Magicka Warden PvP Build
Magicka Warden PvP builds can be tricky to master, but in return can be incredibly potent. They excel in survivability and group support, but with the right adjustments, can become highly mobile and deal incredibly high burst damage. Magicka Warden PvP builds are best used as disruptors to cause enemy groups to have a tougher time of things.
Gear Sets
Buffer of the Swift: This shines on tanky Magicka-based PvP builds such as this one, adding an extra 10% damage mitigation against enemy players that is immune to penetration. You can get this set from Cyrodiil gear vendors.
Ice Furnace: A set that shines particularly well on a Magicka Warden. Any time you deal frost damage, also deal fire damage in an area around the target, which can occur once per second. This works perfectly with our spammable.
Destructive Impact: Obtained from Dragonstar Arena, this allows you to stun your opponent and boost your damage massively at just the right moment, leaving them vulnerable to a massive burst of damage from your combo.
Markyn Ring of Majesty: A single item that gives you an awesome boost to your damage output and resistances just for being there. You can get this by scrying in The Deadlands, but if you prefer, you can switch to the Sea-Serpent's Coil instead for more damage.
Magma Incarnate: A nice addition in the form of a one-piece item on the head that gives you a boost to your Magicka and Stamina recovery. You can get this from The Dread Cellar.
Skills
Deep Fissure: Keep this active at all times. It deals very high bursts of damage and will inflict both Major and Minor Breach on your opponent, reducing their resistances massively.
Bird of Prey: Passively grants Minor Berserk, increasing your damage output. Use this to run circles around your opponent with Major Expedition.
Destructive Reach: Use this as your main spammable. It is 10% cheaper with the Destructive Impact weapon and always applies Chilled, the damage of which is boosted by the Piercing Cold passive.
Arctic Blast: An AoE stun that serves as an instant heal, and has a high chance to apply Chilled to nearby enemies.
Blue Betty: Keep this up at all times to give yourself constant Magicka return along with regular negative effect purges.
Dawnbreaker of Smiting: This is the ultimate of choice for damage output, since you have to fight in mid-to-close range for Deep Fissure to work anyway. Use this after Deep Fissure and Destructive Reach for the best effect.
Crystallized Slab: Shuts down most ranged Magicka opponents, especially Sorcerers who will not have many options against Wardens using this.
Ice Fortress: This is your source of Major Resolve, boosting your resistances and also granting Minor Protection, boosting your damage mitigation.
Blinding Flare: A further 10% damage mitigation bonus which, when combined with Buffer of the Swift and Ice Fortress, makes you incredibly tanky.
Resolving Vigor: A nice, strong, simple heal over time that also grants Minor Resolve, boosting your resistances even further.
Living Trellis: Heals you each time you take damage, and can be spammed to provide a burst heal if needed.
Enchanted Forest: An absolute life-saver that will give you a burst of health, strong healing over its duration, and restore ultimate if you are low health.
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.
Biting Aura: This class in particular really benefits from a buff to area damage, making this a smart choice for increasing your burst damage potential, so make sure you always have it slotted.
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
Magicka Warden PvP builds can be slow, heavy hitters, although their hardest-hitting attack leaves them relatively vulnerable in mid-range combat. Vampirism can help significantly with this, giving them extra damage mitigation and mobility with Mist Form. However, Magicka Wardens are expensive resource-wise, so it is important to build carefully to account for this.
Notes
Magicka Wardens are fearsome juggernauts in PvP that are difficult to take down and deal tremendous amounts of damage. By using Destructive Reach or Clench (your choice), you will activate the Master's staff - and when using an ice staff, this is already an incredibly powerful skill on a Magicka Warden.
That big increase in spell damage will also come with a big increase in penetration due to Deep Fissure, which applies both Major and Minor Breach to the target for almost 9,000 damage resistance reduction. That is massive, and will leave them sitting ducks against your onslaught.