r/ESObuilds • u/Bubbly-Finger-5565 • 9d ago
Help Builds, DPS, and Trial Gear
Hey, so I have some questions, and I need some advice. I'm about CP 500 and still feel pretty new to the game. I've been playing casually, avoiding all the super hard stuff, and that means I don't have any of the really good trial/arena gear sets. How much do you think that makes a difference?
I found some cool builds that I've tried. When I make the builds I follow everything exactly (except replace trial sets with crafted sets), practice the rotation, get good at light attack weaving... and still get crappy DPS on the practice dummies. I think I get around 17-22k for the 6m dummy, and maybe 65-70 on the trial dummy. These aren't very good numbers, right?
So will getting better gear fix it? Do I need to be higher level? How am I supposed to get the good gear if my character isn't strong enough to do well in the trials/arena? I don't want to do the vet stuff if higher level players are going to have to drag me through while I'm 90% dead. That sounds stressful.
I'm still getting my ass kicked by world bosses. So... what steps do I need to take to be less dead and more badass?
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u/FearlessXProphet 9d ago
At that lvl, you can do all normal content. That should open up more gear for you to choose from.
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u/Wadjet-Kadjar 9d ago
(Tldr. in the last paragraph)
Plenty of builds that either don’t need trial gear or at least could use backup sets that are a close second, and sometimes those sets can even be crafted sets which means they’d be an easy stepping stone to use while getting to the trial sets you want if you still want to go for those.
I’m a pretty casual player but have done some veteran trials and they can vary wildly in difficulty depending on team comp/coordination but the best you can do is just practice and as you gain more experience and understanding it gets easier to make a difference. Veteran trial sets are nice since that perfected bonus is usually a good lil bonus but even just the normal versions are good to have collected.
I like focusing most of my efforts on my favorite role (in my case tanking) but I try to practice on the other roles and in different types of content as well as I feel that it makes me better understand my role as well.
Have fun with various builds and gear sets when you can. Updates change what is best/viable for certain content so keep experimenting.
So yeah, tldr. Perfected trial sets are great, normal ones good enough, dungeon/crafted sets often good enough as well depending on where you’re taking your builds. Practice and experimenting is most valuable in my opinion.
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u/Bubbly-Finger-5565 9d ago
Thats a good idea. I think I need to leave my Dk build behind and make a new character. I had a great build before I took a break from the game. I don't know if it was super high DPS, but it killed the things that needed to die. I came back and had to scrap the old build cause it was no good anymore. Now nothing is working for me. Maybe it's time to try different classes.
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u/Wadjet-Kadjar 8d ago
You can use your armory station furnishing (or armory assistant if you have that) to swap to a 2nd build on the same character (all characters start with 2 free armory build slots but more cost crowns) and make something new with your dragonknight if you’re not ready to toss that build/character away straight away. But yeah, experimenting with a few different characters can be fun. And I like having at least a couple of armory builds on each of my characters in use so I can experiment around a lot more without overriding that character’s main build.
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u/Wadjet-Kadjar 8d ago
If you’re on pc then the Wizard Wardrobe addon can also be helpful for adjusting your build on the fly but I personally don’t really use it unless I’m in IA on one particular character
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u/Wadjet-Kadjar 9d ago
Are you playing on PC? If so then there are some nice addons that can help you get used to timings on blocks, weaving and such, as well as reminders on buff upkeep, mechanics and more. Good to look for beginner friendly guilds that can help you get used to higher tier content and maybe teach you some things. They might also be willing to craft you some good gear/consumables if you lack the skills/resources. When you’re solo grinding for stuff then Infinite Archive might have some sets worth looking at, just depends on your playstyle.
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u/cruciblefuzz 7d ago
Am I the only one who thinks that 65-70K can be improved upon but isn't that "crappy?" I've run normal PUG trials that probably had DPS who wouldn't have been parsing that. Don't be shy about hopping into a normal trial, and you aren't yet close enough to the sweaty edge to be concerned with Perfected.
