Kilmaim's DK Firemage

Replies: 6

Prologue

To start, I’d like to thank those who developed and maintain FTC. So, THANK YOU! Without this handy little tool, improving my toons to this point would be, practically, impossible. Let’s get down to business.

Now, I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’ve been playing my Magicka DK Firemage since release. I’ve gone through iteration upon iteration to tweak this bad boy to its fullest potential…and I’m still not there, still need to do some major grinding to get optimal damage output. But the numbers are finally here!

I’ve been wanting to post this build for a while. Due to real life endeavors, it seemed as though I was always behind the pack. I remember when I finally grinded to vet 14, only to have vet 16 instituted, which basically became one of the most depressing times in the game for me, since it felt like I had to start at the bottom again. Grinding for v16 gear totally sucked. The spawn rates in Wrothgar blatantly sucked. Just to hang, I decided to improve a set of v15 gear to legendary, while grinding for the v16 mats. Fortunately, I have the most awesome woman in the entire universe, who helped fund with coinage my improvements and bling. Thank you, Lynnybean (a.k.a. Lethal Beauty), LOVE YOU!

There are numerous threads here at FTC, and at Deltia’s, to which I owe much thanks. I don’t have the original sources, nor do I remember the authors, but to them all I owe much thanks for their inspiration. Besides, they’re easily searchable. As I expound, I’ll try to provide sufficiently ambiguous credit where possible. If, as you read this, you recognize something, please let me know and I’ll update the references accordingly.

Burnt…to a crisp, please.

Race: Dark Elf.

For this build, my original toon was inspired by an early YouTube video that praised the Magicka DK’s Spiked Armor. It was basically a light armor build, focusing on the Flame Staff. Needless to say, that build was more for single PVE, where it was you against everything and you could survive. I don’t recall which race the author rcommended, but I went with the Dark Elf. Legitimately, a High Elf is a good alternative to the Dark Elf, all for the same numerous reasons associated with a majority of other magicka DK builds. For pure fire damage, the choice is simple: Dark Elf for the Destructive Ancestry racial passive that boosts fire damage by 7% when max’d. As for the other races, I can’t speak to those for this build. Back in the day, you picked a race, that’s what you got…plain and simple. We had no option to buy a better alternative. It was truly based on Lessons Learned. If you weren’t happy and didn’t like the result of your choices, you had to start over and grind for it.

Armor: The Law of Julianos

There has been much debate (and “maths”) to support which armor is best for a DPS Magicka DK. Even after one very talented mathematician proved which suit was better, by squeezing out every last possible decimal, debate continued/s over situational circumstances. I played with Twice Born Star (TBS) and Julianos. For me, I did not see the same results when using TBS, at least, not with this build (ironically, however, I do run TBS with my Magicka DK Healer, Phrobasseur; I love his results, still tweaking…). The result of my DK Firemage setup is to max stats (specifically, magicka), with Undaunted Mettle: 5 Light, 1Medium, 1 Heavy.

Medium Chest (divines, enchanted max magicka)
Light Sash (divines, enchanted max magicka)
Light Shoes (divines, enchanted max magicka)
Light Breeches (divines, enchanted max magicka)
Light Gloves (divines, enchanted max magicka)

Bling: The Willpower Set

Purple rings and necklace: Spell Damage enchantments.

Melt’em…like butter!

Monster Set: Valkyn Skoria (VS)

Heavy Helm (infused, enchanted max magicka)
Light Epaaulets (infused, enchanted max magicka)

I ran Molag Keena (MK) for months, but never saw the numbers claimed by most others. As soon as I switched to VS, my numbers seemed to go through the roof! For my DK Firemage, it’s only VS, nothing else comes close. My Stamina DK, Kooter Preening, now keeps those equipped, and I’m not settled on her build yet (still tweaking). I’m thinking on testing my DK Healer with MK and seeing how much his numbers improve…

Staves: anything Flame Staff

Currently, I continue to grind the Maelstrom Arena (MA) to obtain my MA Flame staves. Until then, I’m stuck with non-set item-bonus’d staves which are Flame enchanted. Front’n’Back bars just so happen to be Inferno Staves of Torug’s Pact (again, no bonuses). I also keep a restoration staff of the same (also enchanted with Flame Damage). Each of my staves (healing and damage) is Precise, increasing weapon and spell criticals by 7% (everything enchanted with Flame damage). The take away, here, is that until you grind for VS, or as now’a’days allow, purchase the pieces on some unknown, unforeseeable day in the future in Cyrodiil, your best alternative is Torug’s Pact set bonuses, or something that boosts max magicka. Nothing particular stands out, so test and tweak heuristically. That’s pretty much how I got here…

Anything that boosts spell damage is the way to go!

…this is where it starts getting expensive. To be the best, you have to play with the best, and by this we mean: equip the best! So, not only shall you want to have two Flame staves enchanted with Fire damage, to successfully leave the porch and run with the big dogs, you need to have another two Flame staves enchanted with Glyphs of Prismatic Onslaught: deals 6335 magic damage to Undead and Daedra. These are essential for running White Gold Tower, Imperial City Prison, Vaults of Madness, etc. When it’s time to kill undead and daedra, swap your staves… This means, in the end, you want four MA Flame Staves to achieve optimal damage ratings: two Flame enchanted, two Onslaught enchanted.

I am eagerly awaiting the day that I claim one MA Flame Staff! Until then, I am just glad my numbers are proving the potential of my hypothesis. When this comes to fruition, I’ll have to play around and see how the numbers populate. Off the top of my head, my thoughts are that for my back-bar, my main Damage over Time (DoT) abilities (i.e. Eruption, Blockade of Fire, Flame Reach), that will be the MA Flame Staff enchanted with Flame Damage. The other bar, my main attack abilities, I’ll swap a Flame/Fire staff for Flame/Onslaught when the circumstances arise.

