Best Build for Tank

Ducere

My role with my group is to tank.
What's the best skills I should use, and how should I spend my attribute points?
[Redguard, DK]

Tankqull

atleast one taunt, a heal, a armor/resi buff, some type of AE-dmg (for trash pulls) as a DK the mob pull is quite handy too.

stat wise what you need to survive:
you need to drop block -> more stamina
your heal cant keep you alive because he´to slow -> health
you cant use your utility spells - > mana

BuggeX

There is no best skill, but like Tankqull said, atleast 1 taunt.
Slot some CC for Thrash > Talons
Slot some Buffs for you > Hardened armor
Slot some Debuff for Boss > pirce armor
Slot some Group Buffs > As DK use Earthen Heart Skills to increes Weap DMG from Group Members
Slot self Heals > Green Dragon Blood

just hold aggro and dont die

GeekReaper

I made an Imperial DK, seems to be pretty great atm, but I love my Breton templar healer better

Cously

Try some articles like the Battlemaster's Corner in ESO official website. Deltia's Gaming. Tamriel Foundry. The most important choice you already made, the race. I never have problems with Redguard DK tanks. The places I mentioned have tons of builds for tanking, consider them all and pick one that you think best for your playstyle. As you get used to it you will develop your own styles and tweaks.

KronicDecay

Im currently a v3 tank and have been using this build. Im not an imperial and instead a khajiit so the race really doesnt matter. My tank does NOT go down. Im not wearing the footmans set, only the full Seducer set and 2 piece undaunted set. Currently have 40 points into stam and 10 into health. I have about 18k hp, 14k stam and 10k magicka right now

esoacademy.com/builds/the-dragon-seducer/

Soulharvester

I wear hist armor and use the medium armor skill evade, a aoe cc, 8% block ability, tri-pots, tri-drinks, split health and stam down the middle.

I tweak it for different things but so far can solo most of crag, decent pvp setup as well.

Winterpsy

VR3 tank (DK Nord) here, played around with a couple of skill combos and this I found the best so far.

1st bar: Sword and board -
Pierce armor,
Heroic slash for some bit of damage and good debuff, and generates ultimate
Defensive stance - stunning casters and cost redux for blocking
Green dragon blood
Igneous shield or Hardened armor
Magma armor for ultimate - which thanks to passives brings back a lot of HP, stam and magicka, and fairly cheap

Sometimes I put invasion here instead of GD blood, which I use on the other bar, depending on the dungeon.
Also Inner fire from Undaunted if I ever use I use on this bar, exchanging Heroic stance for instance.

2nd bar: two hander for dps and opening, and fighting trash mobs, executions
Brawler for a bit of survivability
Critical charge - my opener followed by
Talons -
Sometimes - cinder storm on them - depends what setup I want to play
Wrecking blow - for removing opponents from the battle for a couple moments (or kicking them back into the AoE area)
Some kind of self sustain or buff here whichever I feel like playing. Usually it's either hardened armor, momentum or flame weapon. 2nd bar is usually for swift clearing, CC support, not intended for tanking
Ultimate: Standard. Superb for clearing trash mobs, area control (with shackles), or against those bosses which are no so mobile.

As for armor ...atm I am full heavy, planning maybe 5 heavy 2 medium, though I cant craft leather sets just yet.
Anyhow, I manage dungeons very well with this setup, can tank bosses for a long time (the ones giving problem are the large area affecting elemental damages, but building up gear against those)

Hope, could help.

Happy gaming-


EDIT: mostly I pop stam&health regen brews, and jewels with shield-play enchantments (the ones that lowers the cost of blocking), and have 3:1 health - stamina split.

spoqster

Here's my five cents from playing a tank since beta.

