New to ddo. Looking for MT tank builds

[kiyu3814]

I am new to ddo, I come from wow where i was an endgame MT war tank. I am looking for ideas and builds for endgame MT tanks. Any help would be nice.

[Impaqt]

I am new to ddo, I come from wow where i was an endgame MT war tank. I am looking for ideas and builds for endgame MT tanks. Any help would be nice.

What exactly is an "MT War Tank"?

[toughguyjoe]

Something important to grasp in this game is that it functions much different than WoW.

I would suggest you try a Dwarf Fighter, wear heavy armor, use a shield, and invest points into the Intimidate skill.

See if this fits your play style.

I think you should give several tank types a try (Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin)

Find the one that works for you, and go with it.

Learn the game before you decide what you want to play for a "Archtype"

Once you get into the game a bit you'll realize that you can actually take multiple classes over your 16(soon to be 20) levels.

This can make for very dynamic character creation. Find what works for you and most importantly have fun.

[toughguyjoe]

What exactly is an "MT War Tank"?

[Sweyn]

I lol'd +1

[sigtrent]

I am new to ddo, I come from wow where i was an endgame MT war tank. I am looking for ideas and builds for endgame MT tanks. Any help would be nice.

The closest we have in DDO to a MT in WOW or similar MMO's is an Intimitank. That is a defensive build with the intimidate skill.

Tanking in DDO is less of a critical/essential role than in most games. It can be an effective tactic and essential in a few quests, but generally more types of characters can withstand agro in DDO than most games.

Dwarf and Human are the popular races and most Intimitanks have at least some levels of Fighter.

Generally tanks in DDO are expected to have decent DPS skills as well and many schools of though feel that DPS trumps all other factors in a character build so keep that in mind while looking at builds.

A DDO character can also be easily built so that they can switch from a Tank role to a DPS role by slightly changing what gear they are using.

[Thanimal]

There are so many ways to build a tank in this game that it's ... well ... awesome! (In every sense of the word.)

I'd say the "starter tank" is probably a pure Fighter Dwarf (or possibly Warforged) in heavy armor (or Adamantine Plate) with Dwarven Axe and Tower Shield, and maxed Intimidate (plus gear with + to Intim). This is relatively straightforward to build (compared to harrier DDO builds, not necessarily compared to other MMOs simpler build systems). And such a build is a wrecking ball at low levels and a good aggro control build throughout.

But, as others have pointed out, this isn't necessarily ideal into higher end content. It lacks Evasion (an awesome feat for tanking), has only decent saving throws (roughly Magic defense), and its DPS can end up quite marginal in a world of Tempest-accelerated Two-Weapon-Fighting builds.

In this game you can build tanks that are mostly Rogue, mostly Fighter, mostly Ranger, mostly Paladin, and some argue mostly Barbarian can do it with a ridiculous hit point bar. (I disagree on that last one and am all about Armor Class and Saves.) In fact, I've seen people claim they have Cleric and Bard builds that can tank, and I certainly can't prove them wrong.

And there are two fundamental methods of holding aggro: Intimidate and "Hate." Many tanks do a little of both, but some are quite specialized toward one or the other.

As much as I love tanks, I'd say it's probably the most complicated archetype to really build well in DDO. So as a starting point I'd either do the pure Fighter Dwarf to learn your way, or I'd find a build on the forums that you like and copy it exactly. (Feel free to send me a Private Message if you want advice on how to convert a 32-point build into a 28-point build.)

Just for fun, here are a few of my personal favorite tank ideas, some of which are slightly non-traditional and/or not yet fully proven (mainly just to point out the variety of tank builds):

Firstly, my own two are linked from my sig: Drow Rogue Intimitank and Hate Monster (and see links from there to another interesting Hate Tank). These builds almost couldn't be more different except that both usually want aggro on them, but can do something very useful if tanking is not required of them. The former is awesome and fun, but I have some fear will not be ideal in current Raids. The latter is unproven but so far has me drooling.

The Hurtlocker. This is a new tanking concept that I am fairly enthusiastic about. I believe there are a quite a few variants on this basic theme that should be excellent.

An "advanced" version of the Dwarven straight Fighter tank that can be a great end-game build can be found here: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=194321

The Exploiter is a popular and very versatile mostly-Ranger that can do a pretty good job as a tank when needed.

I can't seem to quickly find a Paladin/Fighter/(Monk?) designed for tanking. Such a build is definitely possible, but I think a lot of people are coming to the view that Paladins are better for DPS currently, using their auras to help the tank, rather than to BE the tank.