Tank that's not boring? Help pretty please

[Falcii]

I have been invited to a group to play and they are in need of a Frontline. But here's the rub... I have never played strictly martial characters. They strike me as limited in their tools to interract with the world. So I was looking for some advice on how to play a low level tank that will hopefully function as a tank through to higher levels.

My first idea is to utilize zoning cantrips like booming blade and lightning lure to help dissuade baddies from hurting my back line. Maybe I utilize warcaster with sentinel or some other AoO based feat to deny deny deny on any movement but then with that, what do I build?maybe a blade singer tortle or something? Perhaps a hexblade? Would those be too squishy? They'd be hard to hit but to what end.

But then why not just take druid and go beast mode for tanking? I'm sure a big ol dire turtle or something could do the job but that seems... Boring in combat.

Should I just buckle down and take on Barb or fighter? Is there any way to tank in this game with a little more pizazz? A little panache? A certain Je Ne Sais Quoi? Thoughts appreciated.

[Randomthom]

My first thought was Paladin. Lots of variety these days, doesn't have to be the Charlemagne-esque Knight of Valour anymore. They get the D10 hit dice, heavy armour & shields and some impressive buffs to saves (theirs and others around them) at early-mid levels (7 iirc, afb atm... any more acronyms I can fit in here?).

Bladesinger can work, especially if you focus on buff/utility spells so you don't need to pump int and bump con instead. Still a little squishy but not unplayably so.

Mountain Dwarf can make a lot of things tanky as can the Genasi races potentially. Multi-classing opens up a lot of options, Barbarian 5/Rogue x with expertise in athletics can put people on their backside very easily (see the Shove action).

[dgnslyr]

Alternatively, you can take your two levels of Paladin, switch into Sorcerer, and never look back. You'll lose a bit of durability, but with Draconic Origin you're still averaging a d8 hit die, and dead enemies don't deal damage, which you can achieve easily with quickened Hold Person into a crit-smite. You'll have a lot of spell slots to throw around a lot of smites, with spells to spare for defensive contingencies like Shield. Just don't forget to take the melee weapon cantrips Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade, which makes up for your lack of Extra Attacks.

[LuccMa]

Different take on the frontline: Play a moon druid and focus on beefy creatures with lots of hp. You're still a fullcaster but can also take quite the beating. I would argue that you would be way more useful than a "full tank" and the class is not boring to play.

[Merudo]

You could play a Shepard druid and use your summons as tanks / meatshields.

[CTurbo]

Tempest Clerics make great tanks and are one of the funnest subclasses IMO. They can do almost everything well.

Paladins are never dull, and you'll make your entire party better just being there.

Any Fighter with Ritual Caster and/or Magic Initiate to have useful things to do outside of combat.

[kamap]

It has all been said.

- A druid doesn't have to go into animal directly you can stand there throw out spells and when there is a need change into a animal to tank.
- A paladin in his shiny heavy armor and shield can interpose himself between the squishies and the baddies and smite them.
- A paladin with sorcerer levels for some heavy smiting, you can do nifty spells and just stop the baddies.
- A paladin warlock can also be fun and with the pact of the tome --> book of ancients secrets invocation you can also have a familiar and ritaul casting but you only need 3 lvl in warlock so you could go 2 paladin for the smites, 3 lvl's in warlock for the needed invocations and the rest in sorcerer for more spell slots and spells.
A tempest cleric can also be very tanky and dish out some nice damage, at lvl 5 you'll get spirit guardians which is an awsome spell. You could go for vhuman and get the feat for con saves proficiency, at 4 go for warcaster and it will be very hard to loose concentration.

[Spiritchaser]

I’ll vote for conquest paladin, or conquest/hexblade.

You’re a strong AoE field controller and debuffer with your special lock-em-down flavour of fear, plus you have all the usual paladin toys making you durable and in moments of need, good at melting faces off with smites.

From an RP point of view, conquest isn’t the most inclusive or generally party compatible, so know what you’re getting in to.

Conquest/sorcerer is also cool, but As far as I can tell it works better in the mid levels

[nickl_2000]

1 more option to throw out there. Forge Cleric. They can get a silly high AC, some good RP skills, the Cleric spell set. You don't get shield or a melee cantrip, but that can be resolved with a single level dip into Wizard or Sorcerer.

That's what I would do if I was tanking personally.

[ad_hoc]

Just play what you want instead.

