Ultimate Tank

Remove all ads!

I just wanted to know what you guys think would make the ultimate tank. In Ken egervari's ultimate powergaming party (upp)he made a shield dwarf fighter(4)barbarian(26)and he made some concrete points about why he chose the race and class. I mean the barbarian rocks with it's damage reduction, rages, and other usual benefits. While the shield dwarf has a natural +2 spell resistance to spells and spell-like effects, plus other benefits and I think it has no ecl penalty either.

Meanwhile I aslo think that a monk(30)would be great, either make him an aasimar for the obvious wisdom bonus and other usual stuff or a tiefling for hide checks and other obvious benefits.

What do you guys think would make the ultimate tank? And what race would be best for him? At least avoiding multi-classing penalties. Thank you very much for your suggestions.

 

I would vote for I think the deep gnome monk build.(I think it is deep gnome, not sure 100%) I think that this monk can get extremely high AC and with a monk spell resist he should be able to tank almost anything.

 

I'd highly recommend you look at the deep gnome cleric/monk/ rogue build in JUPP. It has experience penalties, but it has incredible AC that allows him to be hit very infrequently.

I've spent a lot of time reading and playing with different builds, and I have not come across a more effective tank.

 

The ultimate tank? JUPP's deep gnome monk/rogue/dreadmaster. There's no other build that comes near in terms of defensive power and still boast of high damage and disruption.

 

What's the single level of rogue for?

 

The single level of Rogue was incorporated into the build to allow the character to use the item, 'Swing from the Masts' in normal mode, and 'Crow's Nest' in HoF mode, which allows the character to get significant generic armor boost to his AC.

 

Single level of rogue? Probably for skill points and raising the class maximum points for skills. Still, it's not profitable if you aren't getting evasion (free at rogue level 2) from other sources - in case of IWD2 monk only.

As for monks, deep gnome is a good choice so long as magic resistance stacks. Additional AC is quite attractive, but ECL-3 and 2 stat points net loss is a bad bargain.

Tiefling for the DEX isn't bad, but Aasimar is actually still better. How? Four stat points net gain, increased wisdom maximum. In your case, wisdom bonus equals additional dexterity bonus. No problem getting your DEX and WIS both maxed with a sum total of 80, especially if you're min-maxing and your CHA & INT don't approach 10 both together

As for more traditional choices, a shield-dwarven fighter(4)/barbarian(x) is your first choice. Strong, reliable and sanctified by tradition. There aren't going to be any surprises. However, some benefits are inalterably out of your reach.

The said benefits come from magic. Balance dictates that dabbling with magic is always at the cost of your physical capacity... but getting physical doesn't always rely purely on brute force. If you're not convinced, check this. Strength of 29, attack bonus exceeding +50, armour class approaching 40, plus all the nice buffs like stoneskin, haste, mirror image etc. Everything is bought at a price - such builds require a really sick, perverted mind to handle all the micromanagement and not die of boredom on the way to uberness. Having a helmet on your head is strongly advised in no-rest areas, before you start banging it on the wall.

Paladins of Helm multiclassed with fighters can be quite deadly. By that I don't mean paladins(3)/fighters(x) with crappy wisdom, but full-fledged paladins(x)/fighters(4) with at least enough wisdom to cast spells. Having bull's strength cast constantly on your character will offset some of it. Holy power will give you a straight +4 to damage. Not that you can't do that by increasing your stats, anyway - draw upon holy might does that for you. STR, DEX, CON, all of them. Then, there are also protection spells, some divinations, even one or two attack spells. If you know how to make a good use of them, you're ready to ascend to uberness. Increasing your saves isn't really a priority with paladins, so feat slots can be spent in a more useful way. Such as Fiend Slayer, for instance. Requires level 8 paladin and grants +2 attack & damage versus all dragons, half-dragons, daemons etc.

Let's take a paladin(26)/fighter(4) and check his damage:

STR 18 (let's say) => +4
Weapon specialisation => +2
Holy power => +4
Draw upon holy might => +2
Holy avenger sword +5 => +5
Total: +17

Against evil, +2d6 from Cera Sumat holy avenger sword. Together with Fiend Slayer, against a fiend, it's +21-31 without smiting.

Now let's smite:

Casual evil: +47-57. For fiends, +49-57. Without critical . Nice, isn't it? I've dealt over 60 damage to daemons, even with a paladin(12)/wizard(12) (25% BAB loss compared to a warrior character) with 16 STR.

What's the conclusion? Take what you like and learn its strengths and weaknesses. Help your luck if you know what you're doing. Sometimes a single level in a class changes a lot. Or a single stat point. The main purpose of game is to have fun, though. Not many people want a boring character even if it kills everything around in seconds. Look into your heart and find the power there

 

Well, if TANKING is the one and only purpose, there's no need to suffer the EXP penalties that the deep gnome Rogue(1)/Monk(1)/Dreadmaster(x) has.

By making the character a Deep Gnome Rogue(4)/Fighter(5)/Paladin(4)/Ranger(5)/Illusionist(12) with starting stats of STR16 DEX20 CON16 INT16 WIS5 CHA1 and using armor&shield, it's possible to utilize the Tenser's Transformation on a tank build, creating a really mean meat grinder. Max attainable AC becomes 73-76 when Tenser's is active.

Leveling up with such a beast is a bit tricky since Paladin doesn't allow for free multiclassing, but level-squatting those "mix-in" class levels in one go avoids the EXP penalties.

 

A dato this is a very good tank character to play , he isn't very original but I liked playing with it.

half-orc fighter(x)/barbarian(x)

str 20 (is now 22)(get's up to 27 with bull's strenght)
dex 13 (is now 14)(get's 15 with ring of shadows?)
con 18
int 8
wis 12
cha 1 (get's 2 with winter wolf cloak)

He's using axes and long bows and the usual fighter feats.

 

Wow! Thanks for the replies guys, I think that you're ideas are just great.