Post by Yomi on Jun 12, 2008 1:00:42 GMT
Arctic Tin Can
(18 DD / 15 RDD / 7 Bard)
This build is the quintessential strength tank. He's not that easy to hit and when he is he shrugs it off, meanwhile dealing substantial damage output. He doesn't have any fancy tricks -- just melee pounding for the enemy. This character can thrive in sub-par equipment, and will easily make it to demigod as an open subrace build wearing UR/Illithid gear, while pulling his share of the weight. See the Tin Can Redux build for screenshots and info.
One caveat is that mixing bard and DD levels requires alignment changes. This means two trips to get that done, one of them at level 11 and the other at 37-40. Fortunately HG is a very friendly place and if you can't get there yourself you should have little trouble getting someone to help you. Be sure not to change your alignment while in party or you will effect all of them as well.
Taking 15 Red Dragon Discipline levels grants complete immunity to fire, bonus AC, and a substantial boost to stats (+6 STR, +2 CON, +2 INT, +2 CHA). The stats will help your damage and AB. The fire immunity greatly helps in covering immunities. As a Dwarven Defender you will get a substantial amount of physical damage immunity, bonus natural AC (though limited to +16 because of the RDD levels), and critical hit immunity 9 times per day. This build also puts a substantial investment into DEX and INT. Starting with a 14 DEX allows bonus AC wearing medium armors, while still ensuring you'll be able to continue using a Pentavite Shield as needed. A high dex will also make your life as a tank in the hells far more enjoyable for you and your party. The relatively high INT lets you get a number of useful skills including Listen which helps you better hit concealed enemies.
Base race: Dwarf (CON +2, CHA -2, Darkvision, Feat: Bullheaded)
Subrace: Arctic Dwarf (STR +2, CON +1, DEX -2, CHA -2, 25% immunity to cold)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Starting stats
The NWN character creator silently does the racial adjustment for you, so the middle column (racial adjusted) is what you should use in the NWN creator. The subrace adjustments will be done after you first arrive at the docks.
Level 1, Bard
Feats: Luck of Heroes
Skills: Maximize: Lore, Discipline, Tumble, UMD (Use Magic Device)
Luck of Heroes will increase all your saves by one and unlocks the ability to take Legendary Luck when we reach level 42 for a further +3 to all saves. We want high saves since one of the primary duties of a tank is to stay active. Saves can't solve everything, but low saves will definitely hurt.
We need the Lore skill at 8 to unlock the ability to be an RDD, and we cannot take Dwarven Defender levels yet. Tumble will raise your AC so we will be taking it on all bard levels until it hits 35. Discipline is very important for all characters, and doubly so for us as a tank. We will maximize it at all levels.
Level 2, Bard
Skills: Maximize: Lore, Discipline, Tumble, UMD (Use Magic Device)
Continue maximizing these skills for all the early bard levels.
Level 3, Bard
Feat: Dodge
Dodge grants a stacking +1 AC bonus against attacks from the current target or last attacker. While this is nice, the real reason we take this feat is that it is a prerequisite for Dwarven Defender.
Level 4, Bard
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 5, Bard
Skills: Maximize: Lore, Discipline, Tumble, UMD
Remember to maximize your Lore, Discipline, Tumble, and UMD skills.
Level 6, Red Dragon Disciple
Feat: Toughness
Skills: Maximize: Discipline
Toughness grants the player 60 hitpoints at level 60 (the equivalent of two great constitution feats), one hit point per level. It is considered a good investment and a good idea to take in any build if you can afford this feat. This feat must be taken before level 40 to gain the full benefits. In addition, it is a requirement for Dwarven Defender.
Note that on this level we only maximize discipline as a skill. We're done with Lore now that we have the needed 8 points. Tumble and UMD are both bought cheaper during the bard levels so we wait for those.
Level 7, Red Dragon Disciple
You will gain +2 Strength here from your RDD level.
Level 8, Red Dragon Disciple
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 9, Red Dragon Disciple
Feat: Power Attack
Power Attack is a prerequisite feat for the Overwhelming Critical and Devastating Critical feats we will be taking later. You can also use it for extra damage when hitting things that don't have high AC, boosting your damage output slightly.
You gain another +2 Strength from your 4th RDD level.
