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ESO Dragonknight Leveling Build

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ESO Builds Leveling

ESO Dragonknight Leveling Build

Build Written By: Dottz Gaming – PC NA

Role: Damage Dealer, Tank, and/or Healer

Patch: Scions of Ithelia

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Setups
    1. Magicka DPS
    2. Stamina DPS
    3. Tank
    4. Healer
  3. Contact Info

Introduction

Welcome to DottzGaming.com’s Dragon Knight Leveling Build for the Elder Scrolls Online! This build is intended to act as a framework for someone to follow while leveling a Dragon Knight, whether it be a magicka damage dealer, a stamina damage dealer, a tank or a healer.  This is not a traditional “leveling build”, but rather a framework that shows you some of the most commonly used setups for each role.  This enables you to pick and choose from a list and mix and match how you like, thus preventing you from feeling like you have a static leveling progression! You will be able to experiment with different abilities as you level up, and come end game, you’ll not only have a lot (if not all) of the most commonly used abilities leveled up and morphed, but you’ll know which of these you like the most and works best for you.

DKs make a great first character for new players due to the fact that they are the tankiest class in the game, and new players can utilize that tankiness out in their adventures helping them stay alive through tough quests.

For those of you who are very new, DKs are exactly what they sound like: Knights with Draconic powers  They are the best tanks in the game, boasting an amazing arsenal of tools at their disposal when playing a tank. They can though still perform in the dps and healer roles, though, so do not think you’re forced into playing a tank when you choose the DK.

Once you are level 50, you become CP 10 and will be able to use the Champion Point system. For basics on the CP system, click here.

For the some extra explanation on the guide’s format, please check the above video.

Setup

Magicka DPS

RACE

  • High Elf
  • Breton
  • Dark Elf
  • Khajiit

GEAR

  • 5 light
  • 1 medium
  • 1 heavy
  • Destruction Staffs (Front/Back Bar) OR Destruction Staff/Restoration Staff (for PvP)

    • NOTE: If PvP will be your main focus, you can use a 5 heavy, 1 med, 1 light setup as well, but keep in mind you will have lower dmg.
    • Note: The gear weight spread is a recommendation, not a strict rule for leveling. If you get better pieces as you level, feel free to replace them (just try to have more of the main gear weigh than the others)!

ATTRIBUTES

All in magicka

VAMPIRE vs WEREWOLF vs MORTAL

Mortal: Remain a mortal. Neither vampire nor werewolf will give you anything you need as you’re leveling.

MUNDUS

Thief

POTIONS AND FOOD

Potions: Magicka

Food: Not mandatory, but if you can find some, try to get stuff that increases either your health, magicka, and/or magicka recovery.

ABILITIES

You want to do your best to have 1 ability from each class tree on both your front and back bar. When you gain experience, whether it be from killing monsters or quests, the abilities on your active bar are the ones that gain experience as well as their respective skill lines. Another cool trick is if you have abilities on a skill bar you want to level up, you can switch to that bar when handing in a quest or completing a dungeon to give them and their skill lines a surge of experience. You’re going to notice i frequently recommend the first skill of a skill tree as a choice, just to obviously help you start getting that skill line leveled. If you want to level another weapon or skill tree without using that weapon or skill, simply placing a skill from that tree on your ability bar helps it gain experience when you gain experience on that bar. You dont have to use it!

Abilities

  • Ardent Flame -> Lava Whip -> Either Morph
  • Ardent Flame -> Searing Strike -> Burning Embers
  • Ardent Flame -> Fiery Breath -> Engulfing Flames
  • Ardent Flame -> Inferno -> Flames of Oblivion for PvE, Cauterize for PvP
  • Draconic Power -> Spiked Armor -> Volatile Armor
  • Earthen Heart -> Stonefist -> Obsidian Shard
  • Earthen Heart -> Molten Weapons -> Molten Armaments
  • Mage’s Guild -> Entropy -> Degeneration
  • Fighter’s Guild -> Trap Beast -> Barbed Trap
  • Light Armor -> Annulment -> Harness Magicka
  • Destruction Staff -> Force Shock -> Force Pulse
  • Destruction Staff -> Wall of Elements -> Elemental Blockade
  • Destruction Staff -> Weakness to Elements -> Elemental Drain
  • Psijic Order -> Accelerate -> Channeled Acceleration for PvE, Race Against Time for PvP

If you want to PvP in the future, I would also recommend getting these abilities:

  • Draconic Power -> Dragons Blood -> Coagulating Blood
  • Draconic Power -> Reflective Scale -> Protective Plate
    • Also really good for solo instances like vMA.
  • Earthen Heart -> Petrify -> Fossilize

