The current beta skills of the Dragonknight in The Elder Scrolls Online
While nothing is set in stone yet, many TESO fans have been pondering their main character for weeks now, and the release date is getting closer. This is reason enough for us to gradually introduce you to the current skill trees of the different classes. Today we start with the Dragonknight, who is often referred to as Dragon Warrior. But whether knight or warrior, the overarching theme is: DRAGON! So what defines a dragon?
Fire, power, strength, toughness, magic or at least a certain resistance to magic, often a connection to the earth, and yes, dragons love to sleep on a huge pile of gold, as we’ve recently been reminded by J. R. R. Tolkien’s Hobbit.
Admittedly, the young Dragonknight lacks the latter initially – that’s something you have to work on yourself – but all other aspects are actually somewhat reflected in the skill options. And what is particularly noticeable about the Dragonknight is that with a little creativity, you can play him almost however you like.
A fiery multi-talent!
On one hand, I completely agree with Darion (see later in the video below) when he says that the Dragonknight is the fire mage par excellence. This is illustrated by the talent tree Ardent Flame, which we will introduce to you first. On the other hand, we also have a support character par excellence. Both in the skill tree Ardent Flame and in Earthen Heart, there are numerous talents that should make you very popular with your teammates.
You protect them, improve their weapons and attacks, you immobilize enemies, and ensure, for example, that they miss your group more often. Anyone who develops in this direction should be a sought-after companion in dungeons and raids. And what would such a character be with a healing staff in both hands? Possibilities galore, it should be exciting.
The ultimate tank?
Furthermore, the Dragonknight is already being celebrated in many forums as the ultimate tank. And indeed, taking a look at the third talent tree Draconic Power: Wow, those are impressive skill options, which could definitely yield a hard defender when mixed with a few talents from other branches. Ultimate or not, the Dragonknight can be excellently played as a tank. Innovative talent combinations are more than welcome! 🙂
The three talent trees of the Dragonknight:
So, to cut a long story short, here for you are the three skill trees of the draconic warrior from The Elder Scrolls Online at a glance!
Fire and flame with the Ardent Flame talent tree
[intense_hr type=”solid” size=”large” /]
As already hinted, the Ardent Flame talent tree primarily features the use of fire effects. The passive talents Spark Flight, Warmth, Scorching Heat, and World in Flames increase damage from fire effects, slow enemies through fire effects, extend the duration of certain fire talents, and the area damage of all fire skills. In other words: You’re going to be a real little fire devil!
- The active talents are also quite impressive. With Fiery Grip, you pull enemies towards you and deal fire damage to them. Yes, this talent is reminiscent of the WoW Death Knight and is likely to be very interesting for tanks in TESO as well.
- “Scorching Strike“ also deals direct fire damage to enemies and starts a DoT (Damage over Time) that more than doubles the total damage. Of course, a dragon fire is also included, so “Fiery Breath“ inflicts cone-shaped fire area damage in front of you.
- The “Lava Whip“ also deals considerable fire damage and knocks back stunned and immobile enemies (meaning: likely to fall).
- With the talent Inferno, you gain a kind of fire aura that distributes area damage to all nearby enemies (radius 5 meters) and consumes Magicka over time. This skill needs to be manually deactivated, otherwise your Magicka supply will eventually run out.
[tr-accordion id=”7347″]
The Ultimate Talent in this tree is called Dragonknight Standard – making it clear for all know-it-alls that the class must be called Dragonknight. 😉 Just kidding, the standard, in any case, deals fire damage to all enemies in the vicinity and makes them receive a whopping 50% less healing for several seconds (certainly also entertaining in TESO PvP). An ally can activate the so-called Shackle synergy and deal additional damage to the affected enemies as well as hold them in place.
Conclusion: In summary, the Ardent Flame talent tree (without major mixes with other talents) focuses on delivering a decent amount of fire damage, making it generally well-suited for a damage dealer (DD) – whether melee or caster remains open for now. Nevertheless, we are dealing with a rather free character development system in The Elder Scrolls Online, so it wouldn’t be surprising if other roles like tank could benefit from some talents (e.g. Fiery Grip).
Draconic Toughness – The Draconic Power talent tree
[intense_hr type=”solid” size=”large” /]
Moving on to the supposed tank tree, which is referred to in English as Draconic Power, let’s look at the passive talents first. Iron Skin simply reduces damage taken, Burning Heart increases healing received as long as you keep a Draconic Power talent active, Elder Dragon boosts your health recovery by 2% per equipped Draconic Power, and Scaly Armor increases your spell resistance. All in all – yes, it clearly outlines a full-time tank or at the very least a very sturdy resident of Tamriel. 😉
- Visually impressive is the Spiked Armor. Large dragon spikes grow from your body, temporarily enhancing your armor while a portion of the damage you take is reflected back to the attacking enemy.
