Magicka Necromancer Build PvE DPS for Elder Scrolls Online

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Changes from the previous version
• Resource Management
• Trials & Dungeons Setup
  • Gear
  • Skills
  • Vampire
  • Champion Points (810, 600, 300)
  • Important Info (Food, Mundus, Race, Potions, Passives, Attributes)
• Rotation
• AoE Setup
• Maelstrom Arena
• Update Log

Introduction

Welcome to the Magicka Necromancer Build PvE “Curse” for Elder Scrolls Online. Make sure to bookmark the link as I will keep updating the build for each new Update of ESO. The “Curse” build is made for PvE Trials, Arenas and Dungeons. You can also find other Magicka Necromancer content on the website such as:

• Magicka Necromancer Beginners Guide
• Magicka Necromancer Beginner 160CP Build
• Solo Magicka Necromancer Build

Necromancer is a new class that got implemented with the Elsweyr Chapter. Necromancer stands out due to abilities and passives like Glacial Colossus, Unnerving Boneyard, Stalking Blastbones, Death Knell, Last Gasp and Undead Confederate that make them very powerful. On top of that, the extra 1250 Health and the extra 1500 Spell Penetration will give you a huge advantage over other classes.

• Necromancer Class
• High Single Target (ST) Damage
• High Ranged & Melee Damage
• Crazy Area of Effect (AoE) Damage
• Good Sustain
• Easy Survivability due to magicka shield
• Trials, Dungeons and Maelstrom!

Changes to the previous Version

Stonethorn DLC U27, changed the skill setups for both Single Target and AoE. Removed Vampire from the build, as Blood for Blood got nerfed, replaced it with our normal Necro spammable. There is plenty of gear balance changes that made some sets a bit more viable, Single Target gear setup nothing changed, updated the AoE gear setup.

Notable changes from the patch notes:

Bloodthirsty: This trait now grants up to 350 Weapon and Spell Damage against targets under 90% Health, rather than granting a flat 10% damage increase against targets under 25% Health.

False God’s Devotion Set:

• Removed the extra 5 piece bonus of Spell Damage on the normal version
• Removed the extra 5 piece bonus of Magicka on the perfected version

Mantle of Siroria Set:

• This set and the Perfected version now grant 52 Spell Damage per stack, up from 30.
• Reduced the maximum stacks to 10, down from 20.

Both False God and Siroria got some adjustments. False God is king if you have sustain issues. If you don’t have sustain issues you want to wear Siroria for the damage, easier to maintain the stacks now!

Mechanical Acuity Set:

• Removed the proc chance from this set.
• This set now grants its guaranteed Critical Strike to any ability that can naturally Critically Strike, rather than only attacks.

Medusa Set:

• This set’s 2-4 piece bonuses are now Spell Critical, rather than Health, Magicka, and Spell Damage.
• This set now has an additional 5 piece bonus of 900 Spell Critical.
• This is a heavy armor set.

Both Acuity and the Medusa set are now also very viable. Acuity for burst situations such as trash fights and Medusa can be used if you need 1 extra Skill slot (Because you won’t have to run Trap or Channeled Acceleration for the Minor Force buff.)

Resource Management

Trials & Dungeons Setup

Gear used: 5x Perfect False God’s Devotion, 5x Mother’s Sorrow, 2x Zaan on a High Elf with Artaeum Picked Fish Bowl (Stats may differentiate a bit)

• Unbuffed: Out of combat.
• Buffed: All raidbuffs from the Target dummy, Spell Power Potion and Weapon Damage Enchantment.

Gear

You will find 3 different setups here. Setup 1 is the preferred setup. For people that do not have all the gear yet can use the Setup 2 which is easier to obtain and beginners can use Setup 3.

• Setup 1 is with Trial Gear
• Setup 2 is without Trial Gear
• Setup 3 is for Beginners

Gear Setup 1

Gear Setup 2

Gear	Set	Weight	Trait	Enchantment
Chest	Law of Julianos	Heavy	Divine	Magicka
Belt	Law of Julianos	Light	Divine	Magicka
Shoes	Law of Julianos	Light	Divine	Magicka
Pants	Mother's Sorrow	Light	Divine	Magicka
Hands	Mother's Sorrow	Light	Divine	Magicka
Head	Valkyn Skoria	Medium	Divine	Magicka
Shoulder	Valkyn Skoria	Light	Divine	Magicka
Necklace	Mother's Sorrow	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Spell Damage
Ring	Mother's Sorrow	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Spell Damage
Ring	Mother's Sorrow	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Spell Damage
Weapon 1	Law of Julianos	Fire	Nirnhoned	Fire Enchant
Weapon 2	Crushing Wall	Fire	Infused	Weapon Damage Enchant

Gear Setup 3 Beginner

Gear	Set	Weight	Trait	Enchantment
Chest	Law of Julianos	Heavy	Divine	Magicka
Belt	Law of Julianos	Light	Divine	Magicka
Shoes	Law of Julianos	Light	Divine	Magicka
Pants	Law of Julianos	Medium	Divine	Magicka
Hands	Law of Julianos	Light	Divine	Magicka
Head	Magnus' Gift	Light	Divine	Magicka
Shoulder	Magnus' Gift	Light	Divine	Magicka
Necklace	Willpower	Jewelry	Arcane	Spell Damage
Ring	Willpower	Jewelry	Healthy	Spell Damage
Ring	Willpower	Jewelry	Arcane	Spell Damage
Weapon 1	Magnus' Gift	Fire	Precise or Nirnhoned	Fire Enchant
Weapon 2	Magnus' Gift	Fire	Infused	Weapon Damage Enchant

Where can I get the gear?

