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Magicka Warden Solo Build - ESO U50 PTS Guide

Solo Two Bar Magicka Pure Class Warden
Up to date for: Update 50 PTS - 23rd April 2026
Last changed: Update 50 PTS - 23rd April 2026

Nothing here is final. This page is being built as I test Magicka Warden on the U50 PTS, and ZOS will keep pushing patches until Week 4. Expect the setup, numbers and section details to keep changing until then. If you want the current live version instead, check the current Magicka Warden Solo Build.

Magicka Warden (MagDen) Solo Build for ESO. The build has insane sustain thanks to Chilling SoulChilling Soul with the Druid's ResurgenceDruid's Resurgence script as the spammable, which restores 600 Stamina and Magicka on every use. Blue BettyBlue Betty constantly cleanses debuffs, making some fights with purgable DoTs significantly easier.

One of the strongest solo builds right now in Update 50. It deals a lot of damage and is very tanky.

Soloed Veteran Hard Mode Scalecaller Peak, Veteran Hard Mode Falkreath Hold and Veteran Frostvault. Parses 69.4k in the Regular setup.

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Class Mastery

Class Masteries are a new U50 system where each class picks 2 of 5 passive bonuses (Class Mastery Points, not Skill Points). Activating subclassing in any capacity disables Class Mastery, so it's a tradeoff between keeping your native skill lines or subclassing.

Wild Adaptation mastery - ESO
Wild Adaptation
Gain 333 Weapon and Spell Damage for each status effect on your target, up to a maximum of 1665.
Glacial Obstinance mastery - ESO
Glacial Obstinance
Upgrades Bond with NatureBond with Nature to also activate when casting Winter's Embrace abilities and to grant 15% Weapon and Spell Damage for 10 seconds if you are at full Health after the heal.

Situational Swap

This is the ability you should replace for situational.

Green-Keeper's Hide mastery - ESO
Green-Keeper's Hide
Reduce your damage taken by 3% for every status effect active on your attacker, up to a maximum of 15%.
Tundra's Maw mastery - ESO
Tundra's Maw
Applying Chill to an enemy also applies Major Brittle for 2 seconds, increasing their Critical Damage taken by 20%.
Bountiful Harvest mastery - ESO
Bountiful Harvest
Upgrades rank 2 of Nature's GiftNature's Gift to grant the healed target Major Heroism for 4.5 seconds and an additional 250 Magicka and Stamina.

Skill Setups

Base Setup

A base setup that will work for most situations and which should be your starting point when making situational setups

Chilling Soul Subterranean Assault Blue Betty Traveling Knife Arctic Blast Wild Guardian
Ice Fortress Lotus Blossom Elemental Susceptibility Elemental Blockade Soul Burst Northern Storm
Front Bar Back Bar
Slot 1: Chilling Soul Slot 1: Ice Fortress
Slot 2: Subterranean Assault Slot 2: Lotus Blossom
Slot 3: Blue Betty Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility
Slot 4: Traveling Knife Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Arctic Blast Slot 5: Soul Burst
Ultimate: Wild Guardian Ultimate: Northern Storm
INFO

Every Animal Companions ability on your bar will trigger the Advanced SpeciesAdvanced Species passive, increasing your Critical Damage by 5% each

  • Chilling SoulChilling Soul (FrostFrost, Druid's ResurgenceDruid's Resurgence, Intellect and EnduranceIntellect and Endurance) - a spammable which restores 600 Stamina and Magicka with each cast. It also grants Minor Intellect and Endurance, increasing Stamina and Magicka Recovery by 15%.
  • Subterranean AssaultSubterranean Assault - a delayed ability that deals decent damage in an AoE in front of you. The fact that it's a Stamina ability that has to be re-activated every 6 seconds helps with sustaining Magicka.
  • Blue BettyBlue Betty - grants Major Brutality and Sorcery, sustain, a 5% damage buff and automatically cleanses debuffs every 5 seconds. You can recast it early if you need to cleanse an important debuff.
  • Traveling KnifeTraveling Knife (PoisonPoison, Assassin's MiseryAssassin's Misery, ForceForce) - a Stamina skill that increases enemies' chance to be affected by Status Effects and grants Minor Force, increasing your Critical Damage by 10%.
  • Arctic BlastArctic Blast - your AoE spammable, a 20 second DoT around you which deals a lot of damage by proccing the Chilled status effect. It can also be used as a self-heal if there are no enemies around you.
  • Wild GuardianWild Guardian - front-barred for the 5% Critical Damage bonus from Advanced SpeciesAdvanced Species.
  • Ice FortressIce Fortress - your source of Major Resolve, increasing your armor by 5948. It also grants Minor Protection, reducing your damage taken by 5%.
  • Lotus BlossomLotus Blossom - provides Major Savagery and Prophecy plus some passive healing whenever you Light or Heavy Attack. This healing also triggers the Nature's GiftNature's Gift passive.
  • Elemental SusceptibilityElemental Susceptibility - a free skill that applies Major Breach and keeps applying Burning, Chilled and Concussed over time. Concussed adds Minor Vulnerability, Chilled adds Minor Maim, and Chilled from your Ice Staff bar also adds Minor Brittle.
  • Elemental BlockadeElemental Blockade - constantly applies your Weapon DamageWeapon Damage enchantment and keeps applying Minor Breach to enemies who are Chilled.
  • Soul BurstSoul Burst (BleedBleed, Lingering TormentLingering Torment, ResolveResolve) - an AoE DoT that grants Minor Resolve, increasing your armor by 2974.
  • Northern StormNorthern Storm - a powerful ultimate that deals damage in an AoE, increases your Max Magicka and grants Major Protection, reducing your damage taken by 10%.
SITUATIONAL

