Where Are All The Tanks? Should You Become A Tank?

The Tank population has decreased in recent months, what is the cause of this decline?
We want to know why do you like/dislike Tanking in the Elder Scrolls Online or MMORPGs in general? Let us know in the comments below.
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[@nerdbomber]

Tank should be renamed to thankless. Most players blame tank when it’s their fault not the tanks

[@alexbrowne9566]

Not true, I get a lot more compliments than negative encounters. Players love a chad tank

[@FRICANRICANGAMING]

@@alexbrowne9566facts especially when the whole group dies it’s like time to show these people what survivability means proceeds to revive everyone during boss fight 😂

[@alexbrowne9566]

@@FRICANRICANGAMING lol yeah all the time

[@redbearzy2456]

immean thats just mmos in general lol ppl hate to admit its their fault something bad happens which 8/10 times is a dps fuckin it up bc theyre new or just wanna be an ass

[@xalor90]

@@FRICANRICANGAMING first time I tanked vICP, had my GM as healer, two randoms for DPS. Got to the flesh colossus dude and we wiped twice. Third time, everyone died but me and I used my Necro Ult to rez them twice, both times they all died pretty much right away. I said “screw it, I’m gonna just wipe this dude out on my own”, GM said “go for it”, randoms said “sure”, and after about 20 minutes or so, I finally defeated him. They all cheered and we went on to complete the dungeon and it was a lot of fun. Sadly, this has not been the normal experience for me, as usually people just taunt and jeer and place blame.

[@IshimuraaYT]

I've been really trying hard into learning tank and miraculously i found people willing and wanting to teach me every trial..but the "no one wants to teach new tanks" part is so true and so sad since if more were taught how to do things maybe we wouldnt have such a shortage

[@aki13lack]

Should be extra loot system for tanks, they almost carry the whole group

[@charlessaxton8354]

No safe non-judgmental space to learn an progress in tougher content is at the top like you said. I have been tanking for over 5 years, and even I run into folks not wanting me to tank because they don't know me. I have tanked EOF, SON, and VCR3, but when you go into new content you need to learn same as healer and dps. DPS can hide without being singled out.

[@najduels101]

As a person who has tanked in ffxiv and Eso and as a person who still tanks to this day. I would probably say that being a tank in eso feels unrewarding. Ive been in groups with cp 2k n up and they will die on simple mechanics n then blame me. Another thing is that eso has to make tanking more fun. Maybe a new weapon because our only options are ice staff n S&B.Me personally i would like to use a 2 handed sword and tank with it Maybe more unique ways to pull adds. Shout out to all the Tanks You are the pillars of ESO

[@andrealasorte7747]

the problem with ESO is that tanks are not tanks,they are supports who hold block kinda boring to build when you are *required* to put sets that don't do anything for you and are a walking +weapon damage for your team,usually the way they proc is not interesting too compared to DPS sets that feel more rewarding and take some more specific conditions that can make the difference between bad and good dps

[@hannes0000]

Eso tanking is so boring, you are basically some random NPC who does no damage with high hp and hold block.

[@jonnvessel]

I love the Armory system. It allows you to create a damage profile for tank character for overland and pvp. I started tanking a year or so ago. It’s the most fun for me. Pressure but rewarding.

[@beardedbovel]

I'm personally on a hiatus, for two main reasons. One, it's currently hard to find groups for all, both normal and vet. content, beyond where people grind the meta DPS gear. I'm tired of only running DSR and Falkreath... Two, and like you mention in the video, all end-game groups now require experienced tanks, but doing this by requiring you to have the achievement of the trial/dungeon run planned, meaning that I can never break new ground on my tanks. I never get the chance to tank content I haven't before nor push my limits, killing what I find fun in tanking.

[@newworldforward1842]

They should introduce achievements for tanks that you can only get by completing the content as a tank. Same for DPS and healer, that gives people an incentive to learn playing different roles and to redo content again on a different role. They also need to increase the reward for running harder content. Even getting people to do the vet DLC dungeon in pledge is hard these days as it doesn't give any better rewards than running a non-DLC. It usually takes longer and is far more challenging, but the reward is the same. Same thing with random vet which gives the same reward as random normal..

[@mattes18679]

Yeah, after putting all Charakter Archievments together to one piece of sh -.-

[@MrKingKrow]

For me, when i played early on, i use to enjoy tanking cause I could break meta and it was fun to do that, I took pride in being unkillable. As I fell out of the game on and off, I come back now and I hate tanking. I feel like a utility bot now, not a tank. I'm only there to help the DPS, I'm not there to shock the team with a 12 man revive anymore, I'm not there to be the soul reason the team survived, I'm not there to be a wall between the trash mobs or boss and my team, my only soul purpose is to be there to make the dps shine and that sucks. I hate it. I don't feel like a tank anymore, I feel like a healer with to much damn health.

[@csm101rus]

When I tank random group finder the thing that puts me off the most is the diabolically low dps and lack of mech knowledge of players ranging from noob to higher cp who should be a little more prepared.

[@Bumbum_Inspector]

Yea the amount of extremely low dps is unbelievable in ESO honestly. That being said though, the game does a HORRIBLE job of teaching people how to play their roles, like it doesn't even try. It doesn't teach you literally anything about light attack weaving, animation cancelling, penetration and how it works, crit damage cap, etc.

[@poseidon2083]

I have done Vet non DLC dungeon today as a healer, no fake healer, and was doing arond 70% DPS all the time with my max dps beeing arond 15k only as I was forced to slot 1 dps ability. It took ages. I was about leave the group, but I didn't want to be one of those people. Oh, and no one was below 2k CP, just me lol.

[@Bumbum_Inspector]

@@poseidon2083 Yikes, ouch. I wish dps players would do some self research into their role, especially before queueing up for vet group content -_-

[@newworldforward1842]

@@poseidon2083 Problem is the gap between overland questing and vet dungeons. The 2k+ CP players who enjoy their questing most of the time use builds not really suited for dungeon play and they don't challenge themselves with humping dummies, soloing world bosses etc.. They just want to enjoy the stories. They dip into the dungeons for transmutes, keys, housing items, leads etc, not to be a dps try hard. I think 80-90% of the general ESO population plays the game that way..