Level 10, Bard
Skills: Maximize: Discipline, Tumble, UMD
Level 11, Dwarven Defender
Skills: Maximize: Discipline
Finally our very first DD level! Unfortunately we need to go change alignment to take this level. Go to the alignment changer, drop party, change alignment to lawful, rejoin the party, and take the level.
Level 12, Dwarven Defender
Feat: Weapon Focus: Light Flail
Stat bonus: Strength
Weapon focus: Light Flail lets your character use the Light Flail as a primary weapon. As an Arctic Dwarf you do not have enough spare feats to take exotic weapon proficiency so bastard sword is not an option (it is debatable if that would be preferred regardless). I believe Light Flail is the best weapon choice for this character in general, but other good possibilities include Heavy Pick (for higher crits), Morningstar (will be better once 1.69 comes out), and Warhammer (some very nice alternate warhammers available).
Level 13, Dwarven Defender
Level 14, Dwarven Defender
Level 15, Dwarven Defender
Feat: Improved Critical: Light Flail
Improved Critical: Light Flail, increases the critical range while using this weapon, allowing you to land critical hits more often. Of course if you chose a different primary weapon, you'll take Improved Critical in that weapon instead.
Level 16, Dwarven Defender
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 17, Dwarven Defender
Level 18, Dwarven Defender
Feat: Cleave
Cleave is also a prerequisite feat for our special critical feats we will be taking later.
Level 19, Dwarven Defender
Level 20, Dwarven Defender
Skills: Maximize: Concentration, Heal, Discipline
Stat bonus: Strength
==============================================================
Stats @ 20
Strength 25
Dexterity 14
Constitution 16
Wisdom 8
Intelligence 12
Charisma 9
Saves (with no stat increases or save boosting equipment)
Fortitude 17
Reflex 12
Will 16
Skills
Lore 8
Discipline 23
Tumble 13
Use Magic Device 13
==============================================================
Level 21, Red Dragon Disciple
Feat: Great Strength 1
Skills: Maximize Discipline
Great Strength gives you an extra point of strength. Every two strength points will increase your overall Attack Bonus(AB) and damage by one point as well as granting an extra 1% physical immunity bonus when you become a legendary DD.
Level 22, Red Dragon Disciple
Level 23, Red Dragon Disciple
You gain +2 CON from your 7th RDD level. This will give you 60hp at level 60 in addition to raising your fort save.
Level 24, Red Dragon Disciple
Feats: Great Cleave
Stat bonus: Strength
Great Cleave is a prerequisite feat for the Overwhelming and Devastating critical feats.
Level 25, Red Dragon Disciple
You gain +2 INT from your 9th RDD level. This will help against some rare attacks in the hells as well as give you more skill points which we will put to good use.
Level 26, Red Dragon Disciple
You gain +2 CHA from your 10th RDD level. This will help a little against some attacks in the hells.
Level 27, Red Dragon Disciple
Feats: Overwhelming Critical: Light Flail
Overwhelming Critical adds +1 to the critical hit threat range for you weapon. This will increase the number of times you do a critical hit.
Level 28, Red Dragon Disciple
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 29, Red Dragon Disciple
Level 30, Red Dragon Disciple
Feats: Devastating Critical: Light Flail, Armor Skin
Devastating Critical adds a +1 to the critical hit multiplier for your weapon. This lets the critical hits do more damage. The effect is especially noticeable on weapons with high multipliers (e.g. Bastard Sword, Warhammer, Heavy Pick) but is still a good idea on the x2 weapons (e.g. Light Flail, Morningstar).
Armor Skin grants an extra +2 AC. Getting hit less means more time cleaving skulls.
Level 31, Red Dragon Disciple
The 15th and last RDD level. You gain yet another +2 Strength. At this point you have complete fire immunity and +5 bonus AC. Unfortunately that bonus AC isn't quite as useful as one might think as it restricts both Tumble AC and DD natural armor bonus. However it does free up some skill points and is useful if you don't have top of the line gear.
Level 32, Dwarven Defender
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 33, Dwarven Defender
Feats: Great Strength 2
Great Strength gives you an extra point of strength. Every two strength points will increase your overall Attack Bonus(AB) and damage by one point as well as granting an extra 1% physical immunity bonus when you become a legendary DD.
Level 34, Dwarven Defender
Level 35, Dwarven Defender
Feats: Epic Weapon Focus: Light Flail
Epic weapon focus grants your character 2 additional AB while using the chosen weapon. It also qualifies you for Legendary Weapon Focus in that weapon after level 40.
