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Official Tanking Feedback Thread

  • actosh
    actosh
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    1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?

    To be responsible for my team to take as less dmg as possible.

    2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?

    That in most Dungeons u dont need a Full Tank, a dps with Shield is often enough. You should change that.

    3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?

    The Flesh Sculptor in vICP! To Take him and the Atronarchs while Supporting the Group and Manage your ressources is a lot of fun. Daedroth in Banished >Cells Vet was fun in the Beginning, but ill just keep stanting in the fire.

    4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?

    Enemy Players since Mitigation is pretty ***, since thx to the cp system armor/spellpen is stupidly high and u have no option to negate this. Rework a crafting trait(sturdy) to negate the pen nearly at all. (allready posted this suggestion) or make it a part of the heavy armor passives.

    5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?

    Chains. But your rework is killin my beloved tactic for example in city of ash at the ash titan, i often kite the 2 adds around and then i use chains to pull myself to the titan and get rid of the adds for around 8 secs ^^.

    6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?

    HEAVY ARMOR! Especially the passives.
    Bring back reduced cc break,
    reduce cooldown on constitution 2(secs, leave value untouched)
    Raise the healing taken value by 100%
    Add in Armorpen/Spellpenresistance per piece heavy worn and add it to 1 cp star, for example the heavy armor star.
    Bring back weapon Dmg, 1% for each piece
  • hrothbern
    hrothbern
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    Q1-Q4:
    What I like most about being tanky / a tank is to plunge myself in the turmoil of enemies & damage and stand my ground. As simple and primitive as that.

    I think that tank-demanding content is the most important issue to be resolved.
    Enough good posts already on that. And you dev guys have the statistics available as well to see in what content Tanks are still there ans apparently usefull. (but DO filter on hours played, casuals/profi's)
    Whereby noted that content that is categorised by many as "just 3 DPS + Healer" can be quite a struggle for an inexperienced group.
    I would therefore favor an elite level above the veteran level to deal with that diversity in our playerbase, and making a Tank needed again for experienced players/Groups. If a more elegant solution can be deviced, I'll sign straight away for it, but I am afraid we are currently overstretching the capabilities of the system. The skill level diversity of the player base is too big.

    Q5: Damage mitigation + the Sword & Board line. For solo the Siphoning Self Heals.

    Q6.1:
    Well.... what really strikes me as odd regarding the current game mechanics for tanks, is that we have TWO hard caps applied to us:
    1. The Armor Resist hard cap. Why ???
    2. The Mobility hard cap on Movement speed while blocking
    Damage avoidance by mobility is a prime defence method. Positioning important in a Group.
    However... Major Expedition does NOT grant the 40% movement increase while you are blocking.
    Odd !

    Q6.2:
    For every other role there is an excellent choice between the various Mundus stones. Complementing choices and focussing choices.
    But for a tank not really much.
    I can do the math here, but I know you dev guys are very good in that kind of math. So please do so for the "obvious" tank mundus stones, and you see for yourself how much they need an upgrade.


    Q6.3:
    HA needs improvement. But because it is taken up as issue. I am happy to wait.


    Q6.4:
    Collateral Damage on Tanks because of system changes for the greater good of the game.
    For example:
    SA does not proc anymore on "DOTs" from Twisting Path, Cripple, Caltrops, Energy Orb.
    I can understand that because of getting all procs handled "overall" in a more consistent way. The greater good.
    BUT seen from the NB tank, it is a brutal nerf for situations where you encounter 3-4 enemies.
    The compensation, I would expect, is to sort out in the same patch the Siphoning Strikes morphs to get a clear DD morph & a tank morph. Currently almost all the tanks use the DD morph SA.
    The fact that we get a bandaid +10% on SA only AFTER complaining gave me the impression that Tanks are not represented on the table were decisions are being taken, causing a continous stream of collateral damage to the Tank performance.

    I hope this official thread is indeed the token that tanks are having a chair now on the drawing tables :)


    Edited by hrothbern on February 23, 2016 11:32AM
    "I still do not understand why I followed the advice of Captain Rana to bring the villagers of Bleakrock into safety. We should have fought for our village and not have backed down, with our tail between our legs. Now my home village is in shambles, the houses burning, the invaders feasting.I swear every day to Shor that after Molag Bal has been defeated, I will hunt down the invaders and restore peace in Bleakrock and drink my mead with my friends at the market place".PC-EU
  • DHale
    DHale
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    Heavy armor does not mitigate damage even at 33,500 hard cap. If that is even hard cap. One shots when not blocking are common. But you can't constantly block cause Stam regen was changed to zero. This forces you to rely on shards which are not always available. Ie non Templar healers combined with Stam builds need shards as bad as you do.
    Footman is vr 13 and vr 14 is super rare and you can't even find it anymore. Drops from vet dsa which no one does.
    Armor master pariah and juggernaut erc... have huge flaws in it that make it not a viable set. The bevy armor passives suck making medium armor better with Stam cost reduction. The only aoe taunt which it is not intended is caltrops cost over 5 k stamina making them hard to use as it burn the precious Stam you already need to block.

    Suggestions:
    Upgrade footman to vr 16 sell it for tel var or ap or gold from elite vendor, sell rings necklace boots belt gloves with decent traits no training or exploration or well fitted or sturdy.
    Increase armor master armor time to 15 seconds to avoid recasting every 10 seconds.
    Improve HA passives healing received 1 percent per ha piece constitution stamina and health restoration by double current amount. Make Stam regen not stop regen until 3 seconds if in five piece heavy armor.
    Make a passive Caltrops are half As much stamina for five piece with 30 second cool down. 25 percent cheaper one skill point 50 percent 2 skill points.
    Make 5 piece heavy armor have a reduce stamina cost reduction 20 percent over medium or one skill point 10 percent 2 at 20 percent stacks with others cost reduction sources.
    Sorcerna, proud beta sorc. RIP April 2014 to May 31 2016 DArk Brotherhood. Out of retirement for negates and encases. Sorcerna will be going back into retirement to be my main crafter Fall 2018. Because an 8 k shield is f ing useless. Died because of baddies on the forum. Too much qq too little pew pew. 16 AD 2 DC. 0 EP cause they bad, CP 2300 plus 18 level 50 toons. NA, PC, Grey Host#SORCLIVESMATTER actually they don’t or they wouldn’t keep getting nerfed constantly.
  • nikolaj.lemcheb16_ESO
    nikolaj.lemcheb16_ESO
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    ZOS_Finn wrote: »
    Calling all Tanks!

    The Dungeon and Gameplay teams would love to get some feedback from all of you damage sponge, block mastering, mitigation kings out there. This thread is going to mainly cover PvE encounters specifically in group dungeons or Trials. If you like to play a tank in ESO and want to have your voice heard, or you don't and want us to know why, please answer the following questions. Please make sure you mention if you primarily play on console or PC.

    1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?
    2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?
    3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?
    4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?
    5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?
    6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?

    Thanks a lot for your feedback. We look forward to hearing what you have to say!

    1. Heal tanking as a templar tank is really fun and it free's up a healer for dps for speed runs.

    2. How superior magic tanking is to stamina tanking because of the block penalty.

    3. Banished cell end boss, because you have to juggle the agro with 3 adds, the boss and heal your party at the same time. That fight has the best mechanic in the game without being annoying and stressful like the WGT or ICP which is basically not fun to do.

    4. Darkshade spider, simply because you cannot tank it at all, going full healer in that fight.

    5. Breath of life, sounds weird but for a templar tank spell power = tanking ability.

    6. Damage shields are a very bad for a tank as they make an attack ignore your armor once they pass through the damage shield.
  • Helluin
    Helluin
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    ZOS_Finn wrote: »

    1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?
    2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?
    3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?
    4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?
    5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?
    6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?

    First of all thank you for the opportunity of these feedbacks. :)

    1. I liked the fact to have multiple options and ways to tank.
      I am and I was often switching roles with my main character (NB), so tanking was just another option that nowadays I don't use anymore but for sometimes in PvP.
      Tanking for me was a lot more fun before 1.6 for many reasons (but for light armor + s&b that it was illogical).
      The removal of softcaps, stack everything into a stat, the ultimates (but for utility ones like Aggressive Horn) scaling off max stats hit tanks as much as hybrid builds.
      I stopped to tank in PvE also for the above reasons, having fun sometimes just in PvP, as other ones explained in this topic.

    2. What stated in point 1 is the main reason but there are also additional ones related or unrelated to it:
      • damage is terribly low and it's mainly because of the removal of softcaps and ultimates scaling off max stats (this applies also to hybrid builds, that should be the distinctiveness of a TES game and the core of "Play as you want"; with every update combat is becoming less fun and TESO is becoming less TES, not as contents but as combat); if skills and ultimates scaled off just weapon/spell damage, it would be better, so max stamina and max magicka would be good just as resource pools otherwise max stamina and max magicka could have a lesser impact on damage done; all the 1.6 changements made Ultimates like Veil of Blades a lot weaker damage wise for tanks, that we can consider the only hybrid builds still usable in game
      • class morphs were more interesting when we were able to decide which according to the utility/function and not because a stamina or a magicka morph
      • resources and changements to block
      • heavy armor is terribly lackluster, passive skills should be improved resource wise and especially the passive skills requiring a set of 5 pieces are better for Light and Medium armor; using a set of 7 pieces should provide something better giving the opportunity to decide between it and Undaunted Mettle
      • in PvP with heavy armor and double bar with 1h+shield as a Nightblade I miss terribly a way to have some proper healing; with the IC changements, Strife (Swallow Soul - Funnel Health) has become garbage as a tank since having the healing based on the damage done, this healing gets twice the 50% debuff; Sap Essence has become progressively weaker than before, Leeching Strikes is probably the worst morph of NB, Refreshing Path helps a little, Catalyst was better before 1.6 because of potions and the lack of a direct healing skill (instead of the actual Catalyst I'd prefer the old one or something like Amphibious or a weak version of DK's Battle Roar).
        Last but not least, in PvP I find terribly boring that after 1.6 (also because of major buffs) and IC patch a bar with a 2H for Rally or one for Resto Staff are a sort of must. At least stamina tank has Vigor, while a magicka tank has no options.
        This applies not just to NB but mainly to it because of the lack of direct healing
      • using a magicka tank with 1h+shield, weapon enchantments procs just from stamina skills or light and heavy attacks; all magicka skills don't proc these weapon enchantments; light and heavy attacks and bash are a lot weaker
      • in Champion System there is no star to improve bash damage and it could be tied to light/heavy attacks
      • light and heavy attacks should be not buffed from Elemental Expert and Mighty but just from the stars in the Atronach
      • weapon and spell damage could be consolidated into a single stat like "bonus damage", this would make again every weapon, or at least weapon basic attacks, viable for stamina, magicka and hybrid builds, giving back the feeling of a TES game and "Play as you want"

    3. Veteran Banished Cells, VDSA, the last boss of Skyreach Catacombs (it was fun in duo or when unexperienced-ungeared)

    4. Encounters with less mobility, encounters without intriguing mechanics, encounters where a tank is not required.
      Also VMA that is better as damage dealer + some healing.

