Magicka Sorcerer DPS Build
Sorcerer DPS builds come in two flavours - pets and no pets. Either way, they are easy to run and deal consistently high ranged damage with a ton of flexibility, and you can even substitute in some powerful survivability and mobility tools as well if needed. Sorcerers are a classic DPS role that perform well in all game modes.
Gear Sets
Maw of the Infernal: This set is just too good on a Magicka Sorcerer. It summons a Daedroth which counts as a pet, and is therefore boosted by the Daedric Prey ability that is central to this build's damage output.
Perfected Arms of Relequen: A great set that is boosted by the Sorcerer's increase to physical damage. You can get this in Cloudrest, and the non-perfected will do if you can't run vet yet. If trials are not available to you yet, run Aegis Caller from Unhallowed Grave.
Order's Wrath: Adding extra critical chance and critical damage to the Sorcerer's already very high damage output has fantastic results. This set can be crafted, meaning it is easy to get your hands on, and serves as a top-tier DPS set.
Maelstrom Staff: The bread and butter of any Magicka DPS build, this staff can be obtained from Maelstrom Arena. The perfected version is preferred, but the normal version is still incredibly powerful.
Skills
Crystal Fragments: This is your main spammable, and you will be using it a lot. Every time you use a Magicka ability, this skill has a chance to be an instant-cast ability that deals huge damage. Even without that, and with its brief cast-time, it is extremely powerful and your best spammable option.
Daedric Prey: Daedric Prey has a short duration, but should nonetheless be kept on your enemy at all times. That is because the damage of your Familiar, Tormenter and Atronach will all be dramatically amplified while this is active. Try to reactivate it right after it bursts, and not any earlier.
Mage's Wrath: Your primary execute ability that deals tremendous damage. Start casting this instead of Crystal Fragments when the enemy hits 20% health.
Summon Volatile Familiar: This needs to be slotted on both bars to stay summoned. Deals high AoE damage while active, so keep it active at all times.
Summon Twilight Tormenter: This also needs to be slotted on both bars to stay summoned. You only need to keep this ability active until the enemy hits 50% health. After that, you don't need to reactivate this skill.
Dawnbreaker of Smiting: We don't use this ability - it is just here to activate the Fighter's Guild passives to grant extra weapon and spell damage.
Unstable Wall of Elements: This is a huge source of damage when used with the Maelstrom staff, so keep this active at all times. You can spamm it against groups of trash mobs.
Barbed Trap: Dealing respectable damage in its own right, Barbed Trap is mostly here to provide Minor Force, increasing critical damage. If you are getting this from someone else in your group, you can change this skill.
Bound Aegis: You don't need to use this at all, but definitely keep it slotted. It grants Minor Protection, Minor Resolve and 8% additional Max Magicka to both bars just for being here.
Summon Volatile Familiar: This needs to be slotted on both bars to stay summoned. Deals high AoE damage while active, so keep it active at all times.
Summon Twilight Tormenter: This also needs to be slotted on both bars to stay summoned. You only need to keep this ability active until the enemy hits 50% health. After that, you don't need to reactivate this skill.
Summon Greater Storm Atronach: One of the best single-target damaging ultimates in the game, the Greater Storm Atronach has an additional feature of providing Major Berserk to your group, which is a massive DPS spike.
Champion Points
Fighting Finesse: A welcome addition to your critical damage output that will help you get up to the 125% crit damage cap. If you are exceeding this cap in your group, choose a different perk like Wrathful Strikes.
Thaumaturge: Damage in The Elder Scrolls Online is measured in how much damage you do per second over the duration of a fight, and stacking damage over time effects is the way to increase this. Thaumaturge will boost that damage type.
Master at Arms: An essential boost to one of the primary damage types that all DPS use - direct damage. This is important on almost any DPS build in ESO.
Deadly Aim: An important buff to single target damage that is essential to any build that gets hefty use out of a single-target spammable. It also boosts the power of single-target damage over time effects, stacking with Thaumaturge in that case.
Boundless Vitality: Every bit of health makes a difference, especially in some of the tougher content that The Elder Scrolls Online has to offer. This will help you bump yours up a little more, increasing your survivability.
Siphoning Spells: A potent addition that shines best when facing multiple enemies or boss fights with adds. Each time you kill an enemy, gain Magicka - perfect!
Rejuvenation: Recoveries are important for every role. For healers, it is essential for keeping your group alive, for tanks, it is the source of most of your buffs and debuffs, for DPS, you can't deal damage with no fuel, and in PvP, no resources means death.
Celerity: Extra movement speed is an amazing boost in all content. In PvE, it helps massively with avoiding nasty mechanics, and in PvP, it allows you to run circles around your opponents.
Mundus Stone
The go-to Mundus Stone for any DPS is the Thief. It is very rare that you will reach the optimal critical chance numbers without the Thief unless you are specifically building for it, which isn't ideal. a
Food Buff
The Ghastly Eye Bowls food buff is typically the best option for any PvE Magicka character. It offers the best combination of Max Magicka and Magicka Recovery. If you are in content that requires higher health, you can use the Withmother's Potent Brew or Clockwork Citrus Filet if you prefer.
Race
The best race to use for this build is a High Elf (Altmer). However, Dark Elves (Dunmer) have an almost negligible difference in DPS. If you struggle to reach the crit damage cap of 125%, then a Khajiit is your best option instead.
Potion
Spell power potions are required on this build to give you access to Major Sorcery, which is an important buff for reaching those top-tier DPS numbers. If you have a Dragonknight using Igneous Weapons or Molten Armaments in your group, you can run Heroism potions instead.
Mortality
Running a Vampire in PvE content will make you a liability to your tank and healer, forcing them to work much harder to keep you alive through much of the game's fiery damage in PvE content. A werewolf also offers no benefit. Therefore, it is recommended that you stick with being a Mortal.
Notes
This Magicka Sorcerer DPS build is quite easy to use. There aren't as many damage over time effects to keep up as other classes since we need to run pets on both bars, but it is very important to keep up the Daedric Prey ability, which needs to be reapplied about once every seven seconds. This will boost the damage your pets do against the target, and reapplying the ability too early will miss out on the final burst of damage, so be sure that it pops before you reapply.
Crystal Fragments takes a bit of getting used to since it is a channeled ability spammable, but once you practise a little you will be able to weave it just fine. It is the strongest option available by a significant margin, so it is worth getting used to.