MagDK - Timing

Sanguinus7 · October 2020

Hi everyone,

I've been away from the game for a long time and new to ESO on PC.
Recently had the itch to return and am umming and ahhing about what character to make (previous main was a msorc).

I'm really liking the aesthetics of a Magdk however comments about imminent nerfs etc. have me concerned.

Is now a poor time to start levelling a magdk? Are the nerfs as severe as people are making out and should I even be concerned? I'll be playing both pvp and pve and would like to run trials etc. down the line.

Thanks

El_Borracho · October 2020

I've been playing with a MagDK since it was improved this year and it has become a great PVE DPS option again. I, too, have been hearing about potential impeding nerfs. I believe a lot are rooted in the tinkering with AOE cooldowns in PVP. Since the MagDK uses a lot of AOEs, this is one of the sources of the nerf rumors. Only actual change to go into effect has been the Blood for Blood change, but that was only in effect for a few weeks anyway. Granted, there may be more out there, but these are the two main ones I've seen.

On the plus side, they reworked some sets that work very, very well with Mag DK, such as Medusa, so you don't have to deal with Trap or Channeled Acceleration anymore, if you don't want to. Can smash through any vet trials. Sustain can be an issue if you're not a Breton, but that's it.

As for PVP, haven't tried it with the Mag DK, so can't help you there.

I'd say roll one out. If they nerf it, so be it. Its a fun class to play with.

DTStormfox · October 2020

MagDK did suffer from nerfs (in the PvP context). In my experience, at this moment, MagDK is not as strong as it used to be. It is still fun to play when you know how to play it. I do think MagDK is one of those classes in PvP with a steep learning curve. So, if you are up for a challenge, MagDK is real fun to figure out a strong build but it will involve a lot of trial and error.

I have been playing MagDK for years and am still playing MagDK today, so do take into account my bias for MagDK.

UntilValhalla13 · October 2020

It's useful to have one mag dk in trial groups, for the debuffs/sets and whatnot.

Vevvev · October 2020

Ever since I touched magDK 3 years ago I could never go back. Sure it's been through some nerfs and buffs since then but the class still remains solid in much of ESO's content. In PVP is also has access to one of the most powerful melee stuns in the game, Fossilize, and one morph of flame whip comes with a very powerful heal.

Now it does have some issues like sustain which forces us to try and get as many flame status effects as possible. Each one awards us 500 magicka and our status effects are buffed by 50%. Amazingly the Elf Bane set effects flame status effects making them last an extra 5 seconds allowing you to have your enemies constantly burning.

It also still holds itself as one of the best tanking classes and I definitely recommend leveling one up!

Sanguinus7 · October 2020

Thank you everyone for your responses

I've pulled the trigger and started a Breton DK!

Thanks again and see you out there.

Kiyakotari · October 2020

Another thing to keep in mind is that once you hit 50, you start leveling Champion Points (CP). Once you're into those, if you decide you want to try out a different class (or different classes), you only have to level the new one(s) to 50. CP is shared across all characters. You can also allocate any CP you've earned on characters that haven't reached 50 yet, which gives the sub-50 characters the buffs and passives that they would get from the CP once they're at 50.

LightYagami · October 2020

El_Borracho wrote: »

As for PVP, haven't tried it with the Mag DK, so can't help you there.

I'd say roll one out. If they nerf it, so be it. Its a fun class to play with.

My magdk is at cp 810, flawless conqueror, I also play PvP with mymagdk, they're not so good...
No executive, slow, lack of burst, lack of range, high skill cost.

Here are some nerfs if you're interested...
Players complained that DoT were too good, so they nerfed DoT heavily.
Players complained that DK wings were too good, so they nerfed the wings.
Players complained that DK leap were too good, so they nerfed leap.
Players complained that DK were generally too good, so they increased DK skill costs.
Etc.

They did recently slightly buffed DK healings.

Magdks are generally bad in battleground because there's no CP to adjust for the weaknesses.

Objective evidence:
Just see how unusual you'll see magdks on PvP death recap screens, compare with other classes.

You may also take a look at leaderboards Sorted by Classes. You'll known which classes are usually scoring higher in Both PvP and PvE, and which are generally lower.

Of course Some people can do still a good job, but the difficulty is high, otherwise it would already have been a popular class in PvP. Justified by observation, they're obviously not one of the most popular classes in PvP.

IneedaDollar · October 2020

MagDK is fine atm just make sure to get your hands on a Zens Redress Firestaff for Trials.
A lot of groups decide to run this important set on a MagDK and you have to frontbar it.