ESO General Tank Skills
This page is all about Elder Scrolls Online Tank Skills.
Sometimes you will need to use some of the general skills that are available rather than class specific skills and there are some really important passives and skills you can use on your Tank build that are available no matter what class you chose to play,
See more: Tank Class Overviews for class specific skills and passives.
Weapon Skill Lines
For more information on which weapons to use as a Tank and why, please see the Tank Weapons page.
Two Handed
There is no real use for using a 2 Handed Weapon as a Tank other than for solo overland content.
Executioner → Morph of Reverse Slice
(Unnecessary)
Could be used by the Off Tank with a Decisive Perfected Asylum 2H for very high Ultigen in some particular situations.
Rally → Morph of Momentum
(Unnecessary)
Major Brutality, Minor Endurance and a Heal over Time for when you’re using Executioner.
Balanced Blade
(Unnecessary)
Reduce cost of your abilities, needed if using any Two Handed abilities.
One Hand and Shield
Spell Wall → Morph of Shield Wall
(Optional)
This is cheap cost Ultimate that auto-blocks for you. This might be used for Solo Tanking situations, critical situations where your teammates have died and you need to auto-block and resurrect, or as a beginner or low level Tank in situations where you need to auto-block so you can heavy attack to regain resources.
Shield Discipline → Morph of Shield Wall
(Optional)
This morph adds an extra layer of sustain as you can recast your One Hand and Shield abilities for free for a brief period.
Ransack → Morph of Puncture
(Unnecessary)
This is a melee Taunt and an easy source of Minor Protection and Major Breach. Some classes such as Nightblades and Templars have Minor Protection built into their class already so this would not be needed, on other class Tanks you could just slot Temporal Guard.
Pierce Armor → Morph of Puncture
(Vital)
This again is a melee Taunt but it does not offer Minor Protection, instead you gain the addition of Minor Breech along with the Major Breech. This is a large increase to group DPS.
Heroic Slash → Morph of Low Slash
(Useful)
This debuffs enemies so they do less damage which is useful in high damage environments, but most importantly is the Ultimate gain which is the main reason to maintain this skill during combat.
Defensive Stance → Morph of Defensive Posture
(Optional)
This is a skill that can be slotted for the additional block mitigation and damage shield, although it’s not really worth it for the block mitigation nowadays. This ability will also reflect one projectile back at an enemy, when doing so you don’t need to be blocking. The best combat situations for this are where you are Tanking at range and the enemy has a reflect-able projectile such as Lokkestiiz in Sunspire, you can simply cast this and return the damage back at the boss. Not all boss projectiles can be reflected so you need to be careful. Things such as Dark Barrage by Rakkhat in Maw of Lorkhaj cannot be reflected and it will heal the boss if you reflect it and if you use it in Lair of Maarselok you’ll make more adds spawn.
Absorb Missile → Morph of Defensive Posture
(Situational)
This skill will absorb projectiles and heal you for a portion of the amount you absorbed. You will have to block when using this skill and it won’t save you from a heavy projectile if not blocking since it will not always absorb a whole projectile only a certain amount of the damage. This is sometimes a good option as it will work against projectiles that Defensive Stance does not work with. You can use this to help dealing with the Heavy Attack from Z’Maja in Cloudrest and for surviving the Dark Barrage from Rakkhat in Maw of Lorkhaj.
Shield Charge
(Situational)
A skill you might use for very certain mechanics in fights where you get knocked back or need to close the gap quickly on the enemy. Something like Halls of Fabrications last boss, you get punched to the middle of the room and need to get back to the boss fast and this would be a method of doing so.
Power Bash
(Situational)
If you are using the Vateshran One Hand and Shield, then you will need this skill. This skill is also used in the Dungeon Tank Build.
All One Hand and Shield Passives are vital for Tanking.
Dual Wield
There is no real use for using Dual Wield Weapons as a Tank other than for solo overland content.
