Magsorc Pet DPS build - Armor options

Eatmyface

Hey guys - as per the title.

I'm still confused which way to go and why...

1. 7 x light
2. 5 x light + 1 x med + 1 x heavy

What is best and why? And would this change at all from pet vs non-pet? A lot of the stuff I've read seems to be old and likely out of date.

You get the light passives + undaunted passives and also minimal passives from medium and heavy with the 5+1+1 setup. Do the benefits of 7 light really outweigh this at end game, and is this due to running trials with characters who compliment each other? End game builds (e.g. deltia's) seem to swap to a 7 light setup for end game.

I've got the light ilambris head piece in divines so kind of want to use that but was also thinking I would go 5+1+1. If I did go with this and threw in medium + heavy boots/hands/waist/shoulder (ilambris shoulders when I finally get them) would I be disadvantaged? If I do go 5 + 1 + 1, do I HAVE TO use the heavy and light pieces on head and shoulders if I go 5 + 1 + 1?

Thanks in advance and sorry if some of the above makes no sense... I've read too much and have conflicting arguments and ideas swirling around all over the show.

AcadianPaladin

My pet magsorc just maxed undaunted and transitioned from 7 light to 5/1/1. She uses Necro + Julianos.

With 7 light, she had a health boost from her pets and another from a health enchantment on her head.

With 5/1/1 + the undaunted perks, she gained roughly 1K health + 1K mag + who cares stam. She swapped her head enchantment from health to mag, dropping 1K health and adding 1K mag.

End result of her swapping around is the same health (18.5K on food) and +2K to her mag. The downside was a drop of around 200 to her mag sustain. Happily, heavy attacks are a significant part of her rotation.

Overall, I'm very happy with the results. Some time ago, my magplar healer did much the same thing with much the same results. So I'm a fan of 5/1/1 - if it lets you drop a health enchantment to gain magicka.

Saint314Louis1985

5+1+1

you can use the heavy/medium/light on any pieces as long as you have 1 of all 3 to get the undaunted passive.

i run medium head, heavy chest, rest light. you are better off having the legs and chest medium and heavy with the rest light if your gear sets allow you to do so. only makes a difference in your resistances though.

SirMewser

The undaunted passive for a 5+1+1 setup alone is essential to pet sorc setups.
6% max magic can be > 2.5k on some setups, basing that on the skills you uses (pets, daedric curse, and wards)...
There isn't much else needed to be said.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Simply put, 7 is better sustain, 5/1/1 is more damage. The only light armor passives that affect damage are Prodigy (spell crit) and Concentration (Spell Pen). These only kick in with 5 pieces of light armor and get no additional bonus from having 6 or 7.

The first three passives, Evocation Recovery and Spell Warding, will get a bigger buff with 7 light, but non of them directly impacts your damage. Indirectly the first two do because better resource management means fewer heavy attacks, but in the case of sorcs, this is really not enough to noticably alter your rotation.

Undaunted passives will give you 6% max magic which can be a significant DPS increase, and you will also get 6% health. A 5/1/1 pet sorc should never have to devote resources to health, which means you can stack magic even higher.

All competitive sorcs are going 5/1/1 for PVE DPS because they know how to manage resources. If you really struggle with that, you could certainly try 7 light or 6 light 1 Heavy until you get more comfortable.

Eatmyface

Thanks guys - I appreciate the input!

I was leaning onwards 5 1 1 but all of those builds with 7 light threw a bit of a spanner in the works! I know a lot of what you find on the internet are specifically designed to do 'X', but I like to understand WHY