Summerset mDK build: Theorycrafting

Savos_Saren

So, I was thinking about the direction that ZOS is going with DKs... they still want us to be tanks. I'm trying to theorycraft a build that will have enough sustain and pressure for crowd-control... yet be tanky enough to survive all the major/minor defile.

I've decided that Heavy Armor may be the best bet for an mDK and I need a ton of resources. Perhaps a 5h/1m/1l build.

How about this:

5 Shacklebreaker
5 Innate Axiom
2 Domihaus

This build is about massive resources, regen, and receives ~600 spell damage increase when Domihaus procs.

or

5 Innate Axiom
5 Silks of the Sun
2 Domihaus

This build is about massive damage, more health, and gains ~1000 spell damage increase when Domihaus procs.

I'm thinking of Domihaus (though some people don't like the two piece)- but the resources it gives, plus the 200 spell damage, plus the miniscule fire ring might help my mDK stand-his-ground.

Let me know what you think.

Sixty5

I'd go with BSW over Silks tbh.

It's going to buff all of your skills, and not just your offensive ones, and with the Magicka return on burning an enemy, it is also going to give you that guaranteed sustain, making it that much more potent.

Checkmath

shacklebreaker plus innate axiom probably is the best choice here, since it provides stam and magicka pool and sustain, also nice damage for your abilities. but i will not recommend domihaus. i tested it and it was a nice gimmick to scare some people off, not knowing what the ground effect was. but overall skoria just does it better, sice it allows some bursty damage,w hich brings enemies closer to their death, while the aoe from domihaus is neglible.

Kilandros

Why would you ever wear 2pc Domihaus? You're better off wearing 1 Dominhaus 1 Molag Kena

Sixty5

Kilandros wrote: »

Why would you ever wear 2pc Domihaus? You're better off wearing 1 Dominhaus 1 Molag Kena

Or Skoria, Bloodspawn or Zaan.

Checkmath

Sixty5 wrote: »

Or Skoria, Bloodspawn or Zaan.

jup, overall better sets than domihaus.

ak_pvp

At the moment I run 5/1/1 heavy shackle, (can sub for innate) rose, valkyn. The usual. But run CWC filet, HoT+speed pots, my stone is the apprentice. All spell damage enchants.

On my main bar I have 3.3k self buffed spell damage. 28.4k health. 39.8k magicka. 15.7k stam. 1256 regen. 32% spell crit. 30k and 24k resistances.

Sustain is quite low, with only DR/CWC. But I use bats, (<<<Underrated as hell) cauterize, embers, HoT pot, and the usual whip/embers for massive healing, so I nearly never have to cast dragon blood or waste on heals. Because of exp I only cast mist sparingly.

Best fun I have had on DK in a while.

Next patch I will probably run the same with one bloodthirsty. Sustain will be better. Cauterize will be dodgy if near groups, but could possibly swap out for ash cloud. Unfortunately stand your ground never works.

lucky_Sage

next update I'm thinking of running bsw/shackle breaker skoria. and try 2h resto since the empower change I can change my empower ability and switch it to forward momentum.

Ragnarock41

I'm thinking of shacklebreaker+axiom, with skoria as monster set.

Savos_Saren

Checkmath wrote: »

shacklebreaker plus innate axiom probably is the best choice here, since it provides stam and magicka pool and sustain, also nice damage for your abilities. but i will not recommend domihaus. i tested it and it was a nice gimmick to scare some people off, not knowing what the ground effect was. but overall skoria just does it better, sice it allows some bursty damage,w hich brings enemies closer to their death, while the aoe from domihaus is neglible.

and

Kilandros wrote: »

Why would you ever wear 2pc Domihaus? You're better off wearing 1 Dominhaus 1 Molag Kena

So, I did a lot of testing on the PTS with Innate and Sun (5l/1m/1h, prismatic enchants). So the highest damage that you can get with 100% uptime is with Innate, Sun, and Slimecraw. Then I tested Innate, Sun, and Domihaus. It was slightly better when it procced.

It'll really depend on your gameplay, though. I've been using my Empowering Chains a lot lately on a light armor build... but I feel like ZOS just cannot give up the tank roll for DKs. So, that's why I'm going to test a less mobile, tanky build. I'm leaving off my mobility and I'm going for my "house". I plan to lock down with talons, put down eruption, and use draw essence for some burst.

