Best Dragonknight Tank Build for ESO

DRAGONKNIGHT TANK BUILD

Writer: @xGAMxHQ
Role: PVE Tank
Patch: Update 41 – Scions of Ithelia

The Phoenix Dragonknight Tank build for ESO (The Elder Scrolls Online) is optimized for all players looking for the best build guide around for Trials, Dungeons, and Arenas, whether you’re a beginner, a long-time veteran, or just returning to the game.

The Tank role in ESO is responsible for maintaining taunts on the most threatening enemies and keeping them locked down using Crowd-Control (CC) abilities that stun, immobilize, or fear. Once you become more comfortable in the role, you will be able to reliably self-sustain resources, self-heal, buff group members, and debuff enemies using your various armor sets, skills, and Ultimate abilities.

The Dragonknight class is one of the most beginner-friendly classes to learn how to Tank and, to this day, remains a top-tier choice for all levels of Tanking. This is because they offer excellent self-healing, self-sustain, and unmatched crowd-control abilities. Dragonknights have three skill lines:

The Ardent Flame skill line focuses primarily on offensive abilities; however, investing in this skill line gives you access to the Unrelenting Grip skill, arguably the best ability to pull enemies in, available to only the Dragonknight class.

The Draconic Power skill line significantly improves your defensive capabilities. Green Dragon Blood is a powerful self-heal that also provides the Minor Vitality buff, increasing your healing received by 8%. It also increases your healing received by a further 12% due to the Burning Heart passive while active.

The Earthen Heart skill line has a mixed focus on group support and defensive and healing abilities. Igneous Shield provides you and your group with a damage shield, and each time you cast it, you grant the Minor Brutality buff group-wide due to the Mountain’s Blessing passive.

The Dragonknight Tank build covers everything you need to know, including recommended armor setups, skills, champion points, and many alternatives to meet various needs. Please read the entire build and bookmark the page, as it will update with each new patch.

RECENT UPDATES

MAY 14 / 2024: – UPDATE 41 – SCIONS OF ITHELIA
• Adjusted Attribute Points.
• All Armor Setups:
• Changed the trait of the Chest, Legs, and Shield pieces from Sturdy to Reinforced to increase Armor Rating.
• Adjusted Skills:
• Replaced Destructive Clench with Inner Rage.
• Moved Destructive Clench to the Alternative Skills section.
• Adjusted Champion Points:
• Better optimized progression path to unlock the most vital perks and passives first.
• Warfare:
• Replaced Enduring Resolve with Focused Mending.
• Fitness:
• Replaced Boundless Vitality with Shield Master.
• Added Bastion to alternative perks.

RACE

NORD

REDGUARD

IMPERIAL

The races that offer the best passives for Tanks are Nord, Redguard, Imperial, and Argonian, though all races are capable of Tanking. The Dragonknight Tank build utilizes the Nord racial passives, as they offer a unique passive that helps you regenerate Ultimate faster. Choose a race that best suits your needs.

Nords offer a unique passive that allows them to regenerate Ultimate faster than any other race while taking damage, which slightly edges out Ultimate cost reduction. They also increase your Maximum Health by 1,000, Maximum Stamina by 1,500, Physical and Spell Resistance by 2,600, and your Frost Resistance by 4620.

Redguards offer the best Stamina sustain, reducing the cost of your weapon abilities by 8% and allowing you to restore 1,005 Stamina every 5 seconds for dealing damage, even while blocking. This comes to 12,060 Stamina per minute, which is incredibly helpful if you are having difficulty sustaining your Stamina. They also increase your Maximum Stamina by 2,000 and reduce the effectiveness of snares applied to them by 15%.

Imperials are a well-rounded option that offers excellent overall sustain, including a 6% cost reduction to all skills and abilities, including block, roll dodge, and even your Ultimate abilities. They also increase your Maximum Health and Maximum Stamina by 2,000.

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

MAGICKA

HEALTH

STAMINA

Tanks typically aim to have at least 36,850 Maximum Health before the Minor Toughness buff and a Maximum Stamina value that exceeds your Maximum Magicka value. Doing this ensures that you always restore Stamina when you activate the Luminous Shards or Energy Orb synergy provided by your Healers.

The Dragonknight Tank build reaches:
• 40K+ Maximum Health
• 27.5K+ Maximum Stamina
• 22K+ Maximum Magicka

The above distribution of Attribute Points had the following buffs, passives, etc., active:
• Nord Race
• Bewitched Sugar Skulls
• Main Tank Setup (Legendary Quality)
• The Minor Toughness Buff
• All Class Passives
• All Champion Point Passives

You may need to adjust your Attribute Points if you use a different race, food, enchantments, quality, etc. Find a balance that best suits your needs.

TRIAL SETUPS

The Dragonknight Tank build uses some of the Best Tank Sets in ESO to bolster your defences and increase group Ultimate regeneration, debuff uptimes, damage, and survivability. The Perfected versions of the Trial sets give additional stat boosts for wearing all five pieces, but they do not make or break the build.

The Sturdy trait is excellent while learning how to Tank, as it reduces the cost of blocking. However, if you don’t have any problems sustaining your Stamina, switching to Divines will increase your Magicka Recovery while using The Atronach Mundus Stone.

The Decisive trait provides a 13.8% chance to gain 1 additional Ultimate every time you gain Ultimate, which helps maximize your Aggressive Horn uptime. If you have trouble sustaining Stamina or Magicka, switching your One-Handed weapon to the Charged trait with a Poison Damage enchantment will help you to activate the Combustion passive more easily.

