Arcanist Tank - In-Depth Look

Arcanist Tank - In-Depth Look

Hey everyone, in this article I’m going to go over Arcanist’s skills that can be useful for tanking and share my first impressions. I’ve already played it a bit in the new trial - Sanity’s Edge. Let’s go over all the skills one by one, starting with the Soldier of Apocrypha skill line.

Soldier of Apocrypha Skills

Runic Jolt

First, we have Runic Jolt, which is the first taunting class ability in the game. It costs magicka, applies taunt and Minor Maim for 15 seconds, generates Crux, and also reduces your damage taken by 2% for each Crux you have active. It has a 15-meter range, but don't worry, it is not a projectile so it most likely cannot disappear in the air the way Destructive Clench or Inner Fire can. At least, I haven't experienced that yet. I’d say Minor Maim can be mostly ignored as there are tons of other sources of that debuff in the game. It's very prevalent. How does it compare to other taunts that are in the game? Well, it has a 15-meter range, so I cannot compare it with Destructive Clench or Inner Fire, as you will have to bring a truly ranged 28-meter taunt such as one of these two anyway. However, I can compare it with Pierce Armor, but before I do that, let’s look at its morphs.

Runic Embrace

We have Runic Embrace, which heals you for 10.33% of your max health whenever this skill is used and also applies Minor Lifesteal. However, this is rather useless since you’ll have that from Overflowing Altar anyway.

Runic Sunder

Then, we have Runic Sunder, which turns it into a stamina ability and causes it to steal 2200 armor from your enemy when used. This is a decent amount of armor and penetration, so this is obviously the better morph.

Now let’s compare it with Pierce Armor. The upsides are:

• You generate Crux, which you will need to empower your other abilities.
• You gain up to 6% damage reduction based on the Crux you're holding onto.
• You apply a unique penetration debuff of 2200.
• You gain 2200 armor that’s easy to keep up.
• It has 8 meters longer range.

The downsides are:

• You don’t apply Major Breach. It’s easy to cover that debuff in a different way, but you have to be aware of it because missing out on Major Breach would be a massive DPS loss.
• You don’t apply Minor Breach. It used to be a quite unique debuff with very few sources, but recently ZoS started adding more. It gets applied by, for example, Elemental Blockade when the target is Chilled. It also gets applied by your other skill, Fatewoven Armor, but I wouldn’t consider that to be reliable. Some adds tend to get stuck in animations, and it isn’t guaranteed they’ll attack you once every 6 seconds, but it can be enough in certain encounters where they don't get stuck like that.
• You can’t utilize Master’s Sword and Board. I always say that you shouldn’t rely on armor from Puncturing Remedy, but it’s still a great item set to use for the healing it provides. While using Runic Sunder, you won’t be able to utilize it anymore. But it’s not that bad. Instead, if you can use, for example, the Trainee set, you’ll gain 1.3k max health and max magicka on your front bar."
  
  

I think Runic Sunder is much better than Pierce Armor. I feel like the only situation where you’d want Pierce Armor over Runic Sunder is if you absolutely cannot fit in any skill that would apply Major Breach, such as Elemental Susceptibility or Caltrops, and neither can any of your teammates. This sounds like a hypothetical scenario that will literally never happen. Major Breach simply has so many different sources.

Runespite Ward

Next up, we have Runespite Ward. It gives you a damage shield equal to 30% of your max health. When you take damage for the first time after casting it, you deal damage to the attacker that scales with your armor. When used, you consume all your Crux and heal for 10% of your max HP for each Crux consumed.

Spiteward of the Lucid Mind

The first morph is Spiteward of the Lucid Mind. With this morph, consuming Crux refunds 30% of the ability’s cost per Crux spent, so you can refund 90% of its cost when used at maximum Crux stacks.

