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The Shooting Star – ESO Dragonknight DPS Build

If you like fiery destruction, then you’ll love my new build The Shooting Star.  This is a Dragonknight specific damage dealing machine focused on fire damage over time (DoT) effects that summons meteors that rain down from the sky.  Sounds fun right?  We’ll let’s get started with The Shooting Star – ESO Dragonknight DPS Build.

 

Updated 2.0.2 Video

http://youtu.be/m9WJhQ7lnuo

 

Table of Contents

 

Version

-Original Release 11/30/2014

 

Objective

Shooting Star DPS DK Objective PictureWith the most impressive proc in my MMO experience, the whole objective behind this DPS build is making meteors rain from the sky with the two piece set from the new City of Ash dungeon.  The gear, skills and feel of the build synergizes together to make a single target and area damage juggernaut.  Not to mention it’s pretty tanky and easy to rotate through the skills.  You’ll have both range and close target damage abilities, making you deadly up close or from afar.  And when mobs clump up, the meteor shower will begin.

This is not a solo build, this is meant for the hardest content in the game Veteran Dragonstar Arena, Serpent Trial and anything else ZOS can through at us.  During my video, I discuss possible ideas for leveling a Dragonknight prior to running this build.  And The Shooting Star might not be for everyone, as it’s magicka damage specifically.  After playing it, however, I won’t play another magicka based damage dealer anytime soon.

With that pep talk, what could be wrong with this build?  Well you sacrifice a lot of solo-ability with the premise that someone will be healing you.  You’ll be reliant on healers to keep you alive and you will need to be up close for maximum damage.  The pros outweigh the cons and I’ve never produced so much devastation.

+ Monster single target or area damage

+ Ultimates generate resources with passive (magicka baby!)

+ Group utility

– Not solo friendly

–  Lacks finisher

Skills

Shooting Star DPS DK SkillsGet your sticks and skirts out, we are going all light armor and wielding a staff.  Yes I love wearing heavy armor and a giant meat cleaving two hander, but raining down fiery meteors from the sky every five seconds is more impressive.

Bar One | Destruction Staff – this is your single target damage bar.

  • Inner Light (morph of Mage Light | Mages Guild skill line) – 20% spell critical and added Mages’ Guild passives, a must have for a magicka based build.  Turn on and off to proc a free 20% spell damage boost via the Mages Guild passive Might of the Guild.
  • Crushing Shock (morph of Force Shock | Destruction Staff skill line) – Our single target DPS tool, ranged interrupt, and our bread and butter while those DoTs are ticking.  Practice using light attack (like heart beat) throw in a Crushing Shock. If you time the animations right, you’ll boost DPS by over 200+.  This takes a lot of timing so don’t get discouraged trying weaving.  When in doubt, range down the target via Crushing Shock.
  • Engulfing Flames (morph of Searing Flame | Ardent Flame skill line) – Our primary DoT we want to apply once in 10 meter range.  This increases ALL fire damage by 10%.  So nearly everything we do will hit 10% harder.  Yeah it’s that important.  It only has an eight second duration so be prepared to cast frequently. Additionally, the ability only applies to enemies frontal cone.  So watch your angle and make sure the enemy is physically burning before moving on to the next skill.
  • Unstable Flame (morph of Fiery Breath | Ardent Flame skill line) – The hardest hit DoT that we have with a very low magicka cost.  The trick to using this ability is two fold: one make sure Engulfing Flame has applied and two  don’t recast before 10 seconds.  The damage on this ability gets increasingly more powerful so recasting it will lose damage.  Plus you need to be in 5 meter range so watch those red circles.
  • Spell Symmetry (morph of Equilibrium | Mages Guild skill line) – Our life tap making this build dependent on a healer for endless resources.  Use this frequently (yes a lot) not only does it give around 400 magicka, but procs a massive spell damage boost.  After my initial DPS phase, I’ll tap or Spell Symmetry to proc 20% spell power boost for Engulfing Flame  then tap again and Unstable Flame.  Now those two DoTs hit 20% harder their entire duration.   🙂
  • [ULTIMATE] Flawless Dawnbreaker (morph of Dawnbreaker | Fighters Guild skill line) – 13% passive weapon damage boost which effects our Crushing Shock and light attacks.  This adds up over time to massive damage boost.  Don’t believe me? Try doing a Crushing Shock with and without this slotted on your bar. Believe me, it’s worth slotting.

