Advice on attack skills progression

upquark

Last time I reached an impasse with progression I got great advice, and I'm back with the same issue after following that advice and making some headway, as I've reached another dead point. I've read as much as I could, made some changes, but I'm still stuck.

The main issue is that I am unable to complete quests solo. In some quests, like the psijic/Josajeh quest, I got to the end point only because others were battling in the same area. However, in that end point, I died over and over, trying different tactics, but was unable to kill even one of the three attackers in that scene. I made around 25-30 attempts with the same outcome. OwDieOwDie Rinse Repeat (I'm thinking of changing my IGN to OwOwOw lol).

I'd probably be classified a casual player, primarily because I haven't delved deep into the schematics and formulas of game play and strategy as I've seen others do. I would like to complete more quests without it being due to the serendipity of a stronger player showing up at the right time.

I can take on single opponents in a PVE, and occasionally, take out two at a time, although that is becoming less frequent. However, in situations where there is a 29k, 34k, and 64k, I'm dead in less than a minute every time.

If anyone has any suggestions, I welcome them and appreciate it. My stats are below (it may be overkill, so I apologize if it is). I'm playing through Steam on a Mac with no technical issues; game play is smooth.

Thanks in advance. I hope to return the favor some day.

Dark Elf Dragonknight

Level 35

Magicka 22 (19.7k)
Health 12 (16k)
Stamina 10 (14.7k)

SKILLS

CLASS

Ardent Flame 22
ULTIMATE ABILITIES
Dragonknight Standard I
ACTIVE ABILITIES
Lava Whip I
Venemous Claw I
Fiery Breath I
PASSIVE ABILITIES
Combustion 1 / 2

Draconic Power 39
ULTIMATE ABILITIES
Dragon Leap IV
ACTIVE ABILITIES
Volatile Armor I
Burning Talons III
Dragon Blood III

Earthen Heart 5
Stonefist I
Molten Weapons I

WEAPON

Two-Handed 28
ACTIVE
Uppercut IV
Stampede I
Cleave I
Reverse Slash I
PASSIVE
Forceful 1 / 2
Heavy Weapons 1 / 2

One-Handed and Shield 26
ACTIVE
Puncture IV
Low Slash I
Defensive Posture IV

Dual Wield 10
ACTIVE
Flurry I
Twin Slashes I

Bow 23
ACTIVE
Snipe I
Volley I
Scatter Shot I

Destruction Staff 45
ACTIVE ABILITIES:
Force Pulse I
Unstable Wall of Elements I
Destructive Clench I
Elemental Drain III

PASSIVE ABILITIES
Tri Focus (2/2)
Penetrating Magic (2/2)
Elemental Force (½)
Ancient Knowledge (½)

Restoration Staff 8
ACTIVE ABILITIES:
Grand Healing I
Regeneration I

ARMOR

Light Armor 25
PASSIVE ABILITIES
Grace 2 / 3
Evocation 2/2
Spell Warding 1 / 2

Medium Armor 29
PASSIVE ABILITIES
Dexterity 2 / 3
Wind Walker 2 / 2
Improved Sneak 1 / 2

Heavy Armor 42
ACTIVE ABILITIES
Unstoppable II
PASSIVE ABILITIES
Resolve 3 / 3
Constitution 2 / 2
Juggernaut 1 / 2

WORLD

Legerdemain 1
PASSIVE ABILITIES
Improved Hiding 1 / 4

Soul Magic 2
ACTIVE ABILITIES
Consuming Trap II
PASSIVE ABILITIES
Soul Summons 1 / 2
Soul Shatter 1 / 2

RACIAL

Dark Elf Skills 35
PASSIVE ABILITIES
Ashlander
Dynamic 2 / 3

UntilValhalla13

Are you trying to play stam or magic? The skills/stats are all over the place, so you're probably not fighting to the best of your potential. At the least, I'd remorph venomous claw to the other morph for the heal. You can literally just face tank things by swiping it over and over. Dragons blood is also a super powerful heal.

NBrookus

Forget about your passives and stuff for a minute.

What gear are you wearing? What are your skill bars? Do you want to play a magicka or a stamina DK? Or are you committed to a hybrid style?

