The Stormshield — The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind eGuide

Class: Sorcerer

Race: Redguard

Attribute Focus: Health/Stamina/Magicka

Weapon Types: One Hand and Shield

Armor Focus: Heavy

Mundus Stone: Atronach

Bar 1: One Hand and Shield

Key Abilities

Ability	Description
	Heroic Slash: Morphed from Low Slash (One Hand and Shield). This is your main single-target attack and snare. It applies Minor Maim, temporarily reducing the damage done by the target. Each use also grants Minor Heroism, increasing your Ultimate generation for nine seconds.
	Boundless Storm: Morphed from Lightning Form (Sorcerer > Storm Calling). This Magicka ability grants important defensive buffs that should be kept active for the duration of any fight. It deals Shock Damage to nearby enemies while granting you Major Resolve, Major Ward, and Major Expedition.
	Dark Deal: Morphed from Dark Exchange (Sorcerer > Dark Magic). Converts Magicka into Health and Stamina. This ability has a brief cast time, so proper timing is essential.
	Absorb Magic: Morphed from Defensive Posture (One Hand and Shield). Slotting this Stamina ability increases the amount of damage you can block and reduces the Stamina cost for blocking. Activating it allows you to absorb an impressive amount of damage from the next spell projectile cast at you, healing you for a percentage of your Maximum Health.
	Bound Aegis: Morphed from Bound Armor (Sorcerer > Daedric Summoning). Toggling this Magicka ability grants you Minor Resolve and Minor Ward, increasing your Physical and Spell Resistance. It must be placed on both Action Bars to prevent it from vanishing when you swap weapons.
	Spell Wall: Morphed from Shield Wall (One Hand and Shield). Allows you to automatically block all attacks at no cost and reflect incoming projectiles. Use this Ultimate Ability when you need extra protection or when you’re in danger of running out of Stamina.

This is your main Bar. It holds your most frequently used abilities and should be used for the bulk of any encounter. Because Bound Aegis should be placed on both Action Bars, this loadout doesn’t feature a free slot.

Bar 2: One Hand and Shield

Key Abilities

Ability	Description
	Pierce Armor: Morphed from Puncture (One Hand and Shield). This is your main taunt and debuff ability. It applies Major Fracture and Major Breach, reducing the target’s Physical and Spell Resistance. Keep the effects up while tanking, but avoid over-taunting.
	Echoing Vigor: Morphed from Vigor (Assault). This Stamina ability provides a nice heal-over-time effect for you and nearby allies.
	Critical Surge: Morphed from Surge (Sorcerer > Storm Calling). Grants Major Brutality, increasing Weapon Damage by 20%. While this Magicka ability is active, dealing a Critical Strike grants you Health. This healing effect can happen up to once per second. It’s an important source of self-healing, so try to keep it active.
	Bound Aegis: Morphed from Bound Armor (Sorcerer > Daedric Summoning). Toggling this Magicka ability grants you Minor Resolve and Minor Ward, increasing your Physical and Spell Resistance. It must be placed on both Action Bars to prevent it from vanishing when you swap weapons.
	Absorption Field: Morphed from Negate Magic (Sorcerer > Dark Magic). This ranged Ultimate Ability creates a globe of magic suppression, healing you and nearby allies while stunning all NPCs within the target area. Enemy players will be silenced rather than stunned. It’s a powerful crowd-control tool and a useful group-healing ability.

This is your utility Bar. In addition to buffs and healing effects, it also holds your taunt ability. Use the remaining slot to add whatever ability you find useful.

Priority Passives

Because this build doesn’t include any of Daedric Summoning’s minion abilities, the Rebate and Expert Summoner Passives don’t provide any benefits. Other than those, invest in all core Passives and move on from there.

Equipment Recommendations

Weapons
Priority Trait: Infused
Priority Enchantment: Crushing
You want to have a one-handed melee weapon and a shield equipped at all times. Prioritize one-handed melee weapons that feature the Infused trait and the Crushing enchantment. For your backup weapon, consider something that features the Defending trait. Early on, use the highest-quality weapon/shield combinations you can find. As you acquire more gear, look for combinations that offer useful set bonuses.
For your shields, Reinforced and Sturdy are both good traits. Favor enchantments that boost Maximum Health, Maximum Magicka, or Maximum Stamina as needed.

Armor
Priority Trait: Sturdy or Infused
Priority Enchantment: Maximum Health, Maximum Magicka, or Maximum Stamina
This build is best suited for basic tanking duties, so make sure you equip at least five pieces of heavy armor. There are many useful tanking sets out there, so try to collect a few that appeal to you. If you’re going for the Undaunted Mettle Passive Ability, place light/medium armor pieces in your remaining equipment slots.
Until you’ve assembled your tanking sets, look to heavy armor pieces that offer a nice balance of stats. Health is your priority, but you need a plenty of Stamina and Magicka. Choose the highest-quality armor you can find for your level. Look for head, chest, and leg pieces that feature the Infused trait to get the most out of your enchantments. For the remaining pieces, prioritize the Sturdy trait to reduce the cost of blocking.

Jewelry
Priority Trait: Healthy
Priority Enchantment: Shielding
Until you acquire a set you find useful, prioritize jewelry items that increase your Maximum Health and reduce the Stamina cost for blocking. As you obtain better gear, consider looking for jewelry that increases Magicka Recovery.

Archetype Advice

If you plan to serve as a main Tank, start ranking up abilities like Inner Fire (Undaunted) and War Horn (Assault), then invest in the most useful morphs. Most groups consider these abilities to be essential tanking tools.

This build doesn’t feature many damage abilities, so consider alternative Ultimate Abilities for basic adventuring. Dawnbreaker (Fighters Guild) is a particularly good option that offers some powerful morphs.

Dark Deal is a useful tool for self-healing and Stamina management, but you’re extremely vulnerable during its one-second cast time. Use it only when you have sufficient time between incoming attacks.

A large Magicka pool supports frequent use of Boundless Storm and Critical Surge, but Stamina management should be your priority. Blocking accounts for the bulk of your mitigation, so don’t hesitate to divert resources as needed.