Introducing the ESO Dragonknight

DragonKnights are one of four ESO classes and in keeping with what seems to be the ESO devs philosophy, are a very flexible bunch. DragonKnights can easily be built as tanks, DPS or support/healing. Building a DragonKnight for crowd control would be more of a challenge, but is very doable. Obviously ESO is still in beta, and all information may change, but for now, here is what we know about the DragonKnight.

DragonKnight Skills 

All ESO classes have 3 skill lines available only to that class. There are also racial, weapon, armor and faction skill lines, so class do not equal destiny in ESO. Still, even working just with class skills DragonKnights offer a lot of options.

Ardent Flame

This skill set, like its name implies, is all about fire. This is the DragonKnight’s heavy offensive skill line, including a mix of attacks and debuffs designed to bring opponents to their knees. The skill line has a lot of internal synergy, but some skills can also mix well with other abilities from other skill lines.

Draconic Power

DragonKnights, as their name implies, get some of their powers from traditional draconic abilities, and this skill line is the one that shows it best. This is also a largely defensive skill line with some impressive healing abilities, as well as some skills for exerting control over the battlefield.

Earthen Heart

The earth is the one support we all depend on every day of our lives. In a DragonKnights hands that support can shore up an ally or topple an overconfident enemy. The Earthen Heart line is all about powers related to controlling the earth, and is largely geared towards a support role.

DragonKnight Roles

Often a player’s combat role is closely linked to their character class—try being a rogue tank in WoW and see how far you get. ESO classes, as mentioned above, have a great deal of flexibility built in, and combining a DragonKnight class with the right race and faction get give you a huge variation in roles you can fill.

Still, the class skill lines are clearly each geared towards a particular combat role: Ardent Flame for DPS, Draconic Power for tanking, and Earthen Heart for support. If you want a simple build that you don’t need to worry about, just pick one of the three and go straight down the line.

Alternatively you can mix and match the skill lines to get a crowd control-geared DragonKnight, or for a character that can take on two different roles depending on the situation you are in.

DragonKnight Abilities

In addition to their unique skill lines, each ESO class guide has abilities that unlock as your character progresses. For DragonKnights the abilities are:

Dragon Armor

Fiery Reach (grabs, drags and stuns an opponent)

Slam (24 points of damage, additional effects after level 5)

Chosen Ground (plants a standard that boosts the DragonKnights defense while in range)

In theory, a player could ignore the DragonKnight skills entirely, putting their skill points into weapons, armor, and faction skills. Combining the right out-of-class skills with the DragonKnight abilities would definitely yield a unique build to play around with.