Returning player: How do I properly understand the Skinnycheeks website/guides?

Vanchatron · July 2023

This is the site in question - https://www.skinnycheeks.gg/nightblade

I'm a returning ESO player after having been away for a couple of years, and have done a lot of research into which is the best site for PvE DPS meta builds. I used to use Alcast (which I personally thought was a great site) but pretty much got laughed at for even mentioning that. I was then helped by some nice people who told me to check out Skinnycheeks and said it's the go to website for endgame meta builds. I checked it out, but the problem I'm having is that for me personally the guides look overly complicated.

That's probably partly due to the fact that I've forgotten a lot about the game since I last played, but one of the main things I was confused about is the section where it says "setup #1: TRADITIONAL", "setup #2: NO ARENA SETS", etc. There seems to be 4-5 different setups and I have no idea which to focus on.

The second issue I had is that where it shows the recommended gear, it says "TOP PICKS FOR SET A" and then shows Single Target, AoE/ST, and AoE. Does that mean I'll have to have all those different gear sets and keep swapping gear constantly during trials/dungeons based on the enemy types I'm fighting? For example, switching to the single target set when fighting a boss, and the AoE set when fighting groups of mobs?

Would love some help/input on this as it's the main thing I'm confused about at the moment.

Thank you very much.

Galiferno · July 2023

If you want to be a top tier meta DPS, then it's pretty imperative to have a separate trash build and separate boss/single target build. Not saying you have to go this far, but the top DPS I know have multiple trash builds and multiple boss builds even within one trial. At the very least, a dedicated AOE build and dedicated boss build will make a big difference since trash encounters and bosses require different sets/skills to deal the most damage. Most people use Wizard's Wardrobe to very easily swap gear/skills/CP in between encounters.

In your case, I would go Setup 1 since Kilt is one of the best mythics and works in most encounters. Depths and Pillar of Nirn are probably the easiest sets to work with when you're starting out. Both are proc sets with easy conditions and don't require a resource management minigame or building/maintaining stacks. You can use those sets for both AOE and bosses, even if there are better AOE sets, and just simple use different skills for the AOE build so you can get a feeling for optimizing for encounters and swapping gear.

Zodiarkslayer · July 2023

Yeah, DPSing used to be simpler.
Less buffs to worry about, static fights and static rotations.

Now you are facing coordinated buff management with your entire group, mobile fights and diverse mechanics, and you will not make top tier without a dynamic rotation.

That also means that any guide for a class DPS cannot be static and simple.
Skinny gives examples for what gear and abilities work in which context.
He gives you a base to work from yourself.
No copy/pasting builds anymore, I am afraid.

ESO_Nightingale · July 2023

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

Yeah, DPSing used to be simpler.
Less buffs to worry about, static fights and static rotations.

Now you are facing coordinated buff management with your entire group, mobile fights and diverse mechanics, and you will not make top tier without a dynamic rotation.

That also means that any guide for a class DPS cannot be static and simple.
Skinny gives examples for what gear and abilities work in which context.
He gives you a base to work from yourself.
No copy/pasting builds anymore, I am afraid.

Yeah, even on my article i list like 5 different gear settups and 3 different skill settups based on the situation you're in. The builds that are applicable in most situations aren't going to perform the best in every situation. It's just how it is.