Best ESO Stamina Arcanist PVE Build

ESO STAMINA ARCANIST PVE BUILD

Writer: @xGAMxHQ
Role: DPS
Patch: Update 41 – Scions of Ithelia

The Chaos Stamina Arcanist PVE Build for ESO (The Elder Scrolls Online) is optimized for all players looking for the ultimate build guide on setups for Trials, Dungeons, and Arenas, whether you’re a beginner, a long-time veteran, or just returning to the game.

The Damage Dealer (DPS) role in ESO is responsible for many things, including:
• Eliminating all enemies on the battlefield in the correct order from most to least threatening.
• Positioning yourself out of harm’s way to allow your support roles to easily heal and buff you.
• Doing your part during a fight to ensure key mechanics are done properly to avoid group wipes.

The Stamina Arcanist PVE build covers everything you need to know, including recommended armor setups, skills, champion points, and many alternatives to meet various needs. Please read the entire build and bookmark the page, as it will update with each new patch.

RECENT UPDATES

MARCH 07 / 2024: – UPDATE 41 – SCIONS OF ITHELIA
• Optimized all Armor Setups to flow into each other better for an easier path of progression.

RACE

DARK ELF

ORC

KHAJIIT

The races that offer the best passives for Stamina-based Damage Dealers are Dark Elf, Orc, and Khajiit, though all races are more than capable of making good Damage Dealers. The Stamina Arcanist PVE build utilizes the Dark Elf racial passives, as it’s the best option to maximize your Weapon and Spell Damage and Maximum Magicka and Stamina. Choose a race that best suits your needs.

Dark Elves excel at hybridized builds that use both Magical and Martial Damaging abilities, such as the Stamina Arcanist. They provide increased Maximum Magicka and Stamina by 1,910 and your Weapon and Spell Damage by 258. Even though they don’t provide you with any additional self-sustain, they do have significant resistance to Flame Damage.

Orcs provide the best Health sustain, allowing you to restore 2,125 Health every 4 seconds while dealing damage. They also increase your Weapon and Spell Damage by 258, Sprint Movement Speed by 10%, Maximum Health by 1,000, and Maximum Stamina by 1,000.

Khajiit is another excellent option for hybridized builds, increasing your Maximum Health, Magicka, and Stamina by 915 and your Health, Magicka, and Stamina Recovery by 90. They are also the only race that provides a way to increase your Critical Damage.

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

MAGICKA

HEALTH

STAMINA

Spend all Attribute Points into Stamina regardless of your choice of race and armor setup, as Maximum Health is not critical to the Stamina Arcanist PVE build.

Aiming to have a Maximum Stamina value that exceeds your Maximum Magicka value ensures that you always restore Stamina when you activate the Luminous Shards or Energy Orb synergy provided by your Healers.

TRIAL SETUP

Below is a Damaged-focused Setup for the Stamina Arcanist PVE build. It utilizes sets from Dungeons, Trials, Arenas, and Scrying to maximize your damage output.

	SET NAME	TRAIT	ENCHANTMENT	WEIGHT/TYPE	ACQUIRED
HEAD	Slimecraw	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Light	Veteran Wayrest Sewers I
SHOULDERS	Deadly Strike	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Elite Gear Vendor and Guild Stores
CHEST	(Perfected) Ansuul's Torment	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	(Veteran) Sanity's Edge
HANDS	(Perfected) Ansuul's Torment	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	(Veteran) Sanity's Edge
WAIST	(Perfected) Ansuul's Torment	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	(Veteran) Sanity's Edge
LEGS	(Perfected) Ansuul's Torment	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	(Veteran) Sanity's Edge
FEET	(Perfected) Ansuul's Torment	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	(Veteran) Sanity's Edge
NECKLACE	Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet	Bloodthirsty	Physical Harm	Jewelry	Scrying
RING	Deadly Strike	Bloodthirsty	Physical Harm	Jewelry	Elite Gear Vendor and Guild Stores
RING	Deadly Strike	Bloodthirsty	Physical Harm	Jewelry	Elite Gear Vendor and Guild Stores
FRONT BAR (MAIN HAND)	Deadly Strike	Nirnhoned	Flame Damage	Dagger	Elite Gear Vendor and Guild Stores
FRONT BAR (OFF-HAND)	Deadly Strike	Charged	Poison Damage	Dagger	Elite Gear Vendor and Guild Stores
BACK BAR	(Perfected) Crushing Wall	Infused	Weapon/Spell Damage	Inferno Staff	(Veteran) Maelstrom Arena

INTERMEDIATE SETUP

The Intermediate Setup for the Stamina Arcanist PVE build is optimized for Damage Dealers that may not be ready for Trial content but want to start replacing crafted sets. Many Dungeon and Overland sets are easy to collect while effective in early to mid-game content. Order’s Wrath has incredible staying power and remains a top choice while farming for your better sets.

