Interesting Builds

Unmai

Since this game is dominated by min/max builds (mainly for good reason) I'm curious to see if anyone else is playing a unique or unusual build. It may be a main, or an alt or simply an experiment that someone tried.

I for example build a Redguard Sorceror weilding Sword and Shield. Using mainly passives and defensive magic skills (Lightning Form etc) and stamina attacks (Puncture and Shield Charge etc). I know this build will never gain huge DPS, may never be a preferred choice for trials etc but it is proving fun.

So are their any other interesting or different builds people are using.

AshySamurai

I think every not magika/robe/staff build is unusual and "interesting".

Moonshadow66

I have one Khajiit Sorcerer ("Da'Furr" xd) wielding a two-handed sword and wearing medium/light armor.
She's not listed in the signature, though, because she's only level 10 and became a mule a while ago, unfortunately (what can you do when you do all crafting skills on several characters..)
As long as I played this character, I actually had some fun with that build.
The main reason for making her a Sorcerer were the 2 Daedras; since I'm a single player they really can be helpful at times, even if it's just to distract the enemies from me. Same for my other Sorcerer's.

Aett_Thorn

My main is an Altmer Nightblade Tank. Right now, running 4 medium/3 light armors, sword and shield. My main skill bar is:

Pierce Armor
Swallow Soul
Sap Essence
Dark Shades
Shielded Assault
Ult - Veil of Blades


Most fun I've had on a character in this game so far. Not the best pure Tank, but I can do some fun and interesting stuff.

KhajitFurTrader

Don't know if this counts as interesting (some would say that anything but Stick & Dress is), but one of my alts is a Dunmer Templar, in full Plate Armor, with a huge 2H meat pounder, a.k.a. mace. I absolutely love bum rushing enemies and beating them into a pulp, and if things get tough, to shield and heal myself, then pound some more. This makes for a refreshing and interesting "physical" play style and is very different to my AoE-sorc or sniper-NB.

Aoife32001

My design philosophy when I created my characters was always to model them off of traditional ES classes, rather than trying to min/max.

I have a stamina-focused Altmer Templar tank, modeled off of a Morrowind Crusader. She uses S& S and Dual Wield and heavy armor, with the Lover Mundus stone (which I don't change, given that they're technically supposed to be birth signs in Lore). She is wholly focused on hunting vampires and daedra, even in PvP, and makes heavy use of the Fighter's Guild line.

I suppose it's more similar to the "must play" ESO builds, but I also have a Breton Templar Healer/Bard wearing mostly light/medium armor, utilizing the Lady mundus stone, and using S&S and maybe a bow. I've also been leveling restoration and destruction staves on her, but I really don't enjoy them as much and plan on focusing on spell-crafting frost destruction spells (if I can) and dropping the staves. Their magicka return though has been vital for survivability in PvE, so we'll see.

All my characters emphasize survivability over dps, within the confines of their traditional classes.

Thechemicals

i can get sustained 600 dps with 1h/shield skills only. Ransack+light attack then low slash+light attack. The whole rotation looks kind funny.

Sigerk

Orc Templar in full heavy with sword n board and resto. My favourite character so far. Play duo with a medium armor DK who uses sword/board and bow.

Trying a new Dunmer sorc with first bar only class skills, a summons, crystal, curse, plan on making it a summon focused character with only a resto staff as weapon.


Another new Altmer sorc in medium armor with a bow. Plan on using bolt escape/streak in combination with bow and spells for awesome combat mobility. Undecided about secondary weapon, this one seems hard to make it work, for me at least. But only lvl 9 so I will see as it goes.

My main is a Dunmer sorc who started in medium armor greatsword/dual wield. Upon reaching vet finding my skills mostly done I gave him a second set of light armor and dual destruction staves. I switch to whatever I feel like playing, frantic melee spellsword or pure mage basically. Sometimes switching up so LA/dest/dw or MA/gs/dest.



