ESO Magicka Sorcerer Build Guide (2024)

Here's our best Magicka Sorcerer build guide in Elder Scrolls Online.

The Sorcerer is one of the most popular and powerful classes in Elder Scrolls Online. The Magicka Sorcerer build is among some of the easiest Sorcerer builds that focus on maximizing weapon and spell damage and critical damage, all while having excellent Magicka recovery.

Our Magicka Sorcerer build is focused on the PvE side of things, with solid single and AOE damage output coupled with decent survivability that will let you solo most activities in the game. Without further ado, here's our best Magicka Sorcerer build guide in ESO that highlights the best active and passive abilities, champion skills, gear set, and Mundus Stones.

Table of Contents

  • Best Active Abilities For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO
    • Front Bar Skills
    • Back Bar Skills
  • Best Passive Abilities For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO
  • Best Gear Set For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO
  • Best Champion Skills For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO
  • Best Races For The Magicka Sorcerer Build n ESO
  • Best Mundus Stonesfor the Magicka Sorcerer Build in ESO

Best Active Abilities For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO

ESO Magicka Sorcerer Build Guide (1)

Front Bar Skills

SkillsDescription
Bound Aegis IV

Protect yourself with the power of Oblivion, creating a suit of Daedric mail that increases your block mitigation by 40% for 5 seconds.

While slotted on either ability bar, your Max Magicka is increased by 8% and you gainMinor ResolveandMinor Protection, increasing yourPhysical and Spell Resistance by 2974and reducing your damage taken by 5%.

Unstable Wall of Elements IV (Storm)

Create an unstable elemental barrier in front of you, dealing 1206 Magic Damage to enemies in the target area every 1 second before exploding for an additional 6027 Magic Damage.

When using a Lightning Staff, Unstable Wall of Elements becomes Unstable Wall of Storm.

Slam your staff down to create an unstable storm barrier in front of you, dealing 1264 Shock Damage to enemies in the target area every 1 second and setting Concussed enemies off Balance for 7 seconds.

When the effect ends, the barrier explodes, dealing 6272 Shock Damage.

Hardened Ward IVConjure globes of Daedric energy for protection, granting a damage shield for you and your pets that absorbs 16231 damage for 6 seconds. This ability scales off the higher of your Max Health or Magicka and is capped at 72% of your Max Health.
Critical Surge IVInvoke Meridia's name to gain Major Brutality and Sorcery, increasing your Weapon and Spell Damage by 20% for 33 seconds. While active, dealing Critical Damage heals you for 3630 Health. This effect can occur once every 1 second.
Mage's Wrath IVCall down lightning to strike an enemy, dealing 4769 Shock Damage. If the enemy falls to or below 20% Health within 4 seconds of being struck, an explosion deals an additional 16700 Shock Damage to them and all nearby enemies.
Greater Storm Atronach

Summon an immobile storm atronach at the target location. Its arrival deals 2249 Shock Damage and stuns enemies for 3 seconds. The atronach zaps the closest enemy, dealing 1509 Shock Damage every 1 second. An ally near the atronach can activate the Charged Lightning synergy, granting nearby alliesMajor Berserkfor 10 seconds, increasing their damage done by 10%

Your primary weapon will be a Lightning Staff. Most of your front bar abilities are there to complement your heavy attacks, which you will spam throughout battles, while the remaining ones help you survive once your health starts to go down.

You begin your rotation by casting Unstable Wall of Elements and Critical Surge. The former deals massive AOE damage while setting enemies off-balance, whereas the other increases your weapon and spell damage. You then spam heavy attacks against off-balanced enemies to restore double the amount of Magicka, ensuring you won't ever run out of resources.

While Critical Surge is active, dealing critical damage will also heal you, allowing you to really get into the enemy's face and spam heavy attacks without a second thought. It's also best to cast Bound Aegis alongside these, as it will increase your Block Mitigation, allowing you to take less damage when blocking enemy attacks.

