Maintenance for the week of December 23:
• NA megaservers for maintenance – December 23, 4:00AM EST (9:00 UTC) - 9:00AM EST (14:00 UTC)
• EU megaservers for maintenance – December 23, 9:00 UTC (4:00AM EST) - 14:00 UTC (9:00AM EST)

Need help, I have been playing a DK, but cant decide between Necromancer or Arcanist

Darkshadow1911
Hi, I am playing a DK stam, I am newish to the game, and I have alot to learn but I learn quick. And, I want something a little more in depth then the DK. I played PvP tonight for the first time in this game, and really enjoyed it. But, I will also be doing alot of PvE stuff. But, every friday at least for now I will be doing PvP if not more. I have no Champion Points yet, so I am really working for the start, and I am fine with that, My question is Necro or Arcanist? Which would you suggest and why?

Thank you
  • Darkshadow1911
    Also the Nightblade is an old old class I have kind of been into but never played. So, compair it with the other 2 please, but I want something I will be able to easily change PvE to PvP and back.
  • Hotdog_23
    Hotdog_23
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭
    Try them all out and see which one you like. DK is strong in both PVE and PVP. Some popular places for builds to look at and places to learn from. You don't have to follow each build exactly, but you can use them as a guide to make your build for you and your play style and what you like to use.

    https://alcasthq.com/category/eso-builds-classes/
    https://hacktheminotaur.com/builds/
    https://eso-hub.com/en/builds
    https://deltiasgaming.com/best-eso-builds-updated/
    https://xynodegaming.com/elder-scrolls-online-builds/
    https://dottzgaming.com/category/build/

    Stay safe :)
  • LukosCreyden
    LukosCreyden
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭
    Probably not Necro. It is in a very bad place and has been for a while. It also also a clunky class to play in general. Arcanist, on the over hand, is powerful, smoother and easier to play in pve, but will struggle against competent players in pvp (i am incompetent in pvp so I will probably die to one lol).
    Struggling to find a new class to call home.Please send help.
  • KlauthWarthog
    KlauthWarthog
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭
    The sooner you forget the necromancer class exists, like the combat team did, the better for you.
  • Darkshadow1911
    What are some great pvp/pve classes other then dk?
  • Soarora
    Soarora
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭
    Stamarc is best dps in PvE right now, though I’m not sure how good it is in PvP. I’ve heard it’s strong but also not? I guess depends on if you get people stuck in your beam.

    My main for PvP and PvE DPS is a mag warden. Does well enough for trial HMs and wins battlegrounds.

    I’ve heard templar is good in PvP too, though its a “dead” PvE class. But so is warden, so I don’t think templar is really a dead class.
    PC/NA Dungeoneer (Tank/DPS/Heal), Trialist (DPS/Tank/Heal), and amateur Battlegrounder (DPS) with a passion for The Elder Scrolls lore
    • CP 2000+
    • Warden Healer - Arcanist Healer - Warden Brittleden - Stamarc - Sorc Tank - Necro Tank - Templar Tank - Arcanist Tank
    • Trials: 9/12 HMs - 3/8 Tris
    • Dungeons: 30/30 HMs - 24/24 Tris
    • All Veterans completed!

      View my builds!
  • Araneae6537
    Araneae6537
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    DK sounds like the best choice overall for what you want BUT a class that you enjoy the theme and feel of is more important and a good player is more important than a meta class and build.

    Do you want to DPS in PVE? As others have said, stamina Arcanist is in the best place overall. Everything else is probably second, more or less (even necro can be useful support PVE DPS wearing elemental catalyst). Warden is probably best in healer/support, but arcanist, nightblade, templar, and necro are also decent options.

    I’m not sure what is currently best in PvP besides DK — maybe nightblade, although that’s a particular play-style, not a tanky brawler. Not necro.
  • Darkshadow1911
    Ok, I guess I should say this and it might help. I dont chase meta, it changes everyt patch or nerf. If this patch the class I settle on is meta great. but if I chase metas right now I will never have a main to learn as much as I can from the game right now. With that being said, I have a side questiuon, Is traditianal roles used in this game? I mean tanks healer and dps. I know Ill probablity be soloing until newer content, but in newer content is it?

    And back to the original question, I am just looking for something that wont get hosed in PvP and I can contribute to my faction/group (depending on Cyrodiil or Battle).
  • Araneae6537
    Araneae6537
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Ok, I guess I should say this and it might help. I dont chase meta, it changes everyt patch or nerf. If this patch the class I settle on is meta great. but if I chase metas right now I will never have a main to learn as much as I can from the game right now. With that being said, I have a side questiuon, Is traditianal roles used in this game? I mean tanks healer and dps. I know Ill probablity be soloing until newer content, but in newer content is it?

    And back to the original question, I am just looking for something that wont get hosed in PvP and I can contribute to my faction/group (depending on Cyrodiil or Battle).

    Then I would recommend that you give each class a try to see what you like. :) Yes, overall, traditional roles are used in group content. Good things are that every class can fill every role (although some are definitely better in some roles than others) and you can change your build to play different roles as well as going between PVP and PVE. You’ll probably want to start out as a DPS or healer in PVE since tanks especially need to know the mechanics, although you’d probably be fine in any role in normal basegame dungeons.

    As for PVP, necro is generally agreed to be worst, but I’ve come up against strong ones, at least compared to my low- to mid-tier self.
  • Darkshadow1911

    As for PVP, necro is generally agreed to be worst, but I’ve come up against strong ones, at least compared to my low- to mid-tier self.