    5. Sap Essence, Veil of Blades (pre 1.6), Siphoning Attacks (not PTS one), Shadow Barrier, Talons, Volatile Armor, DK Standard, Draw Essence and especially Battle Roar (one of the best class passive skills)

    6. These are not just tools to tank but also mechanics and "quality of life" changements:
      • Something amongst what explained in point 2, especially a way to make hybrid builds and so tanks again more viable in all the contents of TESO, the chance to use again every weapon (no matter if stamina or magicka) to "Play as you want", stamina/magicka class morphs again selectable because of the ability provided and not because of max stats (for example class skills with a stamina or magicka morph could provide 4 morphs instead of 2)
      • NB tank with more avoidance/dodge options instead of usual defenses actually in game
      • I'd like an improvement of Guard (AvA - Support skill line) to make it more appealing in PvP and PvE as mechanic (maybe helping as taunt or with something else but more affordable as resources or simply debuffing damage done like Leeching Strikes)
      • Defensive Stance is already an interesting skill but I would prefer reflectable skills to become just deflectable (so no damage returned but just deflected with or without stun) but providing a taunt or generating more aggro or another effect like Minor Maim. This would be interesting for bosses with ranged mechanics.
        A changement like this could be a big problem for DK's Reflective Scale, so it should be thought carefully because of its impact
      • A system to save 2-3 builds (attributes, morphs, champion system) without respec.
        This would help a lot players who prefer to focus on one character for multiple roles
      • Reduce the materials required to craft VR16 gear: since IC patch was released months ago, this changement would be beneficial to test different combinations with sets and it would be good for every role. With VR14 gear infact it was nice to try new sets combinations upgraded to epic, then upgrade to legendary only if satisfied.
        With so many materials required, at the moment this fun part of the game is really limited.
    Edited by Helluin on February 29, 2016 5:22PM
    "... and the blue fire of Helluin flickered in the mists above the borders of the world, in that hour the Children of the Earth awoke, the Firstborn of Ilúvatar."
  • Dyride
    Dyride
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    actosh wrote: »
    1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?

    To be responsible for my team to take as less dmg as possible.

    2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?

    That in most Dungeons u dont need a Full Tank, a dps with Shield is often enough. You should change that.

    3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?

    The Flesh Sculptor in vICP! To Take him and the Atronarchs while Supporting the Group and Manage your ressources is a lot of fun. Daedroth in Banished >Cells Vet was fun in the Beginning, but ill just keep stanting in the fire.

    4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?

    Enemy Players since Mitigation is pretty ***, since thx to the cp system armor/spellpen is stupidly high and u have no option to negate this. Rework a crafting trait(sturdy) to negate the pen nearly at all. (allready posted this suggestion) or make it a part of the heavy armor passives.

    5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?

    Chains. But your rework is killin my beloved tactic for example in city of ash at the ash titan, i often kite the 2 adds around and then i use chains to pull myself to the titan and get rid of the adds for around 8 secs ^^.

    6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?

    HEAVY ARMOR! Especially the passives.
    Bring back reduced cc break,
    reduce cooldown on constitution 2(secs, leave value untouched)
    Raise the healing taken value by 100%
    Add in Armorpen/Spellpenresistance per piece heavy worn and add it to 1 cp star, for example the heavy armor star.
    Bring back weapon Dmg, 1% for each piece

    Oh man! All of this. Can't agree more on the Heavy passives.
    V Є H Є M Є И C Є
      Ḍ̼̭͔yride

      Revenge of the Bear

      ØMNI
      Solongandthanksforallthef
      Revenge of the Hist
      Revenge of the Deer


      Remember the Great Burn of of the Blackwater War!


      #FreeArgonia
    1. hrothbern
      hrothbern
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      oh
      I forgot to mention that

      Give Templar the possibility to pick up their own Shard !
      (or at least a fragment of a Shard)

      They have currently no ability like DK or NB to generate Stamina for Blocking and no shields like Sorc.

      This in order to make all classes viable for Tanking.

      With ofc differences in performance and suitability for the situation, but now they have zero.

      Edited by hrothbern on February 23, 2016 4:05PM
      "I still do not understand why I followed the advice of Captain Rana to bring the villagers of Bleakrock into safety. We should have fought for our village and not have backed down, with our tail between our legs. Now my home village is in shambles, the houses burning, the invaders feasting.I swear every day to Shor that after Molag Bal has been defeated, I will hunt down the invaders and restore peace in Bleakrock and drink my mead with my friends at the market place".PC-EU
    2. Autolycus
      Autolycus
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      I'm excited for an opportunity to get my voice to the ZOS development teams with respect to tanking in ESO. Tanking is something I have always enjoyed and the role in which I perform the best in MMORPGs. There are a lot of tanks on this thread who I feel deserve to be heard, and as someone who typically pursues unorthodox and unique build types, I hope to add something valuable to this discussion. Based on what I've seen throughout the forums, I am not convinced that what I do in ESO as a NB tank is entirely unique, although certain aspects of my playstyle might be.

      It is my hope to convey some very crucial components to tanking in ESO that are not mainstream, but are still incredibly important in the ESO universe, with respect to player build diversity and class-based tanking viability. I have been playing on the NA PC server since beta. Let's get started!


      1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?
      This is a very difficult question to answer, as it is such a broad and generic topic. Perhaps what I enjoy most about tanking in ESO is the AI's logic & rationale system, which is highly predictable but makes sense. I know that if I line-of-sight a target around a corner, one of two things will happen: if the unit is ranged, it will strafe until it can see me, keeping itself at range, and if it is melee, it will come to me anyway, following me around whatever obstacle I've used to LOS. From a PvE perspective, having these types of consistencies is crucial. Being able to make decisions on the fly, or simply knowing exactly what effect will result from a particular decision I've made or tactic I've used, is incredibly important for tanking in a fast-pased, high risk scenario.

      2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?
      I could give many specific examples of one particular issue that I find least likeable about tanking, but it all boils down to a single concept: Tanking in ESO is too easy. There isn't currently (and arguably hasn't ever been) a reason to hard cap mitigation. There is no need to min/max armor and spell resist, no need to optimize block cost reduction and maximize the amount of damage that can be mitigated. Most tanks in ESO to my knowledge put "just enough" of any particular stat into their build, whether that's reduced cost of blocking or a particular resistance, and dump everything they can afford to into some other trinity role, i.e. healing or damage.

      There are only two taunts in this game, neither of which is particularly remarkable, although I would like to note that both have their place. Pierce Armor is and will continue to be invaluable with it's debuffs to armor and spell resist, however Inner Fire is in desperate need of a rework. It simply costs too much, regardless of chosen morph, and is highly situational. There are no methods to silence casters in this game, and there should be (e.g. a skill that forces casters to do weapon or light & heavy attacks, or come to melee range).

      There are no AoE taunts, and while I have a great deal of experience with tanking in ESO and have a pretty good grasp as to why things are the way they are, I believe adding a means to control groups of enemies that is available to every class is essential for making tanking more challenging. I feel that enemies who are not focusing on the tank should be a significantly more threatening mechanic, and having an enemy who is aggro'd on a dps or healer in the party should be a serious problem. Tanks in ESO have never been required to taunt everything, rather emphasis has always been on the "key" enemies (typically melee, high damage enemies). I would argue that the good and great tanks in ESO have always aggro'd everything, despite the inherent challenges to doing so.

      3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?
      My favorite encounters to tank in ESO are those that require multiple tanks, most notably the Mantikora in Sanctum Ophidia and the Mage in Aethian Archives (hardmode). It is my understanding that the Maw of Lorkaj in the Thieves Guild update will require two tanks, and I am extremely excited at this prospect. I want to see more encounters that require tanks to trade boss aggro, and mechanics like stackable damage over time effects which the boss places on the tank make for excellent opportunities to utilize multiple tanks.

      In smaller group content, like 4-man vet dungeons, some of my favorite encounters to tank include fights like Hiath from vDSA, which puts a great deal of focus on a tank's ability to self-sustain. I don't think it's paramount for a tank to be completely self-sufficient, but fights like this really distinguish the good tanks from those that are simply "filling the group." Valkyn Skoria in vCoA is also quite enjoyable, as his mechanics force the group to separate, and not all of the mechanics fall on the healer or dps; it is necessary for the tank to be moving and focusing on boss placement to protect the group.

      I notice a trend in dungeon development and consistency throughout the course of ESO's history to-date, being that as time goes, we tend to see more well-developed and more intricately-designed mob mechanics. The original dungeons (and their veteran versions) are arguably the simplest by design and least necessary for tanks to even present, which is evidenced by the fact that the majority of groups these days aren't even using tanks to complete their pledges. These are followed by content such as SO, vDSA and vCoA which all have more complex attack patterns and variables per encounter, and these instances still require tanks for a successful completion.

      4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?
      My least favorite encounters are those that barely merit a tank's presence. This is true, as noted above, for most vet dungeons. All of the following can be done without a tank: vCoH, vFG, vDC, vBC, vSC, vWS, vEH, vIP, and vWGT. Both vIP and vWGT are substantially more challenging, and most groups still require a tank, however I have both personally and through association confirmed that these are achievable without a dedicated tank.

      I recognize in most of these cases that we've progressed far enough in character level and stats to have outpaced the dungeon difficulty. It does make sense that four vr16s with legendary gear might be able to do these without a tank, whereas players who are newer or are still leveling won't afford the same luxury. However, with battle-leveling and some experience, anyone is really capable of doing it, but it's perhaps just a matter of practice.

      There are no encounters in Craglorn proper that I enjoy tanking, as the fights are far too simple and the enemies are too under-powered (since the scaling of our attributes x10) to be real obstacles. There are certain trial bosses which I also believe are far too easy to tank, particularly the Serpent, Stonebreaker, and Ozara from SO. These fights are virtually a tank-n-spank scenario, and most mechanics for the fights are almost completely lost on tanks, falling more to the dps and healers in group. I have never done more than stand in one place and keep taunts for these bosses, even through mechanics like the Serpent's frontal poison cleave.

