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Warden Class in ESO - Everything you need to know! header

Warden Class in ESO - Everything you need to know!

Warden Class in ESO - Everything you need to know!

Wardens in ESO are a very versatile class because they can fulfil any role while being really good at it for both PvE and PvP. For more information please see the content below for the Warden in ESO.

ESO Warden Class overview showcase

Wardens in ESO are defenders of the Green, master storytellers whose nature tales become magical reality. Wardens in ESO are excellent healers and tanks, but only decent damage dealers. Manipulate the wilds and summon powerful beasts with the Warden, a versatile Class that draws from the power of nature itself. When playing a Warden in ESO, you can unleash the fury of the wilds upon unsuspecting intruders, wrap your allies in the healing power of the Green, and encase yourself in impenetrable, protective frost.

Available with the Morrowind Collector's Pack or Warden Class upgrade in the Crown Store. If you want to learn more about all classes that you can play in ESO please visit the Classes Overview Page.

Warden Class Introduction


Wardens are a relatively popular class in-game, as many favor them for healing or tanking. Overall, they are very well liked for ESO endgame content, such as harder 4-man groups or trial-groups. Below you can find a list of the pros and cons of the Warden class in ESO.

Pros:
  • beginner friendly
  • Excellent at tanking and healing
  • great solo class
  • can summon pets to help
  • easy to learn class
  • unique buff Minor Toughness only available to Warden

Cons:
  • DPS builds are mediocre at dealing damage
  • Can be a bit hard in regards to managing resources



DPS Warden Pros and Cons


DPS Wardens are an excellent solo class. They have many survival tools and excellent self-sustaining abilities. Due to their Warden bear pet, they even have their built in tank and it offers a lot of DPS on its own.

Pros:
  • easy rotation
  • pet can absorb damage
  • hard hitting class abilities
  • great healing capabilities
  • good solo spec

Cons:
  • some abilities have a short buff duration


Healer Warden Pros and Cons


Wardens are excellent healers, which is also the reason why most of the Wardens that you see around play as a healer. The Warden has a whole class skill line dedicated to healing called Green Balance.

Pros:

Cons:
  • no single target burst heal


Tank Warden Pros and Cons


Wardens are excellent tanks, they are the second most class played as a tank. Wardens are also often used as off-tanks in 12 player trials because they can apply lots of buffs and debuffs.

Pros:
  • good resource management
  • great group support
  • good self healing

Cons:
  • crowd control requires good targeting


Warden Class Skill Lines explained


Next we are going to take a look at the three class skill lines that the Warden has. Of course you can use any skill line available in the game to create your own playstyle. Most, if not all builds do use a mix between class and non class skill lines.

You can find a full list of all the Warden class skill lines on the Warden Skills Overview Page.

Animal Companions Skill Line

Animal Companions skill line for Warden in ESO
The Animal Companions skill line is part of the Warden toolkit and has a focus on damage abilities. Call forth beasts to strike your enemies and empower your attacks, including shrieking cliff racers, monstrous bears, and swarms of stinging fetcherflies.

Its Ultimate ability is Feral Guardian. This Ultimate lets you summon a permanent pet for as long as it is alive or you desummon it. It deals constant damage and has an automatic stun ability. Additionally, you can activate a high damage ability for a small amount of Ultimate, as well as causing more damage to enemies below 25% health. Eternal Guardian is one of its morphs and causes the grizzly to instantly respawn upon death. Wild Guardian Increases the damage and converts it into Physical Damage.
Betty Netch and its morphs are an incredibly useful skill in this tree as it helps you restore ressources for as long as it is active. Watch this video to see how it’s used.

Green Balance Skill Line

Green Balance skill line for Warden in ESO
The Green Balance skill line is focused on healing abilities. Maintain balance on the battlefield by drawing from nature to shroud your allies in soothing vines, sprout healing flowers from the earth, and even summon an enchanted forest

Its Ultimate ability is Secluded Grove. It creates a very large AoE (Area of Effect) heal, instantly healing all targets that stand in it. It also provides an incredibly strong HoT (Heal over Time) for some time. Enchanted Forest generates additional Ultimate if the initial heal iss used on a low health target. Healing Thicket is a morph that makes the healing over time continue to heal you and your allies after leaving the area.
Healing Seed and its morphs are an incredibly useful skill in this tree. Watch this video to see how it’s used.