    Thank you, so much for your help. Still doesnt really narrow it down for me. I guess I am not use to most (like 90% of classes) to be viable and can be all 3 more less. I do like the arcanist, but even the stam feels caster. But, I am starting to not to feel ill of casters again. I am just trying to find that one class that catches my eye I guess.


    And, thank all of you for helping
  • Darkshadow1911
    I'm keeping my arcinist, but I think I want to support in pvp with some dps. So, I am looking hard at Templar and Warden. I like Templar for the tankness, less dieing. But I like Wardens for they're support.
  • Araneae6537
    Araneae6537
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'm keeping my arcinist, but I think I want to support in pvp with some dps. So, I am looking hard at Templar and Warden. I like Templar for the tankness, less dieing. But I like Wardens for they're support.

    I love my templar, but I believe that wardens are naturally tankier — they have the minor toughness for one. But I think whichever you enjoy will be a good choice. :)
  • fred4
    fred4
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭
    And, I want something a little more in depth then the DK.
    I think DK has a lot of depth. As a DD it's not the easiest class to get good damage out of, but I believe mag DK was meta maybe two years ago. I never took to it myself, because it's the original DOT class and requires you to be really on top of your rotation. That said, it's also the #1 tank class for various reasons (Unrelenting Grip, Magma Shell, Helping Hands, Iron Skin) and the #1 class to go deep in Endless Archive, if not alone then as a tank partner (Magma Shell, Deep Breath AOE interrupt). Furthermore it's been a top, if not the top, PvP class for some time. Leap, Corrosive Armor, good tankiness and self healing that flows within your natural rotation (Shattering Rocks, ultimates), DOT pressure, it's got it all, except for a purge.

    Necro is the one class I don't play, but I have a friend who specialises in it. As a DD, I believe it's heavily dependent on ground AOE DOTs, which means it's been disadvantaged by meta shifts that favor more mobile playstyles in PvE, such as the latest trial. It's also a bad choice for some other really hard content, such as vBRP. That said, it has a specialised role in trials as (to the best of my recollection) an Elemental Catalyst / Martial Kowledge build and, sometimes, for the Major Vulnerability from the Colossus ult. Necro was good when it came out, but has had nerf(s), including PvP-related one(s), leaving it gutted by many accounts.

    Arcanist is the new easy play class, however this doesn't mean it isn't fun. ZOS did a good job with it. The playstyle is genuinely new, bearing some resemblance to templar and heavy attack builds, but not exactly. It's arguably OP as a stamina DD at present, but on the other hand this is due to a shallow learning curve, meaning it's OP in the average player's hand, relative to what the average player can normally do, and with meta gear, e.g. Velothi Ur. I believe it tops out at or slightly below the other classes when parsing as a DD, and it's high Combat Metrics results in trials are arguably inflated by the fact that it always cleaves, damaging adds that other builds might simply ignore. The class can do anything in PvE, including being a healer or a tank. In PvP I'm not sure. It is tanky. It's good in group play. I don't believe it particularly troubles experienced opponents in a 1v1.

    Nightblades are very versatile and in some ways very direct. Where other classes stack burst in PvP, or DOT you up, nightblades just have a toolkit that flows, with many situational skills. While they are known for ganking / bursting people down, in reality they do it by having a high pressure window after hitting you with Incap Strike. They then have a burst skill (Grim Focus), an execute (Death Stroke), three spammables (one melee, one ranged, one AOE), a self heal, an escape skill (Shadow Image), and so on. Like magplar, a magblade can heal from dealing damage, albeit I find it usually feels squishier. I suppose you know that their most class defining skill is Shadowy Disguise, aka Cloak, which makes you completely invisible to NPCs and players alike. While they also have support for tanky brawler playstyles and can even be used as a healer, they are perhaps best known for stealth / solo playstyles in PvP. In PvE, on the other hand, their most natural role is, perhaps, as a DD. They've been very competitive in that role at various points in the past, albeit you have to work at it, unlike Arcanist, and they're naturally single target, unlike Arcanist who always cleaves. Nightblade has been said to have the highest skill cap of the original classes, although this has arguably been remedied by recent changes to Grim Focus in particular. However that skill still has (unfortunately deliberate) timing issues, which makes it clunky to weave. Perhaps some of that NB learning curve remains. Playing a nightblade is easy. Playing it really well can be hard. The second best role for a nightblade is probably as a tank.

    If you were looking to create a healer, I believe the top choices would be templar or warden, but since you haven't asked about the other classes and this post is already getting long, I shall stop here :).
    Edited by fred4 on December 17, 2023 11:29AM
    PC EU: Magblade (PvP main), DK (PvE Tank), Sorc (PvP and PvE), Magden (PvE Healer), Magplar (PvP and PvE DD), Arcanist (PvE DD)
    PC NA: Magblade (PvP and PvE every role)
  • M0ntie
    M0ntie
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Arcanist for PVE dps no question currently - they hit the hardest. Definitely NOT necro.
    For PVE healer warden and then other alternative is open. Templar is not much in demand currently - nightblade or Arcanist. (I main PVE trials healers.)
    I'm not sure for PVP.

    Arcanists are one of the easier classes to play. I'd definitely recommend one of those after a DK. (I love DKs.)
    Necros are one of the most difficult classes to play especially if you have a high or variable ping. The skills are clunky and maintaining corpses is another level of difficulty. Plus their damage in PVE is not great.
Sign In or Register to comment.