A little lightning. A little company.

Start with what you have.

Use a level-appropriate destruction staff; aim for a Lightning Staff as you find one. A flame staff is a temporary leveling option with different elemental effects. Put earned attribute points into Magicka as a simple starting direction and favor mostly light armor. Keep useful medium or heavy pieces while leveling rather than chasing a perfect loadout immediately.

Use affordable food that adds Health and Magicka, and keep a health-restoring potion ready. No Crown consumable is required. Take relevant class, destruction-staff and light-armor passives as skill points allow; Evocation helps Magicka sustain, and Tri Focus adds nearby-enemy damage to fully charged lightning heavy attacks.

Build the bar as you level.

1. Start with the three class lines. Learn Crystal Shard (Dark Magic 1), Summon Unstable Familiar (Daedric Summoning 1) and Mages’ Fury (Storm Calling 1). Add Wall of Elements at Destruction Staff 4 and Lightning Form at Storm Calling 4.
2. Add your ultimate. Summon Storm Atronach unlocks at Daedric Summoning 12.
3. Make room for healing. At Daedric Summoning 20, replace Crystal Shard with Winged Twilight. Even the base Twilight has an activated heal. If early survival is difficult before then, the Familiar’s optional Clannfear morph offers an activated heal; switching later to Volatile Familiar is a morph reassignment.
4. Grow into the destination bar. At Storm Calling 30, replace Mages’ Fury with Surge. At Daedric Summoning 30, replace Lightning Form with Conjured Ward. Morph each ability as it becomes ready.

Keep a Dark Magic skill available for training after replacing Crystal Shard. When your second bar unlocks at character level 15, it can help train additional skills: Update 49 gives skills on both bars XP from all sources.

Practice a simple rhythm.

1. Summon both pets before combat. Keep Surge active once you have it.
2. Place Wall beneath enemies and activate Familiar’s pulse.
3. Use fully charged lightning heavy attacks between refreshes to recover Magicka.
4. Activate Matriarch’s heal when needed and use Ward to absorb pressure. Block, interrupt and move out of dangerous ground effects.
5. Place your Atronach beside a tougher enemy. Its ally-activated synergy is not a guaranteed solo buff.

Surge’s healing depends on critical damage; Ward is a shield. Neither removes the need to watch your health. If the setup feels busy, practice one action at a time in easy quests and record what helped in your journal.

Want a second bar?

Keep both permanent pets on both bars. Switching to a bar without a pet unsummons it, as official support explains. An optional practice bar is Crystal Fragments, Daedric Prey, Boundless Storm, Volatile Familiar and Twilight Matriarch, with Storm Atronach again. Add it when swapping feels comfortable; one-bar play here does not depend on Oakensoul.

Gear is a later goal, not a starting gate.

Quest and dropped equipment are enough to begin this practice route. Keep your staff near your level and avoid expensive gold upgrades to temporary equipment.

When you want a named-set project, work toward Law of Julianos and Mother’s Sorrow. One example is five Julianos body pieces, then Mother’s Sorrow jewelry and a staff; verify active set counts in game, especially when swapping weapons. Remaining slots can stay flexible. An experienced crafter can help with Julianos while your own research grows.

The saved project tracks those later acquisition targets. It does not certify equipped bonuses, traits, enchantments or Champion Point readiness. Compare the other projects →