Stamina DK dps for group PvE (Dual Wield) [Outdated]

GaldorP

Posting the build I currently use on my main for group PvE here (group dungeons and Veteran Dragonstar Arena).
Maybe somebody can find it useful
Feel free to criticize or post any suggestions of how I could improve my build

Quick description:

This Stamina DK dps build made for PvE group content uses Dual Wield as primary weapons for damage and a two-handed weapon as a secondary weapon mainly for the Weapon Damage bonus and self-heal that the skill Rally offers.

It uses the three sets Valkyn Skoria, Ravager, and Hunding's Rage. It deals mostly physical damage, but also a good amount of fire damage and also relies on triggering the Valkyn Skoria Meteor set bonus as often as possible both on single targets and groups of enemies.

This build is meant for VR 14 characters. You need Valkyn Skoria's Helmet (medium armor type) and Valkyn Skoria's Arm Cops (medium armor type) for it to be efficient. You also need Alliance Rank 12 (for Rank 6 in the Assault skill line) to have access to Caltrops.

Race:

My character is a woodelf, but Imperial and Redguard are probably the best choices for this build.

Gear:

Sets used:
1. Valkyn Skoria:

2. Ravager

3. Hunding's Rage:

Armor:

• Head: Valkyn Skoria's Helmet (Medium Armor type, drops from the final boss in Veteran City of Ash; Infused is probably the best trait, but any trait will do)
• Shoulders: Valkyn Skoria's Arm Cops (Medium Armor type, reward for completing Undaunted Veteran Pledges; Divines or Infused are probably best, but any trait will do)
• Chest: Ravaging Cuirass (Heavy Armor, PvP set item that can be bought for 250k AP; Ravager's is recommended for Chest and Legs since those parts will benefit most from the higher Armor values Heavy Armor offers)
• Hand: Bracers of Hunding's Rage (Crafted 6-trait set with Nirnhoned trait)
• Waist: Belt of Hunding's Rage (Crafted 6-trait set with Nirnhoned trait)
• Legs: Ravaging Greaves (Heavy Armor, PvP set item that can be bought for 250k AP)
• Feet: Boots of Hunding's Rage (Crafted 6-trait set with Nirnhoned trait)

Attributes and Armor Enchantments: Get up to 20k Health with buff food active (but without PvP bonuses). Put everything else into Stamina.

Weapon Bar 1:

• 1 Mace of Hunding's Rage with Sharpened trait (Increase Armor and Spell Penetration by 7%) and Poisoned Weapon Enchantment (+490 Poison Damage)
• 1 Mace of Hunding's Rage with Precise trait (Increase Weapon and Spell Critical values by 3.5%) and Poisoned Weapon Enchantment (+490 Poison Damage)

This setup offers enough Armor Penetration with the Dual Wield passives to completely ignore the Armor of regular monsters. I take Poison Damage enchantments on both weapons since the poison damage can trigger the Valkyn Skoria Meteor set bonus.

Weapon Bar 2:

• 1 Two-handed Mace or Sword of Hunding's Rage with Weapon Damage Enchantment

The 2nd skill bar is mainly used for Rally (Weapon Damage buff + Stamina self-heal) and ground based AoE dots with long duration. If you prefer to get the 20% Weapon Damage buff from potions, you could use another weapon here.

Jewelry:

• Necklace: Ravaging Choker (PvP set item that can be bought for 250k AP)
• Rings: 2x Ravaging Ring (PvP set item that can be bought for 250k AP)

I use a Weapon Damage Enchantment (+64 Weapon Damage) on the Necklace and a Reduce Stamina Cost Enchantment on both Rings (2x Reduce Stamina cost of abilities by 200).

