The Party Tank (Fighter 8 / Dwarven Defender 22 / Champion of Torm 10)

[TheSquid]

Hi all!

It’s a pleasure to post here. I recently made a few builds for friends who want to start a party adventure and I thought I would share some. This is one tough dwarf meant to tank for the party. He is not so good at hitting things, and will probably not do so well solo in most environments. He is meant to be easy and fun to play and to play with. He sports

• 824 unbuffed HP
• 24/- Damage Reduction vs physical attacks
• 20/- DR vs fire, 10/- vs acid, 5/- vs cold (for the annoying cold auras that several creatures have)
• Crazy saves (40F / 31W / 31R). This guy resists an Implosion cast by a 50 WIS Cleric 65% of the time (95% with capped CON).
• Expertise+Improved Expertise for enemies that can cut through the DR and for easier leveling
• Defensive Awareness makes it harder to Sneak Attack him
• Max Heal and Spot, and 51 Discipline

He lacks

• Evasion. Will take some damage from a lot of spells despite making the save.
• Knockdown/IKD. It is assumed that someone else in the party can take care of this particular duty. If not, there are plenty of overly defensive feats that can be dropped to fit this one.
• Means to hit enemies. Only 39 AB is not enough against many things, but again it is assumed that someone else can dish out the damage while this guy takes the hits.
• Concentration. Proud dwarves are notoriously easy to Taunt. Whatever.

There are several builds on the Epic Character Search Engine that go for this class combination and are all quite similar. I claim no prizes for originality. In particular the classic Hearth Guard by grizzled_dwarflord has the same level split but is much more balanced (has 100 less HP and 4 more AB, for instance).

The Party Tank

Champion of Torm(10), Fighter(8), Dwarven Defender(22), Dwarf, Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral

STR: 16 (20)
DEX: 13
CON: 18 (24)
WIS: 8
INT: 13
CHA: 6

Dwarf: (Darkvision, Defensive Training vs. Giants, Stonecunning, Hardiness vs. Poison, Hardiness vs. Spells, Offensive Training vs. Goblinoids, Offensive Training vs. Orcs, Skill Affinity: Lore)
01: Fighter(1): Luck of Heroes, Weapon Focus: Warhammer
02: Fighter(2): Expertise
03: Fighter(3): Toughness
04: Fighter(4): CON+1, Weapon Specialization: Warhammer, (CON=19)
05: Fighter(5)
06: Fighter(6): Iron Will, Dodge
07: Fighter(7)
08: Dwarven Defender(1): CON+1, {Defensive Stance}, (CON=20)
09: Dwarven Defender(2): Lightning Reflexes, {Defensive Awareness I}
10: Dwarven Defender(3)
11: Dwarven Defender(4)
12: Dwarven Defender(5): CON+1, Resist Energy: Cold, (CON=21)
13: Dwarven Defender(6)
14: Champion of Torm(1)
15: Champion of Torm(2): Great Fortitude, Improved Expertise
16: Dwarven Defender(7): CON+1, (CON=22)
17: Dwarven Defender(8)
18: Dwarven Defender(9): Skill Focus: Discipline
19: Dwarven Defender(10)
20: Champion of Torm(3): CON+1, {Smite Evil}, (CON=23)
21: Fighter(8): Epic Weapon Focus: Warhammer, Epic Weapon Specialization: Warhammer
22: Champion of Torm(4): Epic Damage Reduction I
23: Champion of Torm(5)
24: Champion of Torm(6): CON+1, Epic Damage Reduction II, Epic Damage Reduction III, (CON=24)
25: Champion of Torm(7)
26: Champion of Torm(8): Epic Prowess
27: Dwarven Defender(11): Epic Energy Resistance: Fire I
28: Dwarven Defender(12): STR+1, (STR=17)
29: Dwarven Defender(13)
30: Dwarven Defender(14): Epic Will, Armor Skin
31: Dwarven Defender(15)
32: Dwarven Defender(16): STR+1, (STR=18)
33: Dwarven Defender(17): Epic Reflexes
34: Dwarven Defender(18): Epic Energy Resistance: Acid I
35: Dwarven Defender(19)
36: Dwarven Defender(20): STR+1, Epic Energy Resistance: Fire II, (STR=19)
37: Dwarven Defender(21)
38: Dwarven Defender(22): Epic Toughness I
39: Champion of Torm(9): Epic Toughness II
40: Champion of Torm(10): STR+1, Epic Toughness III, (STR=20)

Hitpoints: 824
Skillpoints: 129
Saving Throws (Fortitude/Will/Reflex): 40/31/31
Saving Throw bonuses: Spells: +2, Traps: +1, Poison: +2
BAB: 30
AB (max, naked): 39 (melee), 32 (ranged)
AC (naked/mundane items only): 13/24

Discipline 43(51), Heal 43(42), Spot 43(42)

No need to specify the skill schedule I think 🙂

I hope other people decide to take up this guy in their party adventures!

[Orion]

Hi TheSquid! Thanks for posting!

I really like this build idea. It looks extremely difficult to kill!

Combined with your high sneak attacking rogue teammate who can supply some buffs and spells with UMD, traps, lockpicking, stealth and other skills, you have a deadly combination who can solve so many different challenges and puzzles in a PvM environment.

The implosion resistance sounds very strong but also well worth obtaining, dying all of a sudden with 800+hp and great damage reduction from DD is not a nice feeling especially when protecting others. I’ve had it happen in a party! Ouch!

Dev crit resistance is also valuable too which this build has (most characters get a Dev Crit Fort DC around 40-45), although usually no-one except a crit immune character is going to want to melee with those enemies.

Curious if you were you tempted to to drop starting Con to 17, put Dex to 14 (for +1 to reflex) and Int to 14 (for 43 more skill points, which could be put to cross class tumble for +4 AC)? You can then drop one Epic Toughness for a Great Constitution. HP will then be 804. Still get the starting Str of 16 which is nice to carry stuff, equip heavy armor and tower, and hit things.

[TheSquid]

Thanks Orion for the kind words!

Your suggestion is very good, and I had not been tempted by it just because I had not thought of it. Indeed, I would recommend your version to anyone wishing to play this (not that it makes a huge difference, I think).

[Author]

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