Level 36, Dwarven Defender
Feats: Great Strength 3
Stat bonus: Strength
Great Strength gives you an extra point of strength. Every two strength points will increase your overall Attack Bonus(AB) and damage by one point as well as granting an extra 1% physical immunity bonus when you become a legendary DD.
Level 37, Bard
Skills: Tumble to 35, Use Magic Device to 40, Maximize Discipline
The last bard level, which is done to buy skills at a discount. You can actually take this level here or 38, 39, or 40, whichever is most convenient for you. You don't want to be stuck in the middle of your immortal run unable to level however, so I recommend getting it done before then. As before, you're going to have to go change alignment.
Go to the location, drop party to prevent changing their alignment, change to chaotic, take this level paying close attention to skills, then change alignment back to lawful, and finally rejoin your party.
The Tumble skill raises AC by one point for every five base skill points spent. However it is limited by the RDD bonus AC, which in our case is 5, so we don't get any benefit from points beyond 35. Use Magic Device will let you use a variety of items and most importantly scrolls. Without this skill you will be unable to use Greater Sanctuary scrolls for instance. The ability to use scrolls is a definite advantage for this build. As usual we maximize Discipline.
Level 38, Dwarven Defender
Skills: Maximize Discipline
Level 39, Dwarven Defender
Feats: Great Strength 4
Great Strength gives you an extra point of strength. Every two strength points will increase your overall Attack Bonus(AB) and damage by one point as well as granting an extra 1% physical immunity bonus when you become a legendary DD.
Level 40, Dwarven Defender
Stat bonus: Strength
Feats: Epic Prowess
Skills: Maximize: Discipline, Listen
Epic Prowess, grants you +1 AB at the cost of only one feat. It also qualifies you for the full AB bonus when you take Legendary Weapon Focus later.
In addition to the usual maximizing Discipline we put all remaining points into the Listen skill. Listen allows one to better hit concealed opponents, which will be important in a number of LL areas and the Hells.
==============================================================
Stats @ 40
Strength 36
Dexterity 14
Constitution 18
Wisdom 8
Intelligence 14
Charisma 11
Saves (with no stat increases or save boosting equipment)
Fortitude 28
Reflex 22
Will 26
Skills
Lore 8
Discipline 43
Tumble 35
Use Magic Device 40
Listen 38
==============================================================
Level 41
Maximize Skills: Discipline, Listen
Level 42
Feat: Legendary Luck
Stat bonus: Strength
Legendary Luck grants an extra +3 to all saves.
Level 43
Maximize Skills: Discipline, Listen, Craft Weapon
We now have both Discipline and Listen maxed, so it's time to pick another skill which will get the remainder of our skill points (35 in total). Choices include Concentration for some rare checks, Parry for a small reduction in damage from critical hits, Craft Armor for a bonus +1 AC most of the time, or Craft Weapon for a bonus +1 AB most of the time. If you're very concerned about defense, you can choose Craft Armor or Parry. I believe Craft Weapon is the best long term choice.
Level 44
Stat bonus: Strength
You hit 40 base strength so now qualify for the Stoneguard ability. This lets you use one of your 9 defensive weaves per day to turn into an almost immobile rock that has complete immunity to critical hits. It is a useful feature when tanking some of the toughest bosses. In normal situations you should have enough defense to not bother with the hassle of being glacial speed. There are at least two monsters that can dev crit, meaning they can instantly kill anything not critical hit immune. This is a very useful feature for them.
Level 45,
Feat: Legendary Weapon Focus: Light Flail
With the Legendary Weapon Focus you will get an additional +3 to your legendary attack bonus when using that weapon. Your LBAB will max out at +18 which is as high as possible.
Level 46
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 47
Level 48
Feat: Lightning Reflexes
Lightning Reflexes gives a +2 bonus to your reflex save an unlocks the Legendary Reflexes feat which we will take next opportunity.
Level 49
Level 50
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 51
Feat: Legendary Reflexes
Legendary Reflexes gives an extra +7 to your reflex save. Since reflex was our worst save, and a very common one, we go to great lengths to improve it.
Level 52
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 53
Level 54
Feat: Epic Will
Stat bonus: Strength
Epic Will gives an extra +4 to your will save.