[@poseidon2083]

@New World Forward Completely agree this makes sense. This is one of the reasons why I get most of my transmute from Cyrodil.

[@sostrongineedmoreofyourmon974]

Personally, as a long time tank main (all classes, and with most trial hms and a few trifectas), the most difficult thing I deal with is performance anxiety when joining long standing groups/teams. It’s rough to have to step in as a replacement (whenever subbing or trying out as a full time member) and having to meet expectations when oftentimes each team does subtlety yet often significantly different strats/setups/pulls. It usually takes me a couple runs to settle down and relax within the group but a lot of groups don’t give that grace period. It’s perform to expectations or gtfo.

[@robeson1070]

My group of friends played quit ESO pretty early on and I kept running into bad social situations after that that were a turn off generally to playing content with large unfamiliar groups. But, for a couple years I stuck with dungeon finder tanking and was pretty decent in terms of coming with group-DPS-increasing gear, understanding the ability level of the DPS who were with me, making pulls of appropriate size, doing all the different tank functions & buffing & more. Completing pledges was such a grind though some days, so I started experimenting with solo & DPS set-ups instead and it became clear that being able to trust that at least one of the DPS (me! Lol) is putting out good damage is way more important than the tank's competence in dungeon content. You can compensate for poor tanking in pledges or lack of healing and if you cannot, you can quickly teach the tank mechanics. You cannot teach DPS to suddenly put out reasonable damage, though. Anyway, I agree with everything Lee said! I hope the devs listen.

[@abd-alnahdi]

In every trial group i have played there is always one low dps who doesn’t know the mech and keeps dying all the time and blaming me. And no one can kick him out of the group because he is friend of the leader. One reason I don’t volunteer as a tank in groups I’m not familiar with!

[@branmikefrye7215]

I made a new Dragon Knight tank as an alt, built the gear and worked up his skills and champion points. Had fun tanking a few beginner dungeons. Realized I needed more skill shards and game completion. Ventured out and realized I had no damage output as a tank. It's a role you can't play the normal game with, just group content. Tanks could use at least passable damage and aoe abilities.

[@ohapplesauce]

Have your tried a Warden tank? You can combine Deep Fissure and Cutting Dive for some decent damage. Both are useful in tanking, so you don’t have to switch out a bunch of skills for overland content. I even use them on my Stamwarden DPS.

[@T_Ralphhh]

I loved my tank up just fine with molten whip then the rest tank abilities, have to put points in stam instead of health you’ll be fine until you get to vet dungeons

[@ivantortuga9344]

As someone who has basically mained tank for a very long time, years at this point. I can confidently say we're treated like crap. Sometimes tanks fuck up like everyone else but it's so much more noticeable since our fuck ups can ruin a run. I also completely agree the the random dungeons or trail groups. People don't understand how difficult it is to be a tank and to get good gear. I personally can't whare the sets I want to cause I'll be kicked or bitched out by the hole group even tho I'll still tank and buff just fine. It's a roll that's extremely difficult for almost anyone to play and mostly just cause the community makes it hard to play.

[@Bumbum_Inspector]

For me personally, it's not just the constant block bugs. I will only ever tank if my group is absolutely starved for a tank and the run is at risk of not happening because of the lack of tanks. I just don't like ESO tanking in general, even when there aren't block bugs and it's working as intended. Reasons that I don't like ESO tanking: 1) Unfun. I don't feel like a tank, I feel like a buff robot for the dps. I have to prioritize dps buffing proc sets and tediously micromanage them for the dps instead of focusing on tank stats and effects, which to me seems counterintuitive to the role when compared to tanks in other MMOs which typically play way better and actually feel like tanks. 2) Way too difficult. It takes way too much effort just to perform at an average level as a tank and it's extremely tedious, annoying and frustrating. I hate having to constantly worry about and micromanage both my magicka and stamina while also having to tediously worry about micromanaging up times on a bunch of dps buffs like turning tide, warhorn, yolnahkrin, saxhleel, etc, etc. There's also no easier ways to play tank that are viable and every tank, regardless of class, essentially plays the exact same using 7-8 of the exact same abilities and using the exact same sets. It's unbelievably lame and horrible design in my opinion. 3) Unforgiving. Often times, a single and slight mistake on a tank can result in a group wipe and because of that, every little mistake you make is public information and everyone notices it. This is amplified to levels that make you want to just quit the game when there's block bugs in place that just end up getting you instant killed even when you're performing perfectly. 4) No AoE taunts. Literally EVERY OTHER mmo gives tanks AoE taunts or ways to easily group up and keep aggro on several enemies. Trying to target specific enemies in a cluster muck of enemies with a single target taunt is so obnoxious and frustrating, especially when you end up hitting the wrong enemy. Why tanks haven't been given AoE taunts yet is baffling to me.

[@newworldforward1842]

I wear the sets I like and if the group doesn't like it, tough luck. Just make sure you keep yourself alive, taunt and hold the big baddies, that's all really. The rest is just fluff and depends very much on the group composition and player ability. If I use a proc set it's going to have to proc on something that I constantly use anyway so I don't have to baby sit the proc condition. Not using aoe taunts makes you learn the fight and different types of enemies much better, so I'm quite ok with it the way it is. There are sets that will give aoe taunt if that's your thing, but I fear you will only hold back your own progress as a tank if you start using that..

