Dark Elf is the Best Race for Vampires in ESO

When it comes to choosing the optimal race for a vampire build in Elder Scrolls Online, Dunmer (Dark Elf) stands above the rest. With useful racials like extra magicka and spell damage, max fire resistance to counter a vampire‘s weakness, and reduced environmental lava damage, Dark Elves make ideal bloodsucking mages and spellslingers.

Racial Passives and Vampire Pros/Cons

Here‘s a deeper look at why Dark Elf is so well-suited for vampirism in ESO:

Key Racial Passives

• Dynamic – 1920 Max Magicka, 258 Spell and Weapon Damage
• Resist Flame – 4620 Flame Resistance
• Ancestor‘s Wrath: 50% less damage taken from Lava

These passives give Dark Elf vampires a massive 1910 extra magicka to cast abilities, 5% more spell damage than High Elves, and most importantly 50% more resistance to the fire attacks that vampires are notoriously weak against.

No other race gets such perfectly synergistic bonuses with the vampire skill line.

Vampire Pros and Cons

Becoming a creature of the night has some clear tradeoffs:

Pros

• Strong magicka-based skills like Mist Form for defense/mobility
• Ultimate provides swarming bats with high damage
• Undeath passive for tankiness

Cons

• Weakness to fire (Resist Flame helps negate this)
• Reduced health/stamina recovery
• Sunlight penalties if Stage 4

As you can see, Dunmer‘s fire resistance directly counters the biggest con of vampirism. And the extra magicka fuels those expensive but powerful vampire abilities.

Best Races For Vampire Magicka DPS

• Dunmer – Ideal for fire resistance, spell damage
• High Elf – Close second for raw magicka bonuses
• Breton – Cost reduction can offset vampire ability increases

Out of all the classes, these three have key passives that sync with the vampire playstyle. Assuming you want to play a mage DPS and fully utilize deadly vampire skills like Bat Swarm for offense:

Dunmer comes out on top again. Datamined tests show the difference in spell damage and resistance makes a substantial impact over long battles. High Elf and Breton still work great as well.

But what about other roles?

Healer and Tank Vampire Race Choices

For healers, sustain and recovery are crucial to keep restoring group health bars. Argonians shine here with extra magicka and potion effectiveness.

Tanks want extra defense to survive hits while debuffing enemies. Nord is a top choice for the ultimate tank race due to the vampire damage mitigation stacking with Nord‘s natural resistances.

Here‘s a comparison of passives:

Either will serve you well as a vampire healer or tank!

Ideal Vampire Roles and Playstyles

Now let‘s examine which roles and playstyles make the most sense to pursue as an undead blood drinker:

Offense-Focused

• Magicka DPS
• Stamina DPS
• Glass cannon gankers

Vampires excel at dealing damage with their fully offensive skill lines. The key is leaning into your strengths while offsetting weaknesses…

For example, Dunmer mag DPS can spam hard-hitting Bat Swarm but the fire weakness means you MUST avoid heavy flame attacks from bosses. Learn the enemy patterns and rely on good healers!

Defense/Support Focused

• Healers
• Tanks

The vampire passives also allow you to focus on support. The Undeath bonus reducing your damage taken lets tanks soak big hits. And Mist Form healing morphs give nice emergency group heals.

Example: As an Argonian vampire healer, you‘ve got big sustain and potion boosts to keep allies topped off. Pop Mist Form when the fire rains down!

Solo/Small Group Play

• Battlemage
• Bruiser
• Ganker

In solo or small group PvP, mobility and burst are key. Vampire skills like Mist Form excel here for chase potential and surprise attacks.

A Dark Elf vampire battlemage can stack up big single target DPS with spells and vamp skills, while having the fire resistance to duel enemy sorcs.

Meanwhile a Nord vampire bruiser draws attention in Cyrodiil then drains down targets caught in their Ult.

End Game Trial Groups

For the toughest PvE content, vampires can work but the fire damage from bosses means you‘ll be relying heavily on healers dedicating HoTs and shields your way.

Not always ideal – but someone‘s gotta tank those planar fire beams!

My Best Vampire Character and Tips

As a passionate vampire player myself, I‘ve found the most success combining dark magic and shadow skills with undeath powers:

My Dunmer Magicka Nightblade pumps out great DPS with the right fire-focused defenses. I use:

• Shadow skill spammables for ST attacks
• Teleport Strikes for mobilty
• Invisibility for escape/reposition
• And vamp skills like Bat Swarm for executing low health enemies

Some key tips:

• Stage 1 feed regularly before big fights
• Time dodges and damage shields for flame AOEs
• Make sure your support knows you need HoTs!

Let me know if you have any other vampire questions! I‘ve played hundreds of hours mastering the ins and outs of constructing powerful, fun vampire characters.

Hope this guide gives you a major headstart. Go get your fangs bloody!