Replies: 47

Ouroboros – The Do-Anything, Anytime MAgicka Dragonknight

Welcome to my write-up, forum-goers! I’ve been maining magicka DK for about 9 months and have created a relatively unique setup, so this write-up is long overdue. You may be confused by the somewhat clickbait-y title, but this isn’t just a compilation of multiple builds, nor am I just fishing for posts This build is my attempt to create a viable setup for having the pre-CP system ability to switch to any needed role at any time by just swapping gear and skills on your bars. I’ve found too many times that, whether you’re running with a PUG, or even well-meaning guildies, or an unfortunate lightning storm takes out someone’s internet, things may simply not go as planned in a group, and now that I’ve entered the real world I don’t have time to wait for a healer or tank for an hour while the damage twiddle their thumbs. So if you’ve ever felt like you need to provide a little more support for your team, or need to be a little more survivable in a PUG, or even just want to try out a different role without having to level an entirely new character, this build is for you!

Before we begin…

Special Thanks

… to pretty much anyone who has contributed to magicka DK in the recent past! In particular,

@pretzl , @Nosferatuzod and other for their damage builds
@tkviking2 , @Liofa and many many others for the plethora of tank builds
@vokul-the-dk for AFAIK the only dk healer build on the entirety of TF (and recently @Elloa for adding to the discussion)
@mrowmrif2 and @CasNation for their help on the forums and with testing and general suggestions
@asayre , @uesp and other for theorycrafting genius

With that, let’s begin!

BUild Goals

Create an effective role setup for all situations optimized for both output (healing/damage), support and survivability
Switch between roles without re-allocation costs of attribute points, skill points or CP
Solid setups for both veteran and entry-level endgame play (much of the gear is crafted)

Pros

YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!
You can often provide enough support for the group and survivability for yourself to carry other group members
Save time and gold from leveling different characters for different roles

Cons

Being a jack-of-all-trades means you’re not technically optimal for anything (min-maxers, this build isn’t for you!)
Heavy investment for a single character (requires doing nearly all the content in the game for enough skill points if this is also your main crafter)
Healer and Tank setups would likely require some changes to be viable in veteran-mode Trials

Fixed Build Distributions

Anything that stays the same between all setups will go here: Race, Attributes, and CP’s.

Race

Dunmer: All of these build do try to do some sort of damage, and considering all we’re trying to do here I believe Dunmer to be the best fit here. Though Altmer would have some nice additional recover I’ve rarely felt like i would need it.

Attributes

64 Magicka/ 0 Health/ 0 Stamina: Our focus, even while tanking, is on maximizing our main resource here. If needed, we make up for lacking health/stamina in the gear enchants.

Champion Points

The changes brought to CP’s with the Dark Brotherhood patch actually help us here significantly. Let’s start with…

The Warrior:

The Lady: Hardy (40), Elemental Defender (40), Light Armor Focus (10)

The Lord: Bastion (77)

We rely heavily on damage shields when we use them, and will always be wearing light armor, which is the reasoning for the few points into Light Armor Focus. Otherwise points go into the main damage mitigation stars evenly. I’ll be the first to admit the Light Armor Focus points are likely more effectively used elsewhere, such as Thick-Skinned or split among other the other mitigation stars we’ve chosen.

The Thief:

The Tower: Magician (100)

The Lover: Arcanist (67)

Typical Thief distribution for magicka users. We won’t need any points in the stamina stars because we’ll only ever use one stamina ability and the Helping Hands passive returns stamina to us with Earthen Heart ability activations. You may want to modify this for a few point sin Tumbling if you’re heavy on PvP. I personally actually put 75 points in Arcanist for the resource node speed boost passive, as I craft on my main character as well.

The Mage:

The Apprentice: Elemental Expert (100), Elfborn (27), Blessed (13)

The Ritual: Thaummaturge (27)

This was the most difficult to distribute, but I’ve found that your damage is more dependent on an effective distribution than healing. So while we have a few points in Blessed most of them are going into what is most relevant for our damage. If you will only be using a few setups from this guide (such as Healer/Tank) redistribute into Blessed accordingly.

