Sorcerer Damage Dealer

Storm and summoning. Instant Crystal Fragments procs, a curse that explodes twice, and Font of Power turning every Sorcerer cast into damage.

Update 52 (PTS)PvE · Damage DealerPure classAdvancedMeleeMagickaPetLast reviewed 2026-10-27

Update 52 (PTS) version

This page is the Update 52 version of this damage dealer build. Update 52 is on the PTS until January 19, 2027, so numbers can still move. Skill and set tooltips still show the live Update 51 text; hover one that changes to see what's new. For what works in game today, switch to Update 51 in the version picker (top right, or in the menu on phones). The full list is in the Update 52 patch notes.

Overview

Skinnycheeks' Magicka Sorcerer mixes all three class lines. Crystal Fragments is the spammable: casting other skills can make it instant and half-price, and the instant version hits much harder. Haunting Curse explodes twice on the boss and anything near it, and Liquid Lightning and Hurricane keep shock and physical damage ticking around you.

Font of Power gives you a big Weapon and Spell Damage boost for 10 seconds after any Sorcerer cast, and Static Reverberation adds extra shock hits that land more often as the target loses Health. Bound Armaments gives you Major Savagery and turns your Light Attacks into stacks you fire off as a burst.

Skinnycheeks rates it A+. The rotation has many moving parts and the bars carry less utility than other classes, so it sits in the middle of our list, but it's one of the most fun builds to master.

Strengths

Strong single-target damage with an easy execute in Mages' Wrath.
Your own Major Brutality, Savagery and Resolve from Critical Surge, Bound Armaments and Hurricane.
Critical Surge heals you on every crit.

Weaknesses

Lots to track: Crystal Fragments procs, Bound Armaments stacks and two curses' timing.
Little for the group beyond the Conduit synergy.
You hold your Ultimate for Shattered Paths Signet.

Buffs and debuffs you bring on bosses

You get

Class Mastery

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

Font of Power
Any Sorcerer cast gives you a big Weapon and Spell Damage boost for 10 seconds. Every bar has several.
Static Reverberation
Sorcerer skills can add an extra shock hit, more often as the target loses Health.

What changes in Update 52

Update 52 is on the PTS (patch 12.2.0, from 26 October 2026) and goes live on 19 January 2027. This version follows the first PTS week, so numbers can still move. Skill and set tooltips on this page still show the live Update 51 text.

Class. Power Overload now turns itself off if you attack below its cost. Nothing else changes for this build.

Traits. Nirnhoned weapons rise to 20% more weapon damage (from 15%) and Precise to 7.4% Critical Chance (from 7.2%), while Charged drops to 225% (from 235%). Nirnhoned main hands get a little stronger against Charged ones; the gear table stays as written until PTS numbers settle.

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 #2 of 16 for single target on the tier list, #7 overall.

Simulated DPS: 168,508
Fight: 124.6 s
Front bar: 8,379 damage · 57% crit · 125% crit damage

Where the damage comes from

Bound Armaments13.6%
LALight Attack12.0%
•Static Reverberation10.6%
Crystal Fragments10.3%
Haunting Curse7.6%
Stampede7.5%
Hurricane5.6%
Liquid Lightning4.5%
…Everything else28.3%

Damage type

Frost0.3%
Flame4.3%
Disease0.2%
Shock20.6%
Magic20.0%
Poison4.1%
Physical46.0%
Bleed4.5%

75.6% direct, 24.4% over time.

Group buffs it leans on most

Major Vulnerability−14.6k
Major Courage−10.8k
Major Slayer−10.7k
Aggressive Horn−10.5k
Roar of Alkosh−9.5k
Major Breach−9.4k

