Quote from JacksonTC >>

I haven't been able to take a look at the Artificer class at all yet (damn you class paywalls) but the potential looks incredible.  Can I ask why you picked Warforged?  Extra AC or flavor?  

 
Yes.

Heh, more seriously, the warforged has innate resistance to poison (always nice) and it has the "Integrated Protection" ability.  IP lets you absorb your armor, integrate it directly into your body (i.e. you never have to take it off and can flip the DM the bird finger when he says "you can't sleep in armor" because you're a literal robot man), and it also gives you a flat +1 to AC.  Warforged gets +2 Constitution and +1 anything, which I used for Intelligence in this case.  It fits the overall build template very well, and also it's a machine that (technically) never sleeps and was built explicitly as a weapon of war.

It's a lovely case of the mechanics and the flavor all lining up perfectly.  Heh, if the UA Armorer was on the table the numbers would be even more ridiculous, but the Artillerist has its own charms.

Like mentioned, Druids are probably the tankiest of the tanks but I like the challenge that the Character must also be able to take on other problems than just soaking up damage.

Edit: Inspired by some of the other presentations, I'm just going to throw in some more details just for fun and flavour.

I could throw in the Battle Smith from the last showdown but I'll do something different for kicks. I give to you Steven Zealot, half-elf holy warrior.
Level 20 level split: 20 levels of Path of Zealot Barbarian

Race: Half-elf

Stats: Str 13+1 Dex 14 Con 15+1 Int 10 Wis 12 Cha 8+2

Background: Doesn't really matter but Acolyte could fit with the religious theme. Steven was probably sent to a monastery to become a member of the clergy but since he wasn't wise enough to be a Cleric or charismatic enough to be a Paladin he religious fervor had to be used differently. So he was given a sword and shield and told to rid the world of sinners. Fun fact: If you change race to warforged you pretty much get Dolph Lundgren's Street Preacher from Johnny Mnemonic.

Starting level: Barbarian
Half-elf gives some nice bonuses regarding skills and stats and, more importantly, advantage against being charmed and you can't be put to sleep magically. Dark Vision is also nice to help you detect enemies. Go with a longsword and get a shield as soon as possible. We are going for maximum survivability here. Raging of course help against taking damage. 15 hitpoints is not bad but the best part is that you need to do double that amount (at least with PBS damage) to beat the rage resistances.

At 5th level:
Choose Path of the Zealot for some extra damage and being able to come back from the dead for cheap. Take the Tough feat for more hit points. Don't worry about hitting your opponents for now. You can always use Reckless attack for advantage. Again, your goal is mainly to take punishment, not deal out damage. If Steven dies he can easily be brought back to life since reviving him is free. Sooner or later (especially since half-elves have a pretty long life span) he will find you.

At 11th level:
Pump that Strength, mostly for a boost to hit. With Feral Instinct and Fanatical Focus you will be very hard to surprise and your low Dex doesn't hurt your initiative roll.

At 17th level:
Take the Alert feat at level 12 and boost Con at level 16 for more hit points and a boost to your AC. You are already pretty much immortal at level 14 and you definitaly are at level 15 with Persistant Rage Beyond Death. Thanks to your fey ancestry it will be really hard to put you to sleep or charm you and you can re-roll a failed save once per rage. If we assume you have at least a few healing potions you can even quaff one, drop your rage and then rage anew for a new use of Fanatical Focus.

At 20th level and final thoughts:
We'll max out Con at level 19 and then overcharge it at level 20. With an AC of "only" 21 he might be easy to hit (especially if you use Reckless attack) but with between 325 and 420 hit points you can take a lot of punishment (which mean you'll have to do between 650 and 840 points of damage just to bring him down). More importantly, even if he loses all his hitpoints, he doesn't die. He has advantage on Initiative rolls, can't be surprised, unseen enemies don't get advantage on him and he still has a respectable +11 to hit with a nice average of 26 points of damage for his first hit each turn. He's also quite fast which means you can close up to enemies quickly. Get a greataxe for those moments when you want do more damage and make sure you stock up on javelins.

Not the most advanced build but quite effective for the scenario given. If he has friends along he can give them advantage on attacks and saving throws for a turn and if he has a cleric with him they can keep him going for basically as long as they have spell slots. Sure, he doesn't have the best saves against certain magical effects so he coul be Banished or something similar that doesn't really kill him.

If the question for this throwdown is "how much damage can your build take and still keep going?" the answer is "all of it". Steven Zealot literally can't be killed by any weapon. He shrugs of fireballs and lightning blasts and still keeps going. As long as he's raging angry he will survive any kind of damage or hit point reduction. And just like Bruce Banner, he's always angry.

Quote from Yurei1453 >>

Oh yeah.  Soul of Artifice is one of the most bonko class capstones in the game.  it's right up there with Primal Champion and Archdruid, really.  I'm not even fully optimizing it - those numbers would be one higher if I had one more non-Infusion magic item to attune to, or if I dropped my Enhanced Defense for Resistance Armor.  There is something just deeply cool in knowing that one's walking-around, ordinary day AC and saves are (mostly) better than an Ancient Red Dragon.  The durgan beats you on raw HP, but come on.  It's an ancient durgan.  Poor thing's gotta win somewhere.

Heh, but yes.  What "Terminator" throwdown is really complete without a nigh-invulnerable machine loaded with magical screwballery Dope Future Tech?

 Soul of Artifice isn't really that bonkers. It's basically the Monks' level 14 ability but it relies on you having magic items. Sure, you're most likely going to have six items to attune to because you can build them yourself but they can be taken away from you (unless you play an UA Armorer).

This is based off my character Aeric in Storm King’s Thunder.  He’s at level 8 right now.  He’s from a middle class family in Waterdeep and he joined the Harpers as a teenager.  After 1 level in Fighter, he made a pact with a Celestial to become a more powerful (and tough to kill) swordsman instead of taking the more traditional route of staying a fighter.  His goal is to be a famous swordsman, and that’s why he’s adventuring.  He’s out to make a name for himself, and his ability to hold the line against enemies so far has actually surpassed the Bear Totem Barbarian in the party (although she deals more damage with Reckless Attack + Great Weapon Master + Extra Attack).  But in terms of being hard to kill, he’s actually harder to kill than a raging Bear Totem Barbarian.

Aeric, the Resilient Swordsman
Level 20: Fighter 1 Warlock 19
Half Elf, Urban Bounty Hunter, Fighter 1 Celestial Warlock 19 (Pact of the Chain)
Point buy: 15 Dexterity, 15 Constitution, 12 Charisma, 11 Wisdom, 10 Strength, 8 Intelligence
Starting stats with Racial bonus: 16 Dexterity, 16 Constitution, 14 Charisma, 11 Wisdom, 10 Strength, 8 Intelligence

Starting at level 1: Fighter 1, Defense Fighting Style, Studded Leather + Rapier + Shield
HP: 13  AC: 18 Con Saves: +5
Second Wind: 1D10+1

Up to Level 5: Fighter 1 Warlock 4
You choose the Fiendish Vigor invocation and one more invocation at level 3.  With Fiendish Vigor, you can give yourself 8 temporary HP in between every combat without even needing to do a short rest.  And during combat you can choose to use an action to give yourself 1D4+4 temporary HP, although once you reach level 5 and your Green Flame Blade and Sacred Flame deal more damage, this isn't really worth it anymore.  With Hex & Green Flame Blade, you're dealing more damage than if you had stayed Fighter.  Hex is great for a couple of levels.
You choose the Gift of the Ever Living Ones invocation at level 4 - this turns your Second Wind into an automatic +11 self heal, and each of your D6 in Healing Light to an automatic heal 6 when you use them on yourself.  It also makes any ally's healing spells cast on you more powerful, and if you learn Cure Wounds, it makes your Cure Wounds heal for max when you cast it on yourself.  And even when short resting (which as a Warlock, you'll be encouraging your party to do), you heal for max when using hit dice.
You learn Shadow Blade at level 4 - this will be your goto spell until level 8, by which time you should have a magical one handed finesse weapon.  But until then, it bridges the gap very nicely.  You also get an invisible familiar from the Pact of the Chain (but the main reason you choose this pact is for the Gift of the Ever-Living Ones invocation)
You choose the War Caster feat at level 5 - it's a little bit complicated casting spells from levels 2 to 4 if your DM plays by the rules
Your go to spells are Armor of Agathys, Hex, and Green Flame Blade all learned at level 2, and Shadow Blade learned at level 4
Level 5 stats:
HP: 45 AC: 18 Con Saves +6 (plus war caster)
Second Wind: 11HP for a bonus action once per short rest
Healing Light: 12HP for a bonus action (5D6 per long rest)
False Life: 4+1D4 temporary HP for an action with unlimited uses
Armor of Agathys: 10 temporary HP & deal 10 damage when hit by a melee attack

