ELEMENTALIST HEAVY ATTACK SUBCLASS SOLO GUIDE
Last updated: Update 46 - 27th June 2025
This is a roleplay build where I'm not always choosing the most optimal option
This build is capable of soloing every Veteran dungeon that doesn’t have a specific mechanic that requires multiple people. It’s also capable of soloing most Hard Mode dungeons, and with some adjustments even the more difficult ones.
In this guide I’ll be regularly using the terms Regular and Difficult. Regular refers to content that is intended to be solo-ed (such as Maelstrom Arena or Vateshran Arena) and to any overland content such as World Bosses, Dolmens, Dragons, Volcanic Vents, Harrowstorms, Mirrormoor Incursions, etc. Majority of dungeon fights will also fall under that category. Difficult refers to extremely difficult dungeon fights.
SUBCLASSING
Combination
Dragonknight - Ardent Flame
Warden - Winter's Embrace
Sorcerer - Storm Calling
Base Class
This build can use either Dragonknight, Warden or Sorcerer as your base class. There are differences between base classes because we can use the
Class Mastery script on
Banner Bearer, but the differences are very small. Dragonknight 's
Class Mastery grants Weapon and Spell Damage and damage reduction, Warden 's
Class Mastery grants sustain and Crowd Control, and on a Sorcerer you can simply use the
Cavalier's Charge script instead of
Class Mastery, which grants Weapon and Spell Damage.
SKILL SETUPS
Base Setup
A base setup that will work for most situations and which should be your starting point when making situational setups
| Front Bar | Back Bar |
|---|---|
| Slot 1: Ulfsild's Contingency | Slot 1: Soul Burst |
| Slot 2: Hurricane | Slot 2: Flames of Oblivion |
| Slot 3: Critical Surge | Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility |
| Slot 4: Arctic Blast | Slot 4: Elemental Blockade |
| Slot 5: Banner Bearer | Slot 5: Banner Bearer |
| Ultimate: Energy Overload | Ultimate: Standard of Might |
Ulfsild's Contingency -
Frost,
Lingering Torment,
Force
Gladiator's Tenacity - use it instead of
Lingering Torment when you need more damage mitigation
Banner Bearer -
Magic,
Class Mastery,
Berserk
Mitigation - use it instead of
Magic when you need more damage mitigation
Cavalier's Charge - use it instead of
Class Mastery if you want more damage and your base class isn't Dragonknight
Warmage’s Defense - use it instead of
Class Mastery if you need more survivability. Keep in mind that depending on situation Dragonknight's or Warden's
Class Mastery can be better
Resolve - use it if you need more damage mitigation and you're not already getting Minor Resolve from a situational skill like
Resolving Vigor
Ulfsild's Contingency - your source of crucial Empower buff, which increases damage done by Heavy Attack by 70%. Since
Ulfsild's Contingency is a Mages Guild skill, it will trigger the
Might of the Guild passive, which grants you Empower for 10 seconds. It also deals decent damage in an AoE and grants you Minor Force buff, increasing your Critical Damage by 10%.
