Nerdarchy DnD 5e Builds- The Unstoppable Tank
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- Опубликовано: 10 июн 2018
- Building the Unstoppable Tank D&D Character Build
We revisit the a tank build 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons after the release of Volo's Guide to Monsters and Xanathar's Guide to Everything it is time. The first tank build we did was with just the players handbook.
Filmed and Edited by Brian Stillman
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Translated titles:
D&D bygga den ostoppbara tanken
D&D build- el tanque imparable
D&D baue den unaufhaltbaren Panzer
D&D construire le réservoir imparable
D&D construa o tanque imparável 
Игры
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Nerdarchy stout halfling is a strong tank. +2 Dex +1 con is great for a medium armor build. Lucky means you're rolling twice if you fail with nat one. Less damage. And resistance to poison, the most common damage type in the game. Not to mention it makes an amazing Dexbarian. Go sharpshooter and take two levels fighter for archery fighting style, second wind and action surge. And small size means it's easier to find half and three quarters cover
Also, orc would be interesting for the cavalier fighter. Can dash as a bonus action, same as a rogue or monk, without needing to multiclass. It can make a melee character very sticky. Its also useful when enemies are trying to escape. Combine with sentinel and only mages can run away from you. 90 feet of movement with double dash and a guranteed reaction attack that makes your movement 0.
I normally play a barbarian and take some kind of spellcaster so i have mage armor and more versatility along with the eventual high armor class further down the road. Usually a dwarf or halfling of any kind works with this, but for fun i have played a pixie this way.
TBH currently have an AC tank in the party, level 4 Lizards folk (2 levels forge cleric & 2 blood hunter) is AC 20 due to having 17 DEX + Shield + Blessing of the forge + ring of protection. Goes even higher with shield of faith. HP isn't bad either at 38 (campaign is average hp increase only), the main issue is my DM only seems to roll crits for me, giving me the title of party crit tank.
While I do like the thing about reviving from 0 HP thing that half-orcs have, you forgot to mention the UA race, Warforged, who have a +1 to strength and con, and a +1 bonus to AC.
Additionally for a tank that heals you can have 3 levels in Celestial pact Warlock (XGTE) who have a healing ability which heals 1d6 of health (you have a d6 for each level in warlock +, and you can spend a number of them equal to your charisma modifier) as a bonus action. In addition to that at level 3 with pact of the chain you can get say an Imp as a Familiar, and have it stay invisible and clinging to the ceiling while you have Gift of the Ever-Living ones which makes any healing done to you heal for max health.
In a recent session I was in, as level 4 with 1st level in fighter, 3 levels in Celestial pact Warlock, I was able to tank about 100 damage with this because I also had Cure Wounds, Second Wind, and 2 normal Health Potions. With that single level in Fighter I also had the defensive fighting style, so with 200 gold spent on splint armor and a shield that I started out with, I had 20 AC and every time I got healed it healed for max health. THAT is a tank.
You guys didn't really mention about self sustained healing, like the above so to me this video seemed more like a "ultimate aggro" character build rather than a tank. A tank is able to take a lot of hits and shrug them off and likely heal from the attacks as well, not just draw aggro which is what you guys seemed to be suggesting.
Don’t forget the Triton Barbarian...The Fish Tank if you will.
That is soooo terrible I'm loling.
Nerdarchist Dave
:D Nice!
If I ever play 5e it's going to be hard not to play that.
I love it!~
You suck!!!😂😂😂
The best damage sponge tank is the NPC you bring with you from the nearest village
Has to be a vitally important NPC for whatever quest your DM is currently trying to railroad you into...
@@theapexsurvivor9538 if i was the DM i would just make up a reason for him to be afraid and have him run off until the fight is over
@@MarcAlcatraz can't run if he's paralyzed... By the enemy of course...... The wizard totally wouldn't spend a spell slot to paralyze a "party member".........
I get understand now! the real treasure was the people we got killed along the way!
Strap an essential NPC to your chest to gain the powerful armor in the game: Plot Armor.
All of a sudden, at 20th level, the Circle of the Moon Druid becomes the ultimate HP tank because they now have unlimited wildshapes per day. Every time they get knocked out of animal form, BAM! They're back in animal form on their next action. And this form can be a CR 6, so that means 126 hp per round they can soak, plus blocking movement considerably from being size Huge, and additional healing from spell slots.
Valandar2 kinda limited tank until then, tho.
That's why I said "All of a sudden" :D
You right.
You don't even need to get knocked out of animal form. so long as the form doesnt get one shot, you can just use your bonus action every turn to change shapes just to cap out your HP, if you want/need to.
And at a slightly earlier level (18? I'm too lazy to check) they gain the ability to cast spells in wild shape so long as there's no material components. So keeping "aggro" is pretty easy since you're still dropping spells left and right.
And of course, while they are concentration so its a gamble, you also have access to shapeshift
shapeshift would let you turn into an ancient brass/white dragon, some high level devils, demons, and celestials, giants, beholders, and an array of other monsters that are either outright powerful/threatening or have amazing utility (like the beholders anti magic eye)
Its basically super duper wildshape that has the chance to end prematurely because its concentration (or a spell if it gets dispelled). But you would probably take war caster for advantage on con saves anyway
God the fact that the infinite wildshape is level 20 makes me so sad. not only am I only just going to start playing my druid soon, but 1/3 of my group doesn't really like playing epic level because they say "whats even the point? just retire them and start fresh". which, i get..but, we get so many new toys, why would you not want to play with them at least a little before shoving them in the attic.
YFW the Druid gets 1-shot by PowerWord: Kill.
I'm pretty sure someone has already mentioned this but a cavalier bugbear with a polearm.
