These skills appear across multiple class setups or provide useful options for specific trial encounters. Choose them around your assigned targets, mechanics and group coverage. You do not need every skill listed here on your bars at once.

Elemental Susceptibility – Applies Major Breach and repeatedly inflicts Burning, Chilled and Concussion, inflicting Minor Maim, Minor Vulnerability and your Frost Staff’s Minor Brittle interactions. Frost Blockade also applies Minor Breach to Chilled enemies. Maintain it on your  priority target. Let its duration run before refreshing it to avoid unnecessary Magicka costs.

Elemental Blockade – Maintains your back-bar Crusher enchantment while you work on the front bar. With a Frost Staff, it also snares enemies, applies Minor Breach to Chilled targets and provides a group projectile damage shield. Position the wall beneath the enemies you need to debuff with Crusher.

Inner Rage – A ranged taunt for securing dangerous adds, secondary bosses or a target during a tank swap. Its Radiate synergy provides additional Flame damage for the group. Use it on targets assigned to you; avoid taking the Main Tank’s boss unless a swap or emergency requires it.

Razor Caltrops – Applies AoE Major Breach and slows enemies, making it useful for add waves and large stacks. Cast it where the enemies will gather. As an Assault ability, it also activates Powerful Assault when you cast it in combat while wearing the set.

Pulsar – Primarily used on add waves to apply Minor Mangle, reducing the Max Health of non-elite enemies. Frost Pulsar also provides group Minor Protection and helps spread Chilled, especially with a Charged Frost Staff. This supports Minor Maim, Minor Brittle and Minor Breach through Frost Blockade. Use it once enemies are grouped so the cast reaches as much of the pack as possible.

Revealing Flare – Slotted for Major Protection on the active bar, providing damage reduction without another skill to maintain. It also contributes to the Magicka Aid passive, increasing Magicka Recovery for each Support ability slotted on that bar. Its reveal effect is unnecessary in trials; the slot is used for its defensive and sustain benefits.

Defensive Stance – While slotted on your one hand and shield bar, increases block mitigation and reduces Block Cost. Useful when your role involves sustained blocking or several hard-hitting enemies. Casting it also provides a Max Health-scaling shield and reflects an eligible direct-damage projectile, but the passive bonuses are the main reason to slot it.

Crushing Shock – Interrupts enemy casts from range, letting you handle an assigned interrupt without leaving your position to Bash. Slot it when a trial mechanic requires reliable ranged interrupts. Its damage and potential status effects are secondary benefits.

Race Against Time – Provides a short Major Expedition speed boost, removes snares and immobilisations, and briefly grants immunity to them. Useful for reaching add spawns, moving between positions or handling movement mechanics when your class lacks a suitable speed skill. Its Minor Force is a secondary benefit for a tank.

Resolving Vigor – Provides a self-heal over time and grants Minor Resolve, increasing your resistances. Useful when you lack Minor Resolve.

Ultimates

Aggressive Horn – Increases group Max Magicka and Stamina and provides Major Force for a damage window. It is a situational choice when the group lacks reliable Major Force coverage. If an Arcanist already maintains it through Ink-Scribe’s Verve, coordinate whether Horn’s remaining benefits justify the Ultimate slot and cost.

Replenishing Barrier – Provides a large shield to you and nearby group members, helping the group through dangerous damage or recovery phases. Each ward that dissolves restores Magicka to you. It is also useful as a passive slot for the Magicka Aid passive, even when you normally cast your other Ultimate.

Temporal Guard – Slotted primarily for Minor Protection on the active bar. Having a Psijic Order ability slotted also enables Concentrated Barrier’s passive shield while blocking. You normally preserve your Ultimate for group support; casting Temporal Guard rewinds your position and resources, which can disrupt tank positioning.

Key Passive & Gear Interactions

Magicka Aid benefits each bar separately, so Revealing Flare and Replenishing Barrier only contribute recovery while their bar is active. Temporal Guard or Race Against Time enables Concentrated Barrier on its respective bar; that shield recharges after you spend time without blocking.

Assault skills can activate Powerful Assault, while normal Ultimate casts can activate sets such as War Machine or Pillager’s Profit when equipped and ready. If you use Cryptcanon Vestments, your Ultimate becomes a resource transfer instead of casting the listed skill, so you cannot rely on Horn or Barrier’s normal effects.

