Burn - Magicka Dragonknight PVE Build
Written guide updated for updated for The Scribes of Fate DLC: Q1 2023
Older video but still relevant.
This Magicka Dragonknight is for ALL players and for ALL content, YES even the hardest modes and content in the game! There are several different options for gear regardless of where you are personally in the game and EACH of them holds as much “viability” as the next in every piece of content you are in.
Even the crafted setup can STILL hit very high numbers with solid sustainability IF you know what you are doing! Practice will of course be required with any build you ever use but this is designed to be both simple and effective at the same time!
The rotation is designed to be 100% static so you never have to change a thing! Both bars stay the same every single rotation apart from one skill which you fire every two. The simplicity of the rotation allows for great results at the same time as allowing for continuous muscle memory. With a little bit of practice, the muscle memory will do the work for you, meaning you have more time and brainpower to focus on mechanics.
Constantly doing nothing but looking at your bars and timers INSIDE mechanics can be problematic because it is very easy to obsess too much over minor gaps in your skills while constantly bar swapping every skill or so to keep up individual dots. BUT since this is 100% static you never have to worry about tracking anything really and can keep the focus on the important stuff. Get the rotation order correct, get that rhythm/timing just right and the rest is done for you!
This build IS of course taking advantage of engulfing flames! This is a HUGE group buff allowing your team to do 10% more damage to all targets affected by it (you included) Lots of people do preference flame damage in their builds, monster sets, or at least have something (maybe even one skill) that takes advantage of fire, so you can bring a very strong double-edged skill where you do high damage with it but everyone else benefits.
Note: This buff is already on the target dummy hence why fire builds LOOK like they do more on the dummy. For yourself you will not see an increase to your overall because it is already present so is just as if you were firing it anyway.
We have our own survival built into one of the cheapest damage-over-time abilities in the game! Burning embers is a single target damage over time skill, applying an automatic burning status effect and can be placed on multiple targets if you decide to…however, if the skill runs out OR you recast it on the same target, you HEAL! So while restarting damage over time way before time is normally bad efficiency-wise, you CAN actually benefit from it!
And finally, we have a FREE spammable IF you decide to use it which helps your tanks, helps your sustainability, and also helps BOOST your damage from your whips!
Molten whip while on the bar stacks a 75 weapon/spell damage bonus per cast from an Ardent Flame ability stacking up to 3 times. At max stacks, your Molten Whip turns into a VERY strong backflip whip. Casting 3 Ardent Flame skills then Whip on repeat is actually quite inefficient because MOST of the skills are damage over time with very long durations and you don’t want to keep overlapping them too early. However! Unrelenting Grip, the chain pulling ability is ALSO in the Ardent Flame skill line.
This skill will allow you to pull adds to your feet. This is very helpful for the tank so long as you can coordinate with them in order for them to then be rooted and taunted, is used both close range and long-range, and the biggest bonus…IF you chain something that is CC immune (as pulled targets are for a short while) OR a boss (always CC immune)…then the skill is FREE! You have a FREE fire-based, fire single target hit which also stacks Molten Whip stacks!
The above means you can spam chains as a spammable 3x then take a backflip whip and this is repeatable without lessening the efficiency of your damage over time AND saving you resources. In fact, with flat food, you can sustain indefinitely with this method. This is of course a choice but it is VERY effective.
Also do not panic about the misinformation on the internet about a “soft taunt”. Firstly the term is ridiculous, secondly, the term is “aggro” aka “aggression”.
Aggression is a term used for an enemy focusing their attention on a player. In mmorpgs in the last 21+ years, aggression is something that happens if an enemy doesn’t like you (you get to close and they are no longer idle if you are considered kill on sight) OR if you do DAMAGE something or HEAL someone and get their attention.
ANYONE can get aggro from ANY skill at any time either if they are first to use the skills, OR if the enemy just feels like it (yes sometimes it is random).
In MOST mmorpgs you have what is known as an “aggro counter” where the person with the highest aggression gains the attention of the enemy and you quite literally have to fight for if you want it with high aggression skills OR calm down with your skills to prevent it. In this game ALL you need to do to 100% control the target is a “TAUNT”…So long as your tank taunts, you will be safe. And the same goes for ALL builds and ALL content in the Elder Scrolls Online excluding the planar Inhibitor where you must pick up a collectible to CONTROL the aggression (however passive aggro can still work the same on this boss). The TANK is in control of the AGGRO, you cannot STEAL it with a fake “soft taunt” cool word… you can simply get aggression if the target is NOT taunted (which now is the tank’s fault ;).
For those on PC you can use ESO LOGS to actually confirm that your skill is NOT applying a taunt (you don’t just have to take MY word for it) because it TRACKS aggro.
Dragonknights have been chaining adds as DPS since the Thieves Guild DLC (Maw Of Lorkhaj twins fight). It’s utility and for US a spammable…it’s NOT a taunt, in ANY shape or form. You may have just hit FIRST 🙂
100% uptime on our fire dots with long durations.
