Dragon Knight sword and board build?

Jimm_ay

My DK is in VR content now and sword and board, heavy armor - I want to improve my tanking and or dps - any builds or thoughts?

Giraffon

Maybe I'm missing something, but I've come to the conclusion that Sword and Board isn't that great. It's good enough for PvE, but if you go into PvP with this build, you won't last long. My main is a VR1 DK with Sword and Board. The DPS is just too low. The shield helps with survivability, but since they nerfed the bash, it just isn't good enough anymore.

I still have this build because I enjoy it, but if you want DPS, get a stick, hit 'em with talons and blast them from a safe distance.

Jimm_ay

I never said pvp. I did that..I was looking to pve out to 10. I'm asking is there a good pve build or do I need light armor and destro?

SienneYviete

Sword and board is unmatched for pve and pvp........ heavy armor is useless in it's current state, if you're a dk you already have a skill that can overcharge you on your armor even if you're in light and you're better off with the light armor passives.

Heres an example of my build's skills which got me all the way through to VR12

esohead.com/calculator/skills#mzzzye9k8uzEd8uvZT8uEAN8fXG18uENa8umHI8dauD8Gsbb8A4wg8hM1c8uELs8Gsda8L7NLkLu8y7GLR3f8e7CLaqS8E7xLzmY6LzVS8l7JrzkA6Lzky6rzkt6Lzkg8B7JLzRf6rzsb8O7ordeD8zc7zzgeXm8zf7zzNbo8zu7zzHfYE6zHfZd8zG7zzHQ3F8zI7zzJIoX6zJIkL8zN7zzJZcY8zA7zzKpUN8zL7zzK4EX

Jimm_ay

great that was what I was looking for ..currently a vamp any good reason to stay a vamp?

Phaistos

As a tank you're at a disadvantage beeing a vampire. If you're only looking for benefits you should seek out the cure. Only stay vampire if you really like it for rp reasons (my opinion).

SBR_QuorTek

Not many good teams on the PvE side want a vampire around for group content, including DPS/Heals... doesn't count dekadent grinding XP though...

In PvP would prefere myself to be without as well.

Siliconhobbit_ESO

I've been running a DK Sword & Board tank since launch. This is my main character and I generally play one character for a very long time in MMOs.

I'm currently Vet 10, and will be Vet 11 within a day. I've not grinded Craglorn and I am questing my way through each zone. I am currently in Reaper's March (Eponheart Pact faction).

I'm wearing a Full heavy Set of Epic Vet Rank 4 armor, including an Axe and Shield. 3, 3-piece sets, for 9 pieces in all. I crafted them all myself.

Helm / Chest / Legs - 3 piece Ashen Grip set
Shoulder / Belt / Boots - 3 piece Twilight's Embrace Set
Gauntlets / Axe / Shield - 3 piece Death's Wind Set[/b]

Despite this set only being Vet 4 Epics, I'm OC'd in Armor rating (only slightly) and the set has served me extremely well up to this point, including some Vet Dungeons. My next set will be a VR12 Legendary set, but will take me some time to create as I need to do some serious planning.

For Solo PvE my main Skill Bar is as follows:

Invasion - Power Slam - Silver Leash - Green Dragon Blood - Burning Talons - Standard of Might (ultimate)

Secondary Skill Bar for PvE is as follows:

Extended Chains - Igneous Weapons - Turn Undead - Reflective Plate - Igneous Shield - Standard of Might (ultimate)

For PvE, this set-up has served me extremely well. I can handle 3 mobs at a time with relative ease, IF I pay attention to my stamina use and I use my skills correctly. I generally run around with my ultimate ready to be used if need be and harder mobs or MORE of them can generally be dispatched with a Talons / Standard combination.

Power Slam provides HUGE opportunities for single target crowd control as it will lockdown any target for a full 10 seconds, if they do not take any damage during that time. This generally means in a group of 3 mobs, I can lockdown / incapacitate 2 mobs for 10 seconds each while I beat up the third. Once I kill one, I re-apply Power Slam to one of the now active mobs and turn my attention to the OTHER active mob. Again one remains incapacitated while I deal with the other. Once dispatched I can turn my attention to the last one.

As a tank however...I will be honest. My DPS sucks. It's horrible. Flush down the toilet ANY notion of killing mobs fast or efficiently. As a dedicated DK Sword & Board Tank, this is not and never will be your forte' and certainly has not been mine.