You now have a threat range of 15ft. It's absolutely nuts.
gaAssault34 still not as broken as a monk warlock that Dule weilds Shields
That extra 5 feet is only on your turn - so you stay at the 10 feet threat range.
And you can ride an Elephant and dm wont argue that you dont have range for attack
You only gain the ac bonus from 1 shield tho
This is the one I was thinking of after watching this video and the one I would like to try. Why is the extra 5ft only on your turn?
Be an unstoppable tank in 2steps
1. Be a level 20 circle of moon Druid
2. Keep shifting form every time you get knocked out
Hard disagree. Yeah it does one part of being a Tank, being hard to kill, but where's the key part, forcing enemies to attack you?
Ok now have your cavalier ride a circle of the moon Druid who has sentinel
Teamwork numba wun
Now if that cavalier was a bugbear for even more reach...
Add reach spell to the mix
Bard has entered the chat
The moon druid could be a gollieth half orc, or centaur, and the calvaleir a gnome, halfling or other small race.
Then the calvaleer can be mounted, even when the druid isn't wildshaped!
Really liked the way they analyzed all the different class builds instead of force feeding you the best tank the whole time. Its like you are finding it out with them.
Love your work guys. You make the community a better place. Listening to you as I work on a board/card adventuring game that I want to market as a way to introduce your kids or friends who aren't exactly sure about or into the roleplay aspects to the VERY BASIC mechanics of a tabletop using a board/card game environment.
Chaotic Neutral Bear sweet awesome to hear.
Nerdarchist Dave
Here is the combo for you to be an unstoppable tank, stout halfling cavalier with mounted combatant on top of a half orc life domain cleric party member
They call him _Master Blaster._
Any mention of the hill dwarf getting that additional +1 HP at every level? Combine that with the tough feat and a good CON mod, your health skyrockets.
And the Dwarven Resilience feat which allows healing upon dodging.
I thought mountain dwarves were decent but after witnessing this combo. God damn dwarf doesn't get hit nor downs. AL rules. The player went through all of chult and made it out alive minus his shield hand. But came out with a +3 full plate armour and shield. Ring and cloak of protections. He doesn't do gross damage but constant.
@@Yrokojust remember to go dex instead of mucles for better saves.. since they dont care about beeing slowed by plate armor whit 10 strth and hit them whit a rapier., it makes you very difficult to hit whit a dex save. down side is the 25 ft movement. Get the paladin to summon a steed for you I guess.
The Eldritch Knight is probably one the tankiest of the fighter subclasses.
Plate (with defensive fighting style)+shield+haste+shield spell=23(28) before magic item bonuses.
Use booming blade and lightning lure to try to control enemy movement, and with warcaster you can cast as a reaction as well. Warcaster also means you are proficient (con is likely your second or third highest stat) and have advantage on concerntration saves to keep haste running
Absorb elements and blade ward for damage reduction.
I think the key is to pick up as many reaction/bonus action spells, like misty step, so that you can cast and attack effectively as often as possible.
I agree. I took 7 levels of Fighter(Eldritch Knight) as a human variant with Heavy Armor master at 1st level (DR/3). Then add 8 Levels of Ranger(Hunter) for Horde Breaker, Multiattack Defense, and Hunter's Mark. Pick up Tunnel Master for more AoO and Sentinel to stop people moving away. Finish off the build with more Fighter. I loved being the bait walking down the tunnel, casting Blade ward every 6 secs.
My jaw dropped when the guy said that eldritch knight is not an option for tanking. It might be the best tank in the game.
I had the video running in a minimized window, but when he dismissed the Eldritch Knight I switched back to this video in absolute shock. EK was the go to fighter tank that most people made.
Simon Lewis okay haste is a concentration spell, you can't cast spell unless you end haste. That's why haste shield spell combo doesn't work, and knocks it out of the running. If the combo worked then great! But it doesnt. It doesn't stop there though, because haste is a concentration spell you can't cast ANY spells while it's active. Pg. 203 PHB
Daniel Berry Baker It only ends if you cast another concentration spell, shield is not a concentration spell.
So, with the Cavalier subclass you become a Dynasty Warriors character?
I did this with a half elf, and took warcaster and polearm master and two levels of warlock. Got repelling blast invocation, so I can choose to use eldritch blast as a reaction once they enter my reach, push them 10ft back and drop them to zero speed
You monster
Where do I sign up
What makes them drop to zero speed?
@@NightZ3r0 The sentinel feat gives you this ability: "Whenever you hit a creature with an opportunity attack, its speed drops to 0 for the rest of the turn. This stops any movement they may have been taking."
I don't know if this applies to spells though; I think that J. Craw specified it only worked for melee attacks.
Cavalier fighter is literally just the 4th Edition Fighter. It has all the mechanics built into it people hated about 4e fighter that made it feel like an actual tank.
MindTheSpark well I personally love the things from 4e that get snuck back into 5th. I've enjoyed all the editions of the game.
Nerdarchist Dave
I agree! It's just baffling to me how much of a bad rap 4E gets when so much of its mechanics are still in 5E.
It's not really the core mechanics of Fourth that cause so much problems, it's the overall presentation that pushed the game more as a tactical miniatures game, while eschewing much of the old D&D mainstays. I got into 4e like everyone else did at the time, and I was skeptical but still playing it, and one day I was just horrified to find out that there was no rules for tying knots in ropes, no actual way to measure a way to capture prisoners, no choice in trading accuracy for damage unless it was a specific class feature. They pre-determined what combat roles every class would take and people within those classes started feeling far too similar.
