Is being a solo tank kinda pointless?

callahan9119

I remade my dragon knight a few days ago. I decided to go heavy armor and sword/board. It's alright but I seem kinda weak compared to everyone else running around. These templars zip through everywhere taking *** down like Zeus or something with these thunderbolt things or whatever they are. I'm sitting there slapping fools for little damage and I don't seem particular tough. I'm putting most of my points in health.

I'm only lvl 10, does it get better? And if so when.

Ragefist

It wont get better, as tank you are tanking. As dps they do damage.

For leveling its much better to put your stats in stamina and grab nice 2h to smash things around (unless you wanna go girly way with skirt n stick)

You only need to start thinking of defense once you hit veteran rank content (or at least it used to be that way when game launched, dunno how many nerfs happened since then)

PBpsy

At level 10 you are not really tanking ,dpsing or healing. Solo builds should have a fair bit of tankiness ,damage and also maximize sustain. Although Dks have not been the best at that since around 1.3-1.4 they can still get around.at doing the solo thing.

callahan9119

What should I do then? Reapec?

PBpsy

callahan9119 wrote: »

What should I do then? Reapec?

At lvl10? Unless you want to try the awesomeness that is magicka Dk than I say there is no need.
At that point you may try to put the next few points in offensive class skills and try something like 2H which offers fairly offensive yet tanky options for stam builds. Try to put some medium armor so you can level it up and help you with sustain and damage.

DK tanks are very good when actually doing group contents so it's not a bad idea to continue training heavy and S&B.

callahan9119

Most of my points are in 1 hand and heavy armor

PBpsy

callahan9119 wrote: »

Most of my points are in 1 hand and heavy armor

If you are level 10 you have something like 10 points out of 300+. You can respec.but at that point it's not really needed.
You could tell us what skills you are currently using and we might help.

callahan9119

PBpsy wrote: »

callahan9119 wrote: »

Most of my points are in 1 hand and heavy armor

If you are level 10 you have something like 10 points out of 300+. You can respec.but at that point it's not really needed.
You could tell us what skills you are currently using and we might help.

1 hand: Puncture morph ransack and fortress.

Heavy armor: resolve and constitution.

Then I got stone fist, spiked armor and fiery grip.

I got a few points I haven't spent because I didn't know what to do with them.


Basically just tell me what to spec in to be good. I don't know what the hell I'm doing.

PBpsy

Continue to work your way up the ardent flame skill line. Searing Flame and Fiery Breath have stamina morphs and will help you get a bit more bite. In the Draconic Power line get Talons and Work towards the class staple self heal Dragon Blood. If you are not set on S&B get 2H with Carve morphed to Brawler.This can make you very powerful early on and get you a stamina based self heal later.
At this level you might want to get some medium armor. It will reduce your ability cost and give you more regen.You can go 3 piece heavy /3medium /1light so you can level up all armor lines as you play. You may want to put your points in stamina for a while.Get armor with stamina enchants and jewelry with reduced cost of stamina skills and stamina.. The damage of your abilities scales with the amount of stamina and you also need it to fight continuously.
Experiment with this. At level 10 you do not have many things to do but DKs can be pretty powerful anyway.

What is your race? Would you be willing to go for a magicka build?

callahan9119

@PBpsy I wanna do what is best. Period. I'm an imperial. If magicka is best whatever. I don't know what I'm doing,I'd prefer you just tell me what to do.

I can rerolling if necessary, but I'd hate to put the money I spent on imperial pack to waste

Iselin

Why build a tank in the early levels? There is just no need for tanking in group content until much higher levels. The first 6 or 9 group dungeons just need one healer and the rest DPS.

By the time you get into your high 30s where tanks in dungeons start to make a difference, you'll have plenty of points to put into tanking skills. Until that point you're just gimping 99% of your game play which is solo questing.

Level a 2HD first and wear mostly medium armor with a couple of pieces of heavy to level it and things will go much smoother. Use 1HD as your 2nd weapon just to level it up a bit until you actually need to tank.

callahan9119

Iselin wrote: »

Why build a tank in the early levels? There is just no need for tanking in group content until much higher levels. The first 6 or 9 group dungeons just need one healer and the rest DPS.

By the time you get into your high 30s where tanks in dungeons start to make a difference, you'll have plenty of points to put into tanking skills. Until that point you're just gimping 99% of your game play which is solo questing.

Level a 2HD first and wear mostly medium armor with a couple of pieces of heavy to level it and things will go much smoother. Use 1HD as your 2nd weapon just to level it up a bit until you actually need to tank.

