The “Easy Sorc” build

kylewwefan · May 2019

In lieu of last weeks Xynode appreciation thread, I was compelled to try out this easy Sorc build.

Simple put it’s Undaunted Infaltrator, Infallible Aether, Grothdar.

Xynode recommends an Undaunted Infaltrator Lightning stave...I spent much time trying to acquire with no success. So, I made some changes.

To complete the sets, I’m using 2 medium armor, 5 light, and an IA Lightning staff because I had a few of them lying around. I do indeed have more Maelstrom staves than could ever possibly need, but realize this build is likely designed to help someone acquire them.

Transmuted the jewelry to infused/ bloodthirsty. It’s purple with purple enchants. My IA staff is purple and precise. Grothdar is 2 light, Because I had them to make the sets line up.

My character is dark elf he recommends high elf.

How does it play?

It’s like old school pet Sorc, but with no pet. Massive AOE damage everywhere. lacks in the single target a little bit. That’s not such a bad thing when you got that much hard hitting AOE everywhere.

It feels stronger than Pet build....you can use pets too. It’s versatile. I like it. Had a lot of fun.

If you run out of resources, you’re doing something terribly wrong. I was skeptical using weapon damage enchant and shock enchant with no Absorb magic enchant, but the heavy attacks more than make up for recovery.

I’ve never been good with Sorc. So I left the Lightning form skill un morphed. It made me move too fast and couldn’t see the guy and lightning everywhere is makes it tuff for me to tell wth is going on. Did not need the speed buff too.

It’s very strange not having a real spammable on the front bar. Daedric tomb is kind of wonky, diddnt really like. Or clench. Pulsar though, fits the theme; adds utility, hits good. I like it.

I soloed the daily Undaunted pledges. Easily.

I had a much more difficult time doing them in Siroria/ Mother Sorrow/Zaan.

I ran Maelstrom one time with the setup. It was pretty good in there actually. MS Siroria Zaan would be laughable. Guarantee. I’m not the best Sorc ever, but this setup is solid. I’d recommend it to anyone wanting to try something different.

Some other things

Having the 2 medium body pieces and jewelry may not be %100 optimal, but it did insure the 5 piece Undaunted Infaltrator Buff was always on. Lost a little bit for no 511, but still right around 40k mag 3k Spell Damage buffed. Could be a little better if some things were golded out or wat not.

Undaunted Infiltrator is a weird freaking set. Medium armor. Has 2 add magic bonus. Weapon Crit, not spell Crit, then the light attack does 700 extra damage, heavys do 1100 extra damage. Because the Damage adds every tick of lightning staff heavy it makes it really good for lightning staff heavy attack.

In trial, you can throw in trap beast or Channeled Acceleration somewhere for the minor force.

mikemacon · May 2019

You can also try one of the older Easy Sorc builds for the “fuller” effect.

Prior to the two handed changes, the bulld at one point called for Spider Cultist and Netch’s Touch - you should be able check the archived build vids.

This build specifically does not have a “spammabe” in the traditional sense, unless you consider two activations during the front bar rotation a “spammable”. The heavies and AOEs do the heavy lifting for the build. In fact, I believe that for the original form of the build, the majority of the damage was in fact from the heavies buffed by WOE.

That said, IF you can get a good “feel” for Tomb, it hits like a truck and gives you some CC. AND provides minor prophecy via passives.

However, Tomb is not what you’d use in all situations. Xy points out that at many encounters you’ll want to swap in crushing shock for the ranged interrupt. Your overall deeps will drop a little bit...but you’ll get the interrupt.

Also, if you’re in a single target fight Xy specifically recommends swapping Grothdarr for Zaan. Because I’m lazy, I ignore him there - and I do just fine in single target fights with my Grothdarr-wearing Easy Sorc. 😜

Again, though, while i was farming the UI staff I used his “older” setup of Cultist & Netch - and it worked really well.

YMMV.

mikemacon · May 2019

Now, specifically to the lack of minor force: This is one reason Xy suggests the Shadow mundus.

That said, the shield is really a “flex” slot - as long as you have Surge and Boundless up along with your AOEs and HAs, you usually only use ward prior to the fight to activate UI. If you don’t need the ward, swap in something else.

That said, I’ve found in my personal testing that I don’t get a DPS bump from doing so, but I do have to watch my resources more than I would,when I do (for instance) channeled acceleration. I’ve found the payoff isn’t worth the up front cost, if you will.

