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Message: <blockquote data-quote="transtemporal" data-source="post: 6428149" data-attributes="member: 6777693">CommentaryRaceEither dwarf subrace is fine but in the end I went Mountain dwarf since the str bonus allows you to max str and grab important feats earlier. Hill dwarf would be fine to, but it would just take a little longer to peak.If you want to go another race, Human (variant) is a decent choice for the feat headstart. Half-orc is also a strong choice but fits fighter Champion slightly better than Battle Master for the crit synergy.ClassPure fighter since 4 attacks per round and 2 action surges per short rest is awesome. Battle Master since the maneuvers gel nicely with the overall aims of the build. I looked at a Stout Halfling Bear Barbarian and in some ways a dex Barbarian is better at tanking than the fighter (26 AC or 32 1/round, perma-resistance, advantage on initiative, advantage on dex saves and even better version of Sentinel feat at 14) but since I had to equip a shield and a finesse weapon, its damage wasn't that great.Ability Score Improvements & Feats<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Primary attack stat: max it out as soon as possible. The higher your stat, the shorter fights are. It's as simple as that.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">High initiative: Alert. You want to move first in any combat so you can choose where the party fights on the battlefield and so that enemies see and target you first. With the Alert feat, you can still set up the battlefield to your best advantage even if the rest of the party is surprised.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Core tanking feat: Sentinel. Its your go-to aggro attractor and you will attract a lot, so make sure you have some decent heavy armor before you get it!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Crit mitigation: Lucky. Mostly you will use this to mitigate crits, since you will take a lot of hits and a few of them will be crits. Note this feat is basically useless if the DM hides attack rolls and/or hates this feat. If thats the case, chose something else.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Shieldmaster: Combined with Indomitable, you should be able to shrug off lightning bolts and disintegrates. If your DM is nice, he might let you combine the bonus action shield push with the Pushing Attack maneuver.</li> </ol>The other feat in the build is optional. I took Tough because I felt 184 wasn't quite tanky enough but you could easily mix it up with +2 con for extra hp and con save, Martial Adept for the extra superiority dice, Magical Initiate for Hex or Shield of Faith, Mobile for extra movement, Charger to get to baddies quicker or Resilient (int, wis or cha) to mitigate those saves.ManeuversGoading attack – this is your early game aggro attractor. Its not that efficient but hey, its better than nothing. You can actually get a lot of aggro just by being seen first, making a lot of noise and taunting the DMs monsters with RP. I found pointing at the monsters crotch and making a 'small' gesture is an almost universal declaration of war.Menacing Attack – for monsters with high attack bonus (its basically 4 extra points of AC). Menacing Attack puts the 'Dread' in Dreadnought!Commanders Strike – if you don't have a rogue or other decent damage dealer in the party I'd swap this for Feinting Attack, but if you do its a ridiculously effective combination.Parry– better on a dex fighter, but you will want this ahead of getting the Sentinel feat. Just sayin'.Maneuvering Attack – for rescuing allies who've got themselves in a pickle or in area DoTs, like Wall of Fire etc.Evasive Footwork – for rescuing allies who've got themselves in a pickle, soak up AoO so they've got a clear path, then use maneuvering attack to get them to safety.Riposte– pick this up after you gain Sentinel. Now if enemies don't attack you they get hit but if they attack you and miss, they still get hit! Just don't pick this up before you get Sentinel otherwise you'll end up dumping aggro onto your allies.Disarming Attack – disarm enemies...Pushing Attack - ...then Push them with your next attack, then move into the square where the weapon is. This is a great combo.GearEdit: At the time of this writing, the DMG hasn't come out but +3 armor, shield, weapons were confirmed in <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?381805-I-have-the-DMG!/page16&p=6440773#post6440773" target="_blank">this thread (18/11/14)</a>. I've assumed (at least for the campaign my group is in) that I'll have +3 gear by the time we get to very high levels. Fingers crossed.Weapons: Any magical one-handed weapon.Throwing weapons. Longbow for very far away targets.Armor: Any magic plate you can lay your hands on. Shield: Any magic shield you can your hands on.Miscellaneous: Anything to help out your movement modes at high levels is useful (like Winged Boots). Anything that can mitigate your terrible Int, Wis, Cha saves will be useful. Anything that grants resistance to damage. Anything that increases damage or AC. And healing potions, lots of healing potions.</blockquote>

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