Parsing in ESO

Parsing on the trial dummy is something every Elder Scrolls Online player is forced to do at some point. Most groups for harder content will ask for a CMX to prove your DPS capabilities. This guide is copied from something I wrote for a guild Discord to give some basic tips.

Remember that you don't have to be a godmode parser to make it into good teams. Personally I am not an amazing parser, but even non-amazing parsers can do 150k + in the current meta. And that is more than sufficient to tackle any content in the game. Hitting the very highest numbers on the parse dummy isn't something that happens overnight, it is the result of lots and lots of practice.

A parsing build does not need to account for suvivability, so make sure you get rid of any self heals and replace them with any buffs you might usually count on your group to provide.

Checklist

Practicalities:
Food: Green max resource or blue resource + sustain
Buffs: Savagery/Prophecy and Brutality/Sorcery
Make sure you are fighting a 21M trial dummy

Prebuff (optional) and preparation:
Prebuff by building to 3 crux if Arcanist, stack up Merciless if NB etc
Toggle Banner on (if you have it)
Prebuff (optional) with Dawnbreaker and buff skills, then reset dummy
Hit Aetherial Well to fill your ult
Drop your stam if using Coral Riptide (or similar sets)

During the parse:
Opening burst - depending on your build, usually 2-3 skills + ult before spam
Keep your DoTs up, use your spammable if all DoTs are running (*)
Keep an eye on resources, take potions on cooldown and synergies when needed
Remember to ult in off-balance windows (or whenever ready)
Pay attention to your execute window
Kill the entire 21M dummy

After the parse:
Use /cmx to open Combat Metrics and see how you did

(*): On a beam build beam will have priority over DoTs if three crux, it's ok to let DoTs fall off for a bit.

Parse phases

Prebuff:
Different classes has different prebuffs, but a common one is to build crux or stacks on things like Merciless Resolve, dropping a Flawless Dawnbreaker for the 20 second weapon and spell power buff and dropping your resources if wearing a set like Coral. Remember to refill your ult at the Aetherial Well before you drop your resource, it will restore both ult and all resources to full.

Opening burst:
Getting the opening burst right is important for a good parse. A good tip is to look at videos of the top parses and look at what they do before they cast their first light attack. For most builds it will be prebuffing all skills that can be activated without starting the fight, put down a trap and your opening ultimate before casting your first light attack and spammable.

DoTs and Execute:
Make sure you keep good uptimes on your DoTs during the parse, but also remember to pay attention to the Dummy's health and don't wait too long before you start letting your DoTs fall off in execute. When your execute window starts will depend on which execute skills you have slotted.

Things to keep in mind

Buffs:
The 21M dummy has a number of buffs and debuffs that we would expect to have be present in an organized trial run.Two important ones that are missing are major Savagery/Prophecy and major Brutality/Sorcery - you will need to source this for yourself either through skills (most classes have built-in sources) or through potions. Missing these will be a significant damage loss.

Parse food:
Ideally you want green max resource food when you parse. If you can’t sustain it, blue max resource + regen food is the alternative. Many struggle with sustain in U46, so don’t feel bad if you need to go the regen route this patch. Health food is not helpful and should never be used on the dummy.

For a list of the recommended foods, see common foods on our Kitchen page, use either the max stat or recovery options.

Parsing vs. content
All the top parses you see on YouTube will have some form of cheese to them - things like prebuffing with Dawnbreaker is obviously not possible in content. In an organised trial you might also have a DK with Igneous Weapons that takes away your need to bring your own major Major Brutality and Sorcery, while at the same time you might need to slot some more defensive or situational skills. Think of dummy parsing as its own thing you need to optimize for, it’s ok to do some things in a parse that you wouldn’t do in content if your goal is to hit your highest possible numbers.

Resource management
It is crucial to remember to take potions (especially if they are your source for some of your buffs) and take the synergies during the parse - running out of resources is a massive damage loss. Keep in mind that with some sets like Coral Riptide only give you value when you are low on resources - for Coral parses you should check that you are always beneath 50% the entire parse, ideally beneath 33%. If you’re not, other sets will outperform it.

What am I doing wrong?

So you've got a meta build, all the right gear and skills, the right food - but your parse is still way lower than you'd like. What could be wrong? The long answer is "any number of things", but a good place to start looking is at your weaving speed, misses and DoT uptimes. Light attack weaving in ESO is a bit strange, because even though people tend to talk about "fast weaving" it is much less about speed and more about rythm. In ESO you want to cast a skill once every second, and when we refer to "fast weaving" what we actually are talking about is to be as close to that one second as possible. One thing that helped me immensely was to put on a metronome while parsing and try to hit the skills in rythm with the beat - I suggest putting it on somewhere between 56 and 60 BPM (you want to be as close to 60 as possible, but in my experience too fast metronome leads to more misses again).

The second culprit tends to be poor DoT uptimes, either by letting them fall off for too long periods or by recasting them too early and thereby spend time you could have spent on your spammable. Ideally you want to refresh them the second they run out, all though some DoTs can be refreshed a bit early without a significant damage loss. The only time you would want to accept DoTs falling off for several seconds is on a beam build, where your beam often will do more damage over the duration than your DoTs will.