- The talent Dark Claws deals damage to surrounding enemies, briefly immobilizes them, and allows an ally to activate the Impale Synergy, which deals damage to immobilized enemies.
- In order for our showcase tank to survive briefly without a healer and endure empty healing potions, you use the talent Dragon Blood that lends you a small piece of draconic immortality, healing yourself and increasing the healing received. Uh, so this is also good if the healer is taking a nap.
- In addition to spell resistance, the Reflective Scale helps against hostile casters. Once activated, you simply reflect all spell projectiles back for a few seconds. The last skill is also very amusing. With Inhaling, you absorb some life from nearby enemies, and after a short time, they take damage in return. 🙂
[tr-accordion id=”7360″]
An attack to charge in is common in many games and in TESO even exists in other skill trees. You do it in an extremely stylish way with Dragon Leap. Click, spread your wings, come in reeling with style, deal significant damage, and kick all affected enemies away – to quote Friedrich Lichtenstein: SUPER COOL! 😀
Conclusion: Well, I would say it is quite obvious that the Draconic Power talent tree is focused on the role of a resilient defender. However, who knows what cool combinations you will come up with. The Dragon Leap, for instance, should be exciting for all PvP fans as well. If I think of the shamans in WoW, who love to catapult people off cliffs, it’s surely fun… uh, well, or maybe not. Depends on your perspective.
Become the earthen heart of the group – The Earthen Heart talent tree
[intense_hr type=”solid” size=”large” /]
Moving on to the last skill tree, the quintessential draconic supporter. Again for the Earthen Heart talent tree, let’s quickly glance at the passive talents. Eternal Mountain increases the duration of all abilities in this talent tree. This already suggests that there will likely be several effects with duration. Battle Cry helps only you but tremendously. You immediately regenerate 50% health, Magicka AND Stamina at the cost of activating an Ultimate Ability. This means you are explicitly benefiting from this passive talent when you use another Ultimate Ability – it almost invites you to do this. Blessing of the Mountain helps you to build ultimate power needed to activate Ultimate Abilities. In other words – even more frequent health, Magicka, and Stamina regeneration. 😀 And Helping Hands grants you 2% Stamina when you use an ability of the Earthen Heart.
- “Stone Fist” – You deal physical damage to an opponent and knock them down after a few seconds. Okay, that could help the group, but direct support?
- Now, here we go! “Melted Weapons” – increases the weapon damage of all nearby allies and is even more effective for you!
- “Obsidian Shield” – You provide all allies with a damage-absorbing shield, and an even more effective one for yourself!
- “Petrify” – You stun an enemy for a comparatively long time, and they only regain consciousness after taking considerable damage. Aha, so two different stun options, neat.
- And with the Ash Cloud, you significantly slow down all affected enemies and reduce their hit chance by nearly one third.
[tr-accordion id=”7365″]
So what does the actual ultimate ability bring? “Magmatic Armor” – you limit your damage taken for a few seconds to 3% of your maximum health, and all nearby enemies also receive fire damage over that time. Hmm, certainly not uninteresting for tanks?!?
Conclusion: The Dragonknight of the Earthen Heart – sounds kind of romantic, right? – is indeed packed with active abilities, with which you can support your group. The passive talents further bolster the actives, and when things get tough, you could at least prevent the worst for yourself with the Magmatic Armor while also contributing to the decimation of the enemy group. Hypothesis: Without other ability combinations, this talent tree may not be of much interest to single players? Not necessarily, as the support abilities cleverly provide you with the greatest benefit. Therefore: Experimenting is the way to go with the Earthen Heart talent tree! 🙂
Little conclusion:
Well, there isn’t really much more to say about the Dragonknight for now. The fact is, The Elder Scrolls Online offers numerous possibilities to create your own class and playstyle. And even if one or another talent tree already seems fully playable, it is certainly advisable to experiment from time to time.
I hope you enjoyed our little overview of the truly stylish class of the Dragonknight and will soon start introducing the next one. As always at the end, the request – if you liked the post or wish to embed it in your fan forum, please share it directly on Facebook and more. We are glad to help you and wish all future Dragonknights much success in Tamriel!
Wait, that’s it? Really?
Oh right, I did mention something about a video, didn’t I? Well, we won’t withhold that from you. Here’s Darion’s post about the Dragonknight in The Elder Scrolls Online. Enjoy and feel free to ask questions and provide answers! 😀