[@Bumbum_Inspector]

@@newworldforward1842 Unfortunately, your stance does not work in veteran trial content which is where I end up tanking, the very rare times that I do tank. You absolutely have to be using Turning Tide, Yolnahkrin, Saxhleel, Powerful Assault, Nazaray, etc to really help meet those dps checks against bosses or downing annoying adds as fast as possible. The only possible deviation from the above is the rare case where a tank has to use Crimson Oath and/or Tremorscale if the group is not able to get a Zenkosh dps into the group. Additionally, if they don't want to give tanks aoe taunts, then they shouldn't make boss encounters in vet trials that are overwhelming with adds like the 2nd boss in vMoL or the ice dragon in vSS where the tanks just end up completely draining their stamina spamming taunt every second just trying to keep a taunt up on all the strong adds. It's insanely stupid and lazy design, especially for progression.

[@newworldforward1842]

@@Bumbum_Inspector "Unfortunately, your stance does not work in veteran trial content". -I know... That's why if they don't just accept me as is I won't tank it. So I generally don't tank trials. If I do vet trials it's as dps cause I can wear whatever I want, run whatever skills and rotation I want as long as I do damage.

[@newworldforward1842]

I quite enjoy tanking in ESO. Bar swapping while blocking is now awesome!! -Too bad they still have a block bug tho. Hope them fixing it won't break something else(which unfortunately often happens).

[@ronin_sevenfour801]

All valid points. I have built a tank on a second character and really like the lead role you have with all the responsibilities, but you need a guild willing to be patient and teach you to tank and do harder content in a safe environment.

[@joshuapowlison7596]

I'm a tank main and I'm currently in a weird spot where nobody wants to pick me up for vet trials because I've never done one and I run a sorc tank so people just hate that! I also refuse to run dragon knight as a tank so people hate it even more

[@Midnight_fire17.09]

As a semi experienced tank who taught 2 other people tanking (just because there aren't that much other tanks out there) I can just confirm nearly every aspect you taught. I already get in a lot of endgame pve content but it's not that funny because the majority of the people in the groups I get is toxic if I say that it's my first time in (for example) vet KA or if I make a mistake. Great video:)

[@Gr_ywind]

As a veteran tank from other mmo's who's getting in to tanking in ESO this is my view on it pre-trial content, it is by far the most harrowing experience of any mmo to date, and I've been around since -98. Not because of difficulty, more because of the current power meta. You literally have no place to learn how to tank nor learn mechanics. Everything while levelling is speed runs, all normals at 50 are the same, non-DLC vets are too. Then you step in to harder content and you're expected to know everything, never screw up, while your healers and dps stand in stupid ad infinitum and you take the heat for most that go wrong. While this is the similar experience as many mmo's the power meta makes it so much noticable. It's becoming quite clear why there is a lack of tanks, they're highly sought after, one whiff that anyone's found a good new one and they're bombarded with group requests. Add to this that the dungeon finder is a swamp of ignorance and toxicity for the most part and it's no wonder tanks dodge it like the plague.

[@MattSteelmon]

exactly right imo. The dungeon finder is most folks point of entry into group content and the stage it sets for the tank is dismal and leaves a 'why bother' taste in your mouth. The tank is doomed well before bugs and broken mechanics become an issue.

[@jasonchui111]

Not sure what you are talking about, I play vet dungeons every day on pc NA and had played all roles. From my experience people don't complain about tank mistakes unless they are fake tanking. On the contrary I had witness pugs supporting new tanks with kind words on pug queues more so than mocking them. As for pug trials people don't complain at all as the expectation for pug runs is very low and people just leave without a word if they don't like the group.

[@Miohazuki78]

Unless you are trolling too hard as a tank .People don't say bad things

[@Gr_ywind]

Ah yes of course, and your experience invalidates everyone else's because if hasn't happened to you it cannot possibly be... Think before you speak my guys.

[@Miohazuki78]

@@Gr_ywind I have been playing eso since it launched .so yeah try harder to make. Up stories kid

[@derisathartfelt5293]

As a tank and healer coming from other MMO's, i tried to ask other players what tanks are like in ESO, and the answer literally infuriates me. Tanks arent supposed to grab aggro other then the boss. they are supposed to be responsible for all the debuffs and many buffs of the party. In my decades of experience as a tank in LOTRO, DDO, WoW, and tons of minor now dead ones, a tank must meet 3 requirements. 1) The ability to take and hold aggro, 2) the ability to mitigate the damage as much as possible, 3) and positioning. Apparently the consensus in ESO is that tanks only need to hold the boss, ignore adds, and DPS BOOST BOOST BOOST BOOST BOOOOOOOOST! The idea that I would even dream of using tormentors gets me constant ridicule, at this point, I don't even want to try and tank anymore. ESO doesnt have tanks. because there arent tank skills. there arent AoE taunts, there arent ranged taunts (i am not counting faction/rep skills) tanking roles, tanking base gear like sword and board, should have all of these innately, i shouldnt need undaunted to get a ranged aggro grab. ESO doesnt know what a tank is and the devs don't support what a tank needs todo so the CLUELESS AS FUCK player base has made up an idea of a tank and it's wrong. Their idea of a tank, does not grab and hold aggro, it does not mitigate the damage passively and rarely actively, and it relies solely on gear sets to TRY and obtain this instead of making it innate with gear ADDING onto it as a supplement instead of a main factor. I am going to tank my way, I am going to tell the clueless ESO community to fuck off and I will tank my own way. IF a tank skill debuffs the target, great, if i have to sacrifice my ability and ideology of tanking to fit it, then the ability gets dropped. (also hotbar swaps need to go away, if i can run a CP2077 extended quickslot mod with 9 MORE abilities on a controller then there is no reason we need 2 hot bars to manage abilities, button hold combinations are the answer to getting rid of that shit second bar and remaining controller friendly, just revamp the UI ffs) And if the community doesnt like, that, then make your own fking tank. Gonna repost this to reddit, then spend the day planning a tank build that actually meets the criteria that 25 years of MMO's have set in stone as a tank to this day. ESO didnt re-invent the wheel of tanking, they didnt deliver one in the first place.

[@aaronarroyoofficial]

Trying to get experience as a Tank is a Catch 22, to be honest.

[@johail3510]

Tank's my second favorite role after healer. Not a huge DPS fan unless it's a situation for like "lifesteal/Drain tank" or some situation with healer where damage dealt directly becomes healing given automatically or vice versa.

