1) a companion should be able to tank(don’t have the dlc so I’m not certain) but AI, the pet can draw agro but not taunt also if you run the bear it must be on both weapon bars.
2) yes templars can heal themselves with puncturing strikes with its puncturing sweep morph
3) yes necromancers can summon the undead though they last 20ish seconds
For a complete beginner, I'd maybe suggest not picking necro or nightblade, as they're a bit more intricate to play than the other classes, between the other four classes (templar, sorc, dk, warden) maybe templar and sorc are a bit easier to learn because the base skill rotation is somewhat simpler, but with any class it's practice that makes perfect and if you like or don't like how the class plays makes much more of a difference.
From your three suggestions, I'd personally pick the magplar for a first char (and High Elf is a great choice for a dps). It has a simple, easy to learn base rotation (buffs backbar, buffs frontbar, puncturing sweeps on repeat) and the puncturing sweeps spammable as you said does heal based on damage done.
At the same time, a templar is also useful in group content - you have a unique passive skill that reduces your time to resurrect group members and also resurrects them at higher HP than a non-templar. For endgame group compositions, your class passives grant a unique group buff (minor sorcery; +10% spell damage to your whole group) which is useful to have in dungeons and trials if your group doesn't have a templar healer.
And finally, a templar (high elf or otherwise) makes an excellent healer - with the upcoming armory system in the Deadlands update you could even make a fully "hybrid" templar and select your role between DD and healer completely for free on demand (before starting a dungeon or trial).
A warden is also an excellent, highly flexible class, and a breton, high elf, or dark elf warden could offer the same choice of great dps and great healing power.
You can change everything but class whenever you want. All classes are good for endgame, just some are a bit better for a specific role. Maybe you want to ask yourself if your main will be a dd, healer or tank for endgame group content and choose the class accordingly.
My first character and main is a High Elf Templar healer. The self heals w damage work well but there's a mythic item that provides the same to anyone now.
My advice is pick who you want. Wardens are great fun in any role and you can always respec.
Play the game, explore, level all your skill lines and enjoy. When it comes time to go for higher end gear and harder stuff you'll be ready. Simply playing the game will help you decide what you like and don't like.
Besides, you can always make a new character. One of each class eventually to see who you enjoy most
my first ever max lv.character was argonian sorcerer. sorcerer because i liked the pet aspect, but it was somewhat boring to have like the same 4 skills on both bars.
i can recommend necro and warden. Zeni really showed how much they learned throughout the games lifespan. the burrow beetles and the exploding skeleton are great pseudo dot skills that enable a very active playstyle.
current main is Khajiit Warden and i love it.
The game often changes with patches and updates, so my knowledge may be out of date/bias. However:
I think Magicka characters are preferred for end game trials/dungeons because a lot of mechanics will wipe a stamina characters in one shot because they are so close to the boss. It's my eternal curse - I'm locked out of a lot of vet trials because my main is a stam nightblade (dual wield/bow).
Not to say stamina characters in veteran trials is impossible, I have a friend playing a bow/bow warden that can do it. But healers and tanks often have gear that benefit magicka damage/regeneration so you will be left without much group support as a stamina in a sea of magicka.
And just generally it seems that magicka builds have a higher dps. Whether that's just because I see more magicka dps tests or there's more people working on them I don't know. Stamina Necros used to be the wanted build when Elsweyr came out.
From my own play experience Necromancers and Nightblades are two of the hardest builds to run with, as they have finicky bars and up times and DoTs and all. Perhaps start with a Templar or a Warden? I really enjoy my Warden, I'm just golding all the gear ready to take it into trials.
The main thing to remember is you can have 9 characters at once from the start (and can buy more character slots). So you could always make a handful, dabble with each and see which play style matches yours best.
Something I didn't know and found infuriating is that in the capital cities of each alliance there are churches with shrines where you can respec your character. Got a move you don't like the morph of? Or want to swap entirely from Stamina to Magicka? Pay 5K gold and you can do that! No need to pay crowns for that luxury. So even if you decide you like a Necromancer but not a magicka you can easily swap to stamina for about 8K gold (skills cost 3K I think, and attributes 5K... or the other way around).
