If you’re a tank in ESO, your build will need damage reduction, healing, and resources. These are our 10 best monster sets ranked to make you an overpowered tank!
This guide has been updated for the Update 46, the Season of the Worm Cult of the Elder Scrolls Online (ESO).
Similar to Healers, tanks in Elder Scrolls Online do more than merely survive. A tank must survive primarily, but also buff, debuff, and keep the party alive with taunts and aggro. As you start off tanking, you’ll want monster sets with healing and resource sustain too. As you progress, and enter into coordinated PvE and trials, you will start to use more damage added sets for faster kills and content clears. Therefore, this best monster helms for tank list compiles the top 10 ranked sets that any tank should use in ESO!
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The Top 10 Best Tank Monster Sets in ESO
Archdruid Devyric, Tremorscale, and Nazaray are the best monster sets for tanks to use in the Elder Scrolls Online (ESO). Archdruid gives you on demand 10% increase damage to an enemy via major vulnerability debuff. Tremorscale strips armor of an enemy increasing your overall damage, and it’s a base game monster set. Nazaray extends debuffs on enemies and can be used in conjunction with another healer or player running Archdruid for massive uptime on key debuffs.
Below are the top 10 from best to worst:
- Archdruid Devyric: best for overall damage, requiring a heavy attack for proc.
- Tremorscale: great for dungeon content and with medium armor users.
- Nazaray: second only to Archdruid in trials content with debuff extension.
- Lord Warden: a beginner trials monster helm adding armor to players standing in orb.
- Bloodspawn: great PvP monster helm because of ultimate on proc.
- Encratis’s Behemoth: good monster if using flame damage heavy magicka builds in group.
- Engine Guardian: beginner resource sustain and health monster helm.
- Swarm Mother: useful for non-dragonknight who want a pull, pulling enemies to you automatically.
- Roksa the Warped: incredible resource sustain monster set, though geared towards PvP.
- Scourge Harvester: best beginner monster helm for health.
10. Scourge Harvester
Scourge Harvester
LVL 50 – CP 160
SET BONUS
(1 item) Adds 1206 Maximum Health
(2 items) When you take damage, you have a 10% chance to create a beam that steals 7490 Health over 6 seconds from the attacker. While the beam holds you gain Major Vitality, increasing your healing received by 16%. The beam breaks if the enemy moves further than 8 meters away. This effect can occur once every 6 seconds.
The Scourge Harvester sets makes a perfect introduction tank monster set due to it’s increased healing and health restored. With a 10% proc chance, you trigger a beam that is connected to a target, giving you health and major vitality while it holds. This set rewards tanks in melee range constantly taking incoming damage who need self-survival and can’t depend on a pocket healer. Moreover, Scourge Harvester has been used for years in PvP, especially on Nightblade’s using skills like Sap Essence.
You can obtain the Scourge Harvester monster set in Wayrest Sewers II dungeon, which is part of the base game. The main reason Scourge Harvester ranks 10 on our monster set list is that you don’t typically need more healing to survive as a tank. If you have stamina to block, incoming damage will be reduced to the point where resources become your biggest concern, not healing. Moreover, other sets on this list offer more damage added bonuses to your group, resource sustain, or better survivability. However, for brand new players, pick up this base game dungeon set for an instant boost in your survivability.
9. Roksa the Warped
Roksa The Warped
LVL 50 – CP 160
SET BONUS
(1 item) Adds 70 Stamina Recovery, Adds 70 Magicka Recovery, Adds 70 Health Recovery
(2 items) Each second you are in combat, gain a stack of Darklight, up to 30 stacks max. Each stack of Darklight increases your Stamina Recovery, Magicka Recovery, and Health Recovery by 8. Each second you are out of combat, lose a stack of Darklight.
The Roksa the Warped set is the best overall Monster Set for raw resource sustain. It’s main bonuses is stacking up to 30x recovery for eight stamina, magicka, and health. That’s 240 recovery, plus 70 more for the one piece granting a total of 310! Now, if you use a “tri potion” you gain major recovery from all three resource pools, adding another 20 percent! In longer fights where builds require more than stamina, this monster helm rocks!
You can obtain Roksa the Warped monster set in Bal Sunnar dungeon, requiring Scribes of Fate DLC. Roksa’s does have a huge downside in that your stamina recovery is cut off while blocking. Therefore, it remains as one of the best PvP monster helms, and a decent option for most tanks. In PvP, you don’t “perma” block but block when incoming damage is expected. In PvE, most Tanks spend 80-90% of their time blocking where one of three resource pools is completely voided. Therefore, keep this as an option for low blocking situations where you’re clearing dungeons fast, or in PvP.
