Help me find a class/play style I will love :) Please

dday_0612 · May 2020

Hello all, I played ESO years ago. At the time I tried all the classes, but never actually played long enough to really know the game. I had 8 characters all below level 20

I decided to come back now and I want to give this game some effort. I am a MMO veteran, back to EQ and I have played them all. I played a lot of WoW. I am also an Elder Scrolls fan and played all the single player games.

I started a new Magika Sorcerer but before level 10 I realize it probably isn't the right fit for me. I don't link long cast time spell builds (mage is the only class in WoW I didn't max level).

Here are the specifics about characters in other games I enjoyed:

In WoW, I love Affliction Warlock. I like quick or instant cast times and slow burn DoTs, running around dodging while placing dots on multiple enemies. I also loved the Wrath of the Lich King era Protection Warrior (new prot warrior is not so great). I like melee classes that have lots of proc's where your skill choice of use is dependent on your proc.

In Skyrim, like many people, I put most of my time into a stealth archer. Not sure if the stealth archer class in this game is similar or fun?

Anyhow, after realizing I didn't want to play Magica Range Sorc, I guess I am leaning toward a stamina close range melee char or maybe an archer. This or a DoT caster if there is anything like an affliction warlock in this game?

I would love any input as I try to decide on a class/play style that I can level to 50 and really give this game a proper try.

Thanks a ton!

zvavi · May 2020

Mmm, I gotta ask though, what long cast time spells exactly? Mag sorcs don't run any...

dday_0612 · May 2020

zvavi wrote: »

Mmm, I gotta ask though, what long cast time spells exactly? Mag sorcs don't run any...

Sorry, "long" may not be the best descriptor. I just mean casters that need to stay still while casting for a few seconds. I only played the VERY early game, so just basing it on that.

zvavi · May 2020

dday_0612 wrote: »

zvavi wrote: »

Mmm, I gotta ask though, what long cast time spells exactly? Mag sorcs don't run any...

Sorry, "long" may not be the best descriptor. I just mean casters that need to stay still while casting for a few seconds. I only played the VERY early game, so just basing it on that.

All damage dealers can stand still while fighting... But it is totally a choice, no problem moving as well... I am still not sure but what do you mean by "need to stand still while casting"

Just...move?

Chilly-McFreeze · May 2020

You don't need to stay still as a magsorc either.
Do you mean the cast time on Frags? There is a morph that makes it instant via proc chance.
Or do you mean the delay on curse? Then there is no hope for you to become friends with the class, as the delayed combo is bread and butter (in pvp).

However, the "dot class" is the Dragonknight, which conveniently is melee focused. But dots suffered a bit lately.

Bow builds aren't as bad as before. You can utilize them with different classes. But fun is always subjective.

For procs there are some. Honorable mentioned is the Bow proc from Nightblades. Sorcs have something similar in Bound Armaments (stam) and Frags (mag).

Everest_Lionheart · May 2020

My main is a DW stam warden. The game play is fast paced and fun. The cast times for some of the warden skills can be a little clunky and the bear pet can get annoying while looting but sometimes the bear can hold aggro for a few seconds and it will save your life. Also it’s a cheap ultimate so you can roll it constantly. Warden has the versatile toolkit between all its skill lines though the ice magic feels a little out of place but if you like RP you can fit it into a build with a Nord and run a 2H weapon instead. 2H gives the better attack buffs but it’s not as fast paced to me.

My other character is a double destro staff mag Templar. The Templar skills are flashy and fun. Cast times are fast, durations are fairly long. As a solo player it’s super fun to play and some of spell effects look great. It’s an aesthetically pleasing class if you like to see a lot of things happening at once. It’s an easy class to play especially once you get your skill morphs and sustain worked out. With proper gear and CP distribution you can stand in your enemies face and fire off a crazy amount of skills while basically taking no damage. Fun for a different reason, mostly because of lightning staff and a couple of skills from that skill line mixed with the Templar skills. You get a screen full of blue and yellow flashy stuff and enemies melt around you. Fire staffs it all kind of blends together, still fun to play but not as aesthetically pleasing especially during night battles. Though fire looks good in some caves.

VaranisArano · May 2020

First off, its hard to judge a playstyle by level 10. You haven't unlocked most of the skills by that point, and the playstyle can change a fair bit.

That being said, if you want an immediate change of pace while keeping your progress, try swapping your MagSorc to a StamSorc. The Arcane Warrior build in the Skills Advisor is a pretty good starting point.