Ultimates

  • Ardent Flame -> Dragon Knight Standard -> Standard of Might
  • Draconic Power -> Dragon Leap -> Ferocious Leap
  • Destruction Staff -> Elemental Storm -> Elemental Rage
  • Mage’s Guild -> Meteor -> Shooting Star
  • Earthen Heart -> Magma Armor -> Corrosive Armor

PASSIVES

  • Ardent Flame
  • Draconic Power
  • Earthen Heart
  • Racial
  • Light Armor
    • OR all heavy armor if armor choice for pvp
  • Destruction Staff
    • Optional: 1h/Shield passives for pvp
  • Alchemy – Medicinal Use
  • Mages Guild
  • Fighter’s Guild
  • Undaunted
  • Psijic Order
  • The other armor type passives

ROTATION

  1. Try to use any abilities that give you a buff first so they make any abilities you use afterwards stronger or help you stay alive longer.
  2. You optimally want to use any dots in your build first, so use each dot you have on your enemies weaving a light attack in between each of them
  3. You should have 1 spammable ability in your build to use when all your dots are up and you dont need to buff yourself. In this case, that would be Flame Lash!
  4. Use any CC, shields and heals as needed. You want to optimally make sure you have a few of these at your disposal when making a build for general playing.

SETS

While making gear for leveling is not mandatory, some people like to make gear for alts or have gear made when created a new character! These are some good crafted options you can create (I recommend the “Training” trait for all pieces):

Stamina DPS

RACE

  • Redguard
  • Khajiit
  • Wood Elf
  • Orc
  • Dark Elf

GEAR

  • 1 light
  • 5 medium
  • 1 heavy
  • Dual Wield / Bow
    • If your main focus is to PvP eventually, use a 2h instead of dual wielding, and even have the option to try 1h/shield.
    • You may want to use a 5 heavy, 1 med, 1 light setup if you plan to PvP. Heavy allows you to be tankier at the sacrifice of some damage, while medium pumps out higher damage at the cost of survivability. 
    • Note: The gear weight spread is a recommendation, not a strict rule for leveling. If you get better pieces as you level, feel free to replace them (just try to have more of the main gear weigh than the others)!

ATTRIBUTES

All in stamina

VAMPIRE vs WEREWOLF vs MORTAL

  • Werewolf: Worth choosing if you’re going to be making a PvP focused werewolf build, or if your PvP build only needs 1 ultimate (you can then backbar the ult for the extra stamina recovery).
  • Vampirism: Doesnt give that much benefit for stamina DPS outside of niche situations.
  • Mortal: Choose this if you don’t want to be a werewolf.

MUNDUS

Thief

POTIONS AND FOOD

Potions: Stamina

Food: Not mandatory, but if you can find some, try to get stuff that increases either your health, stamina, and/or stamina recovery.

ABILITIES

You want to do your best to have 1 ability from each class tree on both your front and back bar. When you gain experience, whether it be from killing monsters or quests, the abilities on your active bar are the ones that gain experience as well as their respective skill lines. Another cool trick is if you have abilities on a skill bar you want to level up, you can switch to that bar when handing in a quest or completing a dungeon to give them and their skill lines a surge of experience. You’re going to notice i frequently recommend the first skill of a skill tree as a choice, just to obviously help you start getting that skill line leveled. If you want to level another weapon or skill tree without using that weapon or skill, simply placing a skill from that tree on your ability bar helps it gain experience when you gain experience on that bar. You dont have to use it!

Abilities

  • Ardent Flame -> Lava Whip -> Molten Whip
  • Ardent Flame -> Searing Strike -> Venomous Claw
  • Ardent Flame -> Fiery Breath -> Noxious Breath
  • Ardent Flame -> Inferno -> Flames of Oblivion
  • Draconic Power -> Spiked Armor -> Either Morph
  • Draconic Power -> Dragon Blood -> Green Dragon Blood
  • Earthen Heart -> Stonefist -> Stone Giant
  • Earthen Heart -> Molten Weapons -> Igneous Weapons
  • Fighter’s Guild -> Trap Beast -> Barbed Trap
  • Medium Armor -> Evasion -> Either Morph
  • Bow -> Poison Arrow -> Poison Injection
  • Bow -> Volley -> Endless Hail
  • Dual Wield -> Twin Slashes -> Either Morph
  • Dual Wield -> Whirlwind -> Either Morph
  • Dual Wield -> Blade Cloak -> Either Morph
  • Assault -> Vigor -> Resolving Vigor
  • Additional ability options for PVP include:
    • Draconic Power -> Reflective Scale -> Reflective Plate
    • Earthen Heart -> Petrify -> Fossilize
    • Earthen Heart -> Obsidian Shield -> Fragmented Shield
    • Two Handed -> Uppercut -> Dizzying Swing
    • Two Handed -> Reverse Slash -> Either Morph
    • Two Handed -> Momentum -> Either Morph