      Most content in ESO has become too damage-oriented, and in many cases this diminishes the necessity for a tank. Even Wrothgar world bosses can be done without a tank, and I have personally completed many of these world bosses by myself. Content such as vMA punishes anybody who is not in a high damage role; tanks and healers are not welcome. The Wispmother in AA is far too simple to take seriously, and is even frustrating at times when she randomly attacks other party members, despite being aggro'd on the tank and facing him/her. Even the Warrior in HRC is easy to tank, with almost all of the mechanics falling to the group, although I will note here that there is an obvious need for the tank to pay attention to boss positioning for the group's benefit. Every other boss in HRC is a tank-n-spank scenario, with the tank having little to do during the boss encounters but stand and block (which is boring).

      5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?
      It is difficult for me to define "tools" in this context, as pure tanking tools really are just the only two taunts we have in the game. We can make the case that many other class/weapon abilities, such as Talons, Chains, Encase, Low Slash, Defensive Stance / Flappy Wings, are in fact tanking tools which most tanks will swear by without a second thought. To this point, while I agree that these are invaluable for tanks, I would like to note that these are "tools" which are only available to a select group. NB and Templar tanks (and many Sorcerer tanks) lack truly useful class skills that offer any noteworthy tanking utility. What utility we do have access to is found in guild or weapon skill lines, and many of these are either highly inefficient, or continue to get changed in favor of damage roles.

      One tool I will swear by is Major Evasion, which can be accessed through the medium armor skill line, or as a NB tank. Having multiple forms of mitigation is crucial for the strongest of tank builds, and I've always suggested that the best form of mitigation is to not get hit at all. I have always, and will always use Major Evasion as a tank, regardless of class.

      6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?
      As someone who plays a NB tank primarily, I find this game lacks many crucial "tank tools." The list of tank tools which currently not all classes have access to include:
      1. A ranged method of silencing casters.
      2. An AoE root/snare found outside of class skills (unless you count Volcanic Rune as a viable means of AoE CC).
      3. An AoE taunt, which should merit revisions to the impact of loose mobs on the group (because right now, one or two loose guys has very little to no impact on the group). An AoE taunt isn't necessary right now, but it should be. I'd like to see trash pulls and boss fights that merit more group-wide aggro and CC. Even without a "hard taunt" mechanic, tanks should have some AoE utility to control groups. We can accomplish the same thing with Stances. Imagine having a passive boost to aggro generation, and using something like Talons, Sap, Lightning Form, Blazing Shield would make them more likely to turn your way. Not a hard taunt; rather a soft aggro supplement.
      4. Better Heavy Armor passives that offset the lack of stamina recovery while blocking and incentivize tanks to stack health and full heavy gear, rather than orient towards the minimum requirements for tanking and dumping all else into damage or healing capabilities. Why do we have dps and healers if the tank needs to be doing that stuff too?

      There are other items I could add to the list, but these are the ones I find most important.


      In anticipation of the Thieves Guild update and some of the intended changes that were posted on the PTS natch potes, I want to reference a couple of threads (one of which is my own) that I feel are very insightful and constructive. These threads highlight a number of important concepts that are applicable to tanks of all classes, however the first two are more from the eyes of NB tanks, with the third being a more general approach:

      Siphoning Attacks Feedback: An In-Depth NB Tanking Perspective

      PTS Natch Pots: NB Resource Gain Nerf

      Unofficial Feedback Thread for Tanking Thieves Guild

      I very much appreciate you taking the time to read this and consider its content. There are a great many of knowledgeable and experienced tanks present here on the forums, and I feel it's important that voices from all classes and perspectives are considered. Most of the current "issues" with tanking as a viable role in ESO are consistent from person to person, regardless of class, so it is my belief that ZOS can determine an appropriate list of accommodations to the tanking role on an ongoing basis, as most of us are not providing conflicting perspectives.
      Edited by Autolycus on February 24, 2016 2:59PM
    3. lolo_01b16_ESO
      lolo_01b16_ESO
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      ✭✭
      ZOS_Finn wrote: »
      1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?
      2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?
      3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?
      4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?
      5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?
      6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?
      I play on PC-EU und mostly tank with one of my dks. In the past I occasionally tanked on my nb and sometimes I use my templar as heal-tank for easier vet dungoens (like spindle or darkshade).

      1. Keeping control over the fight by using skills like chains and talons and being able to support your group with buffs and enemy debuffs.
      2. Many fights are boring untill something goes wrong. The most fun I had while tanking lately, was when the healer got bugged and the dds died at 70% and 25% boss health, so I had to finish the titan in city of ash alone. If they would all have been alive, the boss would have been dead before the second add would have had a chance to hit me.
      It's also very annoying that you drop block when you swap weapons as this forces you to fight with only one bar in some encounters.
      3. Hard to say. My favourite trial encounter is Hel Ra hardmode, when our tactic is to move him around and not stack and burn. For dungeons I like wgt, icp (apart from that annoying last boss) and the last 2 bosses in coa. But that's probably because there the chance that some dds fails and the fight gets difficult is higher than in most other dungeons. Other fights like coh last boss or some dsa rounds used to be fun aswell, but currently when Nerien'eth is already below 40% when he spawns his first set of adds it's not that fun anymore.
      4. Lord Warden and the netch boss in Darkshade. I don't like fights where my enemies jump around randomly.
      5. Chains, talons and the stamina management on my redguard dk (helping hands, battle roar, adrenalin rush)
      6. On my redguard I can even tank trial hardmodes in medium armour (without using armour master). It would be nice, if heavy armour would get buffed a bit. Maybe by increasing the maximum damage mitigation it offers and the ressource return from constitution and at the same time increase the damage enemies do, so tanking in medium isn't that easy anymore.
    4. Jar_Ek
      Jar_Ek
      ✭✭✭✭✭
      Ok, I'll bite.

      I play on the pc as a first person Argonian stamina sorcerer tank (i swap from dps to tank and hence have lowish magicka) and yes that is probably not optimal.

      1. Being able to play in first person in a dungeon and survive the occasional cockup (pretty inevitable given first person modes limitations).
      Also being able to actively participate as a tank.

      2. Stamina management and the relative uselessness of heavy armour passives. The problem is that if the encounter is easy you don't need or really bother with block unless it's a major attack... And if it's hard then your stamina vanishes very fast as you block. My personal preference would be to increase the mitigation (and base crit resistance) of heavy armour and reduce the mitigation of block - such that block was useful to use against powerful attacks and undesirable to use otherwise. Also do not penalise stamina regeneration so much when blocking in 5/5 heavy armour - allow some level of return (25% or 50%)

      3. Favourite? Hmm probably Molag Kena, as it requires me to keep on my toes without punishing me for being first person.

      4. Hmm personally I dislike Grobull because it's either very boring moving the boss around or its a dps fight. Oh and overfiend - I hate his flurry as it depletes stamina, hits hard and snares.

      5. Well class skill wise I only have boundless lightning tbh - although I may try the clannfear again with the changes. Encase is too unreliable and expensive, streak is expensive and bound armour too weak for tanking - oh and as a stamina build hardened ward is garbage. Non class I love shielded assault - I love the mobility.

      6. Heavy Armour could do with a buff, but my main gripe is with the utter lack of any tanking mitigation within the sorcerers class skills for the traditional stamina sword and board tank rather than a max magicka hardened ward tank. Basically we have no ultimates that support tanking bosses / mitigate damage significantly, and no way to heal or recover resources without being pounded on (clannfear changes may help with this a bit). Now on easy fights this is no big deal, but when the healer is down and the boss is wailing on you it gets tricky as one hit unblocked as you try to heavy attack or cast dark deal could end the fight. It's a kiting game with streak and boundless and couldn't feel less tanky by design.

    5. ThatNeonZebraAgain
      ThatNeonZebraAgain
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      Wooo! Thanks for opening the thread.

      My main character since 5-day early access of PC launch has been an Argonian Nightblade tank. Over the years, I've played this character as stamina, magicka, and pure hybrid build. Please see my recent thread for an in-depth discussion of the current state of NB tanking and how it is being undermined by the upcoming changes to Siphoning Attacks.


      1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?
      • That each class has (or perhaps had) the potential to bring its own style of tanking to the table. However, each Update since last August (IC update) has progressively undermined non-DK classes' ability to tank. First Templars and Sorc tanks became virtually obsolete thanks to the no stamina regen while blocking change (these two classes lack a way to restore stamina during combat), and now NB tanks are severely hamstrung by the upcoming change to Siphoning Attacks.
      • Similarly, and quite interestingly, the variety of ways to get high mitigation and the lack of 'best in slot' tanking sets, gives rise to a lot of fun diversity for gearing up as a tank. For example, I run with 5pc Juggernaut, 3pc Willpower, 2pc Malubeth, 2pc Lamae--stack those self-heals, healing received, and magicka/spell power baby!
      • That there is no AoE taunt and you have to prioritize your targets.
      • The active blocking/interrupting/dodge-rolling combat system is hugely fun as a tank. Gives you clear ways to master your role and contribute to group effectiveness and self survival.

