Best PVE Solo Class

silentbob16

Best (Easiest) PVE Solo Class

I found this recent list.
Thoughts? Links?

Best to Worst:
Magicka Sorcerer
Magicka Templar
Stamina Sorcerer
Magicka Necro
Stamina Necro
Magicka Warden
Stamina Warden
Magicka Nightblade
Stamina Templar
Magicka Dragonknight
Stamina Nightblade
Stamina Dragonknight

Update: I found the video the list was based on.

Best Solo Class for ESO 2020
https://youtu.be/L9IaijV3830

Everest_Lionheart

I play magplar, MagDK and stamwarden.

Magplar - EZ mode. Kind of boring to be honest because every battle if going to end the same. Trash mobs you just chuck your blazing spear, solar barrage, wall of elements, a couple sweeps and it’s over. Boss fights you cast your channel focus, ele drain, vampires bane, throw down your dots and stabby stabby stab stab your way to victory. This build is great for farming overland sets and maelstrom arena. You roll over content in your sleep. Not particularly engaging or challenging, but for some people it’s the right build.

MagDK takes time to develop into an efficient killing machine, but once you get all the right skills unlocked and morphed and get kitted out properly it’s a beast of all beasts. The rotation is fairly straight forward but the uptime on skills is much longer than magplar so it’s a spam fest once all your AOE and dots are out. This causes sustain issues, that doesn’t matter except on boss fights but even then if you use your pots and ults at the right time you’ll have minimal sustain issues. The build is a bit squishy even with a self heal because that self heal isn’t instant like Templar’s version of the same thing. MagDK is more of a power fantasy, set everything on fire and watch it burn to death or keep the pressure on and put enemies out of their misery. There is a time and place for both. Conserve that magicka when you can, this class offers that flexibility.

My toon is my favourite toon. It’s also the most dynamic of the bunch. Stamwarden is just flat out fun because you are reading and reacting to situations. The self buffs and enemy debuffs make this class formidable. The access to shields and heals that don’t cost stamina are a hidden bonus. Multiple pulls of very large trash mobs can prove tricky but you’ve got just enough AOE, healing and mitigation to pull through even the difficult group areas in Craglorn solo. The class is also highly mobile which is why the heals and shields on the off rss make this build go. You can sprint, strafe, kite and bunch all the enemies easily into your AOE’s with plenty of stamina left over. Boss wise sometimes you’re gonna work, and I mean work. Those fights are all about managing rss and just staying alive. Learning to kite your bear into position is a must. You can’t stand still and parse, you have to move, pick your spots, interrupt, melee one minute, range the next. It’s dynamic, it’s exciting, it’s fun. It’s also sometimes a little too hard but I prefer a bit of a challenge where magplar you just faceroll almost everything that crosses your path including many of the bosses.

I do solo on all my toons though. The mag toons are nice when I don’t need the stress of playing my warden. All are min/maxed for trail groups so I could probably alter some things to be more efficient for solo play, but for now they are all in a good place. To me there is no best or worst. Everyone has their own preference and play style.

FrancisCrawford

Best for you depends a LOT on your play style.

That said, magicka sorcerer and magicka templar have great self-healing, plus other defensive benefits as well, so they're more forgiving than most.

Magplars aren't QUITE as powerful as the previous poster suggested, because spamming Puncturing Sweeps through a long boss fight is slow, tedious, and consumptive of resources. But I agree that magplars are absurdly good in trash/AoE fights.

ZoS has been trying to improve class stamina-based heals over the years, along with making Vigor more accessible. That work continues.

Also, Turn Evil in the Fighters Guild skill line is a lot more helpful for soloing than it used to be, boss fights excepted. Really, at this point every spec can easily be made strong in trash/AoE fights. The issue is major bosses.

Runefang

Ranking them all seems a bit pointless. The easiest solo class is Magicka Nightblade since their spammable is both ranged and self-heals. Combined with assassin's will procs, siphoning strikes and sap essence their ability to self-heal while doing damage is unparalleled in solo content both single target and AoE. If you want a Stamina class then its Stamsorcs for the same reason as Magblades, they're the best Stam class for self-heals.

Easiest =/= Best though

ccfeeling

Magplar the best !

Stx

I have no experience with Necro but for the most part I would agree with that list. Mag NB is very strong solo, probably should be higher.

Luckylancer

Runefang wrote: »

Ranking them all seems a bit pointless. The easiest solo class is Magicka Nightblade since their spammable is both ranged and self-heals. Combined with assassin's will procs, siphoning strikes and sap essence their ability to self-heal while doing damage is unparalleled in solo content both single target and AoE. If you want a Stamina class then its Stamsorcs for the same reason as Magblades, they're the best Stam class for self-heals.

