Help me build the perfect Tank

[JerryFlicek]

I am a big fan of The Elder Scrolls series, especially ESO. My only problem is that I have never played a real MMO before. That being said, I know the three main types of characters; Tank, DPS, and sorc/healer.

I want to build a tank character that everyone wants in their group. What do you all recommend?

Race?
Class?
Weapon of Choice?
Armor?
Attributes?
Champion Points?

Also, any other advise or information for building the "perfect tank" would be greatly appreciated!

[dragonfett]

Tanks in ESO are kinda weird because there are only two skills (maybe three) that are taunts (the primary skill a tank would need in a group). The first one (and easiest to get as it is the first skill available in that skill line.) is Puncture under the One Handed and Shield skill line. The other is Inner Fire from the Undaunted skill line (which you level up by completing special dungeons meant to be grouped).

Race really isn't a huge issue, but if you have access to the Imperial Edition (which allows you to play as an Imperial) then I would go with playing an Imperial as your race as they have a bonus to health and max stamina (and max stamina also affects your damage with stamina based powers).

Class, your best bet is either Templar or Dragonkight.

Weapon of Choice? Early game definitely going to want to go with any one handed weapon and a shield (which one handed weapon is really up to you as they all do the same damage and have no other effects unless you have leveled your Dual Wielding skill to 50 and put skill points into the capstone passive).

Armor, I would absolutely go with heavy, as many of the passive skills increase health.

Attributes? Well it depends on what skills you are going to be using more of, if you are using more magicka based skills, then put 2 points into Magica per point put into Stamina. If you are using more Stamina based skills, then reverse what I had said. Why? Remember how I said how much damage you do with stamina based skills is dependent on how high your max Stamina is, well the same goes for Magicka based skills as well.

Champion Points? Unless you already have at least one character at level 50/CP 10 or higher (which by the sounds of it is probably the case), I wouldn't worry about this yet as it doesn't apply to you.

I don't usually play tanks, so I don't know what else to tell you.

[AngryNord]

Wouldn't most tanks simply put all their attribute points into Health?

[JerryFlicek]

Tanks in ESO are kinda weird because there are only two skills (maybe three) that are taunts (the primary skill a tank would need in a group). The first one (and easiest to get as it is the first skill available in that skill line.) is Puncture under the One Handed and Shield skill line. The other is Inner Fire from the Undaunted skill line (which you level up by completing special dungeons meant to be grouped).

Race really isn't a huge issue, but if you have access to the Imperial Edition (which allows you to play as an Imperial) then I would go with playing an Imperial as your race as they have a bonus to health and max stamina (and max stamina also affects your damage with stamina based powers).

Class, your best bet is either Templar or Dragonkight.

Weapon of Choice? Early game definitely going to want to go with any one handed weapon and a shield (which one handed weapon is really up to you as they all do the same damage and have no other effects unless you have leveled your Dual Wielding skill to 50 and put skill points into the capstone passive).

Armor, I would absolutely go with heavy, as many of the passive skills increase health.

Attributes? Well it depends on what skills you are going to be using more of, if you are using more magicka based skills, then put 2 points into Magica per point put into Stamina. If you are using more Stamina based skills, then reverse what I had said. Why? Remember how I said how much damage you do with stamina based skills is dependent on how high your max Stamina is, well the same goes for Magicka based skills as well.

Champion Points? Unless you already have at least one character at level 50/CP 10 or higher (which by the sounds of it is probably the case), I wouldn't worry about this yet as it doesn't apply to you.

I don't usually play tanks, so I don't know what else to tell you.

Thanks for the info!

So I have one character built right now, which seems to be a bit of everything (noticed when on the dungeon activity finder). My current character is a Bosmer Templar archer leveled at Champion 88, so I have a few champion points to spend. He has no special purpose besides quest grinding. I have yet to bring that character to any PvP or PvE areas. He's pretty much evened out on attribute points

[Mauin]

Wouldn't most tanks simply put all their attribute points into Health?

That depends. I have two tanks and they both have their attribute points spread out differently. My Nightblade Sap Tank (Siphons-Shadows) is mostly specced into Health, but he also has points in Magicka. I don't believe he has any points into Stamina. My second tank, Aerinon the Blaze, is a Templar Blazing Shield tank, which means he is a high health tank. He doesn't have any points into health; instead, he gets most of it from the Plague Doctor set and enchants.


