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Skills Build Table of Content
First Step - Reset Your Magicka & Stamina
I'm focusing on Magica based on the recommendations I've seen
Update: Top player u/ShadowFangx has Kindly shared his build below,
Magica/ Stamina Split 450/440 With his Gear this is 809/440
I've seen a recommendation to focus 75% on Magica & 25% on Stamina, See Sample Formula Below (you gotta take into account at least 400 points to be distributed equally) Also most recommend shield use.
I'm only Level 39 - I have a total of 780 points to distribute,
780 - 400 = 380
Stamina: 380*.25 = 95 + 200 = 295 (Rounded Up to 330 )
Magica: 380 - 95= 285 + 200 =485 (Rounded down to 450)
Magicka
Skills Build Recommendations
The gear you use for these builds are extremely flexible, as long as you stay within these guidelines:
The only pieces that need great consideration and care are every piece of Jewelry and your gloves. You want to have as much Physical/Elemental Damage against conditions as you can get, also a few prolongs if you can. Also keep a look out for Ignore Elemental Resistance secondaries. They can get extremely powerful if you can stack them 3x. Main enchantment on Rings and Gloves should be Elemental Damage increases for the Elements you end up using. On Necklaces I use Magicka Regen.
Always use an Elven Shield, these are a must for Mages at the top ranks. It sucks that you always have to use them, but it's a trade-off I'm willing to make since it won me so many rounds at this point. It's also the reason why Elemental Protection is necessary for me, I don't have the luxury of switching to Deadric Mail, Stalhrim, Glass or Dragonscale Shields. I need to stick with the Elven one. I use an Elven Shield of Nullifying or Exhaustion based on my opponent.
At least 1 Magicka increasing main enchantment. Preferably 2, but one should be enough in most cases. The secondaries on your Set minus gloves is completely up to you. I use 2x Physical/Elemental Resistance at crit health on my set, along with 2 Main Enchantment +15%, 1 for a health and 1 for a magicka piece.
Use an Elemental Weapon and Shield that inflicts conditions easier. You need to be able to inflict them as soon as possible, so you can start benefitting from the increased damage on your Gloves and Jewelry.
1- Build by u/ShadowFangx
Currently playing with Magicka Surge.
This is what I consider the minimum and should be used to expand upon based on what you want. RE is a staple in general, especially for mages because they are (should) able to use it multiple times in a round. Ice Spike is just a staple skill for Mages in general. It's very well rounded and rewarding if it stuns. It also applies the Frost Condition fairly easily.
Harrying Bash is just good for any build that uses a shield and mages need to use one (we'll get to that soon). So Harrying Bash is just a natural fit for me, it's also good against other mages because you can put their RE on a longer cooldown which is huge. Harrying Bash is also best in my opinion, because a Spellcaster in Arena usually has to stall the first 10 seconds of any round due to RE being so common. Increasing the Cooldowns in those scenarios can help tons. However even so, Harrying Bash isn't required. It could also be replaced with Staggering Bash, you just need a bash.
Piercing Strikes is because there's nothing better for inflicting conditions in a world with so many shields running rampant. So that one is a must for me, inflicting conditions is very important for Magicka Builds.
After that you just distribute the rest of the skill points in the direction you like, but one thing I do recommend is to always go into matches with 2 Elemental Spells, Ice Spike being one of them and the other one should be a spell from a different element, but which one is up to you. I went for Paralyze because it complements Ice Spike a lot.
If your second spell is Fireball for example, you do need to max out Augmented Flames as well, because you need every single point of extra Elemental Damage you can get. It can be the difference between winning and losing, because of how Conditions work and how spells like Ice Spike work. For Augmented Shock I wouldn't do this though. The second rank is extremely perk inefficient, you spend 5 for 1 point of extra damage. Not worth it in my opinion.
Jewelry totals (that I use - I didn't know how to add these to the chart):
Absorb +5 Consuming Inferno +5 Echo Weapon +3
Adrenaline Dodge +5 Renewing Dodge +4 Barbarian +3
Enchantment Synergy +3 Healing Surge +4
EDIT: Its my jewelry/gloves bonuses that make my 2H build a real powerhouse. Here's what they are:
3- Skills Tree Build By u/MacRCK
Level & Points - 41, Have Magic & Stamina split 400/400
Armor - Flawless Dwarven Mail making daedric mail armor. Weapon -
Abyss Level - Went from 39 to 48
How Do You Like Your Build? See My Reddit Post for additional details
4- By u/AncientOracle - Latest & Greatest
Shared a few others below, but this is what I'm sticking with - Level 53
5- By u/AncientOracle
Level & Points - 53
Armor & Weapon -
Abyss Level -
How Do You Like Your Build?
