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Dragonknight - 2H or DW? low dps??

Mricci1988
Mricci1988
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Hey all!

So I was hoping some people could please express / explain to me 2H and DW.

I am a level 15 DK and currently DW.
my build is:

4 LA with Magicka enchants
3 HA with Magicka enchants
DW Swords
all attributes into health.

I understand that if I want to max my damage with my DW I need to go medium armor and focus on stamina however I feel magicka would be better and I am simply using weapon skills as a stamina dump.

My skills I use are:
1. Burning Talons
2. Fiery Breath
3. Unstable Flame
4. Rending Slash (for the extra damage)
5. Dragon Blood for the heal
6. Dragon Leap for the Ulti

I am finding my overall DPS rather low...I do a basic face roll across the keyboards very simple...but I am getting my butt kicked non-stop..

When dealing with trash I am semi okay...any type of boss mob totally smokes me...I am blocking a lot, rolling out of red and in general when I see the red power up attack from bosses I interrupt them as open as I can.

I can survive a lot which is great however I just felt that my NB just doubles the damage stupidly faster...cloak vieled strike from behind mob is dead...spam rapid strikes on the other mobs and its GG...even boss mobs cannot stand up to me...

Before I QQ again and reroll back to Nightblade can someone explain to me why I am experiencing this? any advise is more than welcomed :)
  • Lynx7386
    Lynx7386
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    Weapon choice isnt just about having a dump for the resource you dont use.

    Melee weapons (and bows) will restore 10% of your stamina pool when you do a full heavy attack. Destruction and Restoration staves will restore 10% of your magicka pool with a full heavy attack (13% for restoration staves with passive talents).

    You really need to focus on one resource or the other in this game. Regardless of how much ZOS tries to stress that 'hybrid' builds are viable, they simply arent as effective. If you want to use magicka, you need to focus on magicka: use a magicka based weapon, wear light armor, gear and enchant for magicka, magicka recovery, spell power, and spell crit. If you want to use stamina, you need to focus on a melee weapon (or bow), medium armor, stamina, stamina recovery, and weapon crit.

    If you try to hybridize, you're only going to be reducing your potential. For example, your character is currently using 4 light armor and 3 heavy armor. Each of the armor skill lines has a passive which only applies if you have at least 5 pieces of that armor type equipped. For heavy armor, you get reduced block cost. For light armor, you get increased spell crit. For medium armor, you get increased weapon damage. These bonuses will not apply if you're using a 3/4 mix, so you're already gimping yourself even compared to a character who's using a 2/5 mix.

    In general, my advice is that if you want to use spells or magicka based abilities, have a maximum of one stamina ability on your hotbar and gear with at least 5 pieces of light armor and a staff as your weapon type. If you want to use melee or stamina based abilities, have a maximum of one magicka ability on your hotbar and gear with at least 5 pieces of medium armor and a melee weapon or bow.

    The odd ability out (that one stamina ability for a magicka build, or that one magicka ability for a stamina build) is there for utility, not damage. Pick something that supports the other abilities you're using. For a spellcaster, you want something like immovable or circle of protection to help make up for your lack of defense in light armor. For a stamina based fighter, you want something that will either heal you, debuff the enemy, or otherwise improve your weapon damage. For a dragonknight this would mean something like spell reflect, molten weapons, obsidian shield, or ash cloud.

    Tanks, obviously, are the one hybrid option that does still work better than a pure focused build. Tanks benefit from being able to use both resource pools equally for defense and control, but any tank should still be wearing a minimum of 5 heavy armor.
    PS4 / NA
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