MAIN TANK SETUP

	SET NAME	TRAIT	ENCHANTMENT	WEIGHT/TYPE	ACQUIRED
HEAD	Nazaray	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense	Medium	Veteran Shipwright's Regret
SHOULDERS	Nazaray	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense	Light	Undaunted Enclave
CHEST	Drake's Rush	Reinforced	Prismatic Defense	Heavy	Black Drake Villa
HANDS	Drake's Rush	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense	Heavy	Black Drake Villa
WAIST	Drake's Rush	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense	Heavy	Black Drake Villa
LEGS	Drake's Rush	Reinforced	Prismatic Defense	Heavy	Black Drake Villa
FEET	Drake's Rush	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense	Heavy	Black Drake Villa
NECKLACE	Turning Tide	Harmony	Magicka Recovery	Jewelry	Shipwright's Regret
RING	Turning Tide	Harmony	Magicka Recovery	Jewelry	Shipwright's Regret
RING	Turning Tide	Harmony	Magicka Recovery	Jewelry	Shipwright's Regret
FRONT BAR (MAIN HAND)	(Perfected) Puncturing Remedy	Decisive	Absorb Stamina	One-handed	(Veteran) Dragonstar Arena
FRONT BAR (OFF-HAND)	(Perfected) Puncturing Remedy	Reinforced	Maximum Health	Shield	(Veteran) Dragonstar Arena
BACK BAR	Turning Tide	Infused	Crusher	Ice Staff	Shipwright's Regret

Nazaray is used during boss fights to significantly increase debuff durations on enemies when you use an Ultimate ability. For the best results, cast Aggressive Horn immediately after applying Major Vulnerability with Turning Tide.

If you’re not in a boss fight or don’t intend to cast your Ultimate ability, you could instead equip the Mythic shoulder piece Spaulder of Ruin. Pairing it with one piece of the Magma Incarnate or Baron Thirsk monster set will increase your Magicka and Stamina Recovery to help offset a small portion of the negative effects given by Spaulder of Ruin. Chokethorn is a non-DLC, non-PVP alternative to Magma Incarnate and Baron Thirsk that increases your Magicka Recovery but doesn’t give you additional Stamina Recovery.

Drake’s Rush grants Major Heroism to you and 3 other group members when you bash an enemy, generating 3 Ultimate every 1.5 seconds. This allows everyone in the group to build Ultimate incredibly quickly. Because it generates the Ultimate over time rather than all at once, it gives you much more control over your Ultimate usage than Arkasis’s Genius and benefits from the Decisive weapon trait.

If you don’t have an Arcanist in your group, swap to (Perfected) Claw of Yolnahkriin to provide Minor Courage to your group members. It allows you to grant Minor Courage to all group members by taunting an enemy, increasing Weapon and Spell Damage by 215. This set also passively grants you Minor Aegis at all times, reducing your damage taken from Dungeon, Trial, and Arena Monsters by 5%.

During add fights, equipping Crimson Oath’s Rive allows you to reduce the Physical and Spell Resistance of all enemies around you by 3,541.

Turning Tide allows you to easily apply Major Vulnerability to multiple enemies in front of you as any class. The Major Vulnerability debuff causes enemies to take increased damage from all sources by 10%.

(Perfected) Puncturing Remedy significantly increases your survivability by providing a solid heal and Physical and Spell Resistance equal to the heal every 5 seconds when you taunt an enemy with Pierce Armor.

OFF-TANK SETUP

	SET NAME	TRAIT	ENCHANTMENT	WEIGHT/TYPE	ACQUIRED
HEAD	Encratis's Behemoth	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense	Medium	Veteran Black Drake Villa
SHOULDERS	Encratis's Behemoth	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense	Light	Undaunted Enclave
CHEST	(Perfected) Pearlescent Ward	Reinforced	Prismatic Defense	Heavy	(Veteran) Dreadsail Reef
HANDS	(Perfected) Pearlescent Ward	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense	Heavy	(Veteran) Dreadsail Reef
WAIST	(Perfected) Pearlescent Ward	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense	Heavy	(Veteran) Dreadsail Reef
LEGS	(Perfected) Pearlescent Ward	Reinforced	Prismatic Defense	Heavy	(Veteran) Dreadsail Reef
FEET	(Perfected) Pearlescent Ward	Sturdy	Prismatic Defense	Heavy	(Veteran) Dreadsail Reef
NECKLACE	(Perfected) Saxhleel Champion	Harmony	Magicka Recovery	Jewelry	(Veteran) Rockgrove
RING	(Perfected) Saxhleel Champion	Harmony	Magicka Recovery	Jewelry	(Veteran) Rockgrove
RING	(Perfected) Saxhleel Champion	Harmony	Magicka Recovery	Jewelry	(Veteran) Rockgrove
FRONT BAR (MAIN HAND)	(Perfected) Puncturing Remedy	Decisive	Absorb Stamina	One-handed	(Veteran) Dragonstar Arena
FRONT BAR (OFF-HAND)	(Perfected) Puncturing Remedy	Reinforced	Maximum Stamina	Shield	(Veteran) Dragonstar Arena
BACK BAR	(Perfected) Saxhleel Champion	Infused	Crusher	Ice Staff	(Veteran) Rockgrove

Encratis’s Behemoth creates an aura that benefits your group members and debuffs your enemies:
• Group members inside the aura take 5% reduced Flame Damage.
• Enemies inside the aura take 5% increased Flame Damage.
A Flame Damage ability is required to trigger the aura, such as Scalding Rune, Unrelenting Grip or Choking Talons.