[@Charles-vl8xm]

Tank is my only charater and because of that I don't do vet dungons or trials, wayy too much pressure lol

[@ironkrieg3368]

10/10 on this analysis. I used to tank veteran raids in ESO, but no longer. The best way that I found to advance tanking skills was within a good guild setting. Guild members are much more patient and forgiving while training mechanics and such ('leet' guilds exceptioned, of course). Switched over to healer, but finally gave that up as well due to the overwhelming presence of 'fake' tanks in content. Oh well. Played ESO for many years, but everything ends eventually.

[@lillen141]

Im in new world 😂😂 good vid as always. Cheers m8.

[@almzz]

I love tanking but the gearing in ESO especially I find annoying. As a trial tank I'm expected to have a large number of sets with optimised traits and enchants which gets expensive quickly. By-and-large these sets are mostly about buffing the group's damage (or debuffing mobs) with only a few line items for tanking stats.

[@mborowski2010]

I just started building my first tank a month ago. A stamina DK. Do you have any suggestions for skills and gear?

[@rw7567]

I played mainly tank for 4 years. The toxicity of endgame groups made me drop eso altogether. Tanking felt like an mfing JOB rather than a GAME. Until they actually pay me for that torture, I’m not going back.

[@clauderoussaux1622]

I started eso as a tank but it made my solo content (questing) super long due to the lack of dmg. Then I switch for a warden dd butnir doesn't really affect my style. Kinda mad we can't do solo content easily in eso as in WoW or ff14.

[@INVICTA63]

I’ve been a tank since day dot, tried other roles at different points but by far prefer tanking. Used to do content with my friends where I tank and heal with my warden tank and they all dps. Great times but they are all gone now. Done everything but trails and made some amazing builds. Tanking is king, sad that the game is dying out especially in my region.

[@Dunkees]

I honestly love tanking in MMOs. While I'm still new to tanking in ESO, I'm trying to find out how to best be one and learn rotations.

[@MrCabledawg45]

I'm a tank in all games I play. I've mained Mt track in ESO stinky cats I can instantly que. But since I've gotten so strong on my dps a lot of players think that my dps is my main. I only bring my tank out when he's needed now. If I'm doing a trial, or running someone through to get a monster helm that's in a dlc dungeon. Other than that I'm on my dps all day. Another thing is we every time a new dlc is launched we know the new dungeon is going to be mech heavy so some tanks whittle rather go on a dps toon to learn it. If I'm online by myself I don't even pick up the dlc pledge. The pressure on a tank is real.

[@k-3402]

Very good points.

[@mrcrowz8614]

I'm back playing eso after 2 years.. I'm a tank 😅 And now I know why I can't heavy attack thanks Lee 🙏 always a good vid.. love crowz

[@BrieofCascadia]

I like the pressure, makes me feel like more of a badass when I succeed.

[@PalaceofVision]

We don’t have an issue with tanks or healers in our groups. Quite the opposite, we have at least 4 players who main on tanks and a number of other players who also play tanks. However, it’s a real challenge for someone to go from not tanking to being even vaguely accomplished, not simply because they need to understand every fight in the game, but because getting experience of tanking hard content requires 3 - 11 others players happy to watch you fail repeatedly as you get better. Sure, they’re probably also failing as you progress as a group, but it’s as much a challenge to find these players as it is to learn to tank. Resources like The Tank Club help enormously, but ZOS need to find a way to make tanking as integral part of the XP levelling system as DPSing is. Right now you gain XP by killing things, which is pretty much non-existant in the tank’s toolkit. There needs to be far more in-game resources, practice space and feedback for tanks, because currently there is none. As for non-tanks, if you want more tanks in your game, try being nice to them. Our tanks are every bit as essential and valuable to our groups as healers and DDs. And we love them as people too.

[@p0tat0_xo]

I love tanking, but if im in a dungeon and make one minor mistake everybody freaks out. I play for fun, don't need to hear how big of a fuck up I am in computer game as well..

[@kaleb0888]

I’m getting into eso tanking coming from wow rift an many other mmos tanking top 500 tank in the world on wow Eso pace for tank kinda throws me off with zero dmg just buff an debuffs but I’m learning and how super easy it is tho as well I’m getting into trials soon is there any way console can get mods for eso?

[@cujokills]

Yeah it's totally deplorable how low the tank population is. This is especially painful when you group up with others for dungeons and are forced to tank every single time because no one else has a tank or wants to give it a try. Good video though and always love your tank info. 😊

[@Bumbum_Inspector]

ESO tanking is just utter garbage and they honestly need to redesign it from the ground up in my opinion if they want to make it a more attractive role.

[@kanadagreeen]

​@@Bumbum_Inspector Meanwhile one-bar DDs: huh?

[@orbital78_]

@@kanadagreeen If enough people in the random queues took advantage of them, I would tank more often. I can tank most vet dungeons okay, even some dlc HM's but vet DLC trials I kind of gave up on. I play the game for a challenge but overall for FUN. There are hundreds of crafted and overland tank sets that have no real usefulness. So many sets could use a redesign/buff. For the most part I think experienced tanks mostly run with experienced friends or guildies so they know what exactly they are getting into. That after all is the benefit of being in a guild, having friends, and being a highly desired role when you're good at it.

[@newworldforward1842]

@@kanadagreeen One bar AFK builds(aka heavy attack) with taped down mouse button so they can go watch netflix while they are "playing" dps..

[@bloodbane7967]

thats the reason i made my tank. my friends and i could never get a queue in the early mornings so i decide to just make one to help us get into dungeons faster. now i love tanking lol

[@Pooter-it4yg]

Which addon gives the interrupt cue?

[@brerbear2858]

I have a tank that I play only when running dungeons as a duo with my dps friend. I refuse to queue as a tank because of the toxicity and while I'd love to learn to tank trials there just isn't any opportunity to learn since, as you said, everyone wants experienced tanks. I run vet trials on hardmode all the time... as a dps.