Ulfsild's Contingency is delayed until the next skill cast but whenever it's needed you can activate it early by bashing your enemy. If you cast this ability as you're finishing your Heavy Attack, the Empower you gain from it will start working just in time to boost the final tick of that Heavy Attack you just finished
Hurricane - an ability which provides a crucial Major Resolve buff which provides 5948 armor and it deals very good damage. It also grants you a 15% movement speed buff during its duration
Critical Surge - your source of Major Brutality and Sorcery that will also heal you for 3300 whenever you deal critical damage, up to once every second. The heal itself can also be a critical heal
Arctic Blast - a decent AoE DoT with very high chance to proc Chilled status effect, which deals increased damage thanks to the
Glacial Presence passive. It can also stun small adds and heal you when used away from enemies
Banner Bearer - increases your Magical damage done by 6%, provides various bonuses depending on your 2nd script and class, and provides Minor Berserk, increasing your damage done by 5%. It also severely decreases your sustain but it's not an issue on a Heavy Attack build
Energy Overload - an ultimate we won't be using, but we'll have it slotted on frontbar for the
Expert Mage passive. It can also be used in emergency when you're running out of resources
Soul Burst - an AoE DoT which grants you Minor Courage, increasing your Weapon and Spell Damage by 215
Flames of Oblivion - an ability that shoots out 3 fireballs at enemies at the start and then every 5 seconds for 15 seconds (4 times in total). It deals a lot of damage per cast and passively grants you Major Savagery and Major Prophecy
Elemental Susceptibility - an extremely loaded ability that does a multitude of things. It’s completely free to cast so it'll help you sustain. It applies Major Breach, which reduces enemies’ armor by 5948 which is a massive damage increase. It also applies Burning, Chilled and Concussed status effects at the beginning and then every 7.5 seconds. All of these Status Effects deal decent damage,but Concussed will also apply Minor Vulnerability for 4 seconds, increasing enemies’ damage taken by 5%. Chilled will also apply Minor Maim for 4 seconds, reducing enemies’ damage done by 5%. The Concussed proc will also synergise with our
Elemental Blockade
Elemental Blockade - this ability will constantly apply your
Weapon Damage enchantment. It will also constantly apply Off Balance to enemies who are Concussed, and they’ll be Concussed thanks to
Elemental Susceptibility. Enemies who are Off Balance take 70% increased damage from Heavy Attacks
Standard of Might - extremely powerful ultimate that deals damage over time, increases all of your damage done and decreases all of your damage taken
Soul Burst is the first skill that has to go when you need to slot something situational, unless the situational skill specifically says that it's replacing something else.
Arctic Blast is the second skill that has to go
Resolving Vigor - a very strong HoT which provides Minor Resolve. It can be used as your main source of healing before you obtain the
Ring of the Pale Order Mythic or in fights with invulnerability phases where you can't heal with
Ring of the Pale Order
Silver Leash - a chain ability that you can slot in trash packs to stack enemies and get through them faster
Revealing Flare - slot it for more difficult fights where you need more damage mitigation. It's a skill that passively grants Major Protection, reducing your damage taken by 10%. It will also trigger the
Magicka Aid passive, which increases Magicka Recovery by 10%
Temporal Guard - slot it formore difficult fights where you need more damage mitigation. It's an ultimate we canfrontbar for the passive Minor Protection which decreases your damage taken by 5%. It willalso trigger the
Concentrated Barrier passive
Wield Soul - a strong damage shield that restores your Stamina and grants you Major Vitality, increasing your healing received and strength of damage shields by 12%
Burning Embers - a single target DoT which heals you for 100% of the damage it causes. It can be useful in fights where you need more HPS
Shimmering Shield - massive damage shield that works only against projectiles. Extremely strong but very situational. It also grants you Major Heroism when it absorbs projectiles, increasing your Ultimate generation
Precognition - an ultimate that breaks you out of some otherwise unavoidable stuns, you'll need it to get around some mechanics which are otherwise impossible or very difficult to solo, like for example Inferno's Hold in Zaan the Scalecaller fight
Ball of Lightning - an ability that teleports you forward. Use it in fights where you need more mobility or in fights where this teleport allows you to invalidate some mechanic
Priority List
I don't use a static rotation so this is just a list of priorities. Simply recast abilities when they run out and follow this list of priorities when there are multiple things to refresh
- Use
Ulfsild's Contingency if your Empower is out or if it's going to run out by the end of the Heavy Attack you're channeling - Use
Critical Surge (you can recast this early) - Use
Elemental Susceptibility - Use
Elemental Blockade - Use
Hurricane - Use
Flames of Oblivion - Use
Arctic Blast - Use
Soul Burst - Use
Standard of Might - Use
Ulfsild's Contingency
