One Bar Stamina Dragonknight DPS Build - ESO Guide

DPS One Bar Stamina Pure Class Dragonknight

Up to date for: Update 44 - 5th March 2025

Last changed: Update 44 - 5th March 2025

This build focuses on using Lethal Arrow which is extremely powerful on a Dragonknight because of the World in Ruin and Combustion passives, one of which straight up boosts Lethal Arrow's damage by 5% and the other one boosts the damage of the Poisoned status effect which Lethal Arrow is guaranteed to apply by 40%.

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

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Skill Setups

Base Setup

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

A skill setup that combines Single Target and AoE capabilities. It won't be perfect for any fight, but it's what you should use if you don't want to ever swap your skills

Front Bar
Slot 1: Lethal Arrow
Slot 2: Acid Spray
Slot 3: Eruption
Slot 4: Engulfing Flames
Slot 5: Flames of Oblivion
Ultimate: Standard of Might

Lethal Arrow - an extremely powerful spammable that synergizes extremely well with Dragonknight's passives because it deals increased damage thanks to the World in Ruin passive and the Poisoned status effect it applies deals increased damage thanks to the Combustion passive
Acid Spray - a decent AoE DoT that becomes your spammable when you need to damage multiple enemies
Eruption - a ground DoT that also deals direct damage at the beginning, up to once every 10 seconds. It's crucial for proccing the Mountain’s Blessing passive which will grant you and your group the unique Minor Brutality buff, increasing everyone's Weapon Damage by 10%
Engulfing Flames - a decent DoT that's going to increase enemies' Flame damage taken by 6%
Flames of Oblivion - an ability that deals lots of damage per cast
Standard of Might - extremely powerful ultimate that deals damage over time, increases all of your damage done and decreases all of your damage taken

Resolving Vigor - a self-heal you'll need for some fights depending on mechanics you're assigned to deal with (for example if you're assigned to Reef Hearts in Reef Guardian fight). Replace Engulfing Flames with it

Final Setups

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

AoE focused skill setup for dealing with trash packs

Front Bar
Slot 1: Acid Spray
Slot 2: Burning Talons
Slot 3: Eruption
Slot 4: Engulfing Flames
Slot 5: Flames of Oblivion
Ultimate: Standard of Might

Acid Spray - a decent AoE DoT that's also your spammable
Burning Talons - a very strong short AoE DoT that also grants your allies the Ignite synergy
Eruption - a ground DoT that also deals direct damage at the beginning, up to once every 10 seconds. It's crucial for proccing the Mountain’s Blessing passive which will grant you and your group the unique Minor Brutality buff, increasing everyone's Weapon Damage by 10%
Engulfing Flames - a decent DoT that's going to increase enemies' Flame damage taken by 6%
Flames of Oblivion - an ability that deals lots of damage per cast
Standard of Might - extremely powerful ultimate that deals damage over time, increases all of your damage done and decreases all of your damage taken

Single Target focused setup with a bit of AoE damage for dealing with bosses

Front Bar
Slot 1: Lethal Arrow
Slot 2: Venomous Claw
Slot 3: Eruption
Slot 4: Engulfing Flames
Slot 5: Flames of Oblivion
Ultimate: Standard of Might

Lethal Arrow - an extremely powerful spammable that synergizes extremely well with Dragonknight's passives because it deals increased damage thanks to the World in Ruin passive and the Poisoned status effect it applies deals increased damage thanks to the Combustion passive
Venomous Claw - a strong DoT that is also guaranteed to proc the Poisoned status effect
Eruption - a ground DoT that also deals direct damage at the beginning, up to once every 10 seconds. It's crucial for proccing the Mountain’s Blessing passive which will grant you and your group the unique Minor Brutality buff, increasing everyone's Weapon Damage by 10%
Engulfing Flames - a decent DoT that's going to increase enemies' Flame damage taken by 6%
Flames of Oblivion - an ability that deals lots of damage per cast
Standard of Might - extremely powerful ultimate that deals damage over time, increases all of your damage done and decreases all of your damage taken

Resolving Vigor - a self-heal you'll need for some fights depending on mechanics you're assigned to deal with (for example if you're assigned to Reef Hearts in Reef Guardian fight). Replace Engulfing Flames with it
Acid Spray - for boss fights that require more AoE replace Venomous Claw with Acid Spray, which is an AoE DoT that can also be used as a spammable

