Help optimize my GFs PVP build (Mag Necro)

Grandchamp1989 · October 2020

She's currently running:

New moon acolyte (light armor) (Impen traits)
Grothdarr (monster)
Ancient Dragonguard (jewelry/weapons) (all infused jewelry 2x recovery 1x spell dmg)

She's a high elf

She sits at around 21-22k health
Resistances around 10k if I remember correctly - around 15k buffed with major resolve buff on.

I'm not a necromancer player so I can't optimize her character.

What gear and skills would you advice for magicka necromancer?

Preferably not a really complicated build

Some rather simple combo that hits hard and can keep itself alive during high pressure would be appreciated.

GrigorijMalahevich · October 2020

really nice build bro, I don't think you need any improvements

Waffennacht · October 2020

Change to stam or change class

Thraben · October 2020

Grandchamp1989 wrote: »

She's currently running:

New moon acolyte (light armor) (Impen traits)
Grothdarr (monster)
Ancient Dragonguard (jewelry/weapons) (all infused jewelry 2x recovery 1x spell dmg)

She's a high elf

She sits at around 21-22k health
Resistances around 10k if I remember correctly - around 15k buffed with major resolve buff on.

I'm not a necromancer player so I can't optimize her character.

What gear and skills would you advice for magicka necromancer?

Preferably not a really complicated build

Some rather simple combo that hits hard and can keep itself alive during high pressure would be appreciated.

1) She needs harmony as a jewelry trait -> her main source of damage is a combination of the suicide bomber summon and the self-synergy.

2) Are you running as a pair? In that case, I would suggest Dawnbreaker of Smiting to make sure the target is really dead after her self-synergy combo.

3) If you run as a couple, DON'T use light armor. Mechanical Acuity would be devastating for her burst combo.

4) Now she needs something to keep herself alive - Pariah is a good option, here.

5) Then she needs something to keep YOU alive. I would need more information regarding her build (and YOURS) to tell you more. In case you are DK you should both wear Grothdarr and both use harmony as jewelry trait, then play synergy tennis with each other.

6) I really would NOT use recovery jewelry. Spell damage all the way. Definitely would use tri-stat, you just need the option to roll dodge or block or sprint.

NinchiTV · October 2020

Waffennacht wrote: »

Change to stam or change class

/Thread

Scarkii · October 2020

what i ran on my magcro build was balorgh, eternal vigor and caluurion, 2 heavy eternal vigor + jewelry the rest light traits is up to you i dont use harmony myself since its not reliable at all unless you are fighting bad players

wheem_ESO · October 2020

Waffennacht wrote: »

Change to stam or change class

I'll add what advice I can give you/her below, but unfortunately, @Waffennacht is correct. Magicka Necromancer is plagued by bugs, questionable design choices, and overall jankyness. One example of the class' issues is that any target with decent mobility will often cause Blastbones to fall apart mid-leap and do 0 damage; the Swift Trait, Ring of the Wild Hunt, Streak, Dodge Roll, Sprint, etc...can all cause it to occur. You can even counter yourself with Flame Clench sometimes, which is a Magicka Necromancer's only worthwhile offense-oriented stun (which also requires the opportunity cost of giving up 8% more damage on Blastbones that you could get with a Lightning Staff).

The best way to get halfway reliable offense on a Magicka Necromancer currently is the crafted Oblivion's Foe set. It makes Soul Trap able to put out some consistent pressure damage, as long as it's not getting cleansed too much (unlike Stam builds loading up on 2-3 proc sets, you're not able to apply a huge number of DOTs in 1-2 GCDs). Soul Assault's damage can supposedly get a little silly when using this set, but I haven't bothered finishing the main quest line myself. The only real problem, is that as with everything else that Magicka Necromancer has been able to use as a crutch in PvP, it's getting changed/nerfed quite soon. I haven't tested the new version on the PTS myself, so I'm not 100% sure if Soul Trap would still be worth using, but it'll no longer increase the damage of Soul Assault.

If you two are always playing duo, she'll probably be best served with a lightning staff and either using the class Totem, or no stun at all. But if she's playing solo, I'd recommend running a fire staff with Flame Clench, since - as mentioned above - it's the only worthwhile offensive stun available to Magicka Necromancer. As for defensive sets...I'm really not sure, as I haven't run any in quite a while. Pirate Skeleton seems like it may be worth it again next patch, and Eternal Vigor seems fairly popular as well (though I'd never wear more than 2 heavy on a Magicka build that hoped to do any reasonable amount of damage).

I'm personally allergic to PvE, but if she's not, the BRP or Master Destruction Staves could be worthwhile (especially the perfected versions, if able to do the content on Vet). The upcoming solo arena destruction staff also looks quite strong - perhaps even overpowered.

