 5 light, then I would suggest a charged bow for the status effects.

StaticWave

auz wrote: »

Which dots are worth running on stam sorc? I play as melee 2h / 1hs or dw/ 1hs.
Thinking to try bowsorc this patch, they still seem strong but not sure of set up.

As a melee sorc you will want to use caltrops + hurricane, regardless of weapon choice. Those are 2 AoE DoTs that will help you proc Crit Surge more and also applies Major Breach and a fat snare. Combined with double dmg poisons, you should have enough DoT pressure against most players.

If you want extra DoTs, you can also use Carve for 2H and Rending slash/Quick Cloak for DW. I would personally lean towards Quick Cloak on DW as it’s an AoE DoT which helps proc crit surge more.

For Bowsorc, you can try Poison Injection with a charged bow to stack the poisoned status effect and Poison Injection DoT. Use double dmg poisons and you should have 4 single target DoTs.

auz

Thanks, @StaticWave .
Have been using caltrops and hurricane. Is it still worth running bound armaments? Or better to run carve?
Is rending still decent after the dot nerf?

StaticWave

auz wrote: »

Thanks, @StaticWave .
Have been using caltrops and hurricane. Is it still worth running bound armaments? Or better to run carve?
Is rending still decent after the dot nerf?

Bound Arms is still good but Curse is better if you have the magicka sustain for it. Carve is an option but you shouldn’t pick it over Bound Arms.

Rending is still a decent spammable and I actually have a build with 6-7 DoTs using master DW.

auz

Is that your dw/ 1hs vid from the other day? You made it look strong as. With aterial as spammable.

StaticWave

auz wrote: »

Is that your dw/ 1hs vid from the other day? You made it look strong as. With aterial as spammable.

Yea it's a variation of that build. I run master dw with rending slash and quick cloak for that variation.

auz

I hadn't considered using rending as a spammable in ages. I will look into it. I miss the old rending spammable day's. Brawling in medium armour. Crit surge popping like crazy. No such thing as perfected master weapons.

Holycannoli

You don't find DoTs neutered in PvP after U35? Especially with how popular Mara's Balm has become?

I find the best is still Crystal Weapon until it's time for Poison Injection execute. I've done Crushing Weapon too but that 2-second timer is not always ideal. Any DoTs I add to the target tick away for minor damage but they don't add any real pressure. They barely even dent some people anymore, until they drop to 25% and it's time for Poison Injection to shine. Burst is king in U35, and moreso if your target has Mara's Balm like more and more are using. That's why I'm sticking with Crystal Weapon.

StaticWave

Holycannoli wrote: »

You don't find DoTs neutered in PvP after U35? Especially with how popular Mara's Balm has become?

I find the best is still Crystal Weapon until it's time for Poison Injection execute. I've done Crushing Weapon too but that 2-second timer is not always ideal. Any DoTs I add to the target tick away for minor damage but they don't add any real pressure. They barely even dent some people anymore, until they drop to 25% and it's time for Poison Injection to shine. Burst is king in U35, and moreso if your target has Mara's Balm like more and more are using. That's why I'm sticking with Crystal Weapon.

Any extra damage will add to your burst even if it’s insignificant. Also, stacking DoTs will help you proc Crit Surge more, which is a win-win imo.

Crystal Weapon is mandatory anyways. The only offensive burst skills you need are Crystal Weapon + another spammable. Anything else is just extra. I currently run 2 AoE Dots and 4 bursts, but sometimes I will switch to 3 AoE DoTs and 3 burst. They are both good.

Holycannoli

Which 4 bursts do you run? I don't have that many to choose from I don't think.

StaticWave

Holycannoli wrote: »

Which 4 bursts do you run? I don't have that many to choose from I don't think.