Easiest =/= Best though

So you say magblade is easier than:
Heal on crit with many aoe dot skills + litteraly best heal in the game + best shield in the game
and
mindless sweep spam + emergency BoL

I would agree if you mentioned skipping mobs with invisibilty but what you talk about is present in other classes too

mocap

Magicka Sorcerer
Magicka Templar
the rest in alphabetical order

Runefang

Luckylancer wrote: »

Runefang wrote: »

Ranking them all seems a bit pointless. The easiest solo class is Magicka Nightblade since their spammable is both ranged and self-heals. Combined with assassin's will procs, siphoning strikes and sap essence their ability to self-heal while doing damage is unparalleled in solo content both single target and AoE. If you want a Stamina class then its Stamsorcs for the same reason as Magblades, they're the best Stam class for self-heals.

Easiest =/= Best though

So you say magblade is easier than:
Heal on crit with many aoe dot skills + litteraly best heal in the game + best shield in the game
and
mindless sweep spam + emergency BoL

I would agree if you mentioned skipping mobs with invisibilty but what you talk about is present in other classes too

Yes Magblade really is easier than MagSorc and Magplar.

MagSorc's have to keep up crit surge which isn't hard but its an extra step and new players often forget to maintain buffs. Ward isn't much better than the light armor skill now days and a heal isn't needed when you damage to self heal.

Magplars have to be in melee range to self heal and damage at the same time, that presents more risks to a new player than kiting + Swallow Soul.

Larcomar

Empowered Ward is cheaper and lasts nearly twice as long as LA armor skill.

Surge only needs to be activated once every 33 seconds. If players have trouble with that...

Is swallow soul really a "spammable"? I mean, its a ten second dot. I thought NB spammable was veiled strike and morphs.

So far I'd say I've found magsorc easiest - I mean, its literally buff with crit surge, drop an aoe to trigger the heals and let the pets kill the mob while you grab a coffee - templar next easiest - unkillable while you're jabbing, just vulnerable while your not - and then Prob NB - as long as you remember to keep siphoning strike up and you keep spamming LAs. Dk feels squishier - doesn't really have passive heals like others but cauterize / blood aren't bad. Warden is still very low so not sure.

Stx

Swallow soul isnt a dot, the heal component is over time though.

Mag nb is really underrated as a solo spec but it's not even close to mag sorc or magplar, their natural cleave, high damage, and high healing just blows everything away. Templar did lose heal on ritual of ret though.

Wolfchild07

Magicka Warden is really nice. More like health actually, if you don't mind being tanky. You only need the second and third skills from the winter's embrace skill line, impaling shards and arctic wind, and you can use mainly those skills to carry you. They both scale with health so your burst heal from arctic wind will be awesome. You will want some mag/mag regen, but you can get by with stacked health mostly.

ESO_Nightingale

Wolfchild07 wrote: »

Magicka Warden is really nice. More like health actually, if you don't mind being tanky. You only need the second and third skills from the winter's embrace skill line, impaling shards and arctic wind, and you can use mainly those skills to carry you. They both scale with health so your burst heal from arctic wind will be awesome. You will want some mag/mag regen, but you can get by with stacked health mostly.

There is no reason to use gripping shards as a damage tool. Winter's revenge is simply far better.

Zer0_CooL

MagDK is way to far below.

Joxer61

Zer0_CooL wrote: »

MagDK is way to far below.

please tell me this is a meme....

Athyrium93

I think magplar is a bit high on the list, it's phenomenal against trash, just jab jab jab jab jab jab jab jab jab until all the trash dies, which makes public dungeons, delves, and most overland content super easy, but it has very low mobility, and if you run out magicka you will likely die (potions and good sustain can make this almost a non-issue, but it is a bit of a balancing act) In harder content, with bigger bosses, that lack of mobility can make things slightly tricky. That said it's still fantastic and offers a lot flexibility, I just think mag and stam sorcs are both easier, and magblades are at least equal.

Everest_Lionheart

Since my initial post above I’ve done a retool of my magplar and added Degeneration and Channeled Acceleration to the build. Maintaining buffs is key here and the occasional heavy attack to sustain is a must on the long boss fights but currently the build in coming in at 3125 magic damage with 68.9% critical rating. It’s chewing through content. Here are the dungeons I have soloed with it.

