SUPER TANK build.

[Rexmundis]

Hi, Im mostly here to play with a best friend of mine who's moved to the other side of the country (and thus unable to join our tabletop biweekly games...yes I heard about all the wonderful software that may remedy this problem but Im gonna give MMO games in general a whirl).

Therefore, Im looking for a PURE tank build meaning HIGHEST AC/HIGHEST HP pool (Possible redundant healing abilities to maintain HIGHEST HP pool). I know this might sound strange because it's all about the damage in most games, but Im mostly playing to assist my pal who's a brutish berserker. Thus, I just need to take the MAXimum amount of damage and defend (don't know if the game allows for mechanics like defending another player or not) with the MAXimum amount of AC.

Game on !

[Shishizaru]

Hi, Im mostly here to play with a best friend of mine who's moved to the other side of the country (and thus unable to join our tabletop biweekly games...yes I heard about all the wonderful software that may remedy this problem but Im gonna give MMO games in general a whirl).

Therefore, Im looking for a PURE tank build meaning HIGHEST AC/HIGHEST HP pool (Possible redundant healing abilities to maintain HIGHEST HP pool). I know this might sound strange because it's all about the damage in most games, but Im mostly playing to assist my pal who's a brutish berserker. Thus, I just need to take the MAXimum amount of damage and defend (don't know if the game allows for mechanics like defending another player or not) with the MAXimum amount of AC.

Game on !

Welcome!

I don't have any builds for you, but have some comments you may want to think about before deciding on a build.

1) Do take into account the way aggro works in this game, especially keeping aggro. Getting aggro is easy. Be the first PC in sight or be the first to hit the mob (if it doesn't see anyone). To maintain or "steal" aggro, you will need to do a significant amount of damage to the mob, often causing it to switch from whomever it was initially aggro'd on to you. Alternately, the Intimidate skill will (on a successful attempt) cause all mobs in your range to aggro on you for a short amount of time (6 seconds I think).

2) If you are going for the highest AC possible, your DPS output will never be able to compete with your brutish berserker friend. To achieve Max AC, you're going to running around with a shield. Sword/Shield is not a viable DPS setup, so your friend will easily outmatch you there. I'm not sure if it's possible to max your AC AND have an Intimidate high enough to succeed every time on your Intimidate check but you will NOT be able to maintain aggro without Intimidate.

3) I'm also going to hazard a guess that Max HP and Max AC do not go together in the same build. You will probably have to sacrifice one for the other. Also remember that AC provides no defense against spells (although you can, like all characters, use Resists/Protection to help mitigate the damage).

4) The game has no real mechanics involving "defending" another player. Intimidate is probably as close as you'll get, as it'll pull mobs off everyone else onto you. Unfortunately, there's a bit of a bias against "tank" type builds, since DPS is such a critical factor for most of the game. Your friend can be a viable "tank" by dealing enough DPS to aggro all the mobs off of everyone to focus on him. He will, of course, take a beating, but high HP will help out there.

5) If you're looking to simply support your friend as much as possible, consider a different approach. A caster or bard will be able to pass out some potent buffs that will make your friend much harder to hit (as well as ramping up his DPS so he can kill faster). A bard can also provide healing to some degree. A caster will be able to "heal" Warforged characters (as well as himself, if WF) via Repair spells as well.

[Atoro87]

I'm newish myself and while I won't give you a direct build to use I can point you in the right direction.
If your buddy is going to focus on damage output and you're looking for a tank to draw and keep aggro your best bet is a Dwarven or Worforged Fighter. You're going to want to grab the Stalwart Defender prestige line and choose Intimidate as one of your main skills.
Like Shishizaru said you're going to want the best shield you can find all the time and wear the heaviest and best armor you can.
If you do go dwarf the dwarven war axe should be your weapon of choice so you can pop off the odd shot in conjunction with intimidate to keep aggro. Toughness as a feat and fighter/racial toughness will be your roots for pumping your HP throught the roof.
Use the search feature to look for intimi-tank builds.

[gavagai]

Welcome aboard!

Three things first:

1: A defensive tank will be build much similar to an offensive fighter. In DDO there are two kinds of tanking -- "hate tanking" (which is doing the most DPS on a mob so it attacks you) and "intimitanking" (using intimidate every 6 seconds when possible to keep an enemy on you). There is no effective build for tanking that ignores DPS, since you will get stunned, tripped, or bosses will just change aggro before your intimidate is back up. So all the "Tank" builds you'll see will have a DPS mode and a Turtle Mode, because most of the time you will only help the party if you are generating enough hate to keep the enemies off the others.

2: AC builds in general (Fighters, monks, Paladins, you name it) are the most gear-intensive builds to make. You need top-end raid gear to keep your AC high enough to be useful, and you won't get that gear until you've already started falling behind in tanking. You can enjoy a casual AC tank until level 12, but it will be difficult during past level 12 to have the kind of AC you need to tank without a higher-level character or guild giving you level appropriate twink gear. For that reason, I'd suggest you make your first character a different kind of support toon (Warchanter, CC wizard) or, conversely, try hard to find a guild that will support you.

3: AC tanks are also stat intensive, and I wouldn't recommend trying it with a 28 point build.

Now having said all of that, I'll tell you that once you are ready for it, Stalwart Defenders (Fighter tank) and Defenders of Siberys (Paladin tank) are both fun to play, when you build them right.

IMO these are the best builds for Fighter Stal. Def.:
MrWizard's Cannon Fodder
Riott's classic Riott Tank
For the DoS Paladin: Valhelm
If you want to make a Paladin, make sure to check out Junts's Guide to Making Paladins

GL and have fun

[DavionFuxa]

Most likely, your friend is already going to be the tank, because his dps will draw the mobs, ignoring if you intimidate them. It might be however possible for you to take a different route though if are up for it.

If your friend is going to be a DPS powerhouse, then you might just try supporting him with a Fighter and use Trip, Improved Trip, Sunder, Improved Sunder, and Stunning Blow to make tanking less relevant. If you Trip a mob, it lies prone and has lower ac, and can only save to get back up, if you Stun a mob, it stands dormant and all hits on it are criticals, (your friend will therefore 'obliterate' the mob) Sunder will lower the armor class of the mob for a duration, allowing it to be hit easier.

You won't be as much of a tank as you would originally want, and your DPS will be more comparable with your friend, but this might be for the best. You can also always try to make an AC tank or intimidate tank later as well if you really don't like how the character plays, probably with a 32 points build, or at least with some knowledge about the game and other ways you can play with your friend.