Skills:

Skill bar 1 - Dual Wield:

1. Rapid Strikes: Main attack skill for weaving with medium attacks (as soon as the skill's animation begins, hold down the left mouse button, release it shortly after the Rapid Strikes animation has ended and then immediately use the skill again). The skill can be used from some range which allows your to stay out of small red circles that appear on top of a bosses location (works for the final boss in the Vet DSA, for example, when he uses the small red circle AoE which does a lot of damage).
2. Evil Hunter: For the crit chance passive and a ton of bonus damage on all undead and deadric enemies. The bonus damage also has a 4% proc chance on normal monsters. If you're not fighting against undead or deadric enemies, you can replace it by Flames of Oblivion which can release a dot attack for extra ticks that may trigger the Meteor from the Valkyn Skoria set bonus. With Flames of Oblivion, however, you need to place the skill on both skill bars so you lose a slot on your second skill bar.
3. Steel Tornado: The most efficient Stamina AoE there is. Will hit low Health targets for like 15k damage.
4. Unstable Flame: The most efficient single-target dot the DK has. Burning Breath is better for AoE, but our AoE damage is good enough already and since we dual wield two maces we don't need the Armor reduction debuff it offers. (Unstable Flame has a lower range than Rapid Strikes and requires you to move really close to your target; be aware of that).
5. Igneous Shield: Igneous shield outperforms Green Dragon Blood when you're near max Health and costs slightly less Magicka. It also gives other group members a small damage shield and lets you recover 5% of your max Stamina once every 6 seconds since it's an Earthen Heart ability. You can easily get the 20% increased Stamina Recovery buff that Green Dragon Blood offers from potions. Volatile Armor on the 2nd skill bar will already grant us the 12% healing received bonus while a Draconic Power ability is active (Burning Heart passive) for 20 seconds at the beginning of a fight.
6. Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker: Passively increases your damage with weapon attacks by 8%.

Skill bar 2 - Two-handed

1. Volatile Armor: Increases your Armor and Spell Resistance and deals a 10 second dot to all enemies near you when you cast it which can trigger the Valkyn Skoria Meteor set bonus.
2. Utility slot: Depending on the situation and what the group needs I use Retreating Maneuver (extra speed and immunity to slow effects) or Extended Chains (can pull in enemies) in this slot.
3. Rally: Increases your Weapon Damage by 20% for 30 seconds and is a strong self-heal if used repeatedly. Can be combined with the 30% increased healing bonus that Igneous Shield grants for 7 seconds after use.
4. Razor Caltrops: A strong dot with a very long duration and a huge radius. Very useful for any Stamina build I'd say.
5. Eruption: A ground-based AoE dot with a very long duration that ticks twice per second and may inflict the burning status effect. The total damage of the skill itself is quite low (around 7k), but each tick also has a chance to trigger the Valkyn Skoria Meteor bonus.
6. Ultimate: Standard of Might: Reduces damage you take, increases damage you deal, deals a lot of damage by itself, can cause burning.

Champion Abilities:

Warrior

Put a decent amount of points into Spell Shield. Split the rest more or less evenly among Medium Armor Focus, Hardy, Elemental Defender, and Thick Skinned. I personally avoid unlocking the Critical Leech star because that effect reminds me too much in sound and look of being tagged by a Nightblade's Mark Target ability.

Thief

Split points between Warlock and Mooncalf depending on what you feel you need more. Eventually, put a few points into Tumbling as well if you want to or maybe put a few points into Magician and Arcanist.

Mage

Put the first 30 points into Mighty so you unlock the Perfect Strike passive.
After that, you want to put points into Mighty and Elemental Expert. Mighty affects light and heavy attacks, Rapid Strikes, Steel Tornado, Caltrops, and Volatile Armor damage. Elemental Expert affects the Standard of Might, Searing Strike, the Valkyn Skoria Meteor, Eruption, and the Burning status effect's damage.
You may put a few points into Precise Strikes which affects only physical attacks just like Mighty. Piercing is not really needed for this build. Thaumaturge would only increase the damage of Evil Hunter and Flawless Dawnbreaker in this build so it's not very useful. Possibly, put a few points into Blade Expert as well (affects only light and heavy attacks) once your reach a higher Champion Rank.

Mundus Stone:

I prefer the Tower over the Warrior for more survivability (and it still offers some extra damage for all Stamina-based attacks as well).

Sick diseases:

Being a werewolf is very helpful for any Stamina build, of course (15% more Stamina Recovery without any downside to it).

