sorcerer beginner guide
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ByArzyeL

Sorcerer Beginner Guide

This Sorcerer Beginner Guide will teach you everything you need to know about the Class in ESO! The Sorcerer Class is the class of Lightning and Summoning in The Elder Scrolls Online! One of the ESO classes, available with the base game that can help you create a powerful Mage with affinity to shock damage. Like every other class in the game, Sorcerer can also assume the role of a warrior, relying on several Weapon skills.

Sorcerer is a quite flexible and popular class in ESO that can fulfill almost every role. Some of course better than other. You can read more about Classes in The Elder Scrolls Online here.

Table of Contents

Why Choose Sorcerer

The Sorcerer is a very beginner friendly Class in ESO that will allow you to complete almost every content with ease. Especially the Magicka Sorcerer will help you defeat every kind of enemy, with the assistance of several Daedric Pets. Because of the ability to summon and command Pets, the Magicka Sorcerer is the closest Class to a summoner in the Elder Scrolls Online.

But even if you do not like that kind of gameplay, a Magicka Sorcerer can be strong without using its Pets as well. This path is also great for pure Solo players that are looking for a Class powerful and flexible enough to tackle harder content alone. The Magicka Sorcerer relies mostly on Class abilities to create builds and less on other skill lines.

The Stamina Sorcerer on the other hand is more of a Weapons expert Class. It can utilize successfully very few class abilities and relies mostly on weapon skills, depending on your preferences. Despite this, a Stamina Sorcerer can be quite strong as well and fun to play with.

So in terms of PVE, Magicka and Stamina Sorcerers can be a great option for offensive gameplay, for creating Damage dealers characters. The Magicka Sorcerer should also be your number one option for Solo gameplay, thanks to its several offensive and defensive tools.

They do not make good Tanks or healers though, so if this is your favorite play style you should probably look somewhere else.

In terms of PVP both types of Sorcerer can be very strong and dominate the battlefield. Not only because of their strong damage and healing but also because of their unique escape method.

eso class guide

Sorcerer Beginner Builds:

What Skills are the Best for Sorcerer – Sorcerer Beginner

Before we can talk of the most important Sorcerer skills, you have to decide what kind of Sorcerer you wish to play! A Magicka based or Stamina based Sorcerer. This will determine the type of gameplay and the morphs of skills you should choose as you level up.

To create a Magicka based Sorcerer(DD or Healer) allocate all your available attribute points to Magicka. To create a Stamina one, allocate your points to Stamina. You can also mix them up if you wish to make a Tank character.

Leveling a Sorcerer and its skills is similar to leveling any other class in the game. There are several methods you can follow to level up fast and efficiently, like grinding XP at specific locations, clearing Dolmens and completing group content. You can find a lot more info on how to level up a character fast and efficiently in my ESO Leveling Guide.

There are several important skills you should unlock and level up as soon as possible. Class, Weapons and Guild Skills that will help you create the build of your dreams! To level up skills and skill-lines, always have one or more of their skills in your active bar, even if you are not using them. More info on unlocking and leveling up skills and their lines here.

So let’s start with the most important Sorcerer Class skills.

Class Skills – Sorcerer Beginner

The Sorcerer has three unique skill lines with abilities suitable for every role in the game. Magicka Sorcerer benefits more from the class’ skills but Stamina Sorcerer relies on a few of those as well, to create a potent build.

The Sorcerer Class Skill lines are:

Dark Magic

sorcerer beginner guide

Most important skills from this line include Crystal Shard, Dark Exchange, Negate Magic and their morphs.

Crystal Shard offers a powerful offensive morph for Magicka Sorcerers, Crystal Fragments, that is valuable to every PVE or PVP Build. A potent ability that provides incredible burst damage and can help you defeat opponents faster.

Its stamina morph Crystal Weapon, can work as a good spammable for Stamina Sorcerers in PVE or PVP.

Dark Exchange is a great sustain skill that can restore Health and Magicka or Stamina, depending on your play style. Good skill to have in PVE builds for solo content and quite important for PVP gameplay.

Negate Magic is mostly a PVP oriented ability that can disrupt enemies and help you win a fight.

Daedric Summoning

sorcerer beginner guide

Every skill in this line is important for Magicka Sorcerers, especially if you are using Pets to deal damage.

