Unusual/interesting party tank build

[SunShineKid93]

Hi all. As the title suggest I’m looking to create a character to be the party tank. I’m not against the standard Fighter/Paladin/Barbarian/Moon Druid builds but want something a little different. I’d prefer no multiclassing and V.Human isn’t an option. Starting at level 1 going to level 15/16, party consists of a Ranger, Wizard & a Rogue who will go Arcane Trickster.

Rolled stats (not in order before racial bonuses) 17, 14, 14, 13, 13, 11.

[Man_Over_Game]

Hi all. As the title suggest I’m looking to create a character to be the party tank. I’m not against the standard Fighter/Paladin/Barbarian/Moon Druid builds but want something a little different. I’d prefer no multiclassing and V.Human isn’t an option. Starting at level 1 going to level 15/16, party consists of a Ranger, Wizard & a Rogue who will go Arcane Trickster.

Rolled stats (not in order before racial bonuses) 17, 14, 14, 13, 13, 11.

Assuming the Ranger is planning on being a ranged character, you're likely going to be focused on a LOT. So you'll want to prioritize survivability over control.

Ancients Paladin is my recommendation. Not only can they temporarily lock down high-damage targets, but they also take less magic damage, which means that you'll have a lot more HP to take hits with. As far as I can tell, no other Paladin has more survivability bonuses than the Ancients Paladin.

If you're getting focused a lot, consider picking up the Tough feat when you can. Shield Master will also be very relevant, as you'll probably want to be rocking a Shield and the Defensive Fighting Style (+3 AC on top of Heavy Armor), and the defensive bonuses of Shield Master really help against many enemy knockdown techniques.

As a result, you are a tank that is difficult to hit, ignores 50% of magic damage, and is highly resistant to Dexterity Saving Throw effects.


~~~~~~~~~~~

While it might look "standard", the fact is, there's nothing unorthodox you're going to be able to make with the terms "Tank", "No Variant Human", and "No Multiclassing".

At that point, your options are "Something that's good at taking hits" and "Something that's not".

With Variant Human, I could even recommend a Vengeance Paladin with Polearm Master and Sentinel (bounce around, poking enemies for high damage, as you position yourself in strategic locations), but the criteria you've listed is very limited, and basically limited to the standard definitions of "tank" (unless you don't care as much about the "tank" part).

[SunShineKid93]

Assuming the Ranger is planning on being a ranged character, you're likely going to be focused on a LOT. So you'll want to prioritize survivability over control.

Ancients Paladin is my recommendation. Not only can they temporarily lock down high-damage targets, but they also take less magic damage, which means that you'll have a lot more HP to take hits with. As far as I can tell, no other Paladin has more survivability bonuses than the Ancients Paladin.

If you're getting focused a lot, consider picking up the Tough feat when you can. Shield Master will also be very relevant, as you'll probably want to be rocking a Shield and the Defensive Fighting Style (+3 AC on top of Heavy Armor), and the defensive bonuses of Shield Master really help against many enemy knockdown techniques.

As a result, you are a tank that is difficult to hit, ignores 50% of magic damage, and is highly resistant to Dexterity Saving Throw effects.

So what race would you choose? Would you prioritise STR-CON-CHA, CON-STR-CHA or CHA first and then either STR or CON?

[stoutstien]

A swashbuckler rogue. You have great mobility, a built in taunt, great saves(grab res Wis at some point if you face a lot of casters), and extra ASI to grab all the feats like sentinel to get that 2nd sneak attack a round.

[Man_Over_Game]

So what race would you choose? Would you prioritise STR-CON-CHA, CON-STR-CHA or CHA first and then either STR or CON?

Dwarf or Dragonborn, putting the 17 into either Charisma (for Dwarf) or Constitution (for Dragonborn).
Get your Strength to 15 or 16 and leave it. Don't put in more stats into Constitution before getting the Tough feat (your saves are already good, and you already have resistance to spell damage).

I'd recommend, in this order:

Tough, Shield Master, Max out Charisma, Max out Strength, Max out Constitution. That'll make you pretty friggin' tanky and have no major weaknesses. Since you're going a pure paladin, most of your damage will probably come from your smites rather than your attacks, so you're less reliant on maxing out your Strength (since you only need to hit once to Smite).

[Goldlizard]

Hill Dwarf War cleric?