[@matthewbarnes7171]

I’ve always done healer. Love healing but tank has always seemed a bit daunting for me. I’m usually fine healing bc that’s all I’ve ever done lol

[@oscarovegren]

My issue with tanking is when the dps so is so terrible you literally fall asleep in content. Players damage dealing with SnB one bar spamming heroic slash in veteran dungeons is so frustrating. Tanking content with players with atleast average dps and either knowledge of mechanics or willingness to learn mechanics are just fun!

[@razzledazzleman9573]

I main dps but I love tanking. It’s just tank is just not necessary in a lot of the normal contents so I feel useless tanking. It only gets fun in vet contents so I feel like that’s the hurdle a lot of people fail to get over hence so few tanks in the game.

[@volkerxd8821]

Yeah and due to this you can't learn in normal and take that into vet dungeons.

[@kanadagreeen]

Normal content is not a content actually. Gameplay of everything designed as veteran. So tank is strictly required role unlike healer in most situations.

[@riot6508]

I agree with mostly everything EXCEPT the "tanks cant do questing and pvp and such" as true as that may be , with how easy it is to spec n respec now adays especially with addons that will do it in a button click if ur on pc i dont think it would affect number of tanks in general

[@slychick666ify]

I main as a trial healer for a very long time, still do however I switched to tanking about a year ago, i love it however I will not tank dungeons unless I know the players in the group purely based on the toxicity in pug runs these days not just aimed at tanks but aimed towards all pug roles, I mostly tank vet trials but I will only tank with prog groups that I know the players again not because Im nervous or lack skill its due to the toxicity in a huge number of groups/guilds. Im lucky that Ive not had toxic comments aimed at me when I had been in those groups but I didnt enjoy the run when people are yelling at each other and calling each other out for simply making a mistake whrn learning mechanics, Ive seen it mostly aimed at dps by other dps and its not a fun run for anybody so I dont waste my time with people like that. Recently had a dps who had been in a prog for 5 months who threw a tantrum because he wanted to solo portals in a vcr+3 prog and the trial lead wanted to put a 2nd dps in portal with him so the other dps could learn how to solo it and the 1st dps just quit the prog because he didnt want to have a 2nd dps in the portal, made the less experienced dps feel like shit. If experienced players chilled out and actually taught newer players then there wouldnt be such a shortage of good players for endgame content.

[@thecaptainhammer]

Hey, I just wanna give my perspective on this. ESO was my favorite game for years, and I was a tank main. I genuinely enjoyed it, and had tick tock and GH as tank and mini tank. I know that's probably not impressive now, but they were flex-worthy titles at the time lol. Anyways, I didn't quit because of bugs (except desynced AOEs, but that's not a tank exclusive bug), I quit because of how the content started being designed. Tanking didn't feel as active anymore after Kyne's Aegis. We started being expected to use a skill deliberately designed to be inconvenient (stonefist), while simultaneously being asked to hold block for 300k light attacks. It didn't feel like I was *fighting* the boss anymore, the way it did with Rakkhat, Zmaja, and the sunspire dragons (and Zaan, my favorite boss) having moves that were better blocked and some that were better dodged. There wasn't anything like the committee anymore. The Warrior had been dead for years even then. Cloudrest was the most fun I've ever had, I loved how different positioning of the minis was important depending on your group, and I loved how you could show your skill by tanking zmaja and a mini at the same time while the group recovered from a tank death. After Kyne's Aegis, you can't do that anymore. It felt like you have to hold block the whole time and sit in the healing AOEs. It was kind of like Monster Hunter or dark souls where sometimes the optimal thing to do was to just... pause. Just for a second. But now even though we're technically more active, I don't feel like I'm fighting anymore. I feel like I'm the bait, and that sucks.

[@misanthropicgamer9706]

I used to tank a lot and I was pretty good too! people were starting to recognize me on trials and they always praised me for my tanking skills. One day I decided to join one of those "endgame" guilds full of try-hards to prog TTT and on my first day our group lead decided to be really rude with me because I didn't started the count down before pulling boss. I know its silly but I never tanked again after that episode... then update 36 (or 35 I don't remember ) made me lose interest in combat stuff and now I only log in to do my daily writs and when I need to complete a dungeon for endeavors I use my healer lol F*** you all 🤣🤣🤣

[@volkerxd8821]

Not really silly you PLAY A GAME to have fun this is not a job that's always the biggest problem with tanking.

[@10PKOR24]

@@volkerxd8821 Even in a job setting you don't go off on somebody doing something wrong on day 1 either, it's just plain rude. It's not difficult to just go like "remember to throw the countdown before pulling for prebuff." Done.

[@volkerxd8821]

@@10PKOR24 pretty much

[@andrewcheung4262]

Imagine being emotionally traumatized by some neckbeard in your guild so hard that you mentally block yourself from tank. Imagine a musician dancing his pants off dancing his pants off on stage killing it until he farted and shat his pants. Crowd goes from having a good time to laughing at you as you run off the stage holding your bottom with two hands embarrassed and ruined such that you never want to perform again. That is you my friend.

[@makeytgreatagain6256]

@@andrewcheung4262 yep. He’s a sensitive little snowflake crying cos an 300lbs manlet neckbeard told him off in DC 😂

[@Grymlock]

I feel like the main reason for a decline in tanks is the drop in social ability in game. So when i started playing years ago you could join a guild and chat would be poppin but now its not like that because people are either completly focused on set farming or parsing. Parsing probably is the biggest decline in social aspect because you csn no longer be social and sweaty or it becomes a chore to do both. So as new players join they are finding they are alone until cp 1200ish then they find groups of jist frustrated people. I feel if this is gonna change it will be on expirienced players to change it. Big groups start taking in new players to teach. Everyone wants to be a score pusher but the comunity is dying as far as the good fellowship.

