Dual Wield Dark Elf DK help/suggestions for a newbie :)

Tamriels_Finest

Hello all,
Started playing ESO on the PS4, and decided to go with a Dragon Knight Dark Elf to take advantage of the fire perks, and like to play more as a slasher than back with a staff so went dual wielding. I tried searching online for suggestions, but everything either seems outdated or for veteran accounts (Ex. Deltias Bloody Butcher guide). Was hoping to get some helpful advice as far as where I should put my points (I am assuming Stamina, but many skills seemed to have changed from stamina to magika), and what skills I should be working on. Thanks for all the help in advance

Tamriels_Finest

Bumping in hopes for some help

Foolish_Mortal

I'm a newer player and I can share what's been working for me. Plus, I like playing a dual-wield Dragon Knight. The general idea is to use skills that will compliment each other, with a focus of either Stamina or Magika. Then dress yourself accordingly (light armor for Magika, medium armor for Stamina).

I put all of my attribute points into health for survivability. I'm sure someone will tell me that's dumb. So far it hasn't mattered. It's really quite cheap to respec attribute points in game. I run more of a Magika build with some Stamina needs...it would probably makes sense to split my points between Magika and Stamina. I may do that when I hit vet or talk to a player that knows what they're doing.

I'm guessing that you're a lower level player so you don't have access to all the l33t skills, so here's a basic setup you can open up after a modest amount of playing. Please note this is better for PVE, which is what I primarily do.

Dual Wield skill bar:
Twin Slashes (either morph, but I generally go for more damage)
Fiery Breath morphed to Engulfing Flames
Dragon Blood morphed to Green Dragon Blood
Molten Weapons morphed to Igneous Weapons
Rapid Maneuver or soul trap (go fast or fill gems)

Fire off Twin Slashes will start your first DoT (unless they're undead).
Next, hit them with Engulfing Flames to start another DoT, plus a weakness to fire attacks.
Fire off Igenous Weapons to up your crit chance with heavy attacks.
Green Dragon Blood is there to save your ass and provide a buff when needed. And it looks cool. Looking cool is important.

The 5th slot is up to you to experiment with. I primarily use Rapid Maneuver because I'm extremely impatient when roaming dungeons, towns, and country side. Of course, the occasional swap to Soul Trap is needed for filling gems.

I wear a mix of light and medium armor enchanted for extra magic. There are medium armor passives for extra crit chance. I use The Thief stone for extra crit chance. I use two swords with the precise trait for extra crit chance. I enchant the swords with flame to take advantage of the Engulfing Flames debuff.

By the time you get into the higher levels you will probably get a better idea of complimentary skills you want. Then you can repec your skills if you don't like how you've progressed or if you "wasted" points.

This game give you a lot of options for fun PVE variations. Not as much for PVP, but you can worry about that later. Good luck and have fun.

Tamriels_Finest

Wow. Very detailed and helpful. Thank you very much! I seriously appreciate your time in helping me out. I don't think I have been taking advantage of some of the perks as well as I should be. I usually just use whatever new armor/weapon piece I acquire that is better than my old one. I haven't done a great job at messing around with enchantments, so I should probably look into that to learn how to make the precise trait, then throw on a glyph for the flame damage.

I like your skill bar set up and want to use it. One skill I have been using a lot is under dual wield, I think its called quick strike? Basically it uses stamina and you put in a combo of hits that progressively make more damage. Is that skill any good or should I hang it up?

I also need to look into the light/medium armor suggestion. In my noobie head I had just thought that heavy armor = more protection so it was the best option for a dual wield. I didn't spend much time on the buffs I could get from the armors. Can you get better/stronger buffs on light/medium armor vs. heavy armor?

Last but not least, I have been putting most points in Stamina, as I tried having my skill bar mostly stamina, but I find that I can die pretty quickly in close combat to enemies around my level. Should I put some in Health or Magika as well?

Again, I sincerely appreciate your time and help!

Foolish_Mortal

No problem, glad to be of assistance. I've received a lot of help on these forums, so hopefully I can give a little back. I did make an error regarding Igneous Weapons: it does not increase crit chance, but increases damage from heavy attacks. Igneous Weapons has been one of my best skill choices for my build.

As to your questions, here's my feedback:

One skill I have been using a lot is under dual wield, I think its called quick strike?
You probably mean Rapid Strike. This is a good damage dealer, but usually I'm looking for Damage over time (DoT) skills that stack while I'm hitting them with my main damage. In my case, it's my two swords charged up with Igneous Weapons. Another popular choice for Dual Wield is Whirlwind. This is a DoT that effects multiple enemies, so it's great for NPC mobs.

