Stupid question, do you block incoming attacks?

I play a sorc and I use inner fire to taunt. I can get my shields to about 100k using:

• Whitestrake's 5 piece
• Hardened Ward
• Harness Magicka
• Barrier
• Healing Ward

I rarely block.

Assumption: you're only finding yourself squishy in dungeons right? For open world content, your build should be all but indestructible. Dungeons, especially high level and veteran ones are in an entirely different league than open world content though.

That said 8k basic attacks from a boss seems really high. Which dungeon(s) are you seeing that in and which boss(es)?

Direfrost keep's boss for example if she lands a heavy attack on me blocked will do 9k, basics do 3k blocked, 8k unblocked, unblocked heavy's will instant kill me. this is on normal mode for veteran dungeons, I've done a veteran once and I will die instantly to anything that hits me from a boss If I'm not blocking sometimes will instant kill me while blocking at full hp. Also yes my gears fully repaired.

Is your healer healing you?

I'm running a Templar v16 Lefty Lucy variation which works pretty good for me. I do, however, need a good supporting healer behind me just in case. I normally can sustain great self heals due to the Master Sword/Malubeth Set, which I run in conjunction with the Black Rose set for PVP and the Armor Master Set for PVE. I don't have the great passives a DK does, so I usually have to throw a few heavy swings in there to sustain stamina relying on timing.

They upped the damage. Im a sorc tank and in a vet dungeon on normal that dang banekin handler can (if no shield up or ward up) can one hit me for ... i think he nailed me for 18k once. Soloing has become far more difficult, but do able.

In PvP i am all but indestructible, took 3 players to take me down

its a 1h/1h build, no 2h involved, its pure tank setup. I'm just tanking normal dungeons some undaunted regulars I'm the party leader so everything's ranked to me.

also i pick a mostly health build simply because anything less then that and basic skills tend to one shot even while blocking. I know that makes 0 sense but its the same for my friend he likes to tank on occasion. and he goes balanced dies instantly on the side all the time. Hes flustered as hell with tanking as well.

Your Health is low i can see that much. Mitigation isnt too far off. If you use the 4500 or so buff it should put you around 25k in each. You'll want around 28-30k with a food buff on. Generally speaking ( with monster helm/shoulder) you should be able to keep mitigation and hp on par with each other. 30k,30k,30k before end game. You may want to consider 2 set armor bonuses to get the physical and spell resistances. Getting the health isnt hard . Just food and health enchants should get you there. Food alone should net you about 5k hp. In my opinion get those stats first then work on regen. This will cover your mitigation values pretty well and 30k hp is plenty to take some heavy hits and get a heal. To be frank if you have 30k,30k,30k and still dropping like a stone its about heals at that point lol.

I cant stress getting to this point is not hard and minus the monster helm/shoulder it can be achieved by VR1. The rest can fall into place via skills,regens and all that. Im a healer on my templar and looted the helm and shoulder and just for fun i switched over my stats and threw on some green armor set peices. had 31k hp, 30k spell resistance and 30k physical resistance ( with proc ) and just went around lvling my tank skills ( i had sword and board maybe to level 20 that was it lmao. Tanked Vet dungeons just fine. Was even being told by rando group members i was doing quite well. All i did was Tab target each mob and taunt ( PS4 though cant exactly tab lmao) and kept bosses in good positions while keeping mobs debuffed with taunt to help out DPS. Didnt even have any health ward abilities and never died once. Just blocked on heavy special attacks and that was it.

So if I can do that on a whim im sure anyone else can do it if they were an actual tank.

i cant imagine a vet rank 3 having 30k hp

Yeah, expecting 30k health at VR3 is insane. 20k should be fine at that level. People at end game tend to hyper focus on that, or only know the numbers for max leveled gear and builds.

When you say you've done every dungeon though, does that include veteran leveled versions of the starter ones (Fungal Grotto, Banished Cells and Spindle Clutch)? Those mobs and bosses should definitely be hitting for less damage than you're describing and have simpler mechanics so that you can watch for what they are doing a bit better.

My suggestion is start with those and if they turn out as easy as I'm thinking they are, work up to the next tier and then the next and so on. Since the mechanics gradually level up in complexity that may make it easier to work out where the cut off point is in terms of "mobs in this tier of dungeons hit survivably hard, but when I move to this other tier the damage jumps through the roof".

My other thought is that Heavy Attacks are probably supposed to be as hard hitting as you describe because they're largely avoidable. Either get out of range, interrupt them if they can do, or block them if necessary. It's the healer's job to help you survive through those, assuming you're mitigating as much as you can. Taking an unblocked, unshielded heavy attack to the face is intended to kill even tanks in most cases, or at least seriously mess up their day.

For light attacks, the numbers seem high still, but depending on the attack rate that might be plausible as I run healing numbers in my head. If the bosses attack rate is 1 att/2 seconds and they do 4k per attack, that can be offset with HoTs running at 1k/sec (easy to do), your own HP Regen (1k/2 seconds) and the occasional heal for the rest.

Throw in an occasional block, dodge roll, or self heal and getting through the battles should be very doable.

I think the big differences with ESO tanking from regular tanking are that:
a.) you normally can't/don't tank all of the mobs in a group. DPS and even the healer should be able to deal with some amount of trash/add aggro.
b.) you can't face tank like you can in other MMOs. Mitigating damage through movement, interrupts, kiting, blocks and dodges is important even with a solid build. Having a healer that's on the ball is pretty key too for some fights.

I'll ask the tank in the group I play with regularly to keep an eye on his incoming damage too - I know he occasionally takes some heavy hits, but since I like playing whack-a-mole with my parties HP and Breath of Life that just makes healing more fun for me.

I'm just not sure at this point if I'm just a bad tank or if they're genuinely broken.

alright. fair enough.

As a stamina sorcerer tank, I can say the following:

1. Keep your major armour buff up at all times
2. Don't try to taunt everything all the time... it will kill your stamina and you need that for dodge rolls and blocks
3. Don't try to block everything all the time... you won't regain stamina if you do - block the heavy attacks and specials
4. Know the fights - it makes a huge difference
5. Mobility is really, really useful (hey I am a sorcerer)
6. Don't rely on shields to save you - they can be useful, but aren't to be relied on unless your a sorcerer magicka build (because they collapse quickly and cost resources to recast, and bone shield is a stamina cost)
7. Potions are your friend, as are 5-set bonuses (I use whitestrake)
8. Use AoE CC to avoid damage... not just to stand in the middle of damage givers
9. Don't stand in the red