Ultimates

  • Fighter’s Guild -> Dawnbreaker -> Flawless Dawnbreaker
  • Ardent Flame -> Dragon Knight Standard -> Standard of Might
  • Good Ultimates for PvP:
    • Draconic Power -> Dragon Leap -> Take Flight
    • Earthen Heart -> Magma Armor -> Corrosive Armor
    • Two Handed -> Berserker Strike -> Onslaught

PASSIVES

  • Ardent Flame
  • Draconic Power
  • Earthen Heart
  • Racial
  • Medium Armor
    • Possibly heavy armor if you choose it for pvp
  • Dual Wield
    • Or 2h if you plan on going the pvp route
  • Bow
  • Alchemy – Medicinal Use
  • Fighters Guild
  • Undaunted
  • Psijic Order
  • The other armor type passives

ROTATION

  1. Try to use any abilities that give you a buff first so they make any abilities you use afterwards stronger or help you stay alive longer.
  2. You optimally want to use any dots or aoe in your build first, so use each dot you have on your enemies weaving a light attack in between each of them
  3. You should have 1 spammable ability in your build to use when all your dots are up and you dont need to buff yourself. If you don’t want a spammable skill, heavy attacks will be your spammable.
  4. Use any CC, shields and heals as needed. You want to optimally make sure you have a few of these at your disposal when making a build for general playing.

While making gear for leveling is not mandatory, some people like to make gear for alts or have gear made when created a new character! These are some good crafted options you can create (I recommend the “Training” trait for all pieces):

Tank

RACE

  • Argonian
  • Imperial
  • Nord

GEAR

  • 1 light
  • 1 medium
  • 5 heavy
  • 1h/shield (both bars) OR 1h shield/Destruction Staff (lightning/ice)
    • Note: The gear weight spread is a recommendation, not a strict rule for leveling. If you get better pieces as you level, feel free to replace them (just try to have more of the main gear weigh than the others)!

ATTRIBUTES

Magicka: 15
Health: 28
Stamina: 21

VAMPIRE vs WEREWOLF vs MORTAL

Mortal: Vampire/Werewolf dont give us a whole lot of benefits for this role, so we just remain mortal.

MUNDUS

Lord or Atronach

POTIONS AND FOOD

Potions: Health

Food: Not mandatory, but if you can find some, try to get stuff that increases either your attributes or give you recovery

ABILITIES

You want to do your best to have 1 ability from each class tree on both your front and back bar. When you gain experience, whether it be from killing monsters or quests, the abilities on your active bar are the ones that gain experience as well as their respective skill lines. Another cool trick is if you have abilities on a skill bar you want to level up, you can switch to that bar when handing in a quest or completing a dungeon to give them and their skill lines a surge of experience. You’re going to notice i frequently recommend the first skill of a skill tree as a choice, just to obviously help you start getting that skill line leveled. If you want to level another weapon or skill tree without using that weapon or skill, simply placing a skill from that tree on your ability bar helps it gain experience when you gain experience on that bar. You dont have to use it!

Abilities

  • Ardent Flame -> Lava Whip -> Flame Lash
  • Ardent Flame -> Firey Grip -> Unrelenting Grip
  • Ardent Flame -> Firey Breath -> Noxious Breath
  • Draconic Power -> Spiked Armor -> Hardened Armor
  • Draconic Power -> Dark Talons -> Choking Talons
  • Draconic Power -> Dragon Blood -> Green Dragon Blood
  • Draconic Power -> Inhale -> Deep Breath
  • Earthen Heart -> Stonefist -> Either Morph
  • Earthen Heart -> Molten Weapons -> Igneous Weapons
  • Earthen Heart -> Obsidian Shield -> Igneous Shield
  • 1h/Shield -> Puncture -> Pierce Armor
  • 1h/Shield -> Low Slash -> Heroic Slash
  • 1h/Shield -> Defensive Posture -> Absorb Magic
  • Destruction Staff -> Force Shock -> Crushing Shock
  • Destruction Staff -> Wall of Elements -> Elemental Blockade
  • Undaunted -> Inner Fire -> Inner Rage
  • Undaunted -> Bone Shield -> Bone Surge
  • Undaunted -> Blood Altar -> Overflowing Altar

Ultimates

  • 1h/Shield -> Shield Wall -> Shield Discipline
  • Earthen Heart -> Magma Armor -> Magma Shell
  • Assault -> War Horn -> Aggressive Horn
  • Ardent Flame -> Dragon Knight Standard -> Standard of Might

PASSIVES

  • Ardent Flame
  • Draconic Power
  • Earthen Heart
  • Racial
  • Heavy Armor
  • 1h/Shield
    • Optional: Destruction Staff
  • Alchemy – Medicinal Use
  • Fighter’s Guild IF you use fighters guild abilities
  • Undaunted
  • The other armor type passives

ROTATION

Tanks dont have set rotations like DPS, use things in your kit as you need them.

