The Cannon Fodder Tank, The Kensai/Stalwart Build

[MrWizard]

I used to build characters with no direction and just had fun. It worked really well but in the elite quests and raids I found my fighter was always taking a lot of damage, dying a lot, and generally just being a tag along with okay dps. I wanted to change that and make a character that could hold up well in an elite (or epic) dungeon and be a viable member of a raid.
Below is my attempt at that...


I decided to take my old Mod2 28 point human fighter and True Reincarnate him. To remake him as a straight 20th level fighter, human, 34 point build.
Below are my notes on the build. I tried to add some stuff from different levels too.
Trying to get a real good AC, intimidate, DR, saves, along with very good damage (DPS).

Note: This is still under construction and I hope to add a better how-to and starter information for people new to this type of build or to the game. This is mainly notes and overviews of what I did to make my tank.

This build has a sort of chameleon ability. By changing one of the suggested feats and selecting 'Superior weapon focus: slashing' instead, this build can easily reset its enhancements and become a fully functional Kensai III DPS fighter at a moments notice....and vice versa. Either build having an extremely high AC and Damage reduction factor, high DPS, high intimidate, and very good saves.
You can easily switch at lower levels to kensai I or II without any feat changes.

This chameleon ability allows you to change your playstyle quickly without rerolling, reincarnating, or spending turbine points. Picking up proper gear for both Stalwart Defender and Kensai could make switching back and forth every few days very easy.

Why would you want to switch from Stalwart to Kensai? Perhaps you cannot find the gear for high ac yet but when you do you will switch? Perhaps you want to try out both and see what you like at lower and higher levels?

This build also makes note of 28, 32, and 36 point build options, both reincarnated and non-reincarnated.

Posts:
---------------------------------------------
1) Intro (you are reading it now)
2) Stats and Skills Go to Post 2
3) Feats Go to Post 3
4) Enhancements Go to Post 4
5) This build in Raids Go to Post 5
6) Overview at level 13, 18, 20 with numbers Go to Post 6
7) Gear Go to Post 7

VIDEOS OF THIS BUILD IN ACTION

Spotlight Videos
Part 5 of a Sins run, with sped up video, music, and comments. Enjoy
Vision of Destruction humorous video with cannonfodder
Speed Run of Sins of Attrition on casual mode, solo. 7+ minutes, end chests.
Speed run gone wrong on norm, 16 minutes
Speed run sins of attrition on hard setting


(I picked Sins of Attrition to showcase the build a bit. It is just a real fun dungeon to battle in, especially solo on any difficulty. Once you obtain all your raid gear, crafted items, and epic stuff, this will not be a challenge to you.
These videos are low on crafted items, no epic gear, and just a few raid items. Just a 'regular everyday build'.
Some see this as a really hard dungeon to survive in, I think you will find it is a blast for this build)

All recorded before mod 5.

Sins of Attrition, high level dungeon, solo on casual.
19th level dungeon.
small selection of a run
The red alert about 35 seconds into part 2 should give you an idea of how fun this build is.

Sins of Attrition, high level dungeon, solo on normal.
19th level dungeon.
2 3 4
(part 3 has a good red alert at the end that continues into part 4..)

Sins of Attrition, high level dungeon, solo on HARD.
20th level dungeon.
1 2 4 5 6
This video has notes on the build and dungeon. I tried to get myself into some real trouble to show you how your DPS is sustained through survival.
I think you will find #4 and 5 quite entertaining

Elite Sins instructional videos
Clearing the first part

Epic Shield block/ DR test

Other Stalwart/Intim builds

(if you want your build posted here, shoot me a tell)

Permanator: Stalwart Defender DPS INTIMITANK
Big Rock Candy the Mountain (Warforged 18f/2rog Evasion Stalwart Defender)
The "Riott" Tank - Original AC Intimitank
DPS/Intimitank

THE CANNON FODDER BUILD

A Stalwart Defender

warning: Cheezy roleplay stuff ahead...


Your enemies shudder as you appear on the battlefield. Steeled eyes glint 'neath your armored visor. Enemies turn but you are upon them.
They lose focus of your party as you crash into their flanks.

Blows glance off you. Enemies fall one by one. A lone stoic tower amidst a sea of your enemy.

First into battle, last to leave the field. Vanguard for retreat, last one standing.
You are Cannon Fodder.

Your will alone holds back your foes, ensuring victory.

Neither a hero nor Knight. You are Cannon Fodder. A force of nature. An island the enemy crashes upon.

You are the last one standing on the field of valor.

You will not fall. Your job is to survive. Beaten, mobbed, and overwhelmed you stand your ground. Your party counts on you.

Bloodied and near death, you fall to one knee. Your enemies quake as you stand upright one more time, a deadly glare in your eyes.
Without a word you charge them again. Frightened, they fall back.

You will not be beaten this day.


Someday your tomb will be a battlefield, but not this day. Your party marches forward. You march on.

Another battle, more fallen foes.

You are Cannon Fodder. Fight on, prevail.

This build is oft maligned and known as 'intimi-tank'. Many poorly built toons claim this moniker and a large number of the veteran player base consider them gimped and nothing more than turtles that just sit there and let others do the work for them.
This build is NOT that type of 'intimi-tank'. This build has a full set of DPS, Very High AC and Intim, Very high DR, and good saves. This build was meant to not just gather aggro, but to kill those it drags too.
However, the use of intimidate is misunderstood or poorly played by so many it is hard to understand how to use it yourself.
You will get a name for yourself with this build as you progress and show durability and DPS.
You will face much discrimination based on the stereo type of an 'intimi-turtle' and you need to be prepared for it

[MrWizard]

STATS STATS STATS STATS STATS

Note for reincarnations: Before you LESSER reincarnate, make sure you eat the highest plus tome you have for intelligence, charisma, and dexterity if you have not already. This will ensure getting the +1 tome applied after 3rd level, +2 after 7th, and so on while you are on the boat.
Do not eat tomes if you are planning to TRUE reincarnate!
Apparently if you swallow a +2 tome and never used a +1 tome, the +1 will still be applied upon reincarnation

Every character generation requires a well thought out plan for your original allotment of 28, 32, 34, or 36 point builds. This post will list what I thought would be best and why I choose them.

It is highly suggested to start at least a 32 point build for this. A 34 or 36 point is preferred.

