Trying to build a tank-y Imperial Dragonknight DPS. I need help.

ValeriusMede · February 2015

ESO is my first MMO in a looong time, and the only one I've stuck with until the endgame. I've never really put a whole lot of thought into character builds before. I just reached VR1 with my Imperial not too long ago and am slowly closing in on VR2, but the more I play, the more I feel like my build isn't doing me many favors.

I soloed my way through almost the entire game up until I hit lvl 50. I didn't give a whole lot of thought to my build at the time and just went with what seemed to work. Now that I'm in the endgame, though, I found myself wanting a more solid, well-thought out build. I've already re-specced my attributes once and I can't decide if I'm doing any better than I was beforehand.

I've sort of been following this guide here to transition my character into more of a DPS role while still maintaining some tank-like traits. To that effect, I've been spending my time at VR1 leveling my Earthen Heart/Ardent Flame skills. I rerolled my attributes and put 20 in health, 19 in magicka, and 10 in stamina. I'm wearing 4/5 pieces of the Akaviri Dragonguard set (the helm, cuirass, sword, and shield). The helm and cuirass are both treated with the impenetrable trait whereas the rest of my armor has the reinforced trait. I have a couple buffs to health, a couple to magicka, and the rest allocated towards stamina. One accessory is equipped with health regen, another adds more armor, and I think the last one I equipped gives me 480 disease resistance -- I equipped that one because I'm in an area with lots of spiders and they seem to be the bane of this build's existence in comparison to other mobs (most of which I can solo just fine, even if takes longer than I'd like).

I have draconic power fully maxed (both abilities and passives); ardent flame is maxed, but I don't believe I have all the passives maxed. I'd have to check. Earthen heart is at lvl 42 and I have all the passives active, but not maxed. Most of the abilities are lvl 3-4. There are a couple of skills I still need to unlock -- namely whatever the pre-morph form of 'Eruption' is called and Obsidian Shield.

I have all the Imperial racial passives unlocked and maxed, and I always wield one hand and shield, which is also maxed (aside from shield bash, I think). I also wear entirely heavy armor and have everything unlocked and maxed for that, too.

Overall, I'm fairly self-sufficient, but I feel like I'm unbalanced somehow. Maybe it's because I'm lacking specialization, or maybe I'm just comparing myself against the VR DPS builds who I see take down mob after mob in a matter of seconds while I'm chugging away.

Sorry for the wall of text. I'll cut right to the chase -- I'm looking for feedback and advice on the build I proposed and the build I'm currently running. Is a tank-y Imperial Dragonknight DPS feasible, or should I make more of an effort to specialize? Should I re-allocate my attributes differently? Is the guide I linked that I've been using BS, and if so, what should I be doing instead?

Thanks in advance!

Cody · February 2015

I did not read the entire text. normally i would, but im on a time constraint atm:(

yes a tanky DK DPS is very possible, the DK does that roll better than any other class atm.

I cant tell you which exact abilities to use, but you want to be in most-all light armor, and make heavy use of block casting

course, that's for the game as it is now.

in update 1.6, which is less than a month away, the game is completely changing, and all the good builds will be obsolete. wait until 1.6 before making a build.

Cuyler · February 2015

@ValeriusMede, I have a couple of questions:

1. Do you prefer PvE or PvP mostly? builds vary drastically
2. Would you prefer melee or ranged DPS? the v1.5.x hates melee dps, v1.6.x gets better for it
3. Are you looking to be min/maxed or dead set on a tank/dps hybrid?

Having this info would better help to get you a build that works with your playstyle.

Happy Hunting!

ValeriusMede · February 2015

Cody wrote: »

I did not read the entire text. normally i would, but im on a time constraint atm:(

yes a tanky DK DPS is very possible, the DK does that roll better than any other class atm.

I cant tell you which exact abilities to use, but you want to be in most-all light armor, and make heavy use of block casting

course, that's for the game as it is now.

in update 1.6, which is less than a month away, the game is completely changing, and all the good builds will be obsolete. wait until 1.6 before making a build.

