Are there diversity in tank builds?

Lyserus

We got a lot of dps builds (pet build, snipe build, elemental, werewolf etc) and healers are not lacking diveristy (stam healer, nb blood heal etc)

But so far I have not seen good tank builds that are different from the "classic" tank build
Health-Shield templar tank was nerfed
Sap NB tank was nerfed
Shield-stack Sorc tank was nerfed
and among DK/Warden tanks I don't see a large diversity in playstyle (except minor things like DK chain etc)

Do any of you know some refreshing tank builds? Especially for warden (Since I have 2 tanks, redguard DK and nord warden, DK is doing great while warden a bit lacking....and really no reason to use both if warden one plays the same and is overall a worse tank)

Guppet

Meta is only needed for leaderboards, this can’t be stated enough. Any other content can be done with not meta, it may take slightly longer, that is all.

If you build an actual tank however you like, your not going to get kicked in 4 man content. So long as you hold bosses in place and stack mobs, no one is going to kick you.

If they do, they are not people you would have enjoyed grouping with anyway.

Want to build for tanking and damage, go ahead, have fun with it.

Want to build for tanking and healing, likewise.

It’s only an issue if you get into content that you can’t complete and you know 100% the reason is you.

There are far less people willing to be actual tanks than dps, stop thinking you are a slave to them. In leaderboards trials only should you accept that.

Outside of them, guess what, your the star, your the leader, also the one with instant queues and probably the biggest collection on monster sets.

Embrace your privilage, take your rightful place as group lynch pin!!

Ravingar

I personally think theres lot’s of diversity in tank builds, different ways you can build them. I’m working on an Argonian Warden, mainly magicka based using light armour with fortified brass (for the passives) and an undetermined second set. Just so I can heal like a God, and do decent damage, and not take much either.
Another tank build I have is a DK shield build. It’s so easy to just stack different kinds of shields and easily get a 12k burst shield.
Diverse tank builds exist, you just gotta think of them first, and know what you wanna do with them.

ccfeeling

We can play whatever we want , but the end game door is restrictive

Kadoin

Yes, but some combinations are far better than others...and two certain sets are very overpowered when used together.

max_only

All tanks have to use Alkosh and Ebon and that is my biggest complaint. Tanks have very little variety with their armor. Different monster sets for different situations but mostly Lord Warden (I don’t mind that at all, love LW)

Chains or silver leash; stamina taunt; crowd control; class skill; class skill; ultimate

Inner rage; debuff; class shield,; Absorb magic/class projectile shield; flexible (usually a gap closer or something); Warhorn.

That’s my basic set up for all my tanks: Warden, templar and Nightblade.

WeaselGod

Every one else pretty much hit the nail in the coffin, but I guess it depends. For pugs I usually run leeching + baharas just because I don't trust them and it helps to be more selfish and focus on yourself, and definitely makes it easier to solo and ress people. But for guild trials and the such it's pretty much the standard ebon + alkosh or whatever the team needs.

raviour

A good tank should have a big bag. So many options in gear + CP and quite a few skills to pick from. Tanking is situational so your build needs to be adaptable to both the group and the particular fight.

Enjoying Hist + Tavas + Earthgore at the mo' but not tanking much.

Sparr0w

ccfeeling wrote: »

We can play whatever we want , but the end game door is restrictive

Same with dd's tbh, meta is meta for a reason.

Turelus

ccfeeling wrote: »

We can play whatever we want , but the end game door is restrictive

It doesn't help that most guilds are not flexible enough to try new things either. Once someone does something everyone follows suit and won't try new ways.
Path of least resistance.

Royaji

Turelus wrote: »

ccfeeling wrote: »

We can play whatever we want , but the end game door is restrictive

It doesn't help that most guilds are not flexible enough to try new things either. Once someone does something everyone follows suit and won't try new ways.
Path of least resistance.

To be fair, by bringing something that ends up not working you are wasting time of 11 other people. And unless the group is made of close friends people will bail once there are no clears/progress. Can't really blame them for that.

Delimber

max_only wrote: »

All tanks have to use Alkosh and Ebon and that is my biggest complaint. Tanks have very little variety with their armor. Different monster sets for different situations but mostly Lord Warden (I don’t mind that at all, love LW)

Chains or silver leash; stamina taunt; crowd control; class skill; class skill; ultimate

Inner rage; debuff; class shield,; Absorb magic/class projectile shield; flexible (usually a gap closer or something); Warhorn.

That’s my basic set up for all my tanks: Warden, templar and Nightblade.

It never occurred to me to use silver leash to act as a chains skill for a Warden. Going to have to try it out.