6- By u/AncientOracle
Level & Points - Armor & Weapon -
Abyss Level - How Do You Like Your Build?
7 - By u/Mannes99
Level 67
8 - Link to Build Or u/berjae
Level 39, Abyss 37 - Town is level 9, Smithy is level 8, Enchanter is level 6, Alchemist is level 4
Perks Tree - I dropped almost everything on the right side because that side isn't useful for my build. Augmented Poison is there, but it's too expensive to reach. Scout and Combat Focus don't seem to have much real benefit for my gameplay.
Armsman +3 is my only pick on the right
Abilities Tree - I tried picking Renewing Dodge but given my build is a sword-and-board, I pulled back. The abilities higher up in this tree seem pretty expensive and not terribly useful so I ended up concentrating lower down.
The most radical change I tried (and abandoned) was dropping the shield, going with a two handed weapon and trying to use Elemental Resistance but I didn't do well with it, so back to sword-and-board.
Spells Tree
I had redundant destruction spells and it seemed better to have fewer, stronger, spells than a variety with the same effect. So, I consolidated:
I dropped Wall of Fire and Ice Spike. However, fire seems so helpful against the more powerful enemies that I had enough points left over in the end to also pick Consuming Inferno +4.
I tried picking everything on the right side to reach Echo Weapon at the top, but it's super slow to power up for me. I don't know if there's a way to speed it up or if it's meant for PVP but it wasn't worth the 10 points (or the additional 3 for Ice Spike and additional 5 for Blizzard Armor) so I dropped it. This freed 18 points!
9 - Skills Tree Build Link By Anonymous
Level - 67 Armor & Weapon - Dragon plates, long swords, maces & axe Abyss Level - 7
How Do You Like Your Build? Quite satisfied, actually
If this is your build please send me u/ButterflySam your name so I can give you credit.
10 - Link to Skills Tree By u/ButterflySam
Level 39, 780 Points Ebony Armor & Daedric Longsword
It's an okay build but looking forward to recommendations to make it better, I don't play arena that much always get stuck w/ higher levels. But Grinding Abyss finally got to level 41 not much I know so hoping this build helps.
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11 - By u/leelee1586
Level & Points - Armor & Weapon -
Abyss Level - How Do You Like Your Build?
12 - Skills Tree By u/finalremedy
Abyss Level - 140+ See Full Post Here this is the best strategy i've seen for Abyss - (also below)
Vote For Skills Build Here
13 - Insert Link Here Or By Your Name
Level & Points - Armor & Weapon -
Abyss Level - How Do You Like Your Build?
Helpful Resources (Add Additional Resources)
Solid Strategy For Abyss From u/FinalRemedy
My Loadouts
Notes:
All enchantments should be assumed max tier, sure you can get away with less, but you should strive for max tier enchants
My gloves, necklace, and rings do not change across my loadouts, because I currently lack variety on those pieces of gear since I’m mainly looking for +Physical damage at critical health and only have 1 of each piece with this enchant
For PvE, the actual abilities and skills on my rings are inconsequential so I won’t list them. My rings would be just as good if they had 0 skills on them. For me it’s all about the enchantment and secondary enchants. Although, if you're into PvP, this isn't true as you can use abilities on your rings to offset skill points spent obviously
Daedric Mail is generally the preferred choice as a good portion of these mobs will deal Fire damage as well as Slashing damage. If you happen to have an awesome Dragonbone armor set with +Physical Resist at Crit Health, then that would probably be preferred against Death Knight & Warmaster. I don't happen to have any good Dragonbone armor yet.
Gloves, Necklace, Rings:
Gloves: Majestic Daedric Mail w/ Stamina enchant, +Physical damage at critical health & Armor piercing
Neck: +4 Combat Focus, +4 Enchantment Synergy w/ Stamina enchant +Physical damage at critical health & +Elemental damage at critical health
Ring: Magicka Enchant, +Physical damage at critical health
Ring: Stamina Enchant, +Physical damage at critical health & Armor piercing
Lich & Nether Lich
Note: with my current setup, I actually find Lord’s Mail to be too good and often heals me out of critical health range. Hence, the alternative gear choice suggested, which is what I’m working on crafting now which should actually be more attainable for most folks anyway.
