Elemental Fury – PvE Heavy Attack DK Build (Wolfhunter Ready)

mrgodlike

Wanted to say I love the guide (been lurking this and the TF thread for the past week and a half now while trying to relearn the game after being away for like a year and a half).


I usually Get too caught up with pvp though but I've been trying to get a HA type setup going that works well enough in cyro and for pve stuff. I really wanna get lightening staff setup going as I think that would help my solo farming speeds by quite a bit.


Wanted to know how this would work for the 280-300 cp range or if it would even work with lightening staff. Currently running willpower & silks and have farmed a decent amount of elegance pieces but all those are sitting in my bank. How well would flame destro and elegance work for pvp?


I'm also trying to farm bsw then start on farming UI (solo CoA1 clears are getting faster at least). Haven't even done maelstrom yet so no MA staff for me . Also before I stopped playing last I only barely did get dungeons so I have 0 monster sets (don't judge me ) as pvp was too addicting. I do have some seducer and Magnus laying around that I used to use on my magblade with torugs.

I'm running flame destro/resto both willpower right now and just swap out more aoe stuff for when I pve and then just more shield/def for pvp. Would I want to keep flame for pvp or switch that to lightening too? Also should I be farming for spinners as well? I do t think my flame staff is sharpened.



Sorry if this post is all over the place.

Masel

mrgodlike wrote: »

Wanted to say I love the guide (been lurking this and the TF thread for the past week and a half now while trying to relearn the game after being away for like a year and a half).


I usually Get too caught up with pvp though but I've been trying to get a HA type setup going that works well enough in cyro and for pve stuff. I really wanna get lightening staff setup going as I think that would help my solo farming speeds by quite a bit.


Wanted to know how this would work for the 280-300 cp range or if it would even work with lightening staff. Currently running willpower & silks and have farmed a decent amount of elegance pieces but all those are sitting in my bank. How well would flame destro and elegance work for pvp?


I'm also trying to farm bsw then start on farming UI (solo CoA1 clears are getting faster at least). Haven't even done maelstrom yet so no MA staff for me . Also before I stopped playing last I only barely did get dungeons so I have 0 monster sets (don't judge me ) as pvp was too addicting. I do have some seducer and Magnus laying around that I used to use on my magblade with torugs.

I'm running flame destro/resto both willpower right now and just swap out more aoe stuff for when I pve and then just more shield/def for pvp. Would I want to keep flame for pvp or switch that to lightening too? Also should I be farming for spinners as well? I do t think my flame staff is sharpened.



Sorry if this post is all over the place.

I highly recommend NOT going with the Undaunted infiltrator version in morrowind. Off-balance DK is far better in Morrowind, so I recommend using that.

This is a strictly PvE oriented thread. This build is very strong in duels and dishes out great damage, but in battlegrounds and open world pvp there are other requirements on a DK. And you will want to run a Lightning staff when going for a heavy attack build because every tick of a lightning staff benefits from buffs more than an inferno staff does.

The 75 points in thaumaturge are very important for this build, so you will need that 75 in thaumaturge and then spread the points evenly between elemental expert and elfborn. After that build up the points to the distribution shown in the guide.

mrgodlike

Masel92 wrote: »

I highly recommend NOT going with the Undaunted infiltrator version in morrowind. Off-balance DK is far better in Morrowind, so I recommend using that.

This is a strictly PvE oriented thread. This build is very strong in duels and dishes out great damage, but in battlegrounds and open world pvp there are other requirements on a DK. And you will want to run a Lightning staff when going for a heavy attack build because every tick of a lightning staff benefits from buffs more than an inferno staff does.

The 75 points in thaumaturge are very important for this build, so you will need that 75 in thaumaturge and then spread the points evenly between elemental expert and elfborn. After that build up the points to the distribution shown in the guide.

