How to become a good (Dungeon) tank

Kisakee

First things first - What is NOT making you a good tank:
- Playing a DK, having 50k+ Health, using one Taunt and thinking that's enough
- Wearing all defensive sets
- Queueing a random Dungeon in PvP setup because "i'm tanky and that totally qualifies me"

So what actually makes you a good tank? This:
- Use two Taunts. Puncture from Sword&Board skill line on frontbar and Inner Fire on backbar. Range Taunt is to gather mobs, melee Taunt to debuff them and hold them in place.

- Turn the mobs away from the group! It's your duty to make enemies look the other way while your DD's massage their backs. And don't run around like a headless chicken, you're supposed to stay where you're standing so everyone can lay down their AOE's. The only valid reasons to ever move are avoiding certain death and/ or devastating debuffs or regrouping but you NEVER make an enemy with cleave damage looking in your groups direction. And standing in stupid for too long is dumb too.

- Use a Frost Staff on your backbar. You absolutely want a Frost Staff as it will enable you to Block with Magicka when you run out of Stamina on your front. Get used to it, this is the way.

- Use sets that are actually helpful to your group, mostly buffing damage. Turning Tide + Nazaray and War Machine is a very strong setup for most runs. In some cases a more defensive setup to survive special cases is totally fine.
- Dungeons are mostly populated with a lot of enemies. The better you group them up the faster they die. The most efficient way is to use the Void Bash set from Vateshran Arena. Simply put one mob in the middle of everything else and Bash, if you have another skill to root enemies in the process that's even better. How to use two full five piece sets, a monster set AND Arena weapons? Simple: You only play your proc set on one bar. Complete Turning Tide on your backbar only, this will not only free space for Vateshran but enables you to use TT when you need it instead of proccing it all the time. Also use Silver Leash or DK Chain to close in mobs staying too far away.

- Get the Dragonstar Arena Master Sword&Board set. Replace Vateshran with it and use the freed bar slot for something else when you need more survivability.

- Use the right CP. Make sure to get ALL the passives in the blue and red tree, you want them (yes, damage ones also). Active CP for blue tree: Ironclad and Bulwark are your best friends, never take them out. For the rest you may use Duelist's Rebuff, Enduring Resolve and Unassailable on demand. Red Tree: Boundless Vitality and Fortified never leave the bar. I favor Celerity and Rejuvenation for the most part. You may switch that out for Bracing Anchor, Pain's Refuge, Strategic Reserve or whatever is needed.

- Use the right buff food, potions, attribute points and have the right amount of HP and ressources. In most cases you will use tristat food and potions no matter what, it will always be helpful to get all ressources back when you actually use all of them. Your HP have to be 40-45k to be in the sweet spot of not being too squishy and not wasting points. In most setups you want Stamina to be your main ressource so make sure it's higher than Magicka on your Sword&Board bar. If you're able to have more Stamina on S&B and more Magicka on Staff bar that will be perfect for ressource regain. Which leads to the next point:

- USE SYNERGIES! Not once, not twice - all the time! Thanks to the Undaunted skill line passives you'll get ressources back whenever you use a synergy. If you see a golden orb coming from your Healer floating right to your direction that's the greatest gift they can ever make you - use it!

- Get the right traits and glyphs. Frost Staff, Infused, Crushing Glyph. One Hand weapon is up to you, i prefer Decisive with a ressource regain glyph. Shield and armor will all be Sturdy to massively reduce ressource cost on Block and Prismatic Defense if you can afford it, otherwise mix and match Health, Stamina and Magicka as needed.

All of this is just the tip of the iceberg. Learning mechanics, knowing where to stay and where not, when and when not, taking aggro on as many mobs as possible while not dying and still having a look on your ressources, your group and all of your surroundings is a huge chunk and needs lots and lots of training. Don't you ever think that having many HP and a single taunt will make you a viable tank again. It doesn't.

Anything i missed? Let me know and i will add it.

Soarora

You can also use frost clench on ice staff to do some debuffs to enemies. It does freeze small enemies in place though so they have to be chained in or it should only be used on ones immune to the immobilize.