Soul BurstSoul Burst, Arctic BlastArctic Blast and Traveling KnifeTraveling Knife are the first skills that have to go if you need to slot situational, in that order, unless the situational skill specifically says it's replacing something else

  • Resolving VigorResolving Vigor - use it for fights where there's a lot of damage happening in a short burst. The HoT from Resolving VigorResolving Vigor is short but very strong, so casting it at the right time can help you survive such mechanics. Replaces Soul BurstSoul Burst since both apply Minor Resolve.
  • Living TrellisLiving Trellis - a healing ability you can spam under big pressure, also good for fights where you're getting hit very frequently
  • Silver LeashSilver Leash - a chain ability that you can slot in trash packs to stack enemies and get through them faster
  • Razor CaltropsRazor Caltrops - a source of AoE Major Breach which can be used instead of Elemental SusceptibilityElemental Susceptibility in AoE fights
  • Revealing FlareRevealing 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 AidMagicka Aid passive, which increases Magicka Recovery by 10%
  • PrecognitionPrecognition - 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
ROTATION

Priority List

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

Pre-buff

These abilities can be pre-cast before entering combat

Final Setups

A few examples of final setups you could end up with after applying the situational skills to the base setup

A setup for trash packs

Chilling Soul Subterranean Assault Blue Betty Traveling Knife Arctic Blast Wild Guardian
Ice Fortress Lotus Blossom Razor Caltrops Elemental Blockade Silver Leash Northern Storm
Front Bar Back Bar
Slot 1: Chilling Soul Slot 1: Ice Fortress
Slot 2: Subterranean Assault Slot 2: Lotus Blossom
Slot 3: Blue Betty Slot 3: Razor Caltrops
Slot 4: Traveling Knife Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Arctic Blast Slot 5: Silver Leash
Ultimate: Wild Guardian Ultimate: Northern Storm

What Changes

Changes compared to the Base Setup

Passives

The only passive you specifically have to skip is Tri FocusTri Focus, but it's only important when using an Ice Staff

Some trees are only needed when using situational skills, for example Psijic Order provides nothing without PrecognitionPrecognition

Class

Weapon

Armor

Guild

Alliance War

Racial

Craft

Class - Animal Companions

Bond with NatureBond with Nature - High Priority

Savage BeastSavage Beast - High Priority

FlourishFlourish - High Priority

Advanced SpeciesAdvanced Species - High Priority

Gear

Overland (Base) is your starting point and works for most situations. Crafted is a beginner version using only craftable sets. Instanced is a swap for Arenas and Dungeons where enemies have higher armor.

Switching gear for trash packs isn't worth it unless you're using gear-swap addons

Gear Slot Set Weight/Type Trait Enchantment
HeadHead SlimecrawSlimecraw Light DivinesDivines MagickaMagicka
ShouldersShoulders Aerie's CryAerie's Cry Light DivinesDivines MagickaMagicka
ChestChest Sul-Xan's TormentSul-Xan's Torment Medium DivinesDivines MagickaMagicka
HandsHands Aerie's CryAerie's Cry Light DivinesDivines MagickaMagicka
BeltBelt Aerie's CryAerie's Cry Light DivinesDivines MagickaMagicka
LegsLegs Aerie's CryAerie's Cry Light DivinesDivines MagickaMagicka
FeetBoots Aerie's CryAerie's Cry Light DivinesDivines MagickaMagicka
NeckNecklace Sul-Xan's TormentSul-Xan's Torment Jewelry BloodthirstyBloodthirsty Increase Magical HarmIncrease Magical Harm
RingRing Sul-Xan's TormentSul-Xan's Torment Jewelry BloodthirstyBloodthirsty Increase Magical HarmIncrease Magical Harm
RingRing Ring of the Pale OrderRing of the Pale Order Jewelry BloodthirstyBloodthirsty Increase Magical HarmIncrease Magical Harm
MainhandFrontbar Main Hand Sul-Xan's TormentSul-Xan's Torment Dagger ChargedCharged PoisonPoison
OffhandFrontbar Off Hand Sul-Xan's TormentSul-Xan's Torment Dagger ChargedCharged FrostFrost
MainhandBackbar Main Hand Crushing WallCrushing Wall Inferno Staff InfusedInfused Weapon DamageWeapon Damage
Body
Aerie's Cry - Class Set (Infinite Archive)

