How do people achieve high damage in PUGs?

moo_2021 · January 22

In general, not specific to anything. I have seen often that a single player can do over 50K DPS against bosses or 100K over group of trash. They're not squashy, they don't need support, group buff or debuff, and they move super fast and CP wise not too high from me (1000), and I doubt they waste potion or poison for normal dungeons.

So how do they do it? My one bar builds do max 20k against single boss, and even though my weaving and gear suck, I doubt those can make 250% difference, so I must be doing something very wrong. One bar build with 4 offensive skills max, no heavy attacks, and a total of 5k regen. Is there a beginner's guide? Yes I have seen solo builds/guides and scratched my head as the resulting DPS is impossible for me.

PS: previously with two bars but DPS was worse, as one bar makes my rotation much easier when I need burst heal or dodging. Also I have golden weapons but those make up no more than 10% damage.

bar_boss_A · January 22

yeah onebar non heavy attack builds do extremely low damage.

From your questions I assume you are a beginner to DPS in ESO. So here the basics every DD uses:

Backbar infused with berserker glyph (proc it with either elemental wall/stampede/bladecloak/arrow hail)
all divines gear - thief mundus
full bloodthirsty jewelry with weapon power glyphs (don't invest as much in regen as you do)
parsefood (max stam+stam reg or max mag+mag reg)
barbed trap

Soarora · January 22

moo_2021 wrote: »

PS: previously with two bars but DPS was worse, as one bar makes my rotation much easier when I need burst heal or dodging. Also I have golden weapons but those make up no more than 10% damage.

It leads to less damage but I put my heal on my frontbar in content. Channeled spammables (arcanist, templar, bloodthirst dw spammable) makes it harder to roll dodge since it cancels your attack. 2-bar just takes practice to get into and finding the right build for you helps.

autocookies · January 22

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BejaProphet · January 22

I play a tank. But I think I’m on safe ground to say 5k regen is absolute overkill. You need to shift a ton of that into weapon/spell damage.

The idea is to only have the regen you need to make your rotation work. Anymore than that then you are waisting choices that could have gone to boost damage.

Zodiarkslayer · January 22

CP is not indicative of player skill. After 750CP everyone is equally as strong.
Parsing lets you learn and improve, but you do not get any exp. 😳
And there is always something to improve.

Rotation Rotation Rotation. Those are the top 3 things that matter the most for dps.

ESO's combat is fast. New players often lack composure and calmness. When they have seen a lot they get calmer, their dps in content improves a lot.
@moo_2021 Its experience. You'll get there.

freespirit · January 22

I'm useless at builds but the one thing that absolutely transformed my damage was the Oakensoul ring and swapping from a flame staff to a lightning staff.

It's easy damage and those heavy attacks that you say you don't do...... well for me they give me all the sustain I can wish for!

I use similar tactics on my Templar, my Warden and I have two types of Sorceror, different sets on all of them but basically the same outcome.

I always struggled with bar swapping/buffing my characters so I could never get a good rotation going(elderly arthritic hands) but with Oakensoul all those difficulties were, if not removed completely, decreased significantly!

RaptorRodeoGod · January 22

A bar non heavy attack can totally work, I hit 92k on the trial dummy a while ago on one bar flurry sorc. Sets play a much larger role than some will lead you to believe. You need damage focused sets all the way, along with what others have said

Sluggy · January 22

moo_2021 wrote: »

So how do they do it? My one bar builds do max 20k against single boss, and even though my weaving and gear suck, I doubt those can make 250% difference, so I must be doing something very wrong.

Yes, you are using bad gear and not weaving properly. It's all a multiplier effect. Good damage is the result of a trifecta - good gear, good bar and rotation strategy, and good execution. Missing any one of those will drastically reduce your numbers. Missing two and you might as well just hold down left-click and walk away for a drink.

