MAGICKA arcanist

PvE DPS GUIDE

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Arcanist relies on timing, positioning and aim rather than a perfect sequence of casts. This makes it very accessible and rewarding to play. Its toolkit is dominated by Fatecarver, which pumps out enormous amounts of damage but requires the player to build up Crux beforehand, track their target and channel the ability for its entire duration, which can be tricky if you need to block regularly. Arcanist also has exceptionally strong burst damage and brings some unique and valuable buffs to group content.

KEY PASSIVES

12% Critical Damage & Healing is the largest flat amount provided by any comparable passive. It is also easy to keep up and rewards us for constantly building and spending Crux.

This adds up to a lot of extra damage, especially to the Burning, Poisoned and Hemorrhaging status effects. So always incorporate these 3 into your rotation if you can.

5% extra Weapon & Spell Damage from Harnessed Quintessence is very valuable, and Hideous Clarity makes permanent uptime possible, so these passives make a powerful combo.

Equivalent to other ultigen passives, this lines up well with Fatecarver, and we are particularly dependent on it since the beam keeps us from Light Attacking much of the time.

GEAR

Boss Setups


Null Arca + Runecarver + Maelstrom Inferno + Ur-Mage

SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Slimecraw's Mask Divines Magicka
Shoulders Null Arca Arm Cops Divines Magicka
Chest Null Arca Jack Divines Magicka
Hands Null Arca Bracers Divines Magicka
Waist Runecarver's Blaze Sash Divines Magicka
Legs Null Arca Guards Divines Magicka
Feet Null Arca Boots Divines Magicka
Necklace Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Ring Runecarver's Blaze Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Ring Runecarver's Blaze Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Front Bar Main Hand Runecarver's Blaze Dagger Charged Absorb Stamina
Front Bar Off Hand Runecarver's Blaze Dagger Charged Poison
Back Bar Main Hand Maelstrom Inferno Staff Infused Weapon Damage
Back Bar Off Hand - - -

Ansuul + Azureblight + Maelstrom Inferno + Ur-Mage

SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Slimecraw's Guise Divines Magicka
Shoulders Ansuul's Arm Cops Divines Magicka
Chest Azureblight Jack Divines Magicka
Hands Azureblight Bracers Divines Magicka
Waist Azureblight Belt Divines Magicka
Legs Azureblight Guards Divines Magicka
Feet Azureblight Boots Divines Magicka
Necklace Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Ring Ansuul's Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Ring Ansuul's Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Front Bar Main Hand Ansuul's Dagger Nirnhoned Absorb Stamina
Front Bar Off Hand Ansuul's Dagger Precise Poison
Back Bar Main Hand Maelstrom Inferno Staff Infused Weapon Damage
Back Bar Off Hand - - -

Deadly Strike + Order's Wrath + Ur-Mage

SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Slimecraw's Guise Divines Magicka
Shoulders Order's Wrath Epaulets Divines Magicka
Chest Deadly Jack Divines Magicka
Hands Deadly Bracers Divines Magicka
Waist Deadly Belt Divines Magicka
Legs Deadly Guards Divines Magicka
Feet Deadly Boots Divines Magicka
Necklace Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Ring Ring of the Order's Wrath Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Ring Ring of the Order's Wrath Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Front Bar Main Hand Dagger of the Order's Wrath Charged Flame
Front Bar Off Hand Dagger of the Order's Wrath Charged Poison
Back Bar Main Hand Inferno Staff of the Order's Wrath Infused Weapon Damage
Back Bar Off Hand - - -

Null Arca + Sentinel + Maelstrom Inferno + Ur-Mage

SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Slimecraw's Guise Divines Magicka
Shoulders Null Arca Arm Cops Divines Magicka
Chest Highland Sentinel Jack Divines Magicka
Hands Highland Sentinel Bracers Divines Magicka
Waist Highland Sentinel Belt/Sash Divines Magicka
Legs Highland Sentinel Guards Divines Magicka
Feet Highland Sentinel Boots Divines Magicka
Necklace Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Ring Null Arca Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Ring Null Arca Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Front Bar Main Hand Null Arca Dagger Charged Flame
Front Bar Off Hand Null Arca Dagger Charged Poison
Back Bar Main Hand Maelstrom Inferno Staff Infused Weapon Damage
Back Bar Off Hand - - -

Do not use just ONE setup. Adjust for different groups and encounters.

  • Ansuul is a good default since it has no conditions beyond the interrupt bonus. Null Arca offers more focused proc damage.