Consumables:

Potions:
Use triple heal potions when you have to (in tough situations in Vet DSA), otherwise you can just use regular Stamina potions that drop from monsters when you need to.

Buff food:
I use epic triple-buff food. I need that bit of extra Magicka, Health, and Stamina in my build and epic food has the longest duration. With the Emperor health bonus (when your side has an emperor in your home campaign) it should be possible to switch to food that increases just Stamina and Magicka instead.

Skill Rotation in combat:

Groups of regular monsters: Use Rally first, then drop Caltrops and Eruption. Charge in (with a dodgeroll if needed) use Volatile Armor, switch to Dual Wield and spam Steel Tornado.
Caltrops can easily get you all the aggro, so be ready to dodge again when needed or use Igneous shield. Block when an enemy uses a charged ability like Uppercut on you. If there's a stronger monster in the group, hopefully the tank in your group will taunt it, otherwise just kite it, don't stand next to it. In general, it's a good idea to keep moving in circles while spamming Steel Tornado.

On bosses: Again, use Rally first, drop Caltrops and Eruption (on a location where, hopefully, the boss won't move for a while), charge in, use Volatile Armor if needed, drop the Standard of Might. Use Searing Strike, then start weaving with Rapid Strikes and medium attacks (partially charged heavy attacks). Keep Searing Strike up before it runs out. After 30 seconds, when Rally runs out, start over again (skip Volatile Armor if you're low on Magicka or don't need it; against single targets skipping it might increase dps).
It's very important that the tank doesn't pull the boss out of all the ground-based AoE effects (Caltrops, Eruption, and Standard of Might) or your dps will go down by a lot.

With this build you should be able to get 15k single-target dps average on most bosses. It's also very efficient at clearing large groups of regular monsters very fast.

Some Screenshots:

1. Example of an average dps result for the first boss in the Aetherian Archive trial with non-optimal rotation (I made many mistakes; my character was around Champion Rank 330):

2. Soloing the Maw of the Infernal in Veteran Banished Cells (scaled to VR 12). I had to focus on surviving here, so low dps You can calculate how long that fight was ^^:

3. Soloing a group of monsters in the Veteran Banished Cells dungeon (scaled to VR 12; I replaced Volatile Armor on skill bar 2 by Reflective Plate here):

Before...... and after:

4. An old screenshot of dps values from a boss fight in Veteran Elden Hollow (VR 12 scale):

5. A secret in the Howling Sepulchers? Real Spoilers warning here!

Edit 2: Added a few more screenshots.

Edit 3 (May 2016): This build is now unfortunately a bit outdated: Valkyn Skoria got nerfed pretty badly, the maximum Veteran Rank got increased from VR 14 to VR 16 but the Ravager set didn't get updated, quite a few Champion passives were changed, and Maelstrom Weapons got introduced to the game.

If you're looking for an updated Stamina DK dps guide for PvE in the Thieves Guild Update I can recommend Latter's guide posted on the Tamriel Foundry forums:
http://tamrielfoundry.com/topic/latters-stamina-dk-build-for-vet-dungeons-and-trials/

Pyro117

Thanks for the build, but what about - how to use this from level 1?

Also, what are the best replacements for PvP abilities - (i.e. Caltrops)? I have zero desire to do PvP even to get the skills.

GaldorP

Pyro117 wrote: »

Thanks for the build, but what about - how to use this from level 1?

Also, what are the best replacements for PvP abilities - (i.e. Caltrops)? I have zero desire to do PvP even to get the skills.

The build was meant for VR 14 endgame PvE group content

To level up in solo content, you can pretty much use any skills you like and will do just fine (Burning Talons and weapon-based AoE if you want to powergrind, Green Dragonblood to heal yourself)

When you start doing veteran group dungeons Magicka damage dealer or tank will probably work best at the start with just crafted sets (Seducer + Magus for Magicka dd for example, Hist Bark + Whitestrake's for tank)

As a replacement for Caltrops, maybe use Burning Breath (the Fiery Breath morph that uses Stamina). There is no other Stamina damage over time effect that has a 30 seconds duration.

