Things that can increase damage output.

[C&S]

Just started playing since free weekend this month. Leveling up my 2-handed/bow dragonknight slowly and now he is 45.

When I join random dungeon or meet other players doing the same quest on the field, it is really obvious that they hit much harder than I do. Of course, most of them hit even faster but I guess a 2-handed weapon user is expected to have a slower hit rate.

Since I don't have any skills or materials for crafting or upgrading things, I cannot polish my gear at this moment. What can I do to increase my damage output such that I can kill mobs faster?

Right now, it takes me 10 seconds or more on average to kill a single little tiny spider...

[Count Smashula]

More stamina, weapon damage, weapon critical and medium armor is a good place to start.
Make sure you have joined the fighters guild as some of the skills from there are really nice for stamina builds.
Weaving light attacks between your ability casts is a good way to get as much damage as possible.

For a dragonknight stamina build, you'll want to get searing strike and fiery breath from ardent flame (2nd and 3rd skill) and morph them to their poison variants (which scales with stamina instead of magicka). Though the initial damage is low, the DOT is great and the armor shred helps improve your damage immensely.

Dragon leap ultimate from draconic power and magma armor ultimate from earthen heart are both excelent for physical damage.

Consider going into PVP through battlegrounds or the alianca war. The caltrops skill in the assault skill line is a very good damage skill. There is also vigor, which is a nice heal for stamina builds. If nothing else, unlocking the alliance skill line gives you 2 free skill points.

For two handed, get uppercut, reverse slash and momentum (1st, 4th and 5th skill). Cleave can be nice if you feel you lack AOE damage or need more sustainn due to the shield morph.
Morphs are dependant on personal preference and what your intention with the build is.

Personnally I like uppercut - Wrecking blow (good combo damage with light attack weaving), cleave - brawler for the shield which is rare for stamina builds and can become huge if you hit many enemies, reverse slash - reverse slice as the AOE damage is more useful than slightly more single target damage, momentum - rally because heals are more useful than snare cleanse imo but both are good.

For bow, get snipe, volley and poison arrow (1st, 2nd and 5th skill). They provide solid damage for single and multiple targets.
For morphs, I like snipe - lethal arrow for the poison status and poison damage, - volley - endless hail because the extra duration makes it easier to keep 100% uptime on it and poison arrow - poison injection because it gives you a lot more damage against low health enemies.

Rotation and buffs are a big part of proper DPS. Though you shouldn't need a full rotation for every enemy encounter, it will make you hurt more.

LA mean Light Attack. A simple rotation would be to start with buffing moves such as molten weapons (earthen heart skill tree). Then fire a volley - LA - poison arrow - LA - snipe - LA - Swap bar.
If they're below 40%, spam reverse slash - LA - reverse slash - LA until they are dead. If they are above 40%, use uppercut instead.
If they have a lot of health, use noxious breath and venom strike (ardent flame morphs). If there are multiple enemies grouped up, use volley (if you haven't already), noxious breath and then cleave.
If you are already in melee range and it is a regular enemy, you can just use the melee skills and ignore the bow.
If you have your ultimate, use it whenever you want. Dragon leap is more useful than magma armor for PvE but magma can be nice for PvP or as an "oh ♥♥♥♥" button since you basicly become invincible, very useful for some dungeon bosses, trials or difficult situations.

Hope this wall of text helps in some way. Not everything I have told you to use/do is required, you should experiment with different skills to see what you think is fun. But you asked for damage and that is what I have given you.

[C&S]

Originally posted by Gameplayer4885:

More stamina, weapon damage, weapon critical and medium armor is a good place to start.
Make sure you have joined the fighters guild as some of the skills from there are really nice for stamina builds.
Weaving light attacks between your ability casts is a good way to get as much damage as possible.

For a dragonknight stamina build, you'll want to get searing strike and fiery breath from ardent flame (2nd and 3rd skill) and morph them to their poison variants (which scales with stamina instead of magicka). Though the initial damage is low, the DOT is great and the armor shred helps improve your damage immensely.

Dragon leap ultimate from draconic power and magma armor ultimate from earthen heart are both excelent for physical damage.

Consider going into PVP through battlegrounds or the alianca war. The caltrops skill in the assault skill line is a very good damage skill. There is also vigor, which is a nice heal for stamina builds. If nothing else, unlocking the alliance skill line gives you 2 free skill points.

For two handed, get uppercut, reverse slash and momentum (1st, 4th and 5th skill). Cleave can be nice if you feel you lack AOE damage or need more sustainn due to the shield morph.
Morphs are dependant on personal preference and what your intention with the build is.

Personnally I like uppercut - Wrecking blow (good combo damage with light attack weaving), cleave - brawler for the shield which is rare for stamina builds and can become huge if you hit many enemies, reverse slash - reverse slice as the AOE damage is more useful than slightly more single target damage, momentum - rally because heals are more useful than snare cleanse imo but both are good.

For bow, get snipe, volley and poison arrow (1st, 2nd and 5th skill). They provide solid damage for single and multiple targets.
For morphs, I like snipe - lethal arrow for the poison status and poison damage, - volley - endless hail because the extra duration makes it easier to keep 100% uptime on it and poison arrow - poison injection because it gives you a lot more damage against low health enemies.

Rotation and buffs are a big part of proper DPS. Though you shouldn't need a full rotation for every enemy encounter, it will make you hurt more.

LA mean Light Attack. A simple rotation would be to start with buffing moves such as molten weapons (earthen heart skill tree). Then fire a volley - LA - poison arrow - LA - snipe - LA - Swap bar.
If they're below 40%, spam reverse slash - LA - reverse slash - LA until they are dead. If they are above 40%, use uppercut instead.
If they have a lot of health, use noxious breath and venom strike (ardent flame morphs). If there are multiple enemies grouped up, use volley (if you haven't already), noxious breath and then cleave.
If you are already in melee range and it is a regular enemy, you can just use the melee skills and ignore the bow.
If you have your ultimate, use it whenever you want. Dragon leap is more useful than magma armor for PvE but magma can be nice for PvP or as an "oh ♥♥♥♥" button since you basicly become invincible, very useful for some dungeon bosses, trials or difficult situations.

Hope this wall of text helps in some way. Not everything I have told you to use/do is required, you should experiment with different skills to see what you think is fun. But you asked for damage and that is what I have given you.

Didn't know that I can alternate between light attack and skill casts. Tried it several times and it really helped!

So most of the damage done by dragonknight comes from damage over time instead single burst, am I correct?

Thanks for this informative tips!

[Blueyce]

@gameplayer4885 - as a new dragonkinight (lvl 16) thank you for the considerable help. Now if I can just remember in the heat of the battle to follow the advice. Maybe I won't die so much. lol

[Count Smashula]

Glad I could help