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

You get

Front bar

Dual Wield

1

2

3

4

5

R

Back bar

Two Handed · Greatsword

1

2

3

4

5

R

Slot	Skill	Why it's slotted
Front 1	Quick Cloak Dual Wield Cast time: InstantDuration: 30 secondsCost: 3,780 Stamina Major Evasion, a burst of speed, and 30 seconds of damage around you that procs your weapon glyphs.	Major Evasion, a burst of speed, and 30 seconds of damage around you that procs your weapon glyphs.
Front 2	Haunting Curse Daedric Summoning Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 12 secondsCost: 2,970 Magicka Explodes on the boss and everything near it after 3.5 seconds, then again 8.5 seconds later.	Explodes on the boss and everything near it after 3.5 seconds, then again 8.5 seconds later.
Front 3	Crystal Fragments Dark Magic Cast time: 0.8 secondsRange: 28 metresCost: 2,700 Magicka Your spammable. Other casts can make the next one instant, half-price and much stronger: fire it as soon as it procs.	Your spammable. Other casts can make the next one instant, half-price and much stronger: fire it as soon as it procs.
Front 4	Traveling Knife Scribed as Magic Knife Cast time: InstantRange: 15 metresCost: 3,553 Magicka Scribed: doubles the boss's status effect chance, and Minor Berserk for you.	Scribed: doubles the boss's status effect chance, and Minor Berserk for you.
Front 5	Bound Armaments Daedric Summoning Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 3 secondsCost: 1,377 Stamina Slotted for Major Savagery. Light Attacks build up to 8 stacks; spend four at a time for a quick physical burst.	Slotted for Major Savagery. Light Attacks build up to 8 stacks; spend four at a time for a quick physical burst.
Front R	Flawless Dawnbreaker Fighters Guild Cast time: 0.4 secondsDuration: 6 secondsCost: 125 Ultimate Slotted for its passive: 300 Weapon and Spell Damage while it's on your bar. Cast it on a pack when it's full.	Slotted for its passive: 300 Weapon and Spell Damage while it's on your bar. Cast it on a pack when it's full.
Back 1	Critical Surge Storm Calling Cast time: InstantDuration: 33 secondsCost: 4,050 Magicka 33 seconds of Major Brutality, and every crit heals you.	33 seconds of Major Brutality, and every crit heals you.
Back 2	Stampede Two Handed Cast time: InstantRange: 22 metresDuration: 15 secondsCost: 4,590 Stamina Gap closer that leaves a burning patch under the boss. It procs your weapon glyph over and over, and with Merciless Charge it adds direct damage.	Gap closer that leaves a burning patch under the boss. It procs your weapon glyph over and over, and with Merciless Charge it adds direct damage.
Back 3	Liquid Lightning Storm Calling Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 15 secondsCost: 2,970 Magicka 15 seconds of shock damage on the ground, with a Conduit synergy for an ally.	15 seconds of shock damage on the ground, with a Conduit synergy for an ally.
Back 4	Hurricane Storm Calling Cast time: InstantDuration: 20 secondsCost: 2,295 Stamina 20 seconds of growing wind damage around you, plus Major Resolve and Minor Expedition.	20 seconds of growing wind damage around you, plus Major Resolve and Minor Expedition.
Back 5	Barbed Trap Fighters Guild Cast time: InstantDuration: 20 secondsCost: 3,240 Stamina Bleed trap that gives you Minor Force (10% Critical Damage) while it's out. Recast it as it ends.	Bleed trap that gives you Minor Force (10% Critical Damage) while it's out. Recast it as it ends.
Back R	Power Overload Storm Calling Cast time: InstantCost: 25 Ultimate Held for Shattered Paths Signet. Open with it if you start full, and toggle it off before you drop below 170 Ultimate.	Held for Shattered Paths Signet. Open with it if you start full, and toggle it off before you drop below 170 Ultimate.

Scribing

Scribed skill

Magic Knife

Traveling Knife · Magic Damage / Assassin's Misery / Berserk

Cast time: Instant
Target: Enemy
Range: 15 metres
Cost: 3,553 Magicka

Magic Damage

Focus script: Deals 2,014 Magic Damage to an enemy and 3,022 Magic Damage to enemies between you and them on return.

Assassin's Misery

Signature script: Increases the chance to apply status effects on enemies by 100% for 10 seconds.

Berserk

Affix script: Grants you Minor Berserk for 20 seconds, increasing damage done by 5%.

Doubles the boss's chance to suffer status effects for 10 seconds, and Minor Berserk for you. Skinnycheeks leaves the affix to whatever your group is missing.

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.

On trash, Ulfsild's Contingency takes Barbed Trap's slot and still gives Minor Force, and Proximity Detonation takes the knife's. Swap Deadly Aim for Biting Aura too.