Cwep, spammable, curse, and bound arms. Timing 4 of those together should easily deal 20k+ burst.

fred4

You don't mind if one adds some tips? I've PvPed since One Tamriel and consider myself something of a build crafter. I am not a stamsorc main and I don't aim to be competitive in duels anymore. On the plus side I lean towards easy to play builds that perhaps suit the context of this thread. Here are some options to consider:

• In the old days, before health regen was nerfed, stamsorcs used to build into that. Troll King was a staple. Sorc has a passive granting +20% health regen. Despite the 50% nerf to that stat in PvP, this approach to fixing the class' inconsistent healing is not completely dead, because ZOS have added so many sources of it. You can have 4K+ health regen in CP PvP. How? Gold food, potion running, Gaze of Sithis, Eternal Vigor, Endurance on the back bar and 1x jewelry, leaving room for a 5-piece offensive set on the front bar. Use Strategic Reserve CP and Overload. That way you don't blow your ultimate in one go and can keep Strategic Reserve high, if you so choose. Here's an old build I once tried. I can't remember how effective that was. To be honest Sithis didn't suit me, as I instinctively block in some situations. Nonetheless, I think it makes sense on a sorc with Streak, a bow and dodge rolls:
  
  https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=424762
  
  
• Brawler sorc rules in low MMR BGs. Sustain rules in low MMR BGs. Buff up. Use a Master's 2H. Streak towards players. Pressure them like they are NPC trash. The Brawler shield, high sustain to keep spamming that skill and Crit Surge goes a long way. Doesn't work nearly as well in open world or against decent players (not enough pressure), but can be very effective in BGs. When your buffs run out, streak to safety, rebuff, Dark Deal, repeat. Example:
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VniS3OdmC6k
  
  
• While spamming Bombard is really nasty and seems to be preferred among bowsorcs, I like Draining Shot with a Blackrose Bow. This is a build where you really do want high weapon damage and/or crit. The Blackrose DOT is nasty and the heal strong. Both scale from damage, I believe. This was my Oakensoul option last patch. Crystal Weapon -> Draining Shot -> Crystal Weapon -> Vigor, with Dark Deal and Streak on demand. Easy to play and so much pressure, although demanding on sustain. Nerfed but still viable. Combining Vigor and Draining Shot into your rotation with Crystal Weapon fixes most of your healing issues.

Metemsycosis

StaticWave wrote: »

Hello, my name is StaticWave (IGN: @MadeInVN). I'm a 4 year stamsorc main who primarily PvP on the PC-NA server. I've played just about everything available in ESO, from 1v1, 1vX, ganking, to BGs, smallscale, and largescale. I'm making this thread to share some of the knowledge I've gathered throughout those years. Hopefully it will help people who are new to stamsorc.

NOTE: These are tips for people who already know the basic mechanics of PvP such as buff/debuff rotations but lack experience in playing stamsorc. If you don't know how to do that, then you need to first learn how to keep up buffs and debuffs as it's a fundamental aspect of ESO.

This thread will have 3 components: Offense, Defense, and Miscellany. Let's first start with tips for Offense.

Offense:
1) Don't put your eggs in 1 basket - You want to diversify your offense by including both direct burst damage and DoTs. A mistake I often see many stamsorcs do is only spec in direct burst damage. Don't get me wrong, it's viable, but it's going to fall short when you fight a competent player because direct damage can be blocked/dodged. Moreover, you're not going to fully take advantage of Crit Surge, an amazing offensive heal, by only speccing in direct damage. By including several sources of DoTs and direct damage in your build, you can address your weaknesses and be prepared for any PvP scenarios.

2) Don't be too aggressive - This is technically a basic tip, but I have to mention it because it's really easy to make poor decisions on this class due to having Streak as a get out of jail card. I can't count how many times I see a stamsorc player be too aggressive and pay the price for it. You have to remember that despite having several sources of offensive heals and Streak, stamsorc lacks the defensive healing power compared to other classes. Sure, you can be really aggressive against players less experienced than you and Streak away if you're in trouble, but it's not going to work against someone of equal or even higher experience level. You can't be too aggressive, especially against other classes because a competent player will take advantage of your class's weak defensive heals to punish you for being too aggressive. Instead, you should react accordingly to your opponent's aggression. For example, if a Templar puts Purifying Light (PL) on you, then it's not the time to be aggressive. What you should do is prepare to be defensive knowing that they will try to stack as much damage as possible for that PL, while also looking for key gaps in their offense for a counter attack.

Now let's talk about Defense, which is in my opinion much harder to learn for someone who's new to the class.

