[Q] Character Build Advice.

Akatsukisan

My character is a level 35 Imperial Dragonknight from the EP alliance... Now I was curious as to why does he take so much little damage before dying? What am I doing wrong? I made him into a heavy armor stamina and health focused build I am trying make him into a mixture of a tank (takes a lot of damage before death) and also a damage dealer (can inflict significant DPS) regardless when I am fighting a boss or 2-3 enemies he dies quickly... Take for granted that I have him wielding 2 words instead of sword and shield... but that's my preference style though with the two swords?

So why does my character suck so much what am I doing wrong? I need the knowledge here cause my experience with ESO isn't the best truly.

Voxicity

Well first of all what content are you doing?

Map quests you shouldn't have many problems even if you just spam light attacks, but for world bosses you might struggle alone

If you want to be tanky though I would recommend using sword and shield and blocking, because of the reduce cost of block and increase the amount you can block passives in the sword and shield skill tree. Dual wield has no defensive passives like this.

Akatsukisan

KaiVox22 wrote: »

Well first of all what content are you doing?

Map quests you shouldn't have many problems even if you just spam light attacks, but for world bosses you might struggle alone

If you want to be tanky though I would recommend using sword and shield and blocking, because of the reduce cost of block and increase the amount you can block passives in the sword and shield skill tree. Dual wield has no defensive passives like this.

I'm just doing regular quests at the moment like main storyline quests... But for some reason even in those I tend to get my ass kicked when they send me to a certain dungeon that has 2-3 enemies together.... I knew that sword and shield was going be a suggestion I was hoping to avoid that cause I enjoy the dual wield aspect of gameplay... Alongside that my dual wield is I think 35 or higher already O_o So switching is going be a pain in the butt.

Voxicity

Akatsukisan wrote: »

KaiVox22 wrote: »

Well first of all what content are you doing?

Map quests you shouldn't have many problems even if you just spam light attacks, but for world bosses you might struggle alone

If you want to be tanky though I would recommend using sword and shield and blocking, because of the reduce cost of block and increase the amount you can block passives in the sword and shield skill tree. Dual wield has no defensive passives like this.

I'm just doing regular quests at the moment like main storyline quests... But for some reason even in those I tend to get my ass kicked when they send me to a certain dungeon that has 2-3 enemies together.... I knew that sword and shield was going be a suggestion I was hoping to avoid that cause I enjoy the dual wield aspect of gameplay... Alongside that my dual wield is I think 35 or higher already O_o So switching is going be a pain in the butt.

So I'm guessing you're using stamina attacks? Have you tried using the dual wield skill steel tornado (whirlwind morph)? That's a good aoe for dealing with multiple enemies at once. And maybe try blocking while casting it (it will stop your stam recovery but will mitigate some of the damage at least)

Akatsukisan

KaiVox22 wrote: »

So I'm guessing you're using stamina attacks? Have you tried using the dual wield skill steel tornado (whirlwind morph)? That's a good aoe for dealing with multiple enemies at once. And maybe try blocking while casting it (it will stop your stam recovery but will mitigate some of the damage at least)

Yeah I am using mainly stamina attacks and some racial buffs too I guess.. I have not tried out Steel Tornado no but I surely will though! Is that the only method to improving my character though? I mean I want him to be able to withstand a good amount of damage before death... I am uncertain if it's my armor or simply the character and play style I choose that don't mix well with my combination of abilities and such on.

If you play on PSN then maybe you can give me a view ingame and see what's my issue personally? (and get a good laugh at my build) But I'm going try out that Steel Tornado skill too!

Voxicity

Akatsukisan wrote: »

KaiVox22 wrote: »

So I'm guessing you're using stamina attacks? Have you tried using the dual wield skill steel tornado (whirlwind morph)? That's a good aoe for dealing with multiple enemies at once. And maybe try blocking while casting it (it will stop your stam recovery but will mitigate some of the damage at least)

Yeah I am using mainly stamina attacks and some racial buffs too I guess.. I have not tried out Steel Tornado no but I surely will though! Is that the only method to improving my character though? I mean I want him to be able to withstand a good amount of damage before death... I am uncertain if it's my armor or simply the character and play style I choose that don't mix well with my combination of abilities and such on.

If you play on PSN then maybe you can give me a view ingame and see what's my issue personally? (and get a good laugh at my build) But I'm going try out that Steel Tornado skill too!

I'm on PC EU, otherwise I'd be happy to, sorry

You could also try the morph of Flurry in the dual wield tree (Bloodthirst), which gives health back when you use it. So you can deal damage and get health back at the same time

ArchMikem

Akatsukisan wrote: »

My character is a level 35 Imperial Dragonknight from the EP alliance... Now I was curious as to why does he take so much little damage before dying? What am I doing wrong? I made him into a heavy armor stamina and health focused build I am trying make him into a mixture of a tank (takes a lot of damage before death) and also a damage dealer (can inflict significant DPS) regardless when I am fighting a boss or 2-3 enemies he dies quickly...