Up to Level 11: Fighter 1 Warlock 10
You add on the Tomb of Levistus Invocation at level 6
Your Green Flame Blade and Sacred Flame get a +2 damage boost at level 7
You get resistance to Radiant Damage at level 7
You can cast Shadow of Moil starting at level 8, making you heavily obscured: unable to be targeted by spells that require the caster to see the target, disadvantage for almost all attacks on you, 2D8 necrotic damage dealt to anyone within 10ft that hits you, and advantage on most of your attacks.  This spell is one of the keys to the strategy.
You choose +2 Dexterity at level 9
You get access to 5th level spells like Synaptic Static at level 10
You get Celestial Resilience at level 11 - you get 12 temporary HP after every short rest and your allies get 7 temporary HP
Level 11 stats:
HP: 93 AC: 19 Con Saves +7 (plus war caster)
Second Wind: 11HP for a bonus action once per short rest
Healing Light: 12HP for a bonus action (11D6 per long rest)
False Life: 4+1D4 temporary HP for an action with unlimited uses
Armor of Agathys: 25 temporary HP & deal 25 damage when hit by a melee attack
Tomb of Levistus: 100 temporary HP until the end of your next turn at the cost of a reaction and a turn once per short rest
Celestial Resilience: 12 temporary HP after every short rest

Up to Level 17
You get a Mystic Arcanum and a 3rd spell slot at level 12
You choose +2 Dexterity at level 13 to max out your dexterity
You get a Mystic Arcanum at level 14
You get Searing Vengeance once per long rest at level 15
When you have to make a death saving throw, you can instead leap to your feet, regain half your max HP, deal 2D8+2 radiant damage to all enemies within 30ft and blind them (no save), and then take your turn
You can choose the invocation Shroud of Shadow to cast invisibility at will at level 16
You also get a mystic arcanum at level 16
You choose +2 Constitution at level 17
Defensive duelist is also a decent option if your campaign has a lot of melee attacks still.
Level 17 stats:
HP: 158 AC: 20 Con Saves +9 (plus war caster)
Second Wind: 11HP for a bonus action once per short rest
Healing Light: 12HP for a bonus action (17D6 per long rest)
False Life: 4+1D4 temporary HP for an action with unlimited uses
Armor of Agathys: 25 temporary HP & deal 25 damage when hit by a melee attack
Tomb of Levistus: 160 temporary HP until the end of your next turn at the cost of a reaction and a turn once per short rest
Celestial Resilience: 18 temporary HP after every short rest

Up to Level 20
You get your last Mystic Arcanum at level 18 and you get a 4th spell slot
You get another invocation at level 19 (this level sucks)
You get to max out your Constitution at level 20 (this is also kind of a let down)
You miss out on the Warlock’s uninspiring capstone ability of getting back your 4 spell slots in just 1 minute once per day
Level 20 stats:
HP: 205 AC: 20 Con Saves +9 (plus war caster)
Second Wind: 11HP for a bonus action once per short rest
Healing Light: 12HP for a bonus action (20D6 per long rest)
False Life: 4+1D4 temporary HP for an action with unlimited uses
Armor of Agathys: 25 temporary HP & deal 25 damage when hit by a melee attack
Tomb of Levistus: 190 temporary HP until the end of your next turn at the cost of a reaction and a turn once per short rest
Celestial Resilience: 21 temporary HP after every short rest

Summary:
The idea of the build is that you have high AC (not super high, but still high) and possibly unmatched self healing abilities due to the Gift of the Ever Living Ones invocation (second wind and healing light are both Bonus Actions, which lets you still use your action) and the Fiendish Vigor invocation.  In tier 1, having Fiendish Vigor as a tank is overpowered, but it starts to weaken in tier 2.

Once you reach level 8, you have the Shadow of Moil spell which will give almost all attackers disadvantage when attacking you, and will make you immune to many enemy spells (until the enemy takes a round to dispel your Shadow of Moil away). 

You’re mostly attacking with Green Flame Blade (sometimes with Shadow Blade as well) or Sacred Flame.  Your Tomb of Levistus is a great ability to use if you’re expecting to get hit really hard one round, or if you get hit by a critical hit. 

You’ve got high constitution, proficiency in constitution saves, and war caster, so you’re extremely good at maintaining concentration on Hex, Shadow Blade, or Shadow of Moil (depending on your level).

It’s not the typical way to do a tank, but the focus on self healing abilities and abilities that give temporary HP is a good way to be resilient and difficult to kill.  Also, Shadow of Moil is a fun ability to give a tank.  If you're facing an enemy that can't dispel magic, you're in luck.  Against casters, you're not quite as good.  In my campaign where we're facing a lot of Giants as enemies, I'm expecting that most of the time, our BBEG will not be able to dispel my Shadow of Moil.  And even if the enemy can do that, at least you force the BBEG to waste a turn doing dispel magic on you.  My build is especially good for the campaign that we're running where the BBEGs will mostly be hard hitting melee enemies.

Quote from Lostwhilefishing >>

 

Snip

 Just to let you know, your 20th level first hit average seems very low (I think with your capstone you have a 20STR):

-Str +5

-Divine Fury +13.5avg

-Rage +4

So you should be looking at 22.5avg damage on your first swing without even counting weapon die, you mentioned a longsword one handed so that would make the average damage on the first raging hit of a turn to be 27 damage, not 21.

Quote from DorkForge >>

Quote from Lostwhilefishing >>

 

Snip

 Just to let you know, your 20th level first hit average seems very low (I think with your capstone you have a 20STR):

-Str +5

-Divine Fury +13.5avg

-Rage +4

So you should be looking at 22.5avg damage on your first swing without even counting weapon die, you mentioned a longsword one handed so that would make the average damage on the first raging hit of a turn to be 27 damage, not 21.

 I actually forgot the Strength bonus for the damage. :P I was rounding down for sake of ease (4 from the D8, 3 from the Divine fury D6). Not that it really matters. The fun part about this build is the survivability. B)

And the +5 to hit was form the Strength bonus alone, I corrected that for clarity's sake. Thanks for the input, though. 

The only issue I have with magic-based tanks is the use of something like Silence to disrupt the action economy of the mage.  Most mages can deal with the 20ft radius but coupled with a melee attacker in range, there's some reliance on previously cast spells (unless you're a sorcerer with metamagic that can cast without a Verbal component).  Furthermore there is a finite resource pool that the mage must draw from and the lower base HP pool to boot.  I think that in 5e there are more monsters built specifically to deal with mages that can capitalize on their low HP die and spells than there are tanks that rely on HP, natural resistances, and (non-magical/inherent) AC.

I could be totally wrong about my perception tho and fully welcome anyone with some good examples to prove my ideas here wrong!

I have an entry for this myself from the other forum it was originally posted on, it's pretty similar to Gabrielrockman's but there is some differences:

So my own personal approach to a hard to kill build usually ends up looking like Wovlerine (or in a Terminator sense, more like the T1000), taking a decent/good AC to mitigate hits but relying on a temp hp buffer, sheer amount hit points and the ability to heal at a ridiculous rate to endure. I've played this build in one shots, in PvP and I'm currently playing it in DiA and it's working out really well, I can stand shoulder to shoulder with our straight Paladin without any real fear of dropping so far.

The Wolverine (T-1000)

Level 20 Split: Fighter 1/ Celestial Chainlock 14/ Divine Soul 1/ chainlock 3/ Fighter 1

Race: V. Human (Tough)

Starting stats: Str: 8 / Dex: 14 / Con: 15 (16) / Int: 8 / Wis: 10 / Cha: 15(16)

Background:To taste

At 1st Level
Our starting level will be in Fighter picking up the Defense style, giving us:

HP:15 AC: 19 (Chain mail, Defense, shield)

Healing Factor: we can Second Wind for 1d10+1 every short rest.

