Welcome to Rex's guide to being a Unstoppable Force!
First I'd like to start off by saying this is not the ONLY way to tank, nor is it potentially the best way. However, it is the most efficient way I have figured to tank, and I have no issues with any content. I never have stamina issues even when I swap out sets, and I can self sustain, not relying on anyone. I COULD Solo any content if I chose, but there are too many dps checks, and it would take an INSANE amount of time to finish just one dungeon! I probably average 2k dps, which is pitiful. However, my goal isnt to provide dps while tanking. My goal is to bring the most I can to the group, while easing content for everyone else by holding aggro, moving and/or keeping bosses in optimal places, chaining enemies, or anything which can simplify the content for others.
So lets start it out!
The image above shows my build. I have 2pc Engine guardian, 5pc Kagrenac's, 3pc Ebon, and 2pc Seducer. This gives me 1800~ magicka recovery, as well as the engine guardian proc. I go with Kagrenac's because of the resurrect passive, as a DK I dont have a rez passive to rez faster, and I find myself either the last one alive, or the healer dies and needs to be gotten up quickly. It's made those clutch saves quicker and recovering from fights much easier. I use 3 pc ebon for the health of the 2pc and 3pc, since I want over 30k health. Using reinforced on my armor, it gives me near 30k resistances, which is 3k short of the cap of 33k. The extra health helps combat that lost armor as well. The 2pc of seducer just gives me a little extra magicka and my shield was given to me for free, thats the only reason they are gold. You dont need gold gear, you dont need 33k resist, and you dont need tank sets to be a tank.
So why do I have almost 2k magicka recovery? Well, as a DK I can cast magicka abilities in the earthen heart tree and restore 5% stamina. Having max magicka isnt that important because I can restore enough magicka to cast a dragon blood or shield to keep myself alive, EVEN WHEN IM OUT OF MAGICKA. I just have to wait 2 sec and boom. With this regen I am able to keep my stamina up, keep my health up, and keep my magicka constantly regenning. Even when I swap out my gear for 2pc bloodspawn 5pc tava's blessing for ult gen, I still have no recovery issues because it just poors over into everything else.
I'm not entirely sure how much my CP help, but I'm at 434 CP, and the more i get the easier things get to manage. However, I dont think its that important, and I will do a no CP test soon.
As for skills, I've been using probably the same skills since becoming a tank back when i hit vet 1 in 2015.
Bar 1:
Pierce Armor - Used to debuff the enemies with major fracture, and major breech. Both provide a boost to the dps in your group as well as taunting the enemy. A must have for any tank.
Dark Talons - Used to debuff enemies with minor maim, as well as stopping mobs in their tracks (that can be Crowd controlled) which helps them draw attention to you. Bosses will not be affected by the root, but WILL be affected by the minor maim debuff, which will reduce damage taken by all of the bosses attacks for everyone.
Volatile Armor - Used to provide a damage over time on packs of enemies, as well as provide you with Major resolve and Major ward. Use this when going into many mobs, and then follow up with a Dark Talon.
Shuffle/Structured Entropy/Dragonfire Scale - This is a flex spot for me. If you are taking a lot of hits, or attacking a pack of mobs, use Shuffle. If you are fighting a boss that does mostly ranged, or slow attacks, use entropy. If you are facing many casters, use dragonfire scale. If you dont like any of these, try out something that works for you!
Coagulating Blood - A must have for EVERY DK tank. It's your OH *** I NEED HEALS button if you get low, or the healer isnt able to heal you, or you just want to keep yourself alive. The 8% bonus to healing is really nice to have on you if you are in a heal intensive fight too.
Ultimate:
Aggressive Warhorn - I personally think all tanks should get to at least PVP rank 4, and get warhorn. It buffs the entire group with 10% magicka,stamina, and health, and lasts for 30 seconds. The aggressive morph gives a 10 second buff of 30% increased critical damage, making for some really nice initial burst. Pop this at the start of boss fights for maximum damage, and coordinate warhorns after that to maximize your teammates' dps. You could also use standard here, giving you a 20% mitigation that lasts for 20 sec, or dragon leap (for the low cost/resource return/mobility)
Bar 2:
Burning Embers/Absorb Magic/Heroic Strike - Somewhat of a flex. I recently changed morphs of embers, so I'm not longer using it, but if you have embers it can give you a small heal for a small cost, or a bigger heal over 10 sec. Absorb magic can be placed here for the spell shield and the block cost/increased block mitigation. Heroic strike can also be used for generating more ultimate and a stamina dump (If you are constantly at max stamina on slow fights).
Unrelenting Grip - This skill is one of the main reason's why DK tanks bring so much to a group. DPS dont have to chase anything in groups of mobs, you just chain everything to you, then talons and AoE them down. It makes those stragglers easier/quicker to kill when doing AoE. If you cant pull the target, it just refunds the cost.. So that means you can also use it for FREE damage on bosses. It doesnt hit hard though. (Really would only do this if you have nothing else to do)
Inner Rage - Used to taunt enemies at range, also Magicka based. SO you can taunt a lot of enemies with this, and preserve your stamina instead of using pierce armor. It also has a somewhat decent synergy that can deal a lot of dmg if your dps uses it.
Igneous Shield - This shield scales off of your health, so thats another reason why we go for a higher health pool. Casting this and Igneous weapons (See below) also gives 5% stamina. Spam this if you need stamina, or if your group will take massive group wide damage.
Igneous weapons - Provides everyone in a 4man group with Major Brutality, and Major Sorcery. Some dps builds can swap out their buff that provides those and slot another dps skill instead since you would provide that. (Surge for sorcs comes to mind) Others might not even use it at all during play, so it helps the group in that way too. Also restores 5% stamina.
Ultimate:
Magma Armor - Many people could argue a better option than magma armor, but I cant think of one single reason why. This is the ONLY SKILL in the game that caps incoming damage. This means the MOST you can take is 3% of your health. Pop this and rez people while still tanking the boss, or pop this and ignore mechanics and laugh! Seriously though, this is the best mitigation skill in the game, and now that it gives a damage shield to everyone around you, get your group to stack up on you and they get a 110% max health shield.
So there you have it. This is how I tank. I've done nearly all of the content with ease (in terms of tanking with the right strategy) I have no issues with anything that I am aware of, and I can virtually swap out whatever I want (gear wise) as long as you have 5-7 pc of heavy, and close to resistance cap of 33k, and 30k+ health. I have 3 different gear sets, and even have Ebon 5pc for trials to boost group health. I do NOT rely on engine guardian, though it is a extremely nice set and makes me have to micromanage my stats even less.
Anyways, Thanks for taking the time to read this and please leave any questions or comments below!