      2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?
      This thread pretty much sums it up, but here's my list:
      • Health is a weak stat compared to Magicka and Stamina (this includes Health regen). No other stats or bonuses (e.g. weapon/spell power) are connected to it, and no abilities scale off of it except an underpowered damage shield (Bone Shield). This is an issue tied to an original aspect of the game's design, that health=heavy armor=tanking, magicka=light armor=class abilities and staves, and stamina=medium armor=melee weapon. This concept no longer works (some would say it has never worked, as there was a reason the game was called Elder Staves Online for most of its first year), and tanks are left in the dust as you can build DPS characters that can stay alive just as good as a tank and healer, but while also cranking out big damage. Certain bonuses need to passively scale with Health the same way that Spell/Weapon Power increase with max Magicka/Stamina; Cost reduction and/or mitigation/resistances would be great things to have passively scale with Health (or just decouple spell/weapon power from max mag/stam).
      • Heavy Armor is woefully underpowered compared to Light and Medium. This is not just in terms of its passives, but also deeper design issues in which high overall mitigation can be achieved even with low resistances (by stacking ability/passive/gear mitigation bonuses) or simply through damage shields or dodge-rolling. See above link and the rest of the comments in this thread for more on these issues. I will say that the Constitution passive would help a lot with tanks' resource management problems if it was put back to it's pre-1.6 values (the nerfs to Heavy Armor in that Update were completely unnecessary anyways).
      • There is a lack of good and diverse tanking sets, or the interesting ones are locked behind horrible RNG (e.g. Brands of Imperium and Leeching), aren't scaled up (e.g. Footman's, Immortal Warrior, Storm Knight, Unassailable), are stuck with crappy traits (e.g. Footman's, Storm knight), don't come in Heavy Armor (e.g. Almalexia), or inexplicably lose their shield or jewelry slot (e.g. Juggernaut lost its shield in 1.7 when it started scaling up to V16). Then there's things like the Pariah set in Wrothgar, which sound good in theory but show a disconnect with actual tanking gameplay. The reason why this set makes no sense is because you want your resistances at or very near the cap while at 100% health. So, if you're near the cap already, the extra boost of resists at low health isn't helpful at all, not to mention many bosses have 1 shot mechanics so that your resists don't even matter. And don't even get me started on the ridiculousness of Maelstrom 1h sword and shield, I just can't even.
      • Hidden and complicated resistances and mitigation formulas. This mainly stems from mixing percentages (eg "gain X% mitigation") and flat values (e.g. Physical and Spell Resistance stats), and also having a 50% hardcap for passive resistance alongside a different formula for mitigation from blocking. See my comment in this thread, which helps unravel this mess, but also shows how player unfriendly it is to try and figure this out when choosing your tanking gear. We need simplified stats in our character window that give our overall incoming damage mitigation while blocking and not blocking, and which are responsive to our passives, slotted abilities, and gear.
      • Lack of taunt immunity. This took away some of the challenge and player skill dimension to managing aggro.
      • Lack of content where you truly need tanks. Because of the power creep afforded by the Champion System and lack of softcaps, as well as the coupling of damage-dealing and healing stats, most vet dungeons can be completed faster (if more hectic) with 3-4 DPS builds and maybe an off-healer. In addition, the existing endgame PvE content in Craglorn has not been scaled up. As a result, there's currently only a handful of encounters where you actually need a tank (especially now that Monster Sets are going to be sold by a vendor-- why run them for the 501st time when 500 times was more then enough?.
      • The buff timer mini-game. This might be an issue specific to NB tanks, who have to manage the Shadow Barrier passive buff timer, the timer of the Shadow ability used to proc that buff (eg Twisting/Refreshing Path), Mirage/Double Take, and Siphoning Attacks, all on top of the timers for taunts and other Major/Minor buffs. To make matters worse, each is on a different timer! So you easily lose track of which buffs are expiring (even with addons it gets tedious, can't even begin to think what it must be like on consoles) and can end up wasting a lot of resources because it is too easy to re-up buffs before their timer is up.
      • Lack of group support abilities. Guard needs a Magicka morph!

      3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?
      Perhaps Grobull in Darkshade. You don't even really need a tank if you decent AoE DPS, but as a NB tank it is hugely fun to kite a big boss and a horde of adds with Sap Essence and Twisting/Refreshing Path. Other good ones are Ash Titan, Valkyn Skoria, Maw of the Infernal, Kinlord Rilis, Nerienth, and the Axes in AA final boss.

      4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?
      Planar Inhibitor. Good thing about a magicka NB tank is that I can switching into a DPS role pretty easily, but the fact that the tank role is completely undermined isn't fun.

      5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?
      Strangely enough, I find stacking +healing received bonuses very fun. When you're already tanky from high resists/mitigation, it's a handy tool to help stay alive. It's why I rolled an Argonian NB tank (well, that and the bonuses to potion effectiveness, which were taken away in Update 1.6).

      6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?
      • Better resource management. Tanks DO NOT just need health. In fact, you really don't need more than 27k for pretty much any encounter. Having too much health is actually a liability because it means you have less stamina or magicka--what you really need to do your job (taunt, block, buff, stay alive). This means we need ways to restore/replenish (not simply regen) our stats (primarily Stamina) during combat without having to always be dropping block. To balance this, create tradeoffs: put damage reductions, speed penalty, or other negative effects on passive and abilities since those things don't matter to a tank but would also discourage their (ab)use by higher-powered DPS/PvP builds.
      • Improvements to Heavy Armor that alleviate the problems tank face (mainly resource management and being unneeded in the game's new DPS-centric design).
      • Things that are not improvements, but simply not undermining of each class's ability to tank. I would like you to ask yourselves, "how would this change affect tanks of X class?" For example, many group support and tanking tools (eg CC and maim debuffs) do not work on more bosses and their adds. I realize that in some cases this would nullify some boss mechanics, but it is also frustrating to be limited in terms the unique ways each class can deal with an encounter. For example, fearing the Daedroth adds during the last boss of Vet Banished Cells was a unique capability of NB tanks that helped ensure getting the Gold Key, but then a patch made them immune. Now there's no strategy other than hope you don't run out of stamina.
      Edited by ThatNeonZebraAgain on February 24, 2016 2:51AM
      Gore-of-the-Forest Argonian Nightblade
      Wode Earthrender Breton Dragonknight
      Ceol the Last Baron Redguard Dragonknight
      Wayra High Elf Sorceress
      Erebain Salothran Dark Elf Templar
      Rituals-of-the-Forest Argonian Warden
    6. WolfingHour
      WolfingHour
      ✭✭✭✭
      On PC since before PC launch. NB tank before... Craglorn perhaps?

      1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?
      Depending on the encounter, it can be more than standing i'm one place, creating aggro on a single target. Being able to influence the battlefield with debuffs, CCS and grabs should be our second priority. Boss encounters with very distinct phases.
      2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?
      The recent changes to stamina management.
      I want to do more than stacking resistances, HP, stamina and just pressing taunt. For that to happen, tanks (any class) should be far more self sufficient than they are now..
      3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?
      Ash titan. Vet rillis when the projectiles couldn't be blocked and you had to dodge roll. Kena without the spears glitch. Nerieneth. Ibomez without the burn tactic. Gamyne bandu. First iteration of Praxin Duoare.
      4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?
      Any that has: burn phases. Single target encounters that is just tank+spank. Reliance in random effects like being dropped in vICP portals. Anything that can be bypassed. Venore winterborne.
      5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?
      Volcanic rune. Best. Cc. In. The. Game. Period.
      6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?
      Siphoning attacks since the recent (and upcoming) changes negate my favourite playstyle. (See point 1 above)

      I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place for this, but I honestly think that DPS is out of control

      It is trivializing most of the content, which harms every class on every role.
    7. ThatNeonZebraAgain
      ThatNeonZebraAgain
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      Heads up ZOS peeps, I linked to this thread on the ESO subreddit. Hopefully it will steer more people to this thread, but I imagine people will probably post their opinions there as well.
      Gore-of-the-Forest Argonian Nightblade
      Wode Earthrender Breton Dragonknight
      Ceol the Last Baron Redguard Dragonknight
      Wayra High Elf Sorceress
      Erebain Salothran Dark Elf Templar
      Rituals-of-the-Forest Argonian Warden
    8. dodgehopper_ESO
      dodgehopper_ESO
      ✭✭✭✭✭
      ✭✭✭
      DHale wrote: »
      Heavy armor does not mitigate damage even at 33,500 hard cap. If that is even hard cap. One shots when not blocking are common. But you can't constantly block cause Stam regen was changed to zero. This forces you to rely on shards which are not always available. Ie non Templar healers combined with Stam builds need shards as bad as you do.
      Footman is vr 13 and vr 14 is super rare and you can't even find it anymore. Drops from vet dsa which no one does.
      Armor master pariah and juggernaut erc... have huge flaws in it that make it not a viable set. The bevy armor passives suck making medium armor better with Stam cost reduction. The only aoe taunt which it is not intended is caltrops cost over 5 k stamina making them hard to use as it burn the precious Stam you already need to block.

      Suggestions:
      Upgrade footman to vr 16 sell it for tel var or ap or gold from elite vendor, sell rings necklace boots belt gloves with decent traits no training or exploration or well fitted or sturdy.
      Increase armor master armor time to 15 seconds to avoid recasting every 10 seconds.
      Improve HA passives healing received 1 percent per ha piece constitution stamina and health restoration by double current amount. Make Stam regen not stop regen until 3 seconds if in five piece heavy armor.
      Make a passive Caltrops are half As much stamina for five piece with 30 second cool down. 25 percent cheaper one skill point 50 percent 2 skill points.
      Make 5 piece heavy armor have a reduce stamina cost reduction 20 percent over medium or one skill point 10 percent 2 at 20 percent stacks with others cost reduction sources.

      This caltrops point is a very good one. Its the best CC a tank has if they are not a dragon knight, and it draws from the same pool needed for blocking. Unfortunately, DK is also the best at keeping stamina up while blocking, further damaging other classes ability to tank. I realize that Sorcerer has a 'path' based cc which is fairly decent, but requires much greater positioning than talons or caltrops. You make a very good point here @DHale .
      US/AD - Dodge Hopper - Vet Imperial Templar | US/AD - Goj-ei-Raj - Vet Argonian Nightblade
      US/AD - Arondonimo - Vet Altmer Sorcerer | US/AD - Azumarax - Vet Dunmer Dragon Knight
      US/AD - Barkan al-Sheharesh - Vet Redguard Dragon Knight | US/AD - Aelus Vortavoriil - Vet Altmer Templar
      US/AD - Shirari Qa'Dar - Vet Khajiit Nightblade | US/AD - Ndvari Mzunchvolenthumz - Vet Bosmer Nightblade
      US/EP - Yngmar - Vet Nord Dragon Knight | US/EP - Reloth Ur Fyr - Vet Dunmer Sorcerer
      US/DC - Muiredeach - Vet Breton Sorcerer | US/DC - Nachtrabe - Vet Orc Nightblade
      EU/DC - Dragol gro-Unglak - Vet Orc Dragon Knight | EU/DC - Targan al-Barkan - Vet Redguard Templar
      EU/DC - Wuthmir - Vet Nord Sorcerer | EU/DC - Kosh Ragotoro - Vet Khajiit Nightblade
      <And plenty more>
    9. ThatNeonZebraAgain
      ThatNeonZebraAgain
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      DHale wrote: »
      Heavy armor does not mitigate damage even at 33,500 hard cap. If that is even hard cap. One shots when not blocking are common. But you can't constantly block cause Stam regen was changed to zero. This forces you to rely on shards which are not always available. Ie non Templar healers combined with Stam builds need shards as bad as you do.
      Footman is vr 13 and vr 14 is super rare and you can't even find it anymore. Drops from vet dsa which no one does.
      Armor master pariah and juggernaut erc... have huge flaws in it that make it not a viable set. The bevy armor passives suck making medium armor better with Stam cost reduction. The only aoe taunt which it is not intended is caltrops cost over 5 k stamina making them hard to use as it burn the precious Stam you already need to block.