When building your character it will cost you 1 'point' of your 'stat points' to increase a stat from 8 to 14. For 15 and 16 it will cost you 2 points each. For 17 and 18 it will cost 3 points each. This is important in figuring out your build as going to from 16 to 18 will entail using 6 more precious points you cannot put anywhere else and help you realize going to 18 may hurt more than help.
How you spend these points is very important for your character. As you reach end game content any mistakes now will sorely weaken your build later.



This is for a 20th level, human, Fighter .

NOTE: During level up you may get an option of increasing a stat by one point. For this build I went for strength each time. You could choose Con or another stat instead depending on your ideas. I did strength to help with 'to hit' and 'damage'. You get 5 increases through your 20 levels, at 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20th level (I think these are right).
It is highly recommended to take strength for you level up points over any other stat, but this build does allow wiggle room if you want.

NOTE: You should apply tomes as soon as you can on this build. It is set up so with a +2 tome your dex to get you to 17 and will allow all two weapon fighting feats, +1 intelligence tome will get you to 13 to allow for combat expertise and +2 will gain more skill points, and +1/(+2 if 28 or 32 pt bld.) to get charisma to 13 for force of personality.

Starting stats
34 points (True Reincarnation)

strength 16
dexterity 15
constitution 15
intelligence 12
wisdom 8
charisma 12

Optional Starting stats for 32 point build

str 15
dex 15
con 15
int 12
wis 8
cha 12


Optional Starting stats for 28 point build

str 14
dex 15
con 14
int 12
wis 8
cha 12


For a 36 point build I might add a few more to charisma or constitution. Strength increase would cost 3. Dex might be the best since it would make it 16 and add that one extra point needed to gain a +7 modifier for one extra ac point, assuming you take the past life fighter feat as a selection. This will save needing an exceptional dex +1 or spending an enhancement onit.

Intel at 13 gives ability to gain the 'Combat Expertise' feat. As a fighter this feat allows you to get into a special 'stance' that grants you 5 extra points to your Armor Class.
Starting at Intel of 12 allows you to use a +1 tome at 3rd level and gains you access to get 'combat expertise' at the next opportunity to gain a feat.
I could have started with an 11 and used a +2 tome at 7 for the 34 point build, however I wanted it 'combat expertise' earlier and starting at 12 will give 4 extra skill points at start and extra skill points as you level. (as a human you get a few more skill points also).

Charisma of 12 allows you to use a +1 tome at level 3 getting you to 13 charisma. At charisma 13, you gain access to select a feat called 'force of Personality'. This feat allows charisma to be used for your will saves instead of wisdom. It will be available next time you can select a feat when leveling.
Charisma is important to this build as it increases your will saves, ability to use magic devices, and your ability to intimidate and control enemies.
By using Charisma for your will saves you do not have to put any points at all into Wisdom, ever.

Dexterity at 15 Dex increases your ac, reflex saves, and allows you opportunity to select two weapon fighting feats.
15 is needed for Two Weapon Fighting feat.
17 is needed to get Improved and Greater two weapon fighting feats.
Starting at 15 allows you to get to 24 dex, which will give you your max ac dex bonus of +7 (assuming you take past life fighter feat). A non-reincarnation will only need 22 dex to get the max of +6.
15 base dex + 6 dex item + 2 tome = 23 Dex.
To get Dex of 24 you either need to spend action points to get the extra point via Human adaptability, a +3 tome, or +1 exceptional dex item.

Wisdom was complete dump stat allowing allotment of stat points elsewhere. This is due to the feat 'force of personality' that you will choose later on.

Strength and Constitution were put as high as I could taking into effect the other needs for this build.
Strength will help with your ability to hit while constitution will add hit points and affect your fortitude save.
You could go 15 strength and 16 constitution. The extra point in constitution will add to your fort save and hit points versus the loss of 1 to hit and damage. Your call, but strength is the preferred balance here.

For newer players:
You may think that going to 18 in a stat is the best way to go, but the cost is very high and takes away from many things in this build.
At 20th level, the extra 2 points into strength will add +1 to hit and damage and that is all. an 18 con will add 40 more hit points on this build and +2 to an already very high fortitude save.
This is the preferred way to build a complex fighter like this and I suggest you go with it.

SKILLS SKILLS SKILLS SKILLS SKILLS SKILLS SKILLS SKILLS



A skill is a type of innate ability that affects how you react or interact with items, friends, or enemies in the game. Skills are reflected by how many 'ranks' you have with them. One skill point will get you one rank for skills that your class is proficient in. Other skills will allow only 1/2 rank gains for every skill point spent.


The skills that are most important to you are;
Intimidate
Jump
Use Magic Device
Balance
Tumble

I put these in order of importance. Depending on whether you are a 28, 32, 34, or 36 point build you may or may not have enough skill points to do all 5, especially at your first 3 or 4 levels.

Intimidate is your most important skill. This skill allows you to instantly gain the notice or 'aggro' of enemies of almost all kinds. This keeps the aggro off your party and on you instead. It is one of the most powerful aggro effects in the game and works on undead, golems, and just about everything else except very unintelligent animals.

Jump - although you may not notice til later in the game, the ability to have a high jump can get you out of lots of trouble and is one of the most desired skills in the game. You need to put points in this, especially as an intimidate style fighter.

Use Magic Device (UMD) - This is what is called a 'cross-class' skill. This means instead of gaining 1 rank of UMD for every skill point you spend, you only get 1/2 a rank. At first level you can actually put in 4 points to get a start of 2 ranks, after that you can only gain 1/2 rank a level. This means at end game, 20th level, the most you can get is 11 ranks of UMD (the max rank being 23).
With UMD you can use weapons, armor, and items that may be race, level, or alignment restricted. You can also cast many scrolls and wands like;
Cure and other healing type wands and scrolls
Blur, invisibilty, and other self or party buff scrolls and wands
and you will be able to raise the dead or summon creatures.


Balance is used in your saving roll versus knockdowns and allows you to get up quicker when you are tripped or knocked down. This is a cross class skill and thus hard to gain high ranks in (see UMD above). Your armor and shields actually lower this skill too. Without putting points in this you may end up on the ground for a long time. You need this skill. It is also based on your Dexterity score.

Tumble - Due to certain limitations of the stalwart defender stance you will end up moving incredibly slow while in it. Tumbling will allow much faster movement. However, this is a cross class skill and is affected detrimentally by your armor and shields also. A low tumble will not be much help, so the higher the better.
I find tumbling is very beneficial during high end content and movement in stance. Well worth the effort.

