What is the top DPS class in the game?

bg22

Hayuru

DK

I think it's DK

But I'm hoping it's templar

Vahrokh

DK

It's DK then templar. Sorcs are last. But they have perhaps the highest burst and this made PvPers vote "Sorc" on this poll.

golfer.dub17_ESO

Whenever I look at builds, I never see people do the actual math, the actual theorycrafting, the actual comparing of numbers between classes, builds, and weapons.

Rather they just see which skills and sets mix well, say "this is adequate", then post it as their "theorycrafted" build.

Even then theory isn't reality and there's different situations where their DPS is going to fluctuate. A DK for example does good DoT Fire dps, but what if he's fighting an enemy immune or resistant to flame? Wrecking Blow with Dreugh King, Hundings, etc. might do epic damage, but what if the enemy constantly knocks you back while you're casting it?

In short, I don't believe anyone has an objective, mathematical answer for this question.

My kind of layman's view of the classes:
DK has the best DoT DPS.
NB has the best Burst Damage.
I have no idea how Templar and Sorcerer compare to one another.

drschplatt

DK

For all the people who voted for sorcs, I'm worried they're on the wrong forum or haven't played for a while.

heng14rwb17_ESO

DK is the best of the best of the best.

kurstein

NB

NB super burst dmg I hit with my first hit for 23k dmg

Seth_Black

NB

let me guess...
everyone voted on his own main character right?

NB is best as PURE single target DPS
Templar as multi-functional with nice AoE damage and healing skills
Sorc ...if you like spam...
DK ...well DK just sux as usual

Elara_Northwind

Temp

Just going by my own personal experience, I would have to say that my Templar healer is my best DPS, and class altogether really, for me at least. She can do up to 18k damage and her survivability is AMAZING (She even ended up tanking AND healing a vet dungeon, in light armour and with shockingly low stamina a couple of weeks ago ) though I have not played DK or NB enough to make a fair comparison really...

Dymence

NB

Stamina NB. At least that was last patch, maybe this patch us magicka builds can rule again with all the bugs regarding spell penetration.

Vahrokh wrote: »

It's DK then templar. Sorcs are last. But they have perhaps the highest burst and this made PvPers vote "Sorc" on this poll.

drschplatt wrote: »

For all the people who voted for sorcs, I'm worried they're on the wrong forum or haven't played for a while.

As for you guys, I don't think you have any idea how strong sorcs are these days and with the latest patch my sorc became even far stronger than it was.

Seth_Black

NB

sadie_coopb16_ESO wrote: »

Just going by my own personal experience, I would have to say that my Templar healer is my best DPS, and class altogether really, for me at least. She can do up to 18k damage and her survivability is AMAZING (She even ended up tanking AND healing a vet dungeon, in light armour and with shockingly low stamina a couple of weeks ago ) though I have not played DK or NB enough to make a fair comparison really...

That's true. Templar is really great as class that can do many things at once and can take a lot.
Honestly I don't really get it. Why people chase that dps so much.
That's one of the things that get me out of WoW ...chasing gear to meet dps standards.
Sure, it was fun to be in top 10 dps on the server but it gets really boring after some time.
For me it's better to have in group someone who KNOWS his own class very well and knows when and how to use his abilities,
person aware of surrounding area in trials, someone who knows mechanics and knows how to avoid damage taken.
That's really good damage dealing skill-set.
Honestly most bosses don't even enrage and placing all proper de-buffs on boss and THEN dps him down works way better than pure 2-ability-spam-nuke.
I often see people talking about how much dps they can do ...SO WHAT... if you die on first hit or AoE ability or whatever because you can't block in time
Group that fights boss longer, smarter ...ends up with less kills on their side

Elara_Northwind

Temp

Seth_Black wrote: »

sadie_coopb16_ESO wrote: »

Just going by my own personal experience, I would have to say that my Templar healer is my best DPS, and class altogether really, for me at least. She can do up to 18k damage and her survivability is AMAZING (She even ended up tanking AND healing a vet dungeon, in light armour and with shockingly low stamina a couple of weeks ago ) though I have not played DK or NB enough to make a fair comparison really...

That's true. Templar is really great as class that can do many things at once and can take a lot.
Honestly I don't really get it. Why people chase that dps so much.
That's one of the things that get me out of WoW ...chasing gear to meet dps standards.
Sure, it was fun to be in top 10 dps on the server but it gets really boring after some time.
For me it's better to have in group someone who KNOWS his own class very well and knows when and how to use his abilities,
person aware of surrounding area in trials, someone who knows mechanics and knows how to avoid damage taken.
That's really good damage dealing skill-set.
Honestly most bosses don't even enrage and placing all proper de-buffs on boss and THEN dps him down works way better than pure 2-ability-spam-nuke.
I often see people talking about how much dps they can do ...SO WHAT... if you die on first hit or AoE ability or whatever because you can't block in time
Group that fights boss longer, smarter ...ends up with less kills on their side

I agree. I think being a good dps is about much more than just the amount of damage that you inflict. Obviously, the higher the number the better, but the ability to survive is just as important, because you can't do damage if you are dead because you couldn't move out of the big red circle fast enough

Seth_Black

NB

Plus there's also something no one really thinks about.
TOTAL DAMAGE DONE
Some classes equipped with proper weapons can deal massive amounts of damage PER HIT.
So short combo of 2-4 attacks, then avoiding damage, blocking or whatever needs to be done ...and attack again.
Don't forget about DoTs! It's always dealing small but CONSTANT damage on the target.
Keeping DoTs up all the time and hitting like a truck in sequences of increasing bonus damage with critical hits
will always result in dead boss
In the end dps is poor but damage done to the target can be substantial and percentage of total in group
can be even highest.