Winter's Embrace Skill Line

Winter's Embrace skill line for Warden in ESO
The third and last skill line of the Warden-focused skill lines is called Winter's Embrace and is focused on defensive and damage abilities. Wield powerful frost magic spells to bolster your defenses and enfeeble your enemies, hindering them in a withering, unrelenting cold.

Its Ultimate ability is Sleet Storm. It creates a large AoE around you, dealing a lot of damage and reducing the movement speed of enemies. You and your allies also gain Major Protection. Northern Storm increases your Max Magicka after activating the Ultimate ability. And Permafrost increases the snare potency and applies the Chilled status effect to enemies hit.
Arctic Wind and its morphs are a very useful skill in this tree. Watch this video to see how it’s used.

Warden Class Builds for ESO


Below you can find a full list of common Warden builds. If you are a new player we do recommend starting with the beginner guides. However, you can also go take a look at the endgame builds to see what the class can look like when you reach the endgame.

Beginner Warden Class Guides & Builds


The Beginner Warden guides and builds are meant for new players. They introduce you to the Warden class and give you a good starting point for your adventure in ESO.

Magicka Warden Guide
Magicka Warden Beginner 160CP
Build Stamina Warden Guide
Stamina Warden Beginner 160CP Build

PvE Solo Warden Class Builds


The PvE Solo Warden builds are optimized for solo gameplay. The builds below have a good balance between damage, survivability, healing and movement. Everything you need to get through ESO alone. Of course, you can also use these solo builds in a group, especially useful in random groups.

Magicka Grind Build
Stamina Grind Build
Solo Magicka Warden Build
Solo Stamina Warden Build

PvE Dungeon & Trial META Warden Cla ss Builds


The Meta Warden builds listed below are meant to be played in a group. The Meta Warden builds have a very cookie cutter approach and rely heavily on other group members.

Magicka Warden DPS
Stamina Warden DPS DW/Bow
Stamina Warden DPS 2H/Bow
Warden Healer
Warden Tank
Werewolf Build

If you are interested in PvP, you can take a closer look at this page, as it lists a variety of PvP builds and explains them in detail.


Is the Warden Class Beginner Friendly?

Wardens are very beginner friendly. Right at the start of your journey you gain access to a hard hitting ability called Dive, you also gain access to Frost Cloak which increases your resistances and you get a heal called Fungal Growth. These abilities are all in the first slot of the respective class skill line.

A bit later on you will also get access to your first ultimate ability called Feral Guardian, which is a pet and can also take aggro from enemies. So you kind of get your own tank buddy. Later you will also gain access to Crystallized Shield which is another defensive ability and Living Vines that heal you. More damage will come along thanks to Scorch and Swarm. And sustain also won't be too big of an issue thanks to Betty Netch.


Magicka Warden Damage Dealer Showcase


Magicka Wardens are powerful magicka users which have a lot of good class abilities and passives. Some of the best passives for a Magicka Warden are: Savage Beast, Flourish, Advanced Species, Glacial Presence, Icy Aura, Piercing Cold and Maturation. Some of the most used class abilities as a Magicka Warden are: Screaming Cliff Racer, Deep Fissure, Fetcher Infection, Blue Betty and Bird of Prey.

The video below shows the Solo Magicka Warden Build in action, clearing the veteran mode Vateshran Hollows Arena.



Stamina Warden Damage Dealer Showcase


Stamina Wardens in ESO are good damage dealers. They have access to class abilities such as Wild Guardian, Cutting Dive, Subterranean Assault, Growing Swarm, Bull Netch and Bird of Prey.

In the first part of the video below (00:00 to 00:30) you can see some gameplay of the Solo Stamina Warden Build.



Healer Warden Showcase


Wardens are very powerful healers and also the most used spec on the Warden class. They are most commonly used because they have very powerful passives and great class healing abilities. They also have a full class skill line dedicated to healing alone. Some of the best class healing and support abilities are: Secluded Grove, Enchanted Growth, Budding Seeds, Leeching Vines, Nature's Embrace, Blue Betty and Expansive Frost Cloak. Passives worth mentioning are: Flourish, Icy Aura, Accelerated Growth, Nature's Gift, Emerald Moss and Maturation.

Below you can find a video to see a Warden Healer Build in action, the video is from the VanaEvr youtube channel.