Mundus Stone

Realistically, you won’t always have time to switch your Mundus stone, and the setups share in their selection, which is why they’re included here.

Damage/ Healer: Thief - Tank/ PvP: Atronach

Simple choices here: we want to maximize output on the damage/ healer side and resource management on the tank/ PvP side. I ran Apprentice for a very long time but thanks to you theorycrafting folks and my own testing I confirmed Thief is better. I also tested shadow and it’s just very slightly worse with this build, so if you’re like me and care too much about aesthetic choices that people don’t even see it’s a viable option.

<hr />

dAMAGE dEALER

(Link to ESO-Skillfactory page)

[img]http://i.imgur.com/ktFR3r1.png[/img]

Stats, blue Health/Magicka food but otherwise unbuffed.

Welcome to the Damage section! We’ll focus on gear, bars, and general damage play.

Gear

I’ll outline my current setup, what we’d ideally use, and a theoretical setup for next patch as well.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/cllTlF5.png[/img]

5x Law of Julianos: The go-to set for any magicka-focused build, IMO. Twice-Born Star is also an option, but is only better in the perfect scenario, and these builds are designed explicitly for folks who won’t be in that perfect scenario. Julianos is a more direct buff to our stats, is easily transferable to other setups, and is more easily accessible to boot!

2x Valkyn Skoria/ Molag Kena:

If you want to maximize your damage, Molag Kena is likely the better set here. However, I haven’t tested it myself (it’s been tested extensively by others) and I don’t like the idea of extra resource cost if I’m not being supported on that front. Valkyn Skoria procs enough to be worth it, gives a nice health bump, and fits the fire theme better. Take your pick

3x Willpower:

This set gives 1.5x the normal bonus you receive from sets, and right now the only other jewelry that makes sense is either Moondancer or Infallible Aether, both of which are considerably more difficult to obtain.

Maelstrom/ Random Inferno Staff:

I have yet to complete veteran Maelstrom Arena (I just began my first attempt a few days ago). Very few people will be able to get it in perfect traits, until ZOS decides to finally guarantee a weapon drop from the final chest at a minimum. Until you do, this is unfortunately a dead slot. Likely Torug’s Pact since that is what you should run (along with head and shoulders) if you don’t have good monster set pieces. I do have a rather amusing suggestion, however. The Planar Inhibitor’s lore drop, “The Unbroken”, is a high-drop rate, guaranteed sharpened inferno staff. I have 2 in my inventory for the day I give up on Maelstrom but still want something relatively cool and non-crafted.

A note on my Shadows of the Hist suggestion: most theorycrafters have already come to the conclusion that Sun is not BiS given what is already available to us. That being said, we’re not aiming for BiS necessarily here, and I personally think Sun provides a unique boost to this build by providing both a unique buff and removing procs that other more high-performing builds rely on. I’ll be farming it unless it gets nerfed, and I predict it will be easier to obtain than other, non-Willpower jewelry sets.

Skills

[img]http://i.imgur.com/l9ZYxmg.png[/img]

Bar 1:

Molten Whip: Our main single target attack. Hits for a bunch when all our buffs are up. Empowers nearly every other ability on this bar passively.

Unstable Wall of Elements: Very strong ground AoE DoT, even stronger if you have the Maelstrom weapon. Use the other morph if it’s difficult to keep it up with the shorter duration.

Burning Embers:

Extremely strong single-target DoT that also happens to be a very strong heal. Spam if for some reason you’re at low health.

Engulfing Flames:

Another DoT that boosts all flame damage.

Flames of Oblivion: ANOTHER very strong DoT that also provides our Major Prophecy on this bar.

Standard of Might:

Strongest damage ultimate in the game IMO, especially with all these boosts to its damage up. Best with relatively stationary bosses, for obvious reasons.

