Easy Peasy Beamy Weamy: General - Arkanist Baue PvE - ESO

This build revolves around the Fatecarver (Herald of the Tome) and Radiant Destruction (Dawn's Wrath) skills.

Weapons:

• Front bar:
  • Daggers. The set doesn't matter. Deadly Strikes daggers can be expensive so you can use daggers from the other set to save some gold. The Twin Blade and Blunt passive from the Dual Wield skill line increases your Critical Chance by 657 per dagger. The Dual Wield Expert passive also increases Weapon and Spell Damage by 6% of the off hand weapon's damage. Both of these passives provide free extra damage to all of your attacks.
    • Main Hand:
      • Enchantment: doesn't matter that much. Absorb Stamina will give you slightly better sustain and deal a bit of damage, but any damaging enchantment (e.g., Poisoned Weapon) will work great. I usually run the Weapon Damage enchantment to increase my Weapon and Spell Damage.
      • Trait: Precise for extra Critical Chance or Charged for extra status effect chance. Either trait will work great. If you go with damaging enchantments like Poisoned, use Charged. If you use Absorb Stamina or Weapon Damage, use Precise.
    • Off Hand:
      • Enchantment: same as main hand, specific enchantments don't matter too much. If you choose to go with a damaging enchantment, use different elements for each hand (e.g., poison on your Main Hand and disease on your Off Hand). The build already has fire, ice, and shock damage sources, so if you want damaging enchantments poison and disease will give you the best results. I usually run Absorb Stamina.
      • Trait: Nirnhorned. Increases weapon damage, boosting the Dual Wield Expert passive, increasing Weapon and Spell Damage.
• Back Bar:
  • If you don't have DLC, follow Option 2 below using either an ice (better survivability) or shock (more DPS) Destruction Staff. The set for the staff doesn't matter since you won't be holding it for long.
  • If you have DLC, you can use one of two Maelstrom Arena weapons on the back bar. I recommend completing Maelstrom Arena in Normal Mode first, and then trying Veteran for the Perfected version if you like to max your gear. The Perfected versions will boost your DPS, but they're not needed. For both weapons, I recommend the following:
    • Trait: Infused. Increases enchantment effectiveness and reduces enchantment cool down.
    • Enchantment: Crushing. Reduces target's Physical and Spell Resistance so they take more damage from all sources.
  • Option 1 (better DPS): Merciless Charge Two-handed. 
    • Any two-handed weapon will do. Boosts direct damage after using Critical Charge, making your beams hit harder. Also gets you in melee range so skills like Blade Cloak (Dual Wield) and Tome Bearer's Inspiration (Herald of the Tome) can proc.
  • Option 2 (better sustain and survivability): Crushing Wall Staff
    • Element doesn't really matter. Great for dealing with groups of enemies and reducing your Stamina burden. Casting Wall of Elements with an ice staff can also give a damage shield to you and your allies to improve survivability.

Armour:

• There is a lot of flexibility with the armour sets depending on what content you have access to. The best sets will require DLC, but you can still put a very powerful build together using sets from the base game. For all sets, I recommend the following:
  • Enchantment: Maximum Stamina.
  • Trait: Divines.
• Try to get all of your non-Monster Set armour in the Medium Armour variant. Medium Armour provides the best passives for Stamina-based builds.
  • Set 1: Deadly Strikes (base game; PvP; S-tier). This set boosts damage from DoTs and channelled abilities (i.e., Fatecarver and Radiant Destruction). This is a great set for this build and it's included in the base game, so any build variation can include it. Make sure you have 5/5 of this set on your front bar.
  • Set 2 (Seasons of the Worm Cult): Tide-born Wildstalker (Seasons of the Worm Cult; craftable; S-tier). This set boosts direct damage (i.e., Fatecarver and Radiant Destruction) against monsters. This is a great set for making your beams hit for big numbers, but does require Seasons of the Worm Cult. Fortunately, it is craftable so it's easy to get if you do have the required DLC.
  • Alternatives to Tide-born Wildstalker if you don't have the required DLC (sorted alphabetically):
    • Hunding's Rage (base game; craftable; C-tier). Extra Critical Chance, increased max stamina, and bonus Weapon and Spell Damage. Use this set to unlock Spattering Disjunction if you don't have DLC.
    • Order's Wrath (High Isle; craftable; A-tier). Loads of Critical Chance, bonus Weapon and Spell damage, and extra Critical Damage and Critical Healing.
    • Spattering Disjunction (base game; class set; A-tier). Extra Critical Chance, bonus Weapon and Spell Damage, and Arcanist abilities apply two random status effects every 7 s. Dealing damage with Herald of the Tome abilities reduces the cool down between status effects.

Mythics:

• Group content (e.g., dungeons; optional): Velothi Ur-mage's Amulet. Big overall damage increase at the cost of your Light and Heavy attacks dealing basically no damage. Alternatively, you can forgo a Mythic and use a full Monster Set instead (see below) but you will lose out on some damage.
  • Trait: Bloodthirsty. More damage as enemies lose health.
  • Enchantment: Stamina Recovery or Reduce Feat Cost for better sustain, or Increase Physical Harm for more damage.
• Solo content (e.g., arenas, Infinite Archive; strongly recommended): Ring of the Pale Order. This makes you functionally immortal.
  • Trait: Bloodthirsty.
  • Enchantment: Stamina Recovery or Reduce Feat Cost for better sustain, or Increase Physical Harm for more damage.

