Last updated: Update 44 - 18th December 2024
Dragonknights have access to an absurd amount of useful tools when it comes to tanking.
They have access to Hardened Armor - a very strong and
at
the same time extremely cheap damage shield, which shields you for 31% of your max hp while
costing
only 2600 magicka. They also have access to
Helping Hands - a passive which
restores your stamina whenever you use an Earthen Heart ability, which you’ll be proccing with
Igneous Shield and it’ll trivialize
sustaining stamina, which is why DK is such an easy and beginner-friendly class. The
Iron Skin and
Scaled Armor passives grant you
block
mitigation and armor, which are extremely important stats for a tank.
But enough about defense. Dragonknights also provide a unique Stagger debuff which increases the
targets’ damage taken, a unique
Engulfing Flames debuff which
increases
enemies’ flame damage taken and the unique
Minor Brutality buff which
increases
the group’s weapon damage by 10%.
This section will list all skills that you'll find useful for tanking. Skills marked as green are commonly useful, yellow ones are situationally useful, red ones are never (or almost never) useful.
When it comes to passives the logic is a bit different. Green passives are the ones you want to get as soon as possible, yellow ones are useful but you can delay obtaining them until you have abundance of skill points, and red ones are barely or not useful at all. There is only one passive you want to actively avoid - Tri Focus.
BASE
MORPHS
Passive
Spiked Armor
Cost:
2700 Magicka
Duration (Major Resolve):
20 seconds
Release your inner Dragon to gain Major Resolve, increasing your Physical and Spell Resistance by 5948 for 20 seconds. While active, the armor returns 1 Flame Damage to any enemy that uses a direct damage attack against you in melee range, scaling off your Physical and Spell Resistance.
Grants Major Resolve for 20 seconds, boosting armor by 5948. A crucial tank buff that should
always be active. While it also deals damage to attackers, the scaling is negligible. Other sources like
Balance or a Warden's
Expansive Frost Cloak can also provide the
same buff, but this skill gets better when you morph it.
BASE
MORPHS
Passive
Puncture
Cost:
1350 Stamina
Range:
7 meters
Thrust your weapon with disciplined precision at an enemy, dealing 1161 Physical Damage and taunting them to attack you for 15 seconds. Also inflicts Major Breach on the enemy, reducing their Physical and Spell Resistance by 5948 for 15 seconds.
Puncture is a melee taunt that damages your
target within 7 meters, causes them to attack you, and applies Major Breach, reducing enemy armor by
5948 for 15 seconds, providing around a 13% damage increase. This debuff is essential.
Puncture isn't always needed, but you
always need a source of Major Breach, like
Elemental Susceptibility. Additionally,
using the
Puncturing Remedy set can cause your
Puncture to heal you.
Keep in mind that the setups I’m going to show are just suggestions and some base to build off of, you will always get better results by adjusting for each fight and in the Skills section I marked every useful skill for you to choose from. The examples category is there to show you how vastly different the final setups can be from the default setups I’m showing.
The "Additional Info" section will have much less information than in the Beginner guide, because in the Advanced guide all of that was already said in the Skills section. For example: all of these setups have Shield Throw, but the Skills section has another taunt - Inner Rage- marked as useful and the explanation describes when you should replace Shield Throw with it.
All Scribing skills shown in these setups use these combinations:
Front Bar | Back Bar |
---|---|
Slot 1: Shield Throw | Slot 1: Razor Caltrops |
Slot 2: Soul Burst | Slot 2: Wield Soul |
Slot 3: Igneous Shield | Slot 3: Pulsar |
Slot 4: Power Bash | Slot 4: Elemental Blockade |
Slot 5: Hardened Armor | Slot 5: Inner Rage |
Ultimate: Temporal Guard | Ultimate: Aggressive Horn |
This is my suggested setup for dungeons. Since you can't fit in that many support sets in 4-man content, any combination of support sets will perform well.
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
![]() |
Medium | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Shoulders |
![]() |
Light | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Chest |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Hands |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Belt |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Legs |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Boots |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Necklace |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Ring |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Ring |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
![]() |
Any 1-handed weapon | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
![]() |
Shield | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
![]() |
Ice Staff | ![]() |
![]() |
This is my suggested setup for dungeons. Since you can't fit in that many support sets in 4-man content, any combination of support sets will perform well.
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
![]() |
Medium | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Shoulders |
![]() |
Light | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Chest |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Hands |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Belt |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Legs |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Boots |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Necklace |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Ring |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Ring |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
![]() |
Any 1-handed weapon | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
![]() |
Shield | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
![]() |
Ice Staff | ![]() |
![]() |
This is my suggested setup for main tanking trials.
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
![]() |
Medium | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Shoulders |
![]() |
Light | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Chest |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Hands |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Belt |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Legs |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Boots |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Necklace |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Ring |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Ring |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
![]() |
Any 1-handed weapon | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
![]() |
Shield | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
![]() |
Ice Staff | ![]() |
![]() |
This is my suggested setup for main tanking trials.
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
![]() |
Medium | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Shoulders |
![]() |
Light | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Chest |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Hands |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Belt |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Legs |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Boots |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Necklace |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Ring |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Ring |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
![]() |
Any 1-handed weapon | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
![]() |
Shield | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
![]() |
Ice Staff | ![]() |
![]() |
This is my suggested setup for off tanking trials.
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
![]() |
Medium | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Shoulders |
![]() |
Light | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Chest |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Hands |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Belt |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Legs |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Boots |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Necklace |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Ring |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Ring |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
![]() |
Any 1-handed weapon | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
![]() |
Shield | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
![]() |
Ice Staff | ![]() |
![]() |
This is my suggested setup for off tanking trials.
Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
![]() |
Medium | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Shoulders |
![]() |
Light | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Chest |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Hands |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Belt |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Legs |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Boots |
![]() |
Heavy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Necklace |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Ring |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Ring |
![]() |
Jewelry | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
![]() |
Any 1-handed weapon | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
![]() |
Shield | ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
![]() |
Ice Staff | ![]() |
![]() |
Use these Champion Points as default for Trash and Boss fights respectively. Further below you'll find a list of all useful CPs with explanation on when to use them instead of the defaults.
Warfare
Fitness
All useful Champion Points to choose from
Nord
is
by far the best race for tanking, due to the increased armor from
Rugged
and ulti generation from
Stalwart. You can complete any
content on any race, you'll just have to work slightly harder with other races, and you'll
have
to adjust your build and get more armor from somewhere else (for example by using
The Lady
as your Mundus rather than
The Atronach).
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.
If you're struggling with reaching the armor cap (33,000), then
The Lady
can also be a decent choice. It increases your Armor by 2744.
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.
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