Tanking outside the Box

Tethalion · September 2017

G'day all,

I'm a fan of weird and unusual builds; while they don't always work out, they always have an underlying strategy or purpose that I believe could be advantageous. I usually keep it all to myself because there're enough guides/builds out there without my 2cents but also because I'm lazy.

Having said that, I'm going to share something today. It's not so much a build but a quirk I've been testing and it's performing well for me so far, and I think it's significant enough (at the very least in specific situations) for it to be of benefit to others.

Cutting to the chase:

Tanking with Dual-Wield ... on the back-bar

The concept is really simple; you run what you would normally run, except instead of Sword & Board on your back-bar, you have sword/sword (or whatever DW combo you like, but don't use axes since you don't melee attack here).

Question: Um... why the fu- ?
Answer: Blade Cloak

Here's what I do:

1) I have all my S&B skills on main-bar; my pierce, heroic, posture. I have my chains and shield there also. I'm tanking 90% of my combat on this bar.

2) Every 15 seconds I blink to back-bar and tap my keys for Blade Cloak and Harden Armor (Yes Armor has 20 seconds cool-down but the cost is low and you also get 3.5 seconds of shield when you cast it anyway).

3) Immediately swap back to main-bar and resuming tanking with a whopping 25% reduction to all area-of-effect damage. Take a second to consider how massive that is, it's almost as big as major protection and from a bit of research, it appears that around 80%+ of all boss mechanics (even simple attacks) are considered AOE.

I also have my heal, range taunt, trash immobilization, on my back-bar where I'm either not under threat or only requires me to be there for less than the time it takes to press a button.

Now take a look at the S&B passives, which obviously is what you'll be losing during those few seconds you're away from your main-bar. Yes, you're losing a lot of block reduction by switching to DW but it's not nearly enough to properly hinder you; the lack of block movement is also annoying, which is why we never stay on the back-bar for more than a couple of seconds; Quick-Cloak morph can also more than overcome the mobility issue. You're still perma-blocking, and you're still gear-fixed for your set pieces.

It all boils down to take 25% less damage from just about everything and anything the boss throws at you, as well as all those massive environmental AOE (Vet Blood/Falk anyone?) that hits like the apocalypse, oh and plus you get to persistently drop damage around you to keep aggro and throw-in some numbers. Extra damage never hurts right? (Yea, I went there).

It works for me, hope it works for you. If it doesn't, thanks for reading anyway.
Cheers,
Tethalion

(PS: I did come up with this myself, but like all ideas, it's probably been done before and more than once. If that's the case, I mean no disrespect to those who had already figured this out and may have even shared it)

code65536 · September 2017

I know a tank who uses Blade Cloak on the back bar for tanking vHoF HM. The ticks also proc the front bar Crusher enchant.

ascottk · September 2017

I love blade cloak! Especially using the quick cloak morph for those classes without movement increasing skills. Well... come to think of it most do have that skill

DKs have that morph on the chains BUT you need a target for that. DW is something I always have to level up with all my characters because of versatility of that weapon skill line.

Cybercore_Death · September 2017

I like what you're trying to achieve here. And with you saying you like to go for the weird / unusual builds you may be able to help me.

I've read on a few tank builds where they're able to both tank and take the hits but also deal damage back. Obviously not to the level of damage of a full DPS build but decent enough to be able to take on some Vet content solo with no issues, IE vMA.

I decided to take to the community to see if anyone had any experience with this type of build that was Morrowind / HoTR optimised as i the ones i'd see were well out of date now (see below thread link if you're curios on people response). Do you have such a build or have you come across such a build? Or in general do you have any input that would help in creating a new generation Hybrid Tank?

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/373365/pve-damage-tank-is-such-a-build-possible-anymore/p1

I the reason for me asking is, like you, i'm looking to Tank outside the box.

Malacthulhu · September 2017

I know a lot of people that use to do this. I feel with most set ups you would be doing it just for the sake to put blade cloak on and honestly you end up over mitigating. To each his own though. Also take into account healers over heal as well. If you need it as a crutch then the build is probably lacking. I still enjoyed the read.

