Are you looking for the most powerful and fun ways to play The Elder Scrolls Online newest class, Arcanist? Look no further!  In this guide, we'll explore all the different Arcanist builds that cater to various playstyles, whether you're a newcomer or a seasoned player. These builds are designed to excel in different aspects of the game, including PvE solo play, tanking, PvP, and more. Let's dive right in!

 

• Beginner Build
• One Bar Stamina Build (Crux Cannon)
• Tank Build (Rune Knight)
• PvP Status Effect Build
• Bow Build (Bokonist)
• Unkillable Magicka Build
• Easy Stamina DPS Build

 

 

↖ Beginner Build

If you're new to The Arcanist and ESO, this is the perfect build to get you started. Using easily accessible Overland sets like Mother's Sorrow and War Maiden, this build offers a mix of damage, healing, and survival, making it great for PvE solo content. You can even transition to group content like Dungeons as you gain experience. This build utilizes Overland sets, making it accessible and easy to get started, especially for new players. With a mix of damage, healing, and survivability, this build is flexible for all types of content, focusing on PVE solo gameplay like questing and Overland and later progressing to group content like Dungeons.

 

Race, Mundus Stone, Food, Potions:

• Race: For the best beginner experience, I recommend choosing the Breton race. Bretons provide cost reduction and increased Magicka recovery, which is beneficial for sustaining your magical abilities during combat.
• Mundus Stone: The Thief Mundus Stone will further enhance your critical chance, which complements the Arcanist's passive bonuses to critical damage.
• Food: Mother's Potent Brew is a great food choice as it boosts your Magicka sustain even further.
• Potions: Basic magic potions will suffice for this build and help you replenish your Magicka during intense battles.

 

Front Bar (Lightning Staff):

• Cephalex's Flail - A primary damage-dealing skill.
• Pragmatic Fake Carver - Offers additional damage.
• Trackroom of Destiny - Provides healing and survivability.
• Escalating Roar - A strong area-of-effect attack.
• Inner Light - Increases your critical chance.

 

Ultimate (Front Bar):

• Tide King's Gaze - A powerful ultimate that follows your target, making it easier to use.

 

Back Bar (Inferno Staff):

• Elemental Blockade - A critical damage-over-time skill.
• Elemental Drain - Provides Magicka to sustain and debuffs enemies.
• Evolving Rune - An emergency heal for tough situations.
• Recuperative Treaty - Buffs your spell damage and grants extra sustain.
• Crunchweaver Auburn - Offers some defense and boosts Ultimate generation.

 

Ultimate (Back Bar):

Sanctum of the Abyssal C - A survival ultimate that helps you endure challenging encounters.

 

Gear Sets:

As a beginner build, I recommend using Overland sets, which are easier to obtain. Here are the sets you should aim for:

• Mother's Sorrow (Jewelry - 3 pieces, Body - 2 pieces) - Boosts critical chance, synergizing with the Arcanist's passive bonuses to critical damage.
• War Maiden (Body - 5 pieces) - Increases your Magic damage, which complements most of the Arcanist class abilities.

 

Additional Set Pieces:

• You have space for two more set pieces. I suggest using "Armor of the Trainee" for your weapons to gain additional Max Magicka and Max Health.

 

This beginner build focuses on Magicka-based abilities using Lightning and Inferno staves. It's designed to provide a good balance of damage, healing, and survivability, making it suitable for various types of content. As you progress and gain more experience, you can explore different sets and playstyles, such as a stamina-based approach with dual-wield weapons.

 

↖ One Bar Stamina Build (Crux Cannon)

For players who prefer a simple and powerful playstyle, the One Bar Stamina Build, or Crux Cannon, is an excellent choice. This build focuses on solo PvE content and uses only one skill bar, making it easy to master. Deadly Strike and Orders Wrath sets are your key choices for massive damage output. This build focuses on simplicity, making it perfect for both solo and group PvE content, especially when tackling more challenging dungeons and arenas. With its high damage output and straightforward playstyle, the Crux Cannon is an ideal choice for players who prefer an easier gameplay experience.

