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DK Tanking guide: An offensive approach
yogarogue
✭✭
NOTE: I also posted this in class skills as I was not sure of the correct place for it.
Hello all! I spent a good amount of time trying to construct a tanking build I feel is sufficient for both multiple and single target encounters. Since there is yet a real "guide" posted on these forums I thought I would share my ideas and my theory.
This is the build:
teso.mmorpg-life.com/eso-skill-calculator/dragonknight/?calc=1266.1274.1281.1295.1323.:1487-2.1488-2.1489-2.1490-2.1497-2.1498-2.1499-2.1501-2.1502-2.1503-2.1504-2.1505-2.1506-2.1532-2.1534-2.1535-2.1536-2.1537-2.1538-2.1539-2.1541-2.1607-2.1608-2.1609-2.:1263.x1260.1278.1316.1323.1325.::1287.
THE DRAGONKNIGHT:
The dragonknight is not like any other tank you have experienced before. We are used to seeing traditional tanks in other MMOs that wield their 1 hand and shield, wear full plate armor and are masters of melee combat and defense. The dragonknight differs from your typical warrior in that we have the capability of casting a variety of spells making ranged combat our specialty and our class majority magicka driven. ESO has done a good job in offering a very unique class that we can work with. With such a variety of choices and paths to take in our journey through tamriel we must sit down and theorize as to what our role is in a group (Tank for this particular build) and what path is best suited for that role.
WHICH RACE TO CHOOSE:
While there are many suitable races for a tank I have selected the Dark Elf. The Dark Elf is the ONLY race that offers both a Magicka AND Stamina improving racial skill. Unlike other races that will focus mainly on "tanky" skills I.E health regen, max health, stam regen, stam health, etc. Also, many people tend to make their racial choice based on the weapon skill line that race has an experience gain for. This to me is not a valid choice to make for the sole reason that by the time you reach endgame this racial trait loses all significance while the other available racial traits will not lose their value. The Dark Elf skill lines also provide a huge buff to their "fire" power. Which is a wonderful perc to have considering in my build we will be using mainly fire driven skills. Dragonknights can be both Magicka and Stamina driven. So I elected to choose a race with skill lines that were balanced in this regard.
THE BUILD:
The way to be efficient in this game within your designated role is to always be looking for SYNERGY. I cant emphasize how important this is. SYNERGY SYNERGY SYNERGY. The fact is we have many different schools of skills to choose from and the goal is to find how your choices will balance out the different skill lines. When you make a decision to choose one skill, you will be adding a value to your character but losing out on a potential opportunity for another. So find out what your imbalances are in terms of your characters role and adjust accordingly.
There are two parts to this build, one skill set will be focusing on multiple target situations using mainly magicka, the other will be focusing on single target situations using mainly stamina i.e bosses. My educated guess is that you will be using the former set in most situations.
This builds defensive focus lies in it passives in heavy armor, 1 h and shield, and draconic power passive skill lines. This is useful because 1) my defense is not on cool down 2) it opens up my hotbar for more offensive and utility driven skills. Think of this build as a bulldozer with inherent resilience and strong offensive power.
WHICH ATTRIBUTES DO I CHOOSE:
The answer is all three. With a racial skill line that increases stam and magicka one might consider putting more in health however, also remember synergy and balance. When I invest attributes in magicka I am making more spells more efficient, I am able to cast more and more powerfully. For this build when investing points in magicka you are directly influencing your tanking ability. The same could be said for stamina. Our multiple target rotation is strongly influenced by magicka while our single target by stamina. I would suggest balancing out all three attributes. With a stronger focus possibly in stamina because blocking is going to become an integral part of your tanking.
THE BUILD:
ARDENT FLAME:
PASSIVE SKILL LINES:
KINDLING:
A MUST HAVE, increased your burning dmg which works on cross skills in other skill lines as well. MAX THIS OUT
SEARING HEAT:
increases the duration of your burns and fire abilities including your ardent flame ultimate: dragonknight standard. ALSO A MUST HAVE, max it out
WORLD OF FLAME:
increases dmg of AoE fire abilities, need I say more? max it out
ACTIVES:
DRAGONKNIGHT STANDARD: STANDARD OF MIGHT
Hands down the best ultimate for an offensive tank. Not only will it do incredible amounts of dmg with your chosen passives but its morph offers 35 % dmg increase and 35% dmg reduction in enemies.
SEARING STRIKE: BURNING EMBERS
For single target dmg and agro. This must be refreshed on target it is your primary dps for single target and offers a heal at the end of its duration.
