Builds for the Enchantment Enthusiast

Faulgor

The general idea is a Battlemage/Spellsword/Witchhunter type of character, who uses magical enchantments on his melee weapon (in previous TES games there were no staves to enchant anyway).

How this translates to ESO:
Magicka builds with infused melee weapons and 5pc Torug's Pact set.
or
Stamina builds with infused melee weapons, 5pc Torug's Pact set and 70+ points in Elemental Expert

Now, of course, these builds won't be optimal. The only advantage would be an increase in spell power compared to staves for magicka builds, if they chose to use 2H or DW. Stamina builds will be able to use ultimates with magic damage more effectively, but have to sacrifice a useful 5pc set and a lot of champion points. Nevertheless, almost anything gets you through PvE content, and this could be an enjoyable thematic character.

With this in mind, I first want to take a look at the different enchantments we have available.

Cold / Fire / Shock damage:
The most basic and probably important glyphs you can make with these builds. The secondary effects are negligible, but if you really wanted you could make a charged weapon to trigger them reliably (say, a Frost bow to snare from a distance). Choice would also depend on your race; Dunmer is the best choice for these glyphs with +7% to fire damage, followed by Altmer with +4% to all 3. Sorcerers get another +5% to Shock damage, so an Altmer Sorcerer would get +9% to shock. I'm not sure if DK's Molten Whip morph bosts enchantment damage, but it should be considered. As far as I know, there is no way to boost cold damage.

Unresistable damage:
Don't.

of Hardening:
Adds a decent damage shield for 5 seconds. Very defensive option, but might be worthwhile with the Bastion champion passive. Have to consider overflow damage, though, as it won't take your resistances into account.

Absorb attribute:
Less damage than the elemental glyphs, but the absorb amount is pretty decent and scales with infused/Torug's as well. All attributes are viable options depending on your build, absorb stamina probably especially for tanks, absorb magicka for heavy armor magicka builds.

of Damage:
Good support if you want to mainly bet on your magicka skills - buffs your damage by nearly 500. Obviously also a good choice for stamina builds.

of Weakening / of Crushing:
Mainly useful for tanks. Not a bad option for your back bar if you want to play that role.

Prismatic Onslaught:
With infused, Torug's and maxed Elemental Expert, around 10k damage. And yes, enchantments can crit. Although expensive, pretty amazing against undead.

Combined with any of these weapons, judged by their usefulness for magicka builds - if you have a stamina build, you could use any of these. Although I found 1H and bow most optimal for weaving.

Two-Handed:
Has the 2nd highest spell damage after DW, and greatswords will increase your damage by 5% with the Heavy Weapons passive. Greataxes are also an option, if you have something worthwhile that triggers off the bleed damage. Battle Rush passive will give you a boost to stamina recovery after a kill, but you'd need enough base recovery to make it worthwhile. Of the active skills, you will most likely only use Forward Momentum to remove snares and possibly as a little heal on the side. Although you could use Dizzying Swing for CC, you probably lack the stamina for that and should have better options anyway.

One-Handed:
Same spell damage as staves, but adds another slot for set bonuses. Obviously a more defensive option than other weapons. Pierce Armor is a good tool for debuffing spell resist (or even tanking); Heroic Slash would help to generate more ultimate; Defensive Posture is a great defensive buff with either morph (and reflect/absorb spells are a great substitute for Mysticism spells for Battlemages and Witchhunters); Shield Charge and Power Bash are also viabel CC options, although you might have better magicka-based skills.

Dual-Wield:
Best spell damage under the sun, and adds another slot for set bonuses compared to staves. Use two swords for +5% damage with Twin Blade and Blunt passive; The other passives sadly won't help you. Blade Cloak could be used for a defensive buff, but otherwise, this weapon type is mainly useful for offense.

Bow:
Same spell damage as staves, no extra slot. Why use this over staves? For style and Hasty Retreat. I'm not sure if the Long Shots passive works with non-bow or magic skills, but that could be a good reason to use it.

Now, let's talk about the real choice here, classes.

What it comes down to is that you want to use light/heavy attacks as often as possible, which means you'll need a spamable skill with which to weave.
As a magicka build, your options are quite limited for this.

• Sorcerers have no useful spamable skill whatsoever, unless you want to weave hardcast Crystal Fragments or your execute.
• Templars have either Puncturing Sweep or Vampire's Bane, both of which are rather uncomfortable to weave, either because they are a channel or behave oddly in melee range (but maybe that's just me).
• Nightblades have Concealed Weapon or Strife, both of which are very good skills.
• Dragonknights have their Whip.

