What's wrong with my Toon: Can you help?

Jigger_allard · September 2017

VaranisArano wrote: »

The others are helping with gear, so I'll focus on your skill use.

Elemental Blockade and Liquid Lightning are your stationary DOTs (damage over time) that also function as AOEs (area of effect). They go down either on the mob or where you expect the mob to go. These deal constant but lower levels of damage as long as the mobs are inside their AOE and need to be refreshed when or before they run out. If possible, these should always be active. I start every fight with these on my MagSorc.

Force Pulse is your spammable. It does a good amount of single target damage and can be weaved with heavy attacks easily for extra damage. If you spam this without also using heavy attacks to regain magicka, you will run out of magicka quickly.

The Clannfear should be tanking at least one enemy for you You can target the clannfear with a heavy attack or the Y key for pet commands, at least on PC. If you need more damage, you might switch to the volatile familiar. If you need heals, you might switch to the Twilight Matriarch.

Other skills like Haunting Curse can be used when you want to and when you have enough magicka. Definitely throw in Crystal Frags whenever you have the option. Mage's Wrath is an execute and should only be used when the target is near or below 20% health and then it becomes your new spammable. if you don't have percentages showing on the mob health bars, I strongly recommend that you go into settings and add percentages to mob health bars so that you will know when they get into execute range.

Tactics: Without shields from the ward skill or heals from power surge, it can be hard for most magsorcs to stand and take a lot of punishment. A tactic that worked for my magsorc when she was leveling, and that works now for my no-cp level 15 magwarden, is to lay down the AOEs, and then kite the mobs in a tight circle so that the mobs have to chase me while still standing in my AOEs until the mobs are within execute range. If the clannfear is doing a good job of tanking, of course, you might not have to worry about kiting.

Hope that helps! Good luck with your MagSorc.

Wow! Thanks for the heads up. I am going to save your comment for future reference. As it is I have papers all over my computer desk--and everywhere else, pertaining to ESO.

When I am in a real hefty boss fight I try to heal my Clannfear......when I can, that is. Like with the last boss in Skar, with her deadly fire-breathing I do find myself running around in circles while trying to keep out of range. All while trying to fire spells at her. Since I have gone through five Toons I am getting better at it. At the very least she doesn't kill me anymore. Of course, now that I say that she probably will the next time.

dpencil1 · September 2017

@***_allard
Please try the skill setup I recommended earier in the thread that keeps you mainly on one bar. You will easily be able to simply put your fingers on 1, 2, and 3. Press them one after the other and then heavy attack until they have dissapeared. Then just reapply them again. Don't get all flustered spamming Mage's Wrath. Relax. Drop your dots and heavy attack. Please try it.

bebynnag · September 2017

***_allard wrote: »

TheShadowScout wrote: »

***_allard wrote: »

What’s wrong? Besides my Breton Magicka Sorceress Toon, Arianna Ahearn, being such a ……. weakling? I just moved up to Level 20 and she still fights like she is level one. She can’t run 50 yards without running out of Stamina. In addition, her Magicka wains after a one-time pass through the bar...

Its normal that Sorceresses who spend all their time with their nose in books learning spells will be winded after even a short run. That's why they usually invest in a good horse as soon as they can...

As for the magic bar... that casting spell after spell will exhaust your mystic energy reserves should come as no surprise either. It can be helpful to alternate spell castings with fully charged heavy attacks from your staff to recover magica... and wear light armor only to take full advantage of the light armor magica support passives! And choose your damage spells carefully to get the best result for your magica... some are better then others, others have special effects that help in special situations... -know- your character skills!

Also, a mage should take advantage of CC spells to keep the pesky melee fighters away while you whittle them down with your magic. Used in the right combinations, you can have a "flawless victory" when you stop your opponents in their tracks so often they are dead before they reach melee range (well, trash mobs anyhow, won't work on minibosses since they usually are CC immune - but alternating CC spells and heavy attacks can make for quite some effective combo against weaker opponents!)

Also, DoT & HoT spells (like a certain one you can get in the mages guild skill line) can be quite helpful in getting you through fights without feeling underwhelmed by your efforts, as can the "blood magic" passive in the dark magic skill line...

Gear... fuggedaboudit. At level 20, you will replace your gear all too quickly, so go with your quest reward drops and whatever fits with those, and learn what works for you, plan your way to which set you will want to go after once you reach the CP160 cap.

Skills, as has been said, play through the mainstory and spend those skill points on combat skills, then raise your crafting when you grab the skill points from cadwells... taking the early time to start up on your research for the equipment craft lines, that takes long enough anyhow.

Okay, @TheShadowScout , I did as you suggested and went to Wayrest and respected. As it stands I have 16 points left to use on active skills (and Passives).

Conjured Ward, Bond Armor, Meteor, Surge and Elemental Storm are not yet available. Now, please correct me if I am wrong: I should save those points for when those aforementioned skills become available--as well as their morphed skills, before putting them into passives? Both bars have different skills in them as of now--save for the Clannfear and Power Overload.