[@grimfocusgaming4391]

Mained a tank in eso for 6years. Loved main tanking, hated off tanking. Got comfortable on dps and healing, and frankly dps has so much less responsibility than support roles it’s kinda nice to turn off my brain and just play the game.

[@bentmercer]

I have an alt DK tank, it's a lot of fun

[@infexious]

As a low/mid-tier level tank myself-yes, I’m being as honest as possible-I have run in groups that have DDs who are used to high/top-tier tanks. This brings a level of ease for them and they forget the pressures demanded upon their roles to burn mobs. There will always be a need for a threatening/taunting meatbag in MMOs, and for those of us willing to endure that role for the sake of others, it’s a burden we are willing to carry. It’s satisfying to take that pressure, and when that final boss drops, whether it’s pugs jumping around on screen or the discord erupting with the jubilation of the last 40 mins of trying to kill this thing finally coming to a successful end: we tanks know we earned your thanks. 😎👍

[@richardwhite3521]

I’m new to eso, long time wow raider now on PlayStation, and while extremely different, I’ve got the hang of it and have been leveling through the pug system. And the amount of problems with THAT system and the frequency that you encounter them, requiring me to reconnect is unacceptable.

[@dragonwren1893]

I've been playing this game for a very long time now way back when nightblade tanks fear made things ran away now that being said I literally have three tanks that i made just so I can get dungeon Q's in a reasonable time 😂 like it takes forever if you are not Q up as a tank P.s if anyone's curious it's a nightblade tank a Templar tank and a sorcerer tank try to play all three of them very differently to add variety in playing a tank

[@HMCSrevenge]

I run normal dungeons all the time and never noticed a problem blocking. Is it a vet or pc issue? First mmo where I’ve done tanking and it took quite a while before I tried as I didn’t want to let everyone down but quite enjoyable once I tried it. Run probably a thousand mostly random groups and no one complains. Most say gg at end of run and complaining is very rare on PS NA anyway so give it a go if you’re on the fence about trying it. Pick selfish sets to start so you don’t die and grab the big monster. The other can deal with the ads. Once you get comfortable with that you can start buffing and debuffing

[@sostrongineedmoreofyourmon974]

Considering it’s totally possible to tank normal content completely naked with no front or backbar weapons, I’m not surprised you haven’t seen any block issues in your experiences. But, for the most part, block bugs aren’t common currently. There was one recent(and several historical) patch where the devs just flubbed hard and gave us a multitude of block bugs to deal with.

[@galloviking4766]

Huh. I remember I played this game long ago as a warden tank, and I quit because I did zero damage while on my own. Hasn't that been fixed at all..?

[@xavierharris4036]

It has not fellow warden tank

[@galloviking4766]

@@xavierharris4036'tis a sad day then, because I don't want to become a DPS 99% of the time.

[@xavierharris4036]

@@galloviking4766 Dps just want to see number go up; and health go down.

[@kriminallogic2283]

I started a tank, normal dungeons I’m basically trying to run and keep up with the group that’s burning through everything, get to a boss, taunt and it’s dead. Lol. Have to do a lot of reading to learn mechanics. Then you get to Vet, and all of a sudden it’s chaos, the mechanics breeze over a lot of people, so it’s work now. Trials is another bag, and it’s not friendly unless you have a group willing to learn forcing many into situations they arent comfortable with. Pressure. Otherwise the low queue times is great for a tank.

[@beautifulcereal6605]

Outside of something like vet trials or just very very high level difficult content is it still that stressful? Also does anyone have any tips on tanking cause I can manage agro but a lot of the time my dps doesn't have good dps and neither do I cause I'm tank, and (sorry for long comment) can anyone recommend any relatively easy+good tank builds cause I've been playing around with a few but they're very complicated. And one last thing I'm a high elf necro and I'm aware high elf isn't great for tank but surely it'd still do the job right? Ps. I'm coming up to 350 hours so I'm not very experienced

[@juliebeans7323]

I've just watched this video. I tihnk i understand why a tank and a dd can't find a slot in the RND queue....I am focussing on learning more and developing my tanking ability. I actually feel i bring more to my group of friends as a tank than a DD. I do like the role, but yes, the idea of joining a PUG on my own is terrifying. I cannot remember all the dungeon maps and often get turned about. I also know that there are some dungoens that i've never been into, usually because it's slightly harder content and the group just doesn't run them. As for trials, i haven't done all of those either - also due to not wanting to pug and look like an idiot. My biggest hasstle is that my ulti does not activate when i want it to. It can take 3 ot 4 presses of the button before it does.....meaning i've just had to wear and recover from a heavy hit and then it's a resource/health marathon to recover.....sometimes i don't and die on the next heavy - when i should have been able to survive. My biggest 'beef' is that some of the 'good' tanky sets are locked behind trials - and if we can't play thru them, how do we get the gear? The group i run with has joined forces with another guild, and have recently started pulling players from a thrid in order to complete trials.....we are familiar with each other and frequently pause to explain / remind about mechs/strategies.

[@nerdbomber]

Too much gear to farm for dungeon specific mechanics. I love tanking but grinding for gear is bs.

[@Despond]

It's pretty much one of easiest MMOs to gear and get to near max, you don't even need trial gear most of the BIS you can just get from normals and upgrade it easily yourself lol - and the sticker system alongside trait transmute makes it a joke. What year are you playing in?

[@LISSAxKIRA94]

@@Despond thats funny considering you need to do trials to get the best gear. and how do you get into trials? you have to grind the gear to start.

[@LISSAxKIRA94]

@@onikthur yea. Dungeon sets you need to grind for. Thank you for proving my point

[@Eweyhen]

I only tank for dungeons bc that’s the only content I enjoy tanking for, but even my tanks queue times are getting nuts now where I’m waiting well over 10 minutes. Like, I’m queueing around 8-9pm EST most days. It’s crazy

[@orbital78_]

People may be doing random pugs less often now, I know I have. As a diversity of transmute sources and less demand becomes a thing, people will only specific queue for the certain things they need and be done with it after that.

