Templars are Elder Scrolls Online’s answer to Dungeons and Dragons’ Paladin class. These holy knights wield light against creatures of darkness, dealing huge amounts of damage and aiding their allies by restoring their Health, Magicka, and Stamina. However, it can sometimes be difficult to create a Templar with a high Damage Per Second (DPS) output. If DPS characters are your thing, don’t count the Templar out just yet – this guide will help you create a Templar that can hit harder than a meteor strike.
Contents
Races
Unlike other role-playing games where race is a minor point in your character’s creation, race in Elder Scrolls Online directly affects your class abilities. While you can play any race and still build a pretty powerful Templar, there are some races that provide skills that naturally suit the class.
Altmer (High Elf)
Altmer are naturally Magic focused and make excellent Templars, DPS based or otherwise. They are adept with the Destruction Staff (which we’ll talk about in the Gear section) to the point that their Destruction Staff skill levels up 15% faster than other races. They have +2000 to their Maximum Magicka, which is always good for a Magicka-based DPS build, as well as +258 to their base Spell Damage. On top of that, when they use Templar spells, they trigger an effect that restores 640 Magicka. The effect has a six-second cooldown, but it is great if you’re doing long dungeon crawls or boss fights.
Breton
Bretons are known to be excellent with spells and swordplay, and their racial attributes reflect that. Firstly, their spells cost 7% less to cast – this ability would benefit a Templar insanely well. Like Altmer, they have +2000 to their Maximum Magicka. They are also very resistant to Magic effects – they have +2310 to their base Spell Resistance, and this value doubles when they are Burning, Chilled, or Concussed. If you’re looking to add a few Tank attributes to your Templar, then choosing Breton as your race might be a good place to start.
Dunmer (Dark Elf)
Native to Morrowind, the Dunmer are agile warriors who benefit from natural Flame Resistance. They have +2310 to their base Flame Resistance, making them excellent tanks against some of Elder Scrolls Online's toughest enemies. As a trade-off, they only have +1875 to their Maximum Magicka, unlike the Bretons and Altmer, but they match Altmer with +258 to their Spell Damage. If you’re leaning even further into tank territory and plan on fighting enemies who use Flame Magic, then Dunmer is the race for you.
Attribute Points
In Elder Scrolls Online, you are allotted a total of 64 attribute points over a character’s lifetime, to be placed into three categories: Magicka, Health, and Stamina. To make an effective DPS Magicka Templar, then you’re likely to place all 64 of those points into your Magicka category.
This makes sense for two reasons: firstly, you will be relying heavily on your Magicka in combat, so you want to make sure that you have as much as you can possibly get. Secondly, your Maximum Magicka stat directly affects how strong your spells and attacks with items like the Destruction Staff are, therefore increasing your DPS.
There are four stats that are vital to making a DPS Templar:
- Spell Critical: The chance that your spell will do critical damage (+50%).
- Spell Damage: The base amount of damage you deal with your spells.
- Spell Penetration: The effectiveness of your spells against your opponent’s armour.
- Spell Resistance: The amount of spell damage that your armour can mitigate. While Physical damage can be avoided in a number of ways, only your armour can protect you from powerful spells.
Keep these in mind while choosing items and skills for your character.