What this setup brings

You get

Front bar

Dual Wield

1

2

3

4

5

R

Back bar

Two Handed · Greatsword

1

2

3

4

5

R

Slot	Skill	Why it's slotted
Front 1	Quick Cloak Dual Wield Cast time: InstantDuration: 30 secondsCost: 3,780 Stamina Major Evasion, a burst of speed, and 30 seconds of damage around you that procs your weapon glyphs.	Major Evasion, a burst of speed, and 30 seconds of damage around you that procs your weapon glyphs.
Front 2	Haunting Curse Daedric Summoning Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 12 secondsCost: 2,970 Magicka Explodes on the boss and everything near it after 3.5 seconds, then again 8.5 seconds later.	Explodes on the boss and everything near it after 3.5 seconds, then again 8.5 seconds later.
Front 3	Crystal Fragments Dark Magic Cast time: 0.8 secondsRange: 28 metresCost: 2,700 Magicka Your spammable. Other casts can make the next one instant, half-price and much stronger: fire it as soon as it procs.	Your spammable. Other casts can make the next one instant, half-price and much stronger: fire it as soon as it procs.
Front 4	Proximity Detonation Assault Cast time: 1 secondRange: 28 metresDuration: 4 secondsCost: 3,510 Magicka Cast it as you run in: it bursts for more the more enemies are near.	Cast it as you run in: it bursts for more the more enemies are near.
Front 5	Bound Armaments Daedric Summoning Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 3 secondsCost: 1,377 Stamina Slotted for Major Savagery. Light Attacks build up to 8 stacks; spend four at a time for a quick physical burst.	Slotted for Major Savagery. Light Attacks build up to 8 stacks; spend four at a time for a quick physical burst.
Front R	Flawless Dawnbreaker Fighters Guild Cast time: 0.4 secondsDuration: 6 secondsCost: 125 Ultimate Slotted for its passive: 300 Weapon and Spell Damage while it's on your bar. Cast it on a pack when it's full.	Slotted for its passive: 300 Weapon and Spell Damage while it's on your bar. Cast it on a pack when it's full.
Back 1	Critical Surge Storm Calling Cast time: InstantDuration: 33 secondsCost: 4,050 Magicka 33 seconds of Major Brutality, and every crit heals you.	33 seconds of Major Brutality, and every crit heals you.
Back 2	Stampede Two Handed Cast time: InstantRange: 22 metresDuration: 15 secondsCost: 4,590 Stamina Gap closer that leaves a burning patch under the boss. It procs your weapon glyph over and over, and with Merciless Charge it adds direct damage.	Gap closer that leaves a burning patch under the boss. It procs your weapon glyph over and over, and with Merciless Charge it adds direct damage.
Back 3	Liquid Lightning Storm Calling Cast time: InstantRange: 28 metresDuration: 15 secondsCost: 2,970 Magicka 15 seconds of shock damage on the ground, with a Conduit synergy for an ally.	15 seconds of shock damage on the ground, with a Conduit synergy for an ally.
Back 4	Hurricane Storm Calling Cast time: InstantDuration: 20 secondsCost: 2,295 Stamina 20 seconds of growing wind damage around you, plus Major Resolve and Minor Expedition.	20 seconds of growing wind damage around you, plus Major Resolve and Minor Expedition.
Back 5	Ulfsild's Contingency Scribed as Shocking Contingency Cast time: InstantDuration: 22 secondsCost: 2,808 Magicka Area shock damage and Minor Force on the pack.	Area shock damage and Minor Force on the pack.
Back R	Power Overload Storm Calling Cast time: InstantCost: 25 Ultimate Held for Shattered Paths Signet. Open with it if you start full, and toggle it off before you drop below 170 Ultimate.	Held for Shattered Paths Signet. Open with it if you start full, and toggle it off before you drop below 170 Ultimate.

Scribing

Scribed skill

Shocking Contingency

Ulfsild's Contingency · Shock Damage / Lingering Torment / Force

Cast time: Instant
Target: Self
Duration: 22 seconds
Cost: 2,808 Magicka

Shock Damage

Focus script: Deals 4,155 Shock Damage to enemies.

Lingering Torment

Signature script: Deals 6,545 Magic Damage over 22 seconds to enemies.