I don't really have any points in light armor or casting. I was looking for a build geared more towards one-hand/shield + heavy armor specifically.

You bring up a very valid point with 1.6, though. That might just be the best course of action.

Cuyler wrote: »

@ValeriusMede, I have a couple of questions:

1. Do you prefer PvE or PvP mostly? builds vary drastically
2. Would you prefer melee or ranged DPS? the v1.5.x hates melee dps, v1.6.x gets better for it
3. Are you looking to be min/maxed or dead set on a tank/dps hybrid?

Having this info would better help to get you a build that works with your playstyle.

Happy Hunting!

1. PvE. I've dabbled in Cyrodiil but mainly just for exploration purposes.
2. Melee.
3. I'm not entirely sure what you mean by min/maxed, but if possible I'd definitely prefer the tank/dps hybrid simply because most of what I've already developed thus far leans in that direction anyway.

Sheuib · February 2015

First off I just want to say that what I write is my opinion and what works for me. There are people that do a lot more detailed study of numbers that could probably give you a better answer.

Attribute points should all be in one category. The way I do it is all in magicka if I'm magicka dps, all in stamina if I'm stamina dps even tank dps, and all in health if I'm making a pure tank. Since you want to melee I would suggest stamina and focus your dps abilities as stamina abilities. Save magicka for buffs and heals. Put all your enchants into stamina, stamina ability cost reduction, or weapon power. This should max out your stamina dps. And maybe even switch to medium armor unless you are dead set on using heavy. But medium will further increase your stamina dps.

Sword and shield is good for one of the bars but it isn't the greatest dps. I would put a 2 hander or duel wield on the other for better dps. You can run a dps bar and a tanking bar.

Things to have on your bars are crowd control, single target dps, aoe dps, buffs, debuffs, and heals. I know it is hard to get all that on there and you will have to make some sacrifices. I have different setups depending on what I'm doing, PVP, solo PVE, group PVE dps, group PVE heals, etc.

I hope this helps and half the fun is figuring it out.

Panda244 · February 2015

If you want to get fancy and money isn't an issue, this is my PvE tank set up, can pull about 200-600 Single Target DPS and 1.2k-2k AoE DPS depending on the situation. It's got decent Magicka management, and Stamina isn't a problem, my DK is an Imperial as well, you may need to keep Magic Potions or Tripots on hand for when situations get really bad, otherwise it's self-sustainable.

5 Set Hist Bark - Heavy Armor enchanted with Health.
4 Set Magnus's Gift - 2 Pieces of Light Armor, Sword/Shield, Armor enchanted with Magicka, Sword with Disease, Shield with Stamina.
3 Set Footman's Fortunes - Jewelry, Enchant your rings with Reduce Spell Cost, and your necklace with Spell Damage.

First Bar:
Taunt - Burning Embers - Engulfing Flames - Coagulating Blood - Razor Armor - Magma Shell

Second Bar:
Draw Essence - Choking Talons - Cinder Storm - Flame Lash - Spell Symmetry - Fercious Leap

Attributes are 30 Magicka 16 Health 16 Stamina.

I don't use Magnus's gift, I use Warlock, but I don't recommend that set anymore because the Signets of the Warlock are practically nonexistent these days and they cost 250-400k, but this is the build I use in Veteran Dungeons when I have to tank, otherwise I just run through them with my PvP build for fun.

ValeriusMede · February 2015

Sheuib wrote: »

First off I just want to say that what I write is my opinion and what works for me. There are people that do a lot more detailed study of numbers that could probably give you a better answer.

Attribute points should all be in one category. The way I do it is all in magicka if I'm magicka dps, all in stamina if I'm stamina dps even tank dps, and all in health if I'm making a pure tank. Since you want to melee I would suggest stamina and focus your dps abilities as stamina abilities. Save magicka for buffs and heals. Put all your enchants into stamina, stamina ability cost reduction, or weapon power. This should max out your stamina dps. And maybe even switch to medium armor unless you are dead set on using heavy. But medium will further increase your stamina dps.