	SET NAME	TRAIT	ENCHANTMENT	WEIGHT/TYPE	ACQUIRED
HEAD	Slimecraw	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Light	Veteran Wayrest Sewers I
SHOULDERS	Iceheart	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Undaunted Enclave
CHEST	Innate Axiom	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Crafted
HANDS	Innate Axiom	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Crafted
WAIST	Innate Axiom	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Crafted
LEGS	Innate Axiom	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Crafted
FEET	Innate Axiom	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Crafted
NECKLACE	Deadly Strike	Robust	Physical Harm	Jewelry	Elite Gear Vendor and Guild Stores
RING	Deadly Strike	Robust	Physical Harm	Jewelry	Elite Gear Vendor and Guild Stores
RING	Deadly Strike	Robust	Physical Harm	Jewelry	Elite Gear Vendor and Guild Stores
FRONT BAR (MAIN HAND)	Deadly Strike	Nirnhoned	Flame Damage	Dagger	Elite Gear Vendor and Guild Stores
FRONT BAR (OFF-HAND)	Deadly Strike	Charged	Poison Damage	Dagger	Elite Gear Vendor and Guild Stores
BACK BAR	Crushing Wall	Infused	Weapon/Spell Damage	Inferno Staff	Maelstrom Arena

Spell Parasite increases Weapons and Spell Damage and is equipped until you can replace it with a suitable monster set.

Innate Axiom and Order’s Wrath increase your Critical Chance, Critical Damage, Maximum Stamina, and Weapon and Spell Damage.

While this configuration is not required, it will provide the most optimal progression path for a beginner DPS.

BEGINNER SETUP

Your options for beginner gear are typically limited to crafted sets or something cheap in guild stores. The Beginner Setup for the Stamina Arcanist PVE build includes only crafted sets and is optimized for freshly created characters and CP160 Damage Dealers looking for an excellent build to start farming more challenging content.

	SET NAME	TRAIT	ENCHANTMENT	WEIGHT/TYPE	ACQUIRED
HEAD	Spell Parasite	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Light	Crafted
SHOULDERS	Spell Parasite	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Crafted
CHEST	Innate Axiom	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Crafted
HANDS	Innate Axiom	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Crafted
WAIST	Innate Axiom	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Crafted
LEGS	Innate Axiom	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Crafted
FEET	Innate Axiom	Divines	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Crafted
NECKLACE	Order's Wrath	Robust	Physical Harm	Jewelry	Crafted
RING	Order's Wrath	Robust	Physical Harm	Jewelry	Crafted
RING	Order's Wrath	Robust	Physical Harm	Jewelry	Crafted
FRONT BAR (MAIN HAND)	Order's Wrath	Nirnhoned	Flame Damage	Dagger	Crafted
FRONT BAR (OFF-HAND)	Order's Wrath	Charged	Poison Damage	Dagger	Crafted
BACK BAR	Order's Wrath	Infused	Weapon/Spell Damage	Inferno Staff	Crafted

Spell Parasite increases Weapons and Spell Damage and is equipped until you can replace it with a suitable monster set.

Innate Axiom and Order’s Wrath increase your Critical Chance, Critical Damage, Maximum Stamina, and Weapon and Spell Damage.

While this configuration is not required, it will provide the most optimal progression path for a beginner DPS.

SKILLS

FRONT BAR

Cephaliarch’s Flail (Morph of Abyssal Impact | Skill Line: Herald of the Tome)

Barbed Trap (Morph of Trap Beast | Skill Line: Fighters Guild)

Camouflaged Hunter (Morph of Expert Hunter | Skill Line: Fighters Guild)

Pragmatic Fatecarver (Morph of Fatecarver | Skill Line: Herald of the Tome)

Quick Cloak (Morph of Blade Cloak | Skill Line: Dual Wield)

Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker (Morph of Dawnbreaker | Skill Line: Fighters Guild)

BACK BAR

Barbed Trap (Morph of Trap Beast | Skill Line: Fighters Guild)

Elemental Blockade (Morph of Wall of Elements | Skill Line: Destruction Staff)

Cruxweaver Armor (Morph of Fatewoven Armor | Skill Line: Soldier of Apocrypha)

Inspired Scholarship (Morph of Tome-Bearer’s Inspiration | Skill Line: Herald of the Tome)

Fulminating Rune (Morph of The Imperfect Ring | Skill Line: Herald of the Tome)

Ultimate: The Languid Eye (Morph of The Unblinking Eye | Skill Line: Herald of the Tome)

ALTERNATIVE SKILLS

RUNE OF THE COLORLESS POOL

Skill Line: Soldier of Apocrypha
Base Skill: Rune of Eldritch Horror
Rune of the Colorless Pool can replace Barbed Trap on the back bar if there is no other source of Minor Vulnerability or Minor Brittle in your group.

