First post, a viability question

solymer89b14a_ESO

I've recently gotten back into ESO and I am continuing to level my mag sorcerer that I started a couple years ago. I'd like to run the build by the community to see if the build is viable, what it's strengths/weaknesses might be and maybe get some suggestions on eventual gear that might support this build. If the build is not viable then obviously I won't need suggestions and such.

For background purposes, I picked this build up off of esoacademy a couple years back and started to build towards it. My concern is that it's old and I don't know enough about the rest of eso yet to make an educated decision on my own. I'm currently level 40 and I'm solo.

Class: Sorcerer
Race: Breton
Role: Tank

H/M/S
20/40/2

Weapon 1: Healing staff - Weapon 2: Healing staff

Bar 1 Bar 2
Quick Siphon Liquid Lightning
Degeneration Crystal Fragments
Boundless Storm Shattering Prison
Healing Ward Healing Ward
Hardened Ward Hardened Ward
Ult: Summon Charged Atronach - both bars

Armor:
5 Light/2 Heavy

I can see the potential in this while leveling. I still have yet to unlock quick siphon so doting everything up still takes a bit and I have yet to unlock Hardened Ward though that seems to be less an issue. I chose to follow this build because it's suggested that it would be powerful in pvp so long as I know what I'm doing, but that was over two years ago now and I've never done end game pvp. I've done some light research on this build but I would really like the communities opinion on whether this is a worthy build to continue after or if there are some tweaks that should be made, or if I should re-roll, which I'm not against. I can also add the passives if that would make a difference. Thanks in advance!

Jim_Pipp

A real strength of the game is that you can change most things later on, so perhaps don't worry too much about the endgame and enjoy levelling to see what your personal strengths and weaknesses are and rebuild your character after every update.

The last update made mag sorcs much stronger as dps builds, and there are some great build threads on these forums in the last few days.

One of the recent changes is that ice staffs now "taunt" enemies, forcing them to focus on you. Taunting is the most important function of a tank, and without a taunt your tank build is not even slightly viable. Magic tanking is hard and relatively new though.

More advanced tanking requires you to help your group, not by doing damage or healing, but by providing buffs that improve your group members damage or healing. Your build doesn't really offer much to the group.

Sorry if this sounds negative. Your race is among the top three for a sorc (and I personally prefer Bretton for magsorc)

A really good example and discussion about sorcerers strengths are in the thread below. It also comes with suggestions about easier gear to use to get you to endgame. Tag me if you want to ask any other questions

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/302925/infallible-infinite-wizard-magsorc-vma-build-video-homestead-ready/p1

Edit- oops, I read "tank", but didn't read "solo". I still recommend focusing on a high max magicka dps build because shields will give you all the survivability you need, but you don't need to worry about taunting if you are the only one there!

Jitterbug

You need to be able to taunt (probably using the undaunted taunt) and you need to be able to block (especially on bosses special attacks). For this you need a frost staff or a 1H&Shield.
My advice for now would be to level both a destruction staff and a restoration staff so you can utilize them later on.

Sorcerer tanking is not in a super good place right now but can absolutely be done.

solymer89b14a_ESO

Thanks Jim! I'm going to read through that thread tomorrow. I realize that the group utility is lacking with this build but I'm actually more concerned with how this would perform in pvp. I'm also running solo. This initially appealed to me because of the suggested sustainability while also providing good damage. I think I'm still rather confused on how abilities level up. I know that if you have them slotted and even if you don't use them they get a percentage of all exp you gain. Unless I misunderstood something that would seem to suggest building towards and slotting the abilities you intend to use later on as it takes a while to unlock their secondary effects. Does that process speed up once you hit max level? Sorry for all the newb on my part! I promise I've done research! haha

Just saw the edit! I should have made it clearer that my intention is pvp. More apologies!

Jim_Pipp

I apologise for not reading your post more the first time.

You absolutely understand how skills level up, and yes, at higher levels they level up much faster.

Now you say pvp I understand completely why you have so many shields. You have probably already noticed that shields don't last nearly as long as they used too, making shield stacking much more expensive to maintain - it is still worth it, but you probably don't want to give up 4 skill slots for them. Streak, critical surge and daedric mines are very popular.

Consider using a destro staff, the elemental drain is better than quick siphon, and the destruction staff ultimate is incredible (especially if you catch someone with wall of elements as well).

The atronach ultimate is meh, while negate magic is a great pvp counter. Finally, if you can unlock the undaunted passives (at level 45 the undaunted give you daily quests that level the line) you will get buffs to your max stats for wearing 5 light, 1 medium and 1 heavy. Without the passive I would choose 7 light armor because you don't need resistance if you keep your shields up.

solymer89b14a_ESO

No worries sir, this is some good stuff here. I'm going to give these suggestions a try. I did notice the length of the shields was very low but at my current level I only use them when needed instead of keeping them up but I'm all for more dps if the sustain is similar. I'm sure I'll be tweaking things around as I get higher up and such, especially now that I have something to aim towards. Thank you very much!