Hey you, you're finally awake
Looking to start your journey into ESO? Or did you already start and you’re just looking for another build to make? Well, with freedom being the core emphasis of the Elder Scrolls Online, it can get pretty overwhelming when you’re making your build. This list provides a short glimpse of the possible builds you can make in this game! So whether you’re a beginner or a veteran, feel free to browse the builds in this listing!
Tanks
First, let’s go look at some tank builds in the game. Like any other game, these guys are meant to be the protectors of the party as they get aggro from the boss. Unlike other games though, tanks are not expected to just get agro and block. Instead, they are expected to do DPS as well while managing group utility to make the whole instance run faster. Furthermore, there are more advanced concepts like taunt priority, but you can look up other guides to know more about that. Below are two possible tank builds you can check out to make your tanks.
10. The Almost Immortal Warrior (Dragonknight Tank) by Xynode Gaming
Tanking and the Dragonknight class is a match made in heaven. Being the go-to tank class since the early ages of ESO, the Dragonknight’s kit has been perfectly made to tank given that it's the original raison d’etre of the class. Given that, this build is a perfect beginner tank build that teaches you the fundamentals of the role and once you're able to play this build, you should have all the necessities of tanking down. It has intense survivability and group utility, which makes it a staple ever since the game was released!
What this build is good for
- Go to tank class of the game
- Lots of buffs for the party, especially in the survivability department
- Amazing crowd control
- Teaches the fundamentals of tanking the best
Build Details:
- Gear: Leaching, Bloodlord’s Embrace, Lord Warden, Galenwe
- Weapons Bar 1 (Sword and Shield): Igneous Shield, Green Dragon Blood, Pierce Armor, Revealing Flare, Stalwart Guard (or Bone Surge), Shield Discipline (ultimate)
- Weapons Bar 2 (Sword and Shield): Stalwart Guard (or Sanguine Altar), Unstoppable Brute, Inner rage, Unrelenting Grip, Choking Talons, Aggressive Horn (Ultimate)
9. Corruption Tank (Necromancer Tank) by NefasQS
Corruption arc starting
This tank build makes a lot of the more casual content a breeze to go through. The best thing about it? Very adaptable skill lines and all-around kit with it being one of the newer classes in the game added during the Greymoor expansion thus providing an easy respec (especially with the armorer system). It also has a lot of emphasis on debuff and buff management.
What this build is good for
- Crowd control, survivability, and increase group DPS through debuffs
- Access to one of the games’ most versatile skill lines allows you to adapt depending on the situation
- Teaches you the fundamentals of tanking well
Build Details:
- Gear: Thurovokun, Dragon’s Defilement, Imperium
- Weapon Bar 1 (Sword and Shield): Silver Leash, Inner Rage, Deaden Pain, Empowering Grasps (or Heroic Slash), Hungry Scythe, Ravenoyus Goliath (ultimate)
- Weapon Bar 2 (Ice Staff): Unnerving Boneyard, Agony Totem (or Elemental Drain), Blockade of Frost, Beckoning Armor, Spirit Guardian, Aggressive Horn (Ultimate)
Healers
Let’s show our friendly neighborhood healers some love! It's thanks to them that our groups can do the content we’re doing, truly we couldn’t have done it without you! Other than keeping us alive, healers in ESO are also expected to DPS to make the content run faster and to prevent the fight from being too drawn out. After all, the best way to heal someone is to prevent damage, and in this case… killing the enemy ;)
8. Detonation (Warden) Healer by Brah We Got This
Nature's gift healing and damaging at the same time
This is a unique healer build made by Brah We Got This which mixes both the support of a healer and the DPS of a damage dealer. If you’re new to healing, try this build out as it's a good stepping stone to the job. Something unique about this build is that it uses PVP skills in PVE content… with great effect! PVP skills like Proximity Detonation and PVP gear like dark convergence are maximized due to their synergy with the Warden’s skills.
What this build is good for
- Buffs, more buffs… and even more buffs!
- Reliable healing making your group stay alive in fights
- A good blend usage of PVP in PVE content makes its playstyle unique as a healer and as a PVE build in general
Build Details:
- Gear: Sentinel of Rkugam’z, Spell Power Cure, Dark Convergence,
- Weapon Bar 1 (Restoration Staff): Healing springs, Rejuvenating Regeneration, Enchanted Growth, Combat Prayer, Budding Seeds, Enchanted Forest (Ultimate)
- Weapon Bar 2 (Lightning Staff): Blockade of Storms, Elemental Drain (or Proximity Detonation), Blue Betty, Energy Orb, Lotus Blossom, Aggressive Horn
7. Battery (Templar) Healer by Deltia's Gaming
May the father of understanding guide us - Assassin's Creed Templars
The OG healer class since the release of the game, the templar healer has been a stapled class since the early days of ESO and with good reason. It has the best “oh-shit” healing skill in the game along with other so many healer skills utilizing Heals-over-time and buffs. This is a perfect class to teach the beginner healing fundamentals while being in-depth enough to grow in the healer role of the game. Try it out, who knows you might be a natural healer yourself.
