Tanky/DPS Sorc build

x_Demogorgon_x

Looking for a tanky sorc build that will blast you away still in dps. Don't know if it's possible or not. I know shields will help and overload and crystal frags are heavy dps. But looking for a flat out build. Any help? Thanks y'all!

Waffennacht

Yay! A reason to post my mag sorc! Btw kudos to @psychotic13 for the inspiration and help

I run a heavy armor, dps sorc, it's fun too.

Don't have a lot of monster sets completed so that's why no monster set for him. But:

x5 Kragernac
x3 Magnus
x3 willpower

6 heavy 1 medium, destruction staff main bar, resto back bar

Front bar: Destructive Touch (i like both morphs), Wrath, Curse, H ward, and Frag, using Meteor Ult
Back bar: Power Surge, Combat Prayer, Dark Conversion, H ward, and Lightning Form ult DboS

It's pretty good, pretty standard as far as abilities. Ward is always good, heavy armor protects a bit from big attacks and gankers, self heals and buffs. Ward on front bar to keep up the offensive and proc frag.

Just somewhere to start

psychotic13

You say a DPS sorc, in heavy? If you mean for PvE then I doubt it would work very well. But myself and @Waffennacht both do use heavy armor sorcs in PvP.

I am thinking of going back to light in the next update, got a few ideas in mind. But currently this is what I'm running with:

Gear: x5 Kagrenacs, x5 Alchemist and x3 Willpower.

Front bar Destro, back bar SnB (I use dark exchange to heal, it's actually very strong when coupled with the vitality pots I use to proc alchemist, and some of my CP help that too)

As for Abilitys I use:

Destro:
Crushing shock / frags / endless fury / Hardened / curse with devouring swarm as ultimate.

SnB:
Surge / streak / mines / harness Magicka / dark exchange with overload as my ultimate.

On my overload bar I do have boundless storm and defensive rune which I frequently use. I don't use Meteor anymore as it's just too easy to block in my opinion, people never expect swarm so when 2 Stam builds get close and I've got mines down and pop this they take heavy damage.

Also because of the sets I use they also give me a lot of health bonuses, so I don't run food I run drinks, this leaves my max Magicka at about 33k and health at about 20-21k in PvP, but as a sorc our biggest weakness is getting CC'd so the drinks help ALOT and our sustain is great, this build can reach up to 5k spell damage also

x_Demogorgon_x

Hey, thank you both!! I'll definitely have to give this a try!!

Jsmalls

Only if you keep it a secret!

1/1 medium/heavy Grothdarr, illambris, infernal
Any combination of the two different pieces
Helm/shoulders

4 pieces necropotence (3 jewellery) 1 body

4 pieces Spell power cure/Elegant/Succession

vMa Inferno front bar

Sword and board willpower back bar

Unfortunately you cannot get impen pieces, but if you play this build right you don't need it.

Front bar typical Sorc abilities I use
Magelight, Curse, frag, endless, streak, Dawn breaker

Back bar (this one is important and makes it viable)
Hardened, harness, surge, magelight, boundless armor (Meteor or sword and board ultimate)

Your wards are 16k for Hardened (might be higher im on console and running a non optimized version due to update 12 being later this month), and 12k for harness.

Surge will provide your heals offensively with crits and defensively with boundless. Harness will take care of your sustain (provided its not all stamina builds).

For different play styles try the 2 pieces of the 3 monster sets I provided, not much loss for decent gains.

It takes practice but it's amazing.

If you are rich run bound aegis instead of magelight and use Magicka pots with crit on them.

psychotic13

jyates214b14_ESO wrote: »

Only if you keep it a secret!

1/1 medium/heavy Grothdarr, illambris, infernal
Any combination of the two different pieces
Helm/shoulders

4 pieces necropotence (3 jewellery) 1 body

4 pieces Spell power cure/Elegant/Succession

vMa Inferno front bar

Sword and board willpower back bar

Unfortunately you cannot get impen pieces, but if you play this build right you don't need it.

Front bar typical Sorc abilities I use
Magelight, Curse, frag, endless, streak, Dawn breaker

Back bar (this one is important and makes it viable)
Hardened, harness, surge, magelight, boundless armor (Meteor or sword and board ultimate)

Your wards are 16k for Hardened (might be higher im on console and running a non optimized version due to update 12 being later this month), and 12k for harness.