Cuz I don't know what I'm doing

Sadishist

Aren't tanks the best solo build because they can fight against those tough bosses and survive? Especially with Green Dragon Blood self-heal.

callahan9119

Sadishist wrote: »

Aren't tanks the best solo build because they can fight against those tough bosses and survive? Especially with Green Dragon Blood self-heal.

That's what I thought. I'm lost

Funkopotamus

Iselin wrote: »

Why build a tank in the early levels? There is just no need for tanking in group content until much higher levels. The first 6 or 9 group dungeons just need one healer and the rest DPS.
.

^^^ This..

Honestly I made my Templar tank "Yes they are great IF you build/play them correctly" start as a Magicka based DPS/Healer.

I have been leveling as one of deltias builds and I could not be happier! link below.
http://deltiasgaming.com/2015/04/07/omega-templar-leveling-build/

I will shift more into the tank roll after getting a few vet levels. I have seen this build in action and it is a beast IF you understand mechanics and you know when and with what to use your ONLY 2 taunts you have lol.
http://www.dungeoncrawlernetwork.com/patch-v2-0-templar-pure-tank-paladin-last-bastion-salvation/

Best advice is to just run a faster leveling build and then rebuild for a tank after vet levels.

PBpsy

callahan9119 wrote: »

@PBpsy I wanna do what is best. Period. I'm an imperial. If magicka is best whatever. I don't know what I'm doing,I'd prefer you just tell me what to do.

I can rerolling if necessary, but I'd hate to put the money I spent on imperial pack to waste

Oh. At lvl 10 there isn't quite such thing as the best build since the choices are limited and even late in the game there are multiple very good builds that may approach the game in very different ways. I am not sure I can help you .

Anyway if I would go level a Stam based Dk now.This is what I would do and most people would disagree: I would go all put all points in stam. Go 5 medium with 2 heavy pieces for leveling and use 2H until I unlock the second weapon and then use 2H and a Bow. I would use brawler most of the time and level up 2H as fast as I can. I would make myself 3 piece Ashen grip set +5 Hunding'd and I would put all stam enchants. I would remake it each 10 levels or so. I would get robust jewelry and enchant it with stam cost reduction and I would update it each time there is a new glyph tier opened. My leveling would prioritize getting rally from 2H and Green Dragons blood as soon as possible.

If I would go magicka.
I would get destruction Staff. Use 7Light. craft myself Seducers and Torug's. I would Talons /Elemental Wall /Burning Embers, GBD burning everything , Prioritize getting impulse and Inhale. The usual....

Wing

being a tank period is kind of pointless, just wait till IC hits.

I would recommend going damage, if you want to be slightly "tanky" you can wear two pieces of heavy and use a skill like dragon armor.

Mecha Khazix

You're a level 10 dragonknight putting most of your points in health.......

OzJohnD

yes it gets better ... in a few days you will be lvl 20 and before you know it level 40.

Collect skyshards and complete quest lines for extra skill points to improve your enjoyment .. get a friendly player to craft you an armor set for improved function and survivability

Remember to do the tutorial in Cyrodil .. gives 2 skill points if you don't skip stuff if I remember correctly

Solo tanking is actually fun if you don't mind taking longer to kill mobs (mine is second bar dual wield where I need to kill something faster)

Most class/weapon/armor combinations can be fun .. lvl 10 is too early to tell.

S1ipperyJim

I'm a DK Imperial Tank. I have about 32k health, the rest of attributes into magicka and can solo everything except group content very easily. Also very survivable in PVP even 1v1. I personally find it satisfying that I'm the one player in most situations that can be confident of surviving almost anything that is thrown at me without even needing potions.

Rinmaethodain

This might change with patch 1.7 because apparently ZOS hates every tank in game (pve or pvp, doesnt matter) so they pull out unjustified nerfs like "0 stamina regen while blocking"

Epona222

I soloed through the entire of the story content of the game (Zone quests, side quests, guild quests, main quest, Cadwell's Silver and Gold) with a Templar tank. Sword and Board and everything in Health. It was OK actually, I mean it's not a particularly interesting playstyle to solo, but barely ever seeing your healthbar move is not bad. Fights take longer, but you have survivability rather than damage output (and there is no enrage timer on any solo quest boss, so it is OK to take your time). Some people may find that boring for solo content.

Scorpio_Alik'ri

I made that same mistake thinking I would do hella damage as a dragonknight tank. But now since its almost been 2 months since launch on consoles (I bought it on June 9), its too late to change the stats I put in. Redguards have an advantage in the 1hand & shield ability with a lot of stamina regen. Now that I think about it I should've made a templar instead and focused more on damage.

Epona222

Scorpio_Alik'ri wrote: »

I made that same mistake thinking I would do hella damage as a dragonknight tank. But now since its almost been 2 months since launch on consoles (I bought it on June 9), its too late to change the stats I put in. Redguards have an advantage in the 1hand & shield ability with a lot of stamina regen. Now that I think about it I should've made a templar instead and focused more on damage.