Impervious Runeward – Your main defensive shield and an important self-heal when used with Crux. Both the shield and healing scale with Max Health, making it particularly effective against hard-hitting bosses and priority adds. Its strongest shield lasts only one second, so cast it immediately before a dangerous hit. Consuming Crux provides healing and activates Implacable Outcome for additional Ultimate generation. Its healing and overhealing contributes towards Ink-Scribe’s Verve.

Runeguard of Freedom – Grants Minor Resolve to you and nearby group members, alongside personal Minor Protection. When you take damage below 50% Health, it consumes Minor Protection to trigger a Max Health–scaling heal, additional armor and temporary crowd control immunity. This provides a defensive buffer while holding dangerous bosses, making it useful when the immobilisation from Still Waters offers little value. Keep the buff active and refresh after the emergency heal triggers to regain Minor Protection; the crowd control immunity has a separate 30-second cooldown.

Tidal Chakram – Provides shields to yourself or up to four allies in front of you, consuming Crux to add healing while those shields remain. This healing and overhealing helps activate Ink-Scribe’s Verve, making the skill particularly valuable when you are responsible for Major Force. Aim it towards allies and rebuild Crux between casts. Its cost uses whichever maximum resource is higher, so it will usually spend Stamina on this tank setup.

Cruxweaver Armor – Maintains Major Resolve and generates Crux when you take damage, while applying Minor Breach to attackers. Keep it active whenever you are handling enemies. With Erudite’s Rigor, taking damage also applies Minor Cowardice, grants group Major Vitality and generates Ultimate based on your active Crux.

Zenas’ Empowering Disc – Provides Minor Courage alongside Minor Fortitude, Minor Intellect and Minor Endurance, supporting group damage and recovery. Place it where your group can enter the area; its buffs remain for up to ten seconds after they leave, making this morph useful when mechanics require movement. It also keeps a Curative Runeforms ability on your back bar for Intricate Runeforms.

Gibbering Shelter – Primarily slotted for Wellspring of the Abyss, which increases Health, Magicka and Stamina Recovery for each Soldier of Apocrypha ability on your active bar. This adds sustain without requiring another cast. When needed, the Ultimate provides strong personal shielding and grants shields to nearby allies as you take damage, making it useful when handling dangerous adds close to the group.

Resonating Glyphic – An offensive support Ultimate that provides nearby allies with healing and up to 200 Weapon and Spell Damage. You and your allies strengthen this morph by damaging the glyphic, so place it where the group can power it up and remain within its area. Its healing contributes towards Ink-Scribe’s Verve, while casting it can activate gear sets that trigger on Ultimate use.

Runic Sunder (Optional) – An alternative ranged Stamina taunt that generates Crux, applies Minor Maim and steals 2,200 Armor from the enemy, improving your defence while supporting group damage. While slotted, it also reduces your damage taken by 2% per active Crux. Consider it if you want an additional source of Crux generation, but account for the utility lost by replacing your scribed taunt.

Key passive and Class Mastery interactions:

• Erudite’s Rigor – Adds group Major Vitality, enemy Minor Cowardice and Ultimate generation to your armor skill when you take damage, with a two-second cooldown. Holding more Crux increases the Ultimate returned. Its value depends on actively handling enemies, so expect less benefit during phases where nothing is attacking you.
• Ink-Scribe’s Verve – Healing or overhealing a combined 100,000 Health in combat generates Crux and grants group Major Force for ten seconds. Tidal Chakram, Resonating Glyphic and self healing help reach this threshold. Positioning and healing output determines uptime.
• Hideous Clarity & Implacable Outcome – Generating Crux restores Magicka and Stamina, while consuming it generates Ultimate on an eight-second cooldown. This makes rebuilding and spending Crux useful for both sustain and Ultimate generation.
• Aegis of the Unseen & Circumvented Fate – Keeping a beneficial Soldier of Apocrypha ability active grants additional Armor. Casting Arcanist abilities also maintains group Minor Evasion, reducing damage from area attacks.
• Intricate Runeforms & Erudition – Slotting a Curative Runeforms ability increases shield strength and reduces shield costs on that bar. Tidal Chakram provides this on the boss front bar, while Zenas’ Empowering Disc and Resonating Glyphic cover the back bar.
• Crux Management – Cruxweaver Armor is your main regular source of Crux in these setups, generating it when you take damage, up to once every five seconds. Use Impervious Runeward when survival requires it, and spend Crux on Tidal Chakram when you can safely support nearby allies. Avoid repeatedly consuming Crux without a purpose: retaining it also improves the Ultimate generation from Erudite’s Rigor.

