Any "Frost Mage" -like magdens out there? (pve)

Joxer61

Just curious if anyone is playing a magden as a frost mage like build? I found one build, "Sub-Zero" and while very informative and seems like its a good one it is dated so wondering if anyone has anything like it only a tad more recent? Have found it fun playing magden as such and not relying on the "da bear" to do all the work but really would like some more current references. If not..all good, I shall carry on as I have. Cheers!!

Savos_Saren

Yup! You can go with:

5 Winterborn
5 Ysgramor
2 Valkyn (or Iceheart for protection)

My setup is for PVP- so I don't know if you're looking for PVE, though.

Front bar SnB:
Enchanted Growth, Deep Fissure, Ice Fortress, Shimmering Shield, Frozen Device Ult: Permafrost

Back bar Frost Destro:
Bird of Prey, Ice Reach, Inner Light, Blue Betty, Winter's Revenge Ult: Ice Comet

Joxer61

Savos_Saren wrote: »

Yup! You can go with:

5 Winterborn
5 Ysgramor
2 Valkyn (or Iceheart for protection)

My setup is for PVP- so I don't know if you're looking for PVE, though.

Front bar SnB:
Enchanted Growth, Deep Fissure, Ice Fortress, Shimmering Shield, Frozen Device Ult: Permafrost

Back bar Frost Destro:
Bird of Prey, Ice Reach, Inner Light, Blue Betty, Winter's Revenge Ult: Ice Comet

yea, my bad, should have specified pve but thanks anyways!!!

GawdSB

Well frost staves taunt on heavy attack iirc so it'd be kind of hard to do.

idk

GawdSB wrote: »

Well frost staves taunt on heavy attack iirc so it'd be kind of hard to do.

Yep, you cannot do a heavy attack with a frost staff when in a group. If doing anything reasonably challenged with a group you will not only gain the anger of the group for giving the boss taunt immunity you will increase the chance of dying since that boss is attacking you until the immunity ends.

MashmalloMan

@idk @GawdSB That's not really true. Just don't grab the "Tri Focus" passive if you want to lean completely in to frost dmg. That would be for if you have 2x frost staves, however. You shouldn't pass up the "Ancient Knowledge" passive imo for 8% single target dmg. So it would be smart to have a fire staff front bar and an ice staff back bar. Place wall of elements on your back bar for ice wall of elements. Since you have a fire staff front bar, you can now get the "Tri Focus" passive and ONLY heavy attack on front bar.

md3788

Ice staff will taught if you use tri focus, but if you’re using double ice staff there is no reason to use tri focus

Priyasekarssk

Joxer61 wrote: »

Just curious if anyone is playing a magden as a frost mage like build? I found one build, "Sub-Zero" and while very informative and seems like its a good one it is dated so wondering if anyone has anything like it only a tad more recent? Have found it fun playing magden as such and not relying on the "da bear" to do all the work but really would like some more current references. If not..all good, I shall carry on as I have. Cheers!!

Nope. Warden is not viable for end game PVE especially group content. Both stamina and magicka. Lacks sustained DPS. Lacks CCs for tanking. Not enough heals either. You have to rely huge on your weapon skills. Bear is not viable. You will be instantly kicked for DK for tank, Templar for healers, NBs for DPS. Atleast sorc have 1 spot in vet trials for synergies. Warden have no spots in vet trials except VMA. Instant kick. Its not it cannot be done. Other classes are way better.
Warden PVE buff is very long overdue for a paid class. Atlease they have decent spot in PVP next to NBs & DKs.

NBs running this game are only interested buffing themselves and nerfing all classes. Good healthy Game variety is not their priority.

Nazzraeda

I've tested "frost mage" warden build (with Winterborn being core set aided by Ysgramor's Birthright and with Iceheart's monster helm) both in PvP and in PvE and... Well. It can work wonders in PvP but sadly enough it cannot provide enough damage output to be considered as viable setup for DD warden. Don't get me wrong - it is really fun to play build which has incredible amount of snares and immobilizations, decent amount of survivability + almost 100% uptime on minor maim, but it's not good enough for veteran trials and most DLC dungeons in terms of damage. Problem lies in current state of ice staves being considered tank/utility weapons. They simply lack any damage amplification bonuses, instead they provide taunt on heavy attack (minor shield too) and increased blocking capabilities. As I wrote in your previous post - bear ultimate is obligatory for DD magwardens. Of course this build is ok if you run solo content, do quests or delve into public dungeons. I'd say if you have group of friends that don't mind taking a bit more time to finish a dungeon, even a normal trial, then by all means go for it. But it is sadly not a build for veteran DLC dungeons and trials.

