What sets do you run on your Tank?

The_Lex · April 2018

I hope this isn't too much of a necro-post.

As a DK tank, I was thinking about trying a back-bar staff. Most builds/forum posts that incorporate a staff on a DK tank suggest a lightning staff, which I assume is to help proc concussion more often. I've never back-barred a staff before, so I have a few questions. (Please assume that I want to try a staff on nothing harder than vet DLC dungeons, not trials).

1) Do any of your DK tanks use a frost staff or is this mainly for a Warden tank (due to passives)?
2) Does the benefit of having magicka block cost (frost) outweigh the higher concussion up time (lightning)?
3) Does a frost staff also increase the crusher uptime?

Thanks in advance!

The_Lex · April 2018

The_Patriarch wrote: »

I hope this isn't too much of a necro-post.

As a DK tank, I was thinking about trying a back-bar staff. Most builds/forum posts that incorporate a staff on a DK tank suggest a lightning staff, which I assume is to help proc concussion more often. I've never back-barred a staff before, so I have a few questions. (Please assume that I want to try a staff on nothing harder than vet DLC dungeons, not trials).

1) Do any of your DK tanks use a frost staff or is this mainly for a Warden tank (due to passives)?
2) Does the benefit of having magicka block cost (frost) outweigh the higher concussion up time (lightning)?
3) Does a frost staff also increase the crusher uptime?

Thanks in advance!

Just to add that I normally run double S&B. I wanted to try something a little different. @Liofa , who I consider an amazing tank, advocates for a lightning staff. @Woeler , another amazing tank, advocates for double S&B, but he does say on his Spartan trials tank build page that one *could* use a frost staff.

Liofa · April 2018

Ebon+Alkosh

The_Patriarch wrote: »

I hope this isn't too much of a necro-post.

As a DK tank, I was thinking about trying a back-bar staff. Most builds/forum posts that incorporate a staff on a DK tank suggest a lightning staff, which I assume is to help proc concussion more often. I've never back-barred a staff before, so I have a few questions. (Please assume that I want to try a staff on nothing harder than vet DLC dungeons, not trials).

1) Do any of your DK tanks use a frost staff or is this mainly for a Warden tank (due to passives)?
2) Does the benefit of having magicka block cost (frost) outweigh the higher concussion up time (lightning)?
3) Does a frost staff also increase the crusher uptime?

Thanks in advance!

@The_Patriarch

Hello !

1) Frost Staff is more defensive gameplay compared to Lightning Staff . They are basically there for the same purposes . Frost gives you better mitigation and lower block cost . Lightning procs Off Balance . That's all .

2) I don't recommend getting the Tri-Focus passive . While tanks use a lot of Magicka skills , they only use 2 Stamina skills . Your Stamina is only for blocking , taunting and heroic slash . Nothing else . So you can sustain this pretty easily . Your Magicka on the other hand is spent on a lot of things . If you add blocking on top of that , you will see a significant change in terms of magicka sustain . It will be much lower than you expect it to be . So no , Lightning Staff is definitely better in any case as long as you know the fights and don't block big hits with your Lightning Staff .

3) Yes it does . The important thing is keeping the Blockade up . Blockade will proc the enchant of the weapon you are holding with each tick of damage . Here is a thread that explains it very detailed : https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/398757/how-to-get-good-uptime-on-crusher-for-dummies#latest

If you have more questions , let me know

The_Lex · April 2018

Liofa wrote: »

The_Patriarch wrote: »

I hope this isn't too much of a necro-post.

As a DK tank, I was thinking about trying a back-bar staff. Most builds/forum posts that incorporate a staff on a DK tank suggest a lightning staff, which I assume is to help proc concussion more often. I've never back-barred a staff before, so I have a few questions. (Please assume that I want to try a staff on nothing harder than vet DLC dungeons, not trials).

