magsorc monster set advice

green_2 · June 2020

Hey, I need advice about monster set for my magicka sorcerer.
It's my first pvp character but I'm quite good at mechanics.
My current build:
5x golden crafty alfiq
5x golden bright-throat
2x purple maw of infernal
My frontbar: crystal fragments, crushing shock, endless fury, haunting curse, hardened ward
backbar: dampen magic, streak, radiating regeneration, critical surge, boundless storm
After playing for 2 days I'm thinking about swapping my streak into a frontbar, hardened ward backbar and slotting dark conversion on backbar instead of dampen magic which means I will be running only 1 backbar shield and no frontbar shield.
I'd like to get more defensive monster set (since I do feel like my haunting curse+endless fury+ mages guild ult is enough dmg), any suggestions will be appreciated.
My race is breton.

jaws343 · June 2020

I have switched over to Pirate Skeleton and have found it to be incredibly powerful on a mag Sorc this patch. The great thing about it is it only activates when an opponent gets through your shields. So unlike other defensive sets, it doesn't proc when you do not need it. And once procced, you can still put up shields and it reduces the incoming damage still. So when it procs, you are godlike.

Been running it with New Moon and Caalurians and I am just wrecking people.

As far as your bar setup, I think it looks ok. My front bar is identical. My back bar is a bit different, but only because I left some PVE utility on and run Maelstrom fire staff back bar with WoE. It's a nice skill to drop on a flag or in a tight spot to keep people back. And I run Conversion. Pre-casting it gives you some nice mag regen and it is an ok heal. But with Surge up, you rarely need it for the heal.

DTAmoral · June 2020

You can always take off boundless storm, and put on Mighty Chudan.

This frees you up for another slot on your bar.

(Chudan gives the same effect as boundless but its 100% up time, instead of recasting boundless, and you get a little extra resistance from the 1 pc bonus as well)

green_2 · June 2020

jaws343 wrote: »

I have switched over to Pirate Skeleton and have found it to be incredibly powerful on a mag Sorc this patch. The great thing about it is it only activates when an opponent gets through your shields. So unlike other defensive sets, it doesn't proc when you do not need it. And once procced, you can still put up shields and it reduces the incoming damage still. So when it procs, you are godlike.

Been running it with New Moon and Caalurians and I am just wrecking people.

As far as your bar setup, I think it looks ok. My front bar is identical. My back bar is a bit different, but only because I left some PVE utility on and run Maelstrom fire staff back bar with WoE. It's a nice skill to drop on a flag or in a tight spot to keep people back. And I run Conversion. Pre-casting it gives you some nice mag regen and it is an ok heal. But with Surge up, you rarely need it for the heal.

Which bar do you mean? The one with streak on front or shield? If shield then are you using streak on your back bar?

jaws343 · June 2020

With my current build I am not using Streak. I find the sturdiness of my build allows me to get away with taking a bit more pressure.

When I do run streak. I determine the bar it is on by what I plan to use it for. If I am using it for the stun, I front bar it and back bar curse. If I am using it for the escape, I back bar it.

green_2 · June 2020

I will try running dark conversion instead of streak too, will see how it works.
I will swap to defensive monster set once I get my undaunted to 9, im not really into this pirate skeleton set, do you have any other suggestions? :P

green_2 · June 2020

jaws343 wrote: »

With my current build I am not using Streak. I find the sturdiness of my build allows me to get away with taking a bit more pressure.

When I do run streak. I determine the bar it is on by what I plan to use it for. If I am using it for the stun, I front bar it and back bar curse. If I am using it for the escape, I back bar it.

Do you know any other monster sets for pure defensive that could workout?
I'd like to combine them with boundless storm to be super tanky :P

jaws343 · June 2020

Bloodspawn still can be useful.

FirmamentOfStars · June 2020

Engine guardian for an obstacle to LOS, for decent mag and stam regen and some healing?

Anyron · June 2020

jaws343 wrote: »

I have switched over to Pirate Skeleton and have found it to be incredibly powerful on a mag Sorc this patch. The great thing about it is it only activates when an opponent gets through your shields. So unlike other defensive sets, it doesn't proc when you do not need it. And once procced, you can still put up shields and it reduces the incoming damage still. So when it procs, you are godlike.

Been running it with New Moon and Caalurians and I am just wrecking people.

As far as your bar setup, I think it looks ok. My front bar is identical. My back bar is a bit different, but only because I left some PVE utility on and run Maelstrom fire staff back bar with WoE. It's a nice skill to drop on a flag or in a tight spot to keep people back. And I run Conversion. Pre-casting it gives you some nice mag regen and it is an ok heal. But with Surge up, you rarely need it for the heal.

