[PVE Tank Build] Brandalf's Shocker Sorc Tank

LtCrunch

Brandalf's Shocker Sorc Tank Build

Before I get into the build I would like to preface this by simply saying if you are not the type to think outside of the box and try the unorthodox then this build is probably not for you and you should move along. This build is for those open-minded players who like experimenation and new/interesting build concepts. Now that we've got that out of the way let's get into the general goals of this build!

The inital goal of this build concept was to create a Sorcerer tank build that takes advantage of the most powerful and unique traits in the Sorcerer's arsenal such as control and mobility. Prior to update 6 this build would have been ineffective; however due to the removal of softcaps it is not only effective, but dominant in the right hands. This build requires a high amount of user attention, if you're the type that likes to "turtle" and sit behind block throughout a fight this build is probably not to your tastes.

Now with all of that said let's get into the meat and potatoes of this build!

Race

• Breton - The 10% bonus to max magicka and the 3% cost reduction are both quite useful for this build as you're going to be stacking lots of magicka and casting costantly. Due to the way damage shields work the bonus spell resistance is mostly negligble.
• Altmer - Again we have the 10% max magicka as well as a 9% boost to magicka regeneration. Since you will be using a fair amount of lightning effects the 4% bonus to elemental damage is appreciated.
• Dunmer - This is a good choice if you plan on going vampire with this build due to the fire resistance(details on how vampire interacts with damage shields later on) as well as the 9% max magicka bonus. The 6% stamina bonus is not a big deal but useful nonetheless. The bonus flame damage will go mostly unused/unappreciated.
• Imperial - This is mostly only recommended due to the fact that the 12% bonus health allows you to focus more resources on your max magicka and less on your health pool.

Attributes
You will want to aim for a minimum of 18k HP at VR14, but I recommend 20k or more. Whatever you don't invest into HP should be invested into your magicka pool. Stamina is largely unimportant for this build. My Breton Sorcerer is sitting at 23k HP, 25k magicka and 8.7k Stamina.

Mundus Stone

• The Mage - This one is obvious, bonus max magicka means a more powerful hardened ward.
• The Lord - This is another good choice depending on your racial and gear choices.

Champion Points

What I use

Warrior

Bastion – This increased the strength of your damage shields and should be your number one focus in the warrior constellation because a bigger damage shield means less stress on the healer and less overall magicka consumption.

alternatives:

• Quick Recovery – This increases your healing received, which is always a great choice for any tank build since it makes the healer’s job that much easier.
• Elemental Defender(if you’re a vamp) – This decreases the damage you take from elemental damage, namely fire. If you’re a vamp this will reduce the damage that fire does to your damage shield as well as your health pool.
• Block Expertise – This reduces the cost of blocking, which you aren’t going to be doing a lot of with this build. That being said you also have a very small stamina pool and this would help to slightly offset that limitation.
• Nourishing – This increases the effectiveness of healing potions, not a huge bonus but still worth considering if you find yourself chugging down restorative potions on the regular.

Thief

Magician – This reduces the cost of all magicka abilities, the cheaper your spells are the longer you can sustain yourself w/ hardened ward & your clannfear in those situations where you can’t quite finish off a heavy attack for the magicka return.

alternatives:

• Arcanist – This increases your magicka recovery, which of course means you can cast more spells more often. This is a a strong choice for your Thief points.
• Tenacity – This increases the amount of stamina and magicka your heavy attacks restore. This is also a strong choice due to the amount of heavy attacks you will be doing with this build.
• Tumbling – This reduces the cost of break free and roll dodge, which you will undoubtedly be using an a semi-regular basis if you miss is a tell for incoming CC effects. This is a good choice if you find yourself running low on stamina often from roll dodging and/or CC break.

Mage

Elemental Expert – This increases the damage of your elemental effects and due to the amount of lightning this build uses it’s a very strong choice.

alternatives:

• Blessed – This increases the effectiveness of any healing you initiate, which will obviously increase the potency of your clannfear self-heal. This is a strong choice if you’re looking to maximize your self-sustainability.
• Staff Expert – This increases the damage of your staff light and heavy attacks, which is a decent choice since you will be doing lots of heavy attacks rather frequently with this build.

