if you dont want to use the bear, i would probably suggest the mages guild meteor + the warden healing tree ultimate

ice staff is good, if you have a masters ice staff (dragonstar arena, which on normal is pretty trivial to do with a group) is really potent on a warden

icy conjurer used to be more potent, but still not bad though the only downside is its very single target focused, so sometimes ive had it proc on a weak enemy just before they died and then its down for 10 solid seconds doing nothing

frostbite + mothers sorrow is probably a pretty decent "starter" setup

i also like the ice furnace set from direfrost keep, as it basically adds an extra very consistent 900-1200 dps in an 8 meter aoe as long as your dealing frost dmg (though while it does fire dmg, i still think it kind of fits the ice theme)

A build is about character abilities and player skill. Armor bonuses are there to complement that. They are not the heart of a build. The choice of the warden spammable is exemplary of why that is. 😳

With that in mind, lets see what you can do...😎

As a first step you should keep Mother's Sorrow and ditch Spinners Garments.
Replace it with Order's Wrath. You can craft it and it requires only 3 traits researched. No need to buy it. ☝️
Spinners is wasted opportunity on a magicka build where you have easy access to both major and minor Breach, if you are using the magicka morph of Fissure. This set is only useful in PvP, where most players have between 25k and 33k resistances. But do not throw it away just yet, you might be needing it during the PvP events. 😉

The best second set for a frosty brittle Warden is indeed Whorl of the Depths, but since you exclude Trials sets, I'd say Frostbite is your best bet. You have to use a lot of frost abilities though. Otherwise the set underperforms.
You will replace Mother's Sorrow with it.

Now there are two more options. First, you can opt to use two Arena Staffs (DragonStar and Maelstrom), which is the better option. Or Second, you use a Monster Set (there are a lot of good options) instead of the frontbar Arena set and obviously use one of the two main sets on your frontbar weapon.
Regardless of the choice, the preferred frontbar trait should be Charged to maximise the uptime of those sexy status effect procs. Backbar trait is always Infused.

Hope I could help. Feel free to ask for rants on abilities to use. 😅

Thee_Cheshire_Cat wrote: »

Greetings! Thanks for taking the time to read this.

i was hoping someone might be able to help me build an armor set or something based on my playstyle, and my character. Right now, i have manic moments where i am googling best builds/armor and end up blowing way too much gold/time on something i know nothing about.

i am not looking to top all the dps. Trials are OUT. Mythics are iffy. Magicka DPS Warden.

i prefer to keep using a staff. i do NOT want the bear out.

i am leaning heavily on mostly ice related abilities, and am currently kinda CP slotted and such to help with that.

Currently, i have 5 pieces of mothers sorrow armor, sprinkled in with some Spinners. And a spinner lightening staff.

Wondering if this sounds 'ok'? Or if the icy conjurer or frost bite set should be something i should be looking into instead?

Ok. This is my main and I too do not like the bear. I also do not use the Shalks and I still pull decent DPS.
I run Frostbite, Whorl of the Depths and Nunatak.
However for you I would suggest Mother’s Sorrow or Kvatch Gladiator until you can get Whorl.
You ideally want Master Staff front bar with Whorl Back Bar, however Maelstrom is also a strong option if on back bar.
Important factor is to have Frostbite on your armor pieces so you do not lose the five piece bonus when switching to back bar.
Another option is to run the Oakensoul Ring. This way you would ditch Nunatak in favour for a plethora of permanent buffs and no need to rotate between two bars.

But as you seem to be starting out I suggest getting the Frostbite set first as you can farm it in Blackwood. Then either craft or pay someone to craft the Kvatch set. Or farm Mother’s Sorrow.

Your jewellery should be Bloodthirsty to maximise your DPS over harder and longer engagements. It will lower your DPS early on in encounters but generally speaking it outweighs other options as the fight gets harder. And for trash it won’t matter anyway. This is why I suggest Kvatch, once it procs it will spike your damage.

Many will argue that 25% health is a point where such sets don’t matter, but believe me when facing some of the toughest content in the game it really does make a difference when it comes down to burning the last little bit of health down especially when it stacks with bloodthirsty. I moved away from Mother’s Sorrow to Kvatch for this reason. That being said, Whorl of the Depths will give you more overall and is a superior option.