At 5th Level

HP:55 AC: 19 (swapping from Chain to Breastplate if possible)

ASI at 5th bumping Cha to 18

We'll be taking Pact of the Chain (Imp that mostly stays hidden and out of range) and Gift of the Ever Living Ones to max all of our personal heals. Fiendish Vigor will give us False Life temp hp on tap (8 if your DM is okay with recasting until you max it since it's an at will ability, 6.5 avg if not) and Agonizing Blast will give us our pilfered gun so to speak.

Healing factor:
-Second Wind (11hp) per short rest

-Healing Light (30hp. up tp 24hp in a single bonus action) per long rest

-Cure Wounds (20hp per action) up to twice per short rest

At 11th Level

HP: 105 AC: 20 (Half Plate, shield, Defense)

ASI maxing our Cha at 9th level

With our 4th Invocation comes our panic button: Tomb of Levistus- as a reaction gain 100 temp hp (which takes the triggering damage), you get vulnerability to fire (but with that kind of temp hp a fair trade off), you get incapacitated though so not great if concentrating

5th invocation to taste

We also now have resistance to Radiant damage (and a bump to fire and radiant damage)

Temp HP: 15 whenever we finish a rest, 6.5 avg at will from Fiendish Vigor to top up between encounters (10thp for our familiar and 4 party members)

Healing factor:
-Second Wind (11hp) per short rest

-Healing Light (60hp, up to 30hp as a single bonus action) per long rest

-Cure Wounds (45hp per action) up to twice per rest

At 17th Level
Our Warlock (12) ASI will bump our Con up to 18.

We get one level of Divine Soul Sorc giving up Divine Favor (2d4) to help with saves once per rest and the option to use Shield or Absorb Elements a couple times per day

We have the invocations we need so choose the rest as you see fit

We have our 6th and 7th level Mystic Arcanums, there's nothing really to boost our durability that I can see so follow your bliss on them.

As for our unkillableness? This is where we dial it to 11:

HP: 191 AC: 20 (25 with Shield)

Temp HP: 20 per rest, 6.5avg at will and 150 on reaction (ToL)

Healing factor:
-Second Wind (11hp) per short rest

-Healing Light (96hp, up to 30hp as a single bonus action) per long rest

-Cure Wounds (45hp per action) up to three per rest

And the big gun

-If we are reduced to 0 then we can get back up at 80hp, deal a bit of radiant damage and potentially blind your enemies

Summary at level 20

ASIs Spent in order: +2 Cha, +2 Cha, +2 Con, +2 Con

Final Stats: Str: 8 / Dex: 14 / Con: 20 / Int: 8 / Wis: 10 / Cha: 20

HP: 256 AC:20 (25)

Temp HP: 22 per any rest (13 for party), 6.5avg at will, 170 reaction (Tomb of Levistus)

Healing factor:
-Second Wind (12hp)per short rest

-Healing Light (108hp, up to 30hp as a single bonus action) per long rest

-Cure Wounds (45hp per action) up to four per short rest

-Searing Vengeance: instead of a death save get back up at 128HP (with aoe damage and blindness) once per long rest

Other Defenses and notable tools:

-Shield

-Absorb Elements

-Counter Spell (auto upcast)

-Dispel Magic (auto upcast)

-Lesser/Greater Restoration

-Divine Favor (2d4 to a save) short rest recharge

-Resistance to Radiant damage

-Action Surge (allowing a Cure Wounds to be cast whilst still be on the offense or to be cast twice if turbo healing is needed) short rest recharge

[HR][/HR]

Total amount of damage needed to kill Wolverine (T-1000) in a single combat (assuming all resources are available and spent on self healing: 706 points of damage needed*

*This doesn't account for any elemental damage that can be reduced via Absorb Elements and doesn't account for using Sorc slots for healing (potentially another 26hp)

Final thoughts: I think this is a very strong build overall, with the following strong points:

-Action economy, with so much bonus action and reaction abilities (and the support of Action Surge), we can heal whilst still attacking (casting leveled spells at the same time if we want to)

-A lot of total hp to soak damage if caught unaware or put under a debuff

-Massive amount of self healing (most of which can be shared if desired)

-Temp hp going into every combat

-Defenses against magic and status effects (Counter Spell, Dispel Magic, Greater/Lesser Restoration, Divine Favor)

-Longevity: Warlock slots, Divine Favor, Second Wind, Action Surge and Celestial Resilience are all short rest recharge and Invocations provide a bevy of passive or at will benefits.

Quote from DorkForge >>

I have an entry for this myself from the other forum it was originally posted on, it's pretty similar to Gabrielrockman's but there is some differences:

 

 
It's neat seeing a similar build to the one I posted.  You're correct that levels 18 and 19 as Warlock aren't very good.  Our campaign isn't going to make it to level 20, so I haven't thought too hard about what I would do at that point.  I think for my specific character it would make sense to take two levels in Rogue: he already has Gloves of Thievery and proficiency in thieves' tools, stealth, acrobatics, sleight of hand, deception, persuasion, and intimidation.  Having expertise in two skills might come in handy, along with learning one more skill, getting Sneak Attack, and then getting Cunning Action at level 2 (in case I'm not interested in healing with my bonus action) is probably the best choice for him. Your pick of Divine Soul Sorcerer is interesting, that gives access to the Shield and four more cantrips (and Warlocks love at will magic), along with the neat Favored by the Gods level 1 ability.  

But for my campaign, I don't really need to think beyond around level 14, so I haven't put much thought into the higher levels.  I did put in enough thought to recognize that levels 18 and 19 for Warlock kind of suck, but that's about it.  I also really like the level 15 Warlock invocation options, especially because at will invisibility fits in extremely well with my character's style.  But I'll never get to that point, unfortunately.  But at lower levels, this strategy is a lot of fun.  The self healing abilities are fairly unique and actually quite fun.

Your post didn't mention Shadow of Moil at all.  Do you not think that being heavily obscured is worth concentration?  With the added bonus of dealing damage to anyone within 10ft of you that hits you with an attack?  What would you use concentration for with your build?  Hex?  Or just save all your spell slots for upcasting Cure Wounds?

Level 20 level split: 3 barbarian (totem [bear])/17 druid (moon)

Race: Bugbear (not optimized but you gotta for the lolz. if you are a sadistic miser, pick Lizardfolk for your best AC and stats)

Stats: Str 13 (10) Dex 13 (14) Con 14 Int 10 Wis 15 Cha 13

This is a classic combo and it's great at 20, but the first 3 levels of this build as a barbarian with 13 STR kill it for me. If you make it to your druid levels, it's only because your party carried you there.

I get that we're optimizing for punishment here, but if you are tough but not threatening then why should I (as the DM) bother attacking you? I'll take down the rest of the party first and then dispose of the guy that can't hit me at my leisure.

This build is going to be less effective than just a pure lvl 20 monk or a Barbarian 1/Monk 19, which is probably the hardest to kill PC you can build in 5E, because being able to survive 19 killing blows (or 19 rounds of lethal environmental damage, like swimming in lava) with no check or action economy requirement is insane. More ki points, gets you to the level 11 feature quicker so you're a "Terminator" in Tier 3 instead of Tier 4... But I think multiclassing makes it more of a fun "build" instead of just "play x subclass to win", so I'm going to throw some Druid in here just to spice it up a bit with a little bit of damage enhancement and some spellcasting, and take enough Barbarian levels to get a subclass. 

Slaab the Immortal, the Swamp that Stalks

Lvl 1: Savage Hatchling (Lizardfolk Barbarian 1)

• It spawned as a typical Lizardfolk hatchling, one among hundreds, savage and dumb. It was not among the fastest swimmers of the Brood, nor the ones with the most powerful jaws, but it snapped and hissed with such terrible abandon that it always could fight past its broodmates to bury its snout while flesh yet remained on the carcass of kills. And there was such a terrible cunning in its beady eyes, a watchfulness about it that unnerved the Mothers as it slithered in their wakes, as if hunting them already...
• Background: Selesnya Initiate, really just for the opportunity to pick up Warding Bond as a second level spell at one point, to make Slaab's immortality somewhat useful for the party at large. Aid is a bad spell but is also thematic to pick up, but really background could be something else instead.
• Strength 13/Dex 15/Con 15 (17)/Int 8/Wis 12 (13)/Cha 8
• AC 15, HP 15 (+3 THP from Hungry Jaws)
• 1 attack per round, +3 to hit, 1d6+1 (+2 when raging) (average 6 DPR)
• Resistance to piercing, bludgeoning, and slashing while raging 2/long rest
• What makes Slaab a Terminator? It's a Barbarian with max HP for this tier, decent AC, and the ability to give itself a little bit of THP mid-fight by using Hungry Jaws. A civilized PC would be wearing armor and a shield for better AC, and using a Battleaxe or something for better damage, but it makes a decent swamp monster with its 1d6 natural weapons. 