What this build is good for
- Best for a beginner who wants to learn more about healing in ESO
- High skill expression, so for veterans of this class, you can find yourself optimizing it for hours
- Amazingly consistent in the healing field since the release of ESO
Build Details:
- Optimal Gear: Hallowfang, Asylum, Symphony of Blades
- Starter Gear: Law of Julianos, Seducer set, Willpower, Spell Power Cure
- Weapon Bar 1 (Restoration Staff): Channeled Focus, Purifying light (flex), Unstable Wall of Elements, Blazing Spear (or mystic orbs), Radiant Oppression, Solar Prison (Ultimate)
- Weapon Bar 2 (Lightning Staff): Combat Prayer, Breath of Life, Mystic Orb, Harness Magicka (or Illustrious Healing), Radiating Regeneration, Life Giver (Ultimate)
Damage Dealers
Now comes the main damage dealers of the game which is always a good starting point for any player. Unlike other roles though, damage dealers often present a low skill floor with a high skill ceiling making it a role that allows players to learn the fundamentals of the game as well as truly excel in it when enough time is dedicated. However, do note that a lot of players are Damage Dealers in the game so que times are long.
6. Venom Carver (Stamina Dragonknight) by Lucky Ghost
You're toxic, I'm slippin' under, With a taste of a poison paradise - Britney Spears
A recent buff to this class made it stronger than it was before (it was already strong before the buff). This class is straightforward and really plays in the knight fantasy and being a solo build, you can be guaranteed that it can finish most fights on its own with strong confidence. Overpowering your opponents with a phenomenal amount of Damage over time while being able to survive thanks to your natural tanky skill lines, this build is perfect for someone trying to play your standard warrior fantasy.
What this build is good for:
- Fulfill the classical warrior fantasy
- Overpower enemies with DOTs ensuring consistent damage even in hard moments.
- High survivability thanks to its tanky skill lines, even as a DPS
Build Details:
- Beginner Gear: Stormfist, Briarheart, Hundings
- Group gear: Stormfist, Tzogvin or Relequen, Pillar of Nirn, Maelstrom bow, Maul
- Weapon bar 1 (2H Maul): Venomous Claw, Carve, Executioner, Stampede, Flames of Oblivion, Flawless Dawnbreaker (Ultimate)
- Weapon Bar 2 (Bow): Endless Hail, Noxious Breath, Resolving Vigot, Volatile Armor, Consuming Trap, Standard of Might (Ultimate)
5. Ignition (Magicka Sorcerer) by Deltia's Gaming
Igniting the spark
This build has a special place in my heart as I’ve been playing this even before Morrowind was released. For those who don’t know, Deltia is an old name in the ESO community along with people like Kevduit and SypherPK back in 2015s. Deltia started as someone who posted his builds with the Ignition build being his Magicka sorcerer build. Interestingly, if you’ve been following Deltia since 2015, you’ll see the evolution of this build from the earlier days of no pets to the build relying on a single pet. And that’s the best part of this build, it is flexible and you can fine tune it depending on your playstyle.
What this build is good for:
- The flexibility of the class is phenomenal and can be fine-tuned depending on your playstyle
- A solid staple build for those who’ve been following Deltia since the early days of ESO
- Can solo most of the game’s content
Build Details:
- Beginner gear: Monster help, Law of Julianos, Mother’s Sorrow
- Solo gear: Valkyn, Perfected False Gods, Medusa, Perfected maelstrom, Pale Order
- Group gear: Monster Helm (flex), Mother’s Sorrow. Medusa, Perfected maelstrom
- Weapon bar 1 (Inferno Staff): Boundless Aegis, Crystal Frags, Twilight Matriarch, Force Pulse, Mages’ Wrath (Flex, Execute, Can be replaced with Camouflaged Hunter, or Elemental Drain, or Haunting Curse), Shooting Star (Ultimate)
- Weapon bar 2 (Inferno Staff): Boundless Storm, Twilight Matriarch, Hardened Ward, Lightning Flood, Unstable Wall of Elements, Elemental Rage (Ultimate)
4. Blade Thirst (Stamina Nightblade) by Lucky Ghost
Requiscat in pace
The blades in the shadow, our master assassin, the Stamina Nighblade (in my opinion) forms the perfect fantasy of a rogue in the shadows silencing its foes. It has many skills in its kit that allow you to quickly dish out heavy damage as well as incentivize you to do so. It relies a lot on knowing your DPS fundamentals (ie. light attack weaving, positionals, etc.) to dish out its max amount of DPS and by mastering said fundamentals, you’ll see yourself well rewarded. I highly recommend using dual wield with this for that fast-paced action you’re looking for ;).
