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GINX TV > Guides & Tutorial > Elder Scrolls Online

ESO Best Warden Magicka Build

Looking to make the most out of your Magicka-focused Warden? Here's our best Warden Magicka build in ESO.
By Shreyansh Katsura | 
First Published November 20, 2023, 15:35
ESO Best Warden Magicka Build
Shreyansh / Zenimax Online

Warden is one of the most self-reliant classes in Elder Scrolls Online. It's not only capable of dealing massive AOE damage but can also heal consistently, making it an easy choice for any encounter. 

Our best Warden Magicka build in ESO boasts incredible single-target and AOE frost damage, excellent Magicka recovery, and resource-efficient self-heal abilities. It's currently one of the best DPS builds in the game for every PvE activity in the game solo. Continue reading to know how to put this build together, including details like the best active and passive abilities, champion skills, gear set, and Mundus Stones.

Table of Contents

Best Active Abilities For The Warden Magicka Build In ESO

Front Bar Skills

Skill Description
Deep Fissure Stir a group of shalk that attack after 3 seconds, dealing 7860 Magic Damage to enemies in front of you. After the shalk complete their attack, they burrow underground for 6 seconds and then resurface again, dealing 10917 Magic Damage to enemies in front of you. Enemies damaged are afflicted with Major and Minor Breach, reducing their Physical and Spell Resistance by 5948 and 2974 for 10 seconds
Destructive Reach Devastate an enemy with an enhanced charge from your staff, dealing 3522 Magic Damage and an additional 11090 Magic Damage over 20 seconds. The initial hit always applies the element's status effect.
Screaming Cliff Racer Command a cliff racer to dive bomb an enemy, dealing 6550 Magic Damage. If you are more than 7 meters away from the target, you set them Off Balance for 7 seconds. After dealing damage you increase your Weapon and Spell Damage by 100 for 10 seconds, which quadruples after damaging Off Balance enemies.
Barbed Trap Set a sharpened blade trap at your location, which takes 1.5 seconds to arm and lasts for 20 seconds. When triggered, the trap deals 4002 Bleed Damage, an additional 11990 Bleed Damage over 20 seconds, and grants you Minor Force, increasing your Critical Damage by 10% for the duration. The damage has a higher chance to apply the Hemorrhaging status effect. Enemies who activate the trap are immobilized for 2 seconds.
Bird of Prey Invoke the spirit of agility to gain Major Expedition for 6 seconds, increasing your Movement Speed by 30%. Gain immunity to snares and immobilizations for 4 seconds. While slotted you gain Minor Berserk, increasing your damage done by 5%.
Wild Guardian Rouse a grizzly to fight by your side. The grizzly swipes at an enemy, dealing 2000 Bleed Damage, and sometimes swipes all enemies in front of it, dealing 8006 Bleed Damage and stunning them for 2 seconds. Once summoned you can activate Guardian's Savagery for 75 Ultimate, to maul an enemy for 11209 Bleed Damage. Deals 100% more damage to enemies below 25% Health. The damage has a higher chance to apply the Hemorrhaging status effect.

Back Bar Skills

Skill Description
Unstable Wall of Elements (Wall of Frost) Create an unstable elemental barrier in front of you, dealing 854 Magic Damage to enemies in the target area every 1 second before exploding for an additional 3638 Magic Damage. Unstable Wall of Frost costs more, but snares and reduces armor against Chilled enemies and grants damage shields. 
Fetcher Infection Unleash a swarm of fetcherflies to relentlessly attack an enemy, dealing 14542 Magic Damage over 20 seconds. Every second cast of this ability deals 60% increased damage. The fetcherflies rip through the enemy's flesh, afflicting them with Minor Vulnerability for the duration, increasing their damage taken by 5%.
Winter's Revenge Conjure icy shards at the target location to skewer enemies in the area, dealing 894 Frost Damage every 1 second for 12 seconds. This damage increases by 30% if cast with a Destruction Staff equipped. Enemies hit are overcome with bitter cold, reducing their Movement Speed by 30% for 3 seconds. This ability has a higher chance to apply the Chilled status effect.
Consuming Trap Lay claim to an enemy's soul, dealing 14080 Magic Damage over 20 seconds. If an affected enemy dies, you fill an empty Soul Gem, heal for 5755 Health, and restore 4125 Magicka and 5671 Stamina. This portion of the ability scales off your Max Health, Magicka, and Stamina.
Arctic Blast Envelop yourself in winter winds, instantly healing for 8831 Health. The winds persist for 20 seconds and chill your foes to the bone, dealing 1322 Frost Damage every 2 seconds and stunning them after 2 seconds for 3 seconds after activating. The damage has a higher chance to apply the Chilled status effect.
Wild Guardian Rouse a grizzly to fight by your side. The grizzly swipes at an enemy, dealing 2000 Bleed Damage, and sometimes swipes all enemies in front of it, dealing 8006 Bleed Damage and stunning them for 2 seconds. Once summoned you can activate Guardian's Savagery for 75 Ultimate, to maul an enemy for 11209 Bleed Damage. Deals 100% more damage to enemies below 25% Health. The damage has a higher chance to apply the Hemorrhaging status effect.