The primary reason I don’t see a deeps bump from CA (or trap beast) is that it throws off the rotation. Xy has a specifically calculated rotation which maximizes damage output via the skills chosen and the heavies on the front bar along with keeping as close to 100% uptime on liquid lightning and wall of elements as possible. If you do the rotation as he suggests, by the time you swap to your back bar LL is dropping off and needs refreshing. If you throw the rotation off by adding TB or CA, you’ll have a gap in LL - which adds up quickly in DPS a loss.

YMMV.

kylewwefan · May 2019

Thanks man. I tried netches touch before with IA. It works, but not so great. Feels kind of flat after playing with awhile. Kind of disappointing.

Never messed with spider. No idea if it’s any good or not.

This iteration of “Easy Sorc” is worth using the transmute stones on. That means something to me, as I don’t have an endless supply of them.

I used trap beast because don’t have Psijic unlocked yet on this character. It seemed like a good idea for the time being. I dont know? %10 extra Crit damage seemed too good to pass up. Shadow gives %18 Champion points give %19. Its a lot of Crit Damage. Really, I only used it in trials.

mikemacon · May 2019

Yep. I’d say test it with and without TB. It might be lowkey counterintuitive, but for me with the current rotation adding TB or CA actually drops my deeps.

However, earlier iterations of the build did use TB. But the rotation was also different, accordingly.

Cultist plus Netch was nasty good, and it took the change to two handed enchants to make UI a real option that finally dethroned the previous build.

YMMV.

lassitershawn · May 2019

kylewwefan wrote: »

In lieu of last weeks Xynode appreciation thread, I was compelled to try out this easy Sorc build.

I had a much more difficult time doing them in Siroria/ Mother Sorrow/Zaan.

I ran Maelstrom one time with the setup. It was pretty good in there actually. MS Siroria Zaan would be laughable. Guarantee. I’m not the best Sorc ever, but this setup is solid. I’d recommend it to anyone wanting to try something different.

Probably because that set combo is horribly bad for both vet pledges and maelstrom. MS/Siro/Zaan is BiS for dummies and when you are you a raid where you can be stationary and melee. That doesn't really make the "Easy Sorc" build good, or the MS/Siro/Zaan build bad. BSW/MS/Slime (Slime if no outside berserk) would be objectively superior, and easier to obtain, assuming your base DPS is above a certain threshold. I saw someone that is generally considered reliable on the math say that MS > Undaunted assuming you can do ~30k with the infiltrator setup, not a high threshold to breach. This is because undaunted infiltrator is essentially a proc set and the damage doesn't scale well, while BSW/MS amplify your base damage. IA does not have this problem but it is largely useless in raid because healers provide the buff. Also, if you want minor vulnerability, which is good for content without external IA/vuln, it is much easier to just use a Perfected Asylum Inferno (albeit probably not available to most people using the build) or just using a shock enchant and elemental weapon (which in the most recent update now procs concuss at the proper rate). The uptime won't be quite as high but it means you can drop IA for a more useful set and have net higher DPS.

I think the "Easy Sorc" build looks appealing with those set combos for a number of reasons when the build was being designed. First, the rotation and skills aren't optimized that well, so base DPS is going to be lowered. Second, a lot of the people building it and testing it are newer players, and therefore below the DPS threshold where other sets would perform better. The build MAY be good for new players not doing a lot of DPS yet. HOWEVER, my person opinion it is a better use of time for new players to quickly buy MS and farm some BSW (easier generally and isn't medium armor so you don't need to transmute jewels right off the bat) and simply practice getting good at DPS in a more optimized setup. It might be a BIT harder at the very start but it should pay off long term.

Finally, the "Easy Sorc" build is going to be very bad in even semi-optimized trials. IA is EXTREMELY common on healers and there is usually vuln from at least a few other sources as well. Raid buffs should easily put your DPS above the threshold where infiltrator stops performing well.

This is my opinion from an endgame perspective and 4 1/2 years of sorc gameplay in PvE.

Runefang · May 2019

I may just be a sheepie toxic elitist meta lover but I guarantee almost any combination of Acuity/MS + BSW/Julianos/Crafty Alfiq/Spell Strat will beat that build with the same rotation.

Qbiken · May 2019

I´m sceptical about the "easymode" sorc since farming UI is a pain compared to get yourself a set of mother´s sorrow, which will be both easier to get and more effective, especially since there´s a unique Lightning staff that comes from a quest. Another plus with running sorrow over UI is that you save yourself alot of transmute stones.

