Request for a tanking build

[Stripesgullet]

Hello there fellow adventurer.

I'm a returning player on DDO and haven't played for 4-5 years.
I gathered a bunch of friends to play with me in a 6 members party so we can discover all of the game nicely.

I decided to be the tank of the group and been trying to make my tiny tanky build via the character planner

I came up with a starter build like this one :

Human (1st life)
STR : 11
DEX : 8
CON : 18
INT : 8
WIS : 8
CHA : 17

I'm looking for a way to taunt enemies and keep the glass canons away from enemies.
What would you guys recommend for a full build ? from 1 to 30 ?
using primary shields (tower eventually ? and having a kit to help friends in need : heal, revive, buff ?)
many thanks in advance ~

[Sunnie]

Paladins are pretty tight on feats, so you could consider taking 2 levels of fighter for free Tower Shield proficiency and 2 additional feats. This will allow you to pick up all of Shield Mastery as well as the Cleaves. The downside is that you lose the capstone, which is pretty nice for the Vanguard tree. I'm planning to TR my one alt into a tanky Paladin, and I haven't decided which way I should go with it. The capstone adds a good deal of damage to single targets, but the Cleaves add damage to groups and they're fairly important for the LD destiny, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to make it there from Unyielding Sentinel.

[cru121]

I'd recommend more balanced stats at 16/16/16 STR/CON/CHA. Unlike in other games, tanks actually need to deal some damage to grab and keep aggro.

Perhaps put a 10 into WIS (as a new player..).

[unbongwah]

See my Sacred Vanguards thread.

[Ralmeth]

Hey there! My recommendation would be the following.

Human Paladin, 20 Paladin levels

Starting Stats - 28 point build
Str: 16 (10 points) - All level ups to strength
Dex: 8
Con: 14 (6 points)
Int: 12 (4 points)
Wis: 10 (2 points)
Char: 14 (6 points)

Note on Stats:
1) Strength is your #1 stat because you need to hit and damage the mobs in order to get and maintain aggro, which is based on how much damage you do. Strength is also important to increase the difficulty check (DC) of your stunning attacks, which will be helpful to incapacitate dangerous mobs, such as champions, enemy casters, etc.
2) Constitution and Charisma are your next two most important stats, so you'll want to boost these as much as you can, with con for hit points and charisma to power your lay on hands, more strength via divine might, and better saves.
3) Intelligence is only helpful for skill points. If you can afford a +2 int tome by level 7, that would be a nice addition, though not necessary.
4) For wisdom, your ability to cast Paladin spells is based on your modified wisdom, which includes your items. So simply equip a wisdom item as you get higher in level in order to cast your higher level Paladin spells, when you eventually get them.

Skills (16 points at level 1, 4 points every level thereafter)
Max Concentration, Heal, Intimidate, UMD
If you get a +2 int tome by level 7, I would put those extra points into jump

Feats
Deity - Follower of the Sovereign Host
Human - Power Attack
1st - Stunning Blow
3rd - Shield Mastery
6th - Improved Shield Bashing
9th - Improved Critical, Slashing
12th - Improved Shield Mastery
15th - Quicken
18th - Empower Healing
21st - Overwhelming Critical
24th - Your Choice
26th - Tactician
27th - Blinding Speed
28th - Elusive Target
29th - Deific Warding
30th - Scion of the Astral Plane

Enhancements
You can reset these as needed, so I would recommend to play around with them. However, having said that I would prioritize getting the following enhancements at the lower levels.
-Armor Training in Vanguard is very nice, as it will increase your balance, jump and intimidate skills
-Extra Lay on Hands in the Defender tree
-When you hit 3rd level, put all points into Knight and take Exalted Cleave
-When you hit 6th level, make sure to take Slayer of Evil II in Knight to gain ghost touch

Hope that helps & good luck!

[Doutrinador]

See my Sacred Vanguards thread.

Why we dont see Bladforged Tanks? I was thinking on doing a 18 paladin/ 2 fighter kopesh / Shild mastery build.

Sorry the poor English.

[unbongwah]

Why we dont see Bladforged Tanks? I was thinking on doing a 18 paladin/ 2 fighter kopesh / Shild mastery build.

If you're going S&B paladin, you really want the Vanguard capstone. Unfortunately, that makes you feat-starved, particularly since Adamantine Body is a must-have, IMO. Also BF racial tree is really strong, but expensive, particularly if you want Power of the Forge; this leaves you short on APs. Whereas human tree is front-loaded: 1 AP for Dmg Boost and 2 APs for +20 heal amp; anything else is nice but not necessary.