Lvl 5: Cunning Serpent (Lizardfolk Barbarian (Totem) 3/Druid 1/Monk 1)

• With each shed, its cunning matures, even as its body remains softer than its peers. Choosing its moments, learning the signs and scents that signal the correct times to hiss and the times to dive and hide in cool mud and times to frenzy and clamp jaws in flesh and roll and roll and roll... it molts successfully moon after moon in the midst of the violence of the Brood, feasting on the strength left behind by larger hatchlings that spent their brief lives pointlessly fighting each other for dominance. It watches the prey, learning the small signs of their presence, to even communicate with tiny trembling beasts before it swallows them whole, learning their secrets. It listens to the swamp around it, sensing the slow pulse of life within roots and trunks, feeling the subtle currents in still waters that ripple with purpose, grasping its horrible hunger and strength... It grows. 
• 13/15/17/8/13/8 still
• AC 15, HP 51 (+3 THP from Hungry Jaws)
• 2-3 attacks per round, +5 to hit, 1d6+2 (no rage bonus cuz dex-based now) (average 11 DPR)
• Resistance to all but Psychic 3/long rest
• Druidcraft and Guidance as cantrips. Just utility spells, Goodberry, Beast Sense (ritual only), Speak with Animals (ritual only), and Animal Friendship.
• What makes Slaab a Terminator? It's still mostly Barbarian, and has only lost 4 hp from its dip to Druid and Monk in exchange for self heals out of combat (Goodberry) and boosted attacks. 3 rages per day is enough to usually rage in every encounter, so it essentially has 100 hp at level 5, enough to survive any tough level-appropriate encounter. That one ki point can be used to Dodge for one round when engaging with a tough enemy, or better yet, to Disengage and run away if it ever gets over its head. Don't worry, "It'll be back." Guidance and the ability to intimate small animals into becoming informants makes it a very, very, very effective hunter, and what's a Terminator that loses track of its prey?

Lvl 11: Apex Predator (Lizardfolk Barbarian (Totem) 3/Druid 1/Monk (Long Death) 7)

• BuzzingFlyingNoFlyingNoWingsCannotBuzzingBuzzing. Stop struggling, answer and I will release you, where is the Man? BuzzingTearingWingsNoManIsHighNoTearingNoManIsTreeBuzzing. What tree, where did you see him? Quickly, your wing is thin and my claws are sharp, do not struggle. BUZZNoBuzzingNoBigTreeManyFruitsSweetFruitsPrettyRedPrettyFruitsWingFlyWingFlyWingFly- *CRRRUNCH* It looked out over the misty bog as it chewed wetly, glittering flecks of jeweled carapace falling down to dust its broad chest. A large tree, red sweet fruits... yes, it knew the way, so that was where the prey had hidden itself from the hunt. Clever, but height would not save the prey, no part of this swamp held secrets from it any longer... claws flexing, it  distended its jaw and swallowed the rest of the giant dragonfly with one sudden motion, turned to sink talon into bark, and began its sinuous ascent to the canopy, leaving nothing but a single gossamer wing behind... 
• 13/16/18/8/13/8 (ASI for +1 Dex and +1 Con)
• AC 17, HP 110 (+4 THP from Hungry Jaws, +8 THP from Touch of Death whenever drop an enemy to 0)
• 3-4 attacks per round, +7 to hit, 1d6+3 (average 20 DPR). Can Stunning Strike (Con DC 13), which is a lowish DC, but can be attempted multiple times in one round to paralyze prey. 
• Resistance to all but Psychic 3/long rest
• Deflect Arrows, to dodge bullets
• Evasion, to walk through explosions
• Hour of Reaping, to fill its prey with dread
• Stillness of Mind, to be without fear and without mercy
• Druidcraft and Guidance as cantrips. Goodberry, Beast Sense (ritual only), Speak with Animals (ritual only), and Animal Friendship to help track prey.
• What makes Slaab a Terminator? It has started to collect fewer HP than a conventional Barbarian would (2 fewer per level), but in exchange, has more ki for flexibility to Dodge or Step of the Wind against tough foes. Effective HP 220 when raging is still plenty enough to wade face first through any level-appropriate encounter. Deflect Arrows lets it shrug off arrows without flinching, Evasion lets it walk slow motion through an explosion with hardly a scale singed, Hour of Reaping means that even when enemies get the jump and surround it, they're too afraid to act, Stillness of Mind means it cannot be frightened or pleaded with or deceived into abandoning the hunt. A Walk/Swim speed of 45 (combined with being able to Dash twice per round for 135 total move speed with a ki point) means few prey can escape it once they are within its sight. It doesn't matter where you run, where you hide, or what sort of an ambush you set... it will find you, it will catch you, and once it gets in melee range with you, there's a good chance that it will Paralyze you. 

Level 17: Force of Nature (Lizardfolk Barbarian (Totem) 3/Druid (Spore) 3/Monk (Long Death) 11)

• The waters were as still as the stagnant air. The canopy was as motionless as the stones below. No beasts had cried, no birds had flapped, no insects had buzzed for time without count. No matter how it strained its keen senses, it could find no more prey to quicken its pulse. At first the hunger had troubled it, but this was more a disappointment than an urgency, for it had caught and swallowed the Spirit of the swamp some time ago, and  found that this alone was enough to sustain it. The stillness without became stillness within, it blinked- a day? A year? An adventurous root had discovered it, perhaps drawn to the Spirit of the swamp, and as it waited motionless the impudent growth scratched at it, searched its body, pried at its scales, sought to pierce its flesh and grow tall from its strength.... this amused it, it would allow this, it pleased it to sustain the swamp as it was in turn sustained. A worthy diversion to pass the ages, while it waited for prey...
• 13/18/18/8/13/8 (ASI for +2 Dex)
• AC 18, HP 164 (+4 THP from Hungry Jaws, +12 THP from Touch of Death whenever enemy drops to 0, +5 THP from Aid if cast, +12 THP from Symbiotic Entity 2/short rest)
• 3-4 attacks per round, +10 to hit, 1d8+4 (+1d6 poison when Symbiotic Entity) (average 36 DPR). Can Stunning Strike (Con DC 15), which is a lowish DC, but can be attempted multiple times in one round to paralyze prey. 
• Resistance to all but Psychic 3/long rest
• Deflect Arrows, to dodge bullets
• Evasion, to walk through explosions
• Hour of Reaping, to fill its prey with dread
• Stillness of Mind, to be without fear and without mercy
• Runs across surfaces and up walls without slowing down, with a Walk/Swim 50 speed (up to 150 per round)
• Immune to disease and poison
• Has Mastered Death itself, and cannot be killed so long as he has any Ki left to spend, no matter how massive the damage. 
• Has suffused himself with the Spirit of the swamp, and can now throw spores as a reaction at creatures with 10 feet for d4/2d4 damage (Con DC 15)
• Can manifest the Spirit of the swamp, enhancing physical attacks with poison and growing 12 THP. 
• Druidcraft and Guidance as cantrips. Goodberry, Beast Sense (ritual only), Speak with Animals (ritual only), and Animal Friendship to help track prey. Blindness/Deafness isn't much help with a low DC against strong prey, but Gentle Repose works well to preserve meat. Pass Without Trace for better stalking, and Locate Animals or Plants for hunting? Aid for some more THP.?After you're reprogrammed to protect instead of hunt, in a party you'd definitely take Warding Bond to make your toughness useful but.... no point in that as a solo Terminator stalking a target for now.
• What makes Slaab a Terminator? Effective HP 320ish while raging. The THP it can scrounge up from Bites, transformations, pre-buffing, or just slaying targets effectively compensates for the 2/level it lost from not being a pure Barbarian. Its even faster now, and cares even less about environmental hazards it needs to blast through... especially because it has mastered death, meaning it can literally run/swim across a lake of lava for over a minute straight without dying (kind of makes a certain other famous Terminator seem like a faulty model by comparison!). The additional Druid levels really aren't adding much, taking more Monk to get Diamond Soul for all saves (and more ki points) would be a clearly superior tactical choice... but swallowing the Spirit of the swamp has changed it somehow, and it is starting to develop some small appreciation for Life and growing things that distracts it from its all-consuming need to hunt. 

