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Breath Dragonknight DPS Build - ESO Guide

DPS Two Bar Magicka Pure Class Dragonknight
Up to date for: Update 50 - 14th June 2026
Last changed: Update 50 - 14th June 2026

Magicka Dragonknight DPS Build built around the reworked ability, a channeled fire breath attack that ramps up in damage over 4.8 seconds and synergizes with the ultimate.

It's a build somewhat similar to Arcanist beams. It is weaker than Regular Dragonknight but has better AoE damage, is much easier to play, and is one of the stronger options in ESO Update 50 overall.

This build parses 152,240 DPS on the 21 million HP Iron Atronach trial dummy with the Medium Armor setup. The Light Armor setup does 145.8k.

If you prefer a simpler rotation, check out the One Bar Breath Dragonknight DPS Build which parses 131k DPS with a single bar.

Works in normal and veteran dungeons, trials, hard modes, Dragonstar Arena, and Blackrose Prison.

The video is from an older patch - the written guide below is more up to date.

Simulated Parse Tables

I built a simulator that takes the current setup from the guide and plays it through the listed priority rotation. It uses the listed gear, skills, Champion Points, race, Mundus, food, potions, target armor and target health. It tracks skill casts, light attacks, DoT ticks, cooldowns, execute scaling, crits and status effect rolls. It assumes 100% of light attacks hit and a 0.025 second weave average.

Comparison tables in this guide use the deterministic sim on the 21 million HP Iron Atronach trial dummy. The Base Setup is treated as the default.

For comparison tables I keep the setup identical and change one thing at a time. That makes the tables better for comparing options than random dummy parses, where one run can get better crits, different status effects or a better execute window.

Base Setup

Run DPS
21m deterministic sim
145.8k DPS
100 random 21m sims
Lowest 142.1k DPS
Highest 149.5k DPS

Full Damage Setup

The real parse was recorded with the Full Damage setup: Medium Armor setup, replaces , replaces , replaces

Run DPS
21m deterministic sim
151.4k DPS
Real 21m CMX parse
152.2k DPS
100 random 21m sims
Lowest 147.2k DPS
Highest 160.7k DPS
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Class Mastery

Class Masteries are a new U50 system where each class picks 2 of 5 passive bonuses (Class Mastery Points, not Skill Points). Activating subclassing disables Class Mastery, so it's a tradeoff between keeping your native skill lines or subclassing.

Use and .

Situational

Lead From the Front

Let others be swept along in the wake of your flame.

Activating rank 2 of grants you and group members within 28 meters of you and for 1 second per 15 Ultimate spent, increasing damage done and reducing damage taken by 10%.

Notes

4.4% less damage than but provides your group with roughly 28.8% and uptime

Not worth it

Resolute Defense

You are as unyielding as a mountain.

Each second you remain Bracing, you increase the amount of damage you block by 6%, up to 5 times.

Blocking damage has a 20% chance to restore 500 Stamina. This effect can occur once every block cost.

Notes

Not useful for this setup.

Booming Voice

Let your voice echo across the peaks.

Activating rank 2 of now also grants 5 Health, Magicka, and Stamina Recovery for every Ultimate spent for 10 seconds after a delay of 15 seconds.

Notes

Not useful for this setup.

Class Mastery Simulated Parse Damage Change
145.8k DPS
Baseline
139.4k DPS
-4.4%

Skill Setups

Base Setup

A base setup that will work for most situations and which should be your starting point when making situational setups

