Best Defenders Class??

[killingfish]

I am in the process of building a summoner wizard (not the best but im lurnign) and for a feat i am thinking of taking leadership so i can have a protective cohour. Would any one be able to give advice on classes. im looking for things that can take hits, or ''give AC'' somthing along them lines to give the wizard protection

No druids, and no campain books or psonic

THANK EVERY BIT OF HELP IS AMAZING AND SO ARE YOU

[OldTrees1]

Devoted Defender 1 (Sword and Fist prestige class) has the amazing ability of never letting a particular ally be hit with an attack. It sounds tailor made for this case. Use something hardy like Crusader as a base class.

[Sian]

Crusader (ToB) and Knight (PHB2) are the only two base classes, that are somewhat competent at defending someone without additional support by Prestige classes or feats.
Devoted Defender (S&F) and its descendant Maquar Crusader (FR:SS) are two of very few (or only?) prestige classes that actually succeeds in being strong at defending someone.

Otherwise you have to depend on Constant Guardian->Dutiful Guardian from DotU for something similar

[killingfish]

At 3rd lv in devoted defender it gets deflect attack which requires reflex role and that no one takes damage. If i was to do crusader as base i wouldnt have much reflex.
I was thinking 4 Ranger lvs with feats for 2 wepon fighting (and the feat to allow dex instead of strength) 1 lv crusader for the -4 to enemies in threaten area then devoted defender.. What you think? (btw my wiz would be lv 10 so lv 8 cohort)

[Deadline]

There's also the Shield Other spell (Cleric 2, Paladin 2, Protection 2).

Edit -


At 3rd lv in devoted defender it gets deflect attack which requires reflex role and that no one takes damage. If i was to do crusader as base i wouldnt have much reflex.

You could pick up the Action Before Thought maneuver from Diamond Mind (with the Martial Study feat). That lets you swap your Concentration check in for a Reflex save.

[OldTrees1]

At 3rd lv in devoted defender it gets deflect attack which requires reflex role and that no one takes damage. If i was to do crusader as base i wouldnt have much reflex.
I was thinking 4 Ranger lvs with feats for 2 weapon fighting (and the feat to allow dex instead of strength) 1 lv crusader for the -4 to enemies in threaten area then devoted defender.. What you think? (btw my wiz would be lv 10 so lv 8 cohort)

Deflect Attack is 1/round so

Crusader 4 / Warblade 1 / Devoted Defender 3 can use Action Before Thought every other round to use a Concentration check for Deflect Attack. But it has -3 on Ref compared to Ranger 5.

The below don't factor in Dex/Con modifiers
Ranger 5 / Devoted X = Ref of +6+X/2
Ranger 4 / Warblade 1 / Devoted X = Ref of +6+X/2 and Concentration of +8+X (average +7+3X/4)
Crusader 4 / Warblade 1 / Devoted X = Ref of +3+X/2 and Concentration of +8+X (average +5.5+3X/4)
So at level 8 (and assuming 14 in both Dex and Con) against a DC of 23 that would be
35%, 45%(35%/55%), and 37.5%(20%/55%) respectively

[killingfish]

Deflect Attack is 1/round so

Crusader 4 / Warblade 1 / Devoted Defender 3 can use Action Before Thought every other round to use a Concentration check for Deflect Attack. But it has -3 on Ref compared to Ranger 5.

The below don't factor in Dex/Con modifiers
Ranger 5 / Devoted X = Ref of +6+X/2
Ranger 4 / Warblade 1 / Devoted X = Ref of +6+X/2 and Concentration of +8+X (average +7+3X/4)
Crusader 4 / Warblade 1 / Devoted X = Ref of +3+X/2 and Concentration of +8+X (average +5.5+3X/4)
So at level 8 (and assuming 14 in both Dex and Con) against a DC of 23 that would be
35%, 45%(35%/55%), and 37.5%(20%/55%) respectively

Sorry what, so many numbers. BTW im working with a 32 point ability score. and then 2 from 4/8th lv. with that what do you recommend. and then what feats do you think will work?

[MisterKaws]

Conjurers can get Abrupt Jaunt to keep running from danger, and Leadership tends to rustle almost any DM's jimmies, to be honest, they just hate it(for a good reason). If you're planning to take Leadership, be sure to talk with your DM and make him understand that getting an extra character is a bit cheesy for a feat, so that if he does allow it, there's no risk of turning the game into a case of "Player vs DM".

[OldTrees1]

Sorry what, so many numbers. BTW im working with a 32 point ability score. and then 2 from 4/8th lv. with that what do you recommend. and then what feats do you think will work?

Ah, let me unpack those numbers a bit:
Consider 3 8th level builds that have 14 Dex and 14 Con. These builds are going to try to deflect an attack from a +3 Weapon (DC 20+3=23)

Build 1 is Ranger 5 / Devoted Defender 3 which has a Ref save of +9. 1d20+9 vs DC 23 needs a 14+ so it has a 35% chance of success.
Build 2 and 3 also have Ref saves (+9 for a 35% chance and +6 for 20% chance respectively) but also can use Action Before Thought every other round to instead use a Concentration check (with their 11 ranks in concentration) with a +13 modifier (55% chance).

Remembering that Deflect Attack is limited to once per round while Harm's Way is not limited, I would prioritize the AC and HP of your Cohort over their Deflect Attack chance. So I would go with a Con/Dex based Crusader 4 / Warblade 1 that probably uses Mithral Breastplate, a Shield, and a Feycrafted Finessable weapon.



Mithral Breastplate, +1 Feycrafted Kukri, +1 Heavy Shield (total cost 4200+1808+1170=9178gp)
Crusader 4 / Warblade 1 / Devoted Defender 3
Str 10 / Con 16 / Dex 16 / Int 14 / Wis 10 / Cha 10
Feats: Weapon Focus, Alterness, Skill Focus Concentration
Ref +7
Concentration +17