If you don’t have many enemies or group members dealing Flame Damage, equipping Engine Guardian significantly improves your self-sustain. Despite restoring a random resource, it provides the best self-sustain for a Tank because it restores resources instead of increasing your recovery stat. Restored resources bypass the Stamina Recovery lock that occurs when you block or sprint, allowing you to gain Stamina while doing either.

Pearlescent Ward increases the group’s Weapon and Spell Damage by up to 180 or damage reduction from non-player enemies by up to 66%, depending on how many group members are dead. It helps your group recover from nearly wiping and even works if you’re dead or occupied with a group separation mechanic. This set also passively grants you Minor Aegis at all times, reducing your damage taken from Dungeon, Trial, and Arena Monsters by 5%.

Saxhleel Champion grants Major Force when you cast any Ultimate ability. It’s primarily used to further increase the uptime of Major Force when using Aggressive Horn. Using the Armor Setup above means you must cast the Ultimate slotted on your back bar. This is ideal for an offensive playstyle, but if you play more defensively or need to use Replenishing Barrier more often, equip Saxhleel Champion on the front bar as well.

If your group already has great Major Force uptime, (Perfected) Pillager’s Profit is an excellent alternative that allows you to increase the group’s Ultimate regeneration when you cast your Ultimate. Because this set caps the amount of Ultimate you can share at 20 per tick, it’s best to cast your Ultimate ability no later than a maximum of 400 Ultimate.

A non-DLC alternative to Saxhleel Champion is Powerful Assault, though some groups may have their Healers wear this set. It increases the group’s Weapon and Spell Damage by 307, improving overall group damage and healing. Powerful Assault requires you to cast an ability from the Assault skill line to trigger it, and it needs to be cast twice to benefit the entire group while in a Trial. Tanks commonly use Echoing Vigor because it’s a strong HOT with a large radius and low cost.

INTERMEDIATE SETUP

The Intermediate Setup for the Dragonknight Tank build is optimized for Tanks that may not be ready for Trial content but want to replace Crafted Sets. Many Dungeon and Overland sets are easy to collect while effective in early to mid-game content.

The selection of sets below will help to reduce enemy Physical and Spell Resistance, increase your group’s Ultimate regeneration, and reduce the cost of your Ultimate abilities.

	SET NAME	TRAIT	ENCHANTMENT	WEIGHT/TYPE	ACQUIRED
HEAD	Tremorscale	Sturdy	Maximum Health	Medium	Veteran Volenfell
SHOULDERS	Tremorscale	Sturdy	Maximum Magicka	Light	Undaunted Enclave
CHEST	Drake's Rush	Reinforced	Maximum Health	Heavy	Black Drake Villa
HANDS	Drake's Rush	Sturdy	Maximum Magicka	Heavy	Black Drake Villa
WAIST	Drake's Rush	Sturdy	Maximum Magicka	Heavy	Black Drake Villa
LEGS	Drake's Rush	Reinforced	Maximum Health	Heavy	Black Drake Villa
FEET	Drake's Rush	Sturdy	Maximum Magicka	Heavy	Black Drake Villa
NECKLACE	Akaviri Dragonguard	Healthy	Magicka Recovery	Jewelry	Eastmarch Overland
RING	Akaviri Dragonguard	Healthy	Magicka Recovery	Jewelry	Eastmarch Overland
RING	Akaviri Dragonguard	Healthy	Magicka Recovery	Jewelry	Eastmarch Overland
FRONT BAR (MAIN HAND)	Akaviri Dragonguard	Decisive	Absorb Stamina	One-handed	Eastmarch Overland
FRONT BAR (OFF-HAND)	Akaviri Dragonguard	Reinforced	Maximum Health	Shield	Eastmarch Overland
BACK BAR	Akaviri Dragonguard	Infused	Crusher	Ice Staff	Eastmarch Overland

Tremorscale reduces the Armor of all enemies in a small area depending on how high your Physical or Spell Resistance is. Because this set lasts for 15 seconds and has a cooldown of 10 seconds, you’re able to easily achieve 100% uptime.

If you want better self-sustain, Engine Guardian is the best method for a Tank to do so, despite restoring a random resource. This is because it restores resources instead of increasing your recovery stat. Restored resources bypass the Stamina Recovery lock that occurs when you block or sprint, allowing you to gain Stamina while doing either.

Akaviri Dragonguard reduces the cost of your Ultimate abilities by 15%, allowing you to use them much more often.

An alternative to Akaviri Dragonguard is Powerful Assault, though it can get expensive. It increases the group’s Weapon and Spell Damage by 307, improving overall group damage and healing. Powerful Assault requires you to cast an ability from the Assault skill line to trigger it. Tanks commonly use Echoing Vigor because it’s a strong HOT with a large radius and low cost.

Slotting Akaviri Dragonguard or Powerful Assault on both ability bars allows you to be more flexible with which Ultimate you use or which ability bar you choose to slot an Assault ability. If you equip it on the back bar only, you can also equip (Perfected) Void Bash on the front bar during add fights to easily group up enemies.

BEGINNER SETUP

Your options for beginner gear are typically limited to crafted sets or something cheap in guild stores. The Beginner Setup for the Dragonknight Tank build includes only Crafted Sets and is optimized for freshly created characters and CP160 Tanks looking for an excellent build to start farming more challenging content.