[Grod_The_Giant]

You could do an Iron Wizard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23837856&postcount=45) build (Hobgoblin Abjuration Wizard with Moderately Armored). That reasonably unusual and reasonably tanky. Might be less appealing with another Wizard in the party, though.

You can do some tanking as a Long Death Monk-- use those temporary hit points and bonus-action Dodge a lot. If you're willing to take a single dip, you can do interesting things as an armored Monk. A Fighter or Forge Cleric 1/Long Death Monk can roll around with AC 21 (plate+shield+defensive style), temporary hit points, and bonus-action Dodges aplenty. With a race like Lizardfolk, you can even get some good use out of Flurry of Blows for when you need to dish out damage. Say...

If UA is on the table, Stone Sorcerers are stupidly tough-- shields, extra hit points, 13+Con AC, defensive spells like Shield...

[NoxHunter]

Hi all. As the title suggest I’m looking to create a character to be the party tank. I’m not against the standard Fighter/Paladin/Barbarian/Moon Druid builds but want something a little different. I’d prefer no multiclassing and V.Human isn’t an option. Starting at level 1 going to level 15/16, party consists of a Ranger, Wizard & a Rogue who will go Arcane Trickster.

Rolled stats (not in order before racial bonuses) 17, 14, 14, 13, 13, 11.

Well hill dwarf ancients paladin sounds like an amazing option to me, using your slot only for spells like Aid (underrated good spell) Cure Wounds(On yop of your lay on hands for survival) Sanctuary (ideal to cast on the wizard if the wizard focus on buffs for you and debuffs on enemies) Now im not a venteran player but thats how I would do it, the spell I mention dont requiere concentration so you can be hit and not lose the effect.

also a hill dwarf cavalier sounds like a good option, but this may need more cordination with your wizard.

by the way I insist on the dwarf because he gets more HP on each level up.

[8wGremlin]

Straight up Arcana Cleric. Your choice of Race.
Use Booming blade, Spirit Guardians, Spiritual Weapon.
You have medium armour, and enough Dex to max that out, you have shield = AC 18 to start.
You take Booming Blade, and Chill Touch as your new Cleric spells.
If your having a hard time drop a Sanctuary, and Dodge and let the previously upcasted Spirit Guardians wreck everything with 15'

If you want to get nastier, take Warcaster, to keep the spells up (Concentration checks) and to booming blade anyone who tries to leave your threat range.

It's very effective, comes on line early, and just gets better and better.

[opaopajr]

Cleric casting Bless or Bane at combat start, then standing in the way as melee while only Dodging thereafter. Done. :smallcool:

Oh, and with those stats I'd go regular Human.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Oh, I forgot to ask, is third party allowed? All three new classes in my Guide to Greatness can be unusual tanks.

The Steelsworn is sort of an arcane, defensively-oriented version of a Paladin. They get to bind concentration spells into their weapons or armor and bypass the usual weaknesses.
The Summoner is a pet class. The character is relatively frail, but they have plenty of options for big disposable meatshields-- and a handful of spells to support them.
The Magewright is what the Artificer should have been. No faffing around with spellcasting or infusions or any of that nonsense; you just straight up make magic items (up to a certain number at once) and hand them out to your party. Fill all your attunement slots with defensive items and see how you feel. The martially-oriented subclass only makes you tougher with rune-scribed armor and shields.

[Nhorianscum]

Hi all. As the title suggest I’m looking to create a character to be the party tank. I’m not against the standard Fighter/Paladin/Barbarian/Moon Druid builds but want something a little different. I’d prefer no multiclassing and V.Human isn’t an option. Starting at level 1 going to level 15/16, party consists of a Ranger, Wizard & a Rogue who will go Arcane Trickster.

Rolled stats (not in order before racial bonuses) 17, 14, 14, 13, 13, 11.

Sounds like the party isn't really hard up for bulk past level 1 where... because no Vhuman. Tanking isn't a thing.

Go cleric. My preferance would be grave domain here but w/e.

[Man_Over_Game]

For some reason, I thought the original post was asking about Paladin builds.

For some unorthodox tank builds:

Hill Dwarf Long Death Monk. You get some solid stats, the +1 HP per level from Dwarf makes your 1d8 hit die effectively a 1d10, and the Long Death is great at taking hits as a Monk (who is generally not good for taking hits). Take the Dwarven Fortitude feat to heal yourself as you Dodge with your Bonus Action, and it's a solid combo.