[@TaylorWeston]

When I solo queue as tank I get almost insta queue every time on PC-NA regardless of the time or day. When I queue along with 1 or 2 dps that wait goes up to 15 min.

[@ZenAkita]

well said

[@uro13]

Love tanking, hate block bugs. Finding a great guild helps with endgame progression.

[@andrealasorte7747]

i get that tanks are supposed to be tanks,but they should get some more damage scaling with HP to at least be able to complete some solo content it feels like you fight monsters with a rubber hammer,i think a tank should do at *least* 33% the DPS of a DPS character at equal gear/CP (assuming they're full DPSing and not blocking/buffing like they would in most group contents) and/or you push tanks into more selfish gear just make them more autonomous and be able to carry their group if they can manage to both DPS and play as a tank at the same time

[@digitaldiezel5870]

I loved tanking, but I had to stop when they broke it….Now the blocks feel allot better. So I’m back into it….

[@followthedmntraincjay]

Pressure and meta is the key thing I think. I REALLY enjoy tank but I hate meta-ing. I have the most fun when I'm allowed to use cool sets that look cool/have cool effects and fit my style like an ice set, vampiric set, stuff like that. However to tank people WANT you to use certain sets/classes/builds and will totally gatekeep let's say a templar tank that want to use a non-meta set. So yeah, I'm not tanking to them. Let me play the class I want with the set and skills I want. People should be glad you are tanking at all and not try to force you into some meta 3% more DPS bullshit. I already have a daily job where I have to do stuff I don't want. Not gonna do it in a game too.

[@wdeemarwdeemar8739]

So if you are switching from all divine to some reinforced, how many pieces are we thinking maybe 4?

[@TheTankClub]

I'm using zero reinforced personally because I can hit the resistance cap without it easily for the situations where resistance cap is worth it - really comes down to what content, how comfortable you are and your Class/Race

[@greghardcoretexan184]

Well said Tanks need loving too lol!!!

[@alexbrowne9566]

What you're describing isn't my experience. I'm tanking all day every day and U37 feels like a golden age for tanking. I'm in a more casual guild and they're all picking up support roles too

[@katec6489]

I'll tank for one of my guilds if they don't have any in a trial, but I can use my dps char to solo most dungeons, and I don't nag myself while I'm running them.

[@1848revolt]

Easy all the tanks are in pvp

[@lopaca97]

lol, true

[@charlessaxton8354]

Preach brother!!! The gospel truth.

[@tomdale8376]

I main tanked on PS, quit almost 2 years ago. Got TTT, IR, GH, GS and DB. After 5+ years of constant meta changes and set changes it just became tedious and annoying to constantly stay up to date. Also on tank when you play perfect and your raid team fails you time and time again it is taxing.

[@joshpalmer7118]

Good tanks are in their own core groups

[@erikdandurand3124]

Even as a tank the random doesn’t always deliver. I’ve had groups with all 4 roles filled and it wouldn’t que. the other night with a healer we couldn’t get in after 10 pm.

[@Bumbum_Inspector]

The dungeon finder also has a variety of massive bugs that Crownstore Studios refuses to acknowledge. If you run with only a tank and healer in the group, you'll likely have long to infinite queue times, but if you have tank, healer and 1 dps in the group and the dps player queues specifically, you'll get an instant queue. It's insanely stupid.

[@Despond]

@@Bumbum_Inspector yeah it's a really stupid bug atm with queueing

[@spencersmith5974]

I'll tell you what, the healers I've had in my harder content have not been easy on me, either for my benefit, to displace blame on themselves, or to help me maybe, or all the above. While I still need reps in many HM dungeons and trials, their not kind that I stepped in an AOE, but it's been more than 1/2 the time, the AOE or Cone effect tracks me so it's unavoidable so it's probably more of a need to pull off an ability to assist the healer in getting me through the damage. Also my time availabilities hurt my ability to get reps in. I also know that feeling of helping out for the sake of helping out in a role that people would punish you easily for alot of reasons and almost all of them are quite public and noticeable. I tell myself that everybody poops! haha. We all make mistakes and while it may be our fault people fail content at times you are still learning like everyone else. If other people can't grasp this, than they really have no business playing with you for both you and their sake, avoiding toxic people helps both parties really. I'll tell you what though, my #1 enemy as a tank is the loot goblins who want all the tank gear in Craglorn pug trials. I'm trying to get the rest of my Yoln, Alkosh, and Pearl. I won't be sweaty about it and it'll role all my way when it does, I swear this mindset has been my savior this past year in ESO.

[@dailydoseoffactsz]

Just Do dungeons without a healer mate :)

[@imthedevilkys536]

Join a small guild, youll probably be their only tank. Then play through stuff with them. Ignore toxic people. Being a tank is fun.

[@qjo5158]

Can anyone recommend a good nord dragonknight tank build? I haven't played in a while, so my old gear is apparently useless now lol 😂

[@landyfischer6275]

On mine, I have full Turning Tide, 4-Fortified Brass, Nazaray monster set, and sea serpent coil. Turning tide allows you to get Major Vulnerability on massive groups of enemies, Nazaray can extend that (and any other negative status effect currently on the enemy) by up to 30 seconds, and sea serpents coil adds a massive 40% damage reduction while at full health. That's with 0 cool down, so if you get hit, you have sea serpent damage shield (plus whatever damage shields you cast), them if the healer heals you one second layer, you have the 40% damage shield again. I rarely die with this build, and if your DPS guys know how to maximize damage, the enemy health bars absolutely melt once you proc Major Vulnerability.

[@PnoyBoi4Ever]

For non DLC vet and all normal modes, it's fun. But once it's DLC vet HM, vet trials, good luck. Either blame the tank or the DPS just can't parse high in pubs.

