– ESO – Tanking Update – Dragonknight

This is a re-post of the updated Tanking Page. The page will be updated as changes happen.

Dragon Knight Tank – 3.0 (6/30/2016)

My current setup is “strictly” a trials set up – that being said, it still works for four man dungeons and the like.

Tri-Stat Food, Volatile Armor Active (one piece of Ebon armor is purple in this pic)

Gear:

5 piece Tava’s Favor
5 piece Ebon
2 piece Bloodspawn

I want all armor pieces reinforced, particularly because these sets do not offer any sort of mitigation – except in there bonus procs. My weapons are defending. Jewelry is how it comes. All enchantments are into stamina, likewise, all armor ability points. My jewelry enchantments are for magika recovery, and my weapons are absorb stamina.

The idea here is to be able to a) tank anything thrown at me and b) gain ultimate like a boss and blow on my warhorn all night long. Along with DK passives, this build is made for sustain, damage mitigation and major group support.

Skills –

Bar One – Sword & Shield
– Ransack : Our main taunt – Changed from pierced armor due to its ability to cancel Elemental Drain, which ultimately will/can hurt magika DPS. Still offers physical resistance debuff (ED will give you the spell resist debuff), plus gives an buff to your own physical resistance. Not optimal for 4 man dungeons if no one is running ED – though it will still get you through. Optimal team set up is tank with Ransack and someone running ED.
– Unrelenting Grip : Our general purpose pull for getting distant enemies close. Also can work as an interrupt, for example distant healers.
– Choking Talons : Along with Unrelenting Grip, our bread and butter crowd control skill. Even on bosses, this skill is important because it inflicts minor maim, reducing their damage by 15% for 7 seconds. It also
– Absorb Magika : Damage shield  – useful most against spell throwing enemies (will block and heal you), but also useful because it increases the amount of blocking you are able to do, as well as decreases blocking cost – both by 8%
– Resolving Vigor (flex) : Excellent stamina based heal and heal over time – a must have for any stamina based class, tanks included. This is also my flex spot on my front bar – typically I do not need a heal (I am surrounded by wonderful healers, plus I’m a tank and have good mitigation). I generally keep this on my bar as a just in case. It also helps in situations where everyone is taking a lot of damage at once (Sanctum poison, Fungal Grotto final boss) just to give the healer some help.

Ultimate : Aggressive Warhorn – Boosts everyone’s resources by jor 10%, and provides Major Force for 9.5 seconds – increasing critical strike damage by 30%. This is HUGE, particularly for boss encounters. This is your most important skill besides taunting. Everything you do goes into making this happen every 45 seconds or so.

Bar Two – Sword & Shield
– Inner Fire (or Rage) : Our ranged, and magika based, taunt. Sometimes feels broken, but a necessary skill to have. It is not necessary to morph this – and because of the synergy of the morph, ask your raid leader if he/she wants it morphed or not. Technically this is also a flex skill, for example I will slot Eruption here instead at times, but typically I just keep it on my bar.
– Igneous Shield / Igneous Weapons (flex) : A lot of tanks are simply dumping igneous weapons due to the fact that most dps are running some sort of Major Brutality buff – plus, Igneous Shield gives us tanks, and those around us, a small damage shield to help with mitigation. For trials, I would say run Igneous Shields UNLESS told otherwise by the raid leader. For dungeons, I’d say the same unless no one has a buff for Major Brutality. The simple truth is you should not really need the shield in any of the dungeons, though it does not hurt. Also, because of the Helping Hands passive, both of these will restore 5% of stamina every time you hit it.
– Heroic Slash : Our back bar source of Minor Maim as well as Minor Heroism – granting us more ultimate gain. Remember that the main purpose of this build beyond simply tanking is ultimate gain for Warhorn.- Elude/Shuffle : Preference is yours, they both give Major Evasion – helping you proc Tava’s Favor. If you are not running a 5-1-1 for Undaunted passives, Shuffle is ultimately better because it will get you out of snares. if you are running a piece of medium armor for the 5-1-1, Elude will give you a slightly longer up time. I would normally say just go with Shuffle.
– Hardened Armor : Our major physical and spell resistance buff. Hardened Armor also gives damage shield for 10% of your max health for 3.5 seconds.

Ultimate : Magma Shell – Major damage mitigation ultimate for yourself and allies, also useful to help with resource management over Warhorn because of the lower cost.

Flex Skills
Eruption : Crowd control for multiple mobs, radius is 5 meters. So its small, but it is effective. Also provides a small DoT.
Coagulating Blood : Magic based heal, which also increases your healing received. I prefer this over Greens Dragon Blood because I do not benefit from the extra stamina regeneration while I am blocking.
Engulfing Flame : Provides a debuff to enemies causing them to take more damage from flame damage. Typically a Magika DK DPS will be running this. Noxious Breath is not preferred because Major Fracture is already being applied by Ransack.
Guard : 
Standard of Might : (Ultimate)

Champion Points –

Green – I put at least 75 points into Reduce Block Cost (Shadow Ward – The Shadow), everything else goes into Magika Recovery. If you recovery is over 1600, you can put some into Reduced Magika Cost or into Reduced Block Cost.

Red – I put 60/60 into Hardy and Elemental Defender. I put the rest into Heavy Armor Focus and Quick Recovery. (HA Focus to give my physical resistance a little buff)

Blue – The real flex – I put some points into Blessed incase I need to heal myself, the rest is preference.

Some Important Notes:
– Do not worry about getting your resistances well above cap – Ransack will help with physical, and Blood Spawn will proc, giving you more then you need.
– Ensure your buffs – Violatile Armor and Shuffle are up at all times. Luckily, there are on screen indicators – Shuffle makes you look invisible, Volatile Armor puts spikes on your back.
– Make sure when switching bars – you will be doing this alot – it is safe to do so! Though you may be holding block, when you bar swap you are vulnerable.
– No need to over taunt – it wastes stamina (or magika). They last for 15 seconds. Safe bet is to taunt every 10 seconds or so, and make sure you taunt befor swapping bars to buff.
– Heoric Slash is a major resource for ultimate gain, as well as minor maim, do not forget about it. However, if you are low on stamina, just hit choking talons for the minor maim and concentrate on Shuffle – it is of more importance.
– Warhorn is the most important ultimate you have slotted, but if you do need resources, or increased mitigation, do not be afraid to use Magma Shell.

I would like to thank all the tanks in University and Eternum (ESO Guilds – PS$/NA) for all of their input.