My Intimitank

[hydra_ex]

You can't have your cake and eat it too. If you want evasion, you're going to have to sacrifice AC. If you want AC, you're going to have to sacrifice evasion. Therefore, its best to spec for an fp, while (in your case) most of the time wearing a bp. A closer looks guarantees evasion albeit a -4 penalty to AC, which is about where mine's at right now. Also, to your sneak attack comment, you replied that Jadeare's build needed to be able to DPS when time comes, sneak attack adds to that ability (and is only a neat side effect )

[hydra_ex]

evasion is everything. if a quest has evadeable damage, you are going to be using the bp. if not you are going to use the fp. i can tell you it is almost to switch out armors as quickly as other gear. your situational means according to the battles. you NEED to plan ahead. this by itself is a failure. i cannot count how many times, myself or others have had a haggle, OL item up instead of GFL or str item for part 4 harry fight. it is a very common mistake but to you as a front liner, the impact is higher. and if you are going to intimidate harry and to dps him with PA, it can be potentially fatal if you forgot to switch to the bp

you have a good build but the build limits the contribution to the party. my fighter is currently at 54 ac with prot +4, insight +3, nat ac +2 and no chattering ring. with those, he'll hit 60 ac, 61 if i get to spec my enhancement fully to armor mastery. with a pally, bard, cleric and ranger, he will stand at 61+5+4+2+2 = 74 ac

for the 3 ac, i maintain max dps i can as a fighter with a 34 str. intimitanks are good, the only problem is if you have to sacrifice dps to be able to intimidate and hold agro, then the luster is dulled

ps: if you are going to intimidate, you are not going to get sneak attacks

You can't have your cake and eat it too. If you want evasion, you're going to have to sacrifice AC. If you want AC, you're going to have to sacrifice evasion. Therefore, its best to spec for an fp, while (in your case) most of the time wearing a bp. A closer looks guarantees evasion albeit a -4 penalty to AC, which is about where mine's at right now. Also, to your sneak attack comment, you replied that Jadeare's build needed to be able to DPS when time comes, sneak attack adds to that ability (and is only a neat side effect )

Edit: Thanks for the compliment, I don't want to look like a troll saying my build is best, its dynamic atm (being only a concept), which is why I posted it here.

[Jadeare]

Yeah, but I'm getting paranoiac about the next upgrade... with builds getting 80 AC unbuffed...

Yeah, fear the crazy AC that the monk splash brings. Surely the devs won't do that to us though.

D'oh. Sorry.

No worries mate, I feel pretty stupid about screwing my build in this way and would have pointed it out myself.

[sephiroth1084]

For my dwarven paladin 12/fighter 4 intimitank (yeah, more or less the reverse build) started with:

Str 16
Dex 12
Con 16
Int 12
Wis 8
Cha 13

This has worked well enough for me, though I'm still lacking some important gear for both AC (chattering ring, tier 3 shroud weapon--4 stones to go), a +13 or +15 intimidate ring, and a shroud Cha skills item.

Some things to note about the gear you have listed.

I tried the whole swapping out rings depending on the situation thing, and found that it becomes VERY hard to manage, and often walked into a fight with the wrong one on. As such, I've gone with the following:

Head: Minos
Neck: +5 Prot (I'd probably work toward something, something, something of Mineral II here eventually...maybe HP or Cha skills)
Cloak: +6 Cha
Trinket: Head/Bat
Gloves: +6 Str
Boots: +6 Dex
Bracers: Chaosgarde
Goggles: Existential Stalemate for the +6 Wis for spellcasting purposes (and Will save after dropping Force of Personality)
Belt: +6 Con
Ring 1: reserved for Chattering Ring, currently Resistance +4
Ring 2: Intimidate +whatever (currently +11)

I really don't find I have room, as some people have suggested, for a Striding item. The Titan belt would be pretty nice, as it would add an effect to a slot, but moving the Con somewhere would require a lot of juggling. I guess the biggest issue I have with your proposed gear, though, is the indication that you'd be swapping your Cha cloak for a Prot +5 cloak back and forth. Honestly, if you're going to do that, just drop the paladin levels entirely along with the Cha cloak. You Cha is going to count for your saves, smite evil, LoH (low with the few Pal levels, but still somewhat worthwhile), and INTIMIDATE. While the protection is going to be necessary in any combat situation in which you may find yourself embroiled.

The items I'd say you really CANNOT be switching out regularly are the Cha, Protection, Str and Dex items, and the Chaosgarde. Intimidate can be swapped out occasionally, but briefly, and it depends on your role in the situation. The Minos, Con item, resistance item, Bat, and Wis item can all be swapped for something necessary immediately without much harm.

