Templars in The Elder Scrolls Online excel at three things: taking damage, dealing damage, and healing damage. They are a multi-faceted class with equal emphasis on all three traditional party roles and thus are suited to the skill trees of just about every weapon in The Elder Scrolls Online.
The class's three skill trees, Aedric Spear, Dawn's Wrath, and Restoring Light, are each oriented around a different aspect of the Templar. Depending on the role one wants to play in a party setting, though, the choice of weapon in both the primary slot and secondary slot is an important decision.
Updated January 2, 2022 by Erik Petrovich: Templars can play a lot of roles, but some weapons (and weapon Skill Trees) are just more useful than others. The Dual Wielding Skill Tree was missing from this ranking previously, now included towards the back of the list. This is because Templars, while good in close combat, thrive when given plenty of Tanking and Support abilities alongside their normal skillset. While it's perfectly possible to try a Dual Wield build as a Templar, other weapons in Elder Scrolls Online are more natural fits for the class for their more useful abilities, passives, and morphs.
Two-Handed Weapons: Greatswords, Battle Axes, Mauls
- Berserker Strike: Powerful cleaving Ultimate that ignores enemy Physical Resistance. Unlocked at Two Handed Rank 50.
- Brawler: Morph for Cleave. Deals damage in front of the player and creates a shield based on the number of enemies hit. Unlocked at Two Handed Rank 14 and Cleave Rank 4.
- Rally: Morph for Momentum. Grants Major Brutality and Minor Endurance, increasing damage and Stamina recovery, and heals upon expiration. Unlocked at Two Handed Rank 38 and Momentum Rank 4.
Two-Handed weapons in The Elder Scrolls Online unlock a skill tree that can grant what can only be described as Berserker-like abilities. The DPS-focused skill tree grants skills like Berserker Strike, an immensely powerful cleave ultimate, as well as self-buffs in the Brawler and Rally. The Templar skill tree gives plenty of damaging abilities, but Two-Handed weapons unlock some powerful close-combat skills that DPS-oriented Templars can't do without.
Damage is not the Templar's go-to role, that would be either Tanking or Support, thanks to the class's great party buffing and self-sustaining skills in its Dawn's Wrath and Restoring Light skill trees. However, if a Templar player wants to spec purely into bashing their opponents' skulls in with their melee might, a Two-Handed weapon is the best option for the primary weapon slot.
Ranged Physical: Bows
- Focused Aim:
- Volley:
- Accuracy (Passive):
For most classes, Bows are looked upon in a very similar light: great as a secondary weapon, but not for the primary slot (aside from the Warden class). Templars excel when they can be in the fray of combat and can pump out cleaves, AoE abilities, and Tanking abilities while allies focus on taking foes down. Bows are, unfortunately, just better at a range.
However, the Bow skill tree gives enough utility to the Templar that its skill tree works well for the back ability bar. The Bow can debuff enemies with the Focused Aim morph, deal AoE damage with the Volley ability, and even grants increased critical strike rating across the board in the Accuracy passive. Keep a Bow in the secondary slot as a Templar to get combat initiated much earlier than usual, but also consider that a lot of the abilities unlocked in the weapons' skill tree are Stamina-based, which will compete with many Templar morphs.
Dual Wielding: Axes, Swords, Maces, Daggers
- Bloodthirst:
- Whirlwind:
- Blade Cloak:
Templars excel at all three traditional roles in an MMO, but it tends towards Tanking more than others. The Dual Wielding Skill Tree should theoretically be a perfect fit for its mix of damaging abilities, crowd control, and self-sustain. However, it's not nearly as powerful as other options for the Templar, and some self-healing and support abilities in the tree overlap with Class Skills for the Templar.
Dual Wielding has the capability to make a player much more hardy through its many self-healing effects, though. The Flurry ability morph Bloodthirst heals a significant amount of health while also dealing decent damage, a good pairing for a close combat Templar, while Whirlwind and Blade Cloak grant AoE damage in close range for the class.
