Elemental Guardian – Magicka Warden vMA/DD Build (Summerset)

Masel

Heya, it’s me again, Masel. Now that Summerset is out I wanted to showcase a Build that has been a lot of fun in vMA on the PTS and that also puts out good damage and support in group content.

It uses some new sets and Skills, notably siroria and the new channeled acceleration skill. This is a fun Build that can dish out a lot of damage (42k+ selfbuffed) if you do it right and also buff your Group (minor force & minor vulnerability, snare through chilled and very high burning uptime). This build is a minor vulnerability provider and is (in my opinion) even better than a sorc at it. I got Flawless on PTS on first try without a Mundus Stone (forgot it).

Race:

Altmer is simply the best. 4% on most of our damage, max Magicka and Magicka recovery suits this build. Dunmer and Breton are second and third choice.

Stats (with major prophecy):





Attributes all 64 into magicka.

Food:

Either Blue Max Magicka and Health Food or Clockwork Citrus Filet (Witchmothers Brew is also okay).

Gear:

Bar Setup:

Main Bar(Inferno Staff):

Harness Magicka(Solo)/Pulsar(Group), Force Pulse, Fetcher Infection, Living Trellis (Solo)/Balance(Group), Inner Light

Ultimate: Elemental Rage(solo)/Eternal Guardian(group)



Off Bar(Inferno Staff):

Blue Betty, Winter's Revenge, Blockade of Fire, Channeled Acceleration/Chrystallised Slab, Inner Light/Harness Magicka (Group)

Ultimate: Shooting Star(solo)/Eternal Guardian(group)





Let's walk through the new warden and psijic skills that we're using real quick:

Betty Netch:

Restores resources, in and out of combat and is free to cast. Also removes a negative effect for free. So when you have a snare, dot or anything on you, use it to get rid of it. Also this gives you the 12% stay and mag recovery passive, you want it on your front bar.

Living Trellis:

This is a great emergency skill for vMA. You need to keep this up 100% of the time, and in case you are in danger, shield up, cast this, and it will heal you when you get hit. Also it gives a big burst heal when it ends or you recast it.


Channeled Acceleration:

Finally a source of minor force for magicka builds. You can basically use either morph, but the longer one saves a lot of resources and makes the overall rotation easier.

Eternal Guardian:

Insane single target dps, use this whenever possible. In trials this guy (or girl #feminism) carries our butt. With Master Architect, remember to use it on the FRONT bar.

FAQ:

Why lightning staff back bar?

For off-balance and a higher uptime on the lightning version of ilambris.

Why force pulse?

Because wardens have a lot of time in this rotation to actually spam it, which increases status effect uptime by a lot and hence damage for us and the group.

Why a Back Bar vMA staff? What if I don’t have one?

Because they still make light attacks hit insanely hard (look at the parse below). If you don’t have one, doesn’t matter, simply use another Set /or a master lightning staff with infused/precise and either a drain magicka poison or a weapon damage enchant on.

Why Channeled Acceleration?

Lasts long, gives a necessary buff and finally gets rid of rearming trap...

How do we Sustain a Light attack rotation?

Balance. This skill is so great in group content (up to 300 mag per second). I also tried meditate, but in fights i never really found time to use it as a DD. Also, we have Blue Betty (196 magicka per second).

CP Allocation:

Red and Green depend on the trial. Blue is as follows

56 Thaumaturge

56 Elemental Expert

56 Elfborn

56 Master-at-arms

Rest into spell erosion,

The new CP system changes how they work, as most of the trees now have jump points. The returns from them get floored to the full percentage value, e.g. Investing 15.4% in a tree will effectively give you a 15% return.

So you want to use the points in a way of where you don't waste too many. The above distribution is always just above the full percentage for trees that have jump points.

Selfbuffed 6m Dummy Parse:





Rotation Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2ZZSbCUNfQ&t=109s

Full flawless vMA Run:

https://youtu.be/m4dpnzbS_sk

This is a work in progress thread. If you're interested in the Build, simply bookmark it and check back every once in a while when I update it.

Cheers!

Draekony

Very cool, might level a dps warden and check it out. Been saving divines winterborn gear as well. Too bad cause I have a frost sharpened maelstrom staff =P

Waffennacht

Looks cool, I'm on console so...

bebynnag

LOL!

@Masel92

your HA sorc build gave me the confidence to try vMA again after a break from the game

Your HA magDK build gave me my 1st clear on my mag DK & my 1st MA destro. i now get regular leaderboard scores on my mag & stam DK - using my own technique (a mix of the 'meta' and your builds - which i suspect will be next patches meta)


but i think i also caught a little of your mindset from the your various posts & builds. i have been holding onto a set of winterborn for my magDen

Tempah

*sigh* now I need to farm winterborn from vMa. And I just thought I was done with vMA

MartinDeShade

It is interesting, but I wonder what the build will be in 3 months or so. Since I am not going to even try to level my warden until I have atleast 60 in horse speed. Then I am not the type to speed level so it will take time tp level a stam and mag warden from 1 to 50.

