How to Improve Your DPS in ESO

In The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO), one of the key aspects of gameplay revolves around your ability to deal damage, particularly in group content like dungeons, trials, and PvP. DPS (damage per second) is a critical stat for players who want to maximize their effectiveness in combat, and understanding how to improve it can make a huge difference in your overall performance.

Whether you're new to the game or a seasoned veteran, optimizing your DPS in ESO can be challenging. There are many factors to consider, including your class, race, gear, rotation, and even the synergies with other group members. In this guide, we'll break down the most important factors that contribute to improving your DPS in ESO, along with some expert tips and tricks to help you increase your damage output and stand out in both PvE and PvP content.

1. Choosing the Right Class and Race for DPS

Your class and race play a foundational role in determining your DPS potential. Each class in ESO excels in different types of damage, so selecting one that aligns with your preferred playstyle can significantly improve your output.

Best DPS Classes

Nightblade: The Nightblade is one of the most popular DPS classes in ESO, particularly for stamina-based DPS (StamDPS). Their abilities, like Surprise Attack, Ravage, and Killer's Blade, deal high single-target damage and work well in both sustained damage and burst situations.

Sorcerer: The Sorcerer is a powerful magicka-based DPS class. Their Dark Magic and Storm Calling skill lines, along with abilities like Crystal Fragment and Destructive Clench, allow them to deal significant AoE (area of effect) and single-target damage.

Dragonknight: Known for their flexibility, Dragonknights can perform well in both magicka and stamina DPS roles. The Ardent Flame and Draconic Power skill lines provide strong burst and sustained damage, making them great for both solo and group content.

Templar: Though Templars are often thought of as healers, their Aedric Spear and Dawn's Wrath abilities can make them excellent magicka-based DPS. Templars can deal substantial AoE damage and are particularly effective in situations where healing and DPS are both needed.

Warden: The Warden excels at dealing sustained DPS through nature-based abilities, using their Green Balance and Winter's Embrace skill lines. They are also versatile in tanking and healing, making them a solid pick for hybrid playstyles.

Best DPS Races

Racial bonuses in ESO are significant when optimizing your DPS. Here are a few of the best races for maximizing damage output:

Khajiit: The Khajiit offers high stamina regeneration and critical damage bonuses, which is ideal for stamina DPS builds.

Altmer (High Elf): The Altmer provides extra magicka regeneration and increased damage to magic-based abilities, making them one of the best races for magicka DPS.

Dunmer (Dark Elf): Dunmer benefit from increased flame damage, making them excellent choices for fire-based magicka DPS, especially for Sorcerers and Templars.

Orc: Orcs receive a substantial damage boost and health regeneration, making them ideal for stamina DPS and melee builds.

2. Gear and Item Sets

Your gear plays a crucial role in improving your DPS. A good mix of set bonuses, weapon types, and traits can drastically increase your damage potential. Here are some key tips on gearing up for optimal DPS:

Best DPS Gear Sets

Infused or Divines Traits: For maximum DPS, you'll want to prioritize Infused traits on your weapons (to increase weapon damage) and Divines traits on your armor (to boost Mundus Stone effectiveness).

Popular DPS Sets:

Kraggenac's Hope (magicka-based)

Briarheart (stamina-based)

Spinner's Garb (magicka-based)

Velidreth (for sustained AoE DPS)

These sets provide bonuses like increased weapon damage, spell damage, critical chance, and sustainability-all of which are crucial for maximizing DPS in both single-target and AoE scenarios.

Weapons

Dual Wield: Best for stamina DPS players focusing on sustained damage through abilities like Surprise Attack or Ravage.

Two-Handed: Great for AoE DPS or burst damage builds. Skills like Whirlwind or Cleave allow for strong damage against multiple enemies.

Destro Staff (Destruction Staff): Ideal for magicka DPS, particularly Fire, Lightning, or Ice Staves, which offer great AoE and single-target DPS with abilities like Elemental Blockade and Destructive Reach.

Mundus Stones

The Lover: This Mundus Stone is an excellent choice for increasing your critical damage output, which is crucial for high DPS builds.

The Thief: Best for those who want to boost their critical chance, which helps to ensure that more of your attacks land with increased damage.

3. Optimizing Your DPS Rotation

Your DPS rotation is a sequence of abilities that you use in combat to maximize your damage over time. A well-optimized rotation involves sustaining damage, buffing yourself, and debuffing your enemies. Below are some general guidelines for improving your DPS rotation:

Single-Target Rotation (Stamina and Magicka)

Buffing: Always start with your buffing abilities, such as Catalyst, Hurricane, or Power Surge, which give you a damage boost.

Debuffing: Applying debuffs to your enemy is key. Use abilities like Debilitating Strike (for stamina builds) or Elemental Drain (for magicka builds) to reduce your enemy's resistances and make them take more damage.

Execute Phase: For stamina builds, abilities like Ravage or Killer's Blade offer powerful burst damage when your target reaches lower health. Magicka DPS classes can use Power Surge or Fragmented Crystal to increase burst damage.

Keep Skills Active: Don't forget to keep your DoT (damage over time) effects active on your target. Skills like Ravage, Elemental Blockade, and Vampire's Bane (for magicka) should be reapplied as needed.

AoE Rotation

In AoE situations, your goal is to maximize splash damage while managing your resources. Use AoE skills like Whirlwind (for stamina) or Liquid Lightning (for magicka). Don't forget to maintain buffs and debuffs while spreading your damage over multiple enemies.

Group Buffs: In group content, make sure to coordinate with your team to take advantage of group buffs and debuffs. For example, Ring of the Pale Order is a powerful item set that works well in group content to help sustain your damage output.

4. Understanding Buffs and Debuffs

One of the easiest ways to increase your DPS is by taking advantage of buffs and debuffs. Make sure you're stacking the following:

Major Force: This buff increases your critical damage. Many abilities can apply it, like Power Surge (Templar) or Rally (for stamina).

Major Sorcery: If you're using magicka-based DPS, this buff boosts your spell damage. Apply this through skills like Elemental Rage or Inner Light.

On the enemy side, applying debuffs like Major Breach (to reduce resistances) or Major Vulnerability (to increase the damage they take) will further enhance your group's damage.

5. Proper Resource Management

Managing your stamina or magicka is essential for maintaining sustained DPS. Be sure to:

Monitor your resources and make use of potions and class abilities that help you regenerate resources, such as Dark Conversion (for Sorcerers) or Rally (for Nightblades).

Avoid over-spamming abilities that drain your resources too quickly. You need to ensure you have enough resources to maintain your rotation.

6. Practice and Refining Your DPS

To truly optimize your DPS, practice is essential. Use dummies in the game to test different rotations, gear setups, and skill combinations. Pay attention to:

Timing your abilities correctly.

Refreshing DoTs at the right time to avoid wasting resources.

Learning how to move while maintaining your rotation, particularly in challenging content like trials and dungeons.

Improving your DPS in ESO requires a combination of the right class, race, gear, rotation, and resource management. Make good use of your Elder Scrolls Online Gold and items to maximize your strength. By focusing on these key areas and refining your approach, you'll see a significant boost in your damage output. Whether you're participating in high-end trials or tackling challenging dungeons, these tips will help you achieve optimal performance and contribute meaningfully to your group's success.

So, fine-tune your setup, practice your rotations, and get ready to leave a mark as one of the top DPS players in The Elder Scrolls Online!

MMOexp Elder Scrolls Online Team