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Sorc dies all the time

Catamountlite
Ok I am sure I will be told I suck as a player, but on my sorc I die all the time, especially if I am getting hit by melee. I am 42 so I am not exactly new, but it is really frustrating. Should I just play another class? Do I have to have a pet? Any pointers?
Many sub 50 characters
  • JaJaLuka
    JaJaLuka
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    which alliance are you and which megaserver?
    Krojick, DC Sorc PC NA
    Milámber, EP Sorc PC NA
    Brunack, EP DK PC NA
    General Mark Shephard, EP Temp PC NA (Worst temp NA XD )
    Krojick Nightblade, DC NB PC NA
    Others...
  • pmacisback
    pmacisback
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    Solo lvling I would recommend a pet to draw aggro off you. Also crit surge for heals on your critical strikes(subject to change in 1.6). Be sure to block hard-hitting mob abilities as often as you can, and keep your distance. All of these suggestions are made under the assumption you are a magicka-based caster.
    I'm 12, and what is this?
  • Cuyler
    Cuyler
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    @Catamountlite,

    Two words: Block Casting

    You want to be blocking the whole time you AOE in the center of a trash mob. Even on bosses if you take the agro, block and cast while blocking.

    Questions:
    What level are you?
    What build are you (staff/bow/2H/etc.)?
    Magicka or Stamina?
    Guild: STACK n BURN (gm) PC - NA
    CP 810 18 Maxed Characters:
    "How hard can u guar?" - Rafishul[/spoiler]
  • Catamountlite
    I am lvl 42, andI was running 1h and resto staff with primarily magika. But then went to destro/rest build, thinking it would allow for better survivability by winning the DPS race in AOE, but if I get three or more on me it is over, especially if there is one ranged. I am DC on NA. I will try the block casting, and maybe I can move my skills around for better synergy. What cc do you all suggest?
    Many sub 50 characters
  • Catamountlite
    Ok. I have been using restraining prison as my cc, and lightening flood for my AOE, with unstable clanfir. Crystal frags and crushing shock for my single target and it has been working much better. And I have been blocking more. Thanks for all the input. If you have any other advice I would love to hear it.
    Many sub 50 characters
  • Robbmrp
    Robbmrp
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    Are you weaving your Destro staff with Crushing Shock? By that I mean hitting both the left mouse button at the same time as hitting the spell. It creates a more powerful spell increasing your DPS. You'll also want to switch to Entropy in the Mages line as Critical Surges healing is going to suck in 1.6 as it will proc off your DoTs giving minimal heals.
    NA Server - Kildair
  • olsborg
    olsborg
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    I also suggest using deadric mines, when you get that spell. Its good vs melee. Once you unlock bolt escape/streak, you'll feel alot better as it is the best tool in the game to control your battlefield (in my opinion)

    PC EU
    PvP only
  • Inactive Account
    Inactive Account
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    One thing I have done with my Sorc is to level up Bound Armor; and keep it active. It does decrease your total Magicka, but it gives you a nice armor boost.
  • Athas24
    Athas24
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    Crystal shard. lightning, entropy. This will then typically give you an instant cast crystal shard. Then bolt escape rinse repeat. You shouldn't hardly ever be hurt. use destruction staff and forget the heal staff unless you want to be a healer. You can also put crushing shock in there from time to time. :) The lightning armor is also a must to have on one of your two bars. Oh, I'd also suggest inner light for crits. This will help when they do occasionally get close and then you can AOE with pulsar. :) That should help you take down groups of 3-5 no problem through most veteran levels.
    Edited by Athas24 on March 3, 2015 6:23PM
    ...OverTwerked & Underpaid.
    Rajaat04 in game @Athas24 on forums
  • Archer79
    Archer79
    I have a sorc (although I started a new one cuz of race choice) and this is what ive been using:

    1st bar Destruction staff:
    - Endless furry for finisher,
    - crit surge (maybe change to Degeneration after 1.6),
    - Bound Aegis ( you can go for the other morph, i personally use this for surviving gaining up mobs).
    - Crushing Shock.
    - Elemental ring.

    2nd bar Restoration staff:
    - Endless Furry.
    - Velocious curse. (I sometimes change this for Thundering presence).
    - Bound Aegis (so u dont have to toggle back on when switching).
    - Healing ward.
    - Rapid regeneration.(I also change this for unstable clanfear, but keep in mind that u might want to change healing ward for healing springs to keep your pet alive and in so prolonging the fight and keeping the boss away from yourself).