Front Bar Back Bar
Slot 1: Engulfing DragonfireMorph of Dragonfire Breath Slot 1: Shatterspike MantleMorph of Earthspike Mantle
Slot 2: Searing ClawMorph of Searing Strike Slot 2: IncinerateMorph of Inferno
Slot 3: Camouflaged HunterMorph of Expert Hunter Slot 3: Igneous WeaponsMorph of Molten Weapons
Slot 4: Quick CloakMorph of Blade Cloak Slot 4: StampedeMorph of Critical Charge
Slot 5: Banner BearerMagic / Cavalier's Charge / Heroism Slot 5: Banner BearerMagic / Cavalier's Charge / Heroism
Ultimate: Take FlightMorph of Dragon Leap Ultimate: Flawless DawnbreakerMorph of Dawnbreaker
  • - the main ability of this build, a 4.8 second channeled attack which causes you to breathe fire in front of you (0.3 second windup and then deals damage every 0.5 seconds, 10 ticks in total). Its damage ramps up by 5% each tick up to 50% on the last tick, but it always deals maximum damage while 's bonus is active. Unlike other channeled abilities, this one doesn't go on cooldown when you get interrupted
  • - deals direct damage and applies a 10 second DoT which deals 10% more damage every 2 seconds. The initial hit is guaranteed to proc Burning status effect
  • - this ability will grant you the Minor Berserk buff which increases your damage done by 5% for 5 seconds after you deal Critical Damage from enemy's flank, which has a very wide radius. It's a buff which should be provided by your Healers, but this skill can fill the gaps in uptime. It will also trigger the passive, increasing your Weapon and Spell Damage by 3%
  • - an ability that grants a short burst of movement speed, Major Evasion buff which reduces your damage taken from AoE attacks and deals damage over 30 seconds. The damage it deals can proc your weapon enchantments, which is important because you can't proc them with Light Attacks while breathing
  • (Magic, Cavalier's Charge, Heroism) - a toggle which will drain your Stamina and Magicka. The Focus script will grant you a 6% bonus to Magical Damage. The Signature script will grant you 6 Weapon and Spell Damage per 1% of bonus movement speed you have, which will always grant you at least 60 thanks to , and 180 briefly after casting , with possibly more if your teammates provide other movement speed bonuses. The Affix script will grant you Minor Heroism which will increase your Ultimate generation allowing you to keep up better uptime on
  • - a cheap ultimate which gives you a 20% Damage Done against Monsters buff for 15 seconds. Your always deals maximum damage while 's buff is active
  • - your source of Major Resolve which also applies a 20 second DoT to enemies around you and grants you a buff which adds 100 damage to all of your damage ticks
  • - an ability which releases a fiery wave around you on cast and then every 5 seconds for 15 seconds. It has increased base chance to proc Burning status effect. Having it slotted passively grants you Major Savagery and Prophecy
  • - a 60 second buff which grants and to you and your entire group, and causes your Light Attacks to deal additional damage up to once every 2 seconds
  • - a gap closer which leaves a ground DoT under your target which will constantly proc your Weapon Damage enchantment and increase your Direct Damage done thanks to the set
  • - since this build revolves around you'll want to always use as your ultimate. is slotted on backbar to passively provide some Weapon and Spell Damage through the passive

If you need to slot something situational, replace (and replace with ) first, then in single target fights and in AoE fights.

  • - an ability which restores resources based on your missing resources. Use it if you can't sustain
  • - a DoT that applies the status effect at the start and grants , increasing your Critical Damage by 10%. Use it if you don't have
  • - extremely good ability for trash packs, you can pre-cast it as you're running into them
  • - a self-heal you'll need for some fights
  • - a gap closer which can be useful in fights where you have to move around a lot
  • - the other morph of . It deals less damage but heals you for a decent amount on cast and then continues to heal you whenever it ticks. Use it if you need more healing
  • - a replacement for whenever you're using a Destruction Staff instead of a Greatsword on your backbar. It's much easier to sustain than and until you obtain the set they're both similar in strength, which makes better
  • (Magic, Cavalier's Charge, other script) - when using Heroism potions you can change the Heroism script to something else. Use Berserk or Courage scripts, depending on what other buffs your team is providing
Rotation Simulated Parse Damage Change
Priority List
145.8k DPS
Baseline
Static Rotation
144.0k DPS
-1.3%

Priority List

This is just a list of priorities. Simply recast abilities when they run out and follow this list of priorities when there are multiple things to refresh.