Lvl 20: The Swamp that Stalks (Lizardfolk Barbarian (Totem) 3/Druid (Spore) 5/Monk (Long Death) 12)

• A ponderous, primordial creature wallows in its forgotten grove, draped from the dozens of thick gnarled roots that reach to pierce its body and tap its essence. How many ages since it had last hunted, it wondered dimly, or had even stirred from these steaming muds it was entwined within? *PLORP*, an acrid bubble erupted in answer, flicking mud across its unflinching yellowed eye. Its long tongue slid upwards without hurry to remove the speck, unconcerned; mud ran in its veins, after all, and roots twisted beneath its scales. The swamp was all, within and without, and- what was that? *thock...Thock....Thock.... CRRCCKKKSHHHHH!* Axe blades thunking in the distance? Smoke creeping slowly along still air? Distant violence splashing through waters that had been still almost beyond memory? Something stirred within its stomach- a low growl, a yearn to lap bright blood, to rend and tear flesh, to howl as it ran through reeds and leaped through boughs and dove through waters after prey....with the creak and pop of roots breaking free and the gasp of sucking mud releasing its long embrace, it stands as the swamp awakens around it with newfound life. Vines slithered with sympathy to grasp old bones deep within the mud of its lair, crawling forth in semblance of life to join the hunt. Trees creaked and sighed and stretched their claw-like branches for it as it stalked forth, eager to feel the drip of rich blood upon their roots once more. Prey had come, and the swamp rejoiced, swelling with anticipation at the violence its champion would bring to the soft new creatures within its embrace. 
• 13/20/20/8/13/8 (ASI for +2 Dex and +2 Con)
• AC 20, HP 211 (+5 THP from Hungry Jaws, +13 THP from Touch of Death whenever enemy drops to 0, +5-10 THP from Aid if cast, +20 THP from Symbiotic Entity 2/short rest)
• 3-4 attacks per round, +11 to hit, 1d8+5 (+1d6 when Spore Form), Con DC 15 Stunning Strikes. Average DPR comes out to 39 per round.
• Resistance to all but Psychic 3/long rest
• Deflect Arrows, to dodge bullets
• Evasion, to walk through explosions
• Hour of Reaping, to fill its prey with dread
• Stillness of Mind, to be without fear and without mercy
• Runs across surfaces and up walls without slowing down, with a Walk/Swim 50 speed (up to 150 per round)
• Immune to disease and poison
• Has Mastered Death itself, and cannot be killed so long as he has any Ki left to spend, no matter how massive the damage. 
• Has suffused himself with the Spirit of the swamp, and can now throw spores as a reaction at creatures with 10 feet for d4/2d4 damage (Con DC 15)
• Can manifest the Spirit of the swamp, enhancing physical attacks with 1d6 poison and growing 20 THP. 
• Druidcraft and Guidance as cantrips, Resistance too in case it needs to retreat to lick its wounnds. Goodberry, Beast Sense (ritual only), Speak with Animals (ritual only), and Animal Friendship to help track prey. Blindness/Deafness, Gentle Repose. Pass Without Trace for better stalking, and Aid for prepping a fight. Animate Dead to create a helper for the hunt, Gaseous Form to slip through the smallest of cracks so none can escape. Plant Growth to awaken the land to trap prey, and Speak with Plants to celebrate the hunt with all that will be left after every creature has been consumed.
• What makes Slaab a Terminator? Effective HP 420ish while raging. The THP it can scrounge up from Bites, transformations, pre-buffing, or just slaying targets effectively compensates for the 2/level it lost from not being a pure Barbarian. It can raise the skeletons of its prey to run at its side now, and command plants to erupt and form a thicket so dense (no save allowed) that no prey could hope to escape in time. There isn't a lot different at 20 then there was at 17, other than finally completing 20 Dex and Con to reach full progression. But at this point, at least until its 11 Ki run out, nothing that walks the earth can lay it low with violence, no trick can divert its hunt, no man can outrun it, no spell can frighten or dissuade it. It causes lesser creatures to tremble with fear, it draws life from death as it rampages across the battlefield, it commands the earth and growing things to rise up in service to its hunt. It slips through the tiniest crack, or over the tallest wall, or through the hottest fire.... nothing can stop it, nothing can turn it aside, until it Terminates its prey. 

Level 20 level split: 19 celestial warlock/1 life cleric

Race: shifter, subrace: beasthude. Shifter provides short rest dependent bonus action temporary hitpoints equal to your player level+Constitution Modifier.
beast hide adds an additional 1d6 temp hitpoints and 1 bonus AC for that minute.

Stats: Str 14, Dex9, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 15.

Background: outlander. This background is taken as a nod towards the resilience of nature, and this character being at home in the wild. 
proficiency in athletics is gained from racial bonus.
deception/intimidation chosen for class proficiencies. Any edgy slow walk needs to be believed by your foes, even if your out of resources and they don’t know it :). 
Survival and insight proficiency chosen for the background. Survival great choice for tracking down the things that run away when they figure out they can’t kill you. Insight so you have a chance to know the exact moment  they’re giving up hope before they run.

Starting level: celestial warlock. You gain 2 bonus cantrips from your subclass: light and sacred flame. Light can be used to target objects such as armor on a creature after a failed Dex save. Imposed by touch, you may want to reach for them before they run. Being unable to hide as your own armor makes you a beacon for all to see might further shake a creatures mental stability. 
sacred flame is usually thought of as being a bad spell, but one of its key features is being able to bypass total cover if you still somehow can see the creature. This cantrip gives you the option to slowly pepper a creature to death after you forcecage it, though most likely you’ll want to cage yourself in with the creature for thematic purposes. 
  You get to choose 2 more cantrips as a base class feature. At this level I choose blade ward and Eldritch Blast. Bladewards wording means that it’s benefits last until the end of your next turn, this can be used in conjunction with your eventually high levels of healing and temporary hitpoints to bait out attacks of opportunity. Your AC/healing/temporary hitpoints may be so good that when you bait out all these attacks of opportunity the rest of your party can usually move without reprisal. 
Eldritch blast will be your source of steady damage as well as possibly moving/hindering creatures movement. 
  You get 2 warlock spells known at level 1. The spells chosen will be armor of agathys and cure wounds. Armor of agathys will be another option for you to have access to temporary hitpoints as well as being offensive forward creatures that hit you in melee. Cure wounds will be a decent way to heal in or out of battle if prudent. This spell will eventually gain healing bonuses from your cleric Dip and your invocation. 
  Healing light feature: Long rest dependent pool of D6’s. Warlock level+1, for total of 2 d6s at this level. You can spend them as a bonus action to give even more hitpoints to who needs them, probably you since your taking all the attacks. As you level you will gain more, and will be limited on spending the number at once by your CHA Mod.