Heart of Flame – A sustain skill that restores a percentage of your missing Magicka and Stamina over four seconds while providing Max Health–scaling healing. Useful during prolonged blocking phases, where you need resource returns without relying on heavy attacks. Cast it once your resources have dropped enough to benefit, and let it complete before refreshing. Its delayed returns make it a proactive sustain tool rather than an emergency refill.

Blood of the Green Dragon – Your main self-heal, scaling with Max Health and becoming stronger as your Health falls. It adds healing over time, Major Fortitude, Major Endurance and Minor Vitality, improving healing received and damage shield strength. This makes it well suited to sustained boss pressure or assignments away from the group. Major Endurance helps Stamina Recovery when you release block, but does not restore Stamina while blocking. Keep Minor Vitality active and use the burst heal when needed. If additional group buffs are needed and personal survival is already fine, Blood of the Elder Dragon is an alternative.

Hearth and Home – Provides a Max Health–scaling heal over time, granting healed allies Minor Heroism and Minor Fortitude while they remain inside. You also gain Major Protection within the area, while enemies are heavily snared. Place it where you can benefit from its protection without disrupting enemy positioning, ideally overlapping nearby allies to support their Ultimate generation. When your role separates you from the group, it remains useful for personal healing and defence.

Earthshield Mantle – Provides Major Resolve and a short Max Health–scaling damage shield. It is particularly useful when handling enemies away from the group, where you may lose access to a Warden’s Frost Cloak. As an Earthen Heart skill, it also activates Blessing at the Peak in combat and enables Mountain Giant on that bar.

Protect the Brood – Combines personal Major Expedition with projectile damage reduction for yourself and nearby group members, plus group Minor Protection. Use it to move between enemies, reach priority adds or protect nearby allies during projectile-heavy mechanics. Casting it also activates Elder Dragon for Minor Brutality. Its protection requires casting; simply slotting it does not grant Minor Protection.

Standard of Might – Provides allies inside the banner with 300 Weapon and Spell Damage and 10% damage reduction, with additional offensive and defensive benefits for you. Place it where the group can remain within its area during a useful damage window. Casting it restores resources through The Storm Voice and activates Lead from the Front, combining group support with personal sustain. When you are positioned away from the group, consider whether another Ultimate would provide more value.

Magma Fist (Optional) – Used when you are assigned to maintain Heat Shock, increasing the target’s damage taken from all sources. Build three stacks on the priority enemy, then refresh before the seven-second effect expires. Its frequent Stamina cost competes with blocking, dodging and other skills, so only carry this responsibility when your group needs it. Casting it also contributes to Ultimate generation through Blessing at the Peak. If another DK maintains Heat Shock, this becomes a flexible slot.

Igneous Weapons (Optional) – Supplies group Major Brutality, increasing Weapon and Spell Damage, alongside an additional Flame damage effect from Light and Heavy Attacks. Its long duration makes it convenient for covering this buff and allowing group members to choose different potions. Refresh it before it expires rather than repeatedly casting it. It also provides an Earthen Heart ability on your back bar for passive interactions, although its value depends on what the group already covers.

Burning Embers (Optional) – Provides an initial self-heal and further healing whenever its damage-over-time ticks hit, scaling with Max Health. Its initial hit guarantees Burning, supporting Combustion, and activates Traumatic Burns to increase the target’s Flame Damage taken by 5%. Useful when your group needs that debuff or you want additional healing while holding a target. Traumatic Burns lasts only five seconds, so maintaining full coverage requires more frequent casts than the ten-second damage effect alone would suggest.

Key passive and Class Mastery interactions:

• Lead from the Front – Activating The Storm Voice through an Ultimate cast grants nearby group members Major Berserk and Major Protection. Duration increases with Ultimate spent, so coordinate your cast with group damage windows and remain within range of the players you intend to buff.
• Resolute Defense – Builds additional block mitigation while you remain blocking and gives blocked attacks a chance to restore Stamina. Useful during sustained pressure from multiple enemies, but it does not replace careful resource management.
• Inexorable Descent – An alternative for less block-intensive situations. It adds healing and shield strength to your Landslide stacks, which build through dealing damage while an Earthen Heart ability is active.
• The Storm Voice – Casting an Ultimate restores Health, Magicka and Stamina based on Ultimate spent, with stronger returns from having more DK abilities slotted. Plan Ultimate use around both group requirements and your resource needs.
• Elder Dragon & Burnished Scales – Casting Blood of the Green Dragon or Protect the Brood grants group Minor Brutality. Burnished Scales adds block mitigation, helping you withstand dangerous targets.
• Blessing at the Peak & Mountain Giant – Casting or dealing damage with an Earthen Heart ability in combat generates Ultimate on a six-second cooldown. With an Earthen Heart skill slotted on your active bar, fully charged Heavy Attacks also restore additional Stamina and apply Off Balance.
• Traumatic Burns – Direct damage from an Ardent Flame ability makes affected enemies take 5% more Flame Damage for five seconds. Heart of Flame’s finishing blast can apply it, while optional Burning Embers provides a targeted application. Coordinate coverage with another Dragonknight before adding frequent casts to your tanking duties.
• Combustion & A Soul Ablaze – Applying Burning restores Magicka and Stamina while an Ardent Flame ability is slotted. Elemental Susceptibility supplies Burning. A Soul Ablaze increases healing received.

Necrotic Potency – Converts nearby corpses into Ultimate and a Max Health–scaling heal over time, while reducing damage taken by 3% when slotted. Use it after enemies die, when Spirit Guardian leaves a corpse, or when your armor skill or Mastery enables another consumption opportunity. This helps rebuild Glacial Colossus between group damage windows. Consuming a corpse also activates Corpse Consumption for additional Ultimate, subject to that passive’s cooldown.

Hungry Scythe – Your main burst heal, with additional healing for each extra enemy hit and a heal over time afterwards. All of its healing scales with Max Health, making it particularly effective when holding several adds. You must damage an enemy to receive the healing, so keep a target within reach. With Veil’s Forfeit, its direct self-heal can also enable corpse consumption when you heal yourself below the Mastery’s Health threshold.

Agony Totem – Provides nearby allies with Minor Protection, applies Major Cowardice to enemies inside its area and periodically fears susceptible enemies in place. Place it within your established add stack to reduce incoming damage and help keep enemies controlled. Against bosses, its defensive effects remain useful even when the fear cannot affect them. The Pure Agony synergy adds group damage and gives allies another synergy to activate.

Summoner’s Armor – Maintains Major and Minor Resolve, helping you reach the resistance cap without depending on another player’s buffs. Keep it active while holding bosses or priority enemies; it also maintains Disdain Harm’s damage-over-time reduction and reduces Spirit Guardian’s cost. Casting it in combat enables corpse consumption on yourself, once every ten seconds, providing another opportunity to use Necrotic Potency even when no enemies have died.

Spirit Guardian – Transfers 10% of your incoming damage to the spirit and regularly heals you or a nearby low-Health ally. Keep it active during sustained boss pressure rather than waiting until your Health drops. While active, it also enables Undead Confederate for additional recovery and leaves a consumable corpse when it expires in combat, which you can consume with Necrotic Potency.

Glacial Colossus – Your main group damage Ultimate, applying Major Vulnerability to enemies hit and stunning susceptible enemies with its final smash. This morph provides a longer debuff than Pestilent Colossus, making it better suited to maintaining coverage. Veil’s Forfeit extends its seventeen-second Major Vulnerability to 25.5 seconds, with subsequent smashes refreshing the application. Coordinate casts around group damage windows and other sources of Major Vulnerability; high uptime depends on rebuilding Ultimate quickly enough between casts.

Key passive and Class Mastery interactions:

• Veil’s Forfeit – Extends the Major Vulnerability you apply by 50%. Directly healing a target below 66% Health in combat also allows you to use a corpse-consuming ability against them within ten seconds. This creates consumption opportunities without requiring an enemy to die, helping support Necrotic Potency and your Ultimate generation.
• Pound of Flesh – Taking damage has a chance to heal you and restore a percentage of your missing Stamina, with the chance increasing as your Health falls. Its healing scales with Max Health. This is useful under sustained pressure, but treat it as supporting sustain rather than a guaranteed resource return.
• Corpse Consumption – Consuming a corpse grants ten additional Ultimate on a sixteen-second cooldown. This works alongside Necrotic Potency’s own Ultimate return, making regular consumption valuable even during encounters with few enemy deaths.
• Disdain Harm & Last Gasp – Keeping a Bone Tyrant ability active reduces damage taken from damage-over-time abilities by 15%. Maintaining Summoner’s Armor provides reliable coverage while tanking bosses or adds. Last Gasp increases Max Health, improving your survival buffer and the strength of your Health-scaling heals.
• Death Gleaning & Health Avarice – With a Bone Tyrant skill slotted, nearby enemy deaths restore Magicka and Stamina. Each Bone Tyrant skill on your active bar also increases healing received, making your front bar particularly comfortable when managing damage.
• Undead Confederate & Near-Death Experience – An active Spirit Guardian increases Health, Magicka and Stamina Recovery, although Stamina Recovery remains paused while blocking. Slotting it also enables Near-Death Experience on that bar, increasing healing Critical Chance against wounded targets.

