How to roll a Tank

KennyAr · September 2020

I am curious about whether you invest in stamina or health?
Do you start with snb and destro staff to solo up, or you have a better alternative?

VaxtinTheWolf · September 2020

It depends on how you envision your character to be. My last tank I made I planned on being magicka focused Warden that could off-heal. I started with Destruction/Restoration Staff and tried leveling them equally. I also leveled 1H&S to about 30 before it got to level 50. I invested in lots of magicka and some health, wearing light/Heavy armor. Dont think too much about it when first starting anew, but try to level everything you know you'll need when you're ready to really get into it, like some priority resource return or defensive skills.

Soloed some World Bosses while leveling in Vvardenfell a few times since no one wanted to help me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqgRCBghNlA

Cellentel · September 2020

Tanks can dodge roll just like any other type of character. Pick a Wood Elf if you want extra bonuses when you dodge roll.

Jaimeh · September 2020

I would say to level other weapon lines besides sword and board, right from the start, not only because they will be useful to you as a tank (for eg., most tanks use a back-bar destro) but also because they will make your levelling and overland experience easier, since you will kill things faster. Plus, having, more line unlocked makes you a more versatile tank for cases where your group requires a specific playstyle. For attributes, I'd say invest in stamina and magicka, and add more health in higher levels. This is because you'll need stamina to taunt, block, bash, and dodge, but a lot of class skills start as magicka before they are morphed, and as a tank you need magicka anyway for heals/shields/chaining (though that depends on your class as well). I think with proper buff food, you don't need a lot of point into health, when you start, but you do need to add more at higher levels. However, always readjust according to your needs, if you see that you run out of stamina fast, then invest more points there, etc. Also, make sure to have more points in the resource that you want to be returned when using a synergy like shards/orbs, tanks prefer stamina. When you reach level 50 (or even sooner than that, I don't remember well) you get a attribute and skill respec scroll as a reward, so you can reassign everything for free (after than you'll need to pay gold at respec shrines to do it), so by then you'll have an idea how you need to assign your points. Then when you hit gear cap at CP160, and as you get more CPs, things will change, because of set bonus and CP passives, so again you'll need to readjust your attributes.

AcadianPaladin · September 2020

Attributes. Depends on how you want to achieve your end goal. Doesn't matter if the attributes come from food/enchantments/stats but you probably will want some points in all three. My goal for a main tank is about 38-40K health and around 20-23 each of stam and mag. Target either stam or mag slightly higher than the other simply to dictate which asset you get more back from when being supported by orbs/shards - most tanks favor stam here).

Level. I only have one tank and it was a new role for me so I leveled the character in tank gear/skills all the way. Took a bit longer but I think it helped teach me about the role better. For experienced tanks, I'm sure it is faster to level up more as a dps then transition to tank gear/skills.

VioletDracolich · September 2020

Put points into just about all your attributes, your target number in health is usually just over 30k to 32k, with food, if you're getting the hang of tanking. More then that actually results in a loss in other important tank areas, such as resistances and blocking potential.

Next start out with a SnB if your going mostly stamina or hybrid tank, or frost/lightning staff if going magicka tank.

Oh and quick tip, selfish sets that only help you are usually outclassed by sets that help the whole group in some way.