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Necromancer Class
Build Overview
The most Powerful Necromancers are not only capable of raising armies of Undead Minions but can also create unpenetrable barriers made of Flesh and Bone. With these barriers and the help of powerful Necromantic rituals, they can shrug off even the most lethal incoming attacks. Necromancer's ability to raise his Health pool, combined with his potent Self-Heal abilities, makes him a real contender for the future best Tank in Elder Scrolls Online. Important Note: We recommend a Nord as a Race for Tank Necromancer.
We have decided to feature only one item set based on the best items for general usage. There are better setups for certain encounters and tweaks for either Boss fights or AoE clearing. If you would like alternative gear options included please let us know in the comments section below.
Pros | Cons |
Great Survivability | Not suited for Solo play |
Very potent Self-Healing | Necromancer was nor released yet, so this build did not have a chance to prove itself |
Very good Defensive capabilities | Playing as a Tank generally requires a lot of game experience |
Very good Sustain |
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Attributes Priority
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Primary Skillset
[One-Handed Weapon and Shield - Control/Defensive Bar]
Agony Totem (Necromancer: Bone Tyrant, morphed from Bone Totem) - Places a Bone Totem at your feet that reduces all your Damage taken by 8%. 2 seconds after its placement, the Totem instills Fear in nearby enemies, holding them in place for 4 seconds. Allies can activate Pure Agony Synergy, dealing 150 Magic Damage to nearby Targets over 5 seconds, and increasing Damage taken by nearby Targets by 8%. Great CC ability combined with minor Damage Taken decrease and minor Damage Dealt increase. Solid and versatile. | |
Pierce Armor (Weapon: One-Handed and Shield, morphed from Puncture) - taunts the enemy, forcing him to attack you for 15 seconds, decreases his Psychical and Spell Resistances by 5280 for 12s, and Deals Moderate Psychical Damage. Great Single-Target taunt which doubles as a nice debuff. This is one of your primary abilities. | |
Heroic Slash (Weapon: One-Handed and Shield, morphed from Low Slash) - deals High Physical Damage reducing Enemy's Movement Speed by 60% and Damage Done by 15% for 12 seconds; also grants you 1 Ultimate per 1.5s for 9s. Very good for incoming Damage reduction, and Ultimate generation - great, flexible ability overall. | |
Beckoning Armor (Necromancer: Bone Tyrant, morphed from Bone Armor) - You cover yourself with Hardened Bones, gaining Major Ward and Major Resolve, which increase your Spell and Physical Resistances by 5280 for 18 seconds. While active, Beckoning Armor also pulls Ranged Enemies towards you every 3 seconds. A Corpse is created when this ability fades. Solid and long-lasting defensive cooldown combined with a Ranged Enemy Grouping ability which makes fighting scattered Enemies much easier. | |
Spirit Guardian (Necromancer: Living Death, morphed from Spirit Mender) - Summons a Ghost that stays by your side for 16s, and heals you and your allies for 245 Health during that time every 2 seconds. 10% of your Damage received is transferred to the Ghost. Ghost creates a corpse when it dies. Strong HoT-like ability combined with a Damage Reduction. This also activates your Undead Confederate Passive, increasing your Magicka and Stamina recovery by 300. | |
Ultimate: Ravenous Goliath (Necromancer: Bone Tyrant, morphed from Bone Goliath Transformation) - Transform yourself into a Bone Goliath, immediately restoring 30000 Health and increasing your Maximum Health by 30000 for 20 seconds. While in Goliath form, your Fully Charged Heavy Attacks restore 437 Health and your Light Attacks restore 174 Health. You also deal 5% of your Maximum HP in Damage to nearby Targets every second. You restore Health equal to all Damage dealt that way. The God-Mode button. It makes you almost indestructible for 20 seconds and makes you deal solid AoE Damage while active as well. |
Secondary Skillset
[One-Handed Weapon and Shield - Support/AoE/Heal Bar]
Inner Rage (Guild: Undaunted, morphed from Inner Fire) - forces an Enemy to Attack you, and deals Moderate Magic Damage. Ranged attacks against your Target have a 35% chance to activate the Radiate Synergy dealing Magic Damage to the Taunted Target and additional Magic Damage over 2 seconds to all nearby Enemies. A ranged Taunt ability combined with very strong RNG-based AoE proc, very useful for forcing Targets attention from a distance. | |