Siphoning Attacks – Your main sustain tool. While slotted on either bar, dealing damage provides healing and restores Magicka and Stamina once per second, so keep damage effects such as Elemental Blockade active. Casting it exchanges Health for an immediate resource return and activates the Transfer passive. With Share the Spoils, that cast also supplies group resources and Ultimate. Use it regularly when safe, but avoid spending Health immediately before a dangerous mechanic.

Dark Cloak – Provides a short Max Health–scaling heal over time, with substantially stronger healing while blocking. It also grants Minor Protection while slotted on either bar, giving you constant damage reduction without needing to cast it for that buff. Use the heal during sustained pressure. Casting it activates Shadow Barrier for Major Resolve, while slotting it increases your front-bar Max Health through Dark Vigor.

Phantasmal Escape – Provides Major Evasion, reducing incoming area damage, and removes snares and immobilisations when cast, granting brief immunity to both. While active, taking direct damage builds a reduction to your next Roll Dodge cost, helping you handle dodgeable mechanics and maintain Cutthroat’s Focus without placing as much pressure on Stamina. Casting it also activates Shadow Barrier for Major Resolve. Keep it active during sustained pressure, and recast when you need its movement protection. Unlike Mirage, this morph does not provide Minor Resolve but this is covered by your Scribing skills.

Refreshing Path – Combines healing over time with group Major Expedition, Minor Endurance and Minor Intellect. Place it where nearby allies can benefit, or along your route when moving between enemies. Its recovery buffs support the group during longer encounters, while the speed boost helps with repositioning and mechanics. Casting it also maintains Shadow Barrier, and its healing provides opportunities for Critical Heals that can activate Hemorrhage when an Assassination skill is slotted on your active bar.

Mass Hysteria – An add-control skill that fears nearby susceptible enemies and applies AoE Major Cowardice, reducing their Weapon and Spell Damage. Use it once enemies are positioned to reduce their damage on the group. It also activates Shadow Barrier and adds front-bar Max Health through Dark Vigor.

Soul Harvest – Primarily slotted for its passive ten Ultimate whenever you land a killing blow, which works while it is slotted on either bar. This makes it useful during add waves, although you must secure the kill rather than simply damage the enemy. It also supplies an Assassination skill on your front bar for Hemorrhage and Nocturnal Inspiration. Normally, preserve your Ultimate for the group support effect assigned to your setup.

Key passive and Class Mastery interactions:

• Share the Spoils – Casting Siphoning Attacks in combat activates Transfer, granting group members 250 Magicka and Stamina and two Ultimate, while doubling your own Ultimate return to four. Transfer has a four-second cooldown, so additional casts within that window provide no extra Mastery benefit. Use it when you need resources and can safely afford the Health cost.
• Cutthroat’s Focus – A key group damage Mastery for Main Tanking. Casting a Nightblade ability while blocking creates a 0.3-second dodge window. Dodging an attack, through this effect or a Roll Dodge, increases that attacker’s damage taken by 5% for twenty seconds. Maintain it on the boss through safely timed dodges while preserving positioning and following the encounter’s mechanics.
• Hemorrhage & Pressure Points – Critical damage or healing grants group Minor Savagery while an Assassination ability is slotted on your active bar. Pressure Points increases Critical Chance for each Nightblade skill slotted.
• Catalyst & Transfer – Drinking a potion generates 22 Ultimate, while casting Siphoning Attacks in combat activates Transfer. Regular potion use and carefully timed Siphoning casts help rebuild your group support Ultimate between mechanics.
• Magicka Flood – Having Siphoning Attacks on your active bar increases Max Magicka and Stamina by 6%. Its own passive resource returns work on both bars, but this separate passive requires a Siphoning skill on the bar you are using.
• Shadow Barrier & Dark Vigor – Casting Shadow skills maintains Major Resolve, with Heavy Armor extending its duration. Each Shadow skill slotted also increases Max Health on that bar, improving survivability and Dark Cloak’s healing.
• Executioner – Restores Magicka and Stamina when an enemy dies within two seconds of taking damage from you. Unlike Soul Harvest, it does not require the killing blow. Keeping Elemental Blockade damaging the add stack helps you benefit as enemies die, providing additional sustain during large pulls.

