PvP Necro Tank or Healer?

Texecutioner187 · May 2020

So I have a few characters for PvP, but I have a Necro that is just sitting around not doing anything. I'm not great at damage dealing at the moment, so usually do healing or tanking in PvE. Knowing that, is there some sort of direction I could be recommended/suggested to take my Necro? I was thinking Necro Healer but not sure if there are any other options out there, so wanted to check with the masses..... thoughts? Suggestions?

Urzigurumash · May 2020

Why not try to make a healtank? I think there's a really strong Necro tank or two on your alliance, if I recall correctly, maybe hit them up? I might have you confused with somebody else.

Daffen · May 2020

Are you talking about a pvp or pve build? They are two different things and your post is a bit confusing.

Edit: nvm this is posted in pvp forum, my bad.

Texecutioner187 · May 2020

Urzigurumash wrote: »

Why not try to make a healtank? I think there's a really strong Necro tank or two on your alliance, if I recall correctly, maybe hit them up? I might have you confused with somebody else.

I think you do, I'm not sure who you are talking about. Can you give me more info on a healtank? I've never heard of that but sounds interesting.

Daffen · May 2020

What type of build are we talking about btw? A tank that can survive 10 ppl alone, a healer that heals a group or a healtank that can survive a couple guys while still healing decently.

Urzigurumash · May 2020

Just finding some halfway point between being a pure invincibility tank and a healer. I would say Battalion Defender is the quintessential healtank set, though it seems to heal the wearer more frequently than their teammates. Almalexia's Mercy is another theoretical healtank set, though I've never had great results with it personally. Draugr's Rest could be another.

Really just any sort of 5 Heavy Armor + Restoration Staff build to some extent will make you a healtank. I think this is probably a fairly unexplored avenue on Necro so start messing around and experimenting and see what you can come up with. Necro heal skills are really cool, and that revive ultimate is awesome, but it seems most of them scale off Spell Damage / Max Mag, so keep that in mind.

Urzigurumash · May 2020

It would probably make sense to start with an Argonian, Imperial, Breton, or Nord, spec quite a bit of points into health, take the Ritual mundus, and play around with different sets and skills. Heavy Seducer's is probably a good starting point, swap in various healer monster sets and flat healing bonus sets (Sanctuary, Healer's Habit, etc.)

This is far from my forte so somebody else could guide you better than me, but like I said I don't think this is a very popular or thoroughly explored avenue, so be a pioneer and see what you can do.

Texecutioner187 · May 2020

Yeah, I just wasn't sure which would be a better route for PvP with my necro.... healer or tank... and where to go from there

Urzigurumash · May 2020

Right, so split the diff and you won't have to decide now on which role to fill. In time you may find you like one specific role more than the other.

Really though, Necro Tanks are very strong, I just think Necro Healers are cool and underutilized. So, probably start as a Necro Tank and see how you like it. As to what they're running I'm not quite sure - it's quite a bit different than PvP tanking on a DK it seems.

Texecutioner187 · May 2020

Urzigurumash wrote: »

Right, so split the diff and you won't have to decide now on which role to fill. In time you may find you like one specific role more than the other.

Really though, Necro Tanks are very strong, I just think Necro Healers are cool and underutilized. So, probably start as a Necro Tank and see how you like it. As to what they're running I'm not quite sure - it's quite a bit different than PvP tanking on a DK it seems.

how exactly does one "tank" in PvP? It seems a little.... confusing since in my End Game mind, tanking requires taunting and that wouldn't be effective against players...

Urzigurumash · May 2020

You taunt in a more literal way, rather than using a taunt skill. That is, you get in the way, flag keeps, guard flags, etc.

Urzigurumash · May 2020

Or if you really wanna be a pioneer, mess with Vanguard's Challenge. Good luck, it's not easy to use, at least in No CP.

Texecutioner187 · May 2020

I do play in No-CP more often than not.... I feel like it's a bit more level and takes some more skill, might be mistaken though. I guess I'll check out some YouTube builds on Necro tanking in PVP and see what I can come up with.

Daffen · May 2020

There is a good permablock setup that you can use on basically every class. I wont mention sets or anything but the key is to stack mitigation and healing at the same time. Reccomend 7x heavy sturdy, 3x infused block cost reduction, double snb temporal guard frontbar shield ult backbar.

Play around with different skill setups and gear combinations. Heres a video of my dk pvp tank build for some inspiration.

https://youtu.be/Y4nKaNxWHHI

jadarock · May 2020

I havent played necro in months but when necro was new and people were using bash cheese i was running a heal-tank on xbox.
The sets have been nerfed since but with large stat pools and nothing but heals and utility slotted it was quite effective.
Steadfast hero/fort brass/troll king was what I was using pre-nerf . Lots of lolz for sure xD

wheem_ESO · May 2020

From a Battlegrounds perspective, "tanks" are almost never worth the slot on the team. Defending a relic or carrying the chaosball are the only potential exceptions, but even then your team would almost always be better off with more damage and/or healing instead of high-HP permablocking. For instance, if the other teams just ignore you and go for each others' relics, or one of the other 11 players grabs the chaosball, there's not really much you can do about it.

When it comes to Magicka Necromancer in BGs, I think you have two options for being at least somewhat effective: 1) Run 3x Harmony Jewelry and try to burst people with the self-synergy while doing some off-healing, or 2) Play a dedicated healer with as much built in survivability as you can get your hands on, while still having enough sustain and healing power to make an impact.

If you consider yourself "not great" at damage, you'll probably want to go for being a dedicated healer. The self-synergy can still be somewhat clunky and annoying at times, though it's drastically better than it was when I first tried it on the Elsweyr PTS.

KurtAngle2 · May 2020

Necro healers are in a rough spot in pvp due to having the worst class heals available and zero mobility, hence forcing you to use similar (but better) skills from the Restoration Skill line

katorga · May 2020

KurtAngle2 wrote: »

Necro healers are in a rough spot in pvp due to having the worst class heals available and zero mobility, hence forcing you to use similar (but better) skills from the Restoration Skill line

Unless you are a other than sorc or NB every class has the same mobility options.

I use transmutation/gossamer/engine guardian. It works OK, but not as effective as my sorcerer in the same role.

Urzigurumash · May 2020

wheem_ESO wrote: »

From a Battlegrounds perspective, "tanks" are almost never worth the slot on the team. Defending a relic or carrying the chaosball are the only potential exceptions, but even then your team would almost always be better off with more damage and/or healing instead of high-HP permablocking. For instance, if the other teams just ignore you and go for each others' relics, or one of the other 11 players grabs the chaosball, there's not really much you can do about it.

I strongly but respectfully disagree regarding Ball and Relic, I haven't seen a shred of evidence that this is true, but it could be different between servers. It's not all about just building for pure health and mitigation however. Perhaps in an ideal world with optimized and coordinated groups this would be true, but in the solo q only, no mmr environment, I don't think it is.

I have no clue whether Necro healers are any good, but the animations are cool. Like Grave Grasp is the coolest looking CC in the game, but really doesn't hold a candle to other class CCs, at least not in my experience.

Texecutioner187 · May 2020

I think I'm going the tank route. Any suggestions on setups? I tried PvP healer and it worked decently... but I also want to try pretty much a high HP/resist tank, moreso as a distraction than anything else. I don't expect to do damage, maybe some off heals with my coil.... but I've seen all those tank builds on YouTube that the tank is basically unkillable... but he obviously can't do a lick of damage. Anyone have any suggestions to start with? I was thinking Harbinger, Bat Defend, and Bogdan?