	SET NAME	TRAIT	ENCHANTMENT	WEIGHT/TYPE	ACQUIRED
HEAD	Druid's Braid	Sturdy	Maximum Stamina	Medium	Crafted
SHOULDERS	Druid's Braid	Sturdy	Maximum Stamina	Light	Crafted
CHEST	Torug's Pact	Reinforced	Maximum Health	Heavy	Crafted
HANDS	Torug's Pact	Sturdy	Maximum Stamina	Heavy	Crafted
WAIST	Torug's Pact	Sturdy	Maximum Stamina	Heavy	Crafted
LEGS	Torug's Pact	Reinforced	Maximum Health	Heavy	Crafted
FEET	Torug's Pact	Sturdy	Maximum Stamina	Heavy	Crafted
NECKLACE	Armor of the Seducer	Robust	Potion Speed	Jewelry	Crafted
RING	Armor of the Seducer	Robust	Magicka Recovery	Jewelry	Crafted
RING	Armor of the Seducer	Robust	Magicka Recovery	Jewelry	Crafted
FRONT BAR (MAIN HAND)	Armor of the Seducer	Infused	Absorb Stamina	One-handed	Crafted
FRONT BAR (OFF-HAND)	Armor of the Seducer	Sturdy	Maximum Magicka	Shield	Crafted
BACK BAR	Armor of the Seducer	Infused	Crusher	Lightning Staff	Crafted

Druid’s Braid is equipped until you can obtain a suitable monster set to replace it. Some great beginner options are Tremorscale to reduce enemy Physical and Spell Resistance in an area, Sentinel of Rkugamz to increase group sustain, and Swarm Mother to help pull and taunt ranged enemies.

Torug’s Pact improves the enchantments on your weapons, increasing Stamina sustain and further decreasing enemy Physical and Spell Resistance.

Armor of the Seducer significantly improves your Magicka sustainability by increasing Magicka Recovery and reducing the cost of your Magicka abilities.

While this configuration is not required, it will provide the most optimal progression path for a beginner Tank. After obtaining a crafted gear setup, you may begin farming the other setups.

SKILLS

FRONT BAR

Pierce Armor (Morph of Puncture | Skill Line: One Hand and Shield)
• This is your primary taunt ability. It applies the Minor Breach and Major Breach debuffs, reducing the enemy’s resistance by 8,922.

Green Dragon Blood (Morph of Dragon Blood | Skill Line: Draconic Power)
• A powerful burst heal that also heals you an additional 15% of your Maximum Health over 5 seconds. Another important buff it grants is Minor Vitality, increasing your healing received and damage shield strength by 6%. Unlocking the Burning Heart passive from the Draconic Power skill line increases your healing received by 12% for the duration.

Igneous Weapons (Morph of Molten Weapons | Skill Line: Earthen Heart)
• Grants the Major Brutality and Major Sorcery buffs group-wide, increasing Weapon and Spell Damage by 20%. While these buffs may not initially seem necessary for a Tank, it is important to remember that they significantly increase the strength of your healing abilities.

Igneous Shield (Morph of Obsidian Shield | Skill Line: Earthen Heart | Base: )
• Grants a damage shield to you and nearby allies and the Major Mending buff to you. Unlocking the Mountain’s Blessing passive from the Earthen Heart skill line grants the Minor Brutality buff group-wide, increasing Weapon Damage by 10%.

Heroic Slash (Morph of Low Slash | Skill Line: One Hand and Shield)
• Grants you the Minor Heroism buff, increasing your Ultimate regeneration, and applies the Minor Maim debuff, reducing their damage done by 5%. It’s best to keep this skill active on the most threatening enemies at all times to help build Ultimate and increase group survivability.

Ultimate: Replenishing Barrier (Morph of Barrier | Skill Line: Support)
• This is your secondary Ultimate ability, primarily slotted to benefit from the Magicka Aid passive from the Support skill line. It grants damage shields to nearby allies that restore your Ultimate and Magicka each time one dissolves to help rebuild Ultimate quickly.

BACK BAR

Unrelenting Grip (Morph of Fiery Grip | Skill Line: Ardent Flame)
• Pulls in and taunts enemies and grants you the Major Expedition buff, increasing your Movement Speed by 30% for 4 seconds. If you attempt to pull an enemy that is immune to crowd-control abilities, the cost is fully refunded, allowing you to take advantage of increased Movement Speed for free by intentionally pulling crowd-control immune enemies such as bosses.

Elemental Blockade (Morph of Wall of Elements | Skill Line: Destruction Staff)
• Triggers the enchantment on your Destructive Staff, even while on the front bar. While using an Ice Staff, you also provide damage shields to your group.

Inner Rage (Morph of Inner Fire | Skill Line: Undaunted)
• This is your secondary taunt. It allows you to taunt enemies from a distance and provides a synergy to up to 3 allies that deals Flame Damage. Inner Rage now deals Flame Damage when used instead of Magic Damage, meaning it can be used to activate the Encratis’s Behemoth set.

Balance (Morph of Equilibrium | Skill Line: Mages Guild)
• Grants you the Major Resolve buff, increasing your Physical and Spell Resistance by 5948. It also restores 3,000 Magicka and reduces the effectiveness of your healing done and damage shields by 50% for 4 seconds.

Choking Talons (Morph of Dark Talons | Skill Line: Draconic Power)
• This is one of the best AOE CC abilities. It immobilizes enemies around you and applies the Minor Maim debuff, reducing their damage done by 5%. In addition, a group member can activate a synergy to deal a lot of damage to all enemies caught by the talons.

Ultimate: Aggressive Horn (Morph of War Horn | Skill Line: Assault)
• This is your primary Ultimate ability. It increases the group’s Maximum Magicka and Maximum Stamina by 10% and grants the Major Force buff group-wide, increasing Critical Damage by 20%. The buffs this Ultimate provides do not stack. Discussing rotation with other support roles before beginning combat is essential to avoid overlapping use. While using the Main Tank gear setup, you will almost always have priority to maximize the Major Force buff uptime.