Sword and shield is good for one of the bars but it isn't the greatest dps. I would put a 2 hander or duel wield on the other for better dps. You can run a dps bar and a tanking bar.

Things to have on your bars are crowd control, single target dps, aoe dps, buffs, debuffs, and heals. I know it is hard to get all that on there and you will have to make some sacrifices. I have different setups depending on what I'm doing, PVP, solo PVE, group PVE dps, group PVE heals, etc.

I hope this helps and half the fun is figuring it out.

So is my current stat allocation (21 health, 19 magicka, 10 stamina) a good fit for a hybrid DPS/Tanking DK if most of my DPS is magicka-based AoE? I re-allocated most of my stats into magicka to make use of Ardent Flame for DPS purposes and AoE and put my armor enchants into mostly stamina and magicka (with a couple pieces enchanted with health) to try and get a more well-rounded build. Right now stamina is my lowest stat because I felt like the conditioning passive for imperials + stamina enchants made dumping more points into stamina not as high a priority.

Health is currently my highest individual stat, currently sitting at 21 points, and again, I feel like the tough passive coupled with red diamond keeps me pretty self-sufficient in that regard.

For a long time I'd been sticking primarily to one bar for solo play, but recently I have indeed taken to training two-handed with my second. My first bar is more on the tanky side while my second is more DPS, filled out primarily with Ardent Flame for AoE. I still primarily stick with my first bar with sword and shield equipped simply because I have one handed and shield maxed out and two-handed is still only 13, which can make taking on mobs at my current level (VR2) challenging. Lately my tactic is to start out with first bar to buff with skills like Igneous Weapons IV and debuff with Ash Cloud IV (which I plan on morphing to Eruption with my next skill point) before switching to second bar to deal some AoE damage. I find this works best when I'm able to switch and use the Standard of Might ultimate right off the bat, and I can generally cut down multiple mobs fairly quickly with this tactic.

Anyway, I'm guessing that once I level two-handed further, I'll likely tweak my stat allocation further and lean more towards stamina. But for the time being, do you think this is a solid build or should I mix it up a bit? Should I continue to stick with Ardent Flame for AoE DPS while leveling my 2H? Also, what would be the best skills to level for 2H starting out? So far I've only put 1 skill into one of 2H's passives (forceful).

Thanks for your input!

Panda244 wrote: »

If you want to get fancy and money isn't an issue, this is my PvE tank set up, can pull about 200-600 Single Target DPS and 1.2k-2k AoE DPS depending on the situation. It's got decent Magicka management, and Stamina isn't a problem, my DK is an Imperial as well, you may need to keep Magic Potions or Tripots on hand for when situations get really bad, otherwise it's self-sustainable.

5 Set Hist Bark - Heavy Armor enchanted with Health.
4 Set Magnus's Gift - 2 Pieces of Light Armor, Sword/Shield, Armor enchanted with Magicka, Sword with Disease, Shield with Stamina.
3 Set Footman's Fortunes - Jewelry, Enchant your rings with Reduce Spell Cost, and your necklace with Spell Damage.

First Bar:
Taunt - Burning Embers - Engulfing Flames - Coagulating Blood - Razor Armor - Magma Shell

Second Bar:
Draw Essence - Choking Talons - Cinder Storm - Flame Lash - Spell Symmetry - Fercious Leap

Attributes are 30 Magicka 16 Health 16 Stamina.

I don't use Magnus's gift, I use Warlock, but I don't recommend that set anymore because the Signets of the Warlock are practically nonexistent these days and they cost 250-400k, but this is the build I use in Veteran Dungeons when I have to tank, otherwise I just run through them with my PvP build for fun.

Sounds impressive! I think I average around 200 DPS for a single target with my first bar. At least, last I checked. I de-activated the add-on that shows DPS because it's out of date and I would always get error messages whenever the UI was reloaded, so I'm not entirely sure how it's looking now. I'm not sure how much damage I deal on average for AoE.