And then they made some drastic changes, like turning the Barbarian into a class that uses magical, elemental-based attack effects by default, out of nowhere... with no options present at the game's release or for almost a year afterwards to play the classical Barbarian that just fights with their weapons. Or, they would have abilities to heal allies, grant allies resistance, or allow your allies to move, that required an attack or maneuver to work. So you would be locked out of helping your ally unless you had a target to fight, or went to punch a wall, or did a weird combat maneuver against no enemy, looking like a fool, because there was no way to do these things without the attached maneuver.
It felt up and down like a game with limited world rules and choices, with no consideration made for many classical roleplaying standards, like making poisons, at least on release.
However, that didn't make it a bad game or even really a bad edition. I will admit to my own period of 4e hate; I didn't take to the edition well, I HATED the gamist nature of everything in it, and despised the more limited options it offered me. But I was having my own issues with D&D at the time, and I can look back and realize the potential that 4e had, and realized. And truth be told, its contributions to 5e are really, really good ones. Such as the Battle Master. But subjectively speaking, 5e is the better edition for fitting those concepts into something with a far more traditional D&D feeling.
4E's fighter was absolutely amazing. Like crazy amazing. I played a Eladrin Fighter/Wizard multiclass for kicks, and despite all the upside down backwards borkery that had to be done to get the combo to "work", it was still completely functional as a Defender from level 1. The 4E marking mechanic for fighters was incredibly powerful, and the fact that they gave it to cavalier is bonkers. Not to mention it had the truest, absolute-est, beast of an encounter power: "Come and Get It!" That thing was just magnificent. Excellent effect, 11/10 flavor, literally caused the table to cheer every time I used it. Legendary. I honestly think the 4E fighter is the best martial class D&D has ever seen in any edition.
@@Dart44 I was just trendy to bash it, not that it deserved the accusations it got; more like people who didn't play it made such accusations. I was converted with such negative attitudes before I started playing it. I can admit when I was wrong and still miss 4E as a mainstream game. But 5e really did do a great improvement.
Your visual production quality just keeps getting better and better! There’s a lot of reflection on your glasses, though. Keep going fellas!
I like your new camera setup guys. First video I've seen with the new clarity and the focus on individuals while speaking. Well done on the production values. :)
Omg I came back here 2 years later and there hair isn’t grey!
_I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO MAKE THIS BUILD ALL MONTH!_
The whole video I was thinking Cavalier! I'm glad we came to same consensus! Usually I overlook something that you guys always manage to find but not this time! Cheers!
Absloutely love the new camera angle boys!! Significantly ups the production value without hampering the classic Nerdarchy feel
A fairly good tank is actually a Yuan-ti pureblood paladin; the charisma bonus to saves, as well as magic resistance giving them advantage on saves against magic offsets the slight penalty of no con or strength stat increases.
Along with that, poison immunity is phenomenal to have on hand whenever it comes up. Taking tough at level 4 (if you don't need the ASI) as well makes for a wall of a snekman
DREAM - Dex Rules Everything Around Me.
I don't know why but Dex saves are almost always a thing. Dex also makes you go sooner, which is critical in higher levels as some spell casters can lock down players or summon hordes. Last Dex adds to armor, and it is superior to Heavy Armor as usually heavy Armor has a ceiling. Where Dexteritie's Ceiling is usually higher.
When I think tanks first thing that comes to mind is a stout balling monk. Man... it can take forever to hit that bugger.
Also Stout halfling Cavalier allows you to take a medium mount, add a lance and that is ridiculous. Especially if you mount can also fly.
Valkyrie Aasimar Paladin: who? Me?
2 years on but once again you guys have given me the advice that I need
Created a Halfling Barbarian and played him the first time last night. Had a blast with it. His motto is simply: "I drink and I hit things".
Half-orc with 3 levels of Chainlock and Gift of the Ever-living ones -> avoid ko with 1 hp then get the most when an ally snap heals you. Another fun thing might be to have Orcish Fury-one attack upon using Relentless Endurance, when certain class abilities give temp hp for killing foes.
This video needed more discussion of Fighter Battle Master maneuvers and their possible usage in tanking.
EDIT: You guys are right, Cavalier is an optimum tank. I'd argue, though, that you still want to take the Sentinel feat. Sentinel works when the target takes the Disengage action, while nothing in the Cavalier description states that. In addition, Sentinel allows you to take a Reaction to hit an enemy that targets someone other than you. Cavalier gives in two different powers either a bonus action on the next turn or a "special reaction" that doesn't consume your Reaction. So, they are good complementary powers.
Brian F. The video was already pretty long. I think the feat were you don't get most of it's abilities is a hard sell when we are talking resource management. Accessing a partial feat over taking stat increases isn't something I'd personally do in most cases.
Nerdarchist Dave
Hey looks like your editing quality is taking a step up nice work. Its great when you guys talk to the audience as well as each other its just more engaging i find.
This video was helpful. I'm getting ready to start on my second campaign and I'm switching my character to a druid, and since I've never played one, I'm trying to research as much as I can.
The way he said "you can attack all of them" at the 19:12 mark had me dying in laughter lol
i just started DnD
Welcome.
Nerdarchist Dave
Love the Dark Sun box set in the background. Haven't played in it in forever but it was brutal and awesome.
man... with you guys polished video releases, I almost feel like I have to take you seriously... ;-) Nerdarchy fan for life!
Just wanted to point out Wood Elves make dam good totem barbarians and make great tanks. The dex boost still helps unarmored AC and resisting charms is always epic for a tank. Not to mention needing half sleep let’s you roleplay the nightwatch while the party sleeps well. Plus 5 movement can really help ensure you get that attack chance to keep your rage up. There’s so much they offer! ;3
Half ork oath of ancients paladin. At lvl 15 you have relentless endurance, undying sentinel, and can cast death ward. The stack the way it's worded. So THREE times you can go down to one hp instead of being knocked out.your freaking Jason Voorhees.
