Best race for Warden tank? About to start progressing Unchained.

Khrogo · May 2023

My friends and I recently decided to go for the Unchained title. It has been decided that I will be tanking. Not only do I have little vBRP experience, I also have generally mained a healer or, more recently, a DD. This is going to be a baptism of fire. Lol.

I have now set up my Warden healer as a tank. She is currently a Breton. I am considering a race change but I am unsure whether to go Nord or Imperial. That said, considering almost all my skills seem to be magicka, are Bretons that bad? Magicka, spell resistance, magicka recovery and 7% cost reduction seem OK.

Wearing Turning Tide, Olorime and Nazaray, I have 41k health and nearly 23k magicka and stamina. My mag recovery is just over 2100. Resistances are 32k Spell and 30k physical. I can perhaps improve these by using the defending trait on my weapon or some reinforced armour. I am currently wearing all sturdy.

As I am more used to DK tanking, I am not sure what to change. Is Breton viable or would Nord or Imperial be much better? And if so, which one should I choose? Any advice would be much appreciated

SithisKhajitiiLamae · May 2023

Check out Deltia's Gaming.com

He may have a build guide on his website or YT channel that can help you out. Its quicker than waiting for replies on here.

Khrogo · May 2023

SithisKhajitiiLamae wrote: »

Check out Deltia's Gaming.com

He may have a build guide on his website or YT channel that can help you out. Its quicker than waiting for replies on here.

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll take a look at his site.

haelgaan · May 2023

Nord is often the #1 choice for virtually any tank

Khrogo · May 2023

haelgaan wrote: »

Nord is often the #1 choice for virtually any tank

Yes, Nord seems to be recommended the most. I was just wondering whether a certain race would be more suited to a particular class. I will only really be tanking Blackrose on the character. Once I’m done, I’ll be switching back to healer.

ZOS_Hadeostry · May 2023

Greetings,

After further review we have decided to move this thread to a category we think is more appropriate for this topic, as it was asking best race for a warden tank.

Thank you for your understanding

Hotdog_23 · May 2023

Nord is the popular pick for a Tank but personally I like Imperial better. Find that really don't need the extra resistance. Sure, you get ultimate quicker but love the Red Diamond passive that even reduces the cost all abilities including ultimates.

Info:
Imperial
Diplomat – Increases experience gain with One Handed and Shield Line by 15%. Increases your gold gained by 1%.
Tough: Increases your Max Health by 2000.
Imperial Mettle: Increases your Max Stamina by 2000.
Red Diamond: Reduces the cost of all your abilities by 6%.

Nord
Reveler – Increases experience gain with the Two-Handed Skill line by 15%. Increases the duration of any consumed drink by 15 minutes.
Stalwart: Increases your Max Stamina by 1500. When you take damage, you gain 5 Ultimate. This effect can occur once every 10 seconds.
Resist Frost: Increases your Max Health by 1000 and Frost Resistance by 4620.
Rugged: Increases your Physical and Spell Resistance by 2600.

Stay safe

PS, Check out https://thetankclub.com/

Khrogo · May 2023

Hotdog_23 wrote: »

Nord is the popular pick for a Tank but personally I like Imperial better. Find that really don't need the extra resistance. Sure, you get ultimate quicker but love the Red Diamond passive that even reduces the cost all abilities including ultimates.

Info:
Imperial
Diplomat – Increases experience gain with One Handed and Shield Line by 15%. Increases your gold gained by 1%.
Tough: Increases your Max Health by 2000.
Imperial Mettle: Increases your Max Stamina by 2000.
Red Diamond: Reduces the cost of all your abilities by 6%.

Nord
Reveler – Increases experience gain with the Two-Handed Skill line by 15%. Increases the duration of any consumed drink by 15 minutes.
Stalwart: Increases your Max Stamina by 1500. When you take damage, you gain 5 Ultimate. This effect can occur once every 10 seconds.
Resist Frost: Increases your Max Health by 1000 and Frost Resistance by 4620.
Rugged: Increases your Physical and Spell Resistance by 2600.