I think going with the Hist Bark set would be be my best bet, though I've only got about 15k to my name at present because for a long time I would buy tempers to level each new set of armor I'd get. This got spendy once I started switching armor out every few levels, and now I'm holding off until I have more cash to throw around. That being said, I think I've researched enough traits for heavy armor that I might be able to craft a full Hist Bark set on my own. I'll have to look into it! I'm hoping I do, because I don't think I've ever seen a piece of Hist Bark equipment for sale below VR5, and I'm currently VR2.

Do you find yourself switching between armor sets often? Since my light/medium armor skill is minimal I'd likely just stick with Hist Bark as an all-purpose armor.

I used Razor Armor up to probably level 30-35 before I did some research and heard that it really wasn't all that useful once you hit the soft-cap on armor, which I started hitting from probably level 15 on. Is there any truth to that? I haven't tried using it in a long time.

For magma shell, did you morph to Magma Armor or Corrosive Armor? I morphed it to Corrosive. Would that work as well? And for coagulating blood, I morphed to green dragon blood. I have Puncture IV, so that covers the taunt. I have burning embers maxed, so I think I've got your first recommended bar covered.

For the second, would you recommend Cinder Storm over Eruption? I was planning on morphing Ash Cloud to Eruption just because that's what I read was the best fit for DPS, but I dunno. I don't have spell symmetry unlocked just yet. I'm currently leveling Choking Talons, but honestly, out of all the abilities I'm using it seems the least effective. It's currently at level 3 and it hardly seems to dent any of the mobs I'm encountering. I just use it to try and level it, but it hasn't seemed particularly effective. I dunno, maybe I'm just using it wrong somehow.

I have Flame Lash but I can't remember if I morphed it or even maxed it out yet. Which of its morphs would you recommend? I have Draw Essence (it's either sitting at IV or I might have morphed it -- I can't remember, don't use it enough) but I haven't really found it particularly useful overall. That could just be because of my current build, though.

Lastly, while I have ferocious leap maxed and morped to Dragon Leap, would you recommend it over Standard of Might for the second bar? I haven't used Dragon Leap since before I hit VR because I found Standard of Might more effective overall; doles out plenty of damage and keeps me nice and protected throughout.

Overall, though, I think you've got a very solid build outlined there and that's likely what I'll aspire to!

You guys have helped a ton and given me a lot to think about here -- I appreciate it!

Last question! What are some of the best grind spots in the Aldmeri Dominion for VR2? I want to try and level 2H and some skills as quickly as I can and right now it seems to be progressing rather slowly. As of right now I've primarily been questing through Auridon and Grahtwood. It's been a slow grind since I've been going solo the whole time but I don't want to tackle group-oriented veteran content until I've got a really solid build. I'm also hoping to hit VR3 before 1.6 so I have more champion points to spend.

...Okay, just ONE more question. I've heard that champion points will be distributed as follows -- 5 points per VR and 1 point per every 200k worth of xp earned as a Vet. But I've also heard that Zenimax decided to do away with the 1 point per 200k xp, which is another reason I'm pushing to get VR3 before the patch. If I hit VR3, that means I'll either have 15 or 30 champion points to spend depending on which of these two models is accurate. Do either one of you know if the 1 point per 200k xp is still in place, or did they toss that idea to the side and stick with the 5 points per VR?

Panda244 · February 2015

ValeriusMede wrote: »

Sheuib wrote: »

First off I just want to say that what I write is my opinion and what works for me. There are people that do a lot more detailed study of numbers that could probably give you a better answer.

Attribute points should all be in one category. The way I do it is all in magicka if I'm magicka dps, all in stamina if I'm stamina dps even tank dps, and all in health if I'm making a pure tank. Since you want to melee I would suggest stamina and focus your dps abilities as stamina abilities. Save magicka for buffs and heals. Put all your enchants into stamina, stamina ability cost reduction, or weapon power. This should max out your stamina dps. And maybe even switch to medium armor unless you are dead set on using heavy. But medium will further increase your stamina dps.

