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Subclass Tank Build - ESO Guide

Templar Sorcerer Arcanist Warden Necromancer Tank Subclass Two Bar Nightblade Dragonknight
Up to date for: Update 49 - 28th March 2026
Last changed: Update 49 - 28th March 2026

The Subclass Tank build pulls skill lines from multiple classes to cover everything a tank needs. The default setup runs Winter's Embrace, Siphoning and Grave Lord, but the build has a ton of combinations depending on what the content requires.

Subclassing is much stronger than playing pure class for tanking because tanking is all about supporting your group, and subclassing lets you pick the best abilities for that from each skill line. You can simultaneously provide Major Resolve through Warden's Expansive Frost CloakExpansive Frost Cloak, keep up Major Vulnerability through Necromancer's Glacial ColossusGlacial Colossus, and trivialize sustain through Nightblade's Siphoning AttacksSiphoning Attacks - something no single class can do on its own.

The build covers Dungeons and Trials in one guide. Each final setup has Regular, Trash (Dungeon), Trash (Trial) and Tanky sub-setups. Veteran Hard Mode Dungeon and Veteran Trial proof footage is in the gameplay section.

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Subclassing

You can use this build with any base class.

Winter's Embrace
Warden
Siphoning
Nightblade

These are beginner-friendly setups that always use Siphoning because Siphoning AttacksSiphoning Attacks trivializes sustain, and always use Winter's Embrace because of Expansive Frost CloakExpansive Frost Cloak which grants your entire team Major Resolve (roughly 12% damage reduction), an extremely strong heal in Polar WindPolar Wind, and passives which increase armor and block mitigation.

Ultimately, as long as you know what you're doing, you can make a valid build out of any combination of Skill Lines listed here. You can replace Siphoning if you don't need the sustain - either because the fight is easy enough or because you're a better player. You can even replace Winter's Embrace if the other Tank in your Trial is already using Expansive Frost CloakExpansive Frost Cloak, or if somehow your entire team already provides Major Resolve for themselves through other means.

Dragonknight exception

Dragonknight exception

Dragonknight is an exception. Ardent Flame has Soul of FlameSoul of Flame which trivializes sustain just like Siphoning AttacksSiphoning Attacks, so it replaces Siphoning instead.

Grave Lord
Necromancer

One of the best skill lines for tanking because of Glacial ColossusGlacial Colossus, which applies Major Vulnerability. With some additional Ultimate generation you can keep up 100% uptime on Major Vulnerability with just that, which allows you to replace the Major Vulnerability item set - Archdruid DevyricArchdruid Devyric, with an Ultimate generation set like Baron ZaudrusBaron Zaudrus, which in turn boosts your other Ultimate sets like Saxhleel's ChampionSaxhleel's Champion and War MachineWar Machine even further.

Notable Passives

None

Bone Tyrant
Necromancer

Good defensive Skill Line if you need more survivability, especially against DoTs. It also allows you to drain corpses for Ultimate through Necrotic PotencyNecrotic Potency, which is especially good in fights with lots of adds.

Living Death
Necromancer

A Skill Line with lots of situationally good but niche abilities. Renewing AnimationRenewing Animation allows your team to recover from anything as long as you survive, it's extremely good for PUGs and training runs (if you're the "teacher"). Expunge and ModifyExpunge and Modify/HexproofHexproof is a purge that costs only Health and Spirit GuardianSpirit Guardian provides a unique 10% damage mitigation buff.

Restoring Light
Templar

Provides block mitigation, a lot of healing (especially if you can afford to stand still) and a purge ability for yourself and your team through Extended RitualExtended Ritual.

Soldier of Apocrypha
Arcanist

Lots of good skills but most of its power is spread between different abilities which you won't have space to slot. Runeguard of Still WatersRuneguard is an extremely good defensive skill. Provides your entire group with Minor Evasion (10% less AoE damage taken) which can be pretty important in some fights.

Ardent Flame
Dragonknight

Provides both an extremely good sustain tool (Soul of FlameSoul of Flame) and a good support Ultimate (Standard of MightStandard of Might). In this guide we pair Ardent Flame with Grave Lord instead of Siphoning (because Soul of FlameSoul of Flame solves sustain just like Siphoning AttacksSiphoning Attacks) so we use Glacial ColossusGlacial Colossus instead, but Standard of MightStandard of Might is still good, especially for survivability.

Earthen Heart
Dragonknight

Most of the buffs it provides (Igneous WeaponsIgneous Weapons and Magma FistMagma Fist) are now extremely good DPS abilities, so it's much more efficient to have a DD use them. Still, it has access to Magma ShellMagma Shell which lets you bypass many mechanics.

