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GINX TV > Guides & Tutorial > Elder Scrolls Online

ESO Magicka Sorcerer Build Guide

Here's our best Magicka Sorcerer build guide in Elder Scrolls Online.
By Shreyansh Katsura | 
First Published November 1, 2023, 12:02
ESO Magicka Sorcerer Build Guide
Shreyansh / Zenimax Online

The Sorcerer is one of the most popular and powerful classes in Elder Scrolls Online. The Magicka Sorcerer build is among some of the easiest Sorcerer builds that focus on maximizing weapon and spell damage and critical damage, all while having excellent Magicka recovery. 

Our Magicka Sorcerer build is focused on the PvE side of things, with solid single and AOE damage output coupled with decent survivability that will let you solo most activities in the game. Without further ado, here's our best Magicka Sorcerer build guide in ESO that highlights the best active and passive abilities, champion skills, gear set, and Mundus Stones.

Table of Contents

Best Active Abilities For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO

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Here are the best active abilities you need for the Magicka Sorcerer build. (Picture: Shreyansh / Zenimax Online)

Front Bar Skills

Skills Description
Bound Aegis IV

Protect yourself with the power of Oblivion, creating a suit of Daedric mail that increases your block mitigation by 40% for 5 seconds.

While slotted on either ability bar, your Max Magicka is increased by 8% and you gain Minor Resolve and Minor Protection, increasing your Physical and Spell Resistance by 2974 and reducing your damage taken by 5%.
Unstable Wall of Elements IV (Storm)

Create an unstable elemental barrier in front of you, dealing 1206 Magic Damage to enemies in the target area every 1 second before exploding for an additional 6027 Magic Damage. 

When using a Lightning Staff, Unstable Wall of Elements becomes Unstable Wall of Storm.

Slam your staff down to create an unstable storm barrier in front of you, dealing 1264 Shock Damage to enemies in the target area every 1 second and setting Concussed enemies off Balance for 7 seconds.

When the effect ends, the barrier explodes, dealing 6272 Shock Damage.

 

 
Hardened Ward IV Conjure globes of Daedric energy for protection, granting a damage shield for you and your pets that absorbs 16231 damage for 6 seconds. This ability scales off the higher of your Max Health or Magicka and is capped at 72% of your Max Health.
Critical Surge IV Invoke Meridia's name to gain Major Brutality and Sorcery, increasing your Weapon and Spell Damage by 20% for 33 seconds. While active, dealing Critical Damage heals you for 3630 Health. This effect can occur once every 1 second.
Mage's Wrath IV Call down lightning to strike an enemy, dealing 4769 Shock Damage. If the enemy falls to or below 20% Health within 4 seconds of being struck, an explosion deals an additional 16700 Shock Damage to them and all nearby enemies.
Greater Storm Atronach

Summon an immobile storm atronach at the target location. Its arrival deals 2249 Shock Damage and stuns enemies for 3 seconds. The atronach zaps the closest enemy, dealing 1509 Shock Damage every 1 second. An ally near the atronach can activate the Charged Lightning synergy, granting nearby allies Major Berserk for 10 seconds, increasing their damage done by 10%

Your primary weapon will be a Lightning Staff. Most of your front bar abilities are there to complement your heavy attacks, which you will spam throughout battles, while the remaining ones help you survive once your health starts to go down. 

You begin your rotation by casting Unstable Wall of Elements and Critical Surge. The former deals massive AOE damage while setting enemies off-balance, whereas the other increases your weapon and spell damage. You then spam heavy attacks against off-balanced enemies to restore double the amount of Magicka, ensuring you won't ever run out of resources.

While Critical Surge is active, dealing critical damage will also heal you, allowing you to really get into the enemy's face and spam heavy attacks without a second thought. It's also best to cast Bound Aegis alongside these, as it will increase your Block Mitigation, allowing you to take less damage when blocking enemy attacks.

Next up is your Ultimate Greater Storm Atronach, which not only deals insane DOT damage but also grants your allies Major Berserk that increases their damage by 10% for 10 seconds. 

Once the enemy's health falls below 20%, it's time to unleash Mage's Wrath, which causes a bonus AOE explosion and deals a ton of damage to all enemies. 

In between all these, you can cast Hardened Ward to get a Daedric damage shield for you and your pets. This should help you endure the nastiest of the blows.

