Ideal Gear for Magicka NB PVE DPS?

MrTarkanian48 · May 2016

What is currently considered BiS gear for a Magicka NB?

My situation: V16 Altmer NB, 501 CP, 2pc. Nerieneth, 5pc. Julianos, 5-1-1 with Undaunted Mettle, Sharpened Maelstrom Ice Staff (Still hunting for inferno), 2 x Nirn Torugs Swords, (Precise Maelstrom Resto swapped in occasionally), 3xArcane Willpower Spell Damage Enchants.
I feel good about my build, but am just trying to get the most out of it.

I have heard that Twice Born slightly outperforms Julianos. I have the mats and ability to craft it if I go that route. Not sure the increase in performance is significant enough to warrant the expense though.

I have also been running WGT lately and recently got 1 pc. Spell Power Cure (Divines). I also got my first Kena helmet (but well-fitted trait). I know that getting this gear is a grind as it has taken many runs just to get two pieces, but am willing to keep working at it if it is the ideal setup. I like the idea of SPC buffing my group when I use Funnel/Sap, but also know healers usually try to get this set, and it is my understanding that the buff won’t stack when running with another player with SPC. Maybe the more people with it the better?

Also I watched a twitch streamer demolish vMA with a Twice Born/Kena combo, and he stated that the Kena procs off of destroy LA/Funnel Health weaving. I know a lot of it comes from skill, and don’t necessarily feel like I could put the gear on and duplicate the performance, but it definitely looked effective.

The goal here would be a build that is effective in vMA, 4 man content, and trials.

So if you could have the ideal gear, grind aside, what combo of Julianos, TBS, SPC, Nerieneth, Kena is preferred? Or perhaps something else. Now that the PTS DB sets have been announced, it doesn't appear that there will be anything superior in the next patch.

Silver_Strider · May 2016

For Solo play
Scathing Mage > Julianos/TBS > SPC

For 4 man content (If Healer has SPC)
Scathing Mage > Julianos/TBS > SPC

Healer without SPC
SPC > Scathing Mage > Julianos/TBS

12 Trials
SPC > Scathing Mage > TBS > Julianos

PvP
TBS > SPC/Julianos > Scathing Mage

Generally speaking, Scathing Mage is BiS for magic NBs because they get more crit damage naturally and can obtain the highest possible crit on any magic build in the game, making Scathing both easy to proc and increasing their damage higher than that of other classes.

SPC is only really an option in 4 main content and trials if the group is lacking SPC or if there are only 2 healers in the Trial group as it can only gone on 4 people so you using it will more or less guarantee that all 12 of you will always have the buff.

Julianos is a good buffer if Scathing Mage is not an option at the time. It's a solid magic set and much more reliable than Scathing Mage in terms of always having the spell damage as opposed to a proc.

TBS is also a good buffer set. It's more useful in PvP than Julianos as PvPers typically have a lot of impenetrable gear so the extra crit from Julianos is often wasted whereas the extra stats from TBS never really are. My experience with TBS is sadly limited to PvP only so I cannot speak at great lengths as to why it is a slightly better set in a trial setting as opposed to Julianos but I would wager it has something to do with the potential resource management that TBS offers vs the full on DPS of Julianos as some fights can be long and sustain becomes more of a strain. Don't quote me on that though as, again, my experience with TBS is very limited, at least as far as trial settings go and I'm just going off of what others have told me. Apparently, TBS is better in Trials due to a good Warhorn rotation that scales better with TBS than Julianos, thus offering greater DPS potential.

As for monster helms, I personally don't like Molag Kena on anything but Sorcerers as I find the strain of maintaining it can be a bit difficult, even with Siphoning Attacks returning a fair bit of the resources used, and while the extra burst is nice, it isn't necessary either. Nerieneth on the other hand is a free AoE that procs on a near constant basis and adds a fair bit to your DPS numbers on as a whole.

Just my 2 cents.

MrTarkanian48 · May 2016

Thanks for the detailed reply @Silver_Strider

I forgot about Scathing Mage. Makes sense since they buffed the proc rate to 20%.

Did some digging and it looks like people are recommending using Force Pulse over Funnel Health. Is this because each of the three damage components in Force Pulse can crit individually? Also does the set have any cooldown, or can you refresh the duration during the 6 second buff?