And I´m not making this comment to be "tOxIc ElItIs MeTa ***" but to question how convenient it is to aquire the gear.

T3hasiangod · May 2019

Runefang wrote: »

I may just be a sheepie toxic elitist meta lover but I guarantee almost any combination of Acuity/MS + BSW/Julianos/Crafty Alfiq/Spell Strat will beat that build with the same rotation.

I can (mathematically) confirm that running something like Juli + MS + Slimecraw will be better than UI.

Personally, if someone were to say to me "Hey, I wanted to play a magsorc with a simple rotation that will let me do vet trial ready DPS and let me farm Maelstrom Arena. What sets do you recommend running?", I'd point them towards something like Necro + MS/Acuity/Juli with 2-piece Ilambris. It's easier to get, cheaper to buy (in fact, you can buy all the pieces except for your monster helm), and better for DPS than the UI and IA combo. Quick, simple, and no need for expensive and needless waste of transmute crystals.

kylewwefan · May 2019

Put the calculator away. Don’t get another thread shut down with your silly math logic and reasoning.

You guys seem to think I don’t have Mother Sorrow, BSW and slimecraw. Or spell strat. Or any other number of sets. Ok. I don’t have a perfected Asylum staff but you did point out not many do.

I’ll admit I do have Maelstrom lightning staffs galore and a number of IA lightning staffs. Also maybe not everyone is gonna have. But I did. So I used them and modified this build to fit what I got.

Questions you need to ask

1.) does the build work Answer= Yes. It works. Quite well actually.

2.) Is it really easy? Answer = yes if you can heavy attack and throw out a couple skills in no particular order, this build melts stuff. It’s that easy.

3.) no seriously how easy is this build? It’s ridiculously easy to do well. It puts out so much AOE freaking damage it almost becomes uncontrollable.

4.) what if your not the best player and constantly mess up rotation? Unlike many, this build is extremely forgiving. In mid rotation, you get knocked down, CC’d, Stunned, whatever get back up. Shield up. Swap bar. Find your bearings. Power surge. Lightning form. Liquid lightning. Wall of elements. Swap bar and heavy attack your way to victory.

5.) no light attack? Who freaking cares!

6.) no skills? Maybe one?

7.) just heavy attack? Yes. It’s so easy. You can’t mess it up. Even when you mess it up, it doesn’t matter. Stuff is gonna die from all this AOE.

8.) so what’s the drawback? Why the hate? It’s not BiS. Plenty of other sets/ builds will do more single target damage.

This build does lack a little in single target DPS, but blows everything out of the water in AOE DPS.

9.) how easy is it to put this build together? Well, it was super easy for me when I decided to use 2 medium armor pieces of Undaunted Infaltrator and light monster set because I already had the other stuff.

I did farm Arx Corinium for Jewelry and a lightning staff that I never did get. It’s on par with BSW farm.

I further modified it in VMA with Iceheart Monster Set.

10.) is it really worth transmuting the jewelry? For me it was. Let’s get real. I ran a few dungeons and VMA with the jewelry robust. That’s really not bad either. I figured, why not take the next step.

11.) why not just go pet Sorc? I ran pet Sorc when pet Sorc wasn’t cool. The things would die about as quick as you could cast them. They’re much better now. But they still somewhat lack damage. If it’s any consolation, you can still throw on a pet if you want. I did. It still does well.

12.) but XYZ is better for trials right? Dude. If you’re pushing for scores and stuff in vet trials, you already know what BiS is and what you should be using.

That’s like Rome in this game. An idea of this perfect place where everything is perfect and where the best of the best of the best of the best can really shine and be best.

I find it quite different actually playing.

IneedaDollar · May 2019

I stopped reading at "your silly math logic".

Qbiken · May 2019

kylewwefan wrote: »

Put the calculator away. Don’t get another thread shut down with your silly math logic and reasoning.

You guys seem to think I don’t have Mother Sorrow, BSW and slimecraw. Or spell strat. Or any other number of sets. Ok. I don’t have a perfected Asylum staff but you did point out not many do.

I’ll admit I do have Maelstrom lightning staffs galore and a number of IA lightning staffs. Also maybe not everyone is gonna have. But I did. So I used them and modified this build to fit what I got.

Questions you need to ask

1.) does the build work Answer= Yes. It works. Quite well actually.

2.) Is it really easy? Answer = yes if you can heavy attack and throw out a couple skills in no particular order, this build melts stuff. It’s that easy.