7th level paladin oath of ancients , level 7 sorcerer divine soul , level 6 warlock pact of the tome celestial, infinite spells from meta magic and aspect of the moon invocation, feats warcaster , shieldmaster, inspiring leader
With the infinite 4th level or lower spell slots you can help your friends live too, not to mention inspiring leader which gives temp hp to you and 5 different party members after every short rest
Rhett house so it’s a self spare the dying.
Loving the higher quality camera and the makeover, guys!
great episode guys, my favourite tank build is also a mono class, although isnt quite as sticky as your build. it is near unkillable from 11th level onwards. i use barbarian due to being able to shrug off half damage, having the largest hit die available(important for recovery). if magic items are available this build can heal 25(35 hp per die at 20) hp per hit die spent on short rest meaning your health bar can be refilled naturally two and a half times, due to durable, and periapt of wound closure.
Taking average health from each die you end up with around 285 hp at level 20. instead of strength and con as my primary stats i use dex and con to ensure my ac is as high as it can naturally be(+10 until 20 where it becomes +12). i top this off with the defender, a +3 magical shield and a jade ring of resistance(psychic), meaning whilst raging the dm must go through around 570 hp assuming there is no healer support.
At 11th level the barbarian gets an ability to get back up after making a dc 10 con save which increases by 5 per attempt, at the level you achieve this ability the first one is saved on a nat 1, as a half orc this gives you a second life on top of racial ability. if a paladin is in party as support tank, you can pass this save at least twice before rolling above a 1. combined with my rp aspect of contempt for the feeble attempts to grant the character a glorious death, most of the time i end up with many foes trying to hack me down.
The class achieves 29 ac before 20 and 31 on 20. assuming the dm isn't customizing monsters to fight this one character and the party is down for spell support you can achieve ac 37 which means some of the most accurate monsters in the game can never hit you without crit, and you halve all damage taken whilst raging, feral instincts giving advantage on initiave with max dex, and rage is often up before the enemy gets to act in combat.
i think i will test this cavalier tank though, seems sweet. also splashing 4 levels warlock pact of the chain into my build gives it even more durability as i chose celestial patron for non spell healing, pact of the chain for scouting and invocations voice of the chain master and gift of the old ones to max any healing you receive, it does come at a large price though, no cap stone other than maxing a stat or feat
Barb bear totem/Druid of the moon. Rage while shape-shifted.
I feel like this also makes a lot of sense from a role playing perspective too. The character came from a tribe of nomads and the warriors were barbarians, the hunters were rangers, and the wise ones were druids. Now I just have to figure out why a ghostwise halfling (so they can communicate while wildshaped) was in a tribe of nomads.
Path of zealot CAN NOT DIE... Literally at lvk 15 until you stop raging. At 20 you can never stop raging = invincibility. And like you said barbarian is one of the best leading up to those later levels too
Combine it with Stout Halfling if you go down, so you can’t roll 1s
That's not how that works by RAW. Rage has a 1 minute duration. At lvl 20 you get unlimited number of rages, not infinite rage time. If you take too much damage as soon as your rage goes down, you go unconscious before you're able to rage again.
@@hamsterfromabove8905 nothing says you can't rage the round before it would end to keep it going. Just saying
@@a00019217b you can't stack rage. You would have to end your rage as a bonus action to use it again.
I've never paid much attention to the Cavalier because I've never played a mounted combatant so this was a revelation. Thanks for the education.
"Protect the Wizard, Protect the Cleric..."
My Cleric with 25 AC: *Laughs in Immovable Object*
My DM allows just about any homebrew in his games because of the sheer diversity of characters that allows.
In a campaign that finished recently, he mashed together 3 or 4 campaign modules that started with giants attacking cities, only for it to be a powergrab by larger political entities causing upheaval for their own gain but accidentally releasing a Lich which tried to bring a Great Old One into the Prime Plane.
In this campaign, I played a rather weak Barbarian, Rog.
With 4 Int and 18 Str, as a Grey Orc, he was the ugliest, stupid and maybe the most endearing character of the Party. By the end of the Campaign, he'd landed the killing blow on the Vonindod (an encounter we were meant to run from) and after that, proceeded to do the most damage and tank the best out of any party member.
Whilst raging, he was resistant to all but psychic damage and gained up to 25 temporary hitpoints at the beginning of his turn. He wore nothing but the too-short loincloth he began the campaign with and an adamantine shield he had tore from a giant statue in the last session of the game.
Rog, Slayer of the Vonindod, when given the choice of joining his friends in Elysium until they were needed again in the future, chose instead to tread into the Demonic Planes, to fight back the darkness and give his Fwenz a little more breathing space.
Rog, Slayer of the Vonindod, Feefbarian supreme, took his domesticated pig to hell, and became the DnD equivalent of the Doomslayer.
Holy shit that sounds so fun
@@coinisinorbit Rog was the DM's excuse to let us skip hour long discussions over a children's riddle by letting me break things if we took too long.
Patellius was an excuse to play Skeletor in D&D complete with voice and still nobody got it for ages despite me sending skeletor gifs over discord.
Fun times, sad that I don't have the time anymore.
Regarding Paladin I would suggest Conquest too. You have a different type of tank, where you gather a lot of enemies around you, use your fear aura and they cannot move from you. Great for massive crowd control.
I agree. A great Tank!
Actual had this and a Barb multiclass. It worked wonderfully
Ooh, I like this camera setup; well done guys!
Great Video Guys! I enjoyed every bit of it!
