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2017-01-19, 10:45 PM

Kileonhardt

2017-01-19, 11:07 PM

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2017-01-19, 11:41 PM

Kileonhardt

2017-01-19, 11:55 PM

I apologize, I forgot the basics. We are level 1 and playing from the PHB, but I'm 70% sure that I'll be able convince our DM to allow UA. We are playing Storm King's Thunder adventure. My party consists of a Life Cleric, Rouge on his path to Assassin, a Squishy Wizard that insists on going into Transmutation, and a Warlock of some sort who will probably never show up.

Moon Druid, Eldritch Knight and Paladin are all pretty sticky tanks. SKT can be a rough one to play. With your party composition I'd probably lean more towards Moon Druid or EK.

Biggstick

2017-01-20, 12:27 AM

As pointed out by Kileon, an EK, a Paladin, and a Moon Druid would all work pretty well. If you're truly looking to tank, might I recommend SCAG's OotC Paladin? It gives you a couple decent tanking abilities with your Channel Divinity, Warding Bond Cheese on yourself, and the level 7 redirection of damage capability. You also pick up an extremely powerful spell in Spirit Guardians.

You can still go Mountain Dwarf and set your stats up like:

15(+2)
10
13(+2)
8
10
15

Level 4 ASI: +1 Str, +1 Cha
Level 8 ASI: Resilient: Con
Level 12 ASI: whatever you want at this point.

Cespenar

2017-01-20, 12:46 AM

Barbarians are pretty good tanks as well, with the halved damage and all. You could still go Polearm Master with it too, if you want.

Alternatively, you could go Moon Druid X/Barbarian 1, which gives you absolutely ridiculous durability in the expense of being one caster level behind. Shines in levels 2 to 5, and afterwards you begin to get summon spams anyway.

Specter

2017-01-20, 06:56 AM

Don't forget that to tank, you need to annoy your enemies to the point that they WANT to target you.

Personally I like Fighter 2/Paladin X with a greataxe.

- Take Defense and GWF fighting styles.
- Take Great Weapon Master.
- Action Surge to cast Bless and attack.
- Take the -5 penalty and smash away. When you hit, smite.
- If hurt too bad, heal with Second Wind and Lay on Hands (around 48in healing at level 10)

So you have the concentration factor that is helping your buddies and the uberdamage factor. They should be targeting you now.

JellyPooga

2017-01-20, 07:12 AM

Don't discount Rogue as a Tank. With a decent Con and Sentinel from level 1, you can be all sorts of sticky and that Sneak Attack is a death sentence for many foes in those early levels. Come level 3, Arcane Trickster catapults your AC into Eldritch Knight levels and at level 5, Uncanny Dodge functionally doubles your HP vs. One-big-hitter brutes (and if you're going up against Giants...). Evasion at level 7 means your mobile artillery can happily drop AoE's on your head without fear of hitting you (even if you fail your Save, you only take half damage).

As far as Tanks go, a Rogue is better in many ways than any Fighter and after level 5 is rivaling Barbarians and Druids for the top spot, if only because of that Sneak Attack making you a significant threat against anyone trying to get past you.

Of course, there's always multiclassing too and Barbarian/Rogue gets the best of both worlds...

CaptainSarathai

2017-01-20, 07:34 AM

Sentinel first. Sentinel over anything. It's the best "sticky" ability you're going to get.
It keeps the bad guy from moving away, and it gives them a good reason to hit you, rather than any nearby squishes (because you're Reaction can punish them for it).

Sception

2017-01-20, 09:13 AM

If you want to be sticky, and your DM will allow it, take the Tunnel Fighter fighting style from the UA article 'light, dark, underdark' on any class that gets fighting styles, and combine it with the sentinel feat. Since Tunnel Fighter eats a bonus action to activate for a round, sentinel becomes a higher priority than polearm master, though you still might want to pick up PAM later, especially if you're getting extra ASIs from being a fighter or the like. A paladin might skip it. You also might consider an actual polearm, like with reach, though some of the sentinel feat's benefits only work at 5', so maybe not.

From there, add in anything that increases your reach or especially your size (that new guardian ranger, enlarge person) to increase the area you can lock down, or anything that creates a zone of deleterious effect (oathbreaker paladin's CD, 2+ levels shadow sorcerer or warlock for darkness-you-can-see-in, aangry aasimar's damage pulse, emo-aasimar's fear burst, area/zone spells cast by yourself or your allies that are either friendly or target saves you're confident you'll pass and baddies won't) to increase the penalties your targets suffer for remaining trapped with you.

