Character Build: Dragonknight vs. Sorcerer

ROYTASTICx

Good day all.

After finally having some free time, i can jump in to ESO again. I used to play ESO on the PC back in 2014 when it came out, so i'm not your typical new guy. Although i did not had much clue of what i was doing back then ( ). After reading some guides, forum posts and other information on ESO TU, i decided to jump back in, but before i do that i have some questions i want to discuss with you.

My plans for ESO:TU
First of all i want to jump back in some PvE action ofcourse. Level through some quests and develop some of my skills. After that i want to jump into PvP, which is new to me on this game so will need a lot of practice there i reckon.

Playstyle
I enjoy playing as a damage dealer or tank. Not really feeling the support role because i like to be actively involved in a fight and deal as much damage as possible.

Dragonknight vs Sorcerer
This is the main question in this post. I played as a DK on the PC version(PvE only) and i was kinda fun to hammer everyone with swords and such. But after also seeing some videos on how ESO TU is now, i really like how the Sorcerer looks and all the attacks he has. Just looks badass to me.

So i was wondering what would be the best (allround?) class at this moment? A Dragonknight or Sorcerer? By the way i am not really feeling any of the other 2 classes, so i guess it is not neccessary to suggest one of those.

Character Build
Since i don't know that much about what direction i should go with my build, (skillwise, weapons and such) i was hoping some of you could help me through a bit with setting up my character( Class / Race / Skills etc ). Some things i've read when i was doing some research myself were:

• Sorcerers (Magicka build) are pretty solid to use for both PvE and PvP
• Dragonknights arent that OP anymore as they were before

So this makes me lean more towards the Sorcerer.

Anyway, it would be much appreciated if some of you took some time to help me getting started and could set me up a proper build i can start with but also can keep playing with when reaching the Veteran rank(s).

Thanks in advance!

WillhelmBlack

You can spec a DK for maximum tankiness but it still won't be as tanky as a Sorc. If you want easy mode go Sorc but if you want to have fun go DK!

Johngo0036

WillhelmBlack wrote: »

You can spec a DK for maximum tankiness but it still won't be as tanky as a Sorc. If you want easy mode go Sorc but if you want to have fun go DK!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA..... Easy mode is not a sorc, just by the way....

Yes a sorc is a very good way to go to get back into the game,
However sorcs really only start getting into power when they hit level 45,
this is when their major game changers become available in daedric mines, Streak and conjur ward,
However this is just the beginning as the morphs of these are brilliant,

If you want to do a load of pve content my advice is to chose the RIGHT race,
Either Breton or Altmer for magicka sorc,

as a lower level sorc in Cyrodiil, up to lvl 40 it is challenging but a load of fun, this will also hone your skills for when you hit VR....

I currently have a sorc lvl 20 or so and run the following setup...

5 pce Julianos,
3/4 pce torugs pact..

Remember with the new battle leveling system armour now plays a MAJOR role in cyrodiil if you are not VR14 and up..
I use 2 swords and a resto staff as my weapons as 2 swords increases your spell damage...

Skills
Dual Wield
Endless Fury
Daedric curse
Boundless Storm
Crystal Frags
Restraining Prison
U - Greater Atronach

Resto Staff
Rune Prison
Healing Springs
Annulment
Entropy
Steadfast Ward
U - Power overload

Before i initiate i buff up with annulment
I generally open with a crystal Fagment followed by Entropy, daedric curse, boundless storm, Crystal frags when ready or spam endless fury...

You can also use a destro staff and then use force pulse instead of endless fury on destro bar but move endless fury to rune prison on resto bar as it is a pretty awesome execute and give magicka back..