Combat

  • Close the distance to your enemy with a fully charged heavy attack then Crushing Shock
  • Once you near 10 meters, throw out a Engulfing Flames for increased fire damage
  • Now swipe them with Unstable Flame and peel back
  • Go back to about 15 meters, then weave light attacks with Crushing Shocks (about 2 to 3 times)
  • Now come back in close for another Engulfing Flames and Unstable Flame rotation

Priorities

  • Constantly maintain Igneous Weapons buff
  • Keep the Engulfing Flames DoT effect up for 10% extra fire damage
  • Unstable Flame DoT and make sure not to cast it until 10 seconds have elapsed
  • Weave Crushing Shock with light attacks
  • Use potions and Spell Symmetry as needed to keep magicka up (I rarely heavy attack for resources)

 

Bar Two | Destruction Staff – this bar is our massive area damage and buff bar.

  • Inner Light (morph of Mage Light | Mages Guild skill line) – You want this on bar so it doesn’t turn on and off, so leave it here.
  • Igneous Weapons (morph of Molten Weapons | Earthen Heart skill line) – Our over a minute weapon power buff that boosts the teams damage too.  Oh, did I mention it builds ultimate out of combat?  Yep, so make sure to fire this sucker up in between battles if you’re looking to charge up ultimate.
  • {Flex Spot} Cinder Storm (morph of Ash Cloud| Earthen Heart skill line) – This is my flex in and out slot which Cinder Storm usually goes here.  I also like Green Dragon Blood, Evil Hunter, and Deep Breath.  Just consider this something you can augment the group with.
  • Elemental Ring (morph of Impulse | Destruction Staff skill line) – It may be the derpiest (don’t look up that word) in the book, but it’s also one of the most effective.  Now with a shotgun sound, Impulse spamming has never been better.  Did I mention that this places DoT on each enemy?  Watch the sky start raining meteors.
  • Extended Chain (morph of Fiery Grip | Ardent Flame skill line) – Another utility ability that I just love.  Rarely do I take this off because almost every fight has some mob that can be chained.  Clump up mobs for your group and you’ll be the parties hero.  Maybe an Impulse spam or two?
  • [ULTIMATE] Standard of Might (morph of Dragonknight Standard | Ardent Flame skill line) – What would a Dragonknight be with his Standard? Just another Sorcerer, so yeah not a DK.  This ability just plan rocks, AoE damage, healing debuff, and a damage reduction tool for you only.  Not to mention we get a shoot of resources via the Mountain’s Blessing passive in Battle Roar tree (take your passives).

Combat

  • Buff up with Igneous Weapons
  • Swap to bar one while closing distance for Engulfing Flames (it’s an AoE baby!)
  • Swap back to bar two and drop a Cinder Storm in the middle of the action
  • Start pulling in all enemies
  • Drop Standard and start the endless derpy Elemental Ring spam

This can produce 5000 DPS….really.

Priorities

  • Keep up the Igneous Weapons buff as it effects Elemental Ring’s damage
  • Start combat with an Engulfing Flame to proc a 10% flame damage increase
  • Drop Cinder Storm for miss chance and area DoT
  • Elemental Ring until your out of magicka than potion or swap to bar one for Spell Symmetry (AND BLOCK)

Now let’s discuss the gear setup to make this build shine!

Gear

Shooting Star Gear Chart Shooting Star Gear SetupPriority numbers to reach:

  • 2800 health (for Vet DSA and Serpent Trial)
  • Soft cap weapon damage with Igneous Weapons running at 203
  • Soft cap on spell damage 135
  • At least 50% spell critical

Armor Weight – All light armor seven pieces (skirts and sticks setup).  It may not look better than heavy armor, but does it preform better.  You could use a unique setup like five light one medium and one heavy for the new Undaunted passive though I think straight seven light is better.

Set Bonuses – I use some cool sets though don’t worry there’s alternatives if you can’t obtain these.

  • Valkyn Skoria’s (Undaunted Pledge and City of Ash drop) – I’m using the two piece set found in City of Ash (CoA).  It’s the premise behind our build raining down meteors with DoT damage.  Though you can sub this out for two more Torug’s Pact and still be effective.  I have ran CoA 30+ only to find one helm, so be patient.  It’s going to take time to get this.  You can obtain the shoulder via Undaunted Pledge turn ins.
  • Torug’s Pact (Crafted) – This is a powerful two piece bonus which boost our spell damage (Engulfing Flame and Unstable Flame).  If you can’t find or want to find Valkyn’s set, just craft two more pieces to boost your weapon damage as well.  Another alternative is the Aether set though that can only be obtained through Trials.
  • Twilight’s Embrace (Crafted) – A strong crafted four piece that gives us a little health, some spell critical and spell damage.  For those fashion nuts like myself, you’ve got to try the new Dwemer light chest.  It’s awesome (thanks Java for crafting).
  • Soulshine Jewelry (VR 10 world drop, can be bought) – Sadly the Best in Slot (BiS) jewelry is this derpy level 10 green Soulshine. I don’t think anything else provides spell critical as a three piece bonus (jewelry specifically).  Though anything that adds magicka, weapon power, or spell power could work here.

