Dueling against heavy attack build HELP

radkoun · May 2023

Hello Guys,

I have been playing ESO on xbox with friend for years we are both around 800cp and keep dueling a lot with usually equal results but recently he made MagCro hevay attack build with Oakensoul ring, Knight Slayer and Sergeant set with 35k HP and I am pretty hopeless against this, he is combining heavy attack with blastbones and dancing around stunning totem so closegap and burst is not working and ranged burst not working as well as I hit very often that totem or summoned skeleton. When trying some other strategy which is not immediate high burst attack I die due to Sergeant stacks. I tried many builds as below all with similar results, My first try was MagDen but I gave up on this as comparing deep fissure with blastbones is unfair, blastbones is like homing missile and with deep fissure I miss like 8 out of 10 attempts. the only thing I was able to do is Sorc pet build and just fighting for draw with shields.

Builds I tried.

Mag Sorcerer high elf: innate axiom + crafty alfiq + infernal guardian; war maiden + crafty alfiq + infernal guardian; veteshran destro staff + necropotance + icy conjurer; crafty alfiq + necropotance + maw of infernal

Mag Warden breton: fortified brass heavy + ancient dragonguard + pirate skeleton with bear ulti (37k spell resist, 2,5k spell damage); ancient dragonguard + war maiden + pirate skelleton + vamp stage 3 (25k spell resist) with vampire ulti

Stam warden orc: hunding rage + stuhn favor + selene all medium

Mag nightblade dark elf: rettlacage + ancient dragonguard + pirate skelleton all heavy with around 30k resist playing without cloak melee with concealed weapon

Mag nightblade khajit: new moon acolyte + innate axiom + selene all light, not playable at all in duels

Now I am leveling mag templar and magDK with some hopes but would appreciate any suggestion. When I go Cyro and BG I have average results with some of these builds, nothing bad, the same also in duels in general so dont think all of these builds are trash but not enough against that MagCro. So could you please give me some tips and advice what to build purely against this one bar heavy attack magcro. I prefer Mag characters and the classes I mentioned but will take anything working.

FrancisCrawford · May 2023

You could go for the mirror match and fight him with substantially the same build.

pedrogonzalez · May 2023

Try magblade khajiit with nmg, rally cry, markin, engine guardian. Just search at YouTube reactfaster nightblade.

jaws343 · May 2023

I'd try templar against it.

I'd also match him with Oakensoul, but keep it fairly burst heavy for sets.

5 Stuhn's, 2 Balorg, Wrath of Elements staff, 2 piece trainee

For skills:

Ult: Crescent Sweep
Puncturing Sweep
Toppling Charge
Purifying Light
Elemental Susceptibility
Honor the dead/Breath of life

I know that stuhn's is far from bis, but man that extra pen is nice and synergizes well with templar. And I still run it on my magplar to great results.

As for the totem stun, I would use immovable potions.

So, leading into the burst, heal out the first few attacks and stay at range, drop Elemental for the debuff and the wrath proc, drop purifying. Then, pop the immovable and Toppling charge them and immediately light attack and hit the ult, finish with puncturing.

Soarora · May 2023

Might be able to use CP to help? Slippery (red) + the one that increases your crowd control cooldown (red) + defense against single target (blue) and aoe (blue).

radkoun · May 2023

hmm good, that templar setup looks fine, I will have to wait for Oakensoul till High Isle will be part of plus membership but I will go for it anyway, the combo with stuhn and balorgh make sense and immovable potion will be game changer in duel for me.

regarding CP yeah I have all these, actually slippery is good to spare some stamina but still take a second or two so burst is interrupted by stun

And what type of armor is good for this templar setup heavy or light? or maybe what stats should I aim for, like for example go for all light, atributes to magicka, and aim for lets say 35k HP and 25k resist unbuffed and one by one change glyphs, atributes and armor type till I will get there?

jaws343 · May 2023

radkoun wrote: »

hmm good, that templar setup looks fine, I will have to wait for Oakensoul till High Isle will be part of plus membership but I will go for it anyway, the combo with stuhn and balorgh make sense and immovable potion will be game changer in duel for me.

regarding CP yeah I have all these, actually slippery is good to spare some stamina but still take a second or two so burst is interrupted by stun

And what type of armor is good for this templar setup heavy or light? or maybe what stats should I aim for, like for example go for all light, atributes to magicka, and aim for lets say 35k HP and 25k resist unbuffed and one by one change glyphs, atributes and armor type till I will get there?

Sans Oakensoul, I'd throw on Mara's Balm and drop the arena weapon and trainee pieces. Gets you constant healing as well as a steady purge. And then load a few dots/buffs on your back bar and a few more heals.

As for armor type. Not sure here. I personally run a similar build, without oakensoul, in light armor and it plays just fine. With oakensoul, I think you could also run light to get more pen. But, given the constant pressure they are doing, heavy might be the way to go.

As for health, 30-35K is probably more than enough. On 15 PVP characters, only 1 of mine has more than 30K health. But yeah, that 35K HP, 25K resist target is good goal. For that build I laid out, Balorgh and Stuhn's are doing most of your work for you.

OBJnoob · May 2023

Tab target him-- it'll help you not hit his pets. And stay on him with as much pressure as you can. Heavy attacks are relatively long channels what you need to do is find a chance to get on offense not defense and I believe the situation will quickly reverse. Best bet would be to do so right from the beginning-- before he gets all his stacks. If you can do enough damage to him he shouldn't be able to just sit there and channel heavies at you. Also, have a nice on-demand stun you can use on him as often as possible but preferably in the middle of his heavy.

Necrotech_Master · May 2023

since oaken user lacks bar space, you could pressure them with dots before going in with your burst, they cant heal + heavy attack at the same time unless they are using a resto staff