RoamingRiverElk wrote: »

Every time you weapon swap, you drop block for a bit.

If tanking isn't working no matter what you try, it's probably because kiting and damage avoidance just is more effective. Dodge rolling, dodge chance (you even have the possibility to choose whether you want it to cost magicka or stamina, as a nb), line of sight (speed + shadow image), healing ward, cloak just are very powerful tools and you don't waste resources by blocking.

Blocking has become heavily punitive and not worthwhile due to the loss of stamina regeneration. It is not just a loss of stamina regeneration while blocking either, but a whole four seconds afterward. Additionally, every time you are struck has a stamina cost. If you were crazy enough to use guard, that also has a stamina cost and cuts off your stamina regeneration. The people in charge of game balance really had it in against tanking, which is unfortunate because the real imbalance problems didn't have to do with tanking per se but specific abilities and design choices. Many of those uber tanky people were wearing light armor and holding up a shield. It is a design flaw and they completely upended the rules multiple times, making it very hard for them to get a handle on what they are doing. I'm personally hopeful that the DB update will hold something good for tanks, but I'm not holding my breath. In PVP you can 'tank' but you have to ensure that your damage output is significant enough to make it worthwhile. If it isn't, you're just a waste of space, which is unfortunate. If the Health attribute did more than soak damage, they might be able to give it more meaning. For instance a higher health could mean better damage mitigation, block cost reduction, longer duration cc's, you name it. There are all kinds of things health COULD do that was non-damage related that could offset the horrible sustain you get for not putting points into magicka or stamina. My point is this, If you're a pvp tank: Hybrid or Die. You need to focus either Mag+Health or Stam+Health, build around that, and use your utility, mobility, evasion, dodging, line of sight, etc to do the job.

It really depends on gear, passives, character skills, attribute choices, player skill, ping/lag, etc. Also, using your potions/foods/buffs are pretty important as well.

I feel like I didn't say enough when I first entered this post in. There are a lot of great builds out there that people have put up on the topic already though. At the core though I think it is about peaking out your equipment and build (doesn't have to be max) but you just need to take advantage of a large number of advantages.

Champion points weigh heavy in tanking. Break free cost/dodge roll, straight damage midigation, and healing done and received make a big difference.

Better to stack stamina instead of health too if you want to block tank. You'll get bigger vigor heals that way.

I play a tank build in PvP (albeit I'm a Templar) and I use the Reactive Heavy Armour set from IC - details can be seen here:

http://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Reactive+Armor+Set

Its uses full impenetrable (which I feel is a must in PvP - especially as a tank) and its set bonus allows you to take 35% less damage when cc'd (i.e. while affected by Stun, Immobilize, Fear, Knockdown or Disorient effects) - as long as there aren't too many players attacking me, I don't need to break free and this bonus allows me to just wait out the cc and keep my stamina for other skills e.g. Defensive Stance. With 45k health and 35% less damage being cc'd isn't a problem

I am a tank myself. I trial and error with a lot of armor sets and what works best for me is the imperial city heavy armor sets, plus having a good healer does wonders lol.