As Stamina dd maybe start with the crafted sets Hunding's Rage, and Ashen Grip or Night's Silence. You could also use the two-handed weapon for single-target damage on the first skill bar and dual wield for AoE damage on the second skill bar

Pyro117

GaldorP wrote: »

Pyro117 wrote: »

Thanks for the build, but what about - how to use this from level 1?

Also, what are the best replacements for PvP abilities - (i.e. Caltrops)? I have zero desire to do PvP even to get the skills.

The build was meant for VR 14 endgame PvE group content

To level up in solo content, you can pretty much use any skills you like and will do just fine (Burning Talons and weapon-based AoE if you want to powergrind, Green Dragonblood to heal yourself)

When you start doing veteran group dungeons Magicka damage dealer or tank will probably work best at the start with just crafted sets (Seducer + Magus for Magicka dd for example, Hist Bark + Whitestrake's for tank)

As a replacement for Caltrops, maybe use Burning Breath (the Fiery Breath morph that uses Stamina). There is no other Stamina damage over time effect that has a 30 seconds duration.

As Stamina dd maybe start with the crafted sets Hunding's Rage, and Ashen Grip or Night's Silence. You could also use the two-handed weapon for single-target damage on the first skill bar and dual wield for AoE damage on the second skill bar

Thanks for the information. I actually started a post in the Player Guides before I saw this one. If you have a moment can you look at the build I was thinking about doing and post your comments? Here is the link:

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/198434/ps4-na-dragonknight-2h-dual-wield-stamin-build-help

oryxnamder7

Thanks for the build.

With Ravager and Skoria getting a nerf I wonder what your thoughts are on what you are going to change in this build?

Cheers

GaldorP

oryxnamder7 wrote: »

Thanks for the build.

With Ravager and Skoria getting a nerf I wonder what your thoughts are on what you are going to change in this build?

Cheers

I haven't done any testing on the PTS yet Nerien'eth looks interesting (10% proc chance on non dot damage) if it can proc on every single hit of Rapid Strikes

But there's so many new sets and so many skill changes that I don't know yet

Who knows maybe I can even finally make a bow stamina dps DK build that I'm happy with which is what I always wanted to use on my main

Maphusail

Thanks for the build! I'm leveling my imperial DK and was thinking about the choise of weapon. Wanted to play 2/bow first but now looking toward 2h and DW instead.

oryxnamder7

Thanks heaps. I will have to try your set up .

Have you tried igneous weapons? Our flying blade instead of rapid strikes?

It would be great if you could post some more screen shots and hopefully you will update after IC

Thanks GaldorP

GaldorP

oryxnamder7 wrote: »

Thanks heaps. I will have to try your set up .

Have you tried igneous weapons? Our flying blade instead of rapid strikes?

It would be great if you could post some more screen shots and hopefully you will update after IC

Thanks GaldorP

I still haven't tried weaving with Flying Blade yet, unfortunately ><

Edit: After a very quick test session on a boss in Craglorn, I got about 10-15% more dps while weaving with Rapid Strikes rather than with Flying Blade. But then again, my Flying Blade is only Rank 1 so far.

I currently use Igneous Weapons all the time on my bow build that I use for solo grinding 'cause it currently can still increase the damage of bow medium attacks

For my DW group PvE build, the increase in dps (if there is any because I'm not sure if Igneous Weapons currently works consistently on dual wield medium attacks) is too small for the high Magicka cost of the skill and the time it takes to cast it, in my opinion.

After the Imperial City patch, Igneous Weapons will only work on fully charged heavy attacks according to the patch notes, so that makes using it while weaving with medium attacks pointless (for the 5% Stamina Recovery from using an Earthen Heart Skill once every 6 seconds, it's much better to use Igneous Shield instead which costs slightly less Magicka than Igneous Weapons and is a useful defensive skill).

I tried weaving with fully charged heavy attacks and Igneous Weapons active and got about 20% less dps than when weaving with medium attacks without Igneous Weapons. While using just heavy attacks with Igneous Weapons and no skills I got about 30% less dps than with my normal medium attack weaving.