And if the answers to #1 is "random stuff I pick up," are you on PC NA? If so I will be glad to craft you some sets.

damdamjel

try to run resto mutagen

Kawall

Remove all the point from health, stamina and put them in magicka. Make yourself or buy some max health max magicka food and change venemous claw to burning embers. Spam burning embers when your health drops low.

upquark

Thanks guys. So to answer skills question, my skills points themselves are heavy in magicka (and I did start out wanting to play hybrid until I learned that was not optimal), which I started doing from last time I reached out, and that helped some. But the rest, I'm just basically following advised skills as well as trying to experiment to see what turns out better in which fights, and that's part of where I'm really floundering.

Armor is another. Also advised to mix it up light/med/heavy and I'm trying to do that, but also not too successfully.

Right now, this is what's active:

Gear:

As previously advised, I'm trying to keep it balanced: 2 heavy, 2 light, 3 medium.

Weapons:

Inferno Staff (blue) lvl 33
Beech Ice Staff (blue) lvl 34

Slotted Skills:

Volatile Armor I
Elemental Drain III
Venomous Claw I
Force Pulse I
Frost Clench I

Ultimate: Dragon Leap IV

When I'm in a battle with more than one opponent, and I'm dying right quicklike, I tend to spazz out and smash mouse and slots in a desperate attempt to stay alive long enough to kill... anyone. At all. Sometimes, this works. Most of the time, I die. A lot.

And yes, PC/NA

@damdamjel on Restoration Staff Regeneration, do I have to be wielding a Restoration Staff in order for that to be actively slotted, or does it matter? It seems to be always grayed out when I'm Destruction armed.

I really appreciate the help. It's hard for me to ask, but when I do, I really do listen and incorporate the advice.

Hookgrin

on Restoration Staff Regeneration, do I have to be wielding a Restoration Staff in order for that to be actively slotted, or does it matter? It seems to be always grayed out when I'm Destruction armed.

Yes, you can only put a weapon's ability on a bar where you have that weapon slotted. As a damage dealer, you should not be using a Restoration staff. Some of your class abilities will have a healing component, you may have to select a particular morph to get that. If you are soloing content, having one or two damage abilities that provide a heal could be a good idea.

For DK heals, you have the Burning Embers morph of Searing Strike and the Coagulated Blood morph of Dragon Blood. There is also Entropy in the Mages Guild tree.

Health potions equipped into your quick slot can be taken in the heat of battle as a quick heal. Crafted ones also increase your resources and add regeneration over time which is very helpful in rough fights.

Shields can be helpful for boss fights but you generally should not need them for overland, but if you are lacking proper gear it could get you through until you find better.

For DK, you have Obsidian Shield or its morphs. The Stone Giant morph of Stone Fist increases your resistance to damage, or the Obsidian Shard morph provides a heal. Also Spiked Armor and its morphs.

Its generally a good habit to get into buffing up before entering combat. This includes activating abilities that cause various buffs to activate, such as damage increasing buffs, but also damage mitigation buffs. And then activate your shield right before you enter combat. If the fight lasts long enough that the buffs run out, re-activate the buffs as needed during the fight.
Open combat with the abilities that do damage as well as activate buffs, such as damage increasing and damage mitigation buffs, so that they are buffing you during your next several attacks.

You should not be dying so easily. This suggests an issue with either your gear, as that is what provides you with damage mitigation, or your combat skill as they pertain to recognizing and reacting to certain combat mechanics.

For gear, are you keeping it repaired? Its mitigation as well as other benefits such as the boons from enchantments, trait, set bonuses etc. decrease as the health of the armor piece decreases.

Are you keeping it within about 10 levels of your character level? As you level up and loot things, you should replace lower level armor with any higher level armor you receive. The only exception to that would be if the piece you are wearing has something about it that makes it better than what you just looted, such as a better trait or maybe it is part of a set. The color indicates quality which affects the size of the bonuses provided by the armor, don't wear white, green temporarily if it is for a set piece, blue is what you usually will be wearing, purple is better when you find it.