Back Bar Skills

Skills  Description
Summon Volatile Familiar 

Command the powers of Oblivion to send a Daedric familiar to fight at your side. The familiar's attacks deal 358 Shock Damage. Once summoned, you can activate the familiar's special ability for 3510 Magicka, dealing 435 Shock Damage every 2 seconds for 20 seconds to enemies near them. The second hit stuns enemies hit for 3 seconds. The familiar remains until killed or unsummoned.
Summon Twilight Tormentor

Call on Azura to send a twilight tormentor to fight at your side. The twilight tormentor's zap deals 1454 Shock Damage and its kick deals 1454 Shock Damage. Once summoned, you can activate the twilight tormentor's special ability for 2646 Magicka, causing it to deal 60% more damage to enemies above 50% Health for 20 seconds. The twilight tormentor remains until killed or unsummoned.
Consuming Trap Lay claim to an enemy's soul, dealing 4642 Magic Damage over 20 seconds. If an affected enemy dies, you fill an empty Soul Gem, heal for 3200 Health, and restore 2400 Magicka and 2400 Stamina. This portion of the ability scales off your Max Health, Magicka, and Stamina
Mystic Orb

Project a globe of annihilation that slowly floats forward, dealing 326 Magic Damage every 1 second to nearby enemies. While the orb is active you gain 100 Health, Magicka, and Stamina Recovery. An ally near the globe can activate the Combustion synergy, causing the orb to explode for 2249 Magic Damage to nearby enemies and restore 3960 Magicka or Stamina to the ally, whichever maximum is higher.
Elemental Susceptibility Send the elements to sap an enemy's defenses and afflict them with Major Breach for 30 seconds, reducing their Physical and Spell Resistance by 5948. Every 7.5 seconds the enemy is afflicted with the Burning, Chilled, and Concussion status effect
 Shooting Star IV Call a comet down from the constellations to blast an enemy, dealing 20425 Flame Damage to all enemies in the area, knocking them down, and stunning them for 2 seconds. After impact, enemies in the target area take 4981 Flame Damage every 1 second for 13 seconds.
You generate 12 Ultimate for each enemy hit by the initial blast.

Your off-hand weapon will be an Inferno Staff. Your back bar skills are here to weaken enemy defenses, heal you periodically, and deal an insane amount of DOT damage while you spam your heavy attacks and your front bar skills. 

You can cast Elemental Susceptibility anytime to breach enemy defenses and apply status effects, but we recommend casting it alongside Unstable Wall of Elements and Critical Surge. 

Consuming Trap is the best of both worlds. Not only does it deal insane DOT to a single target, but it recovers resources once that enemy dies. With this and by defeating off-balanced enemies, you should always have sufficient Magicka to spam most of your abilities.

You can Summon Volatile Familiar and Twilight Tormentor to deal a substantial amount of Shock damage. Since you have a decent supply of Magicka, you can easily activate the summons' special abilities to deal even more Shock damage over time. Thanks to Hardened Ward, your summons will have increased survivability, thus allowing them to slowly but steadily chug away enemy health.

Likewise, you can cast Mystic Orb and forget about it while it deals little but constant damage to enemies and recovers your health, magicka, and stamina in the process.

Lastly, you can cast Shooting Star to deal a tremendous amount of damage to all enemies in the area. Its initial blast also recovers Ultimate, so if you time your attacks properly, you may be able to spam this at times. 

Best Passive Abilities For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO

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Here are the best passive abilities you need for the Magicka Sorcerer build. (Picture: Shreyansh / Zenimax Online)
Skills  Description
Agility II Increases your Weapon and Spell damage by 2% for each piece of Medium armor worn.
Amplitude II  Increases your damage done against enemies by 1% for every 10% current health they have. 
Ancient Knowledge II  Lightning Staves increases your damage done with damage over time and Status effects by 12%.
Capacitor II  Increases your Magicka Recovery by 10%.
Daedric Protection II Increases your Health and Stamina Recovery by 20% while you have a Daedric Summoning ability slotted. 
Destruction Expert II 

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.
Dexterity III 

Increases your Critical Damage and Healing done rating by 2% for every piece of Medium Armor equipped.
Energized II Increases your Physical and Shock damage by 5%.
Expert Mage II Increases your Weapon and Spell damage by 2% for each Sorcerer ability slotted. 
Elemental Force II Increases your chance of applying status effects by 100%.
Evocation II Increases your Magicka Recovery by 4% for each piece of Light Armor equipped.
Everlasting Magic II  Increases the duration of your Mages Guild abilities by 20%.
Grace III

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.
Magicka Controller II 

Increases your Max Magicka and Magicka Recovery by 2% for each Mages guild ability slotted.
Medicinal Use III

When using potions, resulting effects last 30% longer.
Rebate II You restore 300 Magicka or Stamina when one of your non-Ultimate Daedric Summoning abilities end. The resource returned is dictated by the ability's cost.
Blood Magic II When you hit an enemy with a directly applied Dark Magic ability, you heal for 1600. This effect can occur once every half second and scales off your Max Health.
Persistence II After blocking an attack, your next Health, Magicka, or Stamina ability costs 15% less. 
Penetrating Magic II  Your Destruction Staff abilities ignore 2974 of the enemy's Spell Resistance.
Power Stone II  Reduces the cost of your Ultimate abilities by 15%.
Prodigy II  Increases your Weapon and Spell Critical rating by 219 for each piece of Light Armor equipped. 
Tri Focus II  Fully-charged Lightning Staff Heavy Attacks damage nearby enemies for 100% of the damage done.
Undaunted Mettle II  Increases your Max Health, Stamina, and Magicka by 2% per type of Armor (Heavy, Medium, Light) that you have equipped.

