Dragonknight builds that will perform well while soloing and leveling in Elder Scrolls Online. This guide will attempt to cover two popular weapon setups mixed which is proper for battling in Imperial City.. There is no “best” build in the Elder Scrolls Online since the game’s class system encourages flexibility and customization. As such, this build is a suggestion.

PvP and PvE builds for Dragonknights should both have a decent amount of survivability and ways to control enemies and control the flow of combat. Both melee and ranged options are important.

This build is also also meant to be a loose guide and should be customized to fit your individual needs and playstyle. Utility abilities, for example, are completely customizable.

Listed below are two example active skill sets for pure PvE and two for pure PvP. Each set will contain two different types of weapons for the sake of variety. The sky’s the limit when it comes to builds in ESO, so remember to use this to your advantage!

Passive skills will not be listed below. As a general rule of thumb, grab any class passives and weapon passives you can, then branch out to other passives that fit any builds you commonly use.

PvE Tank/PvP Powerhouse: Sword/Shield and 2-Hander

This build will focus primarily on tanking PvE encounters but will be equipped to handle solo situations well and also function in PvP as an unstoppable defender. The build’s primary weapon set will be a sword and shield, but switching to a 2-hander will give the DK access to greater flexibility. While tanking, this build will excel at single target encounters where AoE isn’t needed yet maximum survivability and mitigation is.

Primary Weapon Set: Sword and shield
Secondary Weapon Set: Two-handed sword/mace/axe
Armor Type: Heavy

Suggested Attributes: A mixture of Stamina, Magicka and Health as needed for leveling, and pure Health for endgame.

Primary Weapon Set Active Abilities

Fiery Grip -> Empowering Chains (Dragonknight – Ardent Flame)
Puncture -> Ransack (One Hand and Shield)
Stonefist -> Stone Giant (Dragonknight – Earthen Heart)
Obsidian Shield -> Igneous Shield (Dragonknight – Earthen Heart)
Dragon Blood -> Coagulating Blood (Dragonknight – Draconic Power)

These are your primary tanking abilities and survivability cooldowns best used while equipping a sword and shield and taking heavy damage.

Ultimate
Magma Armor -> Corrosive Armor (Dragonknight – Earthen Heart)

Secondary Weapon Set Active Abilities

Searing Strike -> Burning Embers (Dragonknight – Ardent Flame)
Spiked Armor -> Armor (Dragonknight – Draconic Power)
Immovable -> Unstoppable (Heavy Armor)
Critical Charge -> Critical Rush (Two-Handed Weapon)
Dark Talons -> Burning Talons (Dragonknight – Draconic Power)

These are abilities that deal a little more damage and are more solo-oriented and PvP-oriented in nature. There are also a few cooldowns here. Using this set while tanking to deal a little more damage and establish threat also isn’t a bad idea.

Ultimate
Dragonknight Standard -> Standard of Might (Dragonknight – Ardent Flame)

Primary Passive Abilities:

Dragonknight – Ardent Flame
Kindling (II), Warmth (II), Searing Heat (II), World in Flame (II)

Dragonknight – Draconic Power
Iron Skin (II), Burning Heart (II), Elder Dragon (II), Scaled Armor (II)

Dragonknight – Earthen Heart
Eternal Mountain (II), Battle Roar (II), Mountain’s Blessing (II), Helping Hands (II)

Two Handed
Forceful (II), Heavy Weapons (II), Balance (II), Arcane Fighter (II), Battle Rush (II)

One Hand and Shield
Fortress (II), Sword and Board (II), Deflect Bolts (II), Battlefield Mobility (II)

Heavy Armor
Resolve (III), Constitution (II), Juggernaut (II), Bracing (II), Rapid Mending (II)

Other suggested options for Dragonknight builds include bow DPS builds, dual wield DPS builds, destruction staff DPS builds and restoration staff/dual wield healing builds. Remember you can mix and match two weapon sets in a build to either maximize one particular build or play more of a hybrid role in either PvP or PvE.

Ranged PvP Dragonknight Nuker/Emergency Healer

This Dragonknight build makes use of two ranged options– the destruction staff and the restoration staff– to nuke down opponents, survive under pressure and support their teammates. It’s a bit of a non-standard build, but extremely viable for PvP and for most PvE situations as well.

Primary Weapon Set: Fire destruction staff
Secondary Weapon Set: Restoration staff

Armor Type: A mixture of heavy and light armor

Suggested Attributes: Health > Magicka > Stamina

Primary Weapon Set Active Abilities:

Searing Strike -> Unstable Flame (Dragonknight – Ardent Flame)
Destructive Touch -> Destructive Clench (Destruction Staff)
Stonefist -> Stone Giant (Dragonknight – Earthen Heart)
Reflective Scale -> Reflective Plate (Dragonknight – Draconic Power)
Dragon Blood -> Coagulated Blood (Dragonknight – Draconic Power)

Ultimate:
Meteor -> Ice Comet (Mages Guild)

These is your damage weapon set. Use this to initiate combat, set up DoTs, apply crowd control and apply burst damage when it’s needed. It also has a couple of healing/damage reflection cooldwns.

Secondary Weapon Set Active Abilities:

Molten Weapons -> Igneous Weapons (Dragonknight – Earthen Heart)
Obsidian Shield -> Igneous Shield (Dragonknight – Earthen Heart)
Immovable -> Unstoppable (Heavy Armor)
Blessing of Protection -> Combat Prayer (Restoration Staff)
Entropy -> Degeneration (Mages Guild)

Magma Armor -> Magma Shell (Dragonknight – Earthen Heart)

Use this set when you need to throw out emergency heals to yourself or your group. You also have a few survivability cooldowns and damage reflection abilities. Additionally, you have one DoT ability you should throw out whenever you get a chance to do so.

PvE Dragonknight Ranged/Melee Durable DPS

This build uses a two-handed weapon and a bow to be as flexible as possible for PvE encounters. It focuses on pure damage but also self-survivability. There will be fights when melee is not practical, and this is where the bow flexibility will shine. This build should also be able to off-tank in a pinch.

Primary Weapon Set: Two-handed weapon
Secondary Weapon Set: Bow

Armor Type: A mixture of heavy and medium (mostly heavy)

Suggested Attributes: Stamina > Health > Magicka

Primary Weapon Set Active Abilities:

Searing Strike -> Unstable Flame (Dragonknight – Ardent Flame)
Critical Charge -> Stampede (Two-Handed)
Spiked Armor -> Volatile Armor (Dragonknight – Draconic Power)
Dark Talons -> Burning Talons (Dragonknight – Draconic Power)
Dragon Blood -> Coagulating Blood (Dragonknight – Draconic Power)

Ultimate:
Magma Armor -> Corrosive Armor (Dragonknight – Earthen Heart)

This is your melee set which you should use whenever it’s safe to dive into melee range. You have a combat initiator and a few mitigation/self-heal cooldowns as well.

Secondary Weapon Set Active Abilities:

Ash Cloud -> Cinder Storm (Dragonknight – Earthen Heart)
Reflective Scale -> Reflective Fire Scale (Dragonknight – Draconic Power)
Poison Arrow -> Venom Arrow (Bow)
Volley -> Scorched Earth (Bow)
Snipe -> Focused Aim (Bow)

Ultimate:
Dragonknight Standard -> Standard of Might (Dragonknight – Ardent Flame)

Use this set whenever you need to stay at range. This set may also be best for AoEing packs of mobs.