Edit:
I completely forgot to mention the Graverobber self-synergy + 3x Harmony jewelry burst damage. After the nerf to Harmony, it's decent damage, but may not be worth the sacrifice, especially with the upcoming nerf to Major Vulnerability. The synergy is sometimes pretty janky all on its own - not causing damage when the target is clearly inside the area of effect on your screen, or having the option to trigger it be overridden by other friendly synergies being available. If Cyrodiil lag is a big factor, you can pretty much forget using the synergy effectively vs anyone that isn't AFK or completely lagged out.

Wolfpaw · October 2020

Is the 22k health pre or post battle spirit? I always try to hit 28k-30k health with bs buff, tri-stat armor enchants help.

Thraben · October 2020

Should be post battle spirit, as she ran in light armor. And you are right. Both gankers and 1vsX players will spot her immediately as a preferred target.

wheem_ESO · October 2020

So I started playing around with different setups in Battlegrounds this morning, and it 100% seems like Harmony isn't worth it anymore. I landed a non-Colossus, non-Crit Graverobber with 3x gold Harmony jewelry that went unblocked for 4,673 damage. I've had plenty of Stam builds hit that hard, or harder, with basic 1-button Dizzying Swing or Surprise Attack spam. For something that can only be attempted once every 20 seconds, requires 3x jewelry traits to be sacrificed, and can still be fairly janky at times (though not nearly as bad as it used to be), I don't see how it's worth it unless you're running in a premade group and are going to be using Harmony anyway for Nova bombs or something. And that'll be even more true in a week or two when the next DLC/Patch nerfs Major Vulnerability.

To be honest, the only thing that seems to kind of work for me with Magicka Necromancer offense right now is Oblivion's Foe. It's still inferior to every other class, especially Stamina setups, but you at least get some pressure damage that way. The BRP Destruction Staff might work alright alongside Oblivion's Foe, but I can't say for sure since I only have 1, and it's a normal-mode Frost Staff that I haven't bothered upgrading to gold (and certainly won't, since Frost Clench is about to be completely worthless).

I've thought about just throwing up my hands and going dedicated heals, but with how badly nerfed they have been for a while now, I dunno if that's really worth it either. By the time you build in enough defense to not get wrecked by procs in 4 seconds, I'm not sure how you'd have enough spell power/magicka to make your heals do anything noticeable. Not everyone gets a HP-based heal that actually works well.

Thraben · October 2020

wheem_ESO wrote: »

So I started playing around with different setups in Battlegrounds this morning, and it 100% seems like Harmony isn't worth it anymore. I landed a non-Colossus, non-Crit Graverobber with 3x gold Harmony jewelry that went unblocked for 4,673 damage.

Something is wrong with those numbers, though. Roughly calculated, the victim must have had 30k resistances AND major evasion and/ or at least one other damage reduction buff. In that case, you will lose anyways, not matter what you do, as this applies to Blastbones as well.

And without Blastbones or the self-synergy, you could just as well stop playing Magicka Necromancer.

katorga · October 2020

Waffennacht wrote: »

Change to stam or change class

That is basically it.

On top of all the other problems being tied to spell power pots will be a negative when tri-pots become OP next patch.

wheem_ESO · October 2020

Thraben wrote: »

wheem_ESO wrote: »

So I started playing around with different setups in Battlegrounds this morning, and it 100% seems like Harmony isn't worth it anymore. I landed a non-Colossus, non-Crit Graverobber with 3x gold Harmony jewelry that went unblocked for 4,673 damage.

Something is wrong with those numbers, though. Roughly calculated, the victim must have had 30k resistances AND major evasion and/ or at least one other damage reduction buff. In that case, you will lose anyways, not matter what you do, as this applies to Blastbones as well.

And without Blastbones or the self-synergy, you could just as well stop playing Magicka Necromancer.

I'm not entirely sure what buffs he/she had up at the time, but I know for sure it wasn't blocked, and I didn't have a Colossus ready. And while I certainly had higher hits than the one previously mentioned, I'm still not sure that it's really worth it now. Especially with all the current proc spam from people with enough HP that your burst isn't likely to kill them unless they're already low HP (or bad at the game/lagging/etc...and stand in a full duration Colossus).

Thraben · October 2020

wheem_ESO wrote: »

I'm not entirely sure what buffs he/she had up at the time, but I know for sure it wasn't blocked, and I didn't have a Colossus ready. And while I certainly had higher hits than the one previously mentioned, I'm still not sure that it's really worth it now. Especially with all the current proc spam from people with enough HP that your burst isn't likely to kill them unless they're already low HP (or bad at the game/lagging/etc...and stand in a full duration Colossus).

Well, 30k resistances + major Evasion + x is quite normal nowadays, almost every small scale player who is no potatoe runs like this. That being said,I'm fully aware that you can only bomb enemy groups this way, but won't stand a chance in a 1vs1 situation, as you lack the Executioner skill Stamina Necroes have, and because the strong burst self heal of the synergy only really shines against multiple enemies.

But if you are looking for 1vs1 situations, it might be easier to just play MagSorc who is better than a MagNecro in any way except AoE damage and DoT resistance.