Other skills: If you had more points to spend each level you might consider these cross class skills
Haggle - will make things cheaper to buy and you will sell for more at vendors.
Heal - the higher this skill, the more hit points you get back from a shrine. Not a bad thing to have.
Listen or Spot - good to be able to see hidden or silently moving enemies.
Swim - not a cross class skill, but if you have the extra there is one or two quests where this could be beneficial.

[MrWizard]

FEATS FEATS FEATS FEATS FEATS FEATS FEATS FEATS FEATS




Stat Requirements for build feats:
combat expertise: Int 13
Greater 2 weap / max AC: Dex 17
Force of Personality: Cha 13



19 total feats

34 point build, reincarnation will get 19 total feats. A 28 or 32 point build will get 18 and a 36 point will be 20 feats.
(the extra feats mentioned above are due to reincarnation. A reincarnation will get a certain number of free feats based on their previous class.)

This build is based on a human. A human gains a free extra selectable feat at first level. Other races gain one or more free granted feats instead. I went human to gain this extra selectable feat. I also wanted some of the optional enhancements a human can get.

This is how I built Cannon Fodder. After the listed feats I'll discuss why I selected them and some of the many different ways you could go with this build.

Reincarnation feats (2)
----------------------
Past life: Fighter (+1 to attack and +1 to combat feats like trip)
(This was free (granted) and came with the reincarnation)
Fighter past life student of the sword (+2 intim, +1 max dex bonus to armor and shields, three + 4 'to hit' clickies that last one minute). This feat has to be selected.

(if you are not a reincarnated toon, you will be able to spend one feat somewhere else and will not get the granted feat either. If you were not a fighter in your previous life, these feats will not be available either.
I suggest BULLHEADED to get the +2 intimidate skill and +1 will save instead)



Armor Class and Damage Reduction feats (4)
----------------------------------------------
combat expertise (+5ac/-5 attack)
dodge (+1 ac)
Shield mastery (+3 to blocking DR)
improved shield mastery (+3 blocking DR)
Combat expertise is a 'toggle' on/off for +5 to ac, dodge is always on. The Shield Mastery feats are always on. This build likes the +6 to AC. The extra damage reduction of 6 when blocking is essential.



Hit Point Feats (1)
---------------------
Toughness
(This feat will give you 22 hit points at 20th level (3 + 1 per level) and open up to 70 hit points in bonus enhancements.)


Saves and Skills Feats (3)
-------------------------
Force of personality (charisma used for will saves instead of wisdom)
Skill Focus Intimidate +3
Skill Focus UMD + 3
(The skill focus will add a stack-able and always on +3 to the listed skill.)



DPS feats (9)
-------------
two weapon fighting (lowers attack penalty when using two weapons)
Improved Two Weapon Fighting (get an extra attack when TWFing)
greater two weapon fighting (get an extra attack when TWFing)
(The extra attacks with two weapon fighting will help damage over time increase also.)

Proficiency: Khopesh (allows use of khopesh without a penalty to hit)
improved crit slash (increases the critical hit range of slashing weapons like the khopesh)
(khopesh is generally listed as one of the best weapons to use when two weapon fighting due to its high crit multiplier (x3) and its decent crit range (17-20 with improved crit feat.)

improved crit pierce (increases the critical hit range of piercing weapons like the Rapier)

Weapon Focus: Slashing (+1 to hit with slashing weapons)
Greater Weapon Focus: Slashing (additional +1 to hit with slashing weapons)
Weapon Specialization: Slashing (+2 to damage with slashing)
Greater Weapon Specialization: Slashing (additional +2 to damage with slashing)
The extra +2 to hit and +4 to damage will do you well to hit and for damage over time.
The spec and focus also allow you access to the fighter mastery enhancements for +2 damage with khopeshes)

With just the addition of Superior weapon focus: Slashing, the weapon focus and specializations can allow a quick reset of enhancements to go from Stalwart Defender to Kensai with just the addition of Superior weapon focus, so this build can easily be respecced with little cost or time.



Discussion of feats
-----------------------------

AC: To build my AC up I had to select Combat Expertise (CE) and Dodge. CE is very important giving you +5 to your AC. These are the only 2 feats you can really choose for AC and are pretty much a must. Dodge could be dropped at higher level for something else though.

For fighting
The two weapon fighting line allows some massive DPS 'over time' and the extra to hit and damage feats intensify that. In many cases you will be using your shield though and the 2 weapon fighting line is useless in that regard.. However, I suggest keeping at a minimum the basic Two weapon fighting feat.

For Saves and Skills, the Force of personality allows you to gather a lot of needs into one stat, charisma. Since you need it for UMD and intimidate, your other important skills, it was a natural for will saves too.


Past life feats: The free one is good as you will need the attack bonus to start the offset from 'combat expertise' (-5 to attack) always being on. The purchasable one is AWESOME allowing one higher AC via max dex bonus, +2 to your intim, and three 1 minute clickies for +4 to hit.

Damage Reduction: With shield mastery and improved mastery you will end up near 40 for damage reduction while blocking with a good tower shield. That is INCREDIBLE when tanking an end boss. Absolutely worth it.

Improved crits: Slashing and piercing....lots of pierce weapons will help you (like banishers) and of course your khopesh sword giving more damage as it crits more.

The dps feats of weapon focus and spec are definitely something you can think about dropping if you do not intend to try kensai. In total, these 4 feats add +2 to hit, +4 damage and open up +2 damage in enhancements. To go into a dps mode you could get Power attack (for +5 damage) and still have 3 more feats and some action points for other things. Definitely something to think about.

This build has room for feat swaps for different things...
You literally have 5 to 7 feats to play with in this build to go in many directions. You can build up saves, expand your dps a little or a lot, up your ac a bit, and so much more. The list of available feats is HUGE and you may want to peruse the compendium. I suggest staying with the build and if anything add to your saves before other nifty things.

You could drop the Two weapon fighting line and go with Two handed fighting (and improved and greater).

If you want to be more 'Sword and Board' you could change the TWF feats to cleave, great cleave, whirlwind, etc.

The weapon spec and focus feats (along with some enhancements they open up) will give you some pluses to hit and 6 more damage. You could drop all 4 of those feats and spend them on saving throw feats or even add THF to compliment your TWF feats. Or even go with the cleave line.