Impervious Runeward

The second morph, Impervious Runeward, increases the scaling from 30% of your max health to 37%, which oddly isn’t specified anywhere in the skill or morph description. On top of that, the damage shield is stronger during the very first second, during which the scaling is 60% of your max hp. This is extremely strong. I tried it in the new trial, and with 43,358 HP, the shield was absorbing an absurd amount of damage. Without any additional modifiers, it would absorb 26,872, but Arcanist has the Intricate Runeforms passive, which reduces cost and increases the strength of damage shields by 10%. This bumped it up to 29,559. Then, on top of that, I used Bastion, so I ended up with a 33,591 damage shield, which is extremely overpowered.

In my opinion, Impervious Runeward is the better morph, especially since Arcanist has absurd sustain passives, so you don’t really need the cost refund that Spiteward provides.

Fatewoven Armor

Next, we have Fatewoven Armor, which is the 20-second Major Resolve skill that every class has. Fatewoven Armor's special gimmick is that it applies Minor Breach to attackers for 6 seconds when they hit you.

Cruxweaver Armor

The first morph is Cruxweaver Armor, which increases the duration from 20 to 30 seconds and generates Crux when you get hit, up to once every 5 seconds.

Unbreakable Fate

The second morph is Unbreakable Fate, which grants you 5% block mitigation and an additional 5% per Crux spent, so you can get up to 20% block mitigation from it.

With this skill, there is no clear winner as they both can be better in different scenarios. Cruxweaver's increased Crux generation can allow you to heal more with your Runespite Ward and mitigate more damage with Runic Jolt. Additionally, thanks to your passives, you restore resources whenever you gain Crux. However, for fights with lots of blockable damage, Unbreakable Fate will be simply better.

Runic Defense

Next, we have Runic Defense, the skill that grants Minor Resolve for 20 seconds to you and your allies within 10 meters. It also grants you Minor Protection. When you're damaged below 50% HP, the Minor Protection will get consumed to heal you for 30% of your max HP. Minor Resolve is great and will reduce the damage your allies take by around 6 to 7%, but it has other sources, such as Combat Prayer, or Resolving Vigor if you're only concerned about buffing yourself. As for Minor Protection, I'd advise keeping using Temporal Guard, as the Minor Protection from Runic Defense will disappear when you go below 50% HP.

Runeguard of Still Waters

The first morph is Runeguard of Still Waters, which immobilizes enemies within 7 meters for 2 seconds after a 1-second delay.

Runeguard of Freedom

The second morph is Runeguard of Freedom, which grants you 3000 armor and CC immunity for 6 seconds when the heal is proc'd. This CC immunity can only occur once every 30 seconds. In my opinion, you can't balance the armor in your build around the armor you get from this skill as it would be too inconsistent.

There is no clearly better morph as they both can be better than the other in specific scenarios. For example, Runeguard of Still Waters will be better in dungeons when a snare can be useful in trash, while the Runeguard of Freedom can be useful against bosses that can stun you.

Rune of Eldritch Horror

Next, we have Rune of Eldritch Horror. After 1 second, it applies an 8-second stun and 10-second Minor Vulnerability to the enemy. The stun is irrelevant, as you won’t be casting it on small mobs that can be stunned. Instead, you'll be casting it on bosses.

Rune of Uncanny Adoration

The first morph is Rune of Uncanny Adoration, which charms the target instead of stunning it. However, this is useless for us from a PvE perspective.

Rune of the Colorless Pool

The second morph is Rune of the Colorless Pool, which also applies Minor Brittle and increases the duration from 10 seconds to 20 seconds. This is actually huge because, so far, Minor Brittle could only be procured by proccing the Chilled status effect while wielding an ice staff. This skill makes keeping up Minor Brittle much easier.

Gibbering Shield

Now, the ultimate - Gibbering Shield, is an ultimate skill that costs 180 ultimate points. You gain a shield equal to 192% of your max health for 10 seconds that absorbs 60% of all damage. When the shield collapses, you lash out, dealing all of the damage you’ve absorbed around you within 5 meters as magic damage over 10 seconds.

Sanctum of the Abyssal Sea

The first morph, Sanctum of the Abyssal Sea, increases the scaling of the shield from 192% of your max health to 228%.