Abjuration wizard multi class with the first level in Fighter in the defensive or tunnel fighter fighting style. Blade ward till you get armor of invulnerability. Buff out in con or get an item, master the shield spell and counter spell or a healing spell if you want at level 18 and spam it. +40 arcane ward hp at max and you regain 2 per turn when you cast shield spell. This is a fat +5 AC with heavy armor and magic items. Could cast mirror image on top of this if things really get bad or Haste to charge in and draw attention with +2 extra AC. As an abjuration wizard you get advantage to spell saves and resistance to spell damage later on. Cantrips like lighting lure will keep them around you so they can’t run away, and passing up the reaction spell for opportunity attacks could work nicely too, especially with war caster or sentinel feats.
This one benefits from versatility with magic. Also has extreme anti magic capabilities late game. For melee combat, there are solid cantrips for harassment and powerful feats to benefit from. Also due to fighting in melee range the use of touch spells will be very useful. Using a weapon is still optional for this too with the many magic alternatives you’d have access to. Overall Getting hit will be tough and anything that comes through could be shrugged off once you get to spell mastery.
The best part of using a lot of wizard levels is that you can cast the spell tenser's Transformation which gives you 50 temp hp, two attacks (unless you already had extra attack), advantage on attack rolls and gives your attacks in additional 2d12 force damage.
I'm just going Eldritch Knight with mirror image
Skippy Zc mind as well slap blur on there as well.
Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy
Gotta concentrate for blur, and if your tanking that's tricky, and you can only pick evocation or abjuration spells for EK but at 3 and 8 and a few more you can pick other school, so the choice would be mirror image OR blur. Arcane trickster could do both at once haha
also booming blade punishes opponents who move and with warcaster you can do booming blade as your AoO.
Eldritch Knight 8/Wiz 12, your a level 14 caster, with full armor and Con saves, throw in War Caster, Sentinel and Shield Master.
don't they get access to shield as well?
Bugbear is the best race for when you are doing a polearm build with a Cavalier fighter because using a reach weapon you would get a reach of 15ft meaning at level 18 and polearm master anything that moves within 15ft of you will get hit. Or if you wanted to use a shield with said character you could use a spear and shield and still have the same 10ft reach as a full sized polearm. I know I am not the only person to mention this, but it's true.
Thanks for this video it was really great! I love playing tank characters so this was perfect for me.
Definitely underplayed Circle of the Moon druid here. At 2nd level, they can wild shape into a giant hyena which has 45 health twice, and they have 5 spell slots to heal, and depending on their modifiers, can usually self-heal 50+, which is over 95 health at level 2.
at 5th level, they can use conjure animals which allows them to summon two giant hyena minions to tank 90 damage total.
at 8th level, you can use conjure woodland beings, which allows you to summon up to 8 pixies, which can polymorph your party members into t-rex's which have 136 health each.
at 10th level, you can wild shape into elementals, and the earth elemental has 126 health, and you can do that twice per long rest
and at 20th level, you can wild shape infinitely at will, meaning you can for all realistic purposes, have endless hp.
I think with the RAW you can't have pixies polymorph your party into a bunch of t-rex.
"'The new form can be any beast whose challenge rating is equal to or less than the target’s"
Hold on here. A 2nd level druid has THREE spell slots. you don't count cantrips known. I should know playing a Lizardfolk Moon Druid. Also while HP high for L 2, the Giant Hyena AC's sucks, so be careful of a swarming attack like w kobold tactics. Besides that, it still is a good beast as long as you have contingencies.
And Elemental wild shape uses *BOTH* your abilities before a rest, not once per. "At 10th level, you can expend **two** uses of Wild Shape at the same time to transform into an air elemental, an earth elemental, a fire elemental, or a water elemental."
Please check your rules before continuing with this recommendation.
"Eldritch knight isn't a great tank"
My half-orc Eldritch knight: *grunts menacingly*
I honestly agree with an EK. Reason being is cause they have access to Shield and Absorb Elements, as well as other things a tank likes. I had considered EK/War Mage 2, so that you can get initiative bonus to your Int, but you can also just add a "mini shield" to your save or defense, even if you don't have spells. In addition, with Wizard dip, you can pick up necessary spells not able to be added by EK's spell list. On top of ALL that, you now have Ritual Casting, meaning you can get a spellbook and add in low level utility rituals like Detect Magic, Identify and other spells. Not to mention as you progress down EK, you get more slots and more flexibility in your Rituals. I Don't think you gotta go more than two levels in War Mage, but I think EK/War Mage is a solid option
@@TheFoxlover93 I feel that EK is actually a pretty flexible character. Either for crowd control, buffing the party, or buffing yourself, especially if you look into some of the UA wizard spells. Aside from just war mage, which is great, hexblade warlock is a nice multiclass too.
@@Pyralisbean my only thing with Warlock, is that you start to get a bit MAD. You need a good Str for your attacks, you need a 13 Int for pre-requisites, and then a 13 Cha. Not to mention you want a good Con for HP and if you aren't in medium or heavy armor, a decent Dex is necessary.
The question would revolve around why to go Warlock, why go Wizard or why not do none of the above. As a Warlock, you likely aren't taking the Pact of the Blade, since you already got two weapons bonded to you with EK. Two levels gives you invocation though, but unless you got a good Cha, you aren't taking Agonizing Blast, so then invocations are for utilities then
@@TheFoxlover93 very true. I see your point.
You guys are the best, your information helps me alot. Thank you very much
I've played Cavalier so much and completely agree. Though my most recent campaign, I'm using a Human Alt with Battle Master Fighter. UA is approved so I took Interception. Martial Adept for starting feat, taking Bait and Switch with maneuvering strike. At lvl 3 those d6's go to d8's and I took goading strike, evasive maneuver, and rally. It's incredible at how tanky and protective of my allies I can play this PC.
