Essentially this might just boil to the easiest choice for this kinda thing if you wanna be the sort to just tank damage.
Race: Any that give +2 STR/CON, +1 STR/CON Class: Barbarian, Totem Warrior (Bear)
That's... kinda it. You've won D&D.
Or my personal idea that I've always wanted to tinker with if you didn't want to be a rolling death ball of cheese is: Race: Dwarf (Duergar) Class: Battlerager
If you're wanting to hit the front line and be a nuisance, grapple as much as you can while wearing spiked armour that is signature to the battlerager. You'll do slight passive damage over time and keep the enemy pinned down. The duergar part will help with the bigger monsters you come across when you cast Enlarge.
Since your strength will go up to 19 if you put that 18 stat in there, getting the feat Squat Nimbleness will throw it up to 20 and allow you to take the Athletics (STR) skill. Freeing you some room to put skills in other areas.
For the constitution you place the 16 in there, it'll go up to 18 from being a dwarf and then you grab Dwarven Fortitude feat for a +1 to the stat and use a dodge action to use a hit-die (essentially a d12+5 potion) with the added benefit that the enemy will have a harder time hitting you.
Level 12, you can just put a +1 to CON so it goes to a +5 modifier and the second +1 to anything you want. I'd put it in DEX for +1 to Init/saving throws.
If you did the previous bullet point you might get annoyed that Spike Armour only allows a +2 DEX mod. Just grab Medium Armour Master feat. When you take this is completely up to you.
It's what I'd personally do with a stat roll like that. The archetype I enjoy fun to be a frothing at the mouth madman who charges in to the fray to knock heads with the first enemy they find. The main downside is that being a duergar will mean you will get sunlight disadvantage so you might be able to ask the DM to give you Dayvision goggles (uno card the Darkvision goggles) and keep up with the surface walkers. If you want other race line ups for going the barbarian route, take another subrace or go for goliath/half-orc.
Take the grappler feat and they really are stuck, just for extra fun
You "tank" by running out front, insulting the enemy and then taking the dodge action with plate armor, a shield, sanctuary spell, and the shield spell if necessary. I picture it as a rockstar running out to the front line belting power metal songs.. so you are defending your allies with the power of metal lol. You have your bonus action to maneuver your allies, command your foes, heal via healing word... lots of options and you dont necessarily need to take the dodge action -- especially later on once you get unbreakable majesty... enemies would need to make two separate saves to target you and then pass your armor class. This does rely on your character annoying the enemy though, so results may vary.
Order gives you voice of authority, which lets you use your spell slots to make your allies attack (paladins and rogues generally love extra sneak attack and smites) and it gets around sanctuary's limitations. Essentially you intentionally become a target for the enemy but are super frustrating to actually hit, and you use your turns to support the party.
Another offmeta juggernaut would be a monk 16 (long death) / druid 1 / warlock 3 (celestial/chain)
With an initial spread of 8str | 14 dex | 15 con | 9 int | 16 wis | 13 cha
Level 1 in druid for proficiencies and shillelagh, next 5 in monk, then the 3 warlock levels and then finishing with monk.
Asi in order: dwarven fortitude, wis+2, wis+2, con+2
This lets you be a shield and club wielding juggernaut that heals quite a bit every turn. The only things from monk that is negated by armor/shield is unarmored defense and martial arts, neither of which we are using. Shillelagh boosts our club to d8, and we generally want to be using patient defense. Gift of the ever living ones plus dwarven fortitude is pretty solid healing per turn.
So we are a medium armor+shield wearing dwarf, with dodge action, stunning our foes, and getting 11hp in healing every turn at level9. We can still use flurry of blows, but it will only be for proccing stunning strike in a pinch as the damage will be 0 (cant use martial arts and our str mod is -1).
Mastery of death allows us to stay in the thick of it even if we would be reduced to 0hp, and celestial warlock lets us revive allies or have healing even after expending our ki or hit points. Hex lets us boost our minimal damage a bit to 2d8+2d6+10. If we do reduce a target to 0hp, we get 21 temp hp.
Gift of the ever living ones plus dwarven fortitude is pretty solid healing per turn.
So we are a medium armor+shield wearing dwarf, with dodge action, stunning our foes, and getting 11hp in healing every turn at level9.
You only regain 4 hit dice on a long rest at level 9 (and none on a short rest), so your "every turn" healing is actually just 4x per day on average. And if you do short rests (which would normally be very attractive to both a warlock and a monk), any healing with hit dice during those short rests also will use this same pool of hit dice. It's misleading to call something an "every turn" ability if you can only do it 4 times per day on average.
Perhaps, but not every fight requires all your resources and not every day involves life or death combat. Gift of the ever living ones just makes your healing maximized and dwarven fortitude allows you to use the healing when you need it. Resources that are unused are wasted.