Stay safe

PS, Check out https://thetankclub.com/

Thanks for the comparison. To be honest, I find the Red Diamond passive quite appealing. Six percent cost reduction is nothing to sneeze at. Having said that, the Nord’s extra resistances would bump me up to cap. I already use Tank Club as a resource. I find it really useful

Agenericname · May 2023

I prefer Imperial over Nord, but its slight. In truth, you could manage Unchained on virtually any race. When we started I took my Khajiit warden. I ended up liking the DK slightly more so I swapped. You could do it on a Breton. It's more about learning the fights and executing them.

Yes, I would swap a couple of the large pieces to reinforced.

Generally I swap gear/skills between stages and rounds sometimes. If you're on PC and thats an option, that will help you tailor your load out a little once you figure out what works best for you. Then the difference between racial passives doesnt seem as big then.

I assume since youre running Olorime that youre going 3DD? If you run Purge in 2 and 4 Breton or Imperial will make it cheaper. That may help out while youre learning it.

I would play around with it a bit and see how the Breton feels before I changed anything. I would feel comfortable taking a Breton Warden personally.

Good luck

Khrogo · May 2023

Thank you for the excellent answer and suggestions. As you said, I will have to familiarise myself with the arena first. As it’s a no-healer run, I am wearing Olorime. Not that I’m complaining, the two magicka recovery bonuses are kinda nice.

I’ve completed vBRP twice, once on Xbox and once on PC, but it was about three years ago so I’ve forgotten most of it. Sadly, I’m playing on Xbox this time. No add-ons or Wizard’s Wardrobe for me. I seem to remember that there wasn’t much time between rounds, so switching more than a skill or two might be difficult.

I’ll be sure to run Purge in 2 and 4. I’ll also change a couple of armour pieces to sturdy. As for race, I am going to take your advice and stick with Breton for now. I can always change later if need be.

Thanks again for the great reply. Very helpful indeed

FantasticFreddie · May 2023

What's the experience level of your dds? No healer can be a little rough in inexperienced groups.

Khrogo · May 2023

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

What's the experience level of your dds? No healer can be a little rough in inexperienced groups.

Two of the DDs have never completed it. The other DD has a fair amount of experience in there.

Agenericname · May 2023

Khrogo wrote: »

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

What's the experience level of your dds? No healer can be a little rough in inexperienced groups.

Two of the DDs have never completed it. The other DD has a fair amount of experience in there.

It will probably take some getting used to. I doubt you will be happy with Naz at first. Id go with Engine Guardian or maybe Roksa in the beginning. It probably depends on the group comp as well and how fast they kill things, but, I recommend having one of those 2 monster sets on hand.

Zodiarkslayer · May 2023

Warden Tank can be tough with sustain, if you are new to it and the fight is hectic.
Imperial is the safer choice.

That being said, why not try double Frost Staff tanking with your Breton?
It's a whole different kind of fun. 😁

Khrogo · May 2023

Agenericname wrote: »

Khrogo wrote: »

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

What's the experience level of your dds? No healer can be a little rough in inexperienced groups.

Two of the DDs have never completed it. The other DD has a fair amount of experience in there.

It will probably take some getting used to. I doubt you will be happy with Naz at first. Id go with Engine Guardian or maybe Roksa in the beginning. It probably depends on the group comp as well and how fast they kill things, but, I recommend having one of those 2 monster sets on hand.

Thanks for the tip! I agree, Naz may be too unforgiving. I’ll include Engine Guardian in my kit. I’ll have to go get Roksa.

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

Warden Tank can be tough with sustain, if you are new to it and the fight is hectic.
Imperial is the safer choice.

That being said, why not try double Frost Staff tanking with your Breton?
It's a whole different kind of fun. 😁

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve been curious about double frost staff tanking, I’m just not sure now is the time to rock the boat. I’m so used to the S&B/Ice combo. My other concern would be the loss of 5k resistances for no discernible benefit. Also, Clench doesn’t seem as fast as Puncture. Although that could just be my perception. Imperial is definitely a possibility. Breton magicka sustain is second to none, I’m just a bit worried about my stam.

MindOfTheSwarm · May 2023

Warden tank is actually good with Breton if using a Frost Staff, otherwise the typical tank races are all good choices. Special shout to Imperial as the Red Diamond passive alone makes it a top candidate for any role.