Been 5 years - Best tank for an unguilded pure pugger who only solo's?

Dixa · April 27

I guess there is some new system coming that may make this moot, but there is a lot of game to play between now and then and I plan to make a new character with my return.

I last played when Wardens were new.

I would like a tank. one that can solo the overworld independent of specific monster sets which i have few to none of or are mostly magicka based. I would also like to be able to pug dungeons and dlc dungeons up to vet both as i level up and after getting some gear. so i prefer decent damage with good self healing sustain that does not require specific sets to work.

I would like your recommendations starting with race and class and how to build it. I looked at the usual websites but i've alwasy been turned off by arrogant creators who name their builds and nearly all are assuming easy access to monster sets/crafting sets which i won't have and likely will never unless my old friends return.

thanks in advance.

allochthons · April 27

I would go with an imperial nord Arcanist.
Arcs are surprisingly good beginner tanks, when you just have a few skills unlocked, with a class taunt, and an amazing shield ulti that unlocks pretty quickly. Add in Silver Leash until you get the class pull unlocked. I use the flail/beam combo even when tanking on my baby arcs, because the flail heals, and the beam does crazy damage even when low level.

I'd get a set of Order's Wrath (easily crafted with only a bit of research, or buy on guild traders), in a mix of weights (Heavy chest and legs, Medium feet, Light hands and waist). On weapons/jewelry, swap out something like Fortified Brass (craftable) when tanking, with something easy to farm like Mother's Sorrow (Deshaan) for DPS. Farm out the Oakensoul mythic ring for soloing (or maybe Pale Order if you don't like the 1-bar lifestyle), and use an easy-to-get monster like Engine Guardian or Tremorscale for tanking. Use 1 piece of medium on the monster, to even out your armor weights for faster leveling on them.

I use Innate Axiom 2 pieces for my 'monster' set when I'm below CP. It's 2-piece bonus is: Adds 3-129 Weapon and Spell Damage which is useful on low-level characters. Or maybe look for a sustain or max mag/stam 2-piece bonus.
Also, the Imperial City monster sets (like Nunatak) drop in below-CP levels. I think they're the only monster sets that do? None are great for tanking, but maybe worth a look.

That will get you through most overland content, and certainly tanking the base-game dungeons on normal. Vet you'll probably need to upgrade. I'll leave that advice to people better than I.

Feel free to ask specific questions. I'm not on the account right now where I have baby arc tanks, but I can give you the skill load-out I use when I'm below 50 if you would like it.

Dixa · April 27

allochthons wrote: »

I would go with an imperial nord Arcanist.
Arcs are surprisingly good beginner tanks, when you just have a few skills unlocked, with a class taunt, and an amazing shield ulti that unlocks pretty quickly. Add in Silver Leash until you get the class pull unlocked. I use the flail/beam combo even when tanking on my baby arcs, because the flail heals, and the beam does crazy damage even when low level.

I'd get a set of Order's Wrath (easily crafted with only a bit of research, or buy on guild traders), in a mix of weights (Heavy chest and legs, Medium feet, Light hands and waist). On weapons/jewelry, swap out something like Fortified Brass (craftable) when tanking, with something easy to farm like Mother's Sorrow (Deshaan) for DPS. Farm out the Oakensoul mythic ring for soloing (or maybe Pale Order if you don't like the 1-bar lifestyle), and use an easy-to-get monster like Engine Guardian or Tremorscale for tanking. Use 1 piece of medium on the monster, to even out your armor weights for faster leveling on them.

I use Innate Axiom 2 pieces for my 'monster' set when I'm below CP. It's 2-piece bonus is: Adds 3-129 Weapon and Spell Damage which is useful on low-level characters. Or maybe look for a sustain or max mag/stam 2-piece bonus.
Also, the Imperial City monster sets (like Nunatak) drop in below-CP levels. I think they're the only monster sets that do? None are great for tanking, but maybe worth a look.

That will get you through most overland content, and certainly tanking the base-game dungeons on normal. Vet you'll probably need to upgrade. I'll leave that advice to people better than I.

Feel free to ask specific questions. I'm not on the account right now where I have baby arc tanks, but I can give you the skill load-out I use when I'm below 50 if you would like it.

thanks. i logged onto my characters and there has been some serious changes and i'm not familiar with a lot of the sets you described here. so any help you can provide would be great.

Soarora · April 28

allochthons wrote: »

That will get you through most overland content, and certainly tanking the base-game dungeons on normal. Vet you'll probably need to upgrade. I'll leave that advice to people better than I.