Also: most boss combats are 6 turns or less, so it is there when you need it.
Resources that are used aren't available to you when you need them. It would suck to be doing a short rest and wishing you had hit dice to heal up, but you used them up during combat with Dwarven Fortitude. Relying on Healing Light instead of Dwarven Fortitude lets you use Healing Light during combat, and use your hit dice on short rests between combats, instead of using the same pool of dice for both. Hit dice recharge at a very slow pace.
If your party isn't doing short rests very often, it's better to choose a different class. Monks and Warlocks are two classes that are extremely dependent on taking frequent short rests. If your party does do short rests quite often, it's best to not take Dwarven Fortitude because you'll have plenty of opportunities to use your hit dice to heal up. Taking Dwarven Fortitude on a Monk or Warlock doesn't really make sense. Dwarven Fortitude is a solid feat for those parties that don't do short rests, but it's a horrible feat for a party that does frequent short rests.
You are free to your opinion, and i did mention it was an off meta build... but to be honest, if you needed to use the healing then you needed to use the healing, meaning not using that resource would result in your death or otherwise put you at a disadvantage. Using a healing resource so that you enter a dangerous fight at full hp (or as near to) is a good use of that resource. I think its a difference of opinion. Personally, while short rest healing is good, it does you no good if you have hit dice available but you died in the fight before you could get that short rest..
I think of hit dice as a limited resource, even more limited than spell slots. You seem to think that they're an unlimited resource. I am right, and you are wrong.
At level 9, you're still limited to 9 turns healing in a single day if you start the day with all of your hit dice and end the day with none of your hit dice and don't use any during a short rest. A level 5 spellcaster gets 9 spell slots, so it's just as accurate to say that a level 5 character can cast a spell using a spell slot every turn as it is to say that a level 9 character can use dwarven fortitude every turn. In fact, a level 5 spell caster can get back all 9 spell slots on a long rest, whereas a level 9 character would only get back 4 hit dice on a long rest, so it's more accurate to say that a level 5 character can cast a leveled spell every round than it is to say that a level 9 character can use dwarven fortitude every round. And nobody on here is going to say that once you reach level 5 you can cast a leveled spell every round without mentioning that you'll run out of spell slots very quickly.
Hit dice are a limited resource. This isn't a difference of opinion. This is you talking about a limited resource and using language that implies that it is an unlimited resource that can be used at will. When an ability has a limited number of uses, don't use language that implies that the ability is at will. It's that simple.
I don't talk about Healing Light like it is an unlimited resource, and you should not talk about Dwarven Fortitude like it is an unlimited resource. I'm not going to claim that a Celestial Pact of the Chain Warlock can heal himself for 18 every round with Healing Light. I acknowledge that there's a limited number of dice available for that purpose. You need to do the same with Dwarven Fortitude.
I know that you're interested in convincing people that your strategy is awesome, but please don't act like a used car salesman when trying to achieve that purpose.
I'm not all that impressed by barbarian as a tank. Yes, they're pretty durable when raging, but rages are a limited resource, and neither damage nor control is all that strong. In low tier, a fighter (because of second wind and access to heavy armor, or ability to have a dex primary build) is generally more durable, and with a battle master or cavalier, has better control.
In low tier, a fighter (because of second wind and access to heavy armor, or ability to have a dex primary build) is generally more durable, and with a battle master or cavalier, has better control.
Cavaliers are better at controlling multiple enemies but a Path of the Ancestral Guardians Barbarian is much better at controlling a single strong enemy.
In low tier, a fighter (because of second wind and access to heavy armor, or ability to have a dex primary build) is generally more durable, and with a battle master or cavalier, has better control.
Cavaliers are better at controlling multiple enemies but a Path of the Ancestral Guardians Barbarian is much better at controlling a single strong enemy.
I would say better, but not much better. Ancestral Protectors are better at reducing damage taken by allies, but can only be used when raging on your turn. Unwavering Mark has no restrictions on when you can use it and permits punishing violations.
When you're fighting something that can hit for 20 damage per hit, the extra damage from the Fighter isn't going to make a big difference in how quickly the monster dies but the Barbarian resisting the monster's damage will definitely affect how quickly your group dies or how many turns the cleric has to waste on healing. At mid levels the Barbarian can also protect party members from a distance with Spirit Shield, and Spirit Shield works on any damage (e.g. a dragon's breath), not just attacks.
Not knocking the Cavalier, but it's definitely not as good as Ancestral Guardians for big monsters, just like Ancestral Guardians is nowhere near as effective against crowds.
