The Dragonknight class in The Elder Scrolls Online is typically played as a melee brawler wielding heavy weapons and donning heavy armor. ESO encourages freedom in class builds, though, which means Dragonknights aren't restricted to tanking, and in fact have a swathe of abilities that use Magicka that can even heal.

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The Dragonknight has three class-specific skill trees available: damage over time through Ardent Flame, area-of-effect abilities through Draconic Power, and defensive and supportive abilities through Earthen Heart. While abilities in The Elder Scrolls Online are relatively balanced across the board, some are definitely more of a priority.

The Ardent Flame skill tree is based on DPS through damage over time effects and control of the battle. The standard abilities Lava Whip and Searing Strike are the first skills one can pick up in the tree, but they are just the start of this skill tree's capabilities.

It's a good skill tree to focus on if you want to maximize your damage output as a Dragonknight and support allies without being a tank. Ardent Flame Dragonknights tend to don medium armor and use a shield in close combat.

The Ultimate ability for the Ardent Flame skill tree is the Dragonknight Standard, which deals damage in an area every second and reduces their healing by 16%. The major downside to this ability, though, is that it stays in one place.

The Shifting Standard morph is unlocked at Dragonknight Standard Rank IV and lets the player move the Standard reactivating the ability. It's especially useful for fast-paced boss fights.

The World in Ruin Dragonknight passive ability is a simple yet effective passive. It increases the damage of Flame and Poison AoE abilities slightly and decreases the cost of Poison abilities by 12% to 25%, depending on the rank.

If you're speccing into Ardent Flame, poison-based abilities are plentiful. World in Ruin increases damage output significantly and is unlocked at Ardent Flame Rank 39.

Unrelenting Grip is a morph for the Fiery Grip ability, which pulls an enemy towards the player, deals damage, and increases the player's movement speed. However, if the target can't be pulled, the Magicka is not normally refunded.

With Unrelenting Grip, which is unlocked at Fiery Grip Rank IV, this cost will be refunded. It's a simple morph that outclasses Empowering Chains for being a useful quality-of-life upgrade for an otherwise useful ability.

The Draconic Power skill tree is all about taking damage and dealing it back out in a large area. The first two abilities available in the tree are Spiked Armor and Dark Talon, which increase defensive abilities and stun enemies respectively.

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The Draconic Power skill tree provides a number of useful abilities that greatly increase the odds of a Dragonknight's survival – especially in dungeons and when facing off against a lot of enemies.

The Ultimate ability for the Draconic Power skill tree is Dragon Leap, which launches the player at the target, deals damage in an area, and knocks enemies back for a few seconds. The ability can be dangerous, especially if there are enemies that the player didn't see.

Ferocious Leap changes the damage to Fire damage and gives the Dragonknight a shield equal to their health for a few seconds upon landing. It's much more useful for large encounters as it essentially negates the first few enemy attacks, and it's unlocked at Dragon Leap Rank IV.

The Elder Dragon passive ability is extremely useful for a Dragonknight going for a tanking build. It increases health recovery by a small amount for each Dragonic Power ability that's slotted into the player's action bar and also increases the range of melee attacks.

Having high health recovery is essential to getting through barely winnable fights. By fully speccing into the Draconic Power tree, this ability can significantly increase that stat. Elder Dragon is unlocked at Draconic Power Rank 22.

The Dragonknight's Inhale ability deals damage in an area around the player and heals them for the damage done. It's a super useful ability that can make the difference between life and death when surrounded by foes, but it can still be improved.

The Deep Breath morph makes the initial damage pulse interrupt casters – casters who are hit are set off balance and stunned briefly. This reactive ability is unlocked at Inhale Rank IV.

The Earthen Heart skill tree is all about damage mitigation, healing, and other improvements. The skill tree is introduced through Magma Armor and Stonefist, a defense boost and close-range AoE attack, but later introduces a weapon enhancement and a party-wide shield.

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It's a natural complement to the Draconic Power skill tree for tanking Dragonknights, but it's also home to abilities that solo players will find useful.

The Earthen Heart Ultimate ability is Magma Armor, which heals the player for 3% of their health every second and deals damage to nearby enemies for 10 seconds. The ability does not mitigate damage, though, and only heals.

The Magma Shell morph gives the player and their allies a shield equal to their health total for 10 seconds too. It's the perfect Ultimate morph to pop in anticipation of high damage, and it's unlocked at Magma Armor Rank IV.

The Mountain's Blessing passive gives the player and their group the Minor Brutality buff for 10 seconds when casting any Earthen Heart ability. Minor Brutality increases weapon damage by 10%, and in combat, the Dragonknight will gain 3 Ultimate points when using any ability too.

It's an instantaneous jump in power for Dragonknights with significant investment in the Earthen Heart tree – it practically guarantees a passive 10% combat boost whenever the player and their party are in combat.

The Ash Cloud ability for Dragonknights slows down enemies significantly and heals allies who are within the ability's area of effect. The Cinder Storm morph for this ability is a simple, but effective, upgrade: healing is increased by 50%.

It might not seem like much, but base healing every second for 15 seconds is not bad. It'll reduce the strain for the healer of your group if you're tanking, but it is a pretty effective team-wide heal on its own, too.

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