TANK GUIDES
ARCANIST TANK DRAGONKNIGHT TANK NECROMANCER TANK NIGHTBLADE TANK SORCERER TANK TEMPLAR TANK WARDEN TANKINFINITE ARCHIVE
IMMORTAL DRAGONKNIGHT TANK IMMORTAL DRAGONKNIGHT SOLOOTHER
CLASS TIER LIST SETSThis is a simplified guide which skips a lot of nuance and is intended for beginners or players who don't intend to tackle extremely hard content. Every fight in ESO is situational and ideal skill/gear setup is different for almost every boss. This guide is a compromise where I'll be showing you a single skill setup and very few gear setups that might not be perfect for every single situation, but they'll be at the very least good enough for every situation, and won't overwhelm new players with lots of information.
Last updated: Update 42 (Gold Road)
The Arcanist plays quite differently from other tank classes in ESO, with its main strength lying in its damage shields. The Impervious Runeward's damage shield value is incredibly high, and can be further buffed with the Intricate Runeforms passive. Arcanist also gets tons of raw stats from their passives and abilities. Runic Sunder and Aegis of the Unseen together provide 4180 additional armor. Wellspring of the Abyss will boost your recoveries for each Soldier of Apocrypha ability slotted, which will then also get boosted by Erudition on top of that.
In terms of group support, the Arcanist brings 2200 armor penetration from Runic Sunder, providing roughly a 4% damage increase. The Arcanist also has much easier access to the Minor Brittle debuff thanks to Rune of the Colorless Pool which increases critical damage by 10%, lasting 20 seconds compared to the usual 4 seconds that come from proccing the Chilled effect with an Ice Staff. The Arcanist also brings the almost unique Minor Evasion buff, reducing damage taken from area of effect attacks by 10%.
Front Bar | Back Bar |
---|---|
Slot 1: Runic Sunder | Slot 1: Cruxweaver Armor |
Slot 2: Soul Burst | Slot 2: Wield Soul |
Slot 3: Impervious Runeward | Slot 3: Destructive Clench |
Slot 4: Ulfsild's Contingency | Slot 4: Elemental Blockade |
Slot 5: Runeguard of Still Waters | Slot 5: Elemental Susceptibility |
Ultimate: Glyphic of the Tides | Ultimate: Aggressive Horn |
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Head |
Druid's Braid | Medium | Reinforced | Magicka |
Shoulders |
Druid's Braid | Light | Divines/Sturdy | Health |
Chest |
Wretched Vitality | Heavy | Reinforced | Health |
Hands |
Wretched Vitality | Heavy | Divines/Sturdy | Stamina |
Belt |
Wretched Vitality | Heavy | Divines/Sturdy | Magicka |
Legs |
Wretched Vitality | Heavy | Reinforced | Stamina |
Boots |
Wretched Vitality | Heavy | Reinforced | Health |
Necklace |
Druid's Braid | Jewelry | Harmony/Infused | Reduce Magicka Cost/Reduce Block Cost |
Ring |
Druid's Braid | Jewelry | Harmony/Infused | Reduce Magicka Cost |
Ring |
Druid's Braid | Jewelry | Harmony/Infused | Reduce Magicka Cost |
Main Hand |
Druid's Braid | Any 1-handed weapon | Decisive | Hardening |
Off Hand |
Druid's Braid | Shield | Divines/Sturdy | Stamina |
Main Hand |
Druid's Braid | Ice Staff | Infused | Crusher |
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Head |
Archdruid Devyric | Medium | Reinforced | Tri-Stat |
Shoulders |
Archdruid Devyric | Light | Divines/Sturdy | Tri-Stat |
Chest |
Lucent Echoes | Heavy | Reinforced | Tri-Stat |
Hands |
Lucent Echoes | Heavy | Divines/Sturdy | Tri-Stat |
Belt |
Lucent Echoes | Heavy | Divines/Sturdy | Tri-Stat |
Legs |
Lucent Echoes | Heavy | Reinforced | Tri-Stat |
Boots |
Lucent Echoes | Heavy | Reinforced | Tri-Stat |
Necklace |
War Machine | Jewelry | Harmony/Infused | Reduce Magicka Cost |
Ring |
War Machine | Jewelry | Harmony/Infused | Reduce Magicka Cost |
Ring |
War Machine | Jewelry | Harmony/Infused | Reduce Magicka Cost |
Main Hand |
Armor of the Trainee | Any 1-handed weapon | Decisive | Hardening |
Off Hand |
Druid's Braid | Shield | Divines/Sturdy | Tri-Stat |
Main Hand |
War Machine | Ice Staff | Infused | Crusher |