Defense:
1) Percent modifiers are key - I see many stamsorcs put too much emphasis on getting as much weapon damage as possible to increase their heals, but it's actually not efficient. If you're one of those players that use a hybrid sorc build with resto staff, then ignore this point. However, a standard stamsorc build without resto staff will usually have these sources of heals: Dark Deal, Crit Surge, Blood Magic, Vigor, Rally/random offensive heal. As you can see, the only healing abilities that scale with offensive stats are Vigor and Rally/Random offensive heal. Dark Deal and Crit Surge don't have a base scaling, and Blood Magic only scales with max HP. By only stacking as much weapon damage as possible, you are only amplifying 2 sources of healing in your build. Instead, you should stack percent modifiers such as Mending, Vitality, and Critical Healing to amplify ALL sources of healing. This will greatly increase your survivability.

2) Abuse your evasiveness - Much like a mongoose fighting a cobra, you want to abuse your speed and evasiveness to always stay out of reach when your opponent goes on the offense. It's not going to work all of the time, but it should be a major part of your defense. Unfortunately, to accomplish this you must have combat awareness and learn how every single class fights. It took me thousands of duels to know every class' combo by heart and how to exactly counter them.

3) Don't ignore blocking - This is a basic tip but I have to include it here because many stamsorcs think they're invincible because of Streak and movement speed(again lol). Crutching on Streak and movement speed is only going to work so much until you run into a build that counters you (aka speedy gapcloser or ranged builds). Instead, you should know when it's necessary to block and when it's ok to let go of block for a bit. For example, when fighting a Warden of Necro you want to block while in melee range and drop block when not in melee range. Against a Magsorc, you want to block everytime they cast Crystal Fragment, and let go of block when they don't. It's going to cost stamina, so you will need to invest in some sturdy traits or use SnB (which I think you Should).

Finally we have Miscellany, which is basically some extra tips I think can be helpful for your gameplay.

Miscellany:
1) Advanced Streak mechanics - There are several advanced Streak mechanics that you will need to learn if you want to truly master this ability and be uncatchable. I've made a separate thread for it here: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/615131/advanced-streak-ball-of-lightning-mechanics-you-probably-do-not-know-about#latest

2) Oversustain is a good thing - Many players think it's ok to build for low stamina recovery because stamsorc has Dark Deal, but this is NOT something a beginner should do. As a beginner, you're going to panic in a fight and overcompensate by mashing buttons trying to survive. With low stam recovery, you will often run out of juice in 10s. Dark Deal is your main source of sustain, so you're going to try and use it. Here's the problem: it's interruptible. Yep, I've seen too many stamsorcs with low recovery die because they're unable to break free from their Dark Deal getting interrupted by a Crushing Shock cast. Only experienced players who are confident with their mechanics can pull off a low recovery build. As a beginner, you should be aiming for at least 2000 fully buffed stamina recovery so that in the case you panic and overcompensate, you aren't gassed out. Furthermore, a high stamina regen build means you can save magicka to use Streak offensively more often, or be on the offense for longer because you no longer need to cast Dark Deal all the time for sustain.

Those are a few tips I can think of the top of my head. I will continue to add them as I remember more lol. If you guys have any tips you would like to share for everyone, please feel free!

Thank you for this thread. Do you have any gear recommendations?

geonsocal

StaticWave wrote: »

OBJnoob wrote: »

Interesting that you say toxic barrage (assuming you mean ballista morph,) for GvG. It works fine in bgs, sure, but when my guild comes up against real competition I turn myself into a bombard--streak--negate sorc. Obviously that can be some less-than-heroic feeling gameplay, but its absurdly effective. I appreciate the advice about ice comet I've been meaning to try it and now I will.

As for your other point... Give up mages wrath huh? I'll try it. I was thinking about crafting/buying some kinda immovability/health/crit pots or something and removing camo hunter... But your idea is something I could much more immediately give a whirl.

And... In that same vein... So my stamsorc wears 5L1H1M. Probably has better magic sustain than most but uh, out of curiosity what do you think of a light armor stamsorc? Silly or feasible? Doing it for the crit, obviously. And its a defensive set.

Nope I actually meant Toxic Barrage as it applies a decent DoT on the target and hits pretty hard.

i liked Toxic Barrage on different bow focused builds...sadly, lately the dang thing seems to be just bouncing off of other players, started slotting other stuff more often now...like hitting someone with soul assault and nothing happens to their health bar...sometimes you need to get some other utility out of the ult when the damage portion isn't effective against certain players/groups...