Quick Cloak → Morph of Blade Cloak
(Situational)
There are not many situations where you will use Dual Wield as a Tank, if you do however then you would need to use this skill. The main reason to use this is because in a similar way to Elemental Blockade and Endless Hail, this skill will keep your Weapon Glyphs active on the enemy. If you are using an Infused/Crusher on a 1 Handed Weapon you will only have half of the value that you would of had with any 2 Handed Weapon. You would also benefit from Major Evasion with this skill which would help for Tanking.
Shrouded Daggers → Morph of Hidden Blade
(Situational)
This skill could be used on all classes other than a DK if you need some method to do an AoE Interrupt. DKs have Deep Breath but other classes do not have a skill that Interrupts multiple enemies with 1 skill so this could be used. The most common place you might see this used is on an Off Tank in Sunspire Hardmode Last Boss when dealing with multiple statues.
Controlled Fury
(Situational)
This would be needed if you are using Dual Wield Skills.
Bow
Focused Aim → Morph of Snipe
(Situational)
This is a method of causing ranged Minor Breach if you are range Tanking for some reason and using a bow.
Endless Hail → Morph of Volley
(Vital/Situational)
This is only Vital if using a Bow and in general using a Bow is highly situational. Endless Hail would be used to place your Infused/Crusher enchant on a ranged enemy. Using Endless Hail actually works a little better than Elemental Blockade, especially in combat situation with multiple enemies. The reason for this is because the enemy that is stood in the middle of the Endless Hail is the enemy that your Crusher will proc on, so you can choose a more precise target.
Venom Arrow → Morph of Poison Arrow
(Situational)
There are very few situations where this might be needed but if you are using a Bow and need a ranged interrupt then you would use this skill for doing that.
Ranger
(Situational)
Only needed if you are using a Bow to reduce the skill cost.
Hasty Retreat
(Optional)
When using a Bow and Roll Dodging this passive gives you a speed boost which can be nice to use.
Destruction Staff
Crushing Shock → Morph of Force Shock
(Situationally Vital)
Sometimes you will need a ranged interrupt and you will use this skill for doing that, in things like vAS+ and vCR as an Off Tank.
Elemental Blockade → Morph of Wall of Elements
(Vital)
This is the main reason you use a Destruction Staff. This is a 2 Handed weapon so you would get a maximum possible Crusher proc on an enemy. When your Blockade is cast it will run for 15 seconds and will keep activating your Crusher enchant on cooldown on an enemy that is stood inside your Blockades path. This is actually a little unreliable compared to Endless Hail because it’s such a wide and distance AoE that other enemies near to the Blockade will end up getting the Crusher applied to them. A Bow provides no protection however so we would use an Ice Staff because it provides Tank benefits. When casting Frost Blockade you provide yourself and some group members with a Frost Safeguard damage shield which will protect them against some projectile damage. You also get the benefit of being able to chill enemies, AoE Minor Breach chilled enemies and cause AoE Minor Maim and Minor Brittle with this skill.
Elemental Drain → Morph of Weakness to Elements
(Situational)
There are some situations where this is vital such as Cloudrest portals, you would ideally use this to apply the Major Breach debuff the crystals for the Damage Dealers along with helping their sustain. There are other areas where it can be used to help your group, but that will vary with each group, just make sure you are prepared to use this if its needed.
Elemental Susceptibility → Morph of Weakness to Elements
(Situational)
This skill can be slotted and used as a method of maintain a better Minor Brittle uptime, it is not super reliable since it only procs the effect once every 7.5 seconds but it will mean you keep a better uptime while not needing to spam Frost Clench so frequently, it also applies Major Breach which would be good for Double Frost Staff builds.
Pulsar → Morph of Impulse
(Vital)
The main function of this skill is to cause AoE Minor Brittle, it has triple the chance to apply a Status effect so when using a Frost Staff this would be triple the chance to activate the Chilled effect as an AoE which then provides Minor Brittle and Minor Maim. This is great for add pulls and it will also reduce the Max Health of any non-Elite or Boss enemy by 10%. When using Frost Pulsar this gives you and group members Minor Protection. If you combine the Chilled effect from using this skill along with the Elemental Blockade you can apply AoE Minor Breach during add pulls.