3.) no seriously how easy is this build? It’s ridiculously easy to do well. It puts out so much AOE freaking damage it almost becomes uncontrollable.

4.) what if your not the best player and constantly mess up rotation? Unlike many, this build is extremely forgiving. In mid rotation, you get knocked down, CC’d, Stunned, whatever get back up. Shield up. Swap bar. Find your bearings. Power surge. Lightning form. Liquid lightning. Wall of elements. Swap bar and heavy attack your way to victory.

5.) no light attack? Who freaking cares!

6.) no skills? Maybe one?

7.) just heavy attack? Yes. It’s so easy. You can’t mess it up. Even when you mess it up, it doesn’t matter. Stuff is gonna die from all this AOE.

8.) so what’s the drawback? Why the hate? It’s not BiS. Plenty of other sets/ builds will do more single target damage.

This build does lack a little in single target DPS, but blows everything out of the water in AOE DPS.

9.) how easy is it to put this build together? Well, it was super easy for me when I decided to use 2 medium armor pieces of Undaunted Infaltrator and light monster set because I already had the other stuff.

I did farm Arx Corinium for Jewelry and a lightning staff that I never did get. It’s on par with BSW farm.

I further modified it in VMA with Iceheart Monster Set.

10.) is it really worth transmuting the jewelry? For me it was. Let’s get real. I ran a few dungeons and VMA with the jewelry robust. That’s really not bad either. I figured, why not take the next step.

11.) why not just go pet Sorc? I ran pet Sorc when pet Sorc wasn’t cool. The things would die about as quick as you could cast them. They’re much better now. But they still somewhat lack damage. If it’s any consolation, you can still throw on a pet if you want. I did. It still does well.

12.) but XYZ is better for trials right? Dude. If you’re pushing for scores and stuff in vet trials, you already know what BiS is and what you should be using.

That’s like Rome in this game. An idea of this perfect place where everything is perfect and where the best of the best of the best of the best can really shine and be best.

I find it quite different actually playing.

I mean, you can use the same rotation and do whatever you want to do with sorrow as well, but with spending less time and resources to get the it compared to UI. My critique is not against that the gear isn't BiS, it's obviously not intended for that audience, which is fine.

My critique goes towards the fact that it's labeled as an "easy mode" beginner build. In terms of the way it's played, it's definitely an "easy mode", but when it comes to how the gear is acquired, it's far from a beginner build.

I recently started to level up a character on NA (I'm PC EU), and trying to get proper gear is a pain unless you've friends on the platform that can help you out (thankfully I do know ppl on NA that has been very helpful). Now if the goal is to get access to "decent gear" (not BiS but decent enough for me to not be a burden in PvE) as soon as possible, then why would you not recommend sets that is easier to acquire? (+ gives better results as a bonus), instead of spending an unnecessary amount of time farming the same dungeon over and over?

T3hasiangod · May 2019

kylewwefan wrote: »

Put the calculator away. Don’t get another thread shut down with your silly math logic and reasoning.

You guys seem to think I don’t have Mother Sorrow, BSW and slimecraw. Or spell strat. Or any other number of sets. Ok. I don’t have a perfected Asylum staff but you did point out not many do.

I’ll admit I do have Maelstrom lightning staffs galore and a number of IA lightning staffs. Also maybe not everyone is gonna have. But I did. So I used them and modified this build to fit what I got.

Questions you need to ask

1.) does the build work Answer= Yes. It works. Quite well actually.

2.) Is it really easy? Answer = yes if you can heavy attack and throw out a couple skills in no particular order, this build melts stuff. It’s that easy.

3.) no seriously how easy is this build? It’s ridiculously easy to do well. It puts out so much AOE freaking damage it almost becomes uncontrollable.

4.) what if your not the best player and constantly mess up rotation? Unlike many, this build is extremely forgiving. In mid rotation, you get knocked down, CC’d, Stunned, whatever get back up. Shield up. Swap bar. Find your bearings. Power surge. Lightning form. Liquid lightning. Wall of elements. Swap bar and heavy attack your way to victory.

5.) no light attack? Who freaking cares!

6.) no skills? Maybe one?

7.) just heavy attack? Yes. It’s so easy. You can’t mess it up. Even when you mess it up, it doesn’t matter. Stuff is gonna die from all this AOE.

8.) so what’s the drawback? Why the hate? It’s not BiS. Plenty of other sets/ builds will do more single target damage.