But all it would take to change your DK tank to a DK stam dps or DK magicka dps would be a visit to the respec shrines and some new gear - you're not stuck being a tank if you don't want to be!

Rosveen

Sadishist wrote: »

Aren't tanks the best solo build because they can fight against those tough bosses and survive? Especially with Green Dragon Blood self-heal.

Somewhat. Not really. There's a point where you hit a survivability softcap, so to speak, and investing more in defense only hurts your ability to complete content (I'm not talking about trials etc.) You can soak up damage, yes, but can you deal it too or will you just stand there with your shield up? There will be times when you want to go full turtle mode, but also others when using a two-hander or a bow is faster and cleaner. But hey, that's what weapon swap is for.

failkiwib16_ESO

At lvl 10 please do yourself a favor and don't be a tank for a while. It is always easier to start out with a magicka build, since most class skills are magicka based untill you unlock the morphs.... but stamina builds are also viable. Go with 5 pieces of hundings rage medium, 2 pieces of ashen grip heavy, use a bow for ranged damage or 2handed for close combat..... by the time you reach level 15, you can weapon swap - get 1hand and shield then as your secondary weapon.

It is completely pointless to be tank if you do solo play, it is however not pointless to have tanky skills up like self healing skills or magicka shields. 1-2 survival skills slotted are very useful.

By this time I doubt you are able to craft hundings rage and ashen grip yourself, so I recomend you to provide the materials to a nice guildie, convince them to craft it for you.


General good advice: Get friends and be a little social. It pays off when you hit veteran ranks, and need buddies to do group content with, so you don't have to go with randoms. Tanks are very popular, since they're hard as "#¤%&/ to find for dungeons..

Brrrofski

I'm an orc dragonknight tank. Vet 6 currently. I use a bow and dual weild for pvp, mainly dual weild for pve. I've put an equal amount into magic and stamina. I use the stamina for dual weild abilities. But, in dungeons I'll use it for tanking too, such as bone wall from the undaunted line. So I can dps in quests, pvp etc or tank effectively in dungeons.

This game is a lot more fun playing with people. Ask around in zone chat if there's any guilds. Every guild will take extra members, even if you're a lowish level. The more numbers the better. Start playing with people in the guild. As a tank, you're a very valuable role in group dungeons. Everyone role is, but tank are far less common than healers or dps. People in guilds will always want to dungeons s and if you're an effective tank people will ask you often.

Also, get cooking. Get provisioning to 50. Cook up health and magic food. Helps loads as a tank.

Techlisp

At level 10 you are tickling.

RazielWolf88

Ive been a solo tank from the beginning and your survival goes through roof especially against world bosses i have solo killed every one ive gone against so far. The best thing to do is have a 2H weapon as your second bar so you can clear mass mobs easily.

It works for me.

TheShadowScout

I have an DK alt like that as well, classic S&B tank, at lower levels it feels rather underwhelming... I went dor 2H as secondary weapon, and with that things look better on the DPS front. But even S&B in combination with some class skills can do a good deal of hurt...

If you are level 10 with most points in health, just spend the next points in stamina. I would be going for a half-balanced 20% magica, 40% health, 40% stamina build - the stamina to do your physical damage, the magica to fuel your class skills (DGB rocks for emergency self-heal, and fire burns - your enemies) and the health to have the staying power a class without escape ability needs. Learn the mechanics, you will want to use interrupts against special abilities (red sparkling) and blocks against heavy attacks (gold sparkles) a lot - the follow up heavy attack counterstrike while they are unbalanced is a tanks bread and butter in PvE.

In the end, it has been my experience a heavy armor DK or templar will solo things at level that nightblades and sorcerors only dream about doing while green with envy... world bosses, dolmens, public dungeons, learn to use your DK tank well and they will be your playground!

Winterpsy

Started out with two hander, then at level 15 picked up the s&b skilline. Now experimenting with bow skills.
But in dungeons my character is mostly picked for filling the tank role, I am geared to that, CP-ed to that. Health stam ration is 3:2.
When in PvE and feel like S&B, I dont feel that much slower when on my two-hander bar. Invasion-->heavy attack-->light attack-->low slash-->light attack-->ferocios leap/standard-->
maybe mixing in flame breath and other low ticking aoe every here and there. Enemies melt away.
Esp with fighter guild abilities mixed in when fighting daedra and undead. DPS output might not scratching the sky, but swift enough not to feel too slow in clearing mobs.
Best thing is to goad a lot of mobs into a spot and drop the banner on them. Bam.