Alright gotcha. First thing I'll do is reset my computer when I get back from vacation . Would you recommend me staying with silks and running spinners then (would mean getting rid of willpower)? Or run more damage with a julianos or elegance (does elegance even increase channeled heavy like resto/lit?)? Just not sure how to get the most effectiveness out of the current sets I have available since I still need more time to farm bsw which I'll get to when I get back.


Edit: forgot to ask, should I add elemental breach/drain (whatever the destro pen ability is called) to one of my bars?

pizzaow

Masel92 wrote: »

I highly recommend NOT going with the Undaunted infiltrator version in morrowind. Off-balance DK is far better in Morrowind, so I recommend using that.

Thanks for this build! It's my favorite to recommend to people; very easy to play. I always recommend the off-balance version, however it's a little confusing to link to, since the main description talks about the UI set. Is there a separate thread which is focused on this setup?
P.S. I set my wife up with a slightly modified version. She doesn't have a maelstrom staff, so we went DW on the back bar, which allows us to complete the 5-piece moondancer (we got lucky with a sharpened sword). It's been working out well. Especially since I've been running a sorc, so she always has my LL synergy when she needs it.

EnOeZ

pizzaow wrote: »

Masel92 wrote: »

I highly recommend NOT going with the Undaunted infiltrator version in morrowind. Off-balance DK is far better in Morrowind, so I recommend using that.

Thanks for this build! It's my favorite to recommend to people; very easy to play. I always recommend the off-balance version, however it's a little confusing to link to, since the main description talks about the UI set. Is there a separate thread which is focused on this setup?
P.S. I set my wife up with a slightly modified version. She doesn't have a maelstrom staff, so we went DW on the back bar, which allows us to complete the 5-piece moondancer (we got lucky with a sharpened sword). It's been working out well. Especially since I've been running a sorc, so she always has my LL synergy when she needs it.

Wish my wife would share my TESO life too, lucky man you are

Paha_Vaatturi

Masel92 wrote: »

Just wanted to give a current parse to show that the build is still good. 2 Ilambris, 5 Spinner and 4 Aether, vMA lit staff.

What kind of rotation and what do your ability bars looks like? I tried this spinner setup, but.. I'm getting less DPS than with UI. I must be doing something really wrong.

How do you apply minor vulnerability if you are running 5 spinners, 4 IA?

Paha_Vaatturi

Full size

This is what I'm wearing currently. I used Grothdarr since my Ilambris is Heavy/Light.

I could barely make 24k. You get 34k, so.. I suppose making my spinners Legendary would not do the trick.

EDIT: It's high elf, not dark elf.

pizzaow

Paha_Vaatturi wrote: »

How do you apply minor vulnerability if you are running 5 spinners, 4 IA?

Shock damage concusses enemies...

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

[*]The elemental status effect Concussed now applies Minor Vulnerability to enemies instead of Minor Maim.

Paha_Vaatturi

Man, this is depressing. I enchanted the ring to spell DMG and really focused on tuning the rotation, trying to minimize the time spent on back bar. Still... No change. No I couldn't even meet the 24k for some reason. I was stuck at 23.

Masel

Paha_Vaatturi wrote: »

Full size

This is what I'm wearing currently. I used Grothdarr since my Ilambris is Heavy/Light.

I could barely make 24k. You get 34k, so.. I suppose making my spinners Legendary would not do the trick.

You don't have

Paha_Vaatturi wrote: »

Man, this is depressing. I enchanted the ring to spell DMG and really focused on tuning the rotation, trying to minimize the time spent on back bar. Still... No change. No I couldn't even meet the 24k for some reason. I was stuck at 23.

You want to drop your BSW chest in the first place and swap it for a spinner one. you dont have the spinner 5 piece! you want 2 Grothdarr with one medium one heavy, then 4 Spinner 4 aether and the staffs you have!

Paha_Vaatturi

Masel92 wrote: »

You want to drop your BSW chest in the first place and swap it for a spinner one. you dont have the spinner 5 piece! you want 2 Grothdarr with one medium one heavy, then 4 Spinner 4 aether and the staffs you have!