I'm currently playing a Warforged Battle Smith Artificer and I was shocked at how Tanky he is. He has high A/C, the Shield and absorb elements spells, and if he keeps his Steel Defender next to him the enemy attacks at least once on disadvantage and the Steel Defender can use his repair feature to heal 2d8+PB 3 times a day. Paired with the Sentinel feat the bad guys either attack me at disadvantage or they attack my dog and I get a free attack of opportunity. Add in magic weapons and armor right off the bat you have a really strong class. Plus the Steel Defender can help out a lot outside of combat and adds a lot to the role play side of things too.
Hunter Ranger with Heavily Armored Feat, Multiattack Defense, Horde Breaker.
Battlerager with terrible AC and Adamantine Spiked Armor (to resist critical hits if you can get it). Reckless constantly and let Rage and Temp HP absorb all of your damage.
Purple Dragon Knight to supplement healing, even better if you can get Telekinetic Feat, and max out Charisma for some great Persuasion skill as well.
My current character is a Druid with a high constitution score. In my experience, I'm REALLY hard to kill, both because of the high hit points and the wildshaping.
I also like these ideas for tanks, but what is a "Battleranger"?
Battlerager. No n. It’s a barbarian subclass. Technically restricted to dwarves. Though post-Tasha maybe not anymore? And really DM approval is what you need more than book approval if you want a non-dwarf version, Tasha or no.
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Take the grappler feat and they really are stuck, just for extra fun
I exist, and I guess so does this
Here is an offmeta tank:
half elf, cleric 1 (order domain) / sorcerer 1 (divine soul) / bard 18 (glamour)
You "tank" by running out front, insulting the enemy and then taking the dodge action with plate armor, a shield, sanctuary spell, and the shield spell if necessary. I picture it as a rockstar running out to the front line belting power metal songs.. so you are defending your allies with the power of metal lol. You have your bonus action to maneuver your allies, command your foes, heal via healing word... lots of options and you dont necessarily need to take the dodge action -- especially later on once you get unbreakable majesty... enemies would need to make two separate saves to target you and then pass your armor class. This does rely on your character annoying the enemy though, so results may vary.
Order gives you voice of authority, which lets you use your spell slots to make your allies attack (paladins and rogues generally love extra sneak attack and smites) and it gets around sanctuary's limitations. Essentially you intentionally become a target for the enemy but are super frustrating to actually hit, and you use your turns to support the party.
Another offmeta juggernaut would be a monk 16 (long death) / druid 1 / warlock 3 (celestial/chain)
With an initial spread of 8str | 14 dex | 15 con | 9 int | 16 wis | 13 cha
Level 1 in druid for proficiencies and shillelagh, next 5 in monk, then the 3 warlock levels and then finishing with monk.
Asi in order: dwarven fortitude, wis+2, wis+2, con+2
This lets you be a shield and club wielding juggernaut that heals quite a bit every turn. The only things from monk that is negated by armor/shield is unarmored defense and martial arts, neither of which we are using. Shillelagh boosts our club to d8, and we generally want to be using patient defense. Gift of the ever living ones plus dwarven fortitude is pretty solid healing per turn.
So we are a medium armor+shield wearing dwarf, with dodge action, stunning our foes, and getting 11hp in healing every turn at level9. We can still use flurry of blows, but it will only be for proccing stunning strike in a pinch as the damage will be 0 (cant use martial arts and our str mod is -1).
Mastery of death allows us to stay in the thick of it even if we would be reduced to 0hp, and celestial warlock lets us revive allies or have healing even after expending our ki or hit points. Hex lets us boost our minimal damage a bit to 2d8+2d6+10. If we do reduce a target to 0hp, we get 21 temp hp.
You only regain 4 hit dice on a long rest at level 9 (and none on a short rest), so your "every turn" healing is actually just 4x per day on average. And if you do short rests (which would normally be very attractive to both a warlock and a monk), any healing with hit dice during those short rests also will use this same pool of hit dice. It's misleading to call something an "every turn" ability if you can only do it 4 times per day on average.
Perhaps, but not every fight requires all your resources and not every day involves life or death combat. Gift of the ever living ones just makes your healing maximized and dwarven fortitude allows you to use the healing when you need it. Resources that are unused are wasted.
Also: most boss combats are 6 turns or less, so it is there when you need it.
Resources that are used aren't available to you when you need them. It would suck to be doing a short rest and wishing you had hit dice to heal up, but you used them up during combat with Dwarven Fortitude. Relying on Healing Light instead of Dwarven Fortitude lets you use Healing Light during combat, and use your hit dice on short rests between combats, instead of using the same pool of dice for both. Hit dice recharge at a very slow pace.
If your party isn't doing short rests very often, it's better to choose a different class. Monks and Warlocks are two classes that are extremely dependent on taking frequent short rests. If your party does do short rests quite often, it's best to not take Dwarven Fortitude because you'll have plenty of opportunities to use your hit dice to heal up. Taking Dwarven Fortitude on a Monk or Warlock doesn't really make sense. Dwarven Fortitude is a solid feat for those parties that don't do short rests, but it's a horrible feat for a party that does frequent short rests.
