TL;DR
- Achieve 50% crit chance and 54% crit damage with optimized skill combinations
- Utilize Null Arca maul for burst potential and Rallying Cry for survivability
- Master the Deep Fissure + Contingency + Incapacitating Strike combo for eliminations
- Adapt between Balorgh and Bloodspawn based on combat scenarios and playstyle
- Maintain resource efficiency through proper bar-swapping and ability sequencing
Welcome to the definitive guide for Rider’s revolutionary meta subclassing PvP configuration in The Elder Scrolls Online. This exceptional framework delivers outstanding performance across all character classes, establishing itself as the premier choice for dominating Cyrodiil warfare, Battlegrounds competition, and Imperial City engagements. Whether you’re a battle-hardened veteran or just entering ESO’s competitive PvP arenas, this comprehensive blueprint will empower you to construct a formidable combat specialist perfectly aligned with your tactical preferences.
Key Advantages
Devastating Burst Potential: This configuration enables rapid target elimination through streamlined ability combinations that maximize critical strike efficiency. The synergy between your selected skills creates windows of opportunity that can decisively turn engagements in your favor.
Streamlined Combo Execution: Featuring an economical ultimate ability cost structure, you can inflict substantial damage with minimal recovery periods between offensive sequences. This tempo advantage allows consistent pressure application without exhausting your resource pools prematurely.
Superior Resource Management: The sustain mechanics significantly outperform average builds, primarily because you maintain continuous pressure on adversaries without excessive bar-swapping that typically drains stamina and magicka reserves.
Exceptional Damage Mitigation: Defensive capabilities in this setup are remarkably robust, particularly when factoring in the unique block cost reduction benefits from specialized set bonuses. This distinctive feature permits stamina regeneration even during blocking actions, enabling extended combat endurance when facing multiple opponents without requiring frequent line-of-sight breaks.
Adaptive Mobility Options: With Major Expedition consistently active, movement speed remains competitive. Should you select Storm Calling as your subclass, you gain access to Streak—widely considered ESO’s premier mobility skill. Your movement effectiveness will vary depending on whether you employ Streak, Vault, or alternative traversal abilities, ultimately reflecting your individual combat methodology.
Unparalleled Class Flexibility: Among the most distinguished characteristics of this build is its extraordinary versatility. You can customize it extensively to match your preferred engagement style. For increased durability, consider Soldier of Apocrypha or Winter’s Embrace selections. Alternatively, if rapid repositioning aligns with your approach, Storm Calling presents the optimal solution.
Strategic Weaknesses
Resource Strain During High-Pressure Situations: When caught in intense combat scenarios, resource allocation can become problematic. Fortunately, you can readily modify enchantments or other configuration elements to enhance sustainability without compromising core functionality.
For ability selection, concentrate on optimizing critical damage output. Within this framework, Animal Companions (from Warden) and Assassination (from Nightblade) serve as primary damage skill lines, while Restoring Light (Templar base class) functions as the defensive foundation. Although Storm Calling is advised for enhanced physical damage and amplitude passive benefits, you may substitute your class’s defensive line if it better suits your tactical approach.
Both Animal Companions and Assassination deliver substantial critical damage enhancements, with Assassination additionally improving critical chance percentages. With the Hemorrhage passive engaged, you’ll reach approximately 50% critical probability and 54% critical damage magnitude during active combat situations.
Front Bar Skills
Surprise Attack, Merciless Resolve, Deep Fissure, Ulfsild’s Contingency, Deceptive Predator, and Incapacitating Strike (Ultimate).
The primary weapon bar incorporates a spammable ability, three burst damage skills, and Deceptive Predator for mobility and passive critical damage amplification. The Ultimate selection of Incapacitating Strike proves essential for this configuration. While Onslaught (Ultimate) represents a viable alternative, the build already possesses considerable innate penetration, thereby reducing its comparative effectiveness.
Back Bar Skills
Healing Soul, Vigor, Bull Netch, Restoring Focus, Extended Ritual, and Temporal Guard (Ultimate).
