DK - usefulness of spiked armor

Mercurio75

For my DK I chose the role of a tank. I was under the impression going for heavy armor (5pieces) is a solid choice because of the additinal armor and the armor skill line.
However, I easilly reach the armor "cap" where additional armor does not scale fortunate.
I heavily used spiked armor until I realized the armor "cap". So how useful is spiked armor? I guess (or better hope) that the reflected melee damage helps to keep me on top of the mob's hate list but I am not sure about the game-mechanics. To be honest I don't feel a big difference with spiked armor active or not. But I am still low-level...
What do you think, is it worth going for spiked armor? Or is my armor setup not suitable for a tank meaning I should include more medium or light armor pieces?

Stautmeister

If you have the skill up permanently switch to other armor types to reach those soft caps

Mercurio75

I reach the soft cap without spiked armor. At least I think so due to the information on the characters tab.

edit:
To me this looks like spiked armor is for tanks without heavy armor which is in my oppinion ridiculous. Or do I miss something important here?

DeathTrap

Mercurio75 wrote: »

To me this looks like spiked armor is for tanks without heavy armor which is in my oppinion ridiculous. Or do I miss something important here?

You are missing something important - being able to play how you like and the flexibility of the ESO system. Armor Spikes allow Dragon Knights to tank in light or medium armor, to gain all the benefits those armor types provide, at the expense of a skill slot (and to have to constantly recast it and keep in mind the Magicka cost).

Mercurio75

DeathTrap wrote: »

Mercurio75 wrote: »

To me this looks like spiked armor is for tanks without heavy armor which is in my oppinion ridiculous. Or do I miss something important here?

You are missing something important - being able to play how you like and the flexibility of the ESO system. Armor Spikes allow Dragon Knights to tank in light or medium armor, to gain all the benefits those armor types provide, at the expense of a skill slot (and to have to constantly recast it and keep in mind the Magicka cost).

Ok, got it. It seems I have to expand my thinkings and experiment more

yogarogue

Yah. I will leave armor spikes out of the hotbar for good. With a 5 piece set of heavy armor ( which I recommend whole heartedly for a tank due to passives) it becomes unnecessary. So now you have 1 free spot on your hotbar for another skill! Yay! Use it wisely. I recommend a utility driven skill or CC for handling those nasty mobs.

Mercurio75

Yep, I'll switch it with dark talons...