You are free to your opinion, and i did mention it was an off meta build... but to be honest, if you needed to use the healing then you needed to use the healing, meaning not using that resource would result in your death or otherwise put you at a disadvantage. Using a healing resource so that you enter a dangerous fight at full hp (or as near to) is a good use of that resource. I think its a difference of opinion. Personally, while short rest healing is good, it does you no good if you have hit dice available but you died in the fight before you could get that short rest..
I think of hit dice as a limited resource, even more limited than spell slots. You seem to think that they're an unlimited resource. I am right, and you are wrong.
At level 9, you're still limited to 9 turns healing in a single day if you start the day with all of your hit dice and end the day with none of your hit dice and don't use any during a short rest. A level 5 spellcaster gets 9 spell slots, so it's just as accurate to say that a level 5 character can cast a spell using a spell slot every turn as it is to say that a level 9 character can use dwarven fortitude every turn. In fact, a level 5 spell caster can get back all 9 spell slots on a long rest, whereas a level 9 character would only get back 4 hit dice on a long rest, so it's more accurate to say that a level 5 character can cast a leveled spell every round than it is to say that a level 9 character can use dwarven fortitude every round. And nobody on here is going to say that once you reach level 5 you can cast a leveled spell every round without mentioning that you'll run out of spell slots very quickly.
Hit dice are a limited resource. This isn't a difference of opinion. This is you talking about a limited resource and using language that implies that it is an unlimited resource that can be used at will. When an ability has a limited number of uses, don't use language that implies that the ability is at will. It's that simple.
I don't talk about Healing Light like it is an unlimited resource, and you should not talk about Dwarven Fortitude like it is an unlimited resource. I'm not going to claim that a Celestial Pact of the Chain Warlock can heal himself for 18 every round with Healing Light. I acknowledge that there's a limited number of dice available for that purpose. You need to do the same with Dwarven Fortitude.
I know that you're interested in convincing people that your strategy is awesome, but please don't act like a used car salesman when trying to achieve that purpose.
Cool story.
I'm not all that impressed by barbarian as a tank. Yes, they're pretty durable when raging, but rages are a limited resource, and neither damage nor control is all that strong. In low tier, a fighter (because of second wind and access to heavy armor, or ability to have a dex primary build) is generally more durable, and with a battle master or cavalier, has better control.
Cavaliers are better at controlling multiple enemies but a Path of the Ancestral Guardians Barbarian is much better at controlling a single strong enemy.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
battle master is the best in my opinion but not for tanks
I would say better, but not much better. Ancestral Protectors are better at reducing damage taken by allies, but can only be used when raging on your turn. Unwavering Mark has no restrictions on when you can use it and permits punishing violations.
When you're fighting something that can hit for 20 damage per hit, the extra damage from the Fighter isn't going to make a big difference in how quickly the monster dies but the Barbarian resisting the monster's damage will definitely affect how quickly your group dies or how many turns the cleric has to waste on healing. At mid levels the Barbarian can also protect party members from a distance with Spirit Shield, and Spirit Shield works on any damage (e.g. a dragon's breath), not just attacks.
Not knocking the Cavalier, but it's definitely not as good as Ancestral Guardians for big monsters, just like Ancestral Guardians is nowhere near as effective against crowds.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
I also like these ideas for tanks, but what is a "Battleranger"?
I'm currently playing a Warforged Battle Smith Artificer and I was shocked at how Tanky he is. He has high A/C, the Shield and absorb elements spells, and if he keeps his Steel Defender next to him the enemy attacks at least once on disadvantage and the Steel Defender can use his repair feature to heal 2d8+PB 3 times a day. Paired with the Sentinel feat the bad guys either attack me at disadvantage or they attack my dog and I get a free attack of opportunity. Add in magic weapons and armor right off the bat you have a really strong class. Plus the Steel Defender can help out a lot outside of combat and adds a lot to the role play side of things too.
The only artificer sub that isn't good at tanking is the Alchemist.
My odd favourites!
Hunter Ranger with Heavily Armored Feat, Multiattack Defense, Horde Breaker.
Battlerager with terrible AC and Adamantine Spiked Armor (to resist critical hits if you can get it). Reckless constantly and let Rage and Temp HP absorb all of your damage.
Purple Dragon Knight to supplement healing, even better if you can get Telekinetic Feat, and max out Charisma for some great Persuasion skill as well.
My current character is a Druid with a high constitution score. In my experience, I'm REALLY hard to kill, both because of the high hit points and the wildshaping.
Battlerager. No n. It’s a barbarian subclass. Technically restricted to dwarves. Though post-Tasha maybe not anymore? And really DM approval is what you need more than book approval if you want a non-dwarf version, Tasha or no.