Arcanist Subclassing Solo PvE Build ESO
Build Written By: Dottz Gaming – PC NA
Role: Damage Dealer
Patch: Season of the Worm Cult (Update 46)
Table of Contents
Introduction
Welcome to Dottzgaming.com’s ESO Arcanist Subclassing Solo PvE Build! This Arcanist subclassing build is designed for solo PvE, combining damage and self-reliance through skills from Nightblade (Assassination), Arcanist (Herald of the Tome), and Sorcerer (Storm Calling). Nightblade brings strong burst and execute damage, Arcanist adds powerful AoE and passive sustain, and Sorcerer contributes high-damage abilities with built-in mobility and shielding. The result is a solo build that can handle tough content on its own while staying aggressive and efficient.
Setup
Gear
| Arcanist Solo PvE Build – Best Overall Setup | |||||
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchant | Acquisition |
| Head | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Crafted |
| Shoulders | Slimecraw | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Undaunted Chest |
| Gloves | Ansuul’s Torment | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Vet Sanity’s Edge |
| Legs | Ansuul’s Torment | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Vet Sanity’s Edge |
| Chest | Ansuul’s Torment | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Vet Sanity’s Edge |
| Belt | Ansuul’s Torment | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Vet Sanity’s Edge |
| Boots | Ansuul’s Torment | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Vet Sanity’s Edge |
| Necklace | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Weapon/Spell Damage | Crafted |
| Ring | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Weapon/Spell Damage | Crafted |
| Ring | Ring of the Pale Order | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Weapon/Spell Damage | Antiquities |
| Weapon 1 | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Dagger | Nirnhoned | Poison | Crafted |
| Off-Hand 1 | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Dagger | Charged | Absorb Stamina | Crafted |
| Weapon 2 | Crushing Wall | Ice Staff | Infused | Berserker | Vet Maelstrom Arena |
| Arcanist Solo PvE Build – Beginner Setup | |||||
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchant | Acquisition |
| Head | Selene | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Vet Selene’s Web |
| Shoulders | Selene | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Undaunted Chest |
| Gloves | Order’s Wrath | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Crafted |
| Legs | Order’s Wrath | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Crafted |
| Chest | Order’s Wrath | Heavy | Reinforced | Stamina | Crafted |
| Belt | Order’s Wrath | Light | Divines | Stamina | Crafted |
| Boots | Order’s Wrath | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Crafted |
| Necklace | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Weapon/Spell Damage | Crafted |
| Ring | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Weapon/Spell Damage | Crafted |
| Ring | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Weapon/Spell Damage | Crafted |
| Weapon 1 | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Dagger | Nirnhoned | Poison | Crafted |
| Off-Hand 1 | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Dagger | Charged | Absorb Stamina | Crafted |
| Weapon 2 | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Ice Staff | Infused | Berserker | Crafted |
NOTE: Your top priority should be getting Ring of the Pale Order, as it unlocks a significant amount of self-sustain for playing solo in ESO.
Attributes
All points into Stamina.
Skills
Front Bar – Dual Wield: Pragmatic Fatecarver, Cephaliarch’s Flail, Quick Cloak, Barbed Trap, Camouflaged Hunter, Soul Harvest
Back Bar – Destruction Staff: Elemental Blockade, Elemental Susceptibility, Recuperative Treatise, Hurricane, Relentless Focus, The Languid Eye
Vampire vs. Werewolf vs. Mortal
For this build we are playing as a Mortal. This build doesn’t need anything that the vampire or werewolf skill lines give us.
Champion Points
The list below showcases the slottable CP stars you should be taking. The Warfare CP perks increase your damage and mitigation and are the most important, the Fitness tree has some miscellaneous sustain and defensive perks and the Craft tree has crafting and non-combat bonuses. The Craft CP points are entirely customizable to however you want.
CHAMPION POINT SETUP
WARFARE (BLUE)
- Master-at-Arms – Increased direct damage
- Biting Aura – Increased damage with area-of-effect attacks
- Reaving Blows – Heals you for a percentage of direct damage dealt
- Ironclad – Reduces damage taken by direct attacks
FITNESS (RED)
- Boundless Vitality – Increased health
- Rejuvenation – Increased health/magicka/stamina recovery
- Bloody Renewal – Restores Stamina on enemy kill
- Fortified – Increased Armor
Other Important Info
Buff Food
Artaeum Takeaway Broth: Increase Max Health, Health Recovery, Max Stamina & Stamina Recovery
NOTE: Dubious Camoran Throne is the budget version of this food.
Mundus
The Thief – Increased Critical Chance
Race
- Dark Elf (recommended)
- Khajiit
- High Elf
Potions
Essence of Health (Restore Health, Magicka and Stamina)
Bugloss, Columbine and Mountain Flower
Passives
Class (all), Racial (all), Dual Wield (All), Destruction Staff (All except Tri-Focus), Medium Armor (All), Alchemy (Medicinal Use), Undaunted (All), Fighter’s Guild (All)
If using the ‘Beginner’ gear setup, also grab the Heavy and Light armor passives.
Resource Management & Rotation
- The best way to play this build is with a dynamic rotation: applying all buffs / debuffs / DoTs and then re-applying them right before they expire. If none of those things need to be done, use Cephaliarch’s Flail to build Crux and Pragmatic Fatecarver to spend them.
- Relentless Focus is there for the passive bonus and does not need to be activated for the damage.
- Look to cast your ultimate on cooldown during each fight to maximize your damage. You should be using Soul Harvest in Single Target situations, and The Languid Eye in AoE situations.
- Activate your potions on cooldown, this will ensure you have zero sustain issues, and you will have high uptimes on your recovery buffs!
Contact
If you have any questions about the build, join our discord server and ask @Dottz about the build!
Update Log
- 5/8/2025 – Build created
- 6/6/2025 – Build updated for Season of the Worm
