Confusion in my brain

Inufandom

I'm a bit confused as to the tank/DPS/healer system. It's not obvious as to how they are distinguished from one another. What makes a tank a tank? Being a sorcerer I'm pretty sure I'm solid DPS. I do have a sword, and I know to stick the pointy end in the other guy. But I'm still pretty sure hack 'n' slash isn't a part of my repertoire. Can someone help explain the system and how to know what is what?

Akavir_Sentinel

You can try to do all three on one character, but you won't be any good at any of them. You can get away with tank/dps, or tank/heal, or dps/heal if you are good. Most players stick to one type when they do dungeons, trials, etc...

You are either a DPS, a tank, or a healer. It's not hard to figure out.

Sandshark95

@Inufandom

In general:

A Tank is a player that has a lot of health, can take a lot of hits, and whose main priority is to keep "aggro" (enemies' attention) off of the rest of the group. Tanks jump into the middle of the fray, taunt and group up the adds, and keep the heat off of the DPSs and Healers so they can perform their roles more effectively. Staying alive, keeping aggro, and enemy grouping are a Tank's main duties; doing damage is secondary, and usually left to DPSs. Any class can do this, but you'll probably see more DragonKnights and Templars filling this role, as their abilities synergize well with tanking.

A DPS is a player whose main goal is to kill everything as quickly as possible. Pretty straight forward. This is probably the most common role as it's not really a specialization like healing or tanking. It does take a great deal of skill though to be able to put out high, sustainable damage numbers. Again, any class can do this; yes, you do sound like a melee Sorc DPS.

A Healer is a player who is responsible for keeping the team alive. Healers have primarily healing abilities slotted on their bars, along with a few support abilities such as damage/regen buffs for the group. Doing damage is a Healer's least concern, and for that reason, many Healers use Restoration staves. Any class has the potential to be a healing class, but Templars by far have the most healing abilities available to them.

There are also "Hybrid" builds, in which a player can perform two of these roles to some degree effectiveness. Examples are Tank/DPS, Healer/Tank, and DPS/Healer. However, it's not recommended to attempt these hybrid builds, as you'll likely end up being just "okay" at the two roles you pick instead of being good/great at one role. It's hard enough to master one role, let alone two.

Hope this clears up some confusion

Qyrk

Being a sorcerer, you're still viable to be a tank (or a healer) in the open world and veteran dungeons. The only thing that sorcs might have a hard time tanking is in trials or vdsa - it's not impossible just that it requires player skill, good comb of armors and skills sets, and a little bit of your team support. Use sand shark's overall explanation of what each role is to help guide you.

Inufandom

Interesting. So many abilities seem to overlap, I'm not sure exactly how to max my sorcerer abilities. I like to be solid maker of explosions

Castagere

Sandshark95 wrote: »

@Inufandom

In general:

A Tank is a player that has a lot of health, can take a lot of hits, and whose main priority is to keep "aggro" (enemies' attention) off of the rest of the group. Tanks jump into the middle of the fray, taunt and group up the adds, and keep the heat off of the DPSs and Healers so they can perform their roles more effectively. Staying alive, keeping aggro, and enemy grouping are a Tank's main duties; doing damage is secondary, and usually left to DPSs. Any class can do this, but you'll probably see more DragonKnights and Templars filling this role, as their abilities synergize well with tanking.

A DPS is a player whose main goal is to kill everything as quickly as possible. Pretty straight forward. This is probably the most common role as it's not really a specialization like healing or tanking. It does take a great deal of skill though to be able to put out high, sustainable damage numbers. Again, any class can do this; yes, you do sound like a melee Sorc DPS.

A Healer is a player who is responsible for keeping the team alive. Healers have primarily healing abilities slotted on their bars, along with a few support abilities such as damage/regen buffs for the group. Doing damage is a Healer's least concern, and for that reason, many Healers use Restoration staves. Any class has the potential to be a healing class, but Templars by far have the most healing abilities available to them.

There are also "Hybrid" builds, in which a player can perform two of these roles to some degree effectiveness. Examples are Tank/DPS, Healer/Tank, and DPS/Healer. However, it's not recommended to attempt these hybrid builds, as you'll likely end up being just "okay" at the two roles you pick instead of being good/great at one role. It's hard enough to master one role, let alone two.

Hope this clears up some confusion

The Hybrid roles are the problem for many. I was in a group dungeon and it was total chaos. We got through it but no one was clear as to what their role was. So it felt like zerg run. I'm not complaining as we got through it. But i can understand why many don't know what to call them selves. People get into a group and want to show off their killing skills.

RobbaYaga

If you want to have some direction, check out people's sites where they have character builds posted. Here was the first one that popped up on Google when I typed in "ESO Sorc Builds" :

http://deltiasgaming.com/category/eso-guides/class-guide/sorcerer-class-guide-for-elder-scrolls-online/sorcerer-builds/

There are many others.

A couple things to note, however. Many builds use skills in trees that require a lot of time to unlock (such as some of the PvP skills). Secondly, the Tank/DPS/Healer system is for group events only and it's very possible to buck a trend and still succeed. My main toon is a heavily armored Sorcerer Tank and I have little or no trouble in group events as long as everyone else is also doing their job. All three "classes" require learning to play in a group and hold up your end. Finally, there is no wrong way to build your character as long as you're having fun.

Hope that helps,
RY

Inufandom

Can you use the PvP skills outside of pvp ?

Akavir_Sentinel

Inufandom wrote: »

Can you use the PvP skills outside of pvp ?

Yes

Inufandom

I might have to look into those then to maximize the power of my booms