Helmet: Flawless Daedric Mail w/ Lightning Resist
Chest: Exemplary Daedric Mail w/ Poison Resist, Spell Resist
Boots: Exemplary Daedric Mail w/ Lightning Resist, Spell Resist
Weapon: Mythical Dragonbone Longsword w/ Fire enchant, +15% & -Max Stamina
Key survivability components for Liches are 2x Lightning Resist, 1x Poison Resist and 2x Spell resist. The spell resist helps negate Paralyze completely and you won't even need to Ward it anymore. It also helps negate the effects of Siphon life.
Important Spells & Abilities: Absorb, Ward + Adrenaline Dodge, Recovery Strikes, Quick Strikes
Absorb: Just good for helping managing health when you’re trying to keep your health at less than 30% but not too dangerously low
Ward: For negating all damage from huge damage spells like Blind & Delayed Lightning Bolt (possibly Paralyze if you’re unable to acquire the Spell Resist secondaries)
Adrenaline Dodge: Also good for evading big damage spells if Ward is on cool down as well as Piercing Strikes and also for health management
Recovery Strikes: Allows you to keep dealing damage even if you get stunned
Quick Strikes: Can help you keep dealing damage if you are impatient like me and keep getting blocked.
Other Tips: With Recovery Strikes and Quick Strikes, if possible, you should try to get 1 normal hit in and then use them as the next two hits they deal will include combo damage. However, that’s obviously not possible if you’re using Recovery Strikes to recover from a stun.
Dremora Warlock/Raider & Flame Atronachs
Helmet: Mythical Daedric Mail w/ Fire Resist, +Physical resist at critical health & +Elemental resist at critical health
Chest: Mythical Daedric Mail w/ Health, +Physical resist at critical health & +Elemental resist at critical health
Boots: Majestic Daedric Mail w/ Health, +Physical resist at critical health & Spell Resist
Weapon: Majestic Dragonbone Longsword w/ Frost enchant, +Shock damage (area for improvement, but these mobs die pretty fast already, 3-5 swings at critical health). If you have a good Frost Axe, and room for another loadout, consider separating out Flame Atronachs.
Key survivability components here are inherent Daedric Mail resists, 1x Fire Resist, 3x +Physical Resist at Crit health or more. Spell resist can also help and obviously Elemental resist at critical health, but not required.
Important Spells & Abilities: Absorb, Ward + Adrenaline Dodge, Recovery Strikes
Skills:
Absorb: Again, just for health management
Ward: For negating damage from Fireball. Warlocks can technically cast Delayed Lightning Bolt as well, but they should never live that long for it to actually hit you.
Adrenaline Dodge: Mainly for health management, most useful against Piercing Strikes or Fireball if your Ward is on cool down
Recovery Strikes: For keeping damage up if you’re stunned. Also useful for finishing off last bit of health on opponents rather than taking a full swing
Other Tips: These are some of the most straight forward mobs not too much to dive into here.
I guess one tip is to generally lets mobs start their swing first before you start yours or they will often just block and stun you, but if they’re already mid-swing, you’re usually golden.
Death Knights
Helmet: Majestic Daedric Mail w/ Health, +Physical resist at critical health & +Elemental resist at critical health
Chest: Mythical Daedric Mail w/ Health, +Physical resist at critical health & +Elemental resist at critical health
Boots: Majestic Daedric Mail w/ Health, +Physical resist at critical health & Spell Resist
Weapon: Majestic Dragonbone Mace w/ Shock enchant, +Shock effectiveness
Key survivability components here are 3x Physical Resist at Critical health or more, good timing w/ crits and skills (notes below in skills section,) and high damage weapons
Important Spells & Abilities: Absorb + Adrenaline Dodge, Recovery Strikes, Focusing Dodge
Absorb: This spell is critical vs Death Knights, even if it’s just Rank 1. Its description may not be intuitive, but this spell blocks the secondary effects of some abilities. For example, Death Knights like to use Harrying Bash which if not mitigated puts all of your skills on cool down. This is almost certain death against a Death Knight as you then will not be able dodge any of their high damage follow up attacks like Skullcrusher or other Shield Bashes. If you activate Absorb before you get hit with Harrying Bash, you’ll still receive a lot of damage (unless you combine it with a dodge, see below), but your skills will not be put on cool down. Similarly, if you Absorb a Staggering Bash, you can avoid being stunned, but I mainly save it for Harrying Bash as it’s often one of the first bashes they use anyway.
Adrenaline Dodge: I usually use this in conjunction with Ward to also avoid the damage from Harrying Bash. Although, sometime they will use Skullcrusher first, in that case I will use AD alone.
