Dragonknight

PvE DPS GUIDE

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Dragonknight is heavily geared towards Flame and Poison Damage, mostly delivered as damage over time. Its long-lasting ultimate makes it especially dominant in fights or burst phases that last 20-40s, and its balance of single target and AOE pressure perform extremely well in multi-target fights. As ESO’s original tanking class, its toolkit is stacked with buffs, debuffs and other utilities, and its long-lasting class DOTs are ideal for keeping up the Touch of Z’en debuff in organised groups.

UPDATE 41 MINI-GUIDES

KEY PASSIVES

Burning and Poisoned are powerful DOTs, and Dragonknights apply them more easily than other classes. An extra 33% is a massive boost, making these status effects a major source of damage.

Minor Brutality is the unique buff provided by this class. When there are no other Dragonknights around, you will be expected to keep it active. This passive is also a nice source of extra ultimate.

This 5% bonus is quite significant and applies to most of the class abilities we use for damage. It also boosts non-class abilities like Unstable Wall of Fire, Scalding Rune and Lethal Arrow.

Depending on your ultimate for sustain can be a disadvantage, but the ability to store up large amounts of resources (including Health) for when you need them can also be extremely useful.

Recent Changes

    • Combustion bonus to Burning and Poisoned damage lowered from 50% to 33%.

    • Health-based heal over time added to Green Dragon Blood.

    • Weapon passives changed to shrink the gap between different weapon types.

    • Long Shots renamed Vinedusk Training, changed to a universal damage bonus.

    • Bonuses from Twin Blade & Blade and Heavy Weapons reduced slightly.

    • Ancient Knowledge changed to boost damage types based on type of staff equipped.

    • Tri Focus restricted to the final tick of fully charged Lightning Heavy Attacks, rather than any tick.

    • Merciless Charge changed to increase all direct damage for 18s after casting Critical Charge.

    • 0.5s cooldown and 30% ramping damage per target added to Azureblight, base damage reduced.

    • Warchief, Battlereeve and General monster sets added to Cyrodiil.

    • Sourcing of Craglorn trial sets adjusted to fix curation.

    • Improved death notifications added to PvP areas.

    • Hundreds of bug fixes for quests, sets, items, companions etc.

    • Burning Talons damage reduced. Duration increased from 4 to 5 seconds.

    • Melee range increase removed from Elder Dragon. Health Recovery increased.

    • Arcanist class added.

    • Velothi Ur-Mage’s Amulet set added.

    • Default melee attack range increased from 5 to 7 meters.

    • Spectral Cloak changed to activate only when in combat.

    • Plaguebreak changed to apply only to enemy players.

    • Empower bonus reduced to 70% from 80%.

    • Helping Hands changed to activate only when resources spent exceed those gained.

    • Damage from Shackle synergy increased by 20%.

    • Empowering Chains renamed Chains of Devastation. Major Berserk added.

    • Major Berserk added to Wrecking Blow.

    • Jewelry damage glyphs hybridised. Stamina/Magicka Recovery added.

    • Runecarver’s Blaze and Ozezan the Inferno sets added.

    • Light Attack scaling increased, but base damage capped at 3,850 for melee, 3,465 for ranged.

    • Taunt added to single target pull abilities and procs when target is not already taunted.

    • Taunt immunity changed to activate only after 5 taunts from 2 players.

    • Pearls of Ehlnofey ultimate gain reduced from 5 to 3. Resource threshold raised from 30% to 50%.

    • Elemental Susceptibility fixed so Major Breach no longer overrides the ability.

    • Harmony trait changed to restore resources rather than boost synergies.

    • Syrabane’s Ward and Back-Alley Gourmand sets added.

    • Target marker system added.

    • Elemental Drain duration increased from 23 to 60 seconds.

    • Elemental Susceptibility changed to apply Burning, Chilled and Concussed every 6s. Duration reduced to 30s.

    • Volley fixed to scale dynamically and not solely with Weapon Critical.

    • Healing from Vigor reduced by 10%.

