Should you use this build?
Welcome to ESO Bastian Hallix Tank Build 2023! Companions, just like players come with class presets. Bastian is your typical Dragonknight, which is perfect for tanking! His class skill line has great self and group healing, crowd control effects and useful buffs. Pair this with outside skill lines from Sword and Shield and guilds and he’s an absolute monster at soaking up damage and protecting you the player. Pick Bastian up if you need help handling pressure and this battle buddy can keep enemies off of you! This build was able to complete Veteran Hard Mode dungeons with me and my companion and Veteran Dragonstar Arena with three players and one companion. It works, at some of the hardest content in the game and can work for you! Live Gameplay VOD
Bastian is a twenty-seven-year-old Imperial with a love for books and potions. He always wanted to learn secrets of magic though as a ward of the Breton House Silvelle never had enough time for a proper education.
Bastian’s unique perk gives 30% chance for potions, looted from chests and monsters, to be improved by Bastian’s Insight. A very practical ability for your travels!
If you looking for a Bastian Hallix guide or quest, levelling and report information click HERE. More companion builds HERE, and a comprehensive companion guide and video HERE.
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Video Guide
How to unlock Bastian and where do I find him? Bastian Hallix quest, “Competition and Contracts”.
You can find Bastian’s quest in the Blackwood zone. You’ll find him easily next to the Blueblood Wayshrine. Simply follow the road from the wayshrine to the Deepscorn Hollow cave, he is sitting on the ground and tight up to a pillar.
After you complete the quest you can find Bastian and all unlocked companions in your collections menu. Press the default key “U” on your keyboard or go to the collections tab, pick Allies from the list and then Companions.
Progression
Companions are similar to players and here are some areas of focus for you while working through optimizing your companion.
Obtain multiple gear sets: You’ll want flexible options once you hit the end game, even if you plan on leaving him as a tank. You can find gear by looting defeated enemies or in various chests and boxes, almost everywhere in the game. Or you can go to any town Armor and Fine Garments store and pick up companion gear, light, medium and heavy. I’d also go to woodworker and weapon smith and pick up sword and shield, and various staffs. Swap a gear or weapons and level skill lines, because you never know if you want to switch!
Combat Level: Start levelling up your companion. Companions level up similar to a player, by killing enemies and eventually reaching level 20 (currently max). So you can grind with your companion (grinding video click). The exception are guilds’ skill lines (Mages Guild, Fighters Guild, Undaunted), to level them up you need to complete guilds’ daily quests. You can find them in Grahtwood (map click), Stormhaven (map click), and Deshaan (map click).
Focus on Guild Skill Lines: You’ll want to prioritise completing the guide-specific daily quests in order to unlock the most powerful skills in the game.
Gear: Now start collecting pieces of gear to optimize your tank. Two of the best traits for your companion are bolstered, reducing damage and Vigorous adding extra health.
YouTube Guide on Companion Progression
Bastian Hallix Tank build
Skills
Companion abilities work on a cooldown system unlike players and often have 16 seconds before the skill can be used again. Thus, placing a skill on the first spot, vs the last has a great impact on its frequency.
An example: Bastion has a sword & shield skill: Provoke, by default, this ability last 15 seconds, with a 16-second cooldown. If you put it in the first spot on his skill bar, the companion will activate it first, and immediately when it comes off cooldown, giving you consistent taunt on enemies. For the best results follow the skills listed here but also be knowledgeable about how it works. Now when you’ll make changes, you get the most out of the performance of the companion’s skills.
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1. Provoke (Skill line: Companion Sword & Shield) – Melee taunt and perfect opener to go on cool down first.
2. Searing Weapons (Skill line: Companion Radiating Heart) – very useful buff that increases light and heavy attack damage
3. Ritual of Salvation (Skill line: Companion Fighters Guild) – Fighters Guild ability with 20% damage reduction for standing in rune
4. Drake’s Blood (Skill line: Draconic Armor) – burst heal and damage reduction by 20%
5. Crimson Font (Skill line: Companion Undaunted) – Heal over time for your companion and you, you can activate synergy and heal for 50% of your health.
Ultimate: Baneslayer (Skill line: Companion Blazing Might) – Insane damage to all enemies in front of the companion. Dealing extra damage when a player is damaging them.
Gear
All heavy armor gear pieces give the best possible survivability. The Bolstered, reducing damage is a great trait, But your companions’ primary self burst heal is based on the percentage of max health. Thus, your companion will be able to heal to full with more max health. You can’t go wrong with either trait, but when we cleared Veteran Dragonstar Arena with Bastian as the tank, Vigorous was the answer.
| Vigorous | Bolstered |
| Increases Max Health by 1.8% | Reduces damage taken by 1.2% |
| Increases Max Health by 2.2% | Reduces damage taken by 1.5% |
| Increases Max Health by 2.6% | Reduces damage taken by 1.7% |
| Slot | Weight | Set | Trait |
| Head | Heavy | Companion’s Helm | Vigorous |
| Shoulders | Heavy | Companion’s Pauldrons | Vigorous |
| Chest | Heavy | Companion’s Cuirass | Vigorous |
| Legs | Heavy | Companion’s Greaves | Vigorous |
| Gloves | Heavy | Companion’s Gauntlets | Vigorous |
| Boots | Heavy | Companion’s Sabatons | Vigorous |
| Belt | Heavy | Companion’s Girdle | Vigorous |
| Weapon One | Sword | Companion’s Sword | Vigorous |
| Weapon Two | Shield | Companion’s Shield | Vigorous |
| Necklace | Companion’s Necklace | Vigorous | |
| Ring | Companion’s Ring | Vigorous | |
| Ring | Companion’s Ring | Vigorous |
Tank companion Tips and Tricks
Control: Just like commanding a pet, you’ll need to hit the default key “Y” and the left mouse to attack or the right mouse to return (no PC). Companions don’t know when to move out of bad AoE’s or mechanics. So you as the player must make this a priority.
Combat: You’ll want to target the priority mob, this could be a boss or a mini-boss or something that can one-shot players that are non-tanks. Remember just like players companions have no AoE or multiple target taunts. If you start off by attacking, Bastian will have a hard time gaining aggro, especially if you constantly change targets. Command him to attack first if possible.
Targeting: Remember that if you fully charge an attack, not on Bastian’s target, he will swap. So who you’re attacking is just as important as how you start the fight.
Companions Synergy: Companions can provide synergies but not use them. That’s why the undaunted skill lines are so vital to prioritise and use.
Provide Off Healing: Every class or combat style has some type of off healing. Even a small bit of off healing will help Bastian survive allowing him not to have 4 slots on his bar loaded with self-healing. Trust me, slotting off healing ability is all you need to allow him to provide more utility.
Make companion your own! These tips can help you out but the end result is up to you. Experiment, try things outside of the box and meta ideas. You’ll be surprised at just how effective these things can be. Thanks for reading!
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