There's no 'ah-ha' moment when it comes to dps. You aren't going to make one small change and suddenly your damage boosts by a factor of five. It takes practice, effort, and understanding and a willingness to experiment and study the results. You'll make a gain of 1k here and another 2k there and eventually over time you'll build all these little factors up until you are the beast you have seen in these pugs. Also keep in mind that some builds will just always perform better than others. It's the natur of numbers. If you want to play a certain way you have to be willing to sacrifice stuff. If you want to play double-barred bows you need to accept it will never be optimal. On the other hand if you want to be optimal in terms of raw dps then you'll need to give up the dream of using shield bash as your spammable. Juts keep in mind that not all success is measured in tangible numbers so it's okay if you find something you like that works well enough for what you want to do.

moo_2021 · January 22

BejaProphet wrote: »

I play a tank. But I think I’m on safe ground to say 5k regen is absolute overkill. You need to shift a ton of that into weapon/spell damage.

The idea is to only have the regen you need to make your rotation work. Anymore than that then you are waisting choices that could have gone to boost damage.

But with one bar I keep running out of the main resource, especially when using bows. For example, a 2k spammable would need 4k sustain to keep light weaving non-stop?

RaptorRodeoGod · January 22

moo_2021 wrote: »

BejaProphet wrote: »

I play a tank. But I think I’m on safe ground to say 5k regen is absolute overkill. You need to shift a ton of that into weapon/spell damage.

The idea is to only have the regen you need to make your rotation work. Anymore than that then you are waisting choices that could have gone to boost damage.

But with one bar I keep running out of the main resource, especially when using bows. For example, a 2k spammable would need 4k sustain to keep light weaving non-stop?

Use a magic semi-spammable/DoTs to offest the stamina costs

moo_2021 · January 23

RaptorRodeoGod wrote: »

A bar non heavy attack can totally work, I hit 92k on the trial dummy a while ago on one bar flurry sorc. Sets play a much larger role than some will lead you to believe. You need damage focused sets all the way, along with what others have said

Thanks. I tried two bars again and it's really bad when soloing difficult contents or pvp, because I can't do both attack and heal at the same time (without the pale order) and anything unexpected would mess up my rotation and buffs.

autocookies · January 23

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RaptorRodeoGod · January 23

Which class are you playing?

Braffin · January 23

It's difficult to give proper advice without knowing your build tbh. Simply too much possible tweaks to consider.

Are you playing on pc per chance? If yes, I'd recommend you get yourself the add-on "combat metrics" and post the results of a parse here. Then we can take a look into it and provide specific advice.

Uvi_AUT · January 23

autocookies wrote: »

One thing for not dying that I noticed is addons. Trust them when they say to dodge don't get in bad habit of ignoring it since on normal you usually don't die... on vet you will die so be sure to follow it and dodge.. -1 second of rolling is more dps then 20+ seconds of being revived.

That is one Tip that helped me a ton for better DPS.
Nothing kills your DPS more than being interrupted, having to recover from a knockback or getting stunned from an avoidable AoE.
Once I realized its better to Brace and Doge instead of doing that or that ability one second earlier my DPS went through the roof.
/edit Oh, and dont play Arcanist unless you really know every encounter by heart. Due to the nature of the class you wont be able to brace, Interrupt or Doge Roll for 5 out of every 10 seconds.

RaptorRodeoGod · January 23

Braffin wrote: »

It's difficult to give proper advice without knowing your build tbh. Simply too much possible tweaks to consider.

Are you playing on pc per chance? If yes, I'd recommend you get yourself the add-on "combat metrics" and post the results of a parse here. Then we can take a look into it and provide specific advice.

Console players like me don't get addons, but I think there's a combat tips/prompts setting, and re-coloring enemy/ally AoEs and making them much brighter definitely help if the OP is on console.

Nice signature by the way

moo_2021 · January 23

RaptorRodeoGod wrote: »

Which class are you playing?

autocookies wrote: »

Also can't help much unless more information. But feel its likely penetration is the issue. Lover stone or dropping major breach will help a lot in solo. but since you mentioned pvp could be overpenetration as well.

My best classes are the beam arcanist (dw), whip dk (dw) and 2h warden. Warden does best in PvE in most situations.