Traits- The standard Divines  on small pieces (Shoulders, Gloves, Boots, and Belt) and Infused on large (Head, Chest, and Legs).  If you can, go with Precise on weapons though Sharpened is a good choice as well.

Mundus- If you can reach 50% spell critical without using the Thief Mundus Stone (and without using potions), take the Shadow.  If you’re under 50% spell critical, use the Thief.

Attributes- 35 magicka and 27 health though the numbers could change depending on your racial choice.  Worry more about your overall numbers and less with attributes.

Racial choice – I’m playing a Nord Dragonknight which might just be the worst choice for damage.  I don’t care, I love him!  And that should be your attitude if you’ve already played 100+ hours on your character.  Though, if I had to start all over, a Dumner (Dark Elf) or High Elf would be the obvious choices.  Elemental damage or fire damage would boost your DPS significantly.  Don’t tell this ol’ Nord that, he’s still pumping out damage.

Food – I actually use consummate sweet-roll or the tri-stat food. The absolute best choice is the blue version which boosts your magicka and health only.  However, with 368 extra stamina, I can block, dodge roll, and sprint where others can’t.  Sometimes that simple action saves an entire group from wiping.

While leveling – I know those of you may not love that this is a leveling build.  I do however go in detail on what you can do while leveling in the video.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. alex says

    Hey deltia ! amazing guide, it really helped me out with my DK build and playstyle. I am currently using almost the same set-up as you, except for valkyn ( using nerenieth while i am farming a valkyn set ) and i get pretty much the same numbers except for spell crit. I can only get up to 49.9 % crit (with purple weapon and THIEF mundus stone) so i was wondering how did you get up to 52 % without the thief mundus stone. It would really help my dps if i could use the shadow, but i need at least 50 % crit without thief.

    Thanks a lot man and great job with the videos.

  4. oryx says

    Hey love the guide

    I have Redguard DK as originally a Tank. Character is V8 now and the only one I have. Can it do OK DPS for Trails etc?

    I don’t really want to re-roll

    Thanks

  6. Ramsay says

    Hey Deltia,
    I have just recently found your youtube vids and they are a great help. I have a question about this build for when 1.6 hits though. My DK also uses Unstable Flames but now it will scale off of stamina and attack power. Is there anyway I can offset this seeing that I am a mage DK? Thanks.

  8. Ankoroth says

    I just started a Magicka based Dragonknight build, and it is a lot of fun. I am focusing on healing with this main bar:

    Ult: Magma Armor
    Igneous Shield: Shields yourself and allies and increases your healing
    Igneous Weapons: You already know and love this buff
    Then I of course alternate between various resto staff abilities and Inner Light. I think I will incorporate your DPS build for an alternate on my second bar. Have you ever seen any DK healers in high level content?

  9. Chlori says

    Damn you Deltia. I stopped playing for 5 months due to RL issues and came back 3 days ago to carry on leveling my v8 Sorc with my mrs, but shes not been as enthusiastic as me. So i started to continue to level my alt, a v7 DW dps / tank DK…..then i saw this guide and now i feel like i have to do ANOTHER dk. DAMN YOU!!!! Thankfully i already have one at level 27 that i was planing on making into a healing shield monsters NOT as painful as all that. Just need a few tweaks. Otherwise, thank you for a very good guide, keep up the great work.

    P.S. Any thought on most useful add ons? I have a few, just want to hear your thoughts on it is all

    • Deltia says

      Depends. They reduced fire damage but you can’t use Bat Swarm all the time anymore. I’ll update both WW and Vamp guides to explain why it’s not advantageous anymore.

      • NHfreeze says

        I also think that WW should get like one active spell outside of wolf form, like having a wolf companion or an ability similar to that of dragons blood (it wouldn’t stack with dragons blood to make it balanced). I think the wolf would make sense and I could feel like a hunter with my Nightblade bow user

  13. Mello2912 says

    I’ve been working on tweaking this build to fit update 6 because I love the caster DK. This is what I run and I think it synergizes so well.

