
Magicka Necromancer PvE Build ESO – Death’s Grasp
Build Written By: RealWaywardGaming – XB1 NA – Twitch
Role: Damage Dealer
Patch: Markarth
Table of Contents
Introduction
Welcome to DottzGaming.com’s Magicka Necromancer Build PvE, Death’s Grasp, for the Elder Scrolls Online! This build is made for all kinds of end game content: trials, dungeons and solo/general PvE! This guide has a beginner setup to help you get started, as well as an endgame setup to strive for to really increase your DPS!
Setup
Gear
Magicka Necromancer DPS PvE Build – Final | |||||
Gear Slot | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchant | Acquisition |
Head | Maw of the Infernal | Light | Divines | Magicka | Vet Banished Cells 2 |
Shoulders | Maw of the Infernal | Light | Divines | Magicka | Undaunted Chest |
Gloves | Elemental Catalyst | Light | Divines | Magicka | Stone Garden |
Legs | Medusa | Heavy | Divines | Magicka | Arx Corinium |
Chest | Medusa | Heavy | Divines | Magicka | Arx Corinium |
Belt | Elemental Catalyst | Light | Divines | Magicka | Stone Garden |
Boots | Elemental Catalyst | Light | Divines | Magicka | Stone Garden |
Necklace | Medusa | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage | Arx Corinium |
Ring | Medusa | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage | Arx Corinium |
Ring | Medusa | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage | Arx Corinium |
Weapon 1 | Elemental Catalyst | Flame | Infused | Flame | Stone Garden |
Weapon 2 | Perfected Crushing Wall | Flame | Infused | Berserker | Vet Maelstrom Arena |
Magicka Necromancer DPS PvE Build – Beginner | |||||
Gear Slot | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchant | Acquisition |
Head | Slimecraw | Heavy | Divines | Magicka | Vet Wayrest Sewers 1 |
Shoulders | Slimecraw | Heavy | Divines | Magicka | Undaunted Chest |
Gloves | Law of Julianos | Light | Divines | Magicka | Crafted |
Legs | Law of Julianos | Light | Divines | Magicka | Crafted |
Chest | Law of Julianos | Light | Divines | Magicka | Crafted |
Belt | Mother's Sorrow | Light | Divines | Magicka | Deshaan or Guild Trader |
Boots | Mother's Sorrow | Light | Divines | Magicka | Deshaan or Guild Trader |
Necklace | Mother's Sorrow | Jewelry | Arcane | Spell Damage | Deshaan or Guild Trader |
Ring | Mother's Sorrow | Jewelry | Arcane | Spell Damage | Deshaan or Guild Trader |
Ring | Mother's Sorrow | Jewelry | Arcane | Spell Damage | Deshaan or Guild Trader |
Weapon 1 | Law of Julianos | Flame | Precise | Flame | Crafted |
Weapon 2 | Willpower | Flame | Infused | Absorb Magicka | Imperial City or Guild Trader |
NOTE: This is just what I use and what works for me. There are many other viable sets that you can use. If you’d like to change anything, you’re more than welcome to!
Other optional sets
Necromancer has a lot of options. If you don’t personally like these choices, some other good sets are:
- Necropotence (Rivenspire/Guild Traders)
- False God’s Devotion (nSS, or vSS for perfected)
Other good monster sets are:
- Grothdarr (vVoM/Gilirion the Redbeard’s Chest)
- Valkyn Skoria (vCoA2/ Gilirion the Redbeard’s Chest)
Attributes
All points into Magicka.
Skills
Main Bar – Inferno Staff: Mystic Siphon, Inner Light, Necrotic Potency, Stalking Blastbones, Richochet Skull, Shooting Star/Ice Comet
Back Bar – Inferno Staff: Skeletal Arcanist, Mystic Orb, Unnerving Boneyard, Unstable Wall of Elements, Dampen/Harness Magicka, Glacial Colossus
NOTE: Necrotic Potency is a flex slot! You could use Deaden Pain (the other morph), a heal, Empowering Grasp, put Inner Light on your backbar and move a skill to the front, or something else entirely! Just keep in mind that it may affect your rotation.