Level 55
Level 56
Stat bonus :Strength
Level 57
Feat: Great Strength 5
Great Strength gives you an extra point of strength. Every two strength points will increase your overall Attack Bonus(AB) and damage by one point as well as granting an extra 1% physical immunity bonus when you become a legendary DD.
Level 58
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 59
Level 60
Feat: Great Strength 6
Stat bonus: Strength
Great Strength gives you an extra point of strength. Every two strength points will increase your overall Attack Bonus(AB) and damage by one point as well as granting an extra 1% physical immunity bonus when you become a legendary DD.
==============================================================
Stats @ 60
Strength 48
Dexterity 14
Constitution 18
Wisdom 8
Intelligence 14
Charisma 11
Saves
Fortitude 36 (62 in full gear)
Reflex 39 (65 in full gear)
Will 38 (64 in full gear)
HP in gear: 1182
AB with full +20 bonus: 95, 90, 85, 80, 95
AC: 125 (UR/Illithid gear), 129 (+girding), 133 (+girding+strongheart or asmo), 137 (+girding+strongheart+asmo)
Skills @ 60
Lore 8
We needed this to enable Red Dragon Discipline as a class choice.
Tumble 35
Every 5 points of tumble will grant you 1 point of AC. Going over 35 in this skill will not grant you any extra AC because of your RDD levels.
Discipline 63
There are many discipline checks in the game. High discipline is necessary for any frontline tank.
Use Magic Device 40
This lets you use scrolls and some items you would not otherwise be able to use. These include Mindblank, Stone to Flesh, Greater Sanctuary, Black Blade, Mords, Gust, Clarity, Timestop, Mestil's Acid Breath, Keen, and others.
Listen 63
We were tight on feats so dropped Blind Fight. We can get away with that because we are a DD and we have maximized Listen. You would never want to make a tank without one or the other as you would have a very hard time hitting anything with concealment. With your maximized Listen skill and bard song you will cut through conceal more often than standard Blind Fight tanks. If you can get C/C or mass C/C (Clairaudience/clairvoyance) to raise your listen skill even further you will be hitting quite a bit more often, hence doing more damage.
Craft Weapon 35
Every 40 points in this skill will add 1 attack bonus to your overall AB score. With bard song this skill will grant you 1 AB.
==============================================================
Yomi
(18 DD / 15 RDD / 7 Bard)
This build is the quintessential strength tank. He's not that easy to hit and when he is he shrugs it off, meanwhile dealing substantial damage output. He doesn't have any fancy tricks -- just melee pounding for the enemy. This character can thrive in sub-par equipment, and will easily make it to demigod as an open subrace build wearing UR/Illithid gear, while pulling his share of the weight. See the Tin Can Redux build for screenshots and info.
One caveat is that mixing bard and DD levels requires alignment changes. This means two trips to get that done, one of them at level 11 and the other at 37-40. Fortunately HG is a very friendly place and if you can't get there yourself you should have little trouble getting someone to help you. Be sure not to change your alignment while in party or you will effect all of them as well.
Taking 15 Red Dragon Discipline levels grants complete immunity to fire, bonus AC, and a substantial boost to stats (+6 STR, +2 CON, +2 INT, +2 CHA). The stats will help your damage and AB. The fire immunity greatly helps in covering immunities. As a Dwarven Defender you will get a substantial amount of physical damage immunity, bonus natural AC (though limited to +16 because of the RDD levels), and critical hit immunity 9 times per day. This build also puts a substantial investment into DEX and INT. Starting with a 14 DEX allows bonus AC wearing medium armors, while still ensuring you'll be able to continue using a Pentavite Shield as needed. A high dex will also make your life as a tank in the hells far more enjoyable for you and your party. The relatively high INT lets you get a number of useful skills including Listen which helps you better hit concealed enemies.
Base race: Dwarf (CON +2, CHA -2, Darkvision, Feat: Bullheaded)
Subrace: Arctic Dwarf (STR +2, CON +1, DEX -2, CHA -2, 25% immunity to cold)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Starting stats
Stat | Base Value | Racial Adjusted | Subrace Adjusted |
STR | 14 | 14 | 16 |
DEX | 16 | 16 | 14 |
CON | 13 | 15 | 16 |
WIS | 8 | 8 | 8 |
INT | 12 | 12 | 12 |
CHA | 13 | 11 | 9 |
Level 1, Bard
Feats: Luck of Heroes
Skills: Maximize: Lore, Discipline, Tumble, UMD (Use Magic Device)
Luck of Heroes will increase all your saves by one and unlocks the ability to take Legendary Luck when we reach level 42 for a further +3 to all saves. We want high saves since one of the primary duties of a tank is to stay active. Saves can't solve everything, but low saves will definitely hurt.
