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.

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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.

Two-Handed weapons in The Elder Scrolls Online unlock a skill tree that can grants 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.

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.

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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, deal AoE damage through 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.

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 to.

Two-Handed and One-Handed weapons take too long to get into the right range, and while Bow abilities won't compete for Magicka, Destruction Staffs just put out more damage in a shorter time.

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.

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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 ard ability 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.

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.

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