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Necro Tank Guide

TWO HANDED DEATH KNIGHT SUBCLASS SOLO GUIDE

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Two Handed Death Knight Subclass


Last updated: Update 47 - 21st August 2025

This build is capable of soloing every Veteran dungeon that doesn’t have a specific mechanic that requires multiple people. It’s also capable of soloing most Hard Mode dungeons, and with some adjustments even the more difficult ones.

In this guide I’ll be regularly using the terms Regular and Difficult. Regular refers to content that is intended to be solo-ed (such as Maelstrom Arena or Vateshran Arena) and to any overland content such as World Bosses, Dolmens, Dragons, Volcanic Vents, Harrowstorms, Mirrormoor Incursions, etc. Majority of dungeon fights will also fall under that category. Difficult refers to extremely difficult dungeon fights.


SUBCLASSING


Combination

Necromancer - Grave Lord

Necromancer - Grave Lord

Warden - Winter's Embrace

Warden - Winter's Embrace

Nightblade - Assassination

Nightblade - Assassination

This build uses Necromancer’s Grave Lord, Warden's Winter’s Embrace and Nightblade's Assassination skill lines. Your base class does not matter.

Necromancer’s Grave Lord is basically the backbone of the Death Knight theme, but it’s also an extremely strong skill line for Solo play, because it grants us 3271 penetration through the DismemberDismember passive and 20% Crit Chance against low health enemies thanks to Death KnellDeath Knell passive.

Winter’s Embrace fulfils the “Frost” part of Death Knight theme, although from a purely gameplay perspective this skill line is rather weak and we’re nerfing ourselves by using it.

Nightblade’s Assassination is extremely strong and it does kind of fit into the Death Knight theme because of the Soul HarvestSoul Harvest ultimate which allows us to drain slain enemies’ souls and get Ultimate out of it.


SKILL SETUPS


Base Setup

A base setup that will work for most situations and which should be your starting point when making situational setups

Wrecking Blow Skeletal Archer Relentless Focus Barbed Trap Smash Soul Harvest
Ice Fortress Arctic Blast Elemental Susceptibility Elemental Blockade Ulfsilds Contingency Northern Storm
Front Bar Back Bar
Slot 1: Wrecking Blow Slot 1: Ice Fortress
Slot 2: Skeletal Archer Slot 2: Arctic Blast
Slot 3: Relentless Focus Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility
Slot 4: Barbed Trap Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Smash Slot 5: Ulfsild's Contingency
Ultimate: Soul Harvest Ultimate: Northern Storm
INFO arrow_down
SITUATIONAL arrow_down
ROTATION arrow_down

Final Setups

A few examples of final setups you could end up with after applying the situational skills to the base setup

A setup with lots of damage mitigation for bosses that hit very hard

Wrecking Blow Skeletal Archer Relentless Focus Barbed Trap Revealing Flare Soul Harvest
Ice Fortress Arctic Blast Elemental Susceptibility Elemental Blockade Ulfsilds Contingency Northern Storm
Front Bar Back Bar
Slot 1: Wrecking Blow Slot 1: Ice Fortress
Slot 2: Skeletal Archer Slot 2: Arctic Blast
Slot 3: Relentless Focus Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility
Slot 4: Barbed Trap Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Revealing Flare Slot 5: Ulfsild's Contingency
Ultimate: Soul Harvest Ultimate: Northern Storm

EXPLANATION:


PASSIVES

  • Class
  • Weapon
  • Armor
  • Guild
  • Alliance War
  • Racial
  • Craft

Class - Assassination

Master AssassinMaster Assassin - High Priority

ExecutionerExecutioner - High Priority

Pressure PointsPressure Points - High Priority

HemorrhageHemorrhage - High Priority


GEAR


Base Setup

A base setup that will work for most situations and which should be your starting point when making situational setups

Switching gear for trash packs isn't worth it unless you're using gear-swap addons

Default setup

Gear Slot Set Weight/Type Trait Enchantment
Head

Head

SlimecrawSlimecraw Light DivinesDivines StaminaStamina
Shoulders

Shoulders

Ansuul's TormentAnsuul's Torment Medium DivinesDivines StaminaStamina
Chest

Chest

Ansuul's TormentAnsuul's Torment Medium DivinesDivines StaminaStamina
Hands

Hands

Ansuul's TormentAnsuul's Torment Medium DivinesDivines StaminaStamina
Belt

Belt

Essence ThiefEssence Thief Medium DivinesDivines StaminaStamina
Legs

Legs

Ansuul's TormentAnsuul's Torment Medium DivinesDivines StaminaStamina
Feet

Boots

Ansuul's TormentAnsuul's Torment Medium DivinesDivines StaminaStamina
Neck

Necklace

Essence ThiefEssence Thief Jewelry BloodthirstyBloodthirsty Increase Physical HarmIncrease Physical Harm
Ring

Ring

Essence ThiefEssence Thief Jewelry BloodthirstyBloodthirsty Increase Physical HarmIncrease Physical Harm
Ring

Ring

Ring of the Pale OrderRing of the Pale Order Jewelry BloodthirstyBloodthirsty Increase Physical HarmIncrease Physical Harm
Mainhand

Frontbar Main Hand

Essence ThiefEssence Thief Greatsword PrecisePrecise PoisonPoison
Mainhand

Backbar Main Hand

Crushing WallCrushing Wall Ice Staff InfusedInfused Weapon DamageWeapon Damage

If you want to switch to a situational set it's best to replace Ansuul’s TormentAnsuul’s Torment if the situational set you're getting has a Minor Slayer line, and replace Essence ThiefEssence Thief otherwise. Remember that in order to sustain without Essence ThiefEssence Thief you'll need to change your food to one with more sustain and re-morph Relentless FocusRelentless Focus to Merciless ResolveMerciless Resolve

