ESO Magicka Arcanist PvP Build

This guide explains how to use the best Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) Magicka Arcanist PvP Build, skills, gear, champion points, and more!

This build has been updated for the Updated 42, the Gold Road Chapter of the Elder Scrolls Online (ESO).

Introduction to the Magicka Arcanist PvP Build and Playstyle

The Magicka Arcanist remains a formidable force in PvP, boasting impressive area damage, single-target attacks, and robust survivability, all while being user-friendly. It excels in both offensive and defensive capabilities, making it a versatile choice for players. However, the Arcanist is not without its drawbacks. The class suffers from weak mobility, necessitating the use of Vampire skills or other abilities to gain Major Expedition. Additionally, players must be vigilant when using abilities like Beaming and Fatecarver to avoid interruptions and incoming stuns. Nerfs to Fatecarver and Cephaliarch’s Flail have somewhat weakened the class in PvP, though it remains potent.

Arcanist Class Pros

• Range: The Arcanist excels in delivering high single-target and area damage from a distance, with Fatecarver being a standout skill.
• Cleave Damage: Unlike other classes, the Arcanist has two abilities that can function as both single-target and cleave attacks, offering versatility in combat.
• Great Survivability: The class boasts powerful in-class skills for armor, resource management, healing, and shielding, contributing to its overall durability.

Arcanist Class Cons

• Nerfed Damage: The recent damage and shield nerf to Pragmatic Fatecarver have impacted the class’s overall performance.
• Weak Mobility: Similar to the Templar, the Arcanist requires external skill lines to achieve reliable high mobility.
• Easy to Line of Sight (LOS): Players need to be cautious of their positioning, as opponents can easily avoid burst damage by taking cover behind obstacles.

Playstyle

In the hands of a skilled player, the Magicka Arcanist can be devastating, excelling as both a damage dealer and a healer. The key to mastering this class lies in timing and positioning, particularly when using Pragmatic Fatecarver. This 4.5-second channel ability provides a shield that, while active, prevents interruption. However, this shield’s effectiveness is halved in PvP scenarios, making the user vulnerable to bashes and crowd control. Despite these vulnerabilities, Pragmatic Fatecarver offers significant damage potential, requiring players to strategically manage their engagements and capitalize on the ability’s strengths while mitigating its weaknesses.

The Magicka Arcanist’s blend of high damage output, survivability, and ease of play makes it a strong choice for players looking to dominate in PvP. While it requires careful management of its abilities and awareness of its limitations, the class’s potential for devastation in the right hands is undeniable.

PvP Environments 

Use the environment to your advantage. Never stay in an open field; exposing yourself to damage makes it easy to target and kill. Hide behind objects to lower the pressure. If they can’t see you, they can’t hit you!

The class has an intense burst heal, Evolving Runemend. Use it and your defensive ultimate, Sanctum of the Abyssal Sea, as a “panic button.” Hold block and heal! However, remember to hide as soon as possible and refresh the buffs. Burst healing will not keep you or your teammates alive forever. The skill will quickly burn through your magic, leaving you vulnerable.

Try to use both resource pools (stamina and magicka) to sustain. If you run out of resources, do a heavy attack—if done on an off-balance target, it’ll refill twice as many resources. As an Arcanist, you’ll need to generate and consume Cruxes to constantly enhance your stats, so keep close attention to this. PC players can download add-ons to track your crux, as the visual is sometimes difficult to see when fighting.

ESO Magicka Arcanist PvP Build Features and Mechanics

Below are some of the features found using the ESO Magicka Arcanist PvP in the Elder Scrolls Online:

• Class – Arcanist
• Weapon One – Dual Wield
• Weapon Two – Frost Staff
• Armor Types – 3 light, 1 medium, 3 heavy
• Race – Khajiit
• Attributes – 32 health, 32 magicka
• Mundus Stone – Thief
• Infection – Vampire Stage 3
• Best Grimoires: Traveling Knife, Soul Burst

Skills

Front Bar

Front Bar Weapon Options: These are all good choices depending on your play-style and needs. Experiment with what works best.