We need the Lore skill at 8 to unlock the ability to be an RDD, and we cannot take Dwarven Defender levels yet. Tumble will raise your AC so we will be taking it on all bard levels until it hits 35. Discipline is very important for all characters, and doubly so for us as a tank. We will maximize it at all levels.
Level 2, Bard
Skills: Maximize: Lore, Discipline, Tumble, UMD (Use Magic Device)
Continue maximizing these skills for all the early bard levels.
Level 3, Bard
Feat: Dodge
Dodge grants a stacking +1 AC bonus against attacks from the current target or last attacker. While this is nice, the real reason we take this feat is that it is a prerequisite for Dwarven Defender.
Level 4, Bard
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 5, Bard
Skills: Maximize: Lore, Discipline, Tumble, UMD
Remember to maximize your Lore, Discipline, Tumble, and UMD skills.
Level 6, Red Dragon Disciple
Feat: Toughness
Skills: Maximize: Discipline
Toughness grants the player 60 hitpoints at level 60 (the equivalent of two great constitution feats), one hit point per level. It is considered a good investment and a good idea to take in any build if you can afford this feat. This feat must be taken before level 40 to gain the full benefits. In addition, it is a requirement for Dwarven Defender.
Note that on this level we only maximize discipline as a skill. We're done with Lore now that we have the needed 8 points. Tumble and UMD are both bought cheaper during the bard levels so we wait for those.
Level 7, Red Dragon Disciple
You will gain +2 Strength here from your RDD level.
Level 8, Red Dragon Disciple
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 9, Red Dragon Disciple
Feat: Power Attack
Power Attack is a prerequisite feat for the Overwhelming Critical and Devastating Critical feats we will be taking later. You can also use it for extra damage when hitting things that don't have high AC, boosting your damage output slightly.
You gain another +2 Strength from your 4th RDD level.
Level 10, Bard
Skills: Maximize: Discipline, Tumble, UMD
Level 11, Dwarven Defender
Skills: Maximize: Discipline
Finally our very first DD level! Unfortunately we need to go change alignment to take this level. Go to the alignment changer, drop party, change alignment to lawful, rejoin the party, and take the level.
Level 12, Dwarven Defender
Feat: Weapon Focus: Light Flail
Stat bonus: Strength
Weapon focus: Light Flail lets your character use the Light Flail as a primary weapon. As an Arctic Dwarf you do not have enough spare feats to take exotic weapon proficiency so bastard sword is not an option (it is debatable if that would be preferred regardless). I believe Light Flail is the best weapon choice for this character in general, but other good possibilities include Heavy Pick (for higher crits), Morningstar (will be better once 1.69 comes out), and Warhammer (some very nice alternate warhammers available).
Level 13, Dwarven Defender
Level 14, Dwarven Defender
Level 15, Dwarven Defender
Feat: Improved Critical: Light Flail
Improved Critical: Light Flail, increases the critical range while using this weapon, allowing you to land critical hits more often. Of course if you chose a different primary weapon, you'll take Improved Critical in that weapon instead.
Level 16, Dwarven Defender
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 17, Dwarven Defender
Level 18, Dwarven Defender
Feat: Cleave
Cleave is also a prerequisite feat for our special critical feats we will be taking later.
Level 19, Dwarven Defender
Level 20, Dwarven Defender
Skills: Maximize: Concentration, Heal, Discipline
Stat bonus: Strength
==============================================================
Stats @ 20
Strength 25
Dexterity 14
Constitution 16
Wisdom 8
Intelligence 12
Charisma 9
Saves (with no stat increases or save boosting equipment)
Fortitude 17
Reflex 12
Will 16
Skills
Lore 8
Discipline 23
Tumble 13
Use Magic Device 13
==============================================================
Level 21, Red Dragon Disciple
Feat: Great Strength 1
Skills: Maximize Discipline
Great Strength gives you an extra point of strength. Every two strength points will increase your overall Attack Bonus(AB) and damage by one point as well as granting an extra 1% physical immunity bonus when you become a legendary DD.
Level 22, Red Dragon Disciple
Level 23, Red Dragon Disciple
You gain +2 CON from your 7th RDD level. This will give you 60hp at level 60 in addition to raising your fort save.
