New to tanking

Alwari

ereboz wrote: »

I've been playing since first beta and have only done DPS. I really want to try tanking but I've always been intimidated. Can anyone give me advice, tips, pointers? I've looked at several videos but there's just so many different builds it gets a little overwhelming.

Thanks

I was going to write a LONG bit of info here, but instead I just made a build here for you since the layout is MUCH easier to follow.

Spank-Tank: PvE Stam Tank/DPS, 2H w/ 1HS
http://esoacademy.com/builds/spank-tank-pve-stam-tankdps-2h-w-1hs/

I tried many other builds (losing tons of time and coin doing so!) and found most of them less than fun to play. I have had AMAZING success with this build and I have a lot of fun too. I think you'll enjoy it too if you decide to give it a try!

raj72616a

http://esoacademy.com/builds/stam-sorc-faux-tank/

this is the tank build i've been playing with recently. i ran average vet dungeons like tempest island and arx cornium with it just fine. it went fast and smooth with PUG.
and no i haven't been kicked once while queuing as tank with this.

Dubhliam

Wow.

So many DPS wannabe suggestions.

Remind me to slap myself in the *** with a spiked bat if I ever PUG again.

The guy has played this game for years as DD, now he asks for tank advice, and what do you give him?
*** 2h or bow DPS wannabe builds.

Fracking hate PUGs.

paulsimonps

Dubhliam wrote: »

Wow.

So many DPS wannabe suggestions.

Remind me to slap myself in the *** with a spiked bat if I ever PUG again.

The guy has played this game for years as DD, now he asks for tank advice, and what do you give him?
*** 2h or bow DPS wannabe builds.

Fracking hate PUGs.

Good thing about being a tank myself, never have to PUG a Tank.

Dubhliam

paulsimonps wrote: »

Dubhliam wrote: »

Wow.

So many DPS wannabe suggestions.

Remind me to slap myself in the *** with a spiked bat if I ever PUG again.

The guy has played this game for years as DD, now he asks for tank advice, and what do you give him?
*** 2h or bow DPS wannabe builds.

Fracking hate PUGs.

Good thing about being a tank myself, never have to PUG a Tank.

Did you have a look at the builds up there?

The guy actually has Werewolf Form as an ulti on his backbar.

I mean, there are many players "acting" as tanks in PUGs, but THIS???
It's like he's not even trying.

I am also lucky I almost never got queued as DD in PUGs (tanks are always in demand) but once I had a group that couldn't finish veteran Banished Cells 2 due to lack of DPS.

Banished

Cells

Two

It was such a long time ago, but I will never forget it. Healing orbs got ignored. After I pointed that particular mechanic to them, I just laughed as they didn't have enough DPS to kill orbs before they reached the boss.

Did I say laugh?
I meant cried.
Of laughter.

We finally gave up after one hour of that tragicomedy.

I guess if I had been one of these 2H Bow werewolf DPS wannabe tanks, I would have not had trouble then.

raj72616a

yes i admit it's a bad build. i have ebon set and pariah set on my gear swap hot key in case anyone complain. but tank is in such high demamd that people don't even dare to point out that i have the lowest amount of health in the group lol

and banished cell ii was pledge yesterday and i just finished it

werewolf ultimate is there for the Lolz and for 15% stamina regen bonus.

Dubhliam

raj72616a wrote: »

yes i admit it's a bad build. i have ebon set and pariah set on my gear swap hot key in case anyone complain. but tank is in such high demamd that people don't even dare to point out that i have the lowest amount of health in the group lol

and banished cell ii was pledge yesterday and i just finished it

werewolf ultimate is there for the Lolz and for 15% stamina regen bonus.

You do know that you don't regenerate stamina while blocking?

And if your answer is: "I only block heavy attacks", I guess healers must really love playing with you.

raj72616a

that's why the werewolf ult is on my bow bar not shield bar

i have iceheart shield on 30~40% of the time
when damage shield is on, blocking non heavy attack only waste stamina and does not reduce damage received

paulsimonps

raj72616a wrote: »

that's why the werewolf ult is on my bow bar not shield bar

i have iceheart shield on 30~40% of the time
when damage shield is on, blocking non heavy attack only waste stamina and does not reduce damage received

WHAT?! Of course it will reduce damage received. Anything that is blockable can and will have its damage reduced when blocked.

raj72616a

paulsimonps wrote: »

raj72616a wrote: »

that's why the werewolf ult is on my bow bar not shield bar

i have iceheart shield on 30~40% of the time
when damage shield is on, blocking non heavy attack only waste stamina and does not reduce damage received

WHAT?! Of course it will reduce damage received. Anything that is blockable can and will have its damage reduced when blocked.

uh, take a look at the link in your own signature?

