STAMINA SORCERER SOLO GUIDE
Last updated: Update 45 - 9th April 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: Bloodthirst | Slot 1: Hurricane |
| Slot 2: Haunting Curse | Slot 2: Critical Surge |
| Slot 3: Bound Armaments | Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility |
| Slot 4: Crystal Fragments | Slot 4: Elemental Blockade |
| Slot 5: Camouflaged Hunter | Slot 5: Barbed Trap |
| Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker | Ultimate: Summon Charged Atronach |
Bloodthirst - a spammable that
will heal you for 33% of the damage done
Haunting Curse - this ability
simply deals a lot of damage per cast
Bound Armaments - this ability
passively grants you 8% Max Stamina and it can be used every 4 Light Attacks for a strong
direct hit
Crystal Fragments - is an
ability that has 33% chance to become empowered whenever you use an ability on your
frontbar. Use it whenever it procs. This ability will proc the
Exploitation passive,
increasing your Critical Chance by 6%. It will also heal you for 10% of your Max Health
thanks to
Blood Magic passive.
Camouflaged Hunter - this
ability will passively grant you the Major Savagery and Major Prophecy buffs, which will
increase your critical chance by 12%. It will also trigger the
Slayer passive, increasing your
Weapon and Spell Damage by 3%.
Flawless Dawnbreaker - an
ultimate we'll keep slotted to activate the
Slayer passive which increases
Weapon and Spell Damage by 3%. You can also use it towards the end of the fight if it's
obvious you won't get enough Ultimate for another
Summon Charged Atronach
Hurricane - your source of
Major Resolve which is a crucial defensive buff, and it also deals decent damage.
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
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% 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
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%
Summon Charged Atronach - the
most powerful ultimate Sorcerer has access to. It will also keep proccing Concussion status
effect which will keep up the Minor Vulnerability debuff, which increases enemies' damage
taken by 5%
Haunting Curse is the skill that
has to go when you need to slot something situational
Resolving Vigor - use it for
more difficult fights where the pressure is constant and thus you need the Minor Resolve
Hardened Ward - use it for more
difficult fights where the pressure happens during a specific phase, but there are also
phases where you don't need to be on the defensive
Ball of Lightning - use it for
fights where you need to get around really fast, or where this ability allows you to
completely skip certain mechanics, like for example the Wall of Aurorans in the Symphony of
Blades fight
Whirling Blades - AoE spammable
that can replace
Bloodthirst in trash fights
Rapid Strikes - deals more
damage and is cheaper than
Bloodthirst, you can switch to
it when doing trivial content
Focused Aim - ranged spammable
that can be used instead of
Bloodthirst in fights where you
need to stay at range
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
Critical Surge - Use
Elemental Susceptibility - Use
Elemental Blockade - Use
Barbed Trap - Use
Hurricane - Use
Summon Charged Atronach if it's
ready
- Use
Crystal Fragments proc if it's
ready
- Use
Haunting Curse - Use
Bound Armaments if it's at 4
stacks
- Use
Bloodthirst
Pre-buff
These abilities can be pre-cast before entering combat
PASSIVES
The only passive you specifically have to skip is
Tri Focus
Class
Weapon
Armor
Guild
Alliance War
Racial
Craft
Class - Dark Magic
Unholy Knowledge - Medium Priority
Blood Magic - Medium Priority
Persistence - Low Priority
Exploitation - 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 |
Medium | |||
![]() Belt |
Light | |||
![]() Legs |
Medium | |||
![]() Boots |
Medium | |||
![]() Necklace |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
Mace | |||
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
Mace | |||
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
Ice 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
The weight distribution of the setup from the table is 1 Heavy 5 Medium 1 Light so that you can start leveling up all your armor skill lines. Once you transition to Regular setup you'll be using 6 Medium 1 Light most of the time, switching to 1 Heavy 5 Medium 1 Light only against more difficult fights
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 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
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
Dungeons:
Tzogvin’s Warband (Medium) -
Frostvault
Pillar of Nirn (Medium) - Falkreath
Hold
Essence Thief (Medium) - White-Gold
Tower
Leviathan
(Medium) - Crypt of Heart 1 & 2
- For Ranged build, replace two one-handed weapons with a bow of the same set with
Precise
trait and
Poison 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
- For overland content, you don't need as much penetration so you can replace Maces with Daggers
- For overland content, you don't need as much penetration so you can replace Ice Staff with Inferno Staff
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 |
Medium | |||
![]() Hands |
Medium | |||
![]() Belt |
Light | |||
![]() Legs |
Medium | |||
![]() Boots |
Medium | |||
![]() Necklace |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
Dagger | |||
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
Mace | |||
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
Ice Staff |
Both 5-piece sets are replaceable. If you want to switch to a situational set which
provides Minor Slayer then it usually makes more sense to replace
Ansuul’s Torment. Otherwise it's usually better
to replace
Beacon of Oblivion.
