The Elder Scrolls Online » Discussions

ESO Character Building Think Tank

• Ksart Arryn

  
   

  August 1, 2015

  Yeah i wasnt sure until i started today, i really like the fact that i can kill with strife long range as they come to me, i really wish though that the ahadow trees 1st skill lasted longer Though the reason i asked about weapons is that axes give a chance to bleed, maces ignore armor, swords increase damage and daggers increase crit rate Do any of these go above and beyond with those abilities granted through dual wield

  Yeah i wasnt sure until i started today, i really like the fact that i can kill with strife long range as they come to me, i really wish though that the ahadow trees 1st skill lasted longer Though the reason i asked about weapons is that axes give a chance to bleed, maces ignore armor, swords increase damage and daggers increase crit rate Do any of these go above and beyond with those abilities granted through dual wield
• Ponty

  

  Member
   

  August 1, 2015

  The weapons more or less even out in the end in terms of damage. Like I said just use whatever you think looks best. Though if you are going for a crit chance build (something popular with assassin characters at higher levels) daggers are definitely the way to go.

  The weapons more or less even out in the end in terms of damage. Like I said just use whatever you think looks best. Though if you are going for a crit chance build (something popular with assassin characters at higher levels) daggers are definitely the way to go.

• Ksart Arryn

  
   

  August 6, 2015

  So after starting a nightbladeandbeing utterly satisfied with killing someonein 1 hit from behind andhaving their then frozen body shatter,and being completely destroyed by a mage/knight enemy combo in dungeons, i wanted to make a vampiric shadowknight tanky build out of the siphoning tree, but i have never played nor built a tank class, (and certainly not onein a game where anyclass can tank) i have no ideahow to do so

  1) how does a tank play liketo do his job?

  2) does heavy armor affect sneaking likein skyrim

  3) how doi know what skills/morphs are better for pve,pvp, andoverall(i am indecisive AND HAVE NEVER DONE PVP IN ANY GAME, justas i have never built a tank b4

  4) what else would i need to know to do something likethis?

  Sorry for the missing spacesmy ipod is leaving out

  So after starting a nightbladeandbeing utterly satisfied with killing someonein 1 hit from behind andhaving their then frozen body shatter,and being completely destroyed by a mage/knight enemy combo in dungeons, i wanted to make a vampiric shadowknight tanky build out of the siphoning tree, but i have never played nor built a tank class, (and certainly not onein a game where anyclass can tank) i have no ideahow to do so

  1) how does a tank play liketo do his job?

  2) does heavy armor affect sneaking likein skyrim

  3) how doi know what skills/morphs are better for pve,pvp, andoverall(i am indecisive AND HAVE NEVER DONE PVP IN ANY GAME, justas i have never built a tank b4

  4) what else would i need to know to do something likethis?

  Sorry for the missing spacesmy ipod is leaving out

• Ksart Arryn

  
   

  August 6, 2015

  I have never done tanking or pvp as i said but my love for action kombat has sprung me to action, so ANY AND EVERY little tip for both gameplay and character building is appreciated (along with the WHY) when in the form of constructive criticism (hating is my mortal enemy) ;)

  I have never done tanking or pvp as i said but my love for action kombat has sprung me to action, so ANY AND EVERY little tip for both gameplay and character building is appreciated (along with the WHY) when in the form of constructive criticism (hating is my mortal enemy) ;)
• Oneness

  

  Member
   

  August 6, 2015

  Hey, Ksart I love the idea you're going for here. It is unique, but yet has a lot of good potential. I know because I actually have a character similar to this lmao. Up until yesterday, every character I've made in ESO has been a tank and I nearly write a whole guide on tanking in ESO at this point, but I will keep it short and sweet here.

  1) In ESO tanking is a lot more player skill oriented. I'm not saying that to make it sound intimidating, but for you to understand that it will take a little bit of practice. Unlike other games where a dedicated tank is expected to draw and hold the attention of EVERYTHING, you have to be a particular about it. This is for two reasons. The first is that there is no true area of effect taunt yet (there is only Puncture from One Handed and Shield or Inner Fire from the Undaunted skill line and you will definitely need at least one). So it is hard to reliably draw the entire crowd. Two, you'll die. The mobs in ESO are fairly tough at all levels and taking on more than 3-5 at a time is usually a death wish except for the most skilled, perfected players (I am nowhere near good lol). So to compensate, you will want to pick and choose which enemies you are taunting and tanking in terms of priority. 9 times out of 10 you will be choosing the biggest thing in the room. But it all comes down to what is actually the biggest threat to your team. On top of that you will want to make sure you are interrupting as many spell casters as you can and you will want to be able to pull enemies off your team if they become overwhelmed. I like to taunt like 2-3 big threats so I can still manage the rest of my team.