Daedric Summoning
Sorcerer

A pretty good Ultimate (Summon Charged AtronachSummon Charged Atronach) which grants your group Major Berserk, an extremely strong damage shield (Hardened WardHardened Ward) and a block mitigation ability (Bound AegisBound Aegis) which will put most builds at the block mitigation cap.

Green Balance
Warden

A decent skill line for 1 Tank 3 DD dungeon runs when your Damage Dealers need some additional healing.

Notable Skills

Example of a setup for each base class. These prioritize survivability and ease of play, so each of them has at least one skill line that trivializes sustain

Winter's Embrace
Winter's Embrace
Warden
Siphoning
Siphoning
Nightblade
Grave Lord
Grave Lord
Necromancer
Usable by Warden Nightblade Necromancer
Winter's Embrace
Winter's Embrace
Warden
Siphoning
Siphoning
Nightblade
Daedric Summoning
Daedric Summoning
Sorcerer
Usable by Warden Nightblade Sorcerer
Winter's Embrace
Winter's Embrace
Warden
Siphoning
Siphoning
Nightblade
Restoring Light
Restoring Light
Templar
Usable by Warden Nightblade Templar
Winter's Embrace
Winter's Embrace
Warden
Siphoning
Siphoning
Nightblade
Soldier of Apocrypha
Soldier of Apocrypha
Arcanist
Usable by Warden Nightblade Arcanist
Winter's Embrace
Winter's Embrace
Warden
Grave Lord
Grave Lord
Necromancer
Ardent Flame
Ardent Flame
Dragonknight
Usable by Warden Necromancer Dragonknight

Skill Setups

Base Setup

A base setup that uses only Winter's Embrace and Siphoning skill lines and which should be your starting point to which you'll later add skills from your 3rd skill line

Switching skills for trash packs isn't worth it unless you're using gear-swap addons, but switching skills for more difficult fights is something you should always do

Shield Throw Trample Siphoning Attacks Ulfsild's Contingency Polar Wind Temporal Guard
Expansive Frost Cloak Wield Soul Elemental Susceptibility Elemental Blockade Soul Burst Reviving Barrier
Front Bar Back Bar
Slot 1: Shield Throw Slot 1: Expansive Frost Cloak
Slot 2: Trample Slot 2: Wield Soul
Slot 3: Siphoning Attacks Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility
Slot 4: Ulfsild's Contingency Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Polar Wind Slot 5: Soul Burst
Ultimate: Temporal Guard Ultimate: Reviving Barrier
Info
Situational
InnerRageIcon

Why no Inner Rage in the Regular setup?

The synergy from Inner RageInner Rage taunt is extremely strong but because of the way it works it always turns out extremely weak in Group Finder runs. The way it works is, instead of granting the synergy to 11 people and disappearing once 3 people use it, it first selects 3 people and only those 3 people have the option to use the synergy at all. And if one of those 3 people don't use it, it will never pass onto the remaining players, no matter how many times you recast your Inner RageInner Rage. Which is why, 3 clueless players not pressing their synergy in a Group Finder run are enough to completely "clog" your Inner RageInner Rage. Which is why I decided to go with Shield ThrowShield Throw taunt as a default option.

Final Setups

A few examples of final setups you could end up with

Grave Lord Skill Setups

Default setup

Shield Throw Trample Siphoning Attacks Ulfsild's Contingency Polar Wind Temporal Guard
Expansive Frost Cloak Wield Soul Elemental Susceptibility Elemental Blockade Soul Burst Glacial Colossus
Front Bar Back Bar
Slot 1: Shield Throw Slot 1: Expansive Frost Cloak
Slot 2: Trample Slot 2: Wield Soul
Slot 3: Siphoning Attacks Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility
Slot 4: Ulfsild's Contingency Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Polar Wind Slot 5: Soul Burst
Ultimate: Temporal Guard Ultimate: Glacial Colossus
Info

Passives

The only passive you specifically have to skip is Tri FocusTri Focus

Some trees are only needed when using situational skills, for example Support provides nothing without Revealing FlareRevealing Flare or Reviving BarrierReviving Barrier

Class

Weapon

Armor

Guild

Alliance War

Racial

Craft

Class - Grave Lord (Necromancer)

Reusable PartsReusable Parts - Not Needed (Low Priority if combined with Living Death)

Death KnellDeath Knell - Low Priority

DismemberDismember - Low Priority

Rapid RotRapid Rot - Low Priority

Gear

Base Setup

A base setup - the item sets shown are intended for Dungeons specifically, but the weights, traits and enchants are meant for any boss fight

Most support sets provide a similar group DPS increase. The most important thing is making sure your sets don't overlap with other Tank's and Healers' sets, though you can overlap sets which provide imperfect uptimes like Saxhleel's ChampionSaxhleel's Champion or Archdruid DevyricArchdruid Devyric