    Bar 1 Destro:
    *Engulfing flames to get them burning just like before.
    *Molten Whip took the place of Unstable flame because that’s better for melee users now. Have whip slotted increases the damage of Ardent Flame abilities (like our engulfing flames)
    *Force pulse instead of crushing shock now because of the higher damage and splash damage to everything we set on fire.
    *Coagulating blood (Don’t look at me like that, I like the healing boost)
    *Sea of flames HOLY CRAP, basically our new inner light AND a change to gain magicka back. A must have.

    Bar 2 Destro:
    *Deep breath is our new interrupt to replace crushing shock. Aww yiss.
    *Flex slot, I like burning talons for the dot or eruption
    *Derpy derp impulse. The usual.
    *Extended chains, the usual
    *Inferno toggle again

    What do you think? High damage, high synergy, lots of dots to proc Skoria’s meteors.

  14. The Pestilent says

    Hey Deltia.
    First, I have to say, this site is awesome. After taking a 8 month break from ESO, once I saw this build I came back and have been loving it. Keep up the awesome work.

    I was wondering about a couple of things with regards to updating the build for 1.6.

    First, there’s really no reason for us to use Inner Light as DK anymore, right? The toggle is good for the Mage’s Guild passive but if we can proc it with something else (Structured Entropy) then I think Flames of Oblivion will always serve us better. Something else I’ve been playing with is Molten Whip over Force Pulse when the situation allows for it. Of course it’s more dangerous for us to be up close and personal like that with our two sticks and cotton dress, but you have to be up pretty close for most of our abilities anyway. The other downside is that Molten Whip can’t proc burning, but we have our silly Fire Ring for that. Finally, I’ve been running Scalding Rune in this build. The long DoT and decent AoE make it look pretty good, but it’s not the most damaging ability.

    Onto ultimates: I don’t think Standard of Might will ever be dethroned as the go-to DK ultimate, but… well it’s boring. I replaced it with Shooting Star in this build; it fits the overall motive of the build better IMO and that extra ultimate being generated gives us yet MORE meteors to drop on enemy heads. It’s amazing for just about everything in terms of damage, not to mention more Battle Roar procs. And finally, is Flawless Dawnbreaker still the go-to here? I see up top that you wrote it’s a 13% increase, but it’s 8% now; don’t know when that changed.

    Thanks a lot and keep it up!

    • The Pestilent says

      Threw this together for reference. This is what I’ve been using in my vet dungeon runs lately: http://bit.ly/1AbxkCW

      Not too sure what abilities should be permanent residents on bar 2, so I use 2, 3 and 5 as flex slots depending on the situation. I don’t yet have the gear at VR6 to give real numbers – I don’t even have the Valkyn Skoria set – but I can say I average roughly 4.2k DPS on single target bosses in suboptimal gear.

    • Deltia says

      Well you use light armor for cost reduction over damage. Five pieces gives you 10% critical too so yeah you still need it for a fire mage build.

      Yeah Shooting Star is the defacto replacement though this build isn’t updated for 1.6 yet. Flawless is done for magic builds because it doesn’t help your weapon attacks or destro abilities anymore.

  15. eeeladin says

    hey Deltia,
    Any update on caster DK. My pre update DPS which would range from 1.3k – peak 2K really went down.
    Any ideas on a good DK caster build, I am not even close to 10K. Last I checked it just averaged at 7K which is way to low…
    Any help would be much appreciated.

    • Deltia says

      Yeah, mainly use martial knowledge for gear and weave the other two morphs of ardent flame abilities. I’ll update it but its heavily dependent on Skoria set for meteor damage. Also switch Ultimate to Shooting Star from Mages Guild.

  16. eeeladin says

    thnx i’ll be waiting for ur update. I using Shooting Star now. Like the Ultimate, quite powerful. Sadly, gotta farm for the Skoria Set now. Will give Martial Knowledge a try.

  17. AJTC5000 says

    I know you’ve said in the past that it takes you roughly 1 week per build, but is the 1.6 Shooting Star in the works? Can’t wait for it 😀

  20. HolyBible says

    Hey, Deltia
    I’m using your build and it is really good. I deal very much damage and take almost everything really fast. You’ve made the best build for a dragonknight mage. Can you tell me how much HP I must have for the new Patch 1.6.

