Mobile Legends Tank Item Build Guide

by TeoVerunda

I’m going to talk about how to build tank correctly, putting today’s meta, and today’s broken heroes into consideration, so that you’re sorry butt can tank just enough for your teams broken heroes, to kill their broken heroes. Because tanks in ML don’t actually survive teamfights, and you’re gonna have to accept that.

So, about the meta, to put it briefly. Marksmen are the fucking scum of the Earth, and that means the only viable emblem is the “Max Armor emblem” or just simply 3-3-1st build for your tank emblem. The percent armor is very good to max out as that means your Hero actually fucking scales to the late game, legit after following my build check around 17mins and your Armor will be around >400 or so.

But then you’ll ask, but how about Mages man. And to that I answer the first Core Item on our list is:

Athena Shield (2050g) This is the only item you’ll ever need to Tank for a lineup with one mage in it. (Exercise common sense when you’re up against 5 mages in brawl course build max magic def.) It gives you HP, the highest amount magic def in the game, and HP regen. And a shield on top of it that counts to your max HP. And the bonus HP and shield acts as a good base for early game tanking when paired with-

Warrior Boots (690g) This item is a must for tanks these days, because for their value for money, 3 of these pairs of boots give 12 more armor than a full Antique Cuirass, but the real game winner is our next item.

Dreadnought Armor (730g) The little brother of Antique Cuirass and the forgotten cousin of Dominance Ice, this will be your most important item and a sign you’re on the right track to Tankiness, for almost the same price as Warrior Boots you get almost double the Armor at 40 and one of the most valuable effects for the Tank. Damage reduction, yes when you get damaged by enemies, Dreadnought Armor reduces BOTH the physical and magical damage of Opponents, now now, I know it says 4% but it stacks thrice, giving 12% Damage reduction from both types.

From here on out the build splits into two, you can upgrade Dreadnought Armor into;

Dominance Ice (2160g) This, my friends is our answer to the tank meta, what do most of these marksmen have in common? They can hit FAST, they can hit HARD, and they can kill YOU. But, these Bruno’s, Wanwans and Lesleys will all be fucked by this Item, it gives you 70 Armor, 10% cooldown reduction 10% crit reduction very important and most of all, it gives the enemy marksmen 30% less attack speed, and of course we love percentages because they SCALE. And the best part is, after completing this item, you can buy another Dreadnought Armor instantly because it’s so fucking cheap. And I know, it doesn’t give HP (unless you’re a Hylos) but that’s why we built Athena shield. The last item you want to get next is-

Twilight Armor (2260g) This item gives no Armor, no CD reduction, gives less health than Guardian Helmet but it limits the Physical Attack taken when active to 900, which can be reduced by our earlier Items. This I consider to be a luxury item as, by the time you build this, you’re either clearly winning or losing, this will just fuck over those Basic Attack marksmen more than they have been.

It’s not over yet, I told you the build splits into two, what happens when the enemy goes Granger, Karrie or Kimmy? Attack speed won’t matter to them, and that’s where the build adjusts, go back to the first build, and instead of Dominance Ice, we keep Dreadnought Armor as is and build-

Blade Armor (1660g) Much cheaper than ol’ Dominance Ice, but we still spend 730g on the very important Dreadnought Armor so it evens out the same, with this on you can throw their punches back at them, and you will feel the same Damage Reduction you did with Domince Ice. We build this since the types of Marksmen tend to kill by bursting so that must be dealt with at all costs. Then our Luxury Item is-

Queen’s Wings (2250g) The ol’ crem dela crem, this item, when you don’t mind the stats actually saves your life more than Immortality. Why? Because of it’s active effect 50% Damage reduction is insane, and to top it off it triggers at 40% HP, that same trigger range of our emblems passive, and that is why Tanks should accept death or not fear it. As these passives trigger and actually lead to your survival.

And that wraps up my two builds, from here on out I’d like to talk about my opinion on the other Armor items not mentioned, as well as the battle spells I recommend for tanks.

