The Phalanx- Magplar PvP Build [Murkmire]

CyrusArya

The Phalanx was an ancient battle formation which revolved around the use of spears and shields. Through advanced battle tactics, armies of the Hellenistic world were able to use phalanxes to win battles while heavily outnumbered. This Magicka Templar build embodies the concept of the phalanx in both form and function. Designed around Solo and Small Scale PvP, it features very high damage, incredible durability, and potentially infinite sustain.

As a preface, I have always loved to play builds that have unique and exclusive synergy with the class in question, and adaptive builds that make use of newly developed changes in recent patches. This build encompasses both of these qualities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj3nnhoh1kw&t=1s

Build:
Breton Templar
64 magicka/0 health/0 stamina
x5 Spinner's Garments (x5 Body)
x5 Cyrodiil's Light (Jewlery/Destro Staff/Sword&Board)
x2 Valkyn Skoria (Undaunted Helmet/Shoulder)
Mage Mundus
Tri Stat Food and Tri-Potions

Abilities:
Front- Extended Ritual, Puncturing Sweep, Vanpire’s Bane, Elemental Drain, Degeneration Crescent Sweep

Back- Deep Thoughts, Elusive Mist, Total Dark, Channeled Focus, Honor the Dead Devouring Swarm

Theory:

This build came about in trying to answer the question "how can we reliably sustain a high damage light armor Magplar without using any sustain or mitigation sets". The class has phenomenal damage capabilities if invested into, as do all magicka specs. The trick is finding a way to truly harness that power. The final result realizes that potential, and it does so through a couple of unique synergies between the Templar class, a few ancillary skill lines, and the core set that the build revolves around: Cyrodiil's Light. The 5 piece bonus on this set provides 15% damage mitigation while channeling abilities, and furthermore grants the free cast of a skill if interrupted while channeling. This is very powerful on a class that is offensively designed around a channel, and provides incredible benefits to offense, defense, and sustain on this build.

Historically, a key challenge of the Templar class in general has been that going offensive with a channel (Jabs) renders the Templar vulnerable to incoming damage. This makes the class tougher to solo on than classes designed around direct damage. Cyrodiil’s light mitigates this risk factor by providing 15% damage reduction while channeling Jabs. But in Murkmire, this effect is bolstered by the change to the spear wall passive which now provides Minor Protection upon casting an aedric spear ability. This allows the Templar to go aggressive and stay on the offense more often and in more dangerous situations. In this way, Cyrodiil’s light allows for the high damage of this build to be more prominent.

The defensive benefit of Cyrodiil’s light is even more profound. In order to pair this set with a damage set means we must forgo Shacklebreaker, and doing so means we must sacrifice the greater stam pool that it provides. But this stam pool can be recouped by running purple tri stat food. This however means a very low magicka recovery rate in comparison to the more commonly used witchmother’s brew or citrus filet consumables. The Phalanx build overcomes this potential weakness however by utilizing a very powerful synergy between the meditate skill from the Psijiic Order and Cyrodiil’s Light. Meditate is an ability which returns almost 2k magicka and stamina a second while it’s being channeled, while also passively providing Major Protection. This also pairs brilliantly with Channeled Focus. The rune not only provides extra resistances while inside of it, providing even more mitigation, it also restores 240 magicka per second. The synergy between these two skills while wearing Cyrodiil’s Light is incredibly powerful, and provides the tools with which to sustain a high damage build and be very tanky while doing so.

It all comes together to make a build that is powerful, engaging, and very rewarding when properly used.

I will update this post over time with footage of both solo PvP and group play of the guild it is named after and designed for

Phalanx PvP:

https://youtu.be/eB_fhxfSxzg

Waffennacht

Love the name!

Minno

classic OG templar build modernized for murkmire! Hype.

Reefo

why not wizards over cyrodiil light then u have 15% less damage always rather than when sweeping

gibous

Reefo wrote: »

why not wizards over cyrodiil light then u have 15% less damage always rather than when sweeping

The 2,3,4 bonuses of Cyro Light equate to more damage, and one of the most critical elements of this build is sustaining using Deep Thoughts (meditate). In this build, there is essentially no risk of wasted time going into meditate - you either a) successfully get the meditate resources, or b) are interrupted and via Cyrodiil's Light, granted a free cast of your next magicka ability. Should you use Honour the Dead, that's free 3.8k magicka.