• Dual Wield – Best overall damage via passives highest DPS but without a restoration staff or Ice staff on the back bar can be brutal to sustain.
• Fire staff – Range and most single target damage and pairs well with elemental users.
• Lightning Staff – Provides easy fully charged heavy attacks for resource sustain and 10% AoE damage when channeling.
• Two-handed – Has the best passives for burst.

Rune of the Colorless Pool (Morph of Rune of Eldritch Horror | Skill Line : Soldier of Apocrypha) – A range stun and powerful debuff. Use this before any major offensive for killing blow.

Pragmatic Fatecarver (Morph of Fatecarver | Skill Line : Herald of the Tome) – Pragmatic Fatecarver is used when you line up damage on opponent for a huge burst. Make sure to CC prior to in order to land the damage.

Recuperative Treatise (Morph of Tome Bearer’s Inspiration | Skill Line : Herald of the Tome) – Sustain plus weapon and spell damage buff.

Cephaliarch’s Flail (Morph of Abyssal Impact | Skill Line : Herald of the Tome) – Use as a crux builder and immobilization. This cost stamina so if you run out frequently, switch to Withering Runeblade.

Camouflaged Hunter (Morph of Expert Hunter | Skill Line : Fighters Guild) – Put this on our bar for critical damage buff. Also Fighters Guild gives us ultimate back on kills as well.

The Tide King’s Gaze (Morph of The Unblinking Eye | Skill Line : Herald of the Tome) – Amazing ultimate that tracks targets. Line up with stun and beam to nuke opposition.

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Back Bar

Back Bar Weapon Options: They are all good choices depending on your playstyle and needs. Experiment with what works best.

• Frost Staff – an either use magicka or stamina for blocking via tri focus passive. Frost also gives as much damage reduction as Sword and Shield and you can use the enchant and have some range.
• Restoration staff – The best buffs for healing. The strength of Resto is fully charged heavy attacks for major mending and magicka sustain.
• Sword and Shield – Great choice when blocking. The benefit of a sword and shield is using stamina for block mitigation when taking tons of pressure. Switch to sword and shield if you like a slower pace gameplay or if you struggle with survivability.

Cruxweaver Armor (Morph of Fatewoven Armor | Skill Line : Soldier of Apocrypha) – Major Resolve armor buff that last 30 seconds. This also can build crux’s and applies Minor Breach to enemies attacking you, reducing their armor.

Runeguard of Freedom (Morph of Runic Defense | Skill Line : Soldier of Apocrypha) – This acts as a panic heal following below 50% along with granting armor and crowd control immunity. This is literally the most powerful defensive skill in the game currently and must be maintained every 20 seconds.

Elusive Mist (Morph of Mist Form | Skill Line : Vampire) – Mobility tool requiring vampire but makes a huge difference in survivability and speed.

Resolving Vigor (Morph of Vigor | Skill Line : Assault) – A strong heal over time that cost stamina and provides Minor Resolve.

Evolving Runemend (Morph of Runemend | Skill Line : Curative Runeforms) – A great burst heal with a high cost unless you have Crux’s activated. Combine this with the heal over time Resolving Vigor for huge healing.

Sanctum of the Abyssal Sea (Morph of Gibbering Shield | Skill Line : Soldier of Apocrypha) – A decent back bar survivability ultimate that provides a huge damage shield. This is helpful since it doesn’t require a weapon time and acts as a strong selfish ult. Use Resonating Glyphic for group play or the other morph of Sanctum.