[Falcii]

Thank you all for the insight. I genuinely forget that paladin exists at times, as I am a veteran of 3.5. I am curious though if y'all think the bladesinger *could* tank

[nickl_2000]

Thank you all for the insight. I genuinely forget that paladin exists at times, as I am a veteran of 3.5. I am curious though if y'all think the bladesinger *could* tank

Depends on your definition of tank. Could a bladesinger hold their own in melee and not get knocked out instantly? Absolutely, but only after level 2 and only really when you are in blade song. Now, you get this twice per short rest, but there is a chance you would not have it, and that could be rough.

[Vogie]

Cavalier* Fighter with 2 levels in War Wizard.

You get Action surge, ritual casting, your desired cantrips, and a mini-shield that costs no spell slots on a class that is born & bred to get in the target's face, and the Unwavering Mark feature pseudo-reactions to make AoOs even if you have used your reaction to shield yourself. The rest of the Cavalier subclass scales with your STR and CON scores, so you can feel like you're advancing in features even when you have an ASI. If you somehow get to level 20, you'll get EVEN MORE reactions.

*(Before anyone makes any response about not being mounted, please slap yourself for thinking that the Born in the Saddle feature is somehow key to the entire subclass. It is just a ribbon and nothing more than that. This is a pet peeve of mine.)

[LudicSavant]

On the subject of Wizard tanks: You don't need to stay in the Bladesinger box at all. For example, here are some Abjurers:

Hobgoblin Abjurer with Moderately Armored. High AC from Medium Armor / Shield (not to mention defensive spells on top of that). Recharging defensive wards. Completely uninterrupted full caster progression. Gives self a bonus to saves similar to standing next to a max Cha Paladin when they need it. Booming Blade with Advantage. No need for bladesong to be tanky, you just are all the time (and really tanky if you're using spell slots). Plays just as well in the back line as it does in the front.

Or, as any race, can go Hexblade/Abjurer and get the invocation that recharges your ward, plus medium armor/shield just like the above.

Fighter 2 / Wizard X can Action Surge for 2 spells in a round (https://www.sageadvice.eu/2014/09/23/action-surge-spell-2/) and still gets 9th level spells.

Enchanters have off-the-beaten-path potential and can redirect enemy attacks and have a perma-lockdown melee range ability that's not limited in uses/day.

[Spiritchaser]

Thank you all for the insight. I genuinely forget that paladin exists at times, as I am a veteran of 3.5. I am curious though if y'all think the bladesinger *could* tank

You’ll have to figure out how to actually protect your party, but You’ll have the all powerful wizard spell list at your disposal, so you’re actually in decent shape there. You’ll have excellent field control.

You’ll have to figure out how to mitigate magic damage that isn’t from an attack roll. It’s unfortunate that Yuan Ti can’t be bladesingers.

[dmteeter]

Play any martial class
Pick human variant as your race
take the magic initiate feat
Take booming blade, a utility cantrip, and a first level utility spell and now you have multiple new ways to interact and use your actions.

[Kadesh]

Fiend Warlock Chain Pact 3-4/Barbarian Ancestral Guardian X is a legit dude

Pick up gift of the everliving ones, and then your choice of Gaze of Two Minds, Gift of the Depths, Mask of Many Faces, or Misty Visions as you will and you have one of the best tanks in the game.

Feats: look at Mobile and Sentinel as you need for the party and DM's tendency.

Races: VHuman or Str/Con Race with Dark vision. Sorted.

Try it. Just... Try it. Pick up a background with thieves Tools and/or socials and you can contribute at all levels, even if you don't have perfect stats for it.

[BabuPC]

You could play a Shepard druid nicely.

[LudicSavant]

Thank you all for the insight. I genuinely forget that paladin exists at times, as I am a veteran of 3.5. I am curious though if y'all think the bladesinger *could* tank

Not only can Wizards (not just Bladesingers) tank when built properly to do so, but they can make some of the conventional tanks jealous when doing so. They are just played very differently than, say, a Barbarian.

[Raynor007]

Battlemaster with the Shield-Master Feat. You'll be relying on Athletics as much as on your attacks, you have a vast amount of freedom to use the environment to your advantage (which is always fun in combat), and you can go ham in virtually every fight and get everything back on a short rest. Multiclass to Rogue for one level to get double your PB in Athletics + an extra d6 damage when you attack at advantage (which you often will), then upgrade your movement speed, and you'll be running and jumping all over the field, knocking enemies over and off things, and generally controlling the battlefield pretty well. Pair it with a obnoxious attitude of fierce superiority (shoves an enemy down or off a ledge: WHOOOOO'S THE MAN, HUH?!?!), and flavor the shoving and running into feats of athleticism, and you've got a really fun tank that goes beyond just being a meat shield that doesn't rely on magic.