This build does lack a little in single target DPS, but blows everything out of the water in AOE DPS.

9.) how easy is it to put this build together? Well, it was super easy for me when I decided to use 2 medium armor pieces of Undaunted Infaltrator and light monster set because I already had the other stuff.

I did farm Arx Corinium for Jewelry and a lightning staff that I never did get. It’s on par with BSW farm.

I further modified it in VMA with Iceheart Monster Set.

10.) is it really worth transmuting the jewelry? For me it was. Let’s get real. I ran a few dungeons and VMA with the jewelry robust. That’s really not bad either. I figured, why not take the next step.

11.) why not just go pet Sorc? I ran pet Sorc when pet Sorc wasn’t cool. The things would die about as quick as you could cast them. They’re much better now. But they still somewhat lack damage. If it’s any consolation, you can still throw on a pet if you want. I did. It still does well.

12.) but XYZ is better for trials right? Dude. If you’re pushing for scores and stuff in vet trials, you already know what BiS is and what you should be using.

That’s like Rome in this game. An idea of this perfect place where everything is perfect and where the best of the best of the best of the best can really shine and be best.

I find it quite different actually playing.

Yes, because everything in this game is decided by whether it feels good or not.

We are not critiquing the rotation, we are critiquing the sets being used. A rotation can be used with any combination of gear. This build markets itself as being beginner friendly when it isn't. You need to spend all that time farming for IA and UI. That is not "easy", especially when there are other far more accessible sets that are as strong or stronger than the sets you offer.

A beginner build should fulfill two requirements. First, the rotation needs to be easy. Second, the gear needs to be easily obtainable with minimal farming or easily farmable. This build fulfills the first requirement, but badly fails the second.

starkerealm · May 2019

T3hasiangod wrote: »

Runefang wrote: »

I may just be a sheepie toxic elitist meta lover but I guarantee almost any combination of Acuity/MS + BSW/Julianos/Crafty Alfiq/Spell Strat will beat that build with the same rotation.

I can (mathematically) confirm that running something like Juli + MS + Slimecraw will be better than UI.

Is this like the time you "proved" that Alkosh can't be used on DPS mathematically... By not taking any synergies?

So some basic info for you, T3, for Ui to work, you need to heavy attack. If you're not doing that, you're not using the set.

Also, as someone who doesn't DPS, you might not know this, but Slimecraw is a dead set most of the time if your healer is on the ball. I get how +8% accross the board looks good, but if your healer is on the ball, you already have the buff.

Now, if you're alone, that's different, but builds like this don't really need help for overland content.

Joxer61 · May 2019

T3hasiangod wrote: »

kylewwefan wrote: »

Put the calculator away. Don’t get another thread shut down with your silly math logic and reasoning.

You guys seem to think I don’t have Mother Sorrow, BSW and slimecraw. Or spell strat. Or any other number of sets. Ok. I don’t have a perfected Asylum staff but you did point out not many do.

I’ll admit I do have Maelstrom lightning staffs galore and a number of IA lightning staffs. Also maybe not everyone is gonna have. But I did. So I used them and modified this build to fit what I got.

Questions you need to ask

1.) does the build work Answer= Yes. It works. Quite well actually.

2.) Is it really easy? Answer = yes if you can heavy attack and throw out a couple skills in no particular order, this build melts stuff. It’s that easy.

3.) no seriously how easy is this build? It’s ridiculously easy to do well. It puts out so much AOE freaking damage it almost becomes uncontrollable.

4.) what if your not the best player and constantly mess up rotation? Unlike many, this build is extremely forgiving. In mid rotation, you get knocked down, CC’d, Stunned, whatever get back up. Shield up. Swap bar. Find your bearings. Power surge. Lightning form. Liquid lightning. Wall of elements. Swap bar and heavy attack your way to victory.

5.) no light attack? Who freaking cares!

6.) no skills? Maybe one?

7.) just heavy attack? Yes. It’s so easy. You can’t mess it up. Even when you mess it up, it doesn’t matter. Stuff is gonna die from all this AOE.

8.) so what’s the drawback? Why the hate? It’s not BiS. Plenty of other sets/ builds will do more single target damage.

This build does lack a little in single target DPS, but blows everything out of the water in AOE DPS.

9.) how easy is it to put this build together? Well, it was super easy for me when I decided to use 2 medium armor pieces of Undaunted Infaltrator and light monster set because I already had the other stuff.