SETS

While making gear for leveling is not mandatory, some people like to make gear for alts or have gear made when created a new character! These are some good crafted options you can create (I recommend the “Training” trait for all pieces):

Healer

RACE

  • Breton
  • Argonian
  • Khajiit

GEAR

  • 5 light
  • 1 medium
  • 1 heavy
  • Destruction Staff (Shock) and Restoration Staff
    • Note: The gear weight spread is a recommendation, not a strict rule for leveling. If you get better pieces as you level, feel free to replace them (just try to have more of the main gear weigh than the others)!

ATTRIBUTES

All in magicka

VAMPIRE vs WEREWOLF vs MORTAL

Mortal: Vampire/Werewolf dont give us a whole lot of benefits for this role, so we just remain mortal.

MUNDUS

Atronach

POTIONS AND FOOD

Potions: Magicka

Food: Not mandatory, but if you can find some, try to get stuff that increases either your health, magicka, and/or magicka recovery.

ABILITIES

You want to do your best to have 1 ability from each class tree on both your front and back bar. When you gain experience, whether it be from killing monsters or quests, the abilities on your active bar are the ones that gain experience as well as their respective skill lines. Another cool trick is if you have abilities on a skill bar you want to level up, you can switch to that bar when handing in a quest or completing a dungeon to give them and their skill lines a surge of experience. You’re going to notice i frequently recommend the first skill of a skill tree as a choice, just to obviously help you start getting that skill line leveled. If you want to level another weapon or skill tree without using that weapon or skill, simply placing a skill from that tree on your ability bar helps it gain experience when you gain experience on that bar. You dont have to use it!

Abilities

  • Ardent Flame -> Lava Whip -> Flame Lash
  • Ardent Flame -> Fiery Breath -> Engulfing Flames
  • Ardent Flame -> Fiery Grip -> Unrelenting Grip
  • Ardent Flame -> Inferno -> Cauterize
  • Draconic Power -> Spiked Armor -> Volatile Armor
  • Draconic Power -> Dark Talons -> Choking Talons
  • Earthen Heart -> Stonefist -> Obsidian Shard
  • Earthen Heart -> Molten Weapons -> Igneous Weapons
  • Earthen Heart -> Obsidian Shield -> Igneous Shield
  • Earthen Heart -> Ash Cloud -> Cinder Storm
  • Mages Guild -> Magelight -> Inner Light
  • Destruction Staff -> Force Shock -> Crushing  Shock
  • Destruction Staff -> Wall of Elements -> Elemental Blockade
  • Destruction Staff-> Weakness to Elements -> Elemental Drain
  • Restoration Staff -> Grand Healing -> Healing Springs
  • Restoration Staff -> Regeneration -> Radiating Regeneration
  • Restoration Staff -> Blessing of Protection -> Combat Prayer
  • Restoration Staff -> Steadfast Ward -> Healing Ward
  • Light Armor -> Annulment -> Harness Magicka
  • Undaunted -> Necrotic Orb -> Energy Orb
  • Undaunted -> Blood Altar -> Overflowing Altar

Ultimates

  • Assault -> War Horn -> Aggressive Warhorn
  • Restoration Staff -> Panacea -> Light’s Champion
  • Earthen Heart -> Magma Armor -> Magma Shell
  • Ardent Flame -> Dragon Knight Standard -> Standard of Might

PASSIVES

  • Ardent Flame
  • Draconic Power
  • Earthen Heart
  • Racial
  • Light Armor
  • Destruction Staff
  • Restoration Staff
  • Alchemy – Medicinal Use
  • Mages Guild
  • Fighter’s Guild
  • Undaunted
  • The other armor type passives

ROTATION

Healers dont have set rotations like DPS, use things in your kit as you need them.

SETS

While making gear for leveling is not mandatory, some people like to make gear for alts or have gear made when created a new character! These are some good crafted options you can create (I recommend the “Training” trait for all pieces):

Contact

If you have any questions about the build, join our discord server and ask @Dottz about the build!

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