What's the best tanking classes and races? 2024

Jediarmy · May 10

I'm sorry if this has been asked before but has anything changed since this post?
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en-gb/discussion/640916/what-races-and-classes-are-best-for-tanking

Why is it when i come back to elder scrolls online lol Its so freaking hard to choose a class you wana play

Jediarmy · May 10

thinking of Dragon Knights + Redguards don't want to make a bad choice later finding something out that this class can't do...
Also where would you put the skill points...

code65536 · May 10

For most of the game's content, almost any class is fine, and any race is fine.

It's really only with DLC trial hard modes where these things matter, and in that case, the class choice is usually what the group needs.

In any case, the recommendations in the thread you linked are still applicable.

danko355 · May 10

Nord and imperial best races, dk and arc best tanks

Auberon1983 · May 11

I run an Argonian ArcTank and have zero issues from a gameplay perspective (my vision issues are a different story).

Nord and Imperial, as mentioned above, are often considered the "meta" tank races. Argonian (what I run) gets a nice bunch of racial passives. Heck even Breton is a contender with their Magicka sustain and cost reduction.

Redguard DK is a fine choice. As also mentioned above, unless you're in an explicit end game trial guild that regularly scoreboard pushes, just about anything is fine.

Jediarmy · May 11

I wish we had some sort of tally like in reddit see how many players are using what lol

Going for Nord and Imperial

El_Borracho · May 13

My favorite 2 tanks are a Nord DK and an Argonian Warden. Also have a Dark Elf NB tank that is a lot of fun. Though, for trials content, I'd say Nord is the best race and the top 3 classes are DK, Warden, and Necro.

Haven't run an Imperial, but they are also a strong tank race.

You can tank with any race, and Breton and Redguards are fine, especially if you are running a mag or stamina heavy build, respectively.

Jediarmy · May 13

its a shame Imperial DLC is not included with this I got the THE ELDER SCROLLS® ONLINE: Gold Road™ DIGITAL DELUXE

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2662630/The_Elder_Scrolls_Online_Gold_Road/

had to buy mine from the shop.

Auberon1983 · May 14

Jediarmy wrote: »

I wish we had some sort of tally like in reddit see how many players are using what lol

Going for Nord and Imperial

Of those two, it's largely going to come down to whether you (and/or your raid leader) prefer Ultimate generation on hit (5 ultimate on hit is really good on a tank), or slightly more health and stamina and cost reduction on ALL skills (includes block, roll dodge, ultimates, etc)

Both are really good. Part of tanking is keeping up Warhorn and/or Barrier, and Nord sort of "brute forces" it, whereas Imperial gets cheaper cost ("Sustank")

And yes, Imperial race being locked behind a paywall is an old thorn in the foot. But, and this is just a suggestion, if you don't already have a GMC (Grand Master Crafter), let your Imperial do it. They start with Imperial Style, which otherwise you have to farm or purchase

fred4 · May 14

"Best" is always a question of "best for what?".

If you want something that no one's going to argue with, play a DK, possibly a Nord DK (for the ultigen). DKs are the original tanks. They can bring a bunch of buffs to a group, including Major Sorcery / Brutality, Minor Brutality, Stagger, increased flame damage, possibly more. They are the only class with magicka-costing chains that you can freely cast while blocking. Their Magma Shell ultimate is totally unique in hard-capping damage. This helps beginners. This is the only way to progress super far into Infinite Archive (if you are into that). This is one of the few ways you can realistically rez other players in some content.

Lately I've been playing a Breton nightblade as a tank. Completely wrong race, but nightblade is super-strong and easy to play as of this patch, due to Siphoning Attacks. Very strong self-healing and, now, better stamina-suatain while blocking than a DK. This allows you to pull off some things with relative ease, such as solo-tanking vet Sunspire. Unfortunately nightblade only brings Minor Savagery and (potentially) Minor Vulnerability to a group. I personally think those considerations only matter in coordinated progression groups and are frequently bandied about far too early in people's "careers". I once saw a trial PUG advertised as "no nightblades". As far as tanks go such attitudes would IMO be mighty stupid, because in terms of solo-tanking nightblades are up there, possibly gaining the group a DD.

Sorc has a skill that gives you 40% block mitigation for 5 seconds. It's a similar story to nightblades in a way, however the sorc Atro is well-regarded for giving the group Major Berserk. Sorc tanks are arguably meta for some groups. A friend asked me to use one for a dungeon progression group, due to the atro. In a way, sorc tanks are more advanced than what the general public uses and knows well, e.g. PUG groups and training guilds. The block mitigation skill allows you to build "tanks" in coordinated groups that are really taunting DDs, capable of blocking tank-level damage when it counts. This is what you may see in very advanced groups, e.g. look up Hyperioxes on YouTube.

If you are not playing at such exalted levels, things change drastically again. Veteran DLC trials and dungeons, and especially their hard modes, typically require a conventional tank. Lesser content does not. If you are playing with good players, you may still want to be a conventional buff tank, wearing buff sets, focusing on tanking only and providing high penetration against bosses. If you are playing "lesser" content with mediocre / bad DDs, it's typically better to do damage yourself and just have a taunt. "Lesser" content means everything below vet DLC dungeons and trials. This is IMO the realm of Brawler and hybrid builds, if you want to actually be optimal for that, especially when you're pugging that stuff.

"Brawler" is a 2H skill that does AOE damage and gives you a shield. Combine that with the Master's 2H weapon from Dragonstar arena and your damage ramps up the larger the trash pack. Combine it with a taunt, Razor Caltrops for the penetration, and plenty of stamina sustain, and you have a very tanky DD that can carry a group in mid-level content. There are, however, plenty of other options to build for varying levels of tankiness. I've done it on templars and on arcanists. It doesn't have to be Brawler. This is where you can get really creative in optimising your PUG farming experience as the designated tank.

As I've been playing my sole character, a nightblade, on a different server from my normal one, one thing that's become painfully apparent as a conventional tank is that this works very well in trials, but do a hard DLC dungeon, such as Earthen Root, and you can't rez your group when the PUG inevitably dies. This is where I really miss either being a DK, or perhaps a necro with their rez ult, or being a Brawlersorc that could possibly finish a fight solo.

I've left out templars, necros, wardens, and arcanists from the discussion, because I have not played them extensively as a tank. So take the above with a grain of salt. It's not meant to imply sorcs and nightblades are better than those classes.