I don't actually tank with tri-focus, it's a personal choice. Some people do, some people don't. I find it harder to manage my resources when I have to flip back and forth on what resource I'm blocking with. Also, since I'm a sorc I find a lot of value in my magicka pool so maybe that is different for other classes.

Galiferno

1. Frost Clench is a massively better range taunt than Inner Fire when it comes to bosses. A good tank will learn a rotation that lets them keep it up as much as possible.
2. Tri-Focus is absolutely not necessary and in fact discouraged. I never run it, especially when double staff tanking.
3. There are more options than just running sturdy. Reinforced/Divines means you'll be taking less damage and have better sustain than sturdy. Not to mention you can run an infused jewel with a bracing glyph and get over 85% of the benefit of all sturdy while having better resistances and better sustain.

Kisakee

Soarora wrote: »

You can also use frost clench on ice staff to do some debuffs to enemies. It does freeze small enemies in place though so they have to be chained in or it should only be used on ones immune to the immobilize.

I don't actually tank with tri-focus, it's a personal choice. Some people do, some people don't. I find it harder to manage my resources when I have to flip back and forth on what resource I'm blocking with. Also, since I'm a sorc I find a lot of value in my magicka pool so maybe that is different for other classes.

I actually use more Magicka than Stamina skills too hence the tristat food and potions and that's another reason why you absolutely want a good Healer in your back and not three DD's. A good Tank and Healer with all the buffs and debuffs will outperform a three or even four DD setup with little to no buffs and debuffs.

Kisakee

Galiferno wrote: »

1. Frost Clench is a massively better range taunt than Inner Fire when it comes to bosses. A good tank will learn a rotation that lets them keep it up as much as possible.
2. Tri-Focus is absolutely not necessary and in fact discouraged. I never run it, especially when double staff tanking.
3. There are more options than just running sturdy. Reinforced/Divines means you'll be taking less damage and have better sustain than sturdy. Not to mention you can run an infused jewel with a bracing glyph and get over 85% of the benefit of all sturdy while having better resistances and better sustain.

1. Frost Clench is way too limited in reach so that may cause problems. If you used it as a second Taunt in addition to Inner Fire while on double Staff that's totally understandable.
2. It opens up so many possibilities that you'll never have if you only block with Stamina alona and running out of it will be a death sentence. Give it a try.
3. With a good Healer in your back you will cap Resistances anyway so adding even more is not helpful plus Sturdy opens options for a greater Jewelry Glyph variety. If another setup works for you that's totally fine but i don't see the benefit for me.

theacefes

What? I thought I just changed my role to tank while wearing Relequen? (jk)

As someone with a tank alt who is trying to learn to get better, this is super helpful so thank you for posting it.

Soarora

Kisakee wrote: »

Galiferno wrote: »

1. Frost Clench is a massively better range taunt than Inner Fire when it comes to bosses. A good tank will learn a rotation that lets them keep it up as much as possible.
2. Tri-Focus is absolutely not necessary and in fact discouraged. I never run it, especially when double staff tanking.
3. There are more options than just running sturdy. Reinforced/Divines means you'll be taking less damage and have better sustain than sturdy. Not to mention you can run an infused jewel with a bracing glyph and get over 85% of the benefit of all sturdy while having better resistances and better sustain.

1. Frost Clench is way too limited in reach so that may cause problems. If you used it as a second Taunt in addition to Inner Fire while on double Staff that's totally understandable.
2. It opens up so many possibilities that you'll never have if you only block with Stamina alona and running out of it will be a death sentence. Give it a try.
3. With a good Healer in your back you will cap Resistances anyway so adding even more is not helpful plus Sturdy opens options for a greater Jewelry Glyph variety. If another setup works for you that's totally fine but i don't see the benefit for me.

Frost clench range got buffed. Trial tanks use it all the time, don’t see why dungeon tanks can’t either (apart from the small adds problem).

Often when I run out of stamina I very quickly run out of magicka afterwards and die anyways. I just try not to run out of stamina in the first place. Works well when I’m focusing on it.

I agree on the resist thing though, you get max resist on your own. You don’t even need a healer for it. I have minor/major resolve + dragonstar snb and hit max.