As far as actually making a tank, they have the most viable options out of all the roles. Any class and any race can be a tank, but if you want to make the "perfect" tank, then your best bet is going Dragonknight, and either a Nord, Orc, or Imperial. You should be wearing 5 pieces of heavy armor at minimum, but I prefer to wear full 7 heavy for the passives. Both bars are generally going to be equipped with a one handed weapon and a shield.

For gear sets, tanks can get good use out of more sets than any other role, but there are a few you might want to gather anyway. The Ebon set drops from Crypt of Hearts I and II, and it provides a health boost to your group mates that can be useful in Trials. Tanks might also use Alkosh, which drops from the Trial Maw of Lorkhaj. Other sets, like Hist Bark (which is craftable) can be used as well. It just depends on exactly what you want your tank to be doing.

Exactly what traits your gear has also depend on what you want to be using. I typically run Infused on the three big body pieces (head, chest, legs), reinforced on the pieces that grant more protection (especially the shield, which will be the piece with your highest armor rating with a certain CP passive), and sturdy on the pieces that grant the least protection (like the waist). The reason I run Infused on the larger pieces is to get a boost from my enchants, and I run the Hakeijo enchant on both of my tanks (Hakeijo provides a boost to health, magicka, and stamina, though it's less of a boost than a single Deni, Makko, or Oko).

The goal for health should be 30k with a purple quality food (one that boosts the three stats), but max stamina and magicka tend to vary on whether or not your tanks focus is mostly stamina skills or magicka skills. A DK tank will probably want more stamina. Magicka regen is more important than health or stamina regen, since you'll be relying mostly on your healer to heal you in groups (though you should be able to survive for a while without one), and you don't regen stamina while blocking. I run magicka regen glyphs on all my jewelry, and I use the Atronach stone to further boost the regen. Some people might run block cost reduction glyphs on their jewelry, but I haven't found that necessary.

For Champion Points, my tanks are actually specced similarly to my magicka DPS characters. The only real difference is where I put my Thief points. For those, I put around 80-85 points into the magicka cost reduction and regen stars, and the rest are split with 10 or so in roll dodge cost reduction and 20-30 in block cost reduction. This will probably change depending on what CP changes are coming with Morrowind.

As for skills... A Dragonknight has the most tank-like skills available to use. The absolute requirements for a tank are a taunt. The one hand and shield skill Puncture, morphed into Pierce Armor, is the preferred one. However, there are some fights where having a ranged taunt (Inner Fire from the Undaunted skill line) is required, the primary example for that being the second boss in Maw of Lorkhaj. Now, as a tank, your primary job is the hold boss aggro, control fights, and buff/debuff things. Dragonknights have the most utility for this sort of scenario. You'll want to consider getting Igneous Weapons, Chains, Talons, Green Dragon Blood, and probably several other skills that I'm forgetting about. I don't run DK tanks, so I can't provide any advice on that point. I can only say, however, that you may wish to go into Cyrodiil to unlock Warhorn. It requires Assault rank 4 to get, which doesn't take long to get to these days. I unlocked it on one of my tanks mainly through repairing keep walls. Once that's morphed to Aggressive Horn, it provides a nice crit bonus that helps with group DPS.
If you're not running Warhorn, though, then you might want to consider getting the one hand and shield ultimate, which can be useful in certain fights (like Velidreth, in Cradle of Shadows).

That's pretty much all I can think of off the top of my head. I really can't provide much help with Dragonknight tanking, but I do know my Sap Tank and my Blazing Shield tank.

Edit:
The attribute distribution on Aerinon (Blazing Shield tank)
VS
The attribute distribution on Siphons-Shadows (Sap Tank)

[legoless]

Definitely go Dragonknight for tanking. All classes are viable, but DK is the superior choice.

[JarlUlfric]

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=3399

This is my build, I use it for everything, including vet trials.

You can sub Tava's Favour out for Alkosh if/when you get it.

Also, Tava's & Akaviri Dragonguard is a nice setup.