Champion Points
Champion points allow you to customize your build even more. Keep your Magicka and the four critical stats in mind here; we also recommend levelling up these perks simultaneously to ensure that you’re getting the absolute most out of your points. Here are our recommendations for perks that would benefit a DPS Templar:
| Major Constellation | Minor Constellations | Boons |
| The Thief | The Lover
The Shadow |
Arcanist (The Lover): Increases your Magicka Recovery by up to 15%
Tenacity (The Lover): Increases the amount of Magicka and Stamina your Heavy Attacks restore by up to 15% Tumbling (The Shadow): Reduces the Stamina cost of Roll Dodge by up to 25% Befoul (The Shadow): Increases the effectiveness of healing reduction abilities by up to 55% |
| The Warrior | The Steed
The Lady |
Ironclad (The Steed): Reduces the damage you take from direct attacks by up to 25%
Spell Shield (The Steed): Increases Spell Resistance by up to 5280. Resistant (The Steed): Reduces the amount of damage you take from Critical Hits by up to 1650. Elemental Defender (The Lady): Reduces Flame, Frost, Shock, and Magic damage dealt to you by up to 15% Light Armor Focus (The Lady): Increases your Physical Resistance by up to 5280 while wearing 5 or more pieces of Light Armor |
| The Mage | The Apprentice
The Atronach |
Elfborn (The Apprentice): Increases damage and healing dealt with critical strikes with Magicka abilities by up to 25%
Staff Expert (The Atronach): Increases the damage of your Light and Heavy attacks with Destruction and Restoration Staves by 35% Master-at-Arms (The Atronach): Increases the damage of your direct damage abilities by up to 25% Spell Erosion (The Apprentice): Increases Spell Penetration by up to 5280 |
Skill Loadouts
You can build your combos however you like in Elder Scrolls online, but there are certain benefits you can reap by constructing your skill bar in a particular way. Here are some suggested skill loadouts to optimize your DPS Templar:
Loadout A
| SKILL | DESCRIPTION |
| Puncturing Strikes
Morph: Puncturing Sweep |
Casting Time: 1 second
Range: 8x6 meters Target: Area Cost: 2700 Magicka You strike enemies in front of you four times with your Aedric spear. Your spear deals 298 Magic Damage to the closest enemy and 114 to all other enemies. The final strike will also reduce the Movement Speed of the closest enemy by 40% for 1 second. The Puncturing Sweep morph also heals you for a percentage of the damage you deal. |
| Solar Flare
Morph: Dark Flare |
Casting Time: 1 second
Range: 28 meters Target: 1 enemy Cost: 2970 Magicka You conjure a ball of solar energy and hurl it at an enemy, dealing 1417 Magic Damage. This skill also grants you Empower for 5 seconds, increasing the damage of your next attack by 40%. The Dark Flare morph also applies Major Defile to your target and nearby enemies, reducing the amount of healing that they can receive. |
| Backlash
Morph: Purifying Light |
Casting Time: Instant
Range: 28 meters Duration: 6 seconds Target: Enemy Cost: 2000 Magicka You doom an enemy with a beam of pure sunlight, dealing 410 Magic Damage. The spell also copies all of the damage they take for 6 seconds and releases 20% of it as additional Magic Damage on them. This spell can deal a maximum of 4774 damage. The Purifying Light morph adds a pool of sunlight that remains attached to the enemy after the effect ends that can heal allies that are near it. |
| Rune Focus
Morph: Channeled Focus |
Casting Time: Instant
Duration: 17 seconds Target: Self Cost: 1080 Magicka You create a rune that grants you celestial protection. While it is active, the rune grants you Major Resolve and Major Ward, increasing your Physical and Spell Resistance by 5280. Standing with the rune increases this value by 50%. The Channeled Focus morph reduces the cost of this ability and makes the rune recover Magicka as well. |
| Restoring Aura
Morph: Radiant Aura |
Casting Time: Instant
Range: 12-meter radius Duration: 20 seconds Target: Area Cost: 3510 Magicka A divine aura surrounds you, applying Minor Magickasteal to all enemies around you for 20 seconds. You and your allies restore 300 Magicka every second while damaging these enemies. The Radiant Aura morph increases the radius of this effect. |
| Nova
Morph: Solar Prison |
Casting Time: Instant
Range: 28 meters Duration: 8 seconds Target: Ground Cost: 250 Ultimate You summon a fragment of the sun, dealing 410 Magic Damage every second on 8 enemies in the area. The effect also afflicts these enemies with Major Maim, reducing the damage they do to you by 50%. An ally that is near you can activate Supernova Synergy, dealing 922 Magic Damage to all of the enemies in the area and stunning them for 2.5 seconds. The Solar Prison morph makes the synergy deal even more damage and stun enemies for a longer period. |
Loadout B
| SKILL | DESCRIPTION |
| Sun Fire
Morph: Vampire’s Bane |
Casting Time: Instant
Range: 28 meters Target: Enemy Cost: 2970 Magicka You charge up a blast of radiant heat and strike an enemy with it, dealing 410 Flame Damage instantly and another 1228 Flame Damage over 10 seconds. The Vampire’s Bane morph makes the DOT last for longer. |
