Arcanist Tank PvE Build ESO – Runeward

Build Written By: DoctorSarge – PS4 NA

Role: Tank

Patch: Scions of Ithelia

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Setup
   1. Gear
   2. Attributes
   3. Skills
   4. Vampire vs. Mortal
   5. Champion Points
   6. Other Important Info (Food, Mundus, Race, Potions, Passives)
3. Resource Management & Rotation
4. Contact Info
5. Update Log

Introduction

Welcome to the Runeward PvE Arcanist tank build for The Elder Scrolls Online! This build is great for all kinds of content: vet dungeons, off-tank or main tank for normal trials, and main or off-tank for veteran trials. The arcanist can provide several buffs and debuffs that were previously hard to obtain, as well as several ones specific to them, so this is a great choice!

Setup

Gear

Arcanist Tank PvE Build – Dungeon Gear
Gear Slot	Set	Weight	Trait	Enchant	Acquisition
Head	Archdruid Deyvic	Heavy	Sturdy	Prismatic	Vet Earthen Root Enclave
Shoulders	Archdruid Deyvic	Heavy	Sturdy	Prismatic	Undaunted Chest
Gloves	Turning Tide	Heavy	Sturdy	Prismatic	Shipwright’s Regret
Legs	Turning Tide	Heavy	Sturdy	Prismatic	Shipwright’s Regret
Chest	Turning Tide	Heavy	Sturdy	Prismatic	Shipwright’s Regret
Belt	Turning Tide	Heavy	Sturdy	Prismatic	Shipwright’s Regret
Boots	Turning Tide	Heavy	Sturdy	Prismatic	Shipwright’s Regret
Necklace	Powerful Assault	Jewelry	Infused	Magicka Recovery	Imperial City or Guild Trader
Ring	Powerful Assault	Jewelry	Infused	Magicka Recovery	Imperial City or Guild Trader
Ring	Powerful Assault	Jewelry	Infused	Magicka Recovery	Imperial City or Guild Trader
Weapon 1	Powerful Assault	1 hand	Decisive	Absorb Stamina	Imperial City or Guild Trader
Shield 1	Powerful Assault	Shield	Sturdy	Prismatic	Imperial City or Guild Trader
Weapon 2	Powerful Assault	Ice Staff	Infused	Crusher	Imperial City or Guild Trader

Gear Explanation

• Archdruid Devyric 
  • Allows us to keep up 100% uptime on Major Vulnerability pretty easily when combined with Turning Tide
• Turning Tide
  • Great source of Major Vulnerability and easy to use.
• Powerful Assault
  • A very powerful buff set that’s easy to use and gives you great stats as well.

Gear Explanation

• Crimson Oath’s Rive
  • With the changes to Alkosh, this will generally be better on a typical tank build if your group needs the penetration. 
  • This could be potentially not needed for several reasons, including but not limited to:
    • 1) A DPS is running Alkosh
    • 2) Your DPS are in mainly light armor
    • 3) You look at the penetration buffs that you can provide specifically as an Arcanist and determine those are enough for your group to reach the penetration cap
    • 4) You look at the other sets you or another person are wearing (such as Tremorscale) and determine those are enough for your group to reach the penetration cap
  • Please, please, PLEASE evaluate your group composition and needs beforehand and swap this out if needed. 

Alternative Gear (Regular Sets)

• Saxhleel – Allows for a longer burst phase from warhorns as well as still giving offensive buffs when you use a defensive ultimate.
• Worm’s Raiment – Great if you have magicka DPS and/or healers that need help with sustain.
• Pearlescent Ward – Must have for non-top end trial groups. Either provides a decent weapon and spell damage buff if everything is going good or a massive damage debuff if everything *isn’t* going good. Could get pushed out for other debuff sets if your group is not dying at all or is very quick at recovering, but most groups will want this
• Claw of Yolnahkriin – If the Arcanist skill that provides Minor Courage isn’t being utilized, then this is a vital set to have

