The Ultimate Tank

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What are peoples thougthts on the best hand to hand character, only allowing for self buffs, and assuming they had the max exp points available.

My guess is a Kensai/Thief with UAI...dualled at lvl 20.

What do others think?

 

A cleric/fighter. A lot of the 'buff' spells improve as you level up.

 

Ranger/Cleric: They get weapon specialisation, two stars in two weapon style for free, and access to all cleric and druid spells.

To make matters more clear, picture the following:

A Ranger/Cleric wearing Red Dragon Armor, buffed with Righteous Magic, Globe of Blades, Draw Upon Holy Might, Iron Skins, Resist Magic, Chaotic Commands, Aura of Flaming Death...weilding Flail of the Ages +5 in one hand, Crom Faeyr +4 in the other.

If he sees any spell casters, he just casts another Resist Magic, or True Seeing, and beats on them. Or he can whip out a "Insect Plague" or "Creeping Doom". Any divine casters, fighters, thieves, etc, he just can cast Summon Fire or Earth Elemental, or Summon Deva, or Iron Skins + Globe of Blades...let the fighter's beat on him, and then let them try to beat on him, while he just heals himself for whatever paltry damage they can do to him.

AND the R/C can wear almost every item that fighters can.

End. Of. Story.

 

I agree with Faraaz.

In order to be an "ultimate" tank, you need to be able to absorb punishment as well as you can dish it out. A Kensai/Thief will have some problem in the first instance due to the restriction to leather armour.

Anyone with stoneskin or iron skins gets the edge for me, and given that a R/C has no armour restrictions, he is well-protected. The fact that some of his HP's come from the cleric side is no big deal, since a cleric has the second-best hit die of all classes.

Faraaz has covered the offensive side quite well.

Basically, with all the buffs available to a R/C, and great offensive capability, the R/C really is the Ultimate Tank.

 

I'm shocked and dismayed that Faraaz left out Armor of Faith, and that Splunge failed to correct him! Even Viconia can take a beating with that spell active. Three cheers for damage reduction!

 

Forgot to say my Kensai Thief was ignoring his Thief abilities so he can wear any armour and of course GWW with Carosmyr...putting a dent in Iron Skins + Buffs... The THACO and damage of a Kensai using his special abilities... added to the ac of a normal fighter using a holy avenger is still an interesting combo.

 

I was hoping people would not drag offensive spells into this! Summons, Insect Plague make a v powerful and versitile character but are not what this thread was supposed to be about. It is not about which is the most powerful class, just which one would be best at standing toe-to-toe using a melee weapon.

The rules I was assuming (and didn't spell out) were
. self buffs before combat
. no summons
. no offensive spells
. no traps
. no other cheese (mindflayer sorcerors need not apply)
. any TOB available equipment

I bow to the fact that R/C is undoubtedly a contender. More so because it is aided by having two of the most powerful weapons in the game available to dual wield... as opposed to F/D who are badly short changed by the game. (Imagine if Crom was a scimitar or if it was dagger of ages not a flail!)

No one has mentioned F/MU yet or F/M/T. Both give a different slant on buffs... and they can use any weapons. (With it being pre buff only they can even done full armous if desired).

F/MU/Th by the end has some interesting fighting capabilities as a buff-before-combat class. Especially misled, prot magical weapons, stoneskin,

 

How about a dual-classed assassin/fighter, dualled at level 18 assassin (when backstab hits X7)?

 

M/T for me. You can't hit what you can't see. A M/T will A) cast Mislead, b) cast ImpInv on clone, casts SIiv. Casts Acid Arrow on R/C (may prevent another unwanted IronSkins). Casts Breach on Ranger/Cleric. Backstabs R/C for 80 or so damage. R/C is Badly Wounded. Repeat. R/C dies a chunky death.

 

with all the XPin the world available i would think a
kensai/theif dual, or the other way around say 39kensai/40 theif. with uai, the char can use all scrolls armors(almost) and weapons. this MUST be the winner

 

Is there a reason why mislead dosent make you visible? Is it in the description?

 

Mislead makes you invisible until the mislead clone is destroyed (by damage or a divination spell). If you can render your clone undetectable or indestructible, you can stay invisible until the spell wears off. There is no real defense against this, which is one of the reasons why magic users or sorcerers (or bards) can be so abused.

 

Scythe: You originally said dualling a kensai at level 20, but later said no TOB items allowed. Does this mean you're going to play through TOB and get all the TOB experience, but not use any TOB items?

To go toe-to-toe best, you'd want a really reallly low AC, and the only way to get that, is by using a shield. Hence, Fighter Clerics will get lower ACs than Ranger Clerics (mind you, the ranger cleric can use a shield, but how common is that?)

Anywho, I'd say a monk or a swashbuckler would be the best, but only because you said they can be the max level!

 

@ Mystra - this is the first time I've ever heard of a M/T referred to as a tank.
Anyway, 2 of your spells are offensive, which Scythe says aren't allowed under his definition (and I agree - otherwise, you might as well call a sorcerer a tank too )

@Aldeth - an assassin? Even when dualled to a fighter, it's a little light on HP's, isn't it?

Actually, he said "any TOB available equipment", which I assume means you CAN use it.

 

R/Cs multiclass also suffer a bug in their dual wield.
I'm assuming this is not "fixed" or if it is then Grand Mastery is also "fixed" making their 2* not as attractive as some other combos.

 

Explain, please. What is the bug?

 

I suppose the dual weild bonuses dont apply in the game or something.

Meh, you guy's go ahead and do it yourselves.

Maxed out R/C versus anything else.

Play them fairly, and versus them with each other.

You be the judge.

I still say R/C's rule all.

 

yes, scythe, please explain which bug you refer to

 

i don't think there is any bug... at least i haven't experienced one