Bar 2:

Elemental Ring: Main AoE attack, and additional DoT. I’ve used Burning Talons in lieu of this and may be better, but very resource-heavy. Will do more testing with it.
Draw Essence: Strong AoE and also strong heal with multiple enemies around. Recast whenever the second explosion goes off in trash packs. Spam if you’re hurting.
Eruption: Another strong ground DoT that snares targets. Place on both trash packs and bosses.
Elemental Drain: Usually a healer runs this, but I’ve found it better to free them of that burden as I cast it more reliably as part of the rotation. Provides Major Breach and magicka restore
Molten Armaments: Our long-lasting source of Major Sorcery, and a nice bonus to our heavy attacks if and when we need to restore magicka. Buffs the group with Major Sorcery as well.
Shooting Star: Our emergency ultimate, for when we’re desperate on resources. If there’s a large trash pull, the hits will return much more ultimate to you.

Playstyle

There are both some common and uncommon choices made here, the more uncommon choices made mainly for the sake of sustainability of our damage and ourselves. While getting extra orbs and other assistance from your group is great, 90% of the time, you won’t need it.

AoE/ Trash: Buff up by using Molten Armaments. If you have time, full heavy attack the biggest trash mob just to get the fight started. Make sure at least one mob has Elemental Drain debuff on them at all times, preferably all the larger mobs in the pack. Cast Eruption in the middle, then Draw Essence into the pack and got to town with Elemental Ring, recasting Draw Essence whenever the second explosion goes off (roughly after two Elemental Ring casts). If it’s a particularly beefy trash pull make sure to switch to your main bar to place Engulfing Flames on the trash at least, and Unstable Wall of Elements for an even greater damage boost. I only recommend this if you’re not hurting, though. Stay on your off bar and spam Draw Essence if you’re in trouble. There will rarely ever be a trash pull more complicated than a simple stack and burn, however.

Single Target/ Boss: This is where the feared reputation of a magicka DK comes in. Don’t fear, though, it’s merely a matter of practice. I’ll try to clearly explain what I only truly know as muscle memory at the moment. The general idea is simply to refresh all our DoT’s, buffs and debuffs on cooldown, and weave Molten Whip with medium attacks in the process. The trick is dealing with all the skills we’re using. I’ve found that my non-weaving time is broken up into cycles: (Key: Molten Whip = MW, Unstable Wall of Elements = UWoE, Burning Embers = BE, Engulfing Flames = EF, Flames of Oblivion = FoO, Eruption = Eru, Elemental Drain = ED, Molten Armaments = MA, Medium Attack = Med, Full Heavy Attack = Full)

Cycle 1: UWoE, Med, BE, Med, EF, Med
Cycle 2: UWoE, Med, BE, Med, EF, Med, FoO, Med
Cycle 3: UWoE, Med, BE, Med, EF, Med, (Bar Swap) ED, Med, Eru, (Bar Swap)
Cycle 4: UWoE, Med, BE, Med, EF, Med, FoO, Med, (Bar Swap) MA, Med, ED, Med, Eru, (Bar Swap)

There’s a lot of pre-cooldown refreshing with these cycles, so it’s more of a starting point. You want to get to the point of naturally weaving any skill that’s about to expire instead of your Molten Whip when you need to. I’d recommend a cooldown tracking add-on like Srendarr for this. That being said, thee rotation with the cycles above is as follows:

MA, Full, ED, Med, Eru, (Bar Swap)
FoO, Med, EF, Med, BE, Med, UWoE, Med
(MW, Med) x 5~6, Cycle 3
(MW, Med) x 3~4, Cycle 2
(MW, Med) x 5~6, Cycle 1
(MW, Med) x 4~5, Cycle 4
(MW, Med) x 5~6, Cycle 1
(MW, Med) x 4~5, Cycle 2
Repeat Steps 3-8 until dead

If at any point during the fight you start hurting, don’t forget you can cash in you Burning Embers heal at anytime by recasting it; with this much of a boost to its damage it could very well heal you from zero to full by itself. If it’ll save the run, it’s worth breaking rotation. When a few larger mobs spawn during a fight, continue the rotation exactly as you left it from that boss; if it’s a large trash pack, break entirely and use your AoE setup. It’s a good idea to begin single-target rotation from the start afterward, if you’re unsure of where your cooldowns are at.