I did farm Arx Corinium for Jewelry and a lightning staff that I never did get. It’s on par with BSW farm.

I further modified it in VMA with Iceheart Monster Set.

10.) is it really worth transmuting the jewelry? For me it was. Let’s get real. I ran a few dungeons and VMA with the jewelry robust. That’s really not bad either. I figured, why not take the next step.

11.) why not just go pet Sorc? I ran pet Sorc when pet Sorc wasn’t cool. The things would die about as quick as you could cast them. They’re much better now. But they still somewhat lack damage. If it’s any consolation, you can still throw on a pet if you want. I did. It still does well.

12.) but XYZ is better for trials right? Dude. If you’re pushing for scores and stuff in vet trials, you already know what BiS is and what you should be using.

That’s like Rome in this game. An idea of this perfect place where everything is perfect and where the best of the best of the best of the best can really shine and be best.

I find it quite different actually playing.

Yes, because everything in this game is decided by whether it feels good or not.

We are not critiquing the rotation, we are critiquing the sets being used. A rotation can be used with any combination of gear. This build markets itself as being beginner friendly when it isn't. You need to spend all that time farming for IA and UI. That is not "easy", especially when there are other far more accessible sets that are as strong or stronger than the sets you offer.

A beginner build should fulfill two requirements. First, the rotation needs to be easy. Second, the gear needs to be easily obtainable with minimal farming or easily farmable. This build fulfills the first requirement, but badly fails the second.

no, you're pickin a fight mate, plain and simple. let it go.....

phileunderx2 · May 2019

The nerve of people completing content with sets that we the elitists of the elite have determined to be garbage. 😁😁

Nepenthe · May 2019

Why do you have such a bone to pick with Xynode? Every thread in the forum where I see that he is mentioned, you are not far behind, trying your heart out to discredit him - and even make YouTube videos to that end.

Are you really so threatened by him that you feel the need to attack him at every opportunity? It's so unprofessional that it hurts to witness. If you don't like his builds, fine, but at this point it's not even about that. Even if it was, I'd hope you'd have the maturity to just chuckle to yourself and scroll on. Not a single other ESO content creator I've seen has this much beef with one of their peers.

Obviously people enjoy his builds (the game IS about fun, after all, isn't it?) and use them to complete content. They're not hardcore pushing leaderboards. Just... Let people enjoy things? This isn't WoW, there are multiple ways of playing the game and gearing out your characters. Just because it isn't "the best" doesn't mean it isn't valid and able to complete all the content in the game.

mikemacon · May 2019

IA isn’t on the bulld for the debuff. Xy specifically states that that’s a nice bonus for solo content, but if you watch the video you’ll quickly discover that he calls for IA for its other 5-piece bonuses - namely crit and the huge buff to heavy attacks (which is what the bulld is based on).

I’ve noticed, Far Eastern Deity, that you tend to display a shocking amount of selection bias on your calculations and tests - your Alkosh on a DPS vs. Tank test shows this, for instance, where you cripple the experiment by artificially limiting the number of synergies you take.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

mikemacon · May 2019

Incidentally, I have (and I know for a certainty that Xy has) tested this build with alternate setups. Julianos, Mother’s Sorrow, and Slimecraw will indeed work - but they underperform UI+IA fairly significantly in actual tests.

mikemacon · May 2019

BTW, the Easy Sorc isn’t specifically a “beginners bulld”. From day one it’s been an “Easy Mode Sorc” bulld. What that means is that once you have the gear, the rotation is calculated, simple, and you become VERY survivable in ALL content while doing GOOD single target damage and ABSOLUTELY UNMATCHED area of effect damage.

BTW, Xy specifically points out sets to use while farming the “end game” final form of the build (UI+IA+vMA staff).

It’s kind of plainly written out in the build guide.

But again: Selection bias.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Xy specifically points out that the build is for all players - beginners and vets alike.

He also points out that if you don’t like the bulld, it’s no sweat off his nose - use and do whatever you like.

You know...now that I think of it...I have never once seen Xy go into another content creator’s yard and start crapping on it.

Interesting, no?

Eso101rus · May 2019

I’ve been using the “easy sorc” build for some time and it’s served me well, before the nerf to off balance it was on a disgusting level especially if used with multiple other easy sorcs in the same trial. I’ve made some tweaks to help me get the best out of it for myself. It’s still a really good build.

Is it the best dps sorc build in game? No. Is it fun to use and good for completing most veteran content? Absolutely.