FIERY BREATH: ENGULFING FLAME
This coupled with dark talons is your multiple target opener. its a great way to pull agro and will increased the power of your consecutive fire attks (of which there are many) Dark talons can be used first if you would like to set mobs in position for engulfing flames by immobilizing them.
DRACONIC POWER:
PASSIVES:
No need to explain here max them all out. I will also note that BURNING HEART increases the healing received during inhale.
ACTIVES:
DARK TALONS: BURNING TALONS (optional choking talons)
A great way to immobilize a group of mobs. An awesome CC tool when facing multiple enemies burning talons adds burning damage, but you may opt for choking talons if you feel your defense could use the boost. However, its like I stated we are going the offensive route here because damage holds agro and our defense shines through ways of our passives and blocking!
DRAGON BLOOD: GREEN DRAGON OR COAGULATING
Both morphs are useful here this ability is only used in single target situations. This is your saving grace. Single target build runs off of stamina so green dragon blood comes in use when you need a stam boost for blocking or taunting. If using green dragon blood you should take ransack over pierce armor in 1 hand shield skill line.
Coagulating blood is a great defensive cool down to have in heavy dmg situations.
INHALE: DRAW ESSENCE
Ahhhhhhh.. This Is a great tool. it does three things, AoE dmg, self heal, and magicka restore. This should be the end of your rotation to restore all the magicka u used previously and the health that was chewed away.
EARTHEN HEART:
PASSIVES:
ETERNAL MOUNTAIN:
A great tool for increasing the duration of cinderstorm, a powerful CC skill you will be using. max it out
ACTIVES:
ULTIMATE: MAGMA ARMOR; CORROSIVE ARMOR
use this only in single target encounters. This is here to save your ass or to aid the healer if u are in a heavy dmg situation. I chose corrosive armor because we are using this in single target encounters where dmg to group members is less likely.
ASH CLOUD: CINDER STORM:
This is a wonderful CC ability. It slows down your enemies so they don't get away too easily and it lowers their dmg output with a 30% miss rate applied to to enemies in the area. Use this in your rotation after you have applied engulfing flames.
1HAND AND SHIELD:
BLOCKING:
This is your number 1 tool for mitigation. With the passives in 1 hand and shield skill line and draconic power you will be practically invincible. Remember you can block and cast spells simultaneously. It may prove a bit more difficult in single target encounters when you are using your 1 hander more often. But the general rule of thumb here is to block as many attacks as possible.
LIGHT AND HEAVY ATTACKS:
These can be used intermittently in situations where you are low on stamina and magicka and need to hold agro with damage. Remember though that you will be using your clicker mostly for blocking. blocking and rotation has priority over light and heavy attacks. But they can be used in situations as I mentioned before where you don't want to over consume resources. optimally speaking you would want to find windows of opportunity to light and heavy attack in between blocking and bashing when your enemy is not attacking you in that moment. If you can hold agro without it I would not bother. Make use of block and bash (right and left click simultaneously, or hold right and click left).
PASSIVES:
Again, take them all. They are all beneficial to you one way or another. max em all out. Deadly bash make your hold right click + left click interrupt much more powerful potentially replacing your light attacks. Practice using this because it can come in handy. if you can master the technique then you can open up your hotbar to a space you would otherwise use for a spell absorb / reflect / or interrupt ability.
PUNCTURE: RANSACK AND PIERCE ARMOR
A MUST HAVE on both hotbars. This is your taunt! This is what will keep your group happy! when choosing a morph pierce armor should be considered more so for the multiple targets due to its synergy with the idea of an offensive tank. However, if you are taking burning talons in place of choking talons and feel that a little armor boost is necessary, then by preference feel free to choose ransack. For single target if you are opting for green dragon blood: (stamina > armor and spell resist) instead of coagulating then ransack may also be a better choice.
LOW SLASH: DEEP SLASH
Our single target build is built around debuffing the opponent and buffing ourselves. This is just a continuation of that idea.
SHIELD CHARGE: SHIELDED ASSAULT;
This is your single target opener it offers an immediate dmg shield and is a perfect opening tool to any encounter.
NOTE ABOUT SINGLE TARGET ROTATION:
If you feel it necessary to have a spell reflect/ absorb on your hotbar then you can substitute either shield charge or deep slash for Reflective scale in the draconic power tree or Defensive posture in 1 hand shield tree. Reflective scale has a morph that offers spell resistence and increased dmg, I would suggest the spell resistence. Defensive posture has a nice passive ability while its on the hotbar that aids your blocking. It also has a morph with a self heal or a stun. I generally don't recommend going to stun morphs due to the fact that we will mainly be fighting bosses and I am afraid they may have an immunity to stuns.