Part 1: The “Other Tank items”

Thunderbelt (2290g) Don’t buy this, this is for Semi-Tank fighters that take advantage of the passive, and even Belerick won’t need this, waste of money, Tanks don’t farm.

Cursed Helmet (1830g) The passive isn’t worth, you are not the damage dealer, and if you’re buying this for magic def, buy Athena first, this gives 1200 flat HP when Athena can give max +2050 hp with the shield on top of the effective HP given by 62 magic armor. (The smaller item though, burning soul, I like building on Chou)

Guardian Helmet (2400g) To fellow Dota Players this is the carbon copy of Heart of Tarrasque, but is actually shit for the design of this game. It is the most expensive Tank Item in the game, and a Tank’s Money is limited. The passive isn’t worth it, if you survive a fight it’s either some of your allies are dead, of the enemies are monkeys and you’re gonna win either way.

Antique Cuirass (2170g) Another waste of money, just don’t get this guys trust me, keep the Dreadnought as is and if you went either of my builds and have nothing else to buy upgrade this to Dominance Ice for the second build or or sell it for another item for the first build.

Oracle (2110g) Only gets this when you’re an EELER , stats are shit for the price and Athena baby has got you covered.

Brute Force Breastplate (2120g) Again, stats are shit for the price, but I do get this occasionally when my tank does combos like a Khufra, Tigreal, Akai, Grock. And I build this as a first item on Baxia.

And finally, the most overated item for a Tank:

Immortality (2120g) Don’t get me wrong, this boi can make or break a game, when equiped on a Marksman or Xborg it could turn the tide of a battle. But on a Tank??? Nah. I’ve been fooled by the concept of being able to buy an Aegis (Hello my Dota Brothers) but honestly, in the moments before ressurection the enemy can easily clean out your team and leave you for dessert. Just trust me man, Queen’s Wings are they real deal.

Roaming Mask (280g) Just buy the first one, even after nerfs I don’t want to upgrade, money is needed elsewhere.

Part 2: Battle Spells

For Battle spells it is very simple. There are only 5 spells a tank should consider Taking.

1. Revitalize Get this when you’re tank creates a territory that the enemy has to fight through to get to your allies, examples are Belerick, Baxia, Uranus, and of course, the Immortal Hylos.
2. Flicker A mandatory spell for Tanks who need to land their game winning Ults. And for extra mobility to mount both an attack and escape. Examples: Tigreal (Duh), Mino, Lolita, Kufra, and Franco.
3. Flameshot The better version of execute, and a more versatile one, damage scales with range, if you’re good you can snipe an enemy recalling from the bush and proceed to spam (Good Game) in the chat, this can also be used as an eject button, for example you see a Chou dashing towards your MM, you can use you Flameshot to push the Chou away and force him to retreat or even kill him. There’s a special mention for Franco as using Flameshot on an enemy slows them, making easy setups for hooks. Examples: Any Tank actually.
4. Aegis (the shield one) If pushing them away isn’t or won’t be an option to save your allies you can use this instead, although counterable by Execute you can throw off an enemy using this and fuck them over. Example: Any Tank.
5. Arrival Arrival is simple, you do not use this to defend, that’s the Fighter’s Job, you use this to fight, survive on low HP, recall then immediately use Arrival to get back to the frontlines fully recharged and ready to fight. That is how you use this spell to the Max Potential. Example: Grock, Semi-Tank fighters.

Thank you so much for reading, sorry about my English! And if you have anything to say, let’s talk down in the comments.

TLDR: Hello, thanks for at least reading the TLDR version. All you need to know is you just need to take all the damage so you’re allies can deal all the damage. Marksmen are the scum of the Earth so build Armor, I have two builds.
1. Warrior Boots – Athena Shield – Dominance Ice – Dreadnought Armor – Twilight Armor – Queen’s Wings (Sell Roam Mask)
2. Warrior Boots – Athena Shield – Dreadnought Armor – Blade Armor – Queen’s Wings – Dominance Ice (Sell Roam Mask)
For emblem max out Armor and take 1st passive. Don’t buy Immortality, unless you want to be left for dessert. Choose whichever battle spell you want, use your brain. Good Luck climbing!