No experience with the UMD and Evasion stuff on a tank, but constantly switching armors seems like it'd be a tremendous hassle. Think about all the lowbie quests with a lot of swimming and how irritating it was/is to take off the armor, swim to a secret area, put it back on, fight, take it off, swim out of the area, and don it again. Not quite as bad in, say, The Shroud, but taxing. Not to mention, sinking 2 levels into a class for a benefit you're likely to use only rarely.

I say all this from my experience trying to juggle all of this stuff.

Oh, and isn't the Litany item non-good only? Thought it had a penalty attached to it.

[hydra_ex]

I really don't find I have room, as some people have suggested, for a Striding item. The Titan belt would be pretty nice, as it would add an effect to a slot, but moving the Con somewhere would require a lot of juggling. I guess the biggest issue I have with your proposed gear, though, is the indication that you'd be swapping your Cha cloak for a Prot +5 cloak back and forth. Honestly, if you're going to do that, just drop the paladin levels entirely along with the Cha cloak. You Cha is going to count for your saves, smite evil, LoH (low with the few Pal levels, but still somewhat worthwhile), and INTIMIDATE. While the protection is going to be necessary in any combat situation in which you may find yourself embroiled.

The items I'd say you really CANNOT be switching out regularly are the Cha, Protection, Str and Dex items, and the Chaosgarde. Intimidate can be swapped out occasionally, but briefly, and it depends on your role in the situation. The Minos, Con item, resistance item, Bat, and Wis item can all be swapped for something necessary immediately without much harm.

No experience with the UMD and Evasion stuff on a tank, but constantly switching armors seems like it'd be a tremendous hassle. Think about all the lowbie quests with a lot of swimming and how irritating it was/is to take off the armor, swim to a secret area, put it back on, fight, take it off, swim out of the area, and don it again. Not quite as bad in, say, The Shroud, but taxing. Not to mention, sinking 2 levels into a class for a benefit you're likely to use only rarely.

I say all this from my experience trying to juggle all of this stuff.

Oh, and isn't the Litany item non-good only? Thought it had a penalty attached to it.[/QUOTE]

Yes, a good point. Thing is, I was originally bent on going 1 rog, but what benefit does 13 ftr/2 pal/1 rog give atm? Nothing (well... 4 more hp...) So instead I said, why the hell not get evasion!

Also, your right about the litany, its just two awsom though, its penalties and advantages are evenly balance, so you can swith it out in a pinch (if you ever get one, that is)...

[sephiroth1084]

Yes, a good point. Thing is, I was originally bent on going 1 rog, but what benefit does 13 ftr/2 pal/1 rog give atm? Nothing (well... 4 more hp...) So instead I said, why the hell not get evasion!

Also, your right about the litany, its just two awsom though, its penalties and advantages are evenly balance, so you can swith it out in a pinch (if you ever get one, that is)...

Why were you taking the one rogue level? UMD? If so, then yeah, I'd say grabbing the second and having Evasion for some situations would be well worth it. Does Fighter get anything notable at level 13? Maybe ftr 12/pal 3/rog1 or 2 pal and 2 rog...

[BSharp]

...
To-Hit: 36 (31 CE/PA)
15 BaB
9 STR
5 Item
1 WF
1 ench
2 Flanking
1 Aura
2 Herosim Scroll

I dont think you can really count on the +2 Flanking bonus for an intim tank. I know on mine build that the mobs are in my face directly in front of me, or completely surround me. If you try and move and hit w/o mobility you're going to get an additional deduction.

Also remember that penalty to you're going to take to AC for mobs flanking you. I try to put my back to wall for that reason, or tumble out and shield block them to position them for the rest of the party.

[hydra_ex]

I dont think you can really count on the +2 Flanking bonus for an intim tank. I know on mine build that the mobs are in my face directly in front of me, or completely surround me. If you try and move and hit w/o mobility you're going to get an additional deduction.

Also remember that penalty to you're going to take to AC for mobs flanking you. I try to put my back to wall for that reason, or tumble out and shield block them to position them for the rest of the party.

True, but there are two (basic) main cases.

Case A: Many monsters surround you. In this case, alot of monsters surround you and it would be suicide to not shield block, for the most part, thus negating the need for a flanking bonus, or even any matter to hit.

Case B: Several Monsters surround you. I this case, few monsters are around you, allowing you to team up with a helpful party member to skillfully and effeciently bring down that foe. Flaking bonuses apply to both people on either side, if I think (its always hard to get two people together on opposite sides long enough to tell) (also, it would make sense, as per pnp)