Tank Warden Showcase


Warden Tanks are very powerful and also very commonly used. The Warden class also has full class skill line dedicated to tanking, for example Frozen Device lets you teleport enemies to your location, making crowd control very easy. Warden tanks can also provide a lot of support to the group. Warden class abilities that are worth mentioning are: Ice Fortress, Arctic Blast, Shimmering Shield, Frozen Device, Leeching Vines and Bull Netch.

For more information on the Warden Tank I do recommend checking out the Warden Tank Build.

Related pages

ESO Skills Library - All ESO Skills header
ESO Skills Library - All ESO Skills
All ESO Skills, full library of all the available Elder Scrolls Online skills. Learn more about Dragonknight, Nightblade, Sorcerer and many more ...
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All races and classes in ESO!
This is an extensive guide to all races and classes in ESO! Whatever you want to know, you can find it here!
ESO Classes - All Elder Scrolls Online Classes header
ESO Classes - All Elder Scrolls Online Classes
ESO Classes - Everything you need to know about classes in ESO (Elder Scrolls Online). A complete overview page about all the classes: Dragonknight, Sorcerer, Nightblade, Templar, Warden and Necromancer.

Frequently asked questions

What race is best for Warden in ESO?

It all depends on how you want to play your character. For tanking, Nords, Argonians and Imperials are great. For healing, Bretons, Altmer and Argonians bring a lot to the table. As DPS, Orc, Khajiit, Dunmer and Altmer are really good!

Is Warden a good class ESO?

Every class can be a good class in ESO. It all depends on your personal playstyle and whether you choose PvE or PvP. Generally speaking, it's a very good class, especially at tanking and healing.

Is a Breton Warden good?

A Breton is really good at magicka DPS or healing, as their passives support these builds the most.

Is Nord good for Warden?

A Nord is exceptionally good at tanking, as their passives support these kind of builds the best.

Is Imperial good for Warden?

An Imperial  is exceptionally good at tanking, as their passives support these kind of builds the best.

Is Altmer good for Warden?

An Altmer is really good at magicka DPS, as their passives support these builds the most.

Is Dunmer good for Warden?

Dunmer are pretty versatile and good at basically everything, even if they aren't really specialized. Especially their fire damage passive is pretty great!

Is Khajiit good for Warden?

Khajiit are pretty versatile and good at basically everything, even if they aren't really specialized. Their strongest capability is possibly their crit passive.

Is Argonian good for Warden?

Argonians have great passives when it comes to tanking and healing, so that they make great tanks and healers, even in PvP.

Is Bosmer good for Warden?

A Bosmer's racial passives are more targeted towards DPS, especially Stamina DPS. Which makes them not necessarily ideal for tanks or healers.

Is Redguard good for Warden?

Redguard's racial passives are more targeted to either tanks or Stamina DPS. Even though their skills are even better for tanking.

Is Orc good for Warden?

Orcs are exceptionally good at dealing damage. Their passives are especially targeted at Stamina DPS, but they can also be a good choice for Magicka DPS.

What is the best tank class in ESO?

Nords, Imperials and Argonians are really great as tanks in ESO. All of them have great racial passives that support a tanking role.

What is the best healer class in ESO?

Breton, Altmer and Argonians are really great as healers in ESO. All of them have great racial passives that support a healing role.

What is the best DPS class in ESO?

For Stamina, Orcs, Bosmer and Khajiit are the best. For Magicka, Altmer, Khajiit and Breton are really great!

Can Warden use magic?

Yes, every class can use magic. It is called Magicka in ESO and is a stat that every race and class has.

What weapon should a Warden use?

It all depends on your playstyle. Tanks usually wield a shield and one-hand weapon, whereas Stamina DPS use either daggers or axes and Magicka DPS use staves, as well as healers.

What's the best class in ESO?

It all depends on your playstyle and what you want to achieve in ESO. There's no "one class is the best" as it all depends on the build and whether you want to play it in PvE or PvP.
The Wardens are worshippers of Y'ffre and defenders of the Green. They are master storytellers whose nature tales become magical reality. Wardens weave spells to cause plants and fungi to grow rapidly. They can also call animals to come to their aid, and wield frost spells to combat their foes.

Wardens are often erroneously assumed to be nothing more than militant Wood Elf priests known as Spinners, though this is far from the truth. Both groups may worship Y'ffre, but Wardens are more than willing to shed the blood of those who seek to harm the wilds. There have been reports of Wardens attacking gangs and even full outposts in retaliation for harm done to Y'ffre's domain. Wardens draw upon the environment to change and shape reality, and cast powerful spells utilizing conjuration or alteration magic, which is again different from their counterparts found in Valenwood. The Wardens as a whole do not bow to any specific organized group or guild.