TWF defense is another feat to consider and if you are not a reincarnate or not taking the selectable reincarnation feat, I suggest taking this feat for the +1 to AC while two weapon fighting.

Power Attack was not taken on this build. Power attack adds 5 to damage and -5 to hit (more damage if THFing). The weapon focus/spec/enhance gives us 6 damage and is always on. Reason for not selecting Power Attack is you can only have one feat (combat expertise or power attack) on at one time. During playtime with this build it became apparent that combat expertise should be on 100% of the time making power attack a serious waste of a feat slot.

Stunning Blow and Improved Trip - These feats just did not make sense with this build. To be effective in these you need to spend a lot of much needed action points and you will lose one or two feats to do it. With a high ac build like this, there is no need for trip or stun. You can intimidate them to keep them off party members and beat them down yourself. And these feats are useless against red nameds like those you will be tanking in raids or at the end of dungeons.

Resilience feat - This gives +4 to saves, -4 attack and loss of half damage in combat. I used this for quite a while and found it to be a life saver. It is a stance like CE and Power Attack. Thus, it cannot be on at the same time Combat Expertise is on.
I used it when going through traps, dealing with heavy magic use in combat like hold person, command, fireball saves, etc. It was hugely beneficial. However I just ran out of feats as I got higher level and dropped it for the weapon focus/spec feats instead.
Bonus: it has the coolest graphic over your head when turned on in the game. Everyone goes 'what the heck was that?'. Wicked cool.

Feats you can start thinking about switching out at level cap

I suggest thinking about saving throws, offensive combat DC, or even some levels of two handed fighting once you can start dropping the ones listed below...

Improved Crit : Piercing is really cool for using smiters and banisher or other crit effect weapons. This serves you extremely well in a lot of content at lower levels, especially a banishing rapier in the vale. However, at 20th level I found I rarely used any of those weapons and am considering dropping this feat for something else. I suggest once you get high enough you switch it out for a feat like TWF defense or a 'saving throw' feat, or possibly stunning blow/improved trip.

Skill focus: UMD - Once you craft enough gear your UMD will be near or above 40. You can drop this feat at that point (especially if you make yourself a healing stick and no longer need to do heal scrolls). Without your UMD skill focus, you will be at or slightly above 32 and can boost another 5 from human versatility to 37+. This is more than enough for the buffing and healing you need for you and your party.
This can open up another feat slot at higher level.

Skill focus intimidate - yep, this is your bread and butter. With the right gear and buffs you will eventually be able to pass 80 intim. This is complete overkill and even has a zero chance of failure in epic raids.


Some suggested feats to get for these 3
THF line, what the heck, be the uber dps slatwart on the block.
TWF defense - add to that ac man!
Both trip and stun for an awesome 1-2 punch.
luck of heroes, +1 to all saves.
quickdraw, seems to speed up your weapon changes and intimidate/swing times.

I could go on....there is so much you can do at every level to change this build to fit your style.

[MrWizard]

Enhancements Enhancements Enhancements Enhancements Enhancements Enhancements

Enhancements - 80 Action Points
These are for the Stalwart Defender set up, if you reset and want to go Kensai a lot of these will be different.

One of the great things about DDO is your ability to reset your enhancements when you need too. While running this build I reset them quite a lot as I acquire better equipment, gain levels, etc.
As a human you have lots of extra enhancements to work with stat points, healing, and a wide range of bonuses no other class has. This gives you a reason to reexamine your enhancements at each level to see if a better reset is in order.


Below is where the build was at, at one time. Most of these enhancements you want or need . There is juggling room here though.

Some enhancements are needed for Stalwart Defender ( others are needed for Kensai). If you go to your character sheet and look at the 'enhancements' tab and select 'show unavailable' (near the bottom) you will be able to find the Stalwart Prestige enhancements. Hovering over them will show you what you need to gain access to them.

Fighting (19)
------------
2 Capstone/ Fighter Weapon Alacrity 10% bonus to attack speed, all weapons
6 Fighter Strength II +2 strength
2 Human Adaptability +1 Strength
6 Fighter Intimidate III +3 to intim
3 Fighter Weapon Mastery: Khopesh II +2 to damage

AC (20)
------
6 Action Boost: Armor III +4 AC for 20 seconds
12 Fighter Armor Mastery III +3 to max dex bonus armor

Hit Points (25)
-------------
10 Toughness III +30 hit points
3 Racial Roughness II +20 hit points
12 Improved Human Recovery III 30% better healing

Other (14)
-------
1 Fighter Armor Agility I +1 to skills affected by wearing armor
3 fighter Item Defense II 33% chance for no damage
10 Human Versatility IV Nice range of optional short boosts to ac, saves, to hit, damage, and skills

Prestige Enhancement
-------------------------
8 Stalwart defender III (see bonuses below)



Stalwart Defender Enhancement
-------------------------------------------
All times
-----------
+3 Untyped AC Bonus
6/- DR when holding a shield and a weapon
+6 Intimidate Skill
+5 Blocking AC (overrides regular blocking, does not stack)
+5 Shield Blocking DR (does Stack with shield and feats)
+2/+3 - +2 Max dex bonus for armor, +3 for shield


In Stance:
------------------
+4 Dodge Bonus to AC
+4 Strength (+2 hit/damage/combat feats)
+4 Constitution (+40 HP (2 HP/level), +2 fort save)
200% more hate in melee
+3 competence bonus to all saves



It is hard to tell you exactly what you will end up with here. Each time you get some better gear, a different level, some loot like tomes, etc, will make your current enhancements a little off and require a reset.

For sure you need armor mastery, some toughness enh., stalwart defender, healing amplification, and just about anything needed for your stalwart enhancement line.
How this works is up to you. Do not get fancy. Stay with your build. Get AC, intim, hit points, stalwart...do not stray from those thoughts much.

Human improved recovery is great. If you can craft some healing amplification items for 20% then you are talking 50% increase from incoming healing. This means pots can get into the low 40s when you chug them. Heal spells will be in the 700 to 1500 range. You will impress clerics. You will be able to easily heal yourself in combat.

Human versatility - At IV, you get clickes of +5 to hit, to damage, for saves, for AC, or for skill checks. This is a great boost for DPS, Ac tanking, UMD healing, or dealing with spells via saving throws. Absolutely an uber line of enhancements.