New moon on magsorc? Isn't necropotence/alfiq better for you?
Magsorc can get more from max mag than from spell dmg - and i have it with caluurion and it works great

As for monster helmet, i recommend you to go for mythic item, because is no real ranged-magicka-dps-monster helmet.

kyle.wilson · June 2020

I thought every pet sorc defaulted to Engine Guardian this patch

Anyron · June 2020

kyle.wilson wrote: »

I thought every pet sorc defaulted to Engine Guardian this patch

Engine guardian can maybe hit only afk players. That set is weak in damage part, can be dodged has obvious delay and its slow.

wheem_ESO · June 2020

Anyron wrote: »

kyle.wilson wrote: »

I thought every pet sorc defaulted to Engine Guardian this patch

Engine guardian can maybe hit only afk players. That set is weak in damage part, can be dodged has obvious delay and its slow.

Engine Guardian doesn't do any damage at all. Instead, it provides the user with a large amount of either HP, Stamina, or Magicka regeneration, while also body-blocking really well.

I don't play Mag Sorc very much, but when I do I kinda like using Mighty Chudan in BGs. Freeing up the bar slot is nice, and it reduces resource/GCD expenditure as well.

jaws343 · June 2020

Anyron wrote: »

jaws343 wrote: »

I have switched over to Pirate Skeleton and have found it to be incredibly powerful on a mag Sorc this patch. The great thing about it is it only activates when an opponent gets through your shields. So unlike other defensive sets, it doesn't proc when you do not need it. And once procced, you can still put up shields and it reduces the incoming damage still. So when it procs, you are godlike.

Been running it with New Moon and Caalurians and I am just wrecking people.

As far as your bar setup, I think it looks ok. My front bar is identical. My back bar is a bit different, but only because I left some PVE utility on and run Maelstrom fire staff back bar with WoE. It's a nice skill to drop on a flag or in a tight spot to keep people back. And I run Conversion. Pre-casting it gives you some nice mag regen and it is an ok heal. But with Surge up, you rarely need it for the heal.

New moon on magsorc? Isn't necropotence/alfiq better for you?
Magsorc can get more from max mag than from spell dmg - and i have it with caluurion and it works great

As for monster helmet, i recommend you to go for mythic item, because is no real ranged-magicka-dps-monster helmet.

Necro only works if you are running a pet build. I am not. I have found that spell damage works out a bit better for non pet builds if you build around it, especially since Sorcs have passives that increase spell damage. Plus NMA gives a line of spell pen, which is always nice to have.

Monster helm wise, I am not the biggest fan of EG's unpredictable buffs. You never get the one you need when you need it. Pirate Skele provides huge damage mitigation when you need it when your shields go down. Mythic items are great, but you have to greatly build around them. Thrassian is a set I really only like in PVE. I do have a build I want to try with the Torque but I am still farming a few pieces of that. And Malacath also needs to be drastically built around, something I did for my magdk but don't really care to do for my sorc.

As for Alfiq, I do have another sorc that I run Alfiq and Bright Throat on. It runs pretty well, but it is also a completely different playstyle than my NMA/Calurians/Pirate build. It is much more kite and burn. Whereas my NMA sorc is in your face.

Larcomar · June 2020

Tried EG. Popped alot but it's so random wasn't finding it that great. Ran MAw for a quite a while and liked it but wasn't really sure how much damage it was doing. Been running pirate skelly last few days - feels that made a big difference to my surivivability. Really liking it so far.

Run a similar set up to you / others here - crafty, BTB - and find it works well. I find dark conversion essential for the healing. gives a bit of burst on top of radiating. I ended up dropping haunting curse to make room. HC is technically the better skill compared to fury bit found it less use in a melee because you can only have 1 up at a time.

In terms of what goes where, still playing but find streak on frontbar really valuable - gives me offence + a escape for those times bar swap aint happening - and like having ward there too to make me a bit hardier. I use enduring as I dont find the shield is much smaller (unless you're runnign a high health build) and the 10 second duration means I keep it up most of the time.

caperb · June 2020

Larcomar wrote: »

Tried EG. Popped alot but it's so random wasn't finding it that great. Ran MAw for a quite a while and liked it but wasn't really sure how much damage it was doing. Been running pirate skelly last few days - feels that made a big difference to my surivivability. Really liking it so far.

Exactly the same for me with the monster sets. Maw is more an annoyance set rather than a damage set (since it only ticks for about 1k damage), so EG might even be better because it also offers resources.

Using Necro front Lich backbar now so i could fit in malacath and a monster set. The three monster sets named in this thread are all really strong for magsorc this patch so i felt i had to use them. Been using tonal before, but it is often not available when you need it directly. Tried the vDSA staff too, but the duration is really short so often you won't even get to use it and casting it before every frag made it really predictable for my opponents when to dodge.

caperb · June 2020

green_2 wrote: »

My frontbar: crystal fragments, crushing shock, endless fury, haunting curse, hardened ward
backbar: dampen magic, streak, radiating regeneration, critical surge, boundless storm

That frontbar shield is nice, usually a lot of builds only have shields on the backbar, but having it on the frontbar allows you to stay on the offensive side longer in laggy situations.