Destructive Clench→ Morph of Destructive Touch
(Vital)
Read More: Frost Clench Article
This is now your important range/Magicka taunt when using a Frost Staff. When a Frost Staff is equipped, the range of this skill increases to 28 metres. It’s far superior to Inner Fire since it taunts, guarantees a chilled proc on the enemy which means it procs Minor Maim and Minor Brittle. It also inflicts Major Maim so in total you reduce the targets damage by 15% along with increasing the amount of critical damage they take by 10%. It’s a really important skill to maintain on bosses especially.
Tri-Focus
(Optional)
This is a passive you need to be very careful with. It can be very powerful and also make life impossible for you. For general Tanking – do not use this passive.
By using this passive, when you switch to your Staff and you Block, you will block with Magicka and you will lose your Magicka Regen but you will gain Stamina Regen in place of it. For most Tanks, losing your Magicka Recovery is pretty devastating as you will lose your ability to heal, you won’t be able to cast almost any of your abilities and it can be fatal. For Tanks who know how to manage this, it could be a powerful way to regain Stamina while blocking. Since most Tank skills cost Magicka it doesn’t make sense to block with Magicka as well.
Penetrating Magic
(Unnecessary)
You can use this passive if you want but it will make very minimal difference so if you are short on Skill Points, skip this one.
Elemental Force
(Vital)
One of the main reasons we use a Staff is for the status effects we can inflict with them, so absolutely pick up this passive.
Ancient Knowledge
(Vital)
This is especially vital with an Ice Staff. If you don’t take this passive then your Frost Staff won’t provide you with any Tank related benefit. This makes Tanking with a Frost Staff almost the same defensively as Tanking with a One Hand and Shield.
Destruction Expert
(Vital)
Frost Blockade provides you and some of your group with a projectile damage shield, by using this passive you’ll gain back some Magicka if that shield absorbs any damage.
Restoration Staff
As a Tank you won’t use a Restoration Staff due to having too little Max Magicka and Spell Damage that it’s just not very effective. You might sometimes be required to perform as an additional Healer when Tank related duties are not required such as Off Tank in Kyne’s Aegis. You might also opt to use a Resto Staff in 4-Man content when you don’t have a Healer for the buffs and passives rather than the Healing.
Illustrious Healing → Morph of Grand Healing
(Unnecessary)
Radiating Regeneration → Morph of Regeneration
(Unnecessary)
Combat Prayer → Morph of Blessing of Protection
(Unnecessary)
Used for applying Minor Berserk to your group.
Healing Ward → Morph of Steadfast Ward
(Unnecessary)
The shield size from this depends on your allies Health and how low Health they have so it could provide some use as a Tank.
Siphon Spirit → Morph of Force Siphon
(Unnecessary)
This applies Minor Magickasteal and Minor Lifesteal built into 1 skill so it would be a good way to get both of those if they are not being applied by Elemental Drain and Blood Altar.
All passives are unnecessary unless you are actually using a Restoration Staff, in which case they would all be Vital.
Armor Skill Lines
As a Tank you will often use a range of gear weights. For more information on the benefits of using different armor weights please check out the Gear Weight page.
Heavy Armor
Immovable → Morph of Unstoppable
(Situational)
This skill provides an immunity to knockbacks and increases amount of damage you can block. It’s a really strong skill in fights where you take a lot of damage and don’t have to move a lot, you take less damage however you are almost stuck to the floor for 6 seconds so it’s a difficult skill to use and needs to be timed for very specific moments.
You ideally use this skill along with 6 Heavy Armor, this is so you can reach the maximum buff while also still able to roll dodge and move a little. If you use 7 heavy, you are stuck in 1 spot for 6 seconds and this is not advised. It’s also worth noting that block mitigation is capped at 90% so this may have very minimal effect if you are already close to 90% block mitigation.