I'll just have to see how it goes.

NBrookus

I'd like to test if I can manage destro front bar with it counting as 2 pieces and weave with whip, S&B back bar. Bloodthirst on a jewelry piece.

I'll probably mess with some combos like Julianos + Innate + Bloodspawn, or maybe revisit my max mag DK build to see how they synergize with destro. I'll probably keep running 5 light.

Savos_Saren

Ragnarock41 wrote: »

I'm thinking of shacklebreaker+axiom, with skoria as monster set.

Come to think of it- if you run shackle, axiom, and skoria- you could use bloodthirsty and triune enchants on your jewelry for better stats and TTC.

Checkmath

@Savos_Saren
You use standard as ultimate then? Best house effect you can get, but sadly very expensive too. Maybe in combination with bloodspawn as monsters slightly better than domihaus.

ak_pvp

I was contemplating trying black rose again, since ring changes I can run black rose ring and light belt without dropping ass on weapon, but doing the maths, its still a dead set. The regen is Still salty over what happened to blackrose. It was a really damn balanced set before constitution nerfs. For reference.

Shacklebreaker: 319 effective spell power, 129 mag regen, 129 stam regen, 2k stam .

Black rose: 258 effective spell power, 1k stam, 180 stam and magregen (In 5/1/1, you can get more, but sacrifice undaunted) and 1k health.

So you lost 60~ spell power and 1k stam, for slightly better regen and 1k health. (Not counting weapon damage, not really a massive impact either way, like 10 hitpoints either side on your weaves)

I miss the 2x rose build pre desert rose and block nerf that gave MagDK actual 1vX capabilities because of high sustain under pressure, it was almost like dynamic ult. :,(

Minno

Now you guys can run frost staff backbar and snb front bar while keeping 2/5/5!!

Just remove the passive for mag block.

Savos_Saren

Checkmath wrote: »

@Savos_Saren
You use standard as ultimate then? Best house effect you can get, but sadly very expensive too. Maybe in combination with bloodspawn as monsters slightly better than domihaus.

@Checkmath

I do. I actually run all DK abilities on my bars during PVP. Currently, I run 2 Valkyn, 5 Silks, 5 Innate.

SnB Bar: Burning Embers, Flame Lash, Volatile Armor, Empowering Chains, Burning Talons Ult: Ferocious Leap
Flame Staff bar: Wings, Stone Giant, Coag Blood, Molten Arm, Eruption Ult: Shifting Standard

On my flame staff bar, I lose out on the 5th piece of silks... but my stone giant, coag blood, eruption, and standard all benefit from Innate Axiom. (I can't wait for Summerset to make my Staff count as two pieces!)


I'm still trying to determine if I want to give up Silks of the Sun for Shacklebreaker when the update comes. As @ak_pvp pointed out, Shacklebreaker comes with a lot of benefits... but you lose out on some of the raw spell power that Sun provides.

Checkmath

@Minno
Now? there are already a good amount of players out there doing it without counting the ice staff as 2 itme pieces
@Savos_Saren
but you can spec for more damage, since you have better regen with shacklebreaker, especially if you dont run witchmothers yet.

Minno

Checkmath wrote: »

@Minno
Now? there are already a good amount of players out there doing it without counting the ice staff as 2 itme pieces
@Savos_Saren
but you can spec for more damage, since you have better regen with shacklebreaker, especially if you dont run witchmothers yet.

True lol. But now you can swap things around and try more combos.

I do hope one fire willpower staff would mean you can boost your max mag just by slotting it

Savos_Saren

Minno wrote: »

Checkmath wrote: »

@Minno
Now? there are already a good amount of players out there doing it without counting the ice staff as 2 itme pieces
@Savos_Saren
but you can spec for more damage, since you have better regen with shacklebreaker, especially if you dont run witchmothers yet.

True lol. But now you can swap things around and try more combos.

I do hope one fire willpower staff would mean you can boost your max mag just by slotting it

Dear Sithis... I totally forgot about that.

Minno

Savos_Saren wrote: »

Minno wrote: »

Checkmath wrote: »

@Minno
Now? there are already a good amount of players out there doing it without counting the ice staff as 2 itme pieces
@Savos_Saren
but you can spec for more damage, since you have better regen with shacklebreaker, especially if you dont run witchmothers yet.

True lol. But now you can swap things around and try more combos.