ARMOR:
I recommend a 5 heavy / 2 light build for Multiple targets. And IF YOU CAN a 5 heavy /2 medium for single target/ if you would like , you may even go 5/1/1 you will need stamina for blocking. However sacrificing 1 piece of armor in light armor loses you a lot more benefit than If you were to sacrifice 1 piece of armor in medium armor.
LIGHT ARMOR:
For multiple targets
All except prodigy I feel should be maxed out. We will be using A LOT of magicka. This will help in keeping our rotation alive.
MEDIUM ARMOR:
For single target
Max out Wind walker, I don't see inherent value in any of the other skills. Stamina is a must have for blocking. However, with our passive skill lines in 1 hand shield and heavy armor blocking will use a fraction of energy of what it would otherwise.
HEAVY ARMOR: Why we are tanks.
All except juggernaut are incredibly useful in our tanking lives. This is why we can afford to have so much utility and offense on our hotbar.
DARK ELF SKILLS:
Dynamic and flame talent should be maxed out firstly. resist flame is secondary in importance.
CONCLUSION:
I attempted to make a very synergistic and flowing build. That was the idea behind it from the beginning and I think the elder scrolls online developers constructed these skill lines to follow that idea of synergy and balance. Its just a matter of figuring out for ourselves. However, it is a work in progress, so I do appreciate any feedback or if I have made any mistakes please let me know.
I hope you all can take some ideas from this. Maybe attempt to incorporate it into your gameplay and let me know the results.
-Yogarogue
(edited to post information about light and heavy attacks)
Edited by yogarogue on 2 April 2014 22:48 Hello all! I spent a good amount of time trying to construct a tanking build I feel is sufficient for both multiple and single target encounters. Since there is yet a real "guide" posted on these forums I thought I would share my ideas and my theory.
This is the build:
teso.mmorpg-life.com/eso-skill-calculator/dragonknight/?calc=1266.1274.1281.1295.1323.:1487-2.1488-2.1489-2.1490-2.1497-2.1498-2.1499-2.1501-2.1502-2.1503-2.1504-2.1505-2.1506-2.1532-2.1534-2.1535-2.1536-2.1537-2.1538-2.1539-2.1541-2.1607-2.1608-2.1609-2.:1263.x1260.1278.1316.1323.1325.::1287.
THE DRAGONKNIGHT:
The dragonknight is not like any other tank you have experienced before. We are used to seeing traditional tanks in other MMOs that wield their 1 hand and shield, wear full plate armor and are masters of melee combat and defense. The dragonknight differs from your typical warrior in that we have the capability of casting a variety of spells making ranged combat our specialty and our class majority magicka driven. ESO has done a good job in offering a very unique class that we can work with. With such a variety of choices and paths to take in our journey through tamriel we must sit down and theorize as to what our role is in a group (Tank for this particular build) and what path is best suited for that role.
WHICH RACE TO CHOOSE:
While there are many suitable races for a tank I have selected the Dark Elf. The Dark Elf is the ONLY race that offers both a Magicka AND Stamina improving racial skill. Unlike other races that will focus mainly on "tanky" skills I.E health regen, max health, stam regen, stam health, etc. Also, many people tend to make their racial choice based on the weapon skill line that race has an experience gain for. This to me is not a valid choice to make for the sole reason that by the time you reach endgame this racial trait loses all significance while the other available racial traits will not lose their value. The Dark Elf skill lines also provide a huge buff to their "fire" power. Which is a wonderful perc to have considering in my build we will be using mainly fire driven skills. Dragonknights can be both Magicka and Stamina driven. So I elected to choose a race with skill lines that were balanced in this regard.
THE BUILD:
The way to be efficient in this game within your designated role is to always be looking for SYNERGY. I cant emphasize how important this is. SYNERGY SYNERGY SYNERGY. The fact is we have many different schools of skills to choose from and the goal is to find how your choices will balance out the different skill lines. When you make a decision to choose one skill, you will be adding a value to your character but losing out on a potential opportunity for another. So find out what your imbalances are in terms of your characters role and adjust accordingly.
There are two parts to this build, one skill set will be focusing on multiple target situations using mainly magicka, the other will be focusing on single target situations using mainly stamina i.e bosses. My educated guess is that you will be using the former set in most situations.
This builds defensive focus lies in it passives in heavy armor, 1 h and shield, and draconic power passive skill lines. This is useful because 1) my defense is not on cool down 2) it opens up my hotbar for more offensive and utility driven skills. Think of this build as a bulldozer with inherent resilience and strong offensive power.