2nd level you take 1 level into life cleric for a couple of long rest dependent spell slots, access to a couple or rituals, proficiency with shields and ALL armor, 3 cantrips(guidance, resistance, thaumaturgy), bless(non wisdom dependen) and cure wounds(WASTE)as domain spells, and 2 preparations for cleric spells. protection from good and evil and shield of faith are great since they make you more defensive and are not dependent on your low wisdom. 
Disciple of life: when you spend a 1st level slot or higher on a spell “used” to heal, it gains an additional 2+spell level bonus healing.

level 3: warlock 2, cleric1.
Additional spell known ( 3 total ). Cause fear. The spell will scale the # of targets up as your warlock spell slot gains levels. Also great to take advantage of a creature or creatures that spread out to the edges of a room for tactical purposes, the fear affect may lock them in corners if you position yourself accordingly in the center an enclosed room.
Extra pact slot ( 2 level 1 slots per short rest/ 2 level 1 slots per long rest). 
healing light: 3d6’s
invocations: lance of lethargy AND grasp of Hadar. Once on each of your turns you can pull a creature 10ft toward you and reduce its speed by 10ft. These can both be activated on the same hit. There are no size limitations. Even less likely a creature can run from you.

level 4: warlock 3/1cleric. 
Choose pact of the chain for an awesome super familiar to help you out. I like the imp as it can fly, sneak, become invisible, and when you see through it’s eyes you gain devil’s sight from its senses as an action. Almost like a scanner being activated thematically. 
  We switch out grasp of Hadar for gift of the ever living ones. We choose grasp of Hadar to switch out since the reduction of speed has a more pronounced effect if a creature chooses to dash. Gift of the ever living ones maximizes all sources of healing while our familiar is alive and within 100ft of us. Cure wounds, hit dice, healing light, drinking a healing potion, and all sources of incoming healing that utilize dice are treated as maximum rolls. Our imp, being probably invisible, flying, and sneaky will make it difficult for creatures to find our source of strengthened healing. 
warlock spell slots now level 2.
4 Warlock spellsknown: hold person. Will be able to be upcast with warlock slot level scaling to target more creatures. Creatures who fail will be paralyzed AND incapacitated, meaning your eldritch blasts will crit if your next to them and won’t be made at disadvantage.

At 5th level: 4 lvl warlock/1 cleric. 
your Eldritch blast scales up to 2 beams, you gain an additional spell known(misty step for familiar sight teleportation shenanigans if your finally trapped by your quarry), and am ASI. 
the feat we choose at this level is inspiring leader. You and your companions start the day with your level+Charisma temporary hitpoints with the chance to refresh them every short rest. 
  Additional cantrip: swordburst. On the off chance you get lucky and get what you’ve always wanted as a hitpoint sponge. Being completely surrounded, you can damage all creatures within 5ft of you if they fail dex saves.

18 AC, 43 hitpoints, 7 temp hitpoints per shortrest for you and party from inspiring leader, healing light yourself for 18 hitpoints as a bonus action once, 12 hitpoints as another bonus action, 2 2nd level spell slots to cure wounds yourself for 20 hitpoints each as an action, your racial shift ability for an additional 10.5 temporary hitpoints and a 1AC boost per shortrest. 
tbis is a combination total of 130 hitpoints/temporary hitpoints available from just the resources you start off with at the beginning of the day, this can be stretched out a bit with dodge or blade ward depending on if your party is fighting things that don’t miss you because of high bonuses.


At 11th level:
ASI: choose heavy armor master. Increases your STR to 15, you can now wear Platemail without speed penalties, your AC is now 20 with a shield added in. 
  Healing light: 11d6 for total of 66 total bonus action hitpoints healed if your familiar is around.
  Radiant soul: you get to add your CHA mod to 1 roll of a fire/radiant damage spell. Sacred flame gains a slight boost. 
  celestial resilience: you gain your warlock level+CHA after completing a rest. At first glance this seems to nullify inspiring leader, but then you realize that you can use inspiring leader after this temporary hitpoints is depleted between rests for just talking for 10 minutes. 
  An additional Eldritch blast beam, 3 total per cast at this point. This damage continues to scale even though your lacking a bit in accuracy and damage, your invocations are now more likely to slow and pull your target. 
  Invocations: grasp of Hadar/agonizing blast/tomb of levistus. Grasp of Hadar again to continue to stop creatures movement. agonizing blast for the mod damage, though the mod is a bit low. Tomb of levistus gives us one of the biggest bags for our buck. When that big creature lands a ridiculous crit and your DM picks up a handful of dice, this feature can usually soak all of it up. 
  5 more spells known AND 5th level warlock slots. 
 Thunderstep: this gives an option to choose which features to use with which action if teleporting. Action:thunderstep/teleport/damage/possibly save ally, bonus action for healing light since it’s not a spell. 
 Gaurdian of faith: the damage is fairly reliable, and this effect occupies its space and lasts for a long time. Can block off an area and be offensive. Sadly does not benefit from you radiant soul ability as it doesn’t actually involve a damage roll. 
 Enervation: if successful you can use your action to gain more hitpoints while the spell sucks life out of the target. While this doesn’t benefit from your maximized dice healing feature, you do benefit from disciple of life. 
 Greater restoration: Incase you bite off a lot more than you can chew with curses, maximum hitpoint reduction, exhaustion, or stat reduction. 
 counterspell: sometimes stopping a spell is the best way to stay alive, and your slots are 5th lvl and may negate rolling checks.
  Last warlock cantrip: chill touch. I thought it only appropriate that a build focus almost entirely on healing and temporary hitpoints gain the ability to stop another creature from doing the same thing.

AC:20, temporary racial boost to 21AC per short rest.
91 hitpoints. 
Ability to heal self for a total of 254 hitpoints resources at beginning of day. 
Ability to gain total of 142.5 temporary hitpoints in chunks per short rest. 
total hitpoints with initial resources: 487.5


At 17th level: 16 warlock/1 life cleric. 
  Eldritch blast and all other offensive cantrips final scaling. 4attacks or respective damage.
  ASI: tough feat. Gives an 2 hitpoints per level AND directly impacts how much Hitpoints we gain from our new searing vengeance feature, since it scales off of maximum hitpoints. 
  ASI: resilient Constitution. increases our odds of holding concentration and passing saving throws for poison/disease and the like. 
  Searing vengeance: once per long rest when you make a death saving throw at the start of your turn, you regain half your max hitpoints( 86 hitpoints at this point), and each creature of your choice within 30ft of you takes 2d8+CHA radiant damage and is blinded till the end of your turn. You don’t require sight for this feature. 
  1 additional warlock slot for 3 short rest level 5 slots. 
  3 additional spells known: synaptic static, negative energy flood, vampiric touch. 
synaptic static helps you deflect more attacks by targeting a weak save and inducing 1d6 penalty die to creatures attacks. 
negative energy flood is for when you’re done toying with your quarry and potentially turn it against its former allies for horror purposes. 
vampyroc touch may be a decent spell to offset enervation if you’re willing to go in melee and the target looms like its AC is lower than its dexterity. Vampiric touch also benefits from disciple of life feature. Additional 7 hit points per success attack is healed. 
  Invocations: cloak of flies for partial damage against creatures that start their turn next to you, and advantage on intimidation checks. Heck yea. 
Chains of Carceri: at will hold monster vs specific targets. Just can target the same creature twice per day. Awesome. 
  3 mystic arcanum. A 6th, 7th, and 8th level spell you don’t actually “know” but can cast once per long rest without using a slot. 
 6th level spell: soul cage. Using a reaction to catch someone’s soul and then squeeze the life out of it and into your own body is amazing. Especially since it lasts for up to 8 hours if you need it.
 7th level: forcecage. non concentration to trap a creature with you, or trap a creature and pepper it to death with your sacred flame. Trapping a creature with you is great to utilize your vampiric touch or enervation to full effect. 
 8th level: feeblemind. Targets a rare save, effect lasts potentially forever, range long enough away to safely target casters without fear of being counterspelled. Completely decimated any caster if it sticks. On the bright side, if it happens to you, some of your features will still provide you hitpoints in some ways since some of them aren’t casting or utilize communication.

AC:20, temporary racial boost to 21AC per short rest.
173 hitpoints. 
Ability to heal self for a total of 473 hitpoints resources at beginning of day. 
Ability to gain total of 222 temporary hitpoints in chunks per short rest. 
total hitpoints with initial resources: 868

At 20th level and final thoughts: 19 warlock, 1 life cleric. 
ASI: +1 Con and Charisma. 
A 4th 5th level warlock slot per short rest. 
2 final warlock spells known: dream and Danse Macabre. 
dream taken solely to be able to chase down those who get away even in their times of sleep and rest.  
Danse Macabre to be able to continue the theme of horror of using a creatures allies against them. Also relatively effectively weaponizes your bonus action if you need it. Doubt you do though. 
  A 9th level mystic arcanum: foresight. The best buff in the game. You get advantage on all rolls, and all rolls against you have disadvantage. Not very flashy, but lasts your whole adventure day and drastically increases your offense and defense. 
  Last invocation: whispers of the grave. Chosen solely for the ability to continue to contact those that you have killed. Even in death they cannot escape your inevitable return into their existence.

final stats 15 str, 8 dex, 18 con, 9 int, 13 wis, 16 charisma.

