Apart from build issues, ESO has always been (and will always be) fundamentally based on frontloaded burst to kill. It's incremental part of the game due to 2 issues mainly (that other games solved differently):
- every class has access to spammable self-healing (and smart healing others)
- every class has access to damage mitigation on demand (block, dodge, wards)
There was initially a mechanic to counter those effects somewhat, softcaps, but it got scrapped and replaced by another force multiplier, champion points.
Just think about it, due to those mechanics the only logical way to overcome another player is and always will be close to one-shot burst. The recovery potential in this game is just so absurdly high compared to other games.
Koma Grey, Chocolate Thunder, Little Mojo, Dagoth Mojo & Mojomancy
You ate almost 8k damage from a Dawnbreaker, that tells me a lot about what is going on
For reference, here is a shot of one of my Dawnbreakers in Battlegrounds
4213 unmitigated damage vs what I am assuming is a shield, and then crits of 4917, 5421 and 6048.
Now by no means am I running a super high damage build, but I am pretty offensively based.
You getting hit with an 8k dawnbreaker shows comparatively that the person hitting you has a high damage build, and that you have low mitigation vs both hits and crits. Additionally you are sitting at below 20k HP in PVP, which is below what I would consider to be safe.
As far as what can be done, firstly I would suggest investing in some defensive gear. Fortified Brass, Impregnable Armour, Wizards Riposte and Transmutation are all great options if you want to stick with light or medium armour.
Additionally Blocking can be of great help vs burst damage, as you are going to mitigate a lot of it.
Lord and Savior of the Association of Serious S***posters.