Survivability on the other hand is your bread and butter. While you won't be running the above skills and abilities in a PvE 4-man dungeon and you'll be switching them around as needed, you'll be a great tank. You have 2 self heals available in the way of Green Dragon Blood and Inhale. For Taunts you'll have Ransack in the 1H&S skill line which is Stamina Based and Inner Fire in the Undaunted Line which is Magicka based.

Your damage reduction / armor increasing abilities include Igneous Shield, Bone Shield and Magma Shell. On top of that you can use Circle of Protection (Morphed to Turn Undead for myself), Razor Armor, and Unstoppable to increase those as well.

Talons is amazing for Crowd control and I have no problem spamming it in PvE Dungeons or Solo PvE content, especially at Dark Anchors (I love Dark anchors btw).

There are many other abilities that I won't even go into that you may want to check out for yourself and your own style of play that would be extremely helpful.

In my opinion, DK Tanks for PvE are next to none.

In PvP, you'll find yourself slotting DPS abilities and defensive abilities but if you've dedicated yourself to tanking, including setting up your armor and equipment for that specifically, do not expect any significant DPS. Your Survivability is there, but if you run out of Magicka or Stamina or both in PvP, your a stain on the ground.

If you want to Tank and DPS, craft a 2nd set of armor and weapons for DPS specifically and use DPS Jewelry.

I'm not a Pro at PvP myself, so this opinion may not hold for other players. I generally play with my Guild in PvP and I always enjoy myself.

I'm by no means an expert in any MMO and I'm certainly not an expert at playing a DK or a Tank, but I've enjoyed my journey so far and I love the DK class in general. My play-style and class choices have served me well so far and I feel they will continue to do so as I move into End-Game content and beyond.

I hope this has helped and provided you with some good insight and feedback. Good luck in your own choices and I hope you fare well

Side Note: If you want to play a dedicated tank, skip becoming a Vampire or a Werewolf. The increased Fire damage for a Vampire is to much of a problem because to many mobs AND bosses use fire.

The increased Poison damage for being a Werewolf poses the same problem. On top of that, there is nothing that the Werewolf can provide you as a tank. All of your tank abilities demand you be in humanoid form, and shifting into Werewolf form as a tank takes to long and will get you killed. The 2nd ability you get in Werewolf forn is a 'fear' and all bosses in dungeons are immune to it. You have no way to break CC in Werewolf form either which again will get you killed. I used Werewolf from level 29 to Vet Rank 4 and then gave it up. As a tank it was useless.

Cogo

Erhm! 1H and shield + 5 heavy and 2 medium isnt good for a DK tank you say?

Hmmmmmmm. May look for some of my spells here to teach mr a lesion!

1H and shield is VERY powerful. But you need to time it right and control your stamina use.

There are other skills available to use as taunt, protection etc.
Most important is your block and stun is outstanding....but requires timing.

I tanked several Vet dungeons in the "wrong" spec ;-)

I fully agree with no vampire or werewolf if you are a tank. You need every good edge you can get. No bad sides.

Vampire is such a big nono that there are several bosses you will be unable to tank even if you have 3 healers.

Shemar Iscariot

@Siliconhobbit_ESO‌

how did you arrange your Points in Stamina/ Magi / HP for this build ? looks heavy on Stamina so, how do you build up your Staminapool? thx

zmanu

Cogo wrote: »

Erhm! 1H and shield + 5 heavy and 2 medium isnt good for a DK tank you say?

Hmmmmmmm. May look for some of my spells here to teach mr a lesion!

1H and shield is VERY powerful. But you need to time it right and control your stamina use.

There are other skills available to use as taunt, protection etc.
Most important is your block and stun is outstanding....but requires timing.

I tanked several Vet dungeons in the "wrong" spec ;-)

I fully agree with no vampire or werewolf if you are a tank. You need every good edge you can get. No bad sides.

Vampire is such a big nono that there are several bosses you will be unable to tank even if you have 3 healers.

There is just no need for the heavy armour, if you use 7 light and razor armour you soft cap armour in an instant, this allows you to have 2k magicka and deal a lot of dps at the same time. I've tanked all the vet dungeons on hard mode etc, with my stats being around 2k magicka 2,6k health and 1,2k stamina.

for thrash pulls you can go full dps, with a stick ofc, and apply some cc so your precious dps dont get hurt. For bosses just hold your shield up and use instant cast abilities.
Basically reserving all your stamina for dodging and blocking.

