ESO Dungeon Tank Build
Table of Contents
ESO Dungeon Tank Build Information
Welcome to our ESO Dungeon Tank Build!
This build is designed to help you optimize in 4-player dungeon content, specifically veteran and hardmode dungeons. We’ve personally used these builds to complete every veteran dungeon no death, hardmode and speed run in The Elder Scrolls Online.
To truly succeed in 4-person content, you need to consider a variety of factors, such as the classes of your group members and whether you have 3 Damage Dealers or 2 Damage Dealers and 1 Healer. That’s where our optimized build comes in, tailored to suit your specific needs and help you dominate in any dungeon.
Unlike 12-player trials, dungeon content offers a wealth of options for Tank setups, giving you more flexibility to choose the gear that best suits your individual playstyle. Your gear choices will also have a direct impact on a smaller number of damage dealers, so the way gear sets work and perform is very different compared to larger group content.
So whether you’re a seasoned veteran or just starting out, our ESO Dungeon Tank Build is the perfect tool to help you conquer even the toughest dungeon challenges.
ESO Dungeon Tank Build Consumables & Stats
Mundus
The Atronach
Mundus Info
Potions
- Tri-Stat Potions
- Minor Heroism Potions
Potion Info
ESO Dungeon Tank Build Classes
It is possible to Tank in dungeons using every class. Some are more useful than others, some provide more group based benefits and some are simply good for the user only. This tier list is our opinion on how each class ranks for tanking 4-person dungeon content.
Arcanists appear at the very top of the list and this is entirely down to the fact they have so many useful buffs and benefits which work perfectly in 4-player group content. From my own personal experience using an Arcanist Tank, group DPS increased by a huge amount when using one. They have so much packed into every skill making them exceptional offering at least a combined 9 group buffs and enemy debuffs which is unmatched by any other class.
Dragonknights are second because they have great sustain and survival which will be largely beneficial to a large amount of players. They posses the best crowd control skills and some good buffs but these might sometimes not be very useful, such as Engulfing Flames and Igneous Weapons. They have access to great sustain being able to switch Magicka to Stamina and also regain all resources when using their ultimate alongside having an ultimate that makes them virtually unkillable.
Necromancer is 3rd again because of it’s ability to survive, fully resurrect a group and their small group buffing potential, alongside their unmatched ability to regenerate Ultimate from corpses. Necros can auto chain, have unmatched survival against Damage over Time and can absorb both enemy corpses and their own made corpses to generate 6 Ultimate per corpse meaning getting back Ultimate can happen extremely quickly, especially during add phases.
At this stage most classes could be an option. Warden, Sorcerer, Templar, Nightblade while all of these can Tank, there’s no significant reason to use them rather than an Arcanist or Dragonknight. Each class has some buffs and benefits but these largely overlap with other sources of the same buff. Wardens are the best of the bunch, Sorcerer is just a bit behind. The Nightblade is super strong as an actual Tank since they can reduce incoming damage by a huge amount but there’s not a whole lot more they can do other than that. Templar Tanks are best suited to dungeons more than any other content but they are still not as strong as other classes and offer very little utility but slightly more than a Nightblade. Both Nightblade and Templar have no access to an Immobilisation which makes them much weaker for add pulls, and those same classes along with Sorcerers have no good class based pull or chain and so they are forced to used the very lacklustre Silver Leash skill.
ESO Dungeon Tank Build Gear
Piece | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Head | Archdruid Devyric / Magma Incarnate | Medium | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Shoulder | Archdruid Devyric / Spaulder of Ruin | Light | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Chest | Turning Tide | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Hands | Turning Tide | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Waist | Turning Tide | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Legs | Turning Tide | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Feet | Turning Tide | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Necklace | Vestment of Olorime / Powerful Assault | Jewellery | Harmony/Infused | Magicka Recovery |
Ring | Vestment of Olorime / Powerful Assault | Jewellery | Harmony/Infused | Magicka Recovery |
Ring | Vestment of Olorime / Powerful Assault | Jewellery | Harmony/Infused | Magicka Recovery |
Main Hand | Void Bash / Puncturing Remedy | Any 1H | Defending/Charged | Any/Shock |
Off Hand | Void Bash / Puncturing Remedy | Shield | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Main Hand Backup | Vestment of Olorime / Powerful Assault | Ice Staff | Infused/Charged | Crusher |
Piece | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Head | Archdruid Devyric | Medium | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Shoulder | Archdruid Devyric | Light | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Chest | Drake’s Rush | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Hands | Drake’s Rush | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Waist | Drake’s Rush | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Legs | Drake’s Rush | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Feet | Drake’s Rush | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Necklace | Powerful Assault | Jewellery | Harmony | Magicka Recovery |
Ring | Powerful Assault | Jewellery | Harmony | Magicka Recovery |
Ring | Powerful Assault | Jewellery | Harmony | Magicka Recovery |
Main Hand | Void Bash / Puncturing Remedy | Any 1H | Defending/Charged | Any/Shock |
Off Hand | Void Bash / Puncturing Remedy | Shield | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Main Hand Backup | Powerful Assault | Ice Staff | Infused/Charged | Crusher |
Piece | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Head | Tremorscale | Medium | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Shoulder | Tremorscale | Light | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Chest | Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Hands | Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Waist | Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Legs | Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Feet | Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Necklace | Powerful Assault | Jewellery | Harmony | Magicka Recovery |