ALTERNATIVE SKILLS

SPELL WALL

Skill Line: One Hand and Shield
Base Skill: Shield Wall
Spell Well can replace Replenishing Barrier if you can’t yet access that skill. Spell Wall allows you to regain Stamina quickly by heavy attacking while it blocks incoming damage for you.

MAGMA SHELL

Skill Line: Earthen Heart
Base Skill: Magma Armor
Magma Shell can replace Replenishing Barrier or Aggressive Horn if you can’t yet access those skills. Magma Shell limits your incoming damage and grants a powerful damage shield to your allies.

STONE GIANT

Skill Line: Earthen Heart
Base Skill: Stonefist
Stone Giant can replace Igneous Weapons or Heroic Slash to apply the Stagger debuff, increasing the enemy’s damage taken. Using this skill will cause you to have a more difficult time sustaining your Stamina.

DESTRUCTIVE CLENCH

Skill Line: Destruction Staff
Base Skill: Destructive Touch
Destructive Clench can replace Inner Rage to taunt enemies and apply Minor Brittle and Major Maim to them, increasing their Critical Damage taken and reducing their damage done by 10%.

RAZOR CALTROPS

Skill Line: Assault
Base Skill: Caltrops
Razor Caltrops can replace Igneous Weapons or Heroic Slash during add fights to apply the Major Breach debuff to all enemies in a large area, reducing Physical and Spell Resistance by 5,948.

HARDENED ARMOR

Skill Line: Draconic Power
Base Skill: Spiked Armor
Hardened Armor can replace Balance if you don’t have issues self-sustaining. It grants Major Resolve and provides you a damage shield.

ECHOING VIGOR

Skill Line: Assault
Base Skill: Vigor
Echoing Vigor can replace Igeneous Weapons, Heroic Slash, or Choking Talons to provide a powerful heal to your group. It is most commonly used to activate the Powerful Assault set.

NOXIOUS BREATH

Skill Line: Ardent Flame
Base Skill: Fiery Breath
Noxious Breath can replace Igneous Weapons or Heroic Slash during add fights to apply the Major Breach debuff to enemies in front of you.

OVERFLOWING ALTAR

Skill Line: Undaunted
Base Skill: Blood Altar
Overflowing Altar can replace Heroic Slash, Unrelenting Grip, or Choking Talons to apply Minor Lifesteal to enemies and provide a synergy to allies that gives them a burst heal when activated.

POWER SLAM

Skill Line: One Hand and Shield
Base Skill: Power Bash
Power Slam can replace Heroic Slash during add fights if you use the (Perfected) Void Bash set to pull in most enemies around you.

CINDER STORM

Skill Line: Earthen Heart
Base Skill: Ash Cloud
Cinder Storm can replace Igneous Weapons, Unrelenting Grip, or Choking Talons for an additional strong AOE heal to reduce enemy movement speed.

BURNING EMBERS

Skill Line: Ardent Flame
Base Skill: Seering Strike
Burning Embers can replace Igneous Weapons, Unrelenting Grip, or Choking Talons for additional self-healing or to help maintain your uptime of the Encratis’s Behemoth set more easily.

EFFICIENT PURGE

Skill Line: Support
Base Skill: Purge
Efficient Purge can replace Igneous Weapons, Heroic Slash, or Unrelenting Grip to remove DOTs and other negative effects from you and your allies.

REVEALING FLARE

Skill Line: Support
Base Skill: N/A
Revealing Flare can replace Igneous Weapons or Heroic Slash for 100% Major Protection uptime while on the front bar, reducing your damage taken by 10%. It also increases your Magicka Recovery by 10% due to the Magicka Aid passive.

CRUSHING SHOCK

Skill Line: Destruction Staff
Base Skill: Force Shock
Crushing Shock can replace Unrelenting Grip when you require a ranged interrupt.

PASSIVES

Most passives in the skill lines you utilize are worth investing in; however, some are more critical to the build than others. One important thing to note is the absence of the Tri Focus passive. The Tri Focus passive is not recommended on a Tank, as it significantly harms your Magicka sustain by causing your block ability to cost Magicka while wielding an Ice Staff.

Below is a complete list of only the most essential passives to the Dragonknight Tank build, which should be unlocked first if possible.

ARDENT FLAME

Combustion
Warmth

DRACONIC POWER

All Passives

EARTHEN HEART

All Passives

ONE HAND AND SHIELD

All Passives

DESTRUCTION STAFF

Elemental Force
Ancient Knowledge

LIGHT ARMOR

Grace
Evocation
Spell Warding

MEDIUM ARMOR

Dexterity
Wind Walker
Agility
Athletics

HEAVY ARMOR

Resolve
Constitution
Juggernaut
Revitalize

SUPPORT

Magicka Aid

UNDAUNTED

Undaunted Command
Undaunted Mettle

ALCHEMY

Medicinal Use

MUNDUS STONE

THE ATRONACH

SHADOWFEN

RIVENSPIRE

GREENSHADE

Having a high Magicka Recovery stat is incredibly important on a Tank, as it is the primary resource you will use to maintain your buffs and heal yourself.

The Dragonknight Tank build uses the Atronach Mundus Stone to increase Magicka Recovery by 310. Each piece of Divines armor increases that value by up to 9.1% if you decide to use it, up to 507 without a shield and 535 with a shield.

CONSUMABLES

FOOD

BEWITCHED SUGAR SKULLS

The Bewitched Sugar Skulls food is the best option to significantly improve your resource pools. It is relatively cheap to craft outside of the cost of Columbine, and the ingredients are easy to find. It can also be purchased from guild stores if you haven’t learned the recipe.