Monster Set:

• If you use a Mythic (above), you will not be able to use a full Monster Set. The following Monster Sets work well with one (Mythic) or two (no Mythic) items. Regardless of which Monster Set you choose, use the following:
  • Trait: Divines.
  • Enchantment: Maximum Stamina.
• Also try to get your Monster Set in the Light Armour variant to take advantage of the Undaunted Mettle passive from the Undaunted Guild skill line.
  • Option 1 (improved sustain): Grundwulf (Scalebreaker DLC; Moongrave Fane dungeon).
    • Increases Critical Chance (1 item) and restores resources upon dealing Critical Damage (2 items).
  • Option 2 (improved DPS): Slimecraw (base game; Wayrest Sewers I dungeon).
    • Increases Critical Chance (1 item) and grants Minor Berserk (flat 5% damage bonus; 2 items).
  • Option 3 (improved survivability): Iceheart (base game; Direfrost Keep dungeon).
    • Increases Critical Chance (1 item) and has a 20% chance to grant a shield after dealing Critical Damage (2 items).

Active Skills:

• Front Bar (any order):
  • Abyssal Impact (Herald of the Tome) → Cephaliarch's Flail or Runeblades (Herald of the Tome) → Escalating Runeblades.
    • Cephaliarch's Flail:
      • Spammable for generating Crux and dealing with weaker enemies. It also provides some healing. The alternate Morph (Tentacular Dread) doesn't generate Crux or heal, but does increase how much damage enemies take by up an additional 6% (at the cost of three Crux). The rotation is simpler, and you generate Crux faster, with Cephaliarch's Flail, so this is the morph I recommend in most content. If you want to use Tentacular Dread, slot Tenactular Dread on your Back Bar (see below) and slot Runeblades here as your Crux generator.
    • Runeblades:
      • Alternate spammable for generating Crux. Not as effective for generating Crux, or dealing with weaker enemies, and doesn't heal either. The morph doesn't really matter since I only use this skill for generating Crux. Escalating Runeblades adds a small amount of AoE damage, while the alternate Morph (Writhing Runeblades) gains increased Critical Chance for each Crux you have. 
  • Fatecarver (Herald of the Tome) → Pragmatic Fatecarver.
    • This skill will deal more than 50% of your total damage against bosses before the execute stage. The Morph doesn't really matter. Pragmatic Fatecarver gives a damage shield while channelling and reduces the resource cost per Crux consumed, but Exhausting Fatecarver snares enemies. If you have enough sustain and survivability, use Exhausting Fatecarver. If you're unsure, use Pragmatic Fatecarver.
  • Radiant Destruction (Dawn's Wrath) → Radiant Oppression.
    • This skill is used for executing bosses. The Morph doesn't matter too much. Radiant Oppression allows you to start the execute stage sooner, while Radiant Glory reduces the cost and provides a very nice heal. I prefer Radiant Glory for solo content and Radiant Oppression for group content.
  • Blade Cloak (Dual Wield) → Quick Cloak.
    • Grants Major Evasion, reducing damage taken from area attacks, and applies Major Expedition, increasing movement speed, when cast. More importantly, however, this skill will automatically proc your weapon enchantments for you; this is particularly useful if you're running Velothi Ur-mage's Amulet, since it eliminates the need to perform Light attacks. In combat, try to keep this skill up all the time.
  • Grim Focus (Assassination) → Relentless Focus.
    • Used primarily to boost Assassination passives, but also increases your damage. Most of the time I use this skill passively (i.e., I gain stacks if I use Heavy attacks to restore stamina). The alternate Morph (Merciless Resolve) increases the heal and consumes Magicka instead of Stamina, but reduces the increase to Weapon and Spell Damage for each stack, so will result in lower overall damage. For better survivability and sustain, at the cost of damage, you can use Merciless Resolve instead. Can be swapped with The Imperfect Ring on the Back Bar for more Offensive Penetration from the Splintered Secrets passive (Herald of the Tome) at the cost of some Critical Chance from the Pressure Points passive (Assassination).
  • Death Stroke (Assassination) → Incapacitating Strike.
    • Used primarily to boost Assassination passives, but also makes enemies take 20% more damage for your attacks for 12 s, which is a huge increase during the execute phase. Before execute, however, you're better off using the Back Bar Ultimate.
• Back Bar (any order):
  • Wall of Elements (Destruction Staff) → Elemental Blockade or Critical Charge (Two Handed) → Critical Rush.
    • Wall of Elements:
      • Used for dealing consistent “passive damage” to bosses or dealing with groups of weaker enemies. Element isn't that important. Ice is good for improving survivability, while fire or shock will improve DPS. Elemental Blockade makes better use of the Crushing Wall Set, so this is what I'd recommend. If you don't have a Crushing Wall staff, Unstable Wall of Elements will be better for dealing with groups of weaker enemies.
    • Critical Charge:
      • Primarily used for activating the Merciless Charge Set, which increases direct damage. The Morph doesn't really matter. I go with the Critical Rush morph to reduce the stamina cost. The alternate Morph (Stampede) increases the stamina cost to apply an AoE DoT, which will increase DPS at the cost of sustain.
  • Sun Fire (Dawn's Wrath) → Vampire's Bane.
    • Used for granting Major Savagery and Major Prophecy, increasing Weapon and Spell Critical Chance for 30 s. It also applies a weak fire DoT. During combat, try to keep this skill's buffs activate all the time.
  • Weakness to Elements (Destruction Staff) → Elemental Susceptibility or Tentacular Dread (Herald of the Tome; Abyssal Impact Morph).
    • Weakness to Elements:
      • Used for applying Major Breach to bosses. The Morph doesn't matter too much. The Elemental Susceptibility Morph applies a random status effect every 7.5 s, which will increase DPS, while the Elemental Drain Morph applies Major Breach for longer and applies Minor Magickasteal (though this isn't that useful for this build).
    • Tentacular Dread:
      • Tentacular Dread will out-perform Cephaliarch's Flail in boss fights since it can increase the damage enemies take by up to 11% (compared to Cephaliarch's Flail's flat 5%). The Tentacular Dread rotation is a bit more involved, but will generally result in larger DPS:
        • Before the execute phase (which depends on how you morph Radiant Destruction), use Runeblades to generate three Crux and cast Fatecarver. Repeat this until the boss's health is below your execute threshold (either 40% or 33%).
        • During the execute phase, use Runeblades to generate three Crux, cast Tentacular Dread to increase the damage the boss takes by 11%, and then cast Radiant Destruction (or your chosen morph thereof) for huge execute damage. You can usually cast Radiant Destruction 2-3 times before you need to repeat the rotation, though most things will probably be dead by that point.
  • Tome Bearer's Inspiration (Herald of the Tome) → Recuperative Treatise.
    • Grants Major Brutality and Major Sorcery by being slotted on either bar, and passively deals damage, which will generate one Crux if you have none. The Morph isn't that important. I like Recuperative Treatise since it restores Magicka and Stamina every time it deals damage. The alternate Morph (Inspired Scholarship) deals damage more often but doesn't restore any ability resources. Inspired Scholarship will result in slightly better DPS, while Recuperative Treatise offers better sustain.
  • The Imperfect Ring (Herald of the Tome) → Fulminating Rune.
    • Applies an AoE DoT around the targeted enemy. The morph isn't that important. I prefer Fulminating Rune since it provides a Synergy to more allies, while the alternate morph (Rune of Displacement) will pull nearby enemies which may make it easier to deal with packs of weaker enemies. Use whichever Morph you prefer. Can be swapped with Grim Focus on the Front Bar for more Offensive Penetration from the Splintered Secrets passive (Herald of the Tome) at the cost of some Critical Chance from the Pressure Points passive (Assassination).
  • The Unblinking Eye (Herald of the Tome) → The Languid Eye.
    • Big beam. The Morph doesn't matter too much. The Languid Eye is better for raw damage if you can keep the boss in place, while the alternate Morph (The Tide King's Gaze) will follow the target until it expires, making it generally a bit more reliable (unless the boss moves very quickly).

