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Stamina Arcanist Solo Build - ESO Guide

Solo Arcanist Pure Class Stamina Two Bar
Up to date for: Update 49 - 30th March 2026
Last changed: Update 49 - 30th March 2026

Stamina Arcanist (StamArc) Solo Build for ESO. Pragmatic Fatecarver skill icon - ESOPragmatic Fatecarver is a channeled beam that deals full damage in AoE with no damage falloff and has a 22 meter range. It also grants a massive damage shield on cast. Cephaliarch's Flail skill icon - ESOCephaliarch's Flail heals you every time you use it, so between the shield and the healing you barely have to think about staying alive.

One of the strongest pure class solo builds in ESO Update 49. It used to be the strongest solo build in the game before subclassing. Easy to play, though vulnerable to content with lots of stuns since they interrupt Pragmatic Fatecarver skill icon - ESOFatecarver.

Soloed Veteran Hard Mode Castle Thorn and Veteran Hard Mode Bedlam Veil. Parses 54k in the Regular setup and 51.6k in the Tanky setup. But those are Single Target numbers that undersell it since Pragmatic Fatecarver skill icon - ESOFatecarver hits everything at full damage in AoE.

Looking for something simpler? Check out the One Bar Stamina Arcanist Solo Build. Or try the Heavy Attack Arcanist Solo Build for a heavy attack playstyle.

The video is from an older patch - the written guide below is more up to date.
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Skill Setups

Base Setup

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

For regular content such as Solo Arenas, World Bosses, and the majority of dungeon fights

Cephaliarch's Flail Pragmatic Fatecarver Barbed Trap Quick Cloak Recuperative Treatise Flawless Dawnbreaker
Cruxweaver Armor Ulfsild's Contingency Elemental Susceptibility Elemental Blockade Fulminating Rune The Languid Eye
Front Bar Back Bar
Slot 1: Cephaliarch's Flail Slot 1: Cruxweaver Armor
Slot 2: Pragmatic Fatecarver Slot 2: Ulfsild's Contingency
Slot 3: Barbed Trap Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility
Slot 4: Quick Cloak Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Recuperative Treatise Slot 5: Fulminating Rune
Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker Ultimate: The Languid Eye
INFO
  • Cephaliarch's FlailCephaliarch's Flail - an AoE spammable that generates Crux, heals you if you hit any enemy and increases the damage enemies take from you by 5%
  • Pragmatic FatecarverPragmatic Fatecarver - extremely powerful Crux spender that deals full damage in AoE, has massive range of 22 meters and grants you a big damage shield while you channel it
  • Barbed TrapBarbed 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%. It will also passively grant you 3% Weapon and Spell Damage through the SlayerSlayer passive
  • Quick CloakQuick Cloak - an ability that deals damage around you every 2 seconds for 30 seconds and grants you Major Evasion for the duration, reducing your AoE damage taken by 20%. The damage it deals will also continue to proc your weapon enchantments even while you channel Pragmatic FatecarverPragmatic Fatecarver, which is important because you can't Light Attack while beaming
  • Recuperative TreatiseRecuperative Treatise - an ability that deals decent damage, ensures you'll have at least 1 Crux and improves your sustain
  • Flawless DawnbreakerFlawless Dawnbreaker - an ultimate we'll keep slotted to activate the SlayerSlayer and Banish the WickedBanish the Wicked passives which increase Weapon and Spell Damage by 3% and generate Ultimate on kills. You can also use it towards the end of the fight if it's obvious you won't get enough Ultimate for another The Languid EyeThe Languid Eye
  • Cruxweaver ArmorCruxweaver Armor - your source of Major Resolve which is an extremely important defensive buff. It will also apply Minor Breach to enemies who attack you for 6 seconds and generate Crux when you get hit up to once every 5 seconds
  • Ulfsild's ContingencyUlfsild's Contingency (BleedBleed, Lingering TormentLingering Torment, ResolveResolve) - a 22 second DoT which will also grant you Minor Resolve, increasing your armor by 2974
  • Elemental SusceptibilityElemental 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% and it will also apply Minor Brittle for 4 seconds if you were on your Ice Staff bar while the Chilled effect procced, and Ice Staff will be part of the Instanced gear setup. Minor Brittle increases Critical Damage taken by 10%. The Chilled proc will also synergise with our Elemental BlockadeElemental Blockade
  • Elemental BlockadeElemental Blockade - this ability will constantly apply your Weapon DamageWeapon Damage enchantment. If it's the Ice version, it will also constantly apply Minor Breach to enemies who are Chilled, and they'll be Chilled thanks to Elemental SusceptibilityElemental Susceptibility
  • Fulminating RuneFulminating Rune - a decent DoT which deals damage in an AoE after a delay
  • The Languid EyeThe Languid Eye - an Ultimate which deals damage in a small AoE over 6 seconds which can be moved by pressing the ability again (it's off Global Cooldown)
SITUATIONAL