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

SITUATIONAL SETS arrow_down

Gear that can be better than the setup from the table in specific situations

ALTERNATIVE SETS arrow_down

Alternative gear that can also be used and might be easier to obtain

It lists all useful gear, even sets that are already in the gear table and Situational tab

Crafted

All of these are tradable and can be bought from other players

Overland

All of these are tradable and can be bought from other players

PvP

All of these are tradable and can be bought from other players

Dungeons

Trials

Monster Sets

TRAITS arrow_down

Body

  • SturdySturdy and DivinesDivines - both are very good options, which one is better depends on the specific encounter
  • ReinforcedReinforced - depending on your race and many other aspects you might be over the armor cap, in which case you can change ReinforcedReinforced pieces to SturdySturdy / DivinesDivines

Jewelry

  • HarmonyHarmony and InfusedInfused - HarmonyHarmony is stronger whenever you have at least 2 different synergies available to you, which means that HarmonyHarmony will be better in the vast majority of situations, but InfusedInfused can be better when playing with randoms or if the specific encounter makes it really difficult for your teammates to provide you synergies
  • SwiftSwift - extremely useful for trash packs

Weapons

  • ChargedCharged - an option for the backbar Ice Staff for trash packs. It will cause PulsarPulsar to be almost guaranteed to proc Chilled status effect
  • InfusedInfused - an option for the frontbar One Handed weapon when playing without a Healer. You can then combine it with the WeakeningWeakening enchant to reduce enemies' damage done
ENCHANTS arrow_down

Body

Weapons

  • WeakeningWeakening - an option for the frontbar One Handed weapon when playing without a Healer. You can then combine it with the InfusedInfused trait to reduce enemies' damage done
ADDITIONAL INFO arrow_down
  • You can double-bar War MachineWar Machine if you want to be able to provide Major Slayer also with your frontbar Ultimate

Other Setups

Starting setup if you only have access to crafted gear

Gear Slot Set Weight/Type Trait Enchantment
Head Head Druid's BraidDruid's Braid Medium DivinesDivines / SturdySturdy Tri-StatTri-Stat
Shoulders Shoulders Druid's BraidDruid's Braid Light DivinesDivines / SturdySturdy Tri-StatTri-Stat
Chest Chest Wretched VitalityWretched Vitality Heavy ReinforcedReinforced Tri-StatTri-Stat
Hands Hands Wretched VitalityWretched Vitality Heavy DivinesDivines / SturdySturdy Tri-StatTri-Stat
Belt Belt Wretched VitalityWretched Vitality Heavy DivinesDivines / SturdySturdy Tri-StatTri-Stat
Legs Legs Wretched VitalityWretched Vitality Heavy ReinforcedReinforced Tri-StatTri-Stat
Feet Boots Wretched VitalityWretched Vitality Heavy ReinforcedReinforced Tri-StatTri-Stat
Neck Necklace Druid's BraidDruid's Braid Jewelry HarmonyHarmony / InfusedInfused Reduce Magicka CostReduce Magicka Cost
Ring Ring Druid's BraidDruid's Braid Jewelry HarmonyHarmony / InfusedInfused Reduce Magicka CostReduce Magicka Cost
Ring Ring Druid's BraidDruid's Braid Jewelry HarmonyHarmony / InfusedInfused Reduce Magicka CostReduce Magicka Cost
Mainhand Frontbar Main Hand Druid's BraidDruid's Braid Any 1-handed weapon DecisiveDecisive HardeningHardening
Offhand Frontbar Off Hand Druid's BraidDruid's Braid Shield DivinesDivines / SturdySturdy Tri-StatTri-Stat
Mainhand Backbar Main Hand Druid's BraidDruid's Braid Ice Staff InfusedInfused CrusherCrusher

Explanation

  • You can use a mix of HealthHealth, StaminaStamina and MagickaMagicka enchants instead of Tri-StatsTri-Stats, because Tri-StatTri-Stat enchants are very expensive and this is a temporary gear that you'll outgrow very fast
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Champion Points

