Theorycrafting: Zaan Build

InFernalEntity · February 2018

So it was confirmed recently that elfbane adds 2 ticks of damage to Zaan. Meaning it's considered a flame damage ability.

So does that mean Silks of the Sun would also buff it's damage ticks by 400?

Dunmer's racial passive affects proc sets which is another 7% damage.

81 points in Thaumaturge and 75 in elemental expert. Then either points in spell erosion or physical weapon expert.

So 5 light armour + silks of the sun = spell penetration and 400+ damage for Zaan.

5 elf bane = spell damage + 2 damage ticks for Zaan. Dual swords = +5% damage done. (Not sure if just physical or all damage. Tool tip isn't clear.)

2 Zaan. 1 Medium. 1 Heavy. For maxing out magicka pool.

Dunmer Sorc for 5% more physical damage + 2% spell + weapon damage for each class ability slotted + 7% fire damage from Zaan.

Bound Aegis, Power Surge, Boundless Storm:
5% Max magicka, Major Brutality and Sorcery, Major Expedition to keep you in range once beam connects.

Inner Light and Meteor for Max magicka, Major Prophecy and Magicka recovery.

Expert Hunter. Major savagery + 3% weapon damage.

Apprentice Mundus Stone.

I haven't actually tested this out because I just got the DLC today. But from the % damage increases, flat damage increases, stat pool damage increases and the crit chances, once Zaan procs it looks like it should be devastating.

What do you guys think? Would anyone test this out?

ak_pvp · February 2018

Monster sets are not buffed by stats. Only percentage modifiers and for some reason elf bane.

InFernalEntity · February 2018

So definitely elf bane.
% modifiers (including CP?/Dual Swords?)
And perhaps Silks of the sun 5pc?

Asardes · February 2018

From your description it's unclear if the build is meant for PvP or PvE but since it's not posted in the PvP catergory I'd just assume it's PvE. There are plenty of problems with it:
- Zaan wouldn't be that good on Sorcerer since it forces you to stay melee to proc it, and in most trials melee spots are limited by design. Most stamina builds will beat magicka builds when it comes to DPS so there's no reason to take up one of those spots.
- Silks of the Sun doesn't add damage to procs from sets, but only your own spells.
- Dual swords, you won't be able to sustain the rotation, and sorcerers have no spammable skill to help with that; also light attacks damage scales differently depending on the type of weapon used and swords, being melee weapons, will scale off weapon damage (and much less on maximum stamina).
- As magicka build you don't need weapon damage since basically all your skills scale off maximum magicka and spell damage, so any increase in weapon damage would be inconsequential and will only buff your sword light attacks, but those won't do much damage since your base weapon damage will be low due to a low base.
Even if it's for PvP it would still be weak, for pretty much the same reasons.

InFernalEntity · February 2018

@Asardes thanks for clearing that up before I waste my time farming gear for a Zaan proc build.

W0lf_z13 · February 2018

ive been running 5x sun, 5x elf's bane and 2x zaan in pvp for the last 2 weeks in PvP ... its pretty damn fun on a magicka DK

Datolite · February 2018

I'm guessing Soulshine doesn't apply to Zaan because it's not a skill?

Would be funny to see a Soul Assault/Zaan beam duo. Also devastating if not properly countered.

Also damn near useless if you're not out in the open.

Asardes · February 2018

Yes, Magicka DK is a completely different play style from Sorcerer and I would agree that Zaan is probably the best monster head to use there, and it's meant to be melee. That works in PvP, but less so in PvE, since it can't output enough DPS.

W0lf_z13 · February 2018

can tell you from my testing that Penetration is a factor in the damage from Zaan, I ran a few tests on a target skeleton with a sharpend sword as main hand and infused offhand and nirnhoned main hand and infused offhand and the Zaan ticks were bigger with the sharpened/infused combo

Asardes · February 2018

Yes, monster sets do benefit from spell / physical penetration depending on the damage they do, as well as class & racial bonuses and also CP. That's why sets that do elemental damage won't perform well on stamina classes and sets that do physical damage won't perform well on magicka classes. But their damage won't scale on your stats like spell and weapon damage, and maximum spell and weapon damage respectively.

W0lf_z13 · February 2018

Asardes wrote: »

Yes, Magicka DK is a completely different play style from Sorcerer and I would agree that Zaan is probably the best monster head to use there, and it's meant to be melee. That works in PvP, but less so in PvE, since it can't output enough DPS.

FULLY agree with the bolded part .... target skeleton results were at minimum 2k LESS dps than I usually get