Force

Affix script: Grants Minor Force for 22 seconds, increasing Critical Damage by 10%.

Area shock damage with a lingering damage over time effect, and Minor Force for you in Barbed Trap's place.

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.

Crystal Weapon
More damage than Crystal Fragments, if you can sustain it.
Mages' Wrath
Execute: swap it in for Traveling Knife for the last 20%; its explosion hits everything near the boss.
Camouflaged Hunter
Major Savagery and Minor Berserk, in Critical Surge's slot if someone gives you Major Brutality.
Dark Conversion
Sustain between packs on trash.

Passives

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

Expert Mage
Weapon and Spell Damage for each Sorcerer skill slotted.
Energized
5% more Physical and Shock Damage: Hurricane, Liquid Lightning and Bound Armaments.
Amplitude
More damage against healthy targets.
Twin Blade and Blunt
Two daggers on the front bar: Critical Chance from each.
Heavy Weapons
The back-bar greatsword adds Weapon and Spell Damage.
Slayer
3% more Weapon and Spell Damage with a Fighters Guild skill slotted.
Dexterity
14% more Critical Damage from 7 Medium pieces.

Gear

Skinnycheeks' setup. Monolith of Storms, the Sorcerer class set from the Infinite Archive, raises monoliths near the boss when your Storm Calling skills hit. Slivers of the Null Arca on the hands, two jewellery pieces and both daggers adds Critical Chance and builds crystals from your crits. Slimecraw is a one-piece helm for Critical Chance, and the mythic Shattered Paths Signet adds damage for every point of Ultimate you hold. Merciless Charge on the back-bar greatsword turns Stampede into a damage buff.

Buffs and debuffs with this gear

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

You get

Slots

Slot	Set	Type	Trait	Enchant
Head	Slimecraw Medium (monster)	Medium (monster)	Divines	Magicka
Shoulders	Monolith of Storms Medium	Medium	Divines	Magicka
Chest	Monolith of Storms Medium	Medium	Divines	Magicka
Waist	Monolith of Storms Medium	Medium	Divines	Magicka
Legs	Monolith of Storms Medium	Medium	Divines	Magicka
Feet	Monolith of Storms Medium	Medium	Divines	Magicka
Hands	Slivers of the Null Arca Medium	Medium	Divines	Magicka
Neck	Slivers of the Null Arca Jewellery	Jewellery	Bloodthirsty	Increase Magical Harm
Ring 1	Slivers of the Null Arca Jewellery	Jewellery	Bloodthirsty	Increase Magical Harm
Ring 2	Shattered Paths Signet Jewellery	Jewellery	Bloodthirsty	Increase Magical Harm
Front: main hand	Slivers of the Null Arca Dagger	Dagger	Charged	Poison
Front: off hand	Slivers of the Null Arca Dagger	Dagger	Charged	Flame
Back bar	Merciless Charge Greatsword (two-handed)	Greatsword (two-handed)	Infused	Berserker

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%.

Monolith of StormsClass

5 pieces · Infinite Archive (Sorcerer class set)

(2 items)Adds 657 Critical Chance.
(3 items)Adds 129 Weapon Damage and Spell Damage.
(4 items)Adds 129 Weapon Damage and Spell Damage.
(5 items)Dealing damage with a Storm Calling ability's initial hit or every 5th tick creates a Monolith near the enemy for 10 seconds, up to one every 1 second, up to 3 total. Your Monoliths within 28 meters of one another link together, dealing 742 Shock damage, scaling off of the higher of your Weapon Damage and Spell Damage, every 2 seconds to enemies near the links, up to once every 2 seconds per enemy. Each Monolith active grants you 100 Weapon Damage and Spell Damage.

Slivers of the Null ArcaTrial

5 front / 3 back · Lucent Citadel

Full bonus on the front bar only.

(2 items)Adds 657 Critical Chance.
(3 items)Gain Minor Slayer, increasing damage done to monsters by 5%.
(4 items)Adds 657 Critical Chance.
(5 items)Dealing Critical Damage gives you a stack of Sliver for 10 seconds, up to once every 0.5 seconds. Upon gaining your third stack, they merge into a crystal that launches at the last enemy you damaged, dealing 1952 Physical damage. This effect scales off the higher of your Weapon Damage and Spell Damage, and you cannot gain Sliver for 4 seconds after the crystal is launched.

