Recommendations for Tank armor set?

BackLotBasher

I'm kind of trying my hand at the Tank class (Nord DK), and I have an Ebon set that dropped for me somewhere. My skill set is such that I'm not sure if I can do the really high level vet content and trials, so I was hoping someone could suggest a set that would go with Ebon and can be crafted or purchased for a modest amount. I have a crafting alt with 8 traits unlocked on most pieces.

macsmooth

Couple of choices if you just want to stick with group dungeons

Torug pact ice staff bar with maelstrom 1h and board, heroic slash is a part of your kit

Akaviri Dragonguard for even quicker ultimate and sustain with Nord passives, you can 1 bar this and use a 1 piece weapon set like maelstrom 1h and board

Brands of Imperium for a shield the melee group tank, fill in the timer with Obsidian Shield

Battalion defender is good but I find that it’s far better on a Warden

These are all easy to get and cheap

The_Lex

Battalion Defender is good if you have trouble surviving (or just have a bad healer). Couple that with Bogdan monster helm, and you can pretty much survive anything and won’t need a healer. I used this to learn how to tank with pugs.

BackLotBasher

The_Lex wrote: »

Battalion Defender is good if you have trouble surviving (or just have a bad healer). Couple that with Bogdan monster helm, and you can pretty much survive anything and won’t need a healer. I used this to learn how to tank with pugs.

Thanks. That sounds like it could be what I'm looking for. I'll check around the guilds.

I'm kind of new to tanking, so I'm basically trying to wrap my head around keeping all the enemies pulled toward me. I wish there was some sort of AOE taunt for all the little guys. Right now I'm just trying hold the bosses.

The_Lex

BackLotBasher wrote: »

The_Lex wrote: »

Battalion Defender is good if you have trouble surviving (or just have a bad healer). Couple that with Bogdan monster helm, and you can pretty much survive anything and won’t need a healer. I used this to learn how to tank with pugs.

Thanks. That sounds like it could be what I'm looking for. I'll check around the guilds.

I'm kind of new to tanking, so I'm basically trying to wrap my head around keeping all the enemies pulled toward me. I wish there was some sort of AOE taunt for all the little guys. Right now I'm just trying hold the bosses.

I hear you - an AOE taunt would be nice. Just make sure to prioritize the heavy-hitters (they're usually bigger and wield a 2H weapon or S&B). There's not enough magicka on Nirn to taunt and hold all of the mobs in a trash pack. Pugs will gripe about not holding all of them, but the more seasoned players will burn down the less dangerous ones rather quickly. I use Balance to restore magicka, but you sacrifice health to do so. It's not an issue with the above mentioned sets or just a good knowledge of how to handle your class.

Good luck!

Oakmontowls_ESO

The_Lex wrote: »

BackLotBasher wrote: »

The_Lex wrote: »

Battalion Defender is good if you have trouble surviving (or just have a bad healer). Couple that with Bogdan monster helm, and you can pretty much survive anything and won’t need a healer. I used this to learn how to tank with pugs.

Thanks. That sounds like it could be what I'm looking for. I'll check around the guilds.

I'm kind of new to tanking, so I'm basically trying to wrap my head around keeping all the enemies pulled toward me. I wish there was some sort of AOE taunt for all the little guys. Right now I'm just trying hold the bosses.

I hear you - an AOE taunt would be nice. Just make sure to prioritize the heavy-hitters (they're usually bigger and wield a 2H weapon or S&B). There's not enough magicka on Nirn to taunt and hold all of the mobs in a trash pack. Pugs will gripe about not holding all of them, but the more seasoned players will burn down the less dangerous ones rather quickly. I use Balance to restore magicka, but you sacrifice health to do so. It's not an issue with the above mentioned sets or just a good knowledge of how to handle your class.

Good luck!

Check the pts

thadjarvis

You can dig in pretty deep but one quick tip re AOE taunt:

Open up initial attack with an AOE damage skill as the "little guys" are effectively taunted for a few seconds and the melee's will run to you. Staff Wall skill and Caltrops are good options.

BejaProphet

thadjarvis wrote: »

You can dig in pretty deep but one quick tip re AOE taunt:

Open up initial attack with an AOE damage skill as the "little guys" are effectively taunted for a few seconds and the melee's will run to you. Staff Wall skill and Caltrops are good options.

