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Templar Damage Dealer: Heavy Attack

One bar, all from range. Heavy Attacks between three long-range Templar skills, with group Weapon and Spell Damage from Bright Harbinger.

Update 51PvE · Damage DealerPure classBeginnerRangedMagickaHeavy AttackLast reviewed 2026-10-29

Overview

This Templar channels fully charged Lightning Staff Heavy Attacks and casts Templar skills from 28 metres away. Oakensoul Ring locks you to one bar and covers most of the Major and Minor buffs you need.

Vampire's Bane burns the boss for 30 seconds, Blazing Spear adds area damage and a synergy, and Power of the Light bursts for more the more damage you deal in the meantime. Every Dawn's Wrath cast gives the group Armor from Illuminate and, with Bright Harbinger, Weapon and Spell Damage too.

There's no published parse for this exact bar yet. The older subclassed version did about 120k with Rakkhat's Voidmantle; we expect this one to land around 100k on the 21 million Health dummy. Lightning Staff Heavy Attacks hit enemies around the target, so it cleaves trash without changing anything.

Strengths

  • Fully ranged: every skill reaches 28 metres.
  • Group Armor and Weapon and Spell Damage from Dawn's Wrath casts, and Major Maim from Solar Prison.
  • A strong self-heal in Honor the Dead that refunds its cost.

Weaknesses

  • Much less damage than the melee Templar.
  • No published parse yet: our estimate is from the older subclassed version.
  • Stuns and knockbacks break your channel: drink an Immovability potion in fights that have them.

Buffs and debuffs you bring on bosses

Class Mastery

Pure-class characters with all three class lines at rank 50 can slot two Class Mastery passives (added in Update 50).

  • When Burning Light triggers, your Templar skills deal extra damage for a few seconds.

  • Your Dawn's Wrath casts also give the group Weapon and Spell Damage, twice as much for you.

DPS Simulation

The Boss setup played by the DPS Simulator on the 21 million Health Trial dummy, with its group buffs and debuffs, Light Attack weaving and a full Ultimate bar to start. It's #14 of 16 for single target on the tier list, #14 overall.

Simulated DPS
92,354
Fight
227.4 s
Front bar
6,621 damage · 55% crit · 125% crit damage

Where the damage comes from

  1. Radiant Oppression25.7%
  2. HAHeavy Attack24.4%
  3. Power of the Light9.9%
  4. Unstable Wall of Elements7.0%
  5. LALight Attack6.8%
  6. Blazing Spear6.6%
  7. •Burning Light5.9%
  8. GLShock glyph5.0%
  9. …Everything else8.7%

Damage type

  • Flame4.9%
  • Shock43.3%
  • Magic41.7%
  • Physical10.1%

84.3% direct, 15.7% over time.

Group buffs it leans on most

  • Major Vulnerability−8.5k
  • Major Slayer−7.1k
  • Major Courage−5.5k
  • Roar of Alkosh−5.0k
  • Major Breach−4.9k
  • Minor Savagery−4.3k

DPS lost if the group didn't bring it.

A simulation, not a parse: it uses UESP tooltip numbers, plays a clean rotation and assumes you sustain it. Light Attack, status effect and pet damage are estimates. Open this run in the DPS Simulator to change gear, buffs or the rotation and see the full breakdown.

Skill Setups

Every damage dealer build has a Boss setup for single targets and a Trash setup that swaps a slot or two for packs. The gear stays the same for both.

Single target: every slot either hits the boss harder or buffs you. Keep your damage over time effects and buffs up, then spam your spammable in between.

What this setup brings

Only bar (Oakensoul Ring)

Lightning staff · Sergeant's Mail

Unstable Wall of Elements1
Vampire's Bane2
Blazing Spear3
Power of the Light4
Honor the Dead5
Solar PrisonR
SlotSkill
Bar 1Unstable Wall of Elements

Destruction Staff

Cast time: InstantDuration: 10 secondsCost: 2,970 Magicka

Area damage that explodes when it ends, and Off Balance on Concussed enemies inside it, so your Heavy Attacks hit them 70% harder.

Bar 2Vampire's Bane

Dawn's Wrath

Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 30 secondsCost: 2,970 Magicka

30 seconds of flame damage on the boss for one cast. A Dawn's Wrath skill, so it sets off Bright Harbinger.

Bar 3Blazing Spear

Aedric Spear

Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 10 secondsCost: 2,970 Magicka

Area damage for 10 seconds where it lands, with the Spear Shards synergy for an ally.

Bar 4Power of the Light

Dawn's Wrath

Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 6 secondsCost: 1,337 Stamina

Marks the boss for 6 seconds, then bursts for up to three times as much depending on the damage you dealt it.