I do hope one fire willpower staff would mean you can boost your max mag just by slotting it

Dear Sithis... I totally forgot about that.

And who said Sorcs aren't getting buffed? Lol

Savos_Saren

...I also just realized that you can convert your Akaviri Dragonguard jewelry from healthy to arcane...

Checkmath

Savos_Saren wrote: »

...I also just realized that you can convert your Akaviri Dragonguard jewelry from healthy to arcane...

but the "increase healing" bonus is a waste.....

Savos_Saren

Even better for a StamDK or a StamDen:

2 Bloodspawn
5 Akaviri Dragonguard
3 Blessing of the Potentates (converted to robust vice healthy)
1 Asylum Greatsword front bar, Asylum SnB for backbar

Weapon damage enchants on your jewelry, The Lover Mundus for physical penetration.

Leaps for daaaaaaaays.

Checkmath

i think on stamina toons werewolf hide will definitely outshine akavir dragonguard.

AverageJo3Gam3r

Savos_Saren wrote: »

Even better for a StamDK or a StamDen:

2 Bloodspawn
5 Akaviri Dragonguard
3 Blessing of the Potentates (converted to robust vice healthy)
1 Asylum Greatsword front bar, Asylum SnB for backbar

Weapon damage enchants on your jewelry, The Lover Mundus for physical penetration.

Leaps for daaaaaaaays.

@Savos_Saren or bats. I think the battle roar resource return is based on the base cost, not the discounted cost

Subversus

Ragnarock41 wrote: »

I'm thinking of shacklebreaker+axiom, with skoria as monster set.

That has like no sustain at all. I tried sun/shackle double snb and it was absolutely terrible, axiom being almost like sun from a sustain standpoint.

jaws343

I am actually running a build on my Mag Sorc that I think would work well on a MagDK, switching the light armor to heavy. I run all light on my sorc.

5 Alteration Mastery
5 Shacklebreaker (Heavy)
1 or 2 Domihaus (Depends on if you are going for a staff or sword and shield/dual wield build)

I get very good sustain and I am able to run spell damage on all of my jewelry. On my sorc I run all infused, but you could run impen instead. Or mix it up. With the sorc, I find the max magicka far more beneficial than the impen. But if you opt not to use shields and go the heavy route, impen will be better.

The plus with this setup is a strong stamina pool. As a Dk, being able to use stamina is helpful. Plus, the cost reduction of Alteration Mastery paired with the mag regen should help with sustain.

Savos_Saren

Subversus wrote: »

Ragnarock41 wrote: »

I'm thinking of shacklebreaker+axiom, with skoria as monster set.

That has like no sustain at all. I tried sun/shackle double snb and it was absolutely terrible, axiom being almost like sun from a sustain standpoint.

I actually run Sun, Innate, and Skoria. The sustain isn’t bad if you backbar a staff.

I’d imagine Innate, Shackle, and Sun would have decent sustain with a staff backbarred.

Kilandros

Subversus wrote: »

Ragnarock41 wrote: »

I'm thinking of shacklebreaker+axiom, with skoria as monster set.

That has like no sustain at all. I tried sun/shackle double snb and it was absolutely terrible, axiom being almost like sun from a sustain standpoint.

Might be more viable next patch with an Infused Reduced Spell Cost Necklace though.

lucky_Sage

Checkmath wrote: »

i think on stamina toons werewolf hide will definitely outshine akavir dragonguard.

yeah i think dragon should have a slight tweak should change 4 piece bonus to max magicka

Subversus wrote: »

Ragnarock41 wrote: »

I'm thinking of shacklebreaker+axiom, with skoria as monster set.

That has like no sustain at all. I tried sun/shackle double snb and it was absolutely terrible, axiom being almost like sun from a sustain standpoint.

I'm running 5bsw 5 bloodthorn scoria DW/resto and I sustain pretty well and the dmg is good. if I don't pay attention ill get nuked becauses magdks are dumb squishy in 5 light without perma blocking which I refuse to do because is boring

Ragnarock41

Savos_Saren wrote: »

Ragnarock41 wrote: »

I'm thinking of shacklebreaker+axiom, with skoria as monster set.

Come to think of it- if you run shackle, axiom, and skoria- you could use bloodthirsty and triune enchants on your jewelry for better stats and TTC.

I always used a single spell damage glyph so that will stay for sure. but I will run at least a single bloodthirsty for testing it out.