    • Occult Overload damage reduced by 60%, now applies a random status effect.

Recent Changes

Update 39

  • Combustion bonus to Burning and Poisoned damage lowered from 50% to 33%.

  • Health-based heal over time added to Green Dragon Blood.

  • Weapon passives changed to shrink the gap between different weapon types.

  • Merciless Charge changed to increase all direct damage for 18s after casting Critical Charge.

  • 0.5s cooldown and 30% ramping damage per target added to Azureblight, base damage reduced.

  • Warchief, Battlereeve and General monster sets added to Cyrodiil.

  • Sourcing of Craglorn trial sets adjusted to fix curation.

  • Improved death notifications added to PvP areas.

  • Hundreds of bug fixes for quests, sets, items, companions etc.

Necrom (U38)

Scribes of Fate (U37)

  • Helping Hands changed to activate only when resources spent exceed those gained.

  • Damage from Shackle synergy increased by 20%.

  • Empowering Chains renamed Chains of Devastation. Major Berserk added.

  • Major Berserk added to Wrecking Blow.

  • Jewelry damage glyphs hybridised. Magicka/Stamina Recovery added.

  • Runecarver’s Blaze and Ozezan the Inferno sets added.

  • Light Attack scaling increased, but base damage capped at 3,850 for melee, 3,465 for ranged.

  • Taunt added to single target pull abilities and procs when target is not already taunted.

  • Taunt immunity changed to activate only after 5 taunts from 2 players.

  • Pearls of Ehlnofey ultimate gain reduced from 5 to 3. Resource threshold raised from 30% to 50%.

  • Elemental Susceptibility fixed so Major Breach no longer overrides the ability.

  • Harmony trait changed to restore resources rather than boost synergies.

Firesong (U36)

Magicka

No setup is perfect everywhere. Check your tooltips regularly and tweak your setups depending on the group and the content.

Single Target

Relequen + Aegis + Zaan + Kilt

SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Zaan's Guise Divines Magicka
Shoulders Zaan's Epaulets Divines Magicka
Chest Relequen's Jack Divines Magicka
Hands Relequen's Bracers Divines Magicka
Waist Relequen's Belt Divines Magicka
Legs Harpooner's Wading Kilt Divines Magicka
Feet Relequen's Boots Divines Magicka
Necklace Aegis Caller Necklace Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Ring Aegis Caller Ring Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Ring Aegis Caller Ring Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Front Bar Main Hand Relequen's Dagger Nirnhoned Flame
Front Bar Off Hand Aegis Caller Dagger Charged Poison
Back Bar Main Hand Aegis Caller Greatsword Infused Berserker
Back Bar Off Hand - - -

  • Perfected gear is NOT needed. The bonuses are nice to have, but small.

  • 2 x Light is recommended, but monster sets can be Medium or Light depending on your sustain and penetration.

  • If your group has Encratis you can swap to an Inferno back bar with Blockade.

  • Despite the changes to Ancient Knowledge, Daggers are still strongest on the front bar. But the difference is not huge, and in multi-target fights your DOTs will deal a larger proportion of your total damage and an Inferno may pull ahead.

  • You can swap Aegis for sets like Nirn, Siroria or Whorl according to situation or preference.

  • The Kilt is a good default, but not suitable everywhere. Swap in other Mythics depending on the situation.

CHAMPION POINTS

Deadly Aim - Exploiter - Thaumaturge - Wrathful Strikes

These are for when Off-Balance, Brittle, Catalyst, Alkosh/Crimson and all necessary buffs/debuffs are provided.

Outside of these conditions, use Backstabber and/or Fighting Finesse to reach the 125% Critical Damage cap, and Force of Nature to meet the 18,200 penetration cap (adjusting Medium-to-Light Armor ratio also helps). If Off-Balance is not being triggered on cooldown, drop Exploiter and slot Master-at-Arms to boost your direct damage instead.

FOOD & POTIONS

Firsthold Fruit & Cheese Plate
or
Thrice-Baked Gorapple Pie
or
Tomato Garlic Chutney

Increase Max Magicka by 6048 for 35 minutes.