Sure you can use heavy and medium armour, but why would you? Light armour is so much better.

xortis1

http://esohead.com/calculator/skills#mzMz9MV0M9m8uzEm8uzEd8GsrP8y1ay8fXut8umHI8umHU8uvZT8ugIa8uEI18fXGb8umHI8y7XLR3d6LR3r8E7FLzmY6rzm16LzVS6LzVW8l7GLzoC6rzkA6rzky8B7xLzsd837cLw338zV7zzeCp48zf7zzNbo8zu7zzHfYE6zHfZd8zG7zzHQ3F8zI7zzJIoX6zJIkL8zN7zzJZcY8zA7zzKpUN8zL7zzK4EX

this is my build to solo, as Long as you can cc Mobs you have no Problem

Siliconhobbit_ESO

@Shemar Iscariot"

I'm not online atm as I need to run some errands today before I log on. Going from memory however, I'm fairly even across the board but if I recall correctly my Stamina is at 18.

And you are correct, this is a heavy Stamina build and I have to watch my usage closely.

I do rely on Green Dragon Blood quite a bit for the heal and temporary boost to stamina regen while in Solo Combat. I have 1 piece of jewelry that provides a decrease of stamina for stamina using abilities and 1 that provides stamina regen. 1 other piece provides magicka regen. I'm 3 points from stamina regen cap.

However, if you recall near the top of my post I briefly mentioned "I need to do some serious planning." regarding my upcoming Vet 12 Legendary set...this ALSO includes a good look into how I have my stats spread out and what I'm going to need at end-game.

I'm increasingly using more and more Magicka based abilities when I am tanking 4+ PvE dungeons and if I want to perform well I'm going to have to be creative in what I create for armor and weapons and my spread of stats. I'll more then likely have to do a respec of my stats.

It'll be a delicate process to say the least but one I think I'll be able to tackle and produce something useful.

Cogo

zmanu wrote: »

Cogo wrote: »

Erhm! 1H and shield + 5 heavy and 2 medium isnt good for a DK tank you say?

Hmmmmmmm. May look for some of my spells here to teach mr a lesion!

1H and shield is VERY powerful. But you need to time it right and control your stamina use.

There are other skills available to use as taunt, protection etc.
Most important is your block and stun is outstanding....but requires timing.

I tanked several Vet dungeons in the "wrong" spec ;-)

I fully agree with no vampire or werewolf if you are a tank. You need every good edge you can get. No bad sides.

Vampire is such a big nono that there are several bosses you will be unable to tank even if you have 3 healers.

There is just no need for the heavy armour, if you use 7 light and razor armour you soft cap armour in an instant, this allows you to have 2k magicka and deal a lot of dps at the same time. I've tanked all the vet dungeons on hard mode etc, with my stats being around 2k magicka 2,6k health and 1,2k stamina.

for thrash pulls you can go full dps, with a stick ofc, and apply some cc so your precious dps dont get hurt. For bosses just hold your shield up and use instant cast abilities.
Basically reserving all your stamina for dodging and blocking.

Sure you can use heavy and medium armour, but why would you? Light armour is so much better.

You are correct sir! With todays setup it is 100% correct what you say.

However, balancing is going on, and you might seen already crying DKs for being "broken?" Lol.

I choose my build, playstyle after how I wish to play. And what the info says on each skill and ability.

When things are balanced better. Heavy armor WILL protect more.
However, not against magic.

I never pick something because its good today, if I know that things are not balanced and thats in work. I pick what I feel is right.

I tanked Vet instanced dungeons. Takes longer cause I die more, but cleared several. Block and interupt has been my biggest friends. And there are skills avaible I use to adapt from having the "wrong" build. :-)

Why I use something that is worse, is because it will not be worse, in time. And even if it was, I play my way. And as long as I do my job, I dont see a problem.

A side effect. You know the idiotic OP bash skill that was fixed? And all the "nerfed" fixing really, to DKs....while other players where using char skills that where to powerful, I struggled and adapted and died over and over......and learned how to manage my stamina, how to move, how to a lot of things, that when light armor tanks gets their AC reduced....will need to practice.

Example, I am pretty damn good at interupt. And blocking at the right moment, instead of holding down block all the time, which drains stamina. Took me a LONG time to learn.

That is one reason why I use things thats worse, today. :-)

zmanu

Cogo wrote: »

zmanu wrote: »

Cogo wrote: »

Erhm! 1H and shield + 5 heavy and 2 medium isnt good for a DK tank you say?