Good luck and welcome back

Alucardo

With sorc I kinda felt like I was using the same rotations and it became a bit bland over time (curse, mines, frags, crushing shock, wrath, streak). There's no denying it's a strong class, and once you get the hang of it, extremely powerful and tanky (yeah, it still has a learning curve contrary to what people think).
DK has always been my favourite, even through countless nerfs it has always been fun, and challenging. To be honest, I've changed my stam DK build countless times to try and find something that fits.
At the moment I'm running a 2h and S+B. With the difference in peoples builds it's always good to have a "backup" plan. For example, if wrecking blow isn't working I'll whip out the S+B, tank them and spam a heroic slash+light attack+bash rotation. Since we no longer have dynamic ult gen, this seems like a pretty nice alternative as heroic slash gives you minor heroism increasing your ultimate, which we thrive on for Battle Roar.
If my opponent is just a basic light armour user, I'll stampede them down, slowing their movement speed so I can land some well-placed wrecking blows, keeping my unstable flame ticking all the while.
If you went the DK path, I'd highly recommend doing some PVP to get resolving vigor. The heal burst you get with igneous shield is just so damn worth it.
For gear, 5 medium, 2 heavy seems like a good balance. You definitely want 5 medium to take advantage of some of the best passives in the game (Medium armour skill tree), and 2 heavy on your chest and legs will just give you a little more protection. Also handy if you're mixing to get the undaunted passive.
I have no doubt we'll be receiving some buffs in the next class balance change.. I mean, we totally have to, right?

p_tsakirisb16_ESO

You cannot go wrong with Altmer or Khajiit, DK or Sorc ranging from tank (shield or not) all way to medium and dw/2h or light armour and staff

The game is so flexible with the CPs that you would only go wrong on light armour stamina build.
Everything else is viable. Even magicka build in heavy armour.

Toast_STS

WillhelmBlack

Johngo0036 wrote: »

WillhelmBlack wrote: »

You can spec a DK for maximum tankiness but it still won't be as tanky as a Sorc. If you want easy mode go Sorc but if you want to have fun go DK!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA..... Easy mode is not a sorc.

I don't get what is so funny. Sorc is easy mode.

ROYTASTICx

Thank you all for commenting.

Could you give me an example of the 2 skillsets i could use with a weapon?

This way i could start off the game and get my character going

ryanborror

For low level dk you could sword and shield: puncture, stone fist, unstable flame, volatile armor, and something like cleave to level 2 hander or any other skill to level another class skill line, you don't even have to use it. Any dk ultimate works. For sorc low level you could go resto staff: crystal frag, endless fury, daedric curse, rapid regeneration, and maybe a destro ability you won't use just to level up. And negate magic as an ultimate. Going magicka sorc will be easiest for pve and pvp but it'd be interesting after you level a bit to try and make a sorc tank as they have a lot of survivability. Stam dk or high health tank dk would be my recommendation for both pve and pvp. Magicka dk is still pve dps king but they struggle in pve.

ROYTASTICx

I hear a lot of people saying DK isnt a good pick lately but can´t find much information on why they say it. It seemed like it has something to do with updates or so but does this only affect PVP or also PVE?

ryanborror wrote: »

For low level dk you could sword and shield: puncture, stone fist, unstable flame, volatile armor, and something like cleave to level 2 hander or any other skill to level another class skill line, you don't even have to use it. Any dk ultimate works. For sorc low level you could go resto staff: crystal frag, endless fury, daedric curse, rapid regeneration, and maybe a destro ability you won't use just to level up. And negate magic as an ultimate. Going magicka sorc will be easiest for pve and pvp but it'd be interesting after you level a bit to try and make a sorc tank as they have a lot of survivability. Stam dk or high health tank dk would be my recommendation for both pve and pvp. Magicka dk is still pve dps king but they struggle in pve.

Thank you for your time to answer.
Always enjoyed playing DK before although i didnt had much of a clue what i was doing (mainly just giving skill points to one of the three). I think you wrote a typo in your last sentence since you wrote DPS king in PVE but also struggle in PVE.

Carnafex24

DK isn't as good for Magicka as it was back in the day. Various nerfs and the champion system has made it this way. Now I'm talking about the PVP aspect of it. Magicka DK in PVE is VERY strong. Here are a few of the nerfs that I know of that apply to magicka DK's in PVP.

-Reflective Scales no longer reflects an indefinite amount of projectiles over 4 seconds. It now only reflects 4.
-The champion system has areas where you can mitigate fire and DoTs, which magicka DK's need to use.
-The in-class heal(dragon blood) sucks in PVP because its based on a percentage of missing health. This is halved in Cyrodiil which makes this heal very underwhelming.
-Talons used to be blockable, but I think they removed that.

These are the few that I know of. Now don't get me wrong, you can still wreck with a magicka DK in pvp, but it's not god mode like it was. Like I said, it's really strong and fun in PVE. Stamina DK is the better one for PVP though. I also agree that Sorcerer is easy mode, as I usually get nailed with the same exact combo from every dual wielding sorcerer out there. Stamina DK is challenging and fun, so is Sorc but it's more cookie-cutter. You also said the other classes didn't seem to interest you. I HIGHLY recommend you look more into them. I play a Stamina Nightblade and its very fun and challenging. You should look to broaden your horizons because you can make practically anything work in this game.