      Suggestions:
      Upgrade footman to vr 16 sell it for tel var or ap or gold from elite vendor, sell rings necklace boots belt gloves with decent traits no training or exploration or well fitted or sturdy.
      Increase armor master armor time to 15 seconds to avoid recasting every 10 seconds.
      Improve HA passives healing received 1 percent per ha piece constitution stamina and health restoration by double current amount. Make Stam regen not stop regen until 3 seconds if in five piece heavy armor.
      Make a passive Caltrops are half As much stamina for five piece with 30 second cool down. 25 percent cheaper one skill point 50 percent 2 skill points.
      Make 5 piece heavy armor have a reduce stamina cost reduction 20 percent over medium or one skill point 10 percent 2 at 20 percent stacks with others cost reduction sources.

      This caltrops point is a very good one. Its the best CC a tank has if they are not a dragon knight, and it draws from the same pool needed for blocking. Unfortunately, DK is also the best at keeping stamina up while blocking, further damaging other classes ability to tank. I realize that Sorcerer has a 'path' based cc which is fairly decent, but requires much greater positioning than talons or caltrops. You make a very good point here @DHale .

      Caltrops was even better for NBs when it had a chance to proc Siphoning Attacks. /sad
      Gore-of-the-Forest Argonian Nightblade
      Wode Earthrender Breton Dragonknight
      Ceol the Last Baron Redguard Dragonknight
      Wayra High Elf Sorceress
      Erebain Salothran Dark Elf Templar
      Rituals-of-the-Forest Argonian Warden
    10. dodgehopper_ESO
      dodgehopper_ESO
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      ✭✭✭
      Autolycus wrote: »
      I'm excited for an opportunity to get my voice to the ZOS development teams with respect to tanking in ESO. Tanking is something I have always enjoyed and the role in which I perform the best in MMORPGs. There are a lot of tanks on this thread who I feel deserve to be heard, and as someone who typically pursues unorthodox and unique build types, I hope to add something valuable to this discussion. Based on what I've seen throughout the forums, I am not convinced that what I do in ESO as a NB tank is entirely unique, although certain aspects of my playstyle might be.

      It is my hope to convey some very crucial components to tanking in ESO that are not mainstream, but are still incredibly important in the ESO universe, with respect to player build diversity and class-based tanking viability. I have been playing on the NA PC server since beta. Let's get started!


      1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?
      This is a very difficult question to answer, as it is such a broad and generic topic. Perhaps what I enjoy most about tanking in ESO is the AI's logic & rationale system, which is highly predictable but makes sense. I know that if I line-of-sight a target around a corner, one of two things will happen: if the unit is ranged, it will strafe until it can see me, keeping itself at range, and if it is melee, it will come to me anyway, following me around whatever obstacle I've used to LOS. From a PvE perspective, having these types of consistencies is crucial. Being able to make decisions on the fly, or simply knowing exactly what effect will result from a particular decision I've made or tactic I've used, is incredibly important for tanking in a fast-pased, high risk scenario.

      2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?
      I could give many specific examples of one particular issue that I find least likeable about tanking, but it all boils down to a single concept: Tanking in ESO is too easy. There isn't currently (and arguably hasn't ever been) a reason to hard cap mitigation. There is no need to min/max armor and spell resist, no need to optimize block cost reduction and maximize the amount of damage that can be mitigated. Most tanks in ESO to my knowledge put "just enough" of any particular stat into their build, whether that's reduced cost of blocking or a particular resistance, and dump everything they can afford to into some other trinity role, i.e. healing or damage.

      There are only two taunts in this game, neither of which is particularly remarkable, although I would like to note that both have their place. Pierce Armor is and will continue to be invaluable with it's debuffs to armor and spell resist, however Inner Fire is in desperate need of a rework. It simply costs too much, regardless of chosen morph, and is highly situational. There are no methods to silence casters in this game, and there should be (e.g. a skill that forces casters to do weapon or light & heavy attacks, or come to melee range).

      There are no AoE taunts, and while I have a great deal of experience with tanking in ESO and have a pretty good grasp as to why things are the way they are, I believe adding a means to control groups of enemies that is available to every class is essential for making tanking more challenging. I feel that enemies who are not focusing on the tank should be a significantly more threatening mechanic, and having an enemy who is aggro'd on a dps or healer in the party should be a serious problem. Tanks in ESO have never been required to taunt everything, rather emphasis has always been on the "key" enemies (typically melee, high damage enemies). I would argue that the good and great tanks in ESO have always aggro'd everything, despite the inherent challenges to doing so.

      3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?
      My favorite encounters to tank in ESO are those that require multiple tanks, most notably the Mantikora in Sanctum Ophidia and the Mage in Aethian Archives (hardmode). It is my understanding that the Maw of Lorkaj in the Thieves Guild update will require two tanks, and I am extremely excited at this prospect. I want to see more encounters that require tanks to trade boss aggro, and mechanics like stackable damage over time effects which the boss places on the tank make for excellent opportunities to utilize multiple tanks.

      In smaller group content, like 4-man vet dungeons, some of my favorite encounters to tank include fights like Hiath from vDSA, which puts a great deal of focus on a tank's ability to self-sustain. I don't think it's paramount for a tank to be completely self-sufficient, but fights like this really distinguish the good tanks from those that are simply "filling the group." Valkyn Skoria in vCoA is also quite enjoyable, as his mechanics force the group to separate, and not all of the mechanics fall on the healer or dps; it is necessary for the tank to be moving and focusing on boss placement to protect the group.

      I notice a trend in dungeon development and consistency throughout the course of ESO's history to-date, being that as time goes, we tend to see more well-developed and more intricately-designed mob mechanics. The original dungeons (and their veteran versions) are arguably the simplest by design and least necessary for tanks to even present, which is evidenced by the fact that the majority of groups these days aren't even using tanks to complete their pledges. These are followed by content such as SO, vDSA and vCoA which all have more complex attack patterns and variables per encounter, and these instances still require tanks for a successful completion.

      4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?
      My least favorite encounters are those that barely merit a tank's presence. This is true, as noted above, for most vet dungeons. All of the following can be done without a tank: vCoH, vFG, vDC, vBC, vSC, vWS, vEH, vIP, and vWGT. Both vIP and vWGT are substantially more challenging, and most groups still require a tank, however I have both personally and through association confirmed that these are achievable without a dedicated tank.

      I recognize in most of these cases that we've progressed far enough in character level and stats to have outpaced the dungeon difficulty. It does make sense that four vr16s with legendary gear might be able to do these without a tank, whereas players who are newer or are still leveling won't afford the same luxury. However, with battle-leveling and some experience, anyone is really capable of doing it, but it's perhaps just a matter of practice.

      There are no encounters in Craglorn proper that I enjoy tanking, as the fights are far too simple and the enemies are too under-powered (since the scaling of our attributes x10) to be real obstacles. There are certain trial bosses which I also believe are far too easy to tank, particularly the Serpent, Stonebreaker, and Ozara from SO. These fights are virtually a tank-n-spank scenario, and most mechanics for the fights are almost completely lost on tanks, falling more to the dps and healers in group. I have never done more than stand in one place and keep taunts for these bosses, even through mechanics like the Serpent's frontal poison cleave.

      Most content in ESO has become too damage-oriented, and in many cases this diminishes the necessity for a tank. Even Wrothgar world bosses can be done without a tank, and I have personally completed many of these world bosses by myself. Content such as vMA punishes anybody who is not in a high damage role; tanks and healers are not welcome. The Wispmother in AA is far too simple to take seriously, and is even frustrating at times when she randomly attacks other party members, despite being aggro'd on the tank and facing him/her. Even the Warrior in HRC is easy to tank, with almost all of the mechanics falling to the group, although I will note here that there is an obvious need for the tank to pay attention to boss positioning for the group's benefit. Every other boss in HRC is a tank-n-spank scenario, with the tank having little to do during the boss encounters but stand and block (which is boring).

      5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?
      It is difficult for me to define "tools" in this context, as pure tanking tools really are just the only two taunts we have in the game. We can make the case that many other class abilities, such as Talons, Chains, Encase, Low Slash, Defensive Stance / Flappy Wings, are in fact tanking tools which most tanks will swear by without a second thought. To this point, while I agree that these are invaluable for tanks, I would like to note that these are "tools" which are only available to a select group. NB and Templar tanks (and many Sorcerer tanks) lack truly useful class skills that offer any noteworthy tanking utility. What utility we do have access to is found in guild or weapon skill lines, and many of these are either highly inefficient, or continue to get changed in favor of damage roles.

      One tool I will swear by is Major Evasion, which can be accessed through the medium armor skill line, or as a NB tank. Having multiple forms of mitigation is crucial for the strongest of tank builds, and I've always suggested that the best form of mitigation is to not get hit at all. I have always, and will always use Major Evasion as a tank, regardless of class.

      6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?
      As someone who plays a NB tank primarily, I find this game lacks many crucial "tank tools." The list of tank tools which currently not all classes have access to include:
      1. A ranged method of silencing casters.
      2. An AoE root/snare found outside of class skills (unless you count Volcanic Rune as a viable means of AoE CC).
      3. An AoE taunt, which should merit revisions to the impact of loose mobs on the group (because right now, one or two loose guys has very little to no impact on the group). An AoE taunt isn't necessary right now, but it should be. I'd like to see trash pulls and boss fights that merit more group-wide aggro and CC.
      4. Better Heavy Armor passives that offset the lack of stamina recovery while blocking and incentivize tanks to stack health and full heavy gear, rather than orient towards the minimum requirements for tanking and dumping all else into damage or healing capabilities. Why do we have dps and healers if the tank needs to be doing that stuff too?

      There are other items I could add to the list, but these are the ones I find most important.


      In anticipation of the Thieves Guild update and some of the intended changes that were posted on the PTS natch potes, I want to reference a couple of threads (one of which is my own) that I feel are very insightful and constructive. These threads highlight a number of important concepts that are applicable to tanks of all classes, however the first two are more from the eyes of NB tanks, with the third being a more general approach:

      Siphoning Attacks Feedback: An In-Depth NB Tanking Perspective

      PTS Natch Pots: NB Resource Gain Nerf

      Unofficial Feedback Thread for Tanking Thieves Guild

      I very much appreciate you taking the time to read this and consider its content. There are a great many of knowledgeable and experienced tanks present here on the forums, and I feel it's important that voices from all classes and perspectives are considered. Most of the current "issues" with tanking as a viable role in ESO are consistent from person to person, regardless of class, so it is my belief that ZOS can determine an appropriate list of accommodations to the tanking role on an ongoing basis, as most of us are not providing conflicting perspectives.