Edit: added races

Tonnopesce

While my main is a fotm build (dk altmer destro+sb full magika dps) with my alts i preferred to do experiments so my second char is a templar bosmer vampire full stamina full medium bow and dw and it works great. As a temp i got many panic buttons that help me survive and a close up that i use with the dw wile with the bow almost evry skill in the aedric spear line are very good i use it as a knokdown party and i use it at lv 40 in the lv 44 zone (mobs) with level 30 gear and weapons to rise up the difficulty.
my other alt is an argonian sorcerer full heavy hibrid build two handed + bow but it is pvp only so i dont know how it works in pve and it is wery low lever for this reason

Sallington

My medium armor Bowplar/Vampire Hunter build is super fun in PVP.

Kalman

I have a naked (no armor) Dark Elf Templar Vampire that also does not use any weapons (none equipped).

Tonnopesce

I really miss the difficulty of the beta pre nerf.........

Surfinginhawaii

Medium armor dual wield/bow Dragonknight and stamina build.

Resueht

My main is a stamina Sorc using 2H and DW with medium armor. I use Sorc abilities to buff weapon power or armor (Bound Armaments and the lightning one) and use weapon skills for most of DPS. I don't have a DPS tracker so I don't know what I do, but I haven't had a problem in PvE.

PvP is a bit trickier. I just started getting into it more so I'm not sure if my build is the problem or if it's l2p issue. I can usually take out someone 1v1 if I get the first hit, but I crumple up if trying to take on more players. I think I just need to block more

jelliedsoup

Surfinginhawaii wrote: »

Medium armor dual wield/bow Dragonknight and stamina build.

Dude you're having problems as a dk as you're running a stam build. The dks I'm always whining about all will have high magicka.

Surfinginhawaii

jelliedsoup wrote: »

Surfinginhawaii wrote: »

Medium armor dual wield/bow Dragonknight and stamina build.

Dude you're having problems as a dk as you're running a stam build. The dks I'm always whining about all will have high magicka.

I tried staves and light armor but for me I was way too squishy plus I like bow and dual wield.

Soloeus

I have a sorc in the making that will focus on Summoning + Archery + Resto Staff.

I have a Paladin Argonian Vampire that focuses on Healing with Off DPS.

My Sorcerer is Destro/Off-Heals and Support.

I have a DK that is focusing on Light Armor and Destro instead of Medium Armor or Heavy. Then again, I have researched Light/Staff/Bow/Shield all the way. Still working on Medium and Weapons. Someday, I might consider doing more!

These are all interesting builds. My sorcerer was resto-sorc since day 1. My second sorcerer will try to use more focus on conjuration since skill doesn't matter until vet levels anyway.

Oh and they are all vamps.

Soloeus

Aett_Thorn wrote: »

My main is an Altmer Nightblade Tank. Right now, running 4 medium/3 light armors, sword and shield. My main skill bar is:

Pierce Armor
Swallow Soul
Sap Essence
Dark Shades
Shielded Assault
Ult - Veil of Blades


Most fun I've had on a character in this game so far. Not the best pure Tank, but I can do some fun and interesting stuff.

5/2 gives the most pluses. Legs/Chest should be the "heavier" 2 pieces. Just saying.

Otherwise, how does Pierce Armor factor in? Does it increase allied DPS enough to justify using it? Do your Dark Shades pull aggro? I never used Shades before.

Stx

I'm not sure any build is really unique...

But I guess the most "non-meta" build I play is a Heavy armor two-handed sword Nightblade hybrid build. 5 Heavy/2Light, focusing on non-critical stamina dps. (pvp build).

Main bar has Fear, Critical Charge, Executioner, surprise attack, and siphoning attacks. Swap bar is a resto staff and has Quick siphon, Funnel health, rapid regeneration, entropy, and shadow cloak.

I basically just play like your basic warrior... charge around spamming attacks(and getting lots of resources back thanks to siphoning attacks, which doesn't lower my damage much because my weapon power is over softcap even with it on). I use fear as main CC, and when my health dips too low I swap to resto staff and cast all my regeneration abilities. Once I have them all on my target(or sometimes even just a couple), I swap back and continue the assault.

For set bonuses I use whitestrake 5/5 for the beast damage shield on a short CD, and Ashen grip for stats. For rings I use the green pvp rings that give a bonus to magicka, and my resto staff completes that set which is nice. All my jewelry is enchanted with weapon damage, and my weapon is sharpened for more damage.

Its not the most efficient build but it has decent sustain in smaller battles, and can be really tough to bring down if I can keep hitting in melee.

