The Best Classes For DPS In Elder Scrolls Online

With The Elder Scrolls Online in the midst of its tenth anniversary, now is the perfect time for new players and veterans who put the series down to explore the lands of Tamriel. DPS classes are the most accessible way to engage with the many side-quests and PvE dungeons in the area, but with the seventh Arcanist's class released, the game is a far cry from the original offering of four standard RPG archetypes.

Since DPS is the most accessible role in the game, just about every class has viability to fill this niche, unlike the roles of tank or healer, but there are absolutely certain classes that produce higher damage output than others, which can be essential for PvP or certain group dungeons. It's important to note that going with the class that simply appeals to players the most will be all that's necessary to survive in overworld play, but for those looking to play DPS in Trials or PvP, here are the some of the more (and less) viable classes.

7 Necromancer

Situational Play And Muddled Abilities Make This Class Hard To Master

The Necromancer, brought into the game with the Elsweyr expansion due to fan demand, has had an underwhelming presence in the Trials and PvP scene. The central mechanic of the Necromancer relies on the corpses of enemies, and while these are created through skills — such as Blightbones and Bone Armor — they still find themselves at a disadvantage in boss fights with solo enemies.

There are still plenty of ways to make the Necromancer viable, but at higher levels of play, there are other classes with better potential for damage output.

6 Nightblade

Nightblade Lacks Utility At Higher Levels Of Play

Nightblade has a surprising amount of versatility divided between both magicka and stamina-focused builds, and their capacity for debuffs means that they can often defeat enemies at a level higher than themselves.

However, Nightblades lack any particular niche to fill when it comes to Trials and group dungeons, and often fall behind other classes that specialize in ranged, AOE, or damage-over-time effects. They bring many skills to the table that can be utilized in games to come, but for ESO itself, their lack of utility and variation makes them a hard DPS class to master.

5 Warden

Recent Nerfs Have Been Unkind To This Class

Coming in one of the most important ESO expansions to date, the Warden class has always been an interesting jack of all trades, with niches they can fill as DPS, Tank, or Healer. Their summons and Frost output make them effective fighters with both burst and sustained damage effects, and their health stealing effects from skills like Lotus Blossom lend them excellent utility no matter their role.

However, recent changes to the Warden's damage output, especially where the Winter's Embrace skill line is concerned, has capped out damage and reduced the effectiveness of some typically reliable skills like Arctic Blast. This reduced damage output has seen the Warden's role as a DPS main challenged by other, more reliable classes.

4 Templar

Good Weapon Synergy And Solid Skills

Templars have a reliable collection of simple, high-damage skills. Stamina Templars in particular are well known for having incredibly high damage output and holding their own against some of the toughest Trial bosses in the game.

However, the simplicity of "One-Bar Templars" restricts their overall usefulness in settings, and this lack of versatility, while not irrecoverably damaging their DPS capabilities, puts some other classes ahead of them.

3 Dragon Knight

Strong Abilities With An Emphasis On Survivability

Dragon Knights are the staunch, melee-focused staple of DPS in ESO. Throughout ESO's many updates and patches, the Dragon Knight has remained an incredibly reliable DPS main with an emphasis on weapon skill synergy and durability.

DPS players can lean into the Earthen Heart line to ensure that they aren't glass cannons, and can support their high attack power with staunch defense and buffs. For melee focused DPS users, the Dragon Knight is hard to beat.

2 Sorcerer

Strong, Sustained Output With Summons And Ranged Attacks

The original DPS powerhouse, Sorcerers rely on long-standing summons and powerful lightning-based attacks to decimate enemies. Skills like Hurricane give stamina-based sorcerers a powerful AOE attack and buff to damage resistance.

Sorcerers are a class where players cannot ignore the passives to each skill line. These passives, like Energized and Amplitude, shape players into a fearsome glass canon with an emphasis on either debuffs and single enemy attacks, or AOE's, depending on their build.

1 Arcanist

ESO's Newest Class Has Unrivaled DPS Potential

The Arcanist provides incredible ease of use and damage capabilities in any aspect of play. Even unoptimized Arcanists are able to match some of the highest levels of PvE combat thanks to a strong core skillset aimed at debuffs, support, and maximizing ranged damage output.

The Fatecarver ability revolutionized how damage is dealt in ESO and is just one of the many unique battlefield control utilities Arcansists use to be the epitome of DPS potential in the game right now.

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