Magicka Sorcerer PvP Build
Magicka Sorcerer PvP builds are incredibly strong in The Elder Scrolls Online. Sorcerers have unmatched mobility tools at their disposal, can make use of shields and strong healing to shrug off damage, and can nuke down enemies in the blink of an eye with extremely potent stacked up burst damage.
Gear Sets
Buffer of the Swift: An easily obtainable defensive set that is underrated and overpowered. You can get this from Cyrodiil vendors, and the 10% damage mitigation it provides is immune to enemy penetration.
Clever Alchemist: You can stack this with Destructive Impact at the right times to boost your damage up to ridiculous levels and completely delete your enemy in the blink of an eye. This set can be crafted.
Destructive Impact: Obtained from Dragonstar Arena, this weapon will give you a very dramatic boost to damage briefly after using Destructive Clench, which will also knock your opponent back, leaving them vulnerable to a follow-up combo.
Markyn Ring of Majesty: A great all-rounder that gives a nice big boost to both weapon damage and resistances. This mythic item can be obtained in The Deadlands through scrying.
Magma Incarnate: We use one piece of this on the head for an extra boost to both Magicka and Stamina recovery, which is a great bonus. You can get this from The Dread Cellar.
Skills
Destructive Clench: This is used to activate the Master's staff that we run, granting a massive boost to your spell damage for a brief period. Follow up with your damage burst.
Crystal Fragments: Your main spammable that deals tremendous damage and has a chance of firing instantly with a lot more damage.
Mage's Wrath: This is your execute ability, which can be applies to enemies before your burst as it will stick to them for a few seconds and activate if they hit 20% health.
Summon Twilight Matriarch: Your primary source of healing. If the Twilight is killed, reposition to safety before resummoning it as it has a cast time.
Dark Exchange: By expending stamina, you can get a ton of health on top of Magicka, Magicka over time and Minor Berserk for a decent duration.
Power Overload: This is an excellent ultimate that applies a highly damaging effect to your light attacks. This will combo perfectly into your burst damage potential.
Boundless Storm: Your source of Major Resolve, granting you a nice boost to your resistances. You also get Major Expedition for a short while, helping with mobility.
Regenerative Ward: This is your main defensive tool, applying a shield to yourself that will heal you and grant Minor Intellect and Minor Endurance.
Critical Surge: This is your source of Major Sorcery, boosting your damage by a lot. It also provides you with some passive healing when you deal critical damage.
Streak: Your primary mobility tool that allows you to run circles around your opponent or escape easily. Be careful about spamming this as it costs more each time you use it in quick succession.
Bound Aegis: You don't need to use this actively as the effect has limited value in PvP. However, the passive effects just for having this slotted are excellent. You will have 8% extra max Magicka, Minor Protection and Minor Resolve at all times on both bars.
Ice Comet: Cast this and then immediately use Streak to stun your opponent, ensuring they take the full hit of the attack without the chance to block.
Champion Points
Master at Arms: Direct damage is one of the most common types in PvP, and is often where the ability to burst down your opponents lies, making this a valuable buff.
Deadly Aim: Working perfectly with Master at Arms to boost our primary damage types, Deadly Aim will allow your single target abilities to deal even more damage.
Ironclad: Since direct damage is so common, it is important to also defend against it. That is where Ironclad comes in, boosting your mitigation against this damage type.
Resilience: No matter what the meta is running, critical damage will always be a big part of what many players build around in PvP. It is important to defend against that, and Resilience will help you there in combination with Impenetrable armour pieces.
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.
Slippery: In PvP, pinning your opponent down with CC before you burst them down is important. This will prevent that from happening to you so easily, making it an important addition.
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 best Mundus Stone to use on this build is the Lover for significantly better Penetration. The Lover gives the best overall boost to damage output on average against players, especially since players in PvP tend to run a lot of resistance. However, if you need more recovery, consider the Atronach instead.
Food Buff
The Clockwork Citrus Filet offers an incredibly useful spread of Max Health, Max Magicka, Health Recovery and Magicka Recovery, making it perfect for Magicka-focused PvP builds. If you can't afford its hefty cost, go with the Witchmother's Potent Brew instead, offering similar stats but no Health Recovery.
Race
My preferred race to run for this build is a Breton for their superior sustain. However, if you feel that you are managing your resources well enough, then you can switch to a High Elf (Altmer) for more overall damage, or Dark Elf (Dunmer) for almost the same damage as the High Elf with a little extra stamina for survivability as well.
Potion
PvP builds generally work best when running Immovability potions, which grants a lengthy immunity to snares, immobilizations and stuns. It's good to carry some potions to reveal invisibility as well to counter Nightblades.
Mortality
With access to Streak and shields along with several powerful healing options, Sorcerers have no real need of Vampirism. Cutting their resources would be a huge drawback with not much gain, therefore it is recommended that you remain Mortal for this build.
Notes
Magicka Sorcerers are one of the dominating powers of PvP, with access to an incredibly diverse toolkit that allows them to perform very well both offensively and defensively.
With access to Streak, you can outspeed any other class by a significant margin, and your class shields and powerful healing allow you to survive through the meanest stuff that enemy players can throw your way.
This build is based around building up your burst to fire straight after Destructive Clench connects, boosting your damage briefly by a dramatic amount. Time this well with your potion to activate Clever Alchemist, and you will be boosting your spell damage by almost 1,300! That's huge, and your opponent will struggle to recover from that.