A skill setup for parsing on a dummy. Parse gear setup doesn't use Oakensoul Ring so it can utilise backbarred Molten Whip for additional passive Weapon and Spell Damage

Front Bar	Back Bar
Slot 1: Lethal Arrow	Slot 1: Molten Whip
Slot 2: Venomous Claw
Slot 3: Eruption
Slot 4: Barbed Trap
Slot 5: Flames of Oblivion
Ultimate: Standard of Might

Lethal Arrow - an extremely powerful spammable that synergizes extremely well with Dragonknight's passives because it deals increased damage thanks to the World in Ruin passive and the Poisoned status effect it applies deals increased damage thanks to the Combustion passive
Venomous Claw - a strong DoT that is also guaranteed to proc the Poisoned status effect. It's also going to grant you a stack of Molten Whip
Eruption - a ground DoT that also deals direct damage at the beginning, up to once every 10 seconds. It's crucial for proccing the Mountain’s Blessing passive which will grant you the unique Minor Brutality buff, increasing your Weapon Damage by 10%
Barbed Trap - a DoT that will also apply Hemorrhage status effect at the start and grant you Minor Force buff, increasing your Critical Damage by 10%. It will also trigger the Slayer passive
Flames of Oblivion - an ability that deals lots of damage per cast. It's also going to grant you a stack of Molten Whip
Standard of Might - extremely powerful ultimate that deals damage over time, increases all of your damage done and decreases all of your damage taken. It's also going to grant you a stack of Molten Whip
Molten Whip - an ability you can keep slotted on your backbar to gain its passive benefits. It will grant you 300 Weapon and Spell Damage as it will be procced by Venomous Claw, Burning Embers and Standard of Might

Passives

There are no passives you need to skip with this build, you should get all of them.

Gear

Base Setup

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

Default setup for dungeons and trials

Gear Slot	Set	Weight/Type	Trait	Enchantment
Head	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Shoulders	Slimecraw	Light	Divines	Stamina
Chest	Arms of Relequen	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Hands	Arms of Relequen	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Belt	Arms of Relequen	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Legs	Arms of Relequen	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Boots	Arms of Relequen	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Necklace	Ansuul's Torment	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Ansuul's Torment	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Oakensoul Ring	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Frontbar Main Hand	Ansuul's Torment	Bow	Infused	Weapon Damage

When choosing different sets, at least one of your sets has to be Medium weight. When choosing a Light set, use it on Weapon, Jewelry and the Shoulder or Head piece, so you end up with 6 Medium/1 Light combination. Keep in mind that Crafted sets and Monster sets come in all weights

For example, a default setup for trash packs would replace Arms of Relequen with Sul-Xan's Torment

How to choose which set to replace:

Arms of Relequen - extremely powerful but Single Target focused, so you won't want to use it in AoE fights. It's also less optimal in Single Target fights where you constantly have to switch targets, which means you can't keep up Relequen stacks
Ansuul’s Torment - less powerful than Relequen, but extremely reliable. There is no fight in the game that invalidates Ansuul. It can also gain slight edge in fights where you can interrupt your enemies

Gear that can be stronger than the setup from the table in specific situations or when specific circumstances are present

Sul-Xan's Torment - the best set for trash packs and for bosses that regularly spawn smaller adds
Highland Sentinel - the strongest set if you are able to stand still in a certain encounter
Roar of Alkosh - a support set that allows you to provide 6000 penetration for your team, as long as they provide you with at least 1 synergy every 10 seconds. It's extremely beneficial to have at least 1 Alkosh user in trial groups. Using Alkosh in dungeons will also allow you to keep using The Thief Mundus even if your tank doesn't use any penetration sets

Gear that is easier to obtain and can be used while you work towards the best gear

Crafted:

All of these are tradable and can be bought from other players

Overland:

All of these are tradable and can be bought from other players

Mother’s Sorrow (Light) - Deshaan
Back-Alley Gourmand (Light) - Galen and Y'ffelon
Dragonguard Elite (Medium) - Southern Elsweyr

Dungeons:

Tzogvin’s Warband (Medium) - Frostvault
Pillar of Nirn (Medium) - Falkreath Hold
Essence Thief (Medium) - White-Gold Tower
Leviathan (Medium) - Crypt of Heart 1 & 2

Final Setups

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

Setup for parsing on the practice dummy

Gear Slot	Set	Weight/Type	Trait	Enchantment
Head	Highland Sentinel	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Shoulders	Highland Sentinel	Light	Divines	Stamina
Chest	Arms of Relequen	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Hands	Arms of Relequen	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Belt	Arms of Relequen	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Legs	Arms of Relequen	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Boots	Arms of Relequen	Medium	Divines	Stamina
Necklace	Highland Sentinel	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Highland Sentinel	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Ring	Highland Sentinel	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Physical Harm
Frontbar Main Hand	Point-Blank Snipe	Bow	Infused	Weapon Damage

Champion Points

Warfare

Master-at-Arms

6% Direct Damage

Deadly Aim

6% Single Target Damage

Fighting Finesse

8% Critical Damage and Healing

Wrathful Strikes

205 Weapon and Spell Damage

AoE Fights

Replace Deadly Aim with Biting Aura in AoE fights.

Adds

In fights with lots of adds Siphoning Spells and Bloody Renewal can be stronger than Rejuvenation and Sustained by Suffering.

Fitness

Boundless Vitality

1400 Max Health

Sustained by Suffering

150 Health, Stamina and Magicka Recovery when debuffed

Rejuvenation

90 Health, Stamina and Magicka Recovery

Fortified

1731 Armor

Craft

Steed's Blessing

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 5% of DPS and there is no content in the entire game that you'd be blocked from completing because of choosing a bad race.

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

Why pick this

Khajiit's Critical Damage is more valuable than 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

Brawny 1000 Max Stamina

Unflinching Rage 1000 Max Health, ≈531 Healing per Second

Swift Warrior 258 Weapon & Spell Damage, -12% Sprint Cost, +10% Sprint Speed

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

Hunter's Eye 950 Penetration, 5% Movement Speed

Y'ffre's Endurance 258 Stamina Recovery

Resist Affliction 2000 Max Stamina, 2310 Poison and Disease Resistance

Tough 2000 Max Health

Imperial Mettle 2000 Max Stamina

Red Diamond Reduce cost of all abilities by 6%

Martial Training 8% Reduced Weapon Skill Cost, 15% Reduced effectiveness of snares

Conditioning 2000 Max Stamina

Adrenaline Rush 201 Stamina per second

Mundus

Default

The Thief

5.53% Critical Chance(9.04% with 7 Divines)

Use most of the time
Instanced

The Lover

2744 Penetration(4489 with 7 Divines)

Use in 4-man dungeons if your group is not providing enough penetration
Parse

The Warrior

238 Weapon Damage(389 with 7 Divines)

Use for dummy parsing when Highland Sentinel already gives enough Critical Chance

Attributes

You should always put all 64 attribute points into Stamina.

Health

Stamina

Magicka

All points into Stamina

Food

Default

Braised Rabbit with Spring Vegetables

Max Health +5,395 Max Stamina +4,936

Use for most content.
Sustain

Artaeum Takeaway Broth

Max Health +3,326 Max Stamina +3,080 Health Recovery +406 Stamina Recovery +338

Use when you need more sustain.

Cheaper alternative Dubious Camoran Throne

Difference Max Health +3,094 −232 Max Stamina +2,856 −224 Health Recovery — −406 Stamina Recovery +315 −23
Full Damage

Hearty Garlic Corn Chowder

Max Stamina +6,048

Max Stamina only. Use for parsing or content where you can get away without Max Health.
Sustain

Lava Foot Soup-and-Saltrice

Max Stamina +4,936 Stamina Recovery +493

Use when you need Stamina Recovery without Max Health.

Potions

Default

Tri-Stat Potion

Restore Health Restore Stamina Restore Magicka

Most of the time you should use Tri-Stat potions for the extra resources and healing.

Craft with: Columbine Bugloss Mountain Flower
Default

Weapon Power Potion

Restore Stamina Major Brutality Major Savagery

Use the Weapon Power potions. They'll improve your Stamina sustain and provide Major Brutality.

Craft with: Blessed Thistle Dragonthorn Wormwood