ZENAS' EMPOWERING DISC

Skill Line: Curative Runeforms
Base Skill: Arcanist’s Domain
Zenas’ Empowering Disc can replace Barbed Trap on the back bar if there is no other source of Minor Courage in the group, or if your Tank wants to equip something other than Claw of Yolnahkriin.

SCALDING RUNE

Skill Line: Mages Guild
Base Skill: Fire Rune
Scalding Rune can replace Barbed Trap on the back bar to increase your damage output.

ANTI-CAVALRY CALTROPS

Skill Line: Assault
Base Skill: Caltrops
Anti-Cavalry Caltrops can replace Barbed Trap on the back bar to increase your damage output.

RESOLVING VIGOR

Skill Line: Assault
Base Skill: Vigor
Echoing Vigor can replace Barbed Trap on the back bar when you need a self-heal.

PASSIVES

Most passives in the skill lines you utilize are worth investing in; however, some are more critical to the build than others.

Below is a complete list of only the most essential passives to the Stamina Arcanist PVE build, which should be unlocked first if possible.

HERALD OF THE TOME

All Passives

SOLDIER OF APOCRYPHA

All Passives

CURATIVE RUNEFORMS

Hideous Clarity
Erudition

DUAL WIELD

All Passives

DESTRUCTION STAFF

Penetrating Magic
Elemental Force
Ancient Knowledge

LIGHT ARMOR

Evocation
Prodigy
Concentration

MEDIUM ARMOR

Dexterity
Wind Walker
Agility

FIGHTERS GUILD

Intimidating Presence
Slayer
Banish the Wicked
Skilled Tracker

UNDAUNTED

Undaunted Command
Undaunted Mettle

RACIAL

All Passives

ALCHEMY

Medicinal Use

MUNDUS STONE

THE THIEF

EASTMARCH

ALIK'R DESERT

MALABAL TOR

The Stamina Arcanist PVE build uses The Thief Mundus Stone to increase Critical Strike Rating or Critical Chance by 1212 or 5.5%.

Each piece of Legendary Quality Divines armor increases this value by 9.0%. While wearing 7 pieces of Legendary Quality Divines armor, The Thief Mundus Stone increases your Critical Strike Rating by 1984 or 9.0%.

CONSUMABLES

FOOD

GARLIC COD WITH POTATO CRUST

Garlic Cod with Potato Crust offers the best stat boosts to your Maximum Health and Stamina. The ingredients are cheap and easy to find, or it can be purchased from guild stores if you haven’t learned the recipe.

Bonuses:
• Increase Maximum Health by 5395.
• Increase Maximum Stamina by 4936.
• Scales from Level CP150 – CP160.
• Lasts 1 hour.

Ingredients:
• Fish (1)
• Garlic (1)
• Potato (1)

ARTAEUM TAKEAWAY BROTH

Artaeum Takeaway Broth is a great option for a more balanced stat boost to Maximum Health, Stamina, and Stamina Recovery; however, it requires some expensive ingredients and higher quantities, meaning the food is also more expensive on guild stores. If Gold is an issue, Dubious Camoran Throne is much cheaper to craft for a small decrease in stats.

Bonuses:
• Increase Maximum Health by 3326.
• Increase Maximum Stamina by 3080.
• Increase Health Recovery by 406.
• Increase Stamina Recovery by 338.
• Lasts 2 hours.

Ingredients:
• Fish (20)
• Melon (5)
• Powdered Mother of Pearl (5)
• Torchbug Thorax (5)

POTIONS

HEROISM POTIONS

Heroism Potions are the best option for building Ultimate; however, using these potions requires that you gain Major Brutality, Sorcery, Savagery, and Prophecy from sources. Unfortunately, each ingredient in this potion is relatively expensive.

Bonuses:
• Restore ~7582 Magicka.
• Restore ~7582 Stamina.
• Gain Major Intellect.
• Gain Major Endurance.
• Gain Minor Heroism.
• ~47.6-second duration.

Ingredients:
• Columbine (1)
• Dragon’s Blood (1)
• Dragon Rheum (1)

WEAPON POWER POTIONS

Weapon Power Potions help better your Major Brutality and Savagery buff uptimes if you choose to use different skills than above. Camouflaged Hunter and Inspired Scholarship provide critical buffs to this build; swapping any of them out may result in lower damage output. The ingredients in this potion are much cheaper than those in Heroism Potions.