Ancestral Guardian with Mobile. Hit an enemy to taunt them and run behind your team. A reach weapon can do the same thing too.
Nature Cleric with Shillelagh and Polearm Master. Bonus points for being a Hill Dwarf, as you can make Strength a dump stat!
Bladesinger Wizard with the Tough feat. Turns that 1d6 hit die into a formidable 1d10! Use Mage Armor + Bladesong to rock AC that rivals medium armor!
Hexblade Warlock with Devil's Sight and Darkness. Pick up Tough and Tomb of Levistus to grant you a plethora of ways to resist taking damage!

[Zetakya]

Hill Dwarf Forge Clerics are intensely tanky from moment 1, and only get better as they go on.

[Aett_Thorn]

Since you’re looking for off the wall ideas, i’m going to suggest Monk. With those stats, going something like Wood Elf would get you 16 Dex and 18 Wis to start, which will give you decent AC, and you can use your ki to Dodge if you’re worried about getting hit.

You won’t have the HP of a Paladin or Barbarian, but if you put a 14 in Con you won’t be too bad off.

[LudicSavant]

Hill Dwarf Long Death Monk. You get some solid stats, the +1 HP per level from Dwarf makes your 1d8 hit die effectively a 1d10, and the Long Death is great at taking hits as a Monk (who is generally not good for taking hits). Take the Dwarven Fortitude feat to heal yourself as you Dodge with your Bonus Action, and it's a solid combo.

I've done a fair bit of mathematical analysis and testing on this and other Long Death Monk tanking options against a variety of foes (ranging from mook swarms to heavy hitters like Storm Giants). The conclusion I came to is that the Hill Dwarf / Fortitude combo isn't very good, typically taking less attacks to kill than alternative Long Death Monk options, on top of having less offense, mobility, and control.

To understand why this is, consider the following factors:

First, being a Hill Dwarf delays your Dexterity progression, which is absolutely crucial for a Monk both offensively and defensively. Taking Dwarven Fortitude simply makes this worse, and doesn't actually give you any extra healing from hit dice over the course of the adventuring day. So for example, in order to compete with a Dex/Wis race Monk, you'd need Hill Dwarf's benefits to be comparable to +2 AC, +2 initiative, +2 Dex saves, +2 to hit, +2 damage per hit (for a class that has many attacks), more Deflect Missiles reduction, +5 speed, and the benefits of a different race. Even things like your poison resistance won't matter once your Monk gets straight up poison Immunity at level 10.

Second, Long Death features scale better with basically every defensive tool other than max hit points. For example, every point of AC will make every point of Death Mastery ki last longer while you're at 0 hit points. And will extend the value of each temporary hit point you generate. And it'll play very effectively off of your ability to give enemies Disadvantage (basically, Disadvantage scales in a very attractive non-linear fashion with higher AC). By contrast, some extra Max HP isn't really doing any more for you than it does for anyone else (actually, it'll do less, since the dwarf's AC will suck).

Even just doing more damage with higher Dex will help you generate more temporary hit points, and reduce enemy offense (by stunning them more, or killing them sooner). And the extra movement speed will help you position better for Hour of Reaping (especially important since you need to avoid friendly fire when doing it).

[Talionis]

I agree with some that threw out Ancestral Barbarian with a lot of movement, say Swashbuckling so you can easily disengage. The extra movement and Extra Attack from Barbarian both help this build but it could quickly become more Rogue than Barbarian. So long as you use a finesse weapon you can still attack with Strenth and get rage bonuses. Other variants of Rogue other than Swashbuckler might be appealing as you already are a little MAD, wanting very good physical stats, so many of the Swashbuckling bonuses from decent or high Charisma might fall flat so other Barbarian Rogues do make sense.

[LudicSavant]

I agree with some that threw out Ancestral Barbarian with a lot of movement

Yeah Ancestor kiting is good stuff.

[stoutstien]

I've done a fair bit of mathematical analysis and testing on this and other Long Death Monk tanking options against a variety of foes (ranging from mook swarms to heavy hitters like Storm Giants). The conclusion I came to is that the Hill Dwarf / Fortitude combo isn't very good, typically taking less attacks to kill than alternative Long Death Monk options, on top of having less offense, mobility, and control.