WikileaksEU

Tanking sounds very boring when you make it look like that. DD can go many different playstyles, while tank seem to be stuck with the same build.

Kisakee

Soarora wrote: »

Kisakee wrote: »

Galiferno wrote: »

1. Frost Clench is a massively better range taunt than Inner Fire when it comes to bosses. A good tank will learn a rotation that lets them keep it up as much as possible.
2. Tri-Focus is absolutely not necessary and in fact discouraged. I never run it, especially when double staff tanking.
3. There are more options than just running sturdy. Reinforced/Divines means you'll be taking less damage and have better sustain than sturdy. Not to mention you can run an infused jewel with a bracing glyph and get over 85% of the benefit of all sturdy while having better resistances and better sustain.

1. Frost Clench is way too limited in reach so that may cause problems. If you used it as a second Taunt in addition to Inner Fire while on double Staff that's totally understandable.
2. It opens up so many possibilities that you'll never have if you only block with Stamina alona and running out of it will be a death sentence. Give it a try.
3. With a good Healer in your back you will cap Resistances anyway so adding even more is not helpful plus Sturdy opens options for a greater Jewelry Glyph variety. If another setup works for you that's totally fine but i don't see the benefit for me.

Frost clench range got buffed. Trial tanks use it all the time, don’t see why dungeon tanks can’t either (apart from the small adds problem).

Often when I run out of stamina I very quickly run out of magicka afterwards and die anyways. I just try not to run out of stamina in the first place. Works well when I’m focusing on it.

I agree on the resist thing though, you get max resist on your own. You don’t even need a healer for it. I have minor/major resolve + dragonstar snb and hit max.

Can't double check right now but i think Frost Clench still has less range than Inner Fire which is a problem at least for me. Also it acts extremely weird, the feel of it is just.. wrong. I really don't know how to call it. Well it may be a matter pf preference.

Using both ressources for tanking actually makes me less dying as i can switch on demand and while i drain one ressource the other one recovers. Again, a good Healer is an absolute life saver in that regard.

WikileaksEU wrote: »

Tanking sounds very boring when you make it look like that. DD can go many different playstyles, while tank seem to be stuck with the same build.

You need to change your setup for Dungeons, different Trials and Main or Offtank, it's far from stale. A good tank is having 6-10 times as many sets as the regular DD that barely switches anything ever.

Dr_Con

Kisakee wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

Kisakee wrote: »

Galiferno wrote: »

1. Frost Clench is a massively better range taunt than Inner Fire when it comes to bosses. A good tank will learn a rotation that lets them keep it up as much as possible.
2. Tri-Focus is absolutely not necessary and in fact discouraged. I never run it, especially when double staff tanking.
3. There are more options than just running sturdy. Reinforced/Divines means you'll be taking less damage and have better sustain than sturdy. Not to mention you can run an infused jewel with a bracing glyph and get over 85% of the benefit of all sturdy while having better resistances and better sustain.

1. Frost Clench is way too limited in reach so that may cause problems. If you used it as a second Taunt in addition to Inner Fire while on double Staff that's totally understandable.
2. It opens up so many possibilities that you'll never have if you only block with Stamina alona and running out of it will be a death sentence. Give it a try.
3. With a good Healer in your back you will cap Resistances anyway so adding even more is not helpful plus Sturdy opens options for a greater Jewelry Glyph variety. If another setup works for you that's totally fine but i don't see the benefit for me.

Frost clench range got buffed. Trial tanks use it all the time, don’t see why dungeon tanks can’t either (apart from the small adds problem).

Often when I run out of stamina I very quickly run out of magicka afterwards and die anyways. I just try not to run out of stamina in the first place. Works well when I’m focusing on it.

I agree on the resist thing though, you get max resist on your own. You don’t even need a healer for it. I have minor/major resolve + dragonstar snb and hit max.

Can't double check right now but i think Frost Clench still has less range than Inner Fire which is a problem at least for me. Also it acts extremely weird, the feel of it is just.. wrong. I really don't know how to call it. Well it may be a matter pf preference.

Using both ressources for tanking actually makes me less dying as i can switch on demand and while i drain one ressource the other one recovers. Again, a good Healer is an absolute life saver in that regard.

