*QUESTION**: What are the best races for magicka DPS classes in general?

**ANSWER**: For race choice, [Altmer] has the highest burst damage and DPS ceiling, but requires incredible group support to sustain and reach that ceiling. They get an innate 258 Spell Damage that Bretons do not.

Despite this, for solo content or not-fully-optimized groups, [Breton] is going to do as much or more sustained damage by not running out of Magicka.  Breton also has the advantage of a little more survivability from their Spell Resistance passive. Altmer can bash weave more with their stamina return passive, further increasing their peak damage, but again this is more of a min/max benefit that doesn’t apply to most players in the game.

[Dunmer] is also perfectly viable, with nearly the same damage as Altmer (about 0.2% lower), and they get Fire Resistance, immunity to Burning, and a large enough stamina pool for an extra dodge roll or a few blocks or bashes.

**QUESTION**: What are the best magicka DPS classes?

**ANSWER**: This is a rather complicated question so many people ask because this often comes down to not just group composition but also the players themselves. It is safe to say (as of writing this) that the weakest magicka DPS class in terms of numbers/effort compared to the other classes is Warden. Magicka Sorcerer, Magicka Dragonknight, Magicka Templar, Magicka Necromancer and Magicka Nightblade can pull very high numbers.

**QUESTION**: What Traits/Enchantments should I run on my armor for my magicka DPS?

**ANSWER**: Every piece of your armor should be Divines. Every enchantment (ideally) should be max magicka. Depending on how safe you want to play, some players swap out one large magicka enchantment (head, chest or legs) for a health enchantment.

**QUESTION**: What Traits/Enchantments should I run on my jewelry for my magicka DPS?

**ANSWER**: Your jewelry enchantments should always be spell damage glyphs when possible.

[Bloodthirsty] is usually best for DPS, with a couple exceptions:

- If you are trying to maximize pre-execute DPS to skip mechanics Infused is best (Rakkhat pad 3 or 5 burn, Lokkestiiz early Ice Cage skips)
- If fighting weak enemies that can be killed in less than 5 hits, then Bloodthirsty is pointless. The most common example of this is vMA, where the majority of enemies can be killed with 2-3 spammables, so Infused is best.

[Arcane] is generally just the cheap version of [Infused], and is slightly weaker but can offer better sustain.

- On double pet-Sorc, [Arcane Beats Infused] since pets don’t scale with Spell Damage!
- On Magblade Arcane and Infused are nearly the same if you have both Inner Light and a Siphoning ability slotted, for 15% bonus on Max Magicka.

**QUESTION**: What should my Weapon traits be as a magicka DPS?

**ANSWER**: For weapon traits, Precise frontbar (where your spammable is slotted) with a Flame Glyph and Infused backbar (where your Wall/Blockade is slotted) with a Berserker Glyph is a good all-around setup.

- For [pure single target] you can do [Infused] on both weapons for a slight increase, but at the expense of about 5% AoE/cleave from losing [Precise].
- If you can use a Prismatic Glyph vs an Undead or Daedric boss then make sure that weapon is [Infused].
- [Nirnhoned] can be useful on Necromancer when AoE is needed, since Precise will be wasted if you go above 100% Spell Crit in execute.
- If you are not reaching the Spell Penetration cap of 18.2k, then [Sharpened ]is the best trait. This should not be necessary with group debuffs on raid bosses, but it can be useful for Trial trash (no Crusher) or solo content and dungeons.

**QUESTION**: Should magicka DPS be wearing 5-1-1 (5x light armor pieces, 1x medium armor piece, 1x heavy armor piece) or something else?

**ANSWER**: [5-1-1] is the best armor weight combination for maximizing DPS because (unlike Medium Armor) adding a 6th or 7th piece of Light has no effect on damage. Having one piece of Medium and one Heavy unlocks the Undaunted passive for 4% more Max Magicka (a little under 2% more skill damage). You also gain 4% Max Stamina, 6% Max Health (4% from Undaunted, 2% from Heavy Armor), 3% Sprint Speed, and higher resistances!

