I Subclassed for Vibes—Why My Necro-Warden Subclass Is so Fun

ESO feels like a different game this year. With thousands of subclass combinations, the new skill lines haven’t just blown up the meta—they’ve opened up a whole new world of roleplaying potential.

Playing as a pure Necromancer has been a blast—I’d only dabbled before, and I really enjoy all three skill lines. But the idea of subclassing into Daedric Summoning, or borrowing the Templar’s Restoring Light to roleplay a Charon-type figure ferrying souls between realms with spells like Repentance? That scratched a whole different narrative itch.

Bethesda Softworks/ZeniMax Online Studios

What I’ve landed on, though, is a fun Necro-Warden Subclass using the Warden’s Green Balance skill tree.

So far, I’ve been tanking—keeping enemies off my partner while he nukes them as a Magicka Templar. But one Public Dungeon changed everything; while I was leveling up the Restoring Light skill line, I was filling in as the healer and realized how much fun I was having. But the golden glow of Templar skills wasn’t for me. I teleported to Batra as soon as I could, dropped Restoring Light, and picked up Green Balance instead.

Instantly, it felt right.

Light greens, soft blues, and spectral-looking trees summoned from the other side (Enchanted Forest)—it all looked like death turned into life. Fungal Growth is especially perfect: death, rot, and mushrooms coming together to heal. It’s the cycle of nature in action.

And it’s still me. I’ve still got my Blastbones and Venom Skull. I’m still slinging Glacial Colossus at every boss and reanimating fallen allies in a burst of necrotic power. But now, when I drop Healing Seed on top of the gravestones left by Boneyard, it looks like I’ve found a burial site where everyone was cremated into those tree pods. It’s weird, it’s beautiful, and it fits.

Bethesda Softworks/ZeniMax Online Studios

Will this build make me the best healer in the game? Not even close.

Am I having a blast roleplaying a Necro-Warden death druid who grows mushrooms on corpses and heals through rot?

Hell yeah.

With most of my playtime spent in overland PvE with my partner, subclassing has breathed new life into ESO. Trying out weird combinations, mixing aesthetics, messing with spells—this is what’s keeping me excited.

So give it a shot. Forget the meta (unless the meta brings you joy). Paint your skill bar a new color. Channel the flavor. Go full vibe druid. Now’s the time to play.