Ring | Powerful Assault | Jewellery | Harmony | Magicka Recovery |
Ring | Powerful Assault | Jewellery | Harmony | Magicka Recovery |
Main Hand | Puncturing Remedy / Void Bash | Any 1H | Charged | Shock |
Off Hand | Puncturing Remedy / Void Bash | Shield | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Main Hand Backup | Powerful Assault | Ice Staff | Infused / Charged | Crusher |
Piece | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Head | Magma Incarnate / Nazaray | Medium | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Shoulder | Spaulder of Ruin / Nazaray | Light | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Chest | Turning Tide | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Hands | Turning Tide | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Waist | Turning Tide | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Legs | Turning Tide | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Feet | Turning Tide | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Necklace | Drake’s Rush | Jewellery | Harmony / Infused | Magicka Recovery |
Ring | Drake’s Rush | Jewellery | Harmony / Infused | Magicka Recovery |
Ring | Drake’s Rush | Jewellery | Harmony / Infused | Magicka Recovery |
Main Hand | Puncturing Remedy / Void Bash | Any 1H | Decisive | Absorb Stamina |
Off Hand | Puncturing Remedy / Void Bash | Shield | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Main Hand Backup | Drake’s Rush | Ice Staff | Infused / Charged | Crusher |
Piece | Set | Weight | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Head | Magma Incarnate / Engine Guardian | Medium | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Shoulder | Spaulder of Ruin / Engine Guardian | Light | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Chest | Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Reinforced/Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Hands | Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Waist | Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Legs | Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Feet | Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Necklace | Saxhleel Champion | Jewellery | Harmony | Magicka Recovery |
Ring | Saxhleel Champion | Jewellery | Harmony | Magicka Recovery |
Ring | Saxhleel Champion | Jewellery | Harmony | Magicka Recovery |
Main Hand | Void Bash / Puncturing Remedy | Any 1H | Defending | Absorb Stamina |
Off Hand | Void Bash / Puncturing Remedy | Shield | Divines | Prismatic Defence |
Main Hand Backup | Saxhleel Champion | Ice Staff | Infused | Crusher |
ESO Dungeon Tank Build Gear Information
ESO Dungeon Tank Build Alternative Gear
ESO Dungeon Tank Build Skills
All of this skills are situational but might be of some use in certain hardmodes or dungeons.
ESO Dungeon Tank Build Champion Points
ESO Dungeon Tank Build How To Play
Add Pulls
- Use speed boost (Race Against Time) to stay ahead of the group.
- Instigate combat with Frost Blockade.
- If there are any Elite enemies, taunt those next.
- Cast Razor Caltrops in front of the enemies for them to walk onto it, this snares them and activates your Powerful Assault.
- Hit Power Slam when all enemies are within range to pull them all into a stack with Vateshran Void Bash Set, then use a crowd control skill to immobilise.
- Bash while facing the whole stack to proc Turning Tide.
- Cast Pulsar to AoE debuff enemies, cast multiple times to make sure they are all effected.
- Chain in any enemies you missed with Power Slam.
- Heal/Shield as and when its needed.
- Only block heavy attacks from enemies.
Bosses
Boss fights are not as rotational as add pulls, with a big difference between the classes and the addition of mechanics. Generally speaking we can consider a guideline set of things to do.
- Pre-buff – Before you instigate combat you need to activate any pre-fight skills, especially things like Major and Minor Resolve.
- Initiate – Begin the fight once everyone is ready. Instigate with a Frost Clench range taunt to gain aggro and debuff the boss.
- Positioning – There’s always some kind of method to positioning a boss. In most cases you just need to run and turn the boss so it’s not facing the group. Sometimes you may need to pull a boss to the middle of a room, other times take it closer to the edge. In some situations you may need to walk a boss to another location, usually if something spawns in a particular location.
- Mechanics – This is the part where its tricky. Each dungeon has it’s own unique mechanics, you need to be prepared to block attacks, roll dodge attacks, look out for adds and taunt them, move out of AoEs, self heal, run around a room or away from effects, buff up and heal through heavy damage phases and more.
- Rotation – While you’re in a settled state, it’s essential to cast your skills. Especially focussing on Pierce Armor, Frost Clench, Elemental Blockade, proccing your gear sets so using an Assault Skill for Powerful Assault, Heavy Attacking for Archdruid and Blocking then Bashing for Turning Tide. You’ll then need to active any class buffs and debuffs specific to your class. The main thing then is to watch your ability timers and recast things when they have 1 second remaining on the timer. Things such as Frost Clench can be cast every 5 seconds to reactivate Major Maim and and Minor Brittle debuffing the boss.
- Survival – This is something you can’t rotate and you need to stay aware. Make sure you block heavy attacks and mechanics, shield up before taking big hits, use healing over time to keep a constant tick of healing on yourself and burst heals when you are below 30% health. Remember to break free and interrupt when needed. In the majority of situations you can roll dodge to evade damage which can be helpful if you are close to dying, just be aware that there’s a couple of dungeons where dodging a boss will cause it to enrage or harm the other members of your group.
- Sustain – Always have your food active. Utilise your potions to buff up recoveries and give you resources, you can either use them on cooldown or if you’re not as confident then save them for emergency moments. Try not to block permanently, if you’ve followed this build fully then you should have no problems taking some light attack hits without blocking, especially if you have a healer or some healing over time ticking on you. Utilise your skills and passives to gain resources, as a DK using your Ultimate or using Igneous Shield will return Stamina. Heavy Attacking also returns resources but you need to time it so you don’t get hurt with the “Heavy After a Heavy” theory.