Septimus_Magna

DK

We completed AA hard mode with the guild yesterday and the DKs reached the highest dps with 14-15k on the first 3 bosses, the other classes reached around 11-13k dps.

Seth_Black

NB

and who did MOST damage?
Let me guess ...you have no idea

Step one: take DK
Step two: do nothing whole fight
Step three: keep executing last 30 seconds

So much dps! WOW!

bg22

Sorc

drschplatt wrote: »

For all the people who voted for sorcs, I'm worried they're on the wrong forum or haven't played for a while.

As someone mentioned before, you'll get this vote from PvP'er being that Sorcs have the highest burst damage. So, they vote the class that kills them the fastest, essentially.

Seth_Black

NB

bg22 wrote: »

drschplatt wrote: »

For all the people who voted for sorcs, I'm worried they're on the wrong forum or haven't played for a while.

As someone mentioned before, you'll get this vote from PvP'er being that Sorcs have the highest burst damage. So, they vote the class that kills them the fastest, essentially.

I could BET he's a DK

eventide03b14a_ESO

I would prefer a thread with actual concrete numbers instead of an opinion poll.

Rylana

NB

Nothing hits harder for longer than a stamina nightblade build right now. Nothing.


Edit to add:

I have a pure magicka spell power build sorc - good DPS
I have a pure stamina weapon power build DK - good DPS
I have a pure stamina weapon power build NB - SAFSDFHSDGHASDGJASJGJASGJASGJ LOL
The templar is a healer, doesnt count.

Seth_Black

NB

only VALID point COULD be made with a full trial video showing specific class.
BUT ...since every single build is based on so many variables there's no such thing as best class anyway
It all depends how good YOU can personally be while playing your favorite class ...or all of them

technohic

Probably depends on what kind of DPS. Magicka DPS in PvP, I would go sorc, but I know their toolkit is not as handy in PvE. Then you start looking at magicka vs stamina. Think DKs are good all around with stamina builds, magicka builds, PvE and PvP.

zeuseason

Sorc

I dunno about higher level content, but my level 20 sorc 'special build' outputs about 1500 - 2k deeps and around 1k consistently on bosses.

Sacadon

Not sure why these polls still have DK as an option... Would be interesting to see responses for stamina and magicka versions of each class.

Lord_Kreegan

I have eight characters; two of each class; three VR and the rest on their way...

I can truthfully say that the top DPS class is whichever one I'm not playing on any particular day.

Dagoth_Rac

kurstein wrote: »

NB super burst dmg I hit with my first hit for 23k dmg

But what about the other 99%+ of the boss' health?! ;-)

Obscure

DK

Sustained DPS is a Dragon Knight's game all day long.

Burst is likely Nightblade. There's some really gnarly siphoning NB builds out there that, though their DPS is lower than a DK, are incredibly tough and difficult builds to fight.

Don't use DPS as any sort of indication of class superiority though. Dead = 0 DPS

F7sus4

Sorc

Average DK and/or Sorcerer can hit sustained 15-18k DPS easily, whereas highly optimized Magicka Nightblade can barely go over 12k. Also, Sorcerer is also the best ranged static-area DPS in the game.

Don't agree? How funny. Prove me wrong.

s7732425ub17_ESO

Temp

A certain stamina templar build is topping the DPS charts. I've yet to see another class get 14-16k+ sustained with ease on most bosses. People say that DKs are still the strongest, yet I have not seen any actual DPS screenshots or videos to prove this.

WhiskyBob

Temp

Was going to vote DK but after Skoria nerf voted templar. Heavy attack - Flare weaving son!

starkerealm

NB

s7732425ub17_ESO wrote: »

A certain stamina templar build is topping the DPS charts. I've yet to see another class get 14-16k+ sustained with ease on most bosses. People say that DKs are still the strongest, yet I have not seen any actual DPS screenshots or videos to prove this.

I kind of suspect most of the people voting DK are coming out of the bloc of players that genuinely believe the DKs are the best class in the game at everything, without really seeing what other classes can actually do. I've never managed to get a DK DPS build that didn't feel anemic in comparison to a Sorc or NB.

That said, if we're talking single target, probably the Nightblade. If we're talking add cleanup DPS, then it's got to be the sorc.

Seth_Black

NB

starkerealm wrote: »

s7732425ub17_ESO wrote: »

A certain stamina templar build is topping the DPS charts. I've yet to see another class get 14-16k+ sustained with ease on most bosses. People say that DKs are still the strongest, yet I have not seen any actual DPS screenshots or videos to prove this.

I kind of suspect most of the people voting DK are coming out of the bloc of players that genuinely believe the DKs are the best class in the game at everything, without really seeing what other classes can actually do. I've never managed to get a DK DPS build that didn't feel anemic in comparison to a Sorc or NB.

That said, if we're talking single target, probably the Nightblade. If we're talking add cleanup DPS, then it's got to be the sorc.

It's called 'First choice - DK ...and now regretting it'
They secretly envy us having so much cooler classes to play
Honestly you could put on your bar some random offensive DK skills and play like DK in WoW
just by using R.B.P.

*R.B.P. - Random Button Pressing (true DK 'rotation')