Regarding post above - that's obviously not true.

Warden tanks are bit different than DK's but they are perfectly viable in any content. In some cases (like vCR and all of it's different difficulty levels) are even more desired than DK's. They have incredibly potent heals, CC in form of Gripping Shards (which does not share target limit of DK's Talons and also does provide minor maim via very high uptime of Chilled status) class pull ability inflicting Major Maim, so with Chilled you debuff enemies with 45% dealt damage reduction (true, different than DK's chains but at the same time allowing planning if you know add spawns. Also now you can use SIlver Leash from Fighters Guild skill line if you wish to have instant pull), infinite blocking with Bull Netch (as you can still block with even 1 stamina and Netch restores it even if you hold your block) and insane ultimate generation. They are not less potent. They work differently and people just tend not to learn new playstyles as it can be challenging to change your habits (if that sounded offensive - sorry. That was not my intention, it's just an observation).

Regarding healers, templar + warden healer is optimal trial setup, mainly because of additional synergy for a tank coming from Budding Seeds and they also have heavy healing capabilities. They do lack some buffs, thats true. But they have stronger AOE healing than templars and one templar is enough to buff up group.

They can struggle with sustain without orbs and surely cannot run blue food, but it's the case with every class apart from magicka nightblades who have their Siphoning Strikes for insane regeneration and Merciless Resolve with window of free regeneration tick when using free skill shot every 5 light attacks.

I do agree that if you wish to raid for world record in clear time / score / top leaderboards Warden DD is not a way to go and those groups always run as many nightblades as possible for maximum dps output. But if you want to clear any content in the game, get on leaderboards (if you don't mind not making it to the top) you still can do it with Warden. There is some misconception in community about Wardens being useless class. They certainly are not. There are things that have to be changed about them and they need few fixes here and there but they are far from being useless.

firedrgn

I run an all ice build on my mag warden. Cant really help too much i am working on my build. I wish frost procd a bit more becasue it is a low dps build.

I am running necro and ancient grace . Its different.

Waffennacht

I ran Necro + winterborn + Zaan iirc

Bear ult

Frost staff, blockade, elemental weapon, reach, Dampen, bird of prey

Lightning staff, winter's Revenge, Ele drain, flies, Netch, Dampen again if I'm soloing vet dungeons

I hit 30k+ dps

Not.a trial build obviously

Joxer61

Priyasekarssk wrote: »

Joxer61 wrote: »

Just curious if anyone is playing a magden as a frost mage like build? I found one build, "Sub-Zero" and while very informative and seems like its a good one it is dated so wondering if anyone has anything like it only a tad more recent? Have found it fun playing magden as such and not relying on the "da bear" to do all the work but really would like some more current references. If not..all good, I shall carry on as I have. Cheers!!

Nope. Warden is not viable for end game PVE especially group content. Both stamina and magicka. Lacks sustained DPS. Lacks CCs for tanking. Not enough heals either. You have to rely huge on your weapon skills. Bear is not viable. You will be instantly kicked for DK for tank, Templar for healers, NBs for DPS. Atleast sorc have 1 spot in vet trials for synergies. Warden have no spots in vet trials except VMA. Instant kick. Its not it cannot be done. Other classes are way better.
Warden PVE buff is very long overdue for a paid class. Atlease they have decent spot in PVP next to NBs & DKs.

NBs running this game are only interested buffing themselves and nerfing all classes. Good healthy Game variety is not their priority.

I wouldn't run with jerks like that so no worries, but thanks!

Tryxus

Priyasekarssk wrote: »

Nope. Warden is not viable for end game PVE especially group content.

Priyasekarssk wrote: »

. Not enough heals either.