ROYTASTICx

Carnafex24 wrote: »

DK isn't as good for Magicka as it was back in the day. Various nerfs and the champion system has made it this way. Now I'm talking about the PVP aspect of it. Magicka DK in PVE is VERY strong. Here are a few of the nerfs that I know of that apply to magicka DK's in PVP.

-Reflective Scales no longer reflects an indefinite amount of projectiles over 4 seconds. It now only reflects 4.
-The champion system has areas where you can mitigate fire and DoTs, which magicka DK's need to use.
-The in-class heal(dragon blood) sucks in PVP because its based on a percentage of missing health. This is halved in Cyrodiil which makes this heal very underwhelming.
-Talons used to be blockable, but I think they removed that.

These are the few that I know of. Now don't get me wrong, you can still wreck with a magicka DK in pvp, but it's not god mode like it was. Like I said, it's really strong and fun in PVE. Stamina DK is the better one for PVP though. I also agree that Sorcerer is easy mode, as I usually get nailed with the same exact combo from every dual wielding sorcerer out there. Stamina DK is challenging and fun, so is Sorc but it's more cookie-cutter. You also said the other classes didn't seem to interest you. I HIGHLY recommend you look more into them. I play a Stamina Nightblade and its very fun and challenging. You should look to broaden your horizons because you can make practically anything work in this game.

Thank you for your time man!

The reason why in not into the other classes is that im not bothered with stealth or support/healer.

So if i was going for the most allround class for pve and pvp, what would you recommend?

SneaK

Both Stam DK and Magicka Sorc top off the list in Cyro.

Basically you either want to be a caster or a melee build, that'd be the question you need to answer.

(If you rolled a Dunmer DK, and went Stamina for now I think you'd have the most versatility. Especially being that DKs most likely are going to be buffed, and you could rewind to Magicka then.)

FriedEggSandwich

WillhelmBlack wrote: »

Johngo0036 wrote: »

WillhelmBlack wrote: »

You can spec a DK for maximum tankiness but it still won't be as tanky as a Sorc. If you want easy mode go Sorc but if you want to have fun go DK!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA..... Easy mode is not a sorc.

I don't get what is so funny. Sorc is easy mode.

I reckon all classes are as easy as each other with well developed muscle memory. You're pressing the same buttons, just in different orders. If you had to press less buttons to play a certain class to the same standard you could argue it was easier, but that isn't the case. Playing one class is easy mode, keeping your muscle memory sharp whilst playing multiple classes is the real challenge.

Carnafex24

ROYTASTICx wrote: »

Carnafex24 wrote: »

DK isn't as good for Magicka as it was back in the day. Various nerfs and the champion system has made it this way. Now I'm talking about the PVP aspect of it. Magicka DK in PVE is VERY strong. Here are a few of the nerfs that I know of that apply to magicka DK's in PVP.

-Reflective Scales no longer reflects an indefinite amount of projectiles over 4 seconds. It now only reflects 4.
-The champion system has areas where you can mitigate fire and DoTs, which magicka DK's need to use.
-The in-class heal(dragon blood) sucks in PVP because its based on a percentage of missing health. This is halved in Cyrodiil which makes this heal very underwhelming.
-Talons used to be blockable, but I think they removed that.

These are the few that I know of. Now don't get me wrong, you can still wreck with a magicka DK in pvp, but it's not god mode like it was. Like I said, it's really strong and fun in PVE. Stamina DK is the better one for PVP though. I also agree that Sorcerer is easy mode, as I usually get nailed with the same exact combo from every dual wielding sorcerer out there. Stamina DK is challenging and fun, so is Sorc but it's more cookie-cutter. You also said the other classes didn't seem to interest you. I HIGHLY recommend you look more into them. I play a Stamina Nightblade and its very fun and challenging. You should look to broaden your horizons because you can make practically anything work in this game.

Thank you for your time man!

The reason why in not into the other classes is that im not bothered with stealth or support/healer.

So if i was going for the most allround class for pve and pvp, what would you recommend?

