#1 ESO Main Tank Build - The Tank Club

ESO Main Tank BuildTC_Lee132024-06-01T23:50:30+00:00

ESO Main Tank Build

This build is designed for 12-player trial content, especially veteran and hardmode trials.

In trials, group optimization is key. Each group will use different sets and classes, making a single optimal build impossible. Adapt your setup based on your group’s composition and strategy. Your build’s effectiveness depends on factors like the group’s experience, your tanking skills, and the trial’s difficulty. Stay flexible and adjust your build to meet your group’s specific needs for the best results.

Table of Contents

Information
Gear
Skills
Scribed Skills
Champion Points

Updated: Gold Road (June 2024)

ESO Main Tank Build Information

Race

Mundus

The Atronach
Mundus Info

Food

Orzorga’s Red Frothgar
Bewitched Sugar Skulls
Orzorga’s Smoked Bear Haunch

Potions

Other Information

Race: Nord is ideal for long-term progression due to its resistances. Nord helps you easily reach the resistance cap, crucial for enduring DoT and Bleed damage and big hitting mechanics without excessive focus on buffing resistances.

Mundus: The Atronach is essential for Magicka Recovery, aiming for around 2500 to sustain all abilities.

Food:

General Use: Red Frothgar for Magicka Recovery and Max Health, though it reduces Max Magicka and Stamina.
Harmony Jewelry Users: Sugar Skulls to maximize stats and benefit from Harmony bonuses.
Stamina Skill Focus: Smoked Bear Haunch is ideal if you frequently use Stamina skills and know when to safely drop block.

Potions:

General Use: Tri-Stat potions for recovery and resource restoration.
Advanced Raiding: Minor Heroism potions for faster Ultimate generation.
Situational: Immovability or Lingering Health/Speed potions for specific needs.

Resistances: Aim for the 33,100 cap using Major & Minor Resolve, Passives, Champion Points, Reinforced gear, or a Defending One-Handed Weapon to mitigate the majority of incoming damage.

Magicka Recovery: Ensure a minimum of 2500 Magicka Recovery to maintain 100% uptime on skills, buffs, and debuffs. More recovery allows frequent use of abilities like Igneous Shield.

Stats and Attributes:

Health: Aim for 40k Max Health for comfort in most trials.
Stamina: Maintain around 18-20k Max Stamina to support prolonged block periods, dodging, and breaking free.
Magicka: Aim for 15-18k Max Magicka to avoid burnout, ensuring you can cast multiple skills before running out.

By following these guidelines, you can build an effective and resilient main tank suitable for any trial scenario.

ESO Main Tank Build Gear

Generic Main Tank

Generic Main Tank

Piece	Set	Weight	Trait	Enchantment
Head	Nazaray / Archdruid Devyric / Tremorscale	Medium	Divines	Prismatic Defence
Shoulder	Nazaray / Archdruid Devyric / Tremorscale	Light	Divines	Prismatic Defence
Chest	Turning Tide	Heavy	Reinforced	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	Pearlescent Ward	Jewellery	Harmony	Magicka Recovery
Ring	Pearlescent Ward	Jewellery	Harmony	Magicka Recovery
Ring	Pearlescent Ward	Jewellery	Harmony	Magicka Recovery
Main Hand	Pearlescent Ward	Any 1H	Decisive	Absorb Stamina
Off Hand	Pearlescent Ward	Shield	Divines	Prismatic Defence
Main Hand Backup	Pearlescent Ward	Ice Staff	Infused	Crusher

Gear Information

Gear Enchants: Prismatic Defense enchants are the best option, boosting Max Magicka, Stamina, and Health, providing over 2000 additional Max Stats compared to single stat enchants.

Gear Traits:

Divines: Enhances Magicka Recovery via the Atronach Mundus. Less crucial with Harmony Jewelry due to resource gains from synergies.
Reinforced: Prioritize this to reach the 33k resistance cap for Main Tanking.
Sturdy: Useful for sustain but has diminishing returns with excessive block cost reduction.

One-Handed Weapon:

Traits: Decisive for more Ultimate, Infused to enhance weapon enchant, or Defending for increased resistances.
Enchants: Absorb Stamina or Magicka for sustain, Hardening for a damage shield, Weakening if not applied by a Healer’s Staff.

Ice Staff:

Traits: Infused with Crusher enchant is essential. Maintain Frost Blockade to keep Crusher uptime.
Add Pulls: Consider a Charged Staff with Pulsar to further debuff enemies.

Jewelry Traits:

Harmony: Optimal in trials for significant sustain due to abundant synergies from 11 other players. Ideal for maintaining resources even while blocking.
Infused: Use in solo tanking scenarios or when synergies are scarce, like Cloudrest Portals or certain phases in Sunspire.

