Monty McTank

[jmonty]

Human fighter 32 point intim-tank

I’m on vacation with no access to ddo so I actually took a bit of time to design a character instead of just starting with a general idea and muddling through as I usually do. I have a multi classed fighter already so I wanted to roll a pure one. I was going to tr my pally tank into a fighter but I decided not to, for now.

My goal with this character is high intimidate and eventually high ac. Also I wanted the option of DPS so I took twf feats. Furthermore, I enjoy tactical combat feats so I fit in improved trip and stunning blow. This is a pretty vanilla , straight forward build but here it is:

STARTING STATS:

Str 16 -- +5 level ups, +2 tome
Dex 15 +2 tome,
Con 14 +2 tome,
Int 12 +2 tome
Wis 08
Cha 12, +2 tome

end game stats can vary significantly based on gear, so i did not try and determine potential here. a basic load out would take just plus 6 items on all stats but int and wis.

FEATS-- (these aren’t in order of leveling)

HUMAN FEAT

Exotic weapon proficiency--bastard sword, khopesh, dwarves ax, whatever you want. When I make this character I’ll probably use bastard swords when leveling and before acquiring greensteel because i assume they are easier to equip.

11 FIGHTER FEATS--
Improved critical: slashing
Two weapon fighting
Improved two weapon fighting
Greater two weapon fighting
Combat expertise
Power attack
Improved trip
Stunning blow
Weapon focus slashing
Weapon specialization slashing
Greater weapon specialization slashing

7 CHARACTER FEATS--
Toughness
Least dragon mark of sentinel
Skill focus: umd
Skill focus: intimidate
bullheaded
Force of personality
Lightening reflexes



SKILLS

intim and umd are the most important imo, but there are points left over for balance, jump, or whatever else you might want.

Intimidate

23 ranks
15 item
3 skill focus
6 shroud item
6 cha bonus
2 head of good fortune
2 least dragon mark
4 gh
6 defender pre
4 fighter enhancements
1 human enhancements
2 bullheaded
------------
74 most of the time

+2 bard song

76 when you have a friendly bard along

+1 yugo cha pot

77 max after getting yugo favor

+3 more intim is possible if lesser and greater dragon marks of sentinel replace other feats, and then the human enhancements are taken. As of now I would not take that option.





Umd

11.5 ranks
3 skill focus
6 shroud item
5 cha bonus
2 head
4 gh
-------

31 standing

2 bard song

33 raid buffed

3 golden cartouche

36

+1 yugo pot

38 possible.

Enhancementss--these are very flexible and easily changed so I won’t go into detail here.

Ac: this is very gear dependant but with the defender prestige enhancement and modest gear a raid buffed ac of mid 70s should be fairly easily obtained, with the possibility of reaching the 80s or moer.


Saves: fully buffed 28/24/21

These numbers seem a bit low as I’m used to playing a paladin, but I might be missing something as well.

Fort save--24 (+4 with inspire heroics)
12 base
6 Con mod
+4 GH
+2 HOGF

Reflex save--20 (+4 with inspire heroics)

6 Base
+ 6 dex mod
+2 Lightening reflexes
+4 GH
+2 HOGF

Will save-- 17 (+4 with inspire heroics)

6 Base
+5 (cha mod--FoP)
+4 GH
+2 HOGF

Hp-- I don’t have exact numbers but more is better of course. If you can get +3 tomes for dex, int, or cha those stats could be lowered and the extra points put towards more con. Con tomes and exceptional con items are useful as well, not to mention the minos legion helm and a shroud HP item. Another option is swapping out feats that increase saves for more toughness feats, or skipping twf for thf, lowering dex and putting more points into con. That would also cause the loss of a few points of AC.

thanks for looking at my build! i'd have more detail on gear but i cant log into the game and i'm not on the best connection now. plus, i'm not the expert on gear and my guildies often help me alot with that area.

[Anthios888]

Hey guildie,

I think you've got a nice layout here. I would really think about TRing something to do this, as it'd let you start with 14 CON instead of 12. I mean, it just feels wrong to have more CHA than CON, right?

I can't remember if you have any throwaway characters you don't like to play much, but there is a lot to be gained. Maybe if you have something like level 14 that you can cap out and reroll?

If you have past life: fighter, your to-hit would be helped a bit, you'd get +1 to your tactics, and you could take the past life feat for 2 intim, +1 max dex bonus, and a +4 to-hit clickie.

If you have past life: barbarian, you get 30 Hp, +2 intim, and a rage clickie.

If you have past life: paladin, you'll get the healing amp, 34 points, and not be a gimp paladin anymore.

Rogue and ranger also aren't bad.

The other thing is that I would try to fit in greater weapon specialization. You could drop Greater Weapon Focus or either Iron Will/Lightning Reflexes to pick it up.

Personally, if I were spending a feat on Iron Will, I'd probably take Bullheaded instead to get 2 intimidate/1 will save. You really don't need the extra +2 intim except for like 2 mobs in DDO, but it's basically free imo.