Hm...I'd say stam nightblade does both well, but you're not interested in that. You probably want to try Magicka Sorcerer or Stamina dragonknight. Stamina dragonknight is probably more challenging and less cookie-cutter than a sorc(I usually get hit with the same combo from every dual wielding sorc out there)

ROYTASTICx

Carnafex24 wrote: »

ROYTASTICx wrote: »

Carnafex24 wrote: »

DK isn't as good for Magicka as it was back in the day. Various nerfs and the champion system has made it this way. Now I'm talking about the PVP aspect of it. Magicka DK in PVE is VERY strong. Here are a few of the nerfs that I know of that apply to magicka DK's in PVP.

-Reflective Scales no longer reflects an indefinite amount of projectiles over 4 seconds. It now only reflects 4.
-The champion system has areas where you can mitigate fire and DoTs, which magicka DK's need to use.
-The in-class heal(dragon blood) sucks in PVP because its based on a percentage of missing health. This is halved in Cyrodiil which makes this heal very underwhelming.
-Talons used to be blockable, but I think they removed that.

These are the few that I know of. Now don't get me wrong, you can still wreck with a magicka DK in pvp, but it's not god mode like it was. Like I said, it's really strong and fun in PVE. Stamina DK is the better one for PVP though. I also agree that Sorcerer is easy mode, as I usually get nailed with the same exact combo from every dual wielding sorcerer out there. Stamina DK is challenging and fun, so is Sorc but it's more cookie-cutter. You also said the other classes didn't seem to interest you. I HIGHLY recommend you look more into them. I play a Stamina Nightblade and its very fun and challenging. You should look to broaden your horizons because you can make practically anything work in this game.

Thank you for your time man!

The reason why in not into the other classes is that im not bothered with stealth or support/healer.

So if i was going for the most allround class for pve and pvp, what would you recommend?

Hm...I'd say stam nightblade does both well, but you're not interested in that. You probably want to try Magicka Sorcerer or Stamina dragonknight. Stamina dragonknight is probably more challenging and less cookie-cutter than a sorc(I usually get hit with the same combo from every dual wielding sorc out there)

Thank you!

Guess im going to try both characters for the next few weeks. High elf sorcerer would be the best choice for Magicka Sorcerer and Breton for DK?

This was my last question haha so inwont bother you anymore!

Xoxo

Septimus_Magna

ROYTASTICx wrote: »

Carnafex24 wrote: »

ROYTASTICx wrote: »

Carnafex24 wrote: »

DK isn't as good for Magicka as it was back in the day. Various nerfs and the champion system has made it this way. Now I'm talking about the PVP aspect of it. Magicka DK in PVE is VERY strong. Here are a few of the nerfs that I know of that apply to magicka DK's in PVP.

-Reflective Scales no longer reflects an indefinite amount of projectiles over 4 seconds. It now only reflects 4.
-The champion system has areas where you can mitigate fire and DoTs, which magicka DK's need to use.
-The in-class heal(dragon blood) sucks in PVP because its based on a percentage of missing health. This is halved in Cyrodiil which makes this heal very underwhelming.
-Talons used to be blockable, but I think they removed that.

These are the few that I know of. Now don't get me wrong, you can still wreck with a magicka DK in pvp, but it's not god mode like it was. Like I said, it's really strong and fun in PVE. Stamina DK is the better one for PVP though. I also agree that Sorcerer is easy mode, as I usually get nailed with the same exact combo from every dual wielding sorcerer out there. Stamina DK is challenging and fun, so is Sorc but it's more cookie-cutter. You also said the other classes didn't seem to interest you. I HIGHLY recommend you look more into them. I play a Stamina Nightblade and its very fun and challenging. You should look to broaden your horizons because you can make practically anything work in this game.

Thank you for your time man!

The reason why in not into the other classes is that im not bothered with stealth or support/healer.

So if i was going for the most allround class for pve and pvp, what would you recommend?

Hm...I'd say stam nightblade does both well, but you're not interested in that. You probably want to try Magicka Sorcerer or Stamina dragonknight. Stamina dragonknight is probably more challenging and less cookie-cutter than a sorc(I usually get hit with the same combo from every dual wielding sorc out there)

Thank you!

Guess im going to try both characters for the next few weeks. High elf sorcerer would be the best choice for Magicka Sorcerer and Breton for DK?

This was my last question haha so inwont bother you anymore!

Xoxo

Dunmer/Altmer DK is both fine.
Dunmer is more fire dmg, Altmer is more magicka regen.

For sorc Altmer is the best choice.