• You NEED both taunts, Pierce Armor and Inner Fire. I had them on different bars for a long time, but eventually decided that it works better to have both on the primary bar. Taunting is your primary responsibility, you have to be able to taunt at any time. My latest build has two taunts on one bar, and another one on the second bar. I did not morph Inner Fire to stamina, so that I can taunt even if I run out of stamina.
• I recommend you go two bars of 1H&S. As your DK has enough survivability from class skills, there is not much need for a resto staff.
• Defensive Posture is a must on every 1H&S bar. I recommend Defensive Stance as it gives great utility and adds to the group's damage, but Absorb Magic can work in some cases - if you tend to run out of magicka.
• Green Dragon Blood is your primary survivability skill.
• Your primary ultimate is Magma Armor, it's your unkillable god-mode panic button. Both morphs have their use. Your secondary is the DK Standard for the group utility.
• Unstable Flame is a good damage dealer as it can be cast while blocking and puts a DoT on the target. Replace it with Deep Slash in trials.
• For endgame, you'll need the Footman's set and try to get your resistances up to 30k. And aim for over 30k health and stamina as well. EDIT: Thanks to @paulsimonps I learned that the Footman 5pc bonus is not ueseful beyond 24k resistance (unbuffed).
• Mix the footman's set with sets that help you maximize your resistances and stamina and health. The Undaunted Bastion is not bad, and you can use a sensible mix of Hist Bark, Whitestrake's and Alessia's Bulwark until you get to endgame.
• Try to get Caltrops and use it as a pseudo AoE taunt. Very useful, especially in DSA.
• Fiery Grip is also very useful, so that you can pull mobs together for the DDs to nuke down by AoE. Especially in DSA.
• Things you can swap in are Obsidian Shield or Bone Shield for the group utility, Volatile Armor, Immovable or Evasion for that extra bit of protection. Ring of Preservation for Trials.
• You might want to become a Werewolf for the passive stamina regen increase.
• Experiment with food and drink and find out what works for you.
• Experiment with attribute points. I go half health and half stam on my Breton, but as a Redguard another configuration maybe better.
• Armor glyphs should be health and stam to match your attribute choices.
• Jewelry glyphs should focus on block cost reduction. Mix in the potion glyph if you find yourself popping potions a lot, poison and fire resistances depending on the content you run and possibly a stamina regen glyph if you need it.
• In terms of monster sets, go for Blood Spawn's. If you have trouble with resource management, use Engine Guardian.
• Craft your swords with the Defending trait.

So your bars could look like this:

First Bar

1. Defensive Stance
2. Inner Fire
3. Pierce Armor
4. Green Dragon Blood
5. Unstable Flame
6. Magma Armor

Second Bar

1. Defensive Stance
2. Inner Fire
3. Caltrops
4. Fiery Grip
5. ...
6. Dragonknight Standard

In the end, much is about your player skill.

• Keep the enemies pointed away from the group.
• Taunt from top to bottom - as in always start with the biggest threat.
• Manage your resources well - as in don't ever, ever run out of anything.
• Don't get carried away with damage - it's not your job. Throw in an occasional Unstable Flame, yes, but focus on aggro and your DDs will kill the mobs. If you miss a taunt to do a little bit of damage, your total group dps will go down because at least one DD has to break rotation to evade a mob.

paulsimonps

spoqster wrote: »

For endgame, you'll need the Footman's set and try to get your resistances up to 30k. And aim for over 30k health and stamina as well.

The footman set being a must have in end game is a lie. http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/187110/dmg-mitigation-for-tanks#latest it doesn't add enough mitigation for it to be a necessity. The diminishing return caused by blocking, having high armor/spell resist plus other skills will make it more or less 1-2% rather than 12% I myself use 5hist, 3 unassailable 2 engine and 2 pact sword and board and I have been able to tank all HM's with it. If I would be lucky enough to finally get my master sword I would go 5hist, 4 unassailable 2 engine and then the master sword. The extra Hp and healing caused by the unassailable in my opinion outweighs the 1-2% extra mitigation from the footman

spoqster

paulsimonps wrote: »

spoqster wrote: »

For endgame, you'll need the Footman's set and try to get your resistances up to 30k. And aim for over 30k health and stamina as well.

The footman set being a must have in end game is a lie. http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/187110/dmg-mitigation-for-tanks#latest it doesn't add enough mitigation for it to be a necessity. The diminishing return caused by blocking, having high armor/spell resist plus other skills will make it more or less 1-2% rather than 12% I myself use 5hist, 3 unassailable 2 engine and 2 pact sword and board and I have been able to tank all HM's with it. If I would be lucky enough to finally get my master sword I would go 5hist, 4 unassailable 2 engine and then the master sword. The extra Hp and healing caused by the unassailable in my opinion outweighs the 1-2% extra mitigation from the footman

Thanks for that @paulsimonps, great job on the data! Never got around to testing it myself. I'll adjust that in my post.

At any rate Footman is still good for it's 2-4 piece bonuses. And in reality the difference is more like 4% rather than 1-2%, simply because you normally don't stack RoP, HA and DS unless I am running trials. In dungeons or DSA you don't really need that extra mitigation and it is better to save that stamina. But even then the Unassailable bonus or the Hist Bark evasion (if it works correctly) may be better than 4% mitigation.

Also, you are completely maxed out with your gear. It takes considerable time to get there. While still at 20k resistance (unbuffed) Footman's mitigation may be closer to 12%.

Be wary of that Master's sword. The healing is great, but if you don't get one with Defending trait, it may actually be better to use a crafted set sword with Defending. The resistance bonus is significant.