Perfect False God's Devotion: Sunspire vet
Mother's Sorrow: Deshaan
Valkyn Skoria: vCity of Ash 2
Maw of the Infernal: vThe Banished Cells II, Maj Undaunted
Law of Julianos: Craftable
Magnus' Gift: Craftable
Zaan: Scalecaller Peak
Maelstrom Inferno Staff: Maelstrom Arena
Perfected Maelstrom Inferno Staff: vMaelstrom Arena

Skills

Fire Staff Mainbar	Fire Staff bar
Slot 1: Mystic Siphon	Slot 1: Unstable Wall of Elements
Slot 2: Skeletal Arcanist	Slot 2: Unnerving Boneyard
Slot 3: Ricochet Skull	Slot 3: Harness Magicka
Slot 4: Stalking Blastbones	Slot 4: Channeled Acceleration
Slot 5: Mystic Orb	Slot 5: Necrotic Potency
Ultimate: Shooting Star	Ultimate: Glacial Colossus

Skills Explanation

• Shocking Siphon: Deals good damage and restores 2880 Magicka over 12 seconds. This ability needs a CORPSE to be activated.
• Skeletal Arcanist: Deals good damage and is mainly here to give you the 300 extra Magicka Recovery from the Undead Confederate passive and the extra 1500 Spell Penetration from the Dismember passive.
• Ricochet Skull: This is your main spammable ability.
• Stalking Blastbones: This is a strong single target and AoE ability which also provides a corpse for your other abilities. It is your main source of corpses, make sure to remember it takes 2.5s to activate and another 0.5s to run to the enemy depending on your distance.
• Mystic Orb: Very powerful Single Target and AoE damage.
• Shooting Star: Increases your Max Magicka by 2% due to the Magicka Controller passive.
• Unstable Wall of Fire: This needs to be on the ground all the times as it deals a lot of damage with a strong explosion and also buffs the damage of your Light Attacks if you have a Maelstrom Staff.
• Unnerving Boneyard: Deals really good AoE damage, make sure that you activate this ability while a CORPSE is on the ground to get the 50% damage boost!
• Harness Magicka: This is your shield in case you get hit by a lot of damage, can bolster your health by a lot.
• Channeled Acceleration: Keep this up all the time to get the extra critical damage buff.
• Necrotic Potency: Can be used to drain corpses on the ground for extra ultimate points.
• Glacial Colossus: Can be activated to deal a lot of damage and apply Major Vulnerability to the enemy for a short duration.

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Champion Points

If you need optimized defensive Champion Points for a specific trial I recommend checking out my Maximize Damage Mitigation in Trials Article.

• Calculator: In case you need help distributing your Champion Points, make sure to check out the Champion Points Calculator!

Champion Points [810]

The Ritual
44 Thaumaturge
The Atronach
73 Master-at-Arms, 23 Staff Expert
The Apprentice
64 Elemental Expert, 66 Elfborn
The Shadow
61 Tumbling, 61 Shadow Ward
The Lover
100 Arcanist
The Tower
37 Warlord, 11 Sprinter
The Lord
The Lady
49 Hardy, 49 Elemental Defender, 48 Thick Skinned
The Steed
81 Ironclad, 43 Spell Shield

Champion Points [600]

The Ritual
40 Thaumaturge
The Atronach
34 Master at Arms, 22 Staff Expert
The Apprentice
64 Elemental Expert, 40 Elfborn
The Shadow
29 Tumbling, 29 Shadow Ward
The Lover
100 Arcanist
The Tower
31 Warlord, 11 Sprinter
The Lord
The Lady
49 Hardy, 49 Elemental Defender, 37 Thick Skinned
The Steed
37 Ironclad, 28 Spell Shield

Champion Points [300]

The Ritual
18 Thaumaturge
The Atronach
16 Master at Arms, 18 Staff Expert
The Apprentice
32 Elemental Expert, 16 Elfborn
The Shadow
17 Tumbling, 17 Shadow Ward
The Lover
37 Arcanist
The Tower
18 Warlord, 11 Sprinter
The Lord
The Lady
27 Hardy, 27 Elemental Defender, 18 Thick Skinned
The Steed
16 Ironclad, 12 Spell Shield

Important Info for Magicka Necromancer Build PvE

Here you can find information about what race, buff-food, potions & poisons you want to use. I also do list all the passives that you need for this setup.