If you don't have it, use in order

  1. Order's Wrath - Crafted
  2. Tide-Born Wildstalker - Crafted
Weapons and Jewelry
Sul-Xan's Torment - Trial Set (Rockgrove)

If you don't have it, use in order

  1. Order's Wrath - Crafted
  2. Tide-Born Wildstalker - Crafted
Monster Helm
Slimecraw - Monster Set (Wayrest Sewers I)

Alternative (same bonus)

  1. Kra'gh - Fungal Grotto I
  2. Archdruid Devyric - Earthen Root Enclave
  3. Lady Malygda - Imperial City
  4. Black Gem Monstrosity - Black Gem Foundry

Use the Penetration Calculator to fine-tune your penetration for different content. Overland enemies have 9,100 armor while Instanced enemies (Arenas and Dungeons) have 18,200.

Situational Swaps

Alternative setups for different goals and content types

Additional Tips

  • For Ranged fights, replace the Daggers with either a Bow or a Lightning Staff with ChargedCharged trait and PoisonPoison enchant
  • You can change some (or all) of the MagickaMagicka enchants to HealthHealth ones for extremely hard hitting bosses
  • Minor Slayer sets are usually not worth running in Overland. Sul-Xan's TormentSul-Xan's Torment is an exception because it's extremely stat-dense, so it works in Overland even with the 3-piece Minor Slayer bonus wasted. Whorl of the DepthsWhorl of the Depths doesn't have that density, so it only pays off in Instanced content where Minor Slayer is active - otherwise it gets beaten by Order's WrathOrder's Wrath
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Champion Points

WarfareWarfare
Master-at-Arms
6% Direct Damage
Because more than 60% of your damage is Direct
Deadly Aim
6% Single Target Damage
Because more than 60% of your damage is Single Target
Fighting Finesse
8% Critical Damage and Healing
Next strongest CP damage-wise
Wrathful Strikes
205 Weapon and Spell Damage
Next strongest CP damage-wise
More Mitigation
Replace Wrathful StrikesWrathful Strikes + Fighting FinesseFighting Finesse with 2 mitigation CPs: IroncladIronclad, Duelist's RebuffDuelist's Rebuff, Enduring ResolveEnduring Resolve, or UnassailableUnassailable (depending on the type of damage the Boss deals to you)
More Healing
Reaving BlowsReaving Blows is a decent Champion Point if you need more HPS
FitnessFitness
Boundless Vitality
1400 Max Health
Survivability
Bloody Renewal
1500 Stamina on kills
Sustain
Rejuvenation
90 Health, Magicka and Stamina Recovery
Sustain
Fortified
1731 Armor
Survivability
Block Mitigation
Use Bracing AnchorBracing Anchor in fights where you block a lot and don't have to move much
Movement Speed
Use CelerityCelerity in fights where you have to move a lot
Sustain in fights with lots of adds
Use Siphoning SpellsSiphoning Spells along Bloody RenewalBloody Renewal in fights with lots of adds
Craft Craft
Steed's Blessing
20% Movement Speed out of combat
Extremely useful utility
Quality of Life
Green Champion Points don't affect Combat, choose whatever Quality of Life you prefer

Race

For solo PvE you need both damage and survivability, so every race brings something to the table, but these two stand out as the best options for damage and survivability respectively

Khajiit
Best for Damage
Khajiit
Why pick this
The strongest race for solo damage. Critical Damage is one of the most valuable stats in Solo play and Khajiits get 12% of it from Feline AmbushFeline Ambush passive.
Feline Ambush Feline Ambush 12% Critical Damage
Nimble Nimble 915 Max Health, Stamina and Magicka
Robustness Robustness 90 Health, Stamina, Magicka Recovery
Nord
Best for Survivability
Nord
Why pick this
The tankiest race. Nord is also what I use for soloing Veteran Hard Mode DLC Dungeons. RuggedRugged provides around 5-7% damage mitigation (depending on your current armor), making difficult content significantly more forgiving without sacrificing much damage.
Rugged Rugged 2600 armor
Stalwart Stalwart 1500 Max Stamina, 0.5 Ultimate per second
Reveler Reveler 1000 Max Health, 4620 Frost Resistance

Mundus

The Thief
Default
The Thief
5.53% Critical Chance (9.04% with 7 Divines)
When to use
Use most of the time. It increases your Critical Chance
The Lady
Difficult Content
The Lady
2744 Armor (4489 with 7 Divines)
When to use
Consider switching for extremely difficult dungeons. It increases your Armor

Attributes

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.