This game is fickle. You can't have it the best of both ways, either you're a good tank that doesn't do good damage, or you're a good DPS that can't take hits. If you try to be a Hybrid then you're only gonna be mediocre at both. I remember it took me a long while to figure that out myself, I used to be a Magicka Sorcerer wearing a mix of all three armor types and dual wielding swords, my stats were HORRID. Only reason I managed through the content was due to chugging so many health potions through fights.

If you're a stamina build then you need to rely on blocking attacks more often, mostly heavy/special attacks from enemies since they do more damage, but you can see them coming, block those, and you can just weather the light attacks they do while you attack. Also understand the bonuses you get from what armor type you wear. All heavy will give you bonuses to Health n'such, but if you want to do more damage then at least 5 pieces of Medium will boost that. Also once you get to 50 and start earning Champion Points, you can allocate those points into bonuses that decreases the amount of damage you take from attacks.

Also use your buff abilities. Searing Strike heals you every time you use it. Spiked Armor increases your damage resistances, and reflective scales makes enemy projectile attacks bounce off you. The downside though is the majority of these class abilities are magicka based, and if you're running Stamina you can't rely on them much at all.

Keep_Door

Your gear is probobly either broken or low level, try to get some new gear or repair, do you block or dodge roll?

Since eveything scales to you're level now if you have crappy gear it will make a big difference.

Prof_Bawbag

I don't think crappy gear makes much of a difference before lvl 50. I levelled up a DK during the double xp fest and most of the gear i had on when I hit 50 was between lvl 26 -40. I had actually posted a thread for some pointers in the character and class building section. At round lvl 35 I was able to stand there and take a beating from most world bosses. Yeah, I had the hitting power of a wet noodle against them, but could solo most of 'em. The one that I simply couldn't handle was that caravan Guar boss. I went down quicker than a pair of knickers on a ...

As someone else mentioned further up, I think this game punishes those who opt for hybrids. I went all defensive at around lvl 28ish.

Prof_Bawbag

Forgot to add, I found using a bow helped me a lot during levelling. It has a good opening AoE and poison injection helped a ton too. I found S&B too slow and boring. Even 2-H was better. I levelled up S&B and ignored it thereafter so I could level up my other weapon skills.

ZOS_JohanaB

We've moved this thread to Players Helping Players

Kraynic

I'm just going to add to what was said by others.

1) Work on your blocking. Most mobs will be staggered and get knocked down on your next attack after you have blocked their power attack. They can't hurt you while laying on the ground.

2) Are you using different weapons on your second weapon/skill bar? Bow has a nice AoE you can place on yourself to fight in, a knockback if you need space, and DoTs (damage over time). Two handed has some nice stuff for soloing. The first skill is AoE and one morph of it gives you a damage shield based on how many enemies you hit. I think the second is a charge, so nice for mobility.

3) Are you using your ultimates? Are you fighting in the AoE of your banner or using flight to AoE groups of mobs? While it is nice to save your ultimates if you know you will be coming up to a boss soon, otherwise you should use them as often as you can.

4) Are you using your class skills to help your offense and defense? I know this was mentioned specifically above, but it is pretty important. If you aren't going into battle with your armor and weapons buffed (assuming you have unlocked those skills), then you should.

5) Ignore most builds you see on the internet. Most of those are for pumping out damage while having a tank take the heat and a healer to help keep you upright and fighting. Instead of taking a skill morph that does more damage, you might take the one that gives some healing back, shields you, or debuffs the enemy instead while leveling. You can reset everything later.

6) Until/unless you have vigor (from pvp Assault skill line) or momentum (last skill from 2 handed), you don't have a lot in the way of healing. Make sure you have a food buff active all the time and potions ready in your quickslot. Don't wait until you are in desperate shape to use the potion either, since they have a 45 second cooldown. Use it early in what you think will be a long fight (as soon as you can get full effect), then it may well be up again by the time you need it again.

Totally aside from all that, if you aren't in a good guild, you might want to look for one. Gear has become a little more important with the way scaling is. If your gear is all low quality and many levels behind you, it will definitely make the game feel harder. Finding a newbie friendly guild with some willing crafters (even if you have to farm the mats yourself) will make things much easier.

Akatsukisan

I appreciate everybody's feedback! I just got online and read through it all! I seriously needed that information so I thank you all for that! I am going try and apply most concepts into my gameplay the only one I'm going hate is the blocking one with shield or alternative bow use.... But regardless... Hey not everything can go my way right? I'll make due lol.

Once again thank you guys I appreciate the feedback!

Kraynic

Just in case there was confusion, you don't need to be using a shield to block. Blocking reduces the damage taken more with a shield, but you can rebound heavy attacks while blocking with any weapon.

Akatsukisan

Kraynic wrote: »

Just in case there was confusion, you don't need to be using a shield to block. Blocking reduces the damage taken more with a shield, but you can rebound heavy attacks while blocking with any weapon.

Yeah I understood that I am thinking of taking the advice to use the shield cause honestly so... My damage taken while blocking with a dual wield is high... I am guessing that's the case as to why...

So in order to reduce the amount of damage taken more significantly I'm to use a shield I presume? Plus use my buffs I think they're called more frequently which give me boost to attack and or defense? Least that's a short version of what I've gathered thus far... I'll take all of this into notion!