Are you looking out for and saving set pieces that look like they may be beneficial for your role? Armor that is part of a set will have a name and the tool tip will list the set name and what bonus you get for wearing 2, 3, 4, or 5 pieces of that set (includes jewelry and weapons). The fifth bonus is a special bonus generally larger and more specialized than the others.Not all sets have bonuses that are useful for your character/role/play style. So choose carefully. I usually hold on to set pieces of several different sets and when I get enough of them that the bonuses unlocked become useful, I will then equip that set. You can have a full 5 pieces from two different sets equipped at the same time, giving you 10 different bonuses. Having someone craft you two sets matched for your role a few times along the path to level 50 helps out a lot, then you don't need to bother with collecting looted armor. Join a guild, there are usually players that will do so for guild mates for free.

Make sure you are putting skill points into the passives of the armor types (light, medium, heavy) as well.

For combat mechanics, note the telegraphs, those red circles or stripes on the ground, and get out of them to avoid the incoming attack or the damage over time. More important are the telegraphs of special attacks, thin lines will radiate out in all directions from the monster/npc's head to indicate an especially damaging attack incoming. Red lines indicate a special attack, but more important are the gold/yellow lines, these indicate a heavy attack and are very damaging. Many monster/npc heavy attacks remove more health than what most characters have meaning it will kill you in one shot. You must either successfully dodge role, which takes practice, or generally easier, is to block and hold block until after the heavy attack lands. This will lower the incoming damage, but could still kill you if your health is too low.

In a panic situation, you can hold block and still activate certain skills, such as a heal or an AOE damage attack, to get you through those oh crap moments.

It all comes with practice so just keep playing and try to have fun in spite of it all and before you know it it will all start to fall into place.

zvavi

As many people have already said:

Food buff helps a lot(more damage and survivability, bloody mara will still be super strong until next patch)

Regeneration (mutagen before morph) from resto stuff can keep you well and kicking

Burning embers (other morph from venomous claws) heals right away when reapplied in the same target (cause it ends the effect of the previous one), so can be easily used to survive.

upquark

Wow, @Hookgrin, I appreciate the wealth and depth of information, from you and everyone.

@zvavi when you say "As many people have already said" this is usually something said to passively indicate that a request for advice has become tiresome or the person requesting advice isn't listening. If that was the intention, I apologize. It's extremely difficult for me to ask for advice, and I diligently have taken every word of advice to heart and will be studying it for application in-game. This is my first time playing in this genre, and I'm trying to do my best.

Thanks again to everyone.

AcadianPaladin

@upquark I would take no offense from the 'as others have said' comment. When I use that comment it is to add my endorsement to advice already given while giving those who already offered the advice the courtesy of letting them know I did read their comments and am not 'posting without reading'.

It sounds like you are trying to develop a magic DK. Though I'm not familiar with them I would offer a couple things:
- Though I saw you had two weapons, I'm not sure I saw that you were using both skill bars. Forgive me if I'm presuming here but using both skill bars can help alot.
- You mention mixing up your armor types. The reason for this is that you (particularly for a magic character) probably want to bring the Undaunted skill line up to level 9 and grab the top passive (Undaunted Mettle). That is the reason many players mix armor types. The way it works is with Undaunted Mettle maxed (2 skill points), you get +6% to all three of your attributes IF you are wearing at least one of each of the three weight types of armor. That said, magic players optimize this by wearing exactly 5 light, 1 heavy and 1 medium piece. This optimizes the magic light armor passives while still getting the full Undaunted Mettle bonus.

upquark

@AcadianPaladin thank you for the insight and for all the information, every bit of which is new to me.

I'm embarrassed to say it never registered that there was a toggle on the skill panel! I really thought it was more generalized and not specific to what I actually had active. Wow. So, this is a possible consequence of playing completely solo. I've had zero in-game interaction with other players since I started -- by choice, but it does have its unintended side effects.

I didn't know that was why I was mixing my armor types, only that it would help in my attack efficacy. Your direction gives me a much deeper understanding (okay, a glimpse of a possibility of a deeper understanding, since I'm still wet behind my pointy ears in this game). I will change that up. Thanks. I find most of the armor I receive is heavy for some reason, and then if there's a huge gap in the rating I tend to go for higher, which is a habit I will break in favor of balance.

There's a freaking lot to learn about this game. Probably a good thing, because I get bored easily lol.

Anyway, thanks.

A lot.

