The Arcanist Hands-On Impressions ESO New Class Necrom Chapter article reveals my overall impressions of The Elder Scrolls Online’s upcoming class, the Arcanist.
The newest class will release with The Necrom Chapter on PC on June 6th and Consoles on June 20th. Keep in mind, this was a private test server, and I will not be listing tooltip information until the PTS goes live sometime in April. While the general class identity and playstyle will likely remain the same, don’t be shocked if skills and passives are adjusted based on player feedback. We will keep the Arcanist Class Guide updated with the latest information.
How Does the New Arcanist Class Works in ESO?
The Arcanist class works by using abilities to create and consume Cruxes. Similar to Necromancer and corpses, you will have ways to generate and consume “Crux”, which amplifies abilities and procs important passives. Think of the class as similar and different, emphasizing Crux’s constant generation and consumption.
The following list explains shortly all you need to know about the new ESO class:
- Arcanist class identity is built around tomes and ancient knowledge.
- Three skill lines give the class options for damage dealing, healing, and tanking.
- The Arcanist’s main damage is a long-duration channel called Fatecarver.
- The class possesses a strong damage debuff Abyssal Impact which increases your damage.
- Your rotation centers on building Crux, debuffing a target, and channeling damage.
- Tanks and healers will enjoy this class due to the active combo system.
How Does the Crux Combo System Work?
The Crux system for the Arcanist works by using specific skills and morphs to generate a Crux. This is visually indicated around your character with a maximum of three. You can, at any time, activate a Crux-consuming skill, and all of your active Cruxs will go away. The more you use, the better. Crux consumption could provide more damage, longer duration, cheaper resource cost, and more healing. Additionally, it generates and activates important passives that can give you more weapon/spell damage or critical damage.
Combat with the Arcanist class generally flows like this:
- Use one primary skill as a tank, damage dealer, or healer to generate Crux.
- Consume that Crux with one or two skills for better damage, healing, and defenses.
- Start building Crux again to use the other skill for another in-combat advantage.
- In between combing Crux, maintain your buffs, healing, and damage over time skills.
- Your build wants to find the sweet spot of constantly generating Crux and consuming it for bonuses.
- You don’t want your build to have zero Crux or constantly three without a “dump” skill.
How Do the Arcanist Skill Lines Work?
Similar to the Necromancer, the Arcanist skill lines come in damage dealing, tanking, or healing. The general premise from what I tested was this, your first skill in the line generates Crux. The next two skills in the line are consumers of Crux. The remaining skills usually come with one morph choice that consumes Crux and another that generates it. You aim to build up three Crux quickly and consume them for buff, debuff, damage, or healing. Each build needs multiple ways of generating and consuming Crux. After playing for a while, it’s easy to pick up.
How Does the Arcanist Rotation Work?
The damage-dealing Arcanist will use their main spammable, the Runeblades skill, to generate one Crux on each use. After three uses, you then debuff the target(s) with the Abyssal Impact to increase your damage. Then, you’ll need to generate three more Cruxs for your main damage-dealing skill, the Fatecarver. Once that’s active, sit back and watch the health bars melt. The trick with the class is maintaining damage over time and healing right before your main damage skill Fatecarver.
Depending on your morph, the Fatecarver skill locks you into a 4.5-5.5 second channel. During that time, you’ll be vulnerable and unable to light attack weave or heal yourself. You can block/dodge to cancel the animation, but the class will lose damage without the full duration. Another thing to keep in mind with Fatecarvers is that you need to aim it. If you struggle with camera position or aiming, this might be difficult for you.
What is the Best Gear for the Arcanist?
My initial idea with the class was to do the exact same that every current damage dealer does in the Elder Scrolls Online. Throw on Relequens, Pillars of Nirn, and Zaan with as many damages over time effects as I could fit on my bar. My damage was extremely weak on a parse dummy and in solo content. I then began to use the Fatecarver channel and switched everything around this long duration. Here are my suggestions on what gear worked well with Arcanist.
- Deadly Strikes five-piece gear set for massive damage while channeling.
- Valkyn Skoria monster helm because it procs damage while channeling.
- Perfected Coral Riptide or Perfected Bahsei because resources can be challenging with the Arcanist.
- Generally, anything that increases channel damage or doesn’t require light attack weaving.
How is the Arcanist in PvP?
The Arcanist was easily one of the strongest PvP classes immediately upon testing. With mind-numbing survivability, great damage choices, and very good passives, this will be the go-to class in the Necrom chapter. Unlike my PvE testing, the Arcanist was easy to pick up right away.
Related: Best ESO Classes: PvP Tier List
I recognized early on that the Fatecarver skill wouldn’t be worthwhile in dueling. Primarily because you have to aim the skill, and with high latency or someone near you that can bash, the skill underperformed. However, take that skill off, and the class shines with great debuffs, crowd control, and huge damage. The big concern was resource sustain which I solved with the Engine Guardian.
Is the New Arcanist Class Fun? – ESO Hands-On Impressions in Necrom Chapter
I had a great time testing and playing the Arcanist. The class was difficult to understand, and it took me anywhere from 5-10 hours to get to the premise behind the class. Build Crux, consume Crux and blast enemies with a giant laser beam. The Arcanist was incredibly fun in PvP and solo PvE arenas like Vateshran Hollow. Resource sustain and healing while channeling the Fatecarver skill were an issue, so we provided the feedback to the developers, and hopefully, they’ll find some balance. Overall, June will be a lot of fun with a new class that plays radically differently than anything else in The Elder Scrolls Online.
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