As for people publicly dissing other people’s work for no apparent reason, that’s out of order in my opinion.

mikemacon · May 2019

The build is specifically not billed as “this is DA BEST über-l33t deepz build yo!” It’s designed as an all-rounder build with good single target and insane (and quite frankly unmatched) AOE damage, high survivability, high utility, for all content up to and including hard mode vet trials.

starkerealm · May 2019

mikemacon wrote: »

You know...now that I think of it...I have never once seen Xy go into another content creator’s yard and start crapping on it.

I mean, he tears the snot out of Finn's yard on a daily basis. :P

Qbiken · May 2019

Eso101rus wrote: »

I’ve been using the “easy sorc” build for some time and it’s served me well, before the nerf to off balance it was on a disgusting level especially if used with multiple other easy sorcs in the same trial. I’ve made some tweaks to help me get the best out of it for myself. It’s still a really good build.

Is it the best dps sorc build in game? No. Is it fun to use and good for completing most veteran content? Absolutely.

As for people publicly dissing criticizing other people’s work for no apparent reason, that’s out of order in my opinion.

I see no problem with criticizing other peoples content, as long as there´re no personal attacks, which I don´t see in this thread. Only thing that´s been pointed out is that the "easy sorc" could become even easier, performing better and be more accessible if a set was swapped out for another (aka "Here´s another option"). I fail to see how that is a bad thing. It´s a forum after all and is created for discussion, and criticism is included.
The "if you don´t have anything nice to say, don´t say anything at all"- rule doesn´t really apply on a forum.

starkerealm · May 2019

@Qbiken, in this case, there's two things you're missing. One is a history of behavior by T3, which has already been mentioned in passing.

Second, and this is critical to the discussion: The Easy Sorc is a build focused around buffing the tar out of the heavy attacks. IA has a minor vulnerability buff, which is what T3 is thinking about (and honestly, why I usually think of the set as well), but it also has a massive damage tick on a heavy attack, which is what Xy was after. UI massively increases the damage done by light and heavy attacks for a few seconds after using a mag ability. Combined, these result in some horrifyingly potent heavy attacks.

In that context, T3's suggestions are non-constructive. It's not, "this is how you could improve the build," it's more of a failure to understand how the build works in the first place.

Mostly people are just tired of the former.

Agenericname · May 2019

Qbiken wrote: »

I´m sceptical about the "easymode" sorc since farming UI is a pain compared to get yourself a set of mother´s sorrow, which will be both easier to get and more effective, especially since there´s a unique Lightning staff that comes from a quest. Another plus with running sorrow over UI is that you save yourself alot of transmute stones.

And I´m not making this comment to be "tOxIc ElItIs MeTa ***" but to question how convenient it is to aquire the gear.

Undaunted Infiltrator, the staves specially, are a pain to farm. I managed to finally get one and paired it with a vMA lightning staff. I later tested Elegance in place of UI and it worked out fairly well.

On the build page it shows Elegance as an alternative to IA, not UI, but Elegance and UI are very similar. The two differences being swapping weapon crit for spell damage and flat values for % on heavy and light attacks.

I have tried Mother's Sorrow as well, hence why I quoted this post. If you wanted to swap MS and you had a vMA staff, wouldn't it be a little better to have the proc set on the weapons so that MS remained a constant buff to crit?

Over all, I've been happy with the build. The closest that I have come to a flawless run has been with this build. It's fairly tanky. It's easy to use and has a forgiving rotation, which is what I think its selling point is. As far as easily obtainable, it wasn't as easy to get as a resto staff of the poison serpent and not as hard to get as Advancing daggers. For all the hatred I have for some of these weapon grinds, farming Arx isn't as bad as other farms and doesn't require a tremendous amount of coordination, just time.

mikemacon · May 2019

Qbiken wrote: »

I see no problem with criticizing other peoples content, as long as there´re no personal attacks, which I don´t see in this thread. Only thing that´s been pointed out is that the "easy sorc" could become even easier, performing better and be more accessible if a set was swapped out for another (aka "Here´s another option"). I fail to see how that is a bad thing. It´s a forum after all and is created for discussion, and criticism is included.

Fair enough.

What I and others have pointed out, in response, is that the sets chosen are done so on purpose. Can you swap out another set to make it “easier”?

Try it. Seriously. I’d be interested to see a real-world test (no snark here).

I have personally tested variations of the bulld using (for instance) Julianos and Mother’s Sorrow and while they certainly worked, they worked less well - often significantly so.