AC:20, temporary racial boost to 21AC per short rest. Attacks probably being made at disadvantage vs you, or at least neutral.
223 hitpoints. 
Ability to heal self for a total of 574 hit points from resources at beginning of day. 
Ability to gain total of 260 temporary hitpoints in chunks per short rest. 
total hitpoints with initial resources: 1057.

this is all without the benefits gained from any short rests. While this build took heavy armor master to help mitigate damage, it’s effectiveness will vary wildly depending on DM creature choice. Magic damage bypasses it completely. Creatures with non magical multiattacks will likely be reduced quite a bit as each attack will be reduced. Your mileage may very.

hitdie expended on shortrest would also be maximized, but they replenish slowly and short rests are not always reliably taken.

Quote from gabrielrockman >>

Quote from DorkForge >>

I have an entry for this myself from the other forum it was originally posted on, it's pretty similar to Gabrielrockman's but there is some differences:

 

 
It's neat seeing a similar build to the one I posted.  You're correct that levels 18 and 19 as Warlock aren't very good.  Our campaign isn't going to make it to level 20, so I haven't thought too hard about what I would do at that point.  I think for my specific character it would make sense to take two levels in Rogue: he already has Gloves of Thievery and proficiency in thieves' tools, stealth, acrobatics, sleight of hand, deception, persuasion, and intimidation.  Having expertise in two skills might come in handy, along with learning one more skill, getting Sneak Attack, and then getting Cunning Action at level 2 (in case I'm not interested in healing with my bonus action) is probably the best choice for him. Your pick of Divine Soul Sorcerer is interesting, that gives access to the Shield and four more cantrips (and Warlocks love at will magic), along with the neat Favored by the Gods level 1 ability.  

But for my campaign, I don't really need to think beyond around level 14, so I haven't put much thought into the higher levels.  I did put in enough thought to recognize that levels 18 and 19 for Warlock kind of suck, but that's about it.  I also really like the level 15 Warlock invocation options, especially because at will invisibility fits in extremely well with my character's style.  But I'll never get to that point, unfortunately.  But at lower levels, this strategy is a lot of fun.  The self healing abilities are fairly unique and actually quite fun.

Your post didn't mention Shadow of Moil at all.  Do you not think that being heavily obscured is worth concentration?  With the added bonus of dealing damage to anyone within 10ft of you that hits you with an attack?  What would you use concentration for with your build?  Hex?  Or just save all your spell slots for upcasting Cure Wounds?

 I like the Divine Soul dip to add another layer of resources to the character (long rest slots, good for Shield and Absorb Elements primarily, but can be used to heal in a pinch. Short rest Favored by the Gods). Especially since it adds a lot to the defensive aspect of the build for very little investment. 

I'm playing this character in DiA and it's really fun, shrugging off a Fireball at level 3 feels pretty awesome!

Shadow of Moil is a great spell, but for this build there's somethings I don't like about using it:

-It requires an action to set up, so it isn't something you can count on (Surprise, losing intiative etc.)

-Requires concentration, so if you want to use a melee offense (like Shadow Blade), you'd need to drop your offense

-It isn't complete protection, you can still take damage (being hit despite disadvantage, ,AOEs and so on), where as it mostly doesn't matter how you get damaged, Cure Wounds will always regen your hp

I also really like the playstyle of taking hits and shrugging them off rather than just being harder to hit, it's more fun and evocative to me as a player.

My build(s) will be online later today... I see one as similar to someone else's, but the second is very different... I'm having fun with this, thanks for making it DorkForge!

Quote from BramblefootDruid >>

My build(s) will be online later today... I see one as similar to someone else's, but the second is very different... I'm having fun with this, thanks for making it DorkForge!

 More than welcome, I have fun with these too even if I don't always have time to participate myself. The original series is up to number 6 now, so as long as there's interest on this forum they will keep on coming! 

Side note for everyone, the 5days of voting came through trial an error on the other forum, is five days an appropriate time for DDB? Do you guys want more or less voting time or stay the same?

I think it is alright. If I were to change it, then I'd make it a week, so more people can vote (other than the people who are part of it already), and that more people can join in and get interested. 

Level 20 level split: Paladin Oath of Ancients 15/Cleric Life Domain 1/Warlock The Celestial 4

Race: Gnome Mark of Scribing

Stats: Str 14 Dex 8 Con  14 Int 9 Wis 13 Cha 14

Background: Entertainer

Starting level: Paladin

Starting with paladin mostly for athletics as a skill, took the entertainer for acrobatics for additional escape uses for both skills.  Gnome is chosen for the advantage on savings throws vs magic on the mental stats, because how Terminatory can you be if they just take you out of the fight with confusion?

At 5th level: Paladin 1/Cleric 1/ Warlock 3

Norkaen Boomfizzle started thinking I want to fight for the gods, then feeling he needed more devotion he hit the scriptures and joined a clerical sect.  When that wasn't getter fast enough results he went straight to the source and forged a pact with an angel.  Life Cleric gives that little boost from your healing spells to eke out a little extra healing *cough* self healing and always having cure wounds prepared is handy too.  Warlock goes Celestial for the extra healing pool as well.  Take pact of the chain for the invocation Blessing of the ever living ones, and might as well grab Fiendish Vigor as well because there really isn't anything more useful.  A few extra hit points going into combat never hurt anyone but you will likely never use it in combat unless things have gone really screwy.

As for spell selection

Cantrips: Eldritch blast, Green flame blade, Light, Message,Sacred Flame, Thaumaturgy, Toll the dead, Word of radiance.  Lots of cantrips available for a multitude of situations.

Leveled spells: Armor of Agathys, Bane, Bless, Cure wounds, Healing word, Protection from good and evil.  You have defensive options in armor of agathys, bless, and protection, Healing spells for some strong self healing potential, and bane to reduce their chance to hit you, its like extra ac!  So you do your fighting and get solid self heals, mostly off bonus action healing words or from the celestial warlock pool, with lay on hands in your back pocket for emergencies.  Oh and I forgot Mirror Images can you actually hit the real me?

At 11th level: Paladin Oath of the Ancients 6/Cleric Life Domain 1/Warlock The Celestial 4

Well we take the warlock to 4 to get the stat bump which goes to strength and charisma because he needs the strength to wear that shiny plate armor.  Charisma hits 16 which makes all sorts of stuff better, like saving throws.  Those sexy saving throws 5,2,5,3,8,10 dex and int are the weakest but their aren't a large number of int saves vs magic and for the few he still has advantage to help support.  Take protection fighting style for paladin for the ac boost.  The dex saving throw is the scary one, fire hurt.  So to help with that we get shield master for its bonuses to dexterity saving throws like a poor man's evasion, and the +2 if the dex save effects only you is handy.  NOBODY PUTS BABY IN A CORNER!  With the paladin levels gives a good amount of health with a slow progression of spell slots but you still have the warlock slots on short rest to burn up first.  Maybe even occasionally using divine smite *gasp* but leaving slots for self healing is still your biggest life saver, considering the relatively low con score.  Shield of Faith and Heroism are the most notable spell additions at this point.

At 17th level: Paladin 12/Cleric 1/Warlock 4

Just ride the paladin gravy train from here out.  All in on constitution for the two ASIs here to bulk out the health pool.  You get Aura of Courage which makes sure nothing scares the terminator, and more importantly Aura of Warding.  Who wants resistance to magic damage? I DO I DO!  So they get you with some spell damage but its cut in half, fireball fear is a thing of the past.  Aura of Vitality is a great spell in conjunction with this build for 17 hp a round.... mm tasty.

At 20th level and final thoughts: Paladin 15/Cleric 1/ Warlock 4

Dearth Ward to keep you kicking, Stoneskin to reduce the mundane damage taken, although the self healing is still going to be your main shtick.  Just might help depending on the situation.  Cleansing touch becomes available, so even if they land a negative effect on you you can use your action to book it out of existence.  And as a backup to death ward you still have undying sentinel to stay up and fighting and get another heal off on yourself.

