[Build] Orsinium Update - Stamina DK DPS/Off-Tank for PvP & PvE!

Lefty_Lucy · November 2015

BUILD VIDEO

https://youtu.be/tIUWhb_Uar0

Stay tuned for a commentary video which will show you how to use this build effectively!

VIDEO TIMES FOR TOPICS OF INTEREST

Gameplay Examples 0:21
Build Overview 0:21
Build Philosophy 0:59
Race/Attributes 1:40
Gear 2:59
Abilities 7:39
Champion Points 10:57

BUILD INTRODUCTION / PHILOSOPHY

What's the one thing your Dragonknight is missing right now? A SQUIRE!

Pick up this "Phantom Squire" build and get to work with a Stamina Dragonknight build that is outperforming every one of my previous builds for The Elder Scrolls Online. This build is made using new sets released in the Orsinium update (version 2.2.4 / 2.2.5).

I'm not just saying this - this is seriously my favorite build that I have ever created and used for ESO. Dropping heavy armor was really tough for me, but it was extremely necessary to remain competitive in PvP in ESO.

I became very disappointed with how hard I was getting hit in my Deadly Fortress build. It seems to me that PvP tanking in ESO is now an all-or-nothing effort. You either have to go all in with a full-on tank build or you just simply won't compete in PvP.

I have historically liked to build my dragonknight to with a balance between tanking and DPS, with tanking being the primary focus. This just wasn't working with the damage that other players are putting out with full V16 gear.

The flip side of that build style is to build for a balance between tanking and DPS, with DPS being the primary focus. That is what I have done with this build, and it is working so much better than my Deadly Fortress build.

Honestly, I really don't even notice a difference in how tanky I am with this build. This is mostly because Medium armor offers 75% of the resistances as Heavy armor, plus Bloodspawn gives me resistance stats that stack on top of Volatile Armor.

If you don't want to drop Heavy armor, you can still use this build! Morkuldin is a crafted set, so you can run my exact setup with Heavy instead.

BUILD DETAILS

-RACE-
See video time: 1:40

Recommended: Imperial
Alternatives: Redguard, Orc, Wood Elf, Dark Elf, Nord

-ATTRIBUTE POINTS-
0 Magicka
0 Health
64 Stamina

*This may change depending on your race & champion points. Get a 20,000 Health pool (in Cyrodiil) before investing heavily into Stamina.*

-MUNDUS STONE-
The Serpent - Increases stamina regeneration

-GEAR-
See video time: 2:49

5 Medium, 2 Heavy

Armor:
2/2 Bloodspawn
5/5 Morkuldin

Jewelry:
2 Agility Rings
1 Potentate's Necklace

Weapons:
Agility Axe / Maul / Sword (2H)

Agility Axe / Mace / Sword (1H)
Potentate's Shield

-ENCHANTMENTS-
See video time: 6:06

Armor: Prismatic
*Use Stamina enchantments if you can not get Prismatic enchantments. Or use a couple Health Enchantments if you can not get your HP to 20,000 base (in Cyrodiil)*

Jewelry: Stamina Cost Reduction -or- Add weapon damage (maybe a combination of these two; feel this out for yourself depending on your playstyle)

Weapon (primary): Add weapon damage
Weapon (secondary): Deal magic damage & return stamina -or- Disease damage

-ABILITIES-
See video time: 7:39

2-H Bar:
1 - Critical Rush
2 - Fossilize
3 - Shuffle
4 - Executioner
5 - Rally
U - Take Flight

1-H & Shield Bar:
1 - Charging Maneuvers / Volatile Armor / Dragon Fire Scales
2 - Igneous Shield
3 - Unstable Flame
4 - Ransack
5 - Resolving Vigor
U - Werewolf / Bat Swarm / Corrosive Armor

Werewolf Bar:
1 - Feral Pounce
2 - Hircine's Rage
3 - Rousing Roar
4 - Howl of Agony
5 - Claws of Life

-CHAMPION POINTS-
See video time: 10:57

GAMEPLAY VIDEO CLIPS + COMMENTARY

Stay tuned!

actosh · November 2015

Awesome Build, and nothing can beat PODRICK PAYNE!!!!

I have a similiar Build, but i still have my Masters Sword, and the only thing it lacks is the base dmg, but the heal is just to awesome to pass on

Skiserony · November 2015

Looks really nice. I'm still running with my heavy armor build on my DK and I do really feel like it's just not worth it anymore. I still get like 10k+ surprise attacks or 14k WBs, without getting any more sustain or damage like light or medium armor, except for the fact of reduced blocking cost but that's just not viable enough. It's kind of lacking now the heavy armor and it's such a shame. I really love running heavy armor, but yeah ...

Looks really good this build.

Arneee23 · November 2015

Sorry I´m at work so I couldn`t watch the vid with sound, there for I have to ask, is the Morkuldin Set really outperforming Hundings Rage?