Lughlongarm · May 2020

Magicka Dragon Knight is something of an hybrid between Affliction Warlock+ Protection Warrior . It can be played in close range for both Stamina and Magicka, so sounds like the class for you. Go with dark elf as it is the best race to switch between magicka and stamina builds.

Cerbolt · May 2020

It kinda sounds like you might like dragonknight, the melee dot based class but I don't know enough about wow to be sure lol Maybe try looking up some clips on YouTube to try and get a feel for the classes perhaps?

MerguezMan · May 2020

As previous posts, I'd say Dragonknight or Templar.
Magicka versions have built-in self heal and may be easier on sustain.
Stamina versions are both deadly in close-range.
Hybrid versions are both viable for solo play.

Use 1 or 2 proc item sets on top of your build (proc on dot, channel or crit, depending on your skills), and you should come close to Affliction Warlock gameplay.

You may also consider roles swapping, if you feel so. Templars go rather healers, DKs go rather tanks.

Everest_Lionheart · May 2020

VaranisArano wrote: »

First off, its hard to judge a playstyle by level 10. You haven't unlocked most of the skills by that point, and the playstyle can change a fair bit.

That being said, if you want an immediate change of pace while keeping your progress, try swapping your MagSorc to a StamSorc. The Arcane Warrior build in the Skills Advisor is a pretty good starting point.

This is a good point. At Lv10 you only have 1 bar, limited skills and likely no morphs. Also playing with basic equipment so it all feels a little clunky and like a bit of a slog. This game doesn’t really get going action wise until you’ve put some good levels under your belt. At Lv50 it becomes a new game and at CP160 all new again because you can really enhance your skills with the right equipment.

I would say by level 25-30 you’ll have a good feel of your class and most of the important skills unlocked and a few morphed. At that point if something feels off you can switch to the stamina or magicka version of the same class and see if that better. You can change weapon types too particularly if you are stam and see if that helps. DW and 2H have a totally different feel. Don’t touch S&B unless you want to be a tank. Bow/Bow is a more niche build with some searching you can find guides and builds for it.

Any build you do happen to follow just know it’s not all concrete. Some of the skills are flex spots, some of the equipment is interchangeable because some is harder to get (Briarheart and Spriggans come to mind.) Just be warned if you change too much off the build like use a magicka morph a skill Instead of stamina or vice versa the CP assigned will need to be adjusted because CP affects skills differently.

There are simple 1 bar builds out there that are effective but those can be a crutch. Learn how to utilize that second bar ASAP. Speaking from experience here. I was a one bar wonder forever, getting comfortable with 2 changed my whole setup and approach to the game. It can be overwhelming at first but it’s second nature with a little practice.

Larcomar · May 2020

As others have said, you can't judge a class by low level play. I started a magsorc and found it like watching paint dry till around 20. The class only comes into its own as you get towards 30 and get critical surge. And, yes, it sounds like you were hard casting crystal frags. That's not how you use it.

If you're struggling to see which playstyle you'd like, I'd recommend making dark elves - they can go stam or magika equally - and at minimum power levelling up to 15 in aliik desert. At least then you can get an idea what they can do. You might also think about making sure you have one of each clas and levelling their horse everyday. Then at least it's easy to swap if you get with main.

The recommendations to try dk are prob right in terms of a dot based melee gameplay. Tbh tho while i love my dk as a tank, I don't get on with him that well as DPS/solo. I did though swap my magsorc over to stam sorc for a while and thought it was great fun. Not dots but very entertaining fast and furious game play. Stealthy archer wd obviously be stamblsde. I find mine v squishy but now he has vigor he's a bit better. My templars stalled a bit so can't really advise there; nothing major just found jabs animation got really old after a while.

Recent · May 2020

Magicka warden and magicka templar as fun starting out classes, very versatile....you can build them as healers, damage or tanks so if you dont enjoy one role just build them another role.

Or try magicka necromancer i think mine is fun anyway.

All these 3 classes are versatile imo

Cheveyo · June 2020

dday_0612 wrote: »

zvavi wrote: »

Mmm, I gotta ask though, what long cast time spells exactly? Mag sorcs don't run any...

Sorry, "long" may not be the best descriptor. I just mean casters that need to stay still while casting for a few seconds. I only played the VERY early game, so just basing it on that.

I think you're seeing the long cast time of their Crystal Shard skill and assuming it translates to the whole class. It doesn't.

