I Tanked at tanking!

KewaG

Ok, so last Friday night I was asked if I wanted to try being a Tank in a dungeon. I agreed because I respec'd my character to be more tanky. I figured a dungeon, no matter the outcome, would provide good experience. It didn't turn out well and we ended up leaving before completing the dungeon. For those who are wondering, the dungeon was VR 1 Blackheart Haven.

First a little history! ESO is my first time playing an MMO and this past Friday was my fourth ever group dungeon. I don't know if I had my bars set up all wrong, I likely did, but it didn't go well. Captain Blackheart is a SOB! I'm a VR2, soon to be VR3, Dunmer DK. In the last three group dungeons before this, I was a dps. I think dps is an easier role to perform, which is why everyone seems to want to be dps. (Not trying to start a debate on which roles are harder here, just an opinion) Mainly you take care of adds while the tank aggros the boss. When the big baddies are not aggro'd on the tank you try to stay away from them because they tend to hit hard.

Anyhoo, I'm curious about others opinions of what works best for them as a tank? What armor types do you use? What traits/enchants? Are there any tricks for managing Stamina better? How do you set up your Champion Points? Food or Drink consumables? What Ults work best? What type of secondary weapon? Do you block the whole/most of the time or are you trying to do damage as well?

I am aware that Stam regen while blocking is going to be nuked in the upcoming update, so no need to kick a dead horse. I'm not trying to reopen a debate here but any ideas on ways to counter this nerf is welcome.

So far I like tanking and want to get better at it but don't think I understand the role as well as I should. Any opinions are welcome but I'm just looking for opinions, tricks and tips here. I'm not asking for someone to build me a cookie cutter tank.

Sorry for the long post.

Pyro117

If you are going for a tank, then you need abilities to keep yourself alive. I am not familiar with the DK abilities to give specific ones to use. You need to look at all the abilities to find the options that provide better armor/resistance, healing, stamina regen.

I would look in to getting 5 pieces of the Whitestrake's armor for its 5th trait - a damage protection shield (this is a craftable set not found in the drop tables). I remember an ability called Green dragon blood that you should be able to use for health. There was and ULT(imate) that placed a ring down slowing down enemies and I thought reducing their damage (I could be mixing this ability with a NB one).

If you are using mostly Medium armor, maybe mix in 2 heavy armors (like chest/legs or helm) to increase your armor abilities.

What is your race? There might be something in the race passives that can help.

Also, when I try to tank - it is Shield up (assuming you are sword and shield). Using my ULT when can, but always block and only attack when it is safe (for the most part) and keep using whatever ability that keeps the aggro on you.

Just my 2 cents on how I have successfully tanked (not on VR levels though).

yodased

youtube.com/yodased

this is how you dk tank ;D

Serious

Well there is great guides out there on like www.deltiasgaming.com and tamrieljournal.com(in the forums)

But how I roll:

As a DK your strengths are right in your class abilities.

Keeping Hardened Armor up (Morph of Spiked Armor -Draconic Power-) helps with mitigating some damage.

Using Green Dragon Blood (Morph of Dragon Blood -Draconic Power-) can increase your Stamina Recovery and use to help out your healer.

Having Heavy Armor helps with survivability.

For pulling big groups using Eruption (Morph of Ash Cloud -Earthen Heart) can start most of the mobs off with aggro on you and a nice snare so they stay put. Using Extended Chains (Morph of Fiery Grip -Ardent Flame-) can grab the left over casters you miss with Eruption. Then just keep everything in a group by rooting them in place with Choking Talons (Morph of Dark Talons -Draconic Power-)

Obviously there is two taunts in the game. Puncture (1HS -Not Ranged-) and Inner Fire (Undaunted -Ranged-). Using them is tricky because you need to look at your resources to figure out which one to use. Do I have Stamina, then go puncture, Do I have no Stamina but some Magicka, then use Inner Fire.

I would look at your hp/stamina/magicka unbuffed from food/drink and find out whether you need increased attributes or recovery. I really like recovery as it allows me to regen my resources better, and there is nothing worse than having no resources.