  2) Keep your shield up as much as possible. When I first started I thought I was unstoppable and would just run in swinging with my heavy armor and huge health bar. I died. A lot. Keeping your block up makes a huge difference. Don't forget to weave in some light and heavy attacks though. One thing you will be accustomed to is block casting. This is especially true for Nightblades because it is very convenient to spam Strife from behind your shield.

  3) Not to discourage you, but Nightblades are definitely on the difficult side when it comes to tanking. This is because they lack good burst healing outside of the Restoration staff and because a lot of their tanky abilities are farther down their skill lines like Siphoning Strikes and Drain Power. But gosh is it rewarding. The ability to manage resources is something that every tank strives for.

  4) Tanking in PvP is a different because you won't be able to taunt people so you will want to switch out your taunts for abilities with more utility. Except in most cases Puncture is fine to stay because of its added effects. In PvP you really just want to be a damage sponge. Get in between the enemies and your allies. Take hits and dish out some damage. That's the best advice I can provide on that since I am not really a PvP veteran.

  5) To answer your other question, I do not think that heavy armor affects your sneaking. But I also have not tested it that extensively.

  I hope I helped you a little. If you want to know more or would like to discuss more specifics about your character don't hesitate to ask

  Hey, Ksart I love the idea you're going for here. It is unique, but yet has a lot of good potential. I know because I actually have a character similar to this lmao. Up until yesterday, every character I've made in ESO has been a tank and I nearly write a whole guide on tanking in ESO at this point, but I will keep it short and sweet here.

  1) In ESO tanking is a lot more player skill oriented. I'm not saying that to make it sound intimidating, but for you to understand that it will take a little bit of practice. Unlike other games where a dedicated tank is expected to draw and hold the attention of EVERYTHING, you have to be a particular about it. This is for two reasons. The first is that there is no true area of effect taunt yet (there is only Puncture from One Handed and Shield or Inner Fire from the Undaunted skill line and you will definitely need at least one). So it is hard to reliably draw the entire crowd. Two, you'll die. The mobs in ESO are fairly tough at all levels and taking on more than 3-5 at a time is usually a death wish except for the most skilled, perfected players (I am nowhere near good lol). So to compensate, you will want to pick and choose which enemies you are taunting and tanking in terms of priority. 9 times out of 10 you will be choosing the biggest thing in the room. But it all comes down to what is actually the biggest threat to your team. On top of that you will want to make sure you are interrupting as many spell casters as you can and you will want to be able to pull enemies off your team if they become overwhelmed. I like to taunt like 2-3 big threats so I can still manage the rest of my team.

  2) Keep your shield up as much as possible. When I first started I thought I was unstoppable and would just run in swinging with my heavy armor and huge health bar. I died. A lot. Keeping your block up makes a huge difference. Don't forget to weave in some light and heavy attacks though. One thing you will be accustomed to is block casting. This is especially true for Nightblades because it is very convenient to spam Strife from behind your shield.

  3) Not to discourage you, but Nightblades are definitely on the difficult side when it comes to tanking. This is because they lack good burst healing outside of the Restoration staff and because a lot of their tanky abilities are farther down their skill lines like Siphoning Strikes and Drain Power. But gosh is it rewarding. The ability to manage resources is something that every tank strives for.

  4) Tanking in PvP is a different because you won't be able to taunt people so you will want to switch out your taunts for abilities with more utility. Except in most cases Puncture is fine to stay because of its added effects. In PvP you really just want to be a damage sponge. Get in between the enemies and your allies. Take hits and dish out some damage. That's the best advice I can provide on that since I am not really a PvP veteran.

  5) To answer your other question, I do not think that heavy armor affects your sneaking. But I also have not tested it that extensively.

  I hope I helped you a little. If you want to know more or would like to discuss more specifics about your character don't hesitate to ask

• Ksart Arryn

  
   

  August 7, 2015

  This is really nice advice, and I've heard some very similar things(especially on deltas gaming guide for tanks), would you have any suggestions for a mage tank with light armor and a destruction staff? ( I want to go into every skill tree to make a planes walker type mage that can take "pick your deck and become a planeswalker" I know that daedric summoning is a must because of the bound armor, but what else would you suggest, what race would be best ( I know it's purely preference for the most part but I want to optimize as well as match)

  This is really nice advice, and I've heard some very similar things(especially on deltas gaming guide for tanks), would you have any suggestions for a mage tank with light armor and a destruction staff? ( I want to go into every skill tree to make a planes walker type mage that can take "pick your deck and become a planeswalker" I know that daedric summoning is a must because of the bound armor, but what else would you suggest, what race would be best ( I know it's purely preference for the most part but I want to optimize as well as match)
• Oneness

  