(Solo) PvE gears are recycled from pvp so it's 5 unleashed for dot + 5 coward for stamina regen, oaken ring and a monster set piece for regen. Damage close to 5k, no crit focus, 3k pen plus major+minor breach by shalks. Offensive skills are simple: shalk, stampede, silver shards and arctic wind. Stampede crits and procs two DoTs. Regen is 1.5k + 3.5k. Vampire level 4.

There is a more common set of skills with swing but I found stampede much easier for aoe and mobility, e.g. jumping away from heavy attack and still keeping dot. if I can throw away unleashed, I'd switch to that. Tried Order's and Hundings with the same skill set but they didn't give any noticeable boost.

PS: This totally sucked in the Blackrose prison and I was stuck with the third boss, like some kind of damage check.

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arcanist uses deadly - actually it feels like my arcanist never runs out of resource, so I could try two offensive sets instead of one and see how it goes. dk too, only 1.5k + 2.5k and never ran out.

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and food is always for both regens.

moo_2021 · January 23

Sluggy wrote: »

Yes, you are using bad gear and not weaving properly. It's all a multiplier effect. Good damage is the result of a trifecta - good gear, good bar and rotation strategy, and good execution. Missing any one of those will drastically reduce your numbers. Missing two and you might as well just hold down left-click and walk away for a drink.

I just found this lol https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info2918-PerfectWeave.html

previously I always keep LA and skill, LA and skill, .. without delay.

RaptorRodeoGod · January 23

moo_2021 wrote: »

RaptorRodeoGod wrote: »

Which class are you playing?

autocookies wrote: »

Also can't help much unless more information. But feel its likely penetration is the issue. Lover stone or dropping major breach will help a lot in solo. but since you mentioned pvp could be overpenetration as well.

My best classes are the beam arcanist (dw), whip dk (dw) and 2h warden. Warden does best in PvE in most situations.

(Solo) PvE gears are recycled from pvp so it's 5 unleashed for dot + 5 coward for stamina regen, oaken ring and a monster set piece for regen. Damage close to 5k, no crit focus, 3k pen plus major+minor breach by shalks. Offensive skills are simple: shalk, stampede, silver shards and arctic wind. Stampede crits and procs two DoTs. Regen is 1.5k + 3.5k. Vampire level 4.

There is a more common set of skills with swing but I found stampede much easier for aoe and mobility, e.g. jumping away from heavy attack and still keeping dot. if I can throw away unleashed, I'd switch to that. Tried Order's and Hundings with the same skill set but they didn't give any noticeable boost.

PS: This totally sucked in the Blackrose prison and I was stuck with the third boss, like some kind of damage check.

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arcanist uses deadly - actually it feels like my arcanist never runs out of resource, so I could try two offensive sets instead of one and see how it goes. dk too, only 1.5k + 2.5k and never ran out.

---

and food is always for both regens.

For Arcanist, you could run beam, stamina tentacle, inspired scholarship, and whatever other 2 skills you feel like you need.

Deadly is really good on arcanist, and another damage set is definitely what you want. Pillar of nirn is easy to use on any class, and if you want to stay with daggers, you could try aegis caller.

You want divines armor with either the thief or the lovers mundus. Depends what feels better for you.

Bloodthirsty jewelry with weapon damage enchantments.

If you're running dw, you want nirnhoned main hand, and either charged or precise offhand. If you're running any other weapon, you want precise.

Also, if you're running stage 4 vampire, your abilities cost over 20% more resources.

moo_2021 · January 24

RaptorRodeoGod wrote: »

For Arcanist, you could run beam, stamina tentacle, inspired scholarship, and whatever other 2 skills you feel like you need.

Deadly is really good on arcanist, and another damage set is definitely what you want. Pillar of nirn is easy to use on any class, and if you want to stay with daggers, you could try aegis caller.

I thought Inspired Scholarship is only for major brutality which is done by the oak ring? How much do I get from "Each pulse enhances your class abilities"? My other skills are dot+pull, heal and group shield which seems too weak. The dot+pull is mostly for my amusement, perhaps rending slash would be much better?