Hmmmmmmm. May look for some of my spells here to teach mr a lesion!

1H and shield is VERY powerful. But you need to time it right and control your stamina use.

There are other skills available to use as taunt, protection etc.
Most important is your block and stun is outstanding....but requires timing.

I tanked several Vet dungeons in the "wrong" spec ;-)

I fully agree with no vampire or werewolf if you are a tank. You need every good edge you can get. No bad sides.

Vampire is such a big nono that there are several bosses you will be unable to tank even if you have 3 healers.

There is just no need for the heavy armour, if you use 7 light and razor armour you soft cap armour in an instant, this allows you to have 2k magicka and deal a lot of dps at the same time. I've tanked all the vet dungeons on hard mode etc, with my stats being around 2k magicka 2,6k health and 1,2k stamina.

for thrash pulls you can go full dps, with a stick ofc, and apply some cc so your precious dps dont get hurt. For bosses just hold your shield up and use instant cast abilities.
Basically reserving all your stamina for dodging and blocking.

Sure you can use heavy and medium armour, but why would you? Light armour is so much better.

You are correct sir! With todays setup it is 100% correct what you say.

However, balancing is going on, and you might seen already crying DKs for being "broken?" Lol.

I choose my build, playstyle after how I wish to play. And what the info says on each skill and ability.

When things are balanced better. Heavy armor WILL protect more.
However, not against magic.

I never pick something because its good today, if I know that things are not balanced and thats in work. I pick what I feel is right.

I tanked Vet instanced dungeons. Takes longer cause I die more, but cleared several. Block and interupt has been my biggest friends. And there are skills avaible I use to adapt from having the "wrong" build. :-)

Why I use something that is worse, is because it will not be worse, in time. And even if it was, I play my way. And as long as I do my job, I dont see a problem.

A side effect. You know the idiotic OP bash skill that was fixed? And all the "nerfed" fixing really, to DKs....while other players where using char skills that where to powerful, I struggled and adapted and died over and over......and learned how to manage my stamina, how to move, how to a lot of things, that when light armor tanks gets their AC reduced....will need to practice.

Example, I am pretty damn good at interupt. And blocking at the right moment, instead of holding down block all the time, which drains stamina. Took me a LONG time to learn.

That is one reason why I use things thats worse, today. :-)

While I do encourage people to play how they wish and enjoy, Balancing these things seems to take a long, long time. It will still take many months before stamina builds are as viable as magicka builds and during that time you will most likely get enough skill points to unlock several weapon lines completely.

I did use heavy armour when i first started to tank, but my build evolved as I'm sure yours did, and will do. Though I never called anything wrong, that was some other mister.

Cogo

Yeah it does take long. But remember, its an MMO. They have fixed loads of stuff first before they come to this.

I am starting to wonder....if its the armor that needs tweaking. I think its the gear? The light armor simple gives to much AC.

They have improved, I got more stamina and health regen actually is an option now.

But as you say, those bosses that nuke me....Im useless.

Soothy

Cogo wrote: »

I am starting to wonder....if its the armor that needs tweaking. I think its the gear? The light armor simple gives to much AC.

You raise a good point and I agree (scary huh ).

However the gap in damage mitigation from light armour to heavy armour is probably a little too small. It's a challenging thing to get right though. If ZOS makes heavy armour much better at damage mitigation, it will create players who 'stand in the fire' and don't care because their heavy armour will absorb the damage.

Cogo

Soothy wrote: »

Cogo wrote: »

I am starting to wonder....if its the armor that needs tweaking. I think its the gear? The light armor simple gives to much AC.

You raise a good point and I agree (scary huh ).

However the gap in damage mitigation from light armour to heavy armour is probably a little too small. It's a challenging thing to get right though. If ZOS makes heavy armour much better at damage mitigation, it will create players who 'stand in the fire' and don't care because their heavy armour will absorb the damage.

Exactly, and AT THE MOMENT! ESO has quite a few players, new as veteran, who dont stand in fire, cause they learned here....it kills them!

STILL! Any build has a part in player skill. And I am not just talking about players who are good in games in general. But ESO keeps you learning.

A simple thing as timing BLOCK for a tank. If you can do that, then you are MUCH more powerful as a tank, then some others are with far better gear, who can not time BLOCK.

I hope ESO keeps it this way.