In fact, Crystal Shard has a morph that gives you a chance to make it an instant cast spell and do more damage. Crystal Fragments is the name of the morph. Most people only use crystal shard/fragments when they get an instant cast for it.

No other skill that I can recall has that cast time. Everything else is instant.

tsaescishoeshiner · June 2020

ESO has very few skills with cast times, and they're not longer than 1 second. You can also move while casting, so no class has to stand still. As others have said, Sorcerors do NOT spend time casting Crystal Shard - Sorc is one of the few classes with a proc skill, actually.

ALL PvE builds in ESO use DoT's and instant cast skills. Every single class. Magicka and Stamina.

You might not like the delayed damage abilities (as in use a skill and it hits 3 seconds later) that some classes have, but since ESO has no cooldowns, these delays allow these skills to be balanced as much more powerful than other skills.

You might like Nightblade. They have a higher level skill that deals HUGE damage only if you've hit the enemy with 5 light attacks. They also have good DoT's, good mobility, and can be played melee or ranged. Gets better at higher levels imo

Joxer61 · June 2020

dude...there is an addon that prevents you from "hard casting" frags...get it. I was always hitting that by mistake and it just kills your dps so yea, this thing wont let you fire anything but the proc! It will help a lot!

lucky_Sage · June 2020

Definitely say dk both mag and stam are melee dot bruisers

Nerftheforums · June 2020

Stamina templar or stamina warden could match your desires.

Raudgrani · June 2020

Depends on what you like, and you seem to like a few different thing.

I play mainly Stamina. Either an Orc Stamina Necromancer, or a Nord Stamplar. My damage is perhaps some 10% higher on the Necro, but ffs... Seriously. On my Nord even a slow old no gooder such as me can survive very well. Went through vet Aetherian Archive and vet Hel-Ra Citadel on him last night, I died ONCE in total (because axes slipped from tank in AA, i.e. not my fault). Rest of group are the typical "BiS" people, and we had zero vitality bonus left in both trials. ZERO. I died ONCE in total... I costed us ONE out of our total 48 vitality bonuses.
Last time in vet Dragonstar - ZERO deaths for me, and we had like 3-4 vitality bonuses left at the end. My race is not the problem for scoring, obviously. My damage on that Stamplar (on a dry old non trial dummy) fluctuates between 38-41k DPS, so it's not like I'm a total carry victim either. It's "BiS" for me, no doubt. Would never race change that toon.
Yes, you can argue that it's (sometimes) important to burn bosses etc., but 8-10% less damage from me is hardly the difference between 24 and zero vitality bonuses for the scoring.

On my Necro, I do a bit more damage of course, but I do have a problem to stay alive every now and then, when there's a lot of AOE's and had hitting mobs etc. I recently got Lokkestiiz, and I'm kind of enjoying it. Coupling it with TFS and dropping Boneyards 24/7. I don't like Relequen at all (a bit more on my Bow/Bow StamDK), as I feel it's unrealistic to keep the stacks up in most content but trial boss and dummy trashing. At least I can't.
Finally, I have an orc Bow/Bow StamDK, which is pretty good at staying alive due to the ranged nature of the build. It's a master of damage over time/AOE's for sure. It's a bit slow at bursting and such (read: It can't), but once I've got my steam up - damage is crazy. Whole screen is full of orange numbers. Great for content with lots of trash/adds. I love running like Sanctum Ophidia on that StamDK, using Azureblight or Relequen, Tzogvin and Maarselok on it, with either Master's or Maelstrom bow.

Which is most FUN? Well, generally I trust my Nord Stamplar most, but it all depends a little on what content I'm doing. If we're doing Unhallowed Grave and do all the "hidden bosses", of course I'm running my Necromancer. No doubt.

I also play a bit magicka. I have a Breton Magplar and a High Elf Magblade. But I honestly suck on both, especially the Magblade which is a true "BiS" build as far as gear goes. I can kind of mimic my Stamplar playstyle a bit on the Magplar, so it's a bit less bad for me. I look forward to implement vampire skills on said Magplar.

Also, I have a Necromancer healer, and Nightblade/Warden tanks. The healer is very nice (according to others), but healing becomes a bit dull in the long run, especially if you don't run with strong DD's. NB tank is supreme for arenas and 4 man content in general (I have like a "waiting list" for people to run VDSA/VBRP with me because of that tank), but if I need to take serious beating (vet trials), my Warden tank is the way to go for me.
Tanking is a bit the same, gets a bit slow in the long run. Sometimes I secretly switch to Ysgramor (frost damage) in dungeons, just to do some more damage with Gripping Shards, Wall of Elements and Polar Wind, Permafrost etc. Tbf., in group finder I feel I often have better DPS on that tank, than the DD's do if I run that. It's pretty cool, literally. ;-)
I'm also gonna try and run that tank as a Werewolf once Greymoor drops for consoles, it seems very fun! I'm farming Tormentor armor for it.