Human adaptability is an awesome set of enhancements. Although only one is listed above, you can actually get a second stat to +1. These two can bring the odd numbered stat up one to increase your effectiveness. Extremely awesome.

Play with your enhancements. Look at what is 'not available' or go to the compendium and check out fighter enhancements under the classes section. Used correctly enhancements greatly increase the viability of your build.

[MrWizard]

RAIDS RAIDS RAIDS RAIDS

So, how will you do in raids? That is a question I know you are concerned about and here is what I have been doing with this build the last few levels (16-20)

Tanking a main boss will mostly mean you intimidating and shield blocking. The rest of the time you will be beating things down. This is about tanking the main boss if applicable.
Should you get some good raid gear, you will be able to do fairly decent DPS throughout.

This is not a discussion on epic dungeons, just regular raids. Epic is another story. If you are doing epic you are either going to die right away or you have the gear and the expertise you no longer need this forum thread. Epic is for Epic toons, both as players and in gear. It takes time to get to that level and excel.

I used to be the one in the raid that just listened to the leader, tried not to screw up, and just did the best dps I could. With this build I could do something I never could before, actually tank the end bosses. It is very fulfilling to be able to be at the center of the action, the entire party depending on you, and you actually pull it off.
Earlier in my DDO life someone would say 'who wants to tank the boss' and I would just be very quiet. I would die and fail the raid for everyone.
This build allowed me to be useful to the group and a build they could count on. Nothing feels worse than being the gimp in the raid. With this build you can step up and get the job done, either as main tank or back up main tank.

You will thoroughly enjoy tanking raids with this build. It is awesome.

Dragon Raid - This raid is pretty much a party thing at VoN 6. You will be fine here if you ever run it.

Titan: Pretty much run by high levels, your build will be fine here.

Demon Queen: Again, usually run by high levels. You can park her in firewalls with intim and shield block. Makes this quest very easy on everyone. She will seldom hurt you at all.
Main Tank is easy for this build. You will save on her blades too.
You will make this raid and the pre-raid a breeze for you party. Once you get your gear you can intim her and figher her one on one with little issue.
(this applies also to the demon queen in the Amrath series, Bastion of Power)

Reaver Raid - You can tank him easy. You will take little damage, beat him down well, and when you get fly you will get the lever.
Main tank is very easy for this build.

Shroud -
This is a very easy raid to tank for this build
Part 4 and 5 are where you will shine. The raid boss is easily intimidated by you. As long as people do not range him he will seldom ever spin nor run around. If someone is flanking or ranging him in part 4, he will spin. If someone is ranging in part 5, he will run around and meteor swarm.
Once you get most of your gear, you will find you can basically solo him with little difficulty and healing. Once you are at this point in the build, your shroud runs will never fail save for lag in part 4 or 5. All you need is one cleric with some wands and he is yours (at least on norm). On hard (which no one runs) the cleric may need mana.
To save problems with squishies I use intim on both parts anyway to try to keep him faced towards me as most groups will not do intim tanking on him. And as stated, ranged folk will just cause him to go around in circles or run around.
You will no longer fear this part of the raid. You will look forward to it and probably never die from 15th level on.


Hound - Easy tank for this build. You will easily intim her on norm, most of the time on hard. Not tried elite yet. (although intim is not really needed anyway). You will save on the bees on norm, not much at all on hard. She will seldom hit you at all.
If you put some feats towards saves, you will not get 'bees' at all.


Vision of Destruction - I run this on hard all the time as lead tank. Have not tried elite yet.
You will not miss with your intim, he will not turn around (barring a glitch). You will take little or no damage and will be easily healed by a Favored soul's free cure light wounds enhancement.
This is an exceptionally easy raid for this build to tank.


Tower of Despair - I have only run this on normal.

This is a very good raid for you to tank with this build.

Part 1- you can easily hold the jailer or judge, facing you, with little damage taken. You can main tank either. You will be welcomed by the clerics for preventing mass damage on the party all while whaling away on the bosses and intimidating them.

Part 2- Only a few groups will understand how intim works here or want to use it. If they do, you will find you control him completely, little damage, and the party will be hitting from behind the whole time. You cannot tank him DPS style and most parties will not want intim, so in many cases you will just be DPS on his backside. (secret for intim-ing him is to get your back to the chair so YOU can see if the shadows are close while you hit intim)

Part 3 - You will make Horoth hate you as you easily main tank him. Intim and turtle up. You will get hit by a 'medal' here and there, once in a while a few points from meteor storm, and now and then about 20 points from him hitting you. Basically you will take almost no damage and be easily healed by any group heals being cast on the other fighters.
He will not turn when you intim (barring a glitch). You must shield block to prevent disintegrate and/or other issues. You simply do not have the hitpoints to handle a non shield blocked position on this guy. DO NOT DO IT. His disintegrate can hit for over 500 damage. That coupled with the 'medals' and any prior damage will kill you outright.
Just intim and Shield block and it will be okay.
With you on Horoth, the entire party can go kill Sully while a cleric spot heals you. This will give everyone a second chest and a chance at a +4 tome.

[MrWizard]

Overview of playing this build at different levels

First, let me take a look at 'realistic Armor Class versus maximum obtainable'.
I cannot post pics to show you so I will just list the things I see as realistic.

The range is from 72 to 100 depending on buffs, blocking, and boosts.

"Always on armor class"

10 base (everyone has this)
7 max dex bonus (good number to shoot for)
16 Dragon touch armor and armor ritual
10 Tower Shield (leviks defender preferred) and Shield Ritual
5 Protection item
4 insight on dragon touch armor (preferred)
2 chaos bracers (easy to buy on auction house)
3 chattering ring (almost impossible to get, titan raid)
1 Dodge
3 stalwart Defender Enhancement
4 Stalwart Defender Stance
5 Combat Expertise
2 stalwart necklace set (requires ring from ToD raid)
--------------------
72 all purpose always on AC

Easy to get buffs or easy self buffs

1 haste (short time if from pot, 4 min from caster)
3 barkskin pot (6 min duration)
2 recitation spell or scroll (from cleric or your own scrolls, 1:30 to 4 minute duration)
---------------
78 Easy to keep up AC during any dungeon or battle
83 Shield Blocking
88 with +5 human versa boost for short periods of 20 seconds. 87 if using +4 fighter boost instead.