Tethalion · September 2017

Cybercore_Death wrote: »

I like what you're trying to achieve here. And with you saying you like to go for the weird / unusual builds you may be able to help me.

I've read on a few tank builds where they're able to both tank and take the hits but also deal damage back. Obviously not to the level of damage of a full DPS build but decent enough to be able to take on some Vet content solo with no issues, IE vMA.

I decided to take to the community to see if anyone had any experience with this type of build that was Morrowind / HoTR optimised as i the ones i'd see were well out of date now (see below thread link if you're curios on people response). Do you have such a build or have you come across such a build? Or in general do you have any input that would help in creating a new generation Hybrid Tank?

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/373365/pve-damage-tank-is-such-a-build-possible-anymore/p1

I the reason for me asking is, like you, i'm looking to Tank outside the box.

A very good tank in the guild I'm in came up with a tanking build for this exact desire; wanting to drop some numbers but still tank non-trial content. So I'll replicate it here but I can't take credit:

The build involves:

Grothdarr
Bahraha's Curse
Thunderbug Carapace.
*Optional back-bar destruction staff (Lightning for the concussion)

All traits/enchantments follows traditional tanking builds.

The idea is simple; become a singularity of AOE damage while Bahraha's Curse heals you. You also want to run Caltrops both as a range AOE pull as well as a snare for mobs around you.

Health should be around 35K, up to individuals as to how that number is reached; race, attribute, enchants, etc.

With this build, you can very effectively run 3 self-sustained DPS + you as tank in most vDungeons (I have done this on many occasions as a DK, I imagine it's probably even easier with Warden).

Not to mention you will breeze any solo stuff including vMA. (Your solo target won't get much higher than ~9K, but you can hold your own pretty well in groups. A good example would be Veteran Darkshade Cavern II: pull all the spiders + automatons and go in a circle while doing your rotations. Watch everything die around you... slowly, but surely)

Just once more, I didn't create this, only passing on information that's been well tested and found to be both engaging and effective.

Cheers.

Cybercore_Death · September 2017

Tethalion wrote: »

Cybercore_Death wrote: »

I like what you're trying to achieve here. And with you saying you like to go for the weird / unusual builds you may be able to help me.

I've read on a few tank builds where they're able to both tank and take the hits but also deal damage back. Obviously not to the level of damage of a full DPS build but decent enough to be able to take on some Vet content solo with no issues, IE vMA.

I decided to take to the community to see if anyone had any experience with this type of build that was Morrowind / HoTR optimised as i the ones i'd see were well out of date now (see below thread link if you're curios on people response). Do you have such a build or have you come across such a build? Or in general do you have any input that would help in creating a new generation Hybrid Tank?

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/373365/pve-damage-tank-is-such-a-build-possible-anymore/p1

I the reason for me asking is, like you, i'm looking to Tank outside the box.

A very good tank in the guild I'm in came up with a tanking build for this exact desire; wanting to drop some numbers but still tank non-trial content. So I'll replicate it here but I can't take credit:

The build involves:

Grothdarr
Bahraha's Curse
Thunderbug Carapace.
*Optional back-bar destruction staff (Lightning for the concussion)

All traits/enchantments follows traditional tanking builds.

The idea is simple; become a singularity of AOE damage while Bahraha's Curse heals you. You also want to run Caltrops both as a range AOE pull as well as a snare for mobs around you.

Health should be around 35K, up to individuals as to how that number is reached; race, attribute, enchants, etc.

With this build, you can very effectively run 3 self-sustained DPS + you as tank in most vDungeons (I have done this on many occasions as a DK, I imagine it's probably even easier with Warden).

Not to mention you will breeze any solo stuff including vMA. (Your solo target won't get much higher than ~9K, but you can hold your own pretty well in groups. A good example would be Veteran Darkshade Cavern II: pull all the spiders + automatons and go in a circle while doing your rotations. Watch everything die around you... slowly, but surely)

Just once more, I didn't create this, only passing on information that's been well tested and found to be both engaging and effective.

Cheers.

