ESO Tank Weapons, Traits and Enchants
In this article we are looking at the weapons used by a Tank in The Elder Scrolls Online along with the best traits and enchants to use on both the front and back bar weapons.
Tanks also have the option of using certain Ability Altering Weapons which may be a reason to use a certain type of weapon for Tanking.
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ESO Tank Weapons
The main choice of weapons for Tanks in The Elder Scrolls Online are the One Hand and Shield combined with the Ice Staff. Both of these weapon types work as both a defensive tool for the user as well as offering the most beneficial group benefits with a range of buffs and debuffs.
ESO Tank Weapons – Traits
When it comes to your front bar you will typically use a One-Handed Weapon and Shield. The traits of these are mostly up to you, the type of 1 Handed Weapon that you use makes no difference when combined with a Shield.
For back bar weapons for almost all content you will need to use a Staff, usually an Ice Staff and it must be an Infused/Crusher staff. The only time it would be different is if you are in charge of maintaining Minor Brittle.
All of the values listed here are to bonuses provided by using Gold level gear.
Trait | Value | Comments |
---|---|---|
Charged | Increases chance to apply status effects by 182.5%. (Gold 1H Weapon) | This trait is used to boost the chance of creating a status effect. The status effects we focus on mostly are Concussion from a Shock Glyph, Chilled from a Frost Staff and Poisoned from a Poison Glyph (DK only). Concussion causes Minor Vulnerability which increases the damage the enemy takes by 5%. Causing Chilled with a Frost Staff causes Minor Brittle which increased the critical damage taken by enemies by 10%. Combining Charged/Poison on a DK procs the Combustion passives giving you 1k Stamina each time which helps with great sustain. |
Decisive | When you gain Ultimate you have a 27.5% chance to gain 1 additional Ultimate. (Gold 1H Weapon) | If you are not focussing on proccing status effect or you don’t need to then the next option is likely to be Decisive. This increases your Ultimate gain which means you can offer your group an Aggressive Horn slightly faster which improves group DPS. |
Infused | Increases weapon Enchantment effect by 30% and reduces Enchantment cooldown by 50%. (Gold Staff/Bow Weapon) | This is a vital trait for your 2 handed weapon, usually an Ice Staff. Tanks are virtually always expected to provide the Crusher enchant debuff on the enemy. When doing this is must be on a 2 Handed weapon and with the Infused trait to make it stronger. Infused can also be useful on a one hander when combined with Absorb Stamina, Hardening or Weakening Glyphs. |
Defending | Increases Physical and Spell Resistance by 1638. | This is a decent One-Handed weapon trait when you lack resistances and want to boost survival. |
Powered | Increases healing done by 4.5% | Not a vital trait whatsoever. When you are going into high damage, healing intensive situations you would put this on your front bar and also make sure you have your self-heal located on the same bar and this trait will buff your healing. |
Unused Traits | Sharpened – Increases your penetration on the enemy – a damage dealer trait. Precise – A damage dealer trait, could use this in a Hybrid Tank build but otherwise not a Tank trait. Training – Gives no benefit to Tanking. If you are low CP consider using a crafted Training/Levelling set but don’t Tank using it. Nirnhoned – A Damage Dealer trait, could use this in a Hybrid Tank build but otherwise not a Tank trait. |