My vet suggestion is to abandon doing DPS. Things hit harder and so it is in your best interest to focus on buffs/debuffs and your own resistances instead of damage dealing, at least until you’re experienced (know when you need to block or roll, how necessary resistances are for each boss, etc.). You can try to do some damage as a tank but I wouldn’t consider vet pugs to be the place to experiment.
My easy setup to start with would be dsa sword and board, tremorscale, turning tide (from shipwrights regret), and powerful assault. Void bash for trash fights if you are into swapping setups.

allochthons · April 28

1 caveat for any of this. I'm a decent, but certainly not great, tank, with a lot of tanking experience, so I can be fairly effective in easy content without great gear. These recommendations are what work for me. A new tank will want to be much more conservative.

Also, if you happen to be on console, I'm not sure the Armory was a thing when you last played. If you aren't familiar with it, or the PC equivs (Wizard Wardrobe?), it's well worth learning.

Make sure you join the Undaunted, Fighter's and Mage's guild ASAP. I think they become available around level 6 or 10. For undaunted, you don't actually have to go into the dungeon they request, just talking to the guy in the bar will unlock the skill line.

I use the Steed mundus for the extra speed and health recovery until I hit CP, or have the CP to put into mount speed. When tanking as a baby tank, I'm quite often left behind in dungeons, so this helps me stay with the group.

My baby arc tank is currently level 20.

Front bar fortified brass: infused / absorb stamina 1-hand weapon
offhand: fortified brass: Sturdy / Max Health shield
Backbar: infused/crusher ice staff. (crusher is Deteri)
Head: Innate Axiom / Medium / Divines / Max Health
Chest: Order's Wrath / Heavy / Reinforced / Max Health
Shoulders: Innate Axiom / Heavy / Divines / Max health
Waist: Order's Wrath / Light / Divines / Max Health
Hands: Order's Wrath / Light / Divines / Max Health
Legs: Order's Wrath / Heavy / Sturdy|Divines|Reinforced|whateveryoulike / Max Health
Feet: Order's Wrath / Medium / Divines
All Jewelry: Fortified Brass / Robust / Mag Recovery.

Since both Order's Wrath and Fortified Brass are craftable, feel free to swap them. Order's Wrath needs 3 traits to craft, and Brass needs 4.
I have also used Hunding's Rage and Sload's Semblance on baby tanks, but have settled on Order's Wrath and Fortified Brass.

I make my armor on these toons a mix of weights to level the different weights, so I can make the character into anything later. Most tanks, when not leveling, use heavy on everything, unless they're using 1 piece medium 1 piece light for the Undaunted passive Undaunted Mettle.

The move from Sturdy to Divines for tanking was a few years ago. I like it, myself. Some folks prefer to stay with Sturdy or Reinforced.

My skill bars:
Front:
Pierce Armor / Silver Leash / Runemend / Runespite Ward / Runeblades / Gibbering Shield ult.
Back:
Ceph Flail / Pragmatic Fatecarver / Runemend (again) or Resolving Vigor once I have a point for it / Runic Jolt / Elemental Blockade, Unblinking Eye ult.

I double up on a lot of skills while I'm short on skill points. And I have a lot of damage skills since baby tanks will only get low-level dungeons, and many people would prefer to run with 4 DPS and bypass a tank altogether, so I might as well do some damage while I'm at it. I only drop the damage skills when having a full-on tank becomes necessary.

The first two passives under Soldier of Apocrypha are worth putting points into early.
And the Hideous Clarity passive under Curative Runeforms is worth a point early as well.
For armor passives I put points into any sustain passives, as sustain is always rough on new toons.
Same for Fortress passive under 1-Hand and Shield. 1-Hand and shield skills are very stam expensive without this passive.

And finally, don't forget that low level characters still have access to any CP points the account has.
I use these:
Blue: Ironclad, Enduring Resolve, Duelist Rebuff, Unassailable.
Red: Boundless Vitality, Fortified, Rejuvenation, Celerity.
- Most guides will recommend Bracing Anchor and/or Ward Master instead of Celerity. For some harder content, absolutely. For normal dungeons, speed is better.

Also, a shout-out to The Tank Club, a great site to learn the basics and find decent builds and bar setups:
https://thetankclub.com/eso-dungeon-tank-build/

allochthons · April 28

Soarora wrote: »

My vet suggestion is to abandon doing DPS.