Ranged Magical: Lightning Staffs, Inferno Staffs, Ice Staffs
- Wall of Elements: Creates a Wall that deals 90 Magic Damage every second. The form of the wall varies with the type of staff equipped. Unlocked at Destruction Staff Rank 4.
- Weakness to Elements: Applies Major Breach to an enemy, reducing their Spell Resistance. Unlocked at Destruction Staff Rank 20.
The Destruction Staff skill tree, unlocked through the use of Lightning, Inferno, and Ice staffs, is one of the more powerful damage-oriented skill trees in The Elder Scrolls Online. Templars are a great Support class, one of the go-tos for its Restoring Light skill tree – while Support should use Restoration Staffs in the primary slot, having a Destruction staff in the secondary slot is a must.
Support Templars using the Restoration Staff skill tree will find it relatively easy to keep a party alive and thriving and still have time to get a few hits of their own in. Because Support Templars are typically already at a range, it only makes sense to also spec into the Destruction Staff skill tree for maximum damage output when the party doesn't need attending. Some great abilities to spec into are Wall of Elements, which is both a damaging and supporting spell, and Weakness to Elements, which reduces Spell Resistance significantly.
Ranged Support: Restoration Staffs
- Radiating Regeneration: Morph for Regeneration. Heals 3 allies over 10 seconds. Unlocked at Restoration Staff Rank 4 and Regeneration Rank 4.
- Combat Prayer: Morph for Blessing of Protection. Increases party damage and resistances for 8 seconds. Unlocked at Restoration Staff Rank 14 and Blessing of Protection Rank 4.
- Healing Ward: Morph for Steadfast Ward. Heals and creates a shield for the weakest ally whose strength is based on their missing health. Unlocked at Restoration Staff Rank 20 and Steadfast Ward Rank 4.
The two primary roles for Templars in The Elder Scrolls Online are Tank and Support, that is to say, the guy that takes hits and the guy that heals them. When playing into the Support role, the Restoration Staff is the best option for the primary slow by a landslide for its powerful group heals. Though Templars have access to good healing abilities in the Restoring light tree, the Restoration Staff tree is more specialized to the task.
The Combat Prayer ability, for one, is a must-equip for any Support player looking to buff and heal their allies at the same time. The Radiating Regeneration ability is a powerful AoE heal, and the Healing Ward morph can save a player from certain death. The Templar's Rushed Ceremony and Ritual of Retribution achieve similar effects and can be mixed and matched according to the player's preference.
One-Handed Weapons: Axes, Swords, Maces, Daggers
- Ransack: Morph for Puncture, Taunts an enemy, applies Minor Fracture, and reduces incoming damage by 5%. Unlocked at One Handed and Shield Rank 2 and Puncture Rank 4.
- Heroic Slash: Morph for Low Slash. Deals damage, applies Minor Maim reducing damage, and grants 1 Ultimate per second. Unlocked at One Handed and Shield Rank 4 and Low Slash Rank 4.
- Shield Discipline: Morph for Shield Wall Ultimate. Blocks every attack for no Stamina cost for 8 seconds. Unlocked at One Handed and Shield Rank 50 and Shield Wall Rank 4.
While Templars are great in the Support role, they are best when they can be up front taking hits so the rest of the party doesn't have to worry about it. The One-Handed and Shield skill tree in The Elder Scrolls Online is, in many ways, the game's dedicated tanking tree – at least when it comes to direct combat abilities. Templars have amazing self-sustain, too, which add up to make the best Tanking class in the game.
The One-Handed and Shield skill tree grants the Ransack ability, which generates additional threat on enemies, as well as the Heroic Slash and Shield Discipline abilities which improve resource generation and blocking potential, respectively. Tanking Templars tend to pair this weapon skillset with Heavy Armor for its pure defensive capabilities, though Medium Armor can be effective for movement too, as long as the player keeps an eye on their health.