Uploaded April 2019 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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-- Introduction

This is my video with first impressions on the Stamina Necromancer, with a demonstration of a Dual Wield/Bow rotation. Do ask me any questions in the comments, and I'll try my best to answer them.

A few things to get out of the way:
- Take the DPS Numbers with a pinch of salt. Pet Damage is bugged since it crits 100% of the time
- New raid target dummy currently seems buggy with regards to Engulfing Flames and fire abilities, though none used here
- Pretty much anything you see here is subject to change
- My ideas and what's best will probably change depending on what others discover

I am testing with the new 21M HP Raid Dummy, which has a selection of Buffs/Debuffs included. They can be bit unrealistic (100% major force) for example, but at least consistent. One thing that I have not tested is which debuffs are included. Seems like I am still 7k or so underpen (no Alkosh, crusher, Minor fracture?) I haven't tested and hopefully I can update this part when we find out more.

Combat Metrics Parse from Video (104.4k DPS) -- https://i.imgur.com/PvLKZuM.png
Build used in Video (CPs are selected to be generically raid-ready) -- https://i.imgur.com/RAx1IAR.png

-- Necromancer Build Info

- My skill bars shown in the video are as follows:
Dual Wield Bar: Rending Slashes - Venom Skull - Rearming Trap - Detonating Siphon - Blighted Blastbones - Flawless Dawnbreaker
Bow Bar: Endless Hail - Skeletal Archer - Razor Caltrops - Poison Injection - Detonating Siphon - Pestilent Colossus

More information about the Necromancer skills and passives can be found here: eso-skillbook.com/skilltree/necromancer

I used the Lava Foot Soup-and-Saltrice food. This food gives no HP bonus, however, given the Necromancer's 2k HP passive, you will reach nearly 17k HP with Toughness and Ebon, which is plenty enough. Even so, sustain here is certainly less than in trial conditions due to lack of synergies (we do at least get shards with the new dummy, which is nice), and the absence of Sentinal of Rkugamz.

There is no emphasis on the gear in this video, still more of a focus on the rotation. Just picked up some sets and rolled with it.
I used the Perfected Lokkestiiz set, which is a drop from the new trial. The 5th piece bonus is 1x Weapon Critical, and Major Slayer for 15 seconds when you activate a synergy, which is pretty nice. Relequen and Velidreth continue to be staples whenever suitable.

-- Main Impressions

- DPS-wise, the Stamina Necromancer looks to be really strong. Most likely ahead of Stamblades despite the bugged damage mentioned above, at this point. It will probably get tuned down by release and this approach was already stated by the devs.

- At the time of recording, the class does feel rather clunky to play. Blighted Blastbones has a tendency to lock you out of using it, even after the skeleton explodes, and it also hides your weapons during the animation, which is quite off-putting. Detonating Siphon sometimes has a knack to make your character face the wrong way, which can lead the skill to not cast properly also lead to missing your next light attacks. The Venom Skull and Skeletal Archer skills feel very good to use, as does the Pestilent Colossus. All of the animations themselves also look great.

-The Colossus Ultimate is already weaker than first expected. It seems each cast does infact give you only 3 seconds of Major Vulnerability, instead of 5 seconds as theorised before. The cost has also been adjusted from 150 ultimate as originally seen, to 225 here.

-- Rotation

The rotation which has worked best for me so far is shown in the video. It is very similar to that of the Stamina Warden I showed previously. It is reasonably static, but skills can be shifted as you'll see I do in the video. Blighted Blastbones acts very much like Subterranean Assault, when in MELEE range. The way that this skill works, is that the Skeleton is summoned 2.5 seconds after the cast. If you're in melee range, then it will explode within 3 global cooldowns of the first cast. The further away you are to the target though, the longer it will take to explode so the rotation will change when attempting to attack targets slightly further away. Best to stay melee whenever possible.

Generally speaking the rotation is based on the template:

Blastbones - Endless - Archer
Blastbones - Caltrops - Injection
Blastbones - Rending - Tether
Blastbones - Skull - Trap

In group play, using the Colossus Ultimate itself will likely depend on when the group needs it, so no real emphasis on you use it.

Recasting archer early probably seems counter-intuitive since it does more damage over time, but it seems more consistent this way. Tether should not be recast early, since there is a nice burst damage at the end of the duration.


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Track: Lost Sky - Vision [NCS Release]
Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds.
Watch: youtu.be/7RU1l8GtGOc
Free Download / Stream: ncs.io/VisionID