Alternative Gear (Monster Sets)

• Bloodspawn – Good for ultimate generation and for keeping resistances up.
• Symphony of Blades – Great set to help allies’ sustain if you swap in a skill that can heal others. Best used on a healer now that Blood Altar no longer procs it, but you can still use it as long as you can actively keep up other skills, such as Energy Orb.
• Stonekeeper – Amazing self-sustain. Really good in situations where you need to block a lot.
• Lady Thorn – Mainly used as a self-synergy for Alkosh. The Major Maim *can* be nice if you time it correctly, but the uptime on the debuff is very short and the cooldown for being affected by it is very long.
  
• Tremorscale – Potentially useful for medium armor-heavy groups due to the powerful penetration debuff it gives.
• Vykosa – Good set to use if you need to temporarily reduce the incoming damage of a boss, such as the breath in vSS or Olms jumping/sending out storms in vAS.
• Encratis’s Behemoth – Great set for magicka groups and easy to proc. Just throw on a flame skill or inferno staff.
  
• Nazaray – Good set if you can coordinate it with your group. Mainly used to extend the duration of Major Vulnerability.
• Engine Guardian – A little unreliable, but overall a good self-sustain set.

NOTE ON JEWELRY TRAITS: These are what work for me. You can play just fine with the default traits or with a different setup.

Beginner Gear

• Armor: Torug’s Pact
• Jewelry & Weapons (SnB/ice staff): Akaviri Dragonguard
• Monster set: Bloodspawn
• Traits
  • Armor: All Sturdy
  • Jewelry: Healthy
  • Weapons: Decisive front, infused back
• Enchants
  • Armor: Health big, stamina small
  • Jewelry: 1 shield-play, 2 mag recovery
  • Weapons: Absorb Stam front, Crusher back

Note about Gear Weight & Traits

Full heavy and sturdy will give you the best sustain and survivability, but 5-1-1 and infused on big pieces is fine as well. Well-fitted can also be nice depending on the fight.

Attributes

What your attribute distribution is going to look like is based on the race you choose. You should have at least 38k health, but no more than 45k health unless you’re in a fight that needs high health. After that, dump the rest into stamina and magicka (just make sure to have more stamina than magicka). I personally try for around 38-40k health depending on the setup and situation.

Skills

Main Bar – 1h/Shield

• Runic Sunder
• Runeguard of Still Waters
• Rune of the Colorless Pool
• Cruxweaver Armor
• Impervious Runeward
• Ultimate: Reviving Barrier

Back Bar – Ice Staff

• Elemental Blockade
• Destructive Clench/Inner Fire
• Zenas’ Empowering Disc
• Vigor/Flex
• Silver Leash/Flex
• Ultimate: Aggressive Horn