| Impulse
Morph: Pulsar |
Casting Time: Instant
Range: 6-meter radius Target: Area Cost: 3510 Magicka You release a surge of elemental energy, dealing 615 Magic Damage to nearby enemies. The Pulsar morph makes this ability reduce your enemies’ Max Health when they are affected. |
| Spear Shards
Morph: Blazing Spear |
Casting Time: Instant
Range: 25 meters/8-meter radius Duration: 10 seconds Target: Area Cost: 4950 Magicka You bring a shower of wrath down from the heavens with your Aedric Spear, dealing 454 Magic Damage to enemies within the target area and an additional 133 Magic Damage every second for 8 seconds. A nearby ally can activate the Blessed Shard synergy, restoring either 3960 Magicka or Stamina, depending on which stat’s maximum is higher. The Blazing Spear morph deals additional damage over time but makes it so that the ability no longer disorients one enemy. |
| Sun Shield
Morph: Radiant Ward |
Casting Time: Instant
Range: 5-meter radius Duration: 6 seconds Target: Area Cost: 4320 Magicka Solar rays surround you, granting you a shield equal to 30% of your Max Health for 6 seconds. Nearby enemies take 248 Magic Damage when you activate the shield, and each time an enemy hit it, the shield’s strength increases by 4%. The Radiant Ward morph reduces the cost of this ability and increases the amount that the shield strengthens after enemies hit it. |
| Restoring Aura
Morph: Radiant Aura |
Casting Time: Instant
Range: 12-meter radius Duration: 20 seconds Target: Area Cost: 3510 Magicka A divine aura surrounds you, applying Minor Magickasteal to all enemies around you for 20 seconds. You and your allies restore 300 Magicka every second while damaging these enemies. The Radiant Aura morph increases the radius of this effect. |
| Rite of Passage
Morph: Practiced Incantation |
Casting Time: 4 seconds Channel
Range: 20-meter radius Duration: 4 seconds Target: Area Cost: 122 Ultimate You channel the grace of the gods to heal you and nearby allies for 985 Health every second for 4 seconds. You cannot move while channelling, but you gain immunity to all enemy control effects. The Practiced Incantation morph increases the duration of the channel. |
Passive skills are just as important as active abilities in ESO, and you’re going to want to max every single one while building your DPS Templar. Focus on your Templar skills and the passive skills in the Destruction Staff, Light Armor, and Racial skill lines.
Gear
Choosing your gear should be easy by this point, as long as you stick to the philosophy of boosting your Magicka and spell related stats as high as possible. The best gear will change as new patches and DLCs are released, but we have a few suggestions for optimum pieces. You should primarily be wearing Light Armor and wielding Destructive Staves, as you will be relying on passive bonuses from both of those skill lines. We recommend upgrading all of your armour to either Epic (Purple) or Legendary (Yellow) quality, improving the bonuses for both individual pieces and armour sets as a whole.
If you’re wondering whether a piece of gear would be a good fit for your DPS Templar, then there are a few points to keep in mind. The most important traits for a DPS Templar’s gear are Divines for armour, Infused for weapons, and Arcane for accessories. Additionally, a weapon with the Absorb Magicka Enchantment or armour/accessories with the Maximum Magicka enchantment is always a good idea.
Suggested Gear for DPS Templars
Armour
- Shoes of a Mother’s Sorrow
- Jerkin of Vicious Death
- Epaulettes of a Mother’s Sorrow
- War Maiden’s Breeches
Accessories
- Sash of a Mother’s Sorrow
- War Maiden’s Hat
- Gloves of Vicious Death
- War Maiden’s Necklace
- Rings of a Mother’s Sorrow (x2)
Weapons
- War Maiden’s Inferno Staff (Loadout A)
- War Maiden’s Ice Staff (Loadout B)
Consumables
Food is a great place to boost your Maximum Health, which is helpful for dungeon crawling and longer quests because you’ve placed all of your attribute points into your Magicka stat. The cheapest and easiest meal for this purpose is Crusty Bread, which offers a Max Health boost of +6277 for 35 minutes. Another great source of Health boosting food is the Crown Fortifying Meals that you find in Crown Crates and daily login bonuses. These meals are valuable and add +4462 Max Health, +4105 Max Magicka, and +4105 Max Stamina over two hours.
As in many other MMORPGs, potions are an invaluable resource as well. Of course, Crown Tri-Restoration Potions are the most powerful and useful to your DPS Paladin, restoring 9122 Health, 7582 Magicka, and 7582 Stamina and increasing the recovery rate for those resources by 20% for 47.3 seconds. You can get those potions in the Crown Store or as a daily login reward.
You can also craft CP150 Health or Magicka Restoration potions; add in effects that increase your Max Magicka or spell-related stats for extra efficiency. Crafted potions do run a risk of negative side effects, but if you max out the Snakeblood Alchemy skill you can hopefully avoid the worst of these.
You’re Ready!
Congratulations! Hopefully, you’ve built a powerful, effective DPS Templar by the end of this guide. Go forth and conquer Skyrim!