Hey! Abjuration and Bladesinger Wizards deserve some love as tanks. Maybe even Forge Clerics, Dragon Sorcerers, and Fiend Blade Warlocks too!
Yeah, level 3 Barbarian Bladesinger can get something like 23 AC without casting a single spell or taking any feats.
@@whiskeyhound Still, you lose potential stat points to the min 13 str. I put my stat in Con for a 14 con instead. Perhaps it is offset by saving a spell slot, but I cannot say. My pure bladesinger uses one spell slot Mage armor (and imagine how easy it will be when i get a magic studded armor+1) and got AC 20 no magic items at L 4. Elf so 16 Dex 18 Int. Imagine what happens when you pump Dex and Int to 20?
@@joshuacr Yeah, I'm just about to start a campaign playing a tabaxi bladesinger, gonna have up to 22 AC from just casting mage armor and using bladesong. I assume you're talking about point buy when talking stats? my previous post assumed the luckiest dice rolls ever, so two 18s and a 20 for dex, int and con.
you forgot the warforged as a racial choice
you can easily get 21 AC at level 1 and because proficiency bonus is added it only gets better
With heavy armour and shield proficiencies, yes. But yeah, hell, that's basically free plate mail at level 1 and like you say it increases with proficiency bonus increases. OP race all round.
I had a dm that decided that warforged, being automatons created by magic, are incapacitated by an antimagic field so the first beholder i fought with a warforged was just decimated as he couldn't do anything. What made it worse was i was the party cleric and was the only one who could remove petrification at the time. The beholder made me watch as my party was turned to stone and then ate my character.
@@patsutherland6853 well what the dm decided was wrong. warforged aren't automatons.
they are created by magic, but they don't animate through magic anymore, than elves or fey do.
they have a functioning body, just totally different in anatomy than other races.
how else would you be able to heal them with healers kits and healing spells? it is intentionally mentioned in their lore description, that those things work on them.
that wouldn't make sense for automatons.
Great video as usual guys. One request though. When you do these builds, you do them as an end-game character. There are usually between 17 and 20 levels built into the build, but it doesn't take into account the effectiveness of the progression from 1 to 20. I'd love to see some content where you build a character that is effective from start to finish, and isn't just built to be an epic end game beast.
Game on, nerds! Excelsior!
Tortle Barbarian would still get bonus AC from Constitution, giving you a possible +5 on top of the already high base 17. This plus a +3 shield and you are already at a massive 27 AC, which means you are invulnerable to pretty much anything below CR 5 (unless they crit). If you multiclass to Cleric, you can add Shield of Faith for +2 AC and Warding Bond for +1 (if your friend is a Cleric). 30 AC! Then add some magic items such as Defender, and Cloak and Ring of Protection for a maximum AC of 35! Apart from epic level enemies nothing can touch you, and even if they do you take half damage while raging (and if you're a Bear Totem Warrior you have resistance to all but psychic damage).
Hill dwarf surely a great pick for a tank, +2 con and 1 hit point per level
It is essentially having +4 con from the hit point standpoint
Also one of the classes that gives two +2 to stats!
Warforged (Unearthed Arcana) Forge domain Cleric with a dip into Fighter (Defense Fighting Style) gives you around +5 to your Armor Class. Take the Tough feat and Heavy Armor Master.
Taron Pounds barbarians dont get rage benefits in heavy armor. Unless you go bear totem. Then you just get the resistance and nothing else.
Ah yeah, then just go Fighter with it.
You forgot Shield + Shield Master for the evasion.
It’d be a great compliment to cavalier as well.
Warforged Paladin (Ancients) with Defensive Style and sword+board.
d10 hit die, +2 to AC naturally, +2 from shield, and plate.. You're sitting at an AC of 22 before any magic gear.
You get that beast past 7th level, and they're suddenly getting +Cha to ALL their saves, and Resistance to ALL spell damage.
You get your mitts on a Spellguard Shield or a Holy Avenger.. And you're making all those buffed saves at Advantage, too.
Probably more of a secondary tank role but my monk very good/annoying for enemies to deal with. He’s level 7 total (monk 5, Wizard 2) he’s found some amazing +2 robes so his unarmoured AC is 20. He can cast the shield spell, and has the lucky feat because he is a human variant. With the lucky feat, possibly 25 AC with the shield spell and dodging as a bonus action by spending 1 ki point he is surprisingly resilient. 2 attacks per round plus fury of blows can put out a lot of damage. It is probably not optimal but it is a LOT of fun to play. It took me a while to realise how incredible the Dodge action is, and being able to do this as a bonus action is incredible.
Cloudfin
So many times my round is
"I take the Dodge action and move forward"
Then next round when I take 4-8 attacks, I'm good!
Been waiting for this one
Didn't you forget the Hill Dwarf? +2 Con AND +1HP/lvl!
i feel like Samurai has a good tank build too
2 things:
1. The best tank for just absorbing as much damage as you can is a 20th level circle of the moon druid. Each turn they can refresh their pool of almost 150 hit points they get from transforming into a cyclops/young white dragon/earth elemental/anything with a ton of hit points. So unless they are dealt 250+ damage in a single round of combat, they'll never go down.
2. Remember that cavalier with a 5x5 zone of death where no one can pass through? Well, if that cavalier just so happens to be a bugbear, that zone increases to 7x7.
I'm personally a huge fan of the paladin of conquest/ hexblade warlock tank build granted that build is in requierment of the GM's approval.