    These were my setups for my Khajiit sorc, but then I decided to go altmer instead and will use them on him as well. Hope this helps and that you'll have an awesome play through with it.
  • Cuyler
    Cuyler
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    Here is one iteration of my 1.5 build. This will change in 1.6, mostly to accommodate for increased need for spell damage and max magicka. I can report back after further testing with a more relevant build to 1.6. Basically replace Crit Surge with Degeneration from the Mages guild skill line and its 1.6 viable, but not optimized. Also a lot of sorcs are going to Overload builds that use 3 bars, pet builds using necropotence sets, or the martial knowledge set in general to stack spell damage. Also don't bother with resto staff anymore as it can't be used to generate ultimate in 1.6, of course unless you actually plan to heal with it.
    Cuyler wrote: »
    I use destro(flame)/destro(lightning) and like most sorcs, the "crushing shock" build.

    Destro and resto staff currently scale off of weapon damage and spell crit. This is subject to change in update 1.6 but is the case atm. Therefore your goal should be to max these attributes.

    Bar 1(AOE) looks something like this:

    1 - Magelight-Inner light
    Toggle on/off. Always have it on. It raises your spell crit by 20% when maxed out. A must have for sorcs.

    2 - Surge-Critical Surge
    20 second or so buff to weapon damage. This is another must have for staff users as it will quickly softcap your weapon damage. It cost very little magicka as compared to the benefit and time it lasts.

    3 - Weakness to elements-Elemental drain
    This provides an decrease in the enemies spell resistance to elemental damage, which is what you will be using as your primary source of damage.

    4 - Impulse - Elemental Ring
    The AOE effect of this skill is obvious. What is not obvious is that when morphed to "ring" the extra DOTs proc the "heals on crit" much more often from the critical surge morph of Surge (only with flame staff). A combination that will help you to be more tanky in the heavy hitting fights.

    5 - Force Shock - Crushing Shock

    This is the fastest DPS skill available to the sorc due to the elemental damage and how the procs and buffs other skills. More importantly, the "crushing shock" morph disrupts casting enemies. This is an extremely important utility that is needed for most endgame content.

    Ult - Dawnbreaker - Flawless Dawnbreaker
    Except for Negate - Suppression Field, the sorcs ultimates utterly suck. Flawless Dawbreaker is a no brainer as it passively increases your damage just by being slotted. Don't use it just keep it on the bar.

    Rotation 1
    Toggle on inner light. keep on.
    AOE - Activate Crit surge. Spam Elemental Ring. Repeat
    Single target - Activate Crit Surge, elemental drain, crushing shock, light attack, crushing shock, light attack. rinse and repeat every time crit surge goes down.

    Bar 2 (Execute - Single Target)

    1 - Magelight - Inner light
    See above

    2 - Equilibrium - Spell Symmetry

    This will trade health for magicka. Obviously use it when low on magicka. Only use 3 times in a row, any more than that will likely get you killed. Only have on one bar and swap to use it when needed.

    3 - Mages Fury - Mages wrath
    This is your execute skill. Increase damage/explosion damage when target <20% health. Basically stay on bar 1 until the enemy is at 20%, then switch to bar 2 and spam the hell out of this spell. Watch health melt away.

    4 - Lightning form - thundering presence

    I can't tell you how many times this skill has saved my ass. In a raid of 12 people when everyone dies this skill will keep you alive. I keep it on bar two and usually only need during execute phase when bosses enrage.

    5 - Force Shock -Crushing Shock

    See above. basically always use this skill for sustained damage so keep on both bars. Always weave it with light attacks (i.e. CS, LA, CS,LA,CS, LA, etc)

    Ult - Negate - Suppression Field

    This is the only reason people want you in raids. It allows you to negate all casters in the area and provides your allies with spell resistance you would normally only get for yourself. Swap for atronach or meteor if not needed at the time.

    Rotation 2 -
    As stated before when your out of magicka after using bar 1, swap to bar 2 and use spell symmetry 2-3 times then swap back.

    When executing, make sure to activate crit surge on bar 1 before swapping to bar 2 for execute. Then mages wrath, light attack, mages wrath, light attack, rinse repeat when crit surge goes down.

    Try and mix in thundering presence every 7 secs if you need to. Crushing shock is used on this bar if the boss spawns adds during the execute phase that requires you to disrupt casters, using only for adds. If any target is below 20% health you should be using mages wrath.