WHICH ATTRIBUTES DO I CHOOSE:
The answer is all three. With a racial skill line that increases stam and magicka one might consider putting more in health however, also remember synergy and balance. When I invest attributes in magicka I am making more spells more efficient, I am able to cast more and more powerfully. For this build when investing points in magicka you are directly influencing your tanking ability. The same could be said for stamina. Our multiple target rotation is strongly influenced by magicka while our single target by stamina. I would suggest balancing out all three attributes. With a stronger focus possibly in stamina because blocking is going to become an integral part of your tanking.
THE BUILD:
ARDENT FLAME:
PASSIVE SKILL LINES:
KINDLING:
A MUST HAVE, increased your burning dmg which works on cross skills in other skill lines as well. MAX THIS OUT
SEARING HEAT:
increases the duration of your burns and fire abilities including your ardent flame ultimate: dragonknight standard. ALSO A MUST HAVE, max it out
WORLD OF FLAME:
increases dmg of AoE fire abilities, need I say more? max it out
ACTIVES:
DRAGONKNIGHT STANDARD: STANDARD OF MIGHT
Hands down the best ultimate for an offensive tank. Not only will it do incredible amounts of dmg with your chosen passives but its morph offers 35 % dmg increase and 35% dmg reduction in enemies.
SEARING STRIKE: BURNING EMBERS
For single target dmg and agro. This must be refreshed on target it is your primary dps for single target and offers a heal at the end of its duration.
FIERY BREATH: ENGULFING FLAME
This coupled with dark talons is your multiple target opener. its a great way to pull agro and will increased the power of your consecutive fire attks (of which there are many) Dark talons can be used first if you would like to set mobs in position for engulfing flames by immobilizing them.
DRACONIC POWER:
PASSIVES:
No need to explain here max them all out. I will also note that BURNING HEART increases the healing received during inhale.
ACTIVES:
DARK TALONS: BURNING TALONS (optional choking talons)
A great way to immobilize a group of mobs. An awesome CC tool when facing multiple enemies burning talons adds burning damage, but you may opt for choking talons if you feel your defense could use the boost. However, its like I stated we are going the offensive route here because damage holds agro and our defense shines through ways of our passives and blocking!
DRAGON BLOOD: GREEN DRAGON OR COAGULATING
Both morphs are useful here this ability is only used in single target situations. This is your saving grace. Single target build runs off of stamina so green dragon blood comes in use when you need a stam boost for blocking or taunting. If using green dragon blood you should take ransack over pierce armor in 1 hand shield skill line.
Coagulating blood is a great defensive cool down to have in heavy dmg situations.
INHALE: DRAW ESSENCE
Ahhhhhhh.. This Is a great tool. it does three things, AoE dmg, self heal, and magicka restore. This should be the end of your rotation to restore all the magicka u used previously and the health that was chewed away.
EARTHEN HEART:
PASSIVES:
ETERNAL MOUNTAIN:
A great tool for increasing the duration of cinderstorm, a powerful CC skill you will be using. max it out
ACTIVES:
ULTIMATE: MAGMA ARMOR; CORROSIVE ARMOR
use this only in single target encounters. This is here to save your ass or to aid the healer if u are in a heavy dmg situation. I chose corrosive armor because we are using this in single target encounters where dmg to group members is less likely.
ASH CLOUD: CINDER STORM:
This is a wonderful CC ability. It slows down your enemies so they don't get away too easily and it lowers their dmg output with a 30% miss rate applied to to enemies in the area. Use this in your rotation after you have applied engulfing flames.
1HAND AND SHIELD:
BLOCKING:
This is your number 1 tool for mitigation. With the passives in 1 hand and shield skill line and draconic power you will be practically invincible. Remember you can block and cast spells simultaneously. It may prove a bit more difficult in single target encounters when you are using your 1 hander more often. But the general rule of thumb here is to block as many attacks as possible.
LIGHT AND HEAVY ATTACKS:
These can be used intermittently in situations where you are low on stamina and magicka and need to hold agro with damage. Remember though that you will be using your clicker mostly for blocking. blocking and rotation has priority over light and heavy attacks. But they can be used in situations as I mentioned before where you don't want to over consume resources. optimally speaking you would want to find windows of opportunity to light and heavy attack in between blocking and bashing when your enemy is not attacking you in that moment. If you can hold agro without it I would not bother. Make use of block and bash (right and left click simultaneously, or hold right and click left).
