[BUILD] Solo Mag Sorc - Skoria's Rage (PvE AOE DPS)

dpencil

I just wanted to briefly outline the Solo Mag Sorc build I have been running lately. I do not claim to be as good as Thelon so if you're looking for the most masterful solo Sorc build, look to his. Personally, I find his build too resource hungry and intense for me. Yes, it does more dps, but in general I enjoy this build more if for no other reason than it is a departure from the usual force pulse + cfrag / overload rotation. So, with that out of the way, here's the build:

2pc Valkyn Skoria
5pc Julianos
3pc Willpower
Maelstrom Lightning Staff (I'm currently just using a Vicious Death until I get this)
Maelstrom Fire Staff (if you don't have Mael, the build still works, just slightly less dps)

Bar 1: Lightning Staff
Lightning Flood (imo, the increased radius is worth the shorter duration, and the 6 seconds works fine in the build rotation)
Hardened Ward (after DB, probably Empowered Ward)
Unstable Clannfear
Inner Light
Bound Aegis
Ult: Shooting Star

Bar 2: Fire Staff
Degeneration
Blockade of Fire
Proximity Detonation
Unstable Clannfear
Bound Aegis
Ult: Overload

Overload:
Endless Fury
Hardened Ward
Unstable Clannfear
Inner Light
Bound Aegis

Rotation:
Send Clannfear in to attack
(front bar) Apply Hardened Ward
(back bar) Proxy Det
Charge Heavy attack to hit just after Clannfear draws agro
Degeneration
Blockade of Fire
(front bar) Lightning Flood
2 Lightning Heavy attacks (or Hardened Ward if Clannfear's shield is down)
Repeat from Blockade of Fire
Repeat from Degeneration
Drop Shooting Star when it's up
Switch to Overload for Endless Fury execute if you want, or just keep the rotation up

Keep an eye on the Clannfear's incoming damage numbers. They will be (GREEN) when his shield is up and turn RED when his shield is down. As soon as you see red coming off the Clannfear, hit Hardened Ward. This assures less recasting and getting all the agro on you. I also turn on Friendly NPC health bars so I can always see what my Clannfear's health looks like. It's worth having FTC and S'renndar too to keep good track of all the dots and your shields.

Notice that practically every single attack: Lightning Heavy Attack, Lightning Flood, Blockade of Fire, Degeneration, Shooting Star are all DOTs. They ALL proc Skoria. The build does work without Skoria if you sub in another 2 or 3 piece, but it's really made for Skoria, which will proc quite often.

Here are my stats on front and back bar and 5 parses from running Blessed Crucible solo, the 2nd parse is just a trash pull, but shows the potential damage on lots of enemies. DPS is pretty low on bosses but that's ok, the focus of this build is more on survivability. (I believe "shock" in the parses is the extra damage from the Maelstrom Destro enchant effect.) In the first parse, I switched out Proxy Det for Shattering Prison to keep the melee bosses off of me.

So that's pretty much it. It's niche. Usual dps is around 15k single target, but hey. You hardly ever get agro, or run low on resources, and can get through really tough content just by being patient and keeping everything up. The only really big wall I've hit has been scenarios where the boss heals a lot, so you can't out-dps his heals, or there are other group-specific mechanics to the fight that make it very difficult for a solo char to manage. But assuming you can just spank the boss and whatever adds come your way, this build is very solid. The best place for this build will be soloing dungeons, and Craglorn stuff. I would not recommend it for PVP or running with a group, but if you like soloing as a Sorc, give this build a try. You might like it!

EDIT: After considering Waffenacht's input, I changed out Daedric Prey for Proximity Detonation. This seems to be more effective on most trash pulls, though won't make a huge difference in 1v1 boss fights. I've added stat and parse pics as well.

SanSan

You only got 4 skills for bar 2. Why?

dpencil

Ah sorry, it's just Unstable Clannfear again, gotta have it on all bars so it doesn't de-summon. I edited the OP to correct that. Thanks.