Inside of your window you can freely cancel to refresh DoTs. Outside of , you want to finish and refresh DoTs after it ends.

You ideally want to start a cast of when has 2-3 seconds left, so that the initial weak phase of gets bypassed by 's buff, because the later phase deals high damage regardless.

  • 1.
  • 2.
  • 3.
  • 4.
  • 5.
  • 6.
  • 7.
  • 8.

Pre-buff

These abilities can be pre-cast before entering combat

Other Setups

A few examples of other setups you could end up with after applying the situational skills to the base setup

A setup for trash packs

Front Bar Back Bar
Slot 1: Engulfing DragonfireMorph of Dragonfire Breath Slot 1: Shatterspike MantleMorph of Earthspike Mantle
Slot 2: IncinerateMorph of Inferno Slot 2: Proximity DetonationMorph of Magicka Detonation
Slot 3: Camouflaged HunterMorph of Expert Hunter Slot 3: Igneous WeaponsMorph of Molten Weapons
Slot 4: Quick CloakMorph of Blade Cloak Slot 4: StampedeMorph of Critical Charge
Slot 5: Banner BearerMagic / Cavalier's Charge / Heroism Slot 5: Banner BearerMagic / Cavalier's Charge / Heroism
Ultimate: Take FlightMorph of Dragon Leap Ultimate: Flawless DawnbreakerMorph of Dawnbreaker

What Changes

Changes compared to the Base Setup

  • replaces and swaps places with

Passives

Some trees are only needed when using situational skills, for example Destruction Staff provides nothing without

Class

Weapon

Armor

Guild

Alliance War

Racial

Craft

Class - Ardent Flame

Combustion - High Priority

Traumatic Burns - High Priority

Fan the Flames - High Priority

A Soul Ablaze - High Priority

Gear

A base setup that will work for most situations and which should be your starting point when making situational setups. It assumes your group provides , , and nothing more

Switching gear for trash packs isn't worth it unless you're using gear-swap addons

Light Armor gives penetration through the passive, so it doesn't depend on your group composition. Medium Armor can be stronger but needs your group to provide penetration, for example through . Use Light Armor if you don't know what your group brings, Medium Armor if you do.

Gear Slot Set Weight/Type Trait Enchantment
HeadHead Medium
ShouldersShoulders Light
ChestChest Medium
HandsHands Light
BeltBelt Light
LegsLegs Light
FeetBoots Light
NeckNecklace Jewelry
RingRing Jewelry
RingRing Jewelry
MainhandFrontbar Main Hand Dagger
OffhandFrontbar Off Hand Dagger
MainhandBackbar Main Hand Greatsword

This setup does 145.8k DPS

Body (Light)
Whorl of the Depths - Trial Set (Dreadsail Reef)

If you don't have it, use in order

  1. - Crafted
  2. - Class Set (Infinite Archive)
  3. - Crafted
Weapons and Jewelry
Aegis Caller - Dungeon Set (Unhallowed Grave)

If you don't have it, use in order

  1. - Crafted
  2. - Dungeon Set (Frostvault)
  3. - Overland Set (Deshaan)
  4. - Crafted
Monster Helm
Slimecraw - Monster Set (Wayrest Sewers I)

Alternative (same bonus)

  1. - Direfrost Keep
  2. - Scalecaller Peak
  3. - Moongrave Fane
  4. - Stone Garden
  5. - Bedlam Veil
  6. - Night Market

Use the Penetration Calculator to fine-tune your penetration for different content. Overland enemies have 9,100 armor while Instanced enemies (Arenas and Dungeons) have 18,200.

Gear Set Comparisons

Damage comparison for the set options.

Body (Light)

Compares X Light set + weapons and jewelry.

