In thisElder Scrolls OnlineBuild Guide I am going to cover aNecromancer Stamina DPS Buildthat can do over50k+ DPSon an Iron Atronach Trial dummy and over35k+on a normal 3m Health Dummy. This build is aimed forPvEgroup play, while relying on allies to buff your surviveability so that you can dish out an enormous amount of damage.
Necromancer Stamina DPS Build Concept
This build uses a typical Stamina DPS setup combined with Necromancer DPS abilities that are morphed into their Stamina version. High DPS comes from properly rotatingNecromancerabilities that are mixed withDual WieldandBowskills. Stamina DPS Builds in many cases use Dual Wield for their frontbar and Bow for backbar, and this build uses the same setup because it works the best for what we are trying to accomplish. Instead of elemental damage,Venom Skull,Blighted BlastbonesandDetonating Syphonare going to be doing Disease and Poison damage, which is perfect for Stamina DPS.
Necromancer Stamina DPS Attributes and Skills
Putting all points into Stamina is great for achieving the highest possible DPS numbers, but in reality you need some more Health to not die all the time when the going gets tough. Splitting points betweenHealthandStaminashould be something like15points into Health and rest into Stamina. Depending on gear and food buffs Health goes up to somewhere between20-25kand Stamina is around30-36k.
As for abilities, your Frontbar consists of a Dual Wield and Necromancer mix. With this setup we inflict Bleed and Poison DoTs on top of dealing lots of direct damage.Whirling Bladesis great to speed up a enemy’s demise when their Health goes below 50% because it does 100% increased damage. It is an ability that does not need to be used at all before an enemy falls below 50% Health, to conserve Stamina, but should be used when more enemies are in the vicinity.Rending Slashesputs a Bleed DoT effect that ticks while we focus on doing our Necro DPS comboBlighted Blastbones,Venom SkullandDetonating Siphon.
The Backbar consists of many different abilities that help in achieving higher dps numbers.Skeletal Archerdoesn’t seem like a good choice at first glance, however, we get an additional10% critchance against enemies under 25% Health from theDeath Knellpassive by just having Skeletal Archer slotted. With this setup the bonus from Death Knell is30%for both bars. The benefits of having Skeletal Archer do not stop with Death Knell either, asUndead Confederategrants 200 Magicka and Stamina Recovery when any summon is active.
Rending Slashes- An ability that puts a significant bleed DoT that lasts for 9 secs and reduces Movement Speed for 40%. Morphed fromTwin Slashes.
Whirling Blades- A fantastic ability for when enemies drop under 50% health. It can be used when enemies have over 50% but it is not going to be nearly as effective. However by using this skill you are granted Major Endurance, which increases Stamina Recovery by 20% for 10 secs, so if you are struggling with stamina use it occasionally even when enemies are over 50%. Morphed fromWhirlwind.
Venom Skull- A direct damage ability that does Poison damage and every Necromancer ability counts toward the third cast of Venom Skull that does 20% increased damage. Morphed fromFlame Skull.
Blighted Blastbones- Summons a Skeleton that runs at enemies and deals big Disease damage to everyone around it upon exploding. Disease damage also puts Major Defile on enemies that reduces their Healing Received and Health Recovery that isn’t that useful in PvE, but it is very good for PvP. Creates a corpse on death. Morphed fromBlastbones.
Detonating Siphon- Consumes a corpse that explodes and deals a massive DoT over 12 secs. Everyone between you and the corpse is affected as well. When slotted increases damage done by 3%. Morphed fromShocking Siphon.
Endless Hail- An ability that does consecutive damage for 10 secs. This upgrade increases duration and reduces cost. Morphed fromVolley.
Poison Injection- A poison DoT ability that does 200% damage more to enemies with lower than 50% health. Morphed fromPoison Arrow.
Rearming Trap- A trap that resets itself and does physical damage. Upon damaging the enemy you are granted Minor Force buff that increases Critical Damage by 10%. Morphed fromTrap Beast.
Skeletal Archer- Summons a Skeletal Archer that does low damage on its own, but it is nice to have nonetheless due to Death Knell and Undead Confederate. Morphed fromSkeletal Mage.
The last Backbar ability can be whatever you see fit.Detonating Siphoncan be placed here as well to increase damage done by 3% when using Backbar abilities.Razor Caltropscan do some more damage while rotating abilities.Summoner’s Armoris a nice choice if you want to add more survivability with Major Ward and Major Resolve.Hungry Scythe,Resistant FleshandResolving Vigorare there if you want to use last slot for healing.
Ultimate Abilities
Flawless Dawnbreaker- This ability is very popular for DPS builds because by just slotting it you get a weapon damage increase. It is best equipped on the frontbar. Flawless Dawnbreaker won’t be used that much though, because we use it only for that passive weapon damage increase. Morphed fromDawnbreaker.
