Dragonknight Subclassing DPS PvE Build ESO
Build Written By: Dottz Gaming – PC NA
Role: Damage Dealer
Patch: Season of the Worm Cult (Update 46)
Table of Contents
Introduction
Welcome to Dottzgaming.com’s ESO Dragonknight Subclassing Build for PvE DPS! This build is intended for Trials, Dungeons and general PvE content.
This Dragonknight subclassing build focuses on maximizing damage by combining offensive skills from Nightblade (Assassination), Dragonknight (Ardent Flame), and Necromancer (Grave Lord). Nightblade delivers strong single-target burst, Dragonknight adds powerful dots and AoE, and Necromancer brings high-damage abilities and passives that boost overall output. All three classes are used for their offensive potential, making this build a solid choice for PvE players focused on clearing group content quickly and efficiently.
Setup
Gear
| Dragonknight PvE Build – Best Overall Setup | |||||
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchant | Acquisition |
| Head | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Crafted |
| Shoulders | Slimecraw | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Undaunted Chest |
| Gloves | Ansuul’s Torment | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Vet Sanity’s Edge |
| Legs | Ansuul’s Torment | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Vet Sanity’s Edge |
| Chest | Ansuul’s Torment | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Vet Sanity’s Edge |
| Belt | Ansuul’s Torment | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Vet Sanity’s Edge |
| Boots | Ansuul’s Torment | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Vet Sanity’s Edge |
| Necklace | Velothi Ur-Mage’s Amulet | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Weapon/Spell Damage | Antiquities |
| Ring | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Weapon/Spell Damage | Crafted |
| Ring | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Weapon/Spell Damage | Crafted |
| Weapon 1 | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Dagger | Nirnhoned | Poison | Crafted |
| Off-Hand 1 | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Dagger | Charged | Flame | Crafted |
| Weapon 2 | Merciless Charge | 2h Sword | Infused | Berserker | Vet Maelstrom Arena |
| Dragonknight PvE Build – Beginner Setup | |||||
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchant | Acquisition |
| Head | Selene | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Vet Selene’s Web |
| Shoulders | Selene | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Undaunted Chest |
| Gloves | Order’s Wrath | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Crafted |
| Legs | Order’s Wrath | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Crafted |
| Chest | Order’s Wrath | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Crafted |
| Belt | Order’s Wrath | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Crafted |
| Boots | Order’s Wrath | Medium | Divines | Stamina | Crafted |
| Necklace | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Weapon/Spell Damage | Crafted |
| Ring | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Weapon/Spell Damage | Crafted |
| Ring | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Weapon/Spell Damage | Crafted |
| Weapon 1 | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Dagger | Nirnhoned | Poison | Crafted |
| Off-Hand 1 | Tide-Born Wildstalker | Dagger | Charged | Flame | Crafted |
| Weapon 2 | Tide-Born Wildstalker | 2h Sword | Infused | Berserker | Crafted |
Attributes
All in stamina!
Skills
Main bar – Dual Wield: Molten Whip, Blighted Blastbones, Merciless Resolve, Detonating Siphon, Killer’s Blade, Incapacitating Strike
Back bar – Two Handed: Stampede, Venomous Claw, Skeletal Archer, Noxious Breath, Flames of Oblivion, Standard of Might
Champion Points
The list below showcases the slottable CP stars you should be taking. The Warfare CP perks increase your damage and mitigation and are the most important, the Fitness tree has some miscellaneous sustain and defensive perks and the Craft tree has crafting and non-combat bonuses. The Craft CP points are entirely customizable to however you want.
CHAMPION POINT SETUP
WARFARE (BLUE)
- Master-at-Arms – Increased direct damage
- Wrathful Strikes – Increased weapon/spell Damage on abilities
- Exploiter – Increased damage against off-balance enemies
- Deadly Aim – Increased damage with single target attacks
FITNESS (RED)
- Boundless Vitality – Increased health
- Rejuvenation – Increased health/magicka/stamina recovery
- Bloody Renewal – Restores Stamina on enemy kill
- Fortified – Increased Armor
Other Important Info
Buff Food
- Braised Rabbit with Spring Vegetables: Increase Health and Stamina
- Recommended food for the build
- Artaeum Takeaway Broth: Increase Max Health, Health Recovery, Max Stamina & Stamina Recovery
- Good if you feel you need more sustain. Dubious Camoran Throne is the budget version of this food.
Mundus
Thief – Increases Critical Chance
Race
- Dark Elf (recommended)
- Khajiit
- Orc
- High Elf
Potions/Poisons
Essence of Health (Restore Health, Magicka and Stamina)
Bugloss, Columbine and Mountain Flower
Passives
Class (all), Racial (all), Dual Wield (All), Two-Handed (All), Medium Armor (All), Alchemy (Medicinal Use), Undaunted (All)
Resource Management & Rotation
- The best way to play this build is with a dynamic rotation, applying all buffs / debuffs / DoTs and then re-applying them right before they expire. If none of those things need to be done, use Molten Whip or Merciless Resolve.
- Molten Whip is best used at 3 stacks, and Merciless Resolve is best used at 10 stacks.
- Your ‘spammable’ will be Molten Whip (ie. what you use if none of the above conditions are met) until the target hits ~33% HP, then you switch it to Killer’s Blade in the rotation.
- As the target gets lower and lower, you can even stop using Molten Whip and Merciless Resolve and keep the stacks to buff up Killer’s Blade’s damage.
- Look to cast your ultimate on cooldown during each fight to maximize your damage. You should be using Incapacitating Strike in Single Target situations, and Standard of Might in AoE situations.
- Activate your potions on cooldown, this will ensure you have zero sustain issues, and you will have high uptimes on your recovery buffs!
Contact
If you have any questions about the build, join our discord server and ask @Dottz about the build!
Update Log
- 5/8/2025 – Build created
- 6/5/2025 – Build updated for Season of the Worm
