New, looking for a ranged build

S_Ravenlock · January 2015

I'm new to the game, and I'm wondering what my options are for a (preferably mage) ranged character. I want to DPS, not heal or tank. I'd prefer to use a destruction staff at a range. I hate the Restoration staff, I can't use it at all. I'd be open to using a bow, but I really prefer casting.
I've been doing a bit of reading and play-testing, and these are my findings so far.

Sorcerer: I love pet-classes in most MMOs, but this is utterly broken. Neither Y nor Tab+Y works to send in the pet first, and tanking in a robe is not good for my health. From what I understand there's a patch on the way, so I'll wait until then. It's a shame, because a mage pet-class would be a perfect fit for me.

Dragon Knight: Seems to have a good synergy with the destruction staff, but most class abilities are close range which I really don't like. I prefer to stay at a range with melee as a last resort backup. I'm also not fond of the look of a lot of the spell animations. From reading up on the classes this is the OP/FotM class and should do a newbie who's still learning the game quite well, but I'm just not feeling it.

I haven't tried the nightblade yet, but nothing in that archetype really appeals to me.

Templar: Here's where I get stuck. I love the templar. I love the class flavor, skill, and animations. I love the self-heals.
However, every build I come across is either stamina based which means I can't use the awesome spells from the Dawn's Wrath line, or requires the awful restoration staff to help with the magicka issues. From what I've read a pure magicka build isn't a good idea anyway since templars are rather magicka starved.

What I want to do is equip a robe, a destro staff and a sword/shield as backup, smite my enemies to smithereens, then hack them apart with my sword when my magicka runs out. Just like I do in the single player TES games.
But anything I read leads me to believe I can't play that way; mainly because templars don't have a good enough magicka management to be pure casters, and you can't mix a magicka/stamina build because then you weaken your skills too much.

In all honesty, I'll mainly be questing for now anyway. I won't really group on my first character until I have to, I won't touch PvP ever, and high end dungeons are of no interest to me. I'll likely quest my way through the game with this first character, enjoy the story, the scenery and the wonderful TES setting, and then reroll an alt and do it all again. and maybe then I'll touch dungeons and PvP and so on.

I'm slowly driving myself nuts and it looks like I won't find what I want. So my question is: is a mage destro DPS templar really not doable, especially keeping in mind I won't have good gear?
And if it isn't, is there any way I can mix spells with a bow rather then a destro staff or something?
And if that isn't possible, where should I look for a ranged solo character that isn't too complicated to play?

Gyudan · January 2015

If you want ranged DPS:
- Sorcerer with destro staff
- Nightblade with destro staff or foccused on Siphoning (funnel health)
- Any class with a bow, maybe not DK since they still rely on close range skills

Sacadon · January 2015

S_Ravenlock wrote: »

So my question is: is a mage destro DPS templar really not doable, especially keeping in mind I won't have good gear?

If you look at the leader boards you will see that any class can do very good DPS when combining class, weapon and skills from other skill lines. So as long as you are not trying to be competitive for end game content on this first character (as you said). I wouldn't worry too much about it. But since you are worrying

, This may help...

Templar is exactly how I started immediately post go-live. I thought it would be cool to use the class for DPS w/self-heals. I played 95% solo up to VR10 and then started grouping. This is where I found out that it was the worst choice possible at the time. Although I had hints of this through VR when a friend had nowhere near my DPS issues w/their Sorc.

While it's a decent choice now, Templar is still not the best for DPS (based on class skills). The magicka sustain issues are workable yet still noticeable even when you closely manage skill rotation and setup your gear for it. They've one of the best CCs in the game for sure (blazing spear). And 2 main spells for a DPS rotation (POTL, Dark Flare) and several good defense spells. Templars are a highly-survivable class in PvP and not easy to take down if you are lazy about things. My Temp is VR14 and used purely for crafting and farming now

. Mostly because I PvP on my VR14 NB which I enjoy so much more than Templar.

Top DPSers from class skills are DK (yes OP/FoTM) and Nightblade. I encourage you to NOT think of NB as having to be a rouge archetype.