I usually just use whatever new armor/weapon piece I acquire that is better than my old one.
This is fine for your first few levels. But you really want to custom tailor your armor for your play style. Especially when you start making armor sets with bonuses. These are really important! The more pieces you wear of a custom set, the more perks you get. Click the following link or Google "ESO set bonus crafting locations".
http://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Set+Bonus+Crafting+Locations

I also need to look into the light/medium armor suggestion.
I too started the game with just heavy armor. Turns out it made more sense to use light and medium. Try to equip at least one piece from each line so you are increasing skills for each type. I use 3 light, 3 medium, 1 heavy. The super basic explanation of armor is this:

Heavy: I want to tank and have health.
Medium: I want to crit, sneak, and have stamina.
Light: I want to magic it up with damage or healing.

Can you get better/stronger buffs on light/medium armor vs. heavy armor?
For me, I need a larger magic pool to stay alive. The buffs effect your play style regardless of armor type. There's really a lot of flexibility here though because of all the passives and enchanting.
When I get low on health I move away from the melee enemies and hit Green Dragon Blood to heal and buff. Sometimes I hit Green Dragon Blood before I enter combat. Remember to equip potions in your quick slot. You can hit Green Dragon Blood and use a health potion at the same time.

Should I put some in Health or Magika as well?
This is a really tough question. If you're always running out of stamina, and your build is dependant on stamina, then consider putting attribute points into stamina. Or, start using stamina enchantments on your armor. You can enchant any type of armor with stamina, magic, or health. So far, I've only been putting attributes into health...but I'll have to rethink that once I open up upper level skills.

I forgot to mention that I primarily use Dragon Knight Standard for my ultimate. Weaving your ultimate into your play style is important, even if you're not fighting boss monsters. More damage is more damage!

Tamriels_Finest

Well you are definitely helping me and I am sure others who are reading this, and just because you received help does not always obligate others to do the same, so thank you for that!

I think I have a game plan going forward now based on your advice, so I will spew a bit of it out and see if you approve of what I feel I have gained from this

First off, Dual Wield skill bar:
-Twin Slashes - had this before but your advice reaffirmed it
-Fiery Breath morphed to Engulfing Flames - had it before as well from watching an old video (when it was stamina based) but its DoT seemed really weak (probably due to it being a brand new skill) so I stopped using it. Will upgrade it and keep trying it out.
-Dragon Blood morphed to Green Dragon Blood - haven't unlocked yet (skill too low) but definitely will use
-Molten Weapons morphed to Igneous Weapons - sold. seems like a good "must have" for my build idea
-Rapid Maneuver or soul trap (go fast or fill gems) - this one I will mess with and insert what feels good at the time
-Rapid Strikes & Whirlwind - At my level Rapid Strikes does good damage so will use until dragon blood is unlocked or in place of soul trap/rapid maneuver. Whirlwind is another I want to plug and play with.
-My ultimate I was using was Dragon Knight Standard (ardent flame one), and had a tendency to save it for boss fights. May try to use it more and see when it works best.

The more pieces you wear of a custom set, the more perks you get
This is amazing info for me. I had no idea you could craft your own bonus gear (I figured I would have to buy/find it) and that it requires so many traits of that item researched. I need to start researching more
- Two questions from this: -
1.) Is the item automatically legendary or does the gear stay at whatever you can make it (Fine, Superior, etc.) and just have lower bonuses?
2.) Is there a specific custom gear you recommend going for first? I will have to obviously aim for the 3/4 traits first.

Armor suggestions
I am nervous to switch from heavy armor as I feel I die fast enough as it is, but the concept of equal leveling and then moving some attribute points in health and using light/medium armor for stamina makes sense. I want to work this concept into my build, but still am a bit confused. The questions I still have are:
1.) How does medium armor give you more stamina then heavy? Is there a penalty to stamina if you use heavy or is it in a passive perk for medium armors type deal?
2.)Is the concept of putting attribute points in health and getting stamina bonus in medium armor > concept of stamina attribute points and wearing heavy armor in your opinion since you switched?

Thanks again for the help! I already can't wait to try out some of this!

Jules

Foolish_Mortal wrote: »

I'm a newer player and I can share what's been working for me. Plus, I like playing a dual-wield Dragon Knight. The general idea is to use skills that will compliment each other, with a focus of either Stamina or Magika. Then dress yourself accordingly (light armor for Magika, medium armor for Stamina).

I put all of my attribute points into health for survivability. I'm sure someone will tell me that's dumb. So far it hasn't mattered. It's really quite cheap to respec attribute points in game. I run more of a Magika build with some Stamina needs...it would probably makes sense to split my points between Magika and Stamina. I may do that when I hit vet or talk to a player that knows what they're doing.

I'm guessing that you're a lower level player so you don't have access to all the l33t skills, so here's a basic setup you can open up after a modest amount of playing. Please note this is better for PVE, which is what I primarily do.

Dual Wield skill bar:
Twin Slashes (either morph, but I generally go for more damage)
Fiery Breath morphed to Engulfing Flames
Dragon Blood morphed to Green Dragon Blood
Molten Weapons morphed to Igneous Weapons
Rapid Maneuver or soul trap (go fast or fill gems)

Fire off Twin Slashes will start your first DoT (unless they're undead).
Next, hit them with Engulfing Flames to start another DoT, plus a weakness to fire attacks.
Fire off Igenous Weapons to up your crit chance with heavy attacks.
Green Dragon Blood is there to save your ass and provide a buff when needed. And it looks cool. Looking cool is important.