Zuuda

Degeneration is AoE? I haven't picked it yet (ESO newbie) but the tooltip mentions 'an' enemy.

Mush55

Enjoy your ward spam to keep pet alive after dlc, because there wont be much time for anything else.

dpencil

@Zuuda No, thanks for catching that. It is a dot, so it does proc Skoria, but is not an AOE. I updated the OP.

@Mush55 Yeah, At least with Empowered Ward I'll have 10 seconds instead of 6, and the amount of shielding on the pet won't be any different. Remember, Hardened Ward only increases the size of the ward on the caster. So I don't think it will have that big of an effect. I very often have to recast within 6-8 seconds as is.

Waffennacht

Why Prey? With just Clannfear you lose dps while Curse would provide more dps.

Fyi Prey only effects standard attacks from pets.

Why not Proxy det instead?

Thelon is good.... So am I dang it! Lol.

Fyi familiar's ability is a DoT too

Edit: After DB curse will no longer be a DoT and wont proc the monster set.

And resto, lightning staff heavies are DoTs.

dpencil

Hey @Waffennacht I wondered if you'd chime in.

I was using the Familiar at first but he just died too easily, and it forced me to also slot Twilight Matriarch for healing which not only uses another whOle column of slots but will pull agro first because it is ranged. It just ended up being a lot more messy for multiple enemy pulls. With Clannfear, you're losing the extra dot for more tankiness on the pet, only needing to slot one pet for a heal and you can let him run in and get positioned in front of all the mobs before the fight officially starts. I suppose if you wanted to sacrifice either Inner Light or Bound Aegis in favor of having both pets you could do that. Your choice, I just didn't find it to be as preferable.

You could switch out Prey for Velocious Curse, Proxy Det, or whatever if you want. The 6 second cooldown time actually plays a little better with my overall rotation than a 3 second would. 8 sec Wall, 6 sec Prey, 6 sec LFlood, 1 or 2 Heavy attacks depending on if I need to reapply Ward, repeat (with Degeneration thrown in every other rotation, and Clannfear heal used on "oh crap!" moments). I could try throwing Proxy on instead of Prey and putting it at the beginning of the rotation and see if it makes a difference. It may be less effective after DB with it getting nerfed, though.

Resto is a dot but has no AOE. The Lightning finisher is an AOE, and since I'm not using any Resto skills or really need the extra resources or healing received, it's not preferable to me.

Also, I didn't mention that with my gear I have no regen. I think my mag regen is at around 840, so just terrible. And yet, I never run out of resources with this rotation, whereas if I was doing force pulse + cfrag I would have to switch into overload at some point to get resources back.

Waffennacht

@dpencil great response, loved reading it.

Sorry, it didn't dawn on me until I read your response you're using 3 toggles. I have tried that before too, of course you'll never run outta magicka, you use 3 abilities in 6 seconds! That's pretty cool.

Yeah lightning destro is going on my PvE build, esp after update, allowing wall too.

But...

Your second bar runs destro with no destro abilities... resto staff heavy does more single target damage sith a heavy.... but you probably wanna weave like all the other cool kids

I would prob try Valkyn too if I had the shoulders.

Oh fyi Maw of the Infernal has comparable dps to Valkyn if running Daedric Prey.

Btw can we get a stat pic?

Edit: Here is a funny fact about Pets: Morkuldin Sword counts an actual sword that you have, so it gains a buff from the blunt and whatever passive to it's attack. I mean using Alchemist, the 600 weapon dmg didn't boost it, but DW did, logically it could only be that passive (it went from 4600 to 4800) all numbers rounded.

Im currently focused on trying to get pets to be a tiered build in PvP.... but having a real hard time.

I may have to go stam based...

dpencil

@Waffennacht I do have a Precise Maelstrom Fire Destro staff, so it is on my back bar to get the extra damage for Blockade of Fire. You can cast Blockade from the back bar with the fire destro and switch to front bar and all light and heavy attacks with the lightning will still benefit from the fire staff's enchant because it effects the wall for its full cast duration.