I was going to call it the Juggernaut but I felt that name should be reserved for some OP DK/Templar build, so since I use a lot of siphoning on my resto bar ill just call it the Blood Knight.

ExiledKhallisi

Pure Physical Sorcerer

Soloeus

ExiledKhallisi wrote: »

Pure Physical Sorcerer

You can see names in the screenshot, and you can't see your 1-5 bar.

AngryNord

Does a Nord Templar in full heavy armour with 2-handed axe count? :P

Tonnopesce

All the unusual build are..... stamina builds.... lol

Kalann_Pander

I have a bunch of crafting alts who hacked their way to level 13-16 using Blue 2-Handers and Soul Trap

My secondary character is basically an upgraded version of that : an Orc DK 2H/S&B with a few class support skills (GDB, Molten weapons...)
Still not sure about going 5 Medium / 2 Heavy or the other way round.

Tonnopesceb16_ESO wrote: »

All the unusual build are..... stamina builds.... lol

My main is a Breton NB S&B 2 Heavy / 5 Light pure spellcaster. Not sure if that's unusual, but maybe not having a single weapon skill, not being a vampire, and not being a WW is

Gravis

I guess I will toss my build into the ring to see what you all think of it.

Summery:

Close-Quarters-Bruiser
High Sustain
Self Heals
Heavy use of Light/Heavy Attacks
Multiple Combo's to use in different situations
Versatile
Fun to play
Good CC capability
Dots
Heavy Armor
2-Hander in both bars

Main Bar:

Brawler - Mostly I use this for when I need survivability and have plenty of stamina, which due to heavy attacks restoring resources, I have now. It is not much, but even just on a single target it absorbs about a standard attack which can add up. However, it really shines when facing 3+ enemies if you are good with your movement. If you are, you can force only a few enemies to be able to face you, yet benefit from all of them being hit and thus giving you a huge damage shield. The small AoE dot is inconsequential, but every little bit, eh?

Executioner - Overall one of my favorite two-handed abilities due to how well it synergies with my light attacks for a quick finish to most enemies. When facing bosses, it is a life saver due to its passive that increases other two-handed abilities damage to targets bellow 25%. Very good for taking out enemies that are trying to heal or turtle, cutting right through them.

Fossilize - An absolute powerhouse when it comes to soft cc. I can't tell you the number of times I have been out numbered both in PvP and PvE that I have used this to take the biggest threat out of the fight early. In PvP if they break it, they spent more staminia than I did magicka, not to mention I can just set them up for another combo. If they decide to just eat it however, the severe debuffs to their regen is amazing, and easily can give you an edge if you manage your resources well. In PvE, it is wonderful being able to put the brutes on ice while you deal with their little friends.

Dizzying Swing - Many say this could use improvement or adjustment, and while I would welcome it, I am quite comfortable with how it works now. The timing is just perfect for getting a heavy and a light attack in before using it again to stun the target again, due to the new resource regen, an infinite stunlock unless something goes wrong. As for its passive that reduces effected targets damage by 20% for a short duration... Well, that just speaks for itself.

Igneous Shield - Originally I was going to put Green Dragon Blood or a magicka dps ability here to deal with excess magicka, but after I messed around with it I found this fit much better. It gives me at least a 800+ damage shield, and 400 or so to my allies, which is really great if I have no current use for the magicka. The even better part about this is that its damage shield stacks with Brawlers damage shield, which can cause some strong defense without sacrificing offense. Its increase to heals you do can also combo quite well if you time it right.

Flawless Dawnbreaker - For the most part I use this ability for the passive increase to my weapon damage, though at times I will make use of the active function for when I need a little extra AoE and Brawler simply isn't doing it. After all, 125 ultimate is quite easy to build up. However, most often I save my ultimate for my Utility Ultimate, Sturdy War Horn, because 20% to all three pools is extremely helpful in basically everything.


Utility Bar:

Degeneration - I use this mostly for closing and sustain since it not only heals me over time and does small bits of damage, but it also has a nice range of 28. Better yet, its passive once on a target helps me greatly due to how often I use heavy/light attacks. Being able to heal that much, sometimes in a row, is just fantastic if you are up in your opponents face like this build loves to do.

