Theres still alot of debate about DK tanking. Some say you should go 5 light 2 heavy and use the spike armour at all times to reach cap. Others say stack heavy armour and health.

Being overcharged in armor is not a bad thing IMO.

I would stack health over stamina unless your going to get very good at dodging and blocking.

Other than that I dont have alot to add as I havent been tanking long here either. Currently I just focus on the biggest threat and let the dps worry about the others. Seems to work so far.

Yep. Dark Talons is easily one of the best tools you have as a tank. Also, don't be fooled by the Choking Talons morph. I know it looks like a given for tanks, but the AoE DoT on burniness is worth taking all by itself, even without the root. Seriously, this thing does so much damage that it almost doubled my DPS at early levels. Near essential if you plan to do any solo play.

Hmm quite interesting! What's the difference between Ring of Preservation and Igneous Shield? Will they both help me to use them against the boss and the mobs in the dungeons? Or which one is best to keep you alive? I know Spike Armor helps but not by much. No wonder why I'm a squishy tank lol. It's my first time tanking with my bro LOL.

Thanks for the help on the skills now I have to respec my skill points to put more health than stamina. Magicka I will hold on to that. I'm doing pretty good to keep everything even. I wanna get 7 health and 5 stamina. It should help me to keep it going once I switch them around. That's the reason why I am a squishy tank. Not enough health and I got tons of Heavy armor. Thanks for the tips!

Before we can join just want to let you know we are The Aldmeri Dominion. If you are the Dominion I'm sure we can arrange that. I'll talk to my bro. Also my niece is in it too but idk if she's to intrested in eso that much but we'll see how it goes for the 3 of us.

Daniel C

Great thread, thanks to everyone providing insights. I am new to grouping overall, and I am still not clear on whether my solo playstyle with my DK is more dps or tank at the moment. This should help.

I built a DK tanking guide I think is very viable and synergistic.. Its in the skill lines forum : forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/65715/dk-tanking-guide-an-offensive-approach#latest

Prestn wrote: »

The success of the tank is not totally up to the tank.

You pick a target which will always be the toughest one of the bunch. you must keep agro off the healer. In my opinion that is your #1 job.

The damage dealers must stay on the same target until its dead and then they move to the next target together.

The tank will bounce around targets and keep as much agro as possible and any time the healer takes agro the tank drops everything and pulls that target away. The damage dealers never switch targets based on agro.

If the damage dealers go to switching targets before one is dead or not focus firing, the party will preform weaker then it should.

^^^^^^ Absolutely, I've been playing WoW since release and the tanking there is SUBSTANTIALLY different.

Given that this game is much more sandboxy you will find that your group as a whole MUST carry much more responsibility for their respective roles.

As tanks, in ESO, we are responsible for the biggest threats. These will be in order:

1- Bosses
2- Melee
-Tanks
-DPS
3- Ranged
4- Healers

DPS will have differences, where their respective priorities are healers first then, casting ranged, melee ranged and eventually melee and then boss.

That being said, given that DK sword&shield tanking specifically is resource heavy, assuming you used ransack to taunt, it requires good use of your other cooldowns.

The 2 light 5 heavy I like. The magicka regen is solid enough to sustain my build. AndI can focus on stacking health and stam (60/40) with Stam and Stam regen on my gear.

Talons is INVALUABLE, and this is coming from a beta standpoint where i tried, a stamina heavy build with 1h&S abilities, using things like fist and spikes for mitigation. To going towards a flamestaff build mostly magicka and health (60/40) and eventually to my current build which uses:

Spikes (non morphed), flame breath and talons (dot morph) for AoE dmg and group utility. Ransack and shield block with (absorb morph) Dragons blood (will be going with green morph). Heavy armor and light armor skills as needed, and Magma armor for ult with the synergy morph.

This allows me to self heal, and affords me enough stamina to keep up the blocking for mitigation, and enough magicka to root and avoid dmg as needed (or use that opportunity to pull off my heals)

Tanking, I find, is EXTREMELY awareness heavy.

Just don't forget to yell at your group to "STACK". lol

Edit: I forgot to mention the importance of blocking an interrupts. I find that no one interrupts in dungeons. If you are in range, do so. ESPECIALLY with regard to enemy healing. Also, try and block every power attack, this requires a lot of situational awareness and a good eye as sometimes the markers can get lost in AoE. The important thing to remember is that blocking and bashing, your bread and butter, both use stamina. Remember that you have a healer and you can let in the occasional melee (regular) attack. You will take a full hit but these do far less damage than any power attacks or conal abilities they may throw your way, and you won't be stamina starved for when you do need it, for rolling out of a big AoE, or when you need to block or taunt.