Buff-food

Artaeum Pickled Fish Bowl
(Max Health, Max Magicka)
(Fish, Rice, Clam Gall, Honey)

In case you still have sustain issues or you don’t have access to False God’s Devotion or you are not a Breton, I recommend using the Witchmother’s Potent Brew Drink (or Clockwork Citrus Filet)

Mundus Stone

You want to make sure to use the Shadow Mundus Stone, this will be nice especially during the execute where you can reach a 100% Spell Critical Chance due to the passive Death Knell.

Shadow Mundus (Increased Critical Damage)

Race

Altmer (Best Damage)
Breton (Best Sustain)
Darkelf
Khajiit

Potions

Spell-Power Potions
(Spell-crit, Spell Damage, Magicka)
(Cornflower, Ladys Smock, Water Hyacinth)

Passives

• Grave Lord: Reusable Parts, Death Knell, Dismember, Rapid Rot
• Bone Tyrant: Death Gleaning, Disdain Harm, Last Gasp
• Living Death: Curative Curse, Corpse Consumption, Undead Confederate
• Destruction Staff: Tri Focus, Penetrating Magic, Elemental Force, Ancient Knowledge, Destruction Expert
• Light Armor: Grace, Evocation, Spell Warding, Prodigy, Concentration
• Heavy Armor: Resolve, Constitution, Juggernaut
• Fighters Guild: Banish the Wicked, Skilled Tracker
• Mages Guild: Mage Adept, Everlasting Magic, Magicka Controller, Might of the Guild
• Psijic Order (Optional): Clairvoyance, Spell Orb, Concentrated Barrier, Deliberation
• Undaunted: Undaunted Command, Undaunted Mettle
• Racial: All
• Alchemy: Medicinal Use

Attributes

All into Magicka

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Rotation

Also please check out the “Weaving Beginner Guide” which explains how to weave light attacks between abilities, aka animation canceling.

Whenever possible, activate things like the Skeletal Mage, Channeled Acceleration and Blastbones before the fight starts, that way you gain some burst advantage.

Unstable Wall of Elements > LA > Unnerving Boneyard > LA > Weapon Swap

LA > Blastbones > LA > Skeletal Mage > LA > Ricochet Skull > LA > Blastbones > LA > Mystic Siphon > LA > Ricochet Skull > LA > Blastbones > LA > Mystic Orb >  Weapon Swap

Restart

• Reapply Channeled Acceleration when it runs out.
• Use Ultimate whenever it is ready
• LA = Light Attack

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How to Play Beginner Video Guide

This Video is not directly tied to the build, it is here to introduce you to the class and show you a general setup that you can play.

Magicka Necromancer How to Play Beginners Guide - Elsweyr ESO

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Area of Effect Setup

Here you can find an optimized AoE setup for your build. This will help increase your damage on trash packs during dungeons & trials. You can choose any magicka based Monster Set, I prefer Iceheart because it provides so much damage mitigation.

Gear	Set	Weight	Trait	Enchantment
Chest	Perfected False God's Devotion	Light	Divine	Magicka
Belt	Mechanical Acuity	Light	Divine	Magicka
Shoes	Mechanical Acuity	Light	Divine	Magicka
Pants	Perfected False God's Devotion	Light	Divine	Magicka
Hands	Mechanical Acuity	Light	Divine	Magicka
Head	Iceheart	Heavy	Divine	Magicka
Shoulder	Iceheart	Medium	Divine	Magicka
Necklace	Perfected False God's Devotion	Jewelry	Arcane	Spell Damage
Ring	Perfected False God's Devotion	Jewelry	Arcane	Spell Damage
Ring	Perfected False God's Devotion	Jewelry	Arcane	Spell Damage
Weapon 1	Mechanical Acuity	Shock	Nirnhoned	Fire Enchant
Weapon 2	Perfected Crushing Wall	Fire	Infused	Weapon Damage Enchant

Perfect False God's Devotion: Sunspire
Mechanical Acuity: Craftable
Iceheart: Direfrost Keep, Glirion Undaunted Chest

Skills

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Maelstrom Arena

If you are new to Maelstrom Arena, I highly recommend checking out the full Maelstrom Arena Veteran Guide! Always make sure to start a new wave off with a Heavy Attack to restore a lot of resources!

Gear

Gear	Set	Weight	Trait	Enchantment
Chest	False God's Devotion	Light	Divine	Magicka
Belt	False God's Devotion	Light	Divine	Magicka
Shoes	False God's Devotion	Light	Divine	Magicka
Pants	False God's Devotion	Light	Divine	Magicka
Hands	False God's Devotion	Light	Divine	Magicka
Head	Iceheart	Medium	Divine	Magicka
Shoulder	Iceheart	Heavy	Divine	Magicka
Necklace	Mother's Sorrow	Jewelry	Arcane	Spell Damage
Ring	Mother's Sorrow	Jewelry	Arcane	Spell Damage
Ring	Mother's Sorrow	Jewelry	Arcane	Spell Damage
Weapon 1	Mother's Sorrow	Fire	Nirnhoned	Fire Enchant
Weapon 2	Mother's Sorrow	Fire	Infused	Weapon Damage Enchant

Skills

We choose Crushing Shock over the Skull spammable to interrupt ranged enemies while they are casting.