The Ultimate Guide to PvP Healing Races in The Elder Scrolls Online

So, you want to be a PvP healer in The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO)? Excellent choice! You’re about to embark on a challenging but incredibly rewarding journey. Being a PvP healer means keeping your teammates alive under intense pressure, disrupting enemy strategies, and turning the tide of battle. But before you dive headfirst into Cyrodiil or the Imperial City, you need to pick the right race. Let’s cut to the chase:

The best race for PvP healing in ESO is arguably the Breton. Bretons have a powerful combination of Magicka sustain, cost reduction, and resistance that makes them incredibly resilient and effective healers in the chaos of PvP combat. However, other races also offer strong advantages, and the “best” choice often depends on your playstyle and build. We’ll delve into these nuances throughout this guide.

Why Race Matters for PvP Healing

Race isn’t just about aesthetics in ESO; it provides significant passive bonuses that can dramatically impact your character’s performance. For PvP healing, you’re looking for races that enhance:

• Magicka Sustain: Healing requires a lot of Magicka. Races that provide Magicka Recovery, Maximum Magicka, or cost reduction for spells are highly valuable.
• Survivability: PvP is brutal. Health bonuses, damage mitigation, and resistances help you stay alive and continue healing.
• Mobility: While not as crucial as sustain or survivability, mobility can help you reposition, escape danger, or chase down allies in need.
• Utility: Some racial passives offer utility beyond raw stats, such as healing received bonuses or crowd control resistance.

Breton: The Classic Healing Choice

As stated above, the Breton race stands out as an excellent choice for PvP healers due to their specific racial traits:

• Magicka Mastery: Increases your Maximum Magicka, providing a larger pool for casting spells.
• Gift of Magnus: Increases your Magicka Recovery, allowing you to regenerate Magicka more quickly, essential for sustaining heals in prolonged fights.
• Stony Ancestry: Increases both your Magicka and Spell Resistance. This is a HUGE advantage, improving your survivability against Magicka-based damage and crowd control, which are common in PvP.
• Spell Attunement: Reduces Magicka cost of your abilities. This ensures you can keep those heals coming!

These passives provide a strong foundation for a resilient and resource-efficient healer, allowing you to stay alive longer and heal more effectively.

Other Contenders: Alternative Race Choices

While Breton is a top pick, several other races can be viable and even excel in specific PvP healing builds:

High Elf (Altmer)

High Elves offer a huge bonus to Magicka and Magicka Recovery. They can pump out serious healing numbers, but their lack of inherent survivability means they need to be played carefully and strategically.

• Highborn: Increases Maximum Magicka and reduces the amount of time it takes to fully charge Heavy Attacks. Also grants bonus Spell Damage.
• Synergy: Bonus Magicka allows for stronger heals, and the spell damage can contribute to offensive support.

Dark Elf (Dunmer)

Dark Elves offer a balanced approach, providing boosts to both Magicka and Stamina, as well as Weapon and Spell Damage.

• Dynamic: Their damage bonuses can be useful for contributing to offensive support or defending themselves when targeted. While not directly healing-focused, the flexibility is valuable.
• Fire Resistance: Their innate resistance to fire damage is helpful against certain classes and builds.

Argonian

Argonians are a strong choice for survivability and sustain. Their healing received bonus is incredibly useful for a healer, and their potion passive makes them excellent at surviving burst damage.

• Resourceful: This passive gives you back Stamina, Magicka, and Health when you drink a potion.
• Amphibious: Increases your Maximum Magicka and Health, and increases swimming speed.
• Argonian Resistance: Increases your Poison and Disease Resistance.
• Quick to Mend: Increases your healing done. This is a HUGE advantage, improving survivability.

Orc

While typically associated with stamina builds, Orcs can be surprisingly effective in PvP healing due to their unparalleled survivability.

• Brawny: Increases Maximum Stamina and Maximum Health.
• Unflinching: Increases Weapon and Spell Damage.
• Swift: Increases Movement Speed.
• Stalwart: Increases Healing Received. This trait is especially important in pvp.

Imperial

Like the Orc, Imperials are very tanky, with increased maximum stamina and health. This can give an advantage in PvP battles.

• Tough: Increases Maximum Health.
• Conditioning: Increases Maximum Stamina.
• Red Diamond: Reduces the cost of your abilities by 6%.