Source
Body Set Source Simulated Parse Damage Change
Trial - Dreadsail Reef
145.8k DPS
Baseline
(3 Stacks) Crafted
144.0k DPS
-1.2%
Crafted
141.1k DPS
-3.2%
Overland - Deshaan
140.6k DPS
-3.6%
Class Set - Infinite Archive
140.6k DPS
-3.6%
(0 Stacks) Crafted
139.4k DPS
-4.4%
Crafted
138.4k DPS
-5.1%
Crafted
138.0k DPS
-5.3%
Crafted
136.8k DPS
-6.2%

Front Bar Weapons

Daggers are the default weapon. Greatsword is the smallest DPS loss. Bow is the best ranged weapon for when mechanics make melee annoying, with Lightning Staff close behind.

Front Bar Weapon Simulated Parse Damage Change
Dual Wield Daggers
145.8k DPS
Baseline
Greatsword
143.5k DPS
-1.6%
Bow
136.8k DPS
-6.2%
Sword and Shield
136.2k DPS
-6.6%
Lightning Staff
134.6k DPS
-7.7%
Inferno Staff
132.8k DPS
-8.9%
Ice Staff
130.3k DPS
-10.6%
Restoration Staff
129.1k DPS
-11.5%

Only the front bar weapon changes. Daggers use and . Every one-weapon option uses a weapon and keeps the same backbar Greatsword. Sword and Shield uses a sword plus a shield.

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Champion Points

WarfareWarfare
6% Direct Damage
Because more than 60% of your damage is Direct
6% AoE Damage
Because more than 60% of your damage is AoE
205 Weapon and Spell Damage
Next strongest CP damage-wise
8% Critical Damage and Healing
Next strongest CP damage-wise
Critical Damage Cap
Replace with if your supports are providing enough Critical Damage for you to reach the 125% cap without Fighting Finesse
More Healing
is a decent Champion Point if you need more HPS
FitnessFitness
1400 Max Health
Survivability
1731 Armor
Survivability
10% Movement Speed
Boosts your Cavalier's Charge
90 Health, Stamina and Magicka Recovery
Sustain
Sustain in fights with lots of adds
and are good sustain CPs for dungeon fights with lots of adds
Craft Craft
20% Movement Speed out of combat
Extremely useful utility
Quality of Life
Green Champion Points don't affect Combat, choose whatever Quality of Life you prefer

Race

The difference between best and worst race is about 4% of DPS and there is no content in the entire game that you'd be blocked from completing because of choosing a bad race.

High Elf
Best for 12-Man
High Elf
Why pick this
Provides Max Magicka and Weapon/Spell Damage. In Trials that's usually stronger than Khajiit's Critical Damage racial, because with 4 supports your team will (usually) provide enough Critical Damage buffs for you to reach the cap regardless
Spell Recharge ~104 lower resource per second, 5% less damage taken while channeling
Syrabane's Boon 2000 Max Magicka
Elemental Talent 258 Weapon & Spell Damage
Dark Elf
Best for 12-Man
Dark Elf
Why pick this
Provides Max Magicka and Weapon/Spell Damage. In Trials that's usually stronger than Khajiit's Critical Damage racial, because with 4 supports your team will (usually) provide enough Critical Damage buffs for you to reach the cap regardless
Dynamic 1910 Max Stamina & Magicka
Resist Flame 4620 Flame Resistance
Ruination 258 Weapon & Spell Damage
Khajiit
Best for 4-Man
Khajiit
Why pick this
Khajiit's Critical Damage is more valuable than High Elf/Dark Elf's Weapon/Spell Damage in 4-man content, because it's unlikely your two supports (or in many cases a single support) will be able to provide enough Critical Damage buffs for you to reach the 125% Critical Damage cap
Feline Ambush 12% Critical Damage
Lunar Blessings 915 Max Health, Stamina and Magicka
Robustness 90 Health, Stamina, Magicka Recovery
Race Simulated Parse Damage Change
Dark Elf
145.8k DPS
Baseline
High Elf
145.8k DPS
+0.0%
Orc
144.1k DPS
-1.2%
Khajiit
143.5k DPS
-1.6%
Breton
142.5k DPS
-2.2%
Argonian
141.6k DPS
-2.9%
Wood Elf
141.1k DPS
-3.2%
Redguard
140.3k DPS
-3.8%
Imperial
140.3k DPS
-3.8%
Nord
140.3k DPS
-3.8%