For my primary dungeon tanking DK I'm running Ebon, Warrior Poet and Mighty Chudan.

My Warden tank is still a work in progress and a struggle to find something that works well. Trying to think outside the box for the Warden.

dwtdwtdwt

I have a Warden tank who uses an ice staff. It's fun as hell; max magicka range-tanking and holding aggro with just a heavy attack. I would say that adds some diverse, unconventional tanking.

Bigevilpeter

Hybrid Argonian Warden Tank, high regen on both resources, block with both resources and recharge one while you block with the other one then switch.

Never fails, unlimited sustain

OneKhajiitCrimeWave

I think overall it depends on content as to what you can run.

If you're running dungeons and your group does not have a lot of synergy options (think magNB's), then Galenwe is probably way more beneficial than Alkosh.

I feel in many things the obsession with Alkosh limits tanks, to the point where many players lose sight that other sets/options exist.

In trials i will always prefer to run my Warden tank and it does not run Alkosh or Ebon as the other tank generally has that. My tank tends to have a lot of healing power and self survivability. High health, high resist, high magicka regen.

In dungeons or specific off tanking i enjoy my ulti gen sorc tank.

This game has many ways to do each thing. It's just that those who have done it tend to approach it from the same viewpoint, which means many similar setups.

Merlin13KAGL

Depends on the content, the group, and ultimately the player.

While the tried and true builds are effective, they are not the only way to make things work.

Of course, this leads into conversations about how much a build is 'selfish' vs buffing the group.

In the end, if you're not trying to min/max leaderboard and it gets the job done with relative efficiency, no one should have room for complaint.

Trying alternate builds, especially the non-meta variety can really test and expand your skill as a player.

Even the FOTM can get old after a while.

Eso101rus

Turelus wrote: »

ccfeeling wrote: »

We can play whatever we want , but the end game door is restrictive

It doesn't help that most guilds are not flexible enough to try new things either. Once someone does something everyone follows suit and won't try new ways.
Path of least resistance.

Yes this is exactly where it’s at, sadly people follow tried and tested instead of getting their own plans down in action. I understand it is difficult to organise a certain group setup instead of copy paste, but we shouldn’t think Ebon alkosh on main tank is the only way to go....it isn’t.

Steinschlag

oh sure, u can play a lot of options. depends on your Grp and Situation. For example u can play classic Fulltank, or mostly prefered Supporttank. Or if u can handle it u can play Paladin in medium and light armor, destrostaff, S+B, bubbels, drain, heals and stuff. its hard to sustain and if u dont dodge heavy attacks u are onehit, but its possibile. i play that in DLC-HMs too. The DPS-Boost for my mates is rly nice. Thats much better then just aggro the boss and block. But u have to know the Mechanics, your Char and at least your mates. its not a build for new players or random Grps

llSRRll

If your trying to do high end game content then yes there is a meta just like other classes. In this game tanks are not just poke and survive. You have to debuff and buff the group as well as agro and stay alive. Sure if your running hm undaunted pledges run what you want just keep agro but for trials especially the CR, Vmol, VAS and Vhof your going to have to bring the meta to help your group.

Turelus

Royaji wrote: »

Turelus wrote: »

ccfeeling wrote: »

We can play whatever we want , but the end game door is restrictive

It doesn't help that most guilds are not flexible enough to try new things either. Once someone does something everyone follows suit and won't try new ways.
Path of least resistance.

To be fair, by bringing something that ends up not working you are wasting time of 11 other people. And unless the group is made of close friends people will bail once there are no clears/progress. Can't really blame them for that.

True, I meant it more as in groups than individuals. A lot of the guilds I've been part of will just wait for the big guilds to clear something then copy all their tactics and builds without trying anything themselves.

SilverWF

Ebon+Plague Doctor
Monster set: Lord Warden (my mostly used) or Pirate Skeleton (not recommend) or Blood Spawn or Swarm Mother
5 heavy, 1 light, 1 med, Health enchs, Sturdy traits (for big parts can be used Reinforced tho)

Infused weapon with resists debuff ench main bar / weapon dmg debuff back bar
SnB both bars

All stat points to health

Maxed Mag regen, as much as possible. Completely ignored Health and Stam regen
In CPs pretty much to block cost and damage reduction (all types)

Race - Nord

Class - DK

Main bar
Puncture, SnB shield, Green Blood, Chain, AOE shield, Psijic ult
Back bar
Leg cut (ult regen), Inner Rage, AOE root, Spiked Armor, Wpn/Spell buff, Warhorn ult

