Uber Tanks
- Thread starter kanithardm
- Start date
Storminator
First Post
Warforged cleric, with Adamantine body and War domain.
One of my players has this, and he has to be the LEAST optimzed PC I've ever seen. He's got a PrC plan that means he's got some wacky character choices, but he still kicks tail and is hard as a rock to bring down. If he were built to maximize his potential, he'd be a beast.
PS
One of my players has this, and he has to be the LEAST optimzed PC I've ever seen. He's got a PrC plan that means he's got some wacky character choices, but he still kicks tail and is hard as a rock to bring down. If he were built to maximize his potential, he'd be a beast.
PS
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
My favorite ubertank belonged to a player in my first campaign that entered 2e. His name was Link (What!? We were sixth graders at the time!) and he was a half-elven fighter. His starts were completely average, but he had a girdle of giant strength. Wore full plate +5 and wielded an equally magical two-handed sword. Absolute powerhouse, yet the player panicked whenever he took damage.
The funny thing was that without the girdle, he was entirely above his maximum encumbrance. It wasn't a problem until a beholder's anti-magic ray; the entire gaming group ran away, dragging him with them.
The funny thing was that without the girdle, he was entirely above his maximum encumbrance. It wasn't a problem until a beholder's anti-magic ray; the entire gaming group ran away, dragging him with them.
MonkeyDragon
Explorer
So here's a question. How do you deal with the tank in your party?
Right now I have three players (9th) that are hovering around a 21-22 AC, one (8th) that I think is at a 25, and then the tank, who when he has all his defenses on is at a 32.
The way I usually figure it when calculating bad guys' attacks is that on average, they should have about a 50/50 shot of hitting. So for whom do I calculate the 50? if they hit the 21 half the time, they're only hitting the 32 on a crit. If they hit the 32 half the time, they're never gonna miss the 21. My solution so far has been to take an average of all the ACs in the party and make THAT have the 50% (so thats about a 25. Hits the 21s 75% of the time and the 32 25% of the time)
How do you deal with your tanks?
Right now I have three players (9th) that are hovering around a 21-22 AC, one (8th) that I think is at a 25, and then the tank, who when he has all his defenses on is at a 32.
The way I usually figure it when calculating bad guys' attacks is that on average, they should have about a 50/50 shot of hitting. So for whom do I calculate the 50? if they hit the 21 half the time, they're only hitting the 32 on a crit. If they hit the 32 half the time, they're never gonna miss the 21. My solution so far has been to take an average of all the ACs in the party and make THAT have the 50% (so thats about a 25. Hits the 21s 75% of the time and the 32 25% of the time)
How do you deal with your tanks?
AntiStateQuixote
Enemy of the State
MonkeyDragon said:
- Giants (hm . . . big strength . . . massive power attack potential . . . crush tank)
- Spellcasters with touch attack spells (11th level wizard casting scorching ray: 12d6 fire, no save, SR applies, ranged touch attack)
- Grapple (gotcha . . . now whatcha gonna do?)
- Spellcasters with touch attack spells (7th level wizard casting enervation; 1d4 negative leves, no save, SR applies, ranged touch attack)
- Trip (aw, did the big bad tank fall down . . . STAY THERE!)
- Spellcasters with touch attack spells (3rd level wizard casting acid arrow; 2d4 damage for each of 2 rounds, no save, no SR, ranged touch attack)
- Will Save spells (7th level wizard casting charm monster)
- Spellcasters with touch attack spells (3rd level wizard casting ghoul touch; Fort negs, SR applies; touch attack: paralyzes for 1d6+2 rds.)
- Ref Save spells (fireball, lightning bolt, etc.)
- Spellcasters with touch attack spells (4th level cleric casting inflict critical wounds; 4d8+7 damage, Will save for 1/2, SR applies, touch attack)
- Breath weapons (pick one . . . that hurts alot!)
- Spellcasters with touch attack spells (15th level wizard casting polar ray; 15d6 cold damage, no save, SR applies, ranged touch attack)
- Rust monsters (oops . . . there goes your armor)
- Aid another action . . . alot . . . three guys assist one and the one gets +6 on the attack roll. If he power attacks with a two-handed weapon for six . . . hey, that's 12 extra damage and no real penalty. The low-level mooks that assisted would not have hit anyway.