Gibbering Shelter

The second morph, Gibbering Shelter, also increases the scaling but only from 192% to 198% of max health. This morph no longer deals damage but now, when the shield takes damage, you grant damage shields to up to 6 allies within 15 meters for 4 seconds, which absorb an amount equal to 33% of your max health. These shields can be applied once every second.

I think Gibbering Shelter is better, as the survivability it provides for your teammates is actually huge.

Soldier of Apocrypha Passives

Now, let's take a quick look at the passives of the Soldier of Apocrypha skill line.

Aegis of the Unseen

Aegis of the Unseen: This passive grants you almost 2,000 armor whenever you have a Soldier of Apocrypha ability active, which should be easily achievable at all times. Combined with Runic Sunder, this means that Arcanist has an additional 4,200 unique armor, making it much easier to reach the armor cap. If you end up exceeding the cap, you can unslot Fortified CP and slot something else instead.

Wellspring of the Abyss

Wellspring of the Abyss: You gain 129 stamina, magicka, and health recovery for each Soldier of Apocrypha ability slotted. With the setup I was using in Sanity's Edge, I was gaining 387 on my front bar and 258 on my back bar. Combined with the Erudition passive, this grants you absurd sustain. When fully buffed, I was at 2,407 magicka recovery and 2,271 stamina recovery.

Circumvented Fate

Circumvented Fate: Grants your group members Minor Evasion, which decreases damage taken from area attacks by 10%. This is great because the only two other sources of Minor Evasion are the Warden's Deceptive Predator skill and the Abyssal Brace 5-piece set. This will be extremely useful for fights such as Tideborn Taleria or Lord Falgravn.

Implacable Outcome

Implacable Outcome: Grants 4 ultimate when you consume Crux, and it can occur once every 8 seconds.

Curative Runeforms Skills

Now moving onto the healer skill tree - Curative Runeforms. Here, I’m not going to describe all abilities. I’m only going to talk about abilities that, in my opinion, can be useful for a tank.

Chakram Shield

Chakram Shield - grants a damage shield equal to 25% of your max resource to up to 4 allies for 6 seconds.

Chakram of Destiny

First morph - Chakram of Destiny. The ability now generates Crux, and recasting it on the same target will increase the shield’s strength by 30%.

Tidal Chakram

Second morph - Tidal Chakram. The ability now consumes Crux to reduce the cost by 20% per Crux spent.

Chakram of Destiny is the better morph here. You want to spend your Crux on Runespite Ward or Unbreakable Fate rather than this. Not to mention, holding onto Crux reduces your damage taken thanks to Runic Jolt.

Arcanist's Domain

Arcanist’s Domain - creates an 8-meter area that grants you and your allies Minor Courage. This grants 215 weapon and spell damage, as well as Minor Fortitude, Intellect, and Endurance, which increase your health, magicka, and stamina recoveries by 15%. Minor Intellect and Endurance have lots of other viable sources, such as Regenerative Ward, Enchanted Growth, Radiant Aura, or Refreshing Path. But Minor Courage is the big deal, as the only other sources of it that apply to 12 people are Yolnahkriin and Crusader. This means that by running this skill, you’ll free up a 5-piece item set slot on a support player.

Zenas' Empowering Disc

The first morph, Zenas’ Empowering Disc, makes it so the buffs persist for 10 seconds after leaving the circle.

Reconstructive Domain

The other morph, Reconstructive Domain, heals you and allies inside the area for 1.8% of your higher resource + 19% of your weapon or spell damage every 2 seconds.

In my opinion, the first morph, Zenas Empowering Disc, is the better morph. Since the area isn’t that big, forcing your DDs to stay inside of it at all times could be problematic. It’s much easier to keep up these buffs when they persist for 10 seconds after leaving the area. Additionally, the healing from Reconstructive Domain is extremely small.

Apocryphal Gate

Next ability - Apocryphal Gate - create a portal in front of you that you can repeatedly use to travel between two points. Each time you travel through it you generate Crux. I can see the potential in this skill, I can see it being useful for example for teleporting over the cone on Bahsei but I can’t really say if it’ll work there because I haven’t tested it yet. I need more time to definitely say if this ability is worth it.