CaptAl

2017-01-20, 10:26 AM

I'm currently running through SKT and acting as the tank most of the time with a Life Cleric. Seeing as how you have a life Cleric in the party already, I'm going to recommend a Barbarian/Rogue multiclass for tankiness. Pick up Sentinal ASAP. Barbarian gives you awesome durability (extremely important vs giants ridiculous to hit coupled with huge damage). In all honesty, AC is only marginally important vs giants. You're going to get hit, Rage makes the inevitable less painful. Rogue really shines with Sentinal giving you off turn sneak attack.

I'd rush Barbarian 5 (Subclass to flavor. Giants usually use regular old B/S/P so bear isn't 100% necessary) then start adding in Rogue levels. Use a rapier or short sword with strength for sneak attack damage. Pick up a shield, bc why not?

GlenSmash!

2017-01-20, 05:45 PM

With reckless attack Barbarians come with a built in way to incentivise enemies to attack them. This is mitigated by their damage resistance and large amounts of hitpoints.

Some other things I Find useful on any Tank: Using a Rapier with Defensive Duelist. So if the enemy attacks some one other than you, you use your reaction with sentinel to shut them down. If they attack you, you use your reaction to add Proficiency to AC and turn a hit into a miss. I also think Grappling and Shoving is a great way to lock down a target for good tanking. A Proned And Grappled target will be attacking at disadvantage.

BigONotation

2017-01-20, 06:31 PM

Sentinel + any D10 HD class with a decent AC will do.
If you're looking to be proactive, Shield Master makes you harder to hurt and lets your shove your enemies away or prone with a Bonus Action.

daltonispanda

2017-01-20, 06:39 PM

*pounds fists on table*
moon druid! moon druid! moon druid!

djreynolds

2017-01-21, 03:38 AM

My party badly needs a tank. I'm thinking Var. Human to start with Polearm Master and get Sentinel at 4. Quarterstaff + Shield. I'll probably go Mountain Dwarf. Maybe a Battlemaster Fighter for Dueling or Defence Fighting Style and then Trip Attack.

PAM and shield is all right.. but without shillelagh it is 1d6 and 1d4 with the spell it is 1d8 and 1d4.

Plus some occasional AoOs.

Use it for now and then when you max out strength ditch the shield and grab a proper polearm, 1d10 and 1d4 and then grab GWM pull out that SD and roll precision if you miss for +10 damage.

Now the enemy will gravitate to you, because you are dangerous and must die. Hence a tank

X3r4ph

2017-01-21, 04:49 AM

If you have UA access there is a very obvious choice in the Knight Fighter. That archtype is basically Sentinel and then som on the Fighter chassis.

Another approach is the Samurai Fighter. This guy is very tough and hits very hard. Give him the Sentinel feat and you have something simular to the Barbarian, as other posters suggested, in toughness... But a lot more cultivated and arguably just as damaging as a Battlemaster Fighter.

If you wanna rock out, with your cheese out, there is also the Primale Guardian Ranger. This guy is tough as nails, has the farthest reach in the game, and gets Stoneskin at high levels. Smack Sentinel on him and dip Fighter for the Tunnel Fighter fighting style.

CaptainSarathai

2017-01-21, 08:58 AM

If you have UA access there is a very obvious choice in the Knight Fighter. That archtype is basically Sentinel and then some on the Fighter chassis.

Depends on the wording somewhat for the Knight, though. At the end, it says "you can make this special attack 3 times [per rest]" - does that mean the entire Marking attack, or just the fancy Reaction attack?

In all honesty, I still stand by Sentinel+BatMaster as your best option.
Goading Attack is basically the same that the Knight gets; it imparts Disadvantage if the enemy hits anyone but you.
Parry when they decide to target you, and drop that damage by d8+Dex.
Riposte when they miss, and punish them for even attempting to damage you.
Tripping Attack is also a really good Control feature, and overall damage multiplier for the party.
Commanding Strike is also cool, if you have a party member nearby who does tons of damage with their melee (the Barb, or a Rogue) - give up one weaker shot and have them slam the enemy.

I'm running a BatMaster Fighter/Rogue with some extra sprinkles right now, and my DM hates me. Anything a monster tries to do just ends with that monster taking damage.
I pull the party in close to me. Hit them and I hit you, hit me and I negate the damage or hit you, I use Commander's Strike and Extra Attack so that I get my SA and the Rogue beside me adds his. If I'm at the top of the order, I Prone the target and we all wail on him with easy Advantage.
You can trivialize encounters with a well-managed BatMaster.

Harrumphreys

2017-01-21, 09:06 AM

If you wanna rock out, with your cheese out, there is also the Primale Guardian Ranger. This guy is tough as nails, has the farthest reach in the game, and gets Stoneskin at high levels. Smack Sentinel on him and dip Fighter for the Tunnel Fighter fighting style.

No need to dip Fighter, as Tunnel Fighter is available for Rangers also.

I've re-specced my bruiser Ranger (prioritising Strength over Dexterity) to be a Primeval Guardian. Looking forward to 15' of threat with Polearm Master.