Mundus: The Thief

This build, as with most other Magicka DK PVE builds, is dependent on Spell Critical rate. So, for those of you who may be wondering how Nirnhoned staves fair, my High Elf, DK Healer keeps those equipped. Although Nirnhoned provides a nice boost to base damage, your critical rate decreases too much to get the numbers provided by Precise. I may again play around with my Nirn staves, but for now, I’m just happy to finally be hitting hard! The numbers speak for themselves. And although I do not recommend using Nirn staves due to the hit to critical rate, if you get an itch, the scratch the hell out of it! If I listened to each piece of advise as though it were set in stone, I wouldn’t not be here.

Bar 1 Morphs

Items with an asterisk (*) are swappable.

Engulfing Flames (Ardent Flame: Fiery Breath)
Inner Light (Mages Guild: Magelight)
Flame Lash (Ardent Flame: Lava Whip)
Burning Embers* (Ardent Flame: Searing Strike)
Draw Essence* (Draconic Power: Inhale) …bar far, THE BEST healing ability at a DK’s disposal. You deal damage AND heal. The magicka dispensed serves two purposes, both of which benefit you. Used in combination with Burning Embers, you needn’t rely heavily on a healer.

Bar 2 Morphs

Proximity Detonation* (Alliance War/Assault: Magicka Detonation)
Inner Light
Flame Reach (Destruction Staff: Destructive Touch)
Elemental Blockade (Destruction Staff: Wall of Elements)
Eruption (Earthen Hearth: Ash Cloud)

Now, these are pretty standard-fair abilities which are used by all good Magicka DKs. There is nothing particularly special that I’ve discovered here, and certainly nothing original. What I do recommend, however, is that regardless of which abilities you settle-on, spend the coin (or cash) to respec and level all your abilities to Level 4. There is nothing that beats raw experience. You can only truly know how something works by getting your feet wet. Don’t be truly biased by someone’s recommendation. There are many factors that play into which morph suits you best. If you’re a loner, like I was, things that contribute to your own survival are better than those selected by someone who runs with a dedicated team, and vice versa.

Swappables

Now, pretty much anything is *swappable; however, the point here is to understand what you’re swapping and why…

Burning Embers*
- Swap for survival: Harness/Dampen Magicka. You may have a poor healer. Just because your healer sucks doesn’t mean you can’t hold your own. Some may ask: why swap-out burning embers instead of Engulfing Flames? For me, it’s not about the max damage if I’m worried about surviving. The difference here is range: 5 vs. 10 meters. I’d rather stay back a little, play it safe and let my damage shield work. Besides, we’re still maintaining the 10% boost to overall flame damage doled.
Proximity Detonation*
- Swap for Bosses: Elemental Susceptibility. Numerous threads have discussed the benefits of running this skill. It’s something I don’t mind running and take full advantage of it.
- Swap for Range: Crushing Shock. Planar Inhibitor comes to mind. I like weaving Destructive Reach, Light/Medium attacks, and Crushing Shock (or Force Pulse). I prefer Crushing for the interrupt, that’s all. The difference between the two is a modicum of damage for a nice ranged interrupt.

Here, let your imagination flow. There is no right or wrong answer, only what works best for your play style. A good video on YouTube I watched a couple months back discusses this (can’t remember, but I’ll try to find a link). The gentleman with a rather thick Eastern European accent, discussing a DK Stam build, basically said that you can use any set of skills. It all comes down to how you like to play. For me, it’s basically about how much fun I have… So, if you’re having fun, that’s all that really matters!

Rationale

Here I want to take a moment to discuss Flame Reach. When I first started this build over three years ago, my favorite sequence always started with Flame Reach. I preferred it to anything Force Shock. I was particularly fond of blasting AI toons up into the air or over a cliff. It was always followed-up with a Crushing Shock or Force Pulse, depending on what I was running. I enjoyed being a long-ranged fighter.

After learning my damage sucked, compared to many others who were number crunching, I ditched a lot of fun and hilarious animations for a more serious venture: DAMAGE! For a time, I nixed Destructive Touch and its morphs for Force Pulse/Crushing Shock. Everything I had read said that Destructive Touch and its morphs were less effective, damage wise, to Force Shock and its morphs. I suppose the adage, “learn to walk before you run,” is highly appropriate. Everything seems to have come full circle, since Destructive Reach is now permanently fixed to my main bar.

As I was ruminating about the best approach to take for this build, it occurred to me that this Fire Mage’s only real friend is Damage over Time! The more, the merrier, and that means everything possible. Hence nixing Force Shock for Destructive Touch. Although the numbers show that Force Shock and its morphs provide more base damage, than Destructive Touch, it doesn’t provide DoT, which Destructive Touch does! Thus, if we sum our DoT skills, we get the following:

Engulfing Flames
Burning Embers
Flame Reach
Elemental Blockade
Eruption

These are the triggers for Valkyn Skoria to process (i.e. “proc”). So, Kilmaim, why didn’t you choose Destructive Clench? Again, this was a personal preference. I tried it for a while. I went back and forth several times since beta testing before mass release. The nerfs hit hard. Very sad, very disappointing. In the end, it all came down to range and starting damage from a distance. Defending my healer and dps counterparts by knocking the bad-guys off of them can be quite useful. It all depends on how you use these skills, and what best compliments your play-style. One isn’t necessarily better than the other, depending on how you use it. If you use clench, but your healer is being maimed and you’re out of reach, the modicum of damage doesn’t seem worth it to me. But that’s my rationale. You make your own.

Champion Points (CP)