Bonuses:
• Increase Maximum Health by ~4620.
• Increase Maximum Stamina by ~4250.
• Increase Maximum Magicka by ~4250.
• Increase Health Recovery by ~462.
• Scales with your level.
• Lasts 2 hours.

Ingredients:
• Bervez Juice (2)
• Flour (5)
• Honey (5)
• Scrib Jelly (2)
• Columbine (2)

CAPON TOMATO-BEET CASSEROLE

The Capon Tomato-Beet Casserole food is similar to Bewitched Sugar Skulls. It doesn’t increase your resource pools as much or scale with your level; however, it is cheaper to craft. It can also be purchased from guild stores if you haven’t learned the recipe.

Bonuses:
• Increase Maximum Health by 4462.
• Increase Maximum Stamina by 4105.
• Increase Maximum Magicka by 4105.
• Lasts 2 hours.

Ingredients:
• Beets (1)
• Frost Mirriam (1)
• Poultry (1)
• Tomato (1)

WITCHMOTHER'S POTENT BREW

The Witchmother’s Potent Brew food is an excellent option for beginner Tanks struggling with Magicka sustain. Using this food sacrifices some Maximum Health and Magicka to increase your Magicka Recovery. It is cheap to craft, and the ingredients are easy to find. It can also be purchased from guild stores if you haven’t learned the recipe.

Bonuses:
• Increase Maximum Health by ~3094.
• Increase Maximum Magicka by ~2856.
• Increase Magicka Recovery by ~315.
• Scales with your level.
• Lasts 2 hours.

Ingredients:
• Bervez Juice (1)
• Nightshade (1)
• Rice (1)
• Small Game (1)

POTIONS

TRI-STAT POTIONS

Tri-Stat Potions can be costly to craft but are your best option if you want to maximize your Health, Magicka, and Stamina sustain. These potions are the same as the Crown Tri-Restoration Potions given for free from the Daily Login Rewards Calendar.

Bonuses:
• Restore ~10377 Health.
• Restore ~7582 Stamina.
• Restore ~7582 Magicka.
• Gain Major Fortitude.
• Gain Major Endurance.
• Gain Major Intellect.

Ingredients:
• Bugloss (1)
• Columbine (1)
• Dragonthorn (1)

ESSENCE OF MAGICKA

The Essence of Magicka potion should only be used to sustain your Magicka if you cannot afford to craft your Tri-Stat potions.

Bonuses:
• Restore ~7582 Magicka.
• Gain Major Intellect.
• ~47.6-second duration.

These potions are generic world-dropped potions and are not worth crafting.

ESSENCE OF STAMINA

The Essence of Stamina potion should only be used to sustain your Stamina if you cannot afford to craft your Tri-Stat potions.

Bonuses:
• Restore ~7582 Stamina.
• Gain Major Endurance.
• ~47.6-second duration.

These potions are generic world-dropped potions and are not worth crafting.

CHAMPION POINTS

The Champion Point (CP) system in ESO provides many powerful benefits that allow you to customize and strengthen your build. It is unlocked at Level 50 and maxes out at 3600 points. The CP system has three unique constellations: Craft, Warfare, and Fitness. The Warfare and Fitness constellations each have three subtrees.

• The Craft constellation focuses on crafting, gold gain, movement speed, stealth, and increasing material yields.
• The Warfare constellation focuses on increasing damage, healing, and damage mitigation.
• The Fitness constellation focuses on your core stats, such as Maximum Health and various methods of recovery, and provides many defensive benefits.

The Champion Point allocation below is optimized for the Dragonknight Tank build, focusing on increasing self-sustain, damage mitigation, and Movement Speed, while decreasing the cost of your damage shield abilities.

Follow the recommended path below while levelling up and spending your Champion Points to see strong progression.

CRAFT

Steed’s Blessing (+50) (Slot 1)
Gilded Fingers (+10)
Fortune’s Favor (+10)
Wanderer (+15)
Steadfast Enchantment (+10)
Rationer (+10) (Slot 2)
Liquid Efficiency (+75) (Slot 3)
Rationer (+20)
Treasure Hunter (+50) (Slot 4)
Master Gatherer (+15)
Gifted Rider (+100) (Replace Slot 4)
Gilded Fingers (+40)
Breakfall (+50)
Steadfast Enchantment (+40)
Soul Reservoir (+33)
Beyond this point, you can continue to unlock passives or more slottable perks based on your preference.

WARFARE

Eldritch Insight (+10)
Quick Recovery (+10)
Preparation (+20)
Ironclad (+50) (Slot 1)
Duelist’s Rebuff (+50) (Slot 2)
Blessed (+10)
Focused Mending (+50) (Slot 3)
Unassailable (+50) (Slot 4)
Bulwark (+50) (Replace Slot 4)
Elemental Aegis (+20)
Hardy (+20)
Piercing (+10)
Flawless Ritual (+40)
Battle Mastery (+40)
Tireless Discipline (+20)
Eldritch Insight (+10)
Blessed (+10)
Quick Recovery (+10)
Beyond this point, you can continue to unlock passives or more slottable perks based on your preference:
Unassailable (+25) can replace Bulwark or Focused Mending to reduce your damage taken from enemy AOEs.
Enduring Resolve (50) can replace Bulwark or Focused Mending to reduce your damage taken from enemy DOTs.