Another aspect to consider is that
Ansuul provides a penetration line and is
focused entirely on damage, while
Beacon
provides a decent amount of survivability.
For example, a default setup for trash packs would replace
Ansuul's Torment with
Sul-Xan’s Torment
Gear that can be stronger than the setup from the table in specific situations or when specific circumstances are present
Sul-Xan’s Torment - the best set
for trash packs and for bosses that regularly spawn smaller adds
Arms of Relequen - best for easier
Single Target fights. Does a lot of Single Target damage, but this damage doesn't heal you
through
Ring of the Pale Order
Essence Thief - best for fights
where you struggle with Stamina sustain due to blocking, dodge rolling or any other reason.
Doesn't work on some enemy types like for example Dragons, due to the proc spawning in
inaccessible areas
- For Ranged build, replace two one-handed weapons with a bow of the same set with
Precise
trait and
Poison enchant
- For more difficult fights you can change the Medium Chest piece to a Heavy one with
Reinforced
trait as long as you're using a set which comes in many weights (and
Beacon of Oblivion does)
- For overland content, you don't need as much penetration so you can replace Maces with Daggers
- For overland content, you don't need as much penetration so you can replace Ice Staff with Inferno Staff
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 |
Medium | |||
![]() Belt |
Light | |||
![]() Legs |
Medium | |||
![]() Boots |
Medium | |||
![]() Necklace |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
Dagger | |||
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
Mace | |||
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
Ice Staff |
CHAMPION POINTS
Warfare
Master-at-Arms (6%
Direct
Damage)
Deadly Aim (6% Single
Target 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
ATTRIBUTES
HEALTH
0
STAMINA
64
MAGICKA
0
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
Braised Rabbit with Spring Vegetables
- Max Health, Max Stamina. Use it for most of regular content
Artaeum Takeaway Broth
-
Max Health, Max Stamina, Stamina Recovery. Use it if you need a bit more Stamina
Recovery in
fights which require more blocking or dodge rolling, or if you can't sustain for any
other
reason.
Dubious Camoran Throne
is a
cheaper alternative
Orzorga's Tripe Trifle Pocket
-
Max Health, Stamina Recovery. Use it if you need a lot more Stamina Recovery in fights
which
require more blocking or dodge rolling, or if you can't sustain for any other reason
Orzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch
- Max Health, Stamina Recovery, Magicka Recovery. Use it in fights which require more
blocking or dodge rolling, but also require you to spam
Hardened Ward
POTIONS
Most of the time you should use Tri-Stat potions (Restore Health, Restore Stamina,
Restore
Magicka). They'll greatly improve your sustain. You can craft them by combining
Columbine,
Bugloss
and
Mountain's 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.
PARSE
55k on the 6mil dummy using Regular setup
Recording of the 55k parse
GAMEPLAY
Here you can see this build tackling Veteran dungeons
Solo Veteran Moongrave Fane
Solo Veteran Unhallowed Grave (done with old version of this build)
THANKS FOR READING
If you've enjoyed this guide and want to support me, you can do so through Patreon. Your support will help me produce more guides.
CHANGELOG
8th April 2025
Skill Setups - Regular
- Wield Soul -> Bloodthirst
- Soul Burst -> Camouflaged Hunter
- Resolving Vigor -> Barbed Trap
- Added Info, Situational and Rotation
Skill Setups - Difficult
- Wield Soul -> Bloodthirst
- Bound Armaments -> Revealing Flare
- Resolving Vigor -> Bound Aegis
- Haunting Curse -> Camouflaged Hunter
- Added Info, Situational and Rotation
Passives
- Added passives section
Gear - Beginner
- 2 Daggers -> 2 Maces
- Added more Alternative sets
- Added Additional Info
Gear - Regular
- 2 Daggers -> 1 Dagger 1 Mace
- Added Situational sets
- Added Additional Info
- Tzogvin's Warband -> Beacon of Oblivion
Food
- Braised Rabbit with Spring Vegetables added as main food
- Artaeum Takeaway Broth changed to alternative
- Orzorga’s Tripe Trifle Pocket added as alternative
- Orzorga’s Smoked Bear Haunch added as alternative