Qbiken

Tempah wrote: »

*sigh* now I need to farm winterborn from vMa. And I just thought I was done with vMA

Farm it on normal for the body parts xD

Masel

Tempah wrote: »

*sigh* now I need to farm winterborn from vMa. And I just thought I was done with vMA

Haha yeah that's why I kept them all...

Masel

puffytheslayer wrote: »

LOL!

@Masel92

your HA sorc build gave me the confidence to try vMA again after a break from the game

Your HA magDK build gave me my 1st clear on my mag DK & my 1st MA destro. i now get regular leaderboard scores on my mag & stam DK - using my own technique (a mix of the 'meta' and your builds - which i suspect will be next patches meta)


but i think i also caught a little of your mindset from the your various posts & builds. i have been holding onto a set of winterborn for my magDen

Thank you! Always nice to hear that the things I post help and aren't just fun for me

c_star

Hiya and thank you .. this is a really great set up ~

I'm wondering whether my malestrom charged inferno staff would have any use as the main staff ??? or is the shock enchant really the thing that matters here ??

Masel

c_star wrote: »

Hiya and thank you .. this is a really great set up ~

I'm wondering whether my malestrom charged inferno staff would have any use as the main staff ??? or is the shock enchant really the thing that matters here ??

Yeah it's about the shock enchant. So you might still want to use another staff..

By the way, they buffed heavy attack damage against off-balance enemies to 70%. Another buff to this build and some of my others

coplannb16_ESO

Masel92 wrote: »

Tempah wrote: »

*sigh* now I need to farm winterborn from vMa. And I just thought I was done with vMA

Haha yeah that's why I kept them all...

Yeah, I got a full set lying around.

Masel

Updated with a Group Support and Damage-Oriented Setup

Draekony

mundus stone?

Gan Xing

Interesting. I'm going an even odder route

Ice Furnace. I know it isn't a great set, but I'm a hybrid Warden, so it might just work.

I'm trying to decide what fits with him the best (which is the hardest part)

I'm juggling Pelinial and Shacklebreaker

Masel

Gan Xing wrote: »

Interesting. I'm going an even odder route

Ice Furnace. I know it isn't a great set, but I'm a hybrid Warden, so it might just work.

I'm trying to decide what fits with him the best (which is the hardest part)

I'm juggling Pelinial and Shacklebreaker

I tried hybrid builds on the pts a lot, but they all hit like a wet noodle. If it can't break 30k dps by itself it isnt for me...

Masel

Draekony wrote: »

mundus stone?

Thief. If you don't want to run thief, run thief. Thief might be a good idea too. Or thief.

bebynnag

Masel92 wrote: »

Draekony wrote: »

mundus stone?

Thief. If you don't want to run thief, run thief. Thief might be a good idea too. Or thief.

so your saying thief?

but have YOU considered Thief?

personally i get good results with THIEF! but thats supposed to be a secret!

Erraln

Hey, I ran through vMA with this setup last night, it works pretty well. Made me glad I hung onto a Charged Moondancer staff. I slotted Deep Fissure instead of Clench, the timed AoE/stun is fun to play with imo. Also subbed backbar Magelight for Shimmering Shield. Some of the rounds are ranger heavy so it has plenty of opportunities to take pressure off/ feed you ultimate.

The worst issue I had was running out of magic pretty consistently. May bring drain poisons in next time.

Draekony

Ya cant wait to try just finished leveling my warden now gotta do skyshards and mages guild /facepalm. And yeah shimmering shield was something I was thinking of playing around with since gives ultimate and absorbs projectiles.

Masel

Erraln wrote: »

Hey, I ran through vMA with this setup last night, it works pretty well. Made me glad I hung onto a Charged Moondancer staff. I slotted Deep Fissure instead of Clench, the timed AoE/stun is fun to play with imo. Also subbed backbar Magelight for Shimmering Shield. Some of the rounds are ranger heavy so it has plenty of opportunities to take pressure off/ feed you ultimate.

The worst issue I had was running out of magic pretty consistently. May bring drain poisons in next time.

Yeah you need to make sure you kill things with destruction staff skills and heavy attacks whenever you have the time for them. Things is you need to use the shock enchant for the off balance synergy, it's the major carrier for the 100% uptime. I use a charged vMA inferno in groups with a poison on front bar. Gives 60 spell damage more so it's not a lot.

Erraln

Masel92 wrote: »

Erraln wrote: »

Hey, I ran through vMA with this setup last night, it works pretty well. Made me glad I hung onto a Charged Moondancer staff. I slotted Deep Fissure instead of Clench, the timed AoE/stun is fun to play with imo. Also subbed backbar Magelight for Shimmering Shield. Some of the rounds are ranger heavy so it has plenty of opportunities to take pressure off/ feed you ultimate.

The worst issue I had was running out of magic pretty consistently. May bring drain poisons in next time.