Sorry for asking but I play on PS4 so I have to wait until next week to test

Skiserony · November 2015

Arneee23 wrote: »

Sorry I´m at work so I couldn`t watch the vid with sound, there for I have to ask, is the Morkuldin Set really outperforming Hundings Rage?

Sorry for asking but I play on PS4 so I have to wait until next week to test

I'm honestly not sure about it. I think it mostly depends on your playstyle. However this would be my choice over Hundings too, mainly because of the 4 piece (stam, stam regen and weapon damage), so it will not give more weapon damage but it will give more sustain, which is really useful on a DK for outsustaining your opponents.

The fact that with this build, you'll be casting many light or heavy attacks, the 5 piece becomes pretty useful too. It does deal a pretty good amount of damage (gotta half the damage still because of pvp), so if it's summoned it could actually make up for the loss of weapon damage. And once it summoned you don't have to do anything, so it's great to keep pressure on your enemy which a DK kind of is about, keeping pressure and outsustain your enemy. Also really useful, because it acts like cleave of the 2H skill line, when it's summoned on a NB it will actually pull him out of stealth when the animated sword stacks him. And it lasts pretty long. It also procs on shields, which is quite significant to know.

Personally I think this set will work the best on the stam DK of all classes. If it is better than more raw damage with Hundings(no chance for proccing anything)? I don't know. I guess it depends on your playstyle and build. There are so many options these days, so it's really hard to say which one is the best.

Arneee23 · November 2015

Thanks for this informative answer, it sound really interessting, I will try it in a week

it is also nice to see that there are more than dps-ing

actosh · November 2015

Lefty, why dont u use a Masters Sword?

Dmg to low for u or do have none yet?

Skiserony · November 2015

actosh wrote: »

Lefty, why dont u use a Masters Sword?

Dmg to low for u or do have none yet?

Well, in last podcast he said he doesn't do much PvE. He does it like once to see how it was and then never does it again. I suppose he hasn't run vDSA enough for the Masters Sword.

I do use it on my DK, and I really recommend it. You can damage someone while keeping your health up, it's quite perfect for 1v1 situations. 1vX it's not going to be enough (it only heals half tooltip, don't forget that when you're in pvp), so strictly 1vX this option might be a slight better and you will have more damage output or sustain.

I just really love the heal though. But if you want to use Masters Sword you gotta switch around a bit with your gear but it's as viable, just a bit different.

Lefty_Lucy · November 2015

actosh wrote: »

Lefty, why dont u use a Masters Sword?

Dmg to low for u or do have none yet?

So I ran the Master's Sword in my last build. The heal is definitely nice to have, but not having a gold V16 weapon puts you very far behind on damage output.

I've been told the Master's Sword does not come in V16; is this not true? I don't think the heal is worth the damage sacrifice that you end up making due to the sword being V14.

Arneee23 wrote: »

Sorry I´m at work so I couldn`t watch the vid with sound, there for I have to ask, is the Morkuldin Set really outperforming Hundings Rage?

Sorry for asking but I play on PS4 so I have to wait until next week to test

I couldn't answer this any better than @Skiserony just did.

actosh · November 2015

I agree on the dps point and its just kinda hard to let the masters sword go ^^.

Thx for the reply

Chrlynsch · November 2015

Looks fun may have to check it out.

Artheiron · November 2015

They finally made you a min/maxer too Lefty... You were the chosen one! : P

But thanks again, I'll be returning to my DK soon after months. I'll check your build out and tweak it a little bit.

Alucardo · November 2015

You had me at "no wrecking blow". Will definitely be trying out a version of this on my stam DK. Only have 6 traits at the moment though, so no Morkuldin for me sadly.
Would Hunding's still be an OK alternative?

Lefty_Lucy · November 2015

Alucardo wrote: »

You had me at "no wrecking blow". Will definitely be trying out a version of this on my stam DK. Only have 6 traits at the moment though, so no Morkuldin for me sadly.
Would Hunding's still be an OK alternative?

Absolutely. Hundings is my recommended alternative for Morkuldin actually.

Yoyuyi999 · November 2015

Nice

Yoyuyi999 · November 2015

This is some nice stuff Lefty. Very nice.

Very.

Very.

Very.

VERY.

Nice.

Synozeer · November 2015

The problem I've noticed with the Morkuldin set is that the summoned sword rarely ever crits, and at least in my case, it seems to proc way less than 10% of the time with light/heavy attacks.

Lefty_Lucy · November 2015

maysonet_ESO wrote: »

The problem I've noticed with the Morkuldin set is that the summoned sword rarely ever crits, and at least in my case, it seems to proc way less than 10% of the time with light/heavy attacks.

I've notice a few crits, not too many. But I picked up this set for its base damage. I think the 2500 base is still good because it's free damage.

I actually rarely have problems triggering the set. It's almost always up for me.

Alucardo · November 2015

It's a shame the Morkuldin blade doesn't do wrecking blows.

