Dragonknight leveling advice

acbaracuda

Hello, I'm a level 18 DK at the moment and I found myself yesterday to be kinda weak. There was a boss that I had to fight yesterday and it killed me a few times and even when I managed to defeat it I pretty much struggled to do it. Also the irony is that whilst I was preparing to attack a sorc came, pew pew and killed it ).

I currently try to run something along those lines https://youtu.be/tIUWhb_Uar0, though my 2H is just lvl 14 and I have neither the execute nor rally. At the 1h and shield bar I have Obsidian Shield, Volatile armor, Ransack, Unstable flame and fiery breath as a placeholder and for some extra damage. The thing is I never have enough magicka for Dragon Blood (this being on 2H bar in place of rally) when I need it because a lot the previous skills use magicka.

Should I stay stamina and level my 2H more or would it be better to respec my stats (I have 5 health and 12 stamina now) and go magicka with 1h and shield + destro staff and let the other weapons for later levels? I found a Laceration build on youtube which seemed interesting even though is from previous patches.

Oh also I know that the skill trees level up by gaining xp and having spells on cast bar, but do individual spells (like Dragon Blood for example) level at the same time or they gain xp when I use them?

Alucardo

Level 18 is pretty hard as a DK, but don't let it discourage you - it gets better
Dragon blood kinda blows and will eat your magicka. I'd highly recommend PVPing a bit to get Vigor. Once you've morphed Obsidian Shield into Igneous, you'll be getting mad heals and keeping yourself alive will be a lot easier. With the 30% mending, vigor and a burst heal from rally it pretty much heals me for 75% - it's absolutely insane (I do have quite a few champion points into Blessed as well to further enhance it).
You'll also eventually unlock battle roar completely which will make resource management a lot better. Each time you cast an ultimate you'll get a bunch of resources back.
It's great you've got both DoTs on your bar. Keep them up at all time to add extra pressure to what you're doing. If you're new to sword and shield it can take a little getting used to in order to pump out the DPS needed. Just casting ransack over and over isn't going to kill much, but animation cancelling ransack, light attacks and a bash at the end will deal some powerful damage. Personally I use heroic slash instead of ransack to help generate more ultimate and slow enemies, but ransack is a great ability and a lot cheaper to cast.
Stamina DK is still extremely strong and my favourite class/spec to date. Admittedly it is pretty lackluster at lower levels, but like I said, don't let it discourage you. It will pay off in time!

DK 4 lyfe

acbaracuda

Alucardo wrote: »

DK 4 lyfe

Thanks for advice mate. I'll try get the vigor for now.

Nestor

acbaracuda wrote: »

Oh also I know that the skill trees level up by gaining xp and having spells on cast bar, but do individual spells (like Dragon Blood for example) level at the same time or they gain xp when I use them?

You level skills by having them on your bar when you either kill mobs or turn in quests. No other way.

Now, since your leveling, you really want to have at least one skill on your bar from each of the 3 Classes for DK so you level your class skills up. They level slower than other skills so you don't want to neglect these.

You also want to wear once piece of armor from each of the three skill lines so that you have all your armors leveled by the time you hit VR Ranks. Armor seems to take almost as long as class skills to level and you want to be able to change out builds later on without grinding

NBrookus

DK did suck at lower levels. It gets better. Meanwhile, if you haven't learned about provisions and alchemy, do so. The crafted potions are better than the ones you pick up, and you can pick a food or drink that suits your needs and level.

acbaracuda

Good point, I never really thought about alchemy.

Jitterbug

Early DK is by far the toughest in the game.
It will get better, if you really want a DK keep at it.

Seems to me you are well prepared and well researched, so you just need to keep going to unlock those skills you're missing.