Yeah you need to make sure you kill things with destruction staff skills and heavy attacks whenever you have the time for them. Things is you need to use the shock enchant for the off balance synergy, it's the major carrier for the 100% uptime. I use a charged vMA inferno in groups with a poison on front bar. Gives 60 spell damage more so it's not a lot.

Right, I'm just wondering how many of the targets are alive long enough for the off-balance to matter. The Arena bosses, yes. The trash which composes most of the experience, not so much.

Masel

Erraln wrote: »

Masel92 wrote: »

Erraln wrote: »

Hey, I ran through vMA with this setup last night, it works pretty well. Made me glad I hung onto a Charged Moondancer staff. I slotted Deep Fissure instead of Clench, the timed AoE/stun is fun to play with imo. Also subbed backbar Magelight for Shimmering Shield. Some of the rounds are ranger heavy so it has plenty of opportunities to take pressure off/ feed you ultimate.

The worst issue I had was running out of magic pretty consistently. May bring drain poisons in next time.

Yeah you need to make sure you kill things with destruction staff skills and heavy attacks whenever you have the time for them. Things is you need to use the shock enchant for the off balance synergy, it's the major carrier for the 100% uptime. I use a charged vMA inferno in groups with a poison on front bar. Gives 60 spell damage more so it's not a lot.

Right, I'm just wondering how many of the targets are alive long enough for the off-balance to matter. The Arena bosses, yes. The trash which composes most of the experience, not so much.

Medium weaves stun off-balance enemies without a cooldown and hit 70% harder. You can take out targets permanently, notably archers on stage 7 and casters that annoy you overall. It's a lot stronger on a heavy attack dk, but it works on all classes in vMA.

Erraln

Masel92 wrote: »

Erraln wrote: »

Masel92 wrote: »

Erraln wrote: »

Hey, I ran through vMA with this setup last night, it works pretty well. Made me glad I hung onto a Charged Moondancer staff. I slotted Deep Fissure instead of Clench, the timed AoE/stun is fun to play with imo. Also subbed backbar Magelight for Shimmering Shield. Some of the rounds are ranger heavy so it has plenty of opportunities to take pressure off/ feed you ultimate.

The worst issue I had was running out of magic pretty consistently. May bring drain poisons in next time.

Yeah you need to make sure you kill things with destruction staff skills and heavy attacks whenever you have the time for them. Things is you need to use the shock enchant for the off balance synergy, it's the major carrier for the 100% uptime. I use a charged vMA inferno in groups with a poison on front bar. Gives 60 spell damage more so it's not a lot.

Right, I'm just wondering how many of the targets are alive long enough for the off-balance to matter. The Arena bosses, yes. The trash which composes most of the experience, not so much.

Medium weaves stun off-balance enemies without a cooldown and hit 70% harder. You can take out targets permanently, notably archers on stage 7 and casters that annoy you overall. It's a lot stronger on a heavy attack dk, but it works on all classes in vMA.

Ah, thank you, I missed that detail. Last patch got me so used to dual-bar Lightning that I wasn't really thinking about Fire medium attack effects.

Dixa

the fact you are using only one warden damage ability speaks a lot to the sorry state of this class right now.

Masel

Dixa wrote: »

the fact you are using only one warden damage ability speaks a lot to the sorry state of this class right now.

Sadly yes... I mean you can do 35k dps by yourself with the warden abilities, maybe more with fully optimised gear and rotation, but it doesn't have anything that's helpful to the group besides a few snares that aren't affecting bosses anyway... Deep fissure is a very nice skill for example. You can use that instead of clench in vMA.

Draekony

So I read medium weaves and heavy weaves, can you list the rotation here? Using witch's brew or just blue hp/magicka food?

figure pop netch, pop blossom, throw down 2 aes, clench then what heavy attack pulse? heavy attack doesnt leave much time until the aes have to be refreshed so trying to figure it out. havent finished my char (still needs skill points from light armor, mages guild, vampires guild) but lol this build has a lot of spellpower got 2900 currently. cant wait to try him out! might be more fun than the infallible inifnite wizard

Thanks again

@Masel92

Qbiken

@Masel92 I made myself a Breton magwarden. Just wondering how much of a dps-loss a Breton is compared to Altmer/Dunmer? Have some thoughts about testing Warden with Elemental Succession set as well and I´m curious about the difference.

Masel

Qbiken wrote: »

@Masel92 I made myself a Breton magwarden. Just wondering how much of a dps-loss a Breton is compared to Altmer/Dunmer? Have some thoughts about testing Warden with Elemental Succession set as well and I´m curious about the difference.

It will be about 2-3% due to the way %-buffs work in eso (additively). So if you can lieve with that there's no reason to not use breton. Breton gives more survivability and sustain, so in the end that's totally fine. I have a few adjustments coming for this build that I'll implement this afternoon.

Masel

Updated with a full flawless vMA run. 14k health for the win

Masel

Tweaked the gear to achieve higher DPS. Bye Bye winterborn... It just sucks for damage, you can use it for fun and higher recovery. Wardens need more cold based dots, then it might be useful.