Summon Storm Atronach offers two powerful Morphs that both Magicka and Stamina Sorcerers can use to boost their damage. The Summon Volatile Familiar morph of Summon Unstable Familiar is a must have skill for Magicka Pet Sorcerers, while the other morph, the Unstable Clanfear can find some use in specific Stamina DPS Sorcerer Builds as well.

Daedric Curse Morphs can boost your damage with or without Pets summoned while Summon Winged Twilight offers the class’ powerful heal Pet, the Twilight Matriarch. Twilight Matriarch is an important skill for Solo Builds that will help you breeze through content. The other morph, Twilight Tormentor, is mostly helpful in group PVE gameplay.

Conjured Ward offers two nice shields to protect yourself and survive longer which are also important for solo gameplay and PVP encounters.

Finally Bound Armor offers two different options for Magicka and Stamina Sorcerers. Bound Aegis, boosts defense and Max Magicka while Bound Armaments boosts Max Stamina, Light Attack damage and summons knives to throw.

Your priority in this skill line should be to unlock first the Pets and especially Twilight Matriarch so you can get access to its powerful heal.

Storm Calling

sorcerer beginner guide

Lightning Form and Surge are the two most important skills of the line. Lightning Form offers Hurricane for Stamina Sorcerers and Boundless Storm for Magicka Sorcerers. Strong defensive skills, that boost resistances and deal damage to nearby enemies. Good for PVE and PVP content.

Surge on the other hand provides the Class with a powerful passive self healing ability, Critical Surge. Critical Surge heals you with every critical hit and is a must have for every sorcerer, Stamina or Magicka and for almost every type of content, PVE or PVP.

Lightning Splash and its morphs can be useful in PVE while Mage’s Fury and its morphs can work as a nice execute ability in PVP. Finally Bolt Escape and its morphs, especially Streak, is an amazing Escape Skill for PVP.

Critical Surge is a very important Sorcerer ability and you should unlock and level it up as soon as possible.

Weapon Skills – Sorcerer Beginner

Magicka Sorcerer can rely on its class skills to create a powerful build for PVE or PVP. There are a few Weapon Skills it can also utilize however, mostly from the Destruction Staff line.

Crushing Shock and Force Pulse, morphs of Force Shock can both be a great spammable for the class. Wall of Elements and its morphs are important for AOE attacks while Elemental Drain(Weakness to Elements morph) will assist in solo gameplay. Finally the Elemental Storm Ultimate and its two morphs are strong enough to use in PVE or PVP.

Stamina Sorcerer is a bit different and relies more on Weapon abilities for success. Depending on you favorite Weapon, Dual Wield, Two Handed or Bow, you can use a few of their skills as a spammable or to further boost your damage.

One Hand and Shield is your weapon of choice if you wish to play a Tank role and Restoration Staff for Healers.

Dizzying Swing for PVP and Wrecking Blow for PVE are going to be your spammables if you are using a Two Handed Weapon. Cleave and its morphs are great for dealing with lots of enemies while Reverse Slash and its morphs are an amazing execute ability. Stampede is another excellent skill you can use in PVE or PVP.

Rapid Strikes or Whirling Blades can be a strong spammable if you are using Dual Wield. Deadly Cloak and Shrouded Daggers will also assist you if you wish to focus more on the Dual Wield play style.

Finally Endless Hail( Volley’s Morph) from Bow is important for every build that is using the bow as a support weapon along with Poison Injection(Poison Arrow Morph).

If you wish to play as a Tank, then you will also need the Pierce Armor Taunt skill(Puncture Morph) to draw aggro and Heroic Slash( Low Slash Morph) to boost your Ultimate generation.

For Healers, Grand Healing, Regeneration, Blessing of Protection and their morphs are very important to fulfill their role successfully. The Light’s Champion Ultimate(Panacea Morph) from this line is also a powerful PVP ability for Magicka Sorcerers.

Guilds Skills – Sorcerer Beginner

There are also several Guild lines in the game that offer strong and important abilities. Fighters Guild, Mages Guild, Undaunted and Psijic Order skills can be quite helpful.

Barbed Trap( Trap Beast Morph) is the skill you must unlock as soon as possible from the Fighters Guild, for your Sorcerer, Stamina or Magicka. The reason for this is because it provides the Minor Force buff, increasing your Critical Damage done. It is mostly a PVE skill. The alternative to this would be Accelerate and its Morphs from the Psijic Order line but this is harder to get and unlock.

Dawnbreaker is a powerful Ultimate with morphs for PVE and PVP gameplay while Camouflaged Hunter is helpful for Stamina Sorcerers.