Hope this helps.

-Brewdie

Alright, not trying to bump but to update. I respeced, I put 10 health and 5 or 6 stamina. My bro was impressed by my tanking. I am no longer the squishy tank LOL Hooray! So now I'm still learning I also have Macros which helps me to change my ablilties for groups, questing and boss for dungeons. Makes it much easier for me to change my ablities while I still use my same gear and weapons. I'm telling you ESO is more fun than I expected. Bring on the good stuff!!

This was a question sent to me through personal messaging and would like to share my response:

je.boots_ESO writes:
I saw you talking about tanking in a discussion. Im looking for a ONE bar tanking spec. My main is fire staff DPS. But I want to tank in 4 man dungeons as my second. Got a build for a one bar tank?

My Response:
Well, this depends on your class. I'm going to assume that you are a Dragonknight since most of this post has been for Dragonknights so far.

There are two things that have to be determined first.

1. Are you wanted to switch between the two bars throughout the fights?
2. What type of armor are you wearing (light, medium, or heavy)?

If you are wanting to switch between your skill bars during a fight then you will not be able to switch your armor. This should dictate what is on your tanking bar. Also, what you are tanking will also dictate what is best to enter a fight with. I'm going to give a couple of skill bar loadouts and the benefits of each and let you pick which will work best for you.

Scenarios: Dragon Knight & One Hand and Shield Skills

1. Razor Armor, Chocking Talons, Ransack, Ring of Preservation, Green Dragon Blood, Magma Shell. This setup is good for those tanking in medium/light armor. It gives many armor buffs to help mitigate damage, a root, a taunt, and a self heal. It also has good support buffs for group members. Good for most types of enemies

2. Absorb Magic, Chocking Talons, Ransack, Bone Surge, Green Dragon Blood, Magma Shell. This setup is good for those tanking in heavy armor at the soft cap for armor stat. It is also geared toward fighting magicka based enemies. Offers good block mitigation, heals you when hit with next incoming spell, has a root, a taunt, a self heal, and 2 synergies that boost outgoing damage and reduce incoming damage on group members.

3. Bone Surge, Chocking Talons, Ransack, Deep Slash, Green Dragon Blood, Magma Shell. This setup is good for those tanking in heavy armor. It is also more geared to fighting weapon based enemies. It offers you small armor buff to get you up to cap, 2 synergies that boost outgoing damage and reduce incoming damage on group members, a root, a taunt, a self heal, and debuffs the enemies weapon damage.

I hope this information helps with your tanking.

jasdistefanob14_ESO wrote: »

Daniel,


Dragon Knight Tank Build:

http://esohead.com/calculator/skills#czczyyugIL8fXGH8fXGM8fXhs8uEI18Gsb48LxkS8uvZC8fXGM8Gsdx8uEI18uENg8L7JcdoQr6MdoQC6MdoQF6MdoQJ8p7JMdBvj6MdBEp8T7JMrqAi6MrqAI6MrqAD6MrqAZ6crqLw8y7HLR3a6rR3r6rR3f6MfQE16MfQE36MfQlr6MfQlu6MfQlI8x7H68E7DmzmW6MuciH6Muchq8l7Jrop6rzoC6LzkA6rzky6Lzkt6rzkg6MuvVB6MuvVD6MuvVJ6MuvVO8B7DrzRf6Lzsq6rzsw6MGkXa6MGkXf6MGkXG6MGkXN8P7mLdYf6zLp4d8Z7pcnrJi6cnrJG6cnfeO8zf7crNbo6MDVRE6MDVRH8zu7noHfYE6cHfYS6cHfZ06cHfZm6cHfZR6cHfZd6cHfZN8zN7asJZcY6cJZrM6cJZuA6cJZuT6cJZuy6cJZug

The above link is the basic spec that I will shoot for during leveling. Notice that is has skill points in two of the crafting skill lines (the two I deem most important for tanking). You will notice two sets of abilities - 1) for mostly single target boss fights and 2) for large groups of adds.


Beelow The Aggrologist
Elder High Council

P.S. We are currently recuiting. If you and your brother are interested in joining a guild that can help you learn the in and outs of ESO than please contact me ingame.