Necrotic Potency (Necromancer: Bone Tyrant, morphed from Bitter Harvest) - Siphons last signs of life from fresh Corpses, Immediately granting you 6 Ultimate (per corpse consumed) and Healing you for 325 HP per second for 2 seconds per each corpse consumed. This ability scales with NEcromancer's Maximum Health and reduces all his Damage Taken by 3% when slotted. Very potent Ultimate generator combined with strong Self-Heal. Passive damage reduction also slightly increases Necro's survivability. | |
Avid Boneyard (Necromancer: Grave Lord, morphed from Boneyard - Creates a desecrated area under your Target's feet, dealing 2244 Frost Damage over 10 seconds, the damage is increased by 20% if a Corpse is consumed on the cast. You or an Ally standing within the Skill's area of influence can activate the Grave Robber Synergy, dealing additional 1193 Frost Damage to all Targets in range, and healing the Necromancer for an amount equal to the additional Damage Done. Versatile AoE ability with a strong Self-Heal attached. This has a very strong synergy with the Sanguine Altar. | |
Sanguine Altar (Guild: Undaunted, morphed from Blood Altar) - applies Minor Lifesteal to all enemies in the area; Damaging affected enemies will restore 600 Health per second to the Attacker. Allies can also heal themselves for 40% of their Maximum Health by activating the Blood Funnel synergy. A group healing ability which boosts your and your team's survivability greatly. | |
Hexproof (Necromancer: Living Death, morphed from Expunge) - Remove up to 4 Negative Effects from yourself at the cost of losing 1940 Health. While slotted, this ability reduces the cost of all your skills by 3%. "Free" Cleansing ability that also helps you with Sustain. | |
Ultimate: Aggressive Horn (Alliance War: Assault, morphed from War Horn) - increases Magicka, Health, and Stamina of all Group members by 10% for 30 seconds, and Critical Strike Damage by 15% for 8s. Very strong Group-wide Damage increase cooldown, and one of the strongest Ultimates overall. This ability is especially great for execute phases because it increases your Group's Damage output massively. Don't forget that the 10% stat increase also greatly affects your Survivability. |
Notable Passive Skills
Below you will find a list of the notable Passive Skills for this build. Please keep in mind that there are dozens of good passive skills for Tank Builds available in the game, which provides a lot of space for customization, and tweaking. You should view the below-described passive abilities as rough guidelines that should be followed in order to optimize your character. | |
Corpse Consumption (Necromancer: Living Death) - You generate 10 Ultimate when you use an ability on a Corpse. This effect has a 16-second internal Cooldown. More Ultimate is always great | |
Last Gasp (Necromancer: Bone Tyrant) - Increases your maximum Health by 2000. Survivability booster, more Health equals a lower chance of dying randomly | |
Undead Confederate (Necromancer: Living Death) - Your Stamina and Magicka recovery is increased by 300 when you have a Necromancer summon active. This is a must-have, as it gives you constant bonus to Stamina regeneration when combined with your Skeletal Archer | |
Rapid Rot (Necromancer: Grave Lord) - Your Damage Over Time effects now deal 10% increased Damage. Flat out Damage increase | |
Dismember (Necromancer: Grave Lord) - Increases your Physical and Spell Penetration by 1500 when a Grave Lord ability is active. This will provide you with some extra DPS | |
Near-Death Experience (Necromancer: Living Death) - Your Critical Strike with Healing Skills is increased in proportion to the severity of your Target's wounds (up to 20% bonus Critical Chance) if you have a Living Death ability slotted. This might just save your life in desperate situations | |
Curative Curse (Necromancer: Living Death) - Your Healing Done is increased by 8% while you have a Negative Effect active on you. As a Tank, you will have Negative effects on you all the time, so this will supplement your Self-Healing nicely | |
Death Gleaning (Necromancer: Bone Tyrant) - Every enemy that dies within a 28-meter radius around you restores you some Stamina and Magicka if you have a Bone Tyrant ability slotted. This effect has a 2-second internal Cooldown. This will help with your Sustainability | |
Fortress (Weapon: One-Handed and Shield) - reduces the cost of Blocking by 36% and the cost of your On-Handed and Shield abilities by 10%. This passive will help you preserve your resources. | |
Sword and Board (Weapon: One-Handed and Shield) - increases the amount of Damage you can Block by 20%, and your Weapon Damage by 5%. Survivability and Offense booster in the form of one passive. | |
Deflect Bolts (Weapon: One-Handed and Shield) - increases the amount of Damage you can Block from Ranged Attacks and Projectiles by 15%. Another solid survivability booster. | |
