One of the major draws for players in The Elder Scrolls Online is the game's treatment of classes. Players are able to spec into any role with any of the game's six available classes. This means a Dragonknight can stay behind and play support, while a Necromancer takes blows in the fray.
Some classes are, of course, more suited to certain roles than others. When it comes to Support roles, the player is expected to prioritize healing and enhancing the party over combat. Warden and Templar classes tend to outrank the others in this respect. All classes are perfectly viable, though, for normal progression and end-game content. Here are some of the game's best support builds.
6 Dragonknight: "Obsidian" Build
The Dragonknight is a class typically associated with tanking and dealing damage. Pairing its innate Earthen Heart tree with the Restoration Staff tree, as well as a few other skill trees, turns the Dragonknight into a party-boosting powerhouse of buffs and debuffs. The "Obsidian" build created by Alcast HQ does exactly this.
The Dragonknight swaps their two-handed sword for a Restoration Staff as the main-hand weapon, and a Destruction staff on the back. It's Magicka-oriented and includes skills like Radiating Regeneration, Illustrious Healing, and Fragmented Shield for both healing and shielding allies. However, this build does requires a lot of maintenance. Although it will take a player through just about everything in the game without struggle, it's not quite as effective as other Support builds in the game.
5 Necromancer: "Scourge" Build
The multi-faceted Necromancer class is one of the few classes able to take on any of the three primary roles with ease. Its Living Death tree in particular is home to a variety of Support-based skills. Combined with Restoration and Destruction staff abilities, these can ironically turn the Necromancer into the party healer. Alcast HQ's "Scourge" build is an effective base for this type of play.
The Renewing Animation ultimate morph is particularly useful for its instantaneous ability to resurrect allies where they fell. Additionally, as long as the Necromancer is alive, it means bosses won't regenerate health. The Scourge build also makes heavy use of the Spirit Guardian ability with the Undead Confederate passive, as well as several typical healing-oriented spells from the Restoration Staff tree. These abilities, paired with several buffs and debuffs unique to the class, make a Necromancer one of the stronger options for the Support role.
4 Nightblade: "Transfusion" Build
The Nightblade is almost exclusively oriented around dealing damage in its three class-exclusive skill trees, though the Siphoning tree does offer some interesting Support-oriented skills. The "Transfusion" build created by DoctorSarge of Dottz Gaming makes use of the Siphoning skill tree in combination with typical healing skills.
The Nightblade's support skills are based on self-sacrifice and draining life from opponents, with skills like Healthy Offering and Funnel Health exclusive to the Siphoning tree. The Transfusion build is one of the few that also puts focus into dealing decent damage in close combat for several skills. Additionally, the flourishes and playstyle of the Nightblade make it more interesting to play.
3 Sorcerer: PvP "Spellbinder" Build
The Sorcerer has a few Support-oriented skills in its toolkit. Still, most players consider it the least effective class for the role – at least when it comes to PvE content like dungeons and trials. However, when it comes to PvP, the "Spellbinder" build created by FrozyESO is great for disrupting enemies and supporting allies in Cyrodil's world PvP.
For damage and crowd control, it primarily uses the Streak ability to stun swathes of enemies all at once (which also repositions the Sorcerer). The Mystic Orb skill is best used upon finishing the Streak ability, as enemies will take constant damage and still be unable to move for its duration. When it comes to Support skills, Cleanse should be used pretty much constantly. Finally, the class' unique Power Surge ability grants healing to nearby allies as well as Minor Brutality and Minor Sorcery.
2 Templar: "Holy Light" Build
The Templar is one of the two classes with plenty of Support skills right from the get-go. As the name suggests, the Templar is much like a traditional RPG Paladin. These characters take damage as effortlessly as they provides buffs to the party. The "Holy Light" created by DoctorSarge of Dottz Gaming is both beginner-friendly and extremely powerful in the Support role.
The Dawn's Wrath and Restoring Light skill trees are particularly suited to the Templar's support-oriented skills. The Breath of Life ability is a multi-target heal, Purifying Light is a damaging and healing AoE spell, and the Extended Ritual spell heals and cleanses allies at the same time. The "Holy Light" build is a great guide, but ultimately it's a class for whom Support comes very naturally. Players will find that most Support-oriented Templar builds are similarly effective.
1 Warden: "Blossom" Build
The Warden class also has a huge variety of party-wide support skills and crowd control abilities that make it a top choice for the Support role. The Green Balance and Animal Companions trees focus on healing and damaging crowd control, respectively. The "Blossom" build by Alcast HQ puts both of these to use.
The build makes use of the Enchanted Growth, Blue Berry, Enchanted Forest, and Expansive Frost Cloak abilities. These provide a variety of benefits to party members. Additionally, the Elemental Drain and Fetcher Infection abilities both provide major debuffs on enemies. Wardens function on the edge of combat by design, as they are typically oriented to combat with Bows. This playstyle translates well to the Support role, where the Warden trades in their bow for a Restoration Staff and Destruction Staff.