Magicka Warden PvP Build ESO – Frost Storm
Build Written By: Dottz Gaming – PC NA
Role: Damage Dealer
Patch: Scions of Ithelia
Table of Contents
Introduction
Welcome to DottzGaming.com’s Magicka Warden PVP build, Frost Storm, for the Elder Scrolls Online! This build is intended for PvP of all kinds: battlegrounds, Cyrodiil, dueling, and Imperial City. This build can be played in both CP and no-CP pvp without any changes to the build!
Magicka Warden traditionally has been in a tough spot in ESO’s PvP meta, however the class feels considerably better with the recent buffs in Lost Depths. With the changes to shalks giving us more penetration, Bird of Prey having snare and root immunity on it, and the Arctic Blast stun being more reliable, the class finally feels like it’s coming into its own! This is what I’ve personally come up with for magicka warden this patch, with the build having a really well balanced gear profile, giving us augmentations to our damage, healing and defense.
Keep in mind that PvP builds are very personal. This is what worked for ME. If you don’t like something about it, change it to fit your playstyle.
Setup
Gear
| Magicka Warden PvP Build |
|||||
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchant | Acquisition |
| Head | Balorgh | Heavy | Impenetrable | Prismatic | Vet March of Sacrifices |
| Shoulders | Balorgh | Medium | Impenetrable | Prismatic | Undaunted Chest |
| Gloves | Clever Alchemist | Light | Impenetrable | Prismatic | Crafted |
| Legs | Clever Alchemist | Heavy | Impenetrable | Prismatic | Crafted |
| Chest | Wretched Vitality | Heavy | Reinforced | Prismatic | Crafted |
| Belt | Wretched Vitality | Light | Impenetrable | Prismatic | Crafted |
| Boots | Wretched Vitality | Light | Impenetrable | Prismatic | Crafted |
| Necklace | Armor of the Trainee | Jewelry | Arcane/Infused | Spell Damage | Any Starting Zone or Guild Trader |
| Ring | Clever Alchemist | Jewelry | Arcane/Infused | Spell Damage | Crafted |
| Ring | Markyn Ring of Majesty | Jewelry | Arcane/Infused | Spell Damage | Antiquities |
| Weapon 1 | Clever Alchemist | 1h Sword | Nirnhoned | Frost | Crafted |
| Off-hand 1 | Clever Alchemist | 1h Mace | Sharpened | Absorb Magicka | Crafted |
| Weapon 2 | Wretched Vitality | 1h Weapon | Powered | Poisons | Crafted |
| Off-hand 2 | Wretched Vitality | Shield | Sturdy | Magicka | Crafted |
Gear Explanation
Balorgh: This set synergizes well with the warden playstyle, which focuses heavily around burst with shalks and dawnbreaker. This makes it so that that offensive combo has as much potency as possible, giving us boosts to spell damage and penetration when we use our ultimate.
Clever Alchemist: This set gives us a massive boost to our spell damage for 20 seconds after we drink a potion, helping us out both offensively and defensively. Also, the gear having 2 lines of maximum health also helps get our HP pool extremely high!
Wretched Vitality: This set is extremely strong for magicka warden by giving us a ton of extra sustain, allowing us to sustain stage 3 vampirism and orient more of our enchants towards damage!
Markyn Ring of Majesty: This mythic gives a really nice balanced profile between offense and defense, boosting our damage and our resistance!
Trainee: With the way we have our gear setup, we have a free jewelry slot, making using a piece of Trainee a no-brainer, giving us a nice boost to our max health!
Attributes
All points into magicka.
Skills
Main Bar – Dual Wield: Arterial Burst, Deep Fissure, Arctic Blast, Fetcher Infection, Bird of Prey, Dawnbreaker of Smiting
Back Bar – 1h and Shield: Living Trellis, Resolving Vigor, Blue Betty, Ice Fortress, Lotus Blossom, Healing Thicket
Vampire vs. Mortal
We play as a stage 3 vampire in this build in order to gain access to Undeath, significantly increasing our tankiness. In addition, we use a skill skill out of the vampire skill line for offense!