8. Swarm Mother
Swarm Mother
LVL 50 – CP 160
SET BONUS
(1 item) Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina, Adds 1096 Maximum Magicka
(2 items) When you Block an enemy that is between 8 and 22 meters from you, you spin strands of spider silk to pull the enemy to you and taunt them for 15 seconds if they are not already taunted. This effect can occur once every 1 second.
What Swarm Mother does specifically that makes it one of the best for tanking is pull targets to you when blocking. There is a specific skill called Silver Leash from Fighter’s Guild, however it completely drains your stamina and is difficult to maintain. The Dragon Knight’s pull is magicka based making it much easier to sustain. The solution for content requiring a pull for mechanics or just ease of clears is Swarm Mother. Hold block, pull things in and automatically taunt them!
You can obtain the Swarm Mother monster set in Spindleclutch I dungeon which is part of the base game of ESO. The main weakness of Swarm Mother is it provides zero boost to damage or resource sustain. It’s merely a quality of life and ease of play monster two piece. It’s nice keeping this on you for non-dragonknight tank builds that want a pull to easily and quickly clear trash mobs mowing through dungeons. Plus the one piece is a great bonus!
7. Engine Guardian
Engine Guardian
LVL 50 – CP 160
SET BONUS
(1 item) Adds 129 Health Recovery
(2 items) When you use an ability that costs resources, you have a 25% chance to summon a Dwemer automation to restore 560 Stamina or Magicka or 2055 Health to you every 0.5 seconds for 6 seconds. This effect can occur once every 10 seconds.
The Engine Guardian monster helm is unique for its resource sustaining dwemer automaton. Unlike Roksa, this Monster Set can give you stamina WHILE holding block! That’s because the resources given isn’t tied to recovery, but fed directly to the player. Moreover, if you use abilities frequently the droid will constantly proc giving you a flood of resources. The downside is, you don’t get to pick the resource, and sometimes it can give you exactly what you don’t need.
You can obtain the Engine Guardian monster set in Darkshade Caverns II dungeon, base game. Another weakness of Engine Guardian is the one piece heath recovery bonus is much weaker than say Swarm Mother double 1,000 point bonuses. However, it still remains the best starter monster helm for tanks due to it’s versatility. One strategy you can use is casting a skill from the resource pool at it’s highest. You can spam cast it over and over just to trigger the droid and hopes of getting the right resource pool!
6. Encratis’s Behemoth
Encratis’s Behemoth
LVL 50 – CP 160
SET BONUS
(1 item) Adds 1096 Maximum Magicka
(2 items) Dealing Flame Damage to an enemy grants you Behemoth’s Aura for 12 seconds that reaches up to 12 meters. You and up to 11 group members in the aura reduce Flame Damage taken by 5%. Enemies in the aura increase their Flame Damage taken by 5%. This effect can occur once every 15 seconds.
The Encratis’s Behemoth is a great monster helm where players use primarily magicka builds with flame damage. Often times this is a helpful set in trials with many builds using Dragonknight’s or Elemental Blockade with a Fire Staff back bar. In these situations, the extra 5% damage can really add up for you group. The bonus for increased flame damage also stacks with the Dragonknight’s Engulfing Flames skill (up to 6% more flame damage).
You can obtain Encratis’s Behemoth monster set in Black Drake Villa dungeon, requiring Flames of Ambition DLC. The downside is this tank monster set is geared towards coordinated trials teams running specific builds to take advantage of the increased flame damage. Moreover, the proc requires you, the tank, to use flame damage in order to trigger the effect. Every tank has access to some type of flame damge to include a flame glyph, but this forces a lot of Dragonknight’s to run the monster set for best results in combination with Engulfing Flame.
Overall, we recommend Encratis Behemoth for a proc build and team to take advatnage of very ouce of DPS they can.
5. Bloodspawn
Bloodspawn
LVL 50 – CP 160
SET BONUS
(1 item) Adds 129 Stamina Recovery
(2 items) When you take damage, you have a 6% chance to generate 13 Ultimate and increase your Physical Resistance and Spell Resistance by 3731 for 5 seconds. This effect can occur once every 5 seconds.
One of the best overall monster helms for beginners is Bloodspawn. With a 6% chance to proc extra armor and ultimate, you get two things that make you more survivable. The armor granted from Bloodspawn isn’t a major or minor buff, so it stacks with other armor buffs, getting you close to the cap on resistances. Moreover, the extra ultimate back is perfect for Dragonknight tanks who restore resources with Battle Roar upon activating an ultimate.