Fleet-Footed Gate

The first morph is Fleet-Footed Gate, which grants you Major Expedition for 4 seconds after going through the portal.

Passage Between Worlds

The second morph is Passage Between Worlds, which allows your teammates to use a synergy to travel through the portal.

Vitalizing Glyphic

Now, the ultimate - Vitalizing Glyphic, an ultimate skill that costs 200 ultimate points. You summon an Apocryphal Glyphic for 15 seconds that pulses every second and grows stronger the more you heal it - it grants your allies up to 200 weapon and spell damage based on its health and heals them for up to 4% of your higher resource + 42% of your weapon or spell damage every second.

It’s a very interesting ultimate, it’s not stronger than Horn, it’s actually quite a bit weaker and shorter but it provides healing instead, I think it’s too early to say anything for sure but I wonder if optimized groups will be able to keep up Horn and this ultimate at the same time.

Glyphic of the Tides

Now let’s look at morphs, first one is Glyphic of the Tides - the only thing that changes with this morph is that it start at higher health - 50% instead of 30%.

Resonating Glyphic

The other morph - Resonating Glyphic - changes the Glyph to grow in strength the more you damage it, rather than the more you heal it. It now starts at 70% HP.

Curative Runeforms Passives

Now let’s take a quick look at the passives of the Curative Runeforms skill line.

Healing Tides

Healing Tides - increases your healing done by 3% for each Crux active. A nice bonus.

Hideous Clarity

Hideous Clarity - whenever you generate Crux, you restore 225 magicka or stamina, whichever is higher. It’s the passive I mentioned before when talking about Cruxweaver Armor.

Erudition

Erudition - increases your magicka and stamina recovery by 18%. It’s extremely strong and synergizes well with the Wellspring of the Abyss passive.

Intricate Runeforms

Intricate Runeforms - reduces the cost and increases the strength of your damage shields by 10% while you have a Curative Runeforms ability slotted. It’s a great boost for your Impervious Runeward, which is why you should have a Curative Runeforms ability on your frontbar, personally I used Zenas’ Empowering Disc.

Herald of the Tome Skills

And now the last skill tree, the DPS one - Herald of the Tome. Once again, I’m not going to describe all abilities, I’m only gonna talk about the ones that can be in my opinion useful for a tank.

Abyssal Impact

First we have Abyssal Impact - you deal damage to enemies in front of you, immobilize them for 3 seconds and drench them in ink for 20 seconds, which increases the damage they take from you by 5%. I feel like this ability can be useful for a tank because of the immobilization.

Cephaliarch's Flail

First morph is the Cephaliarch’s Flail, which causes it to generate Crux and deals more damage to enemies who are at low HP.

Tentacular Dread

The second morph is Tentacular Dread which converts it to magicka ability, changes the damage type to Frost, and causes it to consume Crux to strengthen the ink and duration of the immobilzation by 1 second per Crux spent.

In my opinion if you’re going to use that, you should go for Cephaliarch’s Flail as you dont really want to waste Crux on it.

Tome-Bearer's Inspiration

Next up - Tome-bearer’s Inspiration: you augment your weapons for 30 seconds. Once every 5 seconds, when you damage an enemy with your class abilities, you’ll deal additional damage and generate Crux if you have none. It also grants Major Brutality and Sorcery while slotted on either bar.

This skill can be useful for generating additional Crux if you’re spending it fast, but I haven’t tested it in combat as I simply couldn’t fit it in with all the other useful Arcanist abilities.

Inspired Scholarship

The first morph - Inspired Scholarship - increases the frequency of the damage. It can happen once every 3 seconds rather than every 5 seconds.

Recuperative Treatise

The other morph - Recuperative Treatise - restores 600 magicka and stamina whenever you proc the damage.

Imperfect Ring

Next, we have The Imperfect Ring - this ability spawns an AoE under your target that applies a DoT to the target and all enemies around it. An ally near the initial target can activate the Runebreak synergy that deals damage equal to 12% of their maximum resource + 126% of their weapon or spell damage to all enemies within 7 meters.