StaticWave

Metemsycosis wrote: »

StaticWave wrote: »

Hello, my name is StaticWave (IGN: @MadeInVN). I'm a 4 year stamsorc main who primarily PvP on the PC-NA server. I've played just about everything available in ESO, from 1v1, 1vX, ganking, to BGs, smallscale, and largescale. I'm making this thread to share some of the knowledge I've gathered throughout those years. Hopefully it will help people who are new to stamsorc.

NOTE: These are tips for people who already know the basic mechanics of PvP such as buff/debuff rotations but lack experience in playing stamsorc. If you don't know how to do that, then you need to first learn how to keep up buffs and debuffs as it's a fundamental aspect of ESO.

This thread will have 3 components: Offense, Defense, and Miscellany. Let's first start with tips for Offense.

Offense:
1) Don't put your eggs in 1 basket - You want to diversify your offense by including both direct burst damage and DoTs. A mistake I often see many stamsorcs do is only spec in direct burst damage. Don't get me wrong, it's viable, but it's going to fall short when you fight a competent player because direct damage can be blocked/dodged. Moreover, you're not going to fully take advantage of Crit Surge, an amazing offensive heal, by only speccing in direct damage. By including several sources of DoTs and direct damage in your build, you can address your weaknesses and be prepared for any PvP scenarios.

2) Don't be too aggressive - This is technically a basic tip, but I have to mention it because it's really easy to make poor decisions on this class due to having Streak as a get out of jail card. I can't count how many times I see a stamsorc player be too aggressive and pay the price for it. You have to remember that despite having several sources of offensive heals and Streak, stamsorc lacks the defensive healing power compared to other classes. Sure, you can be really aggressive against players less experienced than you and Streak away if you're in trouble, but it's not going to work against someone of equal or even higher experience level. You can't be too aggressive, especially against other classes because a competent player will take advantage of your class's weak defensive heals to punish you for being too aggressive. Instead, you should react accordingly to your opponent's aggression. For example, if a Templar puts Purifying Light (PL) on you, then it's not the time to be aggressive. What you should do is prepare to be defensive knowing that they will try to stack as much damage as possible for that PL, while also looking for key gaps in their offense for a counter attack.

Now let's talk about Defense, which is in my opinion much harder to learn for someone who's new to the class.

Defense:
1) Percent modifiers are key - I see many stamsorcs put too much emphasis on getting as much weapon damage as possible to increase their heals, but it's actually not efficient. If you're one of those players that use a hybrid sorc build with resto staff, then ignore this point. However, a standard stamsorc build without resto staff will usually have these sources of heals: Dark Deal, Crit Surge, Blood Magic, Vigor, Rally/random offensive heal. As you can see, the only healing abilities that scale with offensive stats are Vigor and Rally/Random offensive heal. Dark Deal and Crit Surge don't have a base scaling, and Blood Magic only scales with max HP. By only stacking as much weapon damage as possible, you are only amplifying 2 sources of healing in your build. Instead, you should stack percent modifiers such as Mending, Vitality, and Critical Healing to amplify ALL sources of healing. This will greatly increase your survivability.

2) Abuse your evasiveness - Much like a mongoose fighting a cobra, you want to abuse your speed and evasiveness to always stay out of reach when your opponent goes on the offense. It's not going to work all of the time, but it should be a major part of your defense. Unfortunately, to accomplish this you must have combat awareness and learn how every single class fights. It took me thousands of duels to know every class' combo by heart and how to exactly counter them.

3) Don't ignore blocking - This is a basic tip but I have to include it here because many stamsorcs think they're invincible because of Streak and movement speed(again lol). Crutching on Streak and movement speed is only going to work so much until you run into a build that counters you (aka speedy gapcloser or ranged builds). Instead, you should know when it's necessary to block and when it's ok to let go of block for a bit. For example, when fighting a Warden of Necro you want to block while in melee range and drop block when not in melee range. Against a Magsorc, you want to block everytime they cast Crystal Fragment, and let go of block when they don't. It's going to cost stamina, so you will need to invest in some sturdy traits or use SnB (which I think you Should).

Finally we have Miscellany, which is basically some extra tips I think can be helpful for your gameplay.