Shattered Paths SignetMythic

1 piece · Antiquities

(1 item)Increase your damage done to monsters with status effects by 1% for every 1 Ultimate you have, up to 133%. The cap is halved if Feral Guardian is active. While you have 133 or more Ultimate, your Light and Heavy Attacks apply a random status effect, up to once every 2 seconds. While equipped, applies Minor Timidity to you, consuming 1 Ultimate every 1.5 seconds in combat.

Merciless ChargeArena

2 pieces · back bar · Maelstrom Arena (veteran)

(2 items)Activating Critical Charge stirs up a barbarous lust for battle within you for 18 seconds, increasing your damage done with direct damage attacks by 1%, up to a maximum of 12%. This effect scales off the higher of your Weapon Damage and Spell Damage.

Alternative sets

Tide-Born Wildstalker
Crafted body swap for Monolith of Storms.
Mora Scribe's Thesis
Swap for Slivers of the Null Arca.
Draugrkin's Grip
Skinnycheeks calls it very strong for Sorcerers since Update 51.
Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet
Mythic swap if you cast your Ultimate, and strong in area fights.
Mora's Whispers
Another mythic swap for fights where you cast your Ultimate.

Champion Points

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

Warfare

Deadly Aim
More damage with single-target attacks. Swap it for Biting Aura on trash.
Master-at-Arms
More direct damage.
Wrathful Strikes
Weapon and Spell Damage on every damaging skill.
Fighting Finesse
Critical Damage until your group's buffs take you to the 125% cap.

Fitness

Boundless Vitality
Max Health, so one-shot mechanics don't kill you.
Fortified
Armor, for the hits you can't block.
Celerity
10% Movement Speed, which Banner Bearer's Cavalier's Charge turns into Weapon and Spell Damage.
Rejuvenation
Recovery for all three resources.

Craft

Steed's Blessing
Run between pulls faster.
Gifted Rider
Faster mount.

Good swaps

Biting Aura
More damage with area attacks. Swap it in for Deadly Aim on trash.
Thaumaturge
More damage over time, for builds whose damage is mostly DoTs.
Untamed Aggression
Weapon and Spell Damage, in place of Fighting Finesse once you sit at the 125% Critical Damage cap.
Backstabber
Critical Damage when you hit from the flank. Strong when the tank turns the boss away.
Exploiter
More damage against Off Balance targets, if your group keeps Off Balance up.
Bloody Renewal
Heals you when you kill an enemy. Good on trash with a fragile build.

Race

High Elf
Max Magicka, Weapon and Spell Damage, and casting restores your lowest resource.
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

The Thief
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

Artaeum Pickled Fish Bowl
Max Health and Max Magicka. Enough Health to live, and Magicka for damage.

Potions

Essence of Spell Power
Restores Magicka and gives Major Brutality and Major Savagery: Weapon and Spell Damage and Critical Chance. Swap to Heroism or tri-stat potions if your group already covers Brutality.
UltimateHeroism potion
Minor Heroism for more Ultimate. Swap Banner Bearer's affix to Berserk or Courage when you drink these.

Gameplay

1Keep these up: Haunting Curse (only one at a time), Hurricane, Liquid Lightning, Barbed Trap, Stampede, Critical Surge, Quick Cloak, and Traveling Knife every 10 seconds.
2Fire Crystal Fragments whenever it procs, and spend Bound Armaments stacks when you have four.
3Fill every other global with Crystal Fragments, weaving a Light Attack before each skill.
4Hold your Ultimate for Shattered Paths Signet.

FAQ

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

On trash, Ulfsild's Contingency takes Barbed Trap's slot and still gives Minor Force, and Proximity Detonation takes the knife's. Swap Deadly Aim for Biting Aura too. Your gear stays the same.

What gear do I need for the Sorcerer damage dealer?

Slimecraw, Monolith of Storms, Slivers of the Null Arca, Shattered Paths Signet, Merciless Charge. The Alternative sets list easier sets to start with.

What do I do when Crystal Fragments procs?

Cast it right away. The proc makes Crystal Fragments instant, half-price and much stronger, and it only lasts a few seconds.