Off Balance – ESO Magicka Templar PvE Build
This written guide supports the full Off Balance Magicka Templar PvE Build, : ▶ View the Off Balance Video Guide
Build Overview
This PvE Magicka Templar DPS build was created to work for players of all skill levels. More experienced players will naturally squeeze more out of it, but this setup performs extremely well in anyone’s hands as long as it’s followed correctly and, more importantly, understood.
A small amount of knowledge around skill interactions and passive effects goes a long way here — especially when something unexpected happens and you need to react on instinct.
This build is fully capable of solo play, 4-player group content, and 12-player content across The Elder Scrolls Online — yes, including the really hard stuff.
⚡ Why “Off Balance”?
The name is simple: this build revolves around applying Off Balance as often as possible while dealing massive area-of-effect damage in both solo and group environments.
At the same time, it provides meaningful group support without sacrificing your personal DPS. A heavy focus on lightning damage helps push Concussion uptime, driving Off Balance procs while maintaining strong single-target damage, solid sustain, and reliable survival.
🛡️ Damage That Keeps You Alive
Survival is built directly into your damage. Sweeps and beams heal you as you attack, allowing you to stay alive by doing what you’re supposed to be doing anyway — dealing damage.
🎯 Group Utility Without Sacrifice
This build offers sustain bonuses, healing bonuses, and actual group healing — all without ever needing to alter your rotation. Everything is baked into what you’re already doing.
You can also maintain excellent uptime on Minor Vulnerability through clean rotations, providing a consistent 5% damage increase to the group via the Concussion status effect.
🔄 Heavy Attacks That Matter
Off Balance uptime improves both your damage and your group’s resource gain. Heavy attacks deal significantly more damage and restore substantially more resources while the target is Off Balance.
This also synergizes perfectly with Dragonknights in the group, enabling the Off Balance requirement for their whip mechanics.
When needed, a lightning staff heavy attack into grouped enemies delivers high AoE damage, restores Magicka on completion, and doubles down on resource return if the targets are Off Balance — extremely efficient.
🌩️ Class Identity First
Overwhelming provides a steady stream of free damage simply by using your class abilities, while also contributing additional Concussion procs to further drive Off Balance uptime.
Many builds lean heavily on weapon skills and ignore what makes a class feel unique. This setup does the opposite, leaning into Templar abilities as much — if not more — than weapon skills.
If you’re going to play a Templar, this gives you a real reason to feel like one. Get those sweeps in.
This is a very balanced build — appropriately powered by keeping enemies permanently Off Balance.
Fashion First – Off Balance Templar Style & Visual Setup
As demonstrated in the video, this is the exact fashion setup used for the Off Balance Templar build. The look leans into a dark, arcane aesthetic that complements the build’s lightning-heavy, status-focused playstyle.
| Slot | Weight / Type | Style |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Light | Tsaesci |
| Chest | Heavy | Assassins League |
| Shoulders | Light | Scalecaller |
| Waist | Heavy | Thieves Guild |
| Hands | Light | Dragonguard |
| Legs | Medium | Dro’mathra |
| Feet | Light | Silken Ring |
| Frontbar Weapon | Staff | Abnur Tharn’s |
| Backbar Weapon | Staff | Telvanni |
The three dyes used for this setup are Legate Black, Obsidian Black, and Frozen Blood Red.
Note: This is the original Off Balance fashion. For the most recent version, check the fashion timestamp in the video.
↑ Back to TopOff Balance – ESO Templar Magicka DPS Build Skills
The Off Balance build focuses on high AOE pressure, strong group utility, and consistent Off Balance uptime through lightning damage, concussion application, and intelligent skill layering — without sacrificing single-target damage or survivability.
Front Bar – Destruction Staff or Dual Wield
| Slot | Icon | Skill | Skill Line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Purifying Light | Dawn’s Wrath |
| 2 |  | Barbed Trap | Fighters Guild |
| 3 |  | Radiant Glory | Dawn’s Wrath |
| 4 |  | Puncturing Sweeps | Aedric Spear |
| 5 |  | Inner Light | Mages Guild |
| Ultimate |  | Flawless Dawnbreaker | Fighters Guild |
Back Bar – Destruction Staff (Lightning or Flame)
| Slot | Icon | Skill | Skill Line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | | Inner Light | Mages Guild |
| 2 |  | Unstable Wall of Elements | Destruction Staff |
| 3 |  | Solar Barrage | Dawn’s Wrath |
| 4 |  | Channeled Focus | Restoring Light |
| 5 |  | Blazing Spear | Aedric Spear |
| Ultimate |  | Elemental Rage | Destruction Staff |
Class Mastery
Update 50 has given us a new system called Class Mastery in The Elder Scrolls Online. If you decide to remain 100% pure class, you gain access to five unique Class Mastery passives, but can only choose two. These are the two selected for this build.
 | - Judgement's Brand |
 | - Bright Harbinger |
If you prefer faster burst damage and quicker ultimate recovery in large trash pulls, you can replace Elemental Rage with Shooting Star.
↑ Back to TopRotation For The Off Balance Templar Build
The Off Balance Templar uses a structured but forgiving rotation focused on maintaining buffs, high AoE pressure, and capitalising on Off Balance windows. Once you understand the rhythm, it flows naturally.
Core Rotation
Open on your front bar, apply your Barbed Trap, then move to your back bar and apply Solar Barrage, Blazing Spear and Unstable Wall Of Elements. From there the full rotation begins.