I've run 2 tanks recently that were very effective.
A Human PsiWarrior with light armor and a Dwarf Cleric.
PsiWarrior worked off of a Displacement principle. 50% of all attacks miss AFTER you hit my AC. The high level you are, the more frequently your AC will be struck, thus the 50% rule is consistant. Figure in that touch attacks stil get the 50% miss chance... Add in the Vigor lines for extra HP and some of the psionic feats and its pretty good strategy.
Cleric worked off of spell buffs. Travel domain so I cant be held. Full Plate +2 (10), Heavy Shield +2 (4), Ring of Deflection +2 (2). Extended (Lesser Metamagic Rod) Magic Armor for shield and Armor (1/1), Dex of 12 (1). This yielded a 29 AC. Add in Holy Star (7th level, +10 cover AC, CompDiv IIRC) and suddenly I was at 39 AC, with only 1 spell cast in combat, at 13th level. Not much was hitting me, except touch attacks.
For damage, my Cleric didn't do so well, since I never got Power Attack as a feat. This hurt at higher levels when I could buff for strength and fighter BAB. But, the Spikes spell works wonders (d6 weapon +10 damage at 10+ level) for offsetting this.
PsiWar was much better for damage, give a couple of spell and feats that the cleric doesn't have access too.
A Human PsiWarrior with light armor and a Dwarf Cleric.
PsiWarrior worked off of a Displacement principle. 50% of all attacks miss AFTER you hit my AC. The high level you are, the more frequently your AC will be struck, thus the 50% rule is consistant. Figure in that touch attacks stil get the 50% miss chance... Add in the Vigor lines for extra HP and some of the psionic feats and its pretty good strategy.
Cleric worked off of spell buffs. Travel domain so I cant be held. Full Plate +2 (10), Heavy Shield +2 (4), Ring of Deflection +2 (2). Extended (Lesser Metamagic Rod) Magic Armor for shield and Armor (1/1), Dex of 12 (1). This yielded a 29 AC. Add in Holy Star (7th level, +10 cover AC, CompDiv IIRC) and suddenly I was at 39 AC, with only 1 spell cast in combat, at 13th level. Not much was hitting me, except touch attacks.
For damage, my Cleric didn't do so well, since I never got Power Attack as a feat. This hurt at higher levels when I could buff for strength and fighter BAB. But, the Spikes spell works wonders (d6 weapon +10 damage at 10+ level) for offsetting this.
PsiWar was much better for damage, give a couple of spell and feats that the cleric doesn't have access too.
Voadam
Legend
IMC
Druid vow of poverty with wildshifting focus. Grossen AC combined with huge grappling potential and attacks.
The sixteenth level straight elven fighter with all his feats and items designed solely for archery does amazing damage d8+12 +2d6 eenergy with five shots a round starting around +33 or so on attacks. Not bad AC and tons of hit points as a fighter.
The powerattacking Cleric 12 fighter 4 does comparable damage in melee with his magic hammer.
The arcane trickster illusionist is not too shabby with his rays from improved invis.
Druid vow of poverty with wildshifting focus. Grossen AC combined with huge grappling potential and attacks.
The sixteenth level straight elven fighter with all his feats and items designed solely for archery does amazing damage d8+12 +2d6 eenergy with five shots a round starting around +33 or so on attacks. Not bad AC and tons of hit points as a fighter.
The powerattacking Cleric 12 fighter 4 does comparable damage in melee with his magic hammer.
The arcane trickster illusionist is not too shabby with his rays from improved invis.
The latest tank in my group was actually a scout/ fighter combination. He specialized in making AoO's, and his feats looked something like this: Combat Reflexes, Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, Hold the Line, Karmic Strike, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, and more.
He would attack with either Spring Attack, or use his monstrous tumble check to move through threatened areas and attack, which qualified him for his Skirmish ability.
