Advice on magDK

qwudd

Hi all,
So im currently farmin vMA, on a magicka sorc and havent so far managed to stay on The leaderboard for that extra reward.
Im in The process of levelling a few alts with The goal of geting onto leaderboards for classes that are easier.

As DK and warden seems to be The leaderboards with The least competition i started levelling a magicka DK. Im at lvl 30 now and started thinking about what gear to aim for. So far im thinking Grothdaar and elfbane as The new change seem fun. Im quite tired of farming MS and FG for my magickatoons so id like to switch that up.

So my question is this, would a elfbane build be viable for vMA you think? What sets would you combine it with? (Toon is darkelf, slowly getting allergic to bretons).

Joxer61

ok..."viable"...silly word......and don't chase the leaderboards as a new player Elf Bane is a huge plus, yes.

Danksta

I wouldn't use elfbane in vma. The extra duration on dots is rarely going to come in useful for a decent vma run.

Septimus_Magna

I dont know if Elf Bane would be suited for vMA because it only gives you longer DOTs, most bosses move around so I dont think you'll get much benefit from it. With Zaan its probably a little better because you get a lot more burst during Zaan procs.

MS and FG pieces are easier to get imo, an Elf Bane fire staff is easily 100k (for bad trait) and you need to transmute jewelry pieces as well because they only come in healthy.

I would simply farm a couple FG pieces, farm/buy the remaining MS pieces, transmute at least the weapons and give it a try. On the big pieces infused is fine so you can save some transmute stones by keeping those. For some fights you might want to slot Zaan if you have it.

qwudd

Thanks for The input guys, especially you Septimus!

Now that you mention it, I can see your point. Elfbane might be a bad idea for vma. Guess its mostly for raid boss dps then, pve wise?

Back to The ole nSS it is

vesselwiththepestle

Mother's Sorrow on body, Elemental Succession (or bsw) on weapon, if you don't want to farm false god.

You could also use only 3 False god + Asylum Staff.

thadjarvis

Yea can't see Elf Bane as all that useful as everything is dead before normal DoT duration are done let alone elf bane duration. I could potentially help on some bosses but that's about it. I would probably go with easy to get NMA or Julianos over that.

Unless you have Necro on your Sorc you can just use the same gear (no farming) on the DK. Warden can use whatever the sorc is using.

JumpmanLane

Succession Bright Throat’s 2 piece Kena. Apprentice. Witchmother’s. All arcane spell damage, Prismatic on all the armor. Melt stuff.

Or Succession Mother’s Sorrow, Atro.

Edited: I take that back. Lol Succession BRIGHT Throats 2 piece Kena lol.

tsaescishoeshiner

Grothdarr is great EXCEPT on the Argonian Behemoth stage! It'll kill the lightning adds who shield you.

My MagDK advice is to use Flames of Oblivion as a ranged spammable when not in melee. It hits two targets, and powers up your next Molten Whip if they're on the same bar. I also use Charged trait frontbar, which adds up to ~200 Magicka Recovery single target

My main issue personally was passive self-heals, and I wonder what other people use for heals for MagDK in vMA? Other than Iceheart

I found Mag Warden one of the easiest vMA classes. The passive healing from Animal Companion skills and Lotus Blossom let you heal without stopping damage. I use thief mundus to boost the heals, too

JumpmanLane

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

Grothdarr is great EXCEPT on the Argonian Behemoth stage! It'll kill the lightning adds who shield you.

My MagDK advice is to use Flames of Oblivion as a ranged spammable when not in melee. It hits two targets, and powers up your next Molten Whip if they're on the same bar. I also use Charged trait frontbar, which adds up to ~200 Magicka Recovery single target

My main issue personally was passive self-heals, and I wonder what other people use for heals for MagDK in vMA? Other than Iceheart

I found Mag Warden one of the easiest vMA classes. The passive healing from Animal Companion skills and Lotus Blossom let you heal without stopping damage. I use thief mundus to boost the heals, too

Flame Lash instead of Molten for one...

tsaescishoeshiner

JumpmanLane wrote: »

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

Grothdarr is great EXCEPT on the Argonian Behemoth stage! It'll kill the lightning adds who shield you.

My MagDK advice is to use Flames of Oblivion as a ranged spammable when not in melee. It hits two targets, and powers up your next Molten Whip if they're on the same bar. I also use Charged trait frontbar, which adds up to ~200 Magicka Recovery single target

My main issue personally was passive self-heals, and I wonder what other people use for heals for MagDK in vMA? Other than Iceheart

I found Mag Warden one of the easiest vMA classes. The passive healing from Animal Companion skills and Lotus Blossom let you heal without stopping damage. I use thief mundus to boost the heals, too

Flame Lash instead of Molten for one...