Sword and shield is good for one of the bars but it isn't the greatest dps. I would put a 2 hander or duel wield on the other for better dps. You can run a dps bar and a tanking bar.

Things to have on your bars are crowd control, single target dps, aoe dps, buffs, debuffs, and heals. I know it is hard to get all that on there and you will have to make some sacrifices. I have different setups depending on what I'm doing, PVP, solo PVE, group PVE dps, group PVE heals, etc.

I hope this helps and half the fun is figuring it out.

So is my current stat allocation (21 health, 19 magicka, 10 stamina) a good fit for a hybrid DPS/Tanking DK if most of my DPS is magicka-based AoE? I re-allocated most of my stats into magicka to make use of Ardent Flame for DPS purposes and AoE and put my armor enchants into mostly stamina and magicka (with a couple pieces enchanted with health) to try and get a more well-rounded build. Right now stamina is my lowest stat because I felt like the conditioning passive for imperials + stamina enchants made dumping more points into stamina not as high a priority.

Health is currently my highest individual stat, currently sitting at 21 points, and again, I feel like the tough passive coupled with red diamond keeps me pretty self-sufficient in that regard.

For a long time I'd been sticking primarily to one bar for solo play, but recently I have indeed taken to training two-handed with my second. My first bar is more on the tanky side while my second is more DPS, filled out primarily with Ardent Flame for AoE. I still primarily stick with my first bar with sword and shield equipped simply because I have one handed and shield maxed out and two-handed is still only 13, which can make taking on mobs at my current level (VR2) challenging. Lately my tactic is to start out with first bar to buff with skills like Igneous Weapons IV and debuff with Ash Cloud IV (which I plan on morphing to Eruption with my next skill point) before switching to second bar to deal some AoE damage. I find this works best when I'm able to switch and use the Standard of Might ultimate right off the bat, and I can generally cut down multiple mobs fairly quickly with this tactic.

Anyway, I'm guessing that once I level two-handed further, I'll likely tweak my stat allocation further and lean more towards stamina. But for the time being, do you think this is a solid build or should I mix it up a bit? Should I continue to stick with Ardent Flame for AoE DPS while leveling my 2H? Also, what would be the best skills to level for 2H starting out? So far I've only put 1 skill into one of 2H's passives (forceful).

Thanks for your input!

Panda244 wrote: »

If you want to get fancy and money isn't an issue, this is my PvE tank set up, can pull about 200-600 Single Target DPS and 1.2k-2k AoE DPS depending on the situation. It's got decent Magicka management, and Stamina isn't a problem, my DK is an Imperial as well, you may need to keep Magic Potions or Tripots on hand for when situations get really bad, otherwise it's self-sustainable.

5 Set Hist Bark - Heavy Armor enchanted with Health.
4 Set Magnus's Gift - 2 Pieces of Light Armor, Sword/Shield, Armor enchanted with Magicka, Sword with Disease, Shield with Stamina.
3 Set Footman's Fortunes - Jewelry, Enchant your rings with Reduce Spell Cost, and your necklace with Spell Damage.

First Bar:
Taunt - Burning Embers - Engulfing Flames - Coagulating Blood - Razor Armor - Magma Shell

Second Bar:
Draw Essence - Choking Talons - Cinder Storm - Flame Lash - Spell Symmetry - Fercious Leap

Attributes are 30 Magicka 16 Health 16 Stamina.

I don't use Magnus's gift, I use Warlock, but I don't recommend that set anymore because the Signets of the Warlock are practically nonexistent these days and they cost 250-400k, but this is the build I use in Veteran Dungeons when I have to tank, otherwise I just run through them with my PvP build for fun.

Sounds impressive! I think I average around 200 DPS for a single target with my first bar. At least, last I checked. I de-activated the add-on that shows DPS because it's out of date and I would always get error messages whenever the UI was reloaded, so I'm not entirely sure how it's looking now. I'm not sure how much damage I deal on average for AoE.