Champion Points
The list below showcases the order in which champion points should be acquired, the number of points you need to place into that perk and whether or not it needs to be slotted in the CP bar. 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, or you can follow the list below.
CHAMPION POINT SETUP
WARFARE (BLUE)
- Eldritch Insight – 20
- Piercing – 20
- Master-at-Arms – 50 (Slotted)
- Biting Aura – 50 (Slotted)
- Quick Recovery – 20
- Elemental Aegis – 20
- Hardy – 20
- Duelist’s Rebuff – 50 (Slotted)
- Ironclad – 50 (Slotted)
- Blessed – 20
- Tireless Discipline – 20
- Flawless Ritual – 40
- War Mage – 30
- Precision – 20
- Preparation – 20
FITNESS (RED)
- Tumbling – 30
- Mystic Tenacity – 10
- Sustained by Suffering – 50 (Slotted)
- Pain’s Refuge – 50 (Slotted)
- Relentlessness – 50 (Slotted)
- Hero’s Vigor – 20
- Defiance – 20
- Hasty – 16
- Celerity – 50 (Slotted)
- Sprinter – 20
- Tireless Guardian – 20
- Fortification – 30
- Nimble Protector – 6
- Savage Defense – 30
- Piercing Gaze – 30
- Bashing Brutality – 20
CRAFT (GREEN)
- Steed’s Blessing – 50 (Slotted)
- Breakfall – 50
- Wanderer – 15
- Steadfast Enchantment – 50
- Rationer – 30 (Slotted)
- Liquid Efficiency – 75 (Slotted)
- Treasure Hunter – 50 (Slotted)
- Fortune’s Favor – 50
- Gilded Fingers – 50
- Soul Reservoir – 33
Other Important Info
Buff Food
Bewitched Sugar Skulls: Maximum Health, Magicka and Stamina
Mundus
The Atronach: Increased Mag Recovery.
Race
Imperial: This gives us 6% cost reduction to all of our skills (as well as core-combat skills), and big boosts to our health and stamina, giving us a well balanced stat pool!
Potions/Poisons
Potion: Essence of Health (Restore Magicka, Health and Stamina)
(Bugloss, Columbine and Mountain Flower)
Poison: You can pretty much run whatever you want for poisons on your back bar; I use Sorcery-Draining Poisons myself!
Passives
- Animal Companions: All
- Winters Embrace: All
- Green balance: All
- Light Armor: All
- Heavy Armor: All
- Medium Armor: All
- Dual Wield: All
- 1h and Shield: All
- Undaunted: All
- Assault: All
- Support: Combat Medic, Battle Resurrection
- Alchemy: Medicinal Use
- Racial: All
- Vampire: All
- Fighter’s Guild: All
Rotation
Offensively, your goal on the build is pretty straightforward: apply Fetcher Infection, and use Shalks and Arterial Burst to whittle down your opponents’ HP bars. When you’re ready for your big burst, do the same thing with Dawnbreaker!
Defensively, use your 3 heals: Arctic Blast, Living Trellis and Resolving Vigor. If you find yourself afflicted with a ton of DoTs or negative status effects while behind LOS, use Blue Betty to remove them! You also want to make sure to maintain Lotus Blossom, Blue Betty and Ice Fortress to maximize your offensive and defensive potential!
Contact
If you have any questions about the build, join our discord server and ask @Dottz about the build!
Update Log
12/3/2020 – Build created
4/6/2021- build updated for flames of ambition
7/12/2021 – build overhauled for blackwood
11/15/2021 – build writer changed and build overhauled
11/19/2021 – build updated after testing
1/8/2022 – vampire added to the build
3/16/2022- build totally overhauled
6/7/2022 – adjusted 1 jewelry enchant
8/22/2022- changed weapons and skills
9/27/2022- changed monster helm, enchants, front bar weapons, living trellis from leeching vines
11/9/2022 – no changes for firesong
3/15/2023- no changes for scribes of fate
6/7/2023 – no changes for necrom
8/24/2023- no changes for update 39
11/6/2023 – no changes for update 40
3/14/2024 – updated potion