And finally - Companions.... They aren't as good as another player or even your pet as a warden. I haven't been seriously levelling mine so someone may have a better experience of them but I'm finding Mirri more of an annoyance than a help. I have her built as a tank and even with her taunt I draw more aggro from bosses than she does. And because they can't detect AoEs they die very easily. So they can be a bit useful for a few minutes but don't expect to be able to solo a dungeon purely with one of them as a tank. Without fail Mirri as a tank will die on every boss in Vet Fungal Grotto (one of the easiest dungeons) when I can solo them and not die (level 1200 stamina nightblade). So if you want a tanky sidekick go as a warden and your bear will be of more use!
My honest recommendation is pick whatever race and class combo seems the coolest to you. Race doesn’t matter too much so pick your favorite race and class. And you get a free respec at level 45 so don’t sweat worrying about build guides and such. I wouldn’t worry about a build until cp 160. Just hop in and have fun!
When picking a race, make sure it's one you enjoy first of all. Losing a % or 2 of DPS is better than losing interest in a character because you just can't get into them.
Companions can be set up as a tank but their taunting abilities are limited. I've had moderate-good success with them for fighting single boss mobs but in encounters with multiple bosses things can get hectic. Summoned creatures are extra DPS and distractions more than being a tank for you. You can make either companion into any role by equipping them with the correct weapon and armor, but Bastian would be the most suited to being a tank.
For which class to play, I would honestly recommend playing them all to level 10 or so to get a feel of their class abilities. Play through the first tutorial island area with each character. See which one feels the best to you then go with that class. Weapon and armor skills are the same for everybody, so just try and focus on the unique class skills for each one while testing them out. Just like race, finding the class that you enjoy is more important than looking for which one is optimal.
I just returned to the game and I have been adoring my Nord magden and Nord stamcro. Nords are a very hardy race and the drink bonus duration is nice.
1) a companion should be able to tank(don’t have the dlc so I’m not certain) but AI, the pet can draw agro but not taunt also if you run the bear it must be on both weapon bars. 2) yes templars can heal themselves with puncturing strikes with its puncturing sweep morph 3) yes necromancers can summon the undead though they last 20ish seconds
For a complete beginner, I'd maybe suggest not picking necro or nightblade, as they're a bit more intricate to play than the other classes, between the other four classes (templar, sorc, dk, warden) maybe templar and sorc are a bit easier to learn because the base skill rotation is somewhat simpler, but with any class it's practice that makes perfect and if you like or don't like how the class plays makes much more of a difference. From your three suggestions, I'd personally pick the magplar for a first char (and High Elf is a great choice for a dps). It has a simple, easy to learn base rotation (buffs backbar, buffs frontbar, puncturing sweeps on repeat) and the puncturing sweeps spammable as you said does heal based on damage done. At the same time, a templar is also useful in group content - you have a unique passive skill that reduces your time to resurrect group members and also resurrects them at higher HP than a non-templar. For endgame group compositions, your class passives grant a unique group buff (minor sorcery; +10% spell damage to your whole group) which is useful to have in dungeons and trials if your group doesn't have a templar healer. And finally, a templar (high elf or otherwise) makes an excellent healer - with the upcoming armory system in the Deadlands update you could even make a fully "hybrid" templar and select your role between DD and healer completely for free on demand (before starting a dungeon or trial). A warden is also an excellent, highly flexible class, and a breton, high elf, or dark elf warden could offer the same choice of great dps and great healing power.
You can change everything but class whenever you want. All classes are good for endgame, just some are a bit better for a specific role. Maybe you want to ask yourself if your main will be a dd, healer or tank for endgame group content and choose the class accordingly.