[@lgbfjb1183]

I used to love tanking,,, but with every single patch or dlc, they get nerfed into the dirt, the vampire changes was cool for damage but screwed vampire tanks, taking away the resource regens, the nerfs to total health, tank sets that let you stack HP, like plague doctor, over time, time and again tanks have been beat down

[@poseidon2083]

Currently, I am in need of lots of transmute crystals, so I'm doing dungeons on my 10 characters. My personal experience is that 90% at the time, you have fake tanks. If I had an option to do daily dungens solo, I would. Anyways I completely support your theory.

[@orbital78_]

In normals I don't mind it, as long as they are able to solo the dungeon on their own almost. Most of the time they are just cheerleaders screaming, "Carry me Daddy!" the whole run.

[@honorabilis1]

If i join a vet random and the dps is low i alt f4 it is intolerable after years of playing other than that i dont mind tanking

[@neneplays9980]

Used to only play tank, was the main tank in 2 major trial guilds. Tanking in this game went through many ups and downs, sadly the downs outweigh the ups, tank role changed drastically from pure tanking and survival, to buffing and managing group dps along with keeping everyone alive including yourself. No additional reward for tanking, more than 80% of the raid is your responsibility, if you wipe they blame you, if they didn't kill the boss fast enough they blame you for using a survivability ult instead of warhorn, and the list goes and goes... Quit ESO 3-4 years ago at CP over 1700 and will never come back to the game, but I still enjoy watching some content

[@siniister710]

I tank pubs and I like it, my biggest issue is people don't know how to play with a tank lol. I'm doing pulls and trying to keep everything stationary and face the boss away from my group etc but the dps morons just run around in circles, they just can't help themselves. Makes it harder for both tanks and healers.

[@devonpotts6101]

Or when they rush ahead and spread all the mobs out and make it next to impossible to group them all up for easy burst.. lol

[@siniister710]

@@devonpotts6101 like guys we could kill these 6 mobs in 5 seconds, please lol

[@xalor90]

I enjoy playing tank in most games I play, including ESO, but lately the game has not been fun for me due to the constant block bugs. Since most of my characters are tanks, it makes the game almost unplayable for me without learning a new role.

[@AWESOMENESS1724]

I've played tank in every single mmo I've ever played. Switched off tank in eso simply because the community besides guild runs were super toxic. If I didn't know the mechanics of a dungeon I'd constantly have people hopping on mic and trying to start an argument. Currently a dps.

[@imadudeplayingadudedisguis5842]

whats with the weird screen borders

[@MeMe-od3ow]

Taunt, get stunned, repeat. Eso tanking. Once awhile get called a fake tank or more often have people run ahead of you messing up group pulls. They also get toxic when you point this out. Tell me. Would you want to tank when that is the experience most of the time? This is also before doing any trials. -Cheers

[@pikewerfer]

I will always be a tank! But OH BOY does ZoS make it hard sometimes...

[@digitaldiezel5870]

ZOS screwed the tanks by messing up the blocking like a year ago and we all started doing Heavy Attack DPS.

[@ryostu1]

I played as a tank and first stopped playing with unknown players. It wasn't fun. The bugs made me stop doing trials and veteran content, even with players I knew. Now, I don't tank at all anymore.

[@Doodelz02]

My main was a PvE tank for >5yrs. You've listed precisely why I stopped. Missing imo is the fundamental game implications. I've recently sought "stickerbook completion" as a goal (nearing 8k incl. all undaunted dungeons). Pug tanks generally consist of 3 types. Great/fine, overtly aggressive, and/or fake. Yes I've seen fake tanks who taunt & a select few who knowledgeably control encounters. A few make up for < group utility with > damage. That's maybe 5%. Pause and think about new-to-ESO players contending with the rest. It's appalling (and many of their attitudes are typically worse still). Sole purpose? Not to help ... just to avoid DPS queues. Devs need to run and truly appreciate the long term harm to the game. Maybe a post-event "Uber rating". Good or 'No rating'? = fine. X% bad= "+15 min queue". "Weighted avge over time" to allow for imptoving. PLAY WHAT YOU WANT -- RESPONSIBLY! My 2g. [PS: If that's the 'stick', it would be good to have a carrot too.]

[@beardedhannibal7057]

I have random people ask me to be their tanks for dungeons. I’m a veteran tank that can do all pve content but I never have the opportunity to complete trials.

[@rd_z5657]

As an actual tank I've noticed when I que as dps there's no actual tank😭

[@ItzGenesis]

The responsibility to reward "rate" is kinda screwed, cause if you fuck up everyone dies, while if, for the majority of content, if the dps dies you just ress him. Also the capacity of impact, just like any "support" role on many games, is purely based on your dps, so if the dps is shit, it doesnt matter how many buffs you give em, 20% increased damage of 50k total group damage still only 10k. So you would be better literally light attacking as a dps. And thats a frequent occurrence, a dungeon that done in a normal rythm, not even speed running, that could be done in 10 minutes takes 20+, and the dps cp is like 2000. Its not a matter of wanting 100k dps players on your group, but its not pleasant to have all your worth deposited in to someone that have 7k hours on a game and its light attacking a wall

[@matthewdavis8251]

They should give bonus xp and rewards for tanks

[@doktorcool3740]

One thing you didn't mention regarding the need for tanks is that tanks aren't really required for normal dungeons, as evidenced by the fact that about 2-in-3 random dungeons runs I'm in have a fake tank with no notable consequences - even if a boss has aggro on a DD or healer, that DD/healer should be able to survive in normal mode. So tanks are really only needed in vet dungeons and raids. Tanking by the book in normal dungeons feels like a waste and basically slows down the group. Not very motivating. I would have liked to play my tank more, and I spent quite some time to learn the mechanics of a few veteran dungeons with some success. However the effort to learn the mechanics of ALL vet dungeons plus a bunch of raids (and then remember them when I play them again after weeks) just didn't work out for me. I never got beyond raids where the raid lead explained things before each battle. As a DD, things are much easier and while I may die because I didn't remember/recognize a mechanic, there are seven other DDs there to fill in / revive me.

[@DaniArrow]

Haven’t really noticed a change to be honest. 😅 It’s the same it’s been for the last 5 years. 😅