Surge will provide your heals offensively with crits and defensively with boundless. Harness will take care of your sustain (provided its not all stamina builds).

For different play styles try the 2 pieces of the 3 monster sets I provided, not much loss for decent gains.

It takes practice but it's amazing.

If you are rich run bound aegis instead of magelight and use Magicka pots with crit on them.

What do you use for a spammable? Endless fury? Surely that isn't optimal, why no crushing shock? I understand if you were using DW but if you're using a destro I'm not sure why you'd overlook crushing shock.

Jsmalls

@psychotic13

Your bursts are set up with curse, frags, endless, and dawnbreaker if necessary.

Just try dropping force pulse/Crushing Shock off your bar once, your sustain is increased and you ALWAYS have an execute on them.

Been doing it for a loooong time.

Dracane

jyates214b14_ESO wrote: »

Only if you keep it a secret!

1/1 medium/heavy Grothdarr, illambris, infernal
Any combination of the two different pieces
Helm/shoulders

4 pieces necropotence (3 jewellery) 1 body

4 pieces Spell power cure/Elegant/Succession

vMa Inferno front bar

Sword and board willpower back bar

Unfortunately you cannot get impen pieces, but if you play this build right you don't need it.

Front bar typical Sorc abilities I use
Magelight, Curse, frag, endless, streak, Dawn breaker

Back bar (this one is important and makes it viable)
Hardened, harness, surge, magelight, boundless armor (Meteor or sword and board ultimate)

Your wards are 16k for Hardened (might be higher im on console and running a non optimized version due to update 12 being later this month), and 12k for harness.

Surge will provide your heals offensively with crits and defensively with boundless. Harness will take care of your sustain (provided its not all stamina builds).

For different play styles try the 2 pieces of the 3 monster sets I provided, not much loss for decent gains.

It takes practice but it's amazing.

If you are rich run bound aegis instead of magelight and use Magicka pots with crit on them.

You need 54k magicka to reach a 16k hardened ward in pvp. I doubt you have that with this setup.

Biro123

I'm thinking along the lines of a tanky pvp sorc too.

Still only messing in BWB - but having a lot of fun with 6hvy/1 light (that light being the body so it looks like its all light) - with defensive rune always up. I just make myself look like a nice juicy gank-target and wait for the fun to start.

Not sure how viable this would be when that toon hits 50 and CP's come into play - BUT when it I get there, I'm thinking of running it with reactive as it'll reduce the dmg taken to shields too. I'm just a bit worried that I'll struggle to either get a high enough magica pool or enough suistain (or both)

Jsmalls

@Dracane

Run the numbers!

It'll be around 55k back bar with a Perfect set. Gold jewellery, infused large, divines small. (And that's without using bound aegis)

On live my Hardened ward is 15.3k on my back bar with 51k Magicka. Thats with a lot of purple and a couple not optimized pieces. And I'm missing 2% undaunted which this update will fix due to monster pieces, along with an extra max magicka item set that is setup will give. It'll definitely be at 55k!!! And thats entirely without gimping your bars with necropotence, inner light, and bound aegis.

Edit:
And that's with Tri-Stat

Waffennacht

@jyates214b14_ESO you said divines... are you saying to run the Mage Mundus Stone?

Jsmalls

Yeah Mage Mundus compliments it very well, but not necessary. If not that then thief or shadow for the power surge heals.

But 55k is with the Mage Mundus.

Dracane

jyates214b14_ESO wrote: »

Yeah Mage Mundus compliments it very well, but not necessary. If not that then thief or shadow for the power surge heals.

But 55k is with the Mage Mundus.

I used to run the mage, because it's my birthsign. But I must say, Atronach really is the only viable way. I felt buffed when I switched to Atro.

Maybe when the magicka+magicka regen food comes this month, I might take the mage again. But I might still keep the atronach. That should offer me some good endurance

Jsmalls

Dracane wrote: »

jyates214b14_ESO wrote: »

Yeah Mage Mundus compliments it very well, but not necessary. If not that then thief or shadow for the power surge heals.

But 55k is with the Mage Mundus.