    Finally some other skills to think of:
    swap impulse-elemental ring for expert-evil hunter on daedric or undead boss fights that don't require AOE.

    swap elemental drain for expert-evil hunter on daedric or undead fights that require AOE.

    Just a note:
    This build uses 2 destro staffs. I equip the resto staff just for ultimate generation between fights and have an entirely different heals build. Wykkyd's outfitter will help you swap skills and weapons quickly inbetween fights, use it.

    Happy Hunting! and here's a link to this build.
    esohead.com/calculator/skills#mMkXeek9cW0mia8A4hI8AIUM8hMj48hMZD8hmKX8LxRn8A4hI8A4fp8AIQH8AIPq8hmKX8NioF8L7JcdoQr6MdoQC6MdoQF6MdoQJ6MdoQK8e7XLaqq6raqT6raqS6Mi4bD6Mi4bU6Mi4bX6Mi4b16Mi4b48v7XMhy3D6Mhx0n6Mhx0y6Mhx0l6Mhx0B8H7Drzwm6MNieh6MNieA6MNieT6MNiey8J7DMNUIz6MNUIc6MNUIi6MNUIN8K7Drkg6Lzuj6rzun6MANRQ6MANRU6MANRW6MANRZ8O7srdeC6rdeF6zAZqS6MA3FN6MA3FA6MA3FL6MA4Cb8P7ardYw6zLp4d6cLncp6cLncn6zLyjz847pzxLCe6cxLDm6cxLDo6cxLDs8zf7zzNbo8zu7zzHfYE6zHfZd8zG7zzHQ3F8zI7zzJIoX6zJIkL8zN7zzJZcY8zA7zzKpUN8zL7zzK4EX
    Cuyler wrote: »
    Because your not max yet I would put all attribute points into health. In endgame content 2600 HP is enough to not be one-shot, so most people will eat some food to buff up and put enough points into HP until they reach 2600 then put the remainder in their choosen resource (for sorc, usually magicka).

    Armor:
    If you like pets you should look into the "necropotence" set. But the regular go to sets for most sorc builds are:
    1. Seducer
    2. Warlock
    3. Willow's Path
    4. Twilights embrace
    5. Torugs Pact
    6. Soulshine (just jewelry)

    You can get lvl20 warlock gear as 3 jewelry and 2 body for 5 piece bonus. This will actually carry you to ~lvl50 if you need it too. The remainder can be crafted seducer set. This gives you ridiculous magicka regen so you can spam all day long.

    Traits:
    Usually you'll want infused on head, robe and legs. Divines on the rest. This is due to the percentage bonus provided by "major" and "minor" pieces of your armor.
    Enchants:
    Magicka on all armor. Reduce spell cost on jewelry.

    Boon:
    The thief- for the spell/weapon crit

    Weapon:
    as stated destro/destro. use precise trait for increased crit . Use Shock damage enchants to synergize with "disintegration" passive. Don't forget that your weapon can be part of a set too.
    Edited by Cuyler on March 4, 2015 5:23PM
    Guild: STACK n BURN (gm) PC - NA
    CP 810 18 Maxed Characters:
    "How hard can u guar?" - Rafishul[/spoiler]
  • Sotha_Sil
    Sotha_Sil
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    It might be basic piece of advice, but have you repaired your stuff ? while getting xp, your gear deteriorates quite quickly. Repairing sometimes might help.
    Restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! - Spells and incantations for those with the talent to cast them!
  • barmarchub17_ESO
    Make sure your weapons charge and keep moving. There is a bolt escape that is handy for moving out of harms way so that your health can regen - My sorc is all light armor, but thinking of putting in 2 heavy pieces with training trait to add more armor. - Sorcerers are what we refer to as "squishy." If I get to stand in one spot for a bit I use the fighters guild ring of protections. It allows allies to get the benefit too. - oh and morph your twilight so she can heal you in the earlier stages
  • Nivzruo_ESO
    Nivzruo_ESO
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    At end game pvp Sorc is the best 1v1 class by miles, they got a bubble/ward that is basically impossible to get thru, a good nukestun that can be insta if proc'd . best escape in the game if you get into a 1v3+.
    Nelgyntc- V14 NB
  • fiftypercentgrey
    fiftypercentgrey
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    @Nivzruo_ESO what bubble/ward are you talking about? the one from daedric summoning?
    Edited by fiftypercentgrey on March 6, 2015 3:06PM
    ἀπόκρυφος
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