Nunatak is optional but is useful for your group if some players have not capped Crit Damage, so it’s usually a welcome sight in the groups I run with. You’ll be providing 30% Crit Damage group wide at times running this set. (20 from set 10 from your ice spells.)

As for skills I run the following:

Winter’s Revenge, Arctic Blast, Lotus Blossom, Fetcher Infection, Elemental Blockade (If Maelstrom otherwise Unstable), Destructive Reach, Degeneration, Mystic Orb (Consuming trap or Bird of Prey on front bar is ok), Razor Caltrops. Ice Comet for single target and Icy Rage for trash or bosses that have a lot of tough ads to kill at once.

You want to rotate so your buffs are first followed by your longer lasting skills such as single target dots, followed by your AoE dots and then finally you spammable. Then rotate while mixing in heavy attacks to restore resources. Ideally within 10 seconds after using Degen to take advantage of Empower. I usually do it before I start spamming Destructive Reach. Also try weave light attacks in as well, it accounts for a lot.

With Oakensoul, you can simplify everything down:

Winter’s Revenge, Wall, Arctic Blast, Destructive Reach and Fetcher.
With Ice Comet as Ult.
Really easy with this ring and you will still be doing acceptable levels of DPS as long as you use heavy attacks often. You just won’t be doing top tier DPS.


On a final note, if you’re planning to do Vet arenas such as Maelstrom or Vateshran. Then Living Trellis, and Frost Cloak (if not using Oakensoul) are a must. Then switch out Nunatak for a survival monster set such as Ice Heart. Pale Order ring is also incredibly useful but not required.

This is a lot of information but feel free to play around and perhaps improve on this to your taste.

P.S this is my CP allocation but there are other options.

Blue Tree:

Precision: 20
Eldritch Insight: 20
Tireless Discipline: 20
Piercing: 20
Flawless Ritual: 40
War Mage: 30
Weapons Expert: 50
Wrathful Strikes: 50
Thaumaturge: 50

**Reaving Blows: 50

** I personally run this but it is not an optimal option. You’re better off switching it out if you’re not too fussed for a bit of fun and self healing.
Put spare points into other passives where you can fit them.

Red Tree:

Sprinter: 20
Hasty: 16
Hero’s Vigor: 20
Mystic Tenacity: 10
Tumbling: 30
Defiance: 20
Siphoning Spells: 50
Boundless Vitality: 50
Rejuvenation: 50
Fortified: 50

** Strategic Reserve is actually a good option. Bastion is also good for solo tough content and it will help you survive with Ice Heart and Dampen Magic for example. But you won’t need them for most things. They are just options to consider.

Green Tree:

Irrelevant. Take the move speed one.

Phew that’s a lot of writing. Take what you will, reject what you will. I hope it points you in the right direction.

Oh one more thing… you want Charged trait on staff to maximise your chilled uptime. Chilled hits hard on Wardens and it will keep Brittle up.

My build is using the Master's destro front bar with Destructive Reach as the spammable.

I normally run Depths on the body, then Pillars on back bar and jewlery. If trials are out of the question you could swap Depths for something else. I tried Frostbite and it was less than Depths, but overall not bad and easier to get. I didnt have the Depths weapons to make it work with Frostbite at the time, but I would have like to have tried it. Orders Wrath has been my favorite crafted set.

I tried with double arena weapons and with back barring a proc set weapon and a monster set. I prefer having a monster set simply because of the flexibility that comes with them.

I tried to stay with an Icey theme as much as I could. Destructive Reach, Pulsar, Wall of Elements, Winters Revenge, Arctic Blast, Ice Comet, and Northern Storm are the "ice theme" abilities that I use. Pulsar is situational, but it also applies mangle reducing their health pool by 10%, minor protection, and triples the chance to apply status effects, in addition to the damage. Artic Blast is my heal, has a higher chance of applying the chilled status effect, and its just fun to use.

Elemental susceptibility is another. Its partially frost.

I do use the bear at times, but prefer not to. When I dont, I use Flawless Dawnbreaker on the front and either Ice Comet or Northern Storm on the back. In addition to the damage Storm gives 300 weapon/spell damage for 30s and Major Protection. Dawnbreaker is for the passive damage.