Champion Points
CHAMPION POINT 810 SETUP
THE MAGE (BLUE)
- Elfborn – 56
- Elemental Expert – 64
- Master-at-Arms – 61
- Staff Expert – 14
- Thaumaturge – 75
THE THIEF (GREEN)
- Warlord – 40
- Bashing Focus – 35
- Arcanist – 75
- Tenacity – 49
- Tumbling – 37
- Shadow Ward – 34
THE WARRIOR (RED)
- Ironclad – 72
- Hardy – 49
- Elemental Defender – 49
- Thick Skinned – 56
- Light Armor Focus – 21
- Quick Recovery – 23
CHAMPION POINT 300 SETUP
THE MAGE (BLUE)
- Elfborn – 23
- Elemental Expert – 43
- Master-at-Arms – 16
- Thaumaturge – 18
THE THIEF (GREEN)
- Warlord – 13
- Bashing Focus – 11
- Arcanist – 39
- Tenacity – 11
- Tumbling – 13
- Shadow Ward – 13
THE WARRIOR (RED)
- Ironclad – 23
- Hardy – 23
- Elemental Defender – 23
- Thick Skinned – 23
- Light Armor Focus – 8
Vampire vs. Werewolf vs. Mortal
For this build we play as a mortal. We arent using the vampire spammable, so it serves no purpose for this build.
Other Important Info
Buff Food
Flat Magicka and Health food, ideally Artaeum Pickled Fish Bowl, although the cheaper blue food is just fine. If you’re having trouble with sustain or in a group with few synergies, swap to Clockwork Citrus Filet or Witchmother’s Potent Brew.
Mundus
Shadow – Increased Critical Damage
Race
- Dunmer
- Breton
- High Elf
Potions/Poisons
Spell Power Potions (Spell Crit, Spell Damage, Magicka Restoration)
Cornflower, Ladys Smock, Water Hyacinth
Passives
All class passives, light armor passives, destruction staff passives, undaunted passives, first 3 heavy armor passives, Mages Guild passives except persuasive will, Banish the Wicked from Fighter’s Guild, Medicinal Use from Alchemy, and race passives.
Rotation
LA = Light Attack
BB = Blastbones
Buff with your potion and summon your Skeletal Arcanist, then:
Blastbones > Swap > LA > Orb >LA > Wall > LA > Boneyard > Swap > LA > BB > LA > Skull > LA-Skull > LA > Siphon > LA > BB > LA > Skull > LA > Skull > Swap > LA > Orb > LA > Wall > LA > Boneyard > LA > Arcanist > Swap > LA > BB > LA > Skull > LA > Skull > LA > Siphon > LA > BB > LA > Skull > LA > Skull > Swap > Orb > LA > Wall > LA > Boneyard > Swap > repeat.
Drink your potion on cooldown and use Glacial Colossus whenever it’s available, but make sure you have your AOE DoTs running first. Shooting Star/Ice Comet is mostly just there for passives.
Veteran Maelstrom Arena
Gear
Same as the gear listed in the main section, but swap Maw for Iceheart. If sustain is a problem, use False God’s Devotion if you have it.
Skills
Main Bar – Inferno Staff: Necrotic Potency, Inner Light, Spirit Guardian, Summoner’s Armor, Crushing Shock, and Shooting Star
Back Bar – Inferno Staff: Skeletal Arcanist, Mystic Orb, Unnerving Boneyard, Unstable Wall of Elements, Dampen/Harness Magicka, and Glacial Colossus
Rotation
Pretty much the same as your normal rotation, minus the blastbones and CA. In place of those, try and keep your Summoner’s Armor and Spirit Guardian up at all times. The Guardian is infinitely useful, and Summoner’s Armor helps sustain by reducing summon costs, and helps survivability by granting us Major Resolve.
Contact
If you have any questions about the build, join our discord server and ask @RealWaywardGaming about the build!
Update Log
5/22/2019 – Build Created
6/24/2019 – buff food and vamp changed
8/15/2019 – Overhauled for scalebreaker
10/6/2019 – vma gear setup changed
10/22/2019 – updated buff food and rotation for dragonhold
11/2/2019 – Updated jewelry traits on final build
12/4/2019 – changed monster helm
1/9/2020 – Rotation updated after errors were noticed
3/3/2020 – Build overhauled for Harrowstorm
4/10/2020 – vma gear updated
5/29/2020 – dropped vampire, updated rotation
6/19/2020 – Changed 1 vMA set, removed vMA specific food, and 1 skill. Added a note for a flex slot
8/24/2020 – Updated and overhauled for Stonethorn
11/16/2020 – no changes needed for markarth
12/22/2020 – build overhauled after more testing