“Curse”
Type: Dungeon, Trial, Arena & Overland
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Changes from the previous version
- Resource Management
- Trials & Dungeons Setup
- Rotation & Target Dummy Parse
- 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. Necromancer is the new class that has been released 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 2000 health and the extra 1500 Spell Penetration will give you a huge advantage over other classes.
If you are new to ESO, please make sure to also read the New Player Beginners Guide and the Magicka Necromancer Beginners Guide, there are a lot of Beginner Guides that you can check out.
- 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 from the previous version
Changed skills, rotation and champion points for the Dragonhold DLC. DoTs got nerfed overall and sustain will be a bit tougher due to cost increase on certain skills.
- Frozen Colossus: The Major Vulnerability from this ability and its morphs now last 8 seconds after dealing any damage, rather than 3 seconds after the final smash. Enemies hit by Major Vulnerability cannot be affected again for 20 seconds after it applies, to prevent situations where this debuff could be kept up indefinitely by rotating an army of Necromancers.
- Rapid Rot: Increased the damage bonus for this passive to 15%, up from 10%.
Resource Management
Magicka Necromancers have good sustain, you already have a very nice built in passive called Undead Confederate that gives you a huge boost in combination with Breton 7% Spell Cost Reduction and the False God’s Devotion set which is another 8% Spell cost Reduction. And the passive will always be up because we keep our Skeletal Arcanist up a 100% of the time. If you still need more sustain you can always slot a Magicka Drain Enchantment or do a few heavy attacks between your rotations. Mystic Siphon also helps you to restore Magicka while you are dealing damage to the enemy.
- Undead Confederate
- Mystic Siphon
- Magicka Drain Enchantment (optional)
Trials & Dungeons Setup
Gear used: 5x Perfect False God’s Devotion, 5x Mother’s Sorrow, 2x Zaan
- Unbuffed: Out of combat no buffs.
- Buffed: All raidbuffs from the Target dummy plus Potions 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
You can find more good sets for magicka specific setups in the Magicka DPS Sets article with explanation of each set. Keep in mind not all sets are good for every situation. Siroria for example is only good if you can keep up the 20x stack, if you keep dropping it you possibly want to choose another set instead of Siroria in that situation.
Gear Setup 1
- Perfected False God's Devotion is one of the new top sets. It provides similiar stats to Julianos but in addition also gives you 8% cost reduction all your Spells!
| Gear | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchantment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chest | Perfected False God's Devotion | Light | Divine | Magicka |
| Belt | Mother's Sorrow | Light | Divine | Magicka |
| Shoes | Mother's Sorrow | Light | Divine | Magicka |
| Pants | Perfected False God's Devotion | Light | Divine | Magicka |
| Hands | Mother's Sorrow | Light | Divine | Magicka |
| Head | Zaan | Heavy | Divine | Magicka |
| Shoulder | Zaan | Medium | Divine | Magicka |
| Necklace | Perfected False God's Devotion | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage |
| Ring | Perfected False God's Devotion | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage |
| Ring | Perfected False God's Devotion | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage |
| Weapon 1 | Mother's Sorrow | Fire | Precise | Fire Enchant |
| Weapon 2 | Crushing Wall | Fire | Infused | Weapon Damage Enchant |
Gear Setup 2
| Gear | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchantment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chest | Burning Spellweave | Light | Divine | Magicka |
| Belt | Burning Spellweave | Light | Divine | Magicka |
| Shoes | Burning Spellweave | Light | Divine | Magicka |
| Pants | Mother's Sorrow | Light | Divine | Magicka |
| Hands | Mother's Sorrow | Light | Divine | Magicka |
| Head | Zaan | Medium | Divine | Magicka |
| Shoulder | Zaan | Heavy | 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 | Burning Spellweave | Fire | Precise | Fire Enchant |
| Weapon 2 | Crushing Wall | Fire | Infused | Weapon Damage Enchant |
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 | Fire Enchant |
| Weapon 2 | Magnus' Gift | Fire | Infused | Weapon Damage Enchant |
Where can I get the gear?
Perfect False God's Devotion: Sunspire vet
Perfect Mantle of Siroria: Cloudrest
Mother's Sorrow: Deshaan
Valkyn Skoria: City of Ash 2
Law of Julianos: Craftable
Magnus' Gift: Craftable
Willpower: Imperial City Vaults/ Guildstore
Asylum Perfected Inferno Staff: Asylum Sanctorium
Zaan: Scalecaller Peak
Maelstrom Inferno Staff: Maelstrom Arena
Skills
With the Necromancer you want to make sure that you have enough corpses on the ground when you activate certain abilities to buff their damage output. Also make sure to have enough Necromancer abilities on the front bar because of the Death Knell passive for execute.
| 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: Degeneration | 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, every 3rd cast deals 20% more damage.
- 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.
- Degeneration: Very powerful single target damage over time effect.
- 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.
Championpoints
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!
Championpoints [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
Championpoints [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
Championpoints [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
Breton (Recommended, best sustain)
Altmer
Khajiit
Darkelf
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
- Vampire (optional): Supernatural Recovery, Undeath, Dark Stalker
- Fighters Guild: Banish the Wicked, Skilled Tracker
- Mages Guild: Mage Adept, Everlasting Magic, Magicka Controller, Might of the Guild
- Psijic Order: Clairvoyance, Spell Orb, Concentrated Barrier, Deliberation
- Undaunted: Undaunted Command, Undaunted Mettle
- Racial: All
- Alchemy: Medicinal Use
Attributes
All into Magicka
Rotation & Target Dummy
In case you don’t know what weaving light attacks is, make sure to check out the “Weaving Beginner Guide” which explains how to weave light attacks between abilities, aka animation canceling.
Rotation
Whenever possible, activate things like the Skeletal Mage, Channeled Acceleration and Blastbones before the fight starts, that way you gain some burst advantage.
Static Rotation:
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 > Degeneration > Weapon Swap
Restart
- Reapply Channeled Acceleration when it runs out.
- Use Ultimate whenever it is ready
- Do Light Attacks between each ability.
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.
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 | Mother's Sorrow | Light | Divine | Magicka |
| Shoes | Mother's Sorrow | Light | Divine | Magicka |
| Pants | Perfected False God's Devotion | Light | Divine | Magicka |
| Hands | Mother's Sorrow | 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 | Mother's Sorrow | Fire | Precise | Fire Enchant |
| Weapon 2 | Crushing Wall | Fire | Infused | Weapon Damage Enchant |
Perfect False God's Devotion: Sunspire
Mother's Sorrow: Deshaan Overland
Iceheart: Direfrost Keep, Glirion Undaunted Chest
Skills
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 | Grothdarr | Medium | Divine | Magicka |
| Shoulder | Grothdarr | 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 | Precise | 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.
Update Log
11.08 2019 Updated the Magicka Necromancer Build for the SCALEBREAKER DLC, Elsweyr Chapter, Magicka Necromancer PvE Build.
20.10.2019 Updated the Build for the DRAGONHOLD DLC, Elsweyr Chapter.
Tags. Magicka Necromancer Build PvE, Magicka Necro Build, MagCro Build PvE.