Banished Cells, Elden Hollow, City of Ash, Tempest Island, Fungal Grotto, Darkshade Caverns, Spindleclutch and Volenfell.

My biggest weakness on the build is magicka sustain and recovery. Sometimes I have to stop and wait for my bar to fill between fights before engaging in the next one. Such as Elden hollow where the trash mobs a larger and more spread out so the rss get spent very quickly. Where a dungeon like CoA I can move through very steadily because the mobs are packed very tightly together so my expensive AOE’s get more bang for the buck and don’t need multiple casts.

Mechanic heavy boss fights can put a strain on my stamina pool at times as well but so far I have managed to shield/heal through by the skin of my teeth. Some bosses I can face tank while standing inside my rune and spamming sweeps others require a step out and in while heavy attack weaving sweeps in between. There is a certain flow to it all that I find really simple.

One thing for sure though, this solo build even with those numbers I have put up above (3125 dmg and 68.9% crit) just doesn’t perform well on a dummy. I’ve topped out around 32K with minimal practice where my MagDK is at 45K. That MagDK can also solo some 4 man content but it’s really dicey with health because she’s a true glass cannon as you would expect with MagDK of course.

Stx

I use new moon (RIP) and overwhelming surge with slimecraw on my magplar to solo and sustain isnt an issue as long as you get in one heavy attack each time the boss gets set off balance by your lightning wall. On trash packs I never run oom due to overwhelming surge.

Losing the heal on ritual of ret is going to suck for that build though... I may have to slot honor the dead somewhere.

Drdeath20

Magblades toolkit has it all.

Athan1

I don't have much experience with other classes but I will attest to magicka templars being ideal for solo gameplay and especially beginners. I'm admittedly not great at rpg and still managed to make to do with the templar's heals and versatility. It's also a great class to explore all roles. I currently run a hybrid build, which can heal, tank, or deal damage quite effectively, just with a weapon swap and a couple slot changes.

HoosierPappy

Enjoying the heck out of my stamblade !!

silentbob16

I found the video the list was based on.

Best Solo Class for ESO 2020
https://youtu.be/L9IaijV3830

Grianasteri

Im not sure about best, because once you learn your class and playstyle and build right, you can solo no probs with them all.

But Id say unequivocally that Magsorc is the easiest and most straight forward.

Vaoh

I’ve done a LOT of solo stuff, even soloed Vet Cradle of Shadows, Vet White Gold Tower, Vet Imperial City Prison, etc. All of this back when they were significantly harder (not nerfed) during their launches and with far weaker characters/sets than what is currently available. So I hope this feedback is helpful. Keep in mind this is absolutely not related to Vet Maelstrom.... this is only for solo Vet dungeons, especially the harder ones.

• Mag DK - Bad
It was great at soloing when it could reflect projectiles with wings. Now all it can do is be more of a tank/dps to survive... very slow but technically you can slog through dungeons this way if you don’t mind taking a really long time to get through. There are way better options.

• Mag Sorc - Very Good
Critical Surge = very strong and long duration HoT, also convenient Major Sorcery/Brutality. There’s also Streak which is nice and is mainly used for some particular fights which are otherwise not soloable (or much harder to solo). Pets are helpful too but aren’t used for aggro like in the past. Overall a fantastic option.

• Mag NB - Very Good
Has great heals, great damage, great sustain. It can also minor maim the boss which is a great help in boss fights. You can teleport which makes add pulls much quicker to stack and in some particular boss fights makes things way easier (even more so than Streak).

• Mag Templar - Very Good
Has great heals and damage, good enough sustain. It can be a bit reliant on getting heals with Sweeps sometimes and doesn’t have as many heals coming in while you’re CCed as others do. However it is very strong and has the option to cleanse negative effects, plus free Minor Sorcery for the stat boost.

• Mag Warden - Alright
Healing is not that good. Sustain isn’t great either. Damage is fine but drops off badly when sustain runs out. The only benefit of this class is that it has Crystallized Shield, which turns Warden into the new DK by having a hard carry skill to deal with projectiles for some bosses/encounters. Besides that you won’t want to be a Magden. I’ve almost soloed nSS Lokkestiiz with this after 1hr of trying but never went back bc I didn’t have interest in it.

• Stam DK - Bad
Worst of the Stam classes

• Stam Sorc - Very Good
Pretty much the same benefits as a Mag Sorc.

• Stam Warden - Good
Better than Magicka variant but still not great compared to others, unless you need crystallized shield for an encounter.