I also use the fire destro heavy attack as my opener after sending my pet forward. You can't charge up a heavy attack with lightning or resto, so the fire staff gives just a tad extra burst to the start of a fight. If I had a maelstrom lightning staff I might try to move Blockade to the front bar and go dual wield on the back bar. Either way, it works. Just using what I've got.

I also plan to try using the Daederoth set. I have a nice helm but no shoulders yet. Saving up keys for DB, you know.

Zuuda

I've noticed that thing with the Twilight. She starts casting, then the familar runs in. Part of the mobs runs to her (and she is really squishy), part stays with the familiar. It *is* a bit messy to the point that as I level (I'm only 30 atm) I've taken to stop sending them in first even against world bosses and instead I cast Blockade, Liquid Lightning, the familiar's AoE DoT and then Lightning Form for a fourth source of damage that also grants both Major Wards. Then I turtle up with block while everything is ticking, the familiar picks agro, the twilight heals me and the whole rotation allows for two heavy attacks that replenish the spent magicka. S'all good.

Of course this is just leveling. The most stressful content I've done are the public dungeons (which did murder my NB of the same level something fierce) but it was done easily, no world bosses or public dungeons do much with the Twilight healing myself and the Familiar.

You have a point though. I don't feel that the pets really do much damage on their own (still level 30 and with no special gear) so I'll try switching the scamp for the lil dinossaur to have the tanking and heal. Perhaps picking Bound Armor to replace the Twilight so I'll have both the major *and* minor wards when coupled with Lightning Form. Or Inner Light for the 10% crit and magicka. Or the shield that protects me and the pet and has it do more damage. CHOICES!

dpencil

@Zuuda Cool. At level 30 so much depends on what skills you've unlocked and are going for. The meta for sorcs has been in the past to race toward Conjured Ward and use that and it's morphs as your main line of defense, negating the need for Lightning Form or Bound Armor's protection bonuses. Lightning Form's dot damage is also pretty weak, so there are other options to slot for higher dps or other utility. My main use of the skill, if I slot it, is for the speed buff. You could also work toward Impulse on the destro line. In most overland content I just drop Wall, Lightning, and then spam Pulsar (the non-dot morf of Impulse) for any multi-enemy trash pull.

hrothbern

dpencil wrote: »

I just wanted to briefly outline the Solo Mag Sorc build I have been running lately. I do not claim to be as good as Thelon so if you're looking for the most masterful solo Sorc build, look to his. Personally, I find his build too resource hungry and intense for me. Yes, it does more dps, but in general I enjoy this build more if for no other reason than it is a departure from the usual force pulse + cfrag / overload rotation. So, with that out of the way, here's the build:

2pc Valkyn Skoria
5pc Julianos
3pc Willpower
Maelstrom Lightning Staff (I'm currently just using a Vicious Death until I get this)
Maelstrom Fire Staff (if you don't have Mael, the build still works, just slightly less dps)

Bar 1: Lightning Staff
Lightning Flood (imo, the increased radius is worth the shorter duration, and the 6 seconds works fine in the build rotation)
Hardened Ward (after DB, probably Empowered Ward)
Unstable Clannfear
Inner Light
Bound Aegis
Ult: Shooting Star

Bar 2: Fire Staff
Degeneration
Blockade of Fire
Daedric Prey
Unstable Clannfear
Bound Aegis
Ult: Overload

Overload:
Endless Fury
Hardened Ward
Unstable Clannfear
Inner Light
Bound Aegis

Rotation:
Send Clannfear in to attack
(front bar) Apply Hardened Ward
(back bar) Charge Heavy attack to hit just after Clannfear draws agro
Degeneration
Blockade of Fire
Daedric Prey
(front bar) Lightning Flood
2 Lightning Heavy attacks (or Hardened Ward if Clannfear's shield is down)
Repeat from Blockade of Fire
Repeat from Degeneration
Drop Shooting Star when it's up
Switch to Overload for Endless Fury execute if you want, or just keep the rotation up

Keep an eye on the Clannfear's incoming damage numbers. They will be (GREEN) when his shield is up and turn RED when his shield is down. As soon as you see red coming off the Clannfear, hit Hardened Ward. This assures less recasting and getting all the agro on you. I also turn on Friendly NPC health bars so I can always see what my Clannfear's health looks like. It's worth having FTC and S'renndar too to keep good track of all the dots and your shields.

