The Primal Sentinel - A Werewolf Tank for ESO
by Matt Johnson
Preamble
Update 42, that's when this build became viable. You see, before this update, the only way a werewolf could taunt an enemy was to use the Tormentor set and then use the pounce ability. This was clunky and difficult to use in practice. With Update 42, the deafening roar skill, when slotted, switches on the ability to taunt with heavy attacks or partial heavy attacks. At that point, the werewolf became a viable tank.
Below is my werewolf tank build as tested in many normal and veteran trials and dungeons. It has almost never been killed, and when it did go down (excluding wipe mechanics), it was due to my own mistake. Yes, werewolves are badly affected by poison, so you do need to watch what you're standing in, but so far I have not found this aspect of the build difficult to deal with.
Introduction
In my book, just being a werewolf should grab the attention of any monster in any event in Tamriel. I mean, come on, you're a 7-foot-tall mountain of muscle and teeth, far more of a threat than those bimbo sorcerers with their little Harry Potter wands.
But, and this is important, it's a game, and not every werewolf wants to tank. Indeed, your average mutt would get shredded at the first sign of a taunt, but not this beast; this dog means business!
So what can a werewolf bring to the party?
How about Major breach and minor maim for starters? Add to that setting the enemy off balance, giving major courage to the group, and finally applying the disease status effect. That's a pretty good toolkit, and we have yet to look at the sets, which we will do below, but they also add a group weapon and spell damage buff, a group damage reduction buff, a buff to healing by 11% and a further damage reduction buff of 20% for players below 50% health.
So the big mangy mutt brings a lot to the party, in fact. This build focuses on massive health, which can go over 60K, and staying alive whilst inflicting those buffs and debuffs to the group and the monster, respectively.
Without further ado, here is the Superstars layout for this build.
Be honest, you heard it howling in your mind when you saw this didn't you!
Build Discussion
Sets
The two main sets for this build to work are Lucent Echoes and Pearlescent Ward. Fortunately, they are both farmed from really fun trials. Lucent Echoes come from Lucent Citadel and Pearlescent Ward you will find in Dread Sail Reef. You can see from the descriptions below that these are mightily useful sets for a support character to use with PW being the best in slot for tanks at the moment.
Trainee adds to the health of the tank, and Death Dealer's Fete adds up to 2640 health, stamina and magicka to this build. The Superstars above were shot with 30 stacks of DDF, so you can see the full effect.
What this also means is that the Werewolf can actually do some damage too, and I've parsed this one at around 15-20K in trials, which isn't too shabby!
Buffed Stats, food and Potions
The nice thing about using heavy attacks is that it's rare for you to be out of any resource. If you do fall low it will be on magicka for healing.
Overall these are the best choices
Potion: Tri-stat or Crown Tri-Stat
Food: There are a few options here, but bearing in mind we want max health and good magicka without sacrificing our stamina then Purifying Bloody Mara actually gives us a huge amount of health and boosts our Magicka enough to be able to spam heals should we need to.
Rotation and how to play
This is a super-easy build to play. Obviously, it's only one bar until ZOS decide to show the werewolf some love, that's the way it is likely to remain.
So, when tanking, Pounce --> Heavy attack --> Roar --> Claws --> Heavy attack --> Roar --> Claws -- repeat
Why these skills?
ULTIMATE: Pack Leader: This is critical; it extends Werewolf downtime and adds two pets. It also grants nearby group members minor courage and finally increases stamina by 30% and reduces damage taken by 10%
Feral Pounce: Apart from the usual damage, this also recovers some stamina and extends dog time
Hircine's Fortitude: Health and Stamina recovery + huge heal, for example, I recover 27K health with one roar!
Deafening Howl: Switches on taunting with heavy attacks, this MUST be on the bar. Also sets the enemy off balance. Also adds Major Protection, Major Breach and minor Maim!!!
Howl of Agony: Used to finish off a boss or trash mobs, if another werewolf is applying terrified, it does more damage too.
Claws of Life: Adds the disease status effect, you also recover health based on a percentage of the damage this does.
Attributes: 64 in health
Build Notes:
Version: (dunno, but at least 4.0)
Date: November 2025
Race: Nord or Imperial for max resists
Anything you can't see - it's there, check the Superstars screenshot carefully
Will there be updates? - That will depend on ZOS. We all know they don't really like Werewolves that much. We've had the same boring skin for 10 years, for starters, so whilst the community keeps pushing, I don't hold my breath. If there are any updates, it is likely to be from the sets.
I hope you find this guide useful, feel free to hit me up in the game or Discord if you have any questions, you all know who I am.