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Scribing Skills & Grimoires – ESO Magicka Arcanist PvP Build

Traveling Knife and Soul Burst are the two best Grimoires (skills) for a Magicka Arcanist PvP build. Traveling Knife gives you a ranged bleed attack that acts like Rending Slashes but doesn’t require Master Dual Wield to be effective. Moreover, Traveling Knife can be given a stun in the focus script for classes lacking a ranged stun. Soul Burst is a helpful crowd control and buff skill. You can immobilize, pull, or snare targets and get your favorite minor buffs. Below are the suggested combination of Grimoires, focus, signature, and affix scripts:

• Traveling Knife – Bleed or Stun (focus script), Lingering Torment or Assassin’s Misery (signature script), Berserk or Vulnerability (affix script)
• Soul Burst – Immobilize or Pull (focus script), Class Mastery or Hunter’s Snare (signature script), Courage or Expedition (affix script)

The Scribing System utilizes one of 11 new skills from the Gold Road Chapter called Grimoires. With Grimoires, you can customize spells via Scripts. The scribing feature requires the purchase of the Gold Road Chapter (sponsored link). To learn more about scribing, check out our full guide here.

Passives Skills

Consider taking all of the passives in the below skill trees to increase your builds performance without slotting any skills:

• The Herald of the Tome (class skill line)
• Apocryphal Soldier (class skill line)
• Curative Runeforms (class skill line)
• Destructive Staff (Weapon Skill Line)
• Duel Wield (Weapon Skill Line)
• Light Armor
• Medium Armor
• Undaunted
• Vampire
• Fighters Guild
• Mages Guild
• Racial
• Alliance War Support
• Alliance War Assault
• Crafting, Alchemy Medicinal Use

Gear 1 – Best in Slot

Use the below gear setup for optimal damage with the ESO Magicka Arcanist PvP Build:

Slot	Type	Set	Trait	Glyph
Head	Medium	Roksa the Warped	Well-fitted	Prismatic
Shoulders	Light	Roksa the Warped	Well-fitted	Magica
Chest	Heavy	Soulshine	Reinforced	Prismatic
Legs	Heavy	Soulshine	Reinforced	Prismatic
Gloves	Heavy	Soulshine	Well-fitted	Magica
Boots	Light	Armor of the Trainee	Well-fitted	Magica
Belt	Light	Rallying Cry	Well-fitted	Magica
Weapon One	Mace	Soulshine	Nirnhoned	Damage Health
Secondary	Axe	Soulshine	Sharpened	Flame
Weapon Two	Frost Staff	Rallying Cry	Powered	Weapon Damage
Necklace		Sea-Serpent Coil	Infused	Magicka Recovery
Ring 1		Rallying Cry	Bloodthirsty	Spell Damage
Ring 2		Rallying Cry	Bloodthirsty	Spell Damage

Monster and Mythic

Roksa the Warped: Found in Bal Sunnar Veteran Dungeon, shoulder from Undaunted vendor. Scribes of Fate DLC. Provides better resource sustain which the Arcanist struggles with.

Sea-Serpent’s Coil: Obtained through Mythic System click here for lead locations. This mythic essentially provides two five-piece damage sets in one, with nearly zero drawbacks.

FLEX OPTIONS

• Valkyn Skoria: Great proc damage set if using a long-lasting channel.
• Balorgh: Best to use for burst ultimate.
• Maarselok: The most damage-producing set with an arena weapon setup.
• Bloodspawn: Good ultimate generation.
• Engine Guardian: Great base game sustain option.
• Markyn Ring of Majesty: Great all-around defensive and offensive mythic.
• Torc of Tonal Constancy: Resource sustain mythic.
• Death Dealer’s Fete: Max stats which equates to good damage and survivability.

Gear Sets

Soulshine: Obtained in overland Repear’s March or bought from guild traders. Great heavy armor set that boosts our weapon damage when using the channel and applies when we switch the back bar.

Rallying Cry: From the Rewards for the Worthy for earning AP in PvP activity or from guild traders. This set still provides the best overall back bar survivability set.

