Returning player - need help with next step/goal - solo PvE Mag Templar

mashugana

I'm returning after a long break. I'd like to continue to improve on my Magika Templar but I am not sure how all the gear systems work so I am not sure how to set my next gear goals or farming or what have you. I need a project

My goal is to be very strong solo - I want to be able to solo World Bosses and dungeons and whatever it is that people solo for a fun challenge. I use this charter for grinding money, getting new armor sets, and just overland fun.

I'd also like to be able to pull my weight in Vet Dungeons but that is secondary.

I currently seem to have a full set of Julianos, Mother's Sorrow, and Iceaheart. I am not sure if that helps determine where I am right now. I think I have about 400 CP or so from before I took my break. And about 200,000 gold.

So what next? Any recommendations on a solo build? Gear? What to farm next? Things to try 'e.g. try to solo the XYZ dungeon)?

TY for any direction and help.

colossalvoids

Hey and welcome back!

I'd say those sets are fine for a start, you might be trying to change Julianos first thought as we got pretty huge buff to our base stats including spell and weapon damage so sets like that are "worth" less now cause after certain threshold every single point starts to mean less gains instead of boosting your crit damage or percentage, penetration etc. so having more of some base stats making it not worth stacking much for pve for example.

You can aim at easier dungeons like Arx for Medusa, or normal Frostvault for Tzogvin which is a bit better version of it as a replacement but Mother's would be needed on your body then as those are heavy and medium sets respectively.

Also sets like Deadly Strikes or False God's Devotion are great, but you have far more options than years ago so it's your choice which road to go really. Also weapon choice as staffs or melee is now a thing whilst DW is leading currently.

Monster set wise you're fine with Iceheart still but there are obviously can be better options like stormfist, velidreth, nerieneth or maw of infernal, the choice is also way bigger now but also introduction of mythic items made them less used as Kilt mythic plus a Slimecraw piece considered best for the output but that's for the endgame trials and not for solo endeavours. You still can use some other ones, you can take a look on the web on which are those and if it might suit your playstyle.

That's kinda small push towards what to look for but there's always options and stuff, take some time digesting at least some recent big patches patch notes to see what's going on or maybe someone can recap some of the changes here later as it can be a pretty long list and all of them have an effect on your play probably.

mashugana

Thank you!

Question - when you say "aim at easier dungeons like Arx for Medusa, or normal Frostvault for Tzogvin" do you mean solo grind them? or queue for them in group finder?

colossalvoids

Well it depends on experience, whilst nArx is probably fine for newer or returning players to grind alone (but a lot faster with a group, also to trade pieces) nFV have first boss "gating" it without high DPS or a companion to bash him at the right moment. You can surely queue for both on normal without a chance for a group fail but vet might be not the best start if you weren't there before:)

fred4

I want to elaborate a bit on what colossalvoids has said, which is all correct. In regard to armor sets:

Due to recent hybridisation of the game, whereby basically all skills scale with your highest stat and all sets that grant damage or crit grant both weapon and spell damage and crit, sets that were previously reserved for stamina are now also viable on magicka characters and vice versa. This is why Deadly Strike has become a meta set for both stamplar and magplar.

There is nothing terribly wrong with your current sets, though. Crit still rules. Proc sets can crit again, but typically scale with your weapon or spell damage, whichever is highest. Building for stats also remains viable and building for pure crit remains a meta thing to do, especially on templar and nightblade. Both classes have a crit damage passive.

In addition to the above-mentioned crit sets, there is a new crafted set, Order's Wrath, which yields crit and stackable crit damage, e.g. not a named non-stackable buff, e.g. not Major nor Minor Force. This makes Order's Wrath rather good, perhaps even meta in some contexts. Medusa yields Minor Force, but you can also get that from Race Against Time, Channeled Acceleration or the trap skill from the fighter's guild. I agree that the first set you might replace is Julianos more than anything, though.

Having said the above for context, what I run on my magplar is:

2x Nerien'eth
5x False God's Devotion
5x Hexos Ward front bar (Precise weapon(s))
Maelstrom flame staff back bar (Infused)

1 medium, 6 light. I think. Mostly light, for sure.

