Welcome, today we are taking a look at the best PVP Builds for each Class in ESO (Elder Scrolls Online). The Elder Scrolls Online is a huge game and has many playable activities in the game.
The PVP of ESO takes place in Cyrodiil and Battlegrounds. You can also duel other players of course in any place in the world and even inside your own home.
This is a very personalized list and may of course vary depending on who you talk to. These builds work for everyone and once you find your own fighting style, you can adjust and optimize the builds further. If you want a complete list of all builds please visit the ESO PVP Builds list.
The PVP in ESO is massive and huge battles happen in Cyrodiil. You will notice that no one on the battlefield in Cyrodiil will look identical or play identical. Every player can participate in the fight from new players to veteran players. That also means that the skill level from player to player will vary a lot. The same goes for builds, ESO shines in build diversity and you most likely won’t see anyone running the exact same build.
However, some builds clearly outshine others on the battlefield in Cyrodiil. Some builds might be specialized in siege damage, group play, stealth or solo play. Today we are going to take a look at what the best solo PvP Builds are for each Class in ESO (Elder Scrolls Online).
Sorcerer the “Streak” Build for ESO PVP
Sorcerers are one of the most versatile classes in ESO, especially in PVP. They have insane mobility and high damage output while also being able to shield and heal themselves with ease.
The Streak Sorcerer PvP Build is a good example of that. Sorcerers are one of the most popular and best PvP classes in ESO.
The Sorcerer PvP build uses a classic Fire staff front bar and a Restoration staff back bar setup and is stacked with a huge magicka pool which increases the shield size of Hardened Ward and Harness Magicka.
The build has great burst damage thanks to one of the best combos in the game, namely Haunting Curse, Crystal Fragments and Crushing Shock. If timed correctly, all the damage can hit the enemy at the same time, resulting in crazy burst damage. And if that is still not enough, you can also time the three attacks with an additional Shooting Star ultimate, which evaporates any target.
We have insane mobility thanks to Streak and Boundless Storm. Not only does Streak give us insane mobility, but it also stuns enemies when we streak through them and deals damage. Boundless Storm applies sort of a lightning armor around us which constantly deals damage and gives us access to Major Expedition, increasing speed by 30%.
Healing in the ESO Sorcerer PvP Build is covered by Critical Surge and Radiating Regeneration. Critical Surge not only heals but also applies Major Sorcery to us, increasing spell damage by 20%. Radiating Regeneration has a high healing output and can also heal up to two additional targets, especially great if you fight in a smaller group in Cyrodiil in ESO (Elder Scrolls Online).
Sustain is covered by the Dark Conversion ability which can trade stamina for magicka and health.
Of course, there are also built-in resource management mechanics with the Sorcerer PvP Build “Streak”, more info can be found in the resource management section of the build.
Nightblade the “Assassin” Build for ESO PVP
Nightblades are a popular choice in ESO PvP thanks to their use of stealth and high burst damage to instantly delete enemies from the battlefield. The Assassin Nightblade PvP Build is a great example of that. The build has high burst damage, great mobility and stealth capabilities which are needed in Cyrodiil to survive with this kind of playstyle.
The Nightblade PvP Build has insane burst damage thanks to a great combo with the ability combo Relentless Focus bow proc, Surprise Attack and Incapacitating Strike. Most targets won’t survive the high pressure of these damage abilities and are instantly killed, given you use the combo correctly, which is explained in detail in the how to play section of the Nightblade Build.
The stealth and high mobility aspect of the build comes from Shadowy Disguise, Hasty Retreat and Temporal Guard. Shadowy Disguise lets us disappear at any time during battle if needed. The Hasty Retreat passive gives us access to Major Expedition 30% speed boost after we do a tactical dodge roll on the bow bar, which we do often to avoid incoming damage anyway.
And lastly, Temporal Guard can teleport us back to another location, giving us the edge over the battlefield. We can jump off a rock or bridge and if the enemy follows we can simply activate the Temporal Guard ultimate to teleport back up, the enemy won’t have a chance to follow us.
In addition, the Eternal Hunt set is also key to this Nightblade PvP Build for ESO. Every time we do a dodge roll it will spawn a green rune on the ground which roots enemies, making it almost impossible to catch you.
Healing and defense come from Resolving Vigor, Rally, Shuffle and a lot of dodging. Resolving Vigor applies great healing over time to your character and Rally applies a huge healing tick when the ability ends. Shuffle reduces incoming damage and removes snares.
Sustain is covered with the Leeching Strikes ability. By constantly keeping this ability active, we get free stamina.
You can find more details about resource management in the resource management section of the Nightblade PvP Build.
Templar the “Blazeplar” Build for ESO PVP
Templars are an amazing class thanks to their versatility in PvP in ESO (Elder Scrolls Online). They have amazing damage and healing abilities and Templars can fortify themselves a lot to reduce incoming damage.