Food > Fruit
Jazbay Grapes, Cheese
Apples, Saltrice
Tomato, Garlic

Tri Restoration Potion
or
Essence of Health

Restore 8369 Health, 7582 Magicka, and 7582 Stamina immediately.

Grants Major Fortitude, Major Intellect, and Major Endurance which increase your Health Recovery, Magicka Recovery, and Stamina Recovery by 30% for 36.3 seconds.

These effects are scaled based on your level. (45 second cooldown)

Bugloss, Columbine, Mountain Flower

+

These are recommended for practice and easy content. Other options include:

Max-level Savoury recipes for Health + Magicka
Ghastly Eye Bowl for Magicka + Magicka Recovery
Crunchy Spider Skewer for Magicka + Stamina Recovery
Witchmother’s Potent Brew for Health + Magicka + Magicka Recovery
Bewitched Sugar Skulls for Health + Magicka + Stamina

Essence of Spell Power for Major Sorcery + Prophecy + Intellect
Essence of Weapon Power for Major Brutality + Savagery + Endurance

Essence of Heroism for Major Intellect + Endurance and Minor Heroism
(very expensive and very rarely needed)

ABILITIES

Front Bar: Barbed Trap, Degeneration, Molten Whip, Burning Talons, Deadly Cloak / Inner Light, Flawless Dawnbreaker

Back Bar: Stampede, Eruption, Flames of Oblivion, Venomous Claw, Carve, Standard of Might

CAVEATS

If Engulfing Flames is not being provided, you can swap it in for Carve or Talons.

ROTATION
122k DPS

A one-size-fits-all rotation for Magicka Dragonknight is tricky since its performance can vary greatly based on fight time and support factors such as sustain, Encratis and Pillager’s. But this setup is a solid starting point, with great single target and AOE damage, decent sustain and quite easy to keep up. Just be prepared to make tweaks.

If your group has Encratis you can swap to Blockade of Fire on the back bar (either with a Pillar of Nirn Inferno or Maelstrom Inferno). The default consumables here are Max Magicka food and tri-stat potions, so we need Degeneration for Major Brutality & Sorcery unless Igneous Weapons is provided. Switch food and/or potions for Health or sustain as needed. If Magicka is tight, skip some Talons casts or swap it for Engulfing Flames (always do this if the debuff is not already present). Recast Trap, Claw and Degen dynamically.

Prebuff with Oblivion, Cloak and Trap, then drop Standard once all your DOTs are rolling.

You can recast Oblivion dynamically to keep up Seething Fury stacks, or if your weaving is so fast that you’re skipping the last tick (it lasts a little longer than 15s). Recasting Eruption early as shown is a slight DPS loss, but it helps with sustain and eases bar swaps after Stampede. Always try to drop Standard the instant it is ready, but save the last one for the final 20s. If it is not ready but Dawnbreaker is, use that in execute instead. In the last 8s make sure Trap and Stampede are rolling, cast one last Talons and spam Whip until the target is dead.

The following video is from U38, but the rotation is very similar.

SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Grothdarr’s Guise Divines Magicka
Shoulders Grothdarr’s Epaulets Divines Magicka
Chest Jack of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Magicka
Hands Burning Spellweave Gloves Divines Magicka
Waist Burning Spellweave Sash Divines Magicka
Legs Guards of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Magicka
Feet Burning Spellweave Shoes Divines Magicka
Necklace Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Ring Ring of Sul-Xan’s Torment Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Ring Ring of Sul-Xan’s Torment Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Front Bar Main Hand Dagger of Sul-Xan’s Torment Nirnhoned Flame
Front Bar Off Hand Burning Spellweave Dagger Charged Poison
Back Bar Main Hand Burning Spellweave Inferno Staff Infused Weapon Damage
Back Bar Off Hand - - -

  • Perfected gear is NOT needed. The bonuses are nice to have, but small.

  • 3-5 x Light is recommended. You can equip more Medium/Light pieces depending on your sustain and Critical Damage.