You begin by casting Deep Fissure, which takes three seconds to activate, so take that time to cast your other pre-buff and DOT skills. These include Screaming Cliff Racer, Unstable Wall of Frost, Consuming Trap, Fetcher, Winter's Revenge, Barbed Trap and Arctic Blast. 

First up is the Screaming Cliff Racer, which off-balances an enemy and deals magic damage to them. It also increases your weapon and spell damage, which is why you want to use this before casting your other DOT skills. 

Unstable Wall of Frost is both an offensive and defensive skill and probably the only one you want active at all times. It deals small but significant AOE damage over time and gives you a damage shield. It's one of the reasons why Magicka Warden's survivability is so good. 

Speaking of survivability, next up is Consuming Trap, which deals massive DOT to a single enemy and heals and recovers your Magicka and Stamina. You would want all the Magicka and Stamina you can get to cast your remaining DOTs, spam attack, and Ultimate.  

Next, you would want to cast Fetcher and Winter's Revenge. The former deals enormous magic damage to a single enemy and breaches its defense, making it vulnerable to subsequent attacks, whereas the latter conjured Icy Shards that deal AOE frost damage over time and also reduce enemy movement. It can also apply the Chilled Status effect to enemies, thus synergizing with the Unstable Wall of Frost.

The last two DOT skills you need to cast before focusing on your spam attacks are Arctic Blast and Barbed Trap. Arctic Blast is simultaneously also a healing skill, which instantly heals you while dealing massive Frost damage to enemies over time. Likewise, Barbed Trap is a prebuff and DOT skill, which increases your Critical Damage and deal Bleed damage to enemies over time. 

With all your prebuffs and DOT skills running, it's time to shift your focus to this build's spam attack - Destructive Reach. It deals magic damage to a single enemy, which then transitions to a 20-second-long DOT skill.

Like with any Magicka or Stamina build in ESO, you would want to repeatedly cast your spam until one of your DOTs becomes inactive. When that happens, take a break from using your main attack to recast your DOT and vice versa. Don't forget to cast your Ultimate, Wild Guardian, in between to spawn a Grizzly Bear to fight alongside you. 