The rest of his attacks in a round were AoO's and all benefited from the Skirmish damage. When an enemy tried to move next to him, they were hit with a +12 or something trip attempt AoO, followed by the free attack. Anyone that got through met another AoO from Karmic Strike if they managed to score a hit. It didn't help that he had something like 8 AoO's per round, and an AC in the lower 30's.
How did I deal with him? Ranged missiles worked well, though only for a short time because he could quickly close distance. Spells worked nicely, but he had evasion and a high dex so reflex saves were worthless. Anything with larger reach tore him apart. Grapple was out of the question due to close-quarters combat. But I did find that his attack bonus wasn't that great, and when he ran into the BBEG with his +4 Full plate and +5 tower shield it was lethal.
I've also had a halfling monster in an epic game. He rode a winter wolf, had levels in Paladin/ Cavalier/ Halfling Outrider, and could charge for something like 500+ damage. Unfortunately, this holds true for most mounts, it's rare when they're as powerful as the PCs themselves. Killing the mount was an easy matter, as was incapacitating it (Hold Monster, Flesh to Stone, Baleful Polymorph). Also it's nice to note that charge can't be used in hindering terrain, or against opponents that have cover, and can only be used in a straight line. Plus, there are two spells that abosutely kill a charging character, Waves of Exhaustion and Waves of Fatigue. Both spells have no save and take away you're charging ability, and require hours of rest to get rid of.
He would attack with either Spring Attack, or use his monstrous tumble check to move through threatened areas and attack, which qualified him for his Skirmish ability.
The rest of his attacks in a round were AoO's and all benefited from the Skirmish damage. When an enemy tried to move next to him, they were hit with a +12 or something trip attempt AoO, followed by the free attack. Anyone that got through met another AoO from Karmic Strike if they managed to score a hit. It didn't help that he had something like 8 AoO's per round, and an AC in the lower 30's.
How did I deal with him? Ranged missiles worked well, though only for a short time because he could quickly close distance. Spells worked nicely, but he had evasion and a high dex so reflex saves were worthless. Anything with larger reach tore him apart. Grapple was out of the question due to close-quarters combat. But I did find that his attack bonus wasn't that great, and when he ran into the BBEG with his +4 Full plate and +5 tower shield it was lethal.
I've also had a halfling monster in an epic game. He rode a winter wolf, had levels in Paladin/ Cavalier/ Halfling Outrider, and could charge for something like 500+ damage. Unfortunately, this holds true for most mounts, it's rare when they're as powerful as the PCs themselves. Killing the mount was an easy matter, as was incapacitating it (Hold Monster, Flesh to Stone, Baleful Polymorph). Also it's nice to note that charge can't be used in hindering terrain, or against opponents that have cover, and can only be used in a straight line. Plus, there are two spells that abosutely kill a charging character, Waves of Exhaustion and Waves of Fatigue. Both spells have no save and take away you're charging ability, and require hours of rest to get rid of.
freebfrost
Explorer
I had a player with a halfling fighter tank back when 3.0 had just come out. Obscenely high AC and an ego to match.MonkeyDragon said:
At one point, he decided to take on a fire giant because he was *sure* the giant couldn't hit him. He was right, if the giant was trying to hit him to hurt him.
So, I had the giant opt to kick him (as a touch attack) - not to cause damage, just to get him airborne... and land him in a lava pool.
Angel of Adventure
First Post
I've got a 1/2 elf Elementalist/Warrior of Chaos/Aestherite(Jester's Cydra homebrew)/Divine Oracle/Contemplative/Heirophant that sports about 450 hps and 9th level spells. He 26th level, 26th level caster, and has bat wings and gills, so he's fairly mobile. Also has Fast Healing (4 per round) and Full Fortification armor. He's done some crazy stuff, like hit himself with Meteor Swarms and dive into Reality Maelstorm's to save other PCs.
I can't remember a fight where his life was seriously, immediately threatened. Oh, and just to brag, he withstood Acererak's Soul Sucking juju and retorted with a series of Quickend and/or Maximized Shatter spells that blew him apart.
I can't remember a fight where his life was seriously, immediately threatened. Oh, and just to brag, he withstood Acererak's Soul Sucking juju and retorted with a series of Quickend and/or Maximized Shatter spells that blew him apart.