To understand why this is, consider the following factors:

First, being a Hill Dwarf delays your Dexterity progression, which is absolutely crucial for a Monk both offensively and defensively. Taking Dwarven Fortitude simply makes this worse, and doesn't actually give you any extra healing from hit dice over the course of the adventuring day. So for example, in order to compete with a Dex/Wis race Monk, you'd need Hill Dwarf's benefits to be comparable to +2 AC, +2 initiative, +2 Dex saves, +2 to hit, +2 damage per hit (for a class that has many attacks), more Deflect Missiles reduction, +5 speed, and the benefits of a different race. Even things like your poison resistance won't matter once your Monk gets straight up poison Immunity at level 10.

Second, Long Death features scale better with basically every defensive tool other than max hit points. For example, every point of AC will make every point of Death Mastery ki last longer while you're at 0 hit points. And will extend the value of each temporary hit point you generate. And it'll play very effectively off of your ability to give enemies Disadvantage (basically, Disadvantage scales in a very attractive non-linear fashion with higher AC). By contrast, some extra Max HP isn't really doing any more for you than it does for anyone else (actually, it'll do less, since the dwarf's AC will suck).

Even just doing more damage with higher Dex will help you generate more temporary hit points, and reduce enemy offense (by stunning them more, or killing them sooner). And the extra movement speed will help you position better for Hour of Reaping (especially important since you need to avoid friendly fire when doing it).

This is interesting in it supports some of the rough testing I've been doing with the dwarven fort feat. It really doesn't do much at all which is sad because it's flavor is on point.

[djreynolds]

College of swords, at 5th level with just a 17 in charisma you have 3 uses of defensive flourish a short rest

Half Plate with a 14 dex and a shield is AC 19

It is a popular build and valor bard is nice also

I like college of swords because it can go offense and defense

[BloodSnake'sCha]

I am playing a tank Sorcerer/hexblade.
20 ac(found a +1shield), shield and absorb elements do work.

I roll poorly on con but high on cha but you can be better.



You can go pure hexblade and take absorb elements with magic initiate.

I will recommend a level of fighter for defense fighting style. Maybe 2 paladin. But you will be fine without it.

I will take half-elf for half feat to make cha 20 with a half feat(like Elven Accuracy) and 2 more 14s.
11 14 14 14 14 19 with race bonus.

half-Drow will be best as you get faerie fire form it. I will say dump STR(the only 11) it have only 1 skill.

I highly recommend taking some Sorcerer for more level 1 slots, maybe start Sorcerer for con save.

[Randomthom]

Mountain Dwarf Forge Cleric
Heavy armour proficiency.
Some martial weapon proficiencies.
+1 armour or weapon from level 1, change daily as required between weapon, armour.
Full spellcasting progression

I chose Mountain Dwarf over Hill Dwarf because you're not going to be able to wear heavy armour above chainmail with 14 str. Hill Dwarf would otherwise be the preferable choice though for +1 hp per level and +1 wis.

Str 16
Con 16
Dex 14
Int 11
Wis 17
Cha 13

17, 14, 14, 13, 13, 11

[GorogIrongut]

As mentioned above, I'm a HUGE fan of the Hill Dwarf Forge Cleric. Tanky as all get out. But... you've also been talking about running an Ancients Paladin. If your DM lets you get away with it, then you might want to consider going Yuan Ti.
With Yuan Ti you get:
+2 Cha (paladin main stat)
+1 Int (not much help... but hey ho)
Standard Dark Vision
Innate Spellcasting (who doesn't like Suggestion?)
Magic Resistance (Here's the payoff. As an Ancients Paladin, you already have great magic resistance. This takes it to the next level as it's arguably the strongest resistance to magic in the game.)
Poison Resistance (Yes please.)


By going Yuan Ti, you don't get any combat stat buffing. So that's a downside. But as mentioned, it makes you repel magic. Sit in your armour, throwing out the occasional smite and watch as all things magic bounce off you.

[Nidgit]

Your party is already 2/3 stealth compatible- making a Dex-based character seems like a good call for more party options. To that end, I'd also lean Monk. Long Death is obviously the tank Monk but Kensei typically has a +2 to AC on most turns, making it also quite viable. College of Swords is another possible option if you're mostly using flourishes for defense.