The 5th slot is up to you to experiment with. I primarily use Rapid Maneuver because I'm extremely impatient when roaming dungeons, towns, and country side. Of course, the occasional swap to Soul Trap is needed for filling gems.

I wear a mix of light and medium armor enchanted for extra magic. There are medium armor passives for extra crit chance. I use The Thief stone for extra crit chance. I use two swords with the precise trait for extra crit chance. I enchant the swords with flame to take advantage of the Engulfing Flames debuff.

By the time you get into the higher levels you will probably get a better idea of complimentary skills you want. Then you can repec your skills if you don't like how you've progressed or if you "wasted" points.

This game give you a lot of options for fun PVE variations. Not as much for PVP, but you can worry about that later. Good luck and have fun.

This guy has a good bunch of ideas. However I would have to disagree with couple things. I would highly recommend the two morphs of the DK dots--- BURNING BREATH and UNSTABLE FLAME over the magicka morphs. These two abilities scale off of stamina and weapon damage. So they are better for a DW DK as that is a stamina and weapon damage build (if set up correctly.) These stam morphs will do much more damage for you, basically. Also, I would put all of your points into stamina.

Twin slashes is good. Quick cloak is good.
Steel tornado is your friend and savior. Love it and use it frequently.
Also- make sure to get passive "helping hands" from earthen heart tree. This will give you 5% stam back when using earthen heart ability.
Flying blade for ranged attacks.

5 hundings rage / 3 night silence is what I wear for stamina leveling.
Warrior stone (weapon damage) or tower stone (max stam) for mundus.

Leveling bow could also be helpful. I really like magnum shot, it's a nice cc and puts distance between you and target.
But quite honestly just level EVERYTHING. Bc as a dark elf DK (my main too) you have so many options.

I also have a video based on dk leveling/breakdown of dk skills if you're interested: http://youtu.be/y651M55xcfM

Tamriels_Finest

Jules thank you so much for that feedback! Definitely like the idea of those scaling off my stamina and damage vs. using magicka.

Jules wrote: »

These stam morphs will do much more damage for you, basically. Also, I would put all of your points into stamina.

It makes a lot of sense to go all stamina then back that with stamina based skill attacks

Jules wrote: »

5 hundings rage / 3 night silence is what I wear for stamina leveling.

And here comes my noobiness again...this is armor? O_o

Jules wrote: »

But quite honestly just level EVERYTHING. Bc as a dark elf DK (my main too) you have so many options.

So little time I will do my best!

Thanks for all the info and video!

Jules

Tamriels_Finest wrote: »

Jules thank you so much for that feedback! Definitely like the idea of those scaling off my stamina and damage vs. using magicka.

Jules wrote: »

These stam morphs will do much more damage for you, basically. Also, I would put all of your points into stamina.

It makes a lot of sense to go all stamina then back that with stamina based skill attacks

Jules wrote: »

5 hundings rage / 3 night silence is what I wear for stamina leveling.

And here comes my noobiness again...this is armor? O_o

Jules wrote: »

But quite honestly just level EVERYTHING. Bc as a dark elf DK (my main too) you have so many options.

So little time I will do my best!

Thanks for all the info and video!

Yes those are craftable sets. You can have them crafted by a crafter for a fee if you're in a trade guild. Acquire a new full gear set every 10-20 levels or so.


Ps: and you are very welcome. If you're on PC I may be able to help you more. If you're on Xbox/ps4 I can't really

Tamriels_Finest

Jules wrote: »

Yes those are craftable sets. You can have them crafted by a crafter for a fee if you're in a trade guild. Acquire a new full gear set every 10-20 levels or so.

Ok great! I watched your vid and I am assuming you would suggest either just medium armor or maybe a mix of medium and heavy armor?

Jules wrote: »

Ps: and you are very welcome. If you're on PC I may be able to help you more. If you're on Xbox/ps4 I can't really

Darn, I am on the PS4. Hopefully the info here and your vid will be enough to get me on my way If I have any more questions can I just message you?

Jules

Tamriels_Finest wrote: »

Jules wrote: »

Yes those are craftable sets. You can have them crafted by a crafter for a fee if you're in a trade guild. Acquire a new full gear set every 10-20 levels or so.

Ok great! I watched your vid and I am assuming you would suggest either just medium armor or maybe a mix of medium and heavy armor?

Jules wrote: »

Ps: and you are very welcome. If you're on PC I may be able to help you more. If you're on Xbox/ps4 I can't really

Darn, I am on the PS4. Hopefully the info here and your vid will be enough to get me on my way If I have any more questions can I just message you?

Absolutely! Happy to help anytime.

I'd recommend 7 medium or 5 medium 1 heavy 1 light to get those 2 armor trees leveled for you.