Level 24, Red Dragon Disciple
Feats: Great Cleave
Stat bonus: Strength
Great Cleave is a prerequisite feat for the Overwhelming and Devastating critical feats.
Level 25, Red Dragon Disciple
You gain +2 INT from your 9th RDD level. This will help against some rare attacks in the hells as well as give you more skill points which we will put to good use.
Level 26, Red Dragon Disciple
You gain +2 CHA from your 10th RDD level. This will help a little against some attacks in the hells.
Level 27, Red Dragon Disciple
Feats: Overwhelming Critical: Light Flail
Overwhelming Critical adds +1 to the critical hit threat range for you weapon. This will increase the number of times you do a critical hit.
Level 28, Red Dragon Disciple
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 29, Red Dragon Disciple
Level 30, Red Dragon Disciple
Feats: Devastating Critical: Light Flail, Armor Skin
Devastating Critical adds a +1 to the critical hit multiplier for your weapon. This lets the critical hits do more damage. The effect is especially noticeable on weapons with high multipliers (e.g. Bastard Sword, Warhammer, Heavy Pick) but is still a good idea on the x2 weapons (e.g. Light Flail, Morningstar).
Armor Skin grants an extra +2 AC. Getting hit less means more time cleaving skulls.
Level 31, Red Dragon Disciple
The 15th and last RDD level. You gain yet another +2 Strength. At this point you have complete fire immunity and +5 bonus AC. Unfortunately that bonus AC isn't quite as useful as one might think as it restricts both Tumble AC and DD natural armor bonus. However it does free up some skill points and is useful if you don't have top of the line gear.
Level 32, Dwarven Defender
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 33, Dwarven Defender
Feats: Great Strength 2
Great Strength gives you an extra point of strength. Every two strength points will increase your overall Attack Bonus(AB) and damage by one point as well as granting an extra 1% physical immunity bonus when you become a legendary DD.
Level 34, Dwarven Defender
Level 35, Dwarven Defender
Feats: Epic Weapon Focus: Light Flail
Epic weapon focus grants your character 2 additional AB while using the chosen weapon. It also qualifies you for Legendary Weapon Focus in that weapon after level 40.
Level 36, Dwarven Defender
Feats: Great Strength 3
Stat bonus: Strength
Great Strength gives you an extra point of strength. Every two strength points will increase your overall Attack Bonus(AB) and damage by one point as well as granting an extra 1% physical immunity bonus when you become a legendary DD.
Level 37, Bard
Skills: Tumble to 35, Use Magic Device to 40, Maximize Discipline
The last bard level, which is done to buy skills at a discount. You can actually take this level here or 38, 39, or 40, whichever is most convenient for you. You don't want to be stuck in the middle of your immortal run unable to level however, so I recommend getting it done before then. As before, you're going to have to go change alignment.
Go to the location, drop party to prevent changing their alignment, change to chaotic, take this level paying close attention to skills, then change alignment back to lawful, and finally rejoin your party.
The Tumble skill raises AC by one point for every five base skill points spent. However it is limited by the RDD bonus AC, which in our case is 5, so we don't get any benefit from points beyond 35. Use Magic Device will let you use a variety of items and most importantly scrolls. Without this skill you will be unable to use Greater Sanctuary scrolls for instance. The ability to use scrolls is a definite advantage for this build. As usual we maximize Discipline.
Level 38, Dwarven Defender
Skills: Maximize Discipline
Level 39, Dwarven Defender
Feats: Great Strength 4
Great Strength gives you an extra point of strength. Every two strength points will increase your overall Attack Bonus(AB) and damage by one point as well as granting an extra 1% physical immunity bonus when you become a legendary DD.
Level 40, Dwarven Defender
Stat bonus: Strength
Feats: Epic Prowess
Skills: Maximize: Discipline, Listen
Epic Prowess, grants you +1 AB at the cost of only one feat. It also qualifies you for the full AB bonus when you take Legendary Weapon Focus later.
In addition to the usual maximizing Discipline we put all remaining points into the Listen skill. Listen allows one to better hit concealed opponents, which will be important in a number of LL areas and the Hells.