  Member
   

  August 7, 2015

  Deltia's tank guide is a great resource. Especially since you're new to tanking, it wouldn't be a bad idea to follow the template of skills he outlines. It's a fairly standard set up that I've seen a lot of players use and have used myself. It takes a lot of the leg work out of building from scratch and it's easy as well as effective. To run a Sorcerer tank your two given skills are going to be Lightning Form and Negate Magic. They make your life a hell of a lot easier. Then you'll either want to run Bound Armor or take the Ransack morph of Puncture on your One Handed bar. If you really want the mage feel and don't want to use a shield then you'll need heavy crowd control and you'll have to be an expert using Inner Fire lol. For my Sorcerer tank I went deep into Dark Magic because the debuffs and effects. Crystal Shard and Encase make a pretty good kiting set up and Negate Magic is an instant lockdown on anything that isn't a Dungeon/Group boss. Honestly though, as long you keep moving and keep your buffs up, Sorcerer's are the best at tanking in light armor in my opinion so you will have great survivability. As far as race goes, I'd roll with an Orc, Nord or Imperial. Depends on what alliance you want to play under really. But given all the magicka buffs you'll be getting from light armor, Sorcerer passives and the staff passives a pure tanking race like one of those will add a lot more balance to your character.

  Deltia's tank guide is a great resource. Especially since you're new to tanking, it wouldn't be a bad idea to follow the template of skills he outlines. It's a fairly standard set up that I've seen a lot of players use and have used myself. It takes a lot of the leg work out of building from scratch and it's easy as well as effective. To run a Sorcerer tank your two given skills are going to be Lightning Form and Negate Magic. They make your life a hell of a lot easier. Then you'll either want to run Bound Armor or take the Ransack morph of Puncture on your One Handed bar. If you really want the mage feel and don't want to use a shield then you'll need heavy crowd control and you'll have to be an expert using Inner Fire lol. For my Sorcerer tank I went deep into Dark Magic because the debuffs and effects. Crystal Shard and Encase make a pretty good kiting set up and Negate Magic is an instant lockdown on anything that isn't a Dungeon/Group boss. Honestly though, as long you keep moving and keep your buffs up, Sorcerer's are the best at tanking in light armor in my opinion so you will have great survivability. As far as race goes, I'd roll with an Orc, Nord or Imperial. Depends on what alliance you want to play under really. But given all the magicka buffs you'll be getting from light armor, Sorcerer passives and the staff passives a pure tanking race like one of those will add a lot more balance to your character.
• Ksart Arryn

  
   

  August 8, 2015

  Yesh, I like the dark Magic trees passive to heal with all the skills, I'm though that one hand might be better for tanking but really wanted to try with just a staff for the "planar-walker" feel, but I don't want to sacrifice too much practicality, but I love the idea of dark magic tree due to the fact of healing evrrytime you use a spell, so the unconventional tank sounds the most fun (just like delta says in more recent videos)

  Yesh, I like the dark Magic trees passive to heal with all the skills, I'm though that one hand might be better for tanking but really wanted to try with just a staff for the "planar-walker" feel, but I don't want to sacrifice too much practicality, but I love the idea of dark magic tree due to the fact of healing evrrytime you use a spell, so the unconventional tank sounds the most fun (just like delta says in more recent videos)
• darksabrz

  

  Member
   

  August 10, 2015

  Amusingly enough, I'm actually doing something like that right now.

  One of my favorite Skyrim builds was The Lion by Panthera --  effectively, a Khajiit paladin.  My current main (I was originally running a Breton Umbra Nightblade build like the one from Deltia, but this one suddenly hit me) is a Khajiit Templar with One Hand & Shield as the primary, and I'm about to start experimenting some with Bow as my secondary.  I have a healing ability in Healing Ritual (Ritual of Rebirth), and I'm running Sun Fire (Reflective Light), Puncturing Strikes and Silver Bolts (Silver Shards) as my main AoE attacks to try and help with potential grinding of levels (while I also do quests).  I'm using Nova (Solar Disturbance) as my Ultimate -- just morphed it, in fact -- but I'm trying to grind my way up to Fighter's Guild 10 to get Dawnbreaker, with intentions of getting Flawless Dawnbreaker when the morph is ready.  And to round it out in my primary hotbar, I'm using Puncture IV (haven't morphed it yet, but will probably make it into Pierce Armor).

  My Bow hotbar, I'm still debating on, as I just unlocked it last night and don't have anything set yet.  I have Volley (which I'll most likely go ahead and morph into Scorched Earth).  Probably will get Scatter Shot (Magnum Shot), Arrow Spray (probably Bombard), and Snipe (Focused Aim).  I'll round it out with Healing Ritual (Ritual of Rebirth) and Nova (Solar Disturbance) for my ultimate.