Miscellany:
1) Advanced Streak mechanics - There are several advanced Streak mechanics that you will need to learn if you want to truly master this ability and be uncatchable. I've made a separate thread for it here: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/615131/advanced-streak-ball-of-lightning-mechanics-you-probably-do-not-know-about#latest

2) Oversustain is a good thing - Many players think it's ok to build for low stamina recovery because stamsorc has Dark Deal, but this is NOT something a beginner should do. As a beginner, you're going to panic in a fight and overcompensate by mashing buttons trying to survive. With low stam recovery, you will often run out of juice in 10s. Dark Deal is your main source of sustain, so you're going to try and use it. Here's the problem: it's interruptible. Yep, I've seen too many stamsorcs with low recovery die because they're unable to break free from their Dark Deal getting interrupted by a Crushing Shock cast. Only experienced players who are confident with their mechanics can pull off a low recovery build. As a beginner, you should be aiming for at least 2000 fully buffed stamina recovery so that in the case you panic and overcompensate, you aren't gassed out. Furthermore, a high stamina regen build means you can save magicka to use Streak offensively more often, or be on the offense for longer because you no longer need to cast Dark Deal all the time for sustain.

Those are a few tips I can think of the top of my head. I will continue to add them as I remember more lol. If you guys have any tips you would like to share for everyone, please feel free!

Thank you for this thread. Do you have any gear recommendations?

There are so many sets and they really depend on your playstyle but a general recommendation I can give you is to always run a defensive set on the back bar as it allows you to use a 5-5-2-1-1 setup, or lets you double bar a good offensive set. My personal favorite is Daedric Trickery but a meta set like Rallying Cry also works. Offensively, my favorite set is Essence Thief, but you can also run Order’s Wrath for more crit, Stuhn for more pen if you use Dizzy, Clever Alc if you want HP + Dmg, or a proc set if you like procs.

StaticWave

fred4 wrote: »

You don't mind if one adds some tips? I've PvPed since One Tamriel and consider myself something of a build crafter. I am not a stamsorc main and I don't aim to be competitive in duels anymore. On the plus side I lean towards easy to play builds that perhaps suit the context of this thread. Here are some options to consider:

• In the old days, before health regen was nerfed, stamsorcs used to build into that. Troll King was a staple. Sorc has a passive granting +20% health regen. Despite the 50% nerf to that stat in PvP, this approach to fixing the class' inconsistent healing is not completely dead, because ZOS have added so many sources of it. You can have 4K+ health regen in CP PvP. How? Gold food, potion running, Gaze of Sithis, Eternal Vigor, Endurance on the back bar and 1x jewelry, leaving room for a 5-piece offensive set on the front bar. Use Strategic Reserve CP and Overload. That way you don't blow your ultimate in one go and can keep Strategic Reserve high, if you so choose. Here's an old build I once tried. I can't remember how effective that was. To be honest Sithis didn't suit me, as I instinctively block in some situations. Nonetheless, I think it makes sense on a sorc with Streak, a bow and dodge rolls:
  
  https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=424762
  
  
• Brawler sorc rules in low MMR BGs. Sustain rules in low MMR BGs. Buff up. Use a Master's 2H. Streak towards players. Pressure them like they are NPC trash. The Brawler shield, high sustain to keep spamming that skill and Crit Surge goes a long way. Doesn't work nearly as well in open world or against decent players (not enough pressure), but can be very effective in BGs. When your buffs run out, streak to safety, rebuff, Dark Deal, repeat. Example:
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VniS3OdmC6k
  
  
• While spamming Bombard is really nasty and seems to be preferred among bowsorcs, I like Draining Shot with a Blackrose Bow. This is a build where you really do want high weapon damage and/or crit. The Blackrose DOT is nasty and the heal strong. Both scale from damage, I believe. This was my Oakensoul option last patch. Crystal Weapon -> Draining Shot -> Crystal Weapon -> Vigor, with Dark Deal and Streak on demand. Easy to play and so much pressure, although demanding on sustain. Nerfed but still viable. Combining Vigor and Draining Shot into your rotation with Crystal Weapon fixes most of your healing issues.

Thanks for sharing the builds!

StaticWave

geonsocal wrote: »

StaticWave wrote: »

OBJnoob wrote: »

Interesting that you say toxic barrage (assuming you mean ballista morph,) for GvG. It works fine in bgs, sure, but when my guild comes up against real competition I turn myself into a bombard--streak--negate sorc. Obviously that can be some less-than-heroic feeling gameplay, but its absurdly effective. I appreciate the advice about ice comet I've been meaning to try it and now I will.