TARAFRAKA · May 2016

/lurk

Silver_Strider · May 2016

MrTarkanian48 wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed reply @Silver_Strider

I forgot about Scathing Mage. Makes sense since they buffed the proc rate to 20%.

Did some digging and it looks like people are recommending using Force Pulse over Funnel Health. Is this because each of the three damage components in Force Pulse can crit individually? Also does the set have any cooldown, or can you refresh the duration during the 6 second buff?

Pretty much, Force Pulse has 3 chances to proc Scathing, so it's easier to maintain on a more consistent basis. There also doesn't appear to be a cooldown on Scathing mage so it is possible to have it up 100% of the time in a fight.

Haquor · May 2016

Light attac funnel health lighy attack does proc kena. I dont have sustain issues when keepin kena up most fights while maintaining siphoning attacks for regen

Mush55 · May 2016

Scathing mage if your lucky enough to get decent traits, Twice born star seems to out perform Julianous slightly on a mage blade compared to sorc or Julianous a pertty decent and safe go to.....

Shader_Shibes · May 2016

Silver_Strider wrote: »

show previous quotes

MrTarkanian48 wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed reply @Silver_Strider

I forgot about Scathing Mage. Makes sense since they buffed the proc rate to 20%.

Did some digging and it looks like people are recommending using Force Pulse over Funnel Health. Is this because each of the three damage components in Force Pulse can crit individually? Also does the set have any cooldown, or can you refresh the duration during the 6 second buff?

Pretty much, Force Pulse has 3 chances to proc Scathing, so it's easier to maintain on a more consistent basis. There also doesn't appear to be a cooldown on Scathing mage so it is possible to have it up 100% of the time in a fight.

Also, more chance to proc Nerien'eth.

Shader_Shibes · May 2016

Ive just started using TBS for vma. Really handy for the extra stats, means i can drop structured and use another dot, meaning quicker times. Always nice to have a few sets for different scenarios.

Autolycus · May 2016

Just a side note here to supplement the Scathing chatter. It is technically BiS, however:

1. All must be divines. One piece non-divines maximum.
2. Must be using Force Pulse. Using Swallow Soul with Scathing =/= BiS.
3. The disparity between Scathing and Julianos is quite small. If you don't have the perfect pieces already, you may want to just wait until DB before you change your gear again.

I'm not trying to discourage you from using Scathing, but for a set with such a massive grind wall in front of it, the extra damage is affords is hardly worth the work to get it. Julianos and Nerien'eth are very close to Scathing and Nerien'th, and unless every piece is perfect you're going to take a loss. The analysis that confirms this also assumes you have virtually everything else too, like Undaunted Mettle, MG and FG passives, etc. That being said, if you've got the pieces, then make the switch! It's a cool visual and it does some good work

hedna123b14_ESO · May 2016

Shader_Shibes wrote: »

show previous quotes

Silver_Strider wrote: »

MrTarkanian48 wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed reply @Silver_Strider

I forgot about Scathing Mage. Makes sense since they buffed the proc rate to 20%.

Did some digging and it looks like people are recommending using Force Pulse over Funnel Health. Is this because each of the three damage components in Force Pulse can crit individually? Also does the set have any cooldown, or can you refresh the duration during the 6 second buff?

Pretty much, Force Pulse has 3 chances to proc Scathing, so it's easier to maintain on a more consistent basis. There also doesn't appear to be a cooldown on Scathing mage so it is possible to have it up 100% of the time in a fight.

show previous quotes

Silver_Strider wrote: »

MrTarkanian48 wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed reply @Silver_Strider

I forgot about Scathing Mage. Makes sense since they buffed the proc rate to 20%.

Did some digging and it looks like people are recommending using Force Pulse over Funnel Health. Is this because each of the three damage components in Force Pulse can crit individually? Also does the set have any cooldown, or can you refresh the duration during the 6 second buff?

Pretty much, Force Pulse has 3 chances to proc Scathing, so it's easier to maintain on a more consistent basis. There also doesn't appear to be a cooldown on Scathing mage so it is possible to have it up 100% of the time in a fight.

Also, more chance to proc Nerien'eth.

Also Force Pulse does more damage than Funnel on an Altmer or dunmer with the DK breath on the target and has a triple chance to proc siphoning attacks, effectively making it cost less than funnel. Oh almost forgot also has a 10% extra penetration over funnel.