Bar 5Honor the Dead

Restoring Light

Cast time: InstantCost: 4,590 Magicka

Your heal. Healing yourself below 75% Health refunds some of its Magicka.

Bar RSolar Prison

Dawn's Wrath

Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 8 secondsCost: 250 Ultimate

8 seconds of damage and Major Maim on everything in the area, with a big synergy for an ally.

Open the Boss setup in the Build Editor to change skills, gear and stats.

Simulate it on the Trial dummy to see its DPS, where the damage comes from and what each buff is worth.

The same bar. Unstable Wall of Elements and Blazing Spear hit the whole pack, and Lightning Staff Heavy Attacks hit enemies around the target. Open big pulls with Solar Prison.

What this setup brings

Only bar (Oakensoul Ring)

Lightning staff · Sergeant's Mail

Unstable Wall of Elements1
Vampire's Bane2
Blazing Spear3
Power of the Light4
Honor the Dead5
Solar PrisonR
SlotSkill
Bar 1Unstable Wall of Elements

Destruction Staff

Cast time: InstantDuration: 10 secondsCost: 2,970 Magicka

Area damage that explodes when it ends, and Off Balance on Concussed enemies inside it, so your Heavy Attacks hit them 70% harder.

Bar 2Vampire's Bane

Dawn's Wrath

Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 30 secondsCost: 2,970 Magicka

30 seconds of flame damage on the boss for one cast. A Dawn's Wrath skill, so it sets off Bright Harbinger.

Bar 3Blazing Spear

Aedric Spear

Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 10 secondsCost: 2,970 Magicka

Area damage for 10 seconds where it lands, with the Spear Shards synergy for an ally.

Bar 4Power of the Light

Dawn's Wrath

Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 6 secondsCost: 1,337 Stamina

Marks the boss for 6 seconds, then bursts for up to three times as much depending on the damage you dealt it.

Bar 5Honor the Dead

Restoring Light

Cast time: InstantCost: 4,590 Magicka

Your heal. Healing yourself below 75% Health refunds some of its Magicka.

Bar RSolar Prison

Dawn's Wrath

Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 8 secondsCost: 250 Ultimate

8 seconds of damage and Major Maim on everything in the area, with a big synergy for an ally.

Open the Trash setup in the Build Editor to change skills, gear and stats.

Simulate it on the Trial dummy to see its DPS, where the damage comes from and what each buff is worth.

Flex skills

Swap these in when the fight or your group calls for it.

Passives

The passives that shape this build. They come with the skill lines, so there's nothing to slot.

  • Fully charged Lightning Staff Heavy Attacks hit enemies near your target too.

  • More Critical Damage, always on.

  • Armor and Weapon and Spell Damage for each Templar skill slotted.

  • 12% more Critical Damage from 6 Medium pieces.

  • Offensive Penetration from 1 Light piece.

  • Max Health, Magicka and Stamina, since your gear has all three armour weights.

Gear

Sergeant's Mail on the chest, two jewellery pieces and the staff stacks Heavy Attack damage, and Storm Master on five Medium pieces adds Light and Heavy Attack damage when a Heavy Attack crits. Slimecraw is a one-piece helm for Critical Chance and Minor Berserk, and Oakensoul Ring holds the build together. The Shock glyph Concusses the boss, which Unstable Wall of Elements turns into Off Balance; use Flame instead if your group already keeps Off Balance up.

Buffs and debuffs with this gear

Gold entries come from your gear; the rest come from your skills and passives.

Slots

SlotSetTrait
HeadSlimecraw

Medium (monster)

Divines
ShouldersStorm Master

Medium

Divines
ChestSergeant's Mail

Heavy

Divines
HandsStorm Master

Medium

Divines
WaistStorm Master

Medium

Divines
LegsStorm Master

Medium

Divines
FeetStorm Master

Medium

Divines
NeckSergeant's Mail

Jewellery

Bloodthirsty
Ring 1Sergeant's Mail

Jewellery

Bloodthirsty
Ring 2Oakensoul Ring

Jewellery (mythic)

Bloodthirsty
Front: main handSergeant's Mail

Lightning staff (two-handed)

Precise

Sturdy and Divines are interchangeable on armour. Tri-Stat glyphs on jewellery are a fine swap if you need more resources.

What the sets do

SlimecrawMonster

1 piece · Wayrest Sewers I (veteran) + Undaunted chest

Only 1 of 2 pieces, so the top bonus is off.

  • (1 item)Adds 657 Critical Chance.
  • (2 items)Adds 113 Critical Chance.
  • (2 items)Gain Minor Berserk at all times, increasing your damage done by 5%.

