Parsing 100K DPS In ESO With A 2-Button Build No Bar Swap, No Ultimate
Hey guys! Today, we're diving into an exciting topic for all you Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) enthusiasts – achieving a 100K DPS parse with a super unconventional setup. Forget the complex rotations, multiple bar swaps, and perfectly timed Ultimates. We're talking about parsing 100K using just two buttons, no bar swapping, no Ultimates, no light attacks, and even without fully optimized gear. Sounds crazy, right? Well, let's break down how this is possible and explore the fun, simplified world of ESO combat. This guide is perfect for players who are new to parsing, those who struggle with complex rotations, or anyone looking for a fresh, engaging way to play. We will cover the build setup, the skills you will need, the gear recommendations, and most importantly, the strategy behind achieving this impressive DPS number with such a limited skillset. So, buckle up and let's get started on this fascinating journey to mastering a minimalist DPS build in ESO.
Why Two Buttons? The Beauty of Simplicity
So, you might be asking, "Why even bother with a two-button build?" That's a valid question! In ESO, where the meta often revolves around intricate rotations and maximizing every single global cooldown (GCD), the idea of reducing your entire damage output to just two skills seems almost heretical. However, there are several compelling reasons why this approach can be surprisingly effective and incredibly enjoyable.
First and foremost, simplicity is king. For new players or those who struggle with the dexterity-demanding rotations of meta builds, a two-button setup offers a fantastic entry point into endgame content. It allows you to focus on the core mechanics of a fight – positioning, dodging, and understanding enemy attack patterns – without the added pressure of remembering a complex sequence of skills. This can significantly reduce the cognitive load and make the game far more accessible and enjoyable. Simplicity can be key to improving your overall gameplay.
Secondly, a streamlined build can be a fantastic way to learn the fundamentals of DPS. By stripping away the complexity of a full rotation, you can clearly see the impact of each skill and how it contributes to your overall damage. This can help you develop a deeper understanding of the game's combat system and how different abilities interact with each other. It's like learning to drive a manual car – once you master the basics, you'll have a much better feel for the engine and how to optimize your performance. This understanding translates well when you decide to tackle more complex builds later on. You'll have a strong foundation to build upon.
Finally, let's not forget the fun factor. There's a certain satisfaction in achieving high DPS numbers with a build that defies conventional wisdom. It's like solving a puzzle or finding a creative workaround – you're pushing the boundaries of what's possible and discovering new ways to play the game. Plus, it can be a great conversation starter! Imagine showing up to a trial with a two-button build and still topping the DPS charts. People will definitely be curious, and you'll have a cool story to tell. In essence, the two-button build is more than just a gimmick; it's a tool for learning, simplifying, and most importantly, having fun in The Elder Scrolls Online.
The Build Blueprint: Skills and Setup
Alright, let's get down to the nitty-gritty and talk about the build itself. To pull off this two-button parsing magic, we need to choose the right class, skills, and gear. While this guide is focused on the general principles of a simplified DPS build, I'll provide a specific example to illustrate how it works in practice. For this example, we'll be using a Magicka Nightblade, but the core concepts can be adapted to other classes as well.
Class Choice: Magicka Nightblade (Example)
The Magicka Nightblade is an excellent choice for this build due to its strong single-target damage potential and access to powerful spammable abilities. Nightblades excel at dealing high burst damage, making them well-suited for simplified rotations that focus on maximizing the effectiveness of a few key skills. Their class passives, such as increased critical damage and spell damage, also contribute significantly to their overall DPS output.
The Two Core Skills
The heart of this build lies in two primary skills:
- Funnel Health (Siphon Life morph): This is our primary spammable ability. Funnel Health deals magic damage to an enemy and heals both the caster and two nearby allies. This skill is crucial for both damage output and sustain, providing a constant stream of healing that allows us to stay alive in challenging content. It's a fantastic skill that offers both offensive and defensive capabilities, making it ideal for a simplified playstyle. The healing aspect also reduces the reliance on dedicated healers, which can be a significant advantage in certain situations.
- Merciless Resolve (Assassin's Resolve morph): This skill provides a massive damage boost every fifth cast. We'll weave this into our rotation to ensure we're consistently applying this powerful buff. Merciless Resolve also has a secondary effect – when fully charged, it can be activated to deal a significant burst of damage. However, for this simplified build, we'll primarily use it for the damage buff it provides. The key here is consistency; casting it every five skills ensures we maintain the damage bonus without overcomplicating our rotation. This predictable rhythm is essential for the simplicity we're aiming for.
Other Important Skills (Passives and Utility)
While we're focusing on just two active skills for our damage rotation, it's essential to have a few other abilities slotted for utility and passive benefits. These skills won't be part of our core rotation, but they'll significantly enhance our survivability and overall effectiveness.
