ESO Dragonknight Tank Guide
Table of Contents
ESO Dragonknight Tank Introduction
Welcome to our ESO Dragonknight Tank Guide. On this page we’ll be taking a deep dive into everything you need to know about the DK Tank, including the skills, passives, strengths and weaknesses.
The Dragonknight Tank is an all round good option for every situation, they are build amazingly well for Tanking in all situations and environments with many skills that have a use for a Tank. They are really good to play for beginners and still great all the way up to end game thanks to the buff they offer a group.
See more: Tank Class Overviews, Skills, Passives & Information
ESO Dragonknight Tank Class Skills and Passives
Ardent Flame
Dragonknight Standard
(Unnecessary)
This skill is not required for tanking but might be used in solo content.
Lava Whip
(Not Needed)
Burning Embers → Morph of Searing Strike
(Situational)
This can be used to proc Encratis’s Behemoth or Elemental Catalyst when you already have a DK in group using Engulfing Flames since this skill is about 1k Magicka cheaper to cast.
Venomous Claw→ Morph of Searing Strike
(Unnecessary)
A cheap damage skill for doing damage as an Off Tank or Tank/DD Hybrid Tank build. This skill is used in the Tribute Tank Build for solo content.
Engulfing Flames → Morph of Fiery Breath
(Situational)
If you are in a group with no other DK and people in your group are using Flame Staves/Skills/Enchants, then this is a vital skill that must be used.
To get the max 6% Flame Damage buff you need 4000 Spell Damage and 4000 Weapon Damage. When you use Igneous Weapons, have Minor Sorcery from a Templar, Major/Minor Courage from SPC/Yolnahkriin and the War Horn resource buff you should be somewhere near 6%. Even if you can’t hit 6% even a 3% gain is useful as it’s extra DPS for your group.
Noxious Breath → Morph of Fiery Breath
(Situational)
This causes Area of Effect Major Breach which can be handy for add pulls and dungeons. You can use this to debuff a whole stack of enemies very quickly so you should consider using it when you are stacking enemies using chains and range taunt and dealing with multiple enemies.
Unrelenting Grip → Morph of Fiery Grip
(Vital)
A very important ability for stacking enemies and one of the few Magicka pull abilities in the game. This will chain any none elite target to you but it will not work on a target that was recently crowd controlled or any Boss or Elite target, it will refund the cost if this is the case so can be used as a free speed boost if you use it on those targets. This ability can be combined with Talons for great crowd control, it’s possible to chain and the immediately talons an enemy. Unrelenting Grip also applies a 15 second taunt, this can only be applied to enemies that are not already taunted, this makes the skill even better since you can pull enemies and they remain aggroed to you.
Cauterize → Morph of Inferno
(Optional)
You might possibly use this for a certain Dungeon builds if you run in a group without a Healer and want an effortless heal that can hit you or people in your group.
Flames of Oblivion → Morph of Inferno
(Unnecessary)
Scales with your highest offensive stat and it’s a decent damage skill for Off Tank or Tank/DD Hybrid builds.
Combustion
(Vital)
This is a vital sustain passive for the Dragonknight Tank. When you cast Unrelenting Grip, it can proc Burning and this passive to give you 1000 Magicka back. If you are using a Charged One-Handed Weapon with a Poison Glyph it can also proc the Poisoned effect and this passive again to give you 1000 Stamina.
Warmth
(Optional)
Searing Heat
(Optional)
World in Ruin
(Optional)
None of these three passives are really vital for Tanking. If you occasionally play solo or as a DD or Tank/Hybrid then these passives are mostly damage dealer passives, or if you use Engulfing Flames you will need the passives.
Draconic Power
Dragon Leap
(Unnecessary)
This skill is not required for tanking but might be used in PvP or Solo content.
Spiked Armor
(Optional)
This is your main source of Major Resolve to increase your resistances until you are able to get the Mages Guild ability Balance. Balance would be a better option but does require Mages Guild 9 to unlock, this will be fine as a placeholder until then. Hardened Armor is the better Tank morph as it provides a damage shield, and Volatile Armor offers a little damage. When using Harmony Jewellery and if you don’t need the extra sustain from Balance then Hardened Armor is really useful.
Choking Talons → Morph of Dark Talons
(Vital)
When using this crowd control ability, you hold up to 6 enemies near you rooted to the ground. It works well in combination with Unrelenting Grip where you pull enemies to you then root with Talons making it easier for your allies to use area damage to kill grouped up enemies. This does not root elite or boss targets, but it will still cause the Minor Maim even if it doesn’t root which means this is a good ability to do area of effect Minor Maim if it is needed.
Coagulating Blood → Morph of Dragon Blood
(Vital)
This is the main burst heal for a Dragonknight Tank. This morph is better for people with higher stats and anyone who heals themselves often when above 30% remaining Health. It gives a base heal plus additional healing based on how much health you have missing. If you setup with high health and low max stats then Green Dragon Blood will heal for more from around 50% and under Max Health. But this morph outperforms the other morph quite considerably for beginner Tanks who use this often and anyone who has 25k+ Stamina. The fact you get a base heal regardless of your current Health makes this a strong option.
Green Dragon Blood → Morph of Dragon Blood
(Situational)
This is another burst heal that can be used by a Dragonknight Tank. It’s an emergency heal and not intended to be spammed or used at high health, and it scales based on the amount of Health you have missing. To get the most benefit from this you want to have as much Max Health as possible, generally you should have over 40k and then you need to use this skill when you are as low health as possible, ideally at 30% and lower. When you use it when you are higher health it will heal very little, so it performs most effectively at lower Health, try to always use it when under 30% Max Health or less. The additional Minor Vitality can be the reason why you might use this instead of the other morph but ideally you should have both morphs levelled then switch according to the content you’re doing.
Protective Plate → Morph of Protective Scale
(Situational)
A very important skill for very certain situations. When you are taking heavy projectile damage you can cast this to reduce the incoming damage by 50%. It also removes and makes you immune to snares and immobilisation which again is useful for certain situations. A few good places to use this include Blackrose Prison, vHoF after Spider Boss to get through the beams, vCR when Tanking Z’Maja heavy attack and vMoL when dealing with Dark Barrage from Rakkhat.
Deep Breath → Morph of Inhale
(Situational)
Not a commonly used ability as there are not many situations where it is necessary, but when you have multiple targets that channel an ability that needs to be interrupted then this is a great skill as you can use this to cause an area of effect interrupt. A few places where this is useful include vKA adds after the 2nd Boss, vHoF adds, vSS Hardmode Last Boss Off Tank and Blackrose Prison.
Draw Essence → Morph of Inhale
(Unnecessary)
This is an AoE damage, heal and Magicka return skill which is not essential but if can be really nice for healing in add pulls or for a Hybrid build.
Iron Skin
(Vital)
Very important passive for a Tank as it adds additional Block Mitigation so you can block more damage.
Burning Heart
(Vital)
Another important passive for Tanking, healing received is vital for survivability and this makes healing intensive situations easier on a DK.
Elder Dragon
(Vital)
The Health Recovery is a minor boost which will give you a little extra healing every 2 seconds and will stack with other sources of Health Recovery such as the Bewitched Sugar Skulls food, the Steed Mundus and Major Fortitude from Health Potions.
Scaled Armor
(Vital)
Adds 2.5% mitigation with additional Resistances and makes it easier for a DK to reach the resistance cap of 33k.