True, it does heal when it procs, if that's what you meant. What do you like to use to proc immo/off balance on adds and bosses?

I love Molten Whip because the on-demand backflip is pretty clutch.

Danksta

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

Grothdarr is great EXCEPT on the Argonian Behemoth stage! It'll kill the lightning adds who shield you.

My MagDK advice is to use Flames of Oblivion as a ranged spammable when not in melee. It hits two targets, and powers up your next Molten Whip if they're on the same bar. I also use Charged trait frontbar, which adds up to ~200 Magicka Recovery single target

My main issue personally was passive self-heals, and I wonder what other people use for heals for MagDK in vMA? Other than Iceheart

I found Mag Warden one of the easiest vMA classes. The passive healing from Animal Companion skills and Lotus Blossom let you heal without stopping damage. I use thief mundus to boost the heals, too

Should use fp with asylum staff then you don't have to worry about charged or having a ranged spammable. Burning embers is good enough to be your only heal if you're experienced, otherwise coagulating blood is a good burst heal if you need it.

JumpmanLane

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

JumpmanLane wrote: »

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

Grothdarr is great EXCEPT on the Argonian Behemoth stage! It'll kill the lightning adds who shield you.

My MagDK advice is to use Flames of Oblivion as a ranged spammable when not in melee. It hits two targets, and powers up your next Molten Whip if they're on the same bar. I also use Charged trait frontbar, which adds up to ~200 Magicka Recovery single target

My main issue personally was passive self-heals, and I wonder what other people use for heals for MagDK in vMA? Other than Iceheart

I found Mag Warden one of the easiest vMA classes. The passive healing from Animal Companion skills and Lotus Blossom let you heal without stopping damage. I use thief mundus to boost the heals, too

Flame Lash instead of Molten for one...

True, it does heal when it procs, if that's what you meant. What do you like to use to proc immo/off balance on adds and bosses?

I love Molten Whip because the on-demand backflip is pretty clutch.

Fossilize of course. Bash works great too vs heavy attacks...on NPCs. On bosses use Embers as needed, as they may not be able to be cc’d. Keep cauterize up (though I’ve used FoB in maelstrom and loved it, but I was using a BRP Resto at the time and the heals were amazing).

I run Maelstrom in whatever PvP build I’m currently using as a form of practice.

Use embers. Reapply it as needed. If not needed as a burst heal while attacking say a boss, let it tick out and reapply.

Vs mobs put it on every NPC you can. Think “if it ain’t dead, it’s healing me!” Lol.

Molten is loads of damage but to proc it I’ve found you’re spamming things and doing things in a way MagDk just isn’t played. My opinion...I’d rather have the heal.

tsaescishoeshiner

JumpmanLane wrote: »

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

JumpmanLane wrote: »

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

Grothdarr is great EXCEPT on the Argonian Behemoth stage! It'll kill the lightning adds who shield you.

My MagDK advice is to use Flames of Oblivion as a ranged spammable when not in melee. It hits two targets, and powers up your next Molten Whip if they're on the same bar. I also use Charged trait frontbar, which adds up to ~200 Magicka Recovery single target

My main issue personally was passive self-heals, and I wonder what other people use for heals for MagDK in vMA? Other than Iceheart

I found Mag Warden one of the easiest vMA classes. The passive healing from Animal Companion skills and Lotus Blossom let you heal without stopping damage. I use thief mundus to boost the heals, too

Flame Lash instead of Molten for one...

True, it does heal when it procs, if that's what you meant. What do you like to use to proc immo/off balance on adds and bosses?

I love Molten Whip because the on-demand backflip is pretty clutch.

Fossilize of course. Bash works great too vs heavy attacks...on NPCs. On bosses use Embers as needed, as they may not be able to be cc’d. Keep cauterize up (though I’ve used FoB in maelstrom and loved it, but I was using a BRP Resto at the time and the heals were amazing).

I run Maelstrom in whatever PvP build I’m currently using as a form of practice.

Use embers. Reapply it as needed. If not needed as a burst heal while attacking say a boss, let it tick out and reapply.

Vs mobs put it on every NPC you can. Think “if it ain’t dead, it’s healing me!” Lol.

Molten is loads of damage but to proc it I’ve found you’re spamming things and doing things in a way MagDk just isn’t played. My opinion...I’d rather have the heal.

Thanks, yeah, I think Cauterize would be helpful here. It's funny you say that Molten seems unnatural, because I find it a very natural mechanic for burst damage with a nice cadence. Both morphs are cool and unique for different playstyles

Resto staff would absolutely help. Without it, I'll probably have to get used to using Harness Magicka more wisely until I'm in range to use Embers.

I tend to avoid burst heals like Coagulating Blood in vMA because time spent burst healing is time spent not damaging enemies