Self buffed, you can do just about any raid in the game as a shield intim. With a healing stick in your hand you could heal yourself in any of these raids too while shield/intim.
(healing stick is a shroud weapon that has 10, 20, and 30% healing on it, coupled with your 30% human to give you 90%. You'll get 44 to 62 on healing potions everytime)

If going TWF, you will lose 10 from not wearing Leviks shield and ritual, but using a shield wand that lasts 10 minutes you only lose 6 AC.


Things you wish you had, but depend on party or other factors

2 ranger barkskin or luck cast of kormor's belt (lasts 15 minutes)
4 bard song (lasts 4 minutes)
6 (1-6) Pally aura, depends on Pally, must be within range
-------------
1 to 12 extra AC with long duration.

This extra AC will get you to the following (range of numbers)
You can add to these numbers +5 blocking, +5 Human AC boost as you wish.

73 - 84 two weapon fighting/two handed fighting (with shield spell on)
79 - 90 fighting with shield on
89-100 Shield blocking and human boost

There are many things that lower a monsters 'to hit' chance, effectively raising your AC for the encounter. Curse, improved curse, any strength damage spells or effects (even on red and purple named), barbarian intimidate, etc. These things can add up to another 2 to 11 on a red/purple named. A lot more on a regular monster.

A enemy that is moving should be facing a -4 to hit you, this gives you 4 more situational ac. Add that to the 2 to 11 previously posted and you can get 6 to 15 ac higher by having you or party members using curse or debuffs on a red named while you battle the creature and keep it moving instead of toe to toe standing there. Situationaly giving you a chance to get to 115 ac or possibly more.

Level 20, close to being finished, earlier level builds below this one


Hit Points 482 / 522 (stance)
(no longer wear minos, have not built shroud +45 hp item yet, still can bet more enhancements of toughness, and no excep con yet)
(Madstone boots are bugged and work only 10% of the time or less, so do not wear them either)
522 + 45 shroud + 10 enhancements + 40 (+4 tome, +2 excep cha item) + 20 minos (if I can find another intim or take off intim helm)
-------------------
659 possible hit points plus buffs

Blocking DR = 39

Stats -
str 37, dex 24, con 28, int 14, wis 10, cha 22
(Obviously some buffs or special items/pots can increase these during a quest)
No +3/+4 tomes yet.

AC 87 / 95 +5

Unbuffed, in stance
TWF 57 +5
Shield 67 +5
Self buffed
(bark pot, recitation, armor boost, shield spell, haste pot)
TWF 71 +5
shield 77 +5
Other buffs
(ranger, pally, bard,)
83 +5
89 +5
Equipment not using yet
(chattering ring (3), Stalwart necklace (2) )
87 +5
94 +5

Intimidate 59 (63 with GH, 69 with finished shroud charisma skill item, 70 with good fortune head)
(add inspire competence for 2 for a total 72 intim, plus any special yugo or alchemical potions)


Saves
---------------
Will 26 = 6 base + 6 cha + 3 stance + 4 GH + 5 item + 1 luck +1 ritual
Reflex 27 = 6 base + 7 dex + 3 stance + 4 GH + 5 item + 1 Luck +1 ritual
Fortitude 35 = 12 base + 9 con + 3 stance + 4 GH + 5 item + 1 luck +1 ritual
(still room for +3/4 tomes, shroud excep bonus items, other buffs.from bards and stuff)

LEVEL 20

Just hit 20 and this is where the build is at....


Hit points = 542
Blocking DR 39

AC

(this build can still acquire some more AC items like the chattering ring to increase it further)

The items are listed by how they are presented in your character sheet..
10 base
7 max dex bonus(7) allowed (with 1 more dex I can get 7)
15 armor (dragontouch)
9 Tower shield (levik's defender)
5 Protection item (deflection bonus)
4 insight (dragontouch armor) (misc bonus)
2 chaos bracers (dodge bonus)
4 stalwart defender stance (dodge bonus)
1 shield alchemical (dodge bonus)
1 armor alchemical (dodge bonus)
5 combat expertise (feat Bonus)
1 dodge (Feat Bonus)
3 stalwart defender (Feat bonus)
------------------
67 standing, unbuffed with shield, 72 blocking

1 haste
5 ranger barkskin
5 pally aura
5 blocking
4 bard song
4 armor class boost (short duration)
2 recitation
2 Stalwart Unique Item Set (ToD raid)
-------------------------
95 shield blocking



Intimidate

(this build can still benefit from a shroud +6 skill item, exceptional charisma, and Yugo pots)
=============
23 ranks
5 charisma modifier
3 skill focus
15 helmet
2 fighter past life feat
3 skill enhancements
6 stalwart enhancement
1 voice of master (luck)
--------
58 unbuffed

4 Greater Heroism
2 Inspire Competence
--------
64 raid ready

Items I do not have or use
-------------------
6 Shroud charisma skills item
2 benefit from exceptional charisma items, +3 tome
1 +2 cha Yugoloth Pot
1 +2 cha alchemical Pot
3 +3 skills alchemical Pot
----------
77 OVERKILL Intimidate



Saves
---------------
Some are situational, but here is the best with what I have or could have.
(+1 luck is from voice of master)

Will 28 = 6 base + 5 cha + 3 stance + 4 GH + 5 item + 1 luck + 4 resilience
Reflex 30 = 6 base + 7 dex + 3 stance + 4 GH + 5 item + 1 Luck + 4 resilience
Fortitude 38 = 12 base + 9 con + 3 stance + 4 GH + 5 item + 1 luck + 4 resilience

There are some buffs which can help these saves as are some more items that can be crafted, and a luck +2 item that can replace the +1. Suffice to say with some grinding you could add another 5-8 to each of these making them in the high 30s with your fort in the 40s. Some other raid buffs may help too.

Here are the updates for 13th and 18th levels to give you an overview.

Level 13 fighter update.