I totally agree. When tanking, I'd only try to do damage in vet dungeons in specific situations, unlikely to come up in pugs. And pugs would rarely give me the chance to change out the skills anyway, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

For a good while, I was running a lot of random normal pugs on baby tanks to farm transmutes. I'd level them to 10, and run them to about level 35 or 40, then delete and start over. So I gained a fair amount of experience specific to that context. Out of that context, my advice is middling at best.

sans-culottes · April 28

Dixa wrote: »

I guess there is some new system coming that may make this moot, but there is a lot of game to play between now and then and I plan to make a new character with my return.

I last played when Wardens were new.

I would like a tank. one that can solo the overworld independent of specific monster sets which i have few to none of or are mostly magicka based. I would also like to be able to pug dungeons and dlc dungeons up to vet both as i level up and after getting some gear. so i prefer decent damage with good self healing sustain that does not require specific sets to work.

I would like your recommendations starting with race and class and how to build it. I looked at the usual websites but i've alwasy been turned off by arrogant creators who name their builds and nearly all are assuming easy access to monster sets/crafting sets which i won't have and likely will never unless my old friends return.

thanks in advance.

Not to worry. Overland difficulty remains negligible, such that any class (or further down the line, combination of skill lines) will be more than adequate.

The good news is that little preparation is required. The bad news is that little preparation is required.

Zodiarkslayer · April 29

@Dixa I would recommend to rethink your view on tanking. Don't get me wrong, I love that you want to tank, but tanking has become an endgame role. Getting into it is a long way, if you ask me. Especially for someone who doesn't get help from a dedicated guild.

Consider this: If you turn up with a heavy armor setup in a normal base game dungeon, you will be so slow that by the time you'll arrive at the Boss, your team mates will already have killed it. You'll end up feeling quite useless, because classical tanks aren't needed in normal dungeons anymore. The power creep over the last 5 years was quite drastic. 4 DPS is usually the fastest way to clear normals. Which is why nearly everyone does it.
In some DLC dungeons you will have a need for a tank, but holding aggro and not dieing is usually enough for a clear.

Being a tank in overland is a roleplay decision. So, lets just discuss world bosses, then.
There is a big difference between WBs and DBs: you'll have to bring the damage. As a pure tank you might be able to survive alone, but you'll do so little damage that you'll go crazy in the attempt.
Damage is king. And survivability in World Boss fights is usually coming from constant overhealing, rather than high end mitigation.

So my final recommendation is: If you are serious about tanking, join a guild. They can help. Supply you with starter gear, teach you mechanics and share experience.

Soarora · April 29

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

Consider this: If you turn up with a heavy armor setup in a normal base game dungeon, you will be so slow that by the time you'll arrive at the Boss, your team mates will already have killed it.

I both agree and disagree with you; normals with speedrunners function best with more damage but normals with new players function best with a tank.

Tanks are not really that slow though. Heavy armor nerfs your sprint speed a little bit, so if you slot celerity and a personal source of major expedition you should still be ahead of most players when sprinting. Not all though since more optimized normal speedrunners may have expedition and celerity too.

Dixa · April 29

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

@Dixa I would recommend to rethink your view on tanking. Don't get me wrong, I love that you want to tank, but tanking has become an endgame role. Getting into it is a long way, if you ask me. Especially for someone who doesn't get help from a dedicated guild.

Consider this: If you turn up with a heavy armor setup in a normal base game dungeon, you will be so slow that by the time you'll arrive at the Boss, your team mates will already have killed it. You'll end up feeling quite useless, because classical tanks aren't needed in normal dungeons anymore. The power creep over the last 5 years was quite drastic. 4 DPS is usually the fastest way to clear normals. Which is why nearly everyone does it.
In some DLC dungeons you will have a need for a tank, but holding aggro and not dieing is usually enough for a clear.

Being a tank in overland is a roleplay decision. So, lets just discuss world bosses, then.
There is a big difference between WBs and DBs: you'll have to bring the damage. As a pure tank you might be able to survive alone, but you'll do so little damage that you'll go crazy in the attempt.
Damage is king. And survivability in World Boss fights is usually coming from constant overhealing, rather than high end mitigation.

So my final recommendation is: If you are serious about tanking, join a guild. They can help. Supply you with starter gear, teach you mechanics and share experience.

Overgeared jerks are gonna be what they are but I don’t let that ruin my fun or goals.

I have zero desire to do trials beyond normal and my carpal can’t handle the way dps works in this game anymore. I will be purely pugging and from these very boards and Reddit the best way to do this is as a tank - but not as a jerk dps signing up as a tank.

