The Elder Scrolls Online’s Arcanist class is a whirlwind of magic and chaos

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The Elder Scrolls Online: Arcanist

Having been a mainstay in the series since its debut in 2014, initially launching with four classes: Templar, Nightblade, Dragonknight, and Sorcerer, two more came in the Morrowind chapter with Warden and Sorcerer, and Elsweyr added Necromancer to a suddenly burgeoning class roster.

Now that The Elder Scrolls Online: Arcanist release date is here, we’re looking in-depth at the mystery and excitement that is the Arcanist – a powerful caster who draws on forbidden knowledge and controls magic through runic text, sigils, and glyphs, summoning creatures from the realm of Apocrypha to aid in battle, and using a mysterious book from their home to control magic.

Though Bethesda firmly says that the Arcanist’s books are not like the Black Books of Skyrim fame, the studio was certainly inspired by their presence in the otherwise open-world RPG game. In fact, Arcanist’s books form a special bond with the user, and can be used to control the magic.

“The Arcanist draws on fragments of knowledge drawn from the forbidden texts of Apocrypha to wage war against their enemies,” explains game director Jared Shapiro. “Their weapons consist of a troupe of summoned creatures, known as Clarus, who attack enemies on command. The Arcanist controls this army through a mysterious book that forms a special bond with its wielder, allowing for almost complete control of the magical forces.”

Here’s a more in-depth look at the Arcanist class, what it can do, and how it works in The Elder Scrolls Online. Bear in mind there are some details relating to the new Crux System mechanic and the development of the Arcanist class in general, some of which is still being determined.

The Elder Scrolls Online Arcanist Abilities

Naturally, there are going to be a lot of abilities in each of the following Arcanist class lines: Herald of the Tome, Soldier of Apocrypha, and Curative Runeforms. We don’t have them all right now, but we’ll get there.

Here are some of the abilities we’ve already seen and how they work in the first PvE Arcanist class line, Herald of the Tome. This spellslinger line focuses on damage dealing and is split into four subsections: Crimson, Libonic, Necrotic, and Cercle. Crimson spells are fire-based attacks with massive, AoE finishers. Libonic heals allies and deals damage to enemies. The Necrotic tree deals damage to enemies at the cost of resources, and then the Cercle tree is forward-thinking and boosts damage and mobility.

That’s all the known information about The Elder Scrolls Online Arcanist for now. The caster class is all about damage, sustainability, and crowd control. Its mobility and fluidity allow for them to get in and out of trouble in a flash.