What are some prestige classes for a tanky dwarf fighter?

[Corndog]

besides Dwarven Defender

I'm curious as to what other prestige classes fit the whole dwarf wielding an axe in one hand and a shield in the other theme

One of my friends in the campaign I'm currently playing in is most likely going to go Dwarven Defender (but only because that's the only prestige he can think of, because it's in Neverwinter Nights)

so I'm just doing a little research to give him more options
so... any ideas? or is Dwarven Defender an optimal prestige class?

[Maginomicon]

Ironsoul Forgemaster from Magic of Incarnum (although you have to be an incarnum character; I recommend the incarnate class)

[eggynack]

Dwarven defender is basically never the optimal prestige class. It doesn't really do the things that you want it to do, and gives you that failure at a pretty steep price. If you have access to Tome of Battle, page 105 has this prestige class called the deepstone sentinel. It's basically what dwarven defender should have been, including the dwarf prerequisite. Alternatively, you could just go straight crusader from the same book, because those guys tank like crazy. Additionally, you should generally avoid the whole shield thing. In D&D, the best way to tank is to turn yourself into a giant battlefield control effect. Deepstone sentinel does that, as does tripping. A spiked chain tripper build that picks up a ton of AoO's can hold back a group of enemies for a good amount of time. What's your book access? Depending on the answer, there are obviously some varied suggestions.

[Waker]

so I'm just doing a little research to give him more options
so... any ideas? or is Dwarven Defender an optimal prestige class?

Dwarven Defender is a terrible class. There are very few situations that I would recommend it. I'll make a few suggestions.
Deepstone Sentinel from Tome of Battle.
Battlesmith from Races of Stone.
Ironsoul Forgemaster from Magic of Incarnum.
Devoted Defender from Sword & Fist.

[Corndog]

yeah I figured there's way better classes

he only knows about the NWN prestiges like Shadowdancer and Dwarven Defender, cause he's new to pnp

I'll get him to take a look at these other prestige classes

[ArcturusV]

I'm going to second Battlesmith. It makes magic gear. That's important.

The problem it seems with a lot of "Tanky" PrCs is... they don't protect you against the things you need protection against. As a Fighter type, you are given stuff like DR, which only applies to weapons/physical attacks, and often in low amounts (e.g.: Barbarian 19 having DR 5... Wow, that dragon just smacked me with a claw for 90 damage. Good thing I shrugged off 5!). Or extra AC. But you don't need that. A beat stick is the least of your worries. A lot of beatsticks might worry you. But you shouldn't be afraid of some random guy walking over and hitting you with a sword. Readied actions, miss chances, reach, trips, etc, all things that are easily within your wheelhouse (Okay, less so on Miss Chances I suppose) that let you deal with that.

What you really need is stuff that provides protection against some jerk with a stick and a pointy hat going "And you're a chicken" or "You're my mindslave" or "You're Kentucky Fried Dwarf now", etc. Energy resistances, save boosts, flat immunities.

Fighter PrCs don't tend to do that. Battlesmith, because then you can make the items that will give you some of those, sure.

... otherwise? I dunno. Dip into Cleric, take Prestige Paladin? Something that gives you any spellcasting is generally going to be a good thing and a boost to your power.

[Mithril Leaf]

Two levels of Deepwarden gets you Con to AC instead of Dexterity, nice on a ToB character taking Deepstone Sentinel because you don't lose much in the way of progression.

[Malak'ai]

It may not be optimal past the first couple of levels, and your friend will most likely need to tweak his build a little, but the Deepwarden from Races of Stone (pg 105) isn't too bad. It nets you Con instead of Dex to AC, which as a Fighter tends to be higher especially as a Dwarf.

EDIT: Swordsage'd... And better.

[DMVerdandi]

Everyone so far has been steering you in the right direction.
Tanking only really works at low level, and if you have lots of handouts.
Say you had full plate, a tower shield, and a spear at level 1.

You aren't getting touched. Unless there is a warlock around...
But other than that, it's decent for mooks. Essentially, spellcasting and other supernatural effects even at level 1 still have the potential to wreck your shiz, but normal monsters and mercs really will have a hard time hitting.

Soon after level 1, well, you know.

Those things granted, AC is not a viable resource for actually tanking. What really helps is rapid healing and damage reduction. Ac can be gained by someone proficient in armor and shields. Damage mitigation...That is something everyone doesn't get.

I suggest either a cleric, a crusader, or best of all, a ruby knight vindicator.
For cleric stuff, I would suggest getting the spontaneous domain spellcasting ACF, with the protection domain.
That will make you VERY tanky, and it has some pretty awesome spells in it.

Spell immunity, protection from energy, spell resistance, sanctuary, mind blank.

It's got some sweet stuff for someone who wants to mitigate damage.
The fact that they become spontaneous is awesome too. caster in your midst? spell resistance, mind blank and immunity. Elemental creatures? protection from energy.
Ran out of all offensive opportunities, or want to buff early in the game without risk to health? sanctuary.


I would definitely suggest a ruby knight vindicator though.
Especially if you can somehow get it started up with an Ur-priest. Holy shnikes.

[Teacup]

It's debatable that because of how Deepwarden's constitution bonus is described and how it replaces dexterity bonus, it is limited by armor the same way dexterity is. I don't want to start an argument here or get off topic - you can interpret that how you want - there are people in both camps. I wanted to at least let you be aware that there are those who would advise against deepwarden for heavily armored tanks because of that limitation. (By the way, if I am unaware of an official clarification on the max dex bonus issue one way or the other, please let me know.)

I second dipping a base class or more. Cleric and crusader in particular both offer a variety of options to enhance tankiness, utility (offensively increasing tankiness), and defense against forms of attack other than pointy objects. Depending on the build, it may even be helpful to dip wizard or warlock.

If it works with what he wants, RKW with Ur Priest really is just delicious.

[JaronK]

I'm currently doing an Axe and Shield Dwarf tank... I'm going Crusader. It just works. Deepstone Sentinel is a great PrC to build off that. It's like Dwarven Defenders for people who wanted a class that could actually do something useful. And despite going Axe and Shield I'm actually able to dish out significant damage, so it's working well enough.

JaronK

[DR27]

Those things granted, AC is not a viable resource for actually tanking. What really helps is rapid healing and damage reduction. Ac can be gained by someone proficient in armor and shields. Damage mitigation...That is something everyone doesn't get.
I dunno, I think AC is a form of damage mitigation - it stops enemies from power attacking for max damage if they want to hit you. That's not to say all your focus should be on AC, just that it does have some value as a tanking resource along with things like steely resolve, stone power, etc.