Best Passive Abilities For The Warden Magicka Build In ESO

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Skill Description
Bond With Nature Anytime one of your Animal Companion skills end, you are healed for 1285 Health.
Savage Beast When you cast an Animal Companions ability while you are in combat, you generate 4 Ultimate. This effect can occur once every 8 seconds.
Flourish Increases your Magicka and Stamina recovery by 12% if an Animal Companion ability is slotted.
Advanced Species Increases your Critical Damage by 4% for each Animal Companion ability slotted.
Accelerated Growth When you heal yourself or an ally under 40% Health with a Green Balance ability you gain Major Mending, increasing your healing done by 16% for 4 seconds.
Nature's Gift When you heal an ally with a Green Balance ability, you gain 250 Magicka or 250 Stamina, whichever resource pool is lower. This effect can occur once every 1 second.
Emerald Moss Increases your healing done with Green Balance abilities by 2% for each Green Balance ability slotted.
Maturation When you activate a heal on yourself or an ally you grant the target Minor Toughness, increasing their Max Health by 10% for 20 seconds.
Glacial Presence Increase chance of applying Chilled to enemies with Winter's Embrace abilities by 200%. Increases the damage of your Chilled status effect by 1005. This effect scales off your highest offensive stats.
Frozen Armor Increases your Physical and Spell Resistance by 990 for each Winter's Embrace ability slotted.
Icy Aura Reduce the effectiveness of snares applied to you by 15%.
Piercing Cold Increases your damage done by 2%, which increases to 12% when wielding an Ice Staff.
Tri Focus Fully-charged Inferno Staff Heavy Attacks deal an additional 14320 Flame Damage over 20 seconds. Fully-charged Lightning Staff Heavy Attacks damage nearby enemies for 100% of the damage done. Fully-charged Ice Staff Heavy Attacks grant you a damage shield that absorbs 10705 damage. This effect scales off your Max Health. While an Ice Staff is equipped, blocking costs Magicka instead of Stamina.
Penetrating Magic Your Destruction Staff abilities ignore 2974 of the enemy's Spell Resistance.
Elemental Force Increases your chance to apply status effects by 100%.
Ancient Knowledge Inferno Staves increases your damage done with damage over time and Status Effects by 12%. Lightning Staves increases your damage done with direct damage and channeled effects by 12%. Equipping an Ice Staff reduces the cost of blocking by 36% and increases the amount of damage you block by 20%.
Destruction Expert 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.
Light Armor Bonuses Each piece of Light Armor does the following: Reduces damage taken from Magical attacks by 1% Reduces the cost of Roll Dodge by 3% Reduces the Movement Speed penalty of Sneak by 5% Reduces the cost of Break Free by 5% Reduces the cost of Bash by 3%
Light Armor Penalities Each piece of Light Armor does the following: Increases damage taken from Martial attacks by 1% Increases the cost of Block by 3% Decreases damage done with Bash by 1%
Grace 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.
Evocation Increases your Magicka Recovery by 4% for each piece of Light Armor equipped. Reduces the Magicka cost of your abilities by 2% for each piece of Light Armor equipped.
Spell Warding Increases your Spell Resistance by 726 for each piece of Light Armor equipped.
Prodigy Increases your Weapon and Spell Critical rating by 219 for each piece of Light Armor equipped
Concentration Increases your Physical and Spell Penetration by 939 for each piece of Light Armor worn.
Intimidating Presence Allows you to Intimidate NPCs in conversation. Reduces the Stamina cost of your Fighters Guild abilities by 15%.
Slayer Increases your Weapon and Spell Damage by 3% for each Fighters Guild ability slotted.
Banished the Wicked You generate 3 Ultimate whenever you kill an enemy.
Skilled Tracker Your Fighters Guild abilities deal an additional 10% damage. This bonus doubles against player Vampires and Werewolves.
Undaunted Command Activating a synergy restores 4% of your Max Health, Stamina, and Magicka. Health 1134 Stamina, and 825 Magicka.
Undaunted Mettle Increases your Max Health, Stamina, and Magicka by 2% per type of Armor (Heavy, Medium, Light) that you have equipped.

For the best Warden Magicka build, we first recommend getting all the Warden class, Destruction Staff, and Light Armor passives. Most Warden passives will enhance your healing and increase your Magicka and Stamina recovery, both of which are vital to this build.

Destruction Staff passives will increase the damage dealt from your Staff abilities, like Wall of Frost. Lastly, to make the most out of our Light Armor equipment, we recommend getting all the Light Armor passives. We also want you to use both Undaunted Guild's passives for increased Max Health, Stamina, and Magicka recovery. 

Best Champion Points For The Warden Magicka ESO Build

championbareso.png
Constellation Type Skill Description
Warfare Deadly Aim Increase your damage done with single target attacks by 3% per stage. 
Warfare Master At Arms Increase your damage done with direct damage attacks by 3% per stage. 
Warfare Fighting Finesse Increases your Critical Damage and Critical Healing done by 4% per stage.
Warfare Wrathful Strikes
Grants 41 Weapon and Spell damage to your damaging abilities per stage.
Fitness Boundless Vitality Grants 28 Max Health per stage. 
Fitness Fortified Grants 34.6 Armor per stage. 
Fitness Rejuvenation Grants 1.8 Health, Magicka, and Stamina Recovery per stage.
Fitness Siphoning Spells Restore 300 Magicka per stage, whenever you kill an enemy. 
Craft Liquid Efficiency Whenever you use a potion or a poison you have a 10% 
Craft Rationer Adds 10 minutes to the duration of any food or drink that increases your character's stats per stage. 
Craft Steed's Blessing Increases your out of combat Movement Speed by .4% per stage. 
Craft Treasure Hunter Increase the quality of items you find in treasure chests.

