ESO Tank Class Tier List

Welcome to the comprehensive Elder Scrolls Online tank class tier list. We understand that different tanking roles, such as dungeons, trials main tank, and trials off tank, have distinct requirements. Therefore, we have categorized our tier list accordingly to provide accurate rankings for each role.

In evaluating tank classes, we consider not only their contributions to a group but also their effectiveness in fulfilling the tanking role, their sustainability, and their survivability. Our tier list aims to offer insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each class in these aspects.

For more information on each individual class you can see our Tank Class Overviews.

Join the discussion on The Tank Club Discord.

Dungeons

We’ve placed the Arcanist really high for Elder Scrolls Online Necrom and this is because they can offer over 10 group buffs that are combined into their Tank skills, they have great sustain, good survival and can crowd control enemies almost as good as a Dragonknight.

DK drops into second but they are great at sustain and survival along with having useful abilities for almost every situation. They have some good group buffs but these are sometimes specific to certain group types so not always completely useful.

Necro comes into 3rd but quite honestly you could use almost any class after the Arcanist and Dragonknight. Every ESO class can Tank and for dungeon content that are all strong in their own right, the only difference between the classes becomes more of how much group benefit you can offer.

Trials Main

For Main Tanks the top class is either Dragonknight or Arcanist. They are both equally able to be the top class but for different reasons.

In most cases the Dragonknight is always useful for a Main Tank spot in a group for the Stagger buff and if needed the other buffs too. However, if your group decides they don’t want to use the gear sets Roar of Alkosh or Crimson Oath’s Rive and they want an Arcanist, then you MUST be an Arcanist Main Tank.

The unique group buff of an Arcanist is a taunt skill that debuffs the enemy by removing 2200 armor, so if your group want this then you have no choice other than to be the Main Tank, combined with the Arcanist offering a bunch of other extremely useful buffs they can very quickly become the top Main Tank. On the flip side, you can provide all of the Arcanists buffs with someone else playing one so they are not essential if you don’t use the armor pen debuff.

Sorcerers are in at 3rd thanks to their strong defensive capabilities and the fact that they can now provide a full group synergy of Major Berserk and you’ll need 2 Sorcs in a group, providing an opportunity for a Sorc Main Tank to come into the mix. They have a couple of other groups buffs too but the big thing is they are easy to play, one of the easiest to sustain and their survival is great, only beaten by a Necromancer when dealing with DoT damage.

The remaining classes are tricky to rank. Necros are great for DoT damage reduction and many groups will switch the Main Tank and Off Tank around for certain fights for that reason. This doesn’t mean Necro Main Tank is a mainstay for the role though.

Nightblades actually make incredible Main Tanks and they are probably the best “Tank” in ESO as they can buff themselves up a lot and debuff the enemy more than any other class but the benefits they offer a group are severely lacking.

Warden Tanks, I personally prefer to play as Off Tanks because they really have poor quality passives and are not great defensively but they do offer some nice group benefits, these are typically covered by a Warden Healer however.

Trials Off