5pc Hundings, 4pc Mork would be a really nice combination I'd imagine (if you don't like the floating sword). The 4pc is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and I've been to models photo shoots.
Been using a variation of this build and I love it so far. I feel like I have more versatility, because let's be honest, WB does not work on everyone. It allows you to fall back to S+B and still deal some incredible damage with a bit more mitigation.
Though if I'm doing PVE, I find it hard to let go of steel tornado in favour of a shield.

Saint314Louis1985 · November 2015

Lefty_Lucy wrote: »

show previous quotes

Alucardo wrote: »

You had me at "no wrecking blow". Will definitely be trying out a version of this on my stam DK. Only have 6 traits at the moment though, so no Morkuldin for me sadly.
Would Hunding's still be an OK alternative?

Absolutely. Hundings is my recommended alternative for Morkuldin actually.

Why hundings over shield breaker? doesnt it give pretty much the same stats as morkuldin just different (and possibly more effective) 5pc bonus ?

Alucardo · November 2015

Saint314Louis1985 wrote: »

Why hundings over shield breaker? doesnt it give pretty much the same stats as morkuldin just different 5pc bonus?

As a 5pc alternative I find Hunding's better. Gives you a nice fixed damage bonus without being a one trick pony that just works on shields. As a 4pc, Shield Breaker is super nice.

Saint314Louis1985 · November 2015

Was curious simply because I believe the stam regen + weap damage of morkuldin is what he was really after. With that in mind, shield breaker seems to be a better fit for this build over hundings. Not only that but instead of the 10% chance to spawn the weapon, shield breaker does 2k unmitigated dmg 100% of the time on light attacks to around 50%+ of the playerbase. No big deal I am simply curious on his thoughts.

I know everyone loves to hate on shield breaker just wondering if it was left out because its "taboo"

Synozeer · November 2015

Lefty_Lucy wrote: »

show previous quotes

maysonet_ESO wrote: »

The problem I've noticed with the Morkuldin set is that the summoned sword rarely ever crits, and at least in my case, it seems to proc way less than 10% of the time with light/heavy attacks.

I've notice a few crits, not too many. But I picked up this set for its base damage. I think the 2500 base is still good because it's free damage.

I actually rarely have problems triggering the set. It's almost always up for me.

It doesn't appear to use the character's weapon crit - maybe it's using spell crit instead.

I never hit for 2500 and my tooltip on the armor is around 5500 damage. I almost always hit for much less than 2000. Makes it seem as if it's not using our armor pen from our character. The fact that the sword damage doesn't appear in the FTC combat log is another clue that this might be the case.

Stigant · November 2015

The combination of Shieldbreaker + Bloodspawn would not let you have a crafted Heavy chestpiece with trait of your choice (the biggest armor value piece you can have) so there is no way that Shieldbreaker is even considerably valid alternative for Hundings .. you would give up too much armor plus have to spend more time farming the right Bloodspawn pieces .. with Hunding's as an alternative crafted set you can get the combo faster and start having fun in PvP while your traits are being researched for Morkuldin

Saint314Louis1985 · November 2015

Stigant wrote: »

The combination of Shieldbreaker + Bloodspawn would not let you have a crafted Heavy chestpiece with trait of your choice (the biggest armor value piece you can have) so there is no way that Shieldbreaker is even considerably valid alternative for Hundings .. you would give up too much armor plus have to spend more time farming the right Bloodspawn pieces .. with Hunding's as an alternative crafted set you can get the combo faster and start having fun in PvP while your traits are being researched for Morkuldin

Ehh, maybe so. Forgot about the craftable part.

LearnThis · November 2015

@Lefty_Lucy You mentioned the Dark Elves being patched/changed, but I could not find any of this information in the forums. What changed?

actosh · November 2015

Their Flame Talent applies to stamfire dots ss well.

LearnThis · November 2015

@actosh Thank you.

Lefty_Lucy · November 2015

maysonet_ESO wrote: »

The fact that the sword damage doesn't appear in the FTC combat log is another clue that this might be the case.

Hmm nice observation. I never looked at the combat log - I just look at the scrolling text. Either way, I love the pressure Morkuldin puts on the enemy. Especially when NB's go into stealth. He's like my own little NB-stealth-breaker.

Stigant wrote: »

The combination of Shieldbreaker + Bloodspawn would not let you have a crafted Heavy chestpiece with trait of your choice (the biggest armor value piece you can have) so there is no way that Shieldbreaker is even considerably valid alternative for Hundings .. you would give up too much armor plus have to spend more time farming the right Bloodspawn pieces .. with Hunding's as an alternative crafted set you can get the combo faster and start having fun in PvP while your traits are being researched for Morkuldin

Very well said. Couldn't have put it better myself.

Legedric · December 2015

Well, since I was a big fan of Lefty Lucy's old Deadly Fortress build I also tried this new "Phantom Squire" build and I like it very much.

Especially the sustain in longer fights is insane!

I will just shamelessly post a video here showing that it does take only some practice to make good use of this build and you can do it, too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iEKh_4MRLk

leepalmer95 · December 2015

Ransack or heroic slash?

Also is hundings or shieldbreaker a good alt set because i don't have 9 traits