New to this and need some direction for my build.

Donsoto

Hey guys so I'm new to ESO and new to this genre in general but I'm really liking it and trying to make the most out of it. There is a lot for me to learn clearly and I've been trying to look up whatever I can but in the process I have gotten myself a bit confused because there are so many different builds I see going on, in so many different directions, and everyone says different things. So I was wondering if anyone had some advice for my build.

I am a lvl 16 Dark Elf DK. Currently I am a dual wielder and that is what I want to continue doing. I started putting more of my skills into Stamina for this but then I was hearing that as a dark elf I should put it more into Magicka and use the Fire abilities that come with being a dark elf. But I want to keep my dual wielding, so I figured I had one bar be dual wielding abilities and the other be dual wielding as well but with flame abilities . After doing this I started trying to put skills in both Stamina and Magicka, but I’m now learning that this is considered a hybrid and hybrids are apparently not that good. Or so I have been told. I am aiming at a higher DPS rather than being a tank or anything else. I am confused as to what do. I know I want to keep the dual wielding as I’m not really a fan of staffs and such but like I said I want to be able to achieve a high DPS.

Also I just got turned into a vampire which I really wanted and figured it wasn’t that bad since I am a dark elf. I figured the magicka/stamina regen skill would also be very helpful. I have a couple of passive skills unlocked in the ardent flame, my dual wielding and a few other things I can’t remember off the top of my head. If knowing those specifics things (skills unlocked, stamina/magicka/health numbers, etc ) would help you analyze my build so far just let me know and I’ll post those details when I get home. I’m usually pretty good at trying to find information on my own ( hence how I ended up the forums lol ) but there’s just so much different information, I don’t know what’s accurate and what’s best for me to follow any more.

Just a warning , I am still quite new so something’s you say might just fly over my head lol, but I’m trying my best to learn. Thanks in advance for anyone who takes the time to comment.

ahampelb14_ESO

I'm no expert but this video looks good to me and what I'm going to try

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEtJIIQK0J4

Sandshark95

@Donsoto I have a Dark Elf DK DPS (also a Vampire) and have to say one thing: kill it with fire!!!

I use a Fire Destro Staff as my main, but if you don't want to go with a staff, DW is still perfectly viable. I'm almost always in melee range even with my staff because most DK abilities are of the 'up-close-and-personal' sort. If I don't go Dual Staves, I might pick up DW myself for my secondary (still haven't decided). DK Fire Mages (especially Dark Elves) can put out some of the best DPS numbers in the game. You're really not hurting yourself too much by picking DW as your primary; if you're worried about that, take Destro as a secondary and level it up a bit so you have the option of trying it out later.

Hybrid builds are definitely not optimal. You're going to have to decide between stamina or magicka. As a DK Dark Elf myself, I reside in the magicka camp. You can't "kill it with fire!" using stamina. Not only does your race and class suit a magicka focused build, but you're also a vampire, which is another point for magicka. DW, oddly enough, complements a magicka build quite well. No, you likely won't be using many (if any) DW abilities on your bar (as they scale with stamina), but simply having two weapons equipped works in your favor in regards to your spells. Now, this might utterly confuse you (as it did me, initially) but DW actually increases your spell power, more so than a staff. Why? Because the base damage stat of DW weapons typically exceeds that of staves. To be more clear, if you add the base damage of your left-hand weapon to the base damage of your right-hand weapon together, that damage number would be higher than the base damage of any one staff of the same level. This matters because both your Weapon Damage AND Spell Damage depend on that base damage value. In essence, when it comes to spell power, two weapons are better than one. What this means is that though the DW weapons themselves will not deal as much damage as they would if you specced into stamina build, the spells you use while holding these weapons will actually deal more damage. It's a trade-off, of sorts. With DW, your spells are more powerful, but with staves, your staff abilities and attacks scale with magicka. I hope that makes at least some sense.

For your skills, definitely take any passives and abilities that mention "fire". Fire is your friend. Spell Critical and Spell Damage are important as well. You'll want to level up your Mages Guild skill tree as much as you can by collecting lore books (purple glowing books you find laying around all over Tamriel) and doing quests in the Mages Guild questline. The first skill in the tree is called "Magelight" and it increases your spell critical rating. Buy it, slot it, and always have it toggled on (you can reliably tell if it's active by looking at your bar and seeing if the edges around the ability slot are faded/white-ish, as the floating orb of light circling around you in third-person mode is buggy and not always visible). Once you level up Magelight to max, morph it to "Inner Light", which increases your max magicka (the visual active effect is much more noticeable as well). The second skill in the tree, Entropy, is worth having on your bar if you have room; it increases your spell damage, does damage, and heals you for a little bit. As for your DK abilities (you probably don't have some of these unlocked yet, just keep working towards them), Dragon Blood and/or Obsidian Shield are nice to put on your bar if you're having difficulty with survivability. Engulfing Flames (morph of Fiery Breath) debuffs enemies to fire damage. Molten Whip (morph of Lava Whip) further increases your fire damage and is a great DPS skill. Sea of Flames (morph of Inferno) can actually replace Inner Light (morph of Magelight), when you eventually unlock it. Burning Talons (morph of Dark Talons) is an AoE that controls crowds and burns them. There are several other skills I haven't mentioned that are still worth trying out/working towards.

Though the Ardent Flame Skill Tree will likely become your favorite, while you are leveling it's important to keep at least one skill from each of the three DK skill trees on your bar to ensure that all three trees level up fairly equally. Same goes for armor: you'll likely end up in mostly Light armor as a magicka DK for the passives, but wear at least one piece of heavy and one piece of medium so you can have options later on.

And now I'm going to end the wall of text to allow you to digest some of this information. XD

Hope that helps

Donsoto

@ahampelb14_ESO That video was pretty helpful. While not exactly what I was thinking he does leave it pretty open for different builds so it was useful. Also he went into detail for things i didn't even understand yet lol. So thank you for that. I know have some information on how to actually use the moves and armor and such to do damage like explains.

@Sandshark95 Your information has really helped me a lot! Since reading it I definitely understand more. I was confused because i thought to have a good DW build it had to be based off of stamina. But you made a good point which I agree with, My race suits a magicka build better. So to hear that I can use my DW as a base for a strong Magicka focused build makes me extremely happy. I now understand and have a better idea of the picture. Being a Dark Elf AND a Vampire, focusing on magic will only be beneficial to me. Im relieved because I was committed to the DW but thought I'd be stuck with Stamina as my focus which really wouldn't have worked in my favor as well as the magicka. And thanks for explaining while the DW helps by having a better base because otherwise I would have been completely dumbfounded and thought that made no sense lol.

Sandshark95

@Donsoto I'm glad to hear that I could help. I love magicka builds, but like you, I don't always want to be stuck with a staff. I was very confused at first about the whole melee magicka viability thing and how it worked, so I can understand and empathize with you there. Happy to ease the worries. If you ever have any more questions or need advice, don't be afraid to ask! I'm always happy to help other players if I can.