  I'm not lighting it up with leveling by any means, but I suspect being level 15 after 3 days of play (and going into my fourth, so I'm aiming for at least 18 before I finish up) is pretty decent.  I'm enjoying myself immensely so far, even though some battles have well and truly been a pain in the butt at times.

  Amusingly enough, I'm actually doing something like that right now.

  One of my favorite Skyrim builds was The Lion by Panthera --  effectively, a Khajiit paladin.  My current main (I was originally running a Breton Umbra Nightblade build like the one from Deltia, but this one suddenly hit me) is a Khajiit Templar with One Hand & Shield as the primary, and I'm about to start experimenting some with Bow as my secondary.  I have a healing ability in Healing Ritual (Ritual of Rebirth), and I'm running Sun Fire (Reflective Light), Puncturing Strikes and Silver Bolts (Silver Shards) as my main AoE attacks to try and help with potential grinding of levels (while I also do quests).  I'm using Nova (Solar Disturbance) as my Ultimate -- just morphed it, in fact -- but I'm trying to grind my way up to Fighter's Guild 10 to get Dawnbreaker, with intentions of getting Flawless Dawnbreaker when the morph is ready.  And to round it out in my primary hotbar, I'm using Puncture IV (haven't morphed it yet, but will probably make it into Pierce Armor).

  My Bow hotbar, I'm still debating on, as I just unlocked it last night and don't have anything set yet.  I have Volley (which I'll most likely go ahead and morph into Scorched Earth).  Probably will get Scatter Shot (Magnum Shot), Arrow Spray (probably Bombard), and Snipe (Focused Aim).  I'll round it out with Healing Ritual (Ritual of Rebirth) and Nova (Solar Disturbance) for my ultimate.

  I'm not lighting it up with leveling by any means, but I suspect being level 15 after 3 days of play (and going into my fourth, so I'm aiming for at least 18 before I finish up) is pretty decent.  I'm enjoying myself immensely so far, even though some battles have well and truly been a pain in the butt at times.

• darksabrz

  

  Member
   

  August 11, 2015

  Alas, XBox One is having syncing issues, which keeps me from poking into Neverwinter (but much more importantly, keeps me from playing around with ESO more to work up my Khajiit Templar!), so... I'm gonna brainstorm a couple of concepts.

  Concept #1:  Altmer Sorcerer, specializing predominantly in Daedric Summoning and Storm Calling, with a little bit of Dark Magic thrown in, and make my first foray into Soul Magic.  Currently considering Destruction Staff for weapon (might do Restoration Staff for secondary weapon); full light armor.  Going full-magicka seems best.  Mages Guild, maybe a little bit of Fighter's Guild as well, max out High Elf passives, probably Clothier and Woodworking for professions (one of these days, I'll likely make an alt and level them up all the way, then respec to be all-crafting, so that they can outfit my other alts).

  Concept #2 (this is one I should enlist Tae-Rai to help me with):  Argonian Dragon Knight.  Balance of all class skills.  Seriously considering Two-Handed for primary weapon, Restoration Staff for secondary weapon; most likely 5/1/1 heavy/medium/light for armor.  Definite Fighter's Guild and Undaunted skill trees, perhaps dip into Mage's Guild for Persuasive Will.  Work up Argonian passives.  Ideally, I want to be able to tank and heal myself enough to keep from being splattered, but I'm not entirely certain the best way to go about it.

  Of course, now that I finish this up, it seems XBox Live is working again.  Figures.

  Alas, XBox One is having syncing issues, which keeps me from poking into Neverwinter (but much more importantly, keeps me from playing around with ESO more to work up my Khajiit Templar!), so... I'm gonna brainstorm a couple of concepts.

  Concept #1:  Altmer Sorcerer, specializing predominantly in Daedric Summoning and Storm Calling, with a little bit of Dark Magic thrown in, and make my first foray into Soul Magic.  Currently considering Destruction Staff for weapon (might do Restoration Staff for secondary weapon); full light armor.  Going full-magicka seems best.  Mages Guild, maybe a little bit of Fighter's Guild as well, max out High Elf passives, probably Clothier and Woodworking for professions (one of these days, I'll likely make an alt and level them up all the way, then respec to be all-crafting, so that they can outfit my other alts).

  Concept #2 (this is one I should enlist Tae-Rai to help me with):  Argonian Dragon Knight.  Balance of all class skills.  Seriously considering Two-Handed for primary weapon, Restoration Staff for secondary weapon; most likely 5/1/1 heavy/medium/light for armor.  Definite Fighter's Guild and Undaunted skill trees, perhaps dip into Mage's Guild for Persuasive Will.  Work up Argonian passives.  Ideally, I want to be able to tank and heal myself enough to keep from being splattered, but I'm not entirely certain the best way to go about it.

  Of course, now that I finish this up, it seems XBox Live is working again.  Figures.