Since its release in 2017, the Warden class continues to be of great enjoyment for many players and with InquisitorModrak's assistance, the Magicka Warden DPS class will be showcased as having that same level of enjoyment for many players while still being able to get competitive numbers.
Recommended race for this build is Altmer or Dunmer. Khajiit seems to be a little bit lower on the dummy, but can still be good in raid, especially in places like Sunspire where the Critical Damage passive of the Khajiit makes up for Backstabber being useless.
Recommended Mundus Stone is The Thief.
Recommended potions for this build will be Essence of Spell Power. Heroism potions will give you the most Ultimate casts possible and can be used in theory on the Magicka Warden assuming you run Inner Light on the frontbar that gives Major Prophecy while the Blue Betty can give you Major Sorcery.
Recommended food for this build is Ghastly Eye Bowl or any bi-stat food (Health + Magicka) for content that requires you to do so. You can also do Clockwork Citrus Filet or Witchmother's Potent Brew if need be.
For the Magicka Warden, as is the case with other Magicka DPS classes for Update 32, the question remains between a Bahsei's Mania and Kinras's Wrath setup or a Bahsei's Mania and Advancing Yokeda setup for pure single target damage. The two setups are actually quite close in DPS and from testing.
If you don't have Bahsei's Mania, you will need a different Light Armor set to wear on the body. Typically this will be, from best to worst:
Siroria
False God's Devotion
Mother's Sorrow
Harpooner's Wading Kilt and the one piece bonus of Slimecraw is still the gold standard as of Update 32 for parsing however monster sets are still really good in situations post-crit update in situations where you may not be able to keep up Kilt stacks depending on the nature of the fights or incoming damage.
Monster sets recommended for the Magicka Warden would include:
Kjalnar's Nightmare (only one person in a group can run this)
Zaan's
Stormfist
Iceheart
Domihaus (if the ring can hit the enemy's hitbox)
You can also use 1 piece of Valkyn Skoria instead of Slimecraw if there is not enough penetration provided in your groups.
Secondary set alternatives such as Burning Spellweave with Sul-Xan's Torment and Grothdarr for trash scenarios can be good.
Bloodthirsty is still the best jewelry trait available for most scenarios for the Magicka Warden.
Dual Wield daggers will typically outparse double Inferno Staves in melee range whenever possible otherwise using Inferno staves on both bars for situational fights is more than fine.
Note on Bahsei's Mania usage:
Be careful when taking synergies or Shards on cooldown as you may oversustain on either the dummy or in actual fights.
The skills you need to prioritize casting is in order from top to bottom:
Subterranean Assault
Wall
Winter's Revenge
Fetcher Infection
Barbed Trap
Scalding Rune or Degeneration (whichever's timer is up)
Ultimate cast
Blue Betty
Cliff Racer
Be sure to use every third skill after Subterranean Assault on the front bar because you have more stats on the front bar along with Camouflaged Hunter which gives major savagery on the front bar (10% crit chance for sub assault) which greatly increases the damage from the explosions of Sub Assault as it's Stamina/Weapon Damage based.
Subterranean Assault -> Wall -> Winter's Revenge -> Fetcher -> Scalding Rune -> Degeneration -> Sub Assault -> 5x Cliff Racers (swap one cast of Cliff Racer for a Trap or Ultimate or Blue Betty whenever those skills are done in duration).
In applicable raids, use Mystic Orb instead of Degeneration, Force Pulse as spam ability if you need more cleave damage. Remove Scalding Rune or Degeneration if you need a flex slot.
Also use 1 piece of Valkyn Skoria instead of Slimecraw if there is not enough penetration provided in your groups.
Craft
PvE Combat (Craft)
Professional Upkeep
(50)
Steed's Blessing
(50)
Liquid Efficiency
(75)
Rationer
(30)
For a general Craft allocation for PvE.
Warfare
Magicka Warden PvE (Warfare)
Biting Aura
(125)
Backstabber
(50)
Deadly Aim
(125)
Master-at-Arms
(125)
General Warfare Slottables for PvE Magicka Warden DPS. Fighting Finesse and Thaumaturge are situational.
Fitness
Magicka PvE DPS (Fitness)
Fortified
(50)
Rejuvenation
(50)
Boundless Vitality
(50)
Sustained by Suffering
(50)
General Fitness Slottables for a PvE Magicka DPS spec. Alternative slottables include Spirit Mastery or others depending on situations.
If your group doesn't have Elemental Catalyst replace Biting Aura with Fighting Finesse as you need to be sure that you don't go over the Critical Damage cap of 125% in your groups.
Poison enchantment on the backbar can be changed to Weapon damage (Berserker) glyph if you need more cleave damage.
Kjalnar can be swapped for Stormfist (if your group already has someone else equipped with Kjalnar's Nightmare) or Velidreth (for AOE) or Iceheart (if you need more survivability/AOE damage).
Harpooner's Kilt can be swapped for Death Dealer's Fete (if you don't have a great Kilt uptime).
Introduction (Update 32, Deadlands)
Since its release in 2017, the Warden class continues to be of great enjoyment for many players and with InquisitorModrak's assistance, the Magicka Warden DPS class will be showcased as having that same level of enjoyment for many players while still being able to get competitive numbers.
Recommended race for this build is Altmer or Dunmer. Khajiit seems to be a little bit lower on the dummy, but can still be good in raid, especially in places like Sunspire where the Critical Damage passive of the Khajiit makes up for Backstabber being useless.
Recommended Mundus Stone is The Thief.
Recommended potions for this build will be Essence of Spell Power. Heroism potions will give you the most Ultimate casts possible and can be used in theory on the Magicka Warden assuming you run Inner Light on the frontbar that gives Major Prophecy while the Blue Betty can give you Major Sorcery.
Recommended food for this build is Ghastly Eye Bowl or any bi-stat food (Health + Magicka) for content that requires you to do so. You can also do Clockwork Citrus Filet or Witchmother's Potent Brew if need be.