WikileaksEU wrote: »

Tanking sounds very boring when you make it look like that. DD can go many different playstyles, while tank seem to be stuck with the same build.

You need to change your setup for Dungeons, different Trials and Main or Offtank, it's far from stale. A good tank is having 6-10 times as many sets as the regular DD that barely switches anything ever.

frost clench is 28 meters. i discourage inner rage from being used unless a ranged taunt is needed on a double S+B build or oakentank S+B accessibuild as frost clench provides minor and major maim plus minor brittle with its taunt.

PapaTankers

Agreed to the most of what you said, but as said above, do not use sturdy. You are most likely blocking wayy too much. Get used to blocking only heavy attacks and heavy attack inbetween to get your resources back.
If you really wanna get block cost down then use bracing glyphs on jewlery.
Use combination of reinforced, divines instead.

Prioritze frost clench over inner rage. It is way better in terms on team utlity.

Do not use tri-focus passive.

Stinkyremy

This iss [snip]
DO NOT USE TRI FOCUS WHERE BLOCKING COSTS MAGIKA, you want your blocking to cost stamina and only block on the SnB with the defensive posture skill slotted, never really want to black with staff unless you have to, staff is only for debuffing mobs and bosses.
[snip]
[edited for profanity bypass & rude/insulting comment]

HatchetHaro

Honestly, here's my criteria for a good dungeon tank:
- Taunt major threats
- Keep them still
- Don't die (very important)

That's it. That's all you need to be a good dungeon tank. As a DD I don't give a crap if you debuff them or not. If you don't have a debuff that's fine; I can throw on Noxious Breath or a healer can run Elemental Drain. Who cares? Just do the bare minimum you need to for your role and you're good in my books, even for Vet Hardmodes.

I tank random norms with 20k HP wearing Z'en's and still pulling over 60% of the group's DPS; I taunt major enemies and chain everything else in for big AoE nukes. I keep bosses still so more damage actually gets applied to them. I keep a self heal on me for survival and if there's a fake healer in group I just throw on Pale Order. If I die, I'm bad; if I lose taunt, I'm bad; if I run around like a headless chicken dragging the boss around the arena, I'm bad.

Stinkyremy wrote: »

This iss [snip]
DO NOT USE TRI FOCUS WHERE BLOCKING COSTS MAGIKA, you want your blocking to cost stamina and only block on the SnB with the defensive posture skill slotted, never really want to black with staff unless you have to, staff is only for debuffing mobs and bosses.
[snip]

Bad take. Having an extra resource at hand for blocking is extremely useful, and many end-game tanks are even double-barring ice staves in trials.

[edited to remove quote]

Sarannah

Funny! I use sword & board on both bars, use two taunts(melee/ranged), debuff all enemies, wear all defensive sets, and like having 50k+ health(infused trait). While focussing on massive amounts of life regen. I do agree with the turn mobs away, use synergies, use the right CP, and use the right foods.

The defensive sets make sure I do not die, as we would all wipe. And this also allows the healer to start damage dealing. Basically making all my runs a 1T+3DD, making for very very quick runs. Besides, what is the use of using group buff sets when they barely make a difference damagewise, and risk the tank dying. While at the same time defensive sets save me my resources, as I can take any attack head on and not feel a thing, having only to block white attacks. (defensive sets also make rezzing easier)

Ohw, and OP you forgot the most important tanking rule: Make sure noone else gets attacked! And if they do get attacked, take the mobs off of them ASAP. This also helps with very fast clearing, as it allows the DPS to keep doing DPS.
Another thing which makes dungeon runs much smoother, is calling out the most important mechanics before a bossfight. This saves lots of time, even if it takes 10 seconds to type!

This post makes me feel like this is the reason for so many tanks experiencing low DPS. Tanks being too busy with their own stuff(rotation/resources/barswapping/etc), instead of focussing on the group.

If you are new to tanking, tank in a way you feel works best for you. And build around that concept. This will make you a much better tank than by simply following someone else their ways. Especially if those ways do not click with you.