- Inner Light (Mages Guild skill line): This skill provides a significant boost to our max magicka and spell critical chance while slotted. It doesn't need to be activated, making it a perfect passive buff for our simplified build. The increased magicka pool allows us to sustain our abilities for longer periods, while the extra critical chance translates directly into higher damage output. It's a win-win situation.
- Boundless Storm (Storm Calling skill line - Sorcerer): Okay, I know what you are thinking, why a sorcerer skill on a nightblade? The answer is simple. To get a buff that increase movement speed and give us a damage shield, increasing survivability and movement is key for a good parse. Movement speed is vital for quickly repositioning during fights and avoiding ground-based hazards.
- Any shield ability: A shield ability can be a lifesaver in tight situations, providing a temporary buffer against incoming damage. Choose a shield that suits your playstyle and resource management – options include Harness Magicka (Light Armor skill line) or Annulment (Psijic Order skill line).
- Passives: Make sure to invest in all relevant class, weapon, and armor passives. These passive bonuses provide significant boosts to your damage, sustain, and survivability without requiring any active effort on your part. Class passives are particularly important, as they often provide unique buffs that synergize with your class's strengths. Weapon and armor passives enhance your chosen playstyle, whether it's focusing on spell damage, critical hits, or resource management.
Skill Bar Setup
Here's a sample skill bar setup for our Magicka Nightblade two-button build:
- Slot 1: Funnel Health
- Slot 2: Merciless Resolve
- Slot 3: Boundless Storm
- Slot 4: Shield (e.g., Harness Magicka)
- Slot 5: Inner Light (slotted for passive bonuses)
With this setup, we have our two core damage skills readily accessible, along with utility abilities for defense and passive buffs to enhance our overall performance. The key is to keep things simple and focus on executing our two-button rotation effectively. This streamlined approach allows us to concentrate on other aspects of the fight, such as positioning and mechanics, without being overwhelmed by a complex sequence of skills. By mastering this simplified rotation, you'll be well on your way to achieving impressive DPS numbers with minimal effort.
Gear Up: Optimizing for Two-Button Mayhem
Now that we've nailed down our skills, let's talk about gear. In ESO, your gear plays a crucial role in your overall performance, and even with a simplified two-button build, choosing the right sets can make a significant difference in your DPS output. We'll focus on sets that provide substantial damage boosts and synergize well with our Magicka-focused playstyle. Remember, while we're not aiming for fully optimized gear in this guide, selecting effective sets is still essential for reaching that 100K DPS target.
Key Gear Sets
Here are a few gear sets that work exceptionally well for a two-button Magicka Nightblade build, or similar builds on other classes:
- Julianos: This crafted set provides a solid boost to spell damage, which directly enhances the effectiveness of our Funnel Health and Merciless Resolve. It's a reliable and accessible option, especially for players who are new to gear farming. The consistent spell damage bonus is a great foundation for any Magicka DPS build.
- Mother's Sorrow: This set significantly increases our spell critical chance, which is crucial for maximizing our damage output. Critical hits are a major source of damage in ESO, and Mother's Sorrow ensures that our abilities crit more often. This set is particularly effective for builds that rely on burst damage, like our Magicka Nightblade.
- Medusa: This set is obtained from a dungeon (Shipwright's Regret) and provides a great boost to spell critical chance and minor slayer, which increases damage against dungeon and trial bosses. Making it the perfect choice for optimized damage.
- Monster Sets (Head and Shoulders): Monster sets provide powerful two-piece bonuses that can significantly enhance your build. Some excellent options for a Magicka DPS build include:
- Ilambris: This set deals fire damage to enemies when you deal fire or shock damage, adding extra damage to our rotation.
- Zaan: Similar to Ilambris, Zaan deals fire damage but has a chance to proc when you deal critical damage with a single target ability.
Weapons and Jewelry
For weapons, we'll want to prioritize those that provide spell damage and critical damage bonuses. A common setup for Magicka DPS builds is a staff on both bars, but since we're not bar-swapping, we'll focus on a single destruction staff. For jewelry, look for pieces that provide spell damage, critical chance, or magicka recovery.
- Destruction Staff (Inferno Staff): An Inferno Staff is the preferred choice for Magicka DPS builds due to its passive bonus to single-target damage. Look for a staff with the Precise trait (increased critical chance) or the Charged trait (increased status effect chance).
- Jewelry: Aim for jewelry with the Bloodthirsty trait (increased damage against low-health targets) or the Arcane trait (increased max magicka). Spell damage enchants are also highly beneficial.