Next up is your Ultimate Greater Storm Atronach, which not only deals insane DOT damage but also grants your allies Major Berserk that increases their damage by 10% for 10 seconds.

Once the enemy's health falls below 20%, it's time to unleash Mage's Wrath, which causes a bonus AOE explosion and deals a ton of damage to all enemies.

In between all these, you can cast Hardened Ward to get a Daedric damage shield for you and your pets. This should help you endure the nastiest of the blows.

Back Bar Skills

SkillsDescription
Summon Volatile Familiar

Command the powers of Oblivion to send a Daedric familiar to fight at your side. The familiar's attacks deal358 Shock Damage. Once summoned, you can activate the familiar's special ability for 3510 Magicka, dealing435 Shock Damageevery 2 seconds for 20 seconds to enemies near them. The second hit stuns enemies hit for 3 seconds. The familiar remains until killed or unsummoned.

Summon Twilight Tormentor

Call on Azura to send a twilight tormentor to fight at your side. The twilight tormentor's zap deals 1454 Shock Damage and its kick deals 1454 Shock Damage. Once summoned, you can activate the twilight tormentor's special ability for 2646 Magicka, causing it to deal 60% more damage to enemies above 50% Health for 20 seconds. The twilight tormentor remains until killed or unsummoned.

Consuming TrapLay claim to an enemy's soul, dealing 4642 Magic Damage over 20 seconds. If an affected enemy dies, you fill an empty Soul Gem, heal for 3200 Health, and restore 2400 Magicka and 2400 Stamina. This portion of the ability scales off your Max Health, Magicka, and Stamina
Mystic Orb

Project a globe of annihilation that slowly floats forward, dealing326 Magic Damageevery 1 second to nearby enemies. While the orb is active you gain 100 Health, Magicka, and Stamina Recovery. An ally near the globe can activate the Combustion synergy, causing the orb to explode for2249 Magic Damageto nearby enemies and restore3960 MagickaorStaminato the ally, whichever maximum is higher.

Elemental SusceptibilitySend the elements to sap an enemy's defenses and afflict them with Major Breach for 30 seconds, reducing their Physical and Spell Resistance by 5948. Every 7.5 seconds the enemy is afflicted with the Burning, Chilled, and Concussion status effect
Shooting Star IVCall a comet down from the constellations to blast an enemy, dealing 20425 Flame Damage to all enemies in the area, knocking them down, and stunning them for 2 seconds. After impact, enemies in the target area take 4981 Flame Damage every 1 second for 13 seconds.
You generate 12 Ultimate for each enemy hit by the initial blast.

Your off-hand weapon will be an Inferno Staff. Your back bar skills are here to weaken enemy defenses, heal you periodically, and deal an insane amount of DOT damage while you spam your heavy attacks and your front bar skills.

You can cast Elemental Susceptibility anytime to breach enemy defenses and apply status effects, but we recommend casting it alongside Unstable Wall of Elements and Critical Surge.

Consuming Trap is the best of both worlds. Not only does it deal insane DOT to a single target, but it recovers resources once that enemy dies. With this and by defeating off-balanced enemies, you should always have sufficient Magicka to spam most of your abilities.

You can Summon Volatile Familiar and Twilight Tormentor to deal a substantial amount of Shock damage. Since you have a decent supply of Magicka, you can easily activate the summons' special abilities to deal even more Shock damage over time. Thanks to Hardened Ward, your summons will have increased survivability, thus allowing them to slowly but steadily chug away enemy health.

Likewise, you can cast Mystic Orb and forget about it while it deals little but constant damage to enemies and recovers your health, magicka, and stamina in the process.

Lastly, you can cast Shooting Star to deal a tremendous amount of damage to all enemies in the area. Its initial blast also recovers Ultimate, so if you time your attacks properly, you may be able to spam this at times.