This skill doesn’t effect things like damage over time or Bleed effects which are very prominent in the newest content in the game.
Each piece of Heavy Armor does the following:
- Reduces damage taken from Martial attacks by 1%
- Increases the amount of damage blocked by 1%
- Increases damage done with Bash by 3%
- Reduces your damage taken while immune to crowd control by 1%
Each piece of Heavy Armor does the following:
- Increases damage taken from Magical attacks by 1%
- Reduces the Movement Speed bonus of Sprint by 1%
- Increases the cost of Roll Dodge by 3%
- Increases the size of your detection area while Sneaking by 10%
All Heavy Armor Passives are vital for Tanking.
Medium Armor
Shuffle → Morph of Evasion
(Situational)
If you are Medium Armor Tanking in some level of content that has some kind of immobilization or snare mechanic then you would use this morph of the skill to help prevent it from happening.
Elude → Morph of Evasion
(Situational)
This would typically be the morph you would use when Medium Armor Tanking to reduce the incoming AoE damage by 25% which is a considerable amount when Tanking in Medium Armor. This Morph of the skill will increase the duration depending on how many Medium pieces you are using.
Each piece of Medium Armor does the following:
- Reduces the cost of Sprint by 1%
- Reduces the cost of Sneak by 5%
- Reduces the cost of Block by 3%
- Reduces damage taken from Area of Effect attacks by 2% for 2 seconds after you use Roll Dodge
- Increases Movement Speed by 2% while immune to crowd control
Dexterity
(Unnecessary)
This is not a vital passive for Tanking, it will increase your damage/healing slightly and would be needed for something like a Nightblade Tank that relies on causing crit damage to proc their group buff or when using a Crit based set such as Grundwulf.
Wind Walker
(Vital)
With this Passive you benefit with a very minor Stamina Cost Reduction of your skills such as Puncture and Heroic Slash, so it is worth picking up as a Tank for some minor sustain support if you are using any Medium Armor pieces.
Improved Sneak
(Not Needed)
Agility
(Unnecessary)
You can use this if you want but it’s not vital for Tanking.
Athletics
(Vital)
Reduced Roll Dodge cost and increased Sprint Speed is just a nice little extra bit of help with sustain if you are using any Medium pieces.
Light Armor
Annulment
(Unnecessary)
Not really ever needed by a Tank as you need to use 5 Light Armor pieces to be able to use the skill.
Each piece of Light Armor does the following:
- Reduces damage taken from Magical attacks by 1%
- Reduces the cost of Roll Dodge by 3%
- Reduces the Movement Speed penalty of Sneak by 5%
- Reduces the cost of Break Free by 5%
- Reduces the cost of Bash by 3%
Each piece of Light Armor does the following:
- Increases damage taken from Martial attacks by 1%
- Increases the cost of Block by 3%
- Decreases damage done with Bash by 1%
Vital skills are only vital if using Light Armor pieces.
Grace
(Vital)
Reduce Sprint cost an reduce the effectiveness of Snare applied to us, well worth having.
Evocation
(Vital)
Magicka Recovery and Reduce Magicka Cost both very important for Tanks as most of our abilities are Magicka costing.
Spell Warding
(Vital)
Not a huge boost to Spell Resistances but worth having since we need this as a Tank anyway.
Prodigy
(Unnecessary)
Damage passive, not very effective for a Tank.
Concentration
(Unnecessary)
Damage passive, not very effective for a Tank.
World Skill Lines
All of the World Skills and Passives are more or less optional. It is NOT advised that you choose to be a Vampire as a Tank. Werewolf is also not a good choice if you are looking to be a Tank but they can be used for some fun setups for none serious content.
Soul Magic
Consuming Trap
(Unnecessary)
This is not really needed but if you are having a hard time sustain in situations where you have adds or Bosses with adds that die frequently then you could use this skill. You would have to cast this on an enemy just as they are about to die to benefit from the incoming Stamina gain because the enemy needs to die with this skill applied to them for it to give you back the resources. Requires a reasonable amount of effort to benefit and you would likely be better off learning to time Heavy Attacks.