The Mages Guild offers a few potent skills for Magicka Sorcerers, including a powerful Ultimate, Meteor. Inner Light can boost Spell Critical and Max Magicka while Entropy and Fire Rune offer great offensive spells with their morphs.

The Undaunted skill line offers mostly support spells for all roles but also two powerful passives. The two passives should be your priority from this line.

Finally the Psijic Order has the best Spammable in the game for Magicka Sorcerer and Magicka Characters in general. Elemental Weapon(Imbue Weapon Morph) will boost your damage and help you achieve better DPS. This is strictly a PVE skill however.

Alliance War Skills – Sorcerer Beginner

Vigor and Morphs are great healing abilities for Stamina characters while Razor Caltrops(Caltrops Morph) can debuff enemies when solo and make it easier to kill them. The Continuous Attack passive will provide Major Gallop when mounted, making travel easier and faster.

Skills Priority – Sorcerer Beginner

Unlocking and leveling up your Class active skills and passives, should be your number one priority. This will unlock the potential of your Class and allow you to combine them for better results. Weapon and Guild Skills should follow after. Of course everything depends on your goals and preferred play style.

Getting a strong spammable and a good AOE ability early will allow you to level up faster and more efficiently.

Regarding Passives, i always recommend getting everything from skill lines you are using. Again Class Passives, along with Racial ones, should come first, followed by Weapon and Guild ones.

Mundus Stones – Sorcerer Beginner

Mundus Stones offer strong buffs to your character that can help you complete content faster. They are located all around Tamriel and based on their offered buff are more suitable for PVE or PVP gameplay.

When you are leveling up you should get the Atronach Mundus that boosts Magicka Recovery or the Serpent Mundus that boosts Stamina Recovery. This will assist you with sustain and will allow you to use your skills for longer.

As you are getting more experienced and can sustain better, switch to the Lover Mundus. The Lover boosts your Physical and Spell Penetration, making it easier to kill enemies. A great option for early gameplay but also Solo content.

For group PVE you want to switch to the Thief (better Critical Chance) or the Shadow(better Critical Damage). For PVP get the Warrior(more Weapon Damage) or the Apprentice(more Spell Damage).

Tank characters can benefit from the Atronach Mundus while Healers can use the Atronach, the Apprentice or even the Ritual(better Healing).

Champion Points – Sorcerer Beginner

After level 50 you will start earning Champion Points. These allow you to unlock Passive and Slottable Stars in the Champion Points tab, that can further empower your character. You can earn Champion Points by simply playing the game and leveling up.

In total there are three constellations in the Elder Scrolls Online:

  • Warfare
  • Fitness
  • Craft

Each constellation offers different Stars that can help with different roles and activities. Warfare is the constellation that is focusing more on combat and provides bonuses to Damage Dealers, Tanks and Healers. Allocating your Champion Points appropriately and unlocking the right Stars for the role you wish to fulfill is rather important.

You can find more info on Champion Points and the right Passive and Slottable Stars for every Role in my Champion Points Guide.

Vampire or Werewolf – Sorcerer Beginner

Being a Vampire or Werewolf is not necessary to fully enjoy your Sorcerer. However a Stamina Sorcerer is an excellent Class to use for a Werewolf Build. If that is something you wish. You can find a lot more info on Vampires and Werewolves in my ESO Vampire vs Werewolf Guide.

Build Examples

There are more than one ways you can setup your Magicka or Stamina Sorcerer. It all depends on your favorite play style and the content you wish to complete. Some setups are better for Solo PVE, other for Group Trials content and other for Battlegrounds or Open World PVP. Here are some Builds you can use, depending on gameplay.

  • Magicka Sorcerer PVE Build(Pets) – Overlord
  • Magicka Sorcerer PVE Build(No Pets) – Stormborn
  • Stamina Sorcerer PVE Build(Dual Wield) – Tempest
  • Stamina Sorcerer PVE Build(Two Handed) – Wrecker
  • Solo Magicka Sorcerer PVE Build – Setup
  • Solo Stamina Sorcerer PVE Build – Setup
  • Sorcerer Tank Build – Guardian
  • Sorcerer Healer Build – Medic
  • Magicka Sorcerer PVP Build(No Pets) – Nemesis
  • Magicka Sorcerer PVP Build(Pets) – Legion
  • Stamina Sorcerer PVP Build – Reaper

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