Pre-buff
These abilities can be pre-cast before entering combat
Ulfsild's Contingency
Hurricane
Critical Surge
Flames of Oblivion
Arctic Blast
Soul Burst (the Minor Courage, not the damage)
Final Setups
A few examples of final setups you could end up with after applying the situational skills to the base setup
A setup with lots of damage mitigation for bosses that hit very hard
| Front Bar | Back Bar |
|---|---|
| Slot 1: Ulfsild's Contingency | Slot 1: Critical Surge |
| Slot 2: Hurricane | Slot 2: Flames of Oblivion |
| Slot 3: Wield Soul | Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility |
| Slot 4: Revealing Flare | Slot 4: Elemental Blockade |
| Slot 5: Banner Bearer | Slot 5: Banner Bearer |
| Ultimate: Temporal Guard | Ultimate: Standard of Might |
EXPLANATION:
Revealing Flare replaces
Arctic Blast because it grants 10% damage mitigation
Wield Soul replaces
Soul Burst and then swaps places with
Critical Surge so it's easily accessible on frontbar
Temporal Guard replaces
Energy Overload because it grants 5% damage mitigation
Ulfsild's Contingency should use
Gladiator's Tenacity instead of
Lingering Torment, because it's a tiny DPS loss for a decent increase in survivability
Banner Bearer's
Magic script can change to
Mitigation, depending on how much mitigation you need. It's not a default choice because it's a decent DPS loss for a decent increase in survivability
Banner Bearer's
Berserk script can change to
Resolve, depending on how much mitigation you need. It's not a default choice because it's a decent DPS loss for a decent increase in survivability
A setup I've used when fighting Executor Jerensi in the Exiled Redoubt dungeon
| Front Bar | Back Bar |
|---|---|
| Slot 1: Ulfsild's Contingency | Slot 1: Critical Surge |
| Slot 2: Hurricane | Slot 2: Flames of Oblivion |
| Slot 3: Wield Soul | Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility |
| Slot 4: Ball of Lightning | Slot 4: Elemental Blockade |
| Slot 5: Banner Bearer | Slot 5: Banner Bearer |
| Ultimate: Temporal Guard | Ultimate: Standard of Might |
EXPLANATION:
Wield Soul replaces
Soul Burst and then swaps places with
Critical Surge so it's easily accessible on frontbar. It's required to survive Death Knell
Ball of Lightning replaces
Arctic Blast, because it's required to deal with the Execute mechanic
A setup I've used when fighting Prime Sorcerer Vandorallen in the Exiled Redoubt dungeon
| Front Bar | Back Bar |
|---|---|
| Slot 1: Ulfsild's Contingency | Slot 1: Critical Surge |
| Slot 2: Hurricane | Slot 2: Flames of Oblivion |
| Slot 3: Dampen Magic | Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility |
| Slot 4: Revealing Flare | Slot 4: Elemental Blockade |
| Slot 5: Banner Bearer | Slot 5: Banner Bearer |
| Ultimate: Temporal Guard | Ultimate: Standard of Might |
EXPLANATION:
Dampen Magic replaces
Soul Burst and then swaps places with
Critical Surge so it's easily accessible on frontbar. This time it's
Dampen Magic instead of
Wield Soul because this fight is bugged and the shield from your
Wield Soul would constantly apply to the NPC. You will have to change your Monster Set to Light Armor type to be able to use
Dampen Magic
Revealing Flare replaces
Arctic Blast because it grants 10% damage mitigation
PASSIVES
Class
Weapon
Armor
Guild
Alliance War
Racial
Craft
Class - Ardent Flame
Combustion - High Priority
Warmth - Medium Priority
Searing Heat - High Priority
World in Ruin - High Priority
GEAR
Example of a beginner setup made with just crafted gear.
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
Medium | |||
![]() Shoulders |
Medium | |||
![]() Chest |
Heavy | |||
![]() Hands |
Light | |||
![]() Belt |
Light | |||
![]() Legs |
Medium | |||
![]() Boots |
Light | |||
![]() Necklace |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
Lightning Staff | |||
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
Lightning Staff |
The setup in the table uses only crafted gear, but if you already own parts of the Regular setup like
Ring of the Pale Order you can start using them immediately
You don't need to start with crafted gear, simply pick 2 sets from the Alternative section that are easiest for you to obtain
Gear that might be easier to obtain and can be used while you work towards the best gear
Dungeon gear isn't always an upgrade to Crafted/Overland gear. It's listed in case you already own some of it
Crafted:
All of these are tradable and can be bought from other players
Overland:
All of these are tradable and can be bought from other players
Mother’s Sorrow (Light) - Deshaan
Back-Alley Gourmand (Light) - Galen and Y'ffelon
Dragonguard Elite (Medium) - Southern Elsweyr
PvP:
All of these are tradable and can be bought from other players
Deadly Strike (Medium) - Bruma Elite Gear Vendor
Dungeons:
Sergeant's Mail (Heavy) - Wayrest Sewers 1 & 2
Noble Duelist's Silks (Light) - Blessed Crucible
Storm Master (Medium) - Tempest Island
Undaunted Infiltrator (Medium) - Arx Corinium
Undaunted Unweaver (Light) - Blackheart Haven
Tzogvin’s Warband (Medium) - Frostvault
- Use
Training traits if you're still leveling. If you're already max level and have enough Champion Points you can instead use
Divines and
Reinforced on the chest piece
This is my suggested setup for regular content, such as Solo Arenas, World Bosses, Dolmens, Dragons, Volcanic Vents, Harrowstorms, Mirrormoor Incursions and majority of the dungeons.