Finally, I’ll leave you with some parses. By no means the best you’ll ever see, but just to show viability of top DPS, even with all the sacrifices we’ve made like no Rearming Trap or Inner Light.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/IVvYrqX.png[/img]

DPS test on Slimecraw in normal Wayrest Sewers, using Apprentice mundus stone.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/BPPojak.png[/img]

DPS test on Slimecraw in normal Wayrest Sewers, using Shadow mundus stone.

I seem to have misplaced my Thief test, but output is slightly higher than Shadow. Will update soon.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/5HOluyW.png[/img]

Parse of normal Sanctum Ophidia Mantikora fight, with Apprentice mundus stone. Hit with AoE “popcorn” attack three times, best parse was ~26k with Apprentice (hit once).

[img]http://i.imgur.com/kKk64Uv.png[/img]

Parse of normal Sanctum Ophidia Mantikora fight, Thief mundus stone. Hit once.

<hr />

HEALER

(Link to ESO-Skillfactory page)

[img]http://i.imgur.com/0n4TdlX.png[/img]

Stats, blue Health/Magicka food but otherwise unbuffed.

Welcome to the Healer section! We’ll focus on gear, bars, and general healer play.

GEAR

I’ll outline my current setup, what we’d ideally use, and a theoretical setup for next patch as well.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/CnVifhb.png[/img]

5x Law of Julianos/ Spell Power Cure: Right now I’m using Julianos for the same reason I use it in the damage setup: it just works for Magicka builds. That being said, it’s not the most ideal healer set; we want to support our group. Right now the best option for that is Spell Power Cure, boosting your allies’ spell damage even further.

2x Magnus’ Gift/Trinimac’s Valor:

In lieu of not having the Trinimac set in perfect traits, and the fact that there aren’t any monster sets that truly assist healing (Bogdan is crap, unfortunately). We’ve gone with another crafted set. Since our sustain is of more importance here, I’ve gone with Magnus as opposed to, say, Torug’s Pact. If you DO have Trinimac, by all means use it. It fits well with our constant use of Igneous Shield as a buff to our healing. However, I’ve heard from multiple sources that Trinimac doesn’t proc often enough to be worth it.

3x Willpower/ Trinimac’s Valor:

This set gives 1.5x the normal bonus you receive from sets. Trinimac’s is the only other set with jewelry that makes sense for our build as a healer. Use it if you have it.

Maelstrom/ Magnus’s Gift Inferno and Restoration Staff:

Here’s a unique opportunity to use that otherwise useless Powered Maelstrom inferno staff you may happen across, should you get any Maelstrom weapon at all. That being said, our main healing will actually be coming from Rapid Regeneration, so having the Maelstrom restoration staff would be a great bonus.

A note on my Shadows of the Hist suggestion: I’ve recommended Healer because it is being scaled up to CP 160 along with many other sets in this patch, and will grant us a base Minor Vitality that we don’t need to constantly heavy attack for. That being said, it may not be worth it in it’s new form, having originally given a flat 8% healing that would stack with other buffs. Since you’d likely desire an Amberplasm set for PvP, it may also be a viable option.

SKILLS

[img]http://i.imgur.com/yaH6CRC.png[/img]

Bar 1:

Igneous Shield: Our secret weapon as a DK healer. Keep this up on cooldown along with Rapid Regeneration, and it’ll do 90% of the work for you thanks to both the Major Vitality and protecting your group’s health while you top them up.

Combat Prayer: IMO a must have buff and burst heal for any healer. Use on cooldown.

Healing Ward:

Your primary “Oh ****” button. Use this to save someone whenever they get hit hard. If you need to, immediately Combat Prayer.