  • For important nukes, swap Sul-Xan for Acuity, Spellweave for Elf-Bane and Grothdarr for Balorgh.

  • Other useful monster sets include Prior Thierric, Stormfist, Kra’gh and Skoria, depending on what you need.

  • The best trash spammable depends on your choice of food. If you prefer a Magicka spammable, using Engulfing Flames or an Inferno Staff with Pulsar will also work very well.

CHAMPION POINTS

Biting Aura - Exploiter - Master-at-Arms - Wrathful Strikes

The best choices depend on your group and how long the fight lasts. Use Backstabber if you are below the crit cap (or Fighting Finesse if you cannot flank). Drop Exploiter if no one in your group is triggering Off-Balance consistently. And if trash pulls are lasting longer, DOTs will provide a higher proportion of your damage and Thaumaturge may be worth slotting.

ABILITIES

Stamina

No setup is perfect everywhere. Check your tooltips regularly and tweak your setups depending on the group and the content.

Single Target

Relequen + Pillar + Blackrose Daggers + Kilt

SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Slimecraw’s Guise Divines Stamina
Shoulders Relequen’s Arm Cops Divines Stamina
Chest Relequen's Jack Divines Stamina
Hands Relequen's Bracers Divines Stamina
Waist Relequen's Belt Divines Stamina
Legs Harpooner's Wading Kilt Divines Stamina
Feet Relequen's Boots Divines Stamina
Necklace Pillar of Nirn Necklace Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Ring Pillar of Nirn Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Ring Pillar of Nirn Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Front Bar Main Hand Pillar of Nirn Bow Charged Poison
Front Bar Off Hand - - -
Back Bar Main Hand The Master's Bow Infused Weapon Damage
Back Bar Off Hand - - -

  • Scrolls down to see details for the old 2H setup and rotation.

  • Perfected gear is NOT needed. The bonuses are nice to have, but small.

  • 1 x Light is recommended, but monster sets can be Medium or Light depending on your sustain and penetration.

  • You can swap Pillar of Nirn for Whorl of the Depths according to situation or preference.

  • You can swap Relequen for Riptide if you can keep your Stamina low. This works great when cleave damage is a priority.

  • The Kilt is a good default, but not suitable everywhere. Swap in other Mythics depending on the situation.

CHAMPION POINTS

Deadly Aim - Exploiter - Master-at-Arms - Wrathful Strikes

These are for when Off-Balance, Brittle, Catalyst, Alkosh/Crimson and all necessary buffs/debuffs are provided.

Outside of these conditions, use Backstabber and/or Fighting Finesse to reach the 125% Critical Damage cap, and Force of Nature to meet the 18,200 penetration cap (adjusting Medium-to-Light Armor ratio also helps). If Off-Balance is not being triggered on cooldown, drop Exploiter and slot Thaumaturge to boost your DOTs instead. This setup is about 52% direct damage and 48% damage over time, so it doesn’t take much for Thaumaturge to pull ahead, especially against multiple targets.

FOOD & POTIONS

Candied Jester's Coins

Increase Max Stamina by 4592 Magicka Recovery by 459 for 2 hours.

Delightful confection coins for the famished numismatist.

Food > Delicacies
Flour, Coffee, Imp Stool, Bervez Juice

Essence of Weapon Power

Grants Major Brutality which increases your Weapon Damage by 20% for 47.6 seconds.

Grants Major Savagery which gives you 2629 Weapon Critical Rating for 47.6 seconds.

Restore 7582 Stamina immediately.
Grants you Major Endurance which increases your Stamina Recovery by 30% for 47.6 seconds (45s cooldown).