In fact, Xy’s “older” build which used Netch and Cultist performed better than Julianos and MS by an appreciable degree.

Also, Xy himself specifically lists options. There seem to be many commentators here and on other threads that mention Xy that seem to believe that he’s posting a “one way or no way” build...which he emphatically is not, and are either pretending that he himself does not cite options and variations or have not actually watched the video and read the guide themselves to know this and are simply parroting what they’ve heard.

But again - try this build with alternate setups and record the actual results.

WrathOfInnos · May 2019

That build worked reasonably well in 2017, and died with the release of dragon bones. I think most of the opposition is about directing others to farm moderately difficult-to-obtain gear, in order to make a build that performs inferior to easy-to-obtain gear.

IA is often redundant in groups, but has decent stats. UI is just plain weak. Max mag on the 2 and 3 pc is the worst DPS trait (Spell Crit, Spell Damage, Spell Pen all perform better), Weapon Crit to the 4 pc adds literally nothing, and the 5 pc is not nearly powerful enough to make up for these shortcomings.

If you’re going to do a pure lightning heavy attack build just use something like Julianos and/or Netch. Neither are BiS for end game, but both are good options for easy sorc. Mother’s Sorrow is also excellent and can be bought from other players for cheap. Even Queen’s Elegance is decent for heavy attack builds, and is dirt cheap, no farming required.

ZOS_RogerJ · May 2019

Just as a friendly reminder that per the community rules, it’s okay and very normal to disagree with others, and even to debate, but provoking conflict, baiting, inciting, mocking, etc. is never acceptable in the official The Elder Scrolls Online community. If you do not have something constructive or meaningful to add to a discussion, we strongly recommend you refrain from posting in that thread.

mikemacon · May 2019

WrathOfInnos wrote: »

IA is often redundant in groups, but has decent stats. UI is just plain weak. Max mag on the 2 and 3 pc is the worst DPS trait (Spell Crit, Spell Damage, Spell Pen all perform better), Weapon Crit to the 4 pc adds literally nothing, and the 5 pc is not nearly powerful enough to make up for these shortcomings.

If you’re going to do a pure lightning heavy attack build just use something like Julianos and/or Netch. Neither are BiS for end game, but both are good options for easy sorc. Mother’s Sorrow is also excellent and can be bought from other players for cheap. Even Queen’s Elegance is decent for heavy attack builds, and is dirt cheap, no farming required.

I believe you’re missing the point with IA. The set isn’t called for in the bulld because of the debuff. It’s used because of the buff to heavies.

That said, I would be very interested to see your numbers from actual testing. Duplicate the build bust use Julianos and Netch, or MS and Elegance, or any other combo. Try it, then post the results.

After that, try UI + IA. Post those results.

Not only has Xy already done that very testing, but I personally have as well - it’s very easy to set up an Easy Sorc on PTS with max CPs and whatever sets with whatever traits you want. And it’s very quick to swap between them for extensive testing.

What you’ll very quickly discover is that the build calls for the sets that it does (IA & UI) for a very specific reason and that those sets with those skills and that rotation have the best outcome for this bulld.

Seriously. Go try it.

kylewwefan · May 2019

To some degree, I think my usage of an iA lightning staff front bar may be better....but that adds a whole another level of grind. Lol! And really I just had a few sitting around, because I’ve been playing forever.

@Agenericname I’m gonna get Flawless on this guy too, but I had some big problems to overcome.

On the seventh round main boss, you do not want Grothdar. In fact, I’m probably gonna use Iceheart for the whole thing actually.

Also don’t use lightning form there if you can remember. I had several deaths and never directly attacked the bubble dudes. The AOE is too strong on this guy.

The other big tip I can give ya is to use Barrier as your main ultimate. Even over Destro Ult. It’s really freaking good for a flawless run.

Also worth noting that while Bastion CP won’t affect empowered ward anymore, it does affect Iceheart and Barrier.

I’m not gonna cheese it with Necropotence Plague Doctor. That’s just so...blah..and things take forever forever to die. We all draw the line somewhere. I like to think I’m better than that. Lol

@mikemacon I put the daedric tomb back on. You probably mentioned it, but it wasn’t clicking in my head you get like an extra %6 Crit from casting that. It brought me from %57 to %63 Crit. And it like stuns and immobilized stuff. Pretty good skill. I think Xynode May have done some research before putting it out. Lol