Help with a Character Build (option comparisons)

[czar]

Hey first post around here and I wanted to ask you guys if you could help me out in both choosing and giving me some ideas for the following:

I got into a new campaign made by a friend and decided to take the short and sweet human variant route, "average" city watch joe that meets up with the adventurers, he does have
a defined story and arc but I'm mostly focusing right now on optimizing him towards tanking, as such I wanted something simple yet effective that I haven't tried yet and went for the Fighter.

However beyond level 1 being straightforward defense style, sword and board with some fairly decent rolled stats (18,17,15,14,14,13) I've split the guy in two paths, a pure eldritch knight or
going deep for the Immortal Mystic from the UA (our dm allows it's usage and even multiclassing with it).

Both would have the same stat array of 18+1,14,17+1,15,14,13 (or int 15+1) but I started comparing their pros and cons.

Pure EK path Pros/Cons:

-I'll actually get an extra attack.
-Green Flame Blade/Booming Blade help out a lot for crowd control, Blade Ward for flavor purposes is also decent (especially since I this dm allows to use improvised weapons [shields]as d4's), thereby
negating the need of Magic Initiate the Immortal path has
-More ASI's (more feats, quicker to get 20's).

-You can't quite burst d10's like the mystic.
-May have shield but a larger passive AC is nothing to scoff at.


Fighter 1/Mystic Immortal from that point onward Pros/Cons:

-Being able to get 22 AC without concentration requirements and just 2 points (which would be half your pool at level 2 but would slowly become more stable).
-similar variety of defensive powers like the EK (their own absorb elements, their smaller version of shield and healing, mastery of ice giving you 20 temps and air giving you blur is also noteworthy).
-Lack of a need of Warcaster due to the mind doing most of the job.
-Mini Toughness/Self-healing and temporal hit point passive gains.

-No extra attack, without using magic initiate I'm limited to a 1d8 plus strength for the rest of the campaign (alongside bursts and additional d8s at higher levels, but bursts do burn you out
after all).
-less ASI's.
-a rather miniscule amount of long range utility (which isn't really the characters purpose but it's there).


As for feats I'm probably going to pick HAM, why exactly, aside from boosting my strength up to 20 our dm is also kind enough to make it apply against magical and non magical s/p/b damage, however it starts out as just a -2 (grows alongside proficiency).

Suggestions and thoughts are welcome.

[CaptainSarathai]

If you've got time to edit some of your stuff:

VHuman, Sentinel or HAM
Str18
Dex18 (just trust me)
Con next
Charisma
Int/Wis

L1 - Fighter.
You get armor and Con saves. Yay! Two Weapon Fighter. Trust me.

L2 - Warlock
Now, either Hexblade from the UA if you want to be truly rude, or either Fiend or Fey. I went Fey, but that's because I don't have much love of the temp HP by the end of the build.
Pick up Hex, duh. Now, your turn is 4d6+2*Stat. That's a Greatsword on a 5th level Fighter. Regularly, it's still 2d6+2*Stat, which is more than your Greatsword would be, on anything but OAs and such.

L3 - Warlock again.
Get Fiendish Vigor for an extra d4+4 temp HP at all times. If your DM is smart, he'll realize that unless you have a time limit during which to throw the spell, you can just keep throwing until you get +8thp.
Get Armor Shadow. Your AC is now 13+Dex at the start of each day, until you go to bed, thanks to At-Will Mage Armor.

L4 - more Warlock.
Hooray, 3rd level in Lock. Pick Pact of the Blade. Because you'll need that later. Yes, I know, it's awful at first.
You get second level spells now. You want Armor of Agathys in your repertoire. Again, trust me.

L5 - Warlock, yet again
You get an ASI now. Take Heavy Armor Master (or Sentinel, whatever you didn't start with).

L6 - Warlock, last time for now
Your invocation here is Thirsting Blade. Gives you that extra attack. Yay, 6d6+3*stat running Hex (3d6+3*Stat without)
This is the first time where you need to start considering using a Greatsword. With Hex, it's 6d6+2*Stat, but 4d6+2*Stat without it. It's also better at your Sentinel and OA attacks.

L7 - back to Fighter
Action Surge. For when you absolutely, positively, MUST kill everything in the room. Also, Action Surge is definitively better with that Greatsword.

L8 - Fighter, last time, on-line
Battlemaster here. Parry (d8+Dex damage reduction and stacks with HAM) and Riposte, and probably Tripping Strike because that's fun and can get nasty later.

The point of this build is to be the ultimate tank. You stand next to your buddies and just wail on people with something sharp and magically lethal.
They miss you - Riposte attack them
They hit you - Parry to reduce damage, and they take Armor of Agathys damage
They hit your friend - Sentinel attack
They try to run - Opportunity Attack

Hex is the reason you dual wield. Unfortunately, saving spell slots for Armor of Agathys, and getting Sentinel/Riposte swings is why maybe you don't.
Still, TWF pulls hard in the low levels and combined with Hex will keep you far enough ahead of the power curve that you don't feel the "slow down" of multiclassing.

If your DM is ruling that HAM follows the Proficiency numbers, then adding that on top of Armor of Agathys is gonna be awesome. Party is just extra sauce. Watching someone hit you twice, deal 3pts of damage, and nuke themselves for 30pts of damage is hilarious every time.

Now, for further levels you have options. You could go Fighter6/Lock14 and still have your Patron features, get 2 more Fighter ASIs, and be adding Cha to your Greatsword hits at 18tj level.
Or, you can pull hard up through 13th level, and grab 5 levels of Rogue. Personally, I like going Arcane Trickster for the extra spell slot, but you could also go Swashbuckler for cheap Mobility.
Rogue is nasty because you can apply Sneak Attack on those Riposte and Sentinel/AO hits, as well as on your own turn. All the time.
There's also Uncanny Dodge. This is like Parry, in that it gives you huge damage reduction. Unlike Parry, it doesn't eat up a Superiority die, and it's truly "at will."
Expertise is also cool, and added to Athletics can make Tripping really fun (easy advantage fuels more SAs).

I'm currently running this exact build in a game, and he is dealing stupid damage per turn, on average. I've been recording it. Sure, at 20th level or whatever, someone might be throwing more damage, but for the majority of the game he's a beast. Importantly, for a Multiclass character, the build doesn't ever feel "weak" (perhaps a bit boring with "hex, smash with swords") at any point compared to other builds at the table. In fact, it comes off feeling OP when you start plowing 3d6+d8+Stat into people just because they missed you or hit your friend, especially after you've just landed 7d6+3*Stat into them on your regular turn. At 9th level.

Otherwise, with your stats, a Sorcadin could be a lot of fun. There's a build guide for them here on GiTP. They also have access to some very tanky abilities like what you're looking for. They're basically Eldritch Knights with a better blend of magic and melee.

[Specter]

It seems you answered your own question up there. EK can't burst like Mystic, but its defenses are over the top. Tanking needs that, and good HP.

I believe the best strp towards tanking in this case is War Castef, which will prevent foes from leaving your sight without massive damage.