I appreciate you sharing this, thankyou. This is literally the exact type of build i'd be looking for, and being a DK i can pretty much jump straight in.

If you could would you mind going through what gear pieces / weight you had where? Did you run as a Vamp at all and if so did it help or hinder in anyway? And would you mind going through the ideal front / back bar skills? Lastly, for CP allocation did you follow more of a tank or DPS setup, or is there an in between?

Apologies for all the questions. Its something i'm quite excited to try out so want to make sure i get it right.

TankHealz2015 · December 2017

Tethalion wrote: »

G'day all,

I'm a fan of weird and unusual builds; while they don't always work out, they always have an underlying strategy or purpose that I believe could be advantageous. I usually keep it all to myself because there're enough guides/builds out there without my 2cents but also because I'm lazy.

Having said that, I'm going to share something today. It's not so much a build but a quirk I've been testing and it's performing well for me so far, and I think it's significant enough (at the very least in specific situations) for it to be of benefit to others.

Cutting to the chase:

Tanking with Dual-Wield ... on the back-bar

The concept is really simple; you run what you would normally run, except instead of Sword & Board on your back-bar, you have sword/sword (or whatever DW combo you like, but don't use axes since you don't melee attack here).

Question: Um... why the fu- ?
Answer: Blade Cloak

Here's what I do:

1) I have all my S&B skills on main-bar; my pierce, heroic, posture. I have my chains and shield there also. I'm tanking 90% of my combat on this bar.

2) Every 15 seconds I blink to back-bar and tap my keys for Blade Cloak and Harden Armor (Yes Armor has 20 seconds cool-down but the cost is low and you also get 3.5 seconds of shield when you cast it anyway).

3) Immediately swap back to main-bar and resuming tanking with a whopping 25% reduction to all area-of-effect damage. Take a second to consider how massive that is, it's almost as big as major protection and from a bit of research, it appears that around 80%+ of all boss mechanics (even simple attacks) are considered AOE.

I also have my heal, range taunt, trash immobilization, on my back-bar where I'm either not under threat or only requires me to be there for less than the time it takes to press a button.

Now take a look at the S&B passives, which obviously is what you'll be losing during those few seconds you're away from your main-bar. Yes, you're losing a lot of block reduction by switching to DW but it's not nearly enough to properly hinder you; the lack of block movement is also annoying, which is why we never stay on the back-bar for more than a couple of seconds; Quick-Cloak morph can also more than overcome the mobility issue. You're still perma-blocking, and you're still gear-fixed for your set pieces.

It all boils down to take 25% less damage from just about everything and anything the boss throws at you, as well as all those massive environmental AOE (Vet Blood/Falk anyone?) that hits like the apocalypse, oh and plus you get to persistently drop damage around you to keep aggro and throw-in some numbers. Extra damage never hurts right? (Yea, I went there).

It works for me, hope it works for you. If it doesn't, thanks for reading anyway.
Cheers,
Tethalion

(PS: I did come up with this myself, but like all ideas, it's probably been done before and more than once. If that's the case, I mean no disrespect to those who had already figured this out and may have even shared it)

This is awesome!!!
Thank you for sharing.

I've recently started tanking with a staff on the back bar -- for similar reason - to use wall of elements and proc concussion or immobilize.

with your set up-- you get to keep both 5pc sets active all the time. more procs = more love

Appreciate your write up.

Thanks again!!!!

RavenSworn · December 2017

I tank with a two hander and dw before, it works but not alot was a fan of it. I run bone shield however, and Mirage for that extra damage mitigation. Gear was Imperium and plagues or ebon, the high health works well with the bone shield.

Also ran ss tank with bow, great for getting crowd control and grabbing the attention of the far ones (note its not a taunt but attacking a mob first usually gives you aggro for at least a few more seconds). Also bow gives expedition each time you dodge so that's an added bonus.

Both of these were with a Nightblade, so in terms of damage reduction, a constant lay down of veil is a must. Also, it's much, much easier to put down those ults with an Argonian.

Group dungeons are no biggie, even if it was vet. Trials however, no one wants a non meta tank unfortunately. Which is sad considering the amount of success I had with it.