Dark Deal – Converts Magicka into Health and Stamina, providing an initial return when its cast completes and additional Stamina over ten seconds. This gives you a way to rebuild Stamina without relying entirely on heavy attacks or recovery. Its one-second cast drops your block, so use it between dangerous attacks rather than waiting until your resources are exhausted. Casting it also activates Exploitation for group Offensive Penetration and provides an opportunity to trigger Calculated Defense.

Summon Unstable Clannfear – Your main on-demand burst heal for boss fights, with healing that scales with Max Health. Summon it before combat, then activate its special ability when you need healing. While alive, it also maintains Daedric Protection’s damage reduction and Expert Summoner’s additional Max Health. Keep it on both bars so bar swapping does not dismiss it. If it dies, you lose those defensive benefits until it is resummoned.

Vibrant Shroud – Your add-pull heal and source of AoE Major Maim, reducing the damage dealt by enemies in front of you. It also grants Minor Vitality to you and healed allies, improving healing received and shield strength. Aim it through the dangerous enemies while including nearby allies where possible. Casting it activates Exploitation and provides an opportunity to trigger Calculated Defense. Unlike the boss setup’s Clannfear heal, its healing scales with offensive stats rather than Max Health.

Bound Aegis – Provides Minor Protection and Minor Resolve while slotted on either bar, giving you reliable defensive benefits without another upkeep cast. Activate it before dangerous blockable attacks for a substantial increase to block mitigation, with duration influenced by your resistances. Its active effect also enables Daedric Protection for additional damage reduction. Use it for heavy attacks and sustained block phases; increased block mitigation does not protect against unblockable damage.

Boundless Storm – Maintains Major Resolve and grants a short Major Expedition boost when cast, helping you move between enemies and collect priority targets. Its nearby damage continues while you handle other duties, making it convenient during add waves. Casting it also provides an opportunity to activate Calculated Defense. Maintain the resistance buff throughout combat, but avoid repeatedly refreshing its long duration solely for movement unless the mechanic requires it.

Liquid Lightning – Primarily used for its Conduit synergy and additional group utility. Unlike many synergy skills, you can activate your own Conduit, giving you access to Undaunted Command’s Health, Magicka and Stamina returns when other players’ synergies are unavailable. Allies can also use it for additional damage and their own synergy interactions. Place it where you or the group can reach the synergy safely. Casting it also helps maintain Calculated Defense’s group buff.

Summon Charged Atronach – Provides AoE damage, guaranteed Concussion against enemies hit and a synergy that grants nearby allies Major Berserk. Place it near the group during a useful damage window and ensure someone activates Charged Lightning: casting the Ultimate alone does not grant Major Berserk. The Charged morph is particularly useful against stacked adds, spreading Concussion and its associated Minor Vulnerability. Coordinate its use with other Sorcerers and Dragonknights using Lead from the Front to avoid duplicating the same group buff.

Key passive and Class Mastery interactions:

• Calculated Defense – Beginning a Sorcerer ability creates a brief Max Health–scaling shield. If it survives, you and nearby group members gain 6% Weapon and Spell Damage for twenty seconds. Your regular class casts provide opportunities to refresh this buff, but incoming damage can break the shield and prevent its application. Check coverage when you’re away from the group.
• Conservation of Energy – Expands Blood Magic to work with abilities that have a cost, excluding abilities with a cost per tick, and adds Magicka and Stamina returns when it activates. This lets your shared tank skills contribute to sustain alongside your class abilities. Resource returns scale with your maximum resources.
• Blood Magic – Provides a Max Health–scaling self-heal when activated below full Health. At full Health, it instead increases whichever maximum resource is higher for ten seconds. Conservation of Energy broadens access to these effects, helping support both survival and resource management.
• Exploitation – Attempting to activate a Dark Magic ability grants you and your group 2,974 Offensive Penetration for twenty seconds. Dark Deal supplies this during boss fights, while Vibrant Shroud supplies it during add pulls.
• Unholy Knowledge & Persistence – Unholy Knowledge reduces the costs of non-core combat abilities. After blocking an attack, Persistence reduces the cost of your next resource-costing ability, helping make necessary skill casts more efficient during defensive phases.
• Power Stone & Daedric Protection – Power Stone reduces Ultimate costs, helping you cast group support Ultimates more frequently. Daedric Protection reduces damage taken while a Daedric Summoning ability is active. Your Clannfear maintains this during boss fights; without a permanent pet on the add bars, Bound Aegis’s activated effect provides temporary coverage.
• Expert Summoner – Increases Max Magicka and Stamina by 5%, with an additional 5% Max Health while a permanent combat pet is active. The boss setup gains the Health bonus through Clannfear, but the add setup does not. Summon Charged Atronach does not qualify as a permanent pet.
• Capacitor & Expert Mage – Capacitor increases Health, Magicka and Stamina Recovery. Expert Mage adds Weapon and Spell Damage for each Sorcerer skill on your active bar, supporting abilities that scale with offensive stats, including Vibrant Shroud’s healing.
• Expert Summoner’s Max Health bonus applies to the boss setup. The Clannfear is a permanent combat pet, so keeping it active provides the additional 5% Max Health.

