Imperial Dragonknight Deconstructive Staff Build Advice

Purdomination33 · August 2015

Hi,

I am new to MMORPG but having a blast even as a more casual gamer. Everyone I have teamed up with on a dungeon has been especially nice and helpful. The ESO community is great so far.

I have researched a lot but have not found many Imperial DK staff wielders. Any experts out there willing to offer guidance would be great. Ideally I would like to pack a bigger punch against higher level mob's. For now I stick to PvE while I learn the ropes. I don't have a 'role' or anything specific in mind.

Currently I am a regular level 24 Imperial Dragonknight. The build I have made is probably not best suited for Imperial DK but had no clue what I wanted going into it. So far I have tried various weapon combinations...dual wield, one hand and shield, bow, and deconstruction staff. I find that I keep going back to the Deconstruction Staff, basically it seems like the best killer!

Character- Magika 12; Health 4; Stamina 7.

Main Weapon: Oak Inferno Staff
Abilities (switch between a few)
X-Flame Reach II usually
Y: Burning Embers II
B: Force Pulse I
LB: Elemental Drain
RB: Silver Shards I <-Awesome automation! Also trying Spiked Armor for a change. Need help with healing.
Ult: Standard of Might

This is where I run into some issues. Backup weapon. I have tried almost all weapon types but for now I just go with Lighting Staff, use it against fire resistant mobs. With my heavy Magika setup and low Health up close and personal battles with more than 2 guys can be trouble.

Backup Weapon: Oak Lightning Staff
X: Fiery Breath II
Y: Spiked Armor
B: Burning Embers II
LB: Obsidian Shard I
RB: Silver Shards I
Ult: Standard of Might

Passives: Kindling 2/2
Searing Heat 1/2
Battle Roar: 1/2
Mountain's Blessing : 1/2

I use 5:2 heavy to light armor ratio.

Sorry for the long post but I do have some general questions.

1. After you morph the ability, what exactly do the levels mean? Does that ability cause more damage as it levels up?
2. For some reason cannot find much on this. What exactly does charging your weapon do? Got to assume it increases damage right?
3. How do you join a trader's guild? I would like to sell the loot items I collect. Some of them are parts of sets which I see go for more than 'quick sell' to NPC merchants. Not sure if it's just where I am located right now (Grahtwood) but there does not seem to be a whole lot of inventory for sale. Especially 20-30 ranked.
4. Are there any specific quests between levels 20-30 in Aldmeri that give some good loot? Kind of sick of running errands for NPC's..."go talk to so and so 20x"
5. Starting to think crafting is not worth it. Weapons and armor dropped are better than almost anything I can create.

Thank you in advance for guidance!

Allyhoo811 · September 2015

I'll take a stab at answering your general questions, but I'll leave the build questions to someone who plays a DK more than I have.

1. Leveling up abilities simply make them stronger. They will do more damage, heal more, apply longer dot effects, crowd control enemies for longer periods of time etc. As long as you have an ability on your bar when you are earning XP it will continue to level up (stopping at level IV).
2. Charging your weapon abilities has to do with the enchantment effect on the weapon. Some enchantments do things like cause extra damage, apply a shield to your character, decrease your target's armor etc. This effect will have a chance to occur as long as your weapon is charged. Once the charge runs out, the enchantment effect will no longer fire, but the weapon itself will continue to function/do damage.
3. You join a trade guild by accepting an invitation from someone in the guild with invite privileges. The easiest way to find a trade guild that's recruiting is probably to check out the guild recruitment section of the forums (located at the very bottom of the forum homepage, just make sure to select the right platform/server). Also, if you play on PC, trade guilds will often post recruitment ads in zone chat.
4. Define good loot? Very few quests give anything higher than green gear/weapons (this is game-wide, not simply between levels 20-30. The main quests (prophet missions) and the guild missions will give you some blue gear (usually jewelry), but that's about it. Dungeons may give you better quality loot, but the best place to get gear right now is to buy it from other players or craft it yourself.
5. Crafting is very much worth it. As long as you keep your crafting skills up-to-date, you will craft better gear than you can loot. Crafted gear by default is always better than the loot drops of equal level/quality you will find in the world. You also gain access to powerful set bonuses by crafting and those can be very helpful. What seems to be the issues keeping you from crafting better gear? Not enough materials? You can't craft items at your level? Something else? Knowing this will help us give you some pointers.

Purdomination33 · September 2015

Allyhoo, thank you for taking the time to answer the questions.

I am always hesitant to put skill points towards crafting. As I use a staff I should put more work into woodworking. I have higher level materials but not the experience to use them in crafting. Looks like skill points need to be invested.