NBrookus

@upquark Sending you a PM. Let's get you some matched gear sets.

damdamjel

hey @upquark just got back from work, Ill try to make this short, the game can be very overwhelming for new players, anyway as i can see, you are on your magicka side of skills. you can use resto staff but it will grey out the inappropriate slotted weapon skills. but you can use it with class skills. you should re-morph your Ardent flame>searing strike>venomous claw to Burning embers, this skill is very good for healing. sorry for suggesting restoration staff if you don't feel like it. Cause my solo magDK Dark Elf bar runs like this,
(Im not saying you should do it like this, this is just how i solo world bosses, craglron, and some beginner vet dungeons, and are mostly aoe dots for pve, this is only insights)

Front bar flame/lightning destruction staff: Ultimate (Standard of might)
Engulfing flames/Elemental Blockade/Eruption/lava whip(spammable (morph depends on your build or style))/ (option slot) elemental drain for debuff and more sustain, or draw essence or flames of oblivion. etc.

Backbar or buffbar Restoration staff: Ultimate (Light's Champion) < just your oh shayt button
Burning embers(just recast to pop instant heal)/Mutagen(heal pops below threshold hp)/spiked armor(morph depends on your build or style)/Molten armaments/ (option slot) Igneous shield or Harness magicka or Healing ward. etc.

-With burning embers and mutagen heals working together, you can lick all tasty overland content with delight lol
-If you are using a resto back bar, and completing a heavy attack, cycle of life passive gives you 30% more magicka and with elemental drain the sustain is spicy good, "IF" you are using "5pc heavy" Revitalize passive gives 25% more resource after completing a heavy, cp not yet included. but wearing light armor on a magicka build has better benefits.
-Most important thing is Get all passives if you can. dont rush the game as a new player.

Always do a light attack before and after casting a skill, it can also cancel the skill cast animation to make it cast faster,
Also do heavy attacks to restore magicka while the dots are ticking.
Eat some food buffs appropriate to your level that gives you extra health/magicka, don't worry they usually last an hour
you can buy them at random guildstores.
Most of the skills deal burning damage aside from skills magic damage overtime.
I don't want to make this post too long explaining which skills that go well with one another, you can read the skill morphs descriptions yourself on google or apps like ESO helper. all i can say is that you can survive most of the overland PVE content on this build.

Current gear for this toon is, 2pc Grothgar/Silks of the sun(innate axiom if you cant)/Burning spellweave
Max magicka mundus/64pts mag/810 cp
If you are on PC you can download an addon called "Action Duration Reminder" to avoid over spamming skills, as skills will have timers on their uptimes.
If you are on PC NA, you can add me @damdamjel if you want to ask more tips and explanation on how skills work in tandem with passives.
P.S i don't main DK, this is just how I run it for "solo pve overland", this is not a build for max dps on trials, vet(hm) and vMA, please dont "flame" me lol

zvavi

@upquark hey man, didn't wanna make it sound tiresome, just wanted to make you a tidy list of options. If i were u i would try finding cheap in guild stores "double bloody mara" since it scales with level, and is great hp+mag food. Use restoration staff on back bar for buffs and regeneration (since it looks like you dont use it either way) and do remember to start fights like this -buffs-, light attack before engage,

damdamjel wrote: »

Always do a light attack before and after casting a skill, it can also cancel the skill cast animation to make it cast faster,

While what @damdamjel said is plain wrong (it doesnt make skills go out faster) if you time it correctly, light attacking before every skill (some people"feel" it as after every skill) can add a light attack in between the skills, without making skills cast longer.(if you time it right, you can cast 5 skills in 5 seconds, or 5 skills, with 5 light attacks, in the same 5 seconds).
Anyway, as he indeed say, dont rush it, weaving (light attacking every skill) is not easy to master. But i would recommend getting used to a second bar. And making it a buff bar, is the most natural way to start getting used to it.

damdamjel

@zvavi yes you are right about weaving, Thank you for the correction. poor choice of words. I stand corrected. "it does not make skills "cast faster", only by transition adding a bit more dps through light attacks" Im so used to playing mag sorc dps rotation that i forgot the core fundamentals of the game lmao, Thanks.

upquark

Thank you guys. And since this is all still way over my head (in fairness, I'm only 5'2" but still lol), all of it sounds correct!

I'm going to compile this wealth of knowledge and advice into a thing I can study. I may have to draw pictures (just kidding... maybe) and will re-enter the game with a new feeling of "argh!".

You all rock.