Skill Explanations

• Runic Sunder
  • Our main taunt. Applies a unique penetration debuff, applies Minor Maim, generates crux, and reduces damage taken. It’s a must-slot. Just make sure to have a source of Major and Minor Breach somewhere in the group.
• Runeguard of Still Waters
  • Provides you and the group Minor Resolve, yourself Minor Protection, and then acts as an emergency heal that pops when you go below half health. Great overall skills. I prefer this morph in general since it can help in add pulls, but the other morph can be used as well.
• Rune of the Colorless Pool
  • Applies Minor Vulnerability and Minor Brittle to the target. Extremely useful. If your group doesn’t need Minor Brittle to reach the crit damage cap and your group has another source of Minor Vulnerability, then this can be swapped out. The other morph can also be used as a substitute for Silver Leash if wanted, which can also be useful in dungeons.
• Cruxweaver Armor
  • Our Major Resolve skill that also provides two other useful effects: generating crux and applying Minor Breach, which provides one of the two checkboxes for replacing Pierce Armor. Do note that you have to be consistently taking damage for this to be applied, however.
• Impervious Runeward
  • Our main source of healing that comes in the form of a big shield and big heal. This feels weird to use at first if you are used to on-demand burst heals since the heal on this only procs when you have crux, but it very quickly becomes super fun to use.
• Reviving Barrier
  • A good defensive ultimate, but it’s more of a flex spot. I mainly have it slotted for the Magicka Recovery and almost always use Warhorn. Can be swapped out for Gibbering Shield (either morph is fine, but  Gibbering Shelter is a more direct replacement). This could especially be useful if you don’t have your Support maxed out yet and don’t have upwards of 2580 mag recovery as the Wellspring of the Abyss passive could provide more mag recovery than the Magicka Aid passive.
• Elemental Blockade
  • Used to keep up Crusher
• Destructive Clench/Inner Fire
  • Our range taunt options. I normally go with Clench for the Major Maim (you already provide Minor Brittle). In contrast, Inner Fire doesn’t provide anything super useful, but can also be used if not using an ice staff. Use what is right for you.
• Zenas’ Empowering Disc
  • An extremely useful skill and the whole reason we can replace Yolnahkriin. This can sometimes be hard to use as a tank, especially as a main tank in trials, so evaluate the usability of this skill (or if it is provided by another player) and plan your bar setup/sets accordingly. 
• Vigor/Flex
  • Both a self-heal and usable as a proc for Powerful Assault. Can be swapped out for another skill if wanted to proc PA or entirely if PA is not being worn and the heal isn’t needed.
• Silver Leash/Flex
  • The equivalent of Unrelenting Grip on a Dragonknight. Very important for stacking smaller adds. Flex spot if that is not needed.
• Aggressive Warhorn
  • Our main ultimate, and for good reason. It increases ally’s magicka and stamina pools by 10% for 30 seconds and gives Major Force for 10 seconds, which is a big DPS boost.

Other Good Skills

A list of other good skills to have to swap bars around.

• Deep Thoughts
  • Can be slotted passively for another shield while blocking or used as a source of resource management if you’re in a situation where you can use it.
• Absorb Missile
  • Decent in places like Rakkhat in vMoL if you need help healing through projectiles. The other morph is also good in places like vSS if you’re range tanking Lokkestiiz or as a passive slot, although it’s effective values from the passive slot bonuses don’t add up to much.
• Crushing Shock
  • A ranged interrupt. Very useful if there are things you have to interrupt but you or your group will be separated from the target.
• Race Against TIme
  • Major Expedition for 4 seconds and 2 seconds of snare immunity can be useful in niche situations.
• Overflowing Altar
  • Heals all allies attacking enemies in the radius and provides a great synergy if someone drops to low health. No longer procs sets such as Symphony though, so be weary if that’s what you want to use it for
• Efficient Purge
  • An AoE purge that may be necessary to use over Extended ritual if you need it to affect everyone within its range. Very expensive so be careful while using it.
• Spell Symmetry
  • Alternative source of magicka management
• Turn Evil
  • Great skill if you need a stun for adds. Also gives allies Minor Protection and Minor Endurance for standing in it, so it’s also beneficial to your group
• Heroic Slash
  • Consistent source of Minor Maim as well as Minor Heroism. Great skill if you have the bar space for it.
• Invasion
  • Good if you need a gap closer

Vampire vs. Mortal

Neither vampire nor werewolf is recommended for this build, as they do not give us any benefits that we need.

Champion Points

The list below showcases the order in which champion points should be acquired, the number of points you need to place into that perk and whether or not it needs to be slotted in the CP bar. The Warfare CP perks increase your damage and mitigation and are the most important, the Fitness tree has some miscellaneous sustain and defensive perks and the Craft tree has crafting and non-combat bonuses. The Craft CP points are entirely customizable to however you want, or you can follow the list below.