Okay here's the problem. In game Magicka cost alot to use those abilities that you are currently using but in esohead the magicka cost less. What da heck? Now it's confusing me. Why is there 218 Magicka to use Obisidan Shield in game and esohead cost 53 magicka on the site? What am I missing? Is not accurate or something?

jasdistefanob14_ESO wrote: »

Daniel,

I have been tanking for years in MMO's and can help you with many of your questions. It is my first love in MMO's mainly because I hate to die. First, let me state that the following are my thoughts at this moment in the game. It is still early in the game and things may evolve down a different path once you hit veteran ranks.

Dragon Knight Tank Build:

http://esohead.com/calculator/skills#czczyyugIL8fXGH8fXGM8fXhs8uEI18Gsb48LxkS8uvZC8fXGM8Gsdx8uEI18uENg8L7JcdoQr6MdoQC6MdoQF6MdoQJ8p7JMdBvj6MdBEp8T7JMrqAi6MrqAI6MrqAD6MrqAZ6crqLw8y7HLR3a6rR3r6rR3f6MfQE16MfQE36MfQlr6MfQlu6MfQlI8x7H68E7DmzmW6MuciH6Muchq8l7Jrop6rzoC6LzkA6rzky6Lzkt6rzkg6MuvVB6MuvVD6MuvVJ6MuvVO8B7DrzRf6Lzsq6rzsw6MGkXa6MGkXf6MGkXG6MGkXN8P7mLdYf6zLp4d8Z7pcnrJi6cnrJG6cnfeO8zf7crNbo6MDVRE6MDVRH8zu7noHfYE6cHfYS6cHfZ06cHfZm6cHfZR6cHfZd6cHfZN8zN7asJZcY6cJZrM6cJZuA6cJZuT6cJZuy6cJZug

There appears to be several skills in there that are not on your action bar, was you using them and now don't in favour of other skills ? You have Fiery Grip to level 4 but not on your bars.

To be brutally honest, tanking in PvP is boring to me and I probably won't focus much on PvP at this time. I have a another Dragonknight that I'm building for DPS with PvP in mind. But that another thread.

I'm glad this thread has helped you become a better player. My philosophy right now for abilities is such: Self Buff, Crowd Control, Taunt, Group Support, Self Heal. I think if you are providing this elements then you are on the right track.

I tried to explain my take on Dragon Knight tanking here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m9_i396X3E

Let me know what you think.

oooo sounds pretty decent ability! Can you show us the abilities using Skill Calculator? It'll be cool to know when I make it to Veteran. I'm lvl 34 now.

vencibushy wrote: »

I have a simple question. I've decided to leave my mage for a while and try tank. So far it's level 18 but i have a strange feeling I don't do things right.

From all the MMO's I've played tanks is mainly responsible for keeping agro on himself. For some reason I can't achieve that in ESO. Even when we go on a single boss, he would go and attack randomly on all players.

Am I missing something?

In the first couple of dungeons there are some bosses that seem oblivious to taunts
To be sure you get aggro: be the first one to engage.
Against groups, You wont hold aggro, control them through cc and taunt the highest dmg targets (mainly big melee mobs)

Forget what you know about tanking everything, you wont. DPS and healers have an obligation to cc/survive on their own. You cant use 5 dps abilities anyway, you wont have the recourses.

Well I wanna say to all thank you so much for helping me about the abilities I need as a Dragonknight Tank. I studied all the abilities and passive skills I needed in order to survive. Basically it was rough but I manged a way to survive throughout my questing and dungeons. Also big news I finally made it to lvl 50. Finally!!! After all this month I made it to lvl 50, there were alot of frustration I was through and believe me it was tough but was worth it. Okay I've made my final decision in my abilities that I....."I" have chosen and I hope it's worth with it for you guys. As a tank you must have your own survival abilities mainly to help the healer in case of trouble that he cannot heal. but that doesn't mean "Oh he can heal himeself and I don't have to heal him" That's not the way how it goes. Healers are the main character for the dungeons and it's the most important person to keep the adds off of him otherwise he has to heal himself to stay alive and can't heal you at the same time. I've learned that from my brother. If my brother hasn't joined with me on eso I wouldn't learn any of this stuff. None of it. So *ahem lets get on with the business shall we? lol

Okay the first ability my bro told me in case they already have a tank and need a dps I can be a service but I have my own tanking abilities as a backup and here are my abilities

My DPS Backup Tank:
http://esohead.com/calculator/skills#czsXtyGRFv8w2BO8uzEd8umHD8LxsF8jb3P8ugIL8fXGM8uzEd8A4rK8uEI18Gsda8y7GrR3r6rR3f8t7MLsgZ8E7xrzVW6LzmY8l7Grop6rzoC6rzky8B7Gzzsq6LzRf6rzsw6rzsa8O7RrdeB8P7mLdYf6mdYh8X7zLfLW8zz7zztyfm

This setup is perfect for me as I'm fully melee and some range. really really useful for mobs. Flame Lash is the most important ability for a tank and here's the reason.