6 or 7 Light Armor [can] be used to get a little more sustain, since each piece adds 2% Magicka Cost Reduction and 4% Magicka Recovery. However I (Wrath) wouldn’t recommend this, since there are more efficient ways to get sustain while giving up less damage and survivability. If you do want more than 5 Light Armor, [try 6 Light and 1 Heavy], since you’ll still get most of the useful stats from that (just short 2% Mag, 2% Health, and 3% Sprint Speed from the Medium piece). That being said, [set bonuses matter more than Armor weight], so if you get a monster set in the wrong weight it’s still worth using until you can obtain the optimal piece!

**QUESTION**: What should my Light Attacks per Second be?

**ANSWER**: Light Attacks per second when weaving can theoretically get very close to 1.00 since this is the global cooldown on skill casts. In practice, the best I’ve personally (Wrath) have seen on a target dummy is about 0.96 LA/s. [Anything above 0.90 LA/s on a dummy] is pretty good.

If you find your light attacks are low, it’s counterintuitive, but you can try slowing down your rotation to see if that helps. Missing light attacks by casting too early is [very common], and once you are sure each one is landing you can try to speed up the rotation to maximum.

Keep in mind that Light Attacks/second will drop with any dungeon/trial mechanics  It will also be lower on builds with channeled or cast time abilities, like Templar's Puncturing Sweeps and Radiant Oppression.

**QUESTION**: Should I be using Elemental Weapon or Force Pulse/Crushing Shock on my magicka DPS?

**ANSWER**: Elemental Weapon, Force Pulse, and Crushing Shock are all very similar for DPS, and all are viable in end game content. They each have some unique characteristics that make them optimal for specific bosses:

[Elemental Weapon]: Same base damage as the others, but it also gives a Spell Orb every 5 casts that adds about 10% to its damage. Elmenetal Weapon also provides a guaranteed status effect every time it hits, which is most important for solo content since Burning and Concussed increase DPS significantly. Elemental Weapon requires nearly perfect Light Attack weaving to use effectively so if you miss even 1/10 Light Attacks then the other options are better. Elemental Weapon also brings the Psijic Shield passive while blocking, which is nice because it can allow you to unslot your shield in some situations.

[Force Pulse]: Primarily used for the cleave it gives, hitting 2 other enemies nearby. This is very strong in places like vCR where adds will pile up if they are not being killed. The Magicka cost and base damage are the same as Elemental Weapon, but 1/3 of it benefits from Engulfing Flames, and it counts as 3 hits for proccing some sets or making full use of the Stagger debuff (applied by DK’s with Stone Giant). However the single target DPS is still going to be [lower than Elemental Weapon + Spell Orb]. Force Pulse can also proc weapon enchants, so if you occasionally miss Light Attacks your front bar glyph won’t suffer as much. Force Pulse also returns 3600 Magicka on killing blows due to the Destruction Expert passive so for solo content or elsewhere, this can help quite a bit.

[Crushing Shock] is very similar to Force Pulse with a few key differences. It deals the same damage to the targeted enemy, but [no splash damage], so it is purely single target. It costs about 200 Magicka less per cast, so can really help sustain. Crushing Shock also interrupts with every cast, which can be helpful for some bosses (Llothis in vAS), or when learning content like Maelstrom Arena. It also procs weapon enchants, and benefits from Destruction Staff passives like the Magicka return on kills.

**QUESTION**: Is Asylum Staff/Willpower, etc worth it on Templar or other non-mag DK Classes?

**ANSWER**: In short, particularly for Magplars, it's not worth it.

The [Asylum Staff setup] is primarily useful on Magicka Dragonknight for a few reasons:

1) The Combustion passive increases Burning damage and restores Magicka every time Burning is applied.

2) MagDK DoTs are long duration, and they have no delayed burst skill (like Blastbones, Deep Fissure, Prey, Frags, Purifying Light, Merciless Resolve) so there is room for many casts of Force Pulse in the rotation.

3) MagDK does not have an execute, so Force Pulse is used for the entire fight.

Other classes are not as well suited to use the Asylum Inferno because they do not meet these conditions. [Sorcerer] is probably 2nd best for it, and only if you do not use an execute, but Prey and Frags still diminish the usefulness since they mean fewer casts of Force Pulse.

[Nightblade and Templar] are both far too dependent on their execute abilities, and would get no benefit from the Asylum Staff near the end of a fight.