Even though Storm Calling receives recommendation, alternative selections remain feasible provided you maintain Major Resolve, an instant-cast heal, Vigor, and two defensive capabilities.
Temporal Guard provides Minor Protection benefits. However, if you’re utilizing sword and shield equipment, select Spell Wall (Ultimate) as your alternative.
Pro Tip: Many players mistakenly overlap their burst windows by activating multiple high-cost abilities simultaneously. Instead, stagger your offensive sequences to maintain consistent pressure while preserving resources for defensive responses when needed.
Slivers of the Null Arca
The configuration employs Perfected Null Arca maul as the primary weapon, though the standard version functions adequately.
Null Arca currently demonstrates exceptional performance, delivering significant burst potential. Since this framework emphasizes critical damage optimization, the critical chance enhancement from this set perfectly complements the build’s strategic objectives.
This equipment combination strikes targets with remarkable force—marginally below Incapacitating Strike and slightly above Surprise Attack. While the differential appears minor, the configuration’s effectiveness in securing eliminations proves substantial.
Additionally, the set activation requires critical strikes, while the spammable ability triggers Sundered status, generating additional proc opportunities. Furthermore, your light attacks apply Diseased condition, intensifying this effect. Essentially, you’ll achieve maximum stack accumulation rapidly, particularly if your build incorporates damage-over-time effects, similar to the Contingency Script mechanism, though this may result in irregular activations.
Rallying Cry
Rallying Cry represents a foundational defensive set that not only improves survivability but also augments weapon and spell damage output. Should you prefer alternatives to Rallying Cry or if group members already utilize it, numerous substitute options merit consideration.
Balorgh vs. Bloodspawn
Bloodspawn accelerates ultimate generation frequency, whereas Balorgh enhances damage potency. However, in environments like Imperial City where ultimate accumulation occurs rapidly, or during duels against skilled opponents, employ Balorgh.
Maintaining both alternatives proves strategically wise, selecting based on situational demands. The additional resistance bonuses from Bloodspawn provide valuable benefits, though they don’t constitute critical dependencies for the configuration. Balorgh unquestionably delivers superior performance if you prefer condensed burst intervals; experienced combatants frequently select more concentrated yet powerful burst sequences. Ultimately, choosing the appropriate monster set should harmonize with your engagement methodology, and Zoal the Ever-Wakeful could serve as an excellent alternative if it aligns with your preferences.
Monomyth Reforged
For critical damage optimization, Monomyth Reforged presents an obvious selection, offering an extra 20% critical damage and Major Protection on the secondary bar.
Armor of the Trainee
Within TESO, the Armor of the Trainee represents an exceptionally versatile set purchasable with gold currency. It sees widespread application across diverse builds and game progression stages owing to its straightforwardness, adaptability, and powerful single-piece bonus.
While Impenetrable often receives recognition as the dominant trait within current meta, this configuration utilizes Reinforced Armor of Trainee to optimize heavy armor slot efficiency. This decision provides versatility against unconventional setups relying exclusively on direct damage or damage-over-time effects.
Traits
Employ the Sharpened trait on the Maul. For the secondary bar, utilize the Defending trait to strengthen defensive capabilities. This selection synergizes effectively with ice staff passive benefits, as detailed within the Destruction Staff skill progression tree.
The two Bloodspawn/Balorgh components feature the Reinforced trait, while remaining pieces consist of Impenetrable traits. This combination enables armor value maximization, and the Reinforced trait represents the most efficient option for accomplishing that objective. Since the other components comprise medium and light armor classifications, they wouldn’t benefit as substantially from Reinforced. Consequently, utilizing Impenetrable for those pieces makes logical sense, as it delivers consistent value.
All enchantments are Prismatic quality, though if operating within budget constraints, contemplate using Health glyphs on larger armor pieces and Stamina Glyphs on smaller components.
Numerous traits can be exchanged according to your combat style. If you prefer Swift, feel unrestricted to implement that. Conversely, if you desire enhanced burst damage, Infused represents an outstanding alternative. Ultimately, the decision revolves around your desired configuration outcomes, so ensure you customize these suggestions rather than merely replicating them.
