ESO Warden, Warden Tank Skill Bars

ESO Warden Tank Skill Bars & Skill Choices

A reference hub for Warden tank skill bars and skill choices in ESO, explaining how bars change between dungeons, bosses, and group setups.

Table of Contents

Warden Tank Skill Bar Overview

Warden tank skill bars are shaped primarily by their impact on group survival. Many Warden tank skills provide strong defensive value to the entire group, which reduces the need to stack personal mitigation and frees up bar space for control, debuffs, and encounter-specific tools.

Wardens naturally provide group-wide Major Resolve and have access to a strong burst heal that also applies a heal-over-time effect and can heal an additional group member. This allows Warden tank bars to stabilise both the tank and the group with fewer active skills.

Several defensive benefits also come from passives rather than bar slots, including improved block mitigation, resistances, increased Chilled application, and automatic Major Maim on enemies. Because much of the incoming damage reduction is handled passively, Warden skill bars focus less on survival coverage and more on maintaining buffs, controlling enemies, and supporting the group.

These factors define how Warden tank skill bars are constructed: prioritising group stability first, then filling remaining slots with the most efficient utility for the content being run.

How to Use This Page

  • Use this page as a reference alongside the Warden tank build.
  • Adjust skill bars based on content type, group composition, and your experience as a tank.
ESO Warden, Warden Tank Skill Bars
Warden tank skills and ability choices in The Elder Scrolls Online.

How Warden Tank Skill Bars Are Built

Warden tank skill bars are built around a non-negotiable core of taunting, mitigation, and debuff application. Around this core, a small number of flexible slots are adjusted based on encounter type, add density, and group coordination.

In almost all setups, a Necromancer tank bar will include:

  • A reliable taunt
  • A source of group Major Resolve
  • A consistent mitigation tool or damage reduction effect
  • A sustain option tied to corpse generation or consumption
  • Elemental Blockade for Crusher uptime
  • Crowd control for add-heavy encounters
  • At least one group debuff or utility skill

Everything outside this core is situational.

Rather than memorising fixed layouts, Warden tanking rewards understanding which slots are flexible and when to change them. Skills that duplicate mitigation or sustain already provided by passives are often unnecessary, while tools that improve ultimate timing, debuff uptime, or add control tend to provide higher overall value.

Warden Tank Skill Bars

The following Warden tank skill bars cover common dungeon, main tank, and off tank setups. These bars are designed to be adaptable, with notes and swaps explained throughout this page.

Subclassing Choices

Winters Embrace

Soldier of Apocrypha

Earthen Heart

Warden Skills

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Bosses

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Ardent Flame • Winters Embrace • Soldier of Apocrypha

Bosses

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Winters Embrace • Soldier of Apocrypha • Earthen Heart

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Winters Embrace • Daedric Summoning • Siphoning

Below is a reference breakdown of commonly used Warden tank skills. You don’t need every skill listed here on your bar at once, use this section to understand what each option provides and when it becomes useful.

  • Goading Throw – Ranged taunt that also heals you and applies Major Maim, reducing enemy damage.
  • Hearth and Home (Eruption) – Provides a large group heal over time, Minor Heroism for faster ultimate generation, and Major Protection for yourself.
  • Warding Burst – Group damage shield that also grants Minor Courage and contributes to ultimate generation.
  • Polar Wind – Strong burst heal with a self HoT that also heals an ally.
  • Trample – Grants Major Heroism and applies multiple damage status effects, turning the Dragonknight into an ultimate engine when paired with Saxhleel Champion.
  • Gibbering Shelter – Emergency defensive ultimate that provides strong mitigation, group shielding, and passive resource recovery.
  • Leashing Soul – Pulls enemies together, restores Magicka and Stamina, and applies Major Cowardice to reduce incoming damage.
  • Elemental Susceptibility – Free Major Breach with constant Burning, Chilled, and Concussion procs, enabling Minor Maim, Minor Brittle, Minor Vulnerability, Off Balance, and Minor Breach (with Blockade), while triggering Dragonknight sustain through Burning.
  • Elemental Blockade – Maintains continuous infused Crusher enchant uptime, applies Minor Breach to Chilled enemies, and provides a projectile damage shield for the group.
  • Expansive Frost Cloak – Grants Major Resolve to the entire group.
  • Runeguard of Still Waters – Passive safety tool that grants Minor Resolve and Minor Protection, immobilises nearby enemies, and triggers a heal when under 50% Health.
  • Standard of Might – Primary ultimate that provides a large, unique Spell and Weapon Damage buff to the group. When paired with Saxhleel Champion, it also grants Major Force, massively boosting group damage, while the caster gains 15% reduced damage taken for the duration.

Add Pull Skills

  • Inner Rage – Ranged taunt that provides a strong group synergy, dealing Flame damage over time to the taunted enemy and additional AoE Flame damage to nearby enemies.
  • Razor Caltrops – Applies AoE Major Breach to all enemies in large pulls and snares them.
  • Power Slam – Used to proc Void Bash, pulling all enemies together in one cast while applying Major Maim to reduce incoming damage.
  • Pulsar – Applies AoE Minor Mangle and, when used with a Charged Ice Staff, guarantees AoE Chilled, enabling Minor Maim, Minor Brittle, Minor Breach (with Blockade), and granting Minor Protection to the group.

Warden Skill (No Subclassing)

  • Bull Netch – Restores Stamina every second, removes a negative effect when activated, costs nothing to cast, and generates Ultimate when used. While slotted, it increases Magicka and Stamina Recovery by 20% and provides a heal when the effect ends.
  • Feral Guardian – Slotted to activate Animal Companion passives, providing the 20% Magicka and Stamina Recovery bonus on both bars.
  • Enchanted Growth – Heals you and allies in front of you and grants Minor Intellect and Minor Endurance to healed targets, increasing Magicka and Stamina recovery. Also triggers Maturation, granting Minor Toughness to allies hit with the heal.
  • Gripping Shards – Provides an AoE immobilise, deals Frost damage, and snares enemies, making it effective for add control during pulls. 

Warden Subclassing and Scribing

Wardens already have access to immobilisation, pulls, and crowd control through their class kit. However, versions gained through subclassing or scribing are often more reliable and easier to apply, making them preferable in many dungeon and add-heavy scenarios.

Subclassing primarily strengthens Warden tank skill bars by improving sustain and ultimate generation, areas where Warden passives are weaker compared to some other tank classes. This allows Wardens to drop compensatory skills and dedicate more bar space to group-focused utility.

Scribing further improves bar efficiency by allowing multiple effects to be combined into fewer skills. Rather than changing how Wardens tank, it helps compress buffs, debuffs, and control into a cleaner, more consistent setup.

Together, subclassing and scribing refine Warden tank skill bars by improving efficiency and reliability while preserving the class’s core role as a group survival-focused tank.

TC Lee
TC Lee is an experienced MMORPG content creator with over 20 years in the gaming industry. Specializing in tanking, guides, builds, and assisting beginners, TC Lee is dedicated to helping players improve their game and enjoy the best MMORPG experience.
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