None of these passives are going to effect your ability to Tank or give any Tank benefits but they are passives you can use if you really want to.
Vampire
Becoming a Vampire as a Tank is a particularly bad idea. The main reason is because for each stage of a Vampire you are, it will increase the cost of ALL of your abilities. You get reduced cost of Vampire abilities as a perk, however there are no really useful/vital Vampire Tank skills to use.
Exhilarating Drain → Morph of Vampiric Drain
(Unnecessary)
Possibly the only reason to consider using a Vampire for Tanking. If you are an Off Tank in a trial with very little Tanking to do, you can potentially use this to generate Ultimate a lot faster.
It’s not advised that you become a Vampire as a Tank so all passives are unnecessary, if you did choose Vampire then you should pick up all the Passives.
Undeath
(Unnecessary)
This is the only useful passive for a Tank but it requires you to be Vampire Stage 3 which I strongly advise against since all of your regular abilities are going to cost an extra 8% to use which just is a terrible idea for a Tank.
Werewolf
Werewolf Tanking is not advised but it is fun. Check out the Werewolf Tank Build for all the information you need about them.
Pack Leader → Morph of Werewolf Transformation
(Vital)
If you decided to become a Werewolf Tank, then this is the morph you use. It provides the same buff as Yolnahkriin so you need to use Tormentor to taunt which means you lose a Tank set but that doesn’t matter because this covers you for the lack of Yolnahkriin.
All Werewolf Skills are completely vital if you’ve chosen to play as a Werewolf Tank. The ones listed here are the Skills/Morphs that look the most useful as a Tank related Werewolf. For more information see the Werewolf Tank Build.
Brutal Pounce → Morph of Pounce
(Vital)
When combined with the Tormentor set using this will allow you to AoE taunt multiple enemies at the same time.
Feral Pounce → Morph of Pounce
(Optional)
When combined with the Tormentor set using this will allow you to single target taunt enemies.
Hircine’s Fortitude → Morph of Hircine’s Bounty
(Vital)
A huge self heal, probably the best in the game, it can heal for crazy amounts of health and the higher your health the better it is. Gives you lots of boosts for Werewolf Tanking, and its a great sustain tool if you use it at full Health you get Stamina back instead. You can slot this even when you are not a Werewolf to gain Major Brutality.
Deafening Roar → Morph of Roar
(Vital)
Applies Major Breach and Minor Maim both of which are needed by a Tank.
Howl of Despair → Morph of Piercing Howl
(Vital)
This gives your group members an Empower synergy to increase their DPS.
Claws of Life → Morph of Infectious Claws
(Vital)
A nice Heal over Time for a Werewolf Tank.
As a Werewolf Tank you would want to pick up all passives, they are all Vital as a Werewolf.
Bloodmoon
(Optional)
Take this if you want to be able to turn other people into Werewolves.
Guild Skill Lines
Guild Skill Lines offer Tanks a range of useful Skills and Passives that are open and available to all classes. It will require you to join each guild and level up the Skill Line in a range of different ways depending on what guild Skill Line you are trying to complete.
Fighters Guild
Dawnbreaker
(Unnecessary)
Can be used for solo content and slotted front bar for a Hybrid Tank.
Silver Leash → Morph of Silver Bolts
(Vital)
If you are playing on a class that does not have a pull ability such as the DK Unrelenting Grip then this is a vital alternative. It costs Stamina which makes it slightly undesirable compared to the DKs Chain but it’s really your only option for most class Tanks.
Turn Evil → Morph of Circle of Protection
(Optional)
If you have the bar space and you are in a combat situation where you are stacked with your group then this will give them some additional buffs helping them to survive. If you are fighting none Elite/Boss enemies then this will also fear them.
Intimidating Presence
(Vital)
This will reduce the cost of your Silver Leash which is vital for your sustain. If you are using any Fighters Guild abilities you will need this skill.