Best Passive Abilities For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO

ESO Magicka Sorcerer Build Guide (2)
SkillsDescription
Agility IIIncreases your Weapon and Spell damage by 2% for each piece of Medium armor worn.
Amplitude IIIncreases your damage done against enemies by 1% for every 10% current health they have.
Ancient Knowledge IILightning Staves increases your damage done with damage over time and Status effects by 12%.
Capacitor IIIncreases your Magicka Recovery by 10%.
Daedric Protection IIIncreases your Health and Stamina Recovery by 20% while you have a Daedric Summoning ability slotted.
Destruction Expert II

When you kill an enemy with a Destruction staff ability, you restore 3600 Magicka.

When you absorb damage using a Destruction Staff Damage Shield, you restore 1800 Magicka. This effect can occur once every 10 seconds.

Dexterity III

Increases your Critical Damage and Healing done rating by 2% for every piece of Medium Armor equipped.

Energized IIIncreases your Physical and Shock damage by 5%.
Expert Mage IIIncreases your Weapon and Spell damage by 2% for each Sorcerer ability slotted.
Elemental Force IIIncreases your chance of applying status effects by 100%.
Evocation IIIncreases your Magicka Recovery by 4% for each piece of Light Armor equipped.
Everlasting Magic IIIncreases the duration of your Mages Guild abilities by 20%.
Grace III

Reduces the effectiveness of snares applied to you by 4% for each piece of Light Armor worn.

Reduces the cost of Sprint by 3% for each piece of Light Armor worn.

Magicka Controller II

Increases your Max Magicka and Magicka Recovery by 2% for each Mages guild ability slotted.

Medicinal Use III

When using potions, resulting effects last 30% longer.

Rebate IIYou restore 300 Magicka or Stamina when one of your non-Ultimate Daedric Summoning abilities end. The resource returned is dictated by the ability's cost.
Blood Magic IIWhen you hit an enemy with a directly applied Dark Magic ability, you heal for 1600. This effect can occur once every half second and scales off your Max Health.
Persistence IIAfter blocking an attack, your next Health, Magicka, or Stamina ability costs 15% less.
Penetrating Magic IIYour Destruction Staff abilities ignore 2974 of the enemy's Spell Resistance.
Power Stone IIReduces the cost of your Ultimate abilities by 15%.
Prodigy IIIncreases your Weapon and Spell Critical rating by 219 for each piece of Light Armor equipped.
Tri Focus IIFully-charged Lightning Staff Heavy Attacks damage nearby enemies for 100% of the damage done.
Undaunted Mettle IIIncreases your Max Health, Stamina, and Magicka by 2% per type of Armor (Heavy, Medium, Light) that you have equipped.

Most of the passives listed above are pretty self-explanatory. The goal of these is to improve the efficiency of your active abilities. It includes stuff like increased weapon and spell damage, increased Magicka recovery, increased chance of applying status effects, reduced cost of ultimate abilities, and more.

There are plenty of great passive abilities to choose from and one that works for us may not work for you. For instance, if you have equipped two pieces of Medium Armor instead of two pieces of Light Armor, you may not benefit from something like Grace, which reduces the cost of Sprint by 3% for each piece of Light Armor worn.

The TLDR for passives is that they are here to complement your active abilities, and the ones listed above are great options for the best Magicka Sorcerer build.

Best Gear Set For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO

Weapon / ArmorStatsSet BonusHow to Get
Lightning Staff of the SergeantPrecise - Increase Weapon and Spell Critical by 7.2%N/AObtained from the final boss of the Wayrest Sewers dungeon.
Cuirass of the Sergeant (Chest Armor)Divines - Increase Mundane Stone effects by 9.1%.(2 items) Adds 1206 Maximum HealthRandom drop from the Wayrest Sewers Dungeon
Necklace of the SergeantBloodthirsty - Increases your Weapon and Spell damage against enemies under 90% Health by up to 350.(3 items) Adds 129 Health RecoveryRandom drop from the Wayrest Sewers Dungeon