Constitution (Armor: Heavy Armor) - increases your Health recovery by 4% per piece of Heavy Armor equipped, and restores 186 Stamina and Magicka per piece of Heavy Armor equipped when you receive a hit (this effect has 4-second internal Cooldown). This helps with your Sustain massively and improves your Survivability by a bit. | |
Juggernaut (Armor: Heavy Armor) - increases your Maximum Health by 2% per piece of Heavy Armor equipped. Mandatory passive for every Tank; it will massively contribute to your Health Total. | |
Rapid Mending (Armor: Heavy Armor) - your Heavy Attacks restore 25% more Stamina or Magicka, and your healing received is increased by 8%. Solid Sustainability and Survivability booster. | |
Undaunted Command (Guild: Undaunted) - restores 4% of your Maximum Magicka, Stamina, and Health each time you activate an ally's Synergy. Nice Sustain boost combined with some Healing. | |
Undaunted Mettle (Guild: Undaunted) - increases your Maximum Stamina, Health, and Magicka by 2% per type of Armor equipped. This will boost your Resource pool, improve your Sustain by a bit, and increase your Survivability by improving your Health total. |
Gear
Recommended Items and Sets: | ||
Chest: Ebon Armory Set | ||
Type: Heavy | Trait: Infused | Glyph: Tri-Stat Enchant |
Legs: Ebon Armory Set | ||
Gloves: Heavy | Trait: Infused | Glyph: Tri-Stat Enchant |
Gloves: Ebon Armory Set | ||
Type: Heavy | Trait: Sturdy | Glyph: Tri-Stat Enchant |
Boots: Ebon Armory Set | ||
Type: Heavy | Trait: Sturdy | Glyph: Tri-Stat Enchant |
Belt: Ebon Armory Set | ||
Type: Heavy | Trait: Sturdy | Glyph: Tri-Stat Enchant |
Head: Lord Warden Set | ||
Type: Medium/Light | Trait: Infused | Glyph: Tri-Stat Enchant |
Shoulder: Lord Warden Set | ||
Type: Light/Medium | Trait: Sturdy | Glyph: Tri-Stat Enchant |
Necklace: Roar of Alkosh Set | ||
Type: Jewelry | Trait: Infused | Glyph: Block Cost Reduction |
Ring 1: Plague Doctor Set | ||
Type: Jewelry | Trait: Infused | Glyph: Block Cost Reduction |
Ring 2: Plague Doctor Set | ||
Type: Jewelry | Trait: Infused | Glyph: Block Cost Reduction |
Weapon 1: Roar of Alkosh Set | ||
Type: One-Handed Weapon | Trait: Infused | Glyph: Crusher Enchant |
Secondary 1: Roar of Alkosh Set | ||
Type: Shield | Trait: Infused | Glyph: Health Enchant |
Weapon 2: Roar of Alkosh Set | ||
Type: One-Handed Weapon | Trait: Decisive | Glyph: Weakening Enchant |
Secondary 2: Roar of Alkosh Set | ||
Type: Shield | Trait: Sturdy | Glyph: Health Enchant |
Sets used in this build: | ||
Ebon Armory: Jewelry, Weapons and Heavy Armor, bound on pickup Dungeon set. A very solid choice for any Tank who wants to Support his group members more. As a part of the Base Game, it can be obtained from Crypt of Hearts I and II in Rivenspire.The set grants the following bonuses:
Lord Warden: A Helm and Shoulder Light, Heavy and Medium Armor Monster set. It requires the Imperial City DLC and can be obtained from the last Boss of the Veteran mode Imperial City Sewers (Helm), and from the Urglarg Chief-Bane's Chest by using Undaunted key on it (Shoulder). Traits and Weight of these set items are RNG-based. The set grants the following bonuses:
Roar of Alkosh: a Stamina-based Medium Armor, Weapons and Jewelry Trial set. Despite being a Medium Weight it is one of the best PvE sets for Tanks (because a 5-item set bonus is best suited for a person who stands in front of a boss all the time). The Roar of Alkosh is a part of the Thieves Guild DLC and can be acquired from the Maw of Lorkhaj Trial. Wearing this set will grant you:
Plague Doctor: an Overland Heavy Armor, Weapons and Jewelry set, which provides a very high Health boost to both beginner and experienced Tanks. As the Overland drop in Deshaan and a part of the base game, it can be acquired quite easily by farming or alternatively just bought from other players. Wearing this set will grant you:
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Champion Points
High priority |
The Apprentice: Blessed The Tower: Warlord The Shadow: Shadow Ward, Tumbling The Attronarch: Master-at-Arms The Steed: Ironclad |
Medium priority |
The Lady: Elemental Defender, Hardy, Thick Skinned The Attronarch: Physical Weapons Expert The Lover: Tenacity The Apprentice: Elfborn |
Low priority |
The Lord: Quick Recovery, Heavy Armor Focus The Tower: Bashing Focus, Sprinter The Apprentice: Spell Erosion |
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END NOTE This is the premiere version of our Tank Necromancer Pocket Build for Elder Scrolls Online. We believe that this has the potential to become one of the Best Tank setups in the game. If we missed a piece of information which is important to you, please let us know in the comments section below. We plan to expand this guide by adding customization options for certain encounters and alternative gear options in the foreseeable future. |
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