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/279426/damage-mitigation-explanation-updated-for-morrowind-new-calculator/p1

Blocking, Physical Resistance, Spell Resistance do not reduce damage to Damage Shield
you use Igneous Shield yourself so you can test that out

paulsimonps

raj72616a wrote: »

paulsimonps wrote: »

raj72616a wrote: »

that's why the werewolf ult is on my bow bar not shield bar

i have iceheart shield on 30~40% of the time
when damage shield is on, blocking non heavy attack only waste stamina and does not reduce damage received

WHAT?! Of course it will reduce damage received. Anything that is blockable can and will have its damage reduced when blocked.

uh, take a look at the link in your own signature?

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/279426/damage-mitigation-explanation-updated-for-morrowind-new-calculator/p1

Blocking, Physical Resistance, Spell Resistance do not reduce damage to Damage Shield
you use Igneous Shield yourself so you can test that out

Derp I miss read it, just read, when shielded. However, you are still really stupid for not blocking that much. I would HATE to heal for you in vet dungeons.

EDIT: As well, damage overflow can be blocked. And that happens A LOT! So again, still really stupid not to block.

ookami007

My tanks are minimal dps tanks.

My job as a tank is:

#1 - Keep the boss mobs focused on me and pointing any directed attacks AWAY from the party
#2 - Take enough damage that I can rez if everyone else goes down and prevent a wipe

All other considerations are secondary.

Tanking is complicated because you REALLY need to understand the mechanics of the fight more so than most other classes. What CAN you block? What MUST you block? What MUST you dodge roll? When do you take the AoE and when do you step out of the AoE?

And those change, depending on group and healer.

But if you are looking for a fun tank build to cut your teeth on, look at this:

http://tamrielfoundry.com/topic/alanarres-invincible-dk-shieldtank/

It's a shield tank and it's actually fairly easy to do. And once you learn the mechanic, if you choose, you can make a tank/dps hybrid.


But, most important things to have on any tank -

#1 TAUNTS
#2 TAUNTS
#3 TAUNTS

Seriously, if you aren't taunting, you aren't a tank. You should have both the Sword and Board taunt (Pierce armor) and the Undaunted taunt (Inner Fire). One is Stam, the other Magicka. That way, you should always be able to taunt, even if one of your resources is low.

raj72616a

paulsimonps wrote: »

raj72616a wrote: »

paulsimonps wrote: »

raj72616a wrote: »

that's why the werewolf ult is on my bow bar not shield bar

i have iceheart shield on 30~40% of the time
when damage shield is on, blocking non heavy attack only waste stamina and does not reduce damage received

WHAT?! Of course it will reduce damage received. Anything that is blockable can and will have its damage reduced when blocked.

uh, take a look at the link in your own signature?

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/279426/damage-mitigation-explanation-updated-for-morrowind-new-calculator/p1

Blocking, Physical Resistance, Spell Resistance do not reduce damage to Damage Shield
you use Igneous Shield yourself so you can test that out

Derp I miss read it, just read, when shielded. However, you are still really stupid for not blocking that much. I would HATE to heal for you in vet dungeons.

EDIT: As well, damage overflow can be blocked. And that happens A LOT! So again, still really stupid not to block.

iceheart proc every 6 seconds and last 6 seconds.

so when i said iceheart uptime is 40%, i meant 40% of the time i have a damage shield on, and that's 40% of the time i should NOT waste stamina to block non-heavy attacks.

i have enough stamina to block heavy attack and to roll dodge, and i have dark deal to self heal, and passively self heal 3k health per second from Critical Surge, it did not seem like i had to be babysat by a healer. or the healers were too polite to complain about that lol

paulsimonps

raj72616a wrote: »

paulsimonps wrote: »

raj72616a wrote: »

paulsimonps wrote: »

raj72616a wrote: »

that's why the werewolf ult is on my bow bar not shield bar

i have iceheart shield on 30~40% of the time
when damage shield is on, blocking non heavy attack only waste stamina and does not reduce damage received

WHAT?! Of course it will reduce damage received. Anything that is blockable can and will have its damage reduced when blocked.

uh, take a look at the link in your own signature?