Champion Skills work similarly to the Passives and are pretty self-explanatory. The ones mentioned in the list above will buff your overall damage. They will also increase your Magicka and Stamina recovery and max armor. Craft skills are common among all builds, so you shouldn't have problem choosing those. 

Best Gear Set For The Warden Magicka Build In ESO

Weapon / Armor Trait  Set Bonus How To Get
Assassin's Guile (Necklace) Bloodthirsty - Increases your Weapon and Spell damage against enemies under 90% Health by up to 350. N/A Craftable in Vvardenfell.
Assassin's Guile (Ring) Bloodthirsty - Increases your Weapon and Spell damage against enemies under 90% Health by up to 350. (2 items) Adds 657 Critical Chance Craftable in Vvardenfell.
Whorl of the Depths (Pants)  Divines - Increase Mundane Stone effects by 9.1%. N/A Obtained from the Dreadsail Reef Trial.
Whorl of the Depths (Chest) Divines - Increase Mundane Stone effects by 9.1%. (2 items) Adds 129 Weapon and Spell Damage Obtained from the Dreadsail Reef Trial.
Whorl of the Depths (Belt) Divines - Increase Mundane Stone effects by 9.1%. (3 items) Gain Minor Slayer at all times, increasing your damage done to Dungeon, Trial, and Arena Monsters by 5%. Obtained from the Dreadsail Reef Trial.
Whorl of the Depths (Shoes) Divines - Increase Mundane Stone effects by 9.1%. (4 items) Adds 129 Weapon and Spell Damage Obtained from the Dreadsail Reef Trial.
Whorl of the Depths (Hands) Divines - Increase Mundane Stone effects by 9.1%. (5 items) When you deal damage with a Light Attack, you apply Whorl of the Depths to the target, dealing 3764 Frost Damage over 8 seconds. When this effect ends, a 5 meter whirlpool is created under the target for 6 seconds and deals 2823 Frost Damage every 1 second. This effect can occur once every 18 seconds and scales off the higher of your Weapon or Spell Damage. Obtained from the Dreadsail Reef Trial.
Iceheart (Head) Divines - Increase Mundane Stone effects by 9.1%. (1 item) Adds 657 Critical Chance Obtained from the Direfrost Keep Zone.
Iceheart (Shoulder) Divines - Increase Mundane Stone effects by 9.1%. 2 items) When you deal Critical Damage, you have a 20% chance to gain a damage shield that absorbs 5750 damage for 6 seconds. While the damage shield holds, you deal 985 Frost damage to all enemies within 5 meters of you every 1 second. This effect can occur once every 6 seconds and the damage scales off the higher of your Weapon or Spell Damage. Obtained from the Direfrost Keep Zone.
Ring of the Pale Order (Mythic Ring)

Bloodthirsty - Increases your Weapon and Spell damage against enemies under 90% Health by up to 350.

 (1 item) Restore 20% of the damage you deal as Health. This value is decreased by 4% per ally you are grouped with. You cannot be healed by anyone but yourself, your pets, or your Companions Obtain its five leads.

This build emphasizes dealing frost damage, so with the gear, the aim is to equip pieces whose set bonus increases frost damage and also buff overall damage. You can get this by equipping five pieces of the Whorl of the Depths set.

You would also want to buff up your critical chance and critical damage, which you can get by equipping two pieces of Iceheart and Assassin's Guile sets. 

Best Races For The Warden Magicka Build In ESO

Race Effects
Breton Increased Max Magicka, Magicka Recovery, Light Armor,  and Spell Resistance.
Dark Elf Increased Max Magicka, Stamina, Weapon, and Spell Damage.
High Elf Increased Max Magicka, Spell Damage, Resource Recovery, and XP gain. 
Khajit Increased Max Magica and additional Critical Damage.

While Khajit, High Elf, and Dark Elf are great options, we recommend using Breton because of the Light Armor buff. This will further improve your defense, and that's always a good thing when you're playing solo. 

Best Mundus Stones For The Warden Magicka Build In ESO

Mundus Stone Effect
Thief Increased Weapon and Spell Critical Strike rating.

Thief is an excellent choice because it further boosts your weapon and spell critical strike rating.