Fulminating RuneFulminating Rune, Quick CloakQuick Cloak and Ulfsild's ContingencyUlfsild's Contingency are the first skills that have to go (in that order) if you need to slot situational, 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
  • 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
  • Runeguard of Still WatersRuneguard of Still Waters - an ability that places a delayed heal on you which triggers when you take damage below 50% HP. It also grants you Minor Resolve, which increases armor by 2974. It also grants you Minor Protection which is removed when the heal effect procs. It also snares enemies around you when cast
  • Inspired ScholarshipInspired Scholarship - does more damage than Recuperative TreatiseRecuperative Treatise and should be used if you can sustain fine and want more damage
  • Runic SunderRunic Sunder - grants 2200 penetration, 2200 armor and generates Crux. It's a Taunt which won't matter since this is a Solo build, but if you decide to use this build in group content (which you shouldn't do anyway) you absolutely cannot use Runic SunderRunic Sunder
  • 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%
  • Race Against TimeRace Against Time - snare removal which will be crucial for some fights. It replaces Barbed TrapBarbed Trap because it also provides Minor Force
  • 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
  • Sanctum of the Abyssal SeaSanctum of the Abyssal Sea - a defensive ultimate that grants you a large damage shield. Use it in fights where you need a panic button
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 dealing with trash packs

Cephaliarch's Flail Pragmatic Fatecarver Barbed Trap Quick Cloak Recuperative Treatise Flawless Dawnbreaker
Cruxweaver Armor Ulfsild's Contingency Razor Caltrops Elemental Blockade Silver Leash The Languid Eye
Front Bar Back Bar
Slot 1: Cephaliarch's Flail Slot 1: Cruxweaver Armor
Slot 2: Pragmatic Fatecarver Slot 2: Ulfsild's Contingency
Slot 3: Barbed Trap Slot 3: Razor Caltrops
Slot 4: Quick Cloak Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Recuperative Treatise Slot 5: Silver Leash
Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker Ultimate: The Languid Eye

What Changes

Passives

The only passive you specifically have to skip is Tri Focus

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

Class

Weapon

Armor

Guild

Alliance War

Racial

Craft

Class - Herald of the Tome

Fated Fortune - High Priority

Harnessed Quintessence - High Priority

Psychic Lesion - High Priority

Splintered Secrets - High Priority

Gear

Base Setup

A base setup that is meant for Overland content and will work for most situations. It should be your starting point when making situational setups

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

Situational

Gear that can be stronger than the setup from the table in specific situations or when specific circumstances are present

  • Sul-Xan's TormentSul-Xan's Torment - the best set for trash packs and for bosses that regularly spawn smaller adds
Alternative

Gear that is easier to obtain and can be used while you work towards the best gear

Crafted

All of these are tradable and can be bought from other players

Only listing a single alternative because one of the sets from Base Setup, Tide-Born WildstalkerTide-Born Wildstalker, is also a crafted set

No Overland, Dungeon or Trial gear is listed as the Crafted options are superior.

Additional Info

Additional tips

  • You can change some (or all) of the StaminaStamina enchants to HealthHealth ones for extremely hard hitting bosses

Final Setups

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

This is the crafted gear setup you can start with

The setup in the table uses only crafted gear, but if you already own parts of the Base setup like Ring of the Pale OrderRing of the Pale Order you can start using them immediately

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.

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Champion Points

WarfareWarfare
Master-at-Arms
6% Direct Damage
Because more than 60% of your damage is Direct
Biting Aura
6% AoE Damage
Because more than 60% of your damage is AoE
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
Bastion
15% stronger damage shields
Survivability
Rejuvenation
90 Health, Magicka and Stamina Recovery
Sustain
Fortified
1731 Armor
Survivability
Constant debuffs
Replace RejuvenationRejuvenation with Sustained by SufferingSustained by Suffering in fights where you constantly have a debuff on yourself
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 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 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.

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

Food

Your sustain can vary greatly because it's impacted by your armor weight composition, your race and how much blocking/dodge rolling you're required to do in a certain fight. Choose the food with more recoveries if you can't sustain

Max Health Max Stamina
The default option. Increases your Max Health and Max Stamina.
Max Health Max Stamina Stamina Recovery
Smaller amount of Max Health and Max Stamina, but provides Stamina Recovery on top of that. Use it for more difficult content where you need to sustain more.
Max Health Stamina Recovery Magicka Recovery
A good alternative for difficult fights which force you to constantly re-apply Runeguard of Still Waters, because it provides additional Magicka Recovery. It doesn't provide Max Stamina though, so it will be a DPS loss. Jewels of Misrule is a cheaper alternative with slightly lower stats.