I think going with the Hist Bark set would be be my best bet, though I've only got about 15k to my name at present because for a long time I would buy tempers to level each new set of armor I'd get. This got spendy once I started switching armor out every few levels, and now I'm holding off until I have more cash to throw around. That being said, I think I've researched enough traits for heavy armor that I might be able to craft a full Hist Bark set on my own. I'll have to look into it! I'm hoping I do, because I don't think I've ever seen a piece of Hist Bark equipment for sale below VR5, and I'm currently VR2.

Do you find yourself switching between armor sets often? Since my light/medium armor skill is minimal I'd likely just stick with Hist Bark as an all-purpose armor.

I used Razor Armor up to probably level 30-35 before I did some research and heard that it really wasn't all that useful once you hit the soft-cap on armor, which I started hitting from probably level 15 on. Is there any truth to that? I haven't tried using it in a long time.

For magma shell, did you morph to Magma Armor or Corrosive Armor? I morphed it to Corrosive. Would that work as well? And for coagulating blood, I morphed to green dragon blood. I have Puncture IV, so that covers the taunt. I have burning embers maxed, so I think I've got your first recommended bar covered.

For the second, would you recommend Cinder Storm over Eruption? I was planning on morphing Ash Cloud to Eruption just because that's what I read was the best fit for DPS, but I dunno. I don't have spell symmetry unlocked just yet. I'm currently leveling Choking Talons, but honestly, out of all the abilities I'm using it seems the least effective. It's currently at level 3 and it hardly seems to dent any of the mobs I'm encountering. I just use it to try and level it, but it hasn't seemed particularly effective. I dunno, maybe I'm just using it wrong somehow.

I have Flame Lash but I can't remember if I morphed it or even maxed it out yet. Which of its morphs would you recommend? I have Draw Essence (it's either sitting at IV or I might have morphed it -- I can't remember, don't use it enough) but I haven't really found it particularly useful overall. That could just be because of my current build, though.

Lastly, while I have ferocious leap maxed and morped to Dragon Leap, would you recommend it over Standard of Might for the second bar? I haven't used Dragon Leap since before I hit VR because I found Standard of Might more effective overall; doles out plenty of damage and keeps me nice and protected throughout.

Overall, though, I think you've got a very solid build outlined there and that's likely what I'll aspire to!

You guys have helped a ton and given me a lot to think about here -- I appreciate it!

Last question! What are some of the best grind spots in the Aldmeri Dominion for VR2? I want to try and level 2H and some skills as quickly as I can and right now it seems to be progressing rather slowly. As of right now I've primarily been questing through Auridon and Grahtwood. It's been a slow grind since I've been going solo the whole time but I don't want to tackle group-oriented veteran content until I've got a really solid build. I'm also hoping to hit VR3 before 1.6 so I have more champion points to spend.

...Okay, just ONE more question. I've heard that champion points will be distributed as follows -- 5 points per VR and 1 point per every 200k worth of xp earned as a Vet. But I've also heard that Zenimax decided to do away with the 1 point per 200k xp, which is another reason I'm pushing to get VR3 before the patch. If I hit VR3, that means I'll either have 15 or 30 champion points to spend depending on which of these two models is accurate. Do either one of you know if the 1 point per 200k xp is still in place, or did they toss that idea to the side and stick with the 5 points per VR?

On my DK I don't switch armor that much, but I do all the time on my NB, as far as Magma Armor goes, I used Magma Shell, so my allies could get the damage shield, Razor Armor (Hardened Armor in 1.6) Will now grant you a small damage shield, as well as Major Ward and Major Resolve buffs, so that'll be really nice for tanking in 1.6, right now, I just use it for the added armor. Green Dragon's Blood is fine to, helps with your Stamina Recovery, Coagulating is really just min/maxing for tanks. I recommend Cinder Storm over Eruption because the entire skill changes in 1.6, it's getting rid of the miss chance, which stinks, and becoming a ground placed AoE DoT. Cinder Storm will now snare the enemy of it leaves the target area, while Eruption just deals damage on cast. So in 1.6, Cinder Storm will be useful for pulling groups of mobs, and as they leave the AoE to get to you, they're snared, so you can taunt them one by one without worrying about them running past you to the ranged DPS, if there are any.

