hi im looking for a somewhat tanky magdk build without being a complete turtle. Currently i am looking at fortified brass mixed with another more damage oriented set (maybe).
i am also open for 5x heavy as long as i can dish out a little burst too. i know i cant have it all
Armor Master - Bright Boast - Bloodspawn - 5 light 1 & 1. Spell damage enchant on all jewerly. You won't hit as hard as me but you will have a lot more tankiness.
I play mostly BG så thats a different world. Its all glascannon builds. No penalties for deaths so why survive... i dont like it. I enjoy surviving first and kill second
On a magdk I would highly suggest you invest on offensive power because the higher damage you can inflict on the enemy the more healing you are gonna get back and the less pressure you are going to recieve from the enemy (dk can easily burst an opponent on defense mode). Also dk has no escape so mobility is very important. No matter how tanky you are if you are slow you will eventually take more damage. For that reason I strongly suggest running light armor instead of heavy.
You can always build your tankiness through other means. For instance you can invest on dmg reduction % from sets like buffer of the swift or spells like temporal guard on your backbar which will give you minor protection. Protective jewelery are a must when you are wearing light armor and can sometimes offer the same resistances as heavy armor while maintaining the la boons. Hp pool is very important and bringing it above 25-27k is a must. Tristat glyphs, a monster set like skoria and specific kinds of food can help you with that. Having a sword/shield on your defensive backbar can also help you maximize your defense against projectiles (deflect bolts+protective scales). If you still feel squishy you can use pirate skeleton, which I personaly don't like. Hope that helps.
I play mostly BG så thats a different world. Its all glascannon builds. No penalties for deaths so why survive... i dont like it. I enjoy surviving first and kill second
Armor Master - S&B back bar
Bright Boast - Body
Fire Staff front bar Willpower
Monster sets - Valkyn Skoria or Bloodspawn
Mundus - spell damage and recovery enchant on jewerly as its NO CP or mundus for recovery and spell damage on all jewerly. Use shield to proc armor master.
I have to admit that I'm not an expert on this matter (since I mostly play Stamina builds), but this my take on a well balanced MagDK build for Battlegrounds/no-cp: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=151712
For more tankiness, you could replace Valkyn Skoria with 2x Pirate Skeleton or 1x Pirate Skeleton + 1x Chudan. If you're comfortable using Degeneration, or have some other source of Major Sorcery, you can replace Rattlecage with other sets like Spinner, Burning Spellweave, or Shacklebreaker.
The best magplar tank build I have used, while having to use resto staff for some sustain is
race elf
all points to magicka
magicka regen mundus stone
blood spawn light mask
blood spawn pauldrons light
fortified brass 3 pieces (3 lights)
fortified brass resto and ice staff (for magicka block and root)
steadfast hero jewlery magicka regen all
steadfast hero chest and legs in heavy
tristats food
you spam total dark and purifing light for automatic damage and healing and when u have much pressure on you, just purge you with themplar skill (dont remeber the name)... that gives you 5 seconds of major protection and 10 seconds cooldown, and with bloodspawn you can spam resto staff ultimate or vampires ultimate after that 5 seconds (now doesnt give you major protection). If you dont mind to dont mind to kill, just replace nirnhorned ice staff with decisive. If you are against zergs, just replace resto ultimate with meteor ultimate so it recharges nearly instantly. Darkflare + CP's for major defile works really great for going against other templar or tanks too in this build... the little damage you, you dont want them to heal it soon. If you are always on melee with jabs or spamming dark flares, cyrodill light works sometimes better (under less presure) than steadfast hero.
Other build I use when there is no lag, and is very tanky too is
race elf
all points to magicka
magicka regen mundus stone or max magicka
tristats food
pirate skeleton medium mask
pirate skeleton pauldrons
war maiden jewelry in protective + 2 pieces of light
julianos weapons (resto+destro or S/B + destro), 2 pieces on light and 1 heavy
This one do much more damage while offering a little less resistances but you are much dependant on pirate skeleton wich doesnt work good with lag (and disguises doesnt work for me either).This one is for going 1vs some more, but if you are going more 1vs1 or 1vs2, bloodspawn usually works better than pirate skeleton.
In both builds elemental drain and templar rune is a must for your regen
In both you want to block with ice staff while saving stamina for stuns (altough with lag, you have nothing to anyway XD)
In both you also want entropia and spell damage enchants on weapons
Fortified brass/Armor master/Allesian(spell check] and desert rose. Infused block redux. Spam that fractured shield. Use heavy armor skill whenever you break free and use green dragons blood instead of volatile armor. Go vamp for tankiness sub 50 and the mist form. CC bot but never spam. Main job is defend the healer/soak dmg. SnB both bars, slash for minor heroism, Bloodspawn obviously undo tank bar spell reflect shield CC bar. Don't count on alot of dmg, maybe could use fury instead of tank set but doubtful in this meta.