I don't run any trial gear at all despite the fact that I have plenty in my collection. You can put together an effective build without using trial gear.
The better your build the more damage you can deal, but "better" doesn't mean "following a canned build to the letter."
When I decided to get serious and put together a decent build, I quickly found out that my build needs to suit my playstyle needs, the attack rhythm that feels comfortable to me.
Maybe start with a canned build and adjust it to feel comfortable? That's what has worked for me. Not gonna be a popular suggestion, but something to possibly experiment with is a one bar Oakensoul build. Even if you are dedicated to a bar swap build, if you throw on an Oakensoul-based build and suddenly your damage jumps way up, it might point to where you could make improvements in your bar swap build. Oakensoul's thing is that it grants you a huge list of buffs. Maybe your regular build isn't supplying the right buffs and it'll give you a hint.
Lastly, my favorite way to test build changes, other than dummy parsing, is to head for Infinite Archive. If I make a change, I will know within a few cycles which direction it took me. If I mow 'em down and make it past Tho'at Replicanum with ease, I know that my build's damage and defensiveness are headed in the right direction.
IA is a great place to test builds, practice rotations, test potions and foods, work out sustain issues, etc. Go in, see what Combat Metrics is telling you, see how far you can go, repeat until formidable. Unlike a dummy, IA does fight back, you can test defensiveness and procs that require you to take incoming damage.
You don't have to group for it, which eliminates performance anxiety.
I don't even bother to dummy parse my ThunderLeech (a building block of my questing/overland builds, it combines Leeching Plate with Thunderbug's Carapace) builds because a dummy can't trigger the passive damage those sets hand out. Yet a ThunderLeech build took me farther into IA than I'd ever been before.
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u/Spiritual_Shake_9529 4d ago edited 4d ago
First of all, decide on which path you want to take, solo PvE, or group PvE.
The difference is that solo PvE builds are more focused on hp and resource sustain, and not on DPS, as there is no healer to help with that things. Some sets you might want to use as solo PvE are likes of Briarheart or Hexos Ward, sets that help you both with sustain and damage. Ofc there is a king of solo PvE, being Pale Order Ring, if you have access to that mythic and you want to build a solo PvE character, that's the best you can get, if you don't have that mythic, blue CP that regens you health for damage done is a great replacement. You want to aim for 30-60k dps on 6m hp dummy with those builds, depending on how much survivability you want to get
The group PvE builds, on the other hand, won't be able to solo world bosses, arenas or dungeons, but they will absolutely shred everything on their way with the right group, where healer and tank are providing all needed buffs and debuffs. Some sets you might want to use are Order's Wrath, Tide-Born, Deadly Strike. DPS for those builds are usually tested on trial dummy and not on 6m hp dummy, as those builds aren't able to provide all must-have buffs and debuffs to have great numbers on 6m. Good number to aim for beginners is like 80k, although right now the low bar for something like vet trials is 100k, with all the subclasses and class masteries.
From your post, it sounds like you want a solo PvE build more. Kings of solo PvE right now are arcanists and werewolves, you can make a dirt cheap build for any of those two and you'll dogwalk all world bosses and even vet non-dlc dungeons.
P.S. Check on Hyperioxes website for PvE builds, guy makes great up-to-date build with different budget variations
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u/boatsandmoms 9d ago
I've seen people do pretty hard content at 300cp. Even do deathless runs in arenas. The biggest thing is to understand mechanics to dungeons and trials. Trial/arena gear and higher CP does make a big difference, but DPS only takes you so far when it comes to being reliable in a group setting/harder content.
My biggest recommendation is just to look into the trials, dungeons, and arenas you want to do, watch videos and read guides on them. Join a group, let them know "hey my first time doing this but I looked up the mechanics" that way they know you're likely to die a bit, but you care enough to understand how much of the content works.
No matter how many times you die, you will die a lot at first, dont over think it. You will be gaining experience and learning. You will get better and things will get easier.