Breakdown, 21 ac, 199 hp, saves str 5, dex 2, con 7, int 3, wis 10, cha 12

Advantage on saves vs magic for int, wis, cha.  +2 dex save on effects that only target them, using a reaction turn a half damage from a dex save into no damage.  Resistance to magic damage, immune to fear and disease, lots of self healing, ability to clear a magic effect on yourself for an action (leaving bonus for a self heal), between death ward and undying sentinel the potential to survive hitting 0 hit points and keep one hp.  Mirror image to make you that much harder to hit, aura of courage to spam out those bonus action heals for 17 hp each round.  In addition there is the warlock healing pool of 30 hp, and the lay on hands from paladin for 75 hp.  Using false life for a tiny boost before battle as well. 

Not sure if I forgot anything.

I don't have a super unique take on this concept, but I happened to have a 20th level super-tank that I had prepped as a potential party wipe in a level 10 one-shot I streamed with my friends. The concept was to have the players as a group of minions working for a Skeletor-like evil lich Queen, facing off against the He-Man-like "Prince Alpha", leader of the Wolf Pack. So with that in mind, here's a pretty-common build that you might see in Tanky characters, with a little bit of Saturday Morning Cartoon Flavoringg.

Prince Alpha, Leader of the Wolf Pack

Level 20 level split: Lvl 3. Totem Barbarian/Level 17 Crown Paladin

Race: Human (variant)

Stats: STR-16 Dex-10 Con-16 Int-8 Wis-10 Cha-13

Background:Noble

Starting level: Level 1 Paladin

We're going for a He-Man feel, and part of that means summoning the Power of Grayskull (or whatever) to achieve a stronger, more resistant form. So that means you're a barbarian, baby! But, uh... not yet. Although it makes sense thematically, you need to take Paladin first to get access to Heavy Armor... you get some chain mail right off the bat, but you're going to want to buy something bigger and better...  Luckily you get to start with a shield for free, especially since you're taking Shield Master as your opening feat. This helps to compensate for your relatively low DEX when making saving throws, and allows you opportunities to completely shrug off damage. At level 1 you have legit opportunity to completely tank Meteor Swarm without taking a single point of damage. Grab a Longsword, since it just makes sense thematically for the build.

At 5th level: Lvl 3. Totem Barbarian/Lvl. 2 Paladin

Surprise, Surprise, it's another Bear Totem Barbarian. Sorry, but having resistance to damn near everything is just too tempting, especially when we're reflavoring Rage as literally transforming into a superhero. For Paladin, however, we're going for the Defense Fighting Style for boosted AC... hopefully you've got a generous DM so you'll have the 1500 GP for a suit of Plate Armor, which will get us to a healthy AC of 21. You're half-barb, so you're not going to get to use most of your spells in-combat... prioritize out-of-combat utility in spell selections, but luckily you can still use your Divine Smite with those spell slots even while raging. You've got the AC and health to justify using your Reckless attacks to crit fish and unload some big damage divine smites.

At 11th level: Lvl. 3 Totem Barbarian, Lvl. 8 Crown Paladin

You're the Prince of the Kingdom of Lupus and protector of your people, so of course You take the Oath of the Crown. What's tankier than using your Channel Divinity to prevent creatures around you from moving any more than 30 feet away from you? You can also drop a bonus action heal to any number of allies within 30 feet. The downside is these both call on your CHA, which ain't great, since you've just got the bare minimum for multiclassing. You hit Two ASI's at this point, so boost STR and CHA on the first one, which rounds out CHA to a 14, then use the next ASI to take the Heavy Armor Master feat.. every reduction of damage helps, but really this just get the +1 STR to round that to an 18. At 5th level, aside from finally getting Extra Attack 3 levels late, you get one of your most interesting Oath Spells... Warding Bond, which essentially turns one of your allies into a Tank as well, with damage dealt to them redirected to you, but most importantly for this build... it's a non-concentration spell with an hour duration, so it can be cast ahead of time. You also gain Divine Allegience, which doesn't quite fit the terminator concept, since it's kind of a worse version of Warding Bond, since it doesn't provide AC and resistance, and instead just lets you absorb damage aimed at an ally next to you. Probably the most useful spell will be Find Steed, because you're going to need your Battlecat to ride into battle.

At 17th level: Lvl. 3 Totem Barbarian/Lvl 14. Crown Paladin

At this point you've got your 21 AC, you've got resistance to everything but Psychic damage, any mundane damage dealt to you is reduced by an additional 3, and you get a +2 to DEX saves and can use a reaction to nullify all damage from a successful DEX save. Don't forget you've had Lay on Hands this whole time, which at this point gives you 70 HP to heal yourself as an action, even while Raging. Your CHA still isn't great, and it's not getting any better since you don't rely on it much anyway... you get one more ASI at this point, so bump CON up to 18 for another 17 HP at this point. Your Oath gives you another spell that doesn't conflict with the Barbarian Rage you're relying on in combat... Guardian of Faith. It's limited in what it can do, but it lasts 8 hours and isn't concentration. You've also got Improved Divine Smite to deal extra radiant damage on every attack, and at 14 you can Cleansing Touch yourself to clear off negative spell effects in case you're facing off against someone who keeps hitting you with status effects. Hitting 4th level, go ahead and upgrade to Find Greater Steed.

At 20th level and final thoughts: Lvl 3 Totem Barbarian/Lvl 17. Crown Paladin

Not the most dramatic final levels for a build... Crown Paladins get advantage to resist being stunned or paralyzed. You just barely snag 5th level spells,  and you're going to want Destructive Wave. Check this hypothetical.

An army of let's say... skeletons are rushing into town. You've got your Greater Steed, a Dire Wolf (you are the leader of the Wolf Pack, after all). Using its speed you dash into the middle of the crowd of skeletons attacking a bunch of citizens. Hold your sword above your head, proclaim "I HAVE THE POWER!" (it's a Vocal-only spell, which seems appropriate), then  suddenly a wave of thunderous and radiant energy erupts. Blasting the skeletons, knocking them prone, while leaving the citizens unharmed. With that your bonus action is to Rage, making you resistant to nearly all damage, essentially transforming into your He-Man form and ready to kick ass and protect the people.

EDIT: I made a mistake and forgot that you can't Rage while wearing Heavy Armor. I don't think the build totally works for this specific contest in that case, since base AC drops to 18 with Half-Plate armor, which isn't great for something that's so good at Tanking that it's nearly supernatural, but I'll still leave this in the contest with the addendum that the armor is swapped and the build really relies on Bear Totem and Shield Master moreso than AC.

Quote from TransmorpherDDS >>

I don't have a super unique take on this concept, but I happened to have a 20th level super-tank that I had prepped as a potential party wipe in a level 10 one-shot I streamed with my friends. The concept was to have the players as a group of minions working for a Skeletor-like evil lich Queen, facing off against the He-Man-like "Prince Alpha", leader of the Wolf Pack. So with that in mind, here's a pretty-common build that you might see in Tanky characters, with a little bit of Saturday Morning Cartoon Flavoringg.

Prince Alpha, Leader of the Wolf Pack

 

SNIP

 Do these throwdowns care about Sage Advice? If so, no raging beenfits while wearing heavy armour. https://www.sageadvice.eu/2016/11/22/can-you-be-wearing-heavy-armor-and-still-benefit-from-the-barbarian-totem-benefits/

Except for that, I like the concept and I hope you play Twisted Sister in the background while he fights. :P

Quote from Lostwhilefishing >>

Quote from TransmorpherDDS >>

I don't have a super unique take on this concept, but I happened to have a 20th level super-tank that I had prepped as a potential party wipe in a level 10 one-shot I streamed with my friends. The concept was to have the players as a group of minions working for a Skeletor-like evil lich Queen, facing off against the He-Man-like "Prince Alpha", leader of the Wolf Pack. So with that in mind, here's a pretty-common build that you might see in Tanky characters, with a little bit of Saturday Morning Cartoon Flavoringg.

Prince Alpha, Leader of the Wolf Pack

 

SNIP

 Do these throwdowns care about Sage Advice? If so, no raging beenfits while wearing heavy armour. https://www.sageadvice.eu/2016/11/22/can-you-be-wearing-heavy-armor-and-still-benefit-from-the-barbarian-totem-benefits/

Except for that, I like the concept and I hope you play Twisted Sister in the background while he fights. :P

 I did think something was missing from that.... Either way, it's a cool build