The Elder Scrolls Online’s Sorcerer class has access to spells that primarily focus on dealing ranged combat damage. Its three skill trees, Dark Magic, Daedric Summoning, and Storm Calling, each of which is oriented around a different aspect of damage – whether that be through summoning Daedric minions or dealing devastating AoE attacks.
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The Elder Scrolls Onlinegives players a lot of customizability when it comes to classes and abilities. If players want to play a tanking or support Sorcerer, weapon choicebecomes all the more important. One can likely correctly guess which weapons are best for DPS Sorcerers, but the best weapons for Support or Tanking are a bit more nuanced.
Updated June 26, 2025 by Erik Petrovich:Sorcerers in The Elder Scrolls Online are typically played as damage dealers exclusively, but that doesn’t mean they can’t take on other roles too. When it comes to dealing the most damage possible as a Sorcerer, the Dual Wielding weapon Skill Tree comes in ranked dead last thanks to its lack of synergistic abilities with the class. Sorcerers just thrive better at long range, and although the Dual Wield skill tree has somedecent options for the class, other weapons work better with the Sorcerer’s focus on distance-based Magicka attacks. These Skills, Morphs, Passives, and Ultimates are the best to choose from each weapon Skill Tree.
Dual Wielding: Axes, Swords, Maces, Daggers
The Dual Wielding weapon Skill Tree is primarily focused onDPS output at melee range(with a few ranged options) as well as self-sustain and AoE at a melee range. It’s a powerful weapon Skill Tree for most classes, but Sorcerers benefit much more from One Handed and Two-Handed setups in their back bar.
The Dual Wielding Skill Tree is pretty powerful, though, despite not being particularly suited for Sorcerers. TheLacerateability (and its morphsRendandThrive in Chaos) is a great source of self-healing and damage at the same time, whileHidden Bladeis a powerful anti-spellcasting ability that can shut down enemy Sorcerers in PvP who aren’t expecting a Dual Wield backbar.
Two-Handed Weapons: Greatswords, Battle Axes, Mauls
Two-Hand Weapons inThe Elder Scrolls Onlineare comprised of Greatswords, Battle Axes, and Mauls. They are designed to deal huge damage numbers in close combat while giving access to a few unique debuffs through their skill tree.One thing to keep in mindwhen choosing a Two-Handed Weapon for a Sorcerer, though, is how it synergizes with the class’s innate skills.
Sorcerer skill tree abilities are almost entirely ranged in nature, though there are a select few prime for close combat. TheDark Exchangeability and its two morphs are self-healing skills in the Dark Magic tree, which when paired with theBrawlermorph can make for a decent Bruiser Sorcerer. The Two-Handed skillMomentumcan make a Sorcerer much more powerful at close range with its Damage and Stamina-enhancing buffs, andCritical Chargecan close the distance, but Two-Handed weapons are typically best kept as a backup.
Ranged Support: Restoration Staffs
Restoration Staffs are the go-to primary weapon for players in theSupport role for their party. The staff comes with a skill tree based around party healing, including theRadiating Regenerationmorph for cleave healing as well as theCombat Prayerability, a great two-in-one buff and heal. The class' innate abilities related to play Support are thin, though, such as theTwilight Matriarchsummon.
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WhileThe Elder Scrolls Onlineputs a lot of emphasis on players being able to do anything as any class, Support just doesn’t come naturally to Sorcerers – unless the player has purposefully specced into the role. Restoration Staffs make for a good secondary weapon for Sorcerers though because they naturally engage in combat from a distance. They might not be the best choice for the group healer, but they can help out when needed with some of these skills in the back bar.
Ranged Physical: Bows
Similar to Restoration Staffs, Bows are not a first-choice primary weapon for Sorcerers, but they work well as a secondary weapon. The Bow skill tree gives access to a variety of ranged control abilities, such asFocused Aim, as well as some self-healing abilities such asDraining Shot.
One of the major benefitsof using a Bow in the secondary weapon slot is the fact that most of the weapon’s abilities use Stamina as a resource. Typically, Sorcerers will almost exclusively use Magicka for their spells, and Stamina stays full and unused in combat. With a Bow, Sorcerers can totally max their Magicka bar with their spells and switch to a Bow to avoid losing any DPS while Magicka is being recharged.
One-Handed and Shield: Axes, Swords, Maces, Daggers
Sorcerers who are intent on getting into close combat for their builds should spec into One-Handed and Shield over Two-Handed because it simply helps them stay alive better. The Two-Handed weapon skill tree gives almost exclusively DPS-oriented skills, while the One-Handed and Shield skill tree gives Sorcerers great defensive abilities it wouldn’t otherwise have access to.
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Defensive Postureand its two morphs are fantastic self-buffs that also come with a self-heal, whileShield Chargegives access to a reliable stun.Punctureand its morphs give major debuffs to enemies that the rest of the party can benefit from. Sorcerers thrive when far from combat, but with this skill tree and its abilities, aplayer can become a potent close-combatBattlemage. One-Handed and Shield weapons work well in the back bar for Sorcerers, too, for the same reason the Bows work well.
Ranged Magical: Lightning Staffs, Inferno Staffs, Ice Staffs
Players new toThe Elder Scrolls Onlinetend to make a lot of assumptions about the game, but one obvious assumption rings true: the best weapons, and thus the best weapon skill tree, for Sorcerers to use is the Destruction Staff skill tree. This skill tree isiconic of damage-dealing spellcasters, and it pairs extremely well with the Sorcerer’s innate class skills.
It grants access to debuffing skills likePulsar, which reduces enemy max health, as well as passive abilities likeTri Focuswhich gives different abilities based on the type of staff equipped. These abilities are among the highest-damage abilities inThe Elder Scrolls Online, and abilities likeWall of Elementscan even give Sorcerers some Support utility. The one downside of the skill tree, though, is that Sorcerers will have tomake some tough choiceson which abilities to include from the Destruction Staff skill tree and which to include from the Sorcerer skill tree.