You can obtain Bloodspawn monster set in Spindleclutch II dungeon, base game. The main downside to Bloodspawn is the weak one piece bonus of stamina recovery. Stamina recovery is turned off while blocking, thus voiding this bonus most times. Moreover, Bloodspawn is commonly used as a PvP monster set, and niche usage in PvE specifically with Dragonknight. However, it’s base game and if you want to get extra burst or survivability in PvP, try Bloodspawn!
4. Lord Warden
Lord Warden
LVL 50 – CP 160
SET BONUS
(1 item) Adds 1487 Armor
(2 items) When you take damage, you have a 50% chance to summon a shadow orb for 10 seconds that increases the Physical and Spell Resistance of you and your group members within 8 meters by 3180. This effect can occur once every 10 seconds.
A great group oriented monster helm set for tanks is Lord Warden because it grants resistances to your entire party if they stand in the shadow orb. This shadow orb proc leaves a massive eight meter blueish circle where your resistances are increased by 3180. This bonus isn’t related to a major or minor buff, thus stacking with armor buffs, increasing your damage reduction. The one piece is also helpful granting armor, helping you reduce damage even further.
You can obtain Lord Warden monster set in Imperial City Prison dungeon, base game. The major weakness of Lord Warden is the proc is located on the tank and stationary. In trials where most players are stacked tightly together, you can see this bonus helping the majority of players. However, in highly mobile fights or where the tank is isolated, the bonus typically only applies to the tank and isn’t as effective as other sets on this list. However, if you need something to throw on for group content that helps others, Lord Warden is a good place to start.
3. Nazaray
Nazaray
LVL 50 – CP 160
SET BONUS
(1 item) Adds 1206 Maximum Health
(2 items) When you use an Ultimate ability, the closest 6 enemies within 12 meters have Major Debuffs, and Minor Debuffs applied to them extended by 1 second per 20 Ultimate spent. This effect will not apply to Damage Beams or Damage Tethers. This effect can occur once every 30 seconds per target.
The Nazaray monster set is powerful because it extends minor and major debuffs based on ultimate used. This includes major vulnerability and all of the damage added debuffs applied to enemies. You typically want to use this after a initial round of applying debuffs, then using an ultimate for maximum burst damage about 10 seconds into a boss fight. The more coordinated the PvE group, the more debuffs, the better Nazaray set can be.
You can obtain Nazaray monster set in Shipwright’s Regret dungeon, requiring the Ascending Tide DLC. There isn’t many downsides to Nazaray, other than a tank or a healer can use this set. You need to be within 12 meters of the targets for the debuffs to be extended so range is key. Coordinate with other players in your group, and make sure it’s not redundantly be used or the benefits won’t be as significant. Moreover, keep it on your person when queuing up for dungeon find just in case no one is running it and you want extra damage!
2. Tremorscale
Tremorscale
LVL 50 – CP 160
SET BONUS
(1 item) Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina
(2 items) When you activate a taunt ability on an enemy, you cause a duneripper to burst from the ground beneath them after 1 second, dealing Physical damage to all enemies within 4 meters and reducing their Armor for 15 seconds. This effect can occur once every 10 seconds and scales off the higher of your Physical or Spell Resistance.
The Tremorscale Monster helms is an incredibly powerful set because it not only deals damage, but debuffs enemies armor for 15 seconds. Veteran enemies have 18,200 resistances, and tanks want to strip away as much as possible. An extra 3,000 with major debuff of nearly 6,000 helps get players close to that 18,200 mark. This frees up allies on your team to run other skills and focus more or damage, specifically using medium armor. Light armor has a bonus for penetration, and therefore isn’t as effective when you start stripping away armor with Tremor scale and buffs. Therefore, consider it a MUST have dungeon and stamina (medium armor) based build set to use.
You can obtain Tremorscale monster set in Volenfell dungeon, base game. The major downside to Tremorscale is it becomes less effective in PvE 12 player content like trials. In this type of content, stripping armor to zero will be much easiser with a variety of buffs and armor sets. Thus, the two piece bonuses doesn’t offer much to your team. That’s why it’s better to run in dungeons, then swap to Archdruid or Nazaray in dungeons.