CHAMPION POINT SETUP
WARFARE (BLUE)

• Tireless Discipline (10)
• Quick Recovery (10)
• Preparation (20)
• Hardy (10)
• Elemental Aegis (10)
• Duelist’s Rebuff (50) (Slotted)
• Enduring Resolve (50) (Slotted)
• Unassailable (50) (Slotted)
• Ironclad (50) (Slotted)
• Hardy (10)
• Elemental Aegis (10)
• Tireless Discipline (10)
• Eldritch Insight (20)
• Quick Recovery (10)
• Blessed (20)
• Piercing (10)
• Flawless Ritual (40)
• Precision (20)
• Focused Mending (50) (Flex Slot)
• Preference past this point

FITNESS (RED)

• Boundless Vitality (50) (Slotted)
• Fortified (50) (Slotted)
• Rejuvenation (50) (Slotted)
• Sprinter (10)
• Hasty (8)
• Tireless Guardian (10)
• Fortification (30)
• Tireless Guardian (10)
• Hasty (8)
• Hero’s Vigor (20)
• Shield Master (10)
• Bastion (50) (Slotted)
• Tumbling (30)
• Defiance (20)
• Expert Evasion (50) (Flex Slot)
• Strategic Reserve (50) (Flex Slot)
• Tempered Soul (25)
• Spirit Mastery (50) (Flex Slot)
• Tempered Soul (25)
• Preference after this point

CRAFT (GREEN)

• Gilded Fingers (10)
• Fortune’s Favor (10)
• Wanderer (15)
• Steadfast Enchantment (50)
• Rationer (30) (Slotted)
• Steed’s Blessing (50) (Slotted)
• Professional Upkeep (50) (Slotted)
• Liquid Efficiency (75) (Slotted)
• Breakfall (50)
• Soul Reservoir (33)
• Gilded Fingers (40)
• Fortune’s Favor (40)
• Wanderer (60)
• Preference past this point

Other Important Info

Buff Food

Bewitched Sugar Skulls – a ton of stats in all 3 resources, which is just what we need

Mundus

Atronach – Significantly boosts our magicka recovery, making it even easier to manage. Can also use the Steed if you need speed.

Race

1. Nord is #1 for sure. Nice health + Stam stats, ultimate regeneration, and 2.6k resistances combined are amazing. Resistances aren’t exactly needed, but make hitting the cap easier and you don’t have to spend as many resources to get there.
2. Orc is great too. Again nice health + stamina stats, the Sprint passives are great, and a little passive healing. 
3. Imperials are good too. Highest health + stam and some sustain help. The stat difference between them and Nords are 1k health though, and the resistances and ult gen out match the sustain.
   
4. Argonian is ok. They have some extra healing and sustain help through their potion passive. Great for beginners but other races are better for higher skill players.

Potions

Essence of Health (Restore Stamina, Magicka and Health)
(Bugloss, Columbine and Mountain Flower)

Passives

• Class (all)
• One Hand and Shield (all)
• Destruction Staff (If using it)
  • All EXCEPT Tri-Focus
• Heavy Armor (all)
• Fighter’s Guild
  • Intimidating Presence
  • Slayer
  • Banish the Wicked
• Psijic Order (All)
• Mages Guild (If using Spell Symmetry)
  • All EXCEPT Might of the Guild
• Undaunted (All)
• Support
  • Magicka Aid
• Racial (All)

Resource Management & Rotation

Because it’s a tank build, there really isn’t a rotation. You’ll just want to make sure you keep your buffs up, taunt bosses and dangerous adds, and keep Elemental Blockade up and positioned correctly to proc Crusher on priority targets. Also, you pretty well always use Warhorn. Barrier is there for the extra magicka recovery and is only used as an “Oh, shoot!” button.

Contact

If you have any questions about the build, join our discord server and ask @DoctorSarge about the build!

Update Log

7/5/2023 – Build created
8/31/2023- no updates for update 39
11/30/2023- no changes for update 40
3/28/2024 – updated skills