Radiant Aura – Provides Minor Fortitude, Minor Intellect and Minor Endurance to you while slotted on either bar, increasing Health, Magicka and Stamina Recovery. Casting it extends those buffs to nearby group members for one minute, making it useful when your group does not already have reliable coverage. The Stamina Recovery helps between blocking phases; it does not restore Stamina while you hold block.

Extended Ritual – Cleanses up to five harmful effects from you and places a large healing area for you and nearby allies. Allies can activate its Purify synergy to cleanse themselves and receive an additional heal. Standing inside your own Ritual also activates Sacred Ground, improving healing and block mitigation. Its cleanse only removes effects that can be purged, so it cannot bypass every trial mechanic.

Purifying Light – Used on bosses mainly to activate Illuminate, Bright Harbinger and Prism, providing group armor, Weapon and Spell Damage, and personal Ultimate generation. When its damage mark expires, it leaves a healing effect around the target, adding support for nearby players. Allow the mark to finish before refreshing it, and prioritise maintaining your group buffs over repeatedly casting it for damage.

Restoring Focus – Your main source of Major Resolve, with direct Stamina return and a Max Health–scaling heal. The Stamina return continues while blocking, making it particularly valuable when holding several enemies or managing sustained pressure. Standing inside the rune significantly strengthens its healing and activates Sacred Ground, but the resistance buff and Stamina return remain useful when mechanics require you to move.

Blazing Spear – Included on the bar to activate Spear Wall, granting Minor Protection and Minor Berserk when cast, while also providing an ally with a resource synergy. Its initial hit immobilises susceptible enemies, giving it additional value when used during add phases. Place it near allies who can use Blessed Shards to restore whichever of their maximum resources is higher. You cannot activate your own synergy with this morph. It provides these benefits without moving you away from your assigned position.

Living Dark – A defensive option for add pulls that heals you when you take direct damage, with a short cooldown between healing triggers. This is useful when several enemies are attacking you, although damage-over-time ticks do not trigger the heal. Casting it also activates the same Dawn’s Wrath passive and Mastery benefits as Purifying Light, allowing the add setup to maintain your group buffs while gaining a more defensive skill.

Key passive and Class Mastery interactions:

• Illuminate + Bright Harbinger – Casting Purifying Light or Living Dark grants you and your group 2,974 additional Armor for twenty seconds. Bright Harbinger also grants 300 Weapon and Spell Damage to allies and 600 to you for the same duration.
• Prism – Casting a Dawn’s Wrath ability in combat generates 3 Ultimate, with a six-second cooldown. Purifying Light and Living Dark activate it naturally, but repeated casts inside that cooldown do not generate additional Ultimate.
• Sacred Ground + Steadfast Candescence – Standing inside your own Extended Ritual or Restoring Focus activates Sacred Ground, granting Minor Mending and additional block mitigation, with a brief duration after leaving. Steadfast Candescence also activates and refreshes Sacred Ground while blocking, allowing you to maintain it when mechanics take you outside those areas. Remaining stationary provides further block mitigation, but move whenever the encounter requires it.
• Spear Wall – Casting Blazing Spear grants personal Minor Protection and Minor Berserk for six seconds. These buffs require refreshing even though the spear’s ground effect lasts longer.
• Balanced Warrior – Increases Armor for each Templar ability slotted and provides additional Weapon and Spell Damage based on your Armor and class skill count.
• Mending + Light Weaver – Mending improves healing on wounded targets. Light Weaver grants Ultimate to allies you heal below 50% Health with Restoring Light abilities, allowing Extended Ritual to provide additional ultimate support.
• Restoring Spirit – Reduces the Health, Magicka, Stamina and Ultimate costs of your abilities, supporting sustain. This does not reduce block cost, so blocking still needs to be managed separately.