So the only advantage I see in using Igneous Weapons after the patch is a strong initial attack that costs no resources apart from some Magicka once every 15 seconds or so when you farm normal monsters or a heavy-hitting opening attack in PvP (though a Snipe + medium attack or Wrecking Blow + medium attack combo would probably hit a lot harder).

Thanks for the feedback. I added some screenshots to my original post

willymchilybily

Hey @GaldorP . This is a really helpful post thank you,

I just re-did my skills and attributes to make a Stamina DK before the free skill reset, just to test it out. Only to realise i was barely using any earthen heart abilities other than eruption at the start of a fight. The use of igneous shield instead of green dragons blood is a nice touch for stamina DK to make sure you get best use of the passives. Though i may need to back bar green dragons blood until i get use to it or unlock vigor/rally.

do you know if putting any champ points into bastion would improve igneous shield's strength? or do you think the passives you get from the lady out-weigh this either way?

Freeman

marking this for later

oryxnamder7

Hey GaldorP

Thanks for the testing. I hope you update this build after the patch and put some more screeen shots up of Bosses when you get a chance.

Thanks again

GaldorP

willymchilybily wrote: »

Hey @GaldorP . This is a really helpful post thank you,

I just re-did my skills and attributes to make a Stamina DK before the free skill reset, just to test it out. Only to realise i was barely using any earthen heart abilities other than eruption at the start of a fight. The use of igneous shield instead of green dragons blood is a nice touch for stamina DK to make sure you get best use of the passives. Though i may need to back bar green dragons blood until i get use to it or unlock vigor/rally.

do you know if putting any champ points into bastion would improve igneous shield's strength? or do you think the passives you get from the lady out-weigh this either way?

I would assume that the Bastion passive works on all damage shield effects but I haven't tested it. In general, I prefer getting all passives that increase damage first, as I don't have any trouble surviving in any group content I've done so far (but maybe the IC update will change that)

Wifeaggro13

GaldorP wrote: »

Posting the build I currently use on my main for group PvE here (group dungeons and Veteran Dragonstar Arena).
Maybe somebody can find it useful
Feel free to criticize or post any suggestions of how I could improve my build

Quick description:

This Stamina DK dps build made for PvE group content uses Dual Wield as primary weapons for damage and a two-handed weapon as a secondary weapon mainly for the Weapon Damage bonus and self-heal that the skill Rally offers.

It uses the three sets Valkyn Skoria, Ravager, and Hunding's Rage. It deals mostly physical damage, but also a good amount of fire damage and also relies on triggering the Valkyn Skoria Meteor set bonus as often as possible both on single targets and groups of enemies.

This build is meant for VR 14 characters. You need Valkyn Skoria's Helmet (medium armor type) and Valkyn Skoria's Arm Cops (medium armor type) for it to be efficient. You also need Alliance Rank 12 (for Rank 6 in the Assault skill line) to have access to Caltrops.

Race:

My character is a woodelf, but Imperial and Redguard are probably the best choices for this build.

Gear:

Sets used:
1. Valkyn Skoria:

2. Ravager

3. Hunding's Rage:

Armor:

• Head: Valkyn Skoria's Helmet (Medium Armor type, drops from the final boss in Veteran City of Ash; Infused is probably the best trait, but any trait will do)
• Shoulders: Valkyn Skoria's Arm Cops (Medium Armor type, reward for completing Undaunted Veteran Pledges; Divines or Infused are probably best, but any trait will do)
• Chest: Ravaging Cuirass (Heavy Armor, PvP set item that can be bought for 250k AP; Ravager's is recommended for Chest and Legs since those parts will benefit most from the higher Armor values Heavy Armor offers)
• Hand: Bracers of Hunding's Rage (Crafted 6-trait set with Nirnhoned trait)
• Waist: Belt of Hunding's Rage (Crafted 6-trait set with Nirnhoned trait)
• Legs: Ravaging Greaves (Heavy Armor, PvP set item that can be bought for 250k AP)
• Feet: Boots of Hunding's Rage (Crafted 6-trait set with Nirnhoned trait)

Attributes and Armor Enchantments: Get up to 20k Health with buff food active (but without PvP bonuses). Put everything else into Stamina.