      I agree with you wholeheartedly on the issue of AoE CC. Volcanic Rune honestly doesn't count as a CC in my book. The area of effect is far too small to be effective, and pales in comparison to the likes of Talons or Encase (with encase being inferior because it requires the enemies to be in a path directly in front of you). Your assessment on this is spot on, and this is why so many of us Nightblade/Templar Tanks used Caltrops, and now find ourselves in a situation where Caltrops are no longer viable or at the very least extremely difficult to utilize. Caltrops are also a much slushier form of cc when compared to the likes of Talons, since one offers snare and the other offers a root with synergy damage.

      The issue of inequity toward Tanks with regard to the treatment of attributes is another very important point, and one that seems to have gotten lost in the conversation for a long time. You make the important point that we are fighting to be 'good enough' on everything, a decision that no one else has to make. I've been arguing for some time that mitigation skills actually scale off of damage stats, which ironically end up hurting Tank design, and requiring us as tank players do to some pretty fancy optimization mathematics to really figure out the best ways to make our character. This is also made worse by the problem of mechanics in some dungeons (and in some cases pvp) where one-shot light attacks come into play. Health is I think by all accounts a dump stat, that even as a Tank we try to put as little of as possible, and I beileve this is a major flaw in the game design.
      US/AD - Dodge Hopper - Vet Imperial Templar | US/AD - Goj-ei-Raj - Vet Argonian Nightblade
      US/AD - Arondonimo - Vet Altmer Sorcerer | US/AD - Azumarax - Vet Dunmer Dragon Knight
      US/AD - Barkan al-Sheharesh - Vet Redguard Dragon Knight | US/AD - Aelus Vortavoriil - Vet Altmer Templar
      US/AD - Shirari Qa'Dar - Vet Khajiit Nightblade | US/AD - Ndvari Mzunchvolenthumz - Vet Bosmer Nightblade
      US/EP - Yngmar - Vet Nord Dragon Knight | US/EP - Reloth Ur Fyr - Vet Dunmer Sorcerer
      US/DC - Muiredeach - Vet Breton Sorcerer | US/DC - Nachtrabe - Vet Orc Nightblade
      EU/DC - Dragol gro-Unglak - Vet Orc Dragon Knight | EU/DC - Targan al-Barkan - Vet Redguard Templar
      EU/DC - Wuthmir - Vet Nord Sorcerer | EU/DC - Kosh Ragotoro - Vet Khajiit Nightblade
      <And plenty more>
    11. DHale
      DHale
      ✭✭✭✭✭
      Yes, Not sure why siphoning needed to be changed, that said using unchained from the cp tree is critical now for a nb or non dk tank. Espically with the 30 percent Stam regen from assassin to 15 percent all stats and 15 percent Stam regen loss from ww passive. I use a vr 15 trash Stam pot throw caltrops and then hit shuffle for armor master or immovable. Then taunt or chain with magic then pot pierce armor and heroic slash while using choking talons etc... Wash rinse and repeat. I try to reapply caltrops every 30 seconds if good on Stam. Usually don't need to taunt much. Max you stamina cost reduction and magic regen and magic cost reduction don't bother with Stam regen
      Sorcerna, proud beta sorc. RIP April 2014 to May 31 2016 DArk Brotherhood. Out of retirement for negates and encases. Sorcerna will be going back into retirement to be my main crafter Fall 2018. Because an 8 k shield is f ing useless. Died because of baddies on the forum. Too much qq too little pew pew. 16 AD 2 DC. 0 EP cause they bad, CP 2300 plus 18 level 50 toons. NA, PC, Grey Host#SORCLIVESMATTER actually they don’t or they wouldn’t keep getting nerfed constantly.
    12. TheM0rganism
      TheM0rganism
      ✭✭✭
      1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?
      That this role is best suited for my leadership abilities in calling out strategies, synergies, shards, etc. I love helping other players out and dictating the pace of the engagements. I like the idea that nothing can get past me.

      2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?
      I strongly dislike the utter lack of diversity and overlooked status of my stamina (templar) tank. Everyone gives me the same response of: "Really? How does that even work?!" You completely neglected the concept of this particular class combo and it shows every single dungeon; even moreso after the block-nerf. I can get a really high amount of weapon damage (relatively speaking) and utility and mitigation going, but I can't tank a thousand mobs like DKs or NBs without the healer going ham on me because I have zero AOE, regen and CC from my class abilities. You preach on about your constant strive for balance and parity when there is none for my guy. In fact, it's more than often the exact opposite through wave after wave of nerfs and neglect. A wave of buffs would only put stamina-temp-tanks on level with any other class combination.

      3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?
      I love tanking bosses that are numerous or have a number of adds (like The Ebony Blade or the end of Banished Cells or the library of WTG or the end of the trap rooms before the Warden in ICP), as my performance is pronounced and one of the few instances of "Oh, yea, that's what we need him for..." It's one of the few times I feel any fulfillment.

      4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?
      Fights that involve some mob that cannot be taunted or a mechanic that can be out-DPS and, thusly, ignored. That being said, I like the Planar Inhibitor fight, since I get to use my Medium armor set, but, again, in the back of my mind, I can't help but feel like I'm directly being undermined in a way no other class can relate to.

      5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?
      My Templar's AOE CC along with active/passive abilities that help me manage both numerous mobs along with my resources. Oh wait...

      In all seriousness, you'e offered extremely few tools with which to tank. Puncture and Inner Fire are literally the only REAL tanking tools in the game. Caltrops helped me tremendously once I got it, but it still has a (deservedly) high resource cost. The changes for Rune Focus are so long overdue it's almost laughable; appreciated, but laughable.

      So in summation: nothing is fun to use when you're a Tankplar.


      6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?
      - Make Puncture have a small (like 1-2 meter) AOE radius of taunting. Not a dungeon goes by where I've wasted a dozen or so taunts on mobs that are clipping through each other or hiding LITERALLY INSIDE another mob. While 15 seconds is plenty of time for me to grab most the room and I enjoy the challenge of prioritizing who needs to be pulled-in-what-order along with the fact that the game is designed to allow for a few small mobs to make it to our back lines, that's just really frustrating.
      - Heavy Armor, our "by-design" armor weight, needs serious looking into, especially the passives. The fact that I can hit resistance caps with Light Armor is unacceptable. Incentivize tanks to be tanky and utilize their archetypal gear. There should be a drastic downside to survivability when playing dps. Here are some suggestions:
      • Resolve - Add a flat reduction to Break Free as well.
      • Constitution - Reduce the regen CD to 4 seconds given how small those numbers are to begin with.
      • Juggernaut - Should increase all three stats and reduce time of CC's/snares by 3% per HA equipped.
      • Bracing - Add an increase to Blocking mitigation, like +3%.
      • Rapid Mending - Change it to increase healing regen based on missing health, up to 100%
      - PvP tanking is simply too one-dimensional; outlast. Make taunts REDUCE ALL DAMAGE DONE TO OTHER PLAYERS BY 30% UNLESS DEBUFFED OR THE TAUNTER IS KILLED. Look there...I just made tanks a sought after and incredibly potent force in Cyrodill.
      - Add some resource regen, mobility, and AOE CC to Templars. For all that is holy...give us tools EVERYONE ELSE HAS.
      - Templar Ultimates need serious looking into as well. Make Empowering Sweeps wider, give resources/enemy hit, and physical. Make a morph of Nova surround & follow me (heck, make it a passive aura that reduces damage to the group that drains ultimate). Put BOTH morphs of Rite of Passage onto a single morph, and make the other REZ ONE OR TWO PEOPLE OVER IT'S DURATION; call it Path of the Phoenix or something.
      - Stoppling Charge.
      - Sun Shield needs to either set off-balanced, snare or stun everyone affected.
      - Make Radiant Aura into a magika version of Repentance.

      I could literally go on forever. Thank you for this opportunity to hear from tanks: the least-played, over-looked, and under-powered role in your game that, deep-down, we all love.

      #MakeTemplarsGreatAgain
      Edited by TheM0rganism on February 24, 2016 6:12PM
      PS4 DC Stamina Templar Tank/DPS...because I ALWAYS play on hard mode
      #2233 - Never Forget
    13. Woeler
      Woeler
      ✭✭✭✭✭
      ✭✭✭✭
      1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?

      I like that this game, especially if you tank for a mediocre group, requires movement and lots of it. Dodging, moving out of certain abilities, making sure other members of your group will not get hit by a certain move. The thinking ahead involved is nice. Way better than most MMO's where tanks just stand there and block (well technically you can do that in this game to, but then you're pretty much the worst tank in this game). I also like that the tank has room to support. War horn, propelling shield, vigor, circle of protection, chains, talons. All abilities used for supporting that a good tank CAN use in certain fights.

      Also, I think I am one of the few who really appreciates the stamina regen removal when blocking. It killed many of the block+brainAFK tanks, which is nice.

      2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?
      That fights do not punish the tank enough for not moving or not dodging. Seriously, if I stand in the poison cleave of the Serpent, I should die. I should be punished for being a lazy *** and a bad player.

      3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?
      The Mantikora, especially in groups that do not play at a high level. In this fight you need to move, dodge and THINK AHEAD. It is also the only fight at the moment where I feel there is some kind of punishment for the lazy and the bad players.

      4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?
      There are a lot of encounters I don't like. Not because they have bad design, but because if I stand in red-stuff for 1 minute I still don't die. Who cares if I dodge? That boss hits me for 1% of my health anyway. I'll just tape my block key and go eat my Doritos...

      5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?
      Hist bark. Man how I love that set. The dodge is awesome and I simply love the animation it makes. It helps me manage resources a lot in speedruns.

      6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?
      Overhaul mitigation as a whole! Those diminishing returns are driving me crazy. Why is it even there? It doesn't even make sense. If a tooltip says you get X% mitigation, then I should get X% mitigation and not 0.25X%...

      TL;DR: Punish lazy tanks for not dodging and going brainAFK.