The offensive sequence follows straightforward principles. Initiate by repeatedly casting Surprise Attack several times to reduce your adversary’s health toward optimal burst threshold ranges. Should your opponent persist in blocking or remain on their defensive bar to counter your burst damage, refrain from advancing further into the rotation—simply continue spamming until they elect to switch bars. Once they attempt offensive maneuvers, proceed to subsequent phases.
The secondary phase involves activating Deep Fissure to apply Major Breach and inflict delayed damage. Subsequently, utilize Ulfsild’s Contingency to amplify the delayed damage, and conclude the burst combination with Incapacitating Strike when possessing 120 ultimate points or greater. In most circumstances, this will virtually eliminate your enemies, particularly within non-Champion Point environments like Battlegrounds. While you can deploy Incapacitating Strike without 120 ultimate accumulation, preserving it for more potent burst intervals receives recommendation.
Critically important: Deep Fissure delivers increased impact during second activations. Against resilient opponents, you’ll want to synchronize your burst timing with the second Deep Fissure activation rather than the initial one. However, the first activation typically suffices for securing eliminations. Should your target remain viable, that represents the appropriate moment to launch your Merciless Resolve. If your adversary anticipates this action, pause momentarily for their evasion attempt before casting.
Throughout your burst sequence, Null Arca will activate, dealing another considerable damage portion. That essentially summarizes the offensive rotation: Deep Fissure, Ulfsild’s Contingency, Incapacitating Strike, and Merciless Resolve. Should they persist in survival, you reset the combination sequence.
Defensive Strategy
For defensive prioritization, emphasize maintaining Bull Netch and Restoring Focus. If you’re sustaining significant damage, the configuration provides distinctive resource recovery mechanisms, enabling stamina restoration even during blocking actions. Leverage your runic formations and ritual circles for supplementary protection.
Whenever necessitating defensive play, block or evasion roll to disrupt line of sight initially. However, against solitary opponents, you can effectively prevent elimination provided you block and activate your healing abilities. The sustain from this arrangement proves robust, permitting you to remain within your runic fields and block during recovery periods.
Advanced Technique: Master the timing between your second Deep Fissure activation and Incapacitating Strike. This 1.5-second window represents your highest damage potential and requires precise execution against skilled adversaries who recognize the timing patterns.
This meta PvP configuration emphasizes adaptability, enabling you to customize it according to your preferred engagement methodology—whether prioritizing durable survivability or high-velocity mobility. Featuring powerful burst damage, exceptional sustain mechanics, and resilient mitigation capabilities, it excels within both individual skirmishes and coordinated group operations.
Remember, the essential component for mastering this build involves comprehending its advantages and limitations while modifying it to address your requirements. Experiment with equipment sets, traits, and Champion Point allocations until discovering the ideal equilibrium matching your combat approach.
Therefore, prepare your equipment, champions! Tamriel anticipates your supremacy within PvP warfare.
Performance Tuning
For players transitioning from PvE to PvP, allocate approximately 15-20 hours to practice the rotation against target dummies before entering live combat scenarios. This investment dramatically improves execution consistency and target elimination efficiency.
Common Mistake Avoidance: Numerous intermediate players incorrectly maintain their burst skills on cooldown simultaneously rather than staggering them for sustained pressure application.
Advanced Player Optimization: Once comfortable with the core rotation, experiment with substituting one offensive Champion Point for Exploiter to capitalize on off-balance conditions that frequently occur during combat engagements.
So equip yourself, adventurers! Tamriel awaits your dominance in PvP combat.
Action Checklist
- Configure skill bars with recommended abilities: Front bar for offense, back bar for defense and sustain
- Acquire and upgrade Null Arca maul with Sharpened trait for maximum penetration
- Practice the core rotation: Surprise Attack spam → Deep Fissure → Ulfsild’s Contingency → Incapacitating Strike
- Test burst timing against target dummies to master second Deep Fissure activation
- Adapt monster set selection based on combat scenario: Balorgh for duels, Bloodspawn for group fights
- Fine-tune Champion Points and attributes according to your comfort level and playstyle
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