5 pieces · Tempest Island

  • (2 items)Adds 657 Critical Chance.
  • (3 items)Adds 657 Critical Chance.
  • (4 items)Adds 129 Weapon Damage and Spell Damage.
  • (5 items)When you deal Critical Damage with a fully-charged Heavy Attack, your Light and Heavy Attacks deal an additional 1542 damage to monsters for 8 seconds. This effect can occur once every 5 seconds.

5 front / 3 back · Wayrest Sewers

Full bonus on the front bar only.

  • (2 items)Adds 1206 Maximum Health.
  • (3 items)Adds 129 Health Recovery.
  • (4 items)Adds 129 Weapon Damage and Spell Damage.
  • (5 items)When you deal damage with a Heavy Attack, you gain a stack of Sergeant's Focus for 5 seconds, increasing the damage of your Heavy Attacks by 645 per stack. This effect can occur once every second and stacks up to 4 times.

1 piece · Antiquities

  • (1 item)While equipped, you are unable to swap between your Primary and Backup Weapon Sets and gain Minor Berserk, Minor Courage, Major Brutality, Major Savagery, Minor Force, Minor Protection, Major Resolve, Minor Mending, Minor Fortitude, Minor Intellect, Minor Endurance, Minor Heroism, Minor Slayer, Minor Aegis, and Empower.

Alternative sets

  • About 2% more damage than Storm Master, in Light, but only for attacks in melee range. Take it if you'll stand next to the boss anyway.

  • The full damage version: Heavy Attacks hit 50% harder. It replaces Oakensoul, so you run two bars and bring your own buffs; about 10% more damage.

  • Heavy Attack monster set, in place of Slimecraw when you drop Oakensoul.

  • Crafted fallback for either body set: Critical Chance, more while you stand still.

  • Crafted fallback for Sergeant's Mail. An all-crafted build does about 20% less damage.

Champion Points

Slottable stars only. Spend passive points in each tree along the path to these stars.

Warfare
  1. Weapons Expert

    20% more Light and Heavy Attack damage: most of this build's damage.

  2. Backstabber

    Critical Damage when you hit from the flank.

  3. Deadly Aim

    More single-target damage.

  4. Wrathful Strikes

    Weapon and Spell Damage on every damaging skill.

Fitness
  1. Boundless Vitality

    Max Health, so one-shot mechanics don't kill you.

  2. Fortified

    Armor, for the hits you can't block.

  3. Celerity

    10% Movement Speed.

  4. Expert Evasion

    A free roll dodge, since you can't spare the resources mid-channel.

Craft
  1. Steed's Blessing

    Run between pulls faster.

  2. Gifted Rider

    Faster mount.

Good swaps

  • Your damage heals you, if you need more healing.

  • More area damage, in place of Deadly Aim on trash.

Race

  • Max Magicka and Weapon and Spell Damage, and less damage taken while you channel.

  • also goodDark Elf

    Max Magicka and Stamina and Flame damage. Strong on every build.

  • 4-playerKhajiit

    Critical Damage and Healing. Better in dungeons, where you rarely hit the Critical Damage cap.

Mundus

  • More Critical Chance. Divines on the armour makes it bigger.

  • PenetrationThe Lover

    Penetration, if your group doesn't bring Crusher, Alkosh or Tremorscale.

Attributes

64 Magicka

Every skill you cast scales from Max Magicka and Weapon and Spell Damage. Food and Boundless Vitality give you enough Health for normal content; move points into Health only if you keep dying to mechanics while you learn a fight.

Food

Potions

  • Oakensoul Ring already gives Major Brutality and Major Savagery, so drink Major Resolve and Health instead.

  • Immune to stuns and knockbacks, so nothing interrupts your channel.

Gameplay

  1. 1Pre-cast Vampire's Bane and Blazing Spear as the pull starts.
  2. 2Fully charge a Heavy Attack, then cast one skill, then the next Heavy Attack. Only cast what's running out, most important first: Solar Prison when it's ready, Vampire's Bane, Power of the Light, Unstable Wall of Elements, Blazing Spear.
  3. 3Don't cut a Heavy Attack short. Sergeant's Mail and the Tri Focus cleave both want the full channel.
  4. 4Stand anywhere in range. If you take Noble Duelist's Silks instead of Storm Master, stand next to the boss.

FAQ

What's the difference between the Boss and Trash setups?

The same bar. Unstable Wall of Elements and Blazing Spear hit the whole pack, and Lightning Staff Heavy Attacks hit enemies around the target. Open big pulls with Solar Prison. Your gear stays the same.

What gear do I need for the Templar damage dealer?

Slimecraw, Storm Master, Sergeant's Mail, Oakensoul Ring. The Alternative sets list easier sets to start with.

Does this Templar still help the group?

Yes. Every Dawn's Wrath cast, Vampire's Bane, Power of the Light and Solar Prison, gives the group Armor from Illuminate and Weapon and Spell Damage from Bright Harbinger.