Blessed Thistle
Dragonthorn
Water Hyacinth / Wormwood

+

These are recommended for practice and easy content. Other options include:

Max-level Ragout recipes for Health + Stamina
Max-level Vegetable recipes for maximum Stamina
Lava Foot Soup-and-Saltrice for Stamina + Stamina Recovery
Dubious Camoran Throne for Health + Stamina + Stamina Recovery
Bewitched Sugar Skulls for Health + Magicka + Stamina

Tri Restoration Potion for Major Intellect + Endurance + Fortitude
Essence of Spell Power for Major Sorcery + Prophecy + Intellect

Essence of Heroism for Major Intellect + Endurance and Minor Heroism
(very expensive and very rarely needed)

ABILITIES

Front Bar: Barbed Trap, Flames of Oblivion, Lethal Arrow, Burning Talons, Arrow Barrage, Flawless Dawnbreaker

Back Bar: Poison Injection, Eruption, Venomous Claw, Acid Spray, Molten Whip, Standard of Might

ROTATION
125k DPS

Stamina Dragonknight may not be top dog for single target DPS, but is strong and very versatile - you can get pretty great results however you choose to set it up. The old Wrecking Blow rotation is solid when you have no Major Berserk, but this Bow setup hits harder, has fantastic cleave damage and gives you a bit of range to play with. It also works with Stone Giant, albeit with weaker damage and sustain.

The rotation follows a 5s rhythm: Talons and Spray every 5s, Barrage every 10s, and Injection, Eruption and Trap every 20s (every other rotation). Keep up Oblivion and Claw dynamically. Open with Oblivion, Barrage and Trap, and drop Standard immediately after Injection..

You can recast Oblivion early to keep Seething Fury at max stacks and/or to take pressure off your Stamina. Drop Standard the instant it is ready, but save the last for the final 20s (or use Dawnbreaker). Do not recast any long DOTs in the final 10s except Trap and Injection. Refresh Talons and Spray in the last 5s and spam Lethal Arrow until the target is dead.

Single Target

WRECKING BLOW ROTATION

Relequen + Aegis + Blackrose Daggers + Kilt

SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Slimecraw’s Guise Divines Stamina
Shoulders Relequen’s Arm Cops Divines Stamina
Chest Relequen's Jack Divines Stamina
Hands Relequen's Bracers Divines Stamina
Waist Relequen's Belt Divines Stamina
Legs Harpooner's Wading Kilt Divines Stamina
Feet Relequen's Boots Divines Stamina
Necklace Aegis Caller Necklace Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Ring Aegis Caller Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Ring Aegis Caller Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Front Bar Main Hand Aegis Caller Greatsword Charged Poison
Front Bar Off Hand - - -
Back Bar Main Hand Blackrose Dagger Infused Weapon Damage
Back Bar Off Hand Blackrose Dagger Infused Flame
SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Slimecraw’s Guise Divines Stamina
Shoulders Burning Spellweave Epaulets Divines Stamina
Chest Jack of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Stamina
Hands Bracers of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Stamina
Waist Belt of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Stamina
Legs Guards of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Stamina
Feet Boots of of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Stamina
Necklace Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Ring Burning Spellweave Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Ring Burning Spellweave Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Front Bar Main Hand The Master’s Greatsword Nirnhoned Flame
Front Bar Off Hand - - -
Back Bar Main Hand Burning Spellweave Inferno Staff Infused Weapon Damage
Back Bar Off Hand - - -

  • Perfected gear is NOT needed. The bonuses are nice to have, but small.

  • 1-2 x Light is recommended. You can equip more Medium/Light pieces depending on your sustain and Critical Damage.

  • You can swap Slimecraw for a Stormfist, Kra’gh or Skoria 1-piece, depending on what you need.

  • Hitting the penetration cap of 18,200 in trash pulls is important. Using a Sharpened Master’s Maul on the front bar, upgrading to the Perfected version, wearing more Light pieces and casting Noxious Breath on enemies are some of the things you can do to help you get there.

CHAMPION POINTS

Biting Aura - Exploiter - Master-at-Arms - Wrathful Strikes

The best choices depend on your group and how long the fight lasts. Use Backstabber if you are below the crit cap (or Fighting Finesse if you cannot flank). Drop Exploiter if no one in your group is triggering Off-Balance consistently. And if trash pulls are lasting longer, DOTs will provide a higher proportion of your damage and Thaumaturge may be worth slotting.

ABILITIES