The Blazeplar Templar PvP Build is a great example of that. The Templar PvP Build has high sustained damage and healing capabilities while also being able to have a high defense at the same time.
Templars can apply huge pressure on the enemy with abilities and passives like the Puncturing Sweeps and Burning Light combo, Reflective Light, Puryfing Light and Radiant Glory and the Crescent Sweep Ultimate.
Reflective Light and Puryfing Light can be applied on the enemy and then you can use Puncturing Sweeps with the Burning Light passive to increase damage even further. And Radiant Glory is used to finish off low-health enemies.
While mobility isn’t very high, we can use the Toppling Charge ability to close the gap easily, making it very hard for the enemy to get away.
Healing and defense is amazing with this Templar PvP Build for ESO. We do run a sword and a shield on the back bar which increases our damage mitigation a lot because we can block a lot of incoming damage.
In addition, we can also use the Spell Wall ultimate to reflect most of the attacks back to the enemy for a short duration, giving us the upper hand even if we are under huge pressure from the enemy.
Channeled Focus and Living Dark also provide huge benefits. Channeled Focus gives us amazing sustain and a crazy amount of resistance, resulting in less incoming damage. Living Dark is great to punish the enemy for attacking us because we apply a snare on the enemy and also heal ourselves a bit.
Healing itself is covered by Honor the Dead and Ritual of Retribution. Honor the Dead is one of the best if not the best burst heal in the game. While we use this ability we can also block on the back bar where we have the shield active, reducing incoming damage a lot and healing us back to full health easily.
Ritual of Retribution also cleanses negative effects which are very important and also deals a bit of damage.
Sustain is covered with Channeled Focus. Once you place the rune you will get constant magicka back and your resistances will be higher too. You don’t even have to stand in the rune to get the benefits, which is amazing.
More details about resource management can be found in the resource management section of the Templar PvP Build.
Dragonknight the “Legion” Build for ESO PVP
Dragonknights are an amazing class and a blunt force when it comes to PvP in ESO (Elder Scrolls Online). Dragonknights have great burst damage and can stand their ground for a very long time.
The Legion Dragonknight PvP Build is one of the favorite PvP builds in ESO. The Dragonknight PvP Build has great burst damage and likes to fight up close while also being able to stand the ground when hit by several enemies.
Dragonknights have great burst damage thanks to very effective combos with abilities like Dizzying Swing, Venomous Claw, Noxious Breath, Executioner and the Take Flight ultimate. Noxious Breath is a great damage over time effect and it also reduces enemy resistances and Venomous Claw is another great damage over time effect that puts pressure on the enemy.
Dizzying Swing deals massive damage and stuns the enemy and if that is still not enough you can also use Take Flight for more burst damage to finish the enemy off with Executioner.
Granted, mobility isn’t great but that doesn’t matter because we can stand our ground for a long time. Volatile Armor increases our resistances while also dealing a bit of damage and the ability also keeps the Burning Heart passive active, increasing incoming healing. Forward Momentum makes sure that you get rid of snares and roots and also applies immunity to them.
Fragmented Shield also provides a small shield and even more increased healing thanks to Major Mending 16% extra healing done.
With the Spell Wall ultimate we can further fortify our position, the ultimate lets you permanently block and also reflects incoming enemy projectiles for a short duration, giving you breathing room.
Healing with the Dragonknight PvP Build for ESO (Elder Scrolls Online) is covered with Resolving Vigor and Cauterize. Both of the abilities also get a huge boost to healing thanks to Fragmented Shield and the Burning Heart passive increasing the healing output.
A lot of the sustain for Dragonknights comes from amazing passives. Every time we activate Fragmented Shield it procs Helping Hands, giving us extra stamina and it also procs the Mountain’s Blessing passive, applying Minor Brutality which increases weapon damage by 10% and also giving us extra ultimate points.
When we activate any ultimate, the Battle Roar passive procs, giving us back a lot of stamina, magicka and health instantly.
A more detailed explanation of how sustain works can be found in the resource management section of the Dragonknight PvP Build.
Necromancer the “Horror” Build for ESO PVP
Necromancers are a great class and summon the undead into the battle in PvP in ESO (Elder Scrolls Online). Necromancers have great burst damage and can debuff enemies on the battlefield. The Horror Necromancer PvP Build for ESO is a good example of that.
Necromancers have a lot of class-specific abilities that are powerful. We can apply heavy burst damage to the enemy if we combine Grave Lord’s Sacrifice, Skeletal Arcanist, Destructive Clench, Degeneration and the Glacial Colossus ultimate.