Wardens are also not typically Bosmer, in spite of misconceptions. Members of all races have been found protecting Tamriel's wilds. They do not follow the Green Pact either (excluding those who are both Warden and Wood Elf), as they're willing to make full use of nature's bounty to survive. As a matter of fact, one of the only Wardens whose identity has been made public is Boldekh, a Redguard warrior on Nature's behalf who was sent by Vivec to help Naryu Virian assassinate the grandmaster of the Morag Tong.

At some point in history before the Alliance War, a Wayrest blacksmith began to breed bears in honor of a fallen Warden. The Psijic Order created magical gauntlets named after them, suited to the usage of Nature-based magic. In the Second Era, tattoos symbolizing the intertwining of all life forms were popular among those who feel a connection with Nature in Tamriel, including Wardens.

Sometime in 2E 582, King Camoran was asked to send Wardens to a valley in the Tenmar mountains, for it to be cleansed of Maarselok's taint.


Versatile Champion of the Wilds


The Warden class is an adaptable, support-orientated option for players who want to be able to fill a specific role while simultaneously providing assistance to others. If you are interested in a class that uses the wilds of Tamriel to protect, heal, or deal damage (occasionally all at the same time) the Warden is for you.

“The nature-based class was a core player fantasy that we hadn't fulfilled with the four classes that currently exist," says the Warden's Lead Designer Eric Wrobel. “So we wanted to give people the ability to express themselves that way."

Like nature itself, the Warden is an irresistible, chaotic force in battle, able to summon fierce animals, sprout healing plants from the ground, or cloak themselves and others in protective ice.

The inspiration for the character's design in part comes from traditional nature-based archetypes and in part from the Elder Scrolls' Spinners – the Wood Elf priests of Y'ffre who use storytelling to preserve Bosmer culture.

“The most important thing about the Warden's visual style is that it's very natural and organic looking," Wrobel says. “When we were building its abilities, we often modified them to look wild and spontaneous. We didn't want the abilities to feel synthetic."

This core philosophy can be found in every aspect of the Warden's design, including abilities, effects, and animations. For example, when activating the ultimate Wild Guardian, you'll notice your Warden summons the war bear with smooth natural motions, and when casting Healing Seed, the plants appear to sprout at random from the earth, just as they might in the natural world.

The Warden also stands unique in The Elder Scrolls Online as an ally-focused class that finds creative ways to benefit their group-mates regardless of their primary skill line or role. For example, Frost Cloak gives you and nearby allies Major Ward and Major Resolve, resulting in a serious buff to the party's defense, and Enchanted Growth grants your allies Minor Intellect and Minor Endurance, increasing both Magicka and Stamina regeneration.

No matter what skill lines you pursue, you'll always be an asset to your fellow adventurers with the Warden.

Draw Power from Nirn itself


At first glance, the Warden's three skill lines appear relatively easy to identify (Animal Companions for damage, Green Balance for healing, and Winter's Embrace for tanking), making them welcoming to newcomers and experienced veterans alike.

"With the Warden's skill lines, we wanted to communicate more clearly what each skill is about and what you're going to get if you invest in that line," Wrobel says. “With some of the other classes in ESO, the skill lines can do a little of this and a little that, and a lot of them need to rely on weapon abilities in order to fulfill a specific role. This is the first time we've made it as clear cut, which we think players will appreciate."

The fact that the skill lines seem straightforward doesn't mean that the Warden will be easy for you to play. In fact, the Warden's abilities require various levels of finesse, featuring their fair share of skill shots or tricky, timed effects. For example, Scorch summons three Shalks in a straight line after a three-second delay. This allows you to pull off some big-time burst damage, but it also requires precise timing and positioning in order to execute. By comparison, Dive sends a shrieking Cliff Racer at a targeted enemy for some simple direct damage.

In some cases, the amount of skill required to effectively use an ability increases after you have morphed it. While Fungal Growth simply requires you to look at allies to heal them, after morphing it to Soothing Spores, your heal strength is increased if they are nearby, meaning you'll need to focus on positioning and team coordination to get the most out of it.

Your Warden can be exactly as complex or as simple as you want it to be, and the new class permits a host of unique builds for various levels of play.

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