Also Wizard's is definitely not "always" and has huge variability. Cyro Light is reliably based on your own actions as a player, so you can develop a real feeling for its mitigation rather than the randomness of a procced, timed debuff.

Minno

gibous wrote: »

Reefo wrote: »

why not wizards over cyrodiil light then u have 15% less damage always rather than when sweeping

The 2,3,4 bonuses of Cyro Light equate to more damage, and one of the most critical elements of this build is sustaining using Deep Thoughts (meditate). In this build, there is essentially no risk of wasted time going into meditate - you either a) successfully get the meditate resources, or b) are interrupted and via Cyrodiil's Light, granted a free cast of your next magicka ability. Should you use Honour the Dead, that's free 3.8k magicka.

Also Wizard's is definitely not "always" and has huge variability. Cyro Light is reliably based on your own actions as a player, so you can develop a real feeling for its mitigation rather than the randomness of a procced, timed debuff.

Something to test; if HtD is free cast, does it still give back resources?

wheem_ESO

Minno wrote: »

gibous wrote: »

Reefo wrote: »

why not wizards over cyrodiil light then u have 15% less damage always rather than when sweeping

The 2,3,4 bonuses of Cyro Light equate to more damage, and one of the most critical elements of this build is sustaining using Deep Thoughts (meditate). In this build, there is essentially no risk of wasted time going into meditate - you either a) successfully get the meditate resources, or b) are interrupted and via Cyrodiil's Light, granted a free cast of your next magicka ability. Should you use Honour the Dead, that's free 3.8k magicka.

Also Wizard's is definitely not "always" and has huge variability. Cyro Light is reliably based on your own actions as a player, so you can develop a real feeling for its mitigation rather than the randomness of a procced, timed debuff.

Something to test; if HtD is free cast, does it still give back resources?

I was wondering the same thing as soon as I saw mention of using that set.

Datolite

I love this build. Wanted to try something like it last month but ran out of gold haha

Solariken

Minno wrote: »

gibous wrote: »

Reefo wrote: »

why not wizards over cyrodiil light then u have 15% less damage always rather than when sweeping

The 2,3,4 bonuses of Cyro Light equate to more damage, and one of the most critical elements of this build is sustaining using Deep Thoughts (meditate). In this build, there is essentially no risk of wasted time going into meditate - you either a) successfully get the meditate resources, or b) are interrupted and via Cyrodiil's Light, granted a free cast of your next magicka ability. Should you use Honour the Dead, that's free 3.8k magicka.

Also Wizard's is definitely not "always" and has huge variability. Cyro Light is reliably based on your own actions as a player, so you can develop a real feeling for its mitigation rather than the randomness of a procced, timed debuff.

Something to test; if HtD is free cast, does it still give back resources?

I would guess it does - because long ago when I tested it returned the full cost despite cost reduction passives (just like Elemental Weapon does).

Joy_Division

Good stuff. Always felt builds should have a purpose rather than just throwing together good sets. Cyro Light has always been decent for a templar that jabs (the 2,3,4 peices are very strong), the recent changes to the set and the use of Meditate makes the set have that much more synergy.

The one thing I might experiment with is going for Reflective Light morph, particularly in small group as tagging 3 bad guys with 1 GCD is very strong, but that's just personal preference.

cazlonb16_ESO

Solariken wrote: »

Minno wrote: »

gibous wrote: »

Reefo wrote: »

why not wizards over cyrodiil light then u have 15% less damage always rather than when sweeping

The 2,3,4 bonuses of Cyro Light equate to more damage, and one of the most critical elements of this build is sustaining using Deep Thoughts (meditate). In this build, there is essentially no risk of wasted time going into meditate - you either a) successfully get the meditate resources, or b) are interrupted and via Cyrodiil's Light, granted a free cast of your next magicka ability. Should you use Honour the Dead, that's free 3.8k magicka.

Also Wizard's is definitely not "always" and has huge variability. Cyro Light is reliably based on your own actions as a player, so you can develop a real feeling for its mitigation rather than the randomness of a procced, timed debuff.

Something to test; if HtD is free cast, does it still give back resources?

I would guess it does - because long ago when I tested it returned the full cost despite cost reduction passives (just like Elemental Weapon does).