Jewelry Enchants:

Magicka Recovery: Generally outperforms other enchants, ensuring consistent ability casting.
Prismatic Cost Reduction: Consider this for Dragonknight Tanks using Stone Giant or classes frequently using Stamina skills with short cooldowns.

5 Piece Sets

Turning Tide – Replaces the reliance on having Necromancers using the Colossus Ultimate. When combined with Archdruid or Nazaray monster sets you can keep virtually a 100% Major Vulnerability uptime with one person which is a great group damage boost.
Pearlescent Ward – Great Main Tank set, gives a group DPS buff, gives a group defense buff when people are dead and requires absolutly no micromanagement so it’s just always active even when you die.
Claw of Yolnahkriin – Useful when your group is not using an Arcanist with Arcanist’s Domain, otherwise it’s not as useful anymore.
Crimson Oath’s Rive – Needed for reaching the penetration cap of 18,200. Useful in Medium Armor wearing groups if your group doesn’t have a Damage Dealer using Roar of Alkosh, an Arcanist with Runic Sunder or a Main Tank using Tremorscale.
Saxhleel Champion – Very easy set to use that’s good for allowing the Main Tank to use a safety Ultimate like Magma Shell or Barrier while still providing the Major Force buff or for extending your Major Force buff duration where you have low uptimes like Asylum Sanctorium.
Lucent Echoes – Another easy to use set that will provide a good group buff, potentially as a replacement for Elemental Catalyst in high performing groups or used with it in groups who are under the crit cap.

Monster Sets

Archdruid Devyric – Combined with Turning Tide it allows you to reliably solo maintain a 100% uptime of Major Vulnerability.
Nazaray – Most common Main Tank monster set which increases the duration of debuffs on enemies which is great for long trial boss fights.
Tremorscale – Only useful if your group are under the penetration cap of 18,200 and are not using the Roar of Alkosh or Crimson Oath’s Rive.

Weapon Sets

Puncturing Remedy – Should you have the space to do so, using the Master’s One Hand and Shield can really help with additional survival when you have one gear set that only needs using on one bar.

ESO Main Tank Build Skills

Every trial features unique strategies and mechanics, requiring you to adapt your skill setup accordingly. The skills listed here are generic options that can be used across various trials. Additionally, if you have access to the Scribing system, there are several highly useful scribing skills available, detailed in the Scribed Skills section below.

Arcanist

Adds

Dragonknight

Adds

Necromancer

Adds

Nightblade

Adds

Sorcerer

Adds

Templar

Adds

Warden

Adds

ESO Main Tank Build Scribed Skills

If you have the Elder Scrolls Online Gold Road chapter, you’ll have access to the Scribing system. This system allows you to create skills to optimize your Main Tank setup. These skills can be customized to suit your individual needs, though the following are suggested options.

Note that Elemental Explosion, Torchbearer, and Trample are not included in this build due to their cast times, which are not suitable for a Main Tank.

Wield Soul

Focus Script: Pull
Deals ? Magic Damage to an enemy, pulls them to you, and taunts them for 15 seconds if they are not already taunted.

Signature Script: Druid’s Resurgence
Restores 1000 Magicka and 1000 Stamina.

Affix Script: Vitality
Grants Major Vitality for 10 seconds, increasing healing received and damage shield strength by 12%.

This is really useful for dropping the unsustainable Silver Leash and having a Magicka pull but it also acts like a Stamina sustain tool, allowing you to cast it for Magicka and return Stamina each time. Alongside that you can attach another useful Major buff or debuff, Major Cowardice and Vitality are both great options for trials.

Soul Burst

Focus Script: Damage Shield
Grants you an your allies a damage shield that absorbs ? damage for 6 seconds, scaling off your Max Health and capped at 55% of your Max Health.

Signature Script: Sage’s Remedy
Heals for ? Health over 10 seconds.

Affix Script: Breach
Grants Minor Resolve for 20 seconds, increasing Armor by 2974.

I like this particular skill as a strong survival tool with the Damage Shield, Heal over time and Minor Resolve which isn’t always easy to get but very useful to have. Could also use Anchorite’s Potency for Ultimate gain or the Class Mastery if it’s beneficial to you.

Shield Throw

Focus Script: Magic Damage
Deals ? Magic Damage to an enemy. (Turns this into a Magicka skill)

Signature Script: Druid’s Resurgence
Increases your Health, Magicka, and Stamina Recovery by 152 for 10 seconds on return.

Affix Script: Cowardice
Afflicts the enemy with Major Cowardice for 10 seconds, reducing Weapon and Spell Damage by 430.

A potential tool for extra sustain or a health scaling heal (Sage’s Remedy) and an enemy debuff.

ESO Main Tank Build Champion Points

Warfare

Duelist’s Rebuff

Enduring Resolve (DoT damage fights)

Unassailable (AoE damage fights)

Fitness

Boundless Vitality

Rejuvenation

Ward Master / Bracing Anchor (Bosses)

Celerity (Adds)