Necromancer Solo Guide & Build | ESO

Table of contents

Skill Setups
Gear
Champion Points
Race
Mundus
Attributes
Food
Potions
Gameplay
Changelog

Last updated: Update 44 - 15th February 2025

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.

SKILL SETUPS

Front Bar	Back Bar
Slot 1: Detonating Siphon	Slot 1: Summoner's Armor
Slot 2: Grave Lord's Sacrifice	Slot 2: Barbed Trap
Slot 3: Venom Skull	Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility
Slot 4: Avid Boneyard	Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Skeletal Archer	Slot 5: Soul Burst
Ultimate: Pestilent Colossus	Ultimate: Shooting Star

SCRIBING

INFO

All frontbar skills are from the Grave Lord skill line in order to boost Corpseburster and Death Knell passive
Detonating Siphon - an ability that consumes a corpse to form a tether between it and you, which deals damage over 20 seconds and grants you Major Savagery and Prophecy. When the ability ends or is reactivated the corpse explodes dealing additional damage. Use it whenever there's a corpse available to trigger Corpseburster
Grave Lord's Sacrifice - an ability that summons a skeleton that will charge at you after 2.5 seconds, creating a corpse and granting you a 20 second buff that increases your damage done with Necromancer abilities and DoTs by 15%. It will also cause your empowered Venom Skull casts to generate a corpse
Venom Skull - a spammable that will deal more damage every 3rd Necromancer ability cast and thanks to Grave Lord's Sacrifice this empowered cast will also create a corpse
Avid Boneyard - a ground DoT that applies Minor Vulnerability to all enemies inside of it, increasing their damage taken by 5%. It also grants you the Grave Robber synergy which you can use yourself. It can consume a corpse to deal more damage, which will also proc Corpseburster
Skeletal Archer - an ability that summons an archer to attack your enemies, grants you Major Brutality and Sorcery for 20 seconds, which increase your Weapon and Spell Damage by 20%, and triggers the Undead Confederate passive. It creates a corpse when it expires.
Pestilent Colossus - an ultimate that we won't be using, but we'll keep it slotted on our frontbar to boost Corpseburster and Death Knell passive
Summoner’s Armor - an ability that will grant you Major and Minor Resolve, increasing your armor by 8922, and reduces the cost of your Grave Lord's Sacrifice and Skeletal Archer by 15%. It also triggers the Disdain Harm passive, which reduces your damage taken from DoTs by 15%. It will also create a corpse when it expires
Barbed Trap - a DoT that will also apply Hemorrhage status effect at the start and grant you Minor Force buff, increasing your Critical Damage by 10%
Elemental Susceptibility - an extremely loaded ability that does a multitude of things. It’s completely free to cast so it'll helps 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% and it will also apply Minor Brittle for 4 seconds if you were on your Ice Staff bar while the Chilled effect procced, which is always going to happen at the beginning when you cast Elemental Susceptibility. Minor Brittle increase Critical Damage taken by 10%. The Chilled proc will also synergise with our Elemental Blockade
Elemental Blockade - this ability will constantly apply your Weapon Damage enchantment. It will also constantly apply Minor Breach to enemies who are Chilled, and they’ll be Chilled thanks to Elemental Susceptibility
Soul Burst - an AoE DoT that also grants you the Minor Courage buff, which increases your Weapon and Spell Damage by 215
Shooting Star - a powerful ultimate that deals AoE damage, leaves a ground DoT behind and restores 12 Ultimate for each enemy hit with the initial hit

SITUATIONAL

Front Bar	Back Bar
Slot 1: Detonating Siphon	Slot 1: Summoner's Armor
Slot 2: Grave Lord's Sacrifice	Slot 2: Ulfsild's Contingency
Slot 3: Venom Skull	Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility
Slot 4: Avid Boneyard	Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Revealing Flare	Slot 5: Spirit Guardian
Ultimate: Temporal Guard	Ultimate: Shooting Star