Thanks for the reply! I will triple-check, but that should be just a typo in the excel, since I had the UI build on that excel before.

I have currently:
2 Grottdar (1 heavy, 1 med. I have the Undaunted passive)
5 spinner (in front bar)
4 IA

My last rotation was using almost the same ability bars as in the image above, but I swapped the engulfing flames to front bar (because it needs to be clicked more often), and moved the eruption to 2nd bar.

My rotation was roughly this:
(starting from 2nd bar)
LA > Molten Armaments -> LA -> Eruption -> LA -> Elemental Blockade
(Animation cancel swap to 1st bar)
HA -> (weave in) Burning Embers -> HA -> (Couple ticks of) HA -> Engulfing Flames
(Animation cancel the engulfing flames to return to 2nd bar)
Rinse and repeat - Apply Eruption on every 2nd run. Apply Molten Armaments whenever the buff timer showed that it's running out.

Score: 22-24k DPS

Oh yeah, I had no one giving me any help. Guard was off. There was no elemental drain.

I can record a video if you are willing to give any advise. I feel completely helpless; I have no access to DPS parse since I play this game on PS4.. sadly. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Or can you record a video of your DPS test? Then I can copy-cat your ability bars and rotation. I am mainly aiming at running Vet trials like I did with the UI build before the update.

P.S. Zenimax... give me a chance to transfer my characters to my PC account

Paha_Vaatturi

Double post. Removed.

Masel

Paha_Vaatturi wrote: »

Paha_Vaatturi wrote: »

Masel92 wrote: »

You want to drop your BSW chest in the first place and swap it for a spinner one. you dont have the spinner 5 piece! you want 2 Grothdarr with one medium one heavy, then 4 Spinner 4 aether and the staffs you have!

Thanks for the reply! I will triple-check, but that should be just a typo in the excel, since I had the UI build on that excel before.

I have currently:
2 Grottdar (1 heavy, 1 med. I have the Undaunted passive)
5 spinner (in front bar)
4 IA

My last rotation was using almost the same ability bars as in the image above, but I swapped the engulfing flames to front bar (because it needs to be clicked more often), and moved the eruption to 2nd bar.

My rotation was roughly this:
(starting from 2nd bar)
LA > Molten Armaments -> LA -> Eruption -> LA -> Elemental Blockade
(Animation cancel swap to 1st bar)
HA -> (weave in) Burning Embers -> HA -> (Couple ticks of) HA -> Engulfing Flames
(Animation cancel the engulfing flames to return to 2nd bar)
Rinse and repeat - Apply Eruption on every 2nd run. Apply Molten Armaments whenever the buff timer showed that it's running out. If there was nothing else running out than the Ele Blockace, I just clicked that and bar-swap-cancelled back to heavy attacking.

Score: 22-24k DPS

Oh yeah, I had no one giving me any help. Guard was off. There was no elemental drain.

I can record a video if you are willing to give any advise. I feel completely helpless; I have no access to DPS parse since I play this game on PS4.. sadly. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Or can you record a video of your DPS test? Then I can copy-cat your ability bars and rotation. I am mainly aiming at running Vet trials like I did with the UI build before the update.

P.S. Zenimax... give me a chance to transfer my characters to my PC account

Yeah a video would help the rotation is close to mine as well.

Illambris also is a dps increase, it helps with off-balance and does more damage as you keep both procs up.

Other than that guard and breach will certainly get your damage up. I use the other morph of electronic drain, the one that stays on when you do elemental damage. Put that on prior to the fight and you're good to go

Paha_Vaatturi

I will upload a video tomorrow!

Do you use the same CP distribution for off-balance setup as for the UI setup (that includes a sharpened weapon)?

Or do you place something into the spell erosion when using charged+spinner to catch up that ~1000 difference in penetration?

