The Elder Scrolls Online best Magicka Arcanist build: Abilities, armor, and more

The Elder Scrolls Online added the Arcanist class in the Necrom chapter. It is well-rounded and has performed at the top in every aspect, including PvE and PvP content. It introduces a unique Crux mechanic to the gameplay, which requires players to juggle between a builder and a spender system while in combat.

Another feature unique to the Arcanist class is that its abilities use whichever of the two resources — Stamina and Magicka — is available. For instance, if players invest their Attribute points in Magicka, their abilities will be more dependent on it. This feature enables the Magicka and the Stamina builds to use many of the same skills, making them equally viable in battle.

This article will look at the best Magicka Arcanist build in The Elder Scrolls Online.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and reflect the opinions of the writer.

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Best The Elder Scrolls Online Magicka Arcanist abilities and passives

The Magicka Arcanist is one of the top-tier classes in The Elder Scrolls Online. It specializes in inflicting significant damage and boasts high defenses in dungeons and trials. As it's a Magicka-based build, you must allocate all 64 Attribute points into Magicka in the Character Menu.

The following are the best skills for the Magicka Arcanist in The Elder Scrolls Online:

Primary Bar (Daggers)	Secondary Bar (Flame Staff)
Slot 1: Barbed Trap (Trap Beast Morph)	Slot 1: Scalding Rune (Fire Rune Morph)
Slot 2: Deadly Cloak (Blade Cloak Morph)	Slot 2: Blockade of Fire (Wall of Elements Morph)
Slot 3: Exhausting Fatecarver (Fatecarver Morph)	Slot 3: Inspired Scholarship (Tome-Bearer's Inspiration Morph)
Slot 4: Cephaliarch's Flail (Abyssal Impact Morph)	Slot 4: Fulminating Rune (The Imperfect Ring Morph)
Slot 5: Inner Light (Magelight Morph)	Slot 5: Inner Light (Magelight Morph)
Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker (Dawnbreaker Morph)	Ultimate: The Languid Eye (The Unblinking Eye Morph)

Utilize either Morph of the Remedy Cascade skill instead of the Inner Light on the Secondary Bar for solo situations where you are bound to require some self-sustain mechanism.

The skills must be used in the following order to inflict the highest damage:

1. Deadly Cloak
2. Blockade of Fire
3. Scalding Rune
4. Barbed Trap
5. Inspired Scholarship
6. Fulminating Rune
7. Cephaliarch's Flail (twice)
8. Exhausting Fatecarver
9. Cephaliarch's Flail (twice)
10. Exhausting Fatecarver

After completing a full rotation of the above abilities, restart the loop. The Languid Eye Ultimate should be used when it's available.

Inner Light and Flawless Dawnbreaker have been included in this setup owing to their passive buffs, such as Major Savagery to boost Spell Critical and Slayer for increased Spell Damage, respectively.

Here are all the essential passives for the Magicka Arcanist:

• Curative Runeforms: Healing Tides, Hideous Clarity, Erudition
• Soldier of Apocrypha: Circumvented Fate, Implacable Outcome
• Herald of Tome: Fated Fortune, Psychic Lesion, Splintered Secrets, Harnessed Quintessence
• Destruction Staff: Tri Focus, Elemental Force, Ancient Knowledge, Destruction Expert, Penetrating Magic
• Dual Wield: Slaughter, Controlled Fury, Ruffian, Twin Blade and Blunt, Dual Wield Expert
• Light Armor: Grace, Evocation, Spell Warding, Prodigy, Concentration
• Medium Armor: Wind Walker, Improved Sneak, Agility, Athletics, Dexterity
• Undaunted: All
• Fighters Guild: Slayer, Intimidating Presence, Skilled Tracker, Banish the Wicked
• Alchemy: Medicinal Use

The Essence of Heroism potions are crucial for an increase in Magicka, Stamina, and Ultimate Recovery.

You can also acquire passive buffs such as enhanced Max Health, Max Magicka, and an increase in Critical Chance by consuming the Mistral Banana-Bunny Hash and activating the Thief Mundus Stone.

High Elf is the most optimal race for the Magicka Arcanist in The Elder Scrolls Online due to its increased Max Magicka, Spell Damage, and recovery passives.

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Best The Elder Scrolls Online Magicka Arcanist armor, enchantments, and champion points

The Magicka Arcanist in The Elder Scrolls Online utilizes a mix of Medium and Light Armor. On the Primary Bar, you can dual-wield Daggers, while the Secondary Bar can accommodate a Flame Staff.

Utilize the following armor sets and enchantments for this build:

Gear	Set (Beginner/Meta)	Trait	Enchantment
Head (Medium Armor)	Slimecraw	Divines	Maximum Magicka
Shoulder (Medium Armor)	Mother's Sorrow/Deadly Strike	Divines	Maximum Magicka
Chest (Medium Armor)	Mother's Sorrow/Deadly Strike	Divines	Maximum Magicka
Hands (Medium Armor)	Mother's Sorrow/Deadly Strike	Divines	Maximum Magicka
Waist (Medium Armor)	Mother's Sorrow/Deadly Strike	Divines	Maximum Magicka
Legs (Light Armor)	Order's Wrath/Perfected Whorl of Depths	Divines	Maximum Magicka
Feet (Medium Armor)	Mother's Sorrow/Deadly Strike	Divines	Maximum Magicka
Necklace	Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet	Bloodthirsty	Maximum Magicka, Maximum Health, Maximum Stamina
Ring	Order's Wrath/Perfected Whorl of Depths	Bloodthirsty	Maximum Magicka, Maximum Health, Maximum Stamina
Ring	Order's Wrath/Perfected Whorl of Depths	Bloodthirsty	Maximum Magicka, Maximum Health, Maximum Stamina
Primary Bar (Daggers)	Order's Wrath/Perfected Whorl of Depths	Nirnhoned/Charged	Fiery Weapon/Poisoned Weapon
Secondary Bar (Flame Staff)	Perfected Crushing Wall	Infused	Weapon Damage

Here are the recommended Champion Points allocation for the Magicka Arcanist build:

Warfare Tree

• Wrathful Strikes
• Biting Aura
• Thaumaturge
• Exploiter

Fitness Tree

• Rejuvenation
• Siphoning Spells
• Spirit Mastery
• Celerity

Craft Tree

• Steed's Blessing
• Rationer
• Liquid Efficiency
• Gifted Rider

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This concludes our guide to the Magicka Arcanist in The Elder Scrolls Online. For those interested, here is our Stamina Templar build for trials and dungeons.