Nerdarchy: "at 18th level, you are the bane of low hit point minions you can kill with one attack, and you control a 10 ft radius!"
5th level cleric: "Spirit guardians has a 15 ft radius, and I can't miss"
Have a ring of spell storing on one of my fighters, we got air dropped onto a ship and I cast that as we hit the deck. 4 enemies around me all died between my attacks and the damage from SG's. I run below deck and enter a room filled with 10 enemy cultists. I cut down 2 more and stand in the doorway, the SG just big enough to fill the room. Soon as their turn comes around I roll damage for the SG horde and get a 21 out of possible 24. The fodder cultists all only have 10hp in this room, so even if they make their save they still die. The entire room drops dead. My table dies laughing.
gnome under-rated for a tank race for advantage on those magical saves that target wisdom/charisma/intelligence imo. Tank not useful if its cc'd from the fight, so a raging barb gnome would have advantage on str, dex, int, cha, and int saves(vs different sources of course)
I always liked the idea of making a tank that can suck up magic damage. In World of Warcraft day specifically made an Unholy death knight tank when they first came out because of their abilities to suck up more magic damage than any other class. That was of course before they shoehorned all of the good tanking abilities under blood.
There's definitely something to be said for this. Elves and gnomes can make very viable tanks in the right campaign. I always say it really boils down to what kind of DM you're working with, that will determine what tank works best. If your campaign is high magic, tanks that can resist or be immune to a wide array of common tank-neutralizing spells may end up working out much better than a super-strong half-orc with an 8 wisdom!
The elderitch knight makes a wonderful tank! Heavy armor, shield spell, and booming blade? All that at level three!
Yogscast's Lightfall campaign actually had a Moon Circle Druid as their tank once she got Direbear...and backup DPS/ temporary mount back when she still regularly used Direwolf.
I like kobalds
They do good for storytelling
Who doesn't like kobolds.
Nerdarchist Dave
TORTLE TANK ..... Barbarian bear totem 4, Monk 5, and rest in moon druid. Hell even add Tempest or War Cleric 1 for the hell of it.
wait... I feel like I'm missing something obvious... Why Monk 5? Doesn't Tortle not get the Dex boost to AC for being a tortle despite Unarmored Defense? Should the rest of those levels go to moon druid instead?
If you're considering multiclass builds for this, you can list everything below a Bear Totem Barbarian/Circle of the Moon Druid. Access to 2 giant sacks of temp hp with resistance to everything but psychic. Plus size increases make you a literal wall.
Them beards are looking nice. Looks like yall got a better camera than last I saw lol. Thanks for the work!
I liked your final choices but I think the bugbear with the added reach might work out better and even extend that 5 by 5 you spoke about
I'd sure like that extra reach more if it applied all of the time, instead of only attacks made when it's your turn. It doesn't have any effect on which squares trigger an opportunity attack, for instance.
The problem with 5e is that nothing stacks. It's really frustrating. At least we should be able to add unnarmored def bonus to natural armor, like from the tortle.
I am running an Oath of Vengeance Dragonborn Paladin with Shield and Defense. I am very happy with him!!!!!
I'm going to be honest, I usually strongly disagree with the style of play they talk about but I always keep watching. But now with the upgraded production and upon watching some more videos I'm really starting to come around. I hope I continue to enjoy their content
Bugbear would have also been a solid choice for that extra 5ft of reach. Also I'd throw in 1-2 levels of mystic for iron durability and giant growth
I'm playing a Bugbear Zealot Barbarian atm and he's an absolute wrecking ball.
It's shocking to see Dave with color in his beard
Very cool video and you've made me consider different builds I wouldn't have. Thanks! One trouble, though....
RAW, the Cavalier build has a rather ugly flaw in it. The Warding Maneuver and Unwavering Mark features only work if the target is within 5' of the Cavalier and NOT when they are in melee range (i.e. - reach doesn't factor into it). As such, PAM doesn't synergize with those class features nearly as well as you (or I) would hope. Also, as has been pointed out below, Hold the Line vs. Sentinel...Sentinel goes off when the monster ENTERS your reach and Hold the Line only if they move _while_ in your reach.
All in all, pretty awesome video. Thanks again.
it's always cool when you find something and realize its amazing, and then see that other people are coming to the same conclusion. It PROBABLY also means that whoever designed the class built something that was basically broken.
That said, this pick is clearly built around the idea of facing large numbers of enemies in confined spaces. While he has some really consistent and adaptable skills for fighting on open ground (like being able to charge attack and deal double damage), the biggest skills are focused elsewhere.
All that is to say that, any of the tanks recommended would potentially be 'the best', it just depends on the campaign your in, and the kinds of fights your DM is running... The paladin is always a great choice though just because (imo) he has the best all-around versatility for tanking in just about any situation.
But if your campaign seems to involve lots of army battles, or swarming enemies in dungeons, that cavalier's skill set is going to be magnificent!
Well, for low party numbers actually it's also amazing. Just ride your party member and protect him with your body using the cavaleer's ability.
Or just you know give a bugbear a pole arm and the fighter cavalier class
I need to find a new game, got an idea for a heavy armor barbarian tank.
High AC, half all non psychic damage from rage, then -3 physical damage from heavy armor master or whatever that feat is.
Sure might not be the bestest ever tank but I like it.
TheAnon03 barbarians dont get rage benefits in heavy armor.
You do with the totem of the bear at 3rd level
can't rage in heavy armor, medium armor is okay.
TheAnon03 i completely forgot about the wording!
Ryan Rhino You absolutely can you just don't get most of the benefits as standard.
Jeff Urbz Ah it happens.