Imvoracious

Yes I would like to know a specific off balance CP set up. Additionally, with the changes made in Horns of the Reach are you going to be able to test? I don't know if anything is going to need to be changed but illambris/grothdarr got a 10% nerf but nerien'eth got a 20% buff. Should we switch those two out you think?

Paha_Vaatturi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GzOlznf8OI

This is a DPS test with elemental drain and guard. 28k DPS, so still missing quite amount of what you are making. I can't believe that Ilambris would explain it all.

I'm not sure if any of my light attack weaves get through. Am I too fast on my 2nd bar?

Also, I feel that there is still strange pause once in a while between different abilities hit. I mean.. bigger than the 1s global cooldown. I have no idea how to improve.

Paha_Vaatturi

Imvoracious wrote: »

Yes I would like to know a specific off balance CP set up. Additionally, with the changes made in Horns of the Reach are you going to be able to test? I don't know if anything is going to need to be changed but illambris/grothdarr got a 10% nerf but nerien'eth got a 20% buff. Should we switch those two out you think?

I might have legendary Nerienth on one of my characters inventories, unless I remember completely wrong. I can at least try to help in testing.

Paha_Vaatturi

Btw is there a risk of overdoing the off-balance if healers have vMA lighting staves as well?

Masel

Paha_Vaatturi wrote: »

Btw is there a risk of overdoing the off-balance if healers have vMA lighting staves as well?

Nope... Especially when considering that they will reduce the duration of concussion by 33% to 4 seconds. It is a lot harder to get a high uptime by yourself now.

Nerieneth is a big nono in a Completely DoT based build. Illambris is and will most likely stay best in slot. If anything I would test the new domihaus set on the build, but the 2k single target dps from Illambris is hard to beat.

Masel

Paha_Vaatturi wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GzOlznf8OI

This is a DPS test with elemental drain and guard. 28k DPS, so still missing quite amount of what you are making. I can't believe that Ilambris would explain it all.

I'm not sure if any of my light attack weaves get through. Am I too fast on my 2nd bar?

Also, I feel that there is still strange pause once in a while between different abilities hit. I mean.. bigger than the 1s global cooldown. I have no idea how to improve.

Did you gold out your back bar staff? Also you lose the 5k penetration on your back bar. Even though you don't spend a lot of time there you lose some dps on your initial hit of eruption/blockade. I don't light attack weave blockade on the back bar, I only weave it if I also cast eruption or molten armaments

I can record you a DPS test video next week and then you can compare alright? I'm on vacation right now.

Paha_Vaatturi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIHWr3d2vj0

I finally have the sharpened vMA staff! This is my first try using that; I used the Elemental Susceptibility to mimic the presence of a healer. I also changed the Stalward Guard to a Mages Guild skill just to compensate the lack of Guard (to get the 2% more magicka passive)

29k DPS. I made a couple of mistakes, but.. getting there.

6 light, 1 heavy. I still need to find the medium Ilambris shoulder to get the 5/1/1.

Paha_Vaatturi

Oooh.. I just realised that I have forgot to morph the Fiery Breath into Engulfing Flames. This should increase some of the flame damage.

But now I'll change my main to PvP build for 2 weeks; Midyear Mayhem waits!

Masel

Updated for HotR.

reiverx

I've retired my mDK from PVP for the foreseeable future and have been thinking about VMA with the off-balance build. I have all the pieces except a VMA staff for the backbar.

It really is a fun build once you get the hang of it.

So, with the Spinners set receiving a fairly large nerf to the penetration bonus, is Julianos going to be a better choice? Or can Spell Erosion in the CP tree be used to make up for the loss?

I'm on PS4 so don't have access to the PTS.

reiverx

@Masel92

I've hit a roadblock. This is frustrating.

So I spent Friday night and Saturday afternoon battling away and I find myself stuck at the final boss on stage 6. Even with this heavy attack build I'm running out of magicka.