1. Archdruid Devyric
Archdruid Devyric
LVL 50 – CP 160
SET BONUS
(1 item) Adds 1487 Offensive Penetration
(2 items) When you deal damage with a Heavy Attack, after 1.2 seconds deal 650 Shock damage to up to 6 enemies within a 7 by 5 meter line on your target, applying Major Vulnerability to them for 7 seconds, increasing the damage enemies take by 10%. This effect can occur once every 15 seconds and scales off the higher of your Weapon or Spell Damage.
The best overall monster helm is the Archdruid Deyvric because with only a heavy attack (not fully charged), you can proc Major Vulnerability which is an extremely powerful debuff against Monsters. Until this monster set, Major Vulnerability was only obtained via the Necromancer ultimate. This monster set opened up many possibilities for PvE group content, keeping it as one of the best Monster Sets to use in ESO.
You want to “medium weave” a heavy attack after blocking an incoming boss attack. This is when you see “sprinkles” around the boss telegraphing a big incoming damage phase. Usually, bosses don’t execute this back to back and it’s a safe 2-3 seconds where you can do a heavy attack, or fully charged heavy attack.
You can obtain Archdruid Devyric monster set in Earthen Root dungeon, requiring the Lost Depths DLC. Similar to Nazaray, both the tanks and the healers can run this monster helm. Therefore, coordination becomes critical when trying to figure out who’s doing what in your party. Moreover, the one piece offers nothing for a tank, so there is some downsides. But, the chance to apply on demand major vunerability, increasing damage by 10% to that target, makes it a total boss killer and your number one monster set to collect for tanks.
What are Monster Sets?
Monster Sets are a special category of gear in Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) that offer unique bonuses and effects, making them a cornerstone of any tank’s build. These sets are typically earned by defeating powerful bosses in dungeons and trials, and they come in two pieces: a helmet and a shoulder. What sets Monster Sets apart is their ability to provide major and minor debuffs, such as major vulnerability, minor courage, and even major force, which can dramatically boost your group DPS and overall performance in challenging content.
In ESO, Monster Sets are not just about personal survivability—they’re about enhancing your entire group’s effectiveness. By applying key debuffs to enemies, tanks can increase the damage output of their group members and help control the flow of battle. Whether you’re looking to apply a major vulnerability debuff to tough bosses or provide minor debuffs that stack with other group buffs, understanding and utilizing Monster Sets is essential for any tank aiming to excel in Elder Scrolls Online.
Tips for New Tank Players
Starting out as a tank in Elder Scrolls Online can be challenging, but with the right approach, you’ll quickly become a reliable asset to your group members. First, always pay attention to your team’s positioning, health, and ultimate abilities—this awareness allows you to provide timely crowd control, apply key debuffs, and support your group when it matters most.
When it comes to gear, don’t be afraid to mix heavy armor for defense, medium armor for stamina recovery, and even light armor for extra magicka sustain. Prioritize stamina recovery and health recovery to keep your resources up during long fights, and look for ways to generate ultimate quickly for those crucial moments. Practicing your taunt rotations, learning when to block or dodge, and mastering the application of key debuffs will set you apart as a dependable tank. With regular practice and a focus on teamwork, you’ll soon find yourself leading your group through even the toughest encounters in ESO.
Advanced Tips for Tanks
To maximize your stamina sustain and cost reduction, slot one-handed weapons with the Absorb Stamina enchant on your front bar—heavy attacks here help refill Stamina mid-fight and maintain shield blocks. Use crafted gear like Fortified Brass or Torug’s Pact on your front bar and an Ice Staff on back—this unlocks Crusher enchants and debuffs such as minor vulnerability and major maim, boosting group damage output. Ensure you and your fire damage dealers share the same buff, stacking minor courage and major breach for optimal fire synergy. Anchor your front bar with max health and max stamina gear and traits like Sturdy (armor) to handle burst damage and sustain block-heavy styles. Finally, weave in Undaunted taunts like Inner Beast to apply both minor vulnerability and minor maim, and top off enemy pressure with major maim from class skills—each layer furthers survivability while enhancing allies’ damage.
Conclusion
Monster Sets are a vital part of every tank’s gear setup in ESO, offering unique bonuses and effects that can dramatically influence your group’s success. By mastering the use of these sets, tanks can boost their survivability, enhance group DPS, and provide essential utility in every encounter. Whether you’re a beginner tank just starting out or a seasoned veteran, there’s always room to grow—experiment with different Monster Sets, communicate with your group members, and keep refining your skills. With dedication and teamwork, you’ll become a top-tier tank in Elder Scrolls Online, ready to lead your team to victory in any challenge the game throws your way.
We hope you found this summary of the ESO Best Tank Monster Sets helpful. Make sure to check out more Monster Set guides for each role listed below.