Notice that practically every single attack: Lightning Heavy Attack, Lightning Flood, Blockade of Fire, Degeneration, Shooting Star are all DOTs. They ALL proc Skoria. The build does work without Skoria if you sub in another 2 or 3 piece, but it's really made for Skoria, which will proc quite often.

So that's pretty much it. It's niche. Usual dps is around 15k single target, but hey. You hardly ever get agro, or run low on resources, and can get through really tough content just by being patient and keeping everything up. The only really big wall I've hit has been scenarios where the boss heals a lot, so you can't out-dps his heals, or there are other group-specific mechanics to the fight that make it very difficult for a solo char to manage. But assuming you can just spank the boss and whatever adds come your way, this build is very solid. The best place for this build will be soloing dungeons, and Craglorn stuff. I would not recommend it for PVP or running with a group, but if you like soloing as a Sorc, give this build a try. You might like it!

nice build.
looks comfortable to play

dpencil

Stat and parse pics added to the OP. I also took your advice @Waffennacht and switched out Daedric Prey for Proxy Det and that seemed to work much better in trash pulls. Thanks for the input!

Waffennacht

@dpencil I really did try and click on them first... yes I can see them now lmao

Glad I helped!

And ill do some quick math. My Proxy and Prey do close to the same dmg atm (pre db) we'll just say it's 10k for simplicity.

After db proxy will do 45% less, so in this example 5.5k, and then 25% per target. Just using a mob of 5 (cus I see a lot of mobs of 5) that means each tango takes roughly 12.3k dmg per 8 secs. Or roughly 1.5k dps per target.

Prey does the 10k for the single target in 6 secs or again roughly 1.5dps, but only .5 per surrounding target.

So against mobs Proxy will still out dps Prey, against single targets Curse is actually a superior dps choice.

I guess for optimum play, you could switch out proxy for Prey when dealing with a Boss after DB.

This of course is assuming Proxy and Prey deal the same base damage (they do not) and that surrounding enemies are near the prey target (difficult to keep consistent)

So as you discovered, logically, Proxy is the superior PvE mob choice

dpencil

@Waffennacht Did you click on the pics? Only the thumbnails are blurry for me.

Waffennacht

I got the pics to work, I feel silly. I did try pushing on em first, I swear!

Anyway! I have been pondering your build for a while. In the past I tried just one pet but I never liked it. But I did realize my current build has A lot going on. A bit too much I thought. So I took a page from your and Thelon's book and decided to drop Frag from my front bar and ward from my back bar and sadly streak from my overload bar and added Innerlight.

Im also trying out Lightning Flood, as per your suggestion. Without frag etc... It's easier to maintain flood being up all the time. Im enjoying it, thanks for the advice!

Zuuda

Update your build if you changed things around, @Waffennacht!

Waffennacht

@Zuuda I only update once I'm positive I've made a change for the better and permanent I just started trying the changes and wanna make sure It's viable in all that I do (Just fyi I am liking this and will prob make it a solid part of my build) solo'ed a few silver dungeons for the mettle and a quick test and a few Wrothgar world bosses.

But this is @dpencil thread! I wanna tell him to go with the familiar, but with his armor set up, he does die more often than what would be wanted.

dpencil

@Waffennacht Yeah, I'd love to be able to run the Familiar too, but the Clannfear heal is pretty necessary, probably more so once DB drops and both shields and surge will be less potent. And I'm pretty committed to not running the Matriach anymore in PvE. I do run her a lot in PvP, for whatever that's worth.