Tank question

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I'm going with a 6 member party and I'm wondering about how many tanks I need. Would it better to have 2 warriors or a warrior and a paladin? Are paladins pretty good tanks? Will a rogue as my 3rd (and last) mele character work okay?

 

Paladins are awesome tanks.

 

It's a matter of personal preference and playing style. You can even get by without one or even take 4.

Paladins, fighters and barbarians can all be good tanks. A fighter benefits from 3 barbarian or paladin levels but works also without.

I had 1 tank and 5 casters in my party. It worked very well.

Clerics can also act as tanks. Good saves, many HP, heavy armor.
As long as your cleric hasn't reached level 9 which is needed to cast raise dead there's no reason to keep him save and secure in the back.

Summons are the best tanks. It doesn't matter if they die.

 

A Panzer and a Sentinel.

Ok, different type of tank. It is a matter of preference. I personally like to have 2 tanks - 1 defensive (high AC decoy - is he/she really a tank?) and one offensive (maximum damage).
It is also about playing styles. Some people depend heavily on magic, while others prefer the "beat-em-up" style of gameplay. The number of tanks reflects which style.

A magic heavy party, for example is just as likely to have no "tanks" - just 1 decoy (which can be almost any class) to keep the monsters away from the "weak" casters.
However, a melee heavy party could have up to all 6 characters as tanks!

 

I agree with the others who say that it depends on your style of play, your prefered combat style.

Personally, I've always prefered highly balanced parties and have usually gone with 2 tanks, with one being a paladin.

 

Yeah...a paladin takes blows like a Panzer!

 

Yeah, the Pally's early abilities, Aura of Courage and Divine Grace (adding the CHA bonus to all saves), are very useful. Divine Grace makes paladins much more resistant to magic than your average tank.

 

Paladins are defensive fighters by nature. Followers of Helm are ment to guard places...he is the Watcher after all...so, yes, a Paladin is ment to resist in close-quarter combat.

 

None the "pure" melee classes (fighter, barbarian, pally, ranger) can shake a stick at what your average-joe cleric can achieve. Cleric gets MUCH better AC (Draw upon Holy Might, Divine Shell and a sick amount of extra AC from taking a single Monk level) and damage (Holy Power alone dwarfs the fighter's +2 damage from specialization). Not to mention that a cleric that has a few Heal spells memorized can effectively have well in the excess of 1,000 hit points, too!

Try a Pally(1)/Monk(1)/Cleric(x) for size - you might notice that such a character outperforms any "pure melee" guy in every way imaginable.

 

Jukka, DUHM is junk before HOF, and lasts only 10 rounds regardless. Holy Power lasts 1r/level. Divine shell lasts 1r/level, and uses the same slots as Heal. If you rest every time they run out, you'll be resting every other map... I prefer the longer duration buffs, at least in normal mode.

Why would you take one paladin level with a monk 1/cleric X?

 

Pally level is for the +1 STR/WIS quest bonus, in case you're not playing as a Dreadmaster. Works better for a melee tank than Dreadmaster's +2 WIS, IMHO.

Yes, DUHM doesn't really offer anything decent until your cleric is at least level 18 or so - simple Bull's Strength and Cat's Grace do the job just as nicely until then. But these kinds of things don't really matter until in HOF mode anyway, so it's not a big sweat.

About Heal vs. Divine Shell: Ever since I discovered the high-AC tank überpoweredness, I've never had to use Heal more than twice, maybe thrice between rests. Not to mention that Resurrection works just as good as a "full heal".