Building Your PvP Healing Race

Ultimately, the “best” race is the one that best complements your playstyle and build. Consider the following when making your decision:

• Class: Some classes naturally have better sustain or survivability, allowing you to compensate with your race choice.
• Gear: Certain gear sets can further enhance the strengths of your chosen race.
• Playstyle: Do you prefer to be a highly mobile healer, a tanky frontline healer, or a backline support?

Conclusion

Choosing the right race is a crucial first step in becoming a successful PvP healer in The Elder Scrolls Online. While Breton offers a strong foundation of sustain, cost reduction, and resistance, other races like High Elf, Dark Elf, Argonian, Orc, and Imperial can also be viable depending on your preferences. Take the time to experiment and find the race that best suits your playstyle and helps you excel on the battlefield.

Remember, knowledge is power! The Games Learning Society at GamesLearningSociety.org explores the power of games in education and learning, and understanding the intricate mechanics of games like ESO can enhance your strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Is Breton always the best race for PvP healing?

No, not always. While Bretons offer a very strong foundation for PvP healing, other races can be more effective in specific builds or playstyles. For example, a highly aggressive, damage-dealing healer might prefer the Dark Elf for its offensive stats, while someone focused on tanking might lean towards Argonian.

2. Does race matter more than skill?

Skill is always the most important factor. A skilled player can be effective with any race. However, racial passives can provide a significant advantage, especially at higher levels of play.

3. How important is Magicka Recovery for PvP healing?

Magicka Recovery is extremely important. PvP battles can be long and intense, and you need to be able to sustain your healing abilities throughout the fight. Aim for a high Magicka Recovery stat, either through your race, gear, or Champion Points.

4. What stats should I prioritize for PvP healing?

Prioritize Magicka, Magicka Recovery, Health, Spell Critical, and Spell Resistance.

5. Is it better to have more Magicka or more Magicka Recovery?

It depends on your playstyle. More Magicka gives you a larger pool to draw from, while more Magicka Recovery allows you to replenish your Magicka more quickly. A balance of both is ideal. Most people lean to more Magicka recovery.

6. Should I focus on healing output or survivability?

Both are crucial. You can’t heal if you’re dead, but you also need to be able to put out enough healing to keep your teammates alive. This is where the Breton race excels with its bonuses to both survival and healing.

7. Are there any races that are completely unviable for PvP healing?

While some races are less optimal, any race can be viable with the right build and playstyle. However, races with passives that are primarily focused on stamina or weapon damage will generally be less effective than those with Magicka-based passives.

8. What Champion Points should I focus on for PvP healing?

Focus on Champion Points that enhance Magicka Recovery, Spell Critical, Healing Done, and Damage Mitigation.

9. How does gear affect my race choice?

Certain gear sets can complement your racial passives. For example, if you’re playing a High Elf, you might choose gear sets that provide additional survivability.

10. Is mobility important for PvP healing?

Mobility is helpful, but not as crucial as sustain and survivability. Being able to reposition quickly can help you escape danger or reach allies in need, but it’s more important to be able to stay alive and keep your Magicka flowing.

11. Which class is the best for PvP healing, and how does it affect my race choice?

Templar and Warden are often considered the strongest healing classes due to their dedicated healing skill lines and powerful support abilities. A Templar might benefit from the Breton’s cost reduction to sustain their potent burst heals, while a Warden could utilize the Argonian’s healing received bonus to maximize the effectiveness of their HoTs (Heal Over Time).

12. What is the role of a PvP healer in a group?

A PvP healer is responsible for keeping teammates alive, maintaining buffs and debuffs, and disrupting enemy strategies. They need to be able to react quickly to changing situations and prioritize targets effectively.

13. Are healers only useful in large-scale PvP?

Healers are valuable in all forms of PvP, from small-scale skirmishes to large-scale battles. Their ability to keep teammates alive and provide support is crucial in any situation.

14. Can I be a damage dealer and a healer in PvP?

Yes, it’s possible to build a hybrid damage dealer/healer, but it requires careful balancing of stats and skill points. Races like the Dark Elf can be suitable for this role, as they provide bonuses to both Magicka and damage.

15. How often do racial passives change in ESO?

Racial passives are occasionally adjusted in patches, so it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest changes. Check the official ESO forums and patch notes for the most current information.