Armor of the Trainee: Obtained in overland starter areas or guild trader. Added stats with a one-piece item

FLEX OPTIONS

• Deadly Strikes: Insane damage boost to Fatecarver and is medium armor.
• Light of Cyrodiil: Amazing damage reduction when channeling.
• Order’s Wrath: Craftable set that gives great damage overall and is easy to obtain.
• Daedric Trickery: Generates incredible buffs that stack on top of each other including Major Heroism.
• Powerful Assault: Great set to add damage to you and your group and the buff stacks with Rallying Cry.
• Mara’s Balm: Great defensive back bar set.
• Robes of the Hist: Great back bar healing set alternate to Mara’s Balm.

Gear – No Proc PvP

This is used when in campaigns that limit gear choices.

Slot	Type	Set	Trait	Glyph
Head	Medium	Magma Incarnate	Well-fitted	Prismatic
Shoulders	Light	Order’s Wraith	Well-fitted	Magicka
Chest	Heavy	Mark of the Pariah	Reinforced	Prismatic
Legs	Heavy	Mark of the Pariah	Reinforced	Prismatic
Gloves	Light	Order’s Wraith	Well-fitted	Magicka
Boots	Heavy	Mark of the Pariah	Well-fitted	Magicka
Belt	Light	Order’s Wraith	Well-fitted	Magicka
Weapon One	Mace	Order’s Wraith	Nirnhoned	Damage Health
Secondary	Axe	Order’s Wraith	Sharpened	Flame
Weapon Two	Frost Staff	Blessing of Potentates	Powered	Weapon Damage
Necklace		Torc of Tonal Constancy	Infused	Magicka Recovery
Ring 1		Mark of the Pariah	Bloodthirsty	Spell Damage
Ring 2		Mark of the Pariah	Bloodthirsty	Spell Damage

• Magma Incarnate: Great sustain for a one-piece item set.
• Mark of the Pariah: Best survivability set in no-proc PvP.
• Order’s Wraith: Great no proc set because it influences your damage and healing received.
• Blessing of Potentates: Great damage reduction two-piece.
• Torc or Tonal Constancy: Best value for resource sustain and works in no proc.

Bomber Skills

BOMBER front bar Lighting

Rune of the Colorless Pool (Morph of Rune of Eldritch Horror | Skill Line : Soldier of Apocrypha) – Applies Minor Vulnerability and Minor Brittle along with stunning your target.

Pragmatic Fatecarver (Morph of Fatecarver | Skill Line : Herald of the Tome) – Massive shield and AOE channel. If you use this immediately after breaking free, you won’t be able to be interrupted again right away.

Inspired Scholarship (Morph of Tome Bearer’s Inspiration | Skill Line : Herald of the Tome) – Passively gains crux, deals AOE damage, and provides your weapon damage buffs.

Writhing Runeblades (Morph of Runeblades | Skill Line : Herald of the Tome) – Generates crux and boosts your single target damage by a lot.

Inner Light (Morph of Magelight | Skill Line : Mages Guild) – Boosts your critical chance and gives you better magicka sustain through the Mage’s Guild passives.

Dawnbreaker of Smiting (Morph of Dawnbreaker | Skill Line : Fighters Guild) – Front bar passive damage buff as well as a cheap AOE stun ultimate.

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BOMBER back bar Frost

Cruxweaver Armor (Morph of Fatewoven Armor | Skill Line : Soldier of Apocrypha) – Source of Major Resolve as well as applying Minor Breach to enemies who target you. Also generates extra crux.

Runeguard of Freedom (Morph of Runic Defense | Skill Line : Soldier of Apocrypha) – Minor Resolve, Minor Protection, and acts as an instant panic heal that you don’t have to cast, making you CC immune when you drop below 50% health. Insanely strong defensive skill.

Scalding Rune (Morph of Fire Rune | Skill Line : Mages Guild) – Great proc for Dark Convergence and solid damage over time.

Resolving Vigor (Morph of Vigor | Skill Line : Assault) – Heal over time.