SCRIBING

INFO

Most frontbar skills are from the Grave Lord skill line in order to boost Corpseburster and Death Knell passive
Detonating Siphon - an ability that consumes a corpse to form a tether between it and you, which deals damage over 20 seconds and grants you Major Savagery and Prophecy. When the ability ends or is reactivated the corpse explodes dealing additional damage. Use it whenever there's a corpse available to trigger Corpseburster
Grave Lord's Sacrifice - an ability that summons a skeleton that will charge at you after 2.5 seconds, creating a corpse and granting you a 20 second buff that increases your damage done with Necromancer abilities and DoTs by 15%. It will also cause your empowered Venom Skull casts to generate a corpse
Venom Skull - a spammable that will deal more damage every 3rd Necromancer ability cast and thanks to Grave Lord's Sacrifice this empowered cast will also create a corpse
Avid Boneyard - a ground DoT that applies Minor Vulnerability to all enemies inside of it, increasing their damage taken by 5%. It also grants you the Grave Robber synergy which you can use yourself. It can consume a corpse to deal more damage, which will also proc Corpseburster
Revealing Flare - this skill will passively grant you Major Protection, reducing your damage taken by 10%. It will also trigger the Magicka Aid passive, which increases Magicka Recovery by 10%
Temporal Guard - an ultimate that we won't be using, but we'll keep it slotted for the passive Minor Protection which decreases your damage taken by 5%. It will also trigger the Concentrated Barrier passive
Summoner’s Armor - an ability that will grant you Major and Minor Resolve, increasing your armor by 8922, and reduces the cost of your Grave Lord's Sacrifice and Spirit Guardian by 15%. It also triggers the Disdain Harm passive, which reduces your damage taken from DoTs by 15%. It will also create a corpse when it expires
Ulfsild's Contingency - a delayed AoE damage that also grants you 8% damage reduction for 8 seconds and Minor Force for 22 seconds, which increases your Critical Damage by 10%. You should recast it every 8 seconds when under pressure and every 22 seconds otherwise
Elemental Susceptibility - an extremely loaded ability that does a multitude of things. It’s completely free to cast so it'll helps 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% and it will also apply Minor Brittle for 4 seconds if you were on your Ice Staff bar while the Chilled effect procced, which is always going to happen at the beginning when you cast Elemental Susceptibility. Minor Brittle increase Critical Damage taken by 10%. The Chilled proc will also synergise with our Elemental Blockade
Elemental Blockade - this ability will constantly apply your Weapon Damage enchantment. It will also constantly apply Minor Breach to enemies who are Chilled, and they’ll be Chilled thanks to Elemental Susceptibility
Spirit Guardian - an ability that will summon a wraith that reduces your damage taken by 10%, heals you every 2 seconds and triggers the Undead Confederate passive. It will also create a corpse when it expires
Shooting Star - a powerful ultimate that deals AoE damage, leaves a ground DoT behind and restores 12 Ultimate for each enemy hit with the initial hit

SITUATIONAL

GEAR

This is the crafted gear setup you can start with.

Gear Slot	Set	Weight/Type	Trait	Enchantment
Head	Claw of the Forest Wraith	Medium	Training /Divines	Stamina
Shoulders	Claw of the Forest Wraith	Medium	Training /Divines	Stamina
Chest	Order's Wrath	Heavy	Training /Reinforced	Stamina
Hands	Order's Wrath	Medium	Training /Divines	Stamina
Belt	Order's Wrath	Light	Training /Divines	Stamina
Legs	Order's Wrath	Medium	Training /Divines	Stamina
Boots	Order's Wrath	Medium	Training /Divines	Stamina
Necklace	Claw of the Forest Wraith	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Claw of the Forest Wraith	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Claw of the Forest Wraith	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Frontbar Main Hand	Assassin's Guile	Dagger	Nirnhoned	Absorb Stamina
Frontbar Off Hand	Assassin's Guile	Mace	Charged	Poison
Backbar Main Hand	Assassin's Guile	Ice Staff	Infused	Weapon Damage

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Use Daggers instead of Dagger and Mace if you don't plan on using this gear setup for any instanced content (Dungeons, Arenas)
For Ranged build, replace Dagger and Mace with a Bow of the same set with Precise trait and Absorb Stamina enchant
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	Slimecraw	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Shoulders	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Chest	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Hands	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Belt	Corpseburster	Light	Divines	Stamina
Legs	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Boots	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Necklace	Corpseburster	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Corpseburster	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Ring of the Pale Order	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Frontbar Main Hand	Corpseburster	Dagger	Nirnhoned	Absorb Stamina
Frontbar Off Hand	Corpseburster	Dagger	Charged	Poison
Backbar Main Hand	Crushing Wall	Inferno Staff	Infused	Weapon Damage

ADDITIONAL INFO:

For Ranged build, replace Daggers with a Bow of the same set with Precise trait and Absorb Stamina enchant
Order’s Wrath is an extremely powerful set despite being crafted so it's a good replacement for Ansuul’s Torment if you don't have access to it
Velothi Ur-Mage’s Amulet can give you much more DPS at the cost of survivability. You can use it instead of Ring of the Pale Order when doing easier content.

