Returning player, question about mag and orcs now

Acrolein1 · March 2021

Soooooooooo.... Seems they changed racial passives a little bit! As someone that always wanted a mag sorcerer orc, but never did because their racial bonuses don't support it, I have to ask. Can orcs be viable on a mag aligned class now? I know they won't be as good sustain wise, but can that be offset with food buffs and the like?

Sangwyne · March 2021

Orcs are definitely viable, if not optimal, for Magicka DPS builds now. Perhaps even more so than some actual Magicka-oriented races like Breton, and definitely more than Argonian. They're probably third in terms of Magicka DPS behind Altmer and Dunmer, but if you want to play a muscled wizard, now's your chance. Sustain is pretty important this patch, what with the nerf to Major/Minor Intellect and the removal of Arcanist and Tenacity, but you can run parse food with the heightened base health, and I suggest slotting Rejuvenation in Fitness. Go for it dude.

Acrolein1 · March 2021

Ok. Cool. So, one other question. Your resource pool has an affect on your damage bonus, right? So does that 2k extra magicka that Altmer get strongly enhance their damage or is it something you can overcome?

Sangwyne · March 2021

Acrolein1 wrote: »

Ok. Cool. So, one other question. Your resource pool has an affect on your damage bonus, right? So does that 2k extra magicka that Altmer get strongly enhance their damage or is it something you can overcome?

100 weapon/spell damage usually scales ability damage the same as 1050 Stamina/Magicka, so the 2000 Magicka equates to about 190.5 Spell damage (2000x100/1050). The 2000 Magicka on races like Breton is noticeable, but not as important as the 258 Spell damage that Orc gets. If you really wanted to min-max your Magicka DPS, you would go Altmer, yes, but the difference is nowhere near as large as it seems, especially given that this last patch removed the 20% boost to maximum resources from Champion points. Do what you want to do, Orcs have more base health and a built-in heal, Altmer have slightly more damage and some Stamina sustain, both are perfectly viable.

lucky_Sage · March 2021

I’m thinking of going or my Magdk for mobility but magsorc would still be better as altmer or Breton

Bodycounter · March 2021

Acrolein1 wrote: »

Ok. Cool. So, one other question. Your resource pool has an affect on your damage bonus, right? So does that 2k extra magicka that Altmer get strongly enhance their damage or is it something you can overcome?

You cannot fully compensate that difference from a pure DPS perspective. At this point Orc seems to parse around 4% lower than High Elf but this pretty much means nothing in real trial/dungeon environment. Orcs got higher base health/stamina and the passive healing of Unflinching Rage fits very well to Critical Surge's and/or Ring of the Pale Order's healing. They should be noticeably beefier in Arena content for example because of this.

Acrolein1 · March 2021

4 percent? That's not a big difference at all! Hmm. I know I said Sorcerer, but how is mag necromancer right now? I know Sorcerer generally is the easier class to play, but last I checked mag necro was rather underperforming. How is it doing now and would an orc be okay for that as well?

Bodycounter · March 2021

Orc is generally the fourth strongest magicka DPS class in this patch after Altmer, Dunmer and Khajiit. The synergy between Orc racial and Critical Surge was just an example. Orc Necromancer should be completely fine but since im not a high-end player i can't make any statements how well each class does in endgame PvE at this point. Imho for over 90% of the player base and for over 90% of the content in this game every race and class combination will work completely fine.

Races and classes mainly matter for people who have perfected their parses, their weaving, their build and their rotation. And even then everything can change when the new chapter hits live servers in summer.

zvavi · March 2021

Bodycounter wrote: »

Acrolein1 wrote: »

Ok. Cool. So, one other question. Your resource pool has an affect on your damage bonus, right? So does that 2k extra magicka that Altmer get strongly enhance their damage or is it something you can overcome?

You cannot fully compensate that difference from a pure DPS perspective. At this point Orc seems to parse around 4% lower than High Elf but this pretty much means nothing in real trial/dungeon environment. Orcs got higher base health/stamina and the passive healing of Unflinching Rage fits very well to Critical Surge's and/or Ring of the Pale Order's healing. They should be noticeably beefier in Arena content for example because of this.

It definitely shouldn't be 4% difference, but around 2% should be more accurate.

PS, people forgot to mention khajit, khajits are at the top with altmer and dunmer, and they have better sustain.

AcadianPaladin · March 2021

My Bosmer mages are quite viable - and the only strong racial bonus they get is BiS for cute. So I think an orc mage would do fine. Well, as long as you aren't going for cute of course.