The way it works in game is that casting HtD puts a buff on you with the effect of xxx magicka regeneration. Probably to reduce calculations I'd bet that xxx is determined by flat cost and triggered by casting HtD and not checked for a reduction of your current magicka pool.

CyrusArya

Thanks for the feedback and input everyone! While I am very satisfied with this current iteration as a base template for the build, we do plan to further adjust and tune it over time and also develop specialized versions of it for specific scenarios. In particular, I'm evaluating if Spinners is truly the best damage set to build around, or if possibly another combination of set/mundus could yield better results. All I know for certain is that I want to build around Cyrodiil's Light+Jabs/Meditate as the core of this build.

Reefo wrote: »

why not wizards over cyrodiil light then u have 15% less damage always rather than when sweeping

Reddington pretty much hit the nail on the head. The principle of this build is to do high damage, and the 4 piece on Cyrodiil's Light is much more desirable to that end. In particular, the 2 lines of magicka are crucial for the following reason. Protective jewelry bolsters our defenses and is essential for this set up. However, max magicka is also essential to the spec- both for dealing damage as well as having a bigger "tank" to better facilitate meditate. To satisfy both of these needs, each and every source of max stat is very valuable. This is also what makes the tri stat food so appealing, and why we run the mage mundus even though the lover or apprentice would yield a bit more damage.

The synergy between Cyrodiil's Light and Meditate is very strong. In practice, it is extremely relevant and one thing I have picked up on is "baiting" the interrupt on purpose, to get off a free honor the dead for myself and/or an ally. But this is also very useful with mist form as well...another very costly skill. Getting interrupted gets you a free mist to reposition and then channel meditate again but this time with CC immunity. You don't get these options with riposte, and over time it amounts to a lot of resources. But the most important distinction is the fact that Cyrodiil's light is a buff on your own character and one that you control. Control in PvP is a good thing. Don't get me wrong, Riposte is a great set. For the design of this build however, Cyrodiil's Light is just best in slot both mechanically and thematically. Plus, Cyrodiil's Light cant be purged off or played around. Its a part of your character, not a debuff on your opponent.

Joy_Division wrote: »

Good stuff. Always felt builds should have a purpose rather than just throwing together good sets. Cyro Light has always been decent for a templar that jabs (the 2,3,4 peices are very strong), the recent changes to the set and the use of Meditate makes the set have that much more synergy.

The one thing I might experiment with is going for Reflective Light morph, particularly in small group as tagging 3 bad guys with 1 GCD is very strong, but that's just personal preference.

Thanks! Thats what I enjoy so much about this build. It just feels like it has so much cohesion, and is very engaging and therefore rewarding to play. The point on which morph of Sun Fire to run is a good one. However, the reason for Vampire's Bane is to get 11 vs 4 seconds of the spell critical buff.

Solariken

CyrusArya wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback and input everyone! While I am very satisfied with this current iteration as a base template for the build, we do plan to further adjust and tune it over time and also develop specialized versions of it for specific scenarios. In particular, I'm evaluating if Spinners is truly the best damage set to build around, or if possibly another combination of set/mundus could yield better results. All I know for certain is that I want to build around Cyrodiil's Light+Jabs/Meditate as the core of this build.

Reefo wrote: »

why not wizards over cyrodiil light then u have 15% less damage always rather than when sweeping

Reddington pretty much hit the nail on the head. The principle of this build is to do high damage, and the 4 piece on Cyrodiil's Light is much more desirable to that end. In particular, the 2 lines of magicka are crucial for the following reason. Protective jewelry bolsters our defenses and is essential for this set up. However, max magicka is also essential to the spec- both for dealing damage as well as having a bigger "tank" to better facilitate meditate. To satisfy both of these needs, each and every source of max stat is very valuable. This is also what makes the tri stat food so appealing, and why we run the mage mundus even though the lover or apprentice would yield a bit more damage.

The synergy between Cyrodiil's Light and Meditate is very strong. In practice, it is extremely relevant and one thing I have picked up on is "baiting" the interrupt on purpose, to get off a free honor the dead for myself and/or an ally. But this is also very useful with mist form as well...another very costly skill. Getting interrupted gets you a free mist to reposition and then channel meditate again but this time with CC immunity. You don't get these options with riposte, and over time it amounts to a lot of resources. But the most important distinction is the fact that Cyrodiil's light is a buff on your own character and one that you control. Control in PvP is a good thing. Don't get me wrong, Riposte is a great set. For the design of this build however, Cyrodiil's Light is just best in slot both mechanically and thematically. Plus, Cyrodiil's Light cant be purged off or played around. Its a part of your character, not a debuff on your opponent.