• Stam Templar - Bad
Almost as bad as Stam DK

• Mag Necro, Stam Necro, Stam NB - idk
I don’t have experience with these so I can’t judge them. I’d expect the Necros to be about the same as a Warden though in overall effectiveness.

TLDR: Stick with Mag Sorc, Stam Sorc, Mag NB, Mag Templar for solo vet dungeons. And only use a Warden if you need Crystallized Shield for a specific encounter. Special mention goes to Structured Entropy for being a good DoT+HoT for a Mag character, and Master 2H Brawler as a spammable for being able to carry any Stam character.

Hope that helped!

Athan1

Question: Re solo magicka builds, is it better to spec for full DD or tanky DD? Especially for solo dungeons and WB you need to tank and heal yourself, all the while pulling enough DPS. I guess my question is, light or heavy armour for solo magicka builds?

ccfeeling

Athan1 wrote: »

Question: Re solo magicka builds, is it better to spec for full DD or tanky DD? Especially for solo dungeons and WB you need to tank and heal yourself, all the while pulling enough DPS. I guess my question is, light or heavy armour for solo magicka builds?

Full DD .

Body 5L , Heavy helm , Medium shoulder , all 64 magicka

Slot shield and 1 healing skill , there you go .

Damage is what you need the most , kill those mobs before they kill you .

Everest_Lionheart

ccfeeling wrote: »

Athan1 wrote: »

Question: Re solo magicka builds, is it better to spec for full DD or tanky DD? Especially for solo dungeons and WB you need to tank and heal yourself, all the while pulling enough DPS. I guess my question is, light or heavy armour for solo magicka builds?

Full DD .

Body 5L , Heavy helm , Medium shoulder , all 64 magicka

Slot shield and 1 healing skill , there you go .

Damage is what you need the most , kill those mobs before they kill you .

Yeah my solo magplar has only sweeps to heal. I get a shield from psijic passive when I block plus can stand in my channel focus for extra resistances. I didn’t even bother to slot ritual of retribution for the extra heal/aoe and instead double slotted inner light for the extra magicka and critical.

Throw Iceheart or Mother Ciannait on this build and I can basically face tank any world boss. Get your buffs, dots and AOE’s down and stabby mcstab most bosses in the face all day long. Works in most dungeons also but you can’t just ignore mechanics if you try to solo vet dungeons because you can still be one shot.

If you want to do groups switch the monster set for Zaan or Grothdarr. Honestly though you can solo with those pieces too. Magplar is stupid strong for solo play no matter which bucket you wear on your head.

MerguezMan

First off, "best" is not equal to "easiest" in my mind.
Easy: require minimum effort, strategy, skill and/or stress.

From personnal experience:

- Templar, in mag setup is hands down a mindless killing machine. Main issues: if you can't jab/sweep, you get in trouble very fast ; will absolutely not prepare you to more complex strategies or rotations (other classes, group play or PVP).

- Sorcerer, in mag or stam setup, has great self-heal and sustain, can easily be built into nearly unkillable. Main issues: limited skill slotting, somewhat more repetitive gameplay than other classes (after Magplar, ofc), though suitable for group-play (pug-tank was a blast) and PVP.

- Dragonknight is IMO the most flexible and underrated class. Great potential in both stam and mag, best class for hybrid builds. Main issues: requires magicka fueling for class skills (even in stam setup, unless you take only poison things and give up on the rest), relies on timed skills (10-15s or less effects) that require a bit more strategy to land properly.

Haven't invested enough on other classes to comment properly: Nightblade felt a bit too squishy for my playstyle, Warden visuals (trees, mushrooms and insects , blinking beam-things ) did not appeal to me, and Necromancer... no, thanks, if I want to be a puppet master, I'll play some RTS game.

The trouble on such rankings is probably the biased assumption that you would have to follow "stam" or "mag" setup. Sure you can, but as you play solo, you may also use traditional tanks and/or healers items and skills ; you may also go full stam/mag hybrid.

If so far you relied only on damage dealers setups, try "sword and shield" and/or "heal staff" setups, you instantly get an easy access to great buffs.

Playboy_Shrek

i can tell you that stamblade is one of the worst . you need aoe damage and tankiness. and stamblade has none of these. and no health sustain.

Stadmen is great, better than magden slightly.

katorga

Best...any class using brawler/infused damage shield weapon enchant/ice heart.

FrancisCrawford

ccfeeling wrote: »

Body 5L , Heavy helm , Medium shoulder , all 64 magicka

Like most 5-1-1 advice, that assumes you've already built your Undaunted rank high. Correct?