Free Spamable IF you decide to use it vs CC immune targets!
Ultimate gives back a HUGE amount of resources so sustainability is determined at base by you simply USING your ultimates!
Healing from doing damage with Burning Embers!
Increase the fire damage of your entire group by 10%, YES that includes proc and monster sets!
Simple rotation that never really needs to change so you can focus more on mechanics letting muscle memory do the work rather than having your brain on multitasking overdrive!
Designed for ALL players with a CRAFTED version of the main sets allowing to STILL hit way harder than necessary for ALL content!
- Suitable for beginners AND extremely advanced players regardless of how many champion points you currently have!
Fashion First!

As demonstrated in the video, our fabulous ESO fashion setup and dress choice for this character is as follows:
Head: Light Xyvkin
Shoulders: Light Dro’mathra
Chest: Heavy Welkinar
Legs: Heavy Welkinar
Hands: Light Dro’mathra
Belt: Light Dro’Mathra
Feet: Light Dro’mathra
Front bar: Ebonshadow
Back Staff: Abnar Tharn
The two colors we are using are Legate Black (any black will do) and Void Pitch
Skills
Destruction Staff (Flame)
1) Burning Embers
2) Barbed Trap
3) Degeneration / Inner Light / Harness Magicka
4) Unrelenting Grip / Scalding Rune
5) Molten Whip
Ultimate – Shooting Star / Magma Shell
Destruction Staff (Flame)
1) Molten Whip
2) Unstable Wall Of Elements
3) Engulfing Flames
4) Flames of Oblivion
5) Eruption
Ultimate – Standard Of Might
Champion Points 2.0
The NEW Champion Points 2.0 introduced in the Q1 2021 DLC: Flames Of Ambition is quite possibly the BIGGEST change/addition to The Elder Scrolls Online since One Tamriel! And these were further altered in the Blackwood Chapter, giving us a lower base for capping out some of the essentials and also adding some more slotables!
Before it was a case of “I have limited points as a CP, so HOW should I spend them”? Now that is NOT the case as SUCH! Now, it is a case of, buy ALL the things, but which SLOTABLES should you take?
Everything before was a passive bonus with huge diminished returns, awkward calculations, and was messy to all players for the most part. The new system underlines NO diminished returns, no majorly confusing passives, and the ability to buy EVERY single passive available for tanking, DPS, and healing on the SAME character with enough points to spare for buying slotables. Being able to slot 4x special slotables from each tree when there are an abundance of them means you are only limited by your CHOICES, not by your CP.
Buy all the passives, CHOOSE which slotables to take vs the situation, and the rest of the points are spare. Or are they? Well here is the crunch…Once you go over 1800ish (depending on slotable choices, some are more expensive in the Craft tree) you basically have every single passive available PLUS 4 slotables per tree…
If you JUST wanted to focus on combat alone (all red and blue passives and 4 slotables for each one) you only actually need around 1600cp to be completely maxed in those areas. And if you wanted to go FULL glass cannon, only really focusing on one damage type you can achieve your max potential for that as low as 900 or so! You won’t have any resistances or healing bonuses from the Warfare (blue) tree doing this, but you can at least cap out the hard-hitting stuff, right? And this is considering slotables too so there is no harm in actually deliberately specing for a couple of damage resistance slotables instead even at THIS stage.
For tanking it is even easier! Push for your slotables and stack your resistance passives and it is game over! The rest are just a bonus!
So what’s next? Well, if you have higher champion points you can buy more slotables and switch stuff per situation as and when needed. If you don’t, then if you want to swap it will cost you gold for respecing. So in a nutshell, 1650-1800 (depending on build) is you’re pretty much done! Anything else is convenient due to not needing to spend gold swapping things you already have access to! How cool is that?
SLOTABLES!
No matter what, THESE are the most important parts of the Champion Points 2.0 system. So this is your main FIRST goal when pushing for the build. You need to slot these even if they are not max level. However, there are swap-outs for situations as explained in the video.
BLUE (Warfare) are important for resistance, heals, and damage. Red (Fitness) are important for resources, health, and Crowd Control counters. Green (Craft) are literally quality of life! (aka your choice so not THAT important for combat).
It doesn’t matter what level you are at anymore, you can play ALL content regardless of your champion points level because during Flames of Ambition all players/characters had their base stats improved to make everyone somewhat more balanced at lower levels.
However, as mentioned above, the slotables are your main goal. Unlock the prerequisite passives to unlock access to your slotables if there are any…fill them up, and then just grab the remaining passives as you go.
300, 600, 900 champion points are not really important as checkpoints anymore for optimization. Just fill as you go, because ALL characters can have ALL passives with NO negative effects unlike before!
What should I aim for with this build?
- Master At Arms
- Fighting Finesse
- Deadly Aim
- Backstabber
Instead of Backstabber If you cannot get behind the enemy (example: Dragon in Sunspire), then Thaumaturge should replace it in those situations.If you find you are in multiple large pull situations with many adds while using Whirling Blades, you should swap to Biting Aura.
