I think it's awesome that you are still trying the whole magicka DK thing and putting a video out there.

i think you say it best; this is a fine build that can complement small groups and be very effective in one, but you are wise and correct to caution viewers that this build can struggle in solo gameplay (and I think you are correct that heavy is the way to go here, good luck getting the mats to experiment!). As far suggestions for improvement for your small scale build, I do not really have any as the conclusions you have drawn are similar to my own. I ran around with combat prayer instead of blessing of restoration for the 8% damage, not sure that is worth it for a DK since trading 1K health trying to chase burst you don't have. I do think purge is another possibility so you can use your magicka (with higher regen) instead of your stam pool for removing roots and other annoying debuffs. But I am guessing since you do not emphasize stam regen, that has not been an issue for you.

As one of the many who have shelved my DK, your video also demonstrates why. There are compromises a DK must make. The 1.8 (unbuffed) spell damage, 34k magicka, and 615 stam recover in light armor is tough to compete with a class with a questionable toolkit. Sure, it's possible to get better raw numbers, but needs (resto, invasion, etc). That you make it work is a testament to your skill as a player. Some players relish the role as an underdog. I do like a challenge, to a minor point like playing a nord mage, but even if I think I'm pretty good, there is always a bigger fish in the pond and, at least to me, it is *very* frustrating trying to compete against them playing left-handed so to speak. So I log onto my sorc that has higher everything and great shields, execute, escape, burst, et al. Maybe that makes me a quitter and maybe that's why I'm only pretty good. But it saves me many headaches from not banging my head against the wall. Just my opinion.

I have a lot of respect for folks like you, Kodi, Skaffa, and the rest who keep Dking.

Jjitsuboy98 wrote: »

Cool very interesting. You said for solo play you would go maybe 7 heavy? I dont have Kags Hope or the ability to craft it yet. I do have a 4 piece Vet 16 Elfbane sitting in the bank though. I could go 4 piece Magnus and 4 piece Elfbane with one piece left over which could be another magnus. Of course willpower jewlery. Would lower my regen from 2000 to about 1600 going from 5 light 2 heavy to 7 heavy. What do you think?

If I decide to use heavy armor, it will be 5 heavy 1 medium 1 light. I don't really see the point in elf bane if you're just going to use 4 piece, it's giving you the same stats as any other crafted set or glyph. So I'd rather have the traits I want on every piece.

Nice build... very familiar And it's very true, magicka DK is strong in a group, mostly because the group covers for the DKs weaknesses.

For the spelldamage, I found that it honestly doesn't make that much of a difference, give or take a few hundred. Our skills don't reach crazy numbers like Crystal Fragment for example, and dots are not really worth it atm (damage over time can be nice, but its not realistic, sadly). I tried this build with a 2h sword (2pc Torugs and 1pc Molag Kena instead of 4pc Magnus); on paper, Flame Leash etc. of course dealt much more damage. But the point is that it's still nowhere near the burst we would need for certain things, like breaking through stacked shields. I found that if I can't kill someone with ~2.2k spell damage, 3k spell damage (or more) doesn't help either. Keep in mind that the damage increase you get is halved in Cyrodiil.

Regarding heavy armor, not sure if it's good. At least not for the passive migration. Spell resist is already really high, and since you use 1h 1m already, the armor increase is only like ~5k. Only worth it if you build for blocking, imo.

ChefZero wrote: »

r.jan_emailb16_ESO wrote: »

Spell resist is already really high, and since you use 1h 1m already, the armor increase is only like ~5k. Only worth it if you build for blocking, imo.

Think so too. S&B is very weak on magicka builds atm. And resistance gain isn't worth it compared to destro. Range is also a possibility to avoid damage.

Let´s put it this way:

On a sorc i´m always thanking the gods when i run into a DK playing double staves.

15% range damage reduce isn't important cause of wings. Also is the question are we talking about a magicka or permablock DK? Both is possible but not at the same time.

ChefZero wrote: »

15% range damage reduce isn't important cause of wings. Also is the question are we talking about a magicka or permablock DK? Both is possible but not at the same time.

You're right -- you can't permablock anymore. However, DKs don't have shields, cloak, or BoL so being able to block (even a little bit) is important so that you don't die from burst.

As Maulkin pointed out, in a pvp setting the trade of Sw/Sh to Destro isn't a good one for DKs because the destro staff brings nothing to the fight except light attack weaving.