Slayer
(Not Needed)
Banish the Wicked
(Vital)
It’s worth using this if you have a Fighters Guild skill slotted as you’ll be able to get extra Ultimate.
Skilled Tracker
(Not Needed)
Bounty Hunter
(Not Needed)
Mages Guild
Meteor
(Unnecessary)
You could theoretically slot this to boost your Magicka Controller Passive, but using Barrier/Magicka Aid passive is stronger for Magicka Regen. If you haven’t unlocked the 2/2 Magicka Aid or Barrier you could use this temporarily.
Inner Light → Morph of Magelight
(Optional)
Could be used to boost your Max Magicka and boost your Magicka Controller passives if you need it.
Entropy
(Not Needed)
Scalding Rune → Morph of Fire Rune
(Situational)
This is useful for helping Tanks to maintain Elemental Catalyst Flame Weakness and proccing Encratis’s Behemoth.
Spell Symmetry → Morph of Equilibrium
(Situational)[lyte id=’yI1qAxxSygU’ /]
This is needed in situations where you want unlimited Magicka sustain but you do not need a source of Major Resolve. Tanks have a high Max Health pool, so you utilise that Max Health when you are in low damage situations to generate Magicka for more skill casting. When using this on a DK or Sorcerer it means you basically have unlimited sustain so long as someone is healing you as you have abilities that cost Magicka and can convert Magicka into Stamina. You should always take care to time the use of this, it’s not good to use it immediately before a Heavy Attack or Mechanic as it drops your Health and you have a 4 second self-healing debuff, you will still receive normal healing from a Healer however. With this morph, Nightblades especially can use this skill since they have Major Resolve built into their class Passives, if you have a Warden in your group who keeps 100% uptime of Frost Cloak then you wouldn’t need to apply your own Major Resolve either. This is an important sustain skill, at the cost of Health you gain 3k Magicka but it also reduces the cost of your next Magicka ability which can be really good in situations where you have a healer constantly healing you and you need to be casting expensive Magicka abilities frequently such as Purge.
Balance → Morph of Equilibrium
(Vital)
This is a must have skill for all Tanks unless you are a Nightblade or have Major Resolve already in which case you use Spell Symmetry. Tanks have a high Max Health pool, so you utilise that Max Health when you are in low damage situations to generate Magicka for more skill casting. When using this on a DK or Sorcerer it means you basically have unlimited sustain so long as someone is healing you as you have abilities that cost Magicka and can convert Magicka into Stamina. You should always take care to time the use of this, its not good to use it immediately before a Heavy Attack or Mechanic as it drops your Health and you have a 4 second self-healing debuff, you will still receive normal healing from a Healer however. This morph provides the longest lasting source of Major Resolve available also, so as soon as its possible you should switch away from classed based Major Resolve sources to this one since it is a longer duration plus costs Health so its more sustainable in resource cost.
Mage Adept
(Vital)
Very important passive to have so your Balance/Spell Symmetry costs less Health to cast.
Everlasting Magic
(Vital)
This is the passive that causes your Balance to provide the longest source of Major Resolve that is available.
Magicka Controller
(Vital)
Gives you a slight buff to your Magicka sustain when you have Mage’s Guild abilities slotted. You should always have at least 1 so its worth having this.
Undaunted
Overflowing Altar → Morph of Blood Altar
(Optional)
This is a good skill to help your group. You have to place it anywhere within 28 metres of the enemy, then when you or a group member hits an enemy they are healed via Minor Lifesteal. Your allies don’t need to be near the Alter to benefit from the Minor Lifesteal they gain the benefit just from hitting the enemy that is within 28m of the Altar. This is a very sustainable skill as it has a low Health cost to cast it so it can be maintained easily by a Tank. This morph would be used in situations where you need to make use of the synergy for healing your group in things such as Asylum Sanctorium and Cloudrest, the synergy will provide the group with a much bigger heal than the other morph.[lyte id=’-QRGGsutRAQ’ /]
Shadow Silk → Morph of Trapping Webs
(Optional)
You cast this on ranged targets for your Stamina Damage Dealers to use so they can hit more DPS and also gain some resources from it. In some situations where your group has very little synergies an Off Tank might use this to provide another Alkosh synergy. This is quite a tricky skill to make use of since you need to cast it on an enemy, but your team members need to be away from that enemy to be able to gain the synergy so in a situation where there is just 1 target such as a boss its useless because the group needs to be at range to have the synergy become visible to them.