Flame Lash is the morph

It allows for a follow up attack that heals you when the target is off-balance, the easiest way to use it is use Talons, then Flame Lash whoever is Talons'd twice, and you get a free heal, it's not a large heal... But it's a free heal and DPS, because the follow up attack is free of cost but deals full damage. As far as grind spots go... Spellscar in Craglorn currently, in 1.6, there really isn't any major grind spots, quickest way to level up would to be do quests

Um, they aren't doing away with the 1 CP per 200k XP until 1.6, then it'll be 1 CP per 400k XP, so just mindlessly get as much XP as you can between now and when 1.6 launches, you should have anywhere from 20-30ish if you get to VR3 before it launches. Hope I helped man!

ValeriusMede · February 2015

Thank you!

So it turned out I didn't have enough traits to craft the entire hist bark set, but I crafted a sword, the cuirass, the greaves, and the pauldron. Now I'm browsing through various guild traders to try and find some of the other items you listed. I found a focus of the warlock for 1.2k but, as you said might be the case, I can't find the signet. I haven't found any of the footsman's fortunes items yet.

You recommended light armor for Magnus' Gift; since my light armor skill is practically nonexistent, should I just try and craft the heavy pieces instead? I imagine that your set is structured as such to get the most out of whatever light armor passives you've unlocked, but since I don't have any light armor skill, should I just go for the heavy or is there a definite benefit to going with light armor for the Magnus set?

EDIT - Managed to find the Signet of the Warlock but it's listed at 20k, so I probably won't be making that purchase. Found some footsman's items but they were VR12 and similarly priced.

Panda244 · February 2015

ValeriusMede wrote: »

Thank you!

So it turned out I didn't have enough traits to craft the entire hist bark set, but I crafted a sword, the cuirass, the greaves, and the pauldron. Now I'm browsing through various guild traders to try and find some of the other items you listed. I found a focus of the warlock for 1.2k but, as you said might be the case, I can't find the signet. I haven't found any of the footsman's fortunes items yet.

You recommended light armor for Magnus' Gift; since my light armor skill is practically nonexistent, should I just try and craft the heavy pieces instead? I imagine that your set is structured as such to get the most out of whatever light armor passives you've unlocked, but since I don't have any light armor skill, should I just go for the heavy or is there a definite benefit to going with light armor for the Magnus set?

EDIT - Managed to find the Signet of the Warlock but it's listed at 20k, so I probably won't be making that purchase. Found some footsman's items but they were VR12 and similarly priced.

Ah yeah, footman's gear is V12-V14 only, if you don't have light armor I'd make it heavy, as you still get the set bonus. It won't help you now, but in about a week, week n a half, I get a new computer so I can craft whatever you need at no cost, there's no bonus for using light armor without the passives, the only reason I do is because the two passives I have in light armor reduce the cost of spells and increases magicka recovery.

ValeriusMede · February 2015

Panda244 wrote: »

ValeriusMede wrote: »

Thank you!

So it turned out I didn't have enough traits to craft the entire hist bark set, but I crafted a sword, the cuirass, the greaves, and the pauldron. Now I'm browsing through various guild traders to try and find some of the other items you listed. I found a focus of the warlock for 1.2k but, as you said might be the case, I can't find the signet. I haven't found any of the footsman's fortunes items yet.

You recommended light armor for Magnus' Gift; since my light armor skill is practically nonexistent, should I just try and craft the heavy pieces instead? I imagine that your set is structured as such to get the most out of whatever light armor passives you've unlocked, but since I don't have any light armor skill, should I just go for the heavy or is there a definite benefit to going with light armor for the Magnus set?