Gear
There are several sets that are great for this build and your choice will vary depending on your chosen race. First I will list what I use, then offer up some good alternatives.

My current gear

5 pieces of Seducer

alternatives:

• Spectre's Eye
• Apprentice Garb
• Necropotence

3 pieces of Healer's Habit

alternatives:

• Vestments of the Warlock
• Grace of the Ancients
• Silks of the Sun

2 pieces of Willow's Path

alternatives:

• Magnus' Gift

1 piece of Nightflame

Crafted Item Traits

• Infused on large pieces
• Divines on small pieces
• Defending or infused(with hardened enchant) on weapons

Skills

Bar 1(Lightning Staff)

Skills from left to right: Hardened Ward(Conjured Ward), Restraining Prison(Encase), Liquid Lightning(Lightning Splash), Thundering Presence(Lightning Form), Unstable Clannfear(Unstable familiar), Absorption Field(Negate Magic)

This is your AOE or "trash mob" skill bar. There is room for customization here, this is just the setup I prefer to use for trash pulls. For example instead of Encase you could use Streak which does more damage, costs less and stuns for 1.5 seconds; but applies CC immunity; it is also the first skill you should replace when a boss fight doesn't have adds that need to be controlled. You'll notice there is no taunt on this bar, if you're not comfortable having to weapon swap to taunt then feel free to insert Inner Rage on your bar in place of liquid lightning or thundering presence. As far as ultimate there are a few great options to use here, I like Negate for when I need extra control; but you could easily substitute it with the atronach, meteor or batswarm ultimates.

Bar 2(Flame or Resto Staff)

Skills from left to right: Hardened Ward(Conjured Ward), Degeneration(Entropy), Crystal Fragments(Crystal Shard), Inner Rage(Inner Fire), Unstable Clannfear(Unstable Familiar)

This is your boss bar and it also has plenty of flexibility. First of all either a destro or resto staff will work well here. The only things you really need to have on this skill bar are hardened ward and your clannfear; everything else is flexible. I use degeneration since you will be using heavy attacks constantly with this build and the extra healing can be useful, but it's by no means considered essential or overly important. I have crystal fragments slotted since you will be recasting hardened ward quite often and that means you will proc the instant cast a lot, which is an instant self-heal for 8% of your max health and hits like a truck to boot! I use Overload simply so I can help burn a boss down quickly once they hit the execute range of Endless Fury. This is fully optional and there are other great ultimates you could slot instead.

How to play this build

Now that we've gotten all of that out of the way let's get into how to use this build effectively! First things first: Hardened Ward; you need to maintain a 100% uptime or as near as possible for this damage shield. This is your damage mitigation tool. This is what you use in place of heavy armor and sword/board. This requires you keep a sharp eye on your health bar and when that damage shield is getting low don't hesistate to recast it before it expires. If played effectively a healer can keep you up with a simple HoT such as rapid regen/mutagen since your HP pool will rarely get touched and when it does get touched it's usually not for much.

That being said there will be times when you need a burst heal to stay alive. This is where your Clannfear comes in handy. Keep your clannfear toggled on as often as possible. He won't die much since your ward applies to him as well. When you find yourself getting into trouble toggle him off for the most powerful self-heal in the game(Yes even more powerful than GDB); the clannfear heals you for 35% of your max health instantly as well as restoring some magicka. He also comes in extremely handy if the rest of your group wipes during a boss fight and can't rez. You can command him to attack the boss and he will maintain aggro if you're the only one on the bosses "hate list" and don't have an active taunt. I've saved many wipes thanks to my little buddy!

I'm sure at this point you're asking how I maintain my magicka resource pool when using so much magicka so consistently. The answer? Heavy attacks! Constant heavy attacks! Due to the way damage shields work blocking is just a stamina drain and has no benefit. You should only be blocking heavy attacks and other attacks that will CC you in some way if not blocked. This means you can regenerate your magicka throughout the fight. There will be times you'll need to pop a potion, but it's very rare to find yourself starved for magicka.

