Tank build noob questions

[Scrag]

Can you tank as a gsword player?

Would 18 fighter (kenshin) 1 wlk (es) 1 cleric (wp for trance)?

Help me understand straight fighter-y melee!

Tanking could be fun but I really want to use a gsword, and I am not terribly keen on getting into barb (unless barb splash with fighter is the only real way to go)

Thanks!

 

[Vox]

Low difficulty, sure.

Tanking (as I understand it) is about threat control and staying alive. You stay alive by having superior defenses, and normally a shield and defensive focused build choices are part of this.

It's the trade off, less dps, more defense.

The build you are talking about is essentially all offense.

 

[Mand O'Lin]

You stay alive by having superior defenses, and normally a shield and defensive focused build choices are part of this.

Don't forget, it helps to have a bit of healing... every now and then. ;-)

 

[Vox]

Nah just sky high hamp and a cure minor wand

 

[unbongwah]

Tanking really only consists of two things:

• Grabbing (and holding) aggro, which mostly comes from maxing out Intimidate + your threat amp.
• Not dying, which means being able to take all the hits coming from all the aggro you just grabbed. High HPs, high AC, high saves, high PRR/MRR, etc. Brownie points if you're also able to self-heal faster than you take damage, but not a hard requirement if you're building for teamplay.

S&B builds have a few advantages to both factors: higher AC, more PRR/MRR (including the shield multiplier), shield-specific bonuses from Vanguard / Stalwart Defender / Divine Crusader / Unyielding Sentinel, etc. Which is why if someone's making a serious raid or Hardcore tank, they're almost always going S&B.

That said, nothing stops you from making a 2H fighter which is tankier than normal: e.g., fighter 20 with max Heavy Armor feats and 41 Stalwart Defender / 31 Kensei (One Cut) / 8 Harper Agent (Know the Angles). Trade some DPS for added defenses, though obviously not the shield-specific ones.

For maximum gimpiness roleplay tankitude: CON-based dwarf with TYWA and Dragonmark for Radiant Forcefield (aka "bubbles"). 41 Stalwart D / 18 dwarf / 11 Kensei (Strike w/No Thought) to start, sprinkle remaining APs as you see fit. Also works for 2H barbarian tank.

 

[Coffey]

Can you tank as a gsword player?

Would 18 fighter (kenshin) 1 wlk (es) 1 cleric (wp for trance)?

Help me understand straight fighter-y melee!

Tanking could be fun but I really want to use a gsword, and I am not terribly keen on getting into barb (unless barb splash with fighter is the only real way to go)

Thanks!

Sounds like you want to be tanky but not "The Tank".

You can also do both S&B and THF. Combining a Bastard Sword and Shield with a Great Sword Or a Dwarven Axe and Shield with a Great Axe.

Block and Cut: Shield Melee Attack: Deals +20%/+40%/+60% Damage. On Damage: You gain a [10/15/25]% Morale bonus to doublestrike and [10/15/25] bonus to Armor Class for 5 seconds. (Cooldown: 10 seconds.) works with THF as well the last time a played this melee combo.

The Shield Multiplier really is a game changer when faced with a lot of Casters or going through traps.

Add in Missile Deflection from Vanguard for good measure because it helps a lot at times too.

Two levels of Rogue (or Monk for 2 class feats Deflect Arrows Toughness etc) for Evasion is another way to go with Improved Evasion from SD. Where Shield Multiplier doubles your PRR MRR for reflex save damages Evasion will halve the damage on a fail and Improved Evasion will lesson the damage by 75% on a failed reflex save. This would allow you to THF all the time except in the cases of getting knocked down etc and becoming helpless when Evasion is disabled. In the case of magical damage and traps that do not allow for a reflex save you are better off with heavy armor and an overall higher PRR/MRR / HP. Light armor is limited to 100 MRR + the MRR cap increase options (not sure how much effort it is to max this out and what it stacks to). Fighter Heavy Armor feats only work while wearing Heavy Armor though. An interesting contrast anyways.

Edit:
I think Paladin Sacred Defender offers more to a heavy armor build than Fighter does overall. You can go tier 5 and still get the full +1 crit range and multiplier as well as many other defensive goodies. Problem is you cant get the 25% HP with anything other than heavy or med armor so you would want to take tier 5 in KoTC or Kensei in this case of wearing light armor!

 

[Scrag]

Thank you all! I have a pure paladin helm ignition bsword/colossus shield thf vanguard (49) kot (11) vkf haste boost (8) sacred defender (8) pdk (7). It does pretty well so far but I am in epics so gear is a problem.

It is meant to be shield based dps, with a 102 doublestrike 98 shield bash 205 strikethrough 267 mp at cap. All shield stun dcs are over 100, with two over 125.

It should be a lot of fun.

Is a pure pally good enough to tank, should I try that out after etr? How would you move the points around with what I did for this life to hit some of the tanky notes I would need to improve, and what damage costs?

Thanks, this is very helpful!

I have 2 rp tome, so 3 points into pdk for the +tactics is a no brainer, and 1 universal. Otherwise 80 ap.

 

[unbongwah]

Is a pure pally good enough to tank, should I try that out after etr?

Yes it is.

https://forums.ddo.com/index.php?threads/lhwines-end-game-dps-backup-tank-build.5631/

https://forums-old.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/536669-U57-Endgame-vangaurd-build

https://forums-old.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/531053-U53-Paladin-Tank (obsolete)

How would you move the points around with what I did for this life to hit some of the tanky notes I would need to improve, and what damage costs?

If you're going all-in on max tanking with a PDK, it would look something like this.