Incidentally, @the.witchdoctor was extremely kind enough to set me up with the proper armor and some power food: And, at no cost to me--for which I am eternally grateful. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

there is no sense holding on to skill points for skills you are a long way off unlocking

at level 20 i would assume your class skills are around the same level (20-30) by the time the skills you mention are available you will of earned more skill points

you need to make sure you have at least 1 skill from each class line on your bar otherwise they will not level, you have a pet, you have overload so get crystal frags on your front bar,
i would put negate on my back bar and liquid lighning or if you dont have it yet lightning form on your back bar

additionally many of the destro staff skills are only active when you have a destruction staff skill on the bar, so put wall of elements on back bar and force pulse front bar

you will unlock the light armour active skill before unlocking sorc ward, so you can use that (on your back bar) for now (it is a good skill to level up and use in additian to or instead of sorc ward depending on the situation) and it will help you learn how to play with shields from an earlier level

Jigger_allard · September 2017

puffytheslayer wrote: »

***_allard wrote: »

TheShadowScout wrote: »

***_allard wrote: »

What’s wrong? Besides my Breton Magicka Sorceress Toon, Arianna Ahearn, being such a ……. weakling? I just moved up to Level 20 and she still fights like she is level one. She can’t run 50 yards without running out of Stamina. In addition, her Magicka wains after a one-time pass through the bar...

Its normal that Sorceresses who spend all their time with their nose in books learning spells will be winded after even a short run. That's why they usually invest in a good horse as soon as they can...

As for the magic bar... that casting spell after spell will exhaust your mystic energy reserves should come as no surprise either. It can be helpful to alternate spell castings with fully charged heavy attacks from your staff to recover magica... and wear light armor only to take full advantage of the light armor magica support passives! And choose your damage spells carefully to get the best result for your magica... some are better then others, others have special effects that help in special situations... -know- your character skills!

Also, a mage should take advantage of CC spells to keep the pesky melee fighters away while you whittle them down with your magic. Used in the right combinations, you can have a "flawless victory" when you stop your opponents in their tracks so often they are dead before they reach melee range (well, trash mobs anyhow, won't work on minibosses since they usually are CC immune - but alternating CC spells and heavy attacks can make for quite some effective combo against weaker opponents!)

Also, DoT & HoT spells (like a certain one you can get in the mages guild skill line) can be quite helpful in getting you through fights without feeling underwhelmed by your efforts, as can the "blood magic" passive in the dark magic skill line...

Gear... fuggedaboudit. At level 20, you will replace your gear all too quickly, so go with your quest reward drops and whatever fits with those, and learn what works for you, plan your way to which set you will want to go after once you reach the CP160 cap.

Skills, as has been said, play through the mainstory and spend those skill points on combat skills, then raise your crafting when you grab the skill points from cadwells... taking the early time to start up on your research for the equipment craft lines, that takes long enough anyhow.

Okay, @TheShadowScout , I did as you suggested and went to Wayrest and respected. As it stands I have 16 points left to use on active skills (and Passives).

Conjured Ward, Bond Armor, Meteor, Surge and Elemental Storm are not yet available. Now, please correct me if I am wrong: I should save those points for when those aforementioned skills become available--as well as their morphed skills, before putting them into passives? Both bars have different skills in them as of now--save for the Clannfear and Power Overload.

Incidentally, @the.witchdoctor was extremely kind enough to set me up with the proper armor and some power food: And, at no cost to me--for which I am eternally grateful. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

there is no sense holding on to skill points for skills you are a long way off unlocking

at level 20 i would assume your class skills are around the same level (20-30) by the time the skills you mention are available you will of earned more skill points

you need to make sure you have at least 1 skill from each class line on your bar otherwise they will not level, you have a pet, you have overload so get crystal frags on your front bar,
i would put negate on my back bar and liquid lighning or if you dont have it yet lightning form on your back bar

additionally many of the destro staff skills are only active when you have a destruction staff skill on the bar, so put wall of elements on back bar and force pulse front bar

you will unlock the light armour active skill before unlocking sorc ward, so you can use that (on your back bar) for now (it is a good skill to level up and use in additian to or instead of sorc ward depending on the situation) and it will help you learn how to play with shields from an earlier level

Thnks, I will follow your lead.

Jigger_allard · September 2017

FINAL THOUGHTS:

The one thing that stood out when I beta tested ESO in 2014 was the comradery among players testing the game. Despite my feeble brain not catching on right away I am pleased to see that nothing has changed. Some of you reminded me of that in this thread. Still, that did not stop you from reiterating the help you had given me previously. That speaks volumes of the kinds of people who play Elder Scrolls online. And, it also reassures me of why I came back.

After respecting my Toon and receiving the armor that @the.witchdoctor so freely made for me the difference in play was like night and day. Before I struggled to try to take Chodala down, in Vvanderfell, I died several times. Today with my new active spells set properly on my two bars and the new armor, I took him down without much of a sweat. Thank you all for that. And, thank you all for the guidance as well. Happy gaming!