The Elder Scrolls Online is an expansive game. The map features just about the entirety of the continent of Tamriel, including familiar locations from the mainline Elder Scrolls games. The game's PvP system takes place in Cyrodiil, the setting for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and is built around the Alliance War.
It's a different system to other MMOs because PvP takes place entirely in one location in ESO. Cyrodiil is just as big as it was in the fourth Elder Scrolls game, though. There's just as much variety in player builds as there is room to roam the Imperial City's surroundings. Some builds, though, clearly outshine others.
Updated October 3, 2021 by Erik Petrovich: When it comes to the ESO best PvP class 2021 has to offer, each of the game's six choices has a number of builds tuned specifically for the task of killing other players. Each class variety of builds have their own strengths and weaknesses, but at the end of the day, ESO PvP builds are made to excel at this one aspect of the game, whereas PvE builds are designed for dungeons. That isn't to say there isn't some overlap, though, and some powerful PvE builds are just as good, if not better, for PvP combat – especially when taking on Cyrodil with a group rather than on one's own.
Dragonknight: "Drotoxium"
The Dragonknight is The Elder Scrolls Online's most distinct tank class, though it does have the potential to deal high damage as well as take it. The Drotoxium build by Doble is a stamina-based, semi-ranged build. It takes the best of both worlds, turning a Dragonknight into a self-sustaining force to be reckoned with.
The build uses a Two-Handed weapon in the main action bar, featuring spells like Venomous Claw and Take Flight to launch the Dragonknight into a flurry of devastating attacks. The back bar uses a Bow, with a variety of Support abilities to keep the Dragonknight alive. The build puts every single Attribute Point into Stamina to complement its huge reliance on Stamina-based abilities. With that back bar of self-healing and defensive abilities, though, the lack of health points rarely matters.
Necromancer: "Curse"
The Necromancer is a class able to take on any of the three classic dungeon-crawling party roles, being fully skilled at the DPS, Tank, and Support roles equally. With that said, it tends to strive particularly strongly at DPS thanks to the number of skills available to the class that outrank other classes. The "Curse" build from AlcastHQ takes full advantage of this damage-oriented skillset. The "Curse" build gives the Necromancer not one, but two Destruction Staffs to use, effectively dual-wielding the same Destruction Staff with two completely separate ability bars in one of the most interesting ESO PvP builds.
The main bar uses the DPS abilities Mystic Orb, Skeletal Arcanist, Richochet Skull, and Stalking Blastbones alongside the ultimate ability Shooting Star. The back bar uses Unstable Wall of Elements, Unnerving Boneyard, Harness Magicka, and Necrotic Potency to let the Necromancer self-buff and support their party in a damage-oriented manner, alongside the Glacial Colossus ultimate to take threat off the player. The only ability shared between the two is Mystic Siphon – the build also makes use of the Mother's Sorrow and Medusa sets to maximize damage output.
Nightblade: "Rampage"
The Elder Scrolls Online's Nightblade is considered by some to be the best PvP class ESO offers, though there are plenty of skills that make it decent as a Support PvP party member too. The Stamina-based "Rampage" build by Alcast HQ puts the class to the test by giving the Nightblade a Dual-Wield weapon in the main bar and a Bow in the back bar, allowing them to effectively dance between melee and Bow range in combat. The Kinras's Wrath and Perfected Arms of Relequen armor sets are the recommended choices here for their wide-ranging benefits to the build.
The "Rampage" build puts damage-oriented abilities in both the main and back bar, though the back bar has some abilities mixed in that help keep the player alive in tough fights. Deadly Cloak and Relentless Focus are two Dual-Wield abilities that should be cast as often as possible, alongside the ultimate Incapacitaing Strike. The back Bow bar uses spells like the AoE ability Endless Hail, Consuming Trap, and the ultimate Flawless Dawnbreaker (as well as Leeching Strikes and Resolving Vigor) to keep the Nightblade ready to get back into the fray without sacrificing damage output.
Sorcerer: "The Magister"
The Sorcerer is a typical spell-and-staff wielding class that has the potential for enormous damage output when played optimally. The PvP build "The Magister" by Dottz Gaming takes advantage of the class' extremely powerful toolkit. It also dons the Sorcerer in Heavy Armor instead of Light Armor for damage mitigation. "The Magister" takes the aspects that make the Sorcerer so good in PvE and turns it into the Sorcerer's ESO best PvP build 2021 has available.
Though the Sorcerer dons Heavy Armor for this build, they still rely on Destruction Staffs, namely the Inferno Staff and Ice Staff, for their front and back bars. The Sorcerer is typically great for PvE content thanks to its uninterrupted ranged attacks; however, in PvP, the class has to worry about other players. For this reason, the build makes use of the Crushing Shock spell, a damaging interrupt. Additionally, the Streak spell stuns enemies in the Sorcerer's path to mitigate some of this.
Templar: "Warrior"
The Templar class is just as capable of taking on multiple roles in a group as any other, though it is primarily oriented towards the Support and Tank roles over DPS. The "Warrior" build from AlcastHQ makes use of the class' great single and AoE damage skills alongside a swathe of self-sustaining abilities that make it a great build for party or solo play. As a Stamina build, the main weapon bar uses a Two-Handed weapon, while the back bar is filled by the Bow, allowing a Templar to be effective in close combat and at a range.
One of the most important pieces of the set is in its armor bonuses. The Perfected Arms of Relequen set grants extra Stamina, Weapon Critical, and grants the Minor Slayer buff as well as a stacking damage bonus. For its abilities, the main Two-Handed bar uses a number of damage-oriented skills like Biting Jabs, Barbed Trap, and the ultimate Flawless Dawnbreaker, while the back Bow bar uses self-sustaining and buffing skills like Resolving Vigor, Restoring Focus, and Ritual of Retribution to make the Templar (and their allies) more effective.
Warden: "Nature's Wrath"
The Elder Scrolls Online's closest representation of a classic fantasy Ranger is found in the Warden. This class has a huge variety of spells at its disposal through three distinct class trees. What Wardens lack in damage output they more than make up for with enemy debuffs and other esoteric spells. Its not typically thought of as ESO best PvP class, but it's a different story in the "Nature's Wrath" build by Dottz Gaming.
The build has the player turn into a Werewolf for a huge increase to base stamina recovery. It also uses the Clever Alchemist and Hunding's Rage set, which increase weapon and spell damage significantly. The main bar uses dual-wielded weaponry and close-quarters spells like Whirling Blades and Dawnbreaker of Smiting for DPS bursts. On the back bar is a one-handed sword and shield. Pair these with a variety of Support and control-based abilities like Soothing Spores and Ice Fortress, to give the Warden a tactical edge.