Health
0
Stamina
0
Magicka
64
All points into Magicka. Use it for most content
Health
32
Stamina
0
Magicka
32
Split evenly between Health and Magicka. Use this whenever you start to struggle
Health
64
Stamina
0
Magicka
0
All points into Health. Use this for very difficult fights

Food

This build defaults to the tankier sustain setup. If you want more damage, switch to Artaeum Pickled Fish BowlArtaeum Pickled Fish Bowl and pair it with Tri-Stat PotionTri-Stat Potion or Heroism PotionHeroism Potion.

Max Health Stamina Recovery Magicka Recovery
The default option. Our Armor potions don't restore resources, so the food has to cover Stamina and Magicka Recovery.
Max Health Max Magicka
Full damage option. Drops the recoveries for Max Magicka, so use it with Tri-Stat PotionTri-Stat Potion or Heroism PotionHeroism Potion to cover sustain. Solitude Salmon-Millet SoupSolitude Salmon-Millet Soup is a cheaper alternative.

Potions

Armor Potion
Default Armor Potion
Restore Health +5280 Armor

The default option. It gives you the armor while your food covers sustain.

Tri-Stat Potion
Full Damage Tri-Stat Potion
Restore Health Restore Stamina Restore Magicka

Full damage option. The sustain from it lets you switch from Orzorga's Smoked Bear HaunchOrzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch to Artaeum Pickled Fish BowlArtaeum Pickled Fish Bowl for more damage.

Heroism Potion
Full Damage Heroism Potion
Minor Heroism Restore Stamina Restore Magicka

Same idea as Tri-Stat PotionTri-Stat Potion, but straight up better because it adds Minor Heroism on top. More damage, just much more expensive to craft.

Parses

All parses are recorded on the 6 million Target Dummy

Regular Setup
69,442 DPS
Regular Setup
69,442DPS
6mil Skeleton Dummy
Patch
Update 50 PTS Week 2
Armor
1 Medium / 6 Light
Gear Setup
Instanced (No Sul-Xan)
Skill Setup
Base
Potion
Armor Potion
Mundus
The Thief
Race
Nord
CMX Parse
Magicka Warden Solo CMX Parse - Regular Setup - ESO
CMX Setup
Magicka Warden Solo CMX Setup - Regular Setup - ESO
Recording
Parse recording

Gameplay

Here you can see this build tackling Veteran dungeons

Scalecaller Peak
Dungeon
Falkreath Hold
Dungeon
Frostvault
Dungeon
Scalecaller Peak
Dungeon Veteran Hard Mode
Falkreath Hold
Dungeon Veteran Hard Mode
Frostvault
Dungeon Veteran

FAQ

Is Warden good for solo in ESO?

Yes. Magicka Warden is strong in Update 50. It deals a lot of damage, is very tanky, has great Stamina sustain, and Blue BettyBlue Betty constantly cleanses debuffs which makes some fights significantly easier. This build soloed Veteran Hard Mode Scalecaller Peak, Veteran Hard Mode Falkreath Hold and Veteran Frostvault.

What is the best race for a solo Warden in ESO?

Khajiit is the best race for damage thanks to 12% Critical Damage from Feline AmbushFeline Ambush, which won't be wasted in solo content. Nord is the best race for survivability, providing around 5-7% damage mitigation through the RuggedRugged racial passive.

Can I use a different weapon?

Yes, you can replace the Dual Wield Daggers with other weapons. Inferno Staff, Lightning Staff, Greatsword and Bow will cause the smallest DPS loss (≈2%), and then support-oriented weapons (Ice Staff, One Handed and Shield) will cause a bigger DPS loss (≈7%). You will also have to replace Traveling KnifeTraveling Knife with some situational ability, or with an ability from one of the weapons you swapped to. If you switch to Greatsword, use SmashSmash with PoisonPoison, Lingering TormentLingering Torment and ForceForce. Replacing the backbar weapon is a lot more troublesome, because Elemental SusceptibilityElemental Susceptibility is an extremely powerful skill for solo.

Do I need a different setup for Maelstrom Arena and Vateshran Hollows?

No, you don't need a different setup. Use the base skills and the Instanced gear setup from this guide for both Maelstrom Arena and Vateshran Hollows.

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