IMO, NB is the most versatile class there is right now. Actually, there are more paint points if you try to use NB as pure rouge/stealth type because of issues ZOS has still not worked out of the skills (such as stealth & cloak). But as DPS, Tank and even heals they're great. Keep in mind this versatility means a lot of different looking skill bars depending upon what you want to do once you get to higher levels.

Regardless of what you read from the whining on the forums (some of it's true). I personally believe the Sorc is still your best choice (I've a VR7 sorc). Their DPS and defense (streak) has been nerfed since go-live. But they still have a lot of options, to do good DPS. There are a few mostly stamina sorcs too that use magicka for backup and even tanks. If you like pets (not for me), this is the class for you as they're not going away anytime soon.

S_Ravenlock wrote: »

And if it isn't, is there any way I can mix spells with a bow rather then a destro staff or something?

You can add bow as a backup or light opener, but as you already suspect you're not going to max the power of both without sacrificing sustain.

For a deeper understanding into many aspects of ESO (theorycrafting) and less grumpy community I recommend Tamriel Foundry. Hopefully this helped you out... good luck

Rosveen · January 2015

Gyudan wrote: »

If you want ranged DPS:
- Sorcerer with destro staff
- Nightblade with destro staff or foccused on Siphoning (funnel health)
- Any class with a bow, maybe not DK since they still rely on close range skills

Why not DK with destro staff?

kimboh · January 2015

Rosveen wrote: »

Gyudan wrote: »

If you want ranged DPS:
- Sorcerer with destro staff
- Nightblade with destro staff or foccused on Siphoning (funnel health)
- Any class with a bow, maybe not DK since they still rely on close range skills

Why not DK with destro staff?

Because DKs have no ranged abilities

Sacadon · January 2015

BTW, If you want to be mainly DPS (squishy) the optimum races for it are Breton (spell resist), High Elf (magicka). Expect most things to change dramatically post update 6. Lastly, there are much smarter people than I, and all of what I post is just what I believe currently. Hopefully I'll learn something new today.

S_Ravenlock · January 2015

Thanks for all the replies!

I've messed around a bit more on my sorcerer. I still can't get the pet to attack first, but I did get the restoration staff to work.
I'm not sure what went wrong before, but half of the time the attack didn't go off for me. Then again, I was having some lag, since I noticed that things didn't sell to vendors in the sale window right away either. Anyway, that seems to be fixed now.
Between getting magicka back from the Resto staff heavy attacks and upgrading Mage's Fury to Endless Fury I'm able to spam more spells and am surviving a lot better. this is fun!

For now I might just stick with the sorcerer, it seems to be the best fit for me. I still like the templar a lot as well, but I can't quite seem to be able to make it do what I want it to do, so that might be better off for an alt.

Lynx7386 · January 2015

Sorcerer: I love pet-classes in most MMOs, but this is utterly broken. Neither Y nor Tab+Y works to send in the pet first, and tanking in a robe is not good for my health. From what I understand there's a patch on the way, so I'll wait until then. It's a shame, because a mage pet-class would be a perfect fit for me.

They really should've put a tutorial in on the sorceror pet commands, or at least something to help new players out.

What you have to do is hold Y and left click when you have a target highlighted (the red outline around enemies when your cursor is on them). That will cause the pet to attack. Nowhere do they actually tell us you have to left click, but that's how it works.

Templar: Here's where I get stuck. I love the templar. I love the class flavor, skill, and animations. I love the self-heals.
However, every build I come across is either stamina based which means I can't use the awesome spells from the Dawn's Wrath line, or requires the awful restoration staff to help with the magicka issues. From what I've read a pure magicka build isn't a good idea anyway since templars are rather magicka starved.

Could always try a bowplar, that's what I'm working on at the moment. You go full medium armor with a bow, and either a second bow or a restoration staff as your backup weapon, and gear your enchantments/attributes a little more towards magicka to make up for the lack of light armor. I've actually been considering changing to a 2 light/5 medium setup to help with magicka issues as well.