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/279426/damage-mitigation-explanation-updated-for-morrowind-new-calculator/p1

Blocking, Physical Resistance, Spell Resistance do not reduce damage to Damage Shield
you use Igneous Shield yourself so you can test that out

Derp I miss read it, just read, when shielded. However, you are still really stupid for not blocking that much. I would HATE to heal for you in vet dungeons.

EDIT: As well, damage overflow can be blocked. And that happens A LOT! So again, still really stupid not to block.

iceheart proc every 6 seconds and last 6 seconds.

so when i said iceheart uptime is 40%, i meant 40% of the time i have a damage shield on, and that's 40% of the time i should NOT waste stamina to block non-heavy attacks.

i have enough stamina to block heavy attack and to roll dodge, and i have dark deal to self heal, and passively self heal 3k health per second from Critical Surge, it did not seem like i had to be babysat by a healer. or the healers were too polite to complain about that lol

Oh dear..... Your set up is what? Never mind, no I'm dropping that, not touching a set up like that with a 100feet pole.

raj72616a

typical stamsorc dps build with iceheart set and a shield duct-taped on it to pretend to be a tank
it's terrible, it's not viable for trial, it's just for casual vet pledge quick run

tempest island, blessed crucible, direfrost keep, spindle ii, elden hollow ii, arx corinium, selene's web (recent pledges i tanked in medium armor) do you really need 35k health and 30k resistance for those? it's not like we have to perma-block 5 axes there

you gave very good tanking tips in this thread, i'm sure you know that for 4-man dungeons it's more important to know the mechanics than to wear full heavy armor.
like, a BiS geared tank who failed to bash First Mate Wavecutter in Blackheart Haven won't be of any use to the group.

Dubhliam

raj72616a wrote: »

typical stamsorc dps build with iceheart set and a shield duct-taped on it to pretend to be a tank
it's terrible, it's not viable for trial, it's just for casual vet pledge quick run

tempest island, blessed crucible, direfrost keep, spindle ii, elden hollow ii, arx corinium, selene's web (recent pledges i tanked in medium armor) do you really need 35k health and 30k resistance for those? it's not like we have to perma-block 5 axes there

you gave very good tanking tips in this thread, i'm sure you know that for 4-man dungeons it's more important to know the mechanics than to wear full heavy armor.
like, a BiS geared tank who failed to bash First Mate Wavecutter in Blackheart Haven won't be of any use to the group.

I have to repeat myself again.

This guy played DD since beta.
Now he wants to tank.
Why the hell would you give him tank DPS wannabe build advice?

Massive_Stain

There are so many terrible tanks running around in the dungeon queue, its ridiculous. Stick to the meta and get good. Don't be that two handed tank that drops taunt. Learn, become great, and start tanking trials. Tanks are few and far between, trust me, I've created 3 trial ready tanks. Get ebon, get alkosh, and get plague doctor. Make it so you can swap between those sets. Your group will want you in every instance.

Dubhliam

Massive_Stain wrote: »

There are so many terrible tanks running around in the dungeon queue, its ridiculous. Stick to the meta and get good. Don't be that two handed tank that drops taunt. Learn, become great, and start tanking trials. Tanks are few and far between, trust me, I've created 3 trial ready tanks. Get ebon, get alkosh, and get plague doctor. Make it so you can swap between those sets. Your group will want you in every instance.

Completely agree, I would also add Lord Warden and Powerful Assault.

This is, however, true only for dedicated tanks that want to do veteran trials.

For regular veteran pledges there are a few simple steps to follow:

1. DK (best, but others can work too)
2. Heavy Armor (anything)
3. max out your block cost reduction (Sturdy + Shadow Ward CPs + Shieldplay enchantments)
4. high magicka regen (The Atronarch Mundus)
5. permablock (???)
6. profit

Oh yeah, also, your skill bar should look something like this (Skills are important, yo!)

paulsimonps

Dubhliam wrote: »

Massive_Stain wrote: »

There are so many terrible tanks running around in the dungeon queue, its ridiculous. Stick to the meta and get good. Don't be that two handed tank that drops taunt. Learn, become great, and start tanking trials. Tanks are few and far between, trust me, I've created 3 trial ready tanks. Get ebon, get alkosh, and get plague doctor. Make it so you can swap between those sets. Your group will want you in every instance.

