Sorcerer Destruction Staff Survival DPS Build | Elder Scrolls Online Wiki

By Inversus

Intro

 

This is a Sorcerer + Destruction Staff build. I focus on elemental damage using the fire staff and Storm Calling lines.
At the moment I’m stuck between a Sorcerer and Dragonknight for a fire staff build; this build is basically the same as the Dragonknight build I designed, however the two builds use very different mechanics in order to be effective.
See the Dragonknight build here

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Build Objectives

The build will focus around maximising the effect of spells, mainly the effect of flame, frost and shock effects – since the majority of my spells come from the Sorcerer’s Storm Calling line and the Destruction staff’s abilities. I want to have both single target DPS and solid AoE damage.
The build is also designed to be survivable, able to take hits as well as deal them – plus the build will use stuns to kite enemies.
This build is focused on PvE, though should be adaptable to PvP with the change of a few abilities. I am creating this build in order to provide a damage role, however I do wish to have reasonable survivability for solo play and combat in general.

Race

Although Dark Elf is a valid race to use, as it has useful passives for increasing fire damage, I will be using High Elf for Elemental talent and the Magicka bonuses that it brings with it.

Attribute Points

Health: 49
Using gear and passives I will be aiming to hit the soft cap for Magicka.

Armour & Gear

Since I’m putting so much Health into attribute points, I will be using light armour. This will give me good Magicka and Magicka regen, but also the reduction in spell cost is really useful as it isn’t soft capped. I plan to use 7/7 light armour.
I will be using Fire Destruction staff for bar 1; sword and board for bar 2.

Abilities and Passives

Bar 1 – Destruction Staff (fire)

This will be the bar that I use 95% of the time. It includes my main combat abilities, and uses the destruction staff which I use as my primary weapon. It deals a good amount of damage, as well as providing useful stuns.

1 - Either Destructive Clench - Cheap single target knockback & stun, with moderate damage applied. Or Elemental Drain - This ability has great uses with the Destruction Staff and good synergy with the Mages’ Guild utlimate and the Storm Calling abilities. Especially useful for taking on bosses.
2 – Force Pulse - Not only does force pulse deal a great amount of damage, but it snares the enemy by almost 40% and concusses the enemy. Keeps the enemy at a distance and reduces the damage I take.
3 – Elemental Blockade - A good direct AoE attack. My primary AoE and anti-mob ability. Also good for use with stuns to keep enemies in place while this ability takes effect.
4 – Mages’ Wrath - Ability for finishing opponents.
5 – Restraining Prison - Although destructive clench and force pulse are useful for keeping enemies at bay, restraining prison is a longer lasted root effect, which activates on multiple targets.
U – Summon Charged Atronach - My main ultimate ability. The ability does great AoE damage, and effectively tanks for my character while active. It allows me to do great damage to difficult opponents and larger mobs – and allows myself to regain my strength.

Bar 2 – Sword and shield

This bar has two functions. The first is to provide pre-fight buffs, such as the pets. Secondly, I switch to this bar when I’m on the defensive. I can block with the shield, escape with boundless storm and regain Magicka and Health quickly with dark conversion.

1 – Pierce Armour - The only S&B ability that I will be using. Since this bar is to provide buffs and defensive abilities, I have chosen this ability as it is able to debuff my opponent to reduce their spell resisitance; invaluable for when I switch back to my primary bar.
2 - Either Unstable Clannfear - The Clannfear is good at tanking enemies while my character stays out of the line of fire. Or Liquid Lightning – While the Clannfear is useful for tanking individual targets, Liquid Lightning is a great ability to have as a backup AoE effect for taking out mobs.
3 – Either Summon Restoring Twilight - Same reasoning as the clannfear, but also provides an invaluable Magicka regen to myself and allies. Or Power Surge – Power Surge sounds like a really useful pre-fight buff. It gives massive weapon damage which can be quite powerful in accordance with an enemy debuff such as Elemental Drain
4 – Dark Conversion - Since my build barely uses stamina (only for dodging, running and the pierce armour ability) Dark Conversion will be a very useful ability for my second bar. This spell allows me to regain my Magicka and Health when I am low on resources; since it drains ~15% stamina every second, it will not matter that I have low stamina values. It is morphed to Dark Conversion because the less stamina drain will be far more useful than a slight health/damage buff.
5 – Boundless Storm - Great for boosting my defense, and getting out of the line of fire quickly when in trouble.
U - Either: Absorption Field - Negates the magic of large groups of enemies, and restores my Magicka. Great for larger mobs. Or: Shooting Star - Great AoE damage ability – also useful to use in accordance with Pierce Armour or Elemental drain. I will either use Shooting Star or Absorption field, depending on the situation I plan to encounter.