Rapid Regeneration:

Our main HoT, constantly topping your group up thanks to the plethora of shields.

Inner Light: Our source of Major Prophecy and also more Magicka. DKs have Cauterize as the opposing morph to Flames of Oblivion, but the heal is both weaker than the fireball of FoO and is also completely random. Especially since we will also deal damage, it’s not worth it. If you want to add additional damage to an ailing group however, Flames of Oblivion IS worth slotting over Inner Light, here.

Magma Shell:

Your super “Oh ****” button. Makes you functionally invincible and grants a full health damage shield to everyone else if they’re close enough. Run in and pop if everyone is about to die, or use it to save yourself as you resurrect someone.

Bar 2:

Mystic Orb: Healers aren’t just healers; they’re supports, both in sustain and damage. This will provide both, particularly for your other magicka users in the group.
Burning Embers: A constant flame damage tick that’s strong enough to keep on enemies even as non-damage.
Elemental Drain: If you were confused as to why healers run with inferno staves in their back pocket, this is why. While we keep it up on our damage setup the vast majority of groups don’t run with it if the healer doesn’t. This combined with the Burning Embers ticks helps our own sustain as well.
Molten Armaments: Same as the damage use, a buff to our spell damage and heavy attacks. And in the healer spec, we will be doing A LOT of heavy attacking, so very useful all in all.
Inner Light: See Bar 1, same purpose, same suggestions.
Aggressive Warhorn: Get used to casting this on cooldown. A boost to both the resources of your group and their critical strike damage. Use this whenever your ultimate is ready and your team isn’t literally about to keel over in unison.

PLAYSTYLE

Not much to explain here because it’s mostly typical healer job, but if you main a damage role and don’t often heal it’s important you take these ideas into consideration.

Your first priority is always healing, but DKs do it in a way where we can afford to make it not an immediate priority. You don’t wait for your group to reach low health then blast them with heals; you instead just give them massive recovery. Always, always, ALWAYS keep Rapid regeneration up, the heal is stronger than you may give a HoT credit for. Consistently activate Igneous Shield on cooldown, cast Combat Prayer to boost group damage (remember it’s a cone, so practice your aim), and pop a Healing Ward on anyone who suddenly gets hit hard. Easy enough.

Which is why healers aren’t just healers anymore. If done right, healing, especially in a 4-person setting, is easy. Its being useful that’s hard, which is where the second bar comes in. You should be consistently casting Elemental Drain on any large targets, and keeping Molten Armaments up (which is easy with such a long duration). Whenever it doens’t risk your survival or messing up mechanics, place Burning Embers on large trash mobs or bosses, and go to town with full heavy attacks. Yes, you should be doing damage just like the others. Use mystic orb every 10 to 15 seconds as your group needs the synergy, especially in large trash pulls where the synergy is more effective and most people have greater difficulty sustaining. If everything goes right, you should actually be spending most of your time NOT on your healing bar; moving Igneous Shield to your inferno staff bar may actually make more sense in this context. Just make sure you can instantly switch to healing at even before a moment’s notice. Not having an easy group burst heal is both a blessing and a curse. It makes your life more difficult than sitting and spamming one button, but in making it work you will actually be a better healer for it. Have fun with it

A note on trials: I have healed everything except trials and DSA with this setup. The only issue I can foresee is precisely what makes this build so fun and preparatory for being a good healer: not having a strong burst heal. The answer to this is theoretically slotting Healing Springs so you can at least spam another HoT and aim it on a larger group more easily. To this end you’d have to sacrifice Burning Embers or Mystic Orb; Burning Embers would be the first choice. It’s also impossible to run Siphon Spirit without sacrificing another key component of your skill setup, but you’ll always have 2 healers so that is less of an issue.

<hr />

Tank

(Link to ESO-Skillfactory page)

[img]http://i.imgur.com/m5xtaC4.png[/img]

Stats, purple Health/Magicka/Stamina food but otherwise unbuffed.