Evolving Runemend (Morph of Runemend | Skill Line : Curative Runeforms) – Very strong burst heal with a heal over time and crux generation.

The Languid Eye (Morph of The Unblinking Eye | Skill Line : Herald of the Tome) – Insanely high damage AOE ultimate to synergize with Dark Convergence.

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Gear 2 – Bomber

This is a good build for large groups and with pocket healers for the Magicka Arcanist PvP Build:

Slot	Type	Set	Trait	Glyph
Head	Heavy	Balorgh	Divines	Prismatic
Shoulders	Light	Balorgh	Divines	Magicka
Chest	Heavy	Trainee	Divines	Prismatic
Legs	Medium	Plaguebreak	Divines	Prismatic
Gloves	Light	Dark Convergence	Divines	Magicka
Boots	Light	Dark Convergence	Divines	Magicka
Belt	Light	Dark Convergence	Divines	Magicka
Weapon One	Lighting Staff	Plaguebreak	Sharpened	Damage Health
Weapon Two	Frost Staff	Dark Convergence	Powered	Weapon damage
Necklace		Plaguebreak	Infused	Spell damage
Ring 1		Markyn Ring of Majesty	Infused	Spell damage
Ring 2		Plaguebreak	Infused	Spell damage

• Balorgh: Gives us the most bang for the buck and you can save up 500 ultimate for a total nuclear DB.
• Dark Convergence: Still the best pull set for bombing outside of Nightblade.
• Plaguebreak: Great medium armor set for bombing.
• Markyn Ring of Majesty: Great all-around defensive and offensive mythic.
• Armor of the Trainee: obtained in overland starter areas or trader.

Race

The best race choices for PvP Magicka Arcanist:

1. Khajiit: Best overall due to burst critical damage bonus.
2. High Elf: Gain resource sustain passive, max magicka, and weapon and spell damage. The downside of High Elf is a lack of stamina or flame resistance.
3. Dark Elf: Good max stats and weapon and spell damage.

Attributes

You should aim to reach 32,000 health; therefore, we recommend 32 health and 32 magicka attribute split.

Mundus Stone

The Thief is the best mundus stone because it increases critical strike chance. Warrior is a good choice if you use proc sets, and Atronach, if you burn through magicka, sustain.

Champion Points – ESO Magicka Arcanist PvP Build

Craft	Warfare	Fitness
War Mount	Fighting Finesse	Sustained By Suffering
Gifted Rider	Ironclad	Fortified
Liquid Efficiency	Duelist’s Rebuff	Pain’s Refuge
Steed’s Blessing	Master-at-Arms	Survival Instincts

Warfare Constellation Champion Points

Below is a step-by-step method for slotting your champion points in the Warfare tree (blue). We have used the minimum possible to reach 4 slottable selections, all maxed out.  If you have more CP, consider taking more in the passives for optimal performance.

Below are recommended Warfare Champion Point selections for the ESO Magicka Arcanist PvP Build:

1. Precision 10
2. Fighting finesse (slottable) 50
3. Extended might – sub con – piercing 10
4. Master-at-arms (slottable) 50
5. Eldritch insight 10
6. Staving death – sub con – quick recovery 10
7. Staving death – sub con – Ironclad (slottable) 50
8. Duelist rebuff (slottable) 50

This would be the bare minimum setup, spending 240 CP (720 total required). The next step is to max out passives that do not require a slottable but increase performance.

1. Precision 10
2. Piercing 10
3. Eldritch insight 10
4. Tireless discipline 20
5. Blessed 20
6. Quick recovery 10
7. Flawless ritual 40
8. War mage 30
9. Battle mastery 40
10. Mighty 30
11. Elemental aegis 20
12. Hardy 20
13. Preparation 20

This would max out the Warfare tree with all active and passive champion points at 520 spent 1,560 total spent.

