Favorite off/impractical build idea?

tinythinker

I'll give an example - when I try to make an Altmer character I really want it to be using a two-handed sword in battle-armor not robes (the latter can be achieved of course by altering appearances). I mean, sure, you could do a straight up Stam build and use gear and food to make up the difference but it is definitely not a great fit. And certainly two-hander plus magicka build has had some options in the past to make it passable, but again not a great pairing. I just like the image, if that makes sense. Altmer with staff, staff, staff gets old

Anyway, what's your favorite off-build idea? Either just the idea or one you've made work?

StarOfElyon

My Altmer magplar uses a 2H sword on the front bar. Honestly, I think a sword and shield fits her better but the damage is too low, sadly.

Her sister (in my head canon) is a Necromancer and a hybrid. She uses a battle axe and an ice staff. Dizzy Swing on the front bar and Crushing Shock on the back bar. And she's a stage 1 vampire. This is the more challenging character to play. While opponents are min/maxing and picking the BIS, I'm handicapping myself.

kuma82

I am looking to make a build around thews of the harbingers set if malacath boosts the return damage also. I’m thinking a Templar because I can use jabs as a good spammable and using blazing shield. Anyway to make this work as a fun damage style tank? I want to build a fun 1h/shield class and Templar’s jabs seem like a good dmg spammable to build around it.

Wolfchild07

Infused 2H with brawler skill, wearing Torug's and Infernal Guardian is fun. Add in werewolf. A melee that shoots fireballs, good times.

EvilAutoTech

I have a Nord Tankplar in torug's and akaviri dragonguard who runs a flamestaff and Ilambris in solo content. I swap in the icestaff and mighty chudan or tremorscale when tanking dungeons and I swap the dragon set for ebon to run trials, if needed. In dragonguard, I can keep warhorn up over 80% of the time.

Michae

My main is a female Nord nightblade with the height slider turned to max. I'm not really the meta chaser. And I don't know why people were complaining about some Bosmer passive being removed, sneaking in this game is really easy, and this is coming from someone who regularly sneaks around Imperial City.

Raudgrani

Had an altmer magicka warden, that I turned into a stamina warden - I did like every DLC dungeon on veteran, a few on hardmode, before I race changed him into an orc (which was the plan all along, of course). I was a bit surprised to realize, it didn't really make any tremendous difference in any way tbh. I even ran this "Blizzard hood" hat on him, to avoid snarky comments about having a high-elf stamina DD.

Before the race passive changes, I ran a Nord stamblade with pretty good results in Cyrodiil. Also had an Argonian stamblade with Clever Alchemist, before that set saw the change requiring you to be "in combat" in order to work - it was pretty great too.

In general, I tend to use mostly Nords or Dunmer for most things, which is pretty "off" if you ask me.
Also, I'm a great fan of "old sets" like Vicous Ophidian, Warmachine and Two-Fanged snake - and I think I run some of these on every PVE stam DD I have. If people actually did dummy parses having the actual "IRL" uptime (of most groups) of Relequen and Lokkestiiz, more people would too. Yeah, of course they are good on some builds and in some content (and I use them too), Lokke is great on a Necro for example, where you can give yourself synergies anytime you need it. Relequen on a bow/bow build for example, can never be a fail - but on a melee build...? Not as sure...

Athyrium93

I'm working on a tanky templar archer for pvp, heavy armour, high resist, bow front bar, s&b back bar, it's working surprisingly well in BGs, and fits the old "stand your ground" flavor of templars. Just stay ranged and when the enemy comes to me I can turtle up and wait for reinforcements. Only thing it really needs is a health based heal. (plus it doesn't rely on jabs)

TwinLamps

Playing anything that isnt stamden or stamcro as solo player in low lvl pvp

honey_badger82

I have a imperial Templar Tank/DPS. Sword and board front bar focusing on survivability. Pierce Armor, Deep slash, Radiant ward, Restoring focus, Resolving Vigor and Reviving Barrier. Back bar is a sharpened 2h sword with Jabs, stampede, power of the light, Rally, repentance and flawless dawnbreaker.
I am actually in medium armor, using Twice Born Star and Grave Guardian. The grave guardian is what makes the build work well, when standing in my ward and bracing in front bar I get 31k physical defense and almost 33 spell defense.
This set up gives me a gap closer and let's me help clean up mobs once they are focused on me. I actually tanked and completed Vet Moongrove Fane with him.

Ectheliontnacil

There was a time when running frontbar resto and backbar dual wield was semi viable for magblade.
Basically the dw weapons gave you the highest amount of burst possible, so you could spam cripple and swallow soul on the resto bar and once you had the merciless proc up you could go on the backbar and go soul tether>merciless or something.

I really liked it because the resto light attacks have the coolest weapon animation by far imo and dual wielding swords looks awesome too. Sadly that setup is completely unviable now.

Atherakhia

Honestly, one of the most fun classes I ever played in a game was a Mage Assassin in my Shadowbane days. It was very cool to see a Magicka Nightblade option as that alone is quite unusual in games. So without much effort, I would say that.

Another fun thing for me has always been the dex/assassin type warriors in robes with a 2 handed sword. Also coincidently quite easy to do in this game.

So while both of these ideas are very straight forward in ESO, they aren't that common in RPGs.

amm7sb14_ESO

I have a Warden tank that uses Combat Physician weapons and jewelry. My Warden started off as a healer, but I eventually respecced him as a tank because I liked a lot of the Warden tank abilities as well, and Combat Physician was a holdover to work alongside my Arctic wind ability and the forest ult heal. I get a lot of "???" when people find out what I'm running, but then once those people play alongside it, they've really enjoyed it. Paired with Brands Of Imperium, I'm constantly proc'ing damage shields for myself and my team, and it's been a fun dynamic.

I still have some tinkering to do to on the build, but I've really enjoyed it.

The alternative is using Frozen Watcher with a Sellestrix monster set and being a walking aoe stun.

Armor: Brands Of Imperium
Weapons / Jewelry: Combat Physician / Frozen Watcher
Monster: Symphony Of Blades / Sellestrix / Thurvokun

I also run a necro tank with vampire after the new update, and I've been combining the mist and Strike From Shadows to give myself a boost to my spell damage for the dots that I use (graveyard for Breach & Fracture, Mystic Siphon for mag sustain). For low level dungeons / trials, or off-tanking, I combine it with Balorgh's to give myself some nice bonuses to my damage to help with some supplemental dps. It's helped add a little bit of flavor to my main character that had kinda hit a wall and didn't seem to have much further to go, but it has breathed new life into him.

Armor: Leeching Plate
Weapons / Jewelry: Grave Guardian / Akaviri Dragonguard
Monster: Lord Warden / Balorgh

Enemy-of-Coldharbour

My 'idea' would be staff and shield to help us squishy mag classes:

Integral1900

My dragon knight, heavy armour hybrid solo build with greatsword and flame staff, can’t do much past normal content but I wouldn’t swap her for any build in the game. Playing her sometimes it feels like I could set the whole world on fire. Currently elf bane, new moon and grothdar but she changes all the time. A labour of love

Sindala

I built a 1 bar 1 button Nightblade
uses 2 hand mace and the Brawler ability, rest of the front bar is just buffs and Dawnbreaker.
I can solo all overland content and group dungeons, dont do any of the trails or pvp sort of stuff so it suits me to a tee

Kolzki

A friend had a stam sorc build for skyreach carries that wore oblivion’s edge and dead waters’s guile and could literally spam dawnbreakers while filling 250+ soul gems per run.