      Ah and one last thing. I really hate the fact that you can run most dungeons without a tank, even the veteran ones. Seriously, make those dungeons deadly, especially the veteran ones. They ain't called "veteran" for nothing.
      Edited by Woeler on February 23, 2016 8:34PM
    14. dodgehopper_ESO
      dodgehopper_ESO
      ✭✭✭✭✭
      ✭✭✭
      DHale wrote: »
      Heavy armor does not mitigate damage even at 33,500 hard cap. If that is even hard cap. One shots when not blocking are common. But you can't constantly block cause Stam regen was changed to zero. This forces you to rely on shards which are not always available. Ie non Templar healers combined with Stam builds need shards as bad as you do.
      Footman is vr 13 and vr 14 is super rare and you can't even find it anymore. Drops from vet dsa which no one does.
      Armor master pariah and juggernaut erc... have huge flaws in it that make it not a viable set. The bevy armor passives suck making medium armor better with Stam cost reduction. The only aoe taunt which it is not intended is caltrops cost over 5 k stamina making them hard to use as it burn the precious Stam you already need to block.

      Suggestions:
      Upgrade footman to vr 16 sell it for tel var or ap or gold from elite vendor, sell rings necklace boots belt gloves with decent traits no training or exploration or well fitted or sturdy.
      Increase armor master armor time to 15 seconds to avoid recasting every 10 seconds.
      Improve HA passives healing received 1 percent per ha piece constitution stamina and health restoration by double current amount. Make Stam regen not stop regen until 3 seconds if in five piece heavy armor.
      Make a passive Caltrops are half As much stamina for five piece with 30 second cool down. 25 percent cheaper one skill point 50 percent 2 skill points.
      Make 5 piece heavy armor have a reduce stamina cost reduction 20 percent over medium or one skill point 10 percent 2 at 20 percent stacks with others cost reduction sources.

      This caltrops point is a very good one. Its the best CC a tank has if they are not a dragon knight, and it draws from the same pool needed for blocking. Unfortunately, DK is also the best at keeping stamina up while blocking, further damaging other classes ability to tank. I realize that Sorcerer has a 'path' based cc which is fairly decent, but requires much greater positioning than talons or caltrops. You make a very good point here @DHale .

      Caltrops was even better for NBs when it had a chance to proc Siphoning Attacks. /sad

      I know, I remember that. I was actually planning a long time ago to make an Imperial (or Redguard) Nightblade Tank to use SA + Red Diamond off of Caltrops, but that never happened because A) I couldn't buy another character slot and B) Red Diamond and SA just aren't so effective anymore.
      US/AD - Dodge Hopper - Vet Imperial Templar | US/AD - Goj-ei-Raj - Vet Argonian Nightblade
      US/AD - Arondonimo - Vet Altmer Sorcerer | US/AD - Azumarax - Vet Dunmer Dragon Knight
      US/AD - Barkan al-Sheharesh - Vet Redguard Dragon Knight | US/AD - Aelus Vortavoriil - Vet Altmer Templar
      US/AD - Shirari Qa'Dar - Vet Khajiit Nightblade | US/AD - Ndvari Mzunchvolenthumz - Vet Bosmer Nightblade
      US/EP - Yngmar - Vet Nord Dragon Knight | US/EP - Reloth Ur Fyr - Vet Dunmer Sorcerer
      US/DC - Muiredeach - Vet Breton Sorcerer | US/DC - Nachtrabe - Vet Orc Nightblade
      EU/DC - Dragol gro-Unglak - Vet Orc Dragon Knight | EU/DC - Targan al-Barkan - Vet Redguard Templar
      EU/DC - Wuthmir - Vet Nord Sorcerer | EU/DC - Kosh Ragotoro - Vet Khajiit Nightblade
      <And plenty more>
    15. sfpiesb14_ESO
      sfpiesb14_ESO
      ✭✭✭
      ZOS_Finn wrote: »
      Calling all Tanks!

      1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?
      2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?
      3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?
      4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?
      5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?
      6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?

      1. Tanking in ESO is very dynamic. Multiple mobs to watch, make sure to target the larger mobs/bosses first.
      2. Lack of options for gear sets. Theres currently only 2 reasonable options for gear for a tank. Hist Bark and Armor Master. with Footmans Fortune being the stand in with Jewelry. The Endurance set is trash for a pve tank since you don't regenerate stamina while blocking. I'd like sets that help the tank do their job better. Help hold agro better and take less damage. Also The Maelstrom sword and shield are complete trash. No reason why any tank should ever use those.
      3. This one is hard. I like a lot of the encounters. I think Valkyn Skoria is a great encounter, Molag Kena, Bogdan the Nightflame and the Daedroth from Banished Cells (although very easy) are all great encounters. Dynamic fights where a tank is extremely useful.
      4. Any fight where a tank is more of a hinderance than an asset. Last boss of Fungle Grotto, Planar Inhibitor, Engine Guardian. For those fights I just switch to a dps role and don't even bother tanking. Those fights suck.
      5. Caltrops, Chains, Talons. Abilities that while are not taunts can act as a taunt by keeping the mobs stationary or pulling them off of dps/healers.
      6. See No. 2. I'd like better itemization for tanks. The sets we currently have are fine but there hasn't been anything new for tanks for a while. Imperium sounded interesting but as a tank your job is to keep the enemies attention on you so that the dps/healers don't take damage. And with the content in this game its very easy to get by with 16-17k health as a dps.

      Thanks for asking. I've felt that Tanks haven't gotten a lot of love in recent patches.
    16. MrTtheDK
      MrTtheDK
      ✭✭✭
      Greetings from M12,

      To start, I've 8 v16s on NA PC. Been playing since beta since the start of the game. I've tanked all content in each patch. I have done both stam/magicka tanking for each class in all content including trial HM. FYI No Stam regeneration is not an issue while blocking for any class be it a Stam or Magicka tank.


      1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?

      My favorite thing about tanking is the amount of build diversity that one can do. Unlike progression dps where you are at a considerable disadvantage if you don't run the "meta" builds, you can tank with a large number of sets and ability combinations.

      2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?

      The lack of content that requires heavy armored tanks. It should not be possible to tank the hardest content with medium or even light armor with the assistance of footman. It makes the comment from #1 diminish since in progression runs your sometimes forced to run spell power cure or powerful assault to further increase group dps...This is even true on the pts trial.

      3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?

      Favorite content currently is HM IMP City or white gold tower (FYI the shard synergy cheese still works on HM to dispell the lightning aoe)

      4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?

      All the boss fights where your are just face tanking the boss and keeping the boss in one place.

      5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?

      The Diversity of mundus stones.


      6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?



      A lack of unique S/B master or maelstrom weapons... These have been more so used in pvp as opposed to pve content (Fully Charged Heavy Attacks will never be a thing... Bring back the medium weave plox)
      Main:
      DC- Diablo Azul , Mr T


      Alts: Nerf Something or Another

      Guild: - Imperial City Police
      RIP Guilds: Purple, WKB, Eight Divines, Rage, What Mechanics, Entropy Rising
      Game: @TalosSeptim
    17. Jakhajay
      Jakhajay
      ✭✭✭✭
      1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?
      I like being able to just eat certain attacks. I've got 3 V16 tanks, of every class except NB, and have tanked most content. I like the feeling of being a strong protector of my team mates, taking the punishment so they can do what they need to without worrying about dying.

      2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?
      The nerf to stamina regen while blocking was a huge hit to tanks. Tanks are getting increasingly harder to find in group finder, so I or one of my mates will grudgingly volunteer to tank. This change has also pigeonholed my Templar healer into a spear shard throwing mutagen spamming robot.
      Heavy armour doesn't feel strong at all. My bf tanks in medium armour, as the stamina passives from that outweigh the pathetic passives in heavy armour. This often gets a few raised eyebrows from PUGs, who later eat their words.
      Lag. Living on the arse-end of the word, makes quickly taunting a number of foes with pierce armour rather difficult. I'll often shield charge in and try to taunt them, only to have them run past, my guy turning on the spot to face them, stab the air where the mob was since they just kept running for the healer, the taunt never applied because they were out of reach. And this happens every. damn. time.

      3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?
      Probably Maw of the Infernal in vet Banished Cells. Taunt him and soak up his damage while my mates whale on him. Move around a bit so his fires don't stack to much. Not so much movement where I contend with lag.

      4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?
      Admittedly I haven't tanked this one, but running through it on any role is frustrating to no end. The Planar Inhibitor. MY mates and I have only run this dungeon once, and once only, on normal mode, and this boss alone was enough to make us NOPE! when it comes up for pledges (Actually, the silver/gold keys are not running either of the IC dungeons)


      5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?
      Hist Bark. Holy moly, this is a staple for all tanks. That dodge chance is phenomenal, even if it's only while blocking. running Footman's alongside it (fugly set as it is) makes me feel pretty strong.

      6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?
      All tanking sets like Footman's should scale to V16. Also get rid of the useless traits on it. It's awesome because of the flat damage mitigation, as well as having jewellery meaning I can run it alongside Hist Bark. Pariah was a complete joke.
      On the note of tanking gear, Heavy armour does not mitigate near enough. Many others have posted their thoughts above, and many of their suggestions are good ones. I'd like to see more block cost reduction, better stam regen and higher mitigation.
      Restore stam regen while blocking, at least for PvE. It's another example of where PvP crying has directly hurt end-game PvE. Tanks left the role in droves thanks to that one change, and even I find myself unwilling to tank as often because of the resource management game.
      Templars. They need some love. The upcoming changes to rune focus are great, but they aren't enough. How are we supposed to tank from inside our house, when it's made of straw? Blinding Flashes was great! Gone. Blazing Shield was good, now it's completely rubbish and not worth the magicka it consumes when it pops on a light attack. We have to rely on non-class abilities for mitigation, like shuffle/immovable. We get no movement buffs, because Wrobel thinks we should stay in our house. This leads to me dying in my house anyway, as the house ids made of straw! My Sorc can tank better than my Templar!
      Encounters where a tank is not needed/is dead weight, like the Engine Guardian. My tanks all have either a bow or a staff on their back bar for encounters like this, but since they're specced for tanking, they do bugger all damage. Encounters where they are tankable, but have a hard hitting random target attack. It's like 'what's the point of taunting them, if they're just gonna turn around and one-shot the healer?'