Inner Rage → Morph of Inner Fire
(Optional)
This is secondary to using Frost Clench. It allows you to range taunt enemies, but also its a Magicka taunt so you can use it to instigate combat, use it to taunt enemies that are not close to you and if you are low on Stamina use it to benefit your sustain. This morph also provides a guaranteed group synergy which can be nice for helping with proccing gear sets and additional group sustain.
Bone Surge → Morph of Bone Shield
(Optional)
This is not a vital skill to use since its hard to sustain with costing Stamina. You might see it used in close combat fights since you need to be stood very close to other people. If will provide Major Vitality which is quite a useful buff to have in some situations and gives a nice shield scaled on Max Health.
Energy Orb → Morph of Necrotic Orb
(Optional)
This is only needed if you are trying to proc a gear set on your group such as Spell Power Cure, Symphony of Blades or something similar. Also useful on a Warden Tank for maintaining their group buff Minor Toughness.
Undaunted Command
(Vital)
You must have this skill especially when using Alkosh since you will be using a lot of synergies and as a Tank you need sustain and this passive will return resources to you every time you use any synergy.
Undaunted Mettle
(Vital)
Extra resources no matter whether you are using 7 Heavy or 5/1/1 you’ll get extra stats.
Psijic Order
Temporal Guard → Morph of Undo
(Optional)
This is more of a passive Ultimate, you can slot this for easy permanent Minor Protection. For a Nightblade or Templar this likely wouldn’t be needed as they have class based options for obtaining this buff. You’ll usually benefit more from slotting Barrier and gaining the extra sustain.
Race Against Time → Morph of Accelerate
(Vital)
Pretty useful for all Tanks, having a speed boost so you can keep up with your group in Heavy Armor is quite important and it costs Magicka so its sustainable. This morph also has a nice effect where it will remove snares and immobilisations and give you immunity to them which is particularly helpful as a Tank.
Meditate
(Unnecessary)
If you are completely unable to sustain combat as a Tank, generally there is a fundamental issue you need to look into. I would initially suggest checking out the Tank Guides section for the Sustaining as a Tank Lecture. In the meantime, you can use this skill you help you sustain. The best time to use this would be when there are no mechanics happening or immediately after you have received and blocked a Heavy Attack from an enemy. Its best to use this in regular short bursts rather than waiting until you are out of resources and using it.
These passives are only Vital if you are using Psijic Order abilities.
Clairvoyance
(Vital)
This is needed if you occasionally use Race Against Time to reduce the cost of it.
Concentrated Barrier
(Vital)
If you ever slot any Psijic Order ability then you should have this passive to give yourself an extra little shield.
Deliberation
(Situational)
You only need this passive if you are using Meditate or its morphs. This will increase your ability to survive during the phases in which you are channelling the ability.
Alliance War Skill Lines
Alliance War provides Tanks with a few really vital must have skills. This forces us to participate in some level of PvP to unlock these abilities. To do this you either need to travel into Cyrodiil and participate in the huge Alliance War or you can use the Group Finder to queue for Random Battlegrounds which is much quicker. Battle grounds are a 4v4v4 timed PvP battle, even if you finish last you still earn Alliance Points (AP) which in turn, levels up your Assault and Support Skill Lines. If you do this while under level 50 the Battlegrounds are much easier and less competitive, try to just play the objectives such as “Capture the Flag” don’t get caught up in pointless fighting as a Tank, just go for the objective.