RaptorRodeoGod · January 24

moo_2021 wrote: »

RaptorRodeoGod wrote: »

For Arcanist, you could run beam, stamina tentacle, inspired scholarship, and whatever other 2 skills you feel like you need.

Deadly is really good on arcanist, and another damage set is definitely what you want. Pillar of nirn is easy to use on any class, and if you want to stay with daggers, you could try aegis caller.

I thought Inspired Scholarship is only for major brutality which is done by the oak ring? How much do I get from "Each pulse enhances your class abilities"? My other skills are dot+pull, heal and group shield which seems too weak. The dot+pull is mostly for my amusement, perhaps rending slash would be much better?

It also generates a crux on the pulse if you have zero, which is really good. You basically get a crux while you're beaming.

The AoE pull for that dot morph is fun, I use it all the time. Wall of Elements, if you wanted to go ranged, would be good though, and Deadly Cloak would be good if you wanna stick with dw.

Most of the single target dots do similar damage, but they have different auxiliary effects, so changing from one to the other isn't a huge deal.

Heal is good to keep for survivability, if you wanted to play around with a target dummy, you could use something damage oriented instead when you do.

Also, Arcanist almost always should want to use it's damage ultimate. Morph choice is based on preference, the ground aoe one apparently is slightly stronger though

mocap · January 25

Relequen + Pillar/Aegis + Rapid Strikes spam and few dots. (v)MA 2h backbar must have.

Sergeant + Duelist + Oaken, few dots then spam HA.

Or just roll Arcanist.

SmellyUnlimited · January 25

If you’re playing on PC you should be able to pull decent numbers - addons. They auto target, tell you when to cast, when to dodge roll, and when to rebuff. Console plays significantly harder, so if you’re on console it just takes more practice, learning, and skill so you know when to dodge/attack more efficiently.

Zodiarkslayer · January 25

SmellyUnlimited wrote: »

If you’re playing on PC you should be able to pull decent numbers - addons. They auto target, tell you when to cast, when to dodge roll, and when to rebuff. Console plays significantly harder, so if you’re on console it just takes more practice, learning, and skill so you know when to dodge/attack more efficiently.

You can learn that on pc too, you know. All without addons. 😉

merpins · January 25

moo_2021 wrote: »

BejaProphet wrote: »

I play a tank. But I think I’m on safe ground to say 5k regen is absolute overkill. You need to shift a ton of that into weapon/spell damage.

The idea is to only have the regen you need to make your rotation work. Anymore than that then you are waisting choices that could have gone to boost damage.

But with one bar I keep running out of the main resource, especially when using bows. For example, a 2k spammable would need 4k sustain to keep light weaving non-stop?

Weapon or Spell Power potions. They give have the added benefit of regaining mag or stam, and giving you +20% to your main stat's regen. To benefit from this fully, you need to level up alchemy to 50 to increase the duration of potions. At max with the skills from that line, you'll have a ~50 second uptime with a 48 second cooldown, letting you always have potions up. This also saves room on your bar so you don't need to slot the major crit rate and weapon/spell power skills.

Not all builds need this, by the way. My Warden absolutely does, but my Arcanist for example doesn't and can use tripots. But you'll always want to use potions on cooldown with maxed alchemy, regardless of class in PVE.

sneakymitchell · January 26

Just try get much crit chance as you can. Plenty of sets has crit. One set has all crit chance with extra crit in the end Medusa but gotta get jewelry and weapons cause it’s heavy. Unless you want 1 piece heavy.

Elyu · January 29

Similar to what others have mentioned, it's a combination.

Regarding dmg numbers - all divines gear + thief mundus + bloodthirsty jewellery + decent set choices (even outside the 'meta' there's still many options) + good bar setup.

It's genuinely worth looking up 'meta' dps builds from content creators for your particular class (SkinnyCheeks or EightPuppies provide very helpful + detailed info) so you understand why certain gear options / skill options are chosen.

Regarding sustain: on my dps main I have 7 medium, thief mundus, but tend to use dubious camoran throne as food buff just for that extra sustain - can only really switch to blue food (higher max stats for more dmg but lower sustain) if grouped with a healer running symphony of blades monster set