Weapon Bar 1:

• 1 Mace of Hunding's Rage with Sharpened trait (Increase Armor and Spell Penetration by 7%) and Poisoned Weapon Enchantment (+490 Poison Damage)
• 1 Mace of Hunding's Rage with Precise trait (Increase Weapon and Spell Critical values by 3.5%) and Poisoned Weapon Enchantment (+490 Poison Damage)

This setup offers enough Armor Penetration with the Dual Wield passives to completely ignore the Armor of regular monsters. I take Poison Damage enchantments on both weapons since the poison damage can trigger the Valkyn Skoria Meteor set bonus.

Weapon Bar 2:

• 1 Two-handed Mace or Sword of Hunding's Rage with Weapon Damage Enchantment

The 2nd skill bar is mainly used for Rally (Weapon Damage buff + Stamina self-heal) and ground based AoE dots with long duration. If you prefer to get the 20% Weapon Damage buff from potions, you could use another weapon here.

Jewelry:

• Necklace: Ravaging Choker (PvP set item that can be bought for 250k AP)
• Rings: 2x Ravaging Ring (PvP set item that can be bought for 250k AP)

I use a Weapon Damage Enchantment (+64 Weapon Damage) on the Necklace and a Reduce Stamina Cost Enchantment on both Rings (2x Reduce Stamina cost of abilities by 200).

Skills:

Skill bar 1 - Dual Wield:

1. Rapid Strikes: Main attack skill for weaving with medium attacks (as soon as the skill's animation begins, hold down the left mouse button, release it shortly after the Rapid Strikes animation has ended and then immediately use the skill again). The skill can be used from some range which allows your to stay out of small red circles that appear on top of a bosses location (works for the final boss in the Vet DSA, for example, when he uses the small red circle AoE which does a lot of damage).
2. Evil Hunter: For the crit chance passive and a ton of bonus damage on all undead and deadric enemies. The bonus damage also has a 4% proc chance on normal monsters. If you're not fighting against undead or deadric enemies, you can replace it by Flames of Oblivion which can release a dot attack for extra ticks that may trigger the Meteor from the Valkyn Skoria set bonus. With Flames of Oblivion, however, you need to place the skill on both skill bars so you lose a slot on your second skill bar.
3. Steel Tornado: The most efficient Stamina AoE there is. Will hit low Health targets for like 15k damage.
4. Unstable Flame: The most efficient single-target dot the DK has. Burning Breath is better for AoE, but our AoE damage is good enough already and since we dual wield two maces we don't need the Armor reduction debuff it offers. (Unstable Flame has a lower range than Rapid Strikes and requires you to move really close to your target; be aware of that).
5. Igneous Shield: Igneous shield outperforms Green Dragon Blood when you're near max Health and costs slightly less Magicka. It also gives other group members a small damage shield and lets you recover 5% of your max Stamina once every 6 seconds since it's an Earthen Heart ability. You can easily get the 20% increased Stamina Recovery buff that Green Dragon Blood offers from potions. Volatile Armor on the 2nd skill bar will already grant us the 12% healing received bonus while a Draconic Power ability is active (Burning Heart passive) for 20 seconds at the beginning of a fight.
6. Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker: Passively increases your damage with weapon attacks by 8%.

Skill bar 2 - Two-handed

1. Volatile Armor: Increases your Armor and Spell Resistance and deals a 10 second dot to all enemies near you when you cast it which can trigger the Valkyn Skoria Meteor set bonus.
2. Utility slot: Depending on the situation and what the group needs I use Retreating Maneuver (extra speed and immunity to slow effects) or Extended Chains (can pull in enemies) in this slot.
3. Rally: Increases your Weapon Damage by 20% for 30 seconds and is a strong self-heal if used repeatedly. Can be combined with the 30% increased healing bonus that Igneous Shield grants for 7 seconds after use.
4. Razor Caltrops: A strong dot with a very long duration and a huge radius. Very useful for any Stamina build I'd say.
5. Eruption: A ground-based AoE dot with a very long duration that ticks twice per second and may inflict the burning status effect. The total damage of the skill itself is quite low (around 7k), but each tick also has a chance to trigger the Valkyn Skoria Meteor bonus.
6. Ultimate: Standard of Might: Reduces damage you take, increases damage you deal, deals a lot of damage by itself, can cause burning.