  21. Sanguine says

    Also really keen to see your take on this for 1.6! Are you working on it by any chance? Keep up the great work – such a good source of info on your site for new and experienced players alike

  23. CJ says

    Hey I was using your guide (good job BTW)and am really liking this build, was even able to make it an on the side dial wielding design from another guide i found after getting all the shards and skill points from quests. I just had one question. Were the health cap and damage cap a misprint or did they increase the stats in an update? I just got vet rank one and have over 4x those recommendations. If it was from an increase what do you recommend for those stat ranges now? I haven’t done any end game yet so wanna make sure I’m ready. Thanks In advance and again, great guide.

  26. Winnebago Warrior says

    Hey there I’m new to ESO I’ve just pre ordered it for ps4 would a high elf dk be a good set up?

    Thanks I’m noob so could do with some pointers haha I like the look of high elves the most

  27. Lythas says

    Hey Deltia, I’m returning to ESO after taking a year out, when it was released I had a terrible computer so I couldn’t even begin to enjoy the graphics, I like to quest and level but I mainly focus on high end gaming and being the best, could you suggest any decent guilds cause I really don’t know much about the system although your videos have been GREAT for research purposes.
    Thank you

  29. Le Frog says

    Hey Deltia, i was wondering when I’m leveling should i use this build or should i use the laceration build then later switch to this one for dps?

  31. YardieGamer says

    Hey Deltia I really like your builds I will be trying this one out. Any advice on getting gear as a VR3 on console? I think you made a mistake at destruction staff one with engulfing flames and unstable flames description.

    • Deltia says

      Honestly, I don’t worry about gear until VR14. I wear the same sets from level 20 to vr1 than until vr14. You’ll spend 200 hours leveling, you’ll spend 200000 hours at end game.

  32. Leroy says

    Hey deltia, thanks for the build guide just set this up now so gonna start using. Just a question im at vet 1 and would like to know exactly what my attribute balance is as your video had a different setup to ur written one? Im currently on 27(h) 22(m) but I can’t seem to hit the 20k base health cap you recommend. Any tips? P.S. I haven’t sorted out a gear set yet…
    Thanks again!!!

  34. Troy13691 says

    Hey Deltia I’m in the process of levelling up following your guide as best I can.

    Is some of this guide now outdated Ability wise?
    Love your work mate.

  35. Abdullah says

    Deltia Dx you confused me but a type mistake

    Engulfing Flames is morph of Fiery Breath not searing strike

    and Unstable Flame is morph of searing strike not fiery breath

    so my question is why unstable flame?! it scale of stamina, but you said it scale of magica?! am confused now HELP PLZ

  38. Addie 30mg says

    Hey deltia great site. Been following you since I first started eso for console Xbox one. I have an argonian caster dk (a real dragon lol) similar to this but I was wondering what would patch 7 have to offer for it?

  39. alex says

    Deltia I’m new to eso on console and I just wanted to tell u you are the best you keep it simple and the way u break it down,keep doing what ur doing brother I just subscribed to ur u tube videos

  40. Axel says

    Hey, thank you for this, I have started playing a week back and I’m following this build. I wanted to RP a Dunmeri warlock and I thought this setup was cool. I was wondering how viable it is in PvP, and also whether it compares, even indirectly, to sorcerer builds. Thanks!

    • Deltia says

      Well Sorcs have much more movement speed and this build lacks Crowd Control both of which you need. If you’re looking for a solo ganking thing, Sorc Frag out is much better. This is meant for PvE only.

      • Axel says

        Thanks for the reply! I did make a Sorcerer Frag-out build as well to try it out. As for PvP, I generally prefer group PvP, even though I would never say no to a 1v1 fight. Considering I want to play a caster, would you stick with the suggestion for the frag Sorc? Also, for a caster healer? I guess that would be your Battery build?

  41. harold says

    Hey deltia, i love tis build i only struggle with my spell dammage, i am vet 2 and only have 1157 spell dammage with julianos set and torugs set. I am playing on ps4 so i cant do the micromanging thing. Could u please help out with upping my dammage. Greetz

  42. Drewsif says

    I’d like to know more about this builds champion point system or could you suggest a DPS/tank build for dk hopefully something not too difficult for a beginner

  43. Marc says

    Is the VS set still bugged where its not proccing properly on DKs dots, or is it fixed. I would love to pick this build up for my DK just for a change of pace but not going to waste the gold and time if its still bugged

  45. Daéron says

    Is it possible to have an update for this one? I really love this build, great work you have done here, but with the last patches it has to be changed in some points…

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