Gripping Shards – Primarily used to apply Chilled through its continuing Frost Damage, activating Tundra’s Maw to provide Major Brittle and increase enemies’ Critical Damage taken by 20%. Keep it active while holding targets within range to maintain reliable coverage. It also immobilises susceptible adds, although many trial enemies are immune. If your role keeps you away from the target, use Winter’s Revenge for its ranged placement instead.

Budding Seeds – Provides ongoing healing to you and allies within its area, followed by a larger heal when it blooms. Its frequent healing ticks can activate Nature’s Gift through overhealing, restoring your resources and triggering Bountiful Harvest for group Major Heroism and additional resource returns. It also maintains Minor Toughness through Maturation and provides a Harvest healing synergy. Place it under the group and refresh after it blooms; reactivate early when an immediate heal is needed.

Polar Wind – Your main burst heal, followed by Max Health–scaling healing over time. Use it to recover from heavy boss damage and maintain healing during sustained pressure. Its initial cast also heals a nearby ally, providing additional support when someone is within range. Its healing can grant Minor Toughness through Maturation, but it is a Winter’s Embrace ability, so it does not activate Nature’s Gift or Bountiful Harvest.

Expansive Frost Cloak – Maintains Major Resolve for you and nearby group members. Its large radius helps you cover allies while holding a boss away from the damage stack, although separated players still need to be within range when you cast. Refresh before the buff expires.

Bull Netch – A free sustain skill that directly restores Stamina over time, including while blocking. It also periodically removes a negative effect and provides you personal damage buffs. Keeping it active helps fund blocking, dodging and Stamina-based utility skills. Casting it in combat activates Savage Beast when available, while slotting it enables Flourish on your back bar.

Deceptive Predator – Provides Major Expedition and temporary immunity to snares and immobilisations, helping you reach adds, complete movement mechanics and return to the group. While slotted, it grants Minor Evasion, reducing incoming area damage on that bar. It also enables Flourish and activates Savage Beast when cast in combat, combining movement, defence and passive sustain in one slot.

Feral Guardian – Primarily a passive slot to enable Flourish on your bar, increasing Magicka and Stamina Recovery without occupying a regular skill slot. You do not need to summon the bear for this benefit; preserve your Ultimate for your assigned support ability.

Key passive and Class Mastery interactions:

• Tundra’s Maw + Glacial Presence – Tundra’s Maw makes your Chilled applications also apply Major Brittle, increasing enemies’ Critical Damage taken by 20%. Glacial Presence improves your chance to apply Chilled. Gripping Shards, Elemental Susceptibility and Frost Pulsar provide opportunities to maintain this short debuff.
• Nature’s Gift + Bountiful Harvest – Overhealing yourself or an ally with a Green Balance ability restores 250 Magicka and Stamina, once per second. Bountiful Harvest adds 125 Magicka and Stamina for you and your group, alongside three seconds of Major Heroism, once every two seconds. Budding Seeds supplies these interactions; keep its healing active where it can regularly overheal you or allies.
• Maturation – Your heals grant their recipients Minor Toughness, increasing Max Health by 10% for twenty seconds. Budding Seeds provides group coverage through its repeated healing, while Polar Wind covers you and its nearby ally target. Keep Seeds where it can reach the relevant players without compromising your boss positioning.
• Flourish – Having an Animal Companions ability slotted increases Magicka and Stamina Recovery by 20% on that bar.
• Savage Beast – Casting an Animal Companions ability in combat generates 4 Ultimate, once every eight seconds. Bull Netch and Deceptive Predator activate it during normal use; simply slotting Feral Guardian does not.
• Frozen Armor + Piercing Cold – Frozen Armor increases resistances for each Winter’s Embrace ability on your active bar, while Piercing Cold improves block mitigation.
• Icy Aura – With a Winter’s Embrace ability slotted, direct attacks from enemies in melee range build Bite of Winter stacks. At five stacks, the attacker receives Major Maim. This provides additional damage reduction while holding melee enemies, but requires repeated hits to activate.
• Accelerated Growth – Healing yourself or an ally below 40% Health with a Green Balance ability grants Major Mending. Budding Seeds can activate this when its heal lands; Polar Wind cannot trigger it.