That is so not true. Regards, an End-game PvE Warden healer

Joxer61 wrote: »

Just curious if anyone is playing a magden as a frost mage like build? I found one build, "Sub-Zero" and while very informative and seems like its a good one it is dated so wondering if anyone has anything like it only a tad more recent? Have found it fun playing magden as such and not relying on the "da bear" to do all the work but really would like some more current references. If not..all good, I shall carry on as I have. Cheers!!

I tried an Ice Staff build for vMA a couple updates ago, using Julianos front (Ice), Maelstrom Lightning back, Necropotence and Skoria.

It worked quite well, but I did notice that it doesn't have the same "kick" as a Flame staff as it took me a bit longer to take down certain bosses (no burning procs and no 8% damage increase). I never took it to group content either, because of Tri Focus...

Night_Child

If you are looking for an updated Ice Mage (PVE) build that can hold their own in end game content, I may have a solution. You can solo world bosses and all or most PVE content in the game with this build, so with 11 other people, trials weren't a problem. You can also farm group dungeons on normal for gear if needed. It may be challenging, but not impossible. If you have friends, they should be more than willing. If not or they are busy, my PSN is Night7Child.

Watch "How to create an Ice Wizard (Magicka Warden) on The Elder Scrolls Online" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/tUwqSLQOUig

It doesn't hurt to give it a shot. 😎

ESO_Nightingale

To anyone on this post who would like a forum to talk more about ice in general, i'll leave the link to the ESO Frost Discord here, it's the biggest collection of ESO ice mages out there: https://discord.gg/AENgyPp

ESO_Nightingale

Night_Child wrote: »

If you are looking for an updated Ice Mage (PVE) build that can hold their own in end game content, I may have a solution. You can solo world bosses and all or most PVE content in the game with this build, so with 11 other people, trials weren't a problem. You can also farm group dungeons on normal for gear if needed. It may be challenging, but not impossible. If you have friends, they should be more than willing. If not or they are busy, my PSN is Night7Child.

Watch "How to create an Ice Wizard (Magicka Warden) on The Elder Scrolls Online" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/tUwqSLQOUig

It doesn't hurt to give it a shot. 😎

You can solo world bosses with a lot of builds that aren't very effective in endgame content. In an endgame trial you're not going to help your group and will likely be booted from the group. But if you want to roleplay and do normal content with this, its fine. However. You're using several skills that don't help you. For example, Arctic Blast. You're using the underperforming morphs for Crystallized Shield and Weakness to elements. And you have Bird of Prey on the wrong bar while also not gaining acess to any animal companions passives on the front bar. You don't have a spammable and the sets you're using could be improved to sets that help you more.

dazee

Priyasekarssk wrote: »

Joxer61 wrote: »

Just curious if anyone is playing a magden as a frost mage like build? I found one build, "Sub-Zero" and while very informative and seems like its a good one it is dated so wondering if anyone has anything like it only a tad more recent? Have found it fun playing magden as such and not relying on the "da bear" to do all the work but really would like some more current references. If not..all good, I shall carry on as I have. Cheers!!

Nope. Warden is not viable for end game PVE especially group content. Both stamina and magicka. Lacks sustained DPS. Lacks CCs for tanking. Not enough heals either. You have to rely huge on your weapon skills. Bear is not viable. You will be instantly kicked for DK for tank, Templar for healers, NBs for DPS. Atleast sorc have 1 spot in vet trials for synergies. Warden have no spots in vet trials except VMA. Instant kick. Its not it cannot be done. Other classes are way better.
Warden PVE buff is very long overdue for a paid class. Atlease they have decent spot in PVP next to NBs & DKs.

NBs running this game are only interested buffing themselves and nerfing all classes. Good healthy Game variety is not their priority.

This made my day, I needed a good laugh, I still can't stop laughing. you go ahead and believe this, must be sad thinking that kind of huge lie.

ESO_Nightingale

dazee wrote: »

Priyasekarssk wrote: »

Joxer61 wrote: »

Just curious if anyone is playing a magden as a frost mage like build? I found one build, "Sub-Zero" and while very informative and seems like its a good one it is dated so wondering if anyone has anything like it only a tad more recent? Have found it fun playing magden as such and not relying on the "da bear" to do all the work but really would like some more current references. If not..all good, I shall carry on as I have. Cheers!!

