Frost Warden Subclassing

AvidNecro

I don't mean to intrude, but I posted a PvP build of my Cryomancer a while back | Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/EsLWgc5sWJE?si=V4npgYKHx5m_8Vsd

YandereGirlfriend

I have been trying my hand at this as well with the Warden, Necro, and Arc base combination but thematically it feels like a kludge. The best aesthetic explanation that I can come up with is like an At The Mountains Of Madness sort of vibe with the piercing cold and eldricht tentacles, etc.

Icy Conjuror is the centerpiece of its itemization and you can actually make it hit quite hard with the various class passives and GLS, Velothi, etc. But that is a heavy investment for an overall mediocre return. But worth doing, IMO, because I'm tired of trying to justify taking non-Frost damage skills and sets. But it's back-bar-able and will refresh upon swap if using Unnerving Boneyard (or Wall but this depends upon your Chilled RNG) so at least there's something redeeming about it.

I also really wanted to use Nunatak due to its theming and enhanced Chilled chance but I think that is a bridge too far for vibes (why does that have to be a tank set with the Armor bonus, ugh).

And still at a crossroads for the second set. It can't have conflicting art/animations so I have been leaning toward Mora's Scribe for the theme and also because this particular subclassing configuration is very Crit-starved. Sustain is also quite rough with three separate ground DOT abilities that all cost Mag.

Choice of spammable using double-Frost Staff is also difficult because the best mathematical choice would be to use Frozen Soul with Crux and Dread semi-spamming but it's hard to put down the trusty Master's Destro and Frost Reach after so many long years. But once Banner is nerfed, Frozen Soul will be the only choice left if wanting to actually leverage Dread.

Definitely not amazing but passable, and, most importantly, much better than what we had access to before. That it's actually possible to make a build using exclusively Frost abilities is its own reward and one that I hope will be shared by all of the other damage types before too long.

ArchMikem

I've reached another impasse as realizing in my own setup, Animal Companions is completely pointless and unused, so its taking up space. So I spent a half hour staring at the subclassing menu reading all the skill line passives and almost none would be beneficial to have. Except for Grave Lord. 3/4 of the passives would work absolutely well, but the entirety of Necromancer is just a huge no go for me. Boneyard comes close since its an AoE Frost Dmg, but the animation has tombstones...

In the end, I settled for Templar's Restoring Light, to give me some healing utility on the back bar, but im still unsure.

Zodiarkslayer

ArchMikem wrote: »

Boneyard comes close since its an AoE Frost Dmg, but the animation has tombstones....

Don't you get shivers when you see tombstones? 😅
Joking aside, if you use Unnerving Boneyard on the front bar you will get a serious damage boost as it'll activate all passives except reusable parts and you'll have Major Breach and minor Vulnerability in an AoE.

madmufffin

I haven't worked out the sustain issue that you get from so much mag (which prompted my post here https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/682297/can-we-get-controlled-fury-mag-cost-reduction#latest), but I've been enjoying Arc base with Herald, Winter's, and Assassination.

FB: Chilling Knife with frost/class mastery/berserk, Relentless Focus, Tentacular Dread, Chilling Contingency with frost/lingering/intellect, Inner Light, Soul Harvest
BB: Arctic Blast, Winter's Revenge, Chilling Blast with frost/lingering/courage, Ele Blockade, Degen, Northern Storm

Stupid amount of mag use sadly and no sustain passives to back it up, but it feels real frosty and keeps solo play pretty wide open for all content. Maybe one day Frostbite will get fixed after years of us telling them it's broken and we'll have a really good archetype set. If you want to double ice staff, Chilling Soul with frost/class mastery/breach is good for overland, but losing berserk hurts.