I am considering building a tank on one of my lowlife alts. What builds make sense today, and where can I learn DDO-specific tanking tactics?

[axel15810]

I recently used an LR + 0 to turn a 1st life pure human pally THF build character I was doing nothing with from HC season 5 into a tank. Am tanking R10 legendary quests with it and it does just fine. Tanked Hard endgame raids and as a 2nd tank in an R2 PN no problem. Haven't tried any higher skull raids than that but I imagine it would do ok even up to midskull raids. I am planning to do a YouTube video on it soonish explaining build + gearset with gameplay footage. You can absolutely make a 1st life tank work. I'm around 400 PRR, a little over 200 MRR and a little more than 5k HP.

 

[songswrath]

You are missing a very strong capstone. I don't recommend splitting into 2 Fighter.

The extra dodge plus feats is much more handy on a toon with few past lifes. Once you hit 300 per or mrr. It takes alot to see any real net returns.we not talking push tank than yes capstone is better. In this case it is not.

 

[Kyrr]

The extra dodge plus feats is much more handy on a toon with few past lifes. Once you hit 300 per or mrr. It takes alot to see any real net returns.we not talking push tank than yes capstone is better. In this case it is not.

That's not true. I don't agree with this statement, I've tested multiple tank splits and 18/2 is not going to outperform or be better than pure 20. If you want a tank with a bunch of AC and dodge, then I would recommend asking Teth and running a very minimal version of that build. He has high dodge and high AC to almost nothing hits him.

 

[songswrath]

That's not true. I don't agree with this statement, I've tested multiple tank splits and 18/2 is not going to outperform or be better than pure 20. If you want a tank with a bunch of AC and dodge, then I would recommend asking Teth and running a very minimal version of that build. He has high dodge and high AC to almost nothing hits him.

lol you are questioning one of the best tank players in game about tanks lol. there a reason why my dm's are full of advice for melees and tanks builds come on clearly don't know me. that's ok i don't show boat on forums or post vids of me bugging stuff i cant stand cheaters. ppl that have ran with me know this. a 18-2 is much better for a toon just starting out.on top of that i said pdk race alot of ppl dont have the $$$ to remove the fighter lvl. you get more bang for the buck dip with low tiers . the 2 extra feats are well over 100 extra hps. This helps greatly on toon with no hp past lives. My advice was pointed to the o.p. not in gen.

 

[Sarlona Raiding]

Pure 20 and 18/2 are both solid, any preferences are purely opinion as the core things that make a tank good exist in both builds.

Trying to argue otherwise is pointless as people have succeeded with both builds. My primary issue with 18/2 pdk is I really want unyielding sovereignty which is also just my opinion. Plenty of tanks thrive without it.

 

[Sarlona Raiding]

I recently used an LR + 0 to turn a 1st life pure human pally THF build character I was doing nothing with from HC season 5 into a tank. Am tanking R10 legendary quests with it and it does just fine. Tanked Hard endgame raids and as a 2nd tank in an R2 PN no problem. Haven't tried any higher skull raids than that but I imagine it would do ok even up to midskull raids. I am planning to do a YouTube video on it soonish explaining build + gearset with gameplay footage. You can absolutely make a 1st life tank work. I'm around 400 PRR, a little over 200 MRR and a little more than 5k HP.

There is an easy mid-skull test, walk into mid skulls VOD and see how long your tank survives.

 

[mitrito]

lol you are questioning one of the best tank players in game about tanks lol. there a reason why my dm's are full of advice for melees and tanks builds come on clearly don't know me. that's ok i don't show boat on forums or post vids of me bugging stuff i cant stand cheaters. ppl that have ran with me know this. a 18-2 is much better for a toon just starting out.on top of that i said pdk race alot of ppl dont have the $$$ to remove the fighter lvl. you get more bang for the buck dip with low tiers . the 2 extra feats are well over 100 extra hps. This helps greatly on toon with no hp past lives. My advice was pointed to the o.p. not in gen.

who is u lol

 

[songswrath]

who is u lol

Alot stronger player than you will ever be

Pure 20 and 18/2 are both solid, any preferences are purely opinion as the core things that make a tank good exist in both builds.

Trying to argue otherwise is pointless as people have succeeded with both builds. My primary issue with 18/2 pdk is I really want unyielding sovereignty which is also just my opinion. Plenty of tanks thrive without it.

You got a good healer you may never need it but yah things can go sour fast.
Want a real test start doing mid high reaper pug raids.
Nothing like chaos of not know what builds your getting. My guild been doing just this for a few weeks now. It's been a blast so far.
Rtso our r6 was done a hour that was most fun one we did so far I think we going to do me solo tanking r8 vod this weekend a few weeks ago r6 pug run was not that bad.

 

[songswrath]

The capstone is not bad—in raids below r5, it will keep you up if healer gets distracted for a while and you're in trouble. When I'm in content below r5 or so, I very rarely die with turn undead charges left, and they keep you from incapping.

I agree with is pure is better for l
Push but if you are just puging 18-2 has a bit more utility. For example can use them 2 extra feats to pick up spring atk. It's very handy when you have chains cast on you and need to gather quickly.

 

[PraetorPlato]

Want a real test start doing mid high reaper pug raids.

That's what the pally build I posted is designed for pretty much exactly—lots of fun!

 

[PraetorPlato]

Once you hit 300 per or mrr. It takes alot to see any real net returns.