SITUATIONAL arrow_down
ALTERNATIVE arrow_down

Final Setups

A few examples of final setups you could end up with after applying situational rules to the base setup

This is the crafted gear setup you can start with

Gear Slot Set Weight/Type Trait Enchantment
Head

Head

Tide-Born WildstalkerTide-Born Wildstalker Medium TrainingTraining/ DivinesDivines StaminaStamina
Shoulders

Shoulders

Tide-Born WildstalkerTide-Born Wildstalker Medium TrainingTraining/ DivinesDivines StaminaStamina
Chest

Chest

Order's WrathOrder's Wrath Heavy / Medium TrainingTraining/ ReinforcedReinforced StaminaStamina
Hands

Hands

Order's WrathOrder's Wrath Medium TrainingTraining/ DivinesDivines StaminaStamina
Belt

Belt

Order's WrathOrder's Wrath Light TrainingTraining/ DivinesDivines StaminaStamina
Legs

Legs

Order's WrathOrder's Wrath Medium TrainingTraining/ DivinesDivines StaminaStamina
Feet

Boots

Order's WrathOrder's Wrath Medium TrainingTraining/ DivinesDivines StaminaStamina
Neck

Necklace

Tide-Born WildstalkerTide-Born Wildstalker Jewelry BloodthirstyBloodthirsty Increase Physical HarmIncrease Physical Harm
Ring

Ring

Tide-Born WildstalkerTide-Born Wildstalker Jewelry BloodthirstyBloodthirsty Increase Physical HarmIncrease Physical Harm
Ring

Ring

Tide-Born WildstalkerTide-Born Wildstalker Jewelry BloodthirstyBloodthirsty Increase Physical HarmIncrease Physical Harm
Mainhand

Frontbar Main Hand

Assassin's GuileAssassin's Guile Greatsword PrecisePrecise PoisonPoison
Mainhand

Backbar Main Hand

Assassin's GuileAssassin's Guile Ice Staff InfusedInfused Weapon DamageWeapon Damage

The weight distribution of the setup from the table is 1 Heavy 5 Medium 1 Light so that you can start leveling up all your armor skill lines. Once you transition to Regular setup you'll be using 6 Medium 1 Light most of the time, switching to 1 Heavy 5 Medium 1 Light only against more difficult fights

The setup in the table uses only crafted gear, but if you already own parts of the Regular setup like Ring of the Pale OrderRing of the Pale Order you can start using them immediately

If you want to Solo some difficult content without Ring of the Pale OrderRing of the Pale Order you'll have to add Reaving BlowsReaving Blows to your CP setup

ADDITIONAL INFO:


CHAMPION POINTS

Warfare

Fitness

ADDITIONAL INFO:


RACE

When it comes to solo PvE, you need both damage and survivability so pretty much all races have useful racials.

The best race for dealing damage is Khajiit. While the Critical Damage from Feline AmbushFeline Ambush can sometimes be wasted due to Critical Damage being capped at 125%, it will never happen in solo content, because there will be no tanks or healers providing you with the Major Force buff.

The best race for survivability is Nord. The RuggedRugged racial will provide around 6% damage mitigation.


MUNDUS

You should use The ShadowThe Shadow Mundus which increases Critical Damage.

For extremely difficult dungeons you should consider switching to The LadyThe Lady Mundus, which increases your Armor.


ATTRIBUTES

HEALTH

0

STAMINA

64

MAGICKA

0

For most content you should put all 64 points into Stamina. For difficult content you should devote as many attribute points as necessary to Health - for some content you’ll be able to get away with 32 Health 32 Stamina, for the extremely difficult stuff you’ll need 64 Health.


FOOD

Your sustain can vary greatly because it's impacted by your armor weight composition, your race, whether you're wearing Essence ThiefEssence Thief and how much blocking/dodge rolling you're required to do in a certain fight. Choose the food with more recoveries if you can't sustain

  • Garlic Cod with Potato CrustGarlic Cod with Potato Crust - Max Health, Max Stamina. The default option
  • Orzorga's Smoked Bear HaunchOrzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch - Maximum Health, Stamina Recovery and Magicka Recovery. Use it when you're giving up Essence Thief and switching Relentless Focus to Merciless Resolve. You'll need its Magicka Recovery to sustain Merciless Resolve. Jewels of MisruleJewels of Misrule is a cheaper alternative
  • Orzorga's Tripe Trifle PocketOrzorga's Tripe Trifle Pocket - Max Health, Stamina Recovery. Use it when you need even more Stamina Recovery (for example for more blocking/dodge rolling) while keeping Relentless Focus and Essence Thief

POTIONS

Tri-Stat Potion

Most of the time you should use Tri-Stat potions (Restore Health, Restore Stamina, Restore Magicka). They'll greatly improve your sustain. You can craft them by combiningColumbineColumbine,BuglossBugloss andMountain's FlowerMountain's Flower.

Heroism Potion

There are better potions but they're expensive. 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 combiningDragon RheumDragon Rheum,Dragon's BloodDragon's Blood andColumbineColumbine.


PARSE

62.2k on the 6mil dummy using Regular setup

CMX Screenshot CMX Screenshot

Recording of the 60.9k parse (Update 46)

OTHER PARSES

Crafted - 56k DPS (Update 46)

CMX Parse - Crafted CMX Setup - Crafted

GAMEPLAY

Here you can see this build tackling Veteran dungeons

Solo Veteran Castle Thorn

Log - https://www.esologs.com/reports/DKfLGJxZgk2NpM6v



THANKS FOR READING

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CHANGELOG

Update 47 - 21st August 2025

  • Changed Camouflaged Hunter to Barbed Trap
  • Changed Smash's Force script to Berserk
  • Updated regular parse