SORCERER TANK GUIDE
This 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 44 - 18th December 2024
Sorcerers have one of the best damage shields out of all classes, second only to Arcanists. The
Hardened Ward
will shield you for 44.3% of your max HP while most other damage shields in the game scale to
roughly 31% of max HP. If you do not have a pet summoned at the moment of casting it, and most
of
the time you wont, it will also heal you for 10% of max HP, which makes it super easy to
survive.
You have access to
Dark Deal
which allows you to trade magicka for stamina, it has a 1s channel time during which you cannot
block so it can be dangerous, but if you know a certain fight well and you know the time windows
during which its safe to not hold block, proper use of
Dark Deal
will make managing stamina trivial. You also have access to
Bolt Escape. It will allow you to
teleport around, making Sorcerer great for more mobile fights.
In terms of supporting the group, you have access to the
Summon Charged Atronach
ultimate, which allows one of your teammates to use a synergy that grants everyone around them
Major
Berserk, increasing their damage done by 10% and its a very rare buff with few other sources.
The
Atronach will also constantly apply the Concussed status effect, which applies Minor
Vulnerability,
which increases enemies damage taken by 5% and can be used in combination with Lightning
Elemental Blockade
to also provide Off-Balance, which can trigger the
Exploiter
Champion Point. Youll be able to use
Summon Charged Atronach
or any other ultimate more frequently, thanks to the
Power Stone
passive, which reduces the cost of your ultimates by 15%. You also have access to the unique
Minor Prophecy
buff, which increases crit chance of everyone in your group by 6% and its unique to Sorcerers
although Nightblades have access to an almost identical buff, and they do not stack. You also
have
access to a unique 1000 penetration debuff thanks to
Crystal Weapon.
SKILL SETUPS
| Front Bar | Back Bar |
|---|---|
| Slot 1: Shield Throw | Slot 1: Boundless Storm |
| Slot 2: Soul Burst | Slot 2: Wield Soul |
| Slot 3: Vibrant Shroud | Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility |
| Slot 4: Ulfsild's Contingency | Slot 4: Elemental Blockade |
| Slot 5: Hardened Ward | Slot 5: Resolving Vigor |
| Ultimate: Temporal Guard | Ultimate: Summon Charged Atronach |
ADDITIONAL INFO:
- Use the
Taunt,
Sage's Remedy and
Vitality
combination on your
Shield Throw - Use
Pierce Armor instead of
Shield Throw and
Destructive Clench instead
of
Elemental Susceptibility if
you
don't have access to Scribing
- Use
Aggressive Horn instead of
Summon Charged Atronach if
you're playing without a healer (1 Tank, 3 Damage Dealers group comp)
- Use the
Damage Shield,
Crusader's Defiance
and
Courage
combination on your
Soul Burst
- Use the
Damage Shield,
Gladiator's Tenacity and
Intellect and Endurance
combination on your
Ulfsild's Contingency - Use
Dark Deal,
Defensive Stance,
Revealing Flare or
Heroic Slash instead of
Soul Burst if you don't
have
access to Scribing
- Use
Crystal Weapon,
Defensive Stance,
Revealing Flare or
Heroic Slash instead of
Ulfsild's Contingency if
you
don't have access to Scribing
- Use the
Pull,
Druid's Resurgence and
Cowardice
combination on your
Wield Soul - Use
Silver Leash instead of
Wield Soul if you don't
have
access to Scribing
- You will have to slot
Crushing Shock
for fights that require ranged interrupts, such as Thurvokun in Fang Lair dungeon or
Ansuul
in Sanity's Edge trial
- You will have to slot
Bound Aegis
for fights that require lots of block mitigation, such as Archdruid Devyric in Earthen
Root
Enclave dungeon or Xalvakka in Rockgrove trial.
GEAR
This is the crafted gear setup you can start with. You do not need to start with a crafted setup and you can move on straight to the setup from dungeons, because Normal difficulty dungeons are easy enough to clear while wearing random gear pieces you pick up from questing. This crafted setup is for people who are anxious about tanking and need a "stepping stone" setup even though it isn't really needed.
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
Medium | Magicka | ||
![]() Shoulders |
Light | Health | ||
![]() Chest |
Heavy | Health | ||
![]() Hands |
Heavy | Stamina | ||
![]() Belt |
Heavy | Magicka | ||
![]() Legs |
Heavy | Stamina | ||
![]() Boots |
Heavy | Health | ||
![]() Necklace |
Jewelry | Reduce Magicka Cost/Reduce Block Cost | ||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
Any 1-handed weapon | |||
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
Shield | Stamina/Tri-Stat | ||
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
Ice Staff |
ADDITIONAL INFO:
- Sets like
Fortified Brass or
Senchal Defender
(this one is from Overland, not crafted) can be better than
Druid's Braid, but
Druid's Braid
has the benefit of not becoming mostly useless when you stop wearing 5 pieces of it, and
it's important because I can't know what content you're going to farm first. Are you
going
to get a Monster Set first and replace head and shoulder slots? Or are you replacing
weapons
and jewelry first? With
Druid's Braid it doesn't
matter, because it's slowly losing effectiveness piece by piece. The
Druid's Braid
shield will also stay relevant for you even past your beginner phase.
These are the best sets you can get from easy content, only the
Tremorscale
requires you to finish the content on Veteran difficulty but Volenfell is a base game
dungeon so
its extremely easy even in the Veteran difficulty.