Ring of the Sergeant

Bloodthirsty - Increases your Weapon and Spell damage against enemies under 90% Health by up to 350.(4 items) Adds 129 Weapon and Spell damage.Random drop from the Wayrest Sewers Dungeon

Ring of the Risen

Healthy - Increases maximum health by 41-965.(5 items) When you deal damage with a Heavy attack, you gain a stack of Sergeant's Focus for 5 seconds, increasing the damage of your Heavy attacks by 645 per stack. This effect can occur once every second and stacks up to 4 times.Obtained from beating Uulgarg the Risen in Wayrest Sewers II.

Slimcraw's Arm Cops (Shoulders Armor)

Divines - Increase Mundane Stone effects by 9.1%.(1 item) Add 771 Critical Chance.Obtained from Maj al-Ragath's chest at Undaunted Enclaves.

Slimcraw Mask (Head Armor)

Divines - Increase Mundane Stone effects by 9.1%.(2 items) Gain Minor Berserk at all times, increasing your damage done by 5%.Obtained from Allene Pellingare in Wayrest Sewers I.

Since you will be spamming heavy attacks in this build, we recommend equipping five pieces of the Sergeant Mail set to get the set bonus buff Sergeant's Focus. This will increase the damage dealt by your heavy attacks, making your build all the more effective. We also recommend equipping two pieces of the Slimcraw set to get increased critical chance and minor berserk.

Best Champion Skills For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO

ESO Magicka Sorcerer Build Guide (3)
Constellation TypeSkillDescription
WarfareDeadly AimIncrease your damage done with single target attacks by 3% per stage.
WarfareWrathful StrikesGrants 41 Weapon and Spell damage to your damaging abilities per stage.
WarfareMaster-At-ArmsIncrease your damage done with direct damage attacks by 3% per stage.
WarfareWeapon ExpertIncreases your damage done with Light and Heavy attacks by 4% per stage.
FitnessBoundless VitalityGrants 28 Max Health per stage.
FitnessFortifiedGrants 34.6 Armor per stage.
FitnessSiphoning SpellsRestore 300 Magicka per stage, whenever you kill an enemy.
FitnessBloody RenewalRestore 300 Stamina per stage, whenever you kill an enemy.
CraftSteed's BlessingIncreases your out of combat Movement Speed by .4% per stage.
CraftLiquid EfficiencyWhenever you use a potion or a poison you have a 10% chance to not consume it.
CraftRationerAdds 10 minutes to the duration of any food or drink that increases your character's stats per stage.
CraftTreasure HunterIncrease the quality of items you find in treasure chests.

Like the passives, the goal with Champion Skills is to improve the effectiveness of your active skills. These are also pretty self-explanatory, so we won't go into the details. That being said, if you're still relatively new to ESO, it may take a while to unlock all those Champion Skills.

Best Races For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO

RaceBonuses
Dark ElfIncreased Max Magica, Stamina, Weapon and Spell Damage.
KhajitIncreased Max Magica and additional Critical Damage.

Both Dark Elf and Khajit are great choices for the Magicka Sorcerer build as they have increased max Magicka. As such, the choice comes to whether you want to prioritize weapon and spell damage or critical damage. Since this build is good for both, we recommend choosing either of the two.

Best Mundus Stonesfor the Magicka Sorcerer Build in ESO

Mundane StoneEffect
ThiefIncreased Weapon and Spell Critical Strike rating.

Mundus Stones can get you permanent passive bonuses, so it's best not to ignore these. The Thief Mundus Stone is an easy choice among others because it increases your weapon and spell critical rating, both of which are essential aspects of this build.

And with that, our long-winded best Magicka Sorcerer build in ESO is complete.

