Dortmund pulled out the big guns in the form of Jadon Sancho, Erling Braut Haaland, Julian Brandt and Raphael Guerreiro with Lucien Favre chasing maximum points.
The Black and Yellow created the earlier inter-play around the area with Sancho, Thomas Delaney and Thomas Meunier amongst others having Salif Sane in particular on guard.
Further penetrative moves towards the visitors six-yard area materialised as Sancho collected a loose ball near the midway stage to blazed over the top.
Schalke came close to profiting from their very first foray closer to the half-hour mark, with Rabbi Matondo redirecting a cutback from the back-post beyond the intended target.
The hosts bounced back in the final 20 minutes of the half and clipped the crossbar from a 30 metre drive from Mahmoud Dahoud as the opposing defence back-tracked.
Dortmund came out for the second half refreshed with Guerreiro closing from a promising position off an equally promising opportunity.
The Black and Yellow finally broke the deadlock ten minutes following halftime through a right-footed shot from close-range by Manuel Akanji following a corner-kick.
Dortmund increased their tally on 61 minutes when Haaland popped up in a threatening area to rifle home a telling supply by Sancho.
Feeling battered and bruised shortly thereafter, Schalke introduced Benito Raman for Matondo with Dahoud making way for Axel Witsel on opposite end.
Dortmund made the game safe in the last 12 minutes after Mats Hummels combined with Guerreiro's delivery to head into the left-hand corner.
More goals seemed a likelihood inside the last seconds of the match, but there was none forthcoming as Dortmund maintained the bragging rights.