Joy_Division wrote: »

Good stuff. Always felt builds should have a purpose rather than just throwing together good sets. Cyro Light has always been decent for a templar that jabs (the 2,3,4 peices are very strong), the recent changes to the set and the use of Meditate makes the set have that much more synergy.

The one thing I might experiment with is going for Reflective Light morph, particularly in small group as tagging 3 bad guys with 1 GCD is very strong, but that's just personal preference.

Thanks! Thats what I enjoy so much about this build. It just feels like it has so much cohesion, and is very engaging and therefore rewarding to play. The point on which morph of Sun Fire to run is a good one. However, the reason for Vampire's Bane is to get 11 vs 4 seconds of the spell critical buff.

Yeah and having the extra projectiles often hitting nearby Dk's reflecting back at you is hella annoying. Also if using Skoria you want to control the proc, not having the cooldown eaten by random enemies you aren't focusing.

Kartalin

With your bar setup you could consider front barring spinners and running willpower back bar, but looks like a really good set up regardless.

montjie

How has Crescent Sweep been working for ya?
Been trying it out but it felt kinda meh next to DBoS.

Moonsorrow

Nice build. And the name.. damn would be nice if there was character collision at Cyrodiil, so we could make phalanx formations at breaches to stop the huge enemy zergs with smaller numbers.. "Hold the line!"

One can dream..

I`m using something very similar on my magplar, Cyrodiil`s Light + Skoria with a secretsauce plot twist set instead of Spinners.

Ariades_swe

Very nice and unique build as well as great presentation.
5 stars from me.

CatchMeTrolling

Used something similar before but didn’t choose spinners.

CyrusArya

Kartalin wrote: »

With your bar setup you could consider front barring spinners and running willpower back bar, but looks like a really good set up regardless.

Definitely a good suggestion, and one that Ive thought about as well. If we were committing to Spinner’s, that would be the ideal way to do it. The reason for this current layout though is because as I do want Cyrodiil’s Light to be the core of this build, this configuration allows me to plug and play various different sets on the body to experiment.

montjie wrote: »

How has Crescent Sweep been working for ya?
Been trying it out but it felt kinda meh next to DBoS.

I know people have mixed feelings on this skill, but I love it. It does have its challenges in landing it, but when it does connect it’s very powerful. On this build my Crescents hit harder than DBs from most stam builds will. And while the initial burst is really nice of course, it’s the follow up pulse DoT that seals the deal all the time in open world and duels. Hits very hard and stacks up with Jabs and all the other latent damage for a lot of killing power.

Ariades_swe wrote: »

Very nice and unique build as well as great presentation.
5 stars from me.

Thank you! Was my first attempt at a build guide, so I really appreciate that.

Darkhalf

Love the idea of this build, any thoughts on soulshine instead of spinners?

Waffennacht

Question: when your meditate is interrupted and you get a free spell; what spell is the go to to be used?

Glory

Waffennacht wrote: »

Question: when your meditate is interrupted and you get a free spell; what spell is the go to to be used?

Depending on scenario, highest cost and best situationally:

• Honor the Dead as a free cast = actually getting magicka return and a heal for free. Best used when at low health and in need of immediate healing.
• Mist form = very expensive, best used when still at high enough health and needing repositioning. At non-execute ranges, damage scaling is nearing lowest possible levels due to mist's channel proccing cyrodiil's light and the 75% mitigation.
• Purify = very expensive, great to reset the fight if you do not need immediate heals nor relocate

It's very similar to how you should be utilizing the unchained CP passive to recast rally/FM, shuffle, etc.

@CyrusArya can refute, clarify, or reinforce my opinons in how he has found best!

CyrusArya

Darkhalf wrote: »

Love the idea of this build, any thoughts on soulshine instead of spinners?

Thanks! Spinners is better. Soulshine would only really apply to Jabs, Radiant, and Darkflare. Which means Crescent and Sunfire get left out. The 4 piece on Spinners is also better imo. The damage sets I like to run besides Spinners are War Maiden and Axiom.