Mundus

The Thief
Default
The Thief
5.53% Critical Chance (9.04% with 7 Divines)
When to use
Use in all content

Attributes

You should always put all 64 attribute points into Magicka.

Health
0
Stamina
0
Magicka
64
All points into Magicka

Food

Your sustain can vary greatly because it's impacted by your race, the amount of synergies provided by your teammates, and by your armor type. Choose the food with more Magicka Recovery if you can't sustain.

Artaeum Pickled Fish Bowl
Default
Max Health Max Magicka
Use for most content. is a cheaper alternative.
Clockwork Citrus Filet
Need Sustain
Max Health Max Magicka Magicka Recovery
Use when you need more sustain. is a cheaper alternative.
Tomato Garlic Chutney
Full Damage
Max Magicka
Max Magicka only. Use for parsing or content where you can get away without Max Health. adds Magicka Recovery if needed, at the cost of some of the Max Magicka.
Setup Simulated Parse Damage Change
146.8k DPS
+0.7%
145.8k DPS
Baseline
144.1k DPS
-1.2%

Potions

Tri-Stat Potion
Default
Restore Health Restore Stamina Restore Magicka

Most of the time you should use Tri-Stat potions. They restore Health, Stamina and Magicka.

Spell Power Potion
Situational
Restore Magicka Spell Critical

Use Spell Power potions if you're unslotting and need another source of . They improve your Magicka sustain instead of Stamina sustain.

Heroism Potion
Full Damage
Restore Stamina Restore Magicka

Heroism potions restore both Stamina and Magicka and can provide 100% uptime on , allowing you to use a different Affix script on your .

Armor Potion
Survivability
Restore Health +5280 Armor

If you want to greatly improve your survivability you can instead use Armor Potions. You'll most likely have to slot , or get more sustain in other ways.

Parses

All parses are recorded on the 21 million Target Dummy

Base Setup, Medium Armor
152,240 DPS
Base Setup, Medium Armor
152,240DPS
21mil Iron Atronach Dummy
Patch
Update 50
Armor
6 Medium / 1 Light
Gear Setup
Base Setup (Medium)
Skill Setup
Base
Potion
Food
Mundus
Race
Dark Elf
CMX Parse
CMX Parse - Base Setup Medium Armor
CMX Setup
CMX Setup - Base Setup Medium Armor
Recording
Parse recording

Gameplay

Unhallowed Grave
Dungeon
Castle Thorn
Dungeon
Unhallowed Grave
Dungeon Veteran Hard Mode
Castle Thorn
Dungeon Veteran Hard Mode

FAQ

Yes, it's one of the stronger DPS options in ESO Update 50. The gameplay is similar to Arcanist beams - you channel as your main damage source, and synergizes with it for big ultimate dumps. It has great AoE damage and is much easier to play than most DPS builds, parsing 152k on the trial dummy.

Yes, you can replace the Dual Wield Daggers with other weapons. Lightning Staff, Greatsword and Bow will cause the smallest DPS loss (≈2%), then Inferno Staff (≈4%), and then support-oriented weapons (Ice Staff, One Handed and Shield) will cause a bigger DPS loss (≈7%). You will also have to replace with some situational ability, or with an ability from one of the weapons you swapped to (for example when switching to Greatsword). Replacing the backbar Greatsword is not recommended because of the set which requires a Two Handed weapon.



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