What this build is good for:
- Massive amounts of damage, both single target, and AOE damage
- Fulfills the stealthy assassins playstyle
Build Details:
- Gear: Stoirmfist, Briar or Relequen, Pillar of Nirn, Maelstrom Bow
- Starter Gear: Storm fist, Briar, Hundings
- Weapon Bar 1 (2x Daggers): Deadly Cloak, Surprise Attack, Whirling Blades, Blood Craze, Relentless Focus, Incapacitating Strike (Ultimate)
- Weapon Bar 2 (Bow): Endless Hail, Razor Caltrops, Resolving Vigor, Consuming Trap, Dark Shade, Incapacitating Strike
3. Gladiator (Magicka Templar) by Deltia's Gaming
Are you not entertained?
The ever-reliable Magicka Templar is a great beginner-friendly class with a healing spammable that does massive damage! Just saying, I’m using Deltia’s Magplar build in this list because you can feel the expertise when watching his build videos when it comes to this class. This class has amazing survivability with loads of self-heal and mitigation a great kit no matter the occasion making it highly reliable no matter what the content. Long story short, all of the things I said in the battery templar portion of this list also is true on this solo version of the Magplar, go try it out!
What this build is good for
- Beginner friendly and highly customizable due to its well-rounded kit
- Relevant in almost all content
- Unique and varied skill expression to fit any player
Build Details:
- Beginner gear: Iceheart, Withered Hand, War Maiden
- Solo gear: Slimecraw, Perfected False, Deadly Strikes
- Group gear: Nerien’neth, Bahsei’s Mania, Deadly Strikes
- Weapon Bar 1 (Inferno Staff): Inner Light, Purifying light, Barbed Trap, Puncturing Sweep, Radiant Oppression, Flawless Dawnbreaker (Ultimate)
- Weapon Bar 2 (Inferno Staff): Channeled Focus, Blazing Spear, Harness Magicka, Solar Barrage, Unstable Wall of Elements, Elemental Rage (Ultimate)
2. Magicka Necro by Skinny Cheeks
Death comes
Shining in AOE situations as well as having a sure slot in any raid composition due to its ultimate, Glacial Colossus. Like the other necromancer in this list, the Magicka Necromancer provides a lot of debuffs that any group will appreciate. If you master the corpse system, prepare for a very unique and dopamine-inducing class in the game! Just know that this class is more complex than normal, so putting time is recommended!
What this build is good for
- AOEs are a big A game for the Magica Necro
- The Magicka Necro houses a lot of debuffs that will be greatly appreciated by any groups
- High skill ceiling making it super satisfying to master
Build Details:
- Weapon Bar 1 (Inferno Staff): Boneyard, Degeneration, Detonating Siphon, Staling Blastbones, InnerLight, shooting star
- Weapon Bar 2 (Inferno Staff): Unstable Wall, Mystic Orb, Barbed Trap, Skeletal Arcanist, Scalding Rune, Ultimate Rage
- Make sure to check the website of the build as Skinny Cheeks provided a lot of different setups depending on the occasion.
1. Wild Guardian by Lucky Ghost
Defender of nature
The Stamina Warden is very reliable these days when it comes to solo play because of its kit and buffs from previous patches. It has high survivability as well as having unique aesthetics to its skills, it has reliable self-healing skills as well as a strong synergy among all of its skills. Mobility is also unpar (mobility is the secret winning stat ;)). Furthermore, who can't help but feel attached to the bear :3? Pair that with the Ring of the Pale Order as well as skills from the 2H and it offers a unique slow but devastating playstyle for those willing to try this skill out.
What this build is good for:
- Solo is just amazing
- Sustain is easy thanks to its animal companions
- One of the more throughout kits in the game because its a DLC class
Build Details:
- Gear: Stormfist, Tzogvin, Pillar of Nirn, Ring of the Pale Order
- Starter Gear: Stormfist, Briar, Hunding’s Rage
- Weapon bar 1 (2h Maul): Subterranean assault, Carve, Executioner, Stampede, Birds of Prey, Wild Guardian (Ultimate)
- Weapon Bar 2 (Bow): Endless Hail, Caltrops, Resolving Vigor, Bull Netch, Growing Swarm, Wild Guardian (Ultimate)
And that's it! I hope this list inspired you by giving one or maybe even two ideas. See you around :)