You could also make a pretty solid Gnomish Eldritch Knight out of your stats too. Tiny tanks are always a favorite of mine.

[Man_Over_Game]

I've done a fair bit of mathematical analysis and testing on this and other Long Death Monk tanking options against a variety of foes (ranging from mook swarms to heavy hitters like Storm Giants). The conclusion I came to is that the Hill Dwarf / Fortitude combo isn't very good, typically taking less attacks to kill than alternative Long Death Monk options, on top of having less offense, mobility, and control.

To understand why this is, consider the following factors:

First, being a Hill Dwarf delays your Dexterity progression, which is absolutely crucial for a Monk both offensively and defensively. Taking Dwarven Fortitude simply makes this worse, and doesn't actually give you any extra healing from hit dice over the course of the adventuring day. So for example, in order to compete with a Dex/Wis race Monk, you'd need Hill Dwarf's benefits to be comparable to +2 AC, +2 initiative, +2 Dex saves, +2 to hit, +2 damage per hit (for a class that has many attacks), more Deflect Missiles reduction, +5 speed, and the benefits of a different race. Even things like your poison resistance won't matter once your Monk gets straight up poison Immunity at level 10.

Second, Long Death features scale better with basically every defensive tool other than max hit points. For example, every point of AC will make every point of Death Mastery ki last longer while you're at 0 hit points. And will extend the value of each temporary hit point you generate. And it'll play very effectively off of your ability to give enemies Disadvantage (basically, Disadvantage scales in a very attractive non-linear fashion with higher AC). By contrast, some extra Max HP isn't really doing any more for you than it does for anyone else (actually, it'll do less, since the dwarf's AC will suck).

Even just doing more damage with higher Dex will help you generate more temporary hit points, and reduce enemy offense (by stunning them more, or killing them sooner). And the extra movement speed will help you position better for Hour of Reaping (especially important since you need to avoid friendly fire when doing it).

Thanks for that analysis. That does make things really disappointing. I wonder what would be a good way to balance the feat out?

Allow you to spend a Reaction and a hit die to add your hit die value to a saving throw? Seems like a powerful but expensive tool, and one that seems very "dwarf-like".

[Vogie]

Odd builds:

Shimmering Fencer - Dexterity Eldritch Knights with Rapier and Shield would also be a great feel, and you'd hit AC of 20 by your first ASI. 11,17,14,14,13,13 - using any race with DEX/CON or DEX/INT bonuses. Mage Armor is 13+Dex, Shield is +2. You'd also be able to pick up the shield spell when you absolutely don't want to get hurt. EKs are the class that can attack
Spirit Batman - Since Ancestral Guardian's Ancestral Protectors triggers just on "the first creature you hit with an attack on your turn", you can Rage and then chuck hand axes/daggers/light hammers at your targets. Once you reach your first ASI, pick up the Mobile feat, and then you can run up, smash face with your weapon(s), then dance backwards and your targets can't do much about it. 17, 14, 14, 11, 13, 13 - any racials, preferring STR, DEX & CON.
Sheer Determination - If UA is available, a Hill Dwarf Stone Sorcerer with the Tough feat could probably work - it's 13+CON AC with the ability to hold a shield, in addition to full casting. Stone's Durability, Dwarven Fortitude and Tough all stack with each other. 13,14,17,11,13,14 before racials, 13,14,19,11,14,14 after, AC of 19 (before ASI) with shield. Hit points: 6+4+2(12) at level 1, 4+4+2 (10) for the next 2 levels, and then tough at 4 gives you 4+4+2+2 going forward, plus another 8 for free (2 hp per level), for a total of 52 HP at level 4... which is more than an average Barbarian with +3 Con at level 4 (15+10+10+10=45).

[GlenSmash!]

I've been thinking lately about a conquest paladin using Aura of Conquest and various fear effects to lock down portions of the battlefield. Combined with the personally survivablity of the Paladin it should make for an effective and maybe interesting tank.

[Nagog]

For an interesting and unusual tank build, try a Bladesinger Wizard. Prioritize Dex and Int, with some focus on Con as well. With Bladesong active, you'll have both Int and Dex into your AC, as well as any light armor you choose, and with decent Con (and perhaps the HP boosting feat later on), you can become a great tank. I'd recommend putting that 17 into Dex and choose a class that gives you a +1 to Dex (make sure your DM is ok with non-elf Bladesingers if they're stingy with that kind of thing. If they are, Half-Elves are pretty adaptable), and from there you'll have base 17 AC and then add your Int to it whenever you activate your Bladesong. With decent Con and a health bonus from the feat whose name I cannot remember right now, you'll have turned the squishiest class in the game into the party tank.