ESO Magicka Sorcerer Build Guide (2024)

FAQs

What is the best class for a Magicka Sorcerer in eso? ›

FAQ Sorcerer Class

A High Elf is the preferred race for a Magicka Sorcerer, overall it provides a great buff to all your stats. As a Stamina Sorcerer you can pick races such as Dark Elf, Orc or Khajiit. As a Healer it is recommended to pick a Breton, Khajiit or High Elf.

What weapon should a Magicka Sorcerer use? ›

Destruction & Restoration Skill Lines – Sorcerer Beginner Guide. Magicka Sorcerers use either two Destruction Staves or a Destruction and a Restoration Staff. Your next step is to find a Destruction and a Restoration Staff while you are exploring, questing and killing monsters.

What is the best sorcerer subclass in eso? ›

The best class for a Sorcerer in ESO is the Magicka Sorcerer, which can deal damage easily with pets and heavy attacks while healing automatically with skills like Critical Surge.

What is the best starting area for sorcerer eso? ›

Which Starting Zone is best? While it is very easy to recommend that you play through all three Alliance Starting zones back-to-back, the best option for new players is generally Khenarthi's Roost.

What is the best multi class for sorcerer? ›

Sorcerers should ideally multiclass with other Charisma-focused classes or martial classes. Warlocks and Bards are great options for glass cannon builds, while Paladin and Fighter are solid options for more aggressive playstyles that prefer close-range combat.

What is the best race for a sorcerer? ›

The Satyr is one of the few top-tier Sorcerer races in D&D 5e that has almost no interaction with spellcasting at all. A Satyr Sorcerer still has to grapple with their limited spells known and Metamagic. However, everything else they get is worth it.

What are the most powerful sorcerer skills in eso? ›

The best skill for the Sorcerer is Critical Surge which consistently heals the player back whenever they do Critical Damage. Sorcerers in The Elder Scrolls Online can deal massive damage with powerful skills like Crystal Fragments or Crystal Weapon which allow you to summon deadly crystals to hurl at your enemies.

What is the most powerful class in eso? ›

Arcanist

The Arcanist wields potent runes, ancient tomes, and the energy of Apocrypha. It's ESO's latest damage powerhouse and offers some of the highest PVE DPS available. With devastating AOE skills like Cephaliarch's Flail and Fatecarver, it shines in group content such as trials and dungeons.

What is the highest DPS skill in eso? ›

The best damage dealer build (DPS) in ESO Update 42 is the Stamina Arcanist. While the Fatecarver skill was nerfed, the class is the best overall due to its single target damage, cleave (area), and simplicity. You can play melee and range, and it's simpler than others and still does the most damage overall in the game.

What is the best potion for a sorcerer in eso? ›

1 Essence Of Spell Power

Essence Of Spell Power is arguably the strongest potion in ESO since magicka builds are incredibly strong in PVE content. This consumable adds extra spell power to your stats, which boosts your overall damage done.

What is the best beginner character in eso? ›

In terms of builds, as I've said both Magicka and Stamina Sorcerer offer great build options for getting started in PVP, but if you want the ultimate easy, beginner build for PVE content then definitely check out a Magicka Sorcerer pet focused build for a really easy time completing most content in the game.

What is the best race for Magicka in eso? ›

The Breton race in ESO give racial passives that make them exceptional choices for magicka-based characters, particularly healers or support roles. These passives include increased experience gain with the Light Armor skill line and bonuses to Alliance Points gained.

Which is the best sorcerer subclass? ›

A Divine Soul sorcerer can do a vast amount, limited only by their spells known. Later subclass features like Angelic Form and Unearthly Recovery are impactful in their own right. The combination of divine spellcasting and features makes the Divine Soul one of the best sorcerer subclasses in D&D 5e.

What is the best solo class in Magicka eso? ›

1. Magicka Sorcerer – S TIER. The Magicka Sorcerer has been the ultimate solo class in ESO for a long time, and it has actually gotten much better recently due to some recent buffs by the developers, keeping it in our top spot among all the classes in ESO.

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