When you fight against the Harvestor "Female boss" she grabs you and pops up 4 bubbles for healing herself. She is the most hardest boss for the quest. Once she has those bubbles it's harder for the melee to destory them all before it gets to her. So I managed a away to destory them all. Is it the Silver Bolts? Already tried that and had no effect. Flame Lash is the best choice. It one shots them all, one at a time. I was fighting in the Fighter's Guild quest and she was hard to kill. I used the flame lash and did the trick to keep me alive. Try it you'll love it!

Next I have is the Tank Fully Geared Tank

http://esohead.com/calculator/skills#czsXyyGsdx8fXGM8uzEd8umHD8fXGH8jb3P8ugIL8fXGM8LxkS8A4rK8uEI18Gsda8y7GrR3r6rR3f8E7xrzVW6LzmY8l7Grop6rzoC6rzky8B7Gzzsq6LzRf6rzsw8O7ordeB6zdeD8P7mLdYf6mdYh8X7zLfLW8zz7zztyfm

The first ability slots is mainly for mob fights so you can give extra shield protection for your group. Very useful. Another way to kill the npc faster? Shield Assualt (Xtra Shield)>Lava Whip (Stuns or other words Off Balance)>Heavy Attack (Holding the LMB NPC goes down). May not kill it but it's Extremely painful!!!

I find 5 most important ability against the boss. Very good survivability. Helps you in case you're to far from the healer.

#1 Razor Armor (Warning: Be sure you're not overcharged on your heavy gears otherwise it's useless. I've learned that.)

#2 Ring of Preservation (Scary for some think it's from the boss. No it's for you and the boss. Very helpful against heavy attacks) Stay in that ring you'll never get hit so hard. Best mainly for tanks.

#3 Entropy>Degeneration Mages Guild (I took a look at it and I said I need this. This was the most Important ability to survive. You put it on the boss and will give you healing plus 15% to give you health each Crit hit plus restores Magicka. Not fully restore but helps alot!) NOW THAT'S WORTH IT!!

#4 Green Dragon Blood (Yes you need this! It's a self heal, Use it wisely. It'll take alot of Magicka out of you and that's the reason why I choose Degeneration first helps to keep your magicka rolling)

and Finally
#5 Corrsive Armor. (Caps in coming damage and restores Stamina and some Magicka. It's a ultimate but it's really good! I like it cause it helps to get my stamina fully restored and some healing along with Green Drogon blood combined. I survived using this too! Very good against the boss too)

Now why I don't have other abilities to use more damage. Why should you? You're the tank. Let the dps do more damage that's what it's for!

Now the one ability that keep the aggro on you and Ransack. YES RANSACK! Here's the reason. The boss will go straight to the player who does damage and sometimes the boss goes to the healer first. Use the Ransack....always always use ransack. That reduces target's armor and keeps the aggro on you. Don't use it over and over cause this is a buff. It's 14 sec buff to reduce the armor. Use it in case he goes to another player.

Well now that I have shared my experience my abilities as I got to lvl 50. I found out that I am well equipped. Also don't forget to use health potion, you're gonna need it for questing and for dungeons. I barely use Stamina Potion cause it's not really useful for me.

Now I may keep all heavy armor I may not. There are 7 slots, I will be using Waist and Feet for Medium Armor. It helps to restore Stamina and I don't need Light Armor. Why? I have Degeneration, that restores my magicka. So will be 5 Heavy and 2 Mediums. That's Enough for me. The passives is not really important right now. I will add those after I respec my skills. My attribute points is completed and no more respec for those. I hope this has helped you guys to be a dragonknight tank. It's the most funnest tank I ever experience and so far I think I got the hang of it.

Pst don't tell eso lol There's reading it LOL. When you go fight against Molag Bal on lvl 50 I've done it lvl 49. You can survive it very well. After you sacrifice a person you'll be the most powerful tank that can take down the final boss quick! WHOOO what a blast.

Take care and I hope you had a Happy Easter on Sunday, I sure did!! I made it to lvl 50!!! WHOO!!!