The "roation" is to keep thundering presence, liquid lightning and your taunt refreshed. When you're not doing that you should be doing heavy attacks while maintaining your hardened ward. Don't hesistate to cut off a heavy attack or wait to refresh one of your other abilities if you're taking heavy burst damage, your number one priority while tanking with this build is to maintain hardened ward.

Vampire Considerations

Vampire passives and abilities have some interesting interactions with damage shields. The 40% fire weakness actually applies to you damage shield, however so does the Undeath passive. This means if you drop below 50% health your damage shield will take less and less damage up to 50% less damage at it's most powerful. I find in fire heavy fights undeath more than makes up for the additional weakness to fire and in fights with little or no fire it's a straight buff to your survivability.

In addition Mist form's 75% damage reduction also applies to your damage shield and taunt persists with mist form active. This means one could use mist form to negate 75% of a bosses major attacks and not lose aggro. Pair that with undeath when you're low health and you've got an extremely powerful combination that makes you nearly unkillable. Batswarm gives you an extra "oh ***" button in addition to your clanfear. It also deals great damage to groups and charges quickly.

In closing there will be many that will laugh or balk at the concept of this build, but in practice it's one of the most effective tank builds I've used in ESO; in the right hands. It requires high level play and isn't for those who want easy faceroll tanking. Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading your feedback and experiences regarding this build! I would also like to thank @Erock25 and @DeLindsay for helping me with this build during it's early stages!

LtCrunch

Here is a video showcasing the build and playstyle a bit: http://youtu.be/mWrfBub8pVc

Mivryna

Hot damn, this is exactly what I've been looking for. A friend of mine has been trying to guide me through traditional tanking builds with my Sorcerer, but I just don't feel anywhere near as effective when I don't have the resources to work with. I had a hunch the Seducer set would lead to good things.

Since Seducer generally allows me to spam all my abilities like mad without ever running low on Magicka, I may see what it's like on Heavy Armour.

Erock25

Umbranox wrote: »

Hot damn, this is exactly what I've been looking for. A friend of mine has been trying to guide me through traditional tanking builds with my Sorcerer, but I just don't feel anywhere near as effective when I don't have the resources to work with. I had a hunch the Seducer set would lead to good things.

Since Seducer generally allows me to spam all my abilities like mad without ever running low on Magicka, I may see what it's like on Heavy Armour.

Heavy passives are pretty weak for this build compared to what Light armor gives you. If you can sustain magicka with heavy, then more power to you, but 95%+ of your incoming damage should be tanked with Hardened Ward so that Heavy armor isn't doing much for you. I run this build with 5L 1M 1H because of Undaunted passive and probably would run it 5L 2H without Undaunted passive, however.

Honestly, I see myself running this build with both a 5L and 5H gear set up so that I can adjust depending on the fight. I'm sure there are fights out there with overlapping incoming damage that you just can't keep up with Hardened Ward spam, and in those instances the 5H would be better.

Yolokin_Swagonborn

Awesome build but do you ever have to block?

What happens to this build if the boss has a strong "must block" heavy attack or the boss/adds generate a lot of CC? Stam pool seems to be a weak point of this build if you had a skeleton running around spamming wrecking blow like you do in some fights.

LtCrunch

Yolokin_Swagonborn wrote: »

Awesome build but do you ever have to block?

What happens to this build if the boss has a strong "must block" heavy attack or the boss/adds generate a lot of CC? Stam pool seems to be a weak point of this build if you had a skeleton running around spamming wrecking blow like you do in some fights.

It hasn't been an issue for any of the vet dungeons I've done or in DSA. There are indeed times that require a block and if I get CC'd and break free my stam should have regenerated by the time I would need to block/CC break again. The ideal potion for this build would be magicka/health restore that also grants CC immunity for 15.1s(w/ medicinal use passive). Which is what I used to use for PVP before I hit V14 and invested in a secondary armor set/spec for PVP.