PS: Have all veteran dungeon trifecta's through the dungeonfinder as I am not in a guild, but I never run trials.
PPS: I play single bar, with the exception of the ranged taunt being backbar. And I only switch if I really need the ranged taunt.

Kisakee

Dr_Con wrote: »

Kisakee wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

Kisakee wrote: »

Galiferno wrote: »

1. Frost Clench is a massively better range taunt than Inner Fire when it comes to bosses. A good tank will learn a rotation that lets them keep it up as much as possible.
2. Tri-Focus is absolutely not necessary and in fact discouraged. I never run it, especially when double staff tanking.
3. There are more options than just running sturdy. Reinforced/Divines means you'll be taking less damage and have better sustain than sturdy. Not to mention you can run an infused jewel with a bracing glyph and get over 85% of the benefit of all sturdy while having better resistances and better sustain.

1. Frost Clench is way too limited in reach so that may cause problems. If you used it as a second Taunt in addition to Inner Fire while on double Staff that's totally understandable.
2. It opens up so many possibilities that you'll never have if you only block with Stamina alona and running out of it will be a death sentence. Give it a try.
3. With a good Healer in your back you will cap Resistances anyway so adding even more is not helpful plus Sturdy opens options for a greater Jewelry Glyph variety. If another setup works for you that's totally fine but i don't see the benefit for me.

Frost clench range got buffed. Trial tanks use it all the time, don’t see why dungeon tanks can’t either (apart from the small adds problem).

Often when I run out of stamina I very quickly run out of magicka afterwards and die anyways. I just try not to run out of stamina in the first place. Works well when I’m focusing on it.

I agree on the resist thing though, you get max resist on your own. You don’t even need a healer for it. I have minor/major resolve + dragonstar snb and hit max.

Can't double check right now but i think Frost Clench still has less range than Inner Fire which is a problem at least for me. Also it acts extremely weird, the feel of it is just.. wrong. I really don't know how to call it. Well it may be a matter pf preference.

Using both ressources for tanking actually makes me less dying as i can switch on demand and while i drain one ressource the other one recovers. Again, a good Healer is an absolute life saver in that regard.

WikileaksEU wrote: »

Tanking sounds very boring when you make it look like that. DD can go many different playstyles, while tank seem to be stuck with the same build.

You need to change your setup for Dungeons, different Trials and Main or Offtank, it's far from stale. A good tank is having 6-10 times as many sets as the regular DD that barely switches anything ever.

frost clench is 28 meters. i discourage inner rage from being used unless a ranged taunt is needed on a double S+B build or oakentank S+B accessibuild as frost clench provides minor and major maim plus minor brittle with its taunt.

You may get awy with that in Dungeons but i also tank Trials with HM, it's not going to work there.

Stinkyremy wrote: »

This iss [snip]
DO NOT USE TRI FOCUS WHERE BLOCKING COSTS MAGIKA, you want your blocking to cost stamina and only block on the SnB with the defensive posture skill slotted, never really want to black with staff unless you have to, staff is only for debuffing mobs and bosses.
[snip]

Have you ever tanked harder things? Like i said above that may work in Dungeons but not Trials and i'm not using different tanking styles so i keep what i use in Trials.

Sarannah wrote: »

Funny! I use sword & board on both bars, use two taunts(melee/ranged), debuff all enemies, wear all defensive sets, and like having 50k+ health(infused trait). While focussing on massive amounts of life regen. I do agree with the turn mobs away, use synergies, use the right CP, and use the right foods.

The defensive sets make sure I do not die, as we would all wipe. And this also allows the healer to start damage dealing. Basically making all my runs a 1T+3DD, making for very very quick runs. Besides, what is the use of using group buff sets when they barely make a difference damagewise, and risk the tank dying. While at the same time defensive sets save me my resources, as I can take any attack head on and not feel a thing, having only to block white attacks. (defensive sets also make rezzing easier)

Ohw, and OP you forgot the most important tanking rule: Make sure noone else gets attacked! And if they do get attacked, take the mobs off of them ASAP. This also helps with very fast clearing, as it allows the DPS to keep doing DPS.
Another thing which makes dungeon runs much smoother, is calling out the most important mechanics before a bossfight. This saves lots of time, even if it takes 10 seconds to type!