Fitness Constellation Champion Points

Below are recommended Fitness Champion Point selections for the ESO Magicka Arcanist PvP Build:

1. Fortified (slottable) 50
2. Tumbling – 15
3. Survivor’s spite – sub-con – mystic tenacity 10
4. Survivor’s spite – sub-con – Pain’s Refuge ( slottable) 50
5. Survivor’s spite – sub-con – sustained by suffering (slottable) 50
6. Survival instincts (slottable) 50

This would be the bare minimum setup, spending 225 CP (675 total required). The next step is to max out passives, that do not require a slottable but increase performance.  

1. Hero’s vigor 20
2. Tumbling 15
3. Sprinter 20
4. Defiance 20
5. Hasty 16
6. Tireless guardian 20
7. Fortification 30
8. Nimble 6
9. Mystic tenacity 40
10. Tempered soul 50
11. Piercing gaze 30
12. Savage defense  30
13. Bashing brutality 20

This would max out the fitness tree with all active passive champion points at 542 cp spent 1,626 total spent.

Craft Constellation Champion Points

Below are recommended Craft Champion Point selections for the ESO Magicka Arcanist PvP Build:

1. Steed’s blessing – 50
2. Breakfall 10 
3. Wanderer 15
4. Steadfast 10
5. Rationer(slottable) 30
6. Treasure hunter 50
7. Master gatherer 15
8. Gifted rider (slottable) 100
9. War mount (slottable) 120

This would be the bare minimum setup, spending 400CP (1200 total required). The next step is to max out passives, that do not require a slottable but increase performance.

1. Steadfast enchantment 40cp
2. Breakfall 40 cp
3. Wanderer 60
4. Fortunes favor 10
5. Friends in low places 25
6. Out of sight 30
7. Fleetof phantom 40
8. Soul’s reservoir 33
9. Gilded fingers 50
10. Fortunes favor 40
11. Inspiration boost 45
12. Infamous 30

This would max out the crafting tree with all active passive champion points at 843 cp spent 2,529 total spent.

Consumables

The best Magicka Arcanist PvP build consumables are Bewitched Sugar Skulls food and Essence of Health tri-stat potions. Bewitched Sugar Skulls give a massive boost to overall stats but sacrifices recovery. If you struggle with recovery, use Orzorga’s Smoked Bear Haunch or cheaper Jewels of Misrule. The essence of health or Tri-stat potions is the best to passively give you a flood of resources and tri-recovery with alchemy medicinal use. Immovability potions are also helpful. Below is our recommended food and potion choices:

• Bewitched Sugar Skulls: Increase Max Health by 4620, Max Stamina and Max Magicka by 4250, and Health Recovery by 462 for 2 hours. Ingredients: Scrib Jelly (2), Flour (5), Columbine (2), Bervez Juice (2), Honey (5).
  • Orzorga’s Smoked Bear Haunch (recovery): Increase Max Health by 4312, Health Recovery by 406 and Stamina and Magicka Recovery by 369 (effects are scaled based on your level) Ingredients: Red Meat (1), Tomato (1), White Cap (1), Frost Mirriam (1), Perfect Roe (1).
  • Jewels of Misrule (cheap): Increase Stamina and Magicka Recovery by 357 and Max Health by 3927 for 2 hours. (effects are scaled based on your level) Ingredients: Rose (1), Mint (1), Lotus(1), Columbine (1), Bervez Juice (1)
• Essence of Health (tri-stat): Restore 7329 Health, 6618 Magicka, and 6618 Stamina immediately. Grants Major Fortitude, Major Intellect, and Major Endurance, which increase your Health Recovery, Magicka Recovery, and Stamina Recovery by 20% for 31.7 seconds. (effects are scaled based on your level) Ingredients: Bugloss, Columbine, Mountain Flower.
  • Essence of Immovability: Restores health and stamina and is immune to knockback effects. Ingredients: Namria’s Rot, Columbine, and Mountain Flower.

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Build Summary –  ESO Magicka Arcanist PvP Build

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