You've got the right idea on customizing the saves feats etc, as these builds are inherently flexible.

So, I guess this means I have to pike your gimp fighter to level 20, eh? Fine... I guess you helped me get mine up there. Blah.

[EKKM]

Looks pretty good.

Did you meand to take greater wpn focus or should it be greater wpn specialization? Would personally suggest the latter.

Consider bullheaded over iron will, lose +1 will but with FoP tht's not bad and it gives a kicker to intimidate. Also, you left iron will off your save calcs below.

Kind of odd for me to suggest further lowering a save but I would also suggest lowering CHR by 2 to bring CON to 14. I know it reduces saves, intim and UMD but 20hp can be importnant on an intimtank.

[jmonty]

Looks pretty good.

Did you meand to take greater wpn focus or should it be greater wpn specialization? Would personally suggest the latter.

Consider bullheaded over iron will, lose +1 will but with FoP tht's not bad and it gives a kicker to intimidate. Also, you left iron will off your save calcs below.

Kind of odd for me to suggest further lowering a save but I would also suggest lowering CHR by 2 to bring CON to 14. I know it reduces saves, intim and UMD but 20hp can be importnant on an intimtank.

ah yes, i meant greater weapon specialiazation. that is a plus to damage, right? oops..

i didn't realize bullheaded had a bump to will save, and i wasn't sure how much intim is needed for end game stuff, but i might as well get that skill higher.

[jmonty]

Hey guildie,

I think you've got a nice layout here. I would really think about TRing something to do this, as it'd let you start with 14 CON instead of 12. I mean, it just feels wrong to have more CHA than CON, right?

I can't remember if you have any throwaway characters you don't like to play much, but there is a lot to be gained. Maybe if you have something like level 14 that you can cap out and reroll?

If you have past life: fighter, your to-hit would be helped a bit, you'd get +1 to your tactics, and you could take the past life feat for 2 intim, +1 max dex bonus, and a +4 to-hit clickie.

If you have past life: barbarian, you get 30 Hp, +2 intim, and a rage clickie.

If you have past life: paladin, you'll get the healing amp, 34 points, and not be a gimp paladin anymore.

Rogue and ranger also aren't bad.

The other thing is that I would try to fit in greater weapon specialization. You could drop Greater Weapon Focus or either Iron Will/Lightning Reflexes to pick it up.

Personally, if I were spending a feat on Iron Will, I'd probably take Bullheaded instead to get 2 intimidate/1 will save. You really don't need the extra +2 intim except for like 2 mobs in DDO, but it's basically free imo.

You've got the right idea on customizing the saves feats etc, as these builds are inherently flexible.

So, I guess this means I have to pike your gimp fighter to level 20, eh? Fine... I guess you helped me get mine up there. Blah.

thank you! those changes all make sense.

my issue with tr'ing is that my chars with greensteel weapons are dwarfs and it seemed like a human 32 point fighter would have better stats than my dwarfs, if try to fit in umd and some cha. plus i'm attached to my dwarf ranger and pallys if i rerolled them i'd probably keep the same main classes.

[Sahtep]

Just because I'm new to tanking: Why take two swords and not a huge shield?
Or the other way round, how does this work without the protection a shield grants?

Greets,
Sahtep

[EKKM]

Just because I'm new to tanking: Why take two swords and not a huge shield?
Or the other way round, how does this work without the protection a shield grants?

Greets,
Sahtep

The idea is to have a DPS option as well as a tank option. In a lot of content a SnB tank is less efficient than a DPS character. A good exampe is when you have a really good CC arcane and the mobs you would bw intimming are helpless anyway.

A more attribute friendly DPS option for those without tomes and 32/34 point builds is to take the THF line as dex doesn't need to be as high but at the same time, dex helps your AC and reflex save. If you use bastard swords the THF feats also give a DPS boost in SnB mode.

[Sahtep]

The idea is to have a DPS option as well as a tank option. In a lot of content a SnB tank is less efficient than a DPS character. A good exampe is when you have a really good CC arcane and the mobs you would bw intimming are helpless anyway.

Okay, this concept is not unknown to me
But when I look at the build I just see skills which improve the DPS and even if you get all attention by DPS and intimidate every know an then, how Do you survive? I mean, where is the tank part of this build? I would understand if there was an option for TWF for the times it is more usefull to have some sort of DPS instead of an AC monster. But shouldn't there be one or two things for the times you have a big boss and need a shield?
I may be mistaken here completely. Maybe this is made for high-end equipment and/or buffs?
I would really like to understand this as I intent to play a tank.

A more attribute friendly DPS option for those without tomes and 32/34 point builds is to take the THF line as dex doesn't need to be as high but at the same time, dex helps your AC and reflex save. If you use bastard swords the THF feats also give a DPS boost in SnB mode.

I thought about the THF as well because your AC depends on the Dex on the one hand but on the other hand the dex bonus is somehow limited when wearing a plate.

Greets,
Sahtep