      TLDR; No stam regen while blocking sucks bawls; Templar tanks need some love; Heavy armour improvements needed.
      Edited by Jakhajay on February 23, 2016 9:36PM
      Sh'ira - One Eyed Tihm - Do'Mazar - Dar'Sol - Hazzahn - J'darr Sun-Arrow - Bishabi -J'manna - Narim Tollana - Abijah-Ra - Idhassi-Ko - Kajhe the Salty - Ti'lani - Sabhan-Dar - Palamai
      JakhajayAlt: Azala-Do - Saahni the Ohmes - S'aolla of the Darks - Zashima-La Ako'Zhajiit - Lo'Mai-Dro - Taheh-Do - Hrrula - Hatamira - Da'lai

      Shield Anvil - Trake's Talons
      Knight Praefect - Knights of the Steel Claw

      All Khajiit, All the time!
      For Elsweyr and her people!
    18. Lord Xanhorn
      Lord Xanhorn
      ✭✭✭✭
      1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?
      2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?
      3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?
      4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?
      5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?
      6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?

      1. Active blocking, interrupting, and movement
      2. I'm going off script here and I'm going to say that I don't like the fact I can't aoe taunt. I like the idea of having mobs wail on me while my group tries to burn them down. At a minimum, the guys that I do taunt should hit very hard if they aren't hitting me. Most pulls in ESO are basically everyone running around uncoordinated trying to burn the mobs down quick. Sure the tanks are useful in boss fights but it feels that they are pretty pointless in trash pulls.
      3. Most bosses in the game are very fun. I don't mind that some encounters don't need tanks. I think it adds a bit of diversity.
      4. tank and spank bosses that have very little movement or coordination required.
      5. Repentance, shards, caltrops
      6. Up the mitigation of heavy armor and lower the mitigation for blocking. At this point blocking is too powerful and heavy armor is too weak. If you changed both, it would affect overall tankiness of tanks all that much but it would bolster heavy builds while at the same time minimizing the no stam regen while blocking debacle that was introduced for PVE tanks(to solve a PVP problem).

      I'd like to add if you add a 1h/S ultimate, it should definitely be an aoe taunt. It could be something that charges up and does damage if you don't take a certain amount of damage. That way the ult could be used offensively if there was no one around but it could be used defensively as the mobs would focus on you to prevent the damage from occurring.
      Edited by Lord Xanhorn on February 23, 2016 9:44PM
      I'm kind of a small deal!
    19. MisterBigglesworth
      MisterBigglesworth
      ✭✭✭✭✭
      I'd like to see heavy armor provide so much mitigation that you basically never have to block, but make it so that player damage would completely ignore that extra mitigation, thereby making you a lot more tanky in PVE without it affecting PVP too much.

      If you can make tanks a lot more tanky in PVE that means you can make bosses hit so hard that you actually NEED tanks in PVE. Three dps and a healer just won't cut it.

      Another thing would be a buff that temporarily ramps up your DPS based on how much aggro you have, the purpose being to make tank builds have lower DPS in PvP and higher DPS in PVE
      Really we do it without like, the musical instruments. This is the only musical: the mouth. And hopefully the brain attached to the mouth. Right? The brain, more important than the mouth, is the brain. The brain is much more important.
    20. ThatNeonZebraAgain
      ThatNeonZebraAgain
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      I'd like to see heavy armor provide so much mitigation that you basically never have to block, but make it so that player damage would completely ignore that extra mitigation, thereby making you a lot more tanky in PVE without it affecting PVP too much.

      If you can make tanks a lot more tanky in PVE that means you can make bosses hit so hard that you actually NEED tanks in PVE. Three dps and a healer just won't cut it.

      Another thing would be a buff that temporarily ramps up your DPS based on how much aggro you have, the purpose being to make tank builds have lower DPS in PvP and higher DPS in PVE

      A dynamic aggro system, where players do more damage on mobs that aren't focused on them (or get an additional DPS buff against targets that have taunts on them), sounds like a great way to make tanks valuable to groups, and also make taunts useful in PvP.
      Gore-of-the-Forest Argonian Nightblade
      Wode Earthrender Breton Dragonknight
      Ceol the Last Baron Redguard Dragonknight
      Wayra High Elf Sorceress
      Erebain Salothran Dark Elf Templar
      Rituals-of-the-Forest Argonian Warden
    21. boggie
      boggie
      ✭✭✭
      I've mained a tank for pretty much my entire time playing ESO (well over a year now) and have tanked all content currently in the game (including trials hardmodes), as well as normal Maw on the PTS.

      1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?
      It feels far more "active" than tanking in other MMO's I've played. The skill cap is higher. If you know what you are doing, you will have moments where you feel like an absolute god.

      2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?
      First on my list would be fights in dungeons not requiring tanks. It leaves me in a position of having to drop out of my preferred role, and having to turn into a subpar dps. Cost of having to assemble an entirely separate set of gear aside (and I have- all v16, all gold), I'm given the choice of either letting my group carry me, or having to drop an additional 6k gold and make my group wait while I reset all my champion points... twice. Both options leave me feeling like a liability rather than an asset to my group. That is simply not fun.

      Second would be the complete lack of interesting/viable gear choices. I've run 5 piece hist bark since level 20. Which is fine... I do like the set, and I like that my "main" set is craftable so I can tailor the appearance to my taste. However, my options to fill out my second set are lackluster to say the least. Ran with footmans for an eternity, but that only scales to v14. Finally broke down and swapped it out for pariah, not because it was "better", but because I wanted higher level gear. There is nothing exciting about it. You'd never even know that's what I'm wearing. Compare it to the other sets for dps and heals that came out with wrothgar (briarheart with the glowing vines effect, and trinimac dropping glowing heal-bombs), and comparitively pariah seems rather dull. Getting new gear as a tank just doesn't have the same rewarding feel that it often does as a dps or a healer.

      Brief third would be the fact that my block goes down for a fraction of a second any time I swap bars. Can't count the number of times I've been 1-shot by a boss in trials because either I chose the wrong moment to swap bars, or a tiny lag spike delayed the swap to sync it with a boss attack. It feels far too punishing.

      3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?
      So far, I'd have to say the light/dark double boss in Maw of Lorkaj (so far only seen normal). It's not RNG heavy, and it requires good coordination between the two tanks. Can't wait to see the vet mode version.

      4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?
      Probably Manticora. It's just WAY to RNG-heavy. You can do everything right, and if the random number gods decide to wipe you, you're going to wipe.

      5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?
      Magma Shell is amazing- love that I can be the last man standing, pop it, and get off a rez while the boss beats on me to turn what would otherwise have been a wipe into a recovery. Chains is also pretty high on my list, though I do have mixed feelings about the changes to it that are coming in thieve's guild.

      6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?
      As I mentioned before, the bar swap thing. It feels FAR too punishing, and if you are having any kind of lag/framerate issues (which are more than common in trials), it can make reapplying your buffs feel like a game of russian roulette.
    22. wyrdsmith
      wyrdsmith
      Soul Shriven
      I play a solo Imperial Sword and Board DK, and I haven't really made it far level wise, as I'm a casual player. I don't party up much, mostly because when I play I get about an hour or two at the most and getting into a party and a dungeon in enough time to also clear it is tough.

      1. What do you like best about tanking in ESO?

      As a solo tank, all my skills are related to survival - the DK has some great heal and defense buffs spread evenly between mana and stamina, which means I can focus on upping health increasing my odds of survival. Also, I really enjoy running into a cluster of mobs, 3 at a time, and take them out in turn, focusing on blocking heavy attacks and negating their attempts at casting. That said, being a heavy armor sword and board feels like being a walking tank, especially with passives centered around increasing defense.

      2. What do you like least about tanking in ESO?

      But for all the good that comes from solo tanking, you have to deal with taking forever to kill enemies, especially bosses. Because survival is paramount, I have to pay the cost in damage. This means that, while I can tank 1-2 enemies ten levels above me, it's going to take the better part of 10 minutes to kill them. And don't get me started on those Guardians, the naga looking ones with the energy orbs. Sure, I can take out 3 of those 40-something vampires without breaking a sweat at level 36, but one of those? I can't deal enough damage to take them down before they regenerate from the one orb I always miss.

      Another aspect to this is that, the build for solo tanking and party tanking is vastly different. With a party, I don't have to rely on self-healing as much and the majority of my skills need to focus on crowd control and taunting. Respeccing is a pain in the tuchus and if you compromise, then you wind up only failing at both.

      3. What is your favorite encounter to tank?

      Taking on Sinmur solo was a lot of fun as was the fight with Molag Grunda (did that one before 40). Unfortunately, like I said, I don't party up much or go into specific instances. I do the best I can with what I got.

      4. What is your least favorite encounter to tank?

      There was this one dungeon, can't remember the name, had giant spiders and elves, I think, basically was me trying to grip and talon mobs while party members ran about willy-nilly. Also trying to keep the healer alive as he aggro'd more than I ever could in there.

      5. Of the tools you have for tanking, which is your favorite?

      I'm not much for add-ons, so I rely pretty heavily on the info already on the screen. In that case, it's probably the markers that signify when an enemy is about to do a heavy attack or cast something. Sometimes the animations skip or don't play and that's my only indication something's about to happen.

      6. Of the tools you have for tanking, which would you like to see improved the most?

      Honestly, it's pretty difficult knowing which buff is enabled or about to end from first person view. The changes to the health bar are minimalist and attractive, but don't tell me a whole lot about which of my buffs is still on and which is about to go off. The hotbar provides this info, but it requires I take my eyes off the mobs, which means I might miss the timing for a dodge or block. I'm not sure how to solve this, I've seen center focus huds do well, but that's not necessarily the aesthetic of TES.
    23. blaek
      blaek
      Soul Shriven
      ALLOW TANKS TO MARK ENEMIES (1) (2) (3) ETC

      ALLOW TANKS TO MARK ENEMIES (1) (2) (3) ETC

      ALLOW TANKS TO MARK ENEMIES (1) (2) (3) ETC

      ALLOW TANKS TO MARK ENEMIES (1) (2) (3) ETC

      ALLOW TANKS TO MARK ENEMIES (1) (2) (3) ETC

      ALLOW TANKS TO MARK ENEMIES (1) (2) (3) ETC

      ALLOW TANKS TO MARK ENEMIES (1) (2) (3) ETC

      ALLOW TANKS TO MARK ENEMIES (1) (2) (3) ETC

      ALLOW TANKS TO MARK ENEMIES (1) (2) (3) ETC

      ALLOW TANKS TO MARK ENEMIES (1) (2) (3) ETC

      ALLOW TANKS TO MARK ENEMIES (1) (2) (3) ETC

    24. Personofsecrets
      Personofsecrets
      ✭✭✭✭✭
      ✭✭✭
      I just want to invite @alexj4596b14_ESO to post here. They were responsible for some of the earliest tanking feedback of this game!
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