- Front Bar – Light Attack → Purifying Light → Light Attack → Puncturing Sweeps x5 → Barbed Trap → Bar Swap
- Back Bar – Blazing Spear → Light Attack → Solar Barrage → Light Attack → Unstable Wall of Elements → Bar Swap
Once complete, simply start again and repeat the flow.
Buff & DoT Timing
Solar Barrage last twice as long as Wall of Elements and Blazing Spear.
Because of this, it only need to be recast every second rotation, exactly as shown in the video guide.
Optional Optimisation
If you want to squeeze out a tiny bit more damage, you can track Purifying Light and reapply it immediately after it expires (outside of execute).
This requires focus and timing — if it causes dropped skills or missed casts, do not do it. The base rotation is already extremely effective.
Execute Phase (33% and Below)
Once targets drop below 33% health, the rotation simplifies dramatically.
- Maintain Solar Barrage and Wall of Elements for buffs and glyph uptime.
- Spam Radiant Glory (light attack before each cast) as your primary damage.
- When back bar effects need refreshing, quickly reapply them and return to beam spam.
That’s it — the execute phase is where this build truly shines.
↑ Back to Top🏆 Champion Points – Off Balance Templar Build
Champion Points for Off Balance are focused on raw damage scaling, reliable sustain, and baseline survivability without compromising offensive uptime.
Once you reach level 50, CP upgrades your performance across three constellations: Warfare (Blue), Craft (Green), and Fitness (Red). These support your build with damage, mitigation, recovery bonuses and much more!
- Untamed Aggression
- Thaumaturge
- Deadly Aim
- Wrathful Strikes
- Rationer
- Liquid Efficiency
- Treasure Hunter
- Steed’s Blessing
- Boundless Vitality
- Rejuvenation
- Fortified
- Siphoning Spells
This setup prioritises Off Balance damage amplification, DoT uptime, and execute scaling while maintaining reliable sustain and baseline defenses for extended encounters. Full of direct damage in both AOE and Single target situations as well, makes this a force to be reckoned with.
Full Champion Point explanation available here: ▶ Watch the Champion Points Video Guide
Mundus, Attribute Points & Race Choice
✔️ We are using the Thief Mundus Stone for increased Critical Chance.
✔️ All 64 Attribute Points are placed into Magicka.
✔️ The recommended race for this build is the High Elf . High Elf provides excellent Magicka sustain and spell damage, fitting the build’s offensive focus.
Other strong alternatives include Dark Elf , Khajiit , or Breton . As shown in the video, Orc is also a very strong option if you prefer a more aggressive, brawler-style setup.
All races listed are fully viable — choose based on playstyle and preference.
Potions, Poisons, & Food
🧪 Potion Ingredients
You can use Tri-Stat Potions if you are running degeneration, or if you prefer a squishier, higher-damage setup as mentioned in the video, you can instead use Spell Power Potions.
Tri-Stat Potions
Spell Power Potions
🍲 Food (Max Health + Max Magicka)
Use any two-stat food that gives Max Health and Max Magicka. All three recipes listed below offer identical bonuses — choose whichever is cheapest or easiest for you to craft!
- Mistral Banana-Bunny Hash
Ingredients: Small Game , Bananas , Seasoning - Melon-Baked Parmesan Pork
Ingredients: White Meat , Melon , Cheese - Solitude Salmon-Millet Soup
Ingredients: Fish , Tomato , Millet
Off-Balance Templar Build – Gear Setup
| Slot | Gear Set | Weight | Trait | Enchantment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head | Ilambris / Zaan | Medium | Divines | Magicka |
| Shoulders | Ilambris / Zaan | Medium | Divines | Magicka |
| Chest | Arms of Relequen / Azureblight Reaper | Medium | Divines | Magicka |
| Waist | Overwhelming Surge | Light | Divines | Magicka |
| Hands | Arms of Relequen / Azureblight Reaper | Medium | Divines | Magicka |
| Legs | Overwhelming Surge | Light | Divines | Magicka |
| Feet | Overwhelming Surge | Light | Divines | Magicka |
| Ring 1 | Arms of Relequen / Azureblight Reaper | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage |
| Ring 2 | Arms of Relequen / Azureblight Reaper | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage |
| Necklace | Arms of Relequen / Azureblight Reaper | Jewelry | Infused | Spell Damage |
| Weapon 1 | Overwhelming Surge | Sword | Charged | Flame |
| Weapon 2 | Overwhelming Surge | Dagger | Charged | Poison |
| Weapon 3 | Maelstrom | Lightning / Inferno Staff | Infused | Weapon / Spell Damage |
Weapons: For the front bar you can use dual wield or Lightning Staff. I personally recommend Lightning, and if you do so (as mentioned in the video), you need to be using the Precise trait along with the Poison glyph.
NOTE: As explained in huge detail in the video — yes, you can use a Flame Staff on the back bar (not the front) if you can guarantee that Off-Balance is 100% controlled by someone else in your group already. If not, stick with Lightning Staff. We can provide Off-Balance all day long by default, so if it is not there, the build is designed to do that. If it is there, then sure — swap out the back bar only.
Bear in mind that if you are gauging “potential,” as most people do on the dummy, the dummy has a 6% increase to all Flame damage (Dragonknight Engulfing Flames) and also has 100% control of Off-Balance already. That is a situation where demonstrating Flame makes sense. If your group does not have Off-Balance covered, stay with Lightning.