I used to run the mage, because it's my birthsign. But I must say, Atronach really is the only viable way. I felt buffed when I switched to Atro.

Maybe when the magicka+magicka regen food comes this month, I might take the mage again. But I might still keep the atronach. That should offer me some good endurance

It depends on the situation for me, im running with 900 recovery and there are situations where resources aren't sustainable, but as long as there is one Magicka player hitting you harness really does a great job in resource sustain. I honestly think it's broken a bit atm or at least OP because in small groups where there are 3 to 4 Magicka players on me im restoring Magicka at an insane rate even with 900 recovery. But with all those stamina builds it can make for troublesome times.

psychotic13

jyates214b14_ESO wrote: »

@psychotic13

Your bursts are set up with curse, frags, endless, and dawnbreaker if necessary.

Just try dropping force pulse/Crushing Shock off your bar once, your sustain is increased and you ALWAYS have an execute on them.

Been doing it for a loooong time.

I understand how burst works lol, what I'm saying is if that's how you're going to play, I don't understand why you wouldn't pick DW over the staff for the extra damage and extra set piece if you're not even using any staff abilities. Or is it simply for the weave?

Jsmalls

psychotic13 wrote: »

jyates214b14_ESO wrote: »

@psychotic13

Your bursts are set up with curse, frags, endless, and dawnbreaker if necessary.

Just try dropping force pulse/Crushing Shock off your bar once, your sustain is increased and you ALWAYS have an execute on them.

Been doing it for a loooong time.

I understand how burst works lol, what I'm saying is if that's how you're going to play, I don't understand why you wouldn't pick DW over the staff for the extra damage and extra set piece if you're not even using any staff abilities. Or is it simply for the weave?

Weaving, ultimate Regen, heavy attacks for sustain and added burst. Also poisons are a viable addition. Since I'm using a sword and board on the back if I did run low on Magicka I'd have no way of taking advantage of heavy attacks.

I don't like dual wield because you aren't activating your enchants often, your ulti Regen is suffering, and since we're using endless as a spammable not enough pressure is applied without weaving.

I didn't imply that you didn't know how to burst, just that force pulse/Crushing Shock isn't needed for our burst.

Lord_Wrath

5xkagrenacs heavy + staff
3xwillpower jewelry
5xseducer with S+B side

Running 39-40k magica, 1500ish recovery, and up to 3600 spell damage.

Minalan

Heavy armor is terrible for our sustain (recovery and cost) and damage (spell critical and spell penetration) on a magicka sorcerer. Some people make it work, but I hated it.

What I do, is pick up a 'defending' trait restoration staff, and run lightning form at all times (30 second buff) when walking around. I usually keep my resto staff out (buff bar) if I'm traveling for a quick streak/heal/mines.

10K from 5/1/1 light armor
5K from lightning form buff
5K from defending

I get heavy armor protection while wearing light. When I swap to the main bar (sharpened elegant destro) I still have 15K armor, which is as good as medium. But surprise attacks always contend with heavy on their opener.

I keep 42K max magicka, so my shields are big enough to handle most incoming damage, and my spells hurt. My recovery is great, and cost reduction with Breton, Seducer and five pieces of LA keeps me in the fight tearing people apart. If I need to retreat, with this setup I can streak off pretty far, and lightning form lets you run fast to begin with.

If you need 'tankier' than that, run all impenetrable on your light armor, and invest more points into 'hardy' and 'elemental defender'. Realistically you don't need more than 70-80 points in Bastion.

Minalan

jyates214b14_ESO wrote: »

@psychotic13

Your bursts are set up with curse, frags, endless, and dawnbreaker if necessary.

Just try dropping force pulse/Crushing Shock off your bar once, your sustain is increased and you ALWAYS have an execute on them.

Been doing it for a loooong time.

@jyates214b14_ESO

Getting a blocking malubeth stam Templar wearing reactive under 20% without force pulse or destructive reach is a PITA. Force pulse will usually hit for about 6-9K (2K-3K for each element) where you're lucky to get 1K using mages wrath.

I could never do it well, even Thelons last video he was beating on one for like... half an hour before the Templar finally died. On top of that every other enemy out there nowadays is a Cancerplar.

