I use the following on my magicka templar:

* 5 Burning Spellweave or 5 Julianos (Go Julianos if you don´t want to grind for an eternity for BSW). All divines max magicka enchant.
* 3 Infailable Aether (Jewels) or 3 Willpower. Increase spelldamage glyphs on all.
* 2 Grothdar or 2 Skoria.
* Frontbar I use maelstrom sharpened Infernostaff, but any sharp infernostaff will do, just put I increase weapon/spelldamage glyph on it.
* Backbar I use mealstrom restorationstaff, but any restostaff will do.

Skills:
Frontbar: Sweeps, reflecting light, inner light, elemental blockade, radiant destruction
Backbar: Blazing spears, channeled focus, rapid regen, healing ward, trap beast.

The idea behind the build is to kill stuff as fast as possible. The (huge) downside is the fact that you got almost 0 magicka regen (I got around 750 in vMSA), and tripots or spellpower pots is almost required.

Disclaimer: No matter what build you use, you can´t ignore the fact that vMSA requires a lot of practice to complete. I first completed vMSA on my templar, took me ages but now it´s almost walk in the park. When I later tried to vMSA on my stamsorc (which is a completely different playstyle than magplar) it was super easy, even though I´ve never entered the arena with my sorc before (sure stamsorc is probably the strongest class in vMSA). So practice in the arena itself is more important than the build.

Xerton wrote: »

@Qbiken your build setup has one flaw: It requires an experienced player, that is familiar with vMsA.
My suggestet Setup would not be able to get new highscores, but it gives you a reasonable chance to survive the arena as a player that is still exploring the mechanics

Yea it requires some experience, but the build itself isn´t that different comparing to when I first beat vMSA. Only difference is that I swap burning spellweave to julianos, grothdar to skoria, and then use random inferno and restostaffs

Templar is the class that I have the least amount of experience on, but I will give you my 2 cents. First, the best defense is a good offense. That being said, I would not go straight glass cannon until you have run it a few times. Templars get heals based on doing damage. I also highly suggest Radiant Glory over Radiant Destruction the first few times. It allows you to ignore mechanics on the burn phases of most bosses.

Dont overthink your gear. Any magic DPS set is going to work. Personally, I really like TBS star in the arena, especially when learning or going for no death. Is it the best DPS? No, but its perfectly viable and the extra stats are really useful. I would shoot for about 18.5k health on your first few clears. A straight glass cannon will have about 17k, which is too low for a first timer IMO. I would run either Skoria or Grothdarr, I like Grothdarr a little better as you will be melee range anyway. Jewelry, either willpower or Moondancer/Aether. I also prefer a front bar fire staff so you can heavy attack portals as the adds spawn. It also helps with sustain, which is probably a templars biggest issue in there.

Some skills you want to consider:

Damage
-Sweep - Main Spam skill and self heal (required)
-Radiant destruction/Glory - Ranged execute and self heal if using glory (required)
-Blockade of Fire - Best Ground based dot in the game (required)
-Blazing Spear - AOE damage, great for throwing on portals (probably like trap better for this)
-Reflective light ranged multi target DOT
-Rearming trap - crit damage buff and great snare. Handy to put on portals
-Inner Light - Give magic and spell crit, if running spell power pots, it you could sacrifice this for another skill. You really only need it on your front bar.

Healing/Utility
-Channeled Focus - Defense and sustain, try to be standing in this at all times (required)
-Extended/purifying Ritual AOE heal and clense. Not required, but useful.
-Rapid Regen - Good HoT, not needed but nice. Most people I know run this.
-Healing Ward - Shield and burst heal, probably your best option for an oh crap button.
-Breath of Life - Great Burst Heal, but expensive
-Annulment - Best shield (would say you need at least one out of HW, BOL, and Annulment, most go HW for cost)
-Structured Entropy - You pretty much either need this or you need to run potions for the spell damage buff. Most run potions.
-Charge - The templar charge is actually really useful in a few spots, definitely not required, but handy (and fun).

Ultimates
-Meteor - Max magic and damage ultimate, best for single target
-Elemental Rage - Destro ultimate, good for AOE damage or if bosses have adds. This is very strong in here
-Nova - Good Oh Crap Ulti, not needed, but nice when learning.

There are many ways to set your bars, but these are skills you want to consider. Purifying Ritual is underestimated in there. Its pretty hard to die if you are spamming sweep while on your channeled Focus and purifying ritual. You honestly dont even need a resto staff on your back bar, but it's what I would suggest. You could go double destro and move blockade to your back bar or go DW and move your execute there. I recommend Destro/Resto. You could also consider making room for a shield (annulment), but templars have enough heals without it. There are a lot of damage skills on there, and you might want to scale that back a bit to simplify your life. Once you get really comfortable, you will probably run most of them on your front bar, but I think its a really good idea to have a heal (BOL) or shield (annulment) on your front bar when learning. It will save you a lot of soul gems. Most Templars going for speed don't run either of those skills.

I honestly think a good templar could clear the whole arena on one bar: Sweep, Radiant, Blockade, BOL, channeled Focus, Destro Ult. I havent tried, but sure it could be done.