As for your other point... Give up mages wrath huh? I'll try it. I was thinking about crafting/buying some kinda immovability/health/crit pots or something and removing camo hunter... But your idea is something I could much more immediately give a whirl.

And... In that same vein... So my stamsorc wears 5L1H1M. Probably has better magic sustain than most but uh, out of curiosity what do you think of a light armor stamsorc? Silly or feasible? Doing it for the crit, obviously. And its a defensive set.

Nope I actually meant Toxic Barrage as it applies a decent DoT on the target and hits pretty hard.

i liked Toxic Barrage on different bow focused builds...sadly, lately the dang thing seems to be just bouncing off of other players, started slotting other stuff more often now...like hitting someone with soul assault and nothing happens to their health bar...sometimes you need to get some other utility out of the ult when the damage portion isn't effective against certain players/groups...

I’ve been liking Energy Overload on Inferno builds more. I run a 500-600 recovery build so that extra 1k stam and mag sustain really keeps me topped off. The extra burst is nice too.

OBJnoob

Yeah energy overload is good sustain, its the morph I took as well. Been having better luck with ballista though.

And I have to emphasize the word BALLISTA because it does physical damage not poison. And while sorc has enough delayed burst/execute where I can see how toxic barrage would work fine I still think its a terrible mistake to not use the morph that let's you do other things. Namely streak through them when your curse is about to blow up.

My problem with overload is its kinda difficult to turn off in the middle of combat. And honestly due to bad aim and lag I've never been the best at landing light attacks. Its hard enough trying to make two crystal weps hit the same guy... At least if you miss the ability isn't consumed. But watching your overloads whiz over peoples heads is very frustrating. A bit of a learn to play issue I know, but I'm sure you know what I'm saying.

StaticWave

OBJnoob wrote: »

Yeah energy overload is good sustain, its the morph I took as well. Been having better luck with ballista though.

And I have to emphasize the word BALLISTA because it does physical damage not poison. And while sorc has enough delayed burst/execute where I can see how toxic barrage would work fine I still think its a terrible mistake to not use the morph that let's you do other things. Namely streak through them when your curse is about to blow up.

My problem with overload is its kinda difficult to turn off in the middle of combat. And honestly due to bad aim and lag I've never been the best at landing light attacks. Its hard enough trying to make two crystal weps hit the same guy... At least if you miss the ability isn't consumed. But watching your overloads whiz over peoples heads is very frustrating. A bit of a learn to play issue I know, but I'm sure you know what I'm saying.

I used to run Ballista. The biggest problem with that morph is your opponent can run away from it. Furthermore, it doesn’t apply an extra DoT. It works in duels where you can’t really outrun it, but in an outnumbered fight people are constantly moving and it can be a disadvantage. I would just slot Atro if I wanted a stationary ultimate instead of Ballista.

Overload toggle can be a hassle for sure, but once you get used to it, it can be a strong ult for ranged builds.

OBJnoob

Well you can LOS both morphs, but yes I suppose with toxic barrage you can follow after them. Thing is you aren't normally in 1v1s in cyrodiil and being locked into a channel isn't always a good thing. With ballista you can drop it and run away if you want, lol.

To each their own... I noticed early in this thread that you have a much greater appreciation for DoTs than I do. Which I'm skeptical of, especially in U35, but your crit surge reasoning is obviously correct and if you say its good then I'm apt to believe you... You garner respect around here it seems, I've enjoyed your other topics lately, and more importantly you seem to know what you're talking about.

Honestly its a long drawn out combo but I find (curse isn't a part of the kill combo because there's no time... You have to use the 2nd explosion not the 1st,) LAcrystal, LAballista, LAcrystal, LAwrath, LAcrystal, LAstreak (curse explodes,) is about the nastiest combo ever.

Almost impossible to land in that exact order but you just need the curse execute ballista and streak. Fine to miss a crystal weapon or two, the only one you really need to land is the one followed by streak.

StaticWave

OBJnoob wrote: »

Well you can LOS both morphs, but yes I suppose with toxic barrage you can follow after them. Thing is you aren't normally in 1v1s in cyrodiil and being locked into a channel isn't always a good thing. With ballista you can drop it and run away if you want, lol.