Mivryna

I've done one v12 dungeon so far with a build like this. Tried with 5H/2L and only staves at first. I'm not sure if it was just my bar setup being kinda screwy or what, but I kept going down pretty quick. Then I switched to 5L/2H with S&B and Staves and a new bar layout. It worked pretty darn well!

I'll have to keep trying different combinations to see why different things work and don't work. It could simply be the difference in magicka regen and usage, or it could be the bar layouts. Or a combination of the two.

C0pp3rhead

As a healer, I hate working with magicka tanks because they are sooo squishy underneath their shields. By the time I see their health start to drop, it's too late. I can't heal shields. Honestly, I'd prefer to run a 3 dps / 1 healer group than run with a magicka tank.

Erock25

C0pp3rhead wrote: »

As a healer, I hate working with magicka tanks because they are sooo squishy underneath their shields. By the time I see their health start to drop, it's too late. I can't heal shields. Honestly, I'd prefer to run a 3 dps / 1 healer group than run with a magicka tank.

That was my initial thought as well. Then I tried it. I can certainly see it not being for everyone, but a successful vet dungeon run for me tanking is where my HP bar never moves. Every group I've joined since adopting this build has gone the same.... 'A sorc tank? Only 20k HP are you kidding? Dual destro staff!? ' .... Followed by praise and asking for the build. Usually the loudest complainers are the ones I let sit there dead while I solo the last 50% of a boss, but it's also easy to let your clannfear grab some aggro and res pugs as well.

Also, I'm not sure what other tanks put up single target and aoe, but on fights that allow it, I can switch a single skill around and pull 8+k single target dps. Aoe isn't too shabby either. Very easy as well to run elemental drain and/or siphon spirit if I can sacrifice skill slots depending on the fight.

LtCrunch

C0pp3rhead wrote: »

As a healer, I hate working with magicka tanks because they are sooo squishy underneath their shields. By the time I see their health start to drop, it's too late. I can't heal shields. Honestly, I'd prefer to run a 3 dps / 1 healer group than run with a magicka tank.

My healers love me because it means that they can focus on healing the squishy DPS or even DPSing(my healer spends more time using radiant oppression than he does healing me). I've been my guild's main tank in this game since launch and I can confidently say I prefer this build to any other builds I've used. I'm not sure what other magicka tanks you've healed but I assure you this build is far from squishy. If you're on the NA server @C0pp3rhead I can prove it to you personally

Faugaun

@brandalf I bookmarked this thread ! Gonna respec my vr1 summer sorc today and go all vampire tanky! Thanks op for the really fun sounding build

Faugaun

Erock25 wrote: »

C0pp3rhead wrote: »

As a healer, I hate working with magicka tanks because they are sooo squishy underneath their shields. By the time I see their health start to drop, it's too late. I can't heal shields. Honestly, I'd prefer to run a 3 dps / 1 healer group than run with a magicka tank.

That was my initial thought as well. Then I tried it. I can certainly see it not being for everyone, but a successful vet dungeon run for me tanking is where my HP bar never moves. Every group I've joined since adopting this build has gone the same.... 'A sorc tank? Only 20k HP are you kidding? Dual destro staff!? ' .... Followed by praise and asking for the build. Usually the loudest complainers are the ones I let sit there dead while I solo the last 50% of a boss, but it's also easy to let your clannfear grab some aggro and res pugs as well.

Also, I'm not sure what other tanks put up single target and aoe, but on fights that allow it, I can switch a single skill around and pull 8+k single target dps. Aoe isn't too shabby either. Very easy as well to run elemental drain and/or siphon spirit if I can sacrifice skill slots depending on the fight.

So can you run w/o healer?

Erock25

Faugaun wrote: »

Erock25 wrote: »

C0pp3rhead wrote: »

As a healer, I hate working with magicka tanks because they are sooo squishy underneath their shields. By the time I see their health start to drop, it's too late. I can't heal shields. Honestly, I'd prefer to run a 3 dps / 1 healer group than run with a magicka tank.