 

Race: 

For the ideal Arcanist race, Khajiit is recommended due to their bonus stat pools, recovery, and especially their bonus critical damage and healing. However, if your goal is to participate in end-game trials and push scores, Dark Elf can be a suitable alternative.

 

Sets:

• Deadly Strike: This set is crucial for The Arcanist as it buffs your main damaging abilities, including the Fate Carver beam and offensive ultimate. The 15% bonus is exceptionally beneficial for damage-focused builds using the Fate Carver beam.
• Order's Wrath: As a crafted set, Order's Wrath is easily accessible. It offers critical chance, critical damage, and critical healing bonuses, making it highly valuable for the build.
• Mythic: Open Soul Ring (from the High Isle chapter) is essential for supercharging your one-bar build. It provides helpful buffs that compensate for the lack of a second skill bar.
• Monster Set: For the remaining set piece, you can choose any one-piece monster set helmet or shoulder that suits your preferences. A Light Slimecraw Helmet is recommended for additional critical chances.

 

Skills:

• Cephalex Flail: This will be your primary damage-dealing skill, dealing substantial damage with the fully-stacked Fate Carver beam.
• Pragmatic Fate Carver: As the main damage-dealing ability, you'll rely on this skill to unleash powerful attacks on your foes.
• Evolving Runement: This skill will serve as both a heal and a way to generate Crux, helping you sustain and deal damage simultaneously.
• Recuperative Treaties: An excellent damage shield, especially for solo content, as it uses Magicka instead of Stamina, making it a valuable defensive tool.
• Impervious Rune Ward: Another defensive skill, utilizing your off-resource (Magicka) to provide a powerful damage shield.

 

Ultimate:

• Tide King's Gaze: This will be your ultimate ability, which can deal significant damage while providing additional benefits.

 

Mundus Stone:

• The Lover: Choose The Lover Mundus Stone for the bonus penetration, further enhancing your damage output.

 

The Crux Cannon build offers an easy-to-use rotation and plenty of shielding, making it a formidable choice for solo and group PvE content. With Deadly Strike and Order's Wrath sets, along with the Mythic Open Soul Ring, you'll experience significant damage potential and excellent survivability with this one-bar Arcanist build.

 

↖ Tank Build (Rune Knight)

The Arcanist makes for an excellent tank in ESO, providing strong defenses, self-healing, and group utility. The Rune Knight build utilizes sets like Powerful Assault and Turning Tide to bring both damage and debuff potential to the table. This build offers strong defenses, great self-healing, and valuable group utility, making it a well-rounded tank option. The Rune Knight is not only effective but also easy and enjoyable to play, with a lot of versatility. Here we will provide you with a basic setup for The Rune Knight tank build, which you can customize based on your group's needs and preferences.

 

Item Sets:

• Powerful Assault Set: Acquired from Imperial City through Telvar Stones or Guild Traders. You can back bar this set with a Frost Staff and three pieces of jewelry. The set provides a unique damage buff to your group whenever you use an active assault skill, such as Vigor or Caltrops, both of which are used in this build.
• Turning Tide Set: This set offers a powerful debuff called Major Vulnerability, one of the best group debuffs in the game. Usually sourced from necromancers, this set grants your Arcanist tank easy access to this valuable debuff.
• Monster Set - Trimmer Scale: This set enhances your group's penetration, which is especially beneficial if you have stamina-based damage dealers in your group. Trimmer Scale provides another valuable debuff for the build.

 

Upgrading the Build

If you wish to upgrade the build, consider replacing your front bar sword and shield with an arena weapon like the Vanishran one-handed shield, which offers additional utility for tanks. However, the build is perfectly functional without this upgrade.

 

Skills:

Front Bar (Sword and Shield):

• Heroic Slash
• Silver Leash
• Impervious Rune Ward
• Runic Thunder
• Rune of Colorless Pool
• Ultimate: Gibbering Gemstone

 

Back Bar (Destruction Staff):

• Elemental Blockade
• Razor Caltrops
• Rune Guard of Still Waters
• Echoing Vigor
• Cruxweaver Armor
• Ultimate: Aggressive Horn

 

Specific Skill Highlight: Colorless Pool is an amazing skill that provides on-demand access to both Minor Vulnerability and Minor Brittle, fantastic buffs for a tank. Additionally, this skill can stun non-elite enemies, adding to its utility.

