Uploaded November 2019 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Edit 24th Feb: Updated for Harrowstorm. Not much has changed, but expect better sustain so better DPS!

This is a Magicka Sorcerer No-Pet PVE build and Iron Atronach Parse for the Harrowstorm/Dragonhold patch.

It looks like the difference between having pets and no pets is smaller than it has been in some time. Generally, Magicka Sorcerer has received a set of changes which brings it away from the style of rotation from Scalebreaker, and a little bit closer to that from Elsweyr and the few patches previously.

Thanks to @Aerenel, who raids with Wipes on Trash (WoT) PC/NA, for providing these parses. His Discord ID is @Aerenel#8604 should you want to ask him about Magicka Sorcerer.

Here are the other MagSorc parses from Dragonhold, again kindly provided by @Aerenel.
2-Pet Magicka Sorcerer video here -- youtu.be/8ckdDI6V1uk
1-Pet Magicka Sorcerer video coming soon.


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I am using the Max Magicka/Magicka Regen food, with 64 points into Magicka for all Magicka Setups in these rotations.

Gear used here:
5x Mother's Sorrow Body, 5x Siroria front-barred, 2x Zaan. (See build screenshot for full details).

The above is used simply for purposes of comparison against other classes, in this test environment.

Race used: Altmer
Good alternatives: Breton, Dunmer, Khajiit

In real raid situations, consider Clockwork Citrus Fillet or Artaeum Pickled Fish Bowl as food alternatives.

Other gear that is perfectly suitable for different situations include:
False God, Spell Strategist, New Moon Acolyte, Burning Spellweave

CMX Parse, Build (Gear, Skills, CPs), Superstar from Video -- imgur.com/a/buK8V7q

-- Rotation

This No-Pet Magicka Sorcerer rotation can be pretty effective when played well.

Focus on keeping a great up-time with Unstable Wall. Cast Haunting Curse on cooldown, so every 12 seconds, but never before. Allow both explosions to hit. If you want, you can also use the other morph, which is important if you want to switch between Pet and Non-Pet setups. Beyond that, Keep up Barbed Trap and Boundless Storm, which is also great for its utility. This means you'll be more optimal when playing as close to melee whenever possible. You can try some of the alternative skills below if you are more comfortable at range. Use Elemental Weapon as your spammable and Crystal Fragments as frequently as possible. At 20% and below, cast Endless Fury (execute) instead of Elemental Weapon. Feel free to continue using Crystal Fragments at this point too.


Proposed Static Rotation:

12-second Rotation as the base structure.

Start:
Boundless - Barbed Trap

Wall - Curse - Boundless/Spam - Spam - Spam - Spam/Barbed Trap
Spam - Spam - Spam - Spam - Spam - Spam/Barbed Trap

Spam = Elemental Weapon / Crystal Frags / Ultimate / Spell Symmetry or Endless Fury at 20% - use whichever is most suitable at any given moment

Every other rotation, alternate Boundless Storm with Spam.
Cast Barbed Trap every 1.5 rotations, at spots where Spam/Barbed Trap is written.
If you prefer Haunting Prey over Curse, then you can cast it every 6 seconds instead of every 12.


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About alternative skills. This is for Magicka Sorcerer in general:

Mystic Orb - a must-have skill if you want to include more AOE damage into your setup. Upsides also include a nice group synergy, but the downside is the high resource cost.

Flame Reach - if you wanted to add another single-target DOT. Provides some extra sources of Burning damage and cost is relatively cheap, but damage isn't as good as some other options.

Scalding Rune - another option for an alternative DOT. More damage per cast than Flame Reach but also costlier.

Liquid Lightning / Lightning Flood - an AOE ability which provides a unique synergy for the group. Costs more than it did in the previous patch.

Bound Aegis - if you want a simpler rotation, you could drop a DOT.

Inner Light - same as above, but Bound Aegis is better.

Shield (e.g Empowered Ward) - you could replace a DOT or Spell Symmetry if you can make a setup to sustain without if you wanted to include a shield.

Elemental Blockade - using this morph instead of Unstable Wall can also be a decent option. This option offers more cleave, and a longer duration, therefore better sustain, since this skill is costly.

Consuming Trap - a DOT that can help sustain if used in trash fights or on smaller mobs in Boss Fights, due to the resource return.

Channelled Acceleration - if you prefer this over Barbed Trap, this is fine. Magicka sustain will suffer a little but might be easier to use in some cases.

Power/Critical Surge - an ability which is primarily used for the healing. Power Surge also provides Major Sorcery for yourself.

Scamp or Bird - check out the other Pet Sorc videos, linked above.

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Track: Diamond Eyes - Everything [NCS Release]
Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds.
Watch: youtu.be/_XspQUK22-U
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