Dragonknight Solo Build and Questions (pve, leveling and later)

Dephyrius

I'm working on a Dragonknight Alt and have been debating which direction I might want to take him. Right now He's probably just going to be for farming and soloing stuff, may take him towards a tank later on down the line. I see alot of older videos of DK's soloing public delves in craglorn and craglorn mobs in general using Staffs and light armor, but I was leaning more towards heavy and sword and board (unsure of what on off hand swap, be it another sword and board or something else). Is this viable for doing that sort of thing and is there any videos or builds to work towards out there or am I gimping myself solo by not going staves and light armor as it would appear (obviously player skill with likely trump the necessity for it). I'm just curious if anyone has had success doing that as I'm basically going it #foreveralone on his alt or maybe duo in certain times.

iTzStevey

The Dragonknight casters aren't as effective as they used to be, how old are the build videos you've been watching? Im doing the same as you and currently using sword and board and resto staff and can solo orange quests.
This is my setup for the time being:
1st bar:

Shield Charge
Green dragon blood
obsidian shield (until i can get reflective scales)
Burning embers
heroic slash.
ult : ferocious leap

Resto bar

Hardened armor
Green dragons blood
obsidian shield
burning talons
stonefist (until i can get something else not sure what)

Ult is magma armor

Going 5 heavy 1 light 1 medium

Not too sure if this is optimal, but its working me at the moment, bare in mind its only a level 21 characyer aswell. Hope this helps and you can get a few more suggestions.

Sadishist

So for a solo PVE DK build, Draconic Power is the way to go, with sword & shield, and heavy armor? What should be more focused on, magicka, health, or stamina, or all 3 equally? I'm only level 5.

OzJohnD

If you focus on all three attributes you limit everything.

Split between your dps energy source (either stam or magicka, not both) and your health something like 1:2

Sandshark95

I run an Orc DK Tank, mostly heavy armor, lvl 20, sword and board.

Extended Chains-- good pull, nice for grouping. Probably interchangeable with Inner Rage once I acquire it (Undaunted magicka taunt)

Green Dragon Blood-- self-heal, plus stamina regen

Choking Talons-- good CC, choking morph reduces enemies damage output (better for pure tanking IMO)

Obsidian Shield-- okay skill, just bought it to level the tree so I can get Cinder Storm

Pierce Armor/Ransack (Puncture morph)-- THE stamina taunt. Reduces enemy armor, aggros enemy. Ransack morph is nice for low level for the armor boost, but I just switched to Pierce.

Magma Armor (Ultimate)-- quite nice for increasing survivability, has saved me a few times

I'd recommend putting points into health first (#1 must for a tank), then putting the rest in magicka. Most of the abilities you're going to use as a DK tank (taunts, CCs, AoEs, your self-heal) require and scale with magicka. Stamina is for heavy attacks, blocking, and the occasional roll or two; you shouldn't need too much of it. Passives (especially in the Earthen Heart, Draconic Power, 1h+Shield, Heavy Armor trees) are your friends.

Sword+Board is the way to go for survivability, Two-hand for damage output. I'd stay away from the light armor and staves as a DK Tank--leave those for the DK Fire Mages--and, most importantly, take everything you read/see that is from 2014 with a grain of salt. A lot has changed since then (even since early 2015).

Sadishist

Thanks for the advice, so is Magma Armor the best Ultimate to have for a PVE soloer?

ghost0

solo content in vet areas is not very soloable as a dk fire mage. im always burning pots or kiting or both. i have gold gear, none of it pvp or pledge sets but all good crafted sets with good enchants and thoughtfully planned for set bonuses.

now 'not very' is a subjective reply. yes i can burn things to ashes in a second. any pve content is easy with the exception of world bosses and the occasional solo dung boss. but anything i cant burst its face off in the opening seconds is a hassle.

its better in parties than in solo pve imho

if you want a solo pve winner, may i suggest a 2h sorc. wont bore you with why as its not on topic, but its a fun way to be. just hope bolt nerf doesnt kill it

Sadishist

Well thanks for the advice all.