I play multiple mmorpgs at a time and only commit to serious end game in one at a time. Right now that’s season of discovery and is unlikely to ever be eso unless the insane number of time and cash shop gates are drastically reduced. I’m looking for a chill time in dungeons.

fred4 · April 29

@Dixa Soloing stuff doesn't require a tank. It is done most efficiently by a self-healing DD, merely a bit tanky for the hardest content. This includes world bosses, normal dungeons and base game veteran dungeons, even some veteran DLC hard mode dungeons. For one bar solo builds for different classes, look up Hyperioxes on YouTube. He has recently made a load of videos on this topic. That said, he is a very technical, score-pushing player. This is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you'll get really accurate information on what works, no named builds (I think), no role-playing, no fluff. I believe he also made a point of creating easy to use builds. On the other hand, he knows every mechanic in this game like the back of his hand. That means if a build works for him, it might not work for you, or not to his level. If you make it your business to learn mechanics, you may follow in his footsteps. If you like to go into hard content without knowing or wanting to master all game mechanics and have, ahem, more fun than he has, a tankier option may suit you better. I assume that's where you are coming from.

In my experience every dungeon up to non-DLC veteran hard mode level can be comfortably soloed on a "Brawler" tank. Also world bosses, some or all normal trials, arenas, and so on. Not the only approach, but the one I have the most experience with and one that lends itself to actual tanking in dungeon groups. The last time I made a video about this type of build was a year ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w00hhYOod4I

This version isn't the tankiest option, but one tuned for some damage. You won't have all the sets, so let's go over what's important here:

Being a stamsorc!
Due to passives, you get better damage on this class, for this type of build, than on other classes.
Crit Surge healing is OP. No need for Pale Order. Beats magicka templar at it's own game, e.g. healing while doing damage.
Dark Deal gives you extra stamina sustain on what is a very stamina-hungry playstyle.
Using the 2H Brawler skill as a spammable. A shield of ~6K to ~20K every second, in conjunction with Crit Surge, makes you tanky af. Wearing shielding sets, such as Hexos Ward, does not even come close.
Building for sustain, so you can spam Brawler. Sustain enchants. A sustain set. It doesn't need to be Vicious Ophidian. That set is ideal for damage, since it also gives you crit, but you could use Wretched Vitality (crafted) or possibly Vengeance Leech (guild store).
Largely medium armor. For the sustain.

The following are not essential:

Markyn. I use it to get resistances higher in a medium armor build, to the 33K cap in some build variations, but you don't really need that.
The 1-piece Magma Incarnate. It's a sustain piece. With Wretched Vitality you probably won't need it. Wear anything. 1-piece Slimecraw, if you have it.
The Master's 2H weapon. This ramps up your damage in AOE situations. It is extremely nice to have on this build, very powerful for AOE, one of the reasons for this build's existence, but ultimately not necessary. Not having it only makes you slower.
The Tormentor set on the back bar. This set used to AOE taunt, but was changed. It is still nice to have, because rushing in with Stampede for the taunt is fun, the resistances carry to the other bar, and it's a heal. But it's not necessary. You can taunt with the chains. If you have scribing and can make Leashing Soul instead of Silver Leash, that would be better, but Silver Leash will do.

With that said, let me recommend the following on-the-cheap gear combination:

Vengeance Leech 2H front bar and 1x jewelry
Wretched Vitality (crafted) back bar
Either a medium armor crit damage set, such as Order's Wrath, or a tanky set, such as Fortified Brass (both crafted)
1x (monster) shoulder or helmet, whatever you have, preferably giving crit

Remember, this build is all about the sustain. Tankiness is somewhat secondary. It's the combination of Brawler shield spam, combined with Crit Surge, that will make you tanky. Whatever you choose, also pay attention to crit %. Higher crit % will not only do more damage, it will also help proccing Crit Surge more consistently.

Finally, if you intend to do vet DLC dungeons or vet trials, you'll have to be a real tank. That means you won't deal damage. Your focus should be on taunting, pulling things together, debuffing the enemies, and surviving. A typical beginner setup might be something like:

Tremorscale monster set (easy to get)
Heavy armor body set that gives you health (to a total of ~40K), such as Plague Doctor
Torug's Pact back bar, ice staff, with an Infused Crusher enchant
Master's 1H+Shield from Dragonstar Arena, if and when you can get it. Anything else before that.

There's more to playing a tank, but I assume you mainly wanted to know about something like the Brawler option. I'll stop here.

fred4 · April 29

Dixa wrote: »

I will be purely pugging and from these very boards and Reddit the best way to do this is as a tank - but not as a jerk dps signing up as a tank.