Skeletal Arcanist and Degeneration apply constant pressure on the enemy. Whereas Grave Lord’s Sacrifice is used to explode at the same time as when Destructive Clench impacts the enemy. All of the abilities deal high damage but might sometimes be a bit hard to land or combine.
Mobility isn’t great but that is why we have a lot of healing output and abilities that strengthen our defense. The Summoner’s Armor applies extra resistance to us while also decreasing the cost of some abilities.
We do have plenty of healing abilities that we can use such as Radiating Regeneration, Spirit Guardian and Resistant Flesh. Radiating Regeneration is a very powerful heal over time that is always active. Spirit Guardian also applies a heal over time but also gives us 10% extra damage mitigation.
And Resistant Flesh can be used as an emergency burst heal. If that is not enough, we can use Dampen Magicka to apply a huge shield on ourselves.
The Necromancer PvP Build has a lot of built-in sustain. For example, as long as we keep the Skeletal Arcanist or the Spirit Guardian active we gain 200 extra Magicka Recovery thanks to the Undead Confederate passive.
More in-depth info about sustain can be found in the resource management section of the Necromancer PvP Build.
Warden the “Assault” Build for ESO PVP
Wardens are great at close combat and can deal amazing damage in PvP in ESO (Elder Scrolls Online). Wardens have great burst damage and can stay mobile at any point during the fight. The Assault Warden PvP Build for ESO is a great example of that.
Wardens have great burst damage thanks to class-based abilities and they can also stay mobile while slowing down enemies in combat. Damage abilities that are used are Subterranean Assault, Dizzying Swing, Reverse Slice, Deadly Cloak and the Dawnbreaker of Smithing ultimate.
Deadly Cloak is always active to give us extra damage over time effect that hits the enemy. Subterranean Assault, Dizzying Swing and Reverse Slice can hit the enemy almost at the same time, applying huge pressure. If that is still not enough, then you can also use the Dawnbreaker of Smithing ultimate to apply extra damage.
High mobility comes from Forward Momentum and Bird of Prey. Bird of Prey buffs us with Major Expedition, increasing speed by 30% while also constantly providing a 5% damage increase. Forward Momentum removes snares and immobilizations and also grants immunity to them. The ability also applies Major Brutality, increasing our weapon damage by 20%.
While the Warden PvP Build is focused on damage, we can also easily defend ourselves thanks to Deadly Cloak, Ice Fortress, Shimmering Shield and the Permaforst ultimate. Deadly Cloak applies Major Evasion, reducing the incoming area of effect damage by 20%.
Ice Fortress provides us with extra resistance as well as the Minor Protection buff, reducing all damage by 5%. Shimmering Shield absorbs all ranged damage and turns it into ultimate points for you, making it almost impossible for ranged enemies to kill you. The Permafrost ultimate is great for snaring enemies around you while also gaining Major Protection, reducing incoming damage by 10%.
As you can see, there are plenty of buffs that you can keep on your character during battle.
Your main healing ability is Resolving Vigor, providing you with constant healing ticks as long as you keep it active. Sustain is covered with the Bull Netch ability. The Bull Netch is easy to keep active because it has a long duration and always gives you stamina back.
Of course, there are other sustain mechanics, you can find a more in-depth explanation in the resource management section of the Warden PvP Build.
Arcanist the “Gaze” Build for ESO PVP
The Arcanist is a good melee fighter and can deal amazing damage with the right gear and skills in ESO. Take a look at the Stamina Arcanist PVP Build “Gaze” and you will know why.
The Two-hander skill line gives you the opportunity to deal single-target damage with Wrecking Blow and has a great gap closer called Critical Rush. Additionally, Race Against Time allows you to stay mobile and increase your movement speed tremendously while also providing you with a small shield when you block thanks to the passive Concentrated Barrier. While it is annoying to level up the Psijic Skill line, it is definitely worth it.
Unbreakable Fate and Deadly Cloak provide us with plenty of damage reduction during ESO PVP. Your main healing ability is Resolving Vigor, providing you with constant healing ticks as long as you keep it active.
Make sure to read the full in-depth guide on the Stamina Arcanist PVP Build to understand all the ins and outs.
Conclusion Best PvP Builds for each Class
All classes can create great builds. However, some of the classes favor certain setups but it of course also always depends on your play style. One player always favors a stamina build over a magicka build, while another player might play some classes as a stamina and some classes as a magicka setup.
And of course, the build itself won’t make you a good player, understanding movement and understanding your enemy is key to success. With movement alone, you can avoid a lot of incoming damage. Of course, it should be obvious that standing in the middle of a field without cover isn’t very smart. But moving between rocks or trees where enemies might not have a line of sight might be better for you.
If you know what combos the enemy can use, you can already prepare for the attacks before they even happen. However, this is a long process because you need to play each class yourself to really understand what sort of combos and tricks the class can use against you in ESO’s PVP combat.
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