There’s plenty to do by yourself in Elder Scrolls Online. Unlike other popular MMORPGs, almost everything ESO is soloable, save for world bosses, dungeons, and trials. But since there’s so much stuff that you can do without ever touching group content at all, you might like to know which class to choose so you can get through all of it without feeling underpowered.
To help, we’ve come up with a list of some of the best possible choices for a solo DPS class build that you can easily set up once you’ve reached level 50. Since Elder Scrolls Online’s skill system is so open to interpretation, there are tons of permutations and skill setups, so don’t feel like you absolutely need to pigeonhole yourself into any one of these builds!
Best Solo DPS Class in ESO
Every class in ESO is able to create a solo build by nature. Since each class is equipped with three separate skill lines that embody the three traditional MMORPG party roles (healer, tank, DPS), you can always mix and match between those. Before we begin looking at each individual class, it’s worth going over some basic principles in Elder Scrolls Online’s class system that provide context to our decisions.
Regardless of whether you allocate your 64 total attribute points into either Stamina or Magicka, you’ll be able to fill pretty much any role since ESO’s skill system is pretty dang versatile. Just make sure you’re speccing in favor of spell damage and Magicka recovery if you’re a Magicka build, or in physical damage and Stamina recovery if you’re a Stamina build. There are three other areas where you’ll get to make significant changes to these factors: Mundus stones, equipment, and Champion Points.
That said, you’ll find a strong building point for a great DPS build within each of the six playable classes when playing PVE content solo. Every class does both stamina and magicka DPS styles a little bit differently, but here are a few short blurbs explaining what each of the following classes bring to the table when you’re building a solo DPS class in ESO.
Magicka Templar
The Magicka Templar is capable of doing a ton of area-of-effect damage and single-target melee damage in a very short period of time, all while defending themselves with their rune of celestial protection and casting potent healing spells without ever using a restoration staff.
Useful damage-dealing abilities include Puncturing Sweep, which heals you for 40% of the damage you deal to nearby enemies, and Radiant Ward, an exploding shield that makes you incredibly hard to attack while it’s active.
Magicka Sorcerer
The Magicka Sorcerer is a hybrid pet class and ranged DPS that can engage in the dark arts, summon daedra with the Summon Twilight Tormentor and Summon Charged Atronach attacks, and can even rely on the power of lightning to control the flow of the battlefield.
Magicka Nightblade
The Magicka Nightblade has a heavier reliance on stealth and fast movement around the battlefield than the other classes. It’s also the one class with a built-in ability that lets you go invisible (Shadow Cloak) instead of relying entirely on invisibility potions. Damage-dealing skills from the Siphon tree also let you drain the health from your foes to keep yourself healed.
Stamina Warden
The Stamina Warden is an incredibly survivable solo DPS class that also has the power to summon a wild guardian (basically, a pet bear) which helps you buffer out your damage while taking some of your hits for you. Beyond that, the Stamina Warden is still a jack-of-all trades class that can be found dabbling with healing and tanking as well.
Stamina Dragonknight
Stamina Dragonknight is another DPS and tank hybrid class that always feels difficult to take down in a fight. There are only three offensive Dragonknight abilities that rely on stamina; there’s Stone Giant, Venomous Claw, and Noxious Breath. You’ll need to mix some weapon skills into your hotbar as well, but you can absolutely do tons of damage with the right weapon equipped.
Magicka Necromancer
The Magicka Necromancer is a particularly interesting class to play, simply because so many of its most cool abilities — the ones that let you raise corpses or summon ghosts — are criminally outlawed by the denizens of Tamriel. You’re not at any particular disadvantage beyond that, and the Necromancer is exactly as much fun to play with as it sounds.
Mundus Stones Options
Magicka DPS builds can comfortably choose from one of the following mundus stones:
- The Apprentice – Increases Spell Damage by 238 (390 with 7 Legendary Divine Traits)
- The Atronach – Increases Magicka recovery by 310 (507 with 7 Legendary Divine Traits)
- The Mage – Increases Maximum Magicka by 2023 (3092 with 7 Legendary Divine Traits)
- The Lover – Increases Physical and Spell Penetration by 2744 (4492 with 7 Legendary Divine Traits)
Stamina DPS builds can comfortably choose from one of the following mundus stones:
- The Warrior – Increases Weapon Damage by 238 (390 with 7 Legendary Divine Traits)
- The Tower – Increases Maximum Stamina by 2023 (3312 with 7 Legendary Divine Traits)
- The Serpent – Increases Stamina recovery by 310 (507 with 7 Legendary Divine Traits)
- The Lover – Increases Physical and Spell Penetration by 2744 (4492 with 7 Legendary Divine Traits)
Good Equipment Options
For stamina DPS solo builds in ESO, you have quite a few options, especially where dungeon gear is concerned. However, you’ll need to build yourself up into a competent DPS character before you can even approach a dungeon. The simplest and best option is to deck yourself out with at least five pieces of gear from the Hunding’s Rage set, which can be crafted at Broken Arch in Reaper’s March, Wether’s Cleft in Bangkorai, and Trollslayer Gully in The Rift. This set boosts your critical attack chance quite a bit, and gives you a perk at five pieces equipped which boasts a 300 boost to weapon damage. You can also buy individual pieces from guild traders.
Meanwhile, there’s an equivalent gear set for magicka DPS builds that you should look out for. The Mother’s Sorrow set drops all over Deshaan, making it easy to procure early on, especially if you’re not a crafter. Do note that you cannot craft this gear set at all, and must find it out in the field. The main benefits to the Mother’s Sorrow set for magicka DPS builds is its sharp increase in critical attack rates, much like Hunding’s Rage, but it also gives you at least a boost to your raw magicka equaling around 1096 as a baseline.
Champion Point Perks
There are a near-limitless number of ways to customize your Champion Points, but no matter how you allocate your points, there are some perks that you should absolutely take no matter what if you’re playing as a solo DPS character in Elder Scrolls Online.
For magicka DPS characters, we recommend always taking as many points in Precision, Deadly Aim, and Eldritch Insight as you can. Precision ups your critical rate by 160 points per stage, Deadly Aim is a slotted perk that increases your single target attacks by two percent per stage, and Eldritch Insight gives you additional max magicka of 260 points per stage. You also can’t go wrong with Siphoning Spells (which restores 300 magicka per kill, per stage) and Piercing (which gives you 350 spell penetration per stage).
Each of those perks remain pertinent to stamina DPS characters except for Eldritch Insight and Siphoning Spells. Instead of those, you’ll want to take stamina-related perks such as Tireless Discipline, which adds 260 max stamina per stage.