Nope. Warden is not viable for end game PVE especially group content. Both stamina and magicka. Lacks sustained DPS. Lacks CCs for tanking. Not enough heals either. You have to rely huge on your weapon skills. Bear is not viable. You will be instantly kicked for DK for tank, Templar for healers, NBs for DPS. Atleast sorc have 1 spot in vet trials for synergies. Warden have no spots in vet trials except VMA. Instant kick. Its not it cannot be done. Other classes are way better.
Warden PVE buff is very long overdue for a paid class. Atlease they have decent spot in PVP next to NBs & DKs.

NBs running this game are only interested buffing themselves and nerfing all classes. Good healthy Game variety is not their priority.

This made my day, I needed a good laugh, I still can't stop laughing. you go ahead and believe this, must be sad thinking that kind of huge lie.

Magden isn't very viable in endgame but not for these reasons.

md3788

Priyasekarssk wrote: »

Joxer61 wrote: »

Just curious if anyone is playing a magden as a frost mage like build? I found one build, "Sub-Zero" and while very informative and seems like its a good one it is dated so wondering if anyone has anything like it only a tad more recent? Have found it fun playing magden as such and not relying on the "da bear" to do all the work but really would like some more current references. If not..all good, I shall carry on as I have. Cheers!!

Nope. Warden is not viable for end game PVE especially group content. Both stamina and magicka. Lacks sustained DPS. Lacks CCs for tanking. Not enough heals either. You have to rely huge on your weapon skills. Bear is not viable. You will be instantly kicked for DK for tank, Templar for healers, NBs for DPS. Atleast sorc have 1 spot in vet trials for synergies. Warden have no spots in vet trials except VMA. Instant kick. Its not it cannot be done. Other classes are way better.
Warden PVE buff is very long overdue for a paid class. Atlease they have decent spot in PVP next to NBs & DKs.

NBs running this game are only interested buffing themselves and nerfing all classes. Good healthy Game variety is not their priority.

This is by far the most misinformed post I've ever seen.

Destyran

Savos_Saren wrote: »

Yup! You can go with:

5 Winterborn
5 Ysgramor
2 Valkyn (or Iceheart for protection)

My setup is for PVP- so I don't know if you're looking for PVE, though.

Front bar SnB:
Enchanted Growth, Deep Fissure, Ice Fortress, Shimmering Shield, Frozen Device Ult: Permafrost

Back bar Frost Destro:
Bird of Prey, Ice Reach, Inner Light, Blue Betty, Winter's Revenge Ult: Ice Comet

Should try wall it is cancer

validifyedneb18_ESO

Savos_Saren wrote: »

Yup! You can go with:

5 Winterborn
5 Ysgramor
2 Valkyn (or Iceheart for protection)

My setup is for PVP- so I don't know if you're looking for PVE, though.

Front bar SnB:
Enchanted Growth, Deep Fissure, Ice Fortress, Shimmering Shield, Frozen Device Ult: Permafrost

Back bar Frost Destro:
Bird of Prey, Ice Reach, Inner Light, Blue Betty, Winter's Revenge Ult: Ice Comet

Winterborn adds about 1300dps, better sets exist for PVE. Nice for PVP though because of the burst.

ccfeeling

Hi guys , I'm gonna create a Magden during the Jester event , the XP burst is cool

I have a Stamden , Subterranean Assault is a must skill in my skill loadout , but I just watched Alcast and t3hasiangod
Magden build , they didn't slot Deep Fissure , I don't know why ...

Joxer61

ccfeeling wrote: »

Hi guys , I'm gonna create a Magden during the Jester event , the XP burst is cool

I have a Stamden , Subterranean Assault is a must skill in my skill loadout , but I just watched Alcast and t3hasiangod
Magden build , they didn't slot Deep Fissure , I don't know why ...

Don't a fan of either for my own reasons but only one not slotting it is Alcast, which is silly but im sure it will be updated
t3hasiangod uses it, just checked...…???

ccfeeling

Joxer61 wrote: »

ccfeeling wrote: »

Hi guys , I'm gonna create a Magden during the Jester event , the XP burst is cool

I have a Stamden , Subterranean Assault is a must skill in my skill loadout , but I just watched Alcast and t3hasiangod
Magden build , they didn't slot Deep Fissure , I don't know why ...