Champion Abilities:

Warrior

Put a decent amount of points into Spell Shield. Split the rest more or less evenly among Medium Armor Focus, Hardy, Elemental Defender, and Thick Skinned. I personally avoid unlocking the Critical Leech star because that effect reminds me too much in sound and look of being tagged by a Nightblade's Mark Target ability.

Thief

Split points between Warlock and Mooncalf depending on what you feel you need more. Eventually, put a few points into Tumbling as well if you want to or maybe put a few points into Magician and Arcanist.

Mage

Put the first 30 points into Mighty so you unlock the Perfect Strike passive.
After that, you want to put points into Mighty and Elemental Expert. Mighty affects light and heavy attacks, Rapid Strikes, Steel Tornado, Caltrops, and Volatile Armor damage. Elemental Expert affects the Standard of Might, Searing Strike, the Valkyn Skoria Meteor, Eruption, and the Burning status effect's damage.
You may put a few points into Precise Strikes which affects only physical attacks just like Mighty. Piercing is not really needed for this build. Thaumaturge would only increase the damage of Evil Hunter and Flawless Dawnbreaker in this build so it's not very useful. Possibly, put a few points into Blade Expert as well (affects only light and heavy attacks) once your reach a higher Champion Rank.

Mundus Stone:

I prefer the Tower over the Warrior for more survivability (and it still offers some extra damage for all Stamina-based attacks as well).

Sick diseases:

Being a werewolf is very helpful for any Stamina build, of course (15% more Stamina Recovery without any downside to it).

Consumables:

Potions:
Use triple heal potions when you have to (in tough situations in Vet DSA), otherwise you can just use regular Stamina potions that drop from monsters when you need to.

Buff food:
I use epic triple-buff food. I need that bit of extra Magicka, Health, and Stamina in my build and epic food has the longest duration. With the Emperor health bonus (when your side has an emperor in your home campaign) it should be possible to switch to food that increases just Stamina and Magicka instead.

Skill Rotation in combat:

Groups of regular monsters: Use Rally first, then drop Caltrops and Eruption. Charge in (with a dodgeroll if needed) use Volatile Armor, switch to Dual Wield and spam Steel Tornado.
Caltrops can easily get you all the aggro, so be ready to dodge again when needed or use Igneous shield. Block when an enemy uses a charged ability like Uppercut on you. If there's a stronger monster in the group, hopefully the tank in your group will taunt it, otherwise just kite it, don't stand next to it. In general, it's a good idea to keep moving in circles while spamming Steel Tornado.

On bosses: Again, use Rally first, drop Caltrops and Eruption (on a location where, hopefully, the boss won't move for a while), charge in, use Volatile Armor if needed, drop the Standard of Might. Use Searing Strike, then start weaving with Rapid Strikes and medium attacks (partially charged heavy attacks). Keep Searing Strike up before it runs out. After 30 seconds, when Rally runs out, start over again (skip Volatile Armor if you're low on Magicka or don't need it; against single targets skipping it might increase dps).
It's very important that the tank doesn't pull the boss out of all the ground-based AoE effects (Caltrops, Eruption, and Standard of Might) or your dps will go down by a lot.

With this build you should be able to get 15k single-target dps average on most bosses. It's also very efficient at clearing large groups of regular monsters very fast.

Some Screenshots:

1. Example of an average dps result for the first boss in the Aetherian Archive trial with non-optimal rotation (I made many mistakes; my character was around Champion Rank 330):

2. Soloing the Maw of the Infernal in Veteran Banished Cells (scaled to VR 12). I had to focus on surviving here, so low dps You can calculate how long that fight was ^^:

3. Soloing a group of monsters in the Veteran Banished Cells dungeon (scaled to VR 12; I replaced Volatile Armor on skill bar 2 by Reflective Plate here):

Before...... and after:

4. An old screenshot of dps values from a boss fight in Veteran Elden Hollow (VR 12 scale):

5. A secret in the Howling Sepulchers? Real Spoilers warning here!

Edit 2: Added a few more screenshots.