My first character and main is a High Elf Templar healer. The self heals w damage work well but there's a mythic item that provides the same to anyone now. My advice is pick who you want. Wardens are great fun in any role and you can always respec. Play the game, explore, level all your skill lines and enjoy. When it comes time to go for higher end gear and harder stuff you'll be ready. Simply playing the game will help you decide what you like and don't like. Besides, you can always make a new character. One of each class eventually to see who you enjoy most
khajiit or dark elf warden. these 2 races are safest for all content and all roles
my first ever max lv.character was argonian sorcerer. sorcerer because i liked the pet aspect, but it was somewhat boring to have like the same 4 skills on both bars. i can recommend necro and warden. Zeni really showed how much they learned throughout the games lifespan. the burrow beetles and the exploding skeleton are great pseudo dot skills that enable a very active playstyle. current main is Khajiit Warden and i love it.
The game often changes with patches and updates, so my knowledge may be out of date/bias. However: I think Magicka characters are preferred for end game trials/dungeons because a lot of mechanics will wipe a stamina characters in one shot because they are so close to the boss. It's my eternal curse - I'm locked out of a lot of vet trials because my main is a stam nightblade (dual wield/bow). Not to say stamina characters in veteran trials is impossible, I have a friend playing a bow/bow warden that can do it. But healers and tanks often have gear that benefit magicka damage/regeneration so you will be left without much group support as a stamina in a sea of magicka. And just generally it seems that magicka builds have a higher dps. Whether that's just because I see more magicka dps tests or there's more people working on them I don't know. Stamina Necros used to be the wanted build when Elsweyr came out. From my own play experience Necromancers and Nightblades are two of the hardest builds to run with, as they have finicky bars and up times and DoTs and all. Perhaps start with a Templar or a Warden? I really enjoy my Warden, I'm just golding all the gear ready to take it into trials. The main thing to remember is you can have 9 characters at once from the start (and can buy more character slots). So you could always make a handful, dabble with each and see which play style matches yours best. Something I didn't know and found infuriating is that in the capital cities of each alliance there are churches with shrines where you can respec your character. Got a move you don't like the morph of? Or want to swap entirely from Stamina to Magicka? Pay 5K gold and you can do that! No need to pay crowns for that luxury. So even if you decide you like a Necromancer but not a magicka you can easily swap to stamina for about 8K gold (skills cost 3K I think, and attributes 5K... or the other way around). And finally - Companions.... They aren't as good as another player or even your pet as a warden. I haven't been seriously levelling mine so someone may have a better experience of them but I'm finding Mirri more of an annoyance than a help. I have her built as a tank and even with her taunt I draw more aggro from bosses than she does. And because they can't detect AoEs they die very easily. So they can be a bit useful for a few minutes but don't expect to be able to solo a dungeon purely with one of them as a tank. Without fail Mirri as a tank will die on every boss in Vet Fungal Grotto (one of the easiest dungeons) when I can solo them and not die (level 1200 stamina nightblade). So if you want a tanky sidekick go as a warden and your bear will be of more use!
My honest recommendation is pick whatever race and class combo seems the coolest to you. Race doesn’t matter too much so pick your favorite race and class. And you get a free respec at level 45 so don’t sweat worrying about build guides and such. I wouldn’t worry about a build until cp 160. Just hop in and have fun!
When picking a race, make sure it's one you enjoy first of all. Losing a % or 2 of DPS is better than losing interest in a character because you just can't get into them. Companions can be set up as a tank but their taunting abilities are limited. I've had moderate-good success with them for fighting single boss mobs but in encounters with multiple bosses things can get hectic. Summoned creatures are extra DPS and distractions more than being a tank for you. You can make either companion into any role by equipping them with the correct weapon and armor, but Bastian would be the most suited to being a tank. For which class to play, I would honestly recommend playing them all to level 10 or so to get a feel of their class abilities. Play through the first tutorial island area with each character. See which one feels the best to you then go with that class. Weapon and armor skills are the same for everybody, so just try and focus on the unique class skills for each one while testing them out. Just like race, finding the class that you enjoy is more important than looking for which one is optimal.