I tend to use 1 bar that is half-tank/half-DPS and 1 bar full tank mode on not so hard stuff. Then when stuff gets serious like VDSA I switch to 2 full tanking bars.

Gear helps a ton. Make sure you have Hist Bark or similiar to help with blocking.

For Champion Points, I use Atronach Blade Expert, Lover Mooncalf, and Steed Block Expertise

Hope this helps.

KewaG

Thanks, this helped quite a bit. Haven't run a dungeon yet but I'm a little more confident now.

I asked a buddy of mine to craft me some Whitestrake's Retribution armor. He was able to craft me 6 pieces, 5 heavy and 1 medium shoulder. He wasn't able to make the chest piece but I had a drop, from before he came online, from a different set that should work fine for now. I can't remember the name of the set but I'm gonna be on the look out for at least one more piece. I'm a Dunmer so the only real help from racial passives are Dynamic and resist flame. I mainly use the Dragon Standard Ult, which I morphed into Shifting Standard so I can move it and refresh the duration.

I have checked out Deltia's Gaming website and youtube channels before posting this thread. He is very informative and helpful. I just wanted others opinions on what they use. One thing Deltia is always telling people on Stream is, do what works for you. Right now I don't know what works for me so opinions, tips and tricks are always welcome.

The abilities I've already been using are, in Slot order, Puncture, Particle Shield, Defensive Stance, Sea of Flames and Hardened Armor with Shifting Standard Ult on my tank bar. I also use a DPS bar with Silver Shards, Green Dragons Blood, Steel Tornado, Burning Breath and I just slotted Ash Cloud unmorphed with the Ferocious Leap Ult. I'll probably end up morphing Ash Cloud into Cinder Storm for more crowd control.

My undaunted isn't leveled up enough yet for the taunt but I'll likely slot it when I can. I decided to go with Food. I just need a better recipe for my level. I have a level 45 Epic recipe that increases all attributes for 2 hours but have settled on a Superior VR1 recipe that increase Magicka and Stamina for one hour for now. (VR1 recipe is much cheaper to make) I had to respec my champ points to include moon calf and have noticed much improvement so thank you for that suggestion.

Thanks to your feedback I'm starting to feel unkillable. I did however die once last night to a boss. I got cocky and I didn't manage my resources very well. I am in fact killable, it's just a little harder now.

mklundub17_ESO

What were you failing on? ESO is somewhat different than a lot of MMO's in that bosses tend to have DPS checks that require everyone (healer, tank included) to contribute DPS.

KewaG

mklundub17_ESO wrote: »

What were you failing on? ESO is somewhat different than a lot of MMO's in that bosses tend to have DPS checks that require everyone (healer, tank included) to contribute DPS.

I was running out of Stamina fast and getting killed early and often. I try to use AoE skills to contribute out going damage while still being able to block incoming damage and I use heavy attacks when I can to regain lost stamina.

Pyro117

Sounds like you also need some Stamina Glyphs and armor/weapon pieces in another set to add stamina regen. I would look into Night's Silence for some stamina rejen to help (only requires 3 pieces). There are other crafted sets that you should look through to help out:

http://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Set+Bonus+Crafting+Locations

Then there are sets from dropped enemies if you want to go that route:

http://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Sets

but these dropped sets only come in one armor variety (light, medium, or heavy) but the rings/neck pieces might be worthwhile.

The crafted sets can be crafted into any armor type (as you probably know).

I hope this helps.

KewaG

I was using enchanted armors but I was switching out every time I got to a new zone so it was a mix and match set. Now that I'm at a more confident level of understanding in the game mechanics, regarding armor sets, I have a main set that I use and don't swap unless the benefits out weigh the risk.

I don't have any Denima runes so I didn't bother enchanthing my jewlery but I have a couple of decent pieces on right now. Thanks for the help. I get more confident as time goes on and I may tackle another dungeon soon just to test out my gear and slotted abilities.