Hit points = 343/369
Blocking DR 24
AC = 38 to 77+
stats
str 28
dex 20
con 23
int 12 14
wis 8 9
cha 12 19

Saves so far
Will 14 = 4 base + 4 cha + 2 stance + 4 GH + (~buffs)
Reflex 19 = 4 base + 5 dex + 4 item + 2 stance + 4 GH + (~buffs)
Fortitude 22 = 8 base + 8 con + 2 stance + 4 GH + (~buffs)

When he was Level 18

I choose this level to show the boost for the stalwart III enhancement.
Hit points = 502
Blocking DR 38

AC
The items are listed by how they are presented in your character sheet..
10 base
6 max dex bonus(7) allowed (with 1 more dex I can get 7)
15 armor (dragontouch)
9 Tower shield (levik's defender)
5 Protection item (deflection bonus)
4 insight (dragontouch armor) (misc bonus)
2 chaos bracers (dodge bonus)
4 stalwart defender stance (dodge bonus)
1 shield alchemical (dodge bonus)
1 armor alchemical (dodge bonus)
5 combat expertise (feat Bonus)
1 dodge (Feat Bonus)
3 stalwart defender (Feat bonus)
------------------
66 standing, unbuffed with shield, 71 blocking

1 haste
5 ranger barkskin
5 pally aura
5 blocking
4 bard song
4 armor class boost (short duration)
2 recitation
-------------------------
92 shield blocking

Intimidate
=============
21 ranks
5 charisma modifier
3 skill focus
13 helmet
2 fighter past life feat
3 skill enhancements
6 stalwart enhancement
1 voice of master
--------
54 unbuffed

[MrWizard]

DPS AND GEAR

DPS DPS DPS DPS DPS DPS DPS DPS

DPS
This DPS is being copied from a dwarven fighter and is not finalized to this build yet.....UNDER CONSTRUCTION

This DPS is being copied from a dwarven fighter and is not finalized to this build yet.....UNDER CONSTRUCTION
(damage per swing)

Khopesh (greensteel) and Great Axe (still working)


with Power Attack on

THF 60-73 (198 - 237 crit)
TWF Main Hand 48-62 (162 - 204 crit)
TWF Off hand 41 - 55 (141 - 183)
(One weapon with shield same as Main Hand)

Without PA on
------------------
THF 50-63 (168 - 207 crit)
TWF Main Hand 45-59 (153 - 195 crit)
TWF Off hand 38 - 52 (132 - 174)
(One weapon with shield same as Main Hand)


Without a bard, or not fully bard buffed, take 14 points off regular hit, 42 off crit.
The rest of the buffs you can keep up yourself.




32 str (16 +5 level + 6 item + 2 tome + 3 enhance)

Greensteel khopesh - 2d8 + 5

12 str bonus (18 if two handed fighting, 6 on offhand if twf)

2 stalwart defender strength boost (4 if thf)
2 ftr khopesh spec enhance
4 Slashing specialty
6 bloodstone (crits only)
bard damage buffs
2 good hope
12 inspried courage
self buffs
1 rage (potion)
1 Divine favor (scroll, more if clickie?)
others
? Madstone boots


Main Hand/ Sword and Board

7-21 (2d8 + 5 Greensteel Dwarven Axe)
12 strength bonus
2 SD str bonus
2 Dwarf Axe bonus
2 Dwarven waraxe spec
4 slashing spec
5 power Attack
6 bloodstone (crits only)
14 bard buffs
1 divine favor
1 rage
-------------------------
50-64 regular swing
168 - 210 crit
(off hand -7 str bonus)


THF

8-23 (3d6 + 5 Greensteel great axe)
4 SD strength enhancement (actually should be 3, not reflected in numbers correctly)
18 Str bonus
2 Dwarf Axe enhancement
4 Slashing Feats
10 Power Attack
6 bloodstone (crits only)
12 bard buffs
1 divine favor
1 rage
----------------------------
60 - 73 Regular Swing
198 - 237 Crit

GEAR GEAR GEAR GEAR GEAR GEAR GEAR GEAR GEAR GEAR GEAR GEAR


UNDER CONSTRUCTION

There are 12 item slots to fill and 2 others, a weapon and a shield/2nd weapon slot.
I will try to walk you through the gear you will level up in, and the gear I suggest you want for end game.
Except for the end build setup you will sometimes be doing a lot of shuffling around to fill up slots with needed items.

Those slots are as follows;

Head - Helmet, Goggles, Trinket, Necklace
Arms and Legs - Boots, Bracers, Gloves, Ring 1, Ring 2
Body - Armor, Cloak, Belt
Items Carried - Shield and a weapon or two weapons

Here are the notes on the slots taken up when at cap, not including any epic gear
These are my recommendations and when outfitting your character as you level you need to keep these in mind. Plan ahead.

When listing crafted items, you should look on these as the 'end' fillings of the slots. Until you get all the right gear in the right slots, you may need to do other things (such as a different suit of dragon touch with something else on it.)

You may need to look some of this up on the definitive loot thread located here
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=121279

There are other items you may run into that you can add to switchable items or even craft better epic stuff, but this works well.

EDIT: below is what I am using now, for both my first and second TR life.


Armor Slot - Dragon Touched Full Plate - Insight +4, Charisma +6, Greater False life, Armor ritual +1
Shield - Leviks Defender Shield (hound raid)
Ring 1 - Cinders Band, +6 strength, Stalwart Set +2 AC, Exceptional Con +1, + 2 exceptional Charisma (crafted)
Necklace - Stalwart Necklace, Con +6, SD set +2 AC, +2 action boosts, additional melee hate
Ring 2 (switchable slot) - Chattering ring +3 Dodge bonus AC (if you can find it, I never could) I just switch this up with
seal of the earth DQ raid for +3 barkskin and a resistance +4 ring.
Goggles - Shroud Crafted Immunity - Fear, Poison, Blindness, disease, and +3 charisma skills, +1 Saves ritual (stone of change)
Trinket - (switchable) Head of Good Fortune +2 luck skills/saves, Bloodstone +6 seeker/crit damage
Gloves - Dex +6 gloves
Bracers - Chaosgardes +2 dodge ac bonus
Belt - Shroud craft mineral II - Heavy Fort/Protection 5, Greater acid resist, cha skills +2, +20 hit points, stoneskin clickie
Cloak - Shroud Crafted belt - Greater fire resist, +15 Hit points, +2 excep reflex, + 2 dex skills
Boots - boots of innocence (+5 resist, 20% striders)
Helmet - +15 intimidation helmet


Special Weapon Slot needs

Healing Stick - Placed in off hand for self healing or healed by cleric during TWF, main hand when intimitanking a raid. Shroud crafted with 10,20, and 30% healing amp.