Bonuses:
• Restore ~7582 Stamina.
• Gain Major Endurance.
• Gain Major Brutality.
• Gain Major Savagery.
• ~47.6-second duration.

Ingredients:
• Blessed Thistle (1)
• Dragonthorn (1)
• Water Hyacinth or Wormwood (1)

ESSENCE OF STAMINA

Essence of Stamina potions should only be used to better sustain your Stamina if you cannot afford to craft Heroism Potions or Weapon Power Potions.

Bonuses:
• Restore ~7582 Stamina.
• Gain Major Endurance.
• ~47.6-second duration.

These potions are generic world-dropped potions and are not worth crafting.

CHAMPION POINTS

The Champion Point (CP) system in ESO provides many powerful benefits that allow you to customize and strengthen your build. It is unlocked at Level 50 and maxes out at 3600 points. The CP system has three unique constellations: Craft, Warfare, and Fitness. The Warfare and Fitness constellations each have three subtrees.

• The Craft constellation focuses on crafting, gold gain, movement speed, stealth, and increasing material yields.
• The Warfare constellation focuses on increasing damage, healing, and damage mitigation.
• The Fitness constellation focuses on your core stats, such as Maximum Health, various methods of recovery, and provides many defensive benefits.

The Champion Point allocation below is optimized for the Stamina Arcanist PVE build, focusing on increasing the strength of your Single Target and Direct Damage abilities and your survivability.

Follow the recommended path below while levelling up and spending your Champion Points to see strong progression.

CRAFT

Steed’s Blessing (+50) (Slot 1)
Gilded Fingers (+10)
Fortune’s Favor (+10)
Wanderer (+15)
Steadfast Enchantment (+10)
Rationer (+10) (Slot 2)
Liquid Efficiency (+75) (Slot 3)
Rationer (+20)
Treasure Hunter (+50) (Slot 4)
Master Gatherer (+15)
Gifted Rider (+100) (Replace Slot 4)
Gilded Fingers (+40)
Breakfall (+50)
Steadfast Enchantment (+40)
Soul Reservoir (+33)
Beyond this point, you can continue to unlock passives or more slottable perks based on your preference.

WARFARE

Precision (+10)
Piercing (+10)
Biting Aura (+50) (Slot 1)
Thaumaturge (+50) (Slot 2)
Wrathful Strikes (+50) (Slot 3)
Master-at-Arms (+50) (Slot 4)
Precision (+10)
Piercing (+10)
Tireless Disciple (+10)
Quick Recovery (+10)
Preparation (+20)
Flawless Ritual (+20)
War Mage (+30)
Battle Mastery (+20)
Mighty (+30)
Tireless Disciple (+10)
Elemental Aegis (+20)
Hardy (+20)
Eldritch Insight (+20)
Beyond this point, you can continue to unlock passives or more slottable perks based on your preference:
Exploiter (50) significantly increases your damage done to Off Balance enemies, and can replace Master-at-Arms in situations where enemies can be set Off Balance.

FITNESS

Rejuvenation (+50) (Slot 1)
Sprinter (+10)
Hasty (+8)
Celerity (+50) (Slot 2)
Tumbling (+15)
Mystic Tenacity (+10)
Hero’s Vigor (+20)
Fortified (+50) (Slot 3)
Boundless Vitality (+50) (Slot 4)
Tireless Guardian (+10)
Fortification (+30)
Hasty (+8)
Sprinter (+10)
Defiance (+20)
Tumbling (+15)
Beyond this point, you can continue to unlock passives or more slottable perks based on your preference:
Spirit Mastery (50) can replace Celerity or Fortified to significantly increase your resurrection speed. This is a must-have skill during group content.

TIPS & TRICKS

Below, you will find how to begin a Dynamic rotation. This means you activate your skills accordingly depending on the situation and duration of your skills. It yields the best possible DPS and resource management but can be more challenging.

LA = Light Attack

Pre-buff with Deadly Cloak and Inspired Scholarship.

Begin combat on your back bar:
Barbed Trap > LA > Fulminating Rune > LA > The Languid Eye > LA > Blockade of Fire > Bar Swap >
LA > Cephaliarch’s Flail > LA > Cephaliarch’s Flail > LA > Exhauting Fatecarver until your DOT abilities need to be reapplied.

Exhausting Fatecarver is priority #1. Ensure you are casting it as soon as you regain three Crux, even if it means you must let other DOTs drop for a few seconds, as it is your highest source of DPS.

ARCHIVED CHANGES

NOVEMBER 02 / 2023: – UPDATE 40 – INFINITE ARCHIVE
• Build Published.