Armor Traits and Enchants
Armor traits and enchants are another layer of optimization that can significantly boost your DPS. For traits, the Divines trait (increased Mundus Stone effect) is generally the best choice for DPS builds. For enchants, prioritize those that increase max magicka or spell damage.
- Armor Traits: Divines (on all armor pieces)
- Armor Enchants: Max Magicka (on chest, legs, and head), Spell Damage (on hands, waist, and feet)
Mundus Stone
The Thief Mundus Stone (increased critical hit chance) is the go-to choice for most DPS builds in ESO. Since we're focusing on maximizing our critical hit chance, the Thief Mundus Stone is a perfect fit for our two-button build. This Mundus Stone provides a significant boost to your critical strike chance, further enhancing the effectiveness of sets like Mother's Sorrow.
Consumables
Finally, don't forget about consumables! Food and potions can provide significant buffs to your stats and sustain. Using the right consumables is a simple yet effective way to boost your DPS.
- Food: Witchmother's Potent Brew (Max Magicka, Magicka Recovery, Max Health) is a popular choice for Magicka DPS builds due to its balanced stat bonuses. Another option is Ghastly Eye Bowl, which provides Max Magicka and Magicka Recovery.
- Potions: Spell Power Potions (Spell Damage, Spell Critical) are essential for maximizing your damage output. These potions provide a temporary boost to your spell damage and critical chance, allowing you to deal significantly more damage during critical moments.
By carefully selecting your gear, traits, enchants, Mundus Stone, and consumables, you can create a powerful two-button build that is capable of achieving impressive DPS numbers. Remember, while full optimization is not our primary goal, making smart gear choices is crucial for reaching that 100K DPS milestone. With the right gear setup, you'll be well-equipped to tackle challenging content and impress your fellow players with your minimalist yet effective playstyle.
The Two-Button Rotation: Mastering the Rhythm
Okay, guys, now for the moment of truth! Let's dive into the heart of this guide – the two-button rotation. This is where the magic happens, where we transform a seemingly simple concept into a surprisingly effective DPS engine. The beauty of this build lies in its simplicity, but mastering the rhythm of the rotation is crucial for maximizing your damage output. It's not just about pressing the buttons; it's about understanding the timing and weaving in other essential elements to create a seamless and powerful combat flow.
The Core Rotation: Funnel Health and Merciless Resolve
The core of our rotation consists of just two skills: Funnel Health and Merciless Resolve. The rotation is straightforward:
- Cast Funnel Health four times.
- Cast Merciless Resolve once.
- Repeat.
That's it! Seriously, that's the entire rotation. However, the key to success lies in executing this rotation consistently and weaving in light attacks and other abilities where appropriate. But we are not doing light attacks in this build! So why is that enough?
- Funnel Health provides a consistent stream of damage and healing, ensuring that we maintain both our damage output and our survivability. It's our bread-and-butter skill, the foundation upon which our entire build is built.
- Merciless Resolve provides a damage buff every fifth cast. This buff significantly increases our overall damage output, making it essential to weave this skill into our rotation consistently. Maintaining this buff is crucial for maximizing our DPS.
Why This Rotation Works
You might be wondering, "How can such a simple rotation possibly achieve high DPS?" The answer lies in the synergy between the two skills and the focus on consistent damage output.
- Sustain: Funnel Health provides excellent sustain, allowing us to maintain our rotation without running out of resources. This is crucial for long fights, where resource management can be a significant challenge.
- Damage Buff: Merciless Resolve provides a significant damage buff that enhances the effectiveness of our other abilities. This buff is the key to our burst damage potential, allowing us to deal substantial damage in short periods.
- Simplicity: The simplicity of the rotation allows us to focus on other aspects of the fight, such as positioning, dodging, and mechanics. This is a significant advantage, especially in challenging content where multitasking is essential.
Tips for Mastering the Rotation
Here are a few tips to help you master the two-button rotation and maximize your DPS:
- Practice: The key to mastering any rotation is practice. Spend some time practicing the rotation on a training dummy until it becomes second nature.
- Consistency: Consistency is key. Aim to execute the rotation perfectly every time, without any mistakes or pauses.
- Feel the Rhythm: Get a feel for the rhythm of the rotation. Once you've mastered the timing, the rotation will flow smoothly and effortlessly.
By mastering the two-button rotation, you'll be well on your way to achieving impressive DPS numbers with this simplified build. It's a testament to the power of simplicity and the effectiveness of a well-designed rotation. So, get out there, practice the rotation, and start parsing those numbers!
Putting It All Together: Achieving 100K DPS
Alright, we've covered the skills, the gear, and the rotation. Now, let's talk about putting it all together and actually achieving that 100K DPS parse. It's one thing to have a solid build on paper, but it's another thing entirely to execute it effectively in a real-world scenario. This section will focus on the practical aspects of parsing, including how to optimize your setup, how to maintain your rotation under pressure, and how to analyze your results to identify areas for improvement.