Passives

For most skill lines I use, I have selected all the passives, since most have at least some use. I will specify if I have not taken all passives for a skill line.
Daedric Summoning passives - Refunds Magicka when my summoned creatures are killed, reduces the cost of Ultimates, increases my health regen when using summoned creatures and provides bonuses for said creatures.
Dark Magic - Reduces ability costs, heals when I finish off enemies with crystal blast, increases spell duration for restraining prison and increases critical strike chance when trapping enemies with restraining prison.
Storm Calling - Increases Magicka regen, increases Mages’ Wrath damage, gives Mages’ Wrath a chance to disintegrate and reduces the cost of Mages’ Wrath.
Light & Heavy Armour - I’m using light armour in my build, however it may be a good idea to go light/heavy – 5/2 in order to provide greater survivability benefits. The light armour will not only help me boost my Magicka, which I have not focused on in attribute points, but also reduces spell cost which is a great commodity to have.
High Elf – My High Elf skills improve both my Max Magicka and my Magicka regen a massive amount. It also has great abilities for improving my elemental effects – it increases my exp gains for destruction staff and gives a 6% bonus at tier 3 for cold, fire and shock effects – invaluable to my build which is largely focused around shock and fire damage.
Destruction Staff – The Destruction staff passives give my fire staff increased critical chance, greater spell resistance, faster heavy attacks and Magicka for killing enemies.

Mundus Stone – The Apprentice

I expect I will be hitting the soft cap in both my Health and my Magicka stats (if not I can switch this mundus stone to an appropriate regen stone) so I have chosen the apprentice as my mundus stone. Since my class is pretty purely focusing on Magicka, the only Stamina used is for a single sword and board passive and dark conversion which in fact switches stamina into Magicka, extra spell penetration will increase my damage output.

crafting

While I realise that crafting is not part of the build I thought it would be useful to make some crafting suggestions which will aid progression with this build. The clothing skill line will be extremely useful for creating light armour, and woodworking will be useful for creating the fire staff. Blacksmithing has some use for creating the sword and shield, however unless you’re willing to spend the skill points it’s a good idea to acquire these items through other means.

Overview

For the overview I am separating the two aspects of my build, survivability and damage.

Damage

Elemental damage

Firstly, I get extra damage from my racial skill line. Then I also can decrease spell resistance of opponents with Pierce Armour and Elemental Drain. Both of these are useful for increasing the damage of my Destruction Staff abilities and my Storm Calling abilities, as well as my spells in general. Furthermore, I get more passives in my Storm Calling and Destruction Staff skill lines which aid my elemental abilities, giving them further effects and more damage.

Magicka

I have to make sure I have enough Magicka, and a good Magicka regen, in order to be effective in dealing damage. The sources I gain Magicka resources from, and other Magicka related abilities, are as follows:

• 7 Pieces of Light Armour. – Max Magicka, regen and reduced spell costs
• Racial Passives – Max Magicka and regen
• Sorcerer Passives -Increased Magicka regen and reduced spell costs
• ‘The Atronach’ Mundus stone. – Magicka Regen
• Dark Conversion – Gain Magicka from Stamina
• Restoring Twilight (Pet) -Increased Magicka regen
• Destruction Expert – Restores Magicka
• Armour traits

 

Survivability

On my first bar I use stuns, roots, snares and knockbacks to kite enemies. On my second bar I have further defensive abilities, including Dark Conversion which converts Stamina to Magicka and Health, and Boundless Storm for defense and escaping.
Furthermore I have other passives and effects which help me survive:

• Daedric Protection – Large Max Health increase while slotting a creature summoning ability
• 49 ability points into Health.
• Active abilities which increase my defense, and restore health. Shield to block with.
• Armour traits

This is pretty similar to my Dragonknight build. In my opinion, the main differences are; 1 – The Dragonknight has slightly better synergy between the destruction staff and class abilities; 2 – the Sorcerer has better Magicka management, greater ranged capabilties, a few abilities that the dragonknight leaves out (e.g. an execute) and, most importantly, Sorcerer makes use of stamina (via Dark Conversion) whereas the Dragonknight build, for the most part, neglects stamina entirely.
That’s it for the build. Feedback is welcome.
V1.2 – edit to attribute points, armour, and bar 2.

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