Magicka Monster Set

Runefang

Zaan's obviously still parses the highest but in real fights it's almost never good enough since you end up having to break the beam. Ilambris isn't great with a Fire/Lightning set up, Grothdarr is nice for AoE but lacks damage on boss fights and you have to be in melee range anyway.

Is Skoria the next best thing?

Liofa

Double Spell Critical is really good if you can't use Zaan.

boombazookajd

I find that I like Grothdarr more than Skoria. For one, it procs more and more is better. Second, I'm always in melee range so that's not much of an issue. Finally, it gives a mag bonus rather than a health bonus. It's not great with Witchmothers but on blue food I can comfortably sit at 18.2k.

I keep both on me, switching as needed. If it's a mobile fight like the final boss in CR, I'm popping on Skoria because Grothdarr doesn't do much until you get down to her shade and by then, there's no time to switch.

erlewine

zaan is wildly overrated because it performs well against target dummies. really, its not good on most actual gameplay situations. I like Skoria or Ilambris, especially now that meta is to use infused flame and shock glyph, and they both trigger a lot. Even if shock glyph is your only source of shock, it still outparses anything else, partly thanks to the 1pc bonus being Magicka. Grothdar works well too. Just don't use Zaan.