Welcome to the Tank section! We’ll focus on gear, bars, and general tank play. Before we continue, though, you may be thinking: how the **** are we going to tank in light armor??? To show you it can be done, check out our buffed stats:

[img]http://i.imgur.com/tyd1FIW.png[/img]

Stats, purple Health/Magicka/Stamina food, Volatile Armor, Dampen Magic + Armor Master, and Molten Armaments. Not shown: ~26k total damage shield.

Now, time to see how we get there!

GEAR

I’ll outline my current setup, what we’d ideally use, and a theoretical setup for next patch as well.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/P8jTyrA.png[/img]

5x Armor Master: The only reason we’re able to tank in light armor. The 5-piece resistance buff stacks with the major and minor resistance buffs. Also provides bonuses to our health, which we’re missing without the heavy armor.

4x Death’s Wind:

Needed a 4-piece which serves to boost our physical resistance on the 2-piece and confer useful bonuses otherwise (the 2 piece being major should we ever switch to a monster set). Other viable options here are Alessia’s Bulwark if you feel like you must be at capped resistances and Spectre’s Eye if you need a few extra resources (max magicka). Why no Blood Spawn? It is an option and I used to use it, but the set procced so infrequently that they were essentially two dead slots. If you find yourself with resource issues, Engine Guardian would be a better choice. Otherwise Lord Warden would be the only set I recommend.

3x Transmutation:

The 2- and 3-piece bonus confer magicka recovery, perfect for us since we need that more than stamina recovery with this build. Combined with our recovery enchants, we’re getting nearly +1000 magicka regen compared to our damage and healer setups with these jewelry. You can attempt to obtain god if you wish, but I’m currently using a purple neck and blue rings and it’s both much cheaper and equally effective.

<b>Bonus:</b> We don’t need to worry about stupid Maelstrom weapons!

A note on my Shadows of the Hist suggestion: I don’t think that the next DLC has much to offer to this build. There is the possibility of the new Footman now that it’s scaled up to CP 160, but then we will miss out on some much needed magicka regen. Using the new resistance monster set may also be helpful as a 1-piece, but Volatile Armor isn’t enough of a burden on us to warrant using 2 pieces. I’ll let you all decide on that.

SKILLS

[img]http://i.imgur.com/Obf40Tz.png[/img]

Bar 1:

Inner Rage: Our only taunt. Pierce Armor is redundant and while we’re missing out on one of the few sources of Major Fracture, we can switch to it if your group primarily consists of Stamina users. But by default I beliece having a ranged, Magicka taunt is more important.

Heroic Slash: By default our only Stamina (and 1H/S) ability, important to conserve stamina for blocking. The bonus to Ultimate generation and the Maim debuff it provides are too good to pass up, though. Use on cooldown.

Burning Embers:

While it’s probably a smarter idea to use Coagulating Blood here, Burning Embers is a much stronger base heal and adds to group damage. Switch it out if you’re in a ranged fight, however.

Igneous Shield:

An additional boost to our damage shields along with Dampen Magic, but primarily our source of Stamina through the Helping Hands passive. Use on cooldown or whenever you need to spam Burning Embers for a heal.

Dampen Magic: This is how we proc our Armor Master buff, granting us a boatload of resistance and bringing us to heavy armor levels of resistance in light armor. Most tanks that use Armor Master use Shuffle as their skill here, but relying on chance is a bad idea for this build. On top of that, it eats a big chunk from your stamina pool, and we want to conserve this for blocking. The near full-health damage shield this confers will easily protect us form those hits we want to dodge anyway. This, on top of our resistances underneath our shield, grants a huge boon to our survival.