So basically human paladin has a net gain of two feats (human bonus + no need for Addy Body) and saves APs in their racial PrE to spend on paladin PrEs instead.

[Phil7]

20 Fighter PDK/Human/Dwarf
True Neutral

you will need the Shield Feats (Masteries/Bash/Deflection)
Improved Crit:Slash
Combat Expertise/Power Attack
3 Tactical Feats
3 PRR/MRR feats
Stunning Blow (if maxing STR) or Force of Personality (if investing in CHA for Intimidate)
Exotic Prof: Khopesh/D. Axe/B. Sword
Two Handed Fighting feats if you choose D.Axe/B.Sword

Epic Feats:
OC
Bulwark of Defense/Skill Focus:Intimidate
Epic DR
PTHF/PTWF
Deific Warding/Dire Charge/Harbinger of Chaos/Embodiment of Law
Arborea/Earth

Heal with cocoon or renewal if playing in Unyielding Sentinel
For LD a d.axe is great, it gives +1 crit. multiplier to your axe and shield aswell.

The Capstones are all very nice, and will be even better post U31. With Shield Champion you can keep everything perma stunned and witness some sick numbers with your shield bashes. Last Stand is a beast, but unfortunately super long Cooldown. Stay away from Kensei, until U31 comes out.

The build is super strong, except from saves, where you have to boost them with PLs and gear. The great thing is that almost every PL is useful for a tanky build
What also makes it even more awesome is that a simple Enhancement reset allows you to switch from tank to cc to dps.

I am planning to upload the build myself later, after I gather some more PLs with my main toon.
I wanted to show everyone that a fighter is not worse than a Paladin, which is what most people believe nowadays, but I guess the new Update will do all the work for me^^

[Enoach]

Hello there fellow adventurer.

I'm a returning player on DDO and haven't played for 4-5 years.
I gathered a bunch of friends to play with me in a 6 members party so we can discover all of the game nicely.

I decided to be the tank of the group and been trying to make my tiny tanky build via the character planner

I came up with a starter build like this one :

Human (1st life)
STR : 11
DEX : 8
CON : 18
INT : 8
WIS : 8
CHA : 17

I'm looking for a way to taunt enemies and keep the glass canons away from enemies.
What would you guys recommend for a full build ? from 1 to 30 ?
using primary shields (tower eventually ? and having a kit to help friends in need : heal, revive, buff ?)
many thanks in advance ~

There is a few points I want to make.

Having a high starting Charisma can work if the build is charisma based but the best base would be the Purple Dragon Knight where you can use charisma as To-Hit and Damage as well as get a bonus to tactical DCs when Charisma is higher then Strength. This is what you can consider a pretty complex build that needs lots of knowledge.

While Constitution brings more HP a starting of 18 for a d10 HP class that gets a strong fortitude save would only serve to make you a mobile wall for mobs to beat their heads against. Be more conservative with a 14. This will give you plenty of HP but also give you points to bring up other attributes.

Strength - As a melee if you are using strength as your primary you really want this to start at at least 14 (PDK can use Charisma, Harper Tree can use Int, and Elf can use Dexterity for example). 16 to 18 are good starts if your goal is to be melee DPS, but 14 gives you a good base without having to sacrifice other attributes. This is more important for a Paladin then a Fighter. If going to be a Fighter based tank go with 16 Strength.

Dexterity - I think this is the trickiest to get right. Why? As a tank you need to get your defenses in any way possible. The best Dexterity for a build is one that maximizes your Allowed Dexterity bonus for your armor you are wearing. So based on what you are willing to gear and what you can get your Max Dexterity Bonus to is where you should adjust your starting Dexterity which will set your Maximum Dodge as well.

Intelligence - A Int of 13 will open up things that a tank can use as well as help improve tactical abilities (Feats that will be more available to a Fighter tank then a Paladin tank) You also get your Skill points from here. To tank well you want points for Intimidate, some for balance (Less time prone means more time as a tank), Paladin you will want some Heal skill for your own healing spells. Then there is UMD. One way a paladin can get past the Tower Shield proficiency is to use Master's Touch Scrolls. If you have tomes you can adjust your starting as you only need 13 int for Combat Expertise.

Wisdom - A starting of 8 can be worked with as a paladin needs a 14 wisdom by 14th Level. That means a +6 item only is enough. But tomes can also fix this.

Charisma - This is a good place for Charisma based abilities like Intimidate, but you don't need a 17 starting point. 14 to 16 is a good starting point. The only reason to go more would be if you are going with Charisma as your to-hit/damage and Tactical DCs. Even a 12 Charisma can go a long way. I personally Prefer 14 for a Paladin and 10 to 12 for a Fighter Tank.