The Elder Scrolls Online Update 39 is here and there’s an array of forthcoming changes for Tanks. One of the main adjustments is with dragon blood and we’ve ran some tests to figure out which is the better morph now. The majority of adjustments are concentrated within class skills, many of which are poised to bring positive alterations.

PC/Mac Patch Notes v9.1.5 [Update 39] — Elder Scrolls Online

This is a bug fix and QoL patch so not a lot to get excited about but a lot of improvements and fixes on the way. The grand excitement, however, lies in the eagerly anticipated November update 40 where we will see a brand new endless dungeon mode called Endless Archive and within that game mode we’ve been told that you’ll be able to obtain Class Sets which is an exciting prospect.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how those are implemented into the Elder Scrolls Online – what are your thoughts on Endless Archive and Class Sets? Let us know on The Tank Club Discord!

This update extends a modest buff to the necromancer class, particularly evident in the Frozen Colossus enhancement. The cost of this Ultimate has been reduced to 175 Ultimate points from the previous 225. Notably, the Glacial Colossus morph enjoys an additional boost, prolonging the Major Vulnerability effect to 17 seconds per hit. These modifications are certainly commendable, bolstering the necromancer’s efficacy, especially considering the recent influx of new Major Vulnerability sources in the game.

Another alteration surfaces in Deaden Pain, the alternate morph of Necrotic Potency. The extension of major protection’s duration to 4 seconds is noteworthy. However, it’s important to acknowledge the inherent unreliability of this enhancement, since the protection hinges on absorbing a corpse—a condition often challenging to meet during encounters where major protection is crucial. An alternative approach is to slot Revealing Flare, guaranteeing a continuous 100% uptime buff.

Sorcerer Tanks receive a good adjustment in the form of Bound Aegis. This skill can now be slotted on any bar, offering its benefits passively across both bars. Furthermore, Minor Protection is now an permanent aspect of this skill, eliminating the need for its active casting. This addition provides a significant boon to Sorcerer Tanks, elevating the value and utility of this skill.

Nightblade Tanks have received a similar improvement to the Sorcerer with their Dark Cloak skill, this will now provide it’s minor protection benefit on both bars at all times by being slotted on any bar.

Other updates include the Tri Focus passive giving a bigger damage shield after you do an Ice Heavy attack, Although not universally applicable, this adjustment may find its place in select tanking strategies.

Coagulating Blood vs Green Dragon Blood

Finally we have the change to the Dragonknight Tank heal Dragon Blood. It appears that Green Dragon Blood could reclaim its status as the primary heal. Our tests, as indicated on-screen, encompassed four scenarios. We evaluated both morphs using Red Frothgar Food, allocating all attributes to Health (resulting in 47k Max Health and 19k Stamina), as well as another test employing Bewitched Sugar Skulls for 40k Health and 29k Stamina. The healing values provided here pertain to non-critical heals and may potentially increase with critical heals.

When you have lower Stamina and really high health, possibly as a Tank who blocks very infrequently the Green Dragon Blood morph was far superior to Coagulating Blood. While the burst heal remained consistent, Green Dragon Blood delivered an additional 10k healing over 5 ticks.

If you play a more balanced Tank where you maybe stop increasing health once it reaches 40k and then you push up your Stamina, in this test we had Bewitched Sugar Skulls Food and split our points into Stamina once we reached 40k Health and this gave us 29k Stamina also. In this situation the burst healing from Coagulating was much higher than Green Dragon Blood until you begin using it under 25% remaining health at which point the burst from Green Dragon Blood takes over. It’s the addition of the heal over time which really makes the difference.

Ultimately, the healing-over-time aspect renders Green Dragon Blood the superior choice in Update 39. Coagulating Blood might be considered in cases where substantial self-healing is pivotal, especially for a balanced tank with elevated maximum Stamina—a somewhat niche scenario. For emergency healing, Green Dragon Blood prevails as the optimal choice across various builds, thanks to the addition of the healing-over-time feature.

So that is everything for Tanks coming along with update 39.

Notably, the Dungeon Finder issues have been addressed, players will no longer appear offline when using the dungeon queue which I’m thrilled about.

We’ll have some Tank build updates coming up this patch, and lets get ready and excited for endless archive soon!