Passive Skills:

• Pick up all of your Racial passives, regardless of which race you use.
• Pick up all Class → Herald of the Tome passives.
• Pick up all Class → Dawn's Wrath passives.
• Pick up all Class → Assassination passives.
• Weapon → Dual Wield:
  • Slaughter isn't that useful, can be skipped to save skill points.
  • Pick up Dual Wield Expert.
  • Controlled Fury is nice, but can be skipped to save skill points.
  • Ruffian isn't that useful, can be skipped to save skill points.
  • Pick up Twin Blade and Blunt.
• Weapon → Destruction Staff (if using Crushing Wall):
  • Tri Focus is nice, but can be skipped to save skill points.
  • Pick up Penetrating Magic.
  • Pick up Elemental Force.
  • Ancient Knowledge isn't that useful, can be skipped to save skill points.
  • Destruction Expert is recommended, but can be skipped to save skill points.
• Weapon → Two Handed (if using Merciless Charge):
  • Balanced Blade is the only passive I'd actively recommend.
  • Battle Rush is nice if you have the skill points to spare, but can be skipped.
• Pick up all Armour → Light Armour passives.
• Pick up all Armour → Medium Armour passives.
• Pick up all Guild → Undaunted passives.

Consumables:

• Potion:
  • Tri-restoration Potion.
    • I use these because I have hundreds of them, but anything will work so long as it restores stamina.
• Food:
  • Fortifying Meal or Braised Rabbit with Sping Vegetables.
    • Anything that increases Health and Stamina will do.

With this build you should be able to beam through most PvE group content and arenas. For the Infinite Archive, your mileage may vary. Scribing is also bugged at the moment, but when it gets added to the base game next month I'll update the build accordingly.