Don't a fan of either for my own reasons but only one not slotting it is Alcast, which is silly but im sure it will be updated
t3hasiangod uses it, just checked...…???

Oh yes , you are right , my bad tho , Asiangod uses it !
TY !

Wyrd88

I ran 5xNecropotence, 5xMother's Sorrow, Valkyn Scoria, double Ice Staff, Maelstrom on backbar.

Bear Ultimate.
Frontbar: Bird of Pray, Inner Light, Blue Betty, Flether Infection, Cliffracer as a spammable.
Backbar: Blockade, Winter's Revenge, Harness Magicka, Lightweight Trap, Inner Light.
(I use Trap because I don't have Psijic stuff on that char yet)

Shadow Mundus.

You can switch Harness to Deep Fissure if you have a healer, and you can also use IceHeart to get even more frosty theme and a cool loocking shield, but you will lose about ~1k dps from Valkyn.

Here is a quick parse on a 3m dummy, but with Inferno Staff on frontbar. With double Ice Staves it'll be about 1-2k DPS less but for most of a 4-men content it's still enough.

Btw, my magden is a khajiit, so I must use Mother's Sorrow to get max benefit from racial crit damage passive. As any other race you could try Siroria or Master Architect instead.

ESO_Nightingale

Wyrd88 wrote: »

I ran 5xNecropotence, 5xMother's Sorrow, Valkyn Scoria, double Ice Staff, Maelstrom on backbar.

Bear Ultimate.
Frontbar: Bird of Pray, Inner Light, Blue Betty, Flether Infection, Cliffracer as a spammable.
Backbar: Blockade, Winter's Revenge, Harness Magicka, Lightweight Trap, Inner Light.
(I use Trap because I don't have Psijic stuff on that char yet)

Shadow Mundus.

You can switch Harness to Deep Fissure if you have a healer, and you can also use IceHeart to get even more frosty theme and a cool loocking shield, but you will lose about ~1k dps from Valkyn.

Here is a quick parse on a 3m dummy, but with Inferno Staff on frontbar. With double Ice Staves it'll be about 1-2k DPS less but for most of a 4-men content it's still enough.

Btw, my magden is a khajiit, so I must use Mother's Sorrow to get max benefit from racial crit damage passive. As any other race you could try Siroria or Master Architect instead.

No point in running frost staff here anyways. If you want a frost mage you're going to want more frost damage skills(ultimates specifically). The frost theme is still kinda ruined by the weird unrelated vvardenfell animals. stick with the more damage on fire.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO

Wyrd88 wrote: »

I ran 5xNecropotence, 5xMother's Sorrow, Valkyn Scoria, double Ice Staff, Maelstrom on backbar.

Bear Ultimate.
Frontbar: Bird of Pray, Inner Light, Blue Betty, Flether Infection, Cliffracer as a spammable.
Backbar: Blockade, Winter's Revenge, Harness Magicka, Lightweight Trap, Inner Light.
(I use Trap because I don't have Psijic stuff on that char yet)

Shadow Mundus.

You can switch Harness to Deep Fissure if you have a healer, and you can also use IceHeart to get even more frosty theme and a cool loocking shield, but you will lose about ~1k dps from Valkyn.

Here is a quick parse on a 3m dummy, but with Inferno Staff on frontbar. With double Ice Staves it'll be about 1-2k DPS less but for most of a 4-men content it's still enough.

Btw, my magden is a khajiit, so I must use Mother's Sorrow to get max benefit from racial crit damage passive. As any other race you could try Siroria or Master Architect instead.

Why not move blue betty to back bar, instead of harness and front bar deep fissure? Or if you must have it, you don't need inner light on both bars.

shack80

ccfeeling wrote: »

Hi guys , I'm gonna create a Magden during the Jester event , the XP burst is cool

I have a Stamden , Subterranean Assault is a must skill in my skill loadout , but I just watched Alcast and t3hasiangod
Magden build , they didn't slot Deep Fissure , I don't know why ...

Alcast uses it on some occasions when he needs some more aoe damage. But usually his guides are for trials so you don't need that breach from deep fissure and you wanna focus for single target damage.