That was my initial thought as well. Then I tried it. I can certainly see it not being for everyone, but a successful vet dungeon run for me tanking is where my HP bar never moves. Every group I've joined since adopting this build has gone the same.... 'A sorc tank? Only 20k HP are you kidding? Dual destro staff!? ' .... Followed by praise and asking for the build. Usually the loudest complainers are the ones I let sit there dead while I solo the last 50% of a boss, but it's also easy to let your clannfear grab some aggro and res pugs as well.

Also, I'm not sure what other tanks put up single target and aoe, but on fights that allow it, I can switch a single skill around and pull 8+k single target dps. Aoe isn't too shabby either. Very easy as well to run elemental drain and/or siphon spirit if I can sacrifice skill slots depending on the fight.

So can you run w/o healer?

Certain bosses, sure. Other bosses, definitely not. You need a healer though regardless because I can't grab every enemy while clearing trash or a boss has a ton of adds and DPS will need a healer. Many fights so far since adopting this build I have told the healer to ignore me and focus on the DPS. For boss fights a lot of time you don't need Shattering Prison so it is easy to swap in a Resto staff and throw on Healing Ward too. Can even swap Healing Ward into Hardened Ward's slot on that bar and use Annulment in the SHattering Prison slot against magicka bosses. If I don't have to constantly spam my shields, medium attack weaving with Degeneration casts and instant proc Crystl Frags provides a ton of self healing as well.

Faugaun

Are you running veteran or just normal dungeons with this? Guys I am so pumped about this I've been wanting to do a magicka sorc tank build and haven't got around to working on making it! This gives me a great starting point and I love active tanking (raid tanking etc...)...speaking of anyone tried this on spindle?

LtCrunch

Faugaun wrote: »

Are you running veteran or just normal dungeons with this? Guys I am so pumped about this I've been wanting to do a magicka sorc tank build and haven't got around to working on making it! This gives me a great starting point and I love active tanking (raid tanking etc...)...speaking of anyone tried this on spindle?

I've done most VR dungeons and normal DSA(with 3 people for 6 arenas, one of which was V8). The build works really doesn't shine until you get to VR(specifically max rank) because that's when you can really start to min/max your stats/gear/CP and it goes from good to great.

Faugaun

Brandalf wrote: »

Faugaun wrote: »

Are you running veteran or just normal dungeons with this? Guys I am so pumped about this I've been wanting to do a magicka sorc tank build and haven't got around to working on making it! This gives me a great starting point and I love active tanking (raid tanking etc...)...speaking of anyone tried this on spindle?

I've done most VR dungeons and normal DSA(with 3 people for 6 arenas, one of which was V8). The build works really doesn't shine until you get to VR(specifically max rank) because that's when you can really start to min/max your stats/gear/CP and it goes from good to great.

Thanks imma play with this for sure

kokoandshinb14a_ESO

Fyi
To those who think u need a traditional tank due to lack of hp, thats the reason for ha.

Also, thats why u tank with a resto staff. U add healing ward on ur bar and youre fine.

You healers out there who want you 30k tanks need to learn theres more than 1 way to skin a cat

Stikato

Cool build man! Gotta try this one day.

byrom101b16_ESO

Nice to see someone with skill and imagination using the Sorcerer for a role that 'established wisdom' says they are poor at, and doing it well.

Beats the hell out of whining for the class to be changed to accommodate a more common and predictable tanking build, whilst being ignorant or deliberately blind to the opportunities under their noses.

Well done OP!

caperon

Nice fun build for pledges, but i wonder if that build survives the manticore. I mean, no weapon swap (will kill you more than once), full time blocking, 10k dot ticks, 15k blocked heavy atacks...

i think axes in aetherial would cause you som troble too.

Its not i dont think its viable, its just the only content that really requires a full tank build is sanctum ophidian. I can autosustain in all veteran pledges and most of veteran dragon arena with my traditional mitigation DK tank, but the manticore still scares me a bit.