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Head |
Archdruid Devyric | Medium | Reinforced | Tri-Stat |
Shoulders |
Archdruid Devyric | Light | Divines/Sturdy | Tri-Stat |
Chest |
Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Reinforced | Tri-Stat |
Hands |
Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Divines/Sturdy | Tri-Stat |
Belt |
Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Divines/Sturdy | Tri-Stat |
Legs |
Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Reinforced | Tri-Stat |
Boots |
Pearlescent Ward | Heavy | Reinforced | Tri-Stat |
Necklace |
Crimson Oath's Rive | Jewelry | Harmony/Infused | Reduce Magicka Cost |
Ring |
Crimson Oath's Rive | Jewelry | Harmony/Infused | Reduce Magicka Cost |
Ring |
Crimson Oath's Rive | Jewelry | Harmony/Infused | Reduce Magicka Cost |
Main Hand |
Armor of the Trainee | Any 1-handed weapon | Decisive | Hardening |
Off Hand |
Druid's Braid | Shield | Divines/Sturdy | Tri-Stat |
Main Hand |
Crimson Oath's Rive | Ice Staff | Infused | Crusher |
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Head |
Magma Incarnate | Medium | Reinforced | Tri-Stat |
Shoulders |
Spaulder of Ruin | Light | Divines/Sturdy | Tri-Stat |
Chest |
Saxhleel's Champion | Heavy | Reinforced | Tri-Stat |
Hands |
Saxhleel's Champion | Heavy | Divines/Sturdy | Tri-Stat |
Belt |
Saxhleel's Champion | Heavy | Divines/Sturdy | Tri-Stat |
Legs |
Saxhleel's Champion | Heavy | Reinforced | Tri-Stat |
Boots |
Saxhleel's Champion | Heavy | Reinforced | Tri-Stat |
Necklace |
Powerful Assault | Jewelry | Harmony/Infused | Reduce Magicka Cost |
Ring |
Powerful Assault | Jewelry | Harmony/Infused | Reduce Magicka Cost |
Ring |
Powerful Assault | Jewelry | Harmony/Infused | Reduce Magicka Cost |
Main Hand |
Armor of the Trainee | Any 1-handed weapon | Decisive | Hardening |
Off Hand |
Druid's Braid | Shield | Divines/Sturdy | Tri-Stat |
Main Hand |
Powerful Assault | Ice Staff | Infused | Crusher |
Warfare
Fitness
Nord is the best race for tanking, due to the increased armor from Rugged and ulti generation from Stalwart. The imbalance between different races can be massive for other classes, but Arcanists get tons of armor from Aegis of the Unseen and Runic Sunder, so the difference is very small.
The best Mundus is The Atronach which increases your Magicka Recovery by 310 and causes your armor pieces with the Divines trait to increase it by another 28.
HEALTH
64
STAMINA
0
MAGICKA
0
Majority of the times you should put all your points into Health. However you need your Max Stamina to be higher than your Max Magicka, because the Combustion synergy restores your dominant resource and you want it to be Stamina. Because of that, you might have to put some attribute points into Stamina if you have passives (such as for example the Gift of Magnus racial) or item set bonuses (such as for example 1-piece bonus of Encratis's Behemoth) that increase your Max Magicka. Put just enough points to make your Max Stamina higher than your Max Magicka, and then put the rest into Health.
The best food is Orzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch, however it's extremely expensive so you should use Jewels of Misrule instead, it provides only slightly lower stats than Orzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch while being significantly cheaper.
Other decent foods:
Most of the time you should use Tri-Stat potions (Restore Health, Restore Stamina, Restore Magicka). They'll greatly improve you sustain. You can craft them by combining Columbine, Bugloss and Mountain's Flower.
There are better potions but they're extremely expensive so they're only worth using when you're tryharding for the most difficult achievments, such as trial trifectas. Heroism potions (Heroism, Restore Stamina, Restore Magicka) can provide a 100% uptime on Minor Heroism buff which generates ultimate, but they're extremely expensive because they're crafted by combining Dragon Rheum, Dragon's Blood and Columbine.