I've been considering a question which, in all considerations, may just end up being dependent on the specific DM running the campaign. But I'm trying to consider what the best way to draw aggro is - or otherwise try and maximize utility to your party to make yourself the proverbial anchor - and here's a list of ideas that we may consider to be mechanics that draw aggro: 1. Punishing mechanics (think Ancestor Guardian Barb) 2. Crowd Control (Order Domain, Cavalier, Oath of Conquest) 3. Healing (Twilight Cleric, Life Cleric) 4. Utility/Support (Oath of the Ancients, Battlemaster) 5. Pure DPS (War Domain, Fighters, Barbarians)
Of these, or perhaps ones unlisted, what do you think draws the weight off of your teammates and makes you the most viable target? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
I've been considering a question which, in all considerations, may just end up being dependent on the specific DM running the campaign. But I'm trying to consider what the best way to draw aggro is - or otherwise try and maximize utility to your party to make yourself the proverbial anchor - and here's a list of ideas that we may consider to be mechanics that draw aggro: 1. Punishing mechanics (think Ancestor Guardian Barb) 2. Crowd Control (Order Domain, Cavalier, Oath of Conquest) 3. Healing (Twilight Cleric, Life Cleric) 4. Utility/Support (Oath of the Ancients, Battlemaster) 5. Pure DPS (War Domain, Fighters, Barbarians)
Of these, or perhaps ones unlisted, what do you think draws the weight off of your teammates and makes you the most viable target? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Don't discount RP options. There isn't anything mechanical about it, but insulting the enemy or spitting in their face can be every bit as effective as anything listed, though clearly YMMV per DM fiat.
The AI of the enemies is entirely DM dependent. You can certainly force their hand with game mechanics from classes like Ancestral Guardian. I have found that if my tank charges in and attacks, DM's seem to universally just have the targets defend themselves and fight me back.
I plan to start DMing in the near future, and I want to run my games where the enemy factions fight more realistically. If they're reasonably intelligent and battle seasoned, they'll pull the same shenanigans me and my friends always do. "Look, a spellcaster!" and we bumrush that guy first, that sort of thing. Of course I'm going to let them know what to expect at session zero, so they can plan accordingly.
This is entirely table-dependent because the enemy is controlled by a person who is responding to your actions. Unless the monsters I'm playing are super dumb, they are not going to keep focusing on the paladin just because he's shouting at them if the wizard just dropped a devastating spell.
In my experience, a lot of DMs take the "realist" approach, at least with intelligent enemies. They will focus on the greatest threat unless there is a very clear vulnerability that can get them a quick win. Anyone who turtles up with high AC and stuff like Sentinel is just not worth engaging if there are any other threats within reach.
Barbarian really works well for this. Reckless both improves your damage (making you a threat) and makes you a tempting target. Rage mitigates those extra hits and your big hit die help you absorb the damage and recover faster. Extra movement helps you stay on the targets if they try to get around you.
It's worth noting that 5e very intentionally avoids clear roles for classes beyond a general front/back line. 4e was very explicit about class roles and they decided to move away from that. So it can be hard to nail down how to best be a tank because the designers did not want 5e to have tanks.
There's some tricks you can try, like pole arm master + sentinel + cavalier fighter. That can make you really tough to run past, at least mechanically. An I'll give a +1 to Jhfffan's idea of just verbally taunting them. In some cases, it may work better than a game mechanics answer.
I'm sure there's other suggestions, but there's relatively few, if any, ways to force enemies to attack you if they don't want to. Really, they could even decide they are willing to ignore you and go after someone else with disadvantage, rather than attack you with a straight roll. That's the difference between playing with a DM, who can adjust to conditions on the fly, and playing with a computer, which can only do what the game developer told it to do.
In my experience, a lot of DMs take the "realist" approach, at least with intelligent enemies. They will focus on the greatest threat unless there is a very clear vulnerability that can get them a quick win. Anyone who turtles up with high AC and stuff like Sentinel is just not worth engaging if there are any other threats within reach.
Barbarian really works well for this. Reckless both improves your damage (making you a threat) and makes you a tempting target. Rage mitigates those extra hits and your big hit die help you absorb the damage and recover faster. Extra movement helps you stay on the targets if they try to get around you.
This is why a Great Weapon Master barbarian with Sentinel is the best tank in the game, since it will put out major damage without taking much. The enemy who tries to ignore the barbarian pays a heavy price for it.
If you're DM'ing intelligent enemies, then they should know that ignoring the Eldritch Knight or Barbarian is a seriously bad idea. A 5th level fighter with Action Surge, +4 Str and GWM potentially deals 8d6+56 damage in one turn and should be the focus of every enemy that can attack them, regardless that they are capable of casting Shield (which the enemy won't know until they strike them - obviously if they see the shield go up they may divert attacks somewhere else).
The best tanking classes in the game do not deal less single target damage than the backline casters like wizards. Usually they deal more. Spellcasters do better hitting many targets with fireball, but if your monsters are intelligent then they'll be thinking about self preservation. Maybe a unit of tactically aware knights thinks about "overall damage output" and would have seen battle formations decimated by fireballs and know to go hit that caster, but otherwise not so much.
