Sorcerer Shield Tank

Armor Types

Gear and Item Set Info

5 Piece Plague Doctor

5 Piece Warrior Poet (if no Warden Healer) OR Ebon Armory (if Warden Healer)

***2nd 5 Piece Slot is flex, if need more of something else other than defense (i.e.- Akiviri, Akosh, Torugs, etc...)

Monster 2 Piece Swarm Mother (for quicker trash fights) 

***Monster Set is also flex, can use 1 and 1 Max Health Pieces for bigger shields, Mighty Chudan for extra resistance, etc...

General Info

First off, mad props to Alanarre...this build is DITRECTLY inspired from Alanarre's "Invincible DK ShieldTank Build", I made a DK just to play that build, loved it, and then adapted it for my Sorcerer...and found success!

Food-

Either Purple Food (Health, Magicka, Stamina) OR Cordial Tea (Magicka and Stamina Recovery)

Potion-

Tri-Stat Pots OR Dual-Stat Pots (Magicka and Stamina) 

***For both food and potions, these are the "ideal" suggestions, as a long time "poor" player who struggled for a long time to gain access to resources, I do want to say I have PUGed many a Vet Dungeon with Crusty Bread and Essence of Stamina potions, and not had a single issue...

Enchants-

Crushing (weapon)

Max Health (all armor)

***Can do Max Stamina on small pieces if resource management is an issue (it really shouldn't be though)...

Stamina Regen (all jewelry)

***Some people swear by the Reduce Cost enchants, I have always sided with regen, you can do as you wish, however...

Traits-

Infused (all armor)

Mundus-

The Lord for additional health (bigger shields)

***The Serpent can also be used is resource management is an issue (again, it really shouldn't be)

Build Strategy-

First bar is your main bar, second is mainly for utility and trash mobs

This build works as you might have already guessed, mitigation through constant and healthy shields (Bone Surge), also offering team shield through the synergy (I know people hate this versus the auto shield of DK shields, but this is not a DK). More health equals bigger shield, so we slot Structured Entropy (but don't use it) for that reason. Pierce Armor and Heroic Slash, pretty cookie cutter, as your taunt/ultimate regen and debuffers, and Dark Deal helps to keep your stamina up, gives Minor Prophecy through sorcerer passive (versus Minor Brutality lost from DK), as well as help heal up any damage that gets through your shields. Weaving in heavy attacks after shield casts also helps with sustain (remember blocking doesn't mitigate pre-shield damage, so we only block the stuff you are supposed to block). Summon Atronach is there for increased 20% Magicka/Stamina Regen Sorcerer Passive, don't use it.

Second bar offers Aggressive Horn which will be plentiful as Sorcerers have 15% reduced ultimate cost passive, and heavy/heroic slashes will be consistent. This bar also offers your range taunt when you need it, and crowd control with Prison. Hurricane and Critical Surge flex spots if you need something else for a fight, but I use them for picking up trash mobs. Hurricane --> Surge--> Dark Deal as I run into mob--> Inner Beast ranged / big bads--> Dark Deal-->Block--> Dark Deal--> Block--> Repeat. With Swarm Mother this helps to gather mobs and is this builds answer to DK Chains (Chains is an amazingly nice ability, but again, this is not a DK).

***Main weaknesses of this build that I have noticed thus far is the shorter shield length versus DK Shield, so you do have to be more active comparatively, and thus there is less room for error. Also, as mentioned, group shield while stronger than DK, requires someone activating synergy (which may get redundant every 6 seconds).

Hope you all enjoy, I have been running this myself through Vet Dungeons (even DLC), and it's been a lot of fun. Very durable, no issues with aggro, and resource management. Again, trying to make something different, but still viable. Haven't tried Trials yet as it's still a new build for me, so I will comment when I have.

Any feedback is always welcome...

Champion Point Tips

Listed in Order of Priority-

Warrior (Red)-

Bastion

Ironclad

Thick Skinned

Mage (Blue)-

Blessed

30 Points into The Ritual for Precise Strikes

Thief (Green)-

Mooncalf

Tenacity

Warlord

Bashing Focus

Build Rating