Completely agree, I would also add Lord Warden and Powerful Assault.

This is, however, true only for dedicated tanks that want to do veteran trials.

For regular veteran pledges there are a few simple steps to follow:

1. DK (best, but others can work too)
2. Heavy Armor (anything)
3. max out your block cost reduction (Sturdy + Shadow Ward CPs + Shieldplay enchantments)
4. high magicka regen (The Atronarch Mundus)
5. permablock (???)
6. profit

Oh yeah, also, your skill bar should look something like this (Skills are important, yo!)

yea those are some pretty good skills, I run similar to that, a recommendation for those that have it, put Barrier on back bar, when you are in a dungeon and want to chain or talon a lot of mobs you might want to have the extra magicka regen that the magicka aid passive gives you for slotting that ultimate. Now you shouldn't actually use it, unless its an emergency, but the magicka regen is nice to have on that bar for dungeon CCing.

Dubhliam

paulsimonps wrote: »

Dubhliam wrote: »

Massive_Stain wrote: »

There are so many terrible tanks running around in the dungeon queue, its ridiculous. Stick to the meta and get good. Don't be that two handed tank that drops taunt. Learn, become great, and start tanking trials. Tanks are few and far between, trust me, I've created 3 trial ready tanks. Get ebon, get alkosh, and get plague doctor. Make it so you can swap between those sets. Your group will want you in every instance.

Completely agree, I would also add Lord Warden and Powerful Assault.

This is, however, true only for dedicated tanks that want to do veteran trials.

For regular veteran pledges there are a few simple steps to follow:

1. DK (best, but others can work too)
2. Heavy Armor (anything)
3. max out your block cost reduction (Sturdy + Shadow Ward CPs + Shieldplay enchantments)
4. high magicka regen (The Atronarch Mundus)
5. permablock (???)
6. profit

Oh yeah, also, your skill bar should look something like this (Skills are important, yo!)

yea those are some pretty good skills, I run similar to that, a recommendation for those that have it, put Barrier on back bar, when you are in a dungeon and want to chain or talon a lot of mobs you might want to have the extra magicka regen that the magicka aid passive gives you for slotting that ultimate. Now you shouldn't actually use it, unless its an emergency, but the magicka regen is nice to have on that bar for dungeon CCing.

My setup is actually just like this one but with Barrier on front bar, and Horn on back.
I swap when I need to ulti.
This setup I recommended just to illustrate that 1H&S should also be on backbar. Otherwise some wise crack might slot Bow or something.

paulsimonps

Dubhliam wrote: »

paulsimonps wrote: »

Dubhliam wrote: »

Massive_Stain wrote: »

There are so many terrible tanks running around in the dungeon queue, its ridiculous. Stick to the meta and get good. Don't be that two handed tank that drops taunt. Learn, become great, and start tanking trials. Tanks are few and far between, trust me, I've created 3 trial ready tanks. Get ebon, get alkosh, and get plague doctor. Make it so you can swap between those sets. Your group will want you in every instance.

Completely agree, I would also add Lord Warden and Powerful Assault.

This is, however, true only for dedicated tanks that want to do veteran trials.

For regular veteran pledges there are a few simple steps to follow:

1. DK (best, but others can work too)
2. Heavy Armor (anything)
3. max out your block cost reduction (Sturdy + Shadow Ward CPs + Shieldplay enchantments)
4. high magicka regen (The Atronarch Mundus)
5. permablock (???)
6. profit

Oh yeah, also, your skill bar should look something like this (Skills are important, yo!)

yea those are some pretty good skills, I run similar to that, a recommendation for those that have it, put Barrier on back bar, when you are in a dungeon and want to chain or talon a lot of mobs you might want to have the extra magicka regen that the magicka aid passive gives you for slotting that ultimate. Now you shouldn't actually use it, unless its an emergency, but the magicka regen is nice to have on that bar for dungeon CCing.

My setup is actually just like this one but with Barrier on front bar, and Horn on back.
I swap when I need to ulti.
This setup I recommended just to illustrate that 1H&S should also be on backbar. Otherwise some wise crack might slot Bow or something.

That makes sense I used to have it on front bar too but it became a liability in Trials, having to swap on command to do a Horn, it got me killed a few times when I did badly timed bar swaps.

Woeler

Oh dear...

Liofa

This thread is funny and sad at the same time .