 

Race, Food, and Mundus Stone:

• Race: Nord, for the extra ultimate generation.
• Alternative Race: Imperial, for stat bonuses and cost reduction.
• Food: Bewitched Sugar Skulls or Propulsions Tri-Stat Potions for maximum benefit.
• Mundus Stone: The Atronach Mundus for increased Magicka recovery.

 

Tanking as an Arcanist offers a unique and strategic experience, especially due to interactions with Crux. The Runic Sunder taunt ability on the front bar can grant bonus damage reduction when you have three Crux active. Additionally, casting Impervious Rune Ward can provide extra healing based on the number of active Crux, making the build feel more engaging and rewarding for experienced players seeking a more in-depth combat style.

 

↖ PvP Status Effect Build

For PvP enthusiasts, the Arcanist can be a potent force on the battlefield. This build focuses on debuffing enemies and applying status effects to control the fight. Deadly Strike and Word of Cyrodiil sets play crucial roles in this build, providing critical chances and powerful debuffs. This build focuses on debuffing enemies and applying status effects, taking advantage of The Arcanist's specialities. This is a stamina-based build that utilizes dual wield on the front bar for offense and sword and shield on the back bar for defense, with a mix of heavy and medium armor.

 

Gear Sets:

• Way of Fire (5-piece set): This tradable set drops in the zone of Craglorn. It grants fire procs off basic weapon attacks like Rending Slashes with a quick two-second cooldown. Though not extremely high in damage, it helps apply constant pressure to enemies when combined with the debuffs from this build. Use three pieces of jewelry and a heavy chest and heavy legs, or go for five heavy body pieces if you prefer extra tankiness.
• Word of Cyrodiil (5-piece set): This set applies Major Defile to your target, making it harder for them to heal and easier for you and your group to take them down. It is an excellent option for dealing with tankier opponents like Dragonknights and Wardens. The Word of Cyrodiil set is relatively easy to acquire and can be found at Guild Traders for a reasonable price. Aim for well-fitted and reinforced traits on the gear, and use three pieces on the body (boots, hands, and waist) plus two front bar weapons like daggers or swords.

 

Weapon Glyphs:

• Main Hand: Disease Glyph
• Offhand: Flame or Poison Glyph

The Arcanist has a bonus chance to proc status effects and bonus status effect damage from the Psychic Lesion passive. The Disease Glyph will have a high chance of applying Minor Defile to your target, reducing their healing further, while a Flame or Poison Glyph provides a solid damage-over-time (DoT) effect for additional pressure.

 

Monster Set:

Battle Org set is highly recommended. When combined with the Tide King's Gaze ultimate, this set turns your build into a devastating death ray, especially when you've already weakened, immobilized, and stunned your target.

 

Skills:

Front Bar - Dual Wield:

• Cephalex's Flail
• Whirling Blades
• Rune of Colorless Pool
• Rending Slashes
• Camouflage Hunter
• Ultimate: Tide King's Gaze

 

Back Bar - Sword and Shield:

• Impervious Rune Ward
• Audacious Runement
• Resolving Vigor
• Recuperative Treatise
• Crux Weaver Armor
• Ultimate: Gibbering Shield

 

Race, Mundus Stone, Food:

• Race: Orc is recommended for this build due to its great stamina-focused stats and the extra run speed, which complements the need to be in melee range for most offensive attacks.
• Food: Jewels of Misrule is a nice option, providing both extra Magicka and stamina recovery. Tri-Stat Potions are also helpful for sustaining during battles.
• Mundus Stone: The Lover Mundus Stone is suggested for this build, as The Arcanist doesn't have an in-class form of Major Breach. You could also use Runic Thunder for additional penetration.

 

The Arcanist excels in various combinations of skills. The primary damage combo starts with Rending Slashes, applying both versions of Defile and a status effect from the offhand. Then, use Cephalex's Flail to debuff enemies with Abyssal Ink and root them in place, draining their Stamina. Once your ultimate is ready, use it to lock them in place with Rune of Colorless Pool, an undodgeable stun. Mastering this combo will make your attacks extremely potent, melting most players within seconds.