To each their own... I noticed early in this thread that you have a much greater appreciation for DoTs than I do. Which I'm skeptical of, especially in U35, but your crit surge reasoning is obviously correct and if you say its good then I'm apt to believe you... You garner respect around here it seems, I've enjoyed your other topics lately, and more importantly you seem to know what you're talking about.

Honestly its a long drawn out combo but I find (curse isn't a part of the kill combo because there's no time... You have to use the 2nd explosion not the 1st,) LAcrystal, LAballista, LAcrystal, LAwrath, LAcrystal, LAstreak (curse explodes,) is about the nastiest combo ever.

Almost impossible to land in that exact order but you just need the curse execute ballista and streak. Fine to miss a crystal weapon or two, the only one you really need to land is the one followed by streak.

I’ve used Toxic Barrage in 1vX and BGs as well so that’s why my conclusion is like that haha. I never really liked Ballista as Atro imo is superior for behaving the same.

Thanks for the kind words. I’ve had very good success with DoTs and had several builds (no proc of course). My latest 1vX video has Hurricane and Caltrops as DoTs. I would’ve include Quick Cloak too if I wasn’t testing out Camohunter.

https://youtu.be/VLTP4a1r1z4

I find that ranged builds have the potential to deal the nastiest burst combo for sorc. Precharge Cwep + Curse + full stack Bound Arms + Overload light attack + Spammable deal so much dmg most squishies get one shotted. It’s a lot of setting-up but the reward is worth it lol.

Chilly-McFreeze

I returned after several months of hiatus into U35. I was never an exceptional PvP'er but I feel like a total noob now. Don't know if it's just rust or if I'm out of touch.

I can't do ***. My skills hit like wet noodles and if I'm caught in the open I drop like a fly.
Currently I run an melee hybrid in some variations. Curse, Fury, CW, Dizzy is my got-to combo. BA when stacked on top.

Always 2h/Resto, Clever Alchemist backbar + Wild Hunt Ring.
Variation A is stuhn front, bloodspawn, 1p trainee (BS allows me to have a life giver up when I need it)
Variation B is stuhn, vate 2h frontbar, 1p kena (I figured vate would help with some extra burst in my combo)

30k health, 31k stam, 6-7k wpn dmg and 20k pen. Yet my combo seems to not even put a dent into some players health. I don't get it.
I also tried Curse into heavy attack + master's rending as alternative but it seems to tickle for even less. Did I just run into exceptional well build opponents ?

What would you guys do to bring this build up to date?

StaticWave

Chilly-McFreeze wrote: »

I returned after several months of hiatus into U35. I was never an exceptional PvP'er but I feel like a total noob now. Don't know if it's just rust or if I'm out of touch.

I can't do ***. My skills hit like wet noodles and if I'm caught in the open I drop like a fly.
Currently I run an melee hybrid in some variations. Curse, Fury, CW, Dizzy is my got-to combo. BA when stacked on top.

Always 2h/Resto, Clever Alchemist backbar + Wild Hunt Ring.
Variation A is stuhn front, bloodspawn, 1p trainee (BS allows me to have a life giver up when I need it)
Variation B is stuhn, vate 2h frontbar, 1p kena (I figured vate would help with some extra burst in my combo)

30k health, 31k stam, 6-7k wpn dmg and 20k pen. Yet my combo seems to not even put a dent into some players health. I don't get it.
I also tried Curse into heavy attack + master's rending as alternative but it seems to tickle for even less. Did I just run into exceptional well build opponents ?

What would you guys do to bring this build up to date?

Your stats are good. I think you can drop Wild Hunt for another damage mythic (DDF, Markyn, Sea Serpent) to get some extra punch in there. I'd also recommend using Executioner instead of Fury as the damage scaling is much better. Another option is to drop Clever Alchemist and use a defensive set if you lack survivability. Your damage will suffer but you could also go the route of stacking crit chance and building into crit damage. You'll get back some of your damage and also get better heals.

WeylandLabs

@StaticWave Yeah ummm -

Were just going to need you to stream so you can rally this class back to normal, because it seems no dev plays this class anymore. And looking at the trend of players or people that stream this class isn't the most intriguing and could be viewed as toxic in the community.