
Greetings everyone. I’ve seen some recent discussion on tanking and VDSA. I know that there are many people who are pushing the limits of tanking and I therefore want to show off this build in order to give some direction to anyone looking. I hope this get's you thinking about the current weekly leader board, how to get better, and about how interactive and fun tanking can be. Let’s get started.
Once you have done VDSA a few times you will be able to start to use less damage mitigation. Histbark is really good for starter runs, and I continue to use it against the final boss of VDSA, because it does a double job; damage mitigation and stamina preservation. Footman is okay too, mostly because it is an efficient way to get a 5 piece bonus with jewelry. Defensive Stance, Deep Slash, Hardened Armor, and Igneous Shield (pardon my Dragon Knight perspective) are all fine abilities to keep you alive. The problem with using all of these things, especially when you don’t need them, is that you could be using something else that would benefit the group in some other way. And trust me – eventually you won’t be needing those gear and abilities as much because you will be more skilled in preventing damage proactively.
It is also important to recognize that stacking damage mitigation, on top of blocking with a shield, is itself inefficient due to
diminishing returns and only really
has to be done when enemies are hitting very hard. Additionally, the fortress and bracing combination for block cost reduction causes all other block cost reduction, except for defensive stance or its morphs, to act in a
soft cap style diminished return . Needing lots of block cost reduction is another aspect of the game that can be overcome with experience and removing it provides great benefit because, again, you’ll be removing something that is greatly diminished in exchange for something that is not diminished.
Without further adieu, I introduce the gear that I am using.


General Gear:
Let’s discuss some strong points and weak points of the armor.
The core of this gear setup is Warlock. Warlock allows for using many spells in quick secession. If I am assisting in portal slaying or just chaining in multiple targets, then I am more likely to do so, with ease, thanks to the warlock 5 piece bonus. Warlock is also an efficient way to use the jewelry slots and easily beats out the tank go-to Footman’s Fortune. While enemies can hit hard in VDSA I don’t believe they hit hard enough to justify using, Footman’s fortune, a set that is subject to many diminished returns. Although warlock offers less damage mitigation as it is light armor, it offers some great passives from the light armor and undaunted skill line.
The other big part of this gear set up is 4 pieces of Storm Knight. I do want heavy armor. This is because I believe the tank should have some damage mitigation when not blocking. Why I like Storm Knight over Histbark or Elf Bane is the following. I don’t need the extra protection from Hist Bark and Elf Bane would require me to either not use the Warlock 5 piece bonus or the Valkyn Skoria 2 piece bonus.
Valkyn Skoria 2 piece bonus supplies nice burst damage to a roll that doesn’t always get to focus attacks on a single enemy. An alternative, the Engine guardian, is a really nice set as well, but as we all move on to attempting better scores in VDSA, obtaining higher DPS is the way to kill things faster and I think Valkyn offers that DPS where Engine Guardian won’t necessarily do so.
Finally, The Master Sword has a great one piece bonus and fits into the build perfectly, so I am using that and even find the ability altering effect useful in some situations.
Base Stats:

My magic enchants and attribute pool currently gives me 27,000 magic and 26,000 health. As I get more adept at this build, I will shave another 1,000 health in exchange for 1,000 magic. Be wise with the race of your character. I play an Orc, but envy the Imperial base stats. Dunmer is probably the best option due to it’s passive ability of adding flame damage.

I am using v10 base stat food that increases my magic and health pool. I have neglected stamina and therefore have a hard time repeatedly bashing an enemy, but am getting more damage as a result. Remember, a bigger magic pool literally translates into spells dealing more damage. Finally, Panaceas of Spell Power, despite their global cool down, give me the 2 buffs to my spells that I would otherwise be neglecting; I’m not using Entropy or Inner Light/Sea of Flames, but still get Major Sorcery and Major Prophecy.
Enchants:
On jewelry, I am currently testing 3 spell damage glyphs. Shield play was giving a really small decrease to the stamina cost of blocking and I am slowly learning to not need the block cost reduction. Do what you are comfortable with, but work towards not needing enchants that aren’t increasing your damage.
Traits:
For armor, we sadly have to use quite a few traits that have no effect. That is certainly a downside of the build. With the Valkyn pieces, one doesn’t really get a huge benefit from them regardless of the trait. I think
reinforced is generally good, Infused is good on the helm, divines is fine on the shoulder.
For The Master Sword, I’ve found the precise trait to offer an okay increase to damage per second. After
testing the sharpened trait, I found that the sharpened trait doesn’t increase the damage of my dots, but does increase the damage of larger hits, such as with molten whip. Since the build relies on many dots, I think that precise is the best trait to deal damage, albeit a small damage increase.
Skills:

Bar 1 - Molten Whip, Caltrops, Inner Rage, Pierce Armor, Green Dragon Blood, Dragon Knight Standard.
Bar 2 - Extended Chains, Scalding Rune, Eruption, Burning Talons, Spell Symmetry, Shooting Star
The logic behind bar 1 is the following.
Molten Whip is a nice ability to cast multiple times on a single target enemy and it increases my Dragon Knight Standards damage output. This is good for pushing damage against bosses because molten whip is easily cancelled with a shield bash that can, in turn, prevent an enemy ability or heal.
Inner Rage is nice taunt to get long ranged enemies easily positioned.
Pierce Armor is a mandatory taunt because it is a good DPS increase for the group. This ability will also act as a self-heal for this build.
Green Dragon Blood is for when the healer can’t help me and it also increases my stamina regeneration as I won’t always be using potions that give the stamina regeneration buff.
Dragon Knight Standard is a great ability to finish off bosses and their remaining minions. This is a good target for the might of the guild effect as well.
Now for bar 2
Extended Chains is the reason to bring a Dragon Knight tank. This ability can make rounds much quicker as it reduces running around.
Scalding Rune is a nice DOT for Valkyn, initiates the might of the guild passive, and portal slays.
Eruption is a nice DOT for Valkyn and Portal Slays
Burning Talons is a nice Dot for Valkyn, roots, portal slays, and has almost the same damage output as Elemental Ring, but without the need to use a destruction staff.
Spell Symmetry is a nice way to get back to full magic during combat lulls, it initiates the might of the guild passive, and can get me magic if I need just a little bit of magic for an Extended Chains cast.
Shooting Star is a good ultimate for when I am in need of resources, but need my ultimate for an upcoming wave 5. It is another mage’s guild ability too!
Overall:
This setup creates some great tanking situations. Keeping up pierce armor, chaining enemies together, rooting, and applying dots really amps up both the tanks and the groups DPS. I did leave off Caltrops in my explanations as it is dispensable. Many DPS use that and can get more benefit from it than the tank. In it’s place could go Burning Embers or, in the future, Stone Fist. Might of the Guild helps to increase the effect of all the DOT damage that I am using – it is an all-star passive ability to always be keeping in mind.
Don't think I wont end the thread without showing how this build can bring home the bacon.

@Tabre@Nifty2g
On one last note, I want you all to think about this build and then consider tanking with the stamina regeneration nerf that was announced during
ESO Live 21.
"The other major combat change we made was to block casting, or blocking in general, but it effects block casting and some other things. So with blocking, there’s a lot of issues with tanks, when they are fighting a boss, they didn’t want to ever get hit with a full hit from a boss that was really high damage, so they were just holding block the whole time. It’s not really that interactive and it’s not really that fun either...
The update we made to that to help resolve some of these issues is that you no longer regenerate stamina while you are blocking. This is specifically referring to the stamina regeneration stat.” – Eric Wroebel
After reading my build here, do you think Eric Wroebel is correct or do you know that Eric is wrong when saying that current tanking isn't interactive or fun? Though there hasn't been much content for players to complete, we have all been working on and perfecting our builds, our play, and our teams. Don't let this progression get destroyed by a drastic change that is being made with utterly wrong reason. Remember, everyone is impacted by this type of change, not just tanks. We can still give feedback and prevent this bizarre idea from being implemented.
I thank you all for reading and invite you to comment on this thread. Please share what kind of sweet strategies you have come up with in VDSA. Please share if you are a tank who is having fun in ESO.