Setting the Stage: Parse Preparation
Before you even start parsing, it's crucial to set the stage for success. This means optimizing your character, your environment, and your mindset. Here are a few key steps to take before you start your parse:
- Buff Up: Make sure you have all your necessary buffs active, including food, potions, and any other relevant buffs from your group or guild. Consumables are a crucial part of any DPS parse, so don't skip this step!
- Choose Your Target: Select a suitable target for your parse. A trial dummy with full buffs is the ideal choice, as it provides a consistent and predictable environment for testing your DPS.
- Clear Your Head: Parsing can be stressful, especially when you're trying to achieve a specific number. Take a few deep breaths, clear your head, and focus on executing your rotation effectively. Mental preparation is just as important as physical preparation.
Executing the Rotation: Consistency is Key
When it comes to parsing, consistency is king. The key to achieving high DPS numbers is to execute your rotation perfectly every time, without any mistakes or pauses. This requires focus, practice, and a deep understanding of your build. Here are a few tips for maintaining your rotation under pressure:
- Stay Calm: Don't panic if you make a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, even the pros. The key is to stay calm, get back on track, and continue executing your rotation as effectively as possible.
- Focus on the Rhythm: The two-button rotation is all about rhythm. Focus on maintaining the rhythm of your rotation, and the rest will fall into place.
- Don't Overthink It: Overthinking your rotation can lead to mistakes. Trust your muscle memory, and let your fingers do the work.
Analyzing Your Results: Identifying Areas for Improvement
Once you've completed your parse, it's crucial to analyze your results and identify areas for improvement. This is where you can really fine-tune your build and your playstyle to maximize your DPS. Here are a few key metrics to look at:
- Overall DPS: This is the most obvious metric, but it's important to look at the big picture. Are you achieving the DPS numbers you're aiming for? If not, where are you falling short?
- Skill Breakdown: How much damage is each skill contributing to your overall DPS? This can help you identify which skills are performing well and which ones need improvement.
- Uptime: What is the uptime of your buffs and debuffs? Maintaining high uptime on your buffs and debuffs is crucial for maximizing your DPS.
By analyzing your results and identifying areas for improvement, you can continuously refine your build and your playstyle to achieve even higher DPS numbers. Parsing is an ongoing process of learning and improvement, so embrace the challenge and enjoy the journey!
Beyond the Parse: Applying the Two-Button Build in Content
While parsing is a great way to test your DPS, the ultimate goal is to apply your build effectively in real-world content. The two-button build is surprisingly effective in a variety of situations, from solo play to group content. Here are a few tips for using the build in different scenarios:
- Solo Content: The sustain provided by Funnel Health makes the two-button build an excellent choice for solo content. You can easily handle most solo encounters without relying on a dedicated healer.
- Dungeons: The consistent damage output of the two-button build makes it a solid choice for dungeons. While it may not be the absolute highest DPS option, it's more than capable of handling most dungeon content.
- Trials: While the two-button build may not be ideal for the most challenging trials, it can be surprisingly effective in less demanding content. The simplicity of the rotation allows you to focus on mechanics and other important aspects of the fight.
Conclusion: Simplicity Can Be Powerful
So there you have it, guys! Parsing 100K DPS with just two buttons is not only possible in The Elder Scrolls Online, but it's also a ton of fun. This unconventional approach challenges the meta, simplifies the gameplay experience, and provides a unique way to engage with ESO's combat system. Whether you're a new player looking for an accessible entry point into endgame content, or a seasoned veteran seeking a fresh perspective, the two-button build offers something for everyone.
By stripping away the complexity of traditional rotations, we've demonstrated that simplicity can be powerful. This build allows you to focus on the fundamentals of DPS, such as positioning, timing, and resource management, without being overwhelmed by a barrage of skills and rotations. It's a fantastic way to learn the core mechanics of ESO's combat system and develop a deeper understanding of how different abilities interact with each other.
Moreover, the two-button build highlights the importance of creativity and innovation in gaming. It's a testament to the fact that there's always more than one way to play a game, and sometimes, the most unconventional approaches can yield the most surprising results. By thinking outside the box and challenging the status quo, we can discover new and exciting ways to enjoy our favorite games.
So, go ahead and give the two-button build a try. Experiment with different classes, skills, and gear sets to find what works best for you. Embrace the simplicity, master the rhythm, and unleash the power of two-button mayhem in The Elder Scrolls Online! You might just surprise yourself with what you can achieve. And who knows, maybe you'll even inspire others to think differently about DPS builds and challenge the conventions of the meta. Happy parsing, and I'll see you in Tamriel!