I played a shadarkai bladesinger with the lorehold background and he was probably the best tank ever. Zoom around bladesonging, while spirit guardians slows and kills enemies, and you attack/bladeward or attack/booming blade enemies. Meanwhile your AC is nearly 30. Was fantastic.
Everyone has different ideas if what a tank is though. So ymmv. But if you want good battlefield control while fighting in melee and being nigh unkillable, this does that fantastically.
Yep. My current main in a Westmarch server is a githyanki Fighter 2/Chronurgy 18, and he can tank basically anything. Only 19 AC, but Mizzium Plate so no crits, and at-will Shield from spell mastery. It's common for him to just cast a single strong buff spell, then just spam GFB (using Illusionist Bracers for a quasi Extra Attack) for the rest of combat.
A bladesinger is probably the best way to do this, especially once you get Extra Attack. Assuming mage armor, a maxed intelligence modifier and at least a +2 to dex, you're looking at an AC of 20 or more (which is as high if not higher than full plate and a shield) and if you need even more you can stack Shield on top of it as a reaction.
Because you can replace one of your attacks with a cantrip, if you're going to eat a lot of damage, replace that attack with Blade Ward. It grants resistance to slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning damage including magical until the end of your next turn.
I have a build like this in a game I play and I can tank more damage than the raging barbarian with it. I can almost outdamage them too if I can get a buff spell up.
After some thought I realized that part of being a tank is getting the enemy to attack you over your allies.
I had an idea for a character, a Wizard that takes the Entertainer background and specializes in telling jokes and hurling jibes at the enemy to draw fire.
Can you imagine on the first round the enemy tries to hit you and misses due to Blur or Shield or something else and is getting ready to switch targets on round 2 and you suddenly start yammering some nonsense which upsets his fragile ego and he redoubles his useless efforts to hit you. hehehe
After some thought I realized that part of being a tank is getting the enemy to attack you over your allies.
I had an idea for a character, a Wizard that takes the Entertainer background and specializes in telling jokes and hurling jibes at the enemy to draw fire.
Can you imagine on the first round the enemy tries to hit you and misses due to Blur or Shield or something else and is getting ready to switch targets on round 2 and you suddenly start yammering some nonsense which upsets his fragile ego and he redoubles his useless efforts to hit you. hehehe
What if they still hit you? It's not that unlikely, if you have about 13 AC and they have +5 or +8 to hit, and shield spell is about the same as giving disadvantage... and then you probably have to retreat with your d6 hit dice. But yes, it would be kind of funny.
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D&D doesn't really have rules for taunting to draw aggro, but in most cases I'd say that it's a Deception check against their Insight check. Wizards, as a rule, tend not to have great Charisma scores.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
D&D doesn't really have rules for taunting to draw aggro, but in most cases I'd say that it's a Deception check against their Insight check. Wizards, as a rule, tend not to have great Charisma scores.
Except maybe for enchantment wizards
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Me and about 4 friends started Dnd at our school and apparently it's really popular now so yay!
Basically, tanking in 5e is difficult because you have little way of forcing enemies to focus their attacks on you when there's a big, scary' easy-to-hit barbarian swinging away at them within arms' reach.
Aside from making yourself as unhurtable as possible, we provide them a really good reason to focus you down.
Incite greed or any mass crowd control concentration spell works for large groups; hold person and the like for a handful of opponents.
I find being an unarmored dude with a wizard hat on who runs around amid the enemies in melee tends to draw more aggro, all by itself, than any 'tank' feature ever could.
And if by some miracle they do get hit with an attack...
"Ow! Ouch! Oh, woe is me! I am gravely hurt and about to die!" (wizard begins limping and holding his arm) "I don't think I can survive another attack!"
(I wonder if there's a medieval equivalent of a 'squib' or a way to spill blood and make it look like you're way more injured than you actually are?)
And if by some miracle they do get hit with an attack...
"Ow! Ouch! Oh, woe is me! I am gravely hurt and about to die!" (wizard begins limping and holding his arm) "I don't think I can survive another attack!"
(I wonder if there's a medieval equivalent of a 'squib' or a way to spill blood and make it look like you're way more injured than you actually are?)
Disguise Self + Metamagic adapt?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have decided to make a bad signature
I worship JUSTIN BUCKNER
Thanks for reading!
Me and about 4 friends started Dnd at our school and apparently it's really popular now so yay!
Im gonna make a cult of Buckner thread soon.