  • Runecarver works great with Banner slotted, but Azureblight will outperform against 3+ stacked enemies.

  • Deadly has lower damage potential against single targets, but has no conditions and is a simpler, all-round consistent set.

  • Perfected gear is NOT needed. The bonuses are nice to have, but small.

  • 1-2 x Light is sometimes recommended. Adjust depending on your sustain, penetration and Critical Damage.

  • You can make the rotation easier by swapping the Maelstrom Inferno for Blackrose Daggers on the back bar (replace Blockade with Cloak). Damage is not too far behind, so long as you stay in melee range.

MUNDUS BOON: THE THIEF

CHAMPION POINTS

Biting Aura - Exploiter - Thaumaturge - Wrathful Strikes

These are for when Off-Balance and all necessary penetration and crit buffs/debuffs are provided.

Outside of these conditions, use Backstabber and/or Fighting Finesse to reach the 125% Critical Damage cap, and Force of Nature to meet the 18,200 penetration cap (adjusting Medium-to-Light Armor ratio also helps). If Off-Balance is not being triggered regularly, drop Exploiter and slot Master-at-Arms to boost your direct damage instead.

FOOD & POTIONS

Melon-Baked Parmesan Pork
or
Mistral Banana-Bunny Hash
or
Solitude Salmon-Millet Soup

Increase Max Health by 5395 and Max Magicka by 4936 for 1 hour.

Food > Savoury
White Meat, Melon, Cheese
Small Game, Bananas, Seasoning
Fish, Tomato, Millet

Tri Restoration Potion
or
Essence of Health

Restore 8369 Health, 7582 Magicka, and 7582 Stamina immediately.

Grants Major Fortitude, Major Intellect, and Major Endurance which increase your Health Recovery, Magicka Recovery, and Stamina Recovery by 30% for 36.3 seconds.

These effects are scaled based on your level. (45 second cooldown)

Bugloss + Columbine + Mountain Flower
Lady's Smock + Columbine + Mountain Flower
Bugloss + Columbine + Dragonthorn

+

These are recommended for typical group content. Alternatives include:

Maximum Damage: Max-level Fruit recipes for Magicka
Maximum Sustain: Ghastly Eye Bowl for Magicka + Magicka Recovery
Sustain & Survivability: Witchmother’s Potent Brew for Health + Magicka + Magicka Recovery

Crunchy Spider Skewer for Magicka + Stamina Recovery

Essence of Spell Power for Major Sorcery + Prophecy + Intellect
Essence of Heroism for Major Intellect + Endurance and Minor Heroism
(expensive and rarely needed)

abilities

Front Bar: Barbed Trap, Exhausting Fatecarver, Cephaliarch’s Flail, Quick Cloak, Fiery Banner, Flawless Dawnbreaker

Back Bar: Blockade of Fire, Fulminating Rune, Scalding Rune, Inspired Scholarship, Fiery Banner, The Languid Eye

BANNER BEARER

Fiery Banner is a good default (and ideal for practising on the dummy).
But always try to use the Focus and Affix Scripts which are most beneficial to the group and situation.
Make absolutely sure you have Major Savagery & Prophecy from another source before removing it from the Banner.

ROTATION

Both morphs of Fatecarver work great; Exhausting deals more damage while Pragmatic offers better survivability.

The basic combo is to build Crux with Flail, Scholarship and Banner, then spend it with Fatecarver. Beyond that, refresh DOTs on cooldown and drop the Eye whenever it is ready. When using Banner, keep track of when the free Crux arrives and take care not to overcast Flail, losing damage and Stamina.

The priority is to fire Fatecarver as often as possible, watching DOT timers and Off-Balance phases as best you can. Using Minor Heroism to line up your ultimates with Off-Balance can push DPS higher.

Prebuff with Cloak, Scholarship, Scalding Rune, Trap, Eye, Blockade, Fulminating Rune and Flail(s).

The Flail casts will not be exactly as shown. Sometimes Banner will refill your Crux completely, but you should generally expect to cast Flail at least once between beams.

