Spellcaster Tank w/ thorns effect?

[saintstardust]

I was wondering if there was a tough spellcaster that could use effects like flames of phlegethos and armor of agathys to force melee attackers to also take damage? It seems like grappling would also help to keep people in melee range.

[The_Jette]

I was wondering if there was a tough spellcaster that could use effects like flames of phlegethos and armor of agathys to force melee attackers to also take damage? It seems like grappling would also help to keep people in melee range.

I built a Lore Bard tank that focused on Athletics for grappling, and Armor of Agathys for dealing extra damage, since I lacked a second attack. It's been a lot of fun, but he's still low level.

[Aett_Thorn]

A fighter/warlock with access to Fire Shield/Shadow of Moil and Armor of Agathys would probably be a good start.

[saintstardust]

A fighter/warlock with access to Fire Shield/Shadow of Moil and Armor of Agathys would probably be a good start.

Oh those look great. Is there a list of other spells/features that do damage on hit?

[rbstr]

Armor of Agathys is a Warlock spell. The only other place it shows up is the Conquest Paladin's bonus list.
But it's level 1, so you can grab it with the Magic Initiate feat or the Bard's magical secrets in addition to the warlock dip.

It works pretty well on Warlocks that take the Blade Pact. Take the Sentinel feat to increase stickiness. Hexblade will help you out in melee since it has medium armor and weapon proficiency, but any of the others can do a good job with a single-level fighter dip.

Problem with Warlock is that they only get up to 5th level slots so it'll stop scaling at 25thp.
Things can get pretty elaborate at this point if you want 6th level + AoAs. You probably want to look at either Sorc or Bard levels and you really want to limit your warlock levels for the slot scaling.
If you want extra attack you face even more limits.
Conquest Paladin 5 + sorc/bard will have it naturally.
Valor and Blades bards won't get it until level 10 unless they pick up Magic Initiate or a level in Warlock.
Sorcerer levels have a good advantage in that you can cast AoA with your bonus action using quicken. Then you can still smack stuff with your sword on your turn.

One thing about really focusing on AoA is that you maybe don't want to make yourself too hard to hit. Shadow of Moil/Mirror Image ect. might not be the best options.

[Aett_Thorn]

Another thing to consider is that neither AoA or Fire Shield are concentration spells. What this means is that they can be used during a Barbarian's Rage. Having resistance to damage would allow you to get more use of out both of these spells, but mainly AoA, which has a duration that is based on the Temp Hit Points.

I'm AFB right now, but I think that Fire Shield is also only on the Warlock spell list if you're a Fiend Patron, and otherwise it is a Wizard-only spell. So there are few ways to get both of these. Shadow of Moil is very similar to Fire Shield, but is Concentration.

[Foff]

I'm currently rocking a Abjuration Wizard/Warlock build focused on tanking with AoA and Arcane Ward (while arcane ward holds you still deal AoA damage but your AoA temp hitpoints don't drop, so more uptime on AoA, Recasting AoA when the temp hit drop will also recharge your Arcane Ward since AoA is Abjuration magic)

Stick to the middle of the fray with a few "oh ****" buttons like misty step or invisibility, or the new spell Thunder Step, at higher levels pickup Steel Wind Strike to up the "i'm real cool" factor

Playstyle is pretty simple, since you're a mage you have a huge array of options, you can go the buffer route, you can go full defensive spells with disables and selfbuffs, you can also go blaster and still be tanky enough to whitstand a lot of damage

I'll try not to be that guy but the best patron choice is probably Hexblade, for the added armor proficiencies, and since you'll most likely than not dump STR, you'll still have at least a +1 to hit from your minimum 13 CHA required for multiclassing into warlock
once you hit Warlock 2 (which will most likely be your last warlock level) things get pretty good with the Invocation for at will Mage Armor, allowing you to refresh your arcane ward for free in between combats

Naturally at higher levels you can add Fireshield and Investiture of Flame to your bag of nasty tricks, which are just icing on the cake

[Bloodcloud]

My suggestion would be Vhuman Ftr1 - Warlock (infernal-blade) X

Start with heavy armor master. Then level 2 you gain armor of aghatys. It combo nicely with your damage reduction and high ac. At warlock 4 get sentinel. You are now sticky and damage dealing.

Xanathar guide also has a aura of damage as an invocation.

Finally you want to combo this with your team's cleric. Use warding bond. It's a 2nd level spell, 1 hour no concentration, that grant you resistance.

Past warlock 12, you might want to go back to ftr.