I've played a Cavalier tank and it was super fun. Marking targets when you hit them incentivizes them to stay focused on you. Warding Maneuver provides a little extra defense to you and your buddy next to you. Sadly it can't negate crits like a Grave Cleric can do, or a Rune Knight with Runic Shield(RS forces a re-roll, potentially getting rid of the nat20). Hold The Line helps keep the enemy from running away from you, and gets even better once you gain Vigilant Defender, since one enemy can't burn your reaction to let their allies get away from you scot free.
I played mine with two-handed weapons, but if I did it again I'd go Sword & Board, for the extra AC. The only downside to Cavaliers is they really want you to max out Str and Con, so you may find yourself waiting on taking feats longer than you would otherwise.
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I've been considering a question which, in all considerations, may just end up being dependent on the specific DM running the campaign. But I'm trying to consider what the best way to draw aggro is - or otherwise try and maximize utility to your party to make yourself the proverbial anchor - and here's a list of ideas that we may consider to be mechanics that draw aggro:
1. Punishing mechanics (think Ancestor Guardian Barb)
2. Crowd Control (Order Domain, Cavalier, Oath of Conquest)
3. Healing (Twilight Cleric, Life Cleric)
4. Utility/Support (Oath of the Ancients, Battlemaster)
5. Pure DPS (War Domain, Fighters, Barbarians)
Of these, or perhaps ones unlisted, what do you think draws the weight off of your teammates and makes you the most viable target? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Don't discount RP options. There isn't anything mechanical about it, but insulting the enemy or spitting in their face can be every bit as effective as anything listed, though clearly YMMV per DM fiat.
The AI of the enemies is entirely DM dependent. You can certainly force their hand with game mechanics from classes like Ancestral Guardian. I have found that if my tank charges in and attacks, DM's seem to universally just have the targets defend themselves and fight me back.
I plan to start DMing in the near future, and I want to run my games where the enemy factions fight more realistically. If they're reasonably intelligent and battle seasoned, they'll pull the same shenanigans me and my friends always do. "Look, a spellcaster!" and we bumrush that guy first, that sort of thing. Of course I'm going to let them know what to expect at session zero, so they can plan accordingly.
Don't fight in open spaces where your opponents can freely choose who to engage. Fight in doorways, where melee weapon users can't reach past you.
This is entirely table-dependent because the enemy is controlled by a person who is responding to your actions. Unless the monsters I'm playing are super dumb, they are not going to keep focusing on the paladin just because he's shouting at them if the wizard just dropped a devastating spell.
In my experience, a lot of DMs take the "realist" approach, at least with intelligent enemies. They will focus on the greatest threat unless there is a very clear vulnerability that can get them a quick win. Anyone who turtles up with high AC and stuff like Sentinel is just not worth engaging if there are any other threats within reach.
Barbarian really works well for this. Reckless both improves your damage (making you a threat) and makes you a tempting target. Rage mitigates those extra hits and your big hit die help you absorb the damage and recover faster. Extra movement helps you stay on the targets if they try to get around you.
It's worth noting that 5e very intentionally avoids clear roles for classes beyond a general front/back line. 4e was very explicit about class roles and they decided to move away from that. So it can be hard to nail down how to best be a tank because the designers did not want 5e to have tanks.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
There's some tricks you can try, like pole arm master + sentinel + cavalier fighter. That can make you really tough to run past, at least mechanically. An I'll give a +1 to Jhfffan's idea of just verbally taunting them. In some cases, it may work better than a game mechanics answer.
I'm sure there's other suggestions, but there's relatively few, if any, ways to force enemies to attack you if they don't want to. Really, they could even decide they are willing to ignore you and go after someone else with disadvantage, rather than attack you with a straight roll. That's the difference between playing with a DM, who can adjust to conditions on the fly, and playing with a computer, which can only do what the game developer told it to do.
This is why a Great Weapon Master barbarian with Sentinel is the best tank in the game, since it will put out major damage without taking much. The enemy who tries to ignore the barbarian pays a heavy price for it.
If you're DM'ing intelligent enemies, then they should know that ignoring the Eldritch Knight or Barbarian is a seriously bad idea. A 5th level fighter with Action Surge, +4 Str and GWM potentially deals 8d6+56 damage in one turn and should be the focus of every enemy that can attack them, regardless that they are capable of casting Shield (which the enemy won't know until they strike them - obviously if they see the shield go up they may divert attacks somewhere else).
The best tanking classes in the game do not deal less single target damage than the backline casters like wizards. Usually they deal more. Spellcasters do better hitting many targets with fireball, but if your monsters are intelligent then they'll be thinking about self preservation. Maybe a unit of tactically aware knights thinks about "overall damage output" and would have seen battle formations decimated by fireballs and know to go hit that caster, but otherwise not so much.
I've played a Cavalier tank and it was super fun. Marking targets when you hit them incentivizes them to stay focused on you. Warding Maneuver provides a little extra defense to you and your buddy next to you. Sadly it can't negate crits like a Grave Cleric can do, or a Rune Knight with Runic Shield(RS forces a re-roll, potentially getting rid of the nat20). Hold The Line helps keep the enemy from running away from you, and gets even better once you gain Vigilant Defender, since one enemy can't burn your reaction to let their allies get away from you scot free.
I played mine with two-handed weapons, but if I did it again I'd go Sword & Board, for the extra AC. The only downside to Cavaliers is they really want you to max out Str and Con, so you may find yourself waiting on taking feats longer than you would otherwise.