Drop Eye when ready or as Off-Balance begins, and always keep Light Attacking for ultigen and to proc your glyphs, even with Ur-Mage equipped. When bar swapping after Flail, wait for the tentacle animation to start before trying to swap. Do not recast Trap or either of the runes in the last 10s, then spam Flail and Fatecarver until the target is dead. Enjoy!

trash setups

SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Prior Thierric’s Mask Divines Magicka
Shoulders Prior Thierric’s Arm Cops Divines Magicka
Chest Jack of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Magicka
Hands Burning Spellweave Gloves Divines Magicka
Waist Burning Spellweave Sash Divines Magicka
Legs Burning Spellweave Breeches Divines Magicka
Feet Burning Spellweave Shoes Divines Magicka
Necklace Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Ring Ring of Sul-Xan’s Torment Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Ring Ring of Sul-Xan’s Torment Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Front Bar Main Hand Dagger of Sul-Xan’s Torment Nirnhoned Disease/Flame
Front Bar Off Hand Dagger of Sul-Xan’s Torment Precise Absorb Stamina
Back Bar Main Hand Burning Spellweave Inferno Staff Infused Weapon Damage
Back Bar Off Hand - - -

azureblight

Sul-Xan + Azureblight + Slimecraw + Ur-Mage

SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Slimecraw's Guise Divines Magicka
Shoulders Arm Cops of Sul-Xan's Torment Divines Magicka
Chest Azureblight Jack Divines Magicka
Hands Azureblight Bracers Divines Magicka
Waist Azureblight Belt Divines Magicka
Legs Azureblight Guards Divines Magicka
Feet Azureblight Boots Divines Magicka
Necklace Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Ring Ring of Sul-Xan's Torment Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Ring Ring of Sul-Xan's Torment Bloodthirsty Weapon/Spell Damage
Front Bar Main Hand Dagger of Sul-Xan’s Torment Nirnhoned Disease/Flame
Front Bar Off Hand Dagger of Sul-Xan’s Torment Precise Absorb Stamina
Back Bar Main Hand Maelstrom Inferno Staff Infused Weapon Damage
Back Bar Off Hand - - -

  • Perfected gear is NOT needed. The bonuses are nice to have, but small.

  • Sul-Xan will not work well if your group takes long pauses between trash pulls; swap to Ansuul or another trial set.

  • 1-4 x Light is recommended. It depends on your sustain and Critical Damage.

  • You can swap Slimecraw for a Stormfist, Kra’gh or Skoria 1-piece, depending on what you need.

  • For big nukes, you can use Mechanical Acuity & Balorgh with Spellweave or Elf Bane.

  • If you’re still missing penetration, use Sharpened weapons on the front bar, equip more Light Armor pieces, slot more Herald of the Tome abilities on your front bar or slot Force of Nature.

Front Bar: Camouflaged Hunter, Exhausting Fatecarver, Cephaliarch’s Flail, Quick Cloak, Fiery Banner, Flawless Dawnbreaker

Back Bar: Blockade of Fire, Anti-Cavalry Caltrops, Proximity Detonation, Inspired Scholarship, Fiery Banner, The Languid Eye / Fiery Rage

Fiery Banner is a good default (and ideal for practising on the dummy).
But always try to use the Focus and Affix Scripts which are most beneficial to the group and situation.

The Languid Eye is best against tight stacks or high-priority targets, but Fiery Rage covers a larger area and is extended by Elf Bane.

Biting Aura - Exploiter - Thaumaturge - Wrathful Strikes

The best CPs depend on your group and how long the fight lasts. Use Backstabber if you are below the crit cap (or Fighting Finesse if you cannot flank). Drop Exploiter if no one in your group is triggering Off-Balance consistently.

Patch Notes

Fallen Banners (Update 45)

  • Various Craft Champion Points changed to be always active (not slottable).

Update 44

  • Banner Bearer Grimoire introduced.

  • Azureblight set reworked. Base damage reduced, scaling damage per target massively increased.

  • Golden Pursuits and 2-sided Battlegrounds introduced.

  • Imperial City Keys and Vaults system replaced with Imperial Fragments and merchants.

Arcanist

Update 43

  • Curation added to dungeon-specific Undaunted Monster set shoulder coffers.

  • Undeath passive damage reduction lowered to 15% from 30%.

  • New arenas, bosses, Verses and Visions added to Infinite Archive.

  • Various Scribing tooltips tweaked, Affix Script compatibility increased.

  • Home Tours introduced.

Arcanist

Gold Road (Update 42)

  • Scribing and Skill Styling systems introduced

  • Lucent Echoes, Null Arca and Highland Sentinel sets added.

  • Gradual Ravage Health potions fixed to not trigger item sets.

  • Various damage reduction effects fixed to be multiplicative rather than additive.

  • Mages Guild passive Everlasting Magic duration increased changed from 20% to 2s.

  • Delay added to Rush of Agony proc, range increased from 10m to 12m.

  • Various Werewolf abilities tweaked to increase its general effectives in PvE.

Arcanist