I struggle to keep up harness magicka every six seconds because it's such a drain on resources while keeping AOEs active. If my shield goes down even for a second, I get spit to death.

Qbiken

Would you still run with Ilambris after the nerf?

Yesterday I tried the following setup in vMA:

* 5 IA (3 Jewels, 1 shoulder, 1 Charged lightning frontbat)
* 5 Spinner (body)
* Charged vMA lightning (have an infused but it´s on my sorc atm) backbar
* 1 Iceheart (head)

I know IA is stronger than intended for a week (due to the extra crit damage on the 5th piece, that´s why wanted to try it out). Conclusion: Glasscannon extreme in vMA. Aside from the bosses and bigger mobs I never got to make a fully charge heavy attack due to the damage I did from my heavy-attacks.

Masel

Qbiken wrote: »

Would you still run with Ilambris after the nerf?

Yesterday I tried the following setup in vMA:

* 5 IA (3 Jewels, 1 shoulder, 1 Charged lightning frontbat)
* 5 Spinner (body)
* Charged vMA lightning (have an infused but it´s on my sorc atm) backbar
* 1 Iceheart (head)

I know IA is stronger than intended for a week (due to the extra crit damage on the 5th piece, that´s why wanted to try it out). Conclusion: Glasscannon extreme in vMA. Aside from the bosses and bigger mobs I never got to make a fully charge heavy attack due to the damage I did from my heavy-attacks.

DPS wise i'm still using ilambris, Aether got nerfed again so it's definetely better. DPS-wise its looking better than ever:

This is with 2 Ilambris, 5 BSW, 4 Martial Knowledge with charged front bar staff (yes, for the spelldamage, its actually better than slayer here) and a nirn vMA lightning back bar.





Keep in mind that this is not a bursty 3m Dummy, but a 6 million one, so this is consistent and sustainable single target dps.

Did a vMA run this afternonn and it still works just as nice, if the fire mages on stage 8 wouldve been bashable i wouldnt have the issues with dying 7 times (i'm not doing it again if that bug persists) i most definetely would've hit #1 Mag DK this patch.

dickeybarret

What would you recommend without the vma staff? (Thanks to the lovely rng of this game, I have more daggers, axes and greatsword then I can shake a stick at, but not a single staff)

Qbiken

Masel92 wrote: »

Qbiken wrote: »

Would you still run with Ilambris after the nerf?

Yesterday I tried the following setup in vMA:

* 5 IA (3 Jewels, 1 shoulder, 1 Charged lightning frontbat)
* 5 Spinner (body)
* Charged vMA lightning (have an infused but it´s on my sorc atm) backbar
* 1 Iceheart (head)

I know IA is stronger than intended for a week (due to the extra crit damage on the 5th piece, that´s why wanted to try it out). Conclusion: Glasscannon extreme in vMA. Aside from the bosses and bigger mobs I never got to make a fully charge heavy attack due to the damage I did from my heavy-attacks.

DPS wise i'm still using ilambris, Aether got nerfed again so it's definetely better. DPS-wise its looking better than ever:

This is with 2 Ilambris, 5 BSW, 4 Martial Knowledge with charged front bar staff (yes, for the spelldamage, its actually better than slayer here) and a nirn vMA lightning back bar.





Keep in mind that this is not a bursty 3m Dummy, but a 6 million one, so this is consistent and sustainable single target dps.

Did a vMA run this afternonn and it still works just as nice, if the fire mages on stage 8 wouldve been bashable i wouldnt have the issues with dying 7 times (i'm not doing it again if that bug persists) i most definetely would've hit #1 Mag DK this patch.

Too bad I´ve got #1 on magDK this patch instead (Using your build though). Got a perfect run and managed to push it over 560k score.

reiverx

I done it!

The last boss was my biggest struggle by far. There were a lot of times where I was tempted to throw in the towel and roll a sorc. But I got that far so I stuck it out.

And after all that, I was rewarded with a sword and shield I'll never use.