Wyrd88

ESO_Nightingale wrote: »

No point in running frost staff here anyways. If you want a frost mage you're going to want more frost damage skills(ultimates specifically). The frost theme is still kinda ruined by the weird unrelated vvardenfell animals. stick with the more damage on fire.

The point is, that you can ran double Frost Staves and still do decent amount of damage, and don't be completely useless, I guess. And without double Frost Staves you can't built a Frost Mage obviusly. But maybe I didn't get OP's point here.
And I'm sure that Bear can be replaced with Icy Rage and Ice Comet without big DPS loss.

But I totally agree with second one, about weird Vvanderfell animals.

But still, Cliffracer can be replaced with Elemental Ring or Force Pulse, and Fetcher Infection with something else.

Anyway, I think that main problem with frosty wardens is not just in the state of frost staves, but in a lack of damaging skills and maybe even passives. They only have one ground based DoT and one ulti, which is not enough and ulti is not even really useful, because destro ulti overperforms it anyway.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Why not move blue betty to back bar, instead of harness and front bar deep fissure? Or if you must have it, you don't need inner light on both bars.

Yeah, I didn't think about it. That must be better, gonna try it.

And sorry for my poor Engrish, btw.

Grianasteri

Priyasekarssk wrote: »

Joxer61 wrote: »

Just curious if anyone is playing a magden as a frost mage like build? I found one build, "Sub-Zero" and while very informative and seems like its a good one it is dated so wondering if anyone has anything like it only a tad more recent? Have found it fun playing magden as such and not relying on the "da bear" to do all the work but really would like some more current references. If not..all good, I shall carry on as I have. Cheers!!

Nope. Warden is not viable for end game PVE especially group content. Both stamina and magicka. Lacks sustained DPS. Lacks CCs for tanking. Not enough heals either. You have to rely huge on your weapon skills. Bear is not viable. You will be instantly kicked for DK for tank, Templar for healers, NBs for DPS. Atleast sorc have 1 spot in vet trials for synergies. Warden have no spots in vet trials except VMA. Instant kick. Its not it cannot be done. Other classes are way better.
Warden PVE buff is very long overdue for a paid class. Atlease they have decent spot in PVP next to NBs & DKs.

NBs running this game are only interested buffing themselves and nerfing all classes. Good healthy Game variety is not their priority.

Much of what you say is true, but a magden tank is extremely viable. I had a DK and a magden, I much preferred the magden and got rid of the DK (though I may make another at some point if I can be bothered). I can do pretty much everything the DK can and I have lots of fun. Tanking vet dungeons and in trials is not an issue, if a group insta kicks for a DK, then frankly I dont want to play with them anyway.

ESO_Nightingale

Wyrd88 wrote: »

ESO_Nightingale wrote: »

No point in running frost staff here anyways. If you want a frost mage you're going to want more frost damage skills(ultimates specifically). The frost theme is still kinda ruined by the weird unrelated vvardenfell animals. stick with the more damage on fire.

The point is, that you can ran double Frost Staves and still do decent amount of damage, and don't be completely useless, I guess. And without double Frost Staves you can't built a Frost Mage obviusly. But maybe I didn't get OP's point here.
And I'm sure that Bear can be replaced with Icy Rage and Ice Comet without big DPS loss.

But I totally agree with second one, about weird Vvanderfell animals.

But still, Cliffracer can be replaced with Elemental Ring or Force Pulse, and Fetcher Infection with something else.

Anyway, I think that main problem with frosty wardens is not just in the state of frost staves, but in a lack of damaging skills and maybe even passives. They only have one ground based DoT and one ulti, which is not enough and ulti is not even really useful, because destro ulti overperforms it anyway.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Why not move blue betty to back bar, instead of harness and front bar deep fissure? Or if you must have it, you don't need inner light on both bars.

Yeah, I didn't think about it. That must be better, gonna try it.

And sorry for my poor Engrish, btw.

I mean you can run double frost staff but there's no real reason do because you'll just gimp yourself with that really decent bar. its not frosty enough already to warrant the frost staff. However we absolutely do lack skills, passive power (on glacial pressence specifically) and the frost staff needs a buff right now no matter how you think it should be in the future (DPS or Tank).

Suggestions and pain points are what my discord has been working on. Link is in my signature or profile if you'd want to check it out or join the discussion.