I'd love to hear how you're getting 55K max magicka without using bound aegis.

RinaldoGandolphi

@Minalan

Yup right now 5 Seducer is a must have IMO. We seem to run similiar sets up, great minds think alike

shame Sorcs are so pigeonholed at the moment.

Jsmalls

@Minalan

1/1 medium/heavy Grothdarr, illambris, infernal
Any combination of the two different pieces
Helm/shoulders

4 pieces necropotence (3 jewellery) 1 body

4 pieces Spell power cure/Elegant/Succession

vMa Inferno front bar

Sword and board willpower back bar

Unfortunately you cannot get impen pieces, but if you play this build right you don't need it.

Front bar typical Sorc abilities I use
Magelight, Curse, frag, endless, streak, Dawn breaker

Back bar (this one is important and makes it viable)
Hardened, harness, surge, magelight, boundless armor (Meteor or sword and board ultimate)

Will be possible next update on the sword and board back bar due to monster sets, Mage Mundus naturally.

Does the new Trainee set come in all weights? If so you can replace SPC and 1 monster piece with 5 pieces of that and switch to Bi stat food for similar results and 4k+ more health.

Minalan

RinaldoGandolphi wrote: »

@Minalan

Yup right now 5 Seducer is a must have IMO. We seem to run similiar sets up, great minds think alike

shame Sorcs are so pigeonholed at the moment.

Seducer and elegance for me now, I'll probably pick up something better after the patch for a second set.

True story. I got hate tells this weekend for elegance/overload killing a stam nightblade using viper and velidreth. Apparently my two button kill had 'no skill'. The irony hurts so bad...

Minalan

jyates214b14_ESO wrote: »

@Minalan

1/1 medium/heavy Grothdarr, illambris, infernal
Any combination of the two different pieces
Helm/shoulders

4 pieces necropotence (3 jewellery) 1 body

4 pieces Spell power cure/Elegant/Succession

vMa Inferno front bar

Sword and board willpower back bar

Unfortunately you cannot get impen pieces, but if you play this build right you don't need it.

Front bar typical Sorc abilities I use
Magelight, Curse, frag, endless, streak, Dawn breaker

Back bar (this one is important and makes it viable)
Hardened, harness, surge, magelight, boundless armor (Meteor or sword and board ultimate)

Will be possible next update on the sword and board back bar due to monster sets, Mage Mundus naturally.

Does the new Trainee set come in all weights? If so you can replace SPC and 1 monster piece with 5 pieces of that and switch to Bi stat food for similar results and 4k+ more health.

Interesting setup, but it lacks any of the really great five piece bonuses.

If I can get ahold of four pieces of necropotence though, I intend to try that, then add one of the new one piece max magicka monster shoulders, and a VDSA staff. That's five total max magicka bonuses, plus one from seducer (and the cost reduction bonus).

Jsmalls

@Minalan

While the 5 pc bonus is great I feel as if it pigeon holes you into set bonus that you don't necessarily want or need.

Let's take seducer for example. Great 5 pc, but you're forced to accept that now coupled with your great cost reduction you have this unnecessarily large recovery pool when ideally maybe more damage would be more appropriate.
Viper has a great 5 pc, but 2 bonuses are crit, which in my opinion are suboptimal in PvP due to shields and Impen.
Julianos/Hundings has the same problems as Viper.
A lot of the new sets have a 1k health bonus tossed in.
Kags in my opinion is a great set due to its mixture of bonuses.
There is a great new set that I can't remember the name of that offers 2 Magicka, 1 spell, and 4k pen, that also looks like a great no cons set. (Might run that in place of SPC and drop vMA staff for a Inferno staff of that item set)

And then there is the dilemma of running 2 monster pieces, which causes you to lose the ability to run 2 5 pcs, but some of the monster sets are amazing.

So why not take the best of the best in bonuses and just try to combine it the best way possible.

Sorcs use Max Magicka for offense, defense, and arguably sustain. (If you start with 10k more you don't run out as fast, etc etc.)

That's been the basis of my build since the Dark brotherhood update and I've enjoyed it since.

And I really can't say enough how a large harness ward can contribute to your sustain!! It's baffling.

Jsmalls

Yes, let's fix the forums please >.<