Look at the top 100 of the leaderboards and count the sorc tanks. Spoiler: There will be none.

Pros: ult cost reduction
Cons: no resource management during permablock situations, no add pull skill meaning you have to run swarm mother, no access to minor maim in class skills so you have to give up heroic slash for the other morph that hits more targets

For dungeons and normal trials--yes it could work. For vet trials, you'll be gimping yourself and your group too much just to be a special snowflake.

AverageJo3Gam3r wrote: »

Pros: ult cost reduction
Cons: no resource management during permablock situations, no add pull skill meaning you have to run swarm mother, no access to minor maim in class skills so you have to give up heroic slash for the other morph that hits more targets

For dungeons and normal trials--yes it could work. For vet trials, you'll be gimping yourself and your group too much just to be a special snowflake.

Is it really that gimpy? I rarely ever see a DK tank use chains in a vet trial. Between hardened ward (or empowered giving a 10% mana regen to the group), a matriarch or clanfear to help with sustain, Bound Aegis or Absorb Magicka. I can cast defensive rune (Dark Magic) for little mana but it triggers the 8% heal on me from the blood magic passive.
Oh! The storm calling line spells CAN proc concussion (I.e. minor maim) and potential burst damage from implosion.

I’m not saying it’s better than a DK or Warden tank. I’m asking, taking the above into consideration, can it at least be competitive? Can a Sorc tank potentially tank a vet trial?

Side note: what are the better armor pieces you think would suit this class? Like the DK, it is stam/Mag, but edging more to Magicka.

SmellyUnlimited wrote: »

We all know DK/Warden tanks control the scene. I tried to revive my old Sap tank but it just isn’t strong enough after Morrowind.

I was thinking of rolling my Sorc as a tank. Trying to edge away from the normal builds (Ebon, Alkosh etc.) in favor of something that would benefit more from the Sorc’s strengths.

-I was thinking a build of perhaps:
-Thunderbug Carapace
-“Possibly” a light or medium set of Fortified Brass.

I wanted to take advantage of the Sorc’s ability to provide AoE damage, as well as effective tanking.

Any thoughts? Are NB and Sorc tanks just officially dead?

Prob though in a vet trial by not wearing the meta tank sets you are gimping your group and that is for any class of tank.

tank vmol or vhof as a sorc tank and let me know how it goes

although i seen some top pc guilds have a templar off tank with great success in vas hm. never thought i would see that, but it is a mini trial

Tasear wrote: »

FakeFox wrote: »

Look at the top 100 of the leaderboards and count the sorc tanks. Spoiler: There will be none.

O.o well technically we can't actually tell what class each class is in the raid. It's all guesswork and perception.

if youre talking about the top 100, its pretty safe to say an overwhelming amount of them are gonna be dk tanks, maybe a few warden tanks and even fewer templar tanks.

dk tanks are the most efficient and easier to tank vet trials with. why would you make it harder on yourself or the group?

Tasear wrote: »

FakeFox wrote: »

Look at the top 100 of the leaderboards and count the sorc tanks. Spoiler: There will be none.

O.o well technically we can't actually tell what class each class is in the raid. It's all guesswork and perception.

Yes, but you can simply ask someone from the group, watch videos from their runs or something like that.

SmellyUnlimited wrote: »

AverageJo3Gam3r wrote: »

Pros: ult cost reduction
Cons: no resource management during permablock situations, no add pull skill meaning you have to run swarm mother, no access to minor maim in class skills so you have to give up heroic slash for the other morph that hits more targets

For dungeons and normal trials--yes it could work. For vet trials, you'll be gimping yourself and your group too much just to be a special snowflake.

Is it really that gimpy? I rarely ever see a DK tank use chains in a vet trial. Between hardened ward (or empowered giving a 10% mana regen to the group), a matriarch or clanfear to help with sustain, Bound Aegis or Absorb Magicka. I can cast defensive rune (Dark Magic) for little mana but it triggers the 8% heal on me from the blood magic passive.
Oh! The storm calling line spells CAN proc concussion (I.e. minor maim) and potential burst damage from implosion.

I’m not saying it’s better than a DK or Warden tank. I’m asking, taking the above into consideration, can it at least be competitive? Can a Sorc tank potentially tank a vet trial?

Side note: what are the better armor pieces you think would suit this class? Like the DK, it is stam/Mag, but edging more to Magicka.

Concussion =/= Minor Maim

Yes Sorc tank can do any vet trial, but probably won't be #1 on the leaderboards. You'll still want 5 pc Ebon like any trials tank. For your other set, Torugs or Alkosh are best for group DPS. Akaviri Dragonguard also synergizes well with Sorc reduced ulti cost passive. Use infused crusher on your main weapon (maybe not needed if you have Alkosh set). Swarm mother monster set where chains are needed, Lord Warden or Bloodspawn otherwise.

You'll want to get to around 30k health, then stack as much as possible in max Magicka to make your hardened Ward useful (also around 34 CPs in bastion helps). Your stam pool will be low, mostly coming from tri-glyphs on at least 4 large armor pieces. You'll want 8 pieces sturdy trait armor to keep block cost low. Also enchant 3 jewelry with block cost reduction. Be aware that blocking does no mitigation on top of shields, but still costs stamina, so only block attacks that will go through shields or will stun you.

Boundless storm will provide major Ward and resolve so Chudan set is not needed. Bound aegis provides minor Ward and resolve if you can afford 2 bar slots for it. Use the Atronach Mundus stone for Magicka regen so you can spam hardened Ward.