1) Do any of your DK tanks use a frost staff or is this mainly for a Warden tank (due to passives)?
2) Does the benefit of having magicka block cost (frost) outweigh the higher concussion up time (lightning)?
3) Does a frost staff also increase the crusher uptime?

Thanks in advance!

@The_Patriarch

Hello !

1) Frost Staff is more defensive gameplay compared to Lightning Staff . They are basically there for the same purposes . Frost gives you better mitigation and lower block cost . Lightning procs Off Balance . That's all .

2) I don't recommend getting the Tri-Focus passive . While tanks use a lot of Magicka skills , they only use 2 Stamina skills . Your Stamina is only for blocking , taunting and heroic slash . Nothing else . So you can sustain this pretty easily . Your Magicka on the other hand is spent on a lot of things . If you add blocking on top of that , you will see a significant change in terms of magicka sustain . It will be much lower than you expect it to be . So no , Lightning Staff is definitely better in any case as long as you know the fights and don't block big hits with your Lightning Staff .

3) Yes it does . The important thing is keeping the Blockade up . Blockade will proc the enchant of the weapon you are holding with each tick of damage . Here is a thread that explains it very detailed : https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/398757/how-to-get-good-uptime-on-crusher-for-dummies#latest

If you have more questions , let me know

Thanks for the insight! Based on what you told me, I'll probably try the lightning staff. I generally don't have sustain issues, but I don't want to start. Frost staff is out.

Merlin13KAGL · April 2018

A combination not listed

To be fair, combinations not listed. Some fights call for slight changes to the norm/meta, so it depends on a combination of your own survivability and your ability to contribute to the group.

As you advance as a tank, the first becomes easier, so you can focus more on the second. (Of course, this counts on having a solid group, both in heals and DPS, too.)

Dragon + ??? is still a strong combination.

DocFrost72 · April 2018

A combination not listed

I tank random normals, vet pledges, and normal trials, so I have wiggle room. When it needs to be serious (vet DLC hm) I can swap to torug's and ebon.

Sorc (mag): Seducer, vampire's cloak, iceheart. I call him king bubbles.

Dk (stam): Hist bark, ebon/plague, lord warden/bloodspawn. I call her Tanks-For-Spanks.

DK (Health): Plague, green pact, two seperate monster pieces. This beast reaches 70k health, and with igneous up can survive the votory of velidreth's aoe on vet. Can also survive dranos' one shot mech on normal with 20-30k health left. Code name: SLAB.

Still finalizing my nb, warden, and templar tanks.

The_Lex · April 2018

DocFrost72 wrote: »

I tank random normals, vet pledges, and normal dungeons, so I have wiggle room. When it needs to be serious (vet DLC hm) I can swap to torug's and ebon.

Sorc (mag): Seducer, vampire's cloak, iceheart. I call him king bubbles.

Dk (stam): Hist bark, ebon/plague, lord warden/bloodspawn. I call her Tanks-For-Spanks.

DK (Health): Plague, green pact, two seperate monster pieces. This beast reaches 70k health, and with igneous up can survive the votory of velidreth's aoe on vet. Can also survive dranos' one shot mech on normal with 20-30k health left. Code name: SLAB.

Still finalizing my nb, warden, and templar tanks.

Of your DKs, which do you enjoy playing the most?

jypcy · April 2018

Warden tank with potentates, dragonguard, bloodspawn, perfected 2h, 2pc endurance.

Hope y’all like major force.

DocFrost72 · April 2018

A combination not listed

The_Patriarch wrote: »

DocFrost72 wrote: »

I tank random normals, vet pledges, and normal dungeons, so I have wiggle room. When it needs to be serious (vet DLC hm) I can swap to torug's and ebon.

Sorc (mag): Seducer, vampire's cloak, iceheart. I call him king bubbles.

Dk (stam): Hist bark, ebon/plague, lord warden/bloodspawn. I call her Tanks-For-Spanks.

