Warden
As the first DLC class, Wardens are when ZOS decided to get extra fancy. An amazing support toolkit, featuring group Minor Toughness, ST Minor Vulnerability, Major Resolve, Minor Intellect, Minor Endurance , a unique synergy, and an expansive class healing and survivability toolkit make them amazing both as group and off-healers, or in various support roles in PvP. Their adaptable and efficient damage options make them straightforward and useful parse-healers as well. They also look amazing!!!
🟩 Animal Companions 🟩
Eternal Guardian [Ultimate]: As a healer, this is only useful for slotting as a frontbar Ultimate to help keep the Flourish passive active (see below).
▫️ Fetcher Infection: Applies Minor Vulnerability to a single target, though like other ST DoTs this can be applied to multiple targets at once. Try to frontbar this for +12% Magicka and Stamina Recovery from Flourish (see below).
▫️ Growing Swarm: The stamina morph of Fetcher Infection. Ideal for use as a Stam dump skill if you’re running MK.
▫️ Blue Betty: A self-sustain skill, helpful if you have a flex spot and need some more recovery while. The Magicka restored equals to around +350 net Magicka Recovery. As a nice bonus you get Major Brutality and Major Sorcery which can be handy in less-organized runs or in dungeons so you don’t have to use Spell Power Potions. In coordinated groups this buff is covered by a DK tank with Igneous Weapons.
▫️ Deceptive Predator: A self-buff providing Major Expedition and Minor Evasion to yourself for 6 seconds. This is useful skill for short bursts of speed and can be helpful skill for kiting mechanics (e.g. when kiting in vCR, front-kiting in vAS, catching charges on Oaxiltso in vRG or when kiting or baiting in Cyro). Minor Evasion is often covered by Arcanist DD’s already so you might only be gaining the on-demand speed boost.
Savage Beast [Passive]: Grants you 4 Ultimate when casting an Animal Companion skill, once every 8 seconds. In practice, this means that you’ll be gaining a bit more Ultimate while keeping up Fetcher Infection.
Flourish [Passive]: Gives you +12% Stamina and Magicka Recovery while an Animal Companions skill is slotted. The wording is important, because it means that Flourish is only active if the bar you’re on has an Animal Companion skill. If Minor Vulnerability is already covered and you don’t have a use for any other Animal Companion ability, you can slot Eternal Guardian on your frontbar, giving you similar recovery than having Reviving Barrier slotted. The effect of the extra stamina recovery is usually negligible, but can be nice to have in Stamina intensive fights.
🟩 Green Balance 🟩
▫️ Budding Seeds: This ranged placeable ability is a cheap and very strong AoE HoT, complete with a finishing AoE Burst and a HoT synergy. The HoT portion’s total healing done is about three-quarters of Springs, but over a much shorter 6 seconds, giving it stronger scaling. Seeds can be recasted early to activate the finishing AoE burst but it’s generally advised to let it run out by itself. The synergy provides yet another ST HoT for the activator, and can be helpful to take some pressure off for tanks. Seeds’ large radius, being able to be cast from range and synergy make it an extremely useful and potent skill.
▫️ Corrupting Pollen: The other morph of Budding Seeds. This removes the HoT and the burst can’t be activated earlier but it applies Major Defile to player opponents in the area, which can be preferable in PvP where the HoT ticks aren’t as powerful.
Accelerated Growth [Passive]: Provides Major Mending for 4 seconds upon healing an ally under 40% Health with a Green Balance ability. This makes Wardens quite strong for vSS/vSE Tombs and vCR Baneful since those mechanics guarantee allies’ Health dropping under 40%.
Nature’s Gift [Passive]: Restores 250 Stamina or Magicka (your lowest resource at the moment) every time you heal someone with a Green Balance ability, once per second. In conjunction with Budding Seeds as a consisten HoT this gives Wardens some more sustain.
Emerald Moss [Passive]: Provides +2% Healing Done to your Green Balance abilities for each Green Balance ability slotted on your current bar. Since healing skills are already quite powerful, this isn’t usually something you will have to pay too much attention to.
Maturation [Passive] : Anytime you heal an ally, with any skill, their maximum health increases by 10% for 20 seconds. This just requires any healing ability, Budding Seeds, Energy Orb or just Illustrious Healing are ideal for how little effort they take.
🟩 Winter’s Embrace 🟩
Permafrost [Ultimate]: Summon an icy storm around you, providing allies with Major Protection while snaring enemies and applying the Chilled status effect (which can turn into Minor Brittle if you have a frost staff on your active bar!). While this Ultimate doesn’t see a use in Pve, it can be used in counter tactics in PvP.
▫️ Expansive Frost Cloak: Provides allies within 36 meters with Major Resolve, a very strong defensive buff. More often than not they’ll notice the difference from those juicy resistances - this is especially helpful for DDs on classes that don’t have Major Resolve or self-healing built into their usual DD toolkits.
▫️ Winter’s Revenge: A potent AoE DoT. Useful when trying to do a bit more damage while parse-healing or to keep up the ice compartment of EC.
▫️ Shimmering Shield: With this unique skill you gain Major Heroism for 6 seconds after absorbing a projectile, up to three times, each time refreshing the duration of the previous Major Heroism. While this skill can’t be effectively used in most content, it can be useful to gain some extra Ultimate if you’re responsible to stack the mage during the Reef Guardian fight in vDSR or when stacking the adds on the first boss in vLC. It also shines in PvP as defensive tool.
TLDR:
- Healing Springs vs Illustrious Healing: With recent testing we learned that Healing Springs does not smart target on each single tick, but Illustrious Healing does. With this knowledge Illustrious Healing should always be the preferred morph. Read through <#1248427339008839784> for more information.
- If your partner has group buffs overlapping with you, talk it out to split the work, for example:
- Overflowing Altar only needs to be cast from one support. Either coordinate who casts it or keep it on your bars just in case.
- Minor Intellect/Endurance list of convenience: Arcanist > Templar > Nightblade > Sorc > Warden
- Minor Vulnerability list of convenience: Necro > Scribing: Ulfsild’s Contingency (Growing Impact signature) > Arcanist > Warden > Nightblade
Changelog:
- Echoing Vigor added to staple skills.
- Changed Illustrious Healing to preferred morph.
