Help me make my build better?

Bulldawg2010

Okay, let me start off by saying ESO is my first MMO ever, so sorry in advance if I don't understand everything that you guys tell me.

I'm playing as a nord dragonknight. The problem I seem to be having is I'm really squishy, and I don't deal out high damage solo on veteran continent.
I'm a VR 2, close to being 3. I'm a dual wield on my first bar, two hand on second.

My stats-
Magicka-10
Health-0
Stamina-40
Max magicka-9503
Max health-11484
Max stamina-17129
Weapon damage- 1304
Weapon critical- 29.3%
I am also a vampire, I don't want to change this, mainly for role playing purposes even though I understand I'm weak against fire.

Equipment-
Fang of the viper (VR 2 random drop, not created I don't even know how to create these sets)
Calcinum dagger of flame
Main hand back up- raze (2 hand sword).
Head- Korean hat of health (adds 491 maximum health).
Chest- crofters corslet- adds 447 maximum stamina
Shoulders- Shoulder cops of the viper (vR2 random drop) adds 198 maximum health.
Waste- brigandine belt
Legs-brigandine guards
Feet- boots of the viper (random drop) adds 198 health. Sturdy- item takes 24% less damage.

Neck- throat scales of the viper
Ring- band of the unassailble.


As far as my ability bar-
1.burning breathe
2. Igneous weapons
3. Rapid strikes
4. Steel tornado
5. Unstable flame
ultimate- corrossive armor.

Second bar
1. Ferocious leap
2. Wrecking blow
3. Executioner
4. Rally
5. Elusive mist
ultimate- ferocious leap.

Soooo that's all the info that I know of, if it's not enough let me know I'll put in anything you guys ask.

What I really want to do is primarily DPS. But I also don't want to be as squishy as I am right now. Can anyone look over this and tell me what to do? Bc I am completely lost right now. Like I said first MMO ever.


If this isn't in the right place I apologize.

Phaedrus

I think a lot of people, especially if you're new to mmo's, find themselves in a similar situation you are at about the VR1 time. I suspect the reason for this is because at about that time you are sort of forced into "specializing" or at least concentrating more on specifics for your build.

First let me explain a few things about how skills and damage work in ESO.

All attacks fall into three categories. Magicka based, Stamina based and Ulitmates. Every attack that costs magicka will scale based on your max magicka and your spell damage stats. All attacks that cost stamina will scale based on your max stamina and weapon damage stats. Ultimate attacks scale based on whichever set of stats is higher.

At VR1 or thereabouts you basically have a choice to make, do you want to be magicka based or stamina based. There are of course plenty of opinions out there as to which is better but for pure DPS the magicka based DK can't be beat.

However saying that there are other factors to consider about what you might want to do, one of those is your race. In your case since you are a nord the racial passives for that race lend themselves towards tanking. That doesn't mean you absolutely have to be a tank just be aware that racial passives do have an effect on your character.

So with that stuff said you might be running into a problem because you sort of have a "hybrid" build, what I mean by that is you're not really focused on magicka or stamina and have skills on both bars that are from both categories.

So once you decide what you want to focus on you'll want to start looking for gear that makes those attributes better overall. Of course you can craft sets (or have someone do it for a fee of course) Or you can try and just piece together stuff that will increase the stats you are most interested in.

I will say this about your survive ability. One skill DK's are known for in this game is Dragon Blood (Green or Coagulated morphs) This is the best self heal in this game, by far. Also this scales off your max health, as does the shields i.e. igneous shields. Even though it costs magicka and if you decide to go a stam build this skill should be on your bar especially if you're soloing most things out there.

I see you're a vampire, that lends itself more to magicka of course, if you do decide on stamina I would recommend the werewolf instead.

Hope this helps more than it muddles things for you. There are some websites out there and youtube videos you could watch for specific builds. Deltia's gaming website has a build for leveling DK's that is pretty good.

Bulldawg2010

Thank you for the info. And yes I've seen deltias videos, this is on of his VR 14 builds minus a few skills here and there. Problem is I don't know if I'm doing it right, more often then not I'm left feeling confused after watching build videos. However I can't get my build to put out near as much damage as his. I'm considering going a pure magic based dps build. Do you have any recommendations on skills? Etc.

As for gear I want to be able to craft it myself. I've been leveling blacksmith, clothing, and provisioning since I've started. Provisioning is at 50, blacksmith is at 40 along with clothing.

Sandshark95

Looking at your attributes, I noticed you've specced mostly stamina. This will increase your weapon damage, but since most DK abilities are magicka based, you're losing out on a lot of damage there. You're also a vampire, which helps your magicka. I'd consider respeccing into magicka and maximizing damage with your abilities; DW can actually work well with a magicka build, as there's some sort of bonus to it because you have two weapons equipped.

If you're finding yourself too squishy, drop a few points into health and make sure you have your Nord passives. Enchant some jewelry with fire resist or find some from the Silks of the Sun Set. Wear some heavy armor for health and some light for magicka. Dragon Blood is a good self-heal you'd might consider (so is Rally, which you already have).

Follow the previous replyer's advice and look around on the internet for some recent DK DPS builds for some advice. And like he/she said above, yes, magicka will probably get you better DPS numbers but stamina isn't impossible I suppose.

Bulldawg2010

Update- respecd.
All attribute points are now in magic. Working on upgrading the destruction skill line now.

Any bar advice for a magic dps dragonknight. Also would you guys recommend putting health glyphs on armor to help with 0 points into health?

On equipment I found some pieces of armor that has something to do with the sun (the name of it, sorry name escapes me and I'm at work so can't check.)

Phaedrus

Nice sounds like you're getting the idea of what we're explaining.

So for bars, of course there are thousands of options and again I'll say it depends on your play style. If you're mostly solo and wanting to kill mobs and stuff like that it's quite different than group dungeons or PvP.

A good sort of all around build for DK's to do is primary weapon one hand and shield secondary bar destro staff.

The reasons for a 1H + shield are first for a gap closer. DK's don't have a good natural gap closer so the shielded assault from 1H+shield is an excellent fit for that. The other reason is it allows you two items towards a set bonus, and the more set bonuses the better.

So here is what I might do again remember this is pretty general and might not fit what you like to do or how you like to engage enemies. Just experiment.

Primary Weapon 1H + shield
Shielded Assault (Some people like the invasion morph but I like the added shield from the other morph)
Burning Talons (Best CC in the game)
Green Dragon Blood (Oh **** button)
Flame Lash (This is the better morph it allows a free followup attack that heals you)
Reflective Scale (for archers and mages that range you)
Ultimate: Ferocious Leap

Secondary Weapon Destro Staff (Flame)
Elemental Ring
Igneous shield (Cast this before a fight)
Deep Breath (This will help your sustainability if you're in a group of enemies)
Crushing Shock (This is your main ranged DPS)
Elusive Mist (Get out of jail free card)
Ultimate: Devouring Swarm


For equipment it sounds like maybe you found some Silk of the Sun set pieces. That's an excellent set the 5 piece makes all of your flame damage(which is basically all your damage) hit 5% harder.

For crafted sets maybe look at magnus or seducer. Both sets will help you as a magicka build a lot.

Hope that helps.