PASSIVES:
Again, take them all. They are all beneficial to you one way or another. max em all out. Deadly bash make your hold right click + left click interrupt much more powerful potentially replacing your light attacks. Practice using this because it can come in handy. if you can master the technique then you can open up your hotbar to a space you would otherwise use for a spell absorb / reflect / or interrupt ability.
PUNCTURE: RANSACK AND PIERCE ARMOR
A MUST HAVE on both hotbars. This is your taunt! This is what will keep your group happy! when choosing a morph pierce armor should be considered more so for the multiple targets due to its synergy with the idea of an offensive tank. However, if you are taking burning talons in place of choking talons and feel that a little armor boost is necessary, then by preference feel free to choose ransack. For single target if you are opting for green dragon blood: (stamina > armor and spell resist) instead of coagulating then ransack may also be a better choice.
LOW SLASH: DEEP SLASH
Our single target build is built around debuffing the opponent and buffing ourselves. This is just a continuation of that idea.
SHIELD CHARGE: SHIELDED ASSAULT;
This is your single target opener it offers an immediate dmg shield and is a perfect opening tool to any encounter.
NOTE ABOUT SINGLE TARGET ROTATION:
If you feel it necessary to have a spell reflect/ absorb on your hotbar then you can substitute either shield charge or deep slash for Reflective scale in the draconic power tree or Defensive posture in 1 hand shield tree. Reflective scale has a morph that offers spell resistence and increased dmg, I would suggest the spell resistence. Defensive posture has a nice passive ability while its on the hotbar that aids your blocking. It also has a morph with a self heal or a stun. I generally don't recommend going to stun morphs due to the fact that we will mainly be fighting bosses and I am afraid they may have an immunity to stuns.
ARMOR:
I recommend a 5 heavy / 2 light build for Multiple targets. And IF YOU CAN a 5 heavy /2 medium for single target/ if you would like , you may even go 5/1/1 you will need stamina for blocking. However sacrificing 1 piece of armor in light armor loses you a lot more benefit than If you were to sacrifice 1 piece of armor in medium armor.
LIGHT ARMOR:
For multiple targets
All except prodigy I feel should be maxed out. We will be using A LOT of magicka. This will help in keeping our rotation alive.
MEDIUM ARMOR:
For single target
Max out Wind walker, I don't see inherent value in any of the other skills. Stamina is a must have for blocking. However, with our passive skill lines in 1 hand shield and heavy armor blocking will use a fraction of energy of what it would otherwise.
HEAVY ARMOR: Why we are tanks.
All except juggernaut are incredibly useful in our tanking lives. This is why we can afford to have so much utility and offense on our hotbar.
DARK ELF SKILLS:
Dynamic and flame talent should be maxed out firstly. resist flame is secondary in importance.
CONCLUSION:
I attempted to make a very synergistic and flowing build. That was the idea behind it from the beginning and I think the elder scrolls online developers constructed these skill lines to follow that idea of synergy and balance. Its just a matter of figuring out for ourselves. However, it is a work in progress, so I do appreciate any feedback or if I have made any mistakes please let me know.
I hope you all can take some ideas from this. Maybe attempt to incorporate it into your gameplay and let me know the results.
-Yogarogue
(edited to post information about light and heavy attacks)
1
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yogarogue✭✭Im glad. I actually posted this twice not knowing where to put it (its also in class skills) and thinking that this guide was well gone I decided not to edit it. However, since its been brought back to life ill post some extra notes I added.
****NOTE****
After a bit more deliberation and trial and error I have found that it may be suitable for you to swap lava whip with burning embers in your single target rotation. Burning embers morph bonus can actually be missed due to the fact that it does not activate till burning embers effect has ended. Now with a skill line passive that increases burning time this may take even longer than expected and you may not even get your heal that you risked a skill point for in the first place. Now in boss fights where the enemy is standing for a much longer period of time, this point is moot. However, lava whip has a morph with a instant life stealing heal from your enemy that adds damage to the attack and heals you respectively. This morph is only activated if the target is stunned or immobilized (lava whip also as a chance to throw your target off balance if he/she is stunned or immobilized as well), so we can work with either shield charge (stun) + lava whip, or low slash with an immobilizing morph followed by lava whip. Just something to consider. Again this can be preference. it all depends on the situations youre getting yourself into.
****NOTE****
Also as far as blocking is concerned, with your passives in heavy armor, draconic power, and 1 h and shield, blocking should be costing you minimal stamina. It should not be too much of an issue. Limit your stamina use by avoiding the telegraphed attacks of enemies by simply getting out of the way, there are no need to block attacks that can be easily avoided by pressing your movement keys.0