Most of the passives listed above are pretty self-explanatory. The goal of these is to improve the efficiency of your active abilities. It includes stuff like increased weapon and spell damage, increased Magicka recovery, increased chance of applying status effects, reduced cost of ultimate abilities, and more. 

There are plenty of great passive abilities to choose from and one that works for us may not work for you. For instance, if you have equipped two pieces of Medium Armor instead of two pieces of Light Armor, you may not benefit from something like Grace, which reduces the cost of Sprint by 3% for each piece of Light Armor worn.

The TLDR for passives is that they are here to complement your active abilities, and the ones listed above are great options for the best Magicka Sorcerer build.

Best Gear Set For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO

Weapon / Armor Stats Set Bonus How to Get
Lightning Staff of the Sergeant Precise - Increase Weapon and Spell Critical by 7.2% N/A Obtained from the final boss of the Wayrest Sewers dungeon.
Cuirass of the Sergeant (Chest Armor) Divines - Increase Mundane Stone effects by 9.1%. (2 items) Adds 1206 Maximum Health Random drop from the Wayrest Sewers Dungeon
Necklace of the Sergeant Bloodthirsty - Increases your Weapon and Spell damage against enemies under 90% Health by up to 350. (3 items) Adds 129 Health Recovery Random drop from the Wayrest Sewers Dungeon

Ring of the Sergeant 

 Bloodthirsty - Increases your Weapon and Spell damage against enemies under 90% Health by up to 350. (4 items) Adds 129 Weapon and Spell damage.  Random drop from the Wayrest Sewers Dungeon

Ring of the Risen 

 Healthy - Increases maximum health by 41-965. (5 items) When you deal damage with a Heavy attack, you gain a stack of Sergeant's Focus for 5 seconds, increasing the damage of your Heavy attacks by 645 per stack. This effect can occur once every second and stacks up to 4 times. Obtained from beating Uulgarg the Risen in Wayrest Sewers II.

Slimcraw's Arm Cops (Shoulders Armor)

 Divines - Increase Mundane Stone effects by 9.1%. (1 item) Add 771 Critical Chance. Obtained from Maj al-Ragath's chest at Undaunted Enclaves.

Slimcraw Mask (Head Armor)

 Divines - Increase Mundane Stone effects by 9.1%. (2 items) Gain Minor Berserk at all times, increasing your damage done by 5%. Obtained from  Allene Pellingare  in Wayrest Sewers I.

Since you will be spamming heavy attacks in this build, we recommend equipping five pieces of the Sergeant Mail set to get the set bonus buff Sergeant's Focus. This will increase the damage dealt by your heavy attacks, making your build all the more effective. We also recommend equipping two pieces of the Slimcraw set to get increased critical chance and minor berserk. 

Best Champion Skills For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO

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Investing in the right Champion skills will improve the effectiveness of your active skills. (Picture: Shreyansh / Zenimax Online)
Constellation Type Skill  Description
Warfare Deadly Aim Increase your damage done with single target attacks by 3% per stage. 
Warfare Wrathful Strikes Grants 41 Weapon and Spell damage to your damaging abilities per stage. 
Warfare Master-At-Arms Increase your damage done with direct damage attacks by 3% per stage. 
Warfare Weapon Expert Increases your damage done with Light and Heavy attacks by 4% per stage. 
Fitness Boundless Vitality Grants 28 Max Health per stage. 
Fitness Fortified Grants 34.6 Armor per stage. 
Fitness Siphoning Spells Restore 300 Magicka per stage, whenever you kill an enemy. 
Fitness Bloody Renewal Restore 300 Stamina per stage, whenever you kill an enemy. 
Craft Steed's Blessing Increases your out of combat Movement Speed by .4% per stage. 
Craft Liquid Efficiency Whenever you use a potion or a poison you have a 10% chance to not consume it. 
Craft Rationer  Adds 10 minutes to the duration of any food or drink that increases your character's stats per stage. 
Craft Treasure Hunter Increase the quality of items you find in treasure chests.

Like the passives, the goal with Champion Skills is to improve the effectiveness of your active skills. These are also pretty self-explanatory, so we won't go into the details. That being said, if you're still relatively new to ESO, it may take a while to unlock all those Champion Skills. 

Best Races For The Magicka Sorcerer Build In ESO

Race Bonuses
Dark Elf Increased Max Magica, Stamina, Weapon and Spell Damage.
Khajit Increased Max Magica and additional Critical Damage.

Both Dark Elf and Khajit are great choices for the Magicka Sorcerer build as they have increased max Magicka. As such, the choice comes to whether you want to prioritize weapon and spell damage or critical damage. Since this build is good for both, we recommend choosing either of the two. 

Best Mundus Stones for the Magicka Sorcerer Build in ESO

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

Mundus Stones can get you permanent passive bonuses, so it's best not to ignore these. The Thief Mundus Stone is an easy choice among others because it increases your weapon and spell critical rating, both of which are essential aspects of this build.

And with that, our long-winded best Magicka Sorcerer build in ESO is complete.