This is the wrong understanding of PRR—PRR scales exactly like melee power does in terms of effective HP—each point of PRR is exactly 1% more of your base HP of effective hp, just like each point of MP is 1% more of your base damage of effective damage. The 109 HP from two toughness feats (you're always taking at least two toughness, so two more feats is just two more toughness regardless of what you do with them) is always worse than the 54 hp from 2 con (capstone) and 10 PRR/10 MRR—the 10 PRR/MRR will be equivalent to approximately 2 toughness feats alone in terms of the amount of damage you can absorb. Dodge could be solid, though, although if I was questing (where dodge is good), I'd play large shield rather than tower shield.

 

[axel15810]

There is an easy mid-skull test, walk into mid skulls VOD and see how long your tank survives.

Good idea I'll give it a whirl.

 

[Kyrr]

lol you are questioning one of the best tank players in game about tanks lol. there a reason why my dm's are full of advice for melees and tanks builds come on clearly don't know me. that's ok i don't show boat on forums or post vids of me bugging stuff i cant stand cheaters. ppl that have ran with me know this. a 18-2 is much better for a toon just starting out.on top of that i said pdk race alot of ppl dont have the $$$ to remove the fighter lvl. you get more bang for the buck dip with low tiers . the 2 extra feats are well over 100 extra hps. This helps greatly on toon with no hp past lives. My advice was pointed to the o.p. not in gen.

I'm not sure why you are stating that I am questioning one of the best tank players, there was no question in the original statement, and I'm arguing that your advice for O.P isn't the best because 18/2 doesn't beat pure paladin. I am done having a conversation about this.

Come back to me with actual numbers. For now, you are just a troll. You don't post anything on the forums, or videos of this "claimed build" because you don't like "cheaters" which has no correlation to said situation.

Alot stronger player than you will ever be

You aren't even posting. How can you claim you are a stronger player than said individual?

Others freely post builds like PraetorPlato or even Ying.

 

[Neilfladech]

I sense a complex.

 

[Bjond]

18/2 doesn't beat pure

Eh, keep it in context; ie. "beat" has to include effort. This is for a rebuilt alt. IMHO, PDK appearance is actually a good and useful thing for a tank -- useful enough to maybe sacrifice numbers. It makes you easier to see because the model is so wildly different than all the other characters in DDO.

It's not a numbers issue until you can't handle the stuff you need to tank. Once you can handle it, the problem stops being maximizing TTK and becomes minimizing effort to make it real; 18/2 starting as 15 PDK is less effort than 20 starting as 1 Dwarf.

At this point, I'm sure most of us have leftover HC characters. What do you do with them? Fancy bank-mules? Sometimes with a (hopefully) small effort, they can be repurposed. I made one of mine into a sunburst/disco alt for 2H2H because that raid rarely pulls in someone that can do either. I didn't have to reincarnate at all, just regear. That's the true ideal, though it sounds like OP is willing to TR to build it.

 

[Jummby]

Eh, keep it in context; ie. "beat" has to include effort. This is for a rebuilt alt. IMHO, PDK appearance is actually a good and useful thing for a tank -- useful enough to maybe sacrifice numbers. It makes you easier to see because the model is so wildly different than all the other characters in DDO.

It's not a numbers issue until you can't handle the stuff you need to tank. Once you can handle it, the problem stops being maximizing TTK and becomes minimizing effort to make it real; 18/2 starting as 15 PDK is less effort than 20 starting as 1 Dwarf.

At this point, I'm sure most of us have leftover HC characters. What do you do with them? Fancy bank-mules? Sometimes with a (hopefully) small effort, they can be repurposed. I made one of mine into a sunburst/disco alt for 2H2H because that raid rarely pulls in someone that can do either. I didn't have to reincarnate at all, just regear. That's the true ideal, though it sounds like OP is willing to TR to build it.

The issue with having 400 PRR and 200 MRR, are debuffs. 1st life tanks can work, but if you start pushing with it, problems arise. Boses debuff you you and start doing heavy hits in reaper raids. On certain raids they will melt your PRR and MRR and you will take massive damage.

 

[PraetorPlato]

The issue with having 400 PRR and 200 MRR, are debuffs. 1st life tanks can work, but if you start pushing with it, problems arise. Boses debuff you you and start doing heavy hits in reaper raids. On certain raids they will melt your PRR and MRR and you will take massive damage.

yeah, that's one of the best reasons to build for very heavy PRR and MRR on a low-life char (over HP, when all else is equal). 400 is quite low.

 

[Jummby]

yeah, that's one of the best reasons to build for very heavy PRR and MRR on a low-life char (over HP, when all else is equal). 400 is quite low.

Also needs no fail fortitude and reflex saving throws. For example: the boss in the Vision of Distribution raid in higher reaper raids spams disintegrate spells on the tank. You eventually on a roll of a 1 can get one shot by taking over 8k damage. Once you try to press that raid on r6 or higher things can get nutty.

 

[PraetorPlato]

Also needs no fail fortitude and reflex saving throws. For example: the boss in the Vision of Distribution raid in higher reaper raids spams disintegrate spells on the tank. You eventually on a roll of a 1 can get one shot by taking over 8k damage. Once you try to press that raid on r6 or higher things can get nutty.

I have played that raid on r6 on my first life tank. Higher is doable. I think r10 would require a specialized build, but r7 is totally doable if built right. I'm not the only one either—there's another player with a first life (fighter) alt on Argo who regularly tanks r5-r6 vods fairly comfortably, I've seen him recover a near-wipe.

 

[Jummby]

I have played that raid on r6 on my first life tank. Higher is doable. I think r10 would require a specialized build, but r7 is totally doable if built right. I'm not the only one either—there's another player with a first life (fighter) alt on Argo who regularly tanks r5-r6 vods fairly comfortably, I've seen him recover a near-wipe.

Did you have no fail fortitude save? That's a big help.