[MagneticKitty]

Notable races for a tank:
Half-orc: bonus to con and the ability to hold on a little longer
hill dwarf: good hp, bonus armor usage
tortle: good a.c. with little investment. Good for str monk
warforged: great a.c. on Dec or are builds
lizardfolk: bonus to con and unarmored a.c.
Yuan-ti: if you want straight cheese...

Classes: (recommendations in parenthesis, but others work too)
Most clerics
barbs (ancestral guardians, or bear)
Moon druid
Paladin (ancients)
abjuration wizard...maybe
fighter (eldritch knight)
ranger

[Nagog]

One recommendation that was very talked about in another thread here was a Thorns build. I don't remember the full final build but it involved two levels of Abjuration Wizard for Arcane Ward and the rest into Warlock for Armor of Agathys. If you can keep your ward up by throwing around Abjuration spells, the Ward will absorb hits while still triggering AoA retaliation damage. Could be a fun build to run for the party tank

[Sception]

There are two main parts to tanking. The first is personal survivability - good hit dice, ac, & saves; spells or abilities that negate attacks, reduce damage, restore your hp, or shrug off ongoing effects, etc. This is pretty straight forward.

The second, less obvious element is aggro. Can you hold an enemy's attention? Can you prevent them from targeting your more vulnerable allies, or punish them for doing so, or somehow make yourself a more tempting target despite your previously mentioned survivability features.

The default feature for this is opportunity attacks, but they are so limited, and there are so many ways to get around them, that a dedicated tank character should not be relying on opportunity attacks alone.


There are a lot of archetypes that do both without multiclassing. The bearbarian who makes himself a tempting target by giving enemies advantage to hit him while mitigating that damage through resistance. The cavalier fighter with second wind and unwavering mark. Any paladin with aura if protection, lay on hands, and compelled duel, plus assorted buffs & debuffs like bless and wrathful smite that attract enemy attention in the hope that you fail a concentration save; especially ancients, crown, redemption, & conquest paladins with their additional survival and/or aggro subclass features.


The only generic advice I'd give is to pick up the sentinel feat asap. With rare exceptions (conquest pallys, for instance, have an alternative lockdown feature - most still want sentinrl eventually, nut maxing cha and mitigating concentration saves are higher priorities for them; redemption paladins are another possible exception due to their reaction based subclass aura), sentinel is the most straight forward and effective tool for preventing enemies from just ignoring you to target your squishier allies, improving your opportunity attacks to the point where they can actually do their job.

Any of the above should work fine for a party tank in your group, with the exceptions of ancients & redemption paladins. these tanks rely on your party sticking close to you, and that doesn't fit well with your otherwise long ranged & highly mobile allies.

Race-wise, vuman is ideal given how badly most tanks want sentinel asap, but since that's not in 0lay here, anything that raises your primary attack stat, secondary stat if any, and constitution is ideal. Out of the PHB, it's hard to go wrong with Mountain dwarf for fighters & barbarians, or half elf for paladins.

In terms of gear, reach can be useful, but it's hard to deny the ac boost of a shield, and you do still want decent melee damage or enemies won't respect your threat. You really only get two out of the three though, so grab one of sword & board (or spear & board with PAM, either way you get decent damage & shield), halberd (decent damage & reach), or whip & board (reach & shield).

For combat style, if your class grants one, I'd recommend defence. Protection seems good & tanky, but it conflicts with sentinel for reactions, and your allies likely won't be anywhere near you so you probably wont get much opportunity to use it. Dueling can be a good alternative if fighting one handed and you need the damage boost - in particular for whip users.

All together, I'd recommend one of the following:

Mountain Dwarf Bearbarian with Sentinel at first asi

Mountain Dwarf Cavalier with Sentinel at first asi

Half Elf Crown Paladin with Sentinel at first asi

Half Elf Conquest Paladin, without sentinel, at least not until later levels, after you've already maxed cha, raised str to at least 18, and picked up either resilient con or warcaster