Magma Shell:

Bar 2:

Burning Talons: Very strong DoT that immobilizes targets. Use especially on larger mobs and larger trash pulls.
Eruption: A strong AoE DoT that also snares enemies.
Molten Armaments: Same as the damage use, a buff to our group’s spell damage and our own heavy attacks. You will use heavy attacks but very infrequently, this is mostly here as group utility. Unrelenting Grip is an excellent replacement if MA isn’t needed; Draw Essence is also an option for greater survivability.
Volatile Armor: Our source of the major resistance buffs, and a nice little bit of extra damage on top of it. The other morph is an option but the damage shield isn’t long or strong enough to be useful. Activate on cooldown.
Dampen Magic: See Bar 1, same purpose, same suggestions We need it on both bars to maintain our health bonus. If you’re feeling gutsy, remove it from this bar and replace with a utility skill of your choice.
Standard of Might: I’ve elected for Standard of Might here primarily for the 20% mitigation it grants you; it’s the closest thing we have to a Nova or Veil of Blades. Use this when your group isn’t hurting; extra damage never hurts! Replace with Aggressive Warhorn for groups that know what they’re doing.

PLAYSTYLE

While tanking isn’t exactly rocket science, our decision to be in light armor puts us in an interesting position. On the one hand, the light armor provides us with resource management advantages that would be impossible in heavy armor were it not for the Constitution passive, along with a massive damage shield thanks to Dampen Magic. On the other hand, we need to make strong use of those resources to make sure we maintain all the buffs that make this possible. Drop one, and you may as well not block a 1-shot hit for all the help it will do you.

Our priority, then, is to make sure these buffs are up 100% of the time. Volatile Armor has a duration of 20 seconds, the Armor Master proc has a duration of 10 seconds, and our main tanking skills (Inner Rage, Heroic Slash and Burning Embers) have durations of roughly 15, 12, and 10 seconds respectively. If using Molten Armaments, it has a duration of roughly 40 seconds. So, generally your skill use will be:

Cycle 1 (Every 10 Seconds): Dampen Magic, Burning Embers, Heroic Slash, Inner Rage
Cycle 2 (Every 20 Seconds): Volatile Armor, Cycle 1 Skills
Cycle 3 (Every 40 Seconds): Molten Armaments, Cycle 2 Skills

Otherwise, you should be light attacking every few seconds to proc your enchant and ultimate gain, and blocking otherwise. Place Eruption wherever the boss or mobs may be for extra DoT, and make sure you’re using Burning Talons on any mobs to keep them from getting to the rest of the group.Always taunt what you can, especially if it’s on your healer or damage. Focus the big guys on your first pull. One last tip: as DKs our sustain comes from ultimate use; unless you’re in a full PUG and want to make sure you don’t collapse when the rest of your team does, don’t hesitate to use your ultimate whenever you have them If you do happen to be suffering from sustain issues with this build, that’s your solution.

A note on trials: I have tanked everything except trials and DSA with this setup. I haven’t addressed the lack of chains in the default setup yet mainly because it’s not strictly necessary for non-trial runs. I currently use the Empowering Chains morph as a gap-closer for PvP, but given the near necessity for Unrelenting Grip for trials, and the fact that any solution Empowering Chains can solve is also solved by Grip or just waiting to be attacked, will force my hand if I want to test this build outside of 4-man content. Otherwise the only change I would consider is changing a jewelry enchant to physical resistance, just to make sure we are always fully capped on resistances when buffed.

<hr />

PvP

(Link to ESO-Skillfactory page)

This section will be lacking for a while, as I don’t enter Cyrodiil very much simply because I’m not compelled to often enough (not even regarding the cheating issue). On top of this, magicka DK is notoriously difficult in PvP at the moment. In the meantime I will refer you to what I’ve been using in groups with varying success, until such time as I can flesh this section out with a proper build. In that regard, Sypher has recently released a magicka DK build (granted, also using vampire and heavy armor) that looks promising, and I encourage those of you interested to check him out. I will likely be using his setup as a base to adapt it to our build here. This has been very successful for me in duels; don’t expect to 1vX with it, though.

GEAR

I’ll outline my current setup, what we’d ideally use, and a theoretical setup for next patch as well.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/LHkH9hW.png[/img]

5x Kagrenac’s Hope: This is the only section where I will be ignoring my current setup; it is there for completeness, but it’s abundantly clear it is not up to par for a PvP setting. Kagrenac’s Hope is the perfect magicka support (which you will often be) in PvP; it’s also just a great set for both our sustain and damage. Since everyone stack Impenetrable on their armor the critical chance from Julianos is redundant.