EDIT - Managed to find the Signet of the Warlock but it's listed at 20k, so I probably won't be making that purchase. Found some footsman's items but they were VR12 and similarly priced.

Ah yeah, footman's gear is V12-V14 only, if you don't have light armor I'd make it heavy, as you still get the set bonus. It won't help you now, but in about a week, week n a half, I get a new computer so I can craft whatever you need at no cost, there's no bonus for using light armor without the passives, the only reason I do is because the two passives I have in light armor reduce the cost of spells and increases magicka recovery.

Ahh, gotcha. And thank you, I'd appreciate that!

My username is the same in-game as it is here, so if you want to shoot me a friend request, that'd be awesome.

Are there any lower-rank VR sets similar to footman's gear that I should be on the lookout for, or should I just purchase a couple of rings and necklaces with the same sort of enchantments already on 'em? I'd like to stack sets to get bonuses wherever I can, but if there aren't any lower-rank VR accessory sets like footman's gear I'd be fine with getting some standalone ones to tide me over.

Panda244 · February 2015

ValeriusMede wrote: »

Panda244 wrote: »

ValeriusMede wrote: »

Thank you!

So it turned out I didn't have enough traits to craft the entire hist bark set, but I crafted a sword, the cuirass, the greaves, and the pauldron. Now I'm browsing through various guild traders to try and find some of the other items you listed. I found a focus of the warlock for 1.2k but, as you said might be the case, I can't find the signet. I haven't found any of the footsman's fortunes items yet.

You recommended light armor for Magnus' Gift; since my light armor skill is practically nonexistent, should I just try and craft the heavy pieces instead? I imagine that your set is structured as such to get the most out of whatever light armor passives you've unlocked, but since I don't have any light armor skill, should I just go for the heavy or is there a definite benefit to going with light armor for the Magnus set?

EDIT - Managed to find the Signet of the Warlock but it's listed at 20k, so I probably won't be making that purchase. Found some footsman's items but they were VR12 and similarly priced.

Ah yeah, footman's gear is V12-V14 only, if you don't have light armor I'd make it heavy, as you still get the set bonus. It won't help you now, but in about a week, week n a half, I get a new computer so I can craft whatever you need at no cost, there's no bonus for using light armor without the passives, the only reason I do is because the two passives I have in light armor reduce the cost of spells and increases magicka recovery.

Ahh, gotcha. And thank you, I'd appreciate that! My username is the same in-game as it is here, so if you want to shoot me a friend request, that'd be awesome.

Are there any lower-rank VR sets similar to footman's gear that I should be on the lookout for, or should I just purchase a couple of rings and necklaces with the same sort of enchantments already on 'em? I'd like to stack sets to get bonuses wherever I can, but if there aren't any lower-rank VR accessory sets like footman's gear I'd be fine with getting some standalone ones to tide me over.

None that I can name off the top of my head, I could be wrong though... Can check This Site but I'm not sure how up to date it is either.

ValeriusMede · February 2015

So after outfitting myself as suggested and re-allocating my stats similarly to your own build, I have to say I've noticed an immediate difference in effectiveness. I'm cutting down enemies quicker and it just feels better. Unless I get swamped by 3+ enemies at once with half-depleted stamina/magicka/health most common mobs don't have a chance to get more than a few hits in edgewise. Excellent control and power -- I'm definitely going to stick with this build for the foreseeable future. Thank you again!

Panda244 · February 2015

ValeriusMede wrote: »

So after outfitting myself as suggested and re-allocating my stats similarly to your own build, I have to say I've noticed an immediate difference in effectiveness. I'm cutting down enemies quicker and it just feels better. Unless I get swamped by 3+ enemies at once with half-depleted stamina/magicka/health most common mobs don't have a chance to get more than a few hits in edgewise. Excellent control and power -- I'm definitely going to stick with this build for the foreseeable future. Thank you again!

Np man, have fun, and remember. Don't go vampire... or I'll hunt you down and force-feed you sunlight!