Really, it's more about flavor and character than it is about mechanics. You could have your basic barbarian that if run well as a character is more interesting (in my opinion) than a complex magic user run poorly.

[Man_Over_Game]

A few options that have a lot of versatility in combat:

Tempest Cleric, with knockback, ranged damage, and healing
Nature Cleric, with healing, utility, and control effects.
Ancients Paladin, same as Nature Cleric with more emphasis on durability than support.
Conquest Paladin, with a powerful aura that cripples nearby enemies that scales well with your spellcasting modifier. Great against armies or if you're constantly ignored in combat.
Battlemaster Fighter, with a large number of combat tricks that work with both ranged and melee attacks.
Open Hand Monk, for a lot of control over who goes where and who does what. Combines REALLY well with Battlemaster, since the superiority die and Flurry of Blows effects can be swapped around for multiple effects per hit. Knock him prone and push him back 30 feet.



Battlemaster with the Shield-Master Feat. [...] Multiclass to Rogue for one level [...]
That's not bad with just Battlemaster with Shield Master. The Battlemaster has surprisingly few reasons to need their Bonus Action.

However, one recommendation I have is to start as a Rogue and leveling into Battlemaster once you have Cunning Action. It makes you less of a tank, but it does allow you to be equally as good of a ranged character as a melee one. You can even use Feinting Attack to grant yourself advantage on a shot, or Trip Atttack to knock them down and keep them from approaching you (or running away). When they get close, you can rely on your Dual Wielding Feat and Medium Armor Master to fight with 20 AC while only needing 16 Dex.

[Mr.Spastic]

These are just my thoughts on the topic, but tanks and front line type characters typically are boring in combat. However, just focusing on the combat perspective limits your enjoyment of the game. My advice would make your character interesting so that RP is awesome. For example, I played an Elf Barbarian who was kicked out of his tribe because he couldn't control his burning passion(Storm Herald Desert). On paper he was really straight forward, but I got my enjoyment playing him because he was interesting and hilarious. He would constantly be screaming and was kind of an idiot but it was fun because his "boring" fighting style fit his personality and style.

[Specter]

Compelled Duel and Goading Attack, however you acquire them, are your friends. The taunting possibilities are endless.

[Citan]

I have been invited to a group to play and they are in need of a Frontline. But here's the rub... I have never played strictly martial characters. They strike me as limited in their tools to interract with the world. So I was looking for some advice on how to play a low level tank that will hopefully function as a tank through to higher levels.

My first idea is to utilize zoning cantrips like booming blade and lightning lure to help dissuade baddies from hurting my back line. Maybe I utilize warcaster with sentinel or some other AoO based feat to deny deny deny on any movement but then with that, what do I build?maybe a blade singer tortle or something? Perhaps a hexblade? Would those be too squishy? They'd be hard to hit but to what end.

But then why not just take druid and go beast mode for tanking? I'm sure a big ol dire turtle or something could do the job but that seems... Boring in combat.

Should I just buckle down and take on Barb or fighter? Is there any way to tank in this game with a little more pizazz? A little panache? A certain Je Ne Sais Quoi? Thoughts appreciated.
Hi!

My first thought was Paladin. Lots of variety these days, doesn't have to be the Charlemagne-esque Knight of Valour anymore. They get the D10 hit dice, heavy armour & shields and some impressive buffs to saves (theirs and others around them) at early-mid levels (7 iirc, afb atm... any more acronyms I can fit in here?).

Bladesinger can work, especially if you focus on buff/utility spells so you don't need to pump int and bump con instead. Still a little squishy but not unplayably so.

Mountain Dwarf can make a lot of things tanky as can the Genasi races potentially. Multi-classing opens up a lot of options, Barbarian 5/Rogue x with expertise in athletics can put people on their backside very easily (see the Shove action).
For single-class, this is the best option by far.
Especially Crown (Mass Compelled Duel as a CD) or Conquest (Fear effects).
You get heavy AC, Extra Attack, enough spell slots overall to bring variety in fight (as long as you don't waste them on plain smites), and extreme resilience overall.