This means for a magicka build, I'd suggest to go with a Nightblade or Dragonknight, although Templars can work, too. Sorcerer is unpleasant.

As a stamina build, you can mainly rely on your weapon skills to weave with (Puncture, Uppercut, Flurry, Poison Arrow), or use Surprise Attack as a Nightblade. Otherwise, your class options are almost equal. Sorcerers have a slight advantage to trigger Implosion with shock enchantments; but that's about it.
Also, as a stamina build, ultimates that deal magic damage open up to you - because you invested points into Elemental Expert, and the base damage of ultimates scales with your highest resource (weapon damage / stamina). This means Meteor, Soul Strike, Radial Sweep, Nova, Suppression Field, Overload, Soul Harvest, Veil of Blades, Soul Shred, and Dragonknight Standard should be considered for your arsenal.

Templar: Dawnguard Spellsword

Magicka 0 Health 0 Stamina 64

7 Heavy; 3 Torug's Pact, 4 Hunding's Rage
3 Agility Jewelry

One-Handed and Shield (2 Torug's Pact; Infused; Prismatic Enchant)
- Pierce Armor
- Invasion
- Silver Shards
- Repentance
- Evil Hunter
- FLAWLESS DAWNBREAKER

Two-Handed (Hunding's Rage; Charged; Frost Damage)
- Carve
- Reverse Slice
- Rally
- Repentance
- Evil Hunter
- FLAWLESS DAWNBREAKER

One-Handed is your single DPS bar, with maximum damage against the undead with a prismaic enchantment. Further, 3 fighter guild skills + Flawless Dawnbreaker will boost your weapon damage by 14%. Two-Handed is occasional AoE, status change and buff bar. It also forfeits Torug's Pact for full Hundings in case you need to deal some real physical damage.

Sorcerer: Witchhunter

Magicka 0 Health 0 Stamina 64

7 Medium; 5 Torug's, 2 Nightmother's Gaze
3 Agility Jewelry

Dual Wield (2 Nightmother's Gaze; Infused; Shock Damage and Fire Damage)
- Rapid Strikes
- Flying Blade
- Silver Shards
- Critical Surge
- Camouflaged Hunter
- FLAWLESS DAWNBREAKER

Bow (Nightmother's Gaze; Infused; Prismatic Enchant)
- Poison Injection
- Acid Spray
- Rearming Trap
- Encase
- Camouflaged Hunter
- FLAWLESS DAWNBREAKER / SUPPRESSION FIELD

Relatively basic stamina Sorcerer. Alternatively, add a weapon damage enchant on one of your weapons to make up for the Torug's Pact set. You could also use a monster helmet set instead of Nightmother's Gaze, but you'll need decent weapon crit for your Crit Surge heals.

Nightblade: Nighthealer

Magicka 64 Health 0 Stamina 0

5 Light, 2 Heavy; 5 Torug's Pact, 2 Magnus
3 Willpower Jewelry

One-Handed and Shield (2 Magnus; Infused; Absorb Health)
- Swallow Soul
- Crippling Grasp
- Siphoning Attacks
- Impale
- Inner Light
- ICE COMET

Restoration Staff (Magnus; Infused; Weapon Power)
- Mutagen
- Combat Prayer
- Healing Ward
- Degeneration
- Inner Light
- SOUL SIPHON

Never run dry with this Nightblade! Immense sustain on your main bar and a decent healer on your secondary. Alternatively, you can use a Destruction Staff on your back bar for more DoTs or situations where you have to play a "real" mage.

Dragonknight: Battlemage

Magicka 64 Health 0 Stamina 0
7 Heavy; 3 Torug's Pact; 4 Bahraha's Curse
1 Bahraha's Curse Jewelry
2 Willpower Jewelry

Dual Wield (2x Torug's Pact, Infused, Fire Damage)
- Flame Lash
- Burning Embers
- Engulfing Flames
- Eruption
- Inner Light
- SHOOTING STAR

Shock Destruction Staff (Torug's Pact; Charged, Shock Damage)
- Force Pulse
- Elemental Blockade
- Molten Armaments
- Igneous Shield
- Inner Light
- SHOOTING STAR

Almost basic magicka Dragonknight. Weave Flame Lash with Dual Wield and keep your DoTs up. The kicker is the second bar: With Elemental Blockade and a charged Shock Destruction Staff, you will constantly keep enemies off balance, allowing you to use your special life-stealing attack with Flame Lash. You could drop Bahraha's Curse for a more basic set or heavy armor for light, but I wanted to mix it up a little.

Hope this inspired you to try something unconventional!

Jim_Pipp

Bookmarked. A really interesting idea for a build.