leveling as tank, what to spec?

Ozstryker

BejaProphet wrote: »

Joxer61 wrote: »

Thank you @Asardes ! got that link saved for when I get there!
Looks like Warden tank skills are mostly magicka, no? And yea, plan to start running guildies through some stuff so I get better handle on it all. Don't dare throw myself to the wolves that are the pugs....not that confident yet!

You absolutely should throw yourself to the wolves and PUG normal(non DLC) dungeons. You sound like the type of guy who will get what I am about to say: Don't worry about being good, worry about becoming good. When you start, you are going to stink. Then you are going to think you are good when you aren't. Then finally you are going to look back and laugh that you thought you were good, because you finally know what it really is.

Start the process now. Let yourself suck, so you can earn the experience. It is in the crunch of actual dungeons where you will discover what skills work for YOU, and what skills don't. As one poster said, learning to tank is probably more significant than learning a build. (both matter). You won't learn to tank all that much from reading. Jump in. Be bad. Git gud.

I absolutely agree with this.... there are a lot of subtleties when tanking i.e learning to block intuitively, when to interrupt, when to drop grp shields, gathering mobs and positioning, resource management etc. ect...
There's a big difference between simply copying a build and rushing in.... and working through content to find your own way... obviously take inspiration from others builds, but ultimately it has to work for you regardless of the class you choose.

mocap

- levelup as DD (mag, stam, doesn't matter. You can take even bow/bow if you realy want to);
- stat points in mag or stam respectively (nothing in health);
- once 50, equip Pierce Armor and base skills from lines you want in the future;
- do normal pledges and random normal;
- you can further power level some skills at Alikr dolmens;
- once you get base morphs, forget about power level and just play as tank. You will finish your skill lines for passives and morphs eventually.

For DD Warden skills i suggest to use fast access burst combos. Bear always active.
Stam.
AoE: Subterranean Assault + Endless Hail + Steel Tornado spam;
Single: Subterranean Assault + Cutting Dive->Light attack spam;
Mag.
AoE: Deep Fissure + Heavy attack (Lightning staff), repeat if necessary;
Single: Deep Fissure + Screaming Cliff Racer-Light attack spam;

If you have CP points, put 50-60 in Master-at-Arms first.

RavenSworn

Liofa wrote: »

Here is how I level up a tank. Equip 5 Heavy 1 Light and 1 Medium Armour. All Training. Equip Dual Wield and Bow back bar.

My skill bar look like this at the beginning:

1- Skill from first class tree
2- Skill from second class tree
3- Skill from third class tree
4- Skill from 1h/s tree
5- Dual Wield skill for killing things

When I get access to class ultimates, it becomes this:

1- Skill from class tree
2- Skill from another class tree
3- Skill from 1h/s tree
4- Dual Wield skill for killing things
5- Skill from Destro tree
Ulti- Skill from the third class tree

This way, you level up everything you need. If the class skills you are leveling deals good damage, you can get rid of the Dual Wield skill and slot a Bow/2H/Resto skill, up to you.

Most important thing is, we don't know what is good. That's why I recommend leveling every single skill. Make every skill morphable and move to the next one. While one skill is trash, ZOS can make it necessary for tanks by making a simple change.

Another thing is, don't level up by grinding. I level my characters this way. Gather every single skyshard in the game and enough lorebooks to max out Mages Guild. Visit Wayshrines too. This way, you will be able to hit around level 35 when you are finished. Then, you start the Main Quest line, which gives even more skill points and bring you to around 40-45. Rest are covered in Random Normals easily. So I don't grind at all. When I hit level 50, everything is ready to go. All my skills are leveled, my Undaunted is almost ready, Guilds are leveled etc. All my characters are also crafters so this is something I have to do to have enough skill points. If you don't care about crafting, you can simply ask a friend to grind you up to 50 in Skyreach. Hope this helps, good luck ^^

Excellent writeup! Don't mind if I add that while grabbing shards in the map, finish up the dolmens as well. Each new dolmen you discovered and closed nets more exp then just grinding it. Just hit a few mobs and the boss, and you are good to go.

And grab all the resource nodes along the way. If you have eso+ it's even easier to manage your inventory.

I'll be sure to pass this on to my guildies as this is solid info.