You could try a pet build too. Drop fury and radiating regen for the matriarch pet and you will have a solid build with a lot of offensive and defensive potential. Dampen magic can be dropped for dark deal since you don't really need two shields on a pet build and it offers more sustain (bright throat is much better than lich (= best regen) for pet builds since the heal scales with max magicka).

Also, don't let people trick you into using chudan. If you really need the barspace, try it. Sorcs have barspace problems quite fast, but the other monster sets are just too good to drop. Also, boundless is a nice speedbuff (works well with the cooldown of streak), does some decent damage for an active-passive skill and works very well with surge (as long as you are able to hug your opponents and not die).

green_2 · June 2020

I made some changes, rapid regen is out for dark conversion (but once I get better potions critical surge is out for rapid regen). Maw out and skeleton is now my monster set, so far it is working fine and I will probably upgrade it to gold.
Pet sorc is out of the question because in my opinion pets are cancer of this game or at least pvp.
What do you guys think about elemental weapon vs crushing shock? Some good magsorcs (for example MalcolM) are using elemental weapon but I don't see it being better in any way than crushing shock.

Lord-Otto · June 2020

green_2 wrote: »

I made some changes, rapid regen is out for dark conversion (but once I get better potions critical surge is out for rapid regen). Maw out and skeleton is now my monster set, so far it is working fine and I will probably upgrade it to gold.
Pet sorc is out of the question because in my opinion pets are cancer of this game or at least pvp.
What do you guys think about elemental weapon vs crushing shock? Some good magsorcs (for example MalcolM) are using elemental weapon but I don't see it being better in any way than crushing shock.

Elemental Weapons are slightly more damage, but at higher resource cost. They are more bursty, which is useful if you don't run Fury. Lastly, the guaranteed elemental status effect means you're proccing Maim from the ice effect more often.
Crushing Shock can inflict all three status effects at once, but it's unlikely to happen. It works better against wings, though you don't see them a lot these days. The ranged interrupt is the main draw, useful to stop reviving.

Tammany · June 2020

Lord-Otto wrote: »

Elemental Weapons are slightly more damage, but at higher resource cost. They are more bursty, which is useful if you don't run Fury. Lastly, the guaranteed elemental status effect means you're proccing Maim from the ice effect more often.
Crushing Shock can inflict all three status effects at once, but it's unlikely to happen. It works better against wings, though you don't see them a lot these days. The ranged interrupt is the main draw, useful to stop reviving.

+Passive damage as orbs and 5000 shield on block.

jaws343 · June 2020

One reason I don't use Ele weapon is it is one less projectile you are throwing at an enemy. If you are weaving light attacks with Force pulse or crushing shock you are sending out 2 projectiles per cast. Ele weapon is only one projectile. Which makes skills like wings, or dodge roll, more effective against them.

I think force pulse has the added advantage of doing damage to nearby enemies and the interrupt for crushing is pretty solid.

green_2 · June 2020

I will stay with crushing for now since I play a lot of battlegrounds, once I get to 600 cp and start playing cp cyro I will give ele weapon a chance, for now weaving with it seems too unnatural.

katorga · June 2020

Lord-Otto wrote: »

green_2 wrote: »

I made some changes, rapid regen is out for dark conversion (but once I get better potions critical surge is out for rapid regen). Maw out and skeleton is now my monster set, so far it is working fine and I will probably upgrade it to gold.
Pet sorc is out of the question because in my opinion pets are cancer of this game or at least pvp.
What do you guys think about elemental weapon vs crushing shock? Some good magsorcs (for example MalcolM) are using elemental weapon but I don't see it being better in any way than crushing shock.

Elemental Weapons are slightly more damage, but at higher resource cost. They are more bursty, which is useful if you don't run Fury. Lastly, the guaranteed elemental status effect means you're proccing Maim from the ice effect more often.
Crushing Shock can inflict all three status effects at once, but it's unlikely to happen. It works better against wings, though you don't see them a lot these days. The ranged interrupt is the main draw, useful to stop reviving.

I run a charged staff when using crushing shock for increase status effect chances sometimes with a disease enchant for defile, but mostly shock. I generally stick with crushing over elemental.

If I use malacath I run 5 heavy seducer or eternal vigor, but I've had good luck running Wild Hunt for extreme ranged kiting.

I'm curious why Pirate Skeleton is suddenly good again?

caperb · July 2020

green_2 wrote: »

I will stay with crushing for now since I play a lot of battlegrounds, once I get to 600 cp and start playing cp cyro I will give ele weapon a chance, for now weaving with it seems too unnatural.

Elemental weapon is most useful when zerging or fighting outnumbered, for any other situation it is useless. Don't forget for elemental weapon to hit your light attack has to hit, while crushing shock will only fire when LoS will allow it.