Please help me improve these solo PvE builds

BasP · May 28

I took a break from ESO in August and returned to the game about a month ago. Since then, I've replicated some of my characters on the PTS and parsed on a 6M dummy with different setups to see if I can optimize their builds for solo play a bit (I don't do anything fancy though; just veteran Arenas, DLC Dungeons on normal and so forth).

Below you'll find links to screenshots of the setups I've created for now. I also included my best parse on the 6M dummy for each setup (some parses are pretty bad, though

). So how would you improve those builds? Are there any gear and/or skill setups that I should try, for example? Any insight is welcome!

(Please note that I'd prefer suggestions without Trial gear as I only play ESO solo, however, and I tend to use skills instead of potions for the major buffs even though it's suboptimal in most cases.)

Khajiit Stamblade: 54K DPS (DW/Staff)
Breton Magden: 53K DPS (Staff/ 2H) and 52K DPS (Staff/Staff)
Khajiit Magplar: 52K DPS (Staff/ 2H) and 51K DPS (Bow/Staff)
Redguard Stamden: 52K DPS (DW/2H) and 49K DPS (Bow/Bow)
High Elf MagDK: 50K DPS (DW/Staff) (I tried to add some passive healing, but sadly my DPS with such a setup is relatively crap)
High Elf Magcro: 49K DPS (Staff/2H) (Shocking Soul is a Scribing skill and I added a DOT + Major Breach. But I'll probably just use a simple Oakensoul HA build because I'm quite bad at doing Necromancer rotations in content)
Dark Elf Petless Stamsorc: 48K DPS (DW/Staff) (with a Bow on the front bar my DPS was about the same)

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Added a Stamsorc setup.

Necrotech_Master · May 28

honestly if your hitting 50k dps on the 6 mil dummy then your pretty "above average" in terms of dps

i would say "average" on the 6 mil is 30k (at least what should be aimed for minimally)

54k dps on 6 mil is ~108k dps on the trial dummy (its not exactly always doubled, but its good approximation)

BasP · May 29

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

honestly if your hitting 50k dps on the 6 mil dummy then your pretty "above average" in terms of dps

i would say "average" on the 6 mil is 30k (at least what should be aimed for minimally)

54k dps on 6 mil is ~108k dps on the trial dummy (its not exactly always doubled, but its good approximation)

Thanks! My goal was to do around 50K DPS on that dummy without Trial gear and with trash pots, cheap food and the Ring of the Pale Order, and it was nice to see that I succeeded most of the time. I guess the recent changes to Status Effects, coupled with the upcoming craftable set called Threads of War, have helped on that front.

Still, I don't doubt that there are better setups than I used that a solo player like me can get their hands on.

Zodiarkslayer · May 31

I think you have reasonable dps setups, but have you tested these builds against World Bosses?
Pale Order is great and all, but some times it is just too dependent upon damage output. With invulnerability phases being en vogue with Bosses, it is a calculated risk to use Pale Order.

NoPet StamSorc: I prefer Flurry as spammable and crystal frags as supplement. With Bound Armaments on the backbar for buffing and without Haunting Curse, I have a simpler rotation and still high damage. That could work for you too.

MagPlar: I would probably try out DW/InfSt and one more light armor piece, too. The additional crit chance, combined with Nirnhoned and Charged and a little bit more pen could work wonders. This way you could also use absorb Magicka and Stamina glyphs for the status effects and subsequently drop Power of the Light for Barbed Trap frontbar and Solar Barrage backbar. PotL has crit'd 9 out of 12 times in your parse, but you only have 46% chance, meaning it did considerably more damage than it should, twisting the picture a little.
The 2H Maelstrom bonus is also not that impactful for your setup, since you only have 5.7k sd tops. Meaning you definitely haven't got the maximum bonus anyway. With DW, Nirn, etc. you should have around 6.5k Spell Damage.

BasP · May 31

@Zodiarkslayer Thanks for your comment! To be honest I had only done some parsing prior to making this post, but I did intend to swap one skill on the back bar (Camo Hunter for most of those setups) for a healing skill in content.

You've got a good point regarding the Magplar. I hadn't noticed the high crit rate of PotL on both parses, but those numbers are indeed misleading. I just parsed with Solar Barrage instead of PotL a few times with both DW/Staff and Bow/Staff setups and ended up doing 48K DPS and 49K DPS respectively, which isn't too far off from the PotL parses I suppose.

Just now I also soloed four of High Isles World Bosses (Serpent Bog, Dark Stone Hollow, Faun Falls and Y'ffre's Cauldron) with the Stamden, Magden, Magplar, Stamblade and StamSorc. Both Wardens and the Magplar (with SB) did fine. I ended up changing the Stamblade's skills a bit for Dark Stone Hollow, however, and I am not really sold on the Stamsorc. While I did prefer using Flurry and Crystal Frags instead of the setup I used for the above parse, I couldn't help but think: "Why am I not using a HA build to deal similar DPS with less than half the effort?"

(But then again, the Sorc has never been my favorite class.)

Zodiarkslayer · June 2

BasP wrote: »

While I did prefer using Flurry and Crystal Frags instead of the setup I used for the above parse, I couldn't help but think: "Why am I not using a HA build to deal similar DPS with less than half the effort?" (But then again, the Sorc has never been my favorite class.)

Yeah, we all have been asking ourselves that question.
My answer is simply to have fun. I enjoy a class's toolset and the gameplay that it offers. Not its power.

Its pretty healthy in this game to find joy on your own terms. ZOS does little in the reward cycle department.

BasP · June 3

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

BasP wrote: »

While I did prefer using Flurry and Crystal Frags instead of the setup I used for the above parse, I couldn't help but think: "Why am I not using a HA build to deal similar DPS with less than half the effort?" (But then again, the Sorc has never been my favorite class.)

My answer is simply to have fun. I enjoy a class's toolset and the gameplay that it offers. Not its power.

That's definitely true. The Warden is my favorite class and my main is a Redguard Stamden, which isn't exactly the most powerful character one can create (especially since the changes from I believe U35 and U37). Still, I'm happy that Wardens received a small buff in U42 and that the new gear sets will work better for that character than the ones I currently use.