[Necromancer and Warden] have their burst skill every 3rd cast, so not enough room for Force Pulse spam to justify this weapon.

The main exception here is Maelstrom Arena. Every class can use the Asylum Staff well in Maelstrom Arena, because the bonus damage from the status effects happens to be just enough to turn most enemies from 3-shot to 2-shot. It’s also very helpful on bosses since you are solo and won’t have supports to help with Minor Maim (chill) and Minor Vulnerability (concussion).

**QUESTION**: How much of a DPS loss is Non-Perfected False God/Siroria in comparison to Perfected False God/Siroria?

**ANSWER**: The Perfected versions add approximately 2% more DPS over their non-Perfected counterparts.

**QUESTION**: What are general Magblade setups for Trials like Sunspire?

**ANSWER**: Refer to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b0rtV-wvdE] - vSS Setups for Magicka Nightblade by Natsu.

**QUESTION**: What are the best foods/drinks to use on a magicka DPS?

**ANSWER**: Typically Artaeum Pickled Fish Bowl or Witchmother's Potent Brew/Clockwork Citrus Filet (depending on sustain).

**QUESTION**: What are the best Mundus Stones to use on my magicka DPS?

**ANSWER**: Currently the [Shadow] Mundus is what you should use as a magicka DPS for Trial content, for 4-mans/Maelstrom Arena, you may need to use [Lover].

**QUESTION**: Can I be a Vampire on my magicka DPS?

**ANSWER**: Yes, in fact it's encouraged to be at least Stage 2 Vampire for most fights for the recovery passive.

**QUESTION**: When do I use Channeled Acceleration over Barbed Trap?

**ANSWER**: It will depend on the fights (and also your comfort level), obviously Barbed Trap is preferred whenever possible for single target fights/dummy as it's extra damage WITH Minor Force + Fighter's Guild Passives kick in if it's Undead. Channeled Acceleration is often safer to use for trash fights or boss fights that may drain your stamina or that make it risky for you to approach the boss in order to place it.

**QUESTION**: Force Pulse or Engulfing Flames spam for AOE trash on magicka DK?

**ANSWER**: Surprisingly, recasting Engulfing Flames as a mag DK on stacked trash fights is quite a lot of damage, Force Pulse comes close depending on how well the trash is stacked.

**QUESTION**: I'm having troubles with Blastbones or Siphon not going off on my magicka Necromancer, what am I doing wrong?

**ANSWER*: Those two class skills in particular have been frustrating to use/buggy since Elsweyr PTS, it's not your fault although you can alleviate the issue by bash weaving before casting Siphon for a more "natural feel" to the rotation.

**QUESTION**: Is Master Architect still worth using on Magicka Nightblades?

**ANSWER**: Yes.

NefasQSLast Saturday at 12:17 AM

**QUESTION**: When is Shadow stronger than Thief?

**ANSWER**: Take the crit bonus from Thief and divide it by the crit damage bonus from Shadow.

With 7 Divines, you get 0.106/0.19 = 0.557

Therefore, your equation becomes Crit Chance/Crit Damage = [0.557], so you can just solve for your breakeven point at any given crit damage.

Anything [greater than that point] means the Shadow is stronger (i.e. higher crit or lower crit damage). Anything lower than that point means the Thief is stronger (i.e. lower crit or higher crit damage).

NefasQSLast Saturday at 2:19 PM

**QUESTION**: How much Spell Damage = Crit Chance/Damage?

**ANSWER**: It depends on a few variables. Crit modifiers (or any stat increase) results in a percentage change in damage dealt. This percentage changes based on initial values. In order to get a complete and specific answer, you need [all (fully buffed) baseline variables first (i.e. max resources, weapon/spell damage, crit chance, crit damage)].

NefasQSLast Sunday at 3:31 AM

**QUESTION**: Is Siroria only good for dummies/is Siroria a cheese set?

**ANSWER**: No, you don't need full stacks even to have it outperform other setups in a raid. It's simply harder to keep up for a lot of people especially in the more mobile fights such as vCR. It's not a "cheese" set solely for dummy parsing.

NefasQSYesterday at 7:26 PM

**QUESTION**: What is the damage difference between Non-Perfected and Perfected Asylum Destruction Staves?

**ANSWER**: 4-5k DPS.