3x Magnus’ Gift:

Simple source of resources. Not much else to be said.

3x Willpower:

This set gives 1.5x the normal bonus you receive from sets. If you feel (as I do) that more resources are needed to make this viable, use the Transmutation jewelry from the tanking setup.

<b>Bonus:</b> We don’t need to worry about stupid Maelstrom weapons. Unless you have them. If you do, dear god USE THEM!

A note on my Shadows of the Hist suggestion: With the caveat that I haven’t been able to test on the PTS recently, I believe Amberplasm may be the secret key to unlock Magicka DK PvP without the use of vampirism or heavy armor. In fact, I’m not sure there is much use in pushing the issue until the next DLC is released and the set is thoroughly tested. Use either Kena or Maelstrom weapons, whichever fits the pieces you own.

SKILLS

Again, massive disclaimer that this is highly subject to change, and may not be as strong as you’d want it to be.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/cgvfwZk.png[/img]

Bar 1:

Molten Whip: Our main attack. Either this morph or Flame Lash would work depending on how its used. Note that while Molten Whip doesn’t heal you, a) you need Molten Whip for every other PvE situation and b) Molten Whip strengthens Burning Embers, which does heal you.

Empowering Chains: We need a way to get to the enemy quickly, given we rely so heavily on Burning Embers. This is why we don’t use Unrelenting Grip normally on our tank setup; this is a guaranteed gap closer which also grants Major Empower for your next attack.

Burning Embers:

Dragon Blood is a poor excuse of a heal in PvP. Even with Battle Spirit debuffs, however, Burning Embers can easily heal for half your health. The DoT also keeps your enemy on their toes. THis is your greatest weapon; try your best to be in a position to use it (difficult due to its melee range).

Dampen Magic:

A no-brainer if we insist on wearing light armor. Even with the Battle Spirit debuff it still grants a sizeable shield, and we need all the extra resistance to the Wrecking Blow-spamming and 1-shot wonder bow users out there.

Dragon Fire Scale: Another no-brainer, we can’t pass up the opportunity to mitigate roughly a little less than half the damage in the game. Unfortunately the good players know this, so it doesn’t quite work out that way.

Shooting Star:

The only ultimate we have access to that serves as a direct attack on someone, and what an attack it is if it hits. If people weren’t intelligent or able to easily CC break and roll dodge for days, Standard of Might would be an option, but alas. Besides, the last thing we want people to do is move away from us.

Bar 2:

Obsidian Shard: A useful CC that also heals you; extra healing is never bad. Another option I used previously (better in 1v1’s) is Fossilize for the additional root after the CC breaks.
Burning Talons: Very strong DoT that immobilizes targets. Get around them when you get them and go to town.
Combat Prayer: Our burst heal and buff when we can’t get near the enemy, but more useful as a buff to a group. Healing Ward may be a smarter option here.
Igneous Shield: Another shield. While a pittance in Cyrodiil thanks to Battle Spirit, nothing changes with its Major Vitality buff. Use it before Combat Prayer or Burning Embers reset.
Molten Armaments: Buff to our spell damage. Given getting a heavy attack off in PvP is very difficult, Structured Entropy is likely a better choice. When you can get a heavy attack off, though, it’s great damage. Take your pick.
Magma Shell: Your super “Oh ****” button. Makes you functionally invincible and grants a full health damage shield to everyone else if they’re close enough. While not a common choice this may mean the difference between dying and escaping a zerg if you can chain your way through enemies.

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Thank you all for reading this admittedly freakishly large post! I’ll be updating this as regularly as I can, as I don’t see myself letting o of the dragon fire any time soon. Especially given that the more CP’s get unlocked, the more viable this will become.

Ouroboros – The Do-Anything, Anytime MAgicka Dragonknight

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