OK, maybe I misread your original post. You don't want to solo stuff or carry groups - a lot of 4-man content is actually soloable - but you just want to solo queue for dungeon pugs. Playing a tank will get you a pug the quickest alright, however I'm not sure they're the easiest ride (at least on vet), if you were looking for that. That dubious honor arguably belongs to healers, simply because until you hit a certain level of difficulty, healers are quite redundant altogether. That threshold is a bit lower for tanks, e.g. they are needed in (vet) dungeons, where a healer might only be truly needed for the hard mode, for example.

Let me show you my current nightblade tank build. I find this an easy class to play, as you can basically perma-block by alternating between Dark Cloak and Siphoning Attacks. I do a bit more than that, I have at least the Ulfsild's Contingency shield in the rotation and I bar swap quite a lot, but this is something you could change. The main point is that nightblade stamina sustain while blocking is quite unreal, making for an easy playstyie:

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

Never mind the armor sets. I'm using them now, because I have them, but I started with the following:

Tremorscale, cause it's easy to get
Cyrodiil's Crest or Plague Doctor, instead of Lucent
Torug's Pact instead of Powerful Assault
Anything instead of Master's 1H+Shield

Perhaps note the CP, attribute points and tri-stat enchants. I wanted to hit ~20K mag and stam, with stam > mag, and 40K health, but I also wanted to use Red Frothgar for the sustain. Leaning on the tri-stat enchants was one way to do that, but if that is expensive for you, then don't use them until you are happy with your gear long term. You can compromise on stats in the meantime, notably on some health, if you're only doing dungeons and not vet trials.

Skill-wise also, Echoing Vigor is really only there for Powerful Assault and I seldom use Mirage. Minor Resolve is already covered by Ulfsild's. You could re-jig skills between the bars and replace those two skills with passive ones, such as Revealing Flare for the Major Protection on both bars, or use Defensive Stance passively on the front bar.

Why are the remaining skills there:

Pierce Armor = the main taunt that also applies Major and Minor Breach to the target - one of a tank's main jobs. People expect you to provide those penetration debuffs.
Healthy Offerinbg = emergency heal.
Warding Contingency = it's just nice to also have a shield as a tank, also for the group, and for Minor Resolve.
Leashing Soul = it's your job to pull mobs together. Unfortunately only DK has a good native chain skill. The only generic skill is Silver Leash, which costs stamina (bad), but can work in a pinch. Leashing Soul is better than either of those skills, esp. due to the stamina return. It's hard not to recommend scribing for a non-DK tank, I find.
Dark Cloak = Fantastic self heal. Tanks need to self-heal in hard content.
Spell Wall = I actually use this rarely, but it does come in handy when you want to rez someone.
Frost Clench = A 28m ranged taunt is needed in some content, though I suppose mostly in veteran trials.
Siphoning Attacks = Insane sustain skill, basically allows you to perma-block. Also one siphoning skill per bar balances out your magicka pool.
Mirage = Major Evasion. Situational. I don't use it much, but I could be wrong in that.
Blockade of Frost = Essential to activate your back bar Crusher enchant for more (boss) penetration. It is standard (meta) practice for all PvE group builds to have an Infused back bar weapon and ground AOE weapon skill.
Echoing Vigor = Hey I can heal the group some while activating Powerful Assault. Not needed unless you wear that set.
Aggressive Horn = The ultimate I actually use. Standard practice for tanks and healers to buff the DDs with this ultimate.

Dixa · May 5

I’ve gone with an arcanist and it’s been good so far. Still levelling but I do good controlling the bosses that can be controlled in dungeons so far and keeping myself alive. The arcanist toolkit is something else.

JaxontheUnfortunate · May 13

I usually tank on a berserk werewolf

.

tsaescishoeshiner · May 13

If you haven't checked it out yet, you have a free armory station (placed in any house like the free inn rooms, or go to Imperial City/Cyrodiil) and two free build slots that let you switch your morphs, attributes, sets, skills, pretty much everything.

So in addition to the class/build advice above, I recommend using a free build slot for a solo build, and one for a dungeon/group build. Your solo build would be higher damage, probably more DoTs, and not need as many debuffs (the most effective would be a self-healing DPS character, but that's up to your preference). Both builds just need good enough sustain and you can practically do anything with enough time. For veteran DLC dungeons, a "selfish" tank build is definitely fine if that's what you prefer.

It's totally fine to choose to play solo and not join a guild. I just want to note that there are a lot of solo-player friendly guilds with people who are looking for dungeon partners, and will probably be better than pugs.