 

However, this build is not solely about offense. The Arcanist has powerful survival tools too. When taking damage, immediately cast Impervious Rune Ward for a burst shield followed by Audacious Runement and Resolving Vigor to heal up and maintain survivability. Cycling through these defensive skills, along with your defensive ultimate when necessary, makes this build challenging to kill in most situations, making it an excellent choice for PVP with The Arcanist.

 

↖ Bow Build (Bokonist)

The Bow Build, or Bokonist, offers a flexible ranged playstyle without the need for a Destruction Staff. Deadly Strike and Storm Fist set combined with a bow main hand and backup make this build strong and reliable. The upcoming Update 39 further boosts Bow damage, making this build even more formidable. With the new update 39 patches in ESO, bow damage at close range has been improved, making this build even stronger. If you prefer a versatile Arcanist build without using a destruction staff, the Bow Arcanist might be the perfect fit for you.

 

Recommended Sets:

• Deadly Strike - Buffs powerful abilities like Fake Carver and Arcanist Ultimate.
• Order's Wrath - Crafted set providing critical chance, critical damage, and critical healing.
• Alternative: Briarheart - Offers strong boosts to weapon and spell damage and additional healing.
• Stormfist - Powerful ranged proc and bonus stamina recovery.

 

Skills - Front Bar:

• Cephalex's Flail - Primary Arcanist damage skill.
• Pragmatic Fate Carver - Another powerful ability to utilize the Deadly Strike set.
• Inspired Scholarship - Supporting skill grants resources when you cast class abilities.
• Writhing Rune Blades - Additional damage and crowd control.
• Camouflaged Hunter - Buff's weapon critical and movement speed.
• Ultimate: Languid Eye (Deals more damage than Tide King's Gaze but requires careful aiming.)

 

Skills - Back Bar:

• Poison Injection - Powerful DoT skill.
• Endless Hail - AoE damage and synergy with the Deadly Strike set.
• Razor Caltrops - Debuffs enemy armor.
• Channelled Acceleration - Buffs weapon damage and grants Minor Force.
• Reconstructive Domain - Provides healing and damage mitigation.
• Ultimate: Sanctum of the Abyssal Sea (Defensive ultimate)

 

Race:

• Khajiit - Benefits from increased critical chance.
• Mundus: Thief - Further increases the critical chance.
• Food: Lava Foot Soup - Boosts stamina recovery.

 

Begin on the back bar, apply buffs, debuffs, and DoTs (Poison Injection, Endless Hail, Razor Caltrops, Channeled Acceleration, Reconstructive Domain). Switch to the front bar where the main Arcanist damage skills are located. Focus on the Herald of the Tome abilities, which give significant offensive penetration due to the Arcanist passive called Splintered Secrets. Utilize Cephalex's Flail and Pragmatic Fate Carver as primary damage skills on the front bar. Make strategic use of the Languid Eye Ultimate for additional damage.

 

↖ Unkillable Magicka Build

Survivability is the focus of the Unkillable Magicka Arcanist build, making it a formidable solo content build. With a mix of healing, damage, and defense, this build can tackle the toughest challenges in ESO. This build focuses on high survivability, strong defenses, powerful healing capability, and a balanced mix of damage and sustain. With a thematic focus on channeling magic, this build becomes unstoppable, allowing you to solo the toughest content in the game, including World bosses, world events, Dungeons, and solo Arenas.

 

Skill Selection:

• Fake Carver: This powerful skill forms the backbone of the build, providing significant damage and utility for the build's success.
• Channeled Magic Skills: Focus on skills that channel magic, as they synergize well with the theme and sets of the build, amplifying their potency.

 

Sets and Equipment:

• Set 1: This set enhances the power of channeled magic skills, providing additional buffs and damage boosts.
• Set 2: Choose a set that complements your defensive capabilities, providing extra survivability and sustain.
• Set 3: This set further enhances your healing capabilities, making you nearly unkillable in tough encounters.