AGAIN, Thanks for reading!
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I played a shadarkai bladesinger with the lorehold background and he was probably the best tank ever. Zoom around bladesonging, while spirit guardians slows and kills enemies, and you attack/bladeward or attack/booming blade enemies. Meanwhile your AC is nearly 30. Was fantastic.
Everyone has different ideas if what a tank is though. So ymmv. But if you want good battlefield control while fighting in melee and being nigh unkillable, this does that fantastically.
I got quotes!
Yep. My current main in a Westmarch server is a githyanki Fighter 2/Chronurgy 18, and he can tank basically anything. Only 19 AC, but Mizzium Plate so no crits, and at-will Shield from spell mastery. It's common for him to just cast a single strong buff spell, then just spam GFB (using Illusionist Bracers for a quasi Extra Attack) for the rest of combat.
A bladesinger is probably the best way to do this, especially once you get Extra Attack. Assuming mage armor, a maxed intelligence modifier and at least a +2 to dex, you're looking at an AC of 20 or more (which is as high if not higher than full plate and a shield) and if you need even more you can stack Shield on top of it as a reaction.
Because you can replace one of your attacks with a cantrip, if you're going to eat a lot of damage, replace that attack with Blade Ward. It grants resistance to slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning damage including magical until the end of your next turn.
I have a build like this in a game I play and I can tank more damage than the raging barbarian with it. I can almost outdamage them too if I can get a buff spell up.
After some thought I realized that part of being a tank is getting the enemy to attack you over your allies.
I had an idea for a character, a Wizard that takes the Entertainer background and specializes in telling jokes and hurling jibes at the enemy to draw fire.
Can you imagine on the first round the enemy tries to hit you and misses due to Blur or Shield or something else and is getting ready to switch targets on round 2 and you suddenly start yammering some nonsense which upsets his fragile ego and he redoubles his useless efforts to hit you. hehehe
What if they still hit you? It's not that unlikely, if you have about 13 AC and they have +5 or +8 to hit, and shield spell is about the same as giving disadvantage... and then you probably have to retreat with your d6 hit dice. But yes, it would be kind of funny.
I have decided to make a bad signature
I worship JUSTIN BUCKNER
Thanks for reading!
Me and about 4 friends started Dnd at our school and apparently it's really popular now so yay!
Im gonna make a cult of Buckner thread soon.
AGAIN, Thanks for reading!
D&D doesn't really have rules for taunting to draw aggro, but in most cases I'd say that it's a Deception check against their Insight check. Wizards, as a rule, tend not to have great Charisma scores.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Except maybe for enchantment wizards
I have decided to make a bad signature
I worship JUSTIN BUCKNER
Thanks for reading!
Me and about 4 friends started Dnd at our school and apparently it's really popular now so yay!
Im gonna make a cult of Buckner thread soon.
AGAIN, Thanks for reading!
Basically, tanking in 5e is difficult because you have little way of forcing enemies to focus their attacks on you when there's a big, scary' easy-to-hit barbarian swinging away at them within arms' reach.
Aside from making yourself as unhurtable as possible, we provide them a really good reason to focus you down.
Incite greed or any mass crowd control concentration spell works for large groups; hold person and the like for a handful of opponents.
I don't know. Maybe if you have a wizard, you don't need to try to tank.
Leave it to the fighters and barbarians of the world.
I have decided to make a bad signature
I worship JUSTIN BUCKNER
Thanks for reading!
Me and about 4 friends started Dnd at our school and apparently it's really popular now so yay!
Im gonna make a cult of Buckner thread soon.
AGAIN, Thanks for reading!
I find being an unarmored dude with a wizard hat on who runs around amid the enemies in melee tends to draw more aggro, all by itself, than any 'tank' feature ever could.
I got quotes!
And if by some miracle they do get hit with an attack...
"Ow! Ouch! Oh, woe is me! I am gravely hurt and about to die!" (wizard begins limping and holding his arm) "I don't think I can survive another attack!"
(I wonder if there's a medieval equivalent of a 'squib' or a way to spill blood and make it look like you're way more injured than you actually are?)
Disguise Self + Metamagic adapt?
I have decided to make a bad signature
I worship JUSTIN BUCKNER
Thanks for reading!
Me and about 4 friends started Dnd at our school and apparently it's really popular now so yay!
Im gonna make a cult of Buckner thread soon.
AGAIN, Thanks for reading!