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
Medium | |||
![]() Shoulders |
Medium | |||
![]() Chest |
Heavy | |||
![]() Hands |
Light | |||
![]() Belt |
Light | |||
![]() Legs |
Medium | |||
![]() Boots |
Light | |||
![]() Necklace |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
Lightning Staff | |||
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
Lightning Staff |
Ilambris isn't the strongest option, it's used for the Elementalist roleplay. If you want the strongest option use
Anthelmir’s Construct
This is my suggested setup for soloing extremely difficult fights in dungeons.
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
Medium | |||
![]() Shoulders |
Medium | |||
![]() Chest |
Heavy | |||
![]() Hands |
Light | |||
![]() Belt |
Light | |||
![]() Legs |
Medium | |||
![]() Boots |
Light | |||
![]() Necklace |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
Lightning Staff | |||
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
Lightning Staff |
- You can change some (or all) of the
Magicka enchants to
Health ones for extremely hard hitting bosses
Ilambris isn't the strongest option, it's used for the Elementalist roleplay. If you want the strongest option use
Anthelmir’s Construct
CHAMPION POINTS
Warfare
-
Weapons Expert (20% Light and Heavy Attack Damage) -
Deadly Aim (6% Single Target Damage) -
Fighting Finesse (8% Critical Damage and Healing) -
Exploiter (10% Damage against Off Balance enemies)
Fitness
-
Boundless Vitality (1400 Max Health) -
Fortified (1731 armor) -
Bloody Renewal (1500 Stamina on kills) -
Rejuvenation (90 Health, Stamina and Magicka Recovery)
ADDITIONAL INFO:
- Replace
Rejuvenation with
Bastion when using
Wield Soul - When soloing extremely difficult dungeons you should replace
Exploiter and
Fighting Finesse with 2 of the 4 mitigation CPs (
Ironclad,
Duelist’s Rebuff,
Enduring Resolve,
Unassailable )
RACE
When it comes to solo PvE, you need both damage and survivability so pretty much all races have useful racials.
The best race for dealing damage is Khajiit. While the Critical Damage from
Feline Ambush can sometimes be wasted due to Critical Damage being capped at 125%, it will never happen in solo content, because there will be no tanks or healers providing you with the Major Force buff.
The best race for survivability is Nord. The
Rugged racial will provide around 6% damage mitigation.
MUNDUS
ATTRIBUTES
HEALTH
0
STAMINA
0
MAGICKA
64
For most content you should put all 64 points into Magicka. For difficult content you should devote as many attribute points as necessary to Health - for some content you’ll be able to get away with 32 Health 32 Magicka, for the extremely difficult stuff you’ll need 64 Health.
FOOD
You should use the
Artaeum Pickled Fish Bowl. If you need a cheaper alternative,
Solitude Salmon-Millet Soup provides only slightly lower stats.
Other decent foods:
Orzorga's Tripe Trifle Pocket provides Stamina Recovery at the cost of Maximum Magicka. It will lower your damage, but it’s very useful for fights where you have to dodge roll a lot.
Orzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch provides Magicka and Stamina Recovery at the cost of Maximum Magicka. It will lower your damage, but it’s very useful for fights where you have to both dodge roll a lot and spam your
Wield Soul damage shield.
POTIONS
Since your sustain is being taken care of by the fact that Heavy Attacks restore resources, you can instead use the Armor potions, which will increase your armor by 5280. You can craft them by combining
Bugloss,
Mountain's Flower and
Mudcrab Chitin.
PARSE
50.5k on the 6mil dummy using Regular setup
Recording of the 50.5k parse
GAMEPLAY
Here you can see this build tackling Veteran dungeons
THANKS FOR READING
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