FITNESS

Rejuvenation (+50) (Slot 1)
Tumbling (+15)
Expert Evasion (+50) (Slot 2)
Tireless Guardian (+10)
Hasty (+8)
Celerity (+50) (Slot 3)
Mystic Tenacity (+10)
Hero’s Vigor (+10)
Shield Master (+50) (Slot 4)
Hero’s Vigor (+10)
Nimble Protector (+6)
Fortification (+30)
Defiance (+20)
Tumbling (+15)
Hasty (+8)
Beyond this point, you can continue to unlock passives or more slottable perks based on your preference.
Bracing Anchor (50) can replace Celerity to significantly increase your block mitigation in exchange for Movement Speed.
Bastion (+50) can replace Celerity or Shield Master to increase the strength of your damage shields.

TIPS & TRICKS

The Dragonknight Tank build does not follow a traditional rotation. Instead, you must be able to adapt to meet the needs of whatever situation you find yourself in.

Below, you will find tips & tricks on effectively fulfilling the Tank role during enemy and boss encounters. Every Dungeon, Trial, and Arena has different mechanics, and it is essential that you understand your build and why you use the recommended armor sets and skills you do. Be sure to read this build guide entirely.

BUFFING AND DEBUFFING

Pre-buffing is an essential habit to pick up as early as possible to increase your efficiency as a Tank, allowing you to use your time once in combat more effectively. Always activate Coagulating Blood, Igneous Weapons, Igneous Shield and Balance before starting combat to ensure your group has time to apply their pre-buffs.

Using as many buffs before combat as possible will allow you to focus primarily on taunting and grouping enemies. As the Tank, you should always initiate combat to have as much control as possible.

Elemental Blockade allows you to easily maintain a Crusher enchantment on your Destruction Staff back bar, even while on your front bar.

Heroic Slash should be kept active on threatening enemies to reduce incoming damage and increase your Ultimate regeneration.

If you follow along with the armor setups above, much of your build already focuses on buffing your group members. Fulfilling the Tank role in ESO means much more than having high Health and blocking.

Sets like Encratis’s Behemoth and Turning Tide significantly increase group damage, while other sets such as Nazaray, Saxhleel Champion, Pearlescent Ward, and Pillager’s Profit are excellent utility sets that improve group damage, defences, Ultimate regeneration, and complement your other equipped sets.

It’s best to avoid Fortified Brass, Plague Doctor, and Battalion Defender as you progress, as they offer nothing substantial to your group.

CONTROL

Learning which enemies should be taunted first and where to properly group enemies for your Healers and DPS is essential to becoming a great Tank. Grouping enemies in one area allows your group to place AOE abilities on you, then switch their focus to the more threatening enemies. The most threatening enemies are typically the largest or fewest in an add fight.

As a Dragonknight Tank, you have many abilities in your toolkit that taunt, pull, or both:

Pierce Armor is your primary taunt ability. Utilizing this skill will reduce enemy Physical and Spell Resistance the most.

Inner Rage is your secondary taunt that provides a synergy to 3 group members that deals Flame Damage to surrounding enemies when activated.

Destructive Clench is another ranged taunt that is an excellent alternative to Inner Rage. It applies Major Maim and Minor Brittle and immobilizes them.

Unrelenting Grip pulls enemies to you and taunts them if another player hasn’t already taunted them.

Void Bash doesn’t taunt enemies, but it is an excellent way to pull most enemies in an area to you and apply the Major Maim debuff to them.

While you are not required to taunt every enemy, keeping them locked down to an area with snares and crowd-control abilities, such as Razor Caltrops, allows your group to take them down much faster.

POSITIONING

Positioning is possibly the most important skill to master when improving yourself as a Tank. Getting in the habit of placing yourself on the opposite side of your group is vital as it prevents them from taking potentially fatal cleave damage.

Before initiating combat, choose a location where you can easily group enemies. The best place is often the most enemy-dense area because it prevents you from needing to pull in more enemies than necessary.

Once you determine the best position to group enemies, cast Razor Caltrops to immediately reduce their Movement Speed, get in position, and follow up with Power Slam if you’re using the Void Bash set and then Choking Talons to immobilize them. If you’re not using the Void Bash set, you can follow up with Choking Talons right away. Enemies locked to an area are much easier to control and debuff.

Some enemies may be more spread out in some add fights, so you may need to pull them in with a more direct, longer-ranged ability, such as Unrelenting Grip.

SUSTAIN

Tanks frequently use all resources. While few skills cost Health, it is still an essential resource to maintain for obvious reasons. Magicka is typically used for self-healing, buffing allies, and debuffing enemies; Stamina is used for blocking, roll dodging, breaking free, and debuffing enemies. In this section, you will learn of the various ways a Dragonknight Tank can stay on top of sustainability:

Your class skills and passives significantly improve your sustain:
• The Battle Roar passive from the Earthen Heart skill line restores 50 Health, Magicka, and Stamina for each point of the Ultimate ability spent.
• The Combustion passive from the Ardent Flame skill line allows you to restore 1,000 Magicka when you apply the Burning status effect or 1,000 Stamina when you apply the Poison status effect every 3 seconds.
• The Helping Hands passive restores 1,120 Stamina every time you cast an Earthen Heart skill, such as Igneous Shield, allowing you to easily maintain your Stamina pool, even while blocking.

There are also universal buffs often provided by your Healers that improve your sustain. The Minor Fortitude, Minor Intellect, and Minor Endurance buffs increase Health Recovery, Magicka Recovery, and Stamina Recovery by 15%.

Your potions grant the Major Fortitude, Major Intellect, and Major Endurance buffs, increasing your Health Recovery, Magicka Recovery, and Stamina Recovery by 30% on top of restoring a burst of Health, Magicka, and/or Stamina, depending on the potion you use. The Tri-Stat potion is your best option as a Tank, and even though they’re expensive, don’t worry; the Daily Login Calendar Rewards frequently has the Crown Store version of these potions available for free.