This.

It’s a little quirky where some in a big pack ignore that it’s suppose to work but it’s still best practice. 🤷‍♂️

thadjarvis

If you want to dive into all of that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q49snx_a5ww

Bpryr_125

thadjarvis wrote: »

If you want to dive into all of that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q49snx_a5ww

TY for the link

CaptainVenom

Armor Master and Plague Doctor may be a good choice.

MartiniDaniels

I think youlnakrin is really good with ebon. You are very tanky and both sets notably buff entire group.

Oh, you mean crafted/purchased... but if you have dps toon, it is really fast to farm normal yolnakrin from Sunspire. Set is really amazing... I was juggling sets before and tried almost every tanking set in the game in different combinations... ebon+yolnkarin is what really feels better then anything else. Of course in progression groups you most probably will wear alkosh+yolnakrin. But for all other cases ebon+yolnakrin is best combo I can recommend.

Oakmontowls_ESO

CaptainVenom wrote: »

Armor Master and Plague Doctor may be a good choice.

Don't use those sets. They really aren't worth it to use them. You are going to hit the armor cap without armor Master and the extra health from Plague Dr is just going to give your healer more hp to heal.
On my dk tank I usually pair Ebon with a set like akaviri or werewolf hide for ult gen. The latter is better when you are taking damage consistently but is a medium armor set so it requires you to transmute the jewelry. Yoln is probably a much more consistent set, but it does require you to do Sunspire.
As for monster sets, I use Stone keeper for the sustain but that is probably out of your reach. If you aren't at the armor caps then something like Chudans or lord warden might be good. If both of those dungeons are too much for you, you can use a combination of pirate skeleton helm and any of the shoulders that give a resistance bonus. There is also Bloodspawn which is a solid set.

idk

My comments are based on doing 4 man dungeons.

The Ebon you have is a solid set. Good for the tank plus adds nice health/survival to the group. That is why it has been a solid tank set for years.

So Akavari is my first suggestion for a new tank and a good selfish set going forward. Good for sustain overall and helps with magicak for chains/talons/shield Torugs if you are running with a decent group and using Infused on an ice staff back bar, keeping WoE on the boss the entire time. Buffs group damage.

Battlefield defenders is a decent runner-up since it does provide some survival to you and the group. If you are running with a healer they should be taking care of that basic function of healing.

Do not use Brands of the Imperium. 10% chance to proc a shield is pretty low and unless group members are taking damage during the short life of the shield it is not doing anything at all.

In the end, If you just running dungeons, normal trials, you can wear pretty much anything.

DeepSeaDiver

I've PUG tanked some vet HM DLC dungs in crafted tank gear (For Brass etc) so don't sweat it about getting "bis/pro" gear (credit ZOS). Other gear tho obviously helps you/group. Ebon comes from Crypt Of Hearts (COH) dungs. Unless changed recently, do not use Ebon weps.

What @thadjarvis said. Deliberate design to make you prioritise taunting so you're correct with the boss. Its one of the reasons why a staff is used with Wall/Blockade skill on back bar aka to initiate aggro. Also consider running to ranged attackers as melee's will follow you ("free initial stacking"). Not needed often and it's not a taunt but Talons (DK tree) can be useful with a lot of adds/trash mobs.

Balance skill is useful as @The_Lex said tho i also replace it with Bone Shield (Undaunted tree). Depends on content/group.

Possible name confusion but I suspect the set is "Battalion Defender" which gives a heal upon blocking. Also consider Sanguine Altar (Undaunted tree), unless Healer has it.

Lots of sets mentioned here are good. Depends on what you can get and what groups you run with. If you (bad) PUG a lot, maybe lean towards group survivability (Ebon/Lord Warden etc) else consider boosting sets as mentioned above. Personally I go former with PUGs because nobody hits hard if they are dead.

PS Dont even need food when PUGing some of easy base game vet HM dungs e.g. Bless Cruc. You can use overland food (boosts HP only) you pick up for "more difficult content". Done so even on ~CP500 alt acct with vCOS/SCP etc. As long as you can block and survive the hits, its mechs as no amount of resists/HP will save you from a 1 shot.

Good luck and happy tanking!