Burning Embers - Similar to Degeneration, this one helps quite a bit with sustain, but it has a bit heavier lean towards damage. A good ability by itself, but when combo'd with my other sustain abilities such as Degeneration, Igneous Shield, and Flame Lash, it makes for a good balance.

Flame Lash - This is an ability that I only use in certain situations due to the strict morph requirements, and I didn't get it for its damage, which is admittedly nice. For the most part I use this in conjunction with Stampede as my opener, closer, and if I need a quick top off, heal.

Stampede - This I have primarily to get me where I need to be: In my opponents face. It also has the luxury of comboing very nicely with Flame Lash which gives me several benefits. Often I open with Stampede and two Flame Lashes, the first to activate the passive, which causes the second to be free as well as heal. The timing of this minimizes the damage the enemy can return in the opening salvos unless they use moderate to heavy damaging attacks or disables. After the second Lash, a proper Heavy attack is in order to knock the enemy to the ground while I switch to my main bar.

Green Dragon Blood - Yes yes, many hate DK's who use this ability, but it really does have its drawbacks, such as being quite expensive to use since I do not focus on the Magicka stat, I only use it for utility and sustain in a pinch as you have seen. However, I do love a few of the combo's that I have managed to find with this thing. Such as Igneous, swap weapon, and right into Dragon Blood for an amazing heal, albeit only when I am extremely low since it has increased effectiveness, but insane price for that combo. However, if I combo it afterwards with Sturdy War Horn, I regen most of the spent magicka as well as other bonuses.

Sturdy Warn Horn - +20% max to stamina, magicka, AND Health pools? Need I say more? The fact that this combo's so well with the DK's passive which restores resources when using ultimate's make it even more powerful. Not only does it increase my max, but due to the timing of the effects, it gets the buff AFTER the passive goes off and restores quite a bit of resources. This results in often almost a reset in all three, though an expensive reset.



Notes: The sheer amount of possible combos without even changing abilities really is great for this build, and yes I understand many are horrified that I am not only using two melee weapons, but that they are both 2 handers. My character is not a ranged fighter, he is a brutal warrior who fights you face to face, nor do the other weapons fit, nor do I want them to fit. As for the heavy armor, it might not be where it should be balance wise, but cosmetically as well as a few minor things such as the cc-break cost reduction and the regen when taking damage is nice. I try to balance out the fights so that I am not just unloading at any time, trying to balance at all times in a fight. Such as not wasting all the magicka on Igneous shield, or healing too early, or using too many brawlers/uppercuts. Or mistiming the Flame Lashes.

While this is not a build I would recommend to many, I haven't really seen a build like it yet, then again, I could very well be mistaken. After all, at times with all the spells flying it can be difficult to tell who is using what and when. To those who do try it, I wish you the best of luck, use the combo's, they are quite fun!

Mondo

I have a Dual/dual NB

Bar1 is Ganker Bar: Hidden Blade, Cloak,Flurry, Impale, Teleportstrike, Soulstrike

Bar2:
1 Range Magika 1 Range Stamina
1 Bomb Magika 1 Bomb Stamina
1 Siphoning Strikes /or Mark for PVP
Bat Swarm

I really rock in PVP and in PVE im a good Bomber and ST thanks to the synergie and my enormous regeneration.

Much fun such awesome wow

poodlemasterb16_ESO

Oh well, it's probably not all that unusual. My Vampire Witch at VR7:



Inner Light, Critical Surge and Lightning Armor running.

Woolenthreads

Some characters I created because I was following a "standard" template, not build, like 2H DK and DW NB, others because I was experimenting with an idea. The experiments were Ranger (Summoning with Bow) and Stunner (DK with Bow (for the "Scatter Shot" perk)). On top of those I've also created a Bosmer DW Sorcerer that I tried to make look like the AD hero from the trailers and a tiny Bosmer NB in purple called "Akatsuki" .

Tyr

I don't use any majicka abilities including class abilities.
Nord companion type master of arms.

Sleep

Breton Sorcerer, Stamina build, sword and shield, Structured Entropy, Thundering Presence, Crippling Slash/Encase, Defensive Stance, Invasion.

Grunim

Kalman wrote: »

I have a naked (no armor) Dark Elf Templar Vampire that also does not use any weapons (none equipped).

Now that's what I call an interesting build! Did they do the vampire quest without weapons too and what level are they?