Potions

Tri-Stat Potion
Default Tri-Stat Potion
Restore Health Restore Stamina Restore Magicka

Most of the time you should use Tri-Stat potions. They'll greatly improve your sustain.

Armor Potion
Difficult Content Armor Potion
Restore Health +5280 Armor

In situations where you need more damage mitigation and you can spare some sustain, use Armor potions which increase your armor by 5280. You'll most likely need Orzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch food to sustain them.

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

Heroism potions provide 100% uptime on Minor Heroism which generates Ultimate, but they're extremely expensive.

Parses

All parses are recorded on the 6 million Target Dummy

Regular Setup
54,111DPS
Target: 6mil Skeleton Dummy
Patch: Update 49

Using Regular setup

CMX Parse
Arcanist Solo CMX Parse - Regular Setup - ESO
CMX Setup
Arcanist Solo CMX Setup - Regular Setup - ESO
Recording
Parse recording
Tanky Setup
51,648DPS
Target: 6mil Skeleton Dummy
Patch: Update 49

Using Tanky skill setup

CMX Parse
Arcanist Solo CMX Parse - Tanky Setup - ESO
CMX Setup
Arcanist Solo CMX Setup - Tanky Setup - ESO
Recording
Parse recording

Gameplay

Here you can see this build tackling some of the hardest Hard Mode dungeons

Castle Thorn
Dungeon
Bedlam Veil
Dungeon
Castle Thorn
Dungeon Veteran Hard Mode
Bedlam Veil
Dungeon Veteran Hard Mode

Fashion

Outfit
Stamina Arcanist fashion screenshot
Slot Style Dyes
Head Greymoor HelmGreymoor Helm
Silvenar Green
Silvenar Green
Silvenar Green
Shoulders Scribes of Mora PauldronsScribes of Mora Pauldrons
Glenbridge Green
Chest Evergloam Champion CuirassEvergloam Champion Cuirass
Thalmor Black
Silvenar Green
Thalmor Black
Hands Ancient Daedric GauntletsAncient Daedric Gauntlets
Silvenar Green
Thalmor Black
Belt Ancient Daedric GirdleAncient Daedric Girdle
Silvenar Green
Legs Thieves Guild GreavesThieves Guild Greaves
Silvenar Green
Thalmor Black
Thalmor Black
Feet Scorianite Gladiator BootsScorianite Gladiator Boots
Silvenar Green
Thalmor Black
Thalmor Black
Frontbar Main Hand Scribes of Mora SwordScribes of Mora Sword
Empty
Empty
Empty
Frontbar Off Hand Scribes of Mora SwordScribes of Mora Sword
Empty
Empty
Empty
Backbar Main Hand Scribes of Mora StaffScribes of Mora Staff
Empty
Empty
Empty
Stamina Arcanist fashion screenshot

FAQ

What is the best race for Stamina Arcanist in ESO?

Khajiit is the best race for damage thanks to 12% Critical Damage from Feline Ambush. Nord is the best race for survivability, providing around 5-7% damage mitigation through the Rugged racial passive.

Is Arcanist hard to play in ESO?

No, Arcanist is one of the easiest classes to play solo. Cephaliarch's Flail heals you every time you use it and Pragmatic Fatecarver grants a massive damage shield, so you barely have to think about staying alive. The only thing to watch out for is stuns interrupting your Pragmatic Fatecarver skill icon - ESOFatecarver channel.

Is Arcanist good solo?

One of the strongest pure class solo builds in the game. It used to be the strongest solo build in ESO before subclassing, and it's now also surpassed by pure Dragonknight. It can solo every Veteran Dungeon and most Hard Mode Dungeons, including Veteran Hard Mode Castle Thorn and Bedlam Veil.

Can I use a different weapon?

Yes, you can replace the Dual Wield Daggers with other weapons. Greatsword, Lightning Staff and Bow will cause the smallest DPS loss (approximately 2%), then Inferno (approximately 4%), and then support-oriented weapons (Ice Staff, Restoration Staff, One Handed and Shield) will cause bigger DPS loss (approximately 7%). You will also have to replace Quick Cloak with some situational ability, or with an ability from one of the weapons you swapped to (for example Carve when switching to Greatsword). Replacing backbar weapon is a lot more troublesome, because Elemental Susceptibility is 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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