WarfareWarfare
Ironclad
6% Direct Damage Reduction
Reduces damage taken from direct damage attacks
Duelist's Rebuff
6% ST Damage Reduction
Reduces damage taken from single target attacks
Bulwark
1900 Armor
Increases your armor while you have a shield or frost staff equipped, which should be at all times anyway
Focused Mending
10% Single Target Healing
Boosts your Polar WindPolar Wind and Shield ThrowShield Throw's Sage's RemedySage's Remedy
If you're already at the armor cap
Replace BulwarkBulwark with Enduring ResolveEnduring Resolve
Other mitigation options
Enduring ResolveEnduring Resolve (DoT Reduction), UnassailableUnassailable (AoE Reduction) - choose based on the type of damage you're taking
FitnessFitness
Boundless Vitality
1400 Max Health
Great for survivability in fights without max HP based damage
Fortified
1731 Armor
Can help you reach the armor cap if you're missing it in other parts of the build
Bastion
15% stronger damage shields
Boosts your Ulfsild's ContingencyUlfsild's Contingency and Soul BurstSoul Burst. Especially good in fights with lots of DoTs
Bracing Anchor
20% Block Mitigation, -16% Movement Speed
Great for boss fights with constant direct blockable damage. Don't combine with ImmovableImmovable as the combined movement speed penalties will reduce your movement speed to 0, which also prevents you from dodge rolling
For trash fights
Replace BastionBastion + Bracing AnchorBracing Anchor with RejuvenationRejuvenation + CelerityCelerity
Other options
Sustained by SufferingSustained by Suffering (stronger Rejuvenation when debuffed), Ward MasterWard Master (10% damage reduction while blocking under a shield), Shield MasterShield Master (10% reduced damage shield cost)
Craft Craft
Steed's Blessing
20% Movement Speed out of combat
Extremely useful utility
Quality of Life
Green Champion Points don't affect Combat, choose whatever Quality of Life you prefer

Race

Nord
Best for Tanking
Nord
Why Nord
Nord is by far the best race for tanking, due to the increased armor from RuggedRugged and ulti generation from StalwartStalwart. You can complete any content on any race, you'll just have to work slightly harder with other races and adjust your build to compensate.
Rugged Rugged 2600 Armor
Stalwart Stalwart 1500 Max Stamina, 0.5 Ultimate per second
Reveler Reveler 1000 Max Health, 4620 Frost Resistance

Mundus

The Atronach
Default
The Atronach
310 Magicka Recovery (507 with Divines)
When to use
The best Mundus for tanking. The Magicka Recovery helps sustain your skills throughout a fight.
The Lady
Armor Cap
The Lady
2744 Armor (4489 with 7 Divines)
When to use
Use if you're struggling to reach the armor cap (33,000). It increases your Armor by 2744, or 4489 with Divines trait on your armor pieces.

Attributes

Put all 64 points into Health. However, your Max Stamina must be higher than your Max Magicka, because the CombustionCombustion synergy restores your dominant resource and you want it to be Stamina. If you have passives (such as Gift of MagnusGift of Magnus) or item set bonuses that increase Max Magicka, put just enough points into Stamina to keep it higher than your Max Magicka, then put the rest into Health.

Health
64
Stamina
0
Magicka
0
All points into Health. Use this if your Max Stamina is already naturally higher than your Max Magicka
Health
≈45
Stamina
≈19
Magicka
0
Put just enough points into Stamina to make Max Stamina higher than Max Magicka, then put the rest into Health. The exact split depends on your gear and passives

Food

Use Jewels of MisruleJewels of Misrule as your default. Orzorga's Smoked Bear HaunchOrzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch provides slightly higher stats but is expensive.

Max Health Stamina Recovery Magicka Recovery
Provides slightly lower stats than Orzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch but is significantly cheaper, making it the recommended practical choice.
Max Health Stamina Recovery Magicka Recovery
The best food for tanking. Provides Max Health, Stamina Recovery and Magicka Recovery. Extremely expensive.
Orzorga's Red Frothgar
Permablocking
Max Health Magicka Recovery
Provides more Max Health and Magicka Recovery but no Stamina Recovery. Stamina Recovery doesn't work while blocking, so this can be a decent option if you're permablocking.
Bewitched Sugar Skulls
Specific Fights
Max Health Max Stamina Max Magicka
Provides maximum resources instead of recoveries. Decent for fights where you need to block for a very long time during a specific period but the pressure is non-existent outside of it, so you can recuperate Stamina by heavy attacking freely - for example the 1st boss in Lucent Citadel or Roksa the Warped in Bal Sunnar.

Potions

Tri-Stat Potion
Default Tri-Stat Potion
Restore Health Restore Stamina Restore Magicka

Most of the time you should use Tri-Stat potions. They'll greatly improve your sustain.

Heroism Potion
Situational Heroism Potion
Minor Heroism Restore Stamina Restore Magicka

Heroism potions can provide 100% uptime on Minor Heroism which generates ultimate, but they're expensive.

Gameplay

Here you can see this build tackling Veteran Dungeons and Trials with different subclasses

Lucent Citadel
Trial
Exiled Redoubt
Dungeon
Lucent Citadel
Trial Veteran
Exiled Redoubt
Dungeon Veteran Hard Mode
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