DK (Health): Plague, green pact, two seperate monster pieces. This beast reaches 70k health, and with igneous up can survive the votory of velidreth's aoe on vet. Can also survive dranos' one shot mech on normal with 20-30k health left. Code name: SLAB.

Still finalizing my nb, warden, and templar tanks.

Of your DKs, which do you enjoy playing the most?

Not even a contest, my health dk.

Don't get me wrong, spanks is an adorable little lizard, and she is usually more than enough for content. Imagine playing skyrim on apprentice with early access to dwarven armor, or driving a pickup truck down the road. You feel bulky and secure.

SLAB is like playing skyrim on novice scaled to level one with maxed defense ratings. I can't die. I passively regen more than enemies can take, especially when I start ticking into vampire passives range. At any time I can throw up a 22k ward. Resources are simple:balance gives magicka back, and 5k is one fourteenth of my health. This build is absolutely disgusting for fights where your team has no survivability, because you can just res through the boss' one shot mechs. It's like driving a tank in the bicycle lane. Nothing, absolutely nothing can touch you.

And that always makes me smile.

The_Lex · April 2018

DocFrost72 wrote: »

The_Patriarch wrote: »

DocFrost72 wrote: »

I tank random normals, vet pledges, and normal dungeons, so I have wiggle room. When it needs to be serious (vet DLC hm) I can swap to torug's and ebon.

Sorc (mag): Seducer, vampire's cloak, iceheart. I call him king bubbles.

Dk (stam): Hist bark, ebon/plague, lord warden/bloodspawn. I call her Tanks-For-Spanks.

DK (Health): Plague, green pact, two seperate monster pieces. This beast reaches 70k health, and with igneous up can survive the votory of velidreth's aoe on vet. Can also survive dranos' one shot mech on normal with 20-30k health left. Code name: SLAB.

Still finalizing my nb, warden, and templar tanks.

Of your DKs, which do you enjoy playing the most?

Not even a contest, my health dk.

Don't get me wrong, spanks is an adorable little lizard, and she is usually more than enough for content. Imagine playing skyrim on apprentice with early access to dwarven armor, or driving a pickup truck down the road. You feel bulky and secure.

SLAB is like playing skyrim on novice scaled to level one with maxed defense ratings. I can't die. I passively regen more than enemies can take, especially when I start ticking into vampire passives range. At any time I can throw up a 22k ward. Resources are simple:balance gives magicka back, and 5k is one fourteenth of my health. This build is absolutely disgusting for fights where your team has no survivability, because you can just res through the boss' one shot mechs. It's like driving a tank in the bicycle lane. Nothing, absolutely nothing can touch you.

And that always makes me smile.

Sounds amazing. I almost have Balance unlocked, so I might give it a spin on my Imperial DK. I need to get Green Pact, so I'll probably run Plague and Ebon until then. I assume you have all attributes into health.

Dracan_Fontom · April 2018

Ebon + Other

The sets used are really dependent on play-style, and group composition (if you care about it anyway). On my dk tank, I personally run Akaviri Dragonguard + Ebon simply because I like the set up. Should really craft a set of Torug's but I'm way too lazy for that.

Lynx7386 · April 2018

A combination not listed

havent run ebon in forever on my tanks. My DK currently uses 5x elf bane, 5x seducer, and 2x grothdar. My warden uses 5x black rose, 5x shacklebreaker, and 1x domihaus for most content.

Krayl · April 2018

Torug’s+ Ebon

Torug's + Ebon; if another tank is running ebon, then I have a set of Dragon.

I used to run Ebon + PD, but plague doc seems like overkill. Torug's can be overkill if you happen to be in a group where everything else is covered but I find that's rare. Running this setup i have about 47k HP and 19k mag/stam, which is plenty since I"m running a balance build and getting resources back is simple.

Mister_DMC · April 2018

I currently use all of these sets and more in any number of configurations depending on what I'm doing. Tanking is not for the minimalist and gets very expensive quickly...