 

Attributes and Enchantments:

• Magicka: Invest heavily in Magicka to maximize the damage of your channeled magic skills.
• Health: Allocate a sufficient amount of points into Health to increase survivability.
• Stamina: Invest minimally in Stamina, focusing on Magicka as your primary resource.
• Enchantments: Prioritize Magicka and Health enchantments on your gear to boost your overall survivability.

 

Champion Points (CP):

• Blue Tree: Focus on Elemental Expert for increased magic damage and Thaumaturge for additional damage over time effects.
• Red Tree: Allocate points to Hardy and Elemental Defender to enhance your defensive capabilities.
• Green Tree: Prioritize Warlord and Magician for reduced cooldowns and cost reduction on your abilities.

 

Playstyle Tips:

• Channeling Magic: Utilize your channeled magic skills efficiently, as they are the key to maximizing your damage output.
• Survivability: Prioritize staying alive by utilizing your defensive abilities, healing skills, and dodging enemy attacks.
• Burst Damage: Combine your channeled magic skills with other damaging abilities to unleash devastating bursts of damage on tough enemies.
• Resource Management: Keep an eye on your Magicka pool and manage your resources effectively during prolonged encounters.

 

Solo Content Strategies:

• World Bosses: Approach World bosses with caution, focus on mechanics, and use your healing skills wisely to overcome these powerful foes.
• World Events: Participate in world events confidently, using your sustained damage and healing to endure extended battles.
• Dungeons: Solo Dungeons with patience and skill, relying on your survivability to handle challenging encounters.
• Solo Arenas: Dominate solo arenas by combining your channeled magic skills with clever tactics and situational awareness.

 

↖ Easy Stamina DPS Build

The Arcanist's easy and powerful nature shines in the Easy Stamina DPS build. Deadly Strike and Pillar of Nirn sets, complemented by the Velothy or Mages Amulet Mythic item, make this building easy to play while dealing massive damage. Straightforward build that can yield over 110k DPS on a trial dummy without the need for any trial gear sets. The Stamina Arcanist is a fun and accessible class that excels in dealing with damage, making it an excellent choice for players of all skill levels.

 

Gear Sets:

• Deadly Strike Set: This set buffs the majority of your damage sources, including the Fate's Cover beam, DoTs, and your ultimate.
• Pillar of Nirn Set: Use this set on your back bar to proc another powerful damage over time effect.
• Black Rose Prison Daggers (Optional): For additional damage boost, consider adding these daggers to your front bar.

 

Mythic Item:

Velothi's Mages Amulet: This Mythic item from the Necron chapter increases your overall damage. The downside of reduced light and heavy attack damage isn't significant for the Stamina Arcanist since you'll primarily focus on channeling your beam for damage.

 

Race, Mundus Tone, Food Buff, Potions

• Race: Dark Elf is the recommended race for this build. Their racial passives synergize well with the Stamina Arcanist's abilities.
• Mundus Stone: The Thief Mundus Stone provides increased critical damage, enhancing your damage output.
• Food Buff: Lava Foot Soup is an excellent option for the food buff, offering both health and stamina benefits.
• Potions: Normal stamina potions are sufficient for this build. However, if you want to maximize DPS further, consider using Heroism Potions.

 

Skills: 

Front Bar (Dual Wield):

• Cephalex's Flail: Powerful spammable ability.
• Exhausting Fake Carver: Deals damage and debuffs your enemy's armor.
• Deadly Cloak: Provides a damage shield and deals damage to nearby enemies.
• Barb Trap: Lays a trap that damages and immobilizes enemies.
• Camouflage Hunter: Buffs your damage against enemies and grants Major Savagery.
• Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker: Powerful AoE damage ultimate.

 

Back Bar (Two-Hander):

• Stampede: Gap-closer and damage ability.
• Carve AoE damage ability.
• Culminating Rune: Damage over time ability.
• Camouflage Hunter: Already on the front bar, so you don't need to duplicate it here.
• Inspired Scholar: Grants Major Aegis and boosts your damage.
• Ultimate: Languish I: Powerful single-target damage ultimate.

 

Conclusion:

Each build mentioned in this guide offers its unique strengths and playstyles. Whether you're looking for beginner-friendly options, solo survivability, PvP dominance, or pure DPS, The Arcanist has got you covered. Experiment with these builds and find the one that suits your preferences best.