So anyway, you should probably try a bit different things. You can set a Sorcerer to Stamsorc or Magsorc, even if it's an Altmer or Orismer or whatever, just for trying. You don't need all the "BiS" gear and all, just copy an Alcast build for beginner gear and try it out. It's often cheap or even crafted. That way you would get an idea of what you feel is best for you. Don't do the mistake to spend loads of gold and resources on builds for characters you will rarely or never use anyway, try it out before deciding. Don't spend too much energy thinking of what's absolutely best gear/race etc., until you are sure that's what you want to run. Upgrade your builds gradually once you feel it's what you want.

Mortiis13 · June 2020

First of all nothing here plays like wow classes

( I played wl/uh dk/rogue)

For beginner pve I would recommend magicka. They all have in class heals + restostaff.
Slot atleast 1 hot and 1 burst heal, major resolve, major sorcery, a stun. 2 ground dots, a "spamable", delayed burst if available, 1 flex spot for whatever u want.

What color/theme (class) u like most is up to you. In pve dps plays across the board very similar.
Some have all what they need inclass(mag templar)
Overs have to pick a lot from "universal" skilllines(stam sorc)
I prefer edgy themes so I stick with sorc/necro/nightblade pve/pvp and warden only for pvp.

Stamina takes a bit of time, you need to do a bit of pvp to get vigor(best stam heal) some need to level 2h or dw to get access to major brutality, but in the core it's same as magicka just with swords/bow instead of sticks.

I play mainly solo pve and pvp
(overland/worldboss/dungeon/vetdungeon/Arena)
For group play I can't give you informations

OWLTHEMAD · June 2020

dday_0612 wrote: »

Hello all, I played ESO years ago. At the time I tried all the classes, but never actually played long enough to really know the game. I had 8 characters all below level 20

I decided to come back now and I want to give this game some effort. I am a MMO veteran, back to EQ and I have played them all. I played a lot of WoW. I am also an Elder Scrolls fan and played all the single player games.

I started a new Magika Sorcerer but before level 10 I realize it probably isn't the right fit for me. I don't link long cast time spell builds (mage is the only class in WoW I didn't max level).

Here are the specifics about characters in other games I enjoyed:

In WoW, I love Affliction Warlock. I like quick or instant cast times and slow burn DoTs, running around dodging while placing dots on multiple enemies. I also loved the Wrath of the Lich King era Protection Warrior (new prot warrior is not so great). I like melee classes that have lots of proc's where your skill choice of use is dependent on your proc.

In Skyrim, like many people, I put most of my time into a stealth archer. Not sure if the stealth archer class in this game is similar or fun?

Anyhow, after realizing I didn't want to play Magica Range Sorc, I guess I am leaning toward a stamina close range melee char or maybe an archer. This or a DoT caster if there is anything like an affliction warlock in this game?

I would love any input as I try to decide on a class/play style that I can level to 50 and really give this game a proper try.

Thanks a ton!

I dont know anything about wow, but everything your describing sounds like you would enjoy either mag dk or melee magblade.

Melee magblade gets cloak and a teleport as well as some decent dots. Mag dk is attrition based and is the 'dot class'

Major_Lag · June 2020

dday_0612 wrote: »

zvavi wrote: »

Mmm, I gotta ask though, what long cast time spells exactly? Mag sorcs don't run any...

Sorry, "long" may not be the best descriptor. I just mean casters that need to stay still while casting for a few seconds. I only played the VERY early game, so just basing it on that.

Magsorc is THE most highly mobile magicka class in the game, in fact in PvP it's pretty much a hit-and-run glasscannon class when played in the most typical way.

If you want a DoT oriented gameplay on a magsorc, there are a few options... there's a destruction staff DoT, entropy, soultrap, and of course the class DoTs: curse and the monkey familiar (scamp). As well as any additional DoTs from poisons or status effects, as well as proc sets.

Dusk_Coven · June 2020

Maybe try FFXIV instead? A single toon can literally play every single class in the game and you can swap pretty much any time you like (except once you enter a dungeon). And they have a ton of classes.