Rune of Displacement

The first morph is Rune of Displacement, which places a rune under the target that pulls in enemies within 8 meters after 2 seconds. Or at least it should; I don’t know if the pull is supposed to be this weak or if it’s bugged, but it’s definitely not worth it in its current state.

Fulminating Rune

The second morph is Fulminating Rune, which causes another explosion after 6 seconds and allows up to 3 allies to use the Runebreak synergy. This can be extremely strong as the synergy deals damage that’s around 20% higher than the damage of an average spammable, so if the synergies are being used by DDs, this skill will provide a lot of damage per cast, not to mention the sustain it will provide thanks to the Undaunted Command passive or Harmony jewelry trait.

Herald of the Tome Passives

Now, let’s take a quick look at the passives of the Herald of the Tome skill line

Fated Fortune

Fated Fortune: You gain 12% critical damage and critical healing for 7 seconds whenever you gain or spend Crux.

Harnessed Quintessence

Harnessed Quintessence: Whenever you are restored Magicka or Stamina, you gain 5% weapon and spell damage for 10 seconds.

Psychic Lesion

Psychic Lesion: While having Herald of the Tome ability slotted, your attacks apply a debuff that increases enemies’ damage taken from status effects by 15%.

Splintered Secrets

Splintered Secrets: Grants 991 penetration per Herald of the Tome ability slotted.

Summary

And that’s all of the skills and passives that I think will be useful for an Arcanist Tank. Now, I'm going to give a bit of summed-up opinion, but I’ll keep it short since I haven’t tested it enough yet. Arcanists seem extremely strong:

• They have more unique armor buffs than any other class.
• They get a unique damage mitigation from Runic Jolt.
• They get access to a unique melee taunt that has a longer range than Pierce Armor.
• They provide unique 2000 penetration.
• They get access to an extremely strong damage shield - Runespite Ward, which also gets buffed by Intricate Runeforms passive.
• Their sustain is extremely good thanks to passives like Hideous Clarity, Erudition, and Wellspring of the Abyss.
• They can get up to a 20% block mitigation buff that lasts 20 seconds.

There’s also stuff like access to Minor Courage, Minor Evasion, easier Minor Brittle, access to Apocryphal Gate, or the Glyphic ultimate, but these can also be provided by Arcanist healers. One thing where they might be lacking is self-heals. You can heal yourself for 30% of your max health with Runic Defense, but this heal procs only when you fall below 50% of HP. You can also heal yourself with Runespite Ward, but it’s just 10% of max health per Crux spent. You could also heal yourself with Runic Embrace for 10% of your max health, but then you’d be giving up the armor and penetration from Runic Sunder. A lot of people will probably be curious if Arcanists will replace Dragonknights or Necromancers, which are currently the two best classes to bring into difficult trials. I don't think Arcanists can beat Necromancer at dealing with DoTs, though I might be wrong. However, it does seem like a straight-up better version of a DK tank:

• DK gets 10% unique block mitigation, Arcanist gets 20%.
• DK gets 1650 unique armor, Arcanist gets 4200.
• DK has Igneous Shield and Hardened Armor, Arcanist has Runespite Ward.
  
• DK’s unique debuffs like Stone Giant or Engulfing Flames can also be applied by a Damage Dealer DK, but Arcanist’s unique penetration debuff gets applied by the taunt ability, so it has to be run by a tank.
  

So yeah, from my first impression, it looks like Arcanist will be just a better DK. Of course, DK still has some unique stuff like access to Magicka Chains, 50% damage reduction against projectiles, AoE interrupt, group-wide Major Brutality and Sorcery, and an ultimate that makes you immortal. And most importantly, DK has actually good self-heals, which already makes it better than Arcanist in the new trial since the first boss has a DoT that deals Oblivion damage, so it straight up goes through your damage shields, which makes Arcanist extremely bad for this fight.

And that's it. If you want to find more tanking content check out my YouTube channel - Hyperioxes