Heavy Armor increases your Armor stat but also improves your sustain through passives. The Constitution and Revitalize passives restore 108 Magicka and Stamina when you take damage and increase the amount of Magicka and Stamina your heavy attacks restore by 4% for each piece of Heavy Armor slotted. The Dragonknight Tank Build uses five pieces of Heavy Armor, meaning you restore 540 Magicka and Stamina upon taking damage and an additional 20% Magicka and Stamina from heavy attacks.

Speaking of heavy attacks, it’s a great way to improve your Stamina sustain significantly. As a Tank, you rely on Magicka Recovery to sustain your Magicka resource; however, a heavy attack will restore a decent bit of Stamina if you have your one-handed weapon and shield in your hands. Heavy attacking can leave you vulnerable, as you can’t block incoming damage during the windup. It’s best to heavy attack immediately after your enemy’s heavy attacks because they usually give you a few seconds to retaliate.

Each Sturdy trait on your armor reduces the cost of your block ability by up to 4% at maximum quality. Because this build uses seven pieces of Sturdy armor plus a Sturdy shield, you can reach up to 32% block cost reduction while on the front bar just from this trait alone.

Your jewelry enchantments increase your Magicka Recovery by up to 169 each at maximum quality for a total of 507 Magicka Recovery. Changing to the Infused trait on your jewelry instead of Triune would increase this bonus to 810 Magicka Recovery. Doing so would reduce your Maximum Health, Magicka, and Stamina.

The Atronach Mundus Stone increases your Magicka Recovery by 310. Changing to the Divines trait on your armor instead of Sturdy would increase this bonus to a maximum of 507 Magicka Recovery. Doing so would significantly increase the Stamina cost of blocking enemy attacks.

It is important to note the difference between “recovery” and “restore,” especially when it comes to being a Tank. Resource recovery occurs over time, whereas resource restore typically happens all at once, though it can happen over time if the skill states as such. Additionally, Stamina Recovery is locked to 0 when you’re blocking or sprinting, meaning it will continue to deplete until you have nothing left. On the other hand, drinking a potion will restore your Stamina regardless of if you are blocking or sprinting.

ULTIMATES

The buffs granted by most Ultimate abilities do not stack, so it’s a good idea to coordinate with your group on when you should use yours. The most commonly used Ultimate abilities by support roles are Aggressive Horn and Replenishing Barrier:

Aggressive Horn is your primary offensive Ultimate ability. It increases the group’s Maximum Magicka and Maximum Stamina by 10% for 30 seconds and grants them the Major Force buff for 10 seconds, increasing Critical Damage by 10%. Many groups will have their support roles rotate through their Aggressive Horns as the Magicka and Stamina buffs near the end of their duration to maximize uptimes; however, depending on the group composition of class, skills, sets, etc., and if Ultimate can be built up fast enough, some groups may rotate as the Major Force buff runs out to push DPS.

Replenishing Barrier is a powerful defensive Ultimate ability that grants massive damage shields to all nearby allies. It’s good to have in fights with phases of high-damage enemy attacks and mechanics, as it significantly increases the group’s survivability. Additionally, it restores your Magicka, generates Ultimate as the wards dissolve, and if you invest in the Magicka Aid passive from the Support skill line, increases your Magicka Recovery by up to 10% while slotted. If you’d prefer more group healing, Reviving Barrier heals your allies while they have the damage shield active on them.

As a Dragonknight Tank, you have a few other alternative options while you work on unlocking the above Ultimates:

Magma Shell limits your incoming damage to 3% of your Maximum Health and grants nearby group members a damage shield for 100% of their Maximum Health.

Spell Wall blocks enemy attacks for you, allowing you to quickly regain Stamina through heavy attacks.

ARCHIVED CHANGES

NOVEMBER 15 / 2023: – UPDATE 40 – INFINITE ARCHIVE
Champion Points:
• Swapped Unassailable with Bulwark to increase Physical and Spell Resistance.
Pruned all previous changes and moved them to a separate Archived Changes list at the bottom of the page.

AUGUST 16 / 2023: – UPDATE 39
• Replaced Coagulating Blood with Green Dragon Blood.

JUNE 04 / 2023: – UPDATE 38 – NECROM
• Updated Trial Setups:
• Replaced Claw of Yolnahkriin on the Main Tank Setup due to Minor Courage being easily granted by an Arcanist.
• Claw of Yolnahkriin is still a great option in groups without an Arcanist.
• Replaced Engine Guardian with Encratis’s Behemoth.
• Engine Guardian is still a great alternative for self-sustaining.
• Updated Dungeon Setup:
• Changed the name of the Dungeon Setup to Intermediate Setup to more accurately convey what the setup achieves.
• Expect a dedicated end-game Dungeon Build for all classes in the future.
• Replaced Swarm Mother with Tremorscale for better group damage.
• Changed from the Reverberating Bash morph to the Power Slam morph of Power Bash.
• Added a Sustain section to the Rotation section.

MARCH 16 / 2023: – UPDATE 37 – SCRIBES OF FATE
• Replaced Turning Tide with Akaviri Dragonguard on the Dungeon Setup.
• Added alternative options to the Warfare CP path.
• Added alternative options to the Fitness CP path.

FEBRUARY 15 / 2023:
• Added Passives to the build.

JANUARY 04 / 2023:
• Replaced Inner Rage on the back bar with Destructive Clench.
• Moved Inner Rage to the Alternative Skills section.