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
Medium | Magicka/Tri-Stat | ||
![]() Shoulders |
Light | Health/Tri-Stat | ||
![]() Chest |
Heavy | Health/Tri-Stat | ||
![]() Hands |
Heavy | Stamina/Tri-Stat | ||
![]() Belt |
Heavy | Magicka/Tri-Stat | ||
![]() Legs |
Heavy | Stamina/Tri-Stat | ||
![]() Boots |
Heavy | Health/Tri-Stat | ||
![]() Necklace |
Jewelry | Reduce Magicka Cost/Reduce Block Cost | ||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
Any 1-handed weapon | |||
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
Shield | Stamina/Tri-Stat | ||
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
Ice Staff |
ADDITIONAL INFO:
- Replace 1 piece of
Armor of the Trainee and 1
piece of
Druid's Braid with
Puncturing Remedy if you
don't
have access to Scribing and are using
Pierce Armor instead of
Shield Throw
Turning Tide drops from
Normal
or Veteran Shipwrights Regret
Crimson Oath's Rive drops
from
Normal or Veteran The Dread Cellar
Puncturing Remedy drops
from
Normal or Veteran Dragonstar Arena
Tremorscale drops from
Veteran
Volenfell
- Tri-Stat enchants are better than single stat ones, but they're extremely
expensive. The reason I listed them here but not in the Crafted setup is because
Tremorscale
and
Turning Tide
will stay relevant past your beginner phase, so if you can afford Tri-Stat enchants you
should go for it.
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 |
ADDITIONAL INFO:
- Replace 1 piece of
Armor of the Trainee and 1
piece of
Druid's Braid with
Puncturing Remedy if you
don't
have access to Scribing and are using
Pierce Armor instead of
Shield Throw - Use
Vestments of Olorime
instead of
Saxhleel's Champion if
you're
playing without a healer (1 Tank, 3 Damage Dealers group comp)
Turning Tide is a decent
alternative for
Lucent Echoes
Powerful Assault is a
decent
alternative for
Saxhleel's Champion
War Machine is a decent
alternative for
Saxhleel's Champion
Crimson Oath's Rive is a
decent
alternative for either
Lucent Echoes or
Saxhleel's Champion, but it
will be useless for Damage Dealers who already brought enough armor penetration on their
own
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 |
ADDITIONAL INFO:
- Replace 1 piece of
Armor of the Trainee and 1
piece of
Druid's Braid with
Puncturing Remedy if you
don't
have access to Scribing and are using
Pierce Armor instead of
Shield Throw - This setup is a recommendation for random PUG groups. In an organized trial, always listen to what the raid lead wants you to wear, rather than what I'm showing here
Crimson Oath's Rive has 2
bonus
armor lines which together will grant you 2974 additional armor. This might allow you
shift
armor in other parts of your build, like for example switching off of
The Lady Mundus
or
changing
Fortified or
Bulwark Champion points to
something different.
Crimson Oath's Rive will be
rendered useless if a Damage Dealer in your group is wearing
Alkosh,
but it's very unlikely you'll find a Damage Dealer wearing a support set in a random PUG
group
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 |
ADDITIONAL INFO:
- Replace 1 piece of
Armor of the Trainee and 1
piece of
Druid's Braid with
Puncturing Remedy if you
don't
have access to Scribing and are using
Pierce Armor instead of
Shield Throw - This setup is a recommendation for random PUG groups. In an organized trial, always listen to what the raid lead wants you to wear, rather than what I'm showing here
CHAMPION POINTS
Warfare
Ironclad (6% Direct
Damage
Reduction)
Duelist's Rebuff (6% ST
Damage Reduction)
Enduring Resolve (6%
DoT
Damage Reduction)
Bulwark (1900 Armor)
Fitness
Boundless Vitality
(1400
Max Health)
Bastion (15% stronger
damage shields)
Fortified (1731 Armor)
Bracing Anchor (20%
Block
Mitigation, 16% Movement Speed Penalty)
ADDITIONAL INFO:
- If you're a
Nord
with fully golded out gear, proper traits and wearing
Crimson Oath's Rive you will be
over the armor cap with these Champion Points, so you can replace
Bulwark
and/or
Fortified. You could replace
them
with for example
Focused Mending,
Unassailable,
Rejuvenation,
Shield Master,
Sustained by Suffering
or
Ward Master
RACE
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).
MUNDUS
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.
ATTRIBUTES
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.
FOOD
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:
-
Orzorga's Red Frothgar
- provides more Max Health and Magicka Recovery at the cost of providing no Stamina
Recovery
at all. Stamina Recovery doesn't work while blocking so it can be a decent option if
you're
permablocking
-
Bewitched Sugar Skulls
- provides maximum resources instead of recoveries, can be decent for fights where you
need
to block for a very long time during a very specific period but the pressure is
non-existent
outside of that specific period so you can recuperate stamina by heavy attacking freely,
for
example Roksa the Warped boss in Bal Sunnar dungeon. The increased maximum resources
will
also increase the scaling of some of your healing abilities, such as
Vibrant Shroud or
Resolving Vigor
-
Candied Jester's Coin
- provides only Max Stamina and Magicka Recovery, can be decent when you want to reduce
your
Max Health during a specific phase of a fight. For example, in Cloudrest you can eat it
right as the execute phase starts, because Maximum Health becomes a detriment due to the
Baneful Mark mechanic
POTIONS
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 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.
THANKS FOR READING
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