@idk thanks for your suggestions, I've already got a ton of good gear for stam and mag, and 6 other level 30ish character across each class, my templar is actually swapped between two alcast builds that I tweaked a bit, and does well pretty well in both roles. But I always hear people say Templars are easy mode so Idk maybe I just like it cause it's harder to screw up?
The stamden actually does slightly better dps than my templar on a dummy but in content it definitely doesn't (that ones following a dottz build) and is no where near as fun in my opinion.

Thanks for your thoughts!

That stamina warden gets way better with A few hundred CP. I run a DW myself and it took a much longer road to develop than my magplar which could nuke through most content by level 30 without much resistance. You really have harder especially medium and large groups of enemies because you don’t have the AOE and DOT toolkit that Templar does but as you mentioned your single target goes higher on it. I’ve mashed up a Dottz and alcast build for mine but have done a ton of experimenting to get to an I’ve little sweet spot where I can solo 4 man dungeons on normal with it and complete trials with my group effectively.

It can be a challenging class to play but give it another look and develop that characters skills and you may change your mind. But as I say it needs CP to really lift its potential especially because it’s a bit weak on the AOE side.

I was able to solo all the public dungeons in the game before the gear cap, I want to say around CP120ish, I’m up to close to CP420 as of last night on the same setup running trials and soloing the 4 man base game dungeons. I run a setup that works for me that’s a little off from the meta.

Gear is Hundings and Briarheart. All stamina enchants. Jewelry has all weapon damage enchants. When I had sustain issues I had absorb stamina enchants but I’ve since switched to poison and beserker. I don’t have a specific 2pc monster set just a crafted set that gives me extra health because I need it for soloing and to avoid 1 shot mechanics in certain trials.

DW front bar. I have bull netch and green lotus, and slot them there instead of my back bar because they have to be up at all times to maximize the damage on this build. My main spamable is rapid strikes from the DW skill line and my pet spamable is sub assault. Weaving is 2 RS per 1 SA. My front bar DOT is growing swarm which works as a mini AOE. When I run into larger mobs I will typically cast this twice from a distance after activating my netch and green lotus. You can cast your SA on the run also and get your RS going. The range on RS is larger than you think. Half the mob is gonna die by the time you cast your next SA. Sub assault works as an AOE and DOT as well but it’s a much more focused cone so when you cast your growing swarm from further out the enemies all run to you a bit and stack up in the cone. The trick is to make sure your second growing swarm hits a different enemy and the damage there will also stack as it spreads. Sometimes I will do kite mobs a little and get a 3rd cast in. There are a couple dungeons where you need to get that extra AOE stacked. In general mobs of 8 or more or if you pull a couple together you will want to consider a 3rd SA.

My back bar is my go to bar when I’m in deep trouble usually but it’s also where the rest of me AOE and mitigation plus burst heals lie. For AOE I’ve got endless hail like 98% of every build out there. It’s a shame there aren’t more skills that can compete in terms of damage from other skill lines but endless hail is necessary for sure. I’ve also got gripping shards. It deals frost dots plus has a handy snare that can get you out of trouble or lock enemies into the endless hail barrage. I’ve got bird of prey in there for the extra damage for slotting it plus the speed boost. Helps me dodge those groups AOE’s bosses drop, especially those little small popcorn circle or the round ones moving about in a grid pattern. If you’ve seen a guy dancing around these circles during world boss fights it’s probably me. I dodge and weave my way around those things like it’s nobodies business. Part of the fun of the build I might add. Anyhow for burst heal I’ve gone with enchanted growth just to give my stamina a break when I’m low. I can back out to range and heavy attack with a couple arrows while burst healing in between or recasting the dots between heavy attacks during those boss fights with too many adds. Finally I’ve got crystal slab as my shield because it reflect damage back but the duration is short. I’m considering switching for frost cloak because the cost is cheaper.

Back bar isn’t really needed for most mobs but occasionally you’ll want to throw it in there at the start. I will actively netch and lotus on the front switch to back, bird of prey than endless hail, swap again, get my swarms out, sub assault and rapid strikes. You shouldn’t have to re up the endless hail for mobs it will have softened everything up enough along with the growing swarms. Also I guess it goes without saying you must light attack before each skill so don’t forget to do that.

Boss fights solo on this build get a bit more tricky. I end up spending more time on the back bar and switching to front to grab the AOE and recast netch and lotus. It usually due to adds which I’m trying to dance around damage while catching them with endless hail and gripping shard combo. The bird of prey helps me avoid most damage the burst heal helps when I can’t avoid the damage. When I’ve got the adds down I’m back on the front bar to burst as much down as I can on the boss before repeating the cycle. Because I’m alone it takes several cycles to bring some bosses down. It’s not something you can just DPS through like you can in a group. You end up playing and learning mechanics this way as opposed to a strong trial group where you can stand in the AOE and go to town.

That’s what makes these builds fun to me. I prefer the challenge though with my magplar sometime I prefer the face rolls! Oh and yes I use the bear on both bars. When soloing content I use mostly trash stam and health pots. I save the good stuff for trials. I’m also not afraid to die and try again or juggle some things around on the bar. Sometimes I swap the heals because some bosses have mechanics where I need to be on the front bar with a burst heal to survive and DPS something else down. That’s part of the learning experience though.

One final quick tip, if you do need to heavy attack to sustain you can hold down the heavy attack button and press your skills in between without ever letting go of the button. This will cancel the heavy attack animation, fire the skill and cancel the skill animation and start the next heavy attack. This works with skills that have an instant cast time, those that are channeled have some wonky results with firing or canceling early. Also you can bar swap and fire a skill during a heavy attack as well. This will help you squeeze a little more out of your build.

Now doing it while parsing is one thing, but in the chaos of certain battles you may forget everything you know. Looking at you Cloudrest +3. Way too much going on in there, and it’s easy to forget everything in the chaos.

It's hard to say what's right, but here's my take. I have a WE StamDen, HE MagSorc, and Breton Magplar. The stamden is by far the weakest dps wise but I play him because it absolutely nails the ranger fantasy. His costume, pets, and weapons all add up to a really immersive character. On impulse, I play him the most. Sure, my sorc is easier and is my other main, but I feel my stamden more. I say start from there. As the game ages, classes get buffed and nerfed and what remains is how the fantasy plays out.

Destai wrote: »

It's hard to say what's right, but here's my take. I have a WE StamDen, HE MagSorc, and Breton Magplar. The stamden is by far the weakest dps wise but I play him because it absolutely nails the ranger fantasy. His costume, pets, and weapons all add up to a really immersive character. On impulse, I play him the most. Sure, my sorc is easier and is my other main, but I feel my stamden more. I say start from there. As the game ages, classes get buffed and nerfed and what remains is how the fantasy plays out.

Wood elf stamden. I assume you are playing bow/bow? Check out this build by Hack the Minotaur. https://www.hacktheminotaur.com/builds/eso-stamina-warden-pvp-bow-build-frost-bite

That may help put you on the right track to getting your damage up. Hacks builds are solid and generally easy to use. The video will explain how to use the build and explain why you use certain gear over others. You can still tweak the builds and make them your own. I’ve tweaked his magplar build and MagDK build to fit my style and they are good guides to get you up to speed and improving your game.