Second-best option is probably Nature Cleric:
as any cleric, you get plenty of healing and support spells (Warding Bond, Bless), as well as the very important Command (beware of the "common language" limitation though).
As a Nature Cleric, you can stack magical damage onto your attack (pair that with Magic Initiate if you want to go gish), reaction to halve elemental damage for a friend, and you can pair Spirit Guardians with Thorns Whip to keep enemies inside you, as well as possibly Plant Growth to completely lock down an area (it stacks with Spirit Guardians as far as movement goes).

Third best option would probably be Hexblade Warlock with focus on Booming Blade, either Mobile or Inspiring Leader feat (latter better for party), and picking all forced movement related Eldricht Blast invocations.
Equally third best would be Divine Soul Sorcerer, compensating the lower hit die and AC with Extended buff spells and being able to Quicken spells as needed.

If you bring in multiclasses...
Hey, so many options I'll have to come back later with a book. XD

[AttilatheYeon]

On the subject of Wizard tanks: You don't need to stay in the Bladesinger box at all. For example, here are some Abjurers:

Hobgoblin Abjurer with Moderately Armored. High AC from Medium Armor / Shield (not to mention defensive spells on top of that). Recharging defensive wards. Completely uninterrupted full caster progression. Gives self a bonus to saves similar to standing next to a max Cha Paladin when they need it. Booming Blade with Advantage. No need for bladesong to be tanky, you just are all the time (and really tanky if you're using spell slots). Plays just as well in the back line as it does in the front.

Or, as any race, can go Hexblade/Abjurer and get the invocation that recharges your ward, plus medium armor/shield just like the above.

Fighter 2 / Wizard X can Action Surge for 2 spells in a round (https://www.sageadvice.eu/2014/09/23/action-surge-spell-2/) and still gets 9th level spells.

Enchanters have off-the-beaten-path potential and can redirect enemy attacks and have a perma-lockdown melee range ability that's not limited in uses/day.

Or Svirfnebli Abjurer. Svirfnebli Magic means nondetect at will!

[MaxWilson]

Should I just buckle down and take on Barb or fighter? Is there any way to tank in this game with a little more pizazz? A little panache? A certain Je Ne Sais Quoi? Thoughts appreciated.

Sure. GWM + Polearm Master + Prodigy (Athletics) is super-fun if you're in close terrain like dungeon corridors. Knock an enemy prone, attack them a bunch of times at advantage for huge damage, step back 20' (taking one opportunity attack at disadvantage) and wait for them to come at you, then hit them again. Still stay between the monsters and any squishy PCs, but you're being a lot more dynamic than just attacking every turn.

Other potentially fun tank things include Disarm (from the DMG), grappling enemies to keep them prone, Cavalier marking for disadvantage and a bit of extra damage, and pushing enemies into pits or into bad terrain (like traps or Wall of Fire or Evard's Black Tentacles).

[Nifft]

Rogue / Barbarian, as mentioned above at least once, is a great combo which eventually becomes one of the top tanks in the game.

But in addition to tanking, you've got great mobility and decent striker damage.

If your Rogue subclass is Arcane Trickster, you get another type of control via Booming Blade and/or Shocking Grasp. Warcaster makes either of those even better.

A single feat (Sentinel) makes you very sticky, regardless of class. It's great on a Barbarian, and even better on a BarbaRogue.

[GlenSmash!]

Tanking is more often about Tactics, than build. There so many Spells, Abilities, Feats that can help those tactics that you could pretty much do it with any class.

But if your idea of tanking is just standing still and attacking every round not only will it be super boring, it will be terrible ineffective.

So what do you like to play, and what to you like to do in play? From there we can help you tank your way.

[sophontteks]

Just straight barbarian, totem warrior (eagle, bear, eagle), shield master / tavern brawler. No need for rogue or multiclassing and its far more exciting then then another sentinel/Booming blade snoozefest tank.

Eagle totem spirit is a superior version of Rogues cunning action that gives dash plus disengage at once, and wastes their reaction. You can move 80 feet per round now.

Shield mastery/Tavern Brawler for that bonus action trip or grapple. You'll be grappling often. You drag people 40 feet per round now.

So run in, ignore all reactions, grab the leader by the throat and take off with him. Throw them over ledges. Hold their heads over walls of fire. Beat them with their own dead comrades.

Oh and at level 14 you can fly.