Tinkerer (Clockwork City)

Armor Types

Gear and Item Set Info

As this is a Clockwork City-inspired build, you'll want to wear 5/5 Mad Tinkerer in your back bar.  In PvP the Fabricant can be dodged, but it's still a respectable source of damage.  Your two Dual-Wield weapons - preferably Sword & Mace - and Jewelry should be Mad Tinkerer.  

The crafted set for your build has some interesting possibilities and should be a full 5-set as well.  Mechanical Acuity fits the theme well enough, granting some Magicka and Stamina, and providing you some great burst damage.  Morkuldin from Orsinium is good, but will probably require knowing a Master Crafter - summoning an animated weapon is fully in character with the theme.  Another good set is Pelinal's Aptitude from the Gold Coast - as it's the set that makes hybrid builds possible, keeping everything below the shoulders in Pelinal can be quite potent, and gives some resource sustain.  Another choice is much more boring, but practical and easy to get: Night's Silence from Auridon, Glenumbra, and Stonefalls.  This gives you more Stamina to work with, but more importantly can help you to get around without being seen...thus allowing you time to put traps in awkward places.  Given that your weapons are all empowered by Stamina, I'd recommend going for Night's Silence first, unless you can get Shacklebreaker from Morrowind - Shacklebreaker is just a great set, and it will be useful for giving this build sustain and power.

For Beast Sets at CP 160+, Molag Kena is good for yet more burstiness, while Engine Guardian provides some support to your allies, and Domihaus gives you both bursts and good offensive stats.

For your bow, you could probably use a Legendary bow (preferably Apostle, because it looks awesome), unless you can somehow procure a Maelstrom bow.  If you can, definitely replace Lethal Arrow with Barrage and the morph you're comfortable with.

General Info

The Tinkerer is not a min/max, 'Endgame raiding 100% viable this game is a job, not a game' build by any means - this is a build intended for messing around with a mechanical theme.  That being said, while this build throws out much of the Sorcerer class, this build is still capable of being a reasonably dangerous combatant, between the usages of all manner traps to control where your opponents go, powerful Bow abilities, and deadly Dual Wield strikes.

Generally with this build, I like to start at range with attacks from Stealth, and as many Lethal Arrows as I feel is reasonable.  If that doesn't drop something, I can swap to dual-wield and start sticking them with Rapid Strikes.  If something isn't willing to dance, that's OK - I can either swap back to Bow and maintain bombardment, or use Silver Leash to swing into the action with twin weapons.

Traps aren't very powerful in ESO, but I wanted to give them a chance in this build.  Against players, the effect is largely psychological - by placing mines and stuff in interesting places I can cause a large amount of annoyance and damage, while remaining unpredictable.  Against dumb PvE enemies, they can be a potent form of control, provided that you play with the traps' arming times in mind.

You do have options with your abilities.  Bound Armaments is suggested due to the fact that your weapons are stamina-based, but if you find yourself using traps more than weapon abilities, feel free to use Bound Aegis instead.  Daedric Tomb lets you place instant-arming mines at range, which is powerful, but Daedric Minefield creates more mines, which can mean more damage - I find I alternate between them every now and again, I'm not sure there's a clear winner.  If you feel like you've got too many traps, feel free to swap out either Lightweight Beast Trap or Scalding Rune for another weapon ability on each bar - due to taking points in the relevant Mage's Guild and Fighter's Guild talents, you'll lose either Weapon Damage, or Magicka and Magicka Regen respectively, but taking a Volatile Clannfear can be useful for PvE, while Explosive Shot or Hidden Blade morphs can be useful in other situations.

While I use Wood Elf in this build, that's mostly to master Bows as quickly as possible, and have an easier time stealthing about.  Redguards, Dark Elves, High Elves, and Bretons are also good choices for this sort of build.

As a tinker, the only trade skills I let myself put any points into in a serious capacity are Alchemy and Enchanting, as those fit with the scientific theme of the build.  While it may be necessary while leveling to put points into the main trades (Blacksmithing, Woodworking, Clothing), it's probably not necessary unless you want your tinker to be your dedicated crafter (which, is also in character with this build!)

For Food, I recommend using whatever compensates for the weaknesses in your equipment setup.  If your regeneration is low, pack some drinks; if you've got an imbalance of Magicka or Stamina, choose a good Blue food - if you run Pelinal's in your armor, you could even choose a food that enhances what you're strong in. 

For Potions, you've got options and what you choose really matters.  I definently recommend tri-potions primarily, with the ability to take either stamina/weapon damage/weapon crit potions or magicka/spell damage/spell crit potions as a performance enhancer.  In this build, stealth/speed potions - the kind made from Blue Entoloma, Blessed Thistle, and Namira's Rot - can be great for plying guerilla tactics in PvP.  You are a tinker, after all!

As a matter of personal policy, I don't suggest anything in particular with Champion Point allocations.  Boosting physical, Shock, Magic, and Bow and Dual Wield damage is a great idea.  Making Stealth, Dodge Roll, and Armor Penetration more potent are also good ideas.  That being said, you should choose what you think makes your build work well.

Lastly, as to how to play the character in dialogue options, witty, sarcastic answers are the way to go - your character is probably one of the most intelligent persons in Tamriel.  Where most can't walk five feet without pulling a doomsday cult out of someplace they haven't washed in two weeks, you're adept with artificial devices of all sorts - bows, crossbows, fabricants, magical constructs, and so much more.  I recommend decking yourself out in Dwarven or Apostle equipment due to the mechanical nature - though, Apostle looks way better.

I'm loving my PS4 wood elf, Tinkerer Faneluen, and I hope that those of you crazy enough to try this build wind up finding it as refreshing as I do.

Build Rating