Old comment here, but the concept of a "tank" is very conditional to how your DM approaches combat. I've been playing since the 80's, and I've never made intelligent opponents target frontline ranks just because they are there. Bull Rush and Overrun were used often back in my 3.5 days.
Polearm Master+Sentinel is a great package for actually forcing your opponents to deal with the front rank. It comes with a high opportunity cost though, so only a few race/class combinations really pursue it.
The other strong thing about circle of the moon druid is that if they multiclass one level into monk they have an even better AC when in wild shape. Plus, if you do go down, you revert back to your original form which can transform again. Or, just go to lvl 20 and have infinite wild shapes and just keep swapping to a high hp creature, go down, swap again. Because you don’t actually incur any damage in wild shape
Am I missing something? Hold the line still uses up your reaction doesn't it? You can still only make 1 reaction per round. Wouldn't you need to take tunnel fighter to make it more viable?
Their 18th level ability-
Vigilant Defender
Starting at 18th level, you respond to danger with extraordinary vigilance. In combat, you get a special reaction that you can take once on every creature’s turn, except your turn. You can use this special reaction only to make an opportunity attack, and you can’t use it on the same turn that you take your normal reaction.
Nerdarchist Dave
Now im playing cavalier bugbear...
Just started a campaign as a halforc cavalier. With a halberd and polearm master. Thanks for letting me know I chose well. The only thing I added was a level in barbarian so in important battles I can rage and take half damage
Holy moly I didn't recognize Nerdarchist Dave with his brown beard. Really got used to looking at him with his white beard.
Could you help me with a build I have in mind. I want to try to make sumo wrestler monk based on E. Honda from the street fighter games. Sounds like alot of fun to play
they look so young and it only been a year
The reason I sort of like the idea of Moon Druid, is that you are a pool of HP, but you can also do some healing and spellcasting. Cast Call Lightning and then Wild Shape. Out of combat, you can use more of your Heals to help get the party back up to snuff. On top of all of that, a dip into Monk or Barb gives you unarmored defense, scaling off of Con or Wis and it works in Wild Shape, since you choose to use yours or the animal you shape into. Wild Shape also has more uses than combat, cause if you know the party is about to take a short rest, you can Wild Shape into a mouse or an owl, fly ahead and scout a bit before returning, in theory.
I think other classes would include Cleric. Reason being is cause they get Armor proficiency, but also provide Healing. This not only helps keep YOU alive, it keeps your party members alive. Something with Heavy Armor or a dip into Fighter gives you those proficiency's you want, but also access to Action Surge and Second Wind, meaning you can stay in the fight longer. Depending on team comp, you can fit both a tank and healer role with a cleric
After all of this, EK I think should get a mention. Having access to spells is good, but having access to Shield and Absorb Elements means you can absorb much more damage. Take two levels into War Mage gives you Int to your initiative, but also mini shield and mini bonus to saves, meaning you can immediately just change a hit to a miss or be the difference between a save or suck spell like Hold Person. On top of this, you get Ritual Casting, meaning you can pick some utility level 1 spells and then add in Rituals. This is exceptional, especially if you don't have a wizard, as this lets you get effects like Detect Magic, Idenity and Find Familiar to help with scouting. This also gives you more cantrips, meaning you can take ranged options so as a Fighter, you aren't stuck in melee all the time.
I think this slightly unusual build has some good potential as an aggro drawing type tank.
Ancestral Guardian Barbarian 6/ Oath of Ancients Paladin 7/ Battlemaster 7.
I was thinking of using a Symic Hybrid. Taking the option that gives a plus one to armor class at 6th level. Take the Dueling and Protection Fighting Styles. You can dump strength and just use a Rapier with your Shield. And you'll still be able to do good damage with the Paladin Smites and the Dueling fighting style. Add in the Spirit Shield & a handful of Battle Master maneuvers and I think this could be a very effective Tank.
You said “A thief” ...that’s old school...
Fun fact: the cavalier/knight's 18th level ability states that "You can use this special reaction only to make an opportunity attack". The polearm master feat provokes opportunity attacks when enemies enter your range. So, you can take this feat and get vigilant defender: now anyone that tries to enter your zone can't move from where you hit them, meaning they can't even hit you.
unless they have a 10 ft. reach
I have a great tank built.. say hello to Sakusa the great wall!
Race: Pureblood Yuan-Ti
Classes:
Armorer Arteficer (heavily amored and give evry thing you hit with your meele attack disadvantage the target)
1lvl fighter (defensive fighting style grands a + 1 to ac and second wind)
1lvl Forge domain Cleric (healing + a bonus of one to the ac + ac boosting spells or support your team)
Background: Quandrix Student as spell (Silvery Barbs, shield or find familiar)
Take the "shield master" feat = no dmg from dex saves
Hard to hit, make it harder to it others, annoying your dm with magic items and you can support your team with spells
P.s you can use one of your infusions to get the familiar with the spellwright tattoo and boost your ac with a shield and the enhanced defence even more. (You could use strength as your dumb stat, the Armorer use into for everything instead) on top of that you are immune to poison dmg and have resistance against magic
But please don't over do it, or your dm will hate you . . . especially when you take lucky on top of that 😅
Okay but what about the best lvl10 tank? Still the Cavalier?
Are you kidding Me Paladins Oath of the Ancients is incredible regen, resist spells for you and allies, Aura of Warding and Elder Champion check it out.
The new cameras look great, guys!
Fighter, pole arm master feat, sentinel feat, great weapon fighting style with any pole arm other than a quarterstaff, battle master at 3rd level, and after that grab a feat for extra bonus attacks, extra hp, and armor master is a terrifying combo especially in tighter areas like tunnels as you can be the cork in the bottle even more so than using a shield