- Rationer
- Liquid Efficiency
- Treasure Hunter
- Steed’s Blessing
These really are up to you but these are most useful IN content for loot and movement if not in combat.
What you do with this tree is NOT make or break for mechanics nor combat in general just quality of life.
Some people like to steal, craft, use less potions, whatever, it’s your choice.
- Boundless Vitality
- Rejuvenation
- Fortified
- Blood Renewal
These are designed to increase your health/armor and at the same time manage your resources.
High recovery and return for being active in combat and GETTING kills really helps you in content.
So a good balance of flat, contributing slotables are helpful as a DPS build.
The video below explains how the changes work in more detail. Of course, over time, additions will be and have already been made to the system but the main BASE of it is the same.
Rotation
Unrelenting Grip Rotation (infinite sustain):
Front Bar: Light Attack, Burning Embers, Light Attack, Molten Whip, Light Attack, Unrelenting Grip,(3x), Light Attack, Molten Whip, Light Attack, Barbed Trap, Weapon Swap…
Back bar: Light Attack, Eruption, Light Attack, Flames Of Oblivion, Light Attack, Engulfing Flames, Light Attack, Unstable Wall of Elements, Weapon Swap.
Note: ONLY cast “Eruption” every SECOND rotation. One rotation with it, one rotation without it.
Poisons, Potions, & Food
You can use Tristat pots for a combination of the above and some health back OR if you are really fancy and going for the squishier mode as mentioned in the video…you can make spell pots.
Food is very simple, the highest level food you can consume with 2 stats only, MAX health and MAX magicka. There are 3 variations of recipes but all are the same in the stats they give so your choice of which one you use.
Tri-pots:
Columbine + Mountain Flower + Bugloss + Lorkans Tears
Spell Pots:
Lady smock + Water Hyacinth + Cornflower + Lorkhan’s Tears
Food:
Minstral Banana-Bunny Hash – Small game(1) + Bananas(2) + Seasoning(3)
Melon-Baked Parmesan Pork – White Meat(1) + Melon(2) + Cheese(3)
Solitude Salmon-Millet Soup – Fish(1) + Tomato(2) + Millet(3)
If you would like to make your own potions, I now have a fully functioning potion maker on the website. Here you can TEST any combination of potion or poison you like and check the outcome without having to know the combinations in-game! Check here for the App, working on Android and IOS – Potion Maker
Gear Setup
Below is a chart showing the overall gear set-up, noting the optimal set requirements in terms of weight, enchants, and of course, traits!
We are using the Thief Mundus stone alongside 64 Attribute points into Magicka.
We are a Khajiit, but also a High Elf, Dark Elf, or Breton are good substitutes and if you want to be a bit of a brawler, even Orc is ok.
Optimal Setup
Slot | Gear Set | Weight | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Head | Zaan / Grothdarr | Medium | Divines | Magicka |
Shoulders | Zaan / Grothdarr | Heavy | Divines | Magicka |
Chest | Scathing Mage | Light | Divines | Magicka |
Waist | Scathing Mage | Light | Divines | Magicka |
Hands | Scathing Mage | Light | Divines | Magicka |
Legs | Scathing Mage | Light | Divines | Magicka |
Feet | Scathing Mage | Light | Divines | Magicka |
Ring 1 | Burning Spellweave / Mantle Of Sioria | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage |
Ring 2 | Burning Spellweave / Mantle Of Sioria | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage |
Necklace | Burning Spellweave / Mantle Of Sioria | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage |
Weapon 1 | Burning Spellweave / Mantle Of Sioria | Inferno Staff | Precise | Weapon / Spell Dmg |
Weapon 2 | Maelstrom Staff | Inferno Staff | Infused | Flame Damage |
Beginner Setup (crafted)
Slot | Gear Set | Weight | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Head | Grothdarr / Maw Of The Infernal | Light | Divines | Magicka |
Shoulders | Grothdarr / Maw Of The Infernal | Light | Divines | Magicka |
Chest | Torug’s Pact | Light | Divines | Magicka |
Waist | Torug’s Pact | Light | Divines | Magicka |
Hands | Torug’s Pact | Light | Divines | Magicka |
Legs | Torug’s Pact | Light | Divines | Magicka |
Feet | Torug’s Pact | Light | Divines | Magicka |
Ring 1 | Mechanical Acuity | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage |
Ring 2 | Mechanical Acuity | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage |
Necklace | Mechanical Acuity | Jewelry | Bloodthirsty | Spell Damage |
Weapon 1 | Mechanical Acuity | Inferno Staff | Precise | Weapon / Spell Dmg |
Weapon 2 | Willpower / Maelstrom | Inferno Staff | Infused | Flame |
Weapon choices: IF you decide to use 2x daggers instead of 1x flame staff on the FRONT bar, you will need to swap your glyphs around.
So, you will need to put a Weapon and Spell damage glyph on the BACK bar, while putting 1x poison and 1x flame glyph on the two daggers (keep the traits the same as the main weapon).
Gear Locations
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