Pestilent Collosus- A high damage ultimate that does Disease damage and applies Major Vulnerability for 3 secs after each strike. This is the ultimate that we are going to use all the time because it does much more damage than Dawnbreaker. Morphed fromFrozen Collosus.
Necromancer Stamina DPS Rotation
Rotation can be divided into 2 methods:
For this version we do not need to use Whirling Blades at all unless there are many enemies close to you. Light Attacking is mandatory before every ability, with Heavy Attacks being used when Stamina is needed. In the end it should look like this:
Skeletal Archer -> Unnerving Boneyard -> Rearming Trap -> Poison Injection -> Endless Hail -> SWITCH -> Rending Slashes -> Blighted Blastbones -> Venom Skull x2 -> Detonating Siphon
This time we are adding Whirling Blades into the mix.
Skeletal Archer -> Unnerving Boneyard -> Rearming Trap -> Poison Injection -> Endless Hail -> SWITCH -> Rending Slashes -> Whirling Blades -> Blighted Blastbones -> Venom Skull -> Whirling Blades -> Detonating Siphon
Necromancer Stam DPS Race
Any race that influences Stamina in any way is good for this build. However there are some that are better than others, withRedguardandKhajiitwould be my primary choices.Redguardgives +2000 Max Stamina, reduces cost of Weapon Abilities by 8% and restores 950 Stamina every 5 secs when dealing direct damage.Khajiitin addition to increasing all 3 resources and recovery, increases Critical Damage and Healing by 10%.
Imperial,DunmerandBosmerare ok alternatives with Imperial being the best choice out of these 3.
Necromancer Stam DPS Champion Skills
There are plenty useful Champion Skills you’re able to have, but points are limited. Percentages behind the decimal point are not accounted for when adding points to Champion Skills. For example,Elemental DefenderatRank 60reduces damage taken from elemental attacks by12.57%, but your gain is actually12%. Now that you know this you can save points and put them elsewhere where gains would be more beneficial. Try to round up numbers to get the most out of these Champion Skills.
Here is my recommended setup for theNecromancer Stam DPS Build:
Fighter Skills
Ironclad56
Spell Shield35
Thick Skinned37
Elemental Defender43
Quick Recovery56
Thief Skills
Tenacity56
Mooncalf56
Tumbling56
Shadow Ward56
Mage Skills
Master-at-Arms56
Thaumaturge56
Precise Strikes51
Piercing51
Necromancer Stam DPS Gear (Weapons, Armor & Jewelry)
The weapon combination that we are using isDual Weaponson the frontbar withBowon the backbar. Which weapon you are going to use for Dual Wield is up to you because each has something going for it.Maelstrom Bowis the best choice for the backbar, because it improves the Endless Hail ability.
Bows are generally used on backbars for stamina dps builds because of Endless Hail and Poison Injection abilities that last for 10 secs which is enough to keep doing damage while all front bar abilities are being rotated.
Sets that can be used for this build are typical stamina dps sets. Before acquiring Trial gear, sets likeHunding’s Rage,BriarheartandNight Mother’s Embraceare great choices because they are fairly easy to obtain and provide great bonuses.
As you progress further sets likeScavenging Demise,Pillar of Nirn,Archer’s Mind,Deadly StrikeandFlanking Strategistshould be on your radar. There are really many great sets for stamina dps so it is hard to pick something really bad.
Trial gearthat works great here isArms of Relequen,Tooth of Lokkestizz,Roar of Alkosh,Quick SerpentandPoisonous Serpent.
Monster setsthat are best for this build areVelidreth,SlimecrawandSelene. I tested all 3 with Briarheart and Arms of Relenquen and all performed similarly. I suggest using Heavy versions of Monster sets to get more health.
Traits & Enchantments
WEAPONS:Weapon DamageGlyph andPrecise/NirnhonedTrait
ARMOR:StaminaGlyph andDivinesTrait
JEWELRY:Weapon DamageGylph andBloodthirstyTrait
Final Thoughts
Stamina Necromancer DPS builds are slightly stronger than their Magicka counterparts. They can hang with the best and are fun to play thanks to necro DPS abilities that make rotations dynamic, which is due to Blighted Blastbones needing some time to get to the enemy. This build is meant for PvE group play so for solo you are going to need some heals and increased resistances. In that caseSummoner Armorfor resistance andHungry Scythe,Resistant FleshorResolving Vigorfor heals are good choices.
Mundus Stones that work best areShadowandTower. Shadow is better choice when you have mastered the rotation because then Stamina will be used more efficiently and Tower is better for learning the ropes so that you do not run out of stamina so easily.
Stay tuned for moreESO Builds and ESO Contentthrough out June as we dive deeper intoElsweyr!