Witchmother's Potent Brew
Or 3-stat food

Steinschlag

u can just try and explore. My Paladinbuild needs two weeks until i was happy with it. But it is fun trust me.Look what content u want to play, how much experience u have and try around with sets, skills, cp. u can find out a lot by yourself if u try. Or if u know a good tank, do it with him together

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO

Delimber wrote: »

max_only wrote: »

All tanks have to use Alkosh and Ebon and that is my biggest complaint. Tanks have very little variety with their armor. Different monster sets for different situations but mostly Lord Warden (I don’t mind that at all, love LW)

Chains or silver leash; stamina taunt; crowd control; class skill; class skill; ultimate

Inner rage; debuff; class shield,; Absorb magic/class projectile shield; flexible (usually a gap closer or something); Warhorn.

That’s my basic set up for all my tanks: Warden, templar and Nightblade.

It never occurred to me to use silver leash to act as a chains skill for a Warden. Going to have to try it out.

For my primary dungeon tanking DK I'm running Ebon, Warrior Poet and Mighty Chudan.

My Warden tank is still a work in progress and a struggle to find something that works well. Trying to think outside the box for the Warden.

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Frozen_Gate

I run sentinel of rkugams/livewire/sanctuary on my warden tank. Works great buffs Group DPS. Of course my dk tank would be the one that I would take into vet trails and she wears the classic lord warden/ebon/alkosh. I recently have been trying out sunderflame instead of alkosh with groups that don't provide more then 2 synergys, works great.

And if you are not running a back bar staff, you are gipping your self, wall of elements is super useful and getting magic back without using balance is great.

Reverb

There’s lots of tank build variety, and people are tanking successfully with every class and more gear combos than we could list here. It only gets restrictive for vet trials.

For vet trial groups, main tank must be a DK and must run Ebon and Alkosh. Different monster sets can apply in different fights, but usually Lord Warden. If the fight requires an offtank, DK or Warden preferred, but sorcs, nb, and Templars sometimes fill that role as well.

Steinschlag

Reverb wrote: »

There’s lots of tank build variety, and people are tanking successfully with every class and more gear combos than we could list here. It only gets restrictive for vet trials.

For vet trial groups, main tank must be a DK and must run Ebon and Alkosh. Different monster sets can apply in different fights, but usually Lord Warden. If the fight requires an offtank, DK or Warden preferred, but sorcs, nb, and Templars sometimes fill that role as well.

i play dk by myself, but i dont agree. Warden can maintank all content too. HM-Trials too.

Panomania

All tanks have to use Alkosh and Ebon and that is my biggest complaint.

No. They dont. They SEEM to because people throw a fit if they dont, because most players 1) are idiots who cant think for themselves, research for themselves, and only do what a handful of yew too bers tell them they should, and 2) are too damned lazy to take care of themselves and build in such a way that balances out DPS and survivability, because God forbid mobs should survive 10 to 20% longer! And to claims they HAVE to have that level of DPS to win? Bull. Its just that its the ACCEPTED way for the vast majority of the mouth breathing imbeciles you end up with on most trials.

I've run in solid groups with warden tanks who use torugs and plague doc. I myself have a warden who rocks that setup for 4 man content and there's NOTHING he cant tank. I've healed vet HM content including BRF (why do I always read that as "barf"?) with a guy who runs a magicka heavy templar tank using a variety of gear sets depending on the situation (I think he used 3 diff setups during the "Barf" run). I've even run vet dungeons with magicka sorc tanks who did VERY well.

The issue is people are too afraid or too ignorant to think outside the box, try new things or accept someone else who does. They dont care about results, they only care about pigeonholing classes into builds and roles the masses SAY they should have.

Guppet

WeaselGod wrote: »

Every one else pretty much hit the nail in the coffin, but I guess it depends. For pugs I usually run leeching + baharas just because I don't trust them and it helps to be more selfish and focus on yourself, and definitely makes it easier to solo and ress people. But for guild trials and the such it's pretty much the standard ebon + alkosh or whatever the team needs.

Those sets work great for pug dungeon runs. Makes you self sustainable and able to solo most places.

Other great sets to use for that kind of style are, Thunderbug for even more pack damage than leeching or Crest of Cyrodil, for even better survivabilty than leeching on bosses, since they dont proc it enough (20k of Free self heals every 10 seconds, yes please).

Baharas can never be replaced though, it’s just too good. Best set in the game by a mile.

Turelus

Panomania wrote: »

All tanks have to use Alkosh and Ebon and that is my biggest complaint.