Recovery Strikes: This is also key in case you get stunned, gets you out of the stun + does some damage or in conjunction with AD for a damage spike
Focusing Dodge: I use this as a backup if Adrenaline Dodge happens to be on cool down and I know I can’t deal enough damage to them before they hit me with a Skullcrusher or Bash.
Other Tips:
For Death Knights, if you get into a groove with critting, you can usually 3-4 shot them before they use any of their abilities. If you do get blocked on the 2nd or 3rd swing - wait for them to use an ability and then Adrenaline Dodge + Recovery Strikes immediately after AD hits and that’s usually enough to do them in
Warmasters:
Helmet: Majestic Daedric Mail w/ Health, +Physical resist at critical health & +Elemental resist at critical health
Chest: Mythical Daedric Mail w/ Health, +Physical resist at critical health & +Elemental resist at critical health
Boots: Majestic Daedric Mail w/ Health, +Physical resist at critical health & Spell Resist
Weapon: Majestic Dragonbone War Axe w/ Stamina (Exhaustion)
Shield: Any Exhaustion shield really (I happen to be using a Majestic Stalhrim one)
Key survivability components here revolves around draining the Warmaster's stamina before they can use any of their high damage attacks by blocking their first attack and then swinging away.
Important Spells & Abilities: None really needed with this strategy. Keep them the same as Death Knights just in case, may need the dodges if you somehow mistime the initial block, and may as well use Recoery Strikes if you can.
Other tips: No real other tips than what was mentioned in the survivability section. Block their first attack, and then swing away at them, and generally the most they will be able to do is an Adrenaline Dodge and then they'll be out of steam. They'll be helpless sticks in the mud, and you can just easily finish them off without worrying about any of their high damage attacks.
See Build Video Below - Level 51 (179pts Total)
For PvE your best spells are Resist Elements, Absorb, and Ward. The best abilities are Adrenaline Dodge and Recovery Strikes. Other spells can abilities can be useful but these 5 are all you'll need to master anything in PvE.
Gearwise I advise Daedric Mail for two reasons - its far cheaper than Dragonbone/Dragonscale to temper and it has defenses that make very powerful in end game Abyss.
Ideally you'll want to enchant seperate pieces of DM for different mobs.
Against Fire Atronachs and Dremora Raiders and Warlocks you'll want a Helm/Chest with Peerless Health and Boots with Firewalker.
Against Warmasters and Skeleton Deathknights you'll want Peerless Health on Helm/Chest/Boots.
Against Liches you'll want a Helm/Chest with Grounding and Boots with Antidote.
Against Nether Liches you'll want a Helm/Chest with Peerless Health and Boots with Antidote.
So to start you'll want to craft and enchant:
Daedric Mail Chest of Peerless Health
Daedric Mail Chest of Grounding
Daedric Mail Helmet of Peerless Health
Daedric Mail Helmet of Groundin
Daedric Mail Gauntlets of Subsuming
Daedric Mail Boots of Peerless Health
Daedric Mail Boots of Antidote
Daedric Mail Boots of the Firewalker
For Weapons you'll want:
Dragonbone Longsword of Inferno
Dragonbone Longsword of Winter
Dragonbone Mace of Storms.
Once you get this base set of gear crafted and enchanted you'll want to start crafting and enchanting new pieces until you get the following secondaries on each piece (ideally) starting with the weapons:
Dragonbone Longsword of Inferno - +15%/Burning (-Max Magicka is also good)
Dragonbone Longsword of Winter - +15%/Freezing
Dragonbone Mace of Storms. - +15%/Draining
Daedric Mail Chest of Peerless Health - Physical/Elemental Resistance at Crit Health
Daedric Mail Chest of Grounding - Spell Resistance / Elemental Resistance at Crit Health
Daedric Mail Helmet of Peerless Health - Physical/Elemental Resistance at Crit Health
Daedric Mail Helmet of Grounding - Spell Resistance / Elemental Resistance at Crit Health
Daedric Mail Gauntlets of Subsuming - Physical Damage at Crit Health / Armor Piercing
Daedric Mail Boots of Peerless Health - Physical/Elemental Resistance at Crit Health
Daedric Mail Boots of Antidote - +15%/Spell Resistance
Daedric Mail Boots of the Firewalker - +15%/Physical Resistance at Crit Health
This is obviously a long list to acquire and it will take time but thankfully tempering armor is not as important as tempering weapons so focus on getting at least your inferno sword done before moving onto the armor but you did ask for "The Best"