==============================================================
Stats @ 40
Strength 36
Dexterity 14
Constitution 18
Wisdom 8
Intelligence 14
Charisma 11
Saves (with no stat increases or save boosting equipment)
Fortitude 28
Reflex 22
Will 26
Skills
Lore 8
Discipline 43
Tumble 35
Use Magic Device 40
Listen 38
==============================================================
Level 41
Maximize Skills: Discipline, Listen
Level 42
Feat: Legendary Luck
Stat bonus: Strength
Legendary Luck grants an extra +3 to all saves.
Level 43
Maximize Skills: Discipline, Listen, Craft Weapon
We now have both Discipline and Listen maxed, so it's time to pick another skill which will get the remainder of our skill points (35 in total). Choices include Concentration for some rare checks, Parry for a small reduction in damage from critical hits, Craft Armor for a bonus +1 AC most of the time, or Craft Weapon for a bonus +1 AB most of the time. If you're very concerned about defense, you can choose Craft Armor or Parry. I believe Craft Weapon is the best long term choice.
Level 44
Stat bonus: Strength
You hit 40 base strength so now qualify for the Stoneguard ability. This lets you use one of your 9 defensive weaves per day to turn into an almost immobile rock that has complete immunity to critical hits. It is a useful feature when tanking some of the toughest bosses. In normal situations you should have enough defense to not bother with the hassle of being glacial speed. There are at least two monsters that can dev crit, meaning they can instantly kill anything not critical hit immune. This is a very useful feature for them.
Level 45,
Feat: Legendary Weapon Focus: Light Flail
With the Legendary Weapon Focus you will get an additional +3 to your legendary attack bonus when using that weapon. Your LBAB will max out at +18 which is as high as possible.
Level 46
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 47
Level 48
Feat: Lightning Reflexes
Lightning Reflexes gives a +2 bonus to your reflex save an unlocks the Legendary Reflexes feat which we will take next opportunity.
Level 49
Level 50
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 51
Feat: Legendary Reflexes
Legendary Reflexes gives an extra +7 to your reflex save. Since reflex was our worst save, and a very common one, we go to great lengths to improve it.
Level 52
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 53
Level 54
Feat: Epic Will
Stat bonus: Strength
Epic Will gives an extra +4 to your will save.
Level 55
Level 56
Stat bonus :Strength
Level 57
Feat: Great Strength 5
Great Strength gives you an extra point of strength. Every two strength points will increase your overall Attack Bonus(AB) and damage by one point as well as granting an extra 1% physical immunity bonus when you become a legendary DD.
Level 58
Stat bonus: Strength
Level 59
Level 60
Feat: Great Strength 6
Stat bonus: Strength
Great Strength gives you an extra point of strength. Every two strength points will increase your overall Attack Bonus(AB) and damage by one point as well as granting an extra 1% physical immunity bonus when you become a legendary DD.
==============================================================
Stats @ 60
Strength 48
Dexterity 14
Constitution 18
Wisdom 8
Intelligence 14
Charisma 11
Saves
Fortitude 36 (62 in full gear)
Reflex 39 (65 in full gear)
Will 38 (64 in full gear)
HP in gear: 1182
AB with full +20 bonus: 95, 90, 85, 80, 95
AC: 125 (UR/Illithid gear), 129 (+girding), 133 (+girding+strongheart or asmo), 137 (+girding+strongheart+asmo)
Skills @ 60
Lore 8
We needed this to enable Red Dragon Discipline as a class choice.
Tumble 35
Every 5 points of tumble will grant you 1 point of AC. Going over 35 in this skill will not grant you any extra AC because of your RDD levels.
Discipline 63
There are many discipline checks in the game. High discipline is necessary for any frontline tank.
Use Magic Device 40
This lets you use scrolls and some items you would not otherwise be able to use. These include Mindblank, Stone to Flesh, Greater Sanctuary, Black Blade, Mords, Gust, Clarity, Timestop, Mestil's Acid Breath, Keen, and others.
Listen 63
We were tight on feats so dropped Blind Fight. We can get away with that because we are a DD and we have maximized Listen. You would never want to make a tank without one or the other as you would have a very hard time hitting anything with concealment. With your maximized Listen skill and bard song you will cut through conceal more often than standard Blind Fight tanks. If you can get C/C or mass C/C (Clairaudience/clairvoyance) to raise your listen skill even further you will be hitting quite a bit more often, hence doing more damage.
Craft Weapon 35
Every 40 points in this skill will add 1 attack bonus to your overall AB score. With bard song this skill will grant you 1 AB.
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Yomi