One of the aspects Elder Scrolls Online prides itself on is the variety it brings when creating characters. There are almost endless skills to grab, a vast amount of champion points to use, and multiple ways to create an effective DPS without losing any of the aspects you may love about your character.
Typically when playing as a group or solo in a dungeon you'll need a healer, a tank, and two DPS characters. Nothing is worse than getting into a tough battle to find that one of those classes isn't holding up their end of the fight. One wrong build could spell disaster. This is why it's vital to find an effective build and work around doing the most damage possible. Luckily there are quite a few options for anyone to try out, just make sure to focus on either Magicka or Stamina.
Sorcerer
Magicka
The Sorcerer is a fantastic all-round class to choose if you like using Magicka. It's one of those DPS classes that focus primarily on ranged attacks, keeping them particularly safe from attacks yet still allowing them to fell a creature with relative ease. It's also one of the only classes with Hardened Ward, just in case you need to protect yourself with one of the best abilities in Elder Scrolls.
Nevertheless, while fighting at a distance, you shouldn't need too many healing skills, instead, look at dealing damage and causing effects to the enemy like Summon Volatile Familiar which brings in new pets and makes it a relatively unique class to play.
When it comes to armor, Mother's Sorrow is great, as well as Necropotence which just seems perfect for any Magicka-based Sorcerer. Mother's Sorrow is one of the best weapons available so look into the set.
Stamina
Nothing is worse than going into a battle with your tank, DPS, and healer only to find out that the healer can't do their job as quickly as you and the tank are taking damage. This is why it's important to always have a healing backup on your class. Stamina-based Sorcerers are the perfect culmination of healing and DPS to make that health problem disappear as quickly as the enemy will once this build is done properly.
You'll want skills that do damage like Hurricane or Bound Armaments. Then you need to get Dark Deal which will provide you with that healing instantly. Make sure to find a balance between the damage and healing abilities, you are a DPS after all. Complimenting these skills are the Briarheart armor and weapons, granting you critical damage, more stamina, and healing.
Necromancer
Magicka
Although it's entirely up to you how you prefer to play a DPS, a lot of the more powerful builds act as ranged. This keeps you out of harm's way but still allows you to do some incredible damage while still slowing or giving the enemy a negative effect when using certain skills.
The skills you want to be prioritizing are those that grant you damage while still giving a boost to health such as Necrotic Potency or Mystic Siphon. There's also the ultimate called Reanimate that can be one of the most useful aspects to the Necromancer, bringing up to three allies back from the dead.
As for weapons and armor sets, look for Mother's Sorrow or Julianos for that addition to Magicka and criticals.
Stamina
While it may not be a ranged DPS, the Stamina build of the Necromancer has one of the highest damage outputs available. It just means you'll need a lot more healing due to your close proximity to enemies. That being said, with certain abilities you can buff entire parties while still doing some huge damage and healing yourself. Necrotic Potency is a must-have for any DPS Necromancer build but the skill you want is Pestilent Colossus since it will buff your party and fell that enemy before you know it.
Due to the versatility of this build, the weapon choice is primarily up to you. As for the armor, look at Briarheart or Hunding’s Rage for the increased critical chance and damage.
Warden
Magicka
Unfortunately, using Stamina for a Warden build isn't advised. It just doesn't hold up against any other DPS builds. Instead, focus on Magicka and you'll be holding your own in the toughest of dungeons and against powerful bosses.
While the Warden may come across as more of a healing class, you can combine some incredible AoE spells and the help of other animals to become a force to be reckoned with. It's a great ranged class that you can combine with Blue Bettys and other plant-based skills to both do damage and make the battlefield look beautiful.
Look for the Mother's Sorrow weapon and armor or go for False God's Devotion for the increase to your damage when in Dungeons, Arenas, or Trials.
Templar
Magicka
If you prefer ranged builds then the Magicka version of the Templar probably isn't the best choice. It can hold its own but the up-front version is much more powerful and versatile. This is mainly due to the capabilities to do damage with skills like Puncturing Sweeps or Radiant Oppression. Each can do some impressive damage as well as a decent amount of healing since you'll be in melee range and will more than likely need all the healing possible.
As for weapons, the Magicka increase and crit chance from Mother's Sorrow is the best decision. This is the same with armor or look at False God’s Devotion for that extra edge.
Stamina
The Templar just wasn't built for ranged attacks, so you'll probably want to explore a different class if that's how you play Elder Scrolls Online. Nevertheless, just because you're upfront doesn't mean you can't do some impressive damage while also helping to increase your stamina and slow enemies with every hit.
Skills like Repentance or Biting Jabs are wonderful choices and you should look into exploring skills that do damage as well as increasing your health due to the close nature of the build. Look for medium armor for the Templar. Tzogvin’s Warband or Hunding’s Rage is a good place to start. Whereas for weapons, Briarheart is the best sword available.
Nightblade
Magicka
Many will look at the Nightblade and instantly place all their points into Stamina because they just look like a rogue and are relatively successful with dual wielding and bows. However, it's magic where this DPS truly thrives, especially when looking into the abilities.
One of the best aspects about the Nightblade is the fact that with the right abilities you can do an incredible amount of damage, heal, and stay out of the way of incoming damage with relative ease. Skills like Sap Essence or Swallow Soul will do damage while healing you at the same time while Impale turns into a gamechanger once the enemy gets below 25 percent.
As for weapons, destruction staffs are the way to go. Mother's Sorrow is a wonderful set, perfect for both weapons and some armor. When done right, this class is the most powerful DPS in Elder Scrolls Online.
Stamina
The Nightblade thrives in situations where stealth, damage, and speed are important, so if you want to explore a stamina build that can hold its own against most enemies, the Nightblade is a good place to go.
While they may not be the best at ranged attacks, this class is surprisingly effective when placed upfront, as long as they are protected by the tank for the most part. The only issue is that it's one of the more complicated builds due to how much there is to choose from and how great it all sounds.
Focus on skills that grant you abilities that do damage but slow the enemy down like Surprise Attack or Power Extraction. Also, make sure to grab skills that heal you. If you're going to be up close and personal then skills like Relentless Focus or Killer's Blade will save your life. As for armor and weapons, Hunding’s Rage is great for armor and Briarheart is a wonderful weapon to do some huge damage.