Situational switchouts you will need/use

Ring 2 - 30% strider, balance, spell resistance, Ring of the Djinn, back up elemental resist rings, water breathing
Necklace - optic nerves
Goggles - Deathward Clickie, tharnes goggles
Trinket - Mummified bat (featherfall), House P Time Pendant
Bracers - Tharnes bracers (with tharnes goggles allows regular weapons to bypass incorporeal creatures)
Belt - Planar Gird (GH clickie), koromors belt for +5 barkskin chance
Cloak - I never switch the cloak
Gloves - Titan gloves +5 UMD
Boots - Madstone boots, boots of anchoring, slippery boots or VoN boots, Fire Greaves
Helmet - minos helm for +20 when not intim, underwater

My setup took a while to figure out. As is I always have on fire and acid resist 30, always have blur on, +35 hit points, etc.Quite a lot of things.
The ToD set is bugged so switching necklaces at this time is waste of ALL of your action points, but if they ever fix that bug the neck spot could be some nice shroud crafted ones, sigh.

The helm spot is always the intim helm as I use it a lot. However, I am thinking that except for some heavy raids once you can get your intim to around 75, then loosing the +15 helm allows you 60 still......and a shroud crafted helm gets you +7, so unless you really need that extra ooomph, perhaps a helm from the shroud with intim built in is a nice thing to wear.
Also, for normal fighting where high intim is not needed, an even more specific helm could be built from the shroud. (specifically one with deathblock since I still do not have anything with it yet).

The seal of the earth saves a ton on bark pots. I also carry elec, sonic, and cold 20 resist pots as I have not crafted any items to cover these, however with extreme shroud crafting you could add more items at helm or such for a third or 4th resist built in.

[tahlon]

The alchemical rituals to ac are dodge bonuses now and as such dont stack with each other (with one on armor and other on shield) and also does not stack with the dodge feat. Also I could be wrong but I dont think you can have defensive stance and combat expertise up at the same time since you can only use one stance and combat expertice counts as a stance last tiem i checked.

[SwampYankee]

Actually, the two alchemical rituals do stack with each other AND the dodge feat.

[Quikster]

The alchemical rituals to ac are dodge bonuses now and as such dont stack with each other (with one on armor and other on shield) and also does not stack with the dodge feat. Also I could be wrong but I dont think you can have defensive stance and combat expertise up at the same time since you can only use one stance and combat expertice counts as a stance last tiem i checked.

This is incorrect. The two alchemical bonuses do stack, even if the type changed to dodge (idr if they changed it) and they stack with the feat.

Stalwart Defensive stance can be used with combat expertise. You cannot have CE (+5 ac -5 to hit) and Defensive Fighting (+2 to ac -5 to hit ) on together. The stalwart stance works off your Fighter Armor Boost and is totally different from feat stances which the other two are.

[MrWizard]

and apparently stalwart defender does not work if carrying just a shield...it also requires a melee weapon in your hand or a lot of the benefits seem to disappear...including during stance (like the 4/- dr)

[Aranticus]

drop bastard sword, d-axe

get PA, khopesh

[maddmatt70]

A big suggestion for epic content is to pick up the stunning blow feat and get your tactical dcs via actioon points up there. Then go with a warhammer 5% weighted and a dwarven war axe or khopesh (either are good) dual wield in there.

[MrWizard]

A big suggestion for epic content is to pick up the stunning blow feat and get your tactical dcs via actioon points up there. Then go with a warhammer 5% weighted and a dwarven war axe or khopesh (either are good) dual wield in there.

I did some epic with a few guildies the other day. I found that some seldom used caster spells will far outweigh much tactical need. Funny thing is no one ever uses those spells...kinda funny really.

[maddmatt70]

I did some epic with a few guildies the other day. I found that some seldom used caster spells will far outweigh much tactical need. Funny thing is no one ever uses those spells...kinda funny really.

The epic content really is all about time. Reducing the time spent in an epic quest so you can run it again. The quests can be lengthy if you go without the proper tools. Can you beat the epic quests without very good tools most certainly, but did you take a long time doing so is more the question?

[MrWizard]

okay, about done with the build. I added what I could and also put up spots where someone can have room to change feats and enhancements for slightly different builds.

tried to be a bit wordy to help the newer folks out a bit...and added a colorful intimtank roleplaying intro.

[Grimlust]

Very good thread!

I have alot of the same internal debating over feat swapping (and balancing) and item slotting that I have when I struggle with "perfecting" my main that I just TR'd. One little change and it seems to set off a whole chain of adjustments that seem to pop up, but has been a very exciting and educational challenge. Mine has a splash of Paly (3 levels) for the charisma bonuses to saves, 2 LOH's, the immune to fear and disease and the enhancements raising ac and saves, but other than that I have encountered the same hard choices read in this thread.

Great job on the post.

[MrWizard]

Very good thread!

I have alot of the same internal debating over feat swapping (and balancing) and item slotting that I have when I struggle with "perfecting" my main that I just TR'd. One little change and it seems to set off a whole chain of adjustments that seem to pop up, but has been a very exciting and educational challenge. Mine has a splash of Paly (3 levels) for the charisma bonuses to saves, 2 LOH's, the immune to fear and disease and the enhancements raising ac and saves, but other than that I have encountered the same hard choices read in this thread.

Great job on the post.

thanks. This is my first real attempt to build a character with a well thought out plan and it is very hard.

the best thing was the chaos bracers I got.. then I got the leviks bracers and shield, awesome...but then it became a question on which to wear...oh man...really hard to do this.


I am praying they make an item with 2 +6 stat items.
The one stat that is a complete dump for me is wisdom...and it is the only one you can get on a shroud item to wear...
UGH!

Gonna lesser reincarnate today to switch out some feats for damage purposes.

[Rusty_Can]

fighter past life student of the sword (+2 intim, +1 max dex bonus to armor and shields, timer with 3 +4 to hit clickies)

The "clickie" provided by the purchasable feature should:
- increase your BAB to your level (useless for full-BAB builds like yours, but my gimped Arcane Knight might really use that O_o );
- provide a further +4 to hit.

The clickie might be considered an enhanced non-dispellable version of "Divine Power". My question is: how long does each charge last?

[Quikster]

The "clickie" provided by the purchasable feature should:
- increase your BAB to your level (useless for full-BAB builds like yours, but my gimped Arcane Knight might really use that O_o );
- provide a further +4 to hit.

The clickie might be considered an enhanced non-dispellable version of "Divine Power". My question is: how long does each charge last?

1 minute