Aggressive Warhorn is your offensive ulti (as with all tanks). Replenishing barrier (protects you and group, while returning ulti and Magicka) or shield wall (allows a few heavy attacks for stamina sustain without dropping block) will be your defensive ultimate. Barrier also gives 10% Magicka regen for having it slotted (support passive).

Aside from that it's a pretty typical tank build. Pierce armor for taunt and debuffs, heroic slash for maim and ulti gen. Encase works alright as a talons replacement (AoE immobilize). Defensive stance is a poor man's reflective scales (you won't have enough stam to spam it).

Breton is probably the best race, with spell resistance and cost reduction, but imperial, nord, argonian, and Redguard are all strong options.

Edit: Some more gear options that I've heard used in Sorc tanks:
- Resilient Yokeda for a burst heal
- Witchmans for stamina and burst heal (used as weapons and jewelry, since medium armor)
- Bloodthorn for stamina and Magicka sustain (also medium, so jewelry and weapons)

For veteran dungeons, excepting the new DLC ones, and maybe the normal Craglorn trials it can work, but not for competitive content, which is veteran trials. The main handicap is the lack of mitigation passives and the inability to recover stamina without the use of a skill with a long, clunky animation that interrupts block. Wardens only need to cast bull netch only every 27s and DKs can block cast ingenous shield or activate an ultimate to recover stamina. Also Sorcerer tanks bring no minor or major buff to the table - they can of course cast restraining prison to grant minor prophecy, but you'll probably have a sorcerer ranged DD casting crystal fragments providing the same buff.

jaws343 wrote: »

I have been considering rolling a MagSorc tank doing the following:

5 light fortified brass
5 dragonguard
2 piece swarm mother
Sword and Shield front bar
Ice staff back bar (wall of elements will slow enemies plus a blocking option when low on stamina)

Get to 25K health and 15K stamina and stack the rest in magicka.
Antronauch on the front bar (gives an ally a chance at Major Berserk). And Warhorn on the back.


Probably roll Imperial for the option of turning it into a stam sorc if I do not like it.

That’s what I was thinking. Akaviri sounds better than Thunderbugs.

I don’t want to make it if it can’t do all content though. Most vet dungeons don’t even need a tank, so I think I’ll hold off. I don’t see the reason to reroll from Mag if I can’t really do trials (and just being a meat sponge without at least the added tanking abilities of DK doesn’t sound fun).

If I were to try to create a sorcerer tank, my first idea would be shield tanking.

Checking my stats, my standard magicka sorcerer build has a tooltip value for Hardened Ward of 19233 x 1.32 (which surely will be 1.33 when I get it up to Rank IV).

The bad news is that magicka recovery is only 1094 and stamina recovery only 627, which calls for adjustments.

Free upside in my particular build comes from the possibility of changing:

• Mundus stone (currently The Lover)
• Undaunted Mettle (currently only 1 rank and 1 weight of armor)
• Mage's Guild skills (currently none)

Is there a viable mag sorcerer shield tanking build?

To take it one step further, you could synergize with it throwing Infernal Guardian on lol. Though you’re probably better off , honestly, maybe Shadowrend, most because you don’t have an innate minor maim.

SmellyUnlimited wrote: »

FrancisCrawford wrote: »

If I were to try to create a sorcerer tank, my first idea would be shield tanking.

Checking my stats, my standard magicka sorcerer build has a tooltip value for Hardened Ward of 19233 x 1.32 (which surely will be 1.33 when I get it up to Rank IV).

The bad news is that magicka recovery is only 1094 and stamina recovery only 627, which calls for adjustments.

Free upside in my particular build comes from the possibility of changing:

• Mundus stone (currently The Lover)
• Undaunted Mettle (currently only 1 rank and 1 weight of armor)
• Mage's Guild skills (currently none)

Is there a viable mag sorcerer shield tanking build?

Well, you’ll definitely want to go heavy armor, so expect that Magicka regen to drop. The HP bonus from heavy armor far outweighs any ward or shield in the game.

Now you can still use those of course, and should. The only thing I can think that would benefit from that sort of build, would be perhaps a sets that attuned with that same idea. Brands of Imperium, Hatchlings Shell, and actually, wow this might be really damn good, Permafrost. *When you have a damage shield, your health recovery increases by 885.”

Do you really mean that the Juggernaut passive is that important? Why? Or were you using that as shorthand for some other benefits of heavy armor?

I agree that light armor looks suspicious, even if the plan is to be perma-shielded. Two of its passives are DPS only. Of course it has much lower armor values. The mitigation passive is about a wash with heavy's. I haven't tried yet to compare the sustain benefits. And as you observed, there's a straight max health benefit as well.

SmellyUnlimited wrote: »

Well, you’ll definitely want to go heavy armor, so expect that Magicka regen to drop. The HP bonus from heavy armor far outweighs any ward or shield in the game.

... wow this might be really damn good, Permafrost. *When you have a damage shield, your health recovery increases by 885.”

Check my build, it uses Permafrost: True Magicka Sorcerer Tank - Non-selfish build (4-man PuG)

Spoiler: 2419 Magicka Recovery, 1918 Health Recovery, 10k+ shield on selfbuff, capped resistances.

troomar wrote: »

SmellyUnlimited wrote: »

Well, you’ll definitely want to go heavy armor, so expect that Magicka regen to drop. The HP bonus from heavy armor far outweighs any ward or shield in the game.

... wow this might be really damn good, Permafrost. *When you have a damage shield, your health recovery increases by 885.”

Check my build, it uses Permafrost: True Magicka Sorcerer Tank - Non-selfish build (4-man PuG)

Spoiler: 2419 Magicka Recovery, 1918 Health Recovery, 10k+ shield on selfbuff, capped resistances.

That link only take me back to this thread.