Assault
Aggressive Horn → Morph of War Horn
(Vital)
This is the most important Tank Ultimate in the game. This is used by every class other than Necromancer, in every build, in every group situation as it gives a huge group damage increase. It also boosts yours and your groups Max Magicka and Stamina. It’s an all round great skill for group content.
Vigor
(Situational)
Either morph of this skill are used on most Tanks to proc Powerful Assault. It’s also used sometimes for a general Heal over Time for Tank and on certain classes who have restricted Healing such as Templars and Necros.
Resolving Vigor→ Morph of Vigor
(Situational)
Read More: Resolving Vigor Buff Article
This is generally the better morph since you get a small heal over time but also Minor Resolve which buffs your resistances and mitigation.
Charging Maneuver → Morph of Rapid Maneuver
(Situational)
This is useful in most situation for providing yourself and group a speed boost wherever needed.
Razor Caltrops → Morph of Caltrops
(Vital)
This ability inflicts an Area of Effect Major Breach to enemies which reduces their resistances meaning your group will do more damage to any enemy stood inside the caltrops. It also causes a pretty strong snare on any none Elite/Boss enemies which can be good for things like Dungeons and Arenas. This also procs Powerful Assault on your group members so it can be better than using Vigor since it has more benefits.
Proximity Detonation → Morph of Magicka Detonation
(Situational)
This would be used alongside Powerful Assault gear set, the reason for using this skill is because it costs Magicka, it’s instant cast unlike the other morph and it would be extremely easy to sustain when used alongside Balance/Spell Symmetry.
Continuous Attack
(Vital)
You need to put 1 Skill Point into here to have permanent Major Gallop to increase the speed of your mount.
None of the other passives provide any benefit to a Tank in PvE content as they are all PvP passives.
Support
Barrier
(Vital)
This is a very nice and useful Ultimate to have for the passive benefits that you can gain from it. If you have the Magicka Aid passive and this is slotted you will benefit from 10% more Magicka Recovery which is an extremely important stat for Tanks. Generally you wont use this Ultimate, so it doesn’t need to be morphed. You are just using it to gain the Magicka Aid passive. If you did need to use it in an emergency situation it will provide you and your group with a pretty large and long lasting Damage Shield.
Replenishing Barrier → Morph of Barrier
(Optional)
If you are actually using Barrier as a Skill – maybe alongside the Saxhleel Champion set then you would want this morph so you can gain your Ultimate back faster.
Efficient Purge → Morph of Purge
(Vital)
As a Tank you will often be expected to use Purge in situations where it is needed and help your group remove deadly negative effects. We use the Efficient morph as it reduces the Magicka cost by a lot.
Mystic Guard → Morph of Guard
(Situational)
This skill is useful to helping people to stay alive. With this morph it would be typically used on another Tank for dealing with really high amounts of damage such as in Kyne’s Aegis. If you are using this to guard a DK Tank it can be a bit of a waste since they already have easy access to Minor Vitality, but for other classes its a great option as this will increase the healing they receive.
Stalwart Guard → Morph of Guard
(Optional)
This morph of guard is sometimes used in lower damage situation by a Tank and applied to Damage Dealers to help increase their DPS as they benefit from the Minor Force which frees up another skill slot on their ability bar for something else.
Revealing Flare
(Optional)
You slot this and you gain Major Protection reducing your incoming damage by 10%. If you are having a hard time in any situation, then you need to use this as it will drastically improve your survival.
Magicka Aid
(Vital)
This passive the vital reason for using Barrier as a slottable ultimate.
None of the other passives provide any benefit to a Tank in PvE content as they are all PvP passives.
Craft Skill Lines
Alchemy
Medicinal Use
(Vital)
Extremely vital passives as this will keep your potions benefits lasting longer.
Provisioning
These passives are great to have. It will increase the duration of your Food and Drinks which means you will need to refresh it less often and use less materials for maintaining your Food and Drink buffs.
Gourmand
(Vital)
Connoisseur
(Vital)