Jules

Interesting stuff. I recently tried Sorc tank and thought it was great. However, I went in HA and with dual s&s. Stam was a problem often. I'll have to try out your build, it looks really fun and effective!

LtCrunch

caperon wrote: »

Nice fun build for pledges, but i wonder if that build survives the manticore. I mean, no weapon swap (will kill you more than once), full time blocking, 10k dot ticks, 15k blocked heavy atacks...

i think axes in aetherial would cause you som troble too.

Its not i dont think its viable, its just the only content that really requires a full tank build is sanctum ophidian. I can autosustain in all veteran pledges and most of veteran dragon arena with my traditional mitigation DK tank, but the manticore still scares me a bit.

I couldn't say one way or the other how this build would fair in SO. I can say AA wouldn't be an issue though. I've taken other experimental tank builds through AA without issue. I'm not really in any guilds that run trials on a consistent basis so it's hard for me to test it out in a trial scenario. You may well be right, but without testing I can't say one way or the other.

Another thing to think about is this build is extremely flexible, which means I could easily account for things such as no weapon swap, large DoTs, etc. If need be. Most tanks don't have that flexibility. So comparing it to a traditional mitigation tank is futile IMO. I have a feeling the build would be very effective, but it would require me to go full tank mode vs the tank/DPS hybrid I'm able to run in most other group content.

LtCrunch

byrom101b16_ESO wrote: »

Nice to see someone with skill and imagination using the Sorcerer for a role that 'established wisdom' says they are poor at, and doing it well.

Beats the hell out of whining for the class to be changed to accommodate a more common and predictable tanking build, whilst being ignorant or deliberately blind to the opportunities under their noses.

Well done OP!

Funny you should mention that. While people were busy complaining about Sorcs on the PTS I was busy leveling my Sorc after I had tested this build in it's very early stages on the PTS. Now my friends think Sorcs are OP. Of course when I ran my NB tank they thought the same thing. It's all about finding the best parts of a class and making them work with your desired goal(s). Sadly a lot of people can't get themselves out of that box that tells them NB's are only stealth rogue, Sorcs are only ranged DPS casters, Templars are only good healers, etc.

caperon

I have a feeling the build would be very effective, but it would require me to go full tank mode vs the tank/DPS hybrid I'm able to run in most other group content.

All tanks I know were very confident about the manticore before facing it.

Anyway, I'd like to see this build trying it. That noone has done it before doesnt mean it cant be done. Im just a bit skeptic

LtCrunch

caperon wrote: »

I have a feeling the build would be very effective, but it would require me to go full tank mode vs the tank/DPS hybrid I'm able to run in most other group content.

All tanks I know were very confident about the manticore before facing it.

Anyway, I'd like to see this build trying it. That noone has done it before doesnt mean it cant be done. Im just a bit skeptic

Fair enough! I think tanking tends to transfer a sort of overconfidence xD

Surfinginhawaii

Awesome! Very impressive, I love these types of videos!

LameoveR

Master Sorceror approves.

Mivryna

So after several different configurations with light and heavy armour I've ultimately come to the conclusion that it is indeed better to go either full heavy-armour tank or full magicka tank like the one this thread suggests. Hardened Ward requires a ton of magicka, regen, and cost reduction to be sustainable, and this just can't happen with heavy armour.

It was indeed a lot of fun using a pure light-armour staff-wielding tank, albeit quite tricky. There were some bosses I couldn't handle at all, but some were far easier. I'm so glad to see that there's a place for sorc and mid/ranged tanks in the game after all. If I had any suggestions it would be to use Inner Light and/or Bound Aegis for extra magicka and in-turn a more powerful ward. Aegis could help remedy the low backup defenses a tiny bit.

Demnvath

Testé et approuvé !

After all, I can tank with my sorcerer. You all there know how many builds I made, how many test I ran...
Moreover, this build is very flexible, I can change skills the way I want provided that I let in place Hardened Ward and the Clanfear.