Waffennacht wrote: »

Question: when your meditate is interrupted and you get a free spell; what spell is the go to to be used?

Glory’s answer is spot on, I’d say those three skills in that order. If your health is low, cast honor the dead. If you need to reposition use mist. And if neither of those are necessary, then a free cleanse can’t hurt.

Magplar’s defensive resource burn is really high. Under heavy pressure, resources can get quite strained in a light armor damage build. This mechanic can help with that in hectic situations.

Waffennacht

The build has more synergies than I first thought. Great answers both of you

mav1234

Hi @CyrusArya , thanks for the great build. I don't have a ton of transmute crystals to xmute jewelry to protective atm... but given the playstyle of the build, the extra resistances seem key (esp in no cp pvp). Any suggestions if one doesn't have access to full protective jewelry to start?

Kartalin

mav1234 wrote: »

Hi @CyrusArya , thanks for the great build. I don't have a ton of transmute crystals to xmute jewelry to protective atm... but given the playstyle of the build, the extra resistances seem key (esp in no cp pvp). Any suggestions if one doesn't have access to full protective jewelry to start?

Protective is the way to go nowadays, I'm using it in both of my magplar builds and my mdk build. Its value is that it lets you use light armor and not insta-die, and light armor is amazing for all of its passives -- primarily the extra penetration that you can stack with ele drain for some really nice damage.

Here's some advice on getting transmute crystals: the 30 day campaigns (on PC/NA at least) are set to end in about a week. If you can get 25k AP on one character in that time then that earns you a 50 transmute crystal box as part of the award at end of campaign. Repeat this for as many characters as possible for multiples of these.

CyrusArya

mav1234 wrote: »

Hi @CyrusArya , thanks for the great build. I don't have a ton of transmute crystals to xmute jewelry to protective atm... but given the playstyle of the build, the extra resistances seem key (esp in no cp pvp). Any suggestions if one doesn't have access to full protective jewelry to start?

Thanks! I know the struggle of transmutation stone poverty all too well. Protective is a staple for almost all of my magicka builds, as it lets you get just enough mitigation to function while maintaining really high damage. Especially on Magplar, where you really need as much damage as possible to see it shine in a damage role.

The best suggestion I can offer is to replace Skoria with Pirate Skeleton. The one piece on it will offer a bit less raw resistance than 2 protective, and then two piece on it will make you far tankier than my base build. You just lose the skoria burst.

Xsorus

CyrusArya wrote: »

mav1234 wrote: »

Hi @CyrusArya , thanks for the great build. I don't have a ton of transmute crystals to xmute jewelry to protective atm... but given the playstyle of the build, the extra resistances seem key (esp in no cp pvp). Any suggestions if one doesn't have access to full protective jewelry to start?

Thanks! I know the struggle of transmutation stone poverty all too well. Protective is a staple for almost all of my magicka builds, as it lets you get just enough mitigation to function while maintaining really high damage. Especially on Magplar, where you really need as much damage as possible to see it shine in a damage role.

The best suggestion I can offer is to replace Skoria with Pirate Skeleton. The one piece on it will offer a bit less raw resistance than 2 protective, and then two piece on it will make you far tankier than my base build. You just lose the skoria burst.

Thoughts on wizards instead of spinners?

cpuScientist

Rattle cage any good? Frees up a skill slot, for something like the AOE flare or purifying light

CyrusArya

Xsorus wrote: »

Thoughts on wizards instead of spinners?

Way too much of a damage loss imo.

cpuScientist wrote: »

Rattle cage any good? Frees up a skill slot, for something like the AOE flare or purifying light

Definitely not a bad choice, but I think there are better options.

mav1234

CyrusArya wrote: »

The best suggestion I can offer is to replace Skoria with Pirate Skeleton. The one piece on it will offer a bit less raw resistance than 2 protective, and then two piece on it will make you far tankier than my base build. You just lose the skoria burst.

Ah that's a good idea. I do have PS. I suppose in BGs the extra survivability wouldn't be a terrible thing to have either.

I also realized that if I change up some slots, I could run Juliano's in place of Spinners with crafted protector jewels... have the mats... loses the pen, but the crit and spell damage both seem welcome, so I will give that a go!