This post makes me feel like this is the reason for so many tanks experiencing low DPS. Tanks being too busy with their own stuff(rotation/resources/barswapping/etc), instead of focussing on the group.

If you are new to tanking, tank in a way you feel works best for you. And build around that concept. This will make you a much better tank than by simply following someone else their ways. Especially if those ways do not click with you.

PS: Have all veteran dungeon trifecta's through the dungeonfinder as I am not in a guild, but I never run trials.
PPS: I play single bar, with the exception of the ranged taunt being backbar. And I only switch if I really need the ranged taunt.

I had three tanks like you in vet random Dungeons yesterday. The runs took way longer than they needed because we got literally no buffs and debuffs from the tank. If you're running solo i can see where you are coming from but we're usually a duo and as my girl has a veriety of Healers i always see how much of a help and time saving good support is.

PS: As a good tank you can play support sets without dying, it just needs a lot of training and good ressource management.

[edited to remove quote]

Sarannah

Kisakee wrote: »

I had three tanks like you in vet random Dungeons yesterday. The runs took way longer than they needed because we got literally no buffs and debuffs from the tank. If you're running solo i can see where you are coming from but we're usually a duo and as my girl has a veriety of Healers i always see how much of a help and time saving good support is.

PS: As a good tank you can play support sets without dying, it just needs a lot of training and good ressource management

Those were bad tanks then, because I always debuff every major mob/buff the group and I only do 1.5k DPS myself. My runs never take long, not even scalecaller peak takes long. So maybe something else went wrong on those runs.

PS: Haven't run dungeons in quite a while now. Though I am going to do so soon.

Heelie

Kisakee wrote: »

- Use two Taunts. Puncture from Sword&Board skill line on frontbar and Inner Fire on backbar. Range Taunt is to gather mobs, melee Taunt to debuff them and hold them in place.

- Use a Frost Staff on your backbar. You absolutely want a Frost Staff as it will enable you to Block with Magicka when you run out of Stamina on your front. Get used to it, this is the way.

- Use sets that are actually helpful to your group, mostly buffing damage. Turning Tide + Nazaray and War Machine is a very strong setup for most runs. In some cases a more defensive setup to survive special cases is totally fine.
- Dungeons are mostly populated with a lot of enemies. The better you group them up the faster they die. The most efficient way is to use the Void Bash set from Vateshran Arena. Simply put one mob in the middle of everything else and Bash, if you have another skill to root enemies in the process that's even better. How to use two full five piece sets, a monster set AND Arena weapons? Simple: You only play your proc set on one bar. Complete Turning Tide on your backbar only, this will not only free space for Vateshran but enables you to use TT when you need it instead of proccing it all the time. Also use Silver Leash or DK Chain to close in mobs staying too far away.

- Get the Dragonstar Arena Master Sword&Board set. Replace Vateshran with it and use the freed bar slot for something else when you need more survivability.

Frost clench for minor brittle is prefered over Inner fire,

All tanks I know specifically advice against slotting tri focus for the magicka block passive.

In the setup you mentioned TT on front bar. But in the combination with War Machine, War machine makes more sense to only have on one bar.

Delimber

These days I only tank a non-dlc dungeon if I want to get through it faster, or it's on vet mode.

I've pretty much stopped tanking dlc dungeons. I'm just a casual tank now. Maybe it has to do with too many pug runs over the years.

Either way, I'm set up for pug runs, so a set that keeps me alive, and a set that gives the group a damage buff is what I run.

Kisakee

Heelie wrote: »

Kisakee wrote: »

- Use two Taunts. Puncture from Sword&Board skill line on frontbar and Inner Fire on backbar. Range Taunt is to gather mobs, melee Taunt to debuff them and hold them in place.

- Use a Frost Staff on your backbar. You absolutely want a Frost Staff as it will enable you to Block with Magicka when you run out of Stamina on your front. Get used to it, this is the way.

