Sharp-as-Night Companion Tank Build For ESO
The WINTER SOLDIER build is a powerful option for Sharp-as-Night as a Companion Tank in The Elder Scrolls Online. Sharp-as-Night is one of two Companions available to ESO players that purchase the Necrom Chapter. Sharp’s skills are similar to that of the Warden class, so his defensive-based frost magic skills will be especially useful in a Tank role.
Equipping Your Companion With Gear
Companion Gear pieces are rarely dropped from enemies in ESO, with a greater drop chance from bosses in Overland Zones, Dungeons and Trials. Keep in mind also that Companion Gear will only drop for you if your Companion is currently summoned – no companion, no drops!
Companion Gear is tradable and can be sold by other players so it is possible to find what you’re looking for from a variety of sources. Finally, some Merchants in major cities do also sell basic Companion Gear, but without any traits.
For more information on the best places to farm Companion Gear, make sure to check out our Companion Gear Guide.
Companion Gear Traits and Quality
Companion Gear is basic equipment that offers a static Armor Bonus or Damage Stat plus Companion specific traits. These 9 unique Companion Gear Traits further customize your Companion’s combat role for tanking, healing or DPS.
The 9 Companion Gear Traits are:
- Aggressive – Increases Companion Damage Done per piece equipped.
- Augmented – Increases duration of all Companion Buffs and Debuffs per piece equipped.
- Bolstered – Reduces Companion Damage Taken per piece equipped.
- Focused – Increases Companion Critical Strike Rating per piece equipped.
- Prolific – Increases Companion Ultimate Generation per piece equipped.
- Quickened – Reduces Companion Ability Cooldowns per piece equipped.
- Shattering – Increases Companion Penetration per piece equipped.
- Soothing – Increases Companion Healing Done per piece equipped.
- Vigorous – Increases Companion Maximum Health per piece equipped.
Recommended Traits For Sharp-as-Night As A Companion Tank
When building Sharp-as-Night into a Tank Companion, the most important thing you can do is boost his Maximum Health. The recommended Companion Trait for this build to help in that regard will be Vigorous. Below you will find a sample build template with optimized Companion Armor weights and traits. Keep in mind that this is just a template and you can mix and match pieces however you see fit or depending on which Armor pieces you have available. Each piece makes a small difference in the overall power of a Companion Build, but combined they can be quite powerful!
Sharp-as-Night Tank Build Equipment
Here are the Companion Gear pieces, weights, and traits I recommend for Sharp-as-Night as a Tank.
| Weapon/Armor | Trait | Weight |
| Any One Handed Weapon | Vigorous | NA |
| Shield | Vigorous | NA |
| Head | Vigorous | Heavy |
| Shoulder | Vigorous | Heavy |
| Chest | Vigorous | Heavy |
| Waist | Vigorous | Heavy |
| Gloves | Vigorous | Heavy |
| Legs | Vigorous | Heavy |
| Feet | Vigorous | Heavy |
| Necklace | Vigorous | NA |
| Ring 1 | Vigorous | NA |
| Ring 2 | Vigorous | NA |
As you can see, all the recommended armor pieces are in Heavy weight as these have the best Companion Passives for damage mitigation. Vigorous is the most useful trait as this increases Sharp’s maximum Health, which also helps to improve some of his abilities that scale with maximum Health such as Snow Squall. If needed, other traits can be mixed in such as Bolstered and Quickened, though you will still want Vigorous for a majority of pieces.
Sharp-as-Night Companion Tank Skill Bar
Companions utilize a “Priority and Cooldown” system for combat. This works by giving every companion ability a cooldown of several seconds. Companions then can cast each ability as it comes off cooldown according to the skill order assigned on the companion skill bar. The Companion will attempt to cast each skill in order from the first ability to the last, then reset once all the cooldowns have expired. For more information on Companion Skills and Cooldowns, check out the Full Companion Guide.
Primary Skills
1. Sleetmail
2. Provoke
5. Snow Squall
6 ULT. Gore
Additional Skills
The skills below may also be helpful in other situations such as trash pulls for extra AOE damage and stun potential.
Sharp-as-Night Companion Tank Passives
| Survivalist | Increases Physical and Spell Resistance by 3% and Healing Done by 3%. |
| Firmness | Increases healing received by 1% for each piece of Heavy Armor equipped. Current bonus: 7%. Increases the amount of damage blocked by 1% for each piece of Heavy Armor equipped. Current bonus: 7%. |
Build Tips For Sharp-as-Night As A Tank
The WINTER SOLDIER build for Sharp-as-Night is focused primarily on Damage Reduction and healing skills to help Sharp survive against hard-hitting bosses. As you are leveling up Sharp he may need some extra support from your own healing and shields before he gets fully optimized.
To see this companion build and more in action, check out the video below!
More Sharp-as-Night Builds For ESO
Want to see more options for Sharp-as-Night builds? Check out the guides below!
More Companion Guides For ESO
Sharp-as-Night Companion Healer Build For ESO – VERDANT SHAMAN
The VERDANT SHAMAN build is a great support option for Sharp-as-Night as a Companion Healer in The Elder Scrolls Online utilizing powerful healing and support skills.
Sharp-as-Night Companion DPS Build For ESO – BEAST CALLER
The BEAST CALLER build is a powerful option for Sharp-as-Night as a Companion DPS in The Elder Scrolls Online focused on the bow and long range damage!
Sharp-as-Night Companion Tank Build For ESO – WINTER SOLDIER
The WINTER SOLDIER build is a powerful option for Sharp-as-Night as a Companion Tank in The Elder Scrolls Online with strong defensive and utility options.