This is my suggested setup for soloing extremely difficult fights in dungeons.

Gear Slot	Set	Weight/Type	Trait	Enchantment
Head	Roksa the Warped	Medium	Divines /Well-Fitted	Stamina
Shoulders	Roksa the Warped	Medium	Divines /Well-Fitted	Stamina
Chest	Armor of the Trainee	Heavy	Reinforced	Stamina
Hands	Corpseburster	Medium	Divines /Well-Fitted	Stamina
Belt	Vestment of Olorime	Light	Divines /Well-Fitted	Stamina
Legs	Corpseburster	Medium	Divines /Well-Fitted	Stamina
Boots	Corpseburster	Medium	Divines /Well-Fitted	Stamina
Necklace	Vestment of Olorime	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Vestment of Olorime	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Ring of the Pale Order	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Frontbar Main Hand	Corpseburster	Dagger	Nirnhoned	Absorb Stamina
Frontbar Off Hand	Corpseburster	Mace	Charged	Poison
Backbar Main Hand	Vestment of Olorime	Ice Staff	Infused	Weapon Damage

ADDITIONAL INFO:

You can change some (or all) of the Stamina enchants to Health ones for extremely hard hitting bosses

CHAMPION POINTS

Warfare

Master-at-Arms (6% Direct Damage)
Biting Aura (6% AoE Damage)
Fighting Finesse (8% Critical Damage and Healing)
Wrathful Strikes (205 Weapon and Spell Damage added to damaging skills)

Fitness

Boundless Vitality (1400 Max Health)
Sustained by Suffering (150 Health, Stamina and Magicka Recovery when debuffed)
Rejuvenation (90 Health, Stamina and Magicka Recovery)
Fortified (1731 armor)

ADDITIONAL INFO:

When soloing extremely difficult dungeons you should replace Wrathful Strikes and Fighting Finesse with 2 of the 4 mitigation CPs (Ironclad, Duelist’s Rebuff, Enduring Resolve, Unassailable)
In fights with lots of adds Siphoning Spells and Bloody Renewal can be stronger than Rejuvenation and Sustained by Suffering

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

For overland content you should use The Shadow Mundus, which increases your Critical Damage.

For instanced content you should use The Lover Mundus, which increases your Penetration.

For extremely difficult dungeons you should consider switching to The Lady Mundus, which increases your Armor.

ATTRIBUTES

HEALTH

STAMINA

MAGICKA

For most content you should put all 64 points into Stamina. 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 Stamina, for the extremely difficult stuff you’ll need 64 Health.

FOOD

Most of the time you should use the Orzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch. Jewels of Misrule is a cheaper alternative that provides only slightly lower stats.

Other decent foods:

Braised Rabbit with Spring Vegetables - it will increase your Max Stamina at the cost of Recoveries. The Max Stamina will increase your DPS. Use it if your sustain is good enough without Orzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch.

POTIONS

Most of the time you should use Tri-Stat potions (Restore Health, Restore Stamina, Restore Magicka). They'll greatly improve you sustain. You can craft them by combining Columbine, Bugloss and Mountain's Flower.

You should instead use the Spell Power potions (Increase Spell Power, Spell Critical, Restore Magicka) when you switch to the Difficult skill setup. That's because this setup gets rid of Skeletal Archer in order to fit in Revealing Flare, so you'll need to get Major Sorcery from your potions instead. You can craft them by combining Lady's Smock, Namira's Rot and Corn Flower.

There are better potions but they're extremely expensive. Heroism potions (Heroism, Restore Stamina, Restore Magicka) can provide a 100% uptime on Minor Heroism buff which generates ultimate, but they're extremely expensive because they're crafted by combining Dragon Rheum, Dragon's Blood and Columbine.

In situations where you need more damage mitigation and you can spare some sustain, 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.