- Use sets that are actually helpful to your group, mostly buffing damage. Turning Tide + Nazaray and War Machine is a very strong setup for most runs. In some cases a more defensive setup to survive special cases is totally fine.
- Dungeons are mostly populated with a lot of enemies. The better you group them up the faster they die. The most efficient way is to use the Void Bash set from Vateshran Arena. Simply put one mob in the middle of everything else and Bash, if you have another skill to root enemies in the process that's even better. How to use two full five piece sets, a monster set AND Arena weapons? Simple: You only play your proc set on one bar. Complete Turning Tide on your backbar only, this will not only free space for Vateshran but enables you to use TT when you need it instead of proccing it all the time. Also use Silver Leash or DK Chain to close in mobs staying too far away.

- Get the Dragonstar Arena Master Sword&Board set. Replace Vateshran with it and use the freed bar slot for something else when you need more survivability.

Frost clench for minor brittle is prefered over Inner fire,

All tanks I know specifically advice against slotting tri focus for the magicka block passive.

In the setup you mentioned TT on front bar. But in the combination with War Machine, War machine makes more sense to only have on one bar.

I use Frost Wall for Brittle, it refreshes itself over the duration while on that bar, you hit multiple targets so that's better than Frost Clench and Crushing Glyph is also in good use.

Funny enough all the tanks i know use Trifocus so there's that. 😁

TT on frontbar is highly uncontrollable, you may not have it ready when needed. Using it on backbar gives you way more control over it. You will also keep the bonus of War Machine on both bars this way.

Ragnarok0130

I'd also encourage budding tanks to watch videos from "The Tank Club" and also join their discord as it's a well font of good knowledge.

Soarora

Kisakee wrote: »

Heelie wrote: »

Kisakee wrote: »

- Use two Taunts. Puncture from Sword&Board skill line on frontbar and Inner Fire on backbar. Range Taunt is to gather mobs, melee Taunt to debuff them and hold them in place.

- Use a Frost Staff on your backbar. You absolutely want a Frost Staff as it will enable you to Block with Magicka when you run out of Stamina on your front. Get used to it, this is the way.

- Use sets that are actually helpful to your group, mostly buffing damage. Turning Tide + Nazaray and War Machine is a very strong setup for most runs. In some cases a more defensive setup to survive special cases is totally fine.
- Dungeons are mostly populated with a lot of enemies. The better you group them up the faster they die. The most efficient way is to use the Void Bash set from Vateshran Arena. Simply put one mob in the middle of everything else and Bash, if you have another skill to root enemies in the process that's even better. How to use two full five piece sets, a monster set AND Arena weapons? Simple: You only play your proc set on one bar. Complete Turning Tide on your backbar only, this will not only free space for Vateshran but enables you to use TT when you need it instead of proccing it all the time. Also use Silver Leash or DK Chain to close in mobs staying too far away.

- Get the Dragonstar Arena Master Sword&Board set. Replace Vateshran with it and use the freed bar slot for something else when you need more survivability.

Frost clench for minor brittle is prefered over Inner fire,

All tanks I know specifically advice against slotting tri focus for the magicka block passive.

In the setup you mentioned TT on front bar. But in the combination with War Machine, War machine makes more sense to only have on one bar.

I use Frost Wall for Brittle, it refreshes itself over the duration while on that bar, you hit multiple targets so that's better than Frost Clench and Crushing Glyph is also in good use.

Funny enough all the tanks i know use Trifocus so there's that. 😁

TT on frontbar is highly uncontrollable, you may not have it ready when needed. Using it on backbar gives you way more control over it. You will also keep the bonus of War Machine on both bars this way.

Frost clench gives brittle 100% of the time. Frost wall does not.

I don’t think a new tank should use trifocus but individuals should see if it works for them or not.

I’ve never had any issue with TT double barred in dungeons. I could see it being a problem in trials but that’s not what the thread’s about.

ZOS_Icy

Greetings,

This thread has been moved to the Combat & Character Mechanics section, as it is better suited there.

Thank you for your understanding.

FeedbackOnly

I don't agree with frost staff being mandatory

BaalMelqartu

I agree with some things, not with others. Except for occasional PUG random normals, I mostly tank just for friends and choose my layout according to the needs and desires of the group. I used to tank in other scenarios but got tired of everyone telling me I need to tank a certain way with the various peoples always conflicting with one another.