This is an excellent build , unfortunately grinding out 1 mill in alliance points its just not an option for me as i am a casual PVP'r and more of a PVE'r. It looks very fun and i have all the pve gear required. This will work great for Orc as well. might try it with out the ravager. what gear would you suggest as an alternate for it?

oryxnamder7

Hey Galdor

How has your build been going in 1.7? I'm finding DK stam dps a struggle now.

GaldorP

oryxnamder7 wrote: »

Hey Galdor

How has your build been going in 1.7? I'm finding DK stam dps a struggle now.

I couldn't tell you, sorry. I haven't played ESO actively anymore since the release of the IC Update (which should be called an expansion and not a DLC, in my opinion, since it's really mandatory to have to participate in any endgame content now). I might start playing again when there's new PvE content and veteran ranks have finally been removed.

Right now, it just feels a bit redundant to me if I play for the same gear for the 4th time (legendary crafted sets like Hunding's Rage, rare set items that drop in group dungeons like the Worm Cult or Hircine's Veneer set items) or need to replace some other rare set items for the 2nd time now (PvP sets like Hawk's Eye and Ravager). The boss helmet sets that took me over 100 veteran pledges to farm have been replaced by better versions that are 2 veteran ranks higher as well with no option to update existing items to the new max VR.

As for Champion Points, I'm already over the number I've heard mentioned as first seasonal cap and there are no spots in PvE zones where max VR characters can gain XP at a decent rate anymore.

So I'm taking a break from the game
If somebody would like to update my build to 1.7, please feel free to do so

oryxnamder7

GaldorP wrote: »

oryxnamder7 wrote: »

Hey Galdor

How has your build been going in 1.7? I'm finding DK stam dps a struggle now.

I couldn't tell you, sorry. I haven't played ESO actively anymore since the release of the IC Update (which should be called an expansion and not a DLC, in my opinion, since it's really mandatory to have to participate in any endgame content now). I might start playing again when there's new PvE content and veteran ranks have finally been removed.

Right now, it just feels a bit redundant to me if I play for the same gear for the 4th time (legendary crafted sets like Hunding's Rage, rare set items that drop in group dungeons like the Worm Cult or Hircine's Veneer set items) or need to replace some other rare set items for the 2nd time now (PvP sets like Hawk's Eye and Ravager). The boss helmet sets that took me over 100 veteran pledges to farm have been replaced by better versions that are 2 veteran ranks higher as well with no option to update existing items to the new max VR.

As for Champion Points, I'm already over the number I've heard mentioned as first seasonal cap and there are no spots in PvE zones where max VR characters can gain XP at a decent rate anymore.

So I'm taking a break from the game
If somebody would like to update my build to 1.7, please feel free to do so

Yeah man I know how you feel. I'm disappointed about having to get new gear and V16 I think was stupid.

But getting the new stuff isn't so bad and the new dungeons are really good so on balance I think it is good.

Hope you come back

jakeedmundson

I use this build for 1.7

It does pretty well.. i had to change some things though because i hate pvp and have not gotten a monster helm and shoulders that match yet

I use 5 pieces of hundings rage
Chest - heavy
Legs - heavy
Boots- medium
Gloves - medium
Belt - medium

3-4 pieces of night mothers set
Head - medium
Shoulders - medium
Both 1-handers (daggers right now for the extra crit but debating on switching to maces for armor pen.)
the other weapon is 2-handed mace (this only gets you 3 piece set.. but it still helps)

Jewelry
I actually use a modified version of the footman's rings and necklace.
I just changed the enchantment to add stam recovery and/or reduce stamina cost of abilities.
The set helps with surviving - 2p adds about 1000 to health, 3p adds about 1800 to physical resist.
Eventually as i find other pieces... i will switch this to the agility set for more stamina and weapon damage.

I'm able to get through dungeons just fine with this dps... I might not be topping the charts but we make it through.
i'm wondering if there is something better out there than nightmothers set. which monster set is best not for melee dps?