Iceheart is still decent, but Hexos Ward is the new go to set if you want a damage shield. It's a bigger shield, it activates reliably on templar, and the set gives you 2 lines of crit.

Nerien'eth is quite probably the best performing monster set on templar right now, based on what I've read up on and based on my own testing. As colossalvoids said, there is something called the Harpooner's Wading Kilt mythic, however this was slightly nerfed in the current patch and was performing merely on par with using Nerien'eth and no mythic in my own testing, even before the nerf. My rotation exists. It is not pure Sweeps spam, but isn't terribly elaborate either. Your results may vary with how adept you are at your rotation and your playstyle.

False God is the go to set for solo play, no ifs no buts. You're looking for a goal. My recommendation is: Farm that set. I am not super competitive in PvE, but I do more than you do, e.g. I run veteran dungeons, including some DLC hard modes, and I run normal trials and the occasional easy (Craglorn) veteran ones. If you want fit and forget, like me, the above set choices are that and suit all. Can't beat a trial set for the Minor Slayer and crit, even though False God is a sustain set. Nerien'eth does a ton of damage on templar and Hexos Ward loses relatively little damage, considering the big shield you get. Hexos Ward has the right 2/3/4 piece bonuses (crit, weapon/spell damage, more crit). Thief mundus, Divines gear, Precise front bar weapon.

Having said all that, let me introduce you to Oakensoul. TBH there are a couple of mythics you might consider. Gaze of Sithis makes sense on templar, although I find that more situational than you might expect. If you know when to block, Gaze of Sithis is a drawback. Pale Order was the go to item for solo play, but magplar needs it the least. Arguably some tankiness or a big shield (Hexos) are more useful on magplar than Pale Order. Oakensoul is the new mythic of choice for solo / small group play this patch. It restricts you to using only one bar, but it gives you an insane load of automatic buffs in return. To be honest, I did not find it worth it for myself on PvE magplar, compared to my above standard-build, but your mileage may vary. It also gets diluted more and more in organised groups. Oakensoul is not the set to use in trials.

In terms of front bar weapon choices, various weapons are possible:

• Lightning staves buff Sweeps and other AOE damage. They're also nicer to use than flame staves for restoring magicka with heavy attacks. With False God that will never be necessary in trash fights, but may occasionally be necessary in boss fights (depending on your exact build).
• Flame staves buff single target damage, including light attacks and Radiant Destruction. Since light attacks make for such a large proportion of damage, especially with a vMA destro back bar, the buff of which carries to the front bar while Unstable Wall is up, flame staves are considered meta over lightning staves. I personally prefer lightning staves. You don't lose that much. Maybe it's because I'm wearing Nerien'eth (which is AOE).
• Dual-wield is probably the most damage. One Nirnhoned, one Precise or maybe Charged dagger. If you had over 70% crit, which with my build you won't, you might start experimenting with axes.
• 2H would give you Rally, which now also gives you Major Sorcery. It also has some interesting stamina sustain and heavy attack follow up passives. More of a PvP weapon than PvE, IMO.

So, by the way, you say you want to solo world bosses and dungeons, but I think you meant delves. You'll solo most world bosses with my build. You'll solo many normal dungeons that don't have a mechanic blocking your progress. You'll certainly solo veteran Fungal Grotto 1 as well. You'll obviously solo the two veteran solo arenas (Maelstrom, Vateshran) that were expressly designed for solo play. Beyond that, the build and magplar in general runs into limits. Sometimes it helps building for resistances rather than damage shields, but you will lose damage by doing that. For the real hard content, by which I mean soloing veteran dungeons or getting through the initial rounds of vBRP, there are stronger builds. I find Master's 2H Brawler builds notably tankier than magplars and with just as much, if not more AOE damage (but not single target). On the other hand some DLC veteran dungeons, such as Scalecaller, can only be soloed with a kiting build. People have done it with mag DK heavy attack builds.

fred4

Also: Use BindAll addon to automatically bind uncollected items and thereby maximize the benefit of curated item drops. If you don't know what I mean, google the ESO stickerbook and curated item drops.

mashugana

Thank you all so much