Dual Wield or 2h for sorc?

Razmion · February 2015

Hello!

I'm plankning to make a "mana-sorc", focusing on dealing damage with magic, but I also want to be able to defend myself a little apart from magic. (What do I do if im out of magicka and need to defend myself)?. Maybe have one or 2 slotted melee abilities. What would you recommend, 2h or dual wield? :-)

Thank you!

Runefell · February 2015

If you're going on magicka build, I would go with Destruction Staff, to be honest. It'll do a lot of damage, and it's abilities will cause more dps then your sorcerer abilities most of the time. If you go light armor, which you should with magicka builds, you'll rarely run out of magic anyways.

With Stamina Based weapons, and a magicka build, you'll just run out of stamina to use the weapon abilities. But, if you're bound and determined to use a metal weapon, two hand is good for single target damage, and dual is good for multiples. Pair them up with Surge and Lightning Form, and you'll do well.

Razmion · February 2015

Okay thank you! I've decided to do a full magicka build now, so ill go with the destruction staff. Another question, which type of staff is the best do you think? I read in a guide that I should have a fire staff, is there good reasons for that? Or is ice better maybe?

Thinks again for a good reply!

Stannum · February 2015

Razmion wrote: »

..... Another question, which type of staff is the best do you think? I read in a guide that I should have a fire staff, is there good reasons for that? Or is ice better maybe?

Fire staff gives good buff on crit with passive can proc with burning (and fire clench has good CC).
But lightning staff can proc disorient, synergized with disintegration passive and it's attack is channel (so cannot be reflected).
So for pure DPS fire may be better but for solo play and PvP i think it's better choose lightning
Ice i think is the worst choise.

Runefell · February 2015

Fire staff is the favorite. A lot of people are vampires, so they have a weakness to fire in PvP. Also, it allows you to fully charge an attack before attacking, while the lightning staff does a stream, so it alerts the enemy at the start of the attack. All in all, it just seems to do more damage then the other ones, though I don't know the details behind it. I have heard that sorcerer's get a bit of a boost with the lightning staff, but I find the fire one has a bit more oomph.

Also, once you're able to use two weapon slots, I'd also use a restro staff. Sorcerers lack a lot of self healing abilities, and it can be nice to pop over to get some heals in. You don't even have to make it a full healing bar. Crystal Shards and Mage's Fury are excellent when leveling up.

rhubbert_ESO · February 2015

Generally stamina based builds use bows and blades whereas magicka builds use staffs. That's not to say one can't experiment with a hybrid build, but it certainly isn't optimal for elite end game content.

Source:
My first character is a Veteran Sorc with a 2 hander and heavy armor. He is super fun to play and he can do lots of solo PvE content but for Trials and PvP he is not optimal.

The best build for a 2 hander Sorc is using Critical Surge to proc heals. However, this is a stamina, medium armor build. You can check it out on the Battlemaster's Corner section on the main ESO site.

Cody · February 2015

Iv seen sorcs do very well with both(sabre ali has humiliated me multiple times with his build:D)

pick whichever you think will be the most fun for you.