No. They dont. They SEEM to because people throw a fit if they dont, because most players 1) are idiots who cant think for themselves, research for themselves, and only do what a handful of yew too bers tell them they should, and 2) are too damned lazy to take care of themselves and build in such a way that balances out DPS and survivability, because God forbid mobs should survive 10 to 20% longer! And to claims they HAVE to have that level of DPS to win? Bull. Its just that its the ACCEPTED way for the vast majority of the mouth breathing imbeciles you end up with on most trials.

I've run in solid groups with warden tanks who use torugs and plague doc. I myself have a warden who rocks that setup for 4 man content and there's NOTHING he cant tank. I've healed vet HM content including BRF (why do I always read that as "barf"?) with a guy who runs a magicka heavy templar tank using a variety of gear sets depending on the situation (I think he used 3 diff setups during the "Barf" run). I've even run vet dungeons with magicka sorc tanks who did VERY well.

The issue is people are too afraid or too ignorant to think outside the box, try new things or accept someone else who does. They dont care about results, they only care about pigeonholing classes into builds and roles the masses SAY they should have.

You get an awesome for verbalising my feelings, just maybe not as diplomatically as I would have.

GreenhaloX

You play this game long enough and you'll realize you can diversify any class and toons. For tanks, I definitely have diversity. I have 5 maxed out tanks: a traditional S&B/S&B who is a Nord, 3 2H/S&B which is an Orc, Breton and another Nord respectively, and the 5th is a Dark Elf staff/S&B. The Nord S&B/S&B is what I take into vet trials as it has higher health and resistances. The others are more hybrid with higher dps capability, and I have taken them through any vet dungeons and world bosses just fine. Plus they add as a 3rd dps in a vet dungeon as I am continuously attacking as well as the tanking duties as breach, taunt and whatever buff and fluff needed to aid the others. The dungeons and whatever group event does go faster with 2 and a half dps, versus the traditional 2 dpsers, healers and a tank roles. Well, unless you're those hardercore types that can roll through even the DLC vet dungeons without a healer and just dpsers or all just dpsers and no tank or healer, which I have done in several occasions.

Saluka

Heavy armor ice staff sorc. Swarm mother maybe. Auto taunt. Or the usual ebon armory / plague doctor. Maybe LW for that shadow orb thingy.

LizziAS

I see what people are offering as options of diversity in a tank but i think something is missing in this discussion.

And the tanks in the above posts all seem t rely on high health, regardless of the armor

so we have healers, damage dealers and tanks.

but then we also have damage dealing healers that work well and healing damage dealers that are playable as well

But what we dont see any of is healing tanks or damage dealing tanks. The op says such things were nerfed? I guess i havent been around enough to know

though i have seen damage dealers slot them self as tanks in daily dungeons and not really tank but because they do so much damage, no one really cares.

Also i see mentioned that you can play whatever you want but endgame requires certain meta. Who decided what the end game is? So far as i can tell, there is no end game.. Or the end game is basically when i grow bored with playing it.

People take this game way to seriously, wrap up their identity and self worth into it and forget that it is just a game. You aren't a better person because you play it better than someone else. *GASP*

Yes it's frustrating when you have a goal in mind and your time is wasted. If that's the point to your playing then stick with playing alongside only the people you know.

The last thing i have to say about this is that it is a group effort. Stay with the group you are in and move at the pace that the whole group can manage or get out and go find a group that moves at the fast pace you like.

GreenhaloX

LizziAS wrote: »

I see what people are offering as options of diversity in a tank but i think something is missing in this discussion.

And the tanks in the above posts all seem t rely on high health, regardless of the armor

so we have healers, damage dealers and tanks.

but then we also have damage dealing healers that work well and healing damage dealers that are playable as well

But what we dont see any of is healing tanks or damage dealing tanks. The op says such things were nerfed? I guess i havent been around enough to know

though i have seen damage dealers slot them self as tanks in daily dungeons and not really tank but because they do so much damage, no one really cares.

Also i see mentioned that you can play whatever you want but endgame requires certain meta. Who decided what the end game is? So far as i can tell, there is no end game.. Or the end game is basically when i grow bored with playing it.

People take this game way to seriously, wrap up their identity and self worth into it and forget that it is just a game. You aren't a better person because you play it better than someone else. *GASP*

Yes it's frustrating when you have a goal in mind and your time is wasted. If that's the point to your playing then stick with playing alongside only the people you know.

The last thing i have to say about this is that it is a group effort. Stay with the group you are in and move at the pace that the whole group can manage or get out and go find a group that moves at the fast pace you like.

I hear you. 4 of my 5 tanks are dd (hybrid) tanks, and the Warden and Templar ones can also provide healing to the group, as well as the other buff and fluffs. Yup.. diversity..