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<blockquote data-quote="Dr_Rictus" data-source="post: 1381296" data-attributes="member: 850">On the offense/defense thing, I'd disagree that the point of the &quot;tank&quot; is to do damage, at least the way I'm used to that term being used.&nbsp; But maybe there's some confusion there.&nbsp; The only usage I've seen to distinguish between &quot;fighter&quot; generically and &quot;tank&quot; specifically is that the tank has a defensive role.&nbsp; So I'm going to assume that's what we're talking about.However, in order to be able to present a useful defense to the rest of the party, your tank has to be able to control the area around himself.&nbsp; Otherwise, opponents will just get frustrated with his AC and go attack someone else.One way to do that is to present a sufficiently credible offensive threat that nobody wants to provoke an AoO by going around you.&nbsp; If you can't do that, you need to optimize for tactics like tripping, grappling, disarming, or sundering if you're going to defend anyone other than yourself.&nbsp; Tripping and grappling are your best bets since as touch attacks you can still often get them off with your AoO, even if your attack bonus has been depleted by Combat Expertise.&nbsp; Proficiency with Spiked Chain is especially nice here, since it can be used for tripping and has a 5- to 10- foot reach.&nbsp; Throw Combat Reflexes into there, and you'll be able to at least attempt to down enemies moving through quite a large zone of control.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dr_Rictus, post: 1381296, member: 850"] On the offense/defense thing, I'd disagree that the point of the "tank" is to do damage, at least the way I'm used to that term being used. But maybe there's some confusion there. The only usage I've seen to distinguish between "fighter" generically and "tank" specifically is that the tank has a defensive role. So I'm going to assume that's what we're talking about. However, in order to be able to present a useful defense [I]to the rest of the party[/I], your tank has to be able to control the area around himself. Otherwise, opponents will just get frustrated with his AC and go attack someone else. One way to do that is to present a sufficiently credible offensive threat that nobody wants to provoke an AoO by going around you. If you can't do that, you need to optimize for tactics like tripping, grappling, disarming, or sundering if you're going to defend anyone other than yourself. Tripping and grappling are your best bets since as touch attacks you can still often get them off with your AoO, even if your attack bonus has been depleted by Combat Expertise. Proficiency with Spiked Chain is especially nice here, since it can be used for tripping [i]and[/i] has a 5- to 10- foot reach. Throw Combat Reflexes into there, and you'll be able to at least attempt to down enemies moving through quite a large zone of control. [/QUOTE]

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