How to be INVINCIBLE in D&D | Walking Fortress build guide

have you ever wanted to look at your party tank and call them Squishy in this video we're going to take tanking to the extreme and make a d and character that's almost Invincible a walking Fortress I don't know about you but I love playing tanks there's just something magical about walking into a battle knowing that you'll be the last one standing this build takes that to the next level it can get up to 30 AC and a lowest saving throw of plus 10 with no magic items so just imagine what it can do with some extra bonuses when we're set up for the battle an adult red dragon will need to roll a 16 to hit our walking Fortress and we'll do a puny 27 damage on its breath attack if it rolls Max damage you might be wondering how we can possibly create such an epitome of tankiness let's find out first up our priorities so we can fear no blow and we can tank for days we're going to prioritize High Armor class so we rarely get hit by attacks High saves so we don't get in capacitated and mitigate damage from area attacks damage resistances and immunity so we can weather any storm and area denial and taunt effects our focus on this build is primarily on our tankiness we are going to prioritize that over our damage output but the damage output remains pretty decent for the build anyway AAC is our top priority we need to maximize that first that means we'll need to use heavy armor and Shields and have proficiencies in both and also we'll need 15 strength so we can use plate armor both light and medium armor cap at 17 armor class and while you can get higher than this with no armor with a barbarian or monk that would mean that you lose out on potential Armor class bonuses from using magical or infused armor or Shields we're going to go for every last point of armor class we can get so heavy armor and a shield it is a level of fighter will give us all the proficiencies we're looking for so that goes on our wish list we'll round out the typical high AC build by taking the defense fighting style for an extra one to Armor class plate armor and a shield with the defense fighting style will give us a nice 21 base Armor class but that's pretty standard stuff and we can do much better here's where we get to one of the most important parts of the build we're going to take the war magic subass for the wizard this adds 13 intelligence as a requirement and gives us a few really important things first it we get access to the shield spell so we increase our Armor class by five until our next round is a react action not to mention loads of other spells that can help us with our defenses such as absorb elements but we'll talk about those later when we first pick up the subass at level two wizard we get the Arcane deflection feature this lets us spend our reaction to increase our AC by two if we're going to get hit or our saving throw by four if we're going to fail it at the expense of not being able to cast spells other than can trips on our next turn while the armor class bonus part of this is decent the saving throw bonus is excellent and this will help us make our weak saves you know the ones where we only have a plus six or seven bonus as we'll see later not being able to cast spells other than cantrips on our turn isn't going to be much of a detriment to us either where the war magic wizard really shines though and what will make our build come together is the durable magic feature that we get at level 10 wizard this will give us a plus two bonus to Armor class and all saving throws while we're concentrating on a spell that's a great bonus so let's make sure we keep it if we take our first level in F then we already get Proficiency in Constitution saving throws but let's get advantage in concentration checks too by picking up the waras the feet aside from the advantage this gives us some extra benefits too such as letting us cast spells while we have a weapon and shield in hand and letting us cast a spell instead of making an opportunity attack it's worth noting that the Arcane deflection and durable magic features work really well together because we can use the plus4 to saves from Arcane deflection to pass a concentration check that we would fail otherwise and keep durable magic up if we're going to take 10 levels in Wizard then we might as well turn it up to 11 so we can get level six spells including FS Ban's Platinum Shield which is excellent for our build we'll see why later our next priority is saving throws we'll get a nice semi-permanent plus two bonus from durable magic so long as we're concentrating on a spell but we can do much better the Paladin is the indisputable goat of saving throws with their Aura of protection feature so let's add that to our wish list along with 20 Charisma so we can max out the bonus with a huge plus five to all saving for us with aura of protection and the bonus from durable magic will have a massive plus seven bonus to all saving throws six levels of Paladin will also give us some extra goodies including lay on hand so we can stick around for longer and both Divine Smite and extra attack so we can bring the pain train that's two of our priorities sorted the next one is damage resistances in immunities so we can mitigate damage as this is is third on our list of priorities and we don't have room for it in the build we won't be taking be to and Barbarian but we do get access to some great wizard spells that help out here this includes blade Ward absorb elements protection from elements intellect Fortress and fsb's platinum Shield we can also use shield for immunity to magic Missile and counter spell to generally be a nuisance and deny damage in the first place now coming to our final priority we want to hold the front lines and taunt our enemies the most important thing that matches our whist list and helps us do this is the booming blade cantry which threatens enemies from running away from us with a nice dose of Thunder damage the paladin spell compel jewel is an option here but we'll generally have better things to do with our concentration a more obscure option that can help is to take level three Cavalier Fighter for the unwavering Mark feature this means that when we hit an adjacent enemy with a melee weapon attack we can mark them so they get disadvantage on attacking our allies so long as they remain Within within 5 ft of us this works with opportunity attacks that we make and with booming blade too damned if they do damned if they don't if we hit an enemy and they want to attack anyone other than us they can either choose to run away and take the Thunder damage or stay put and get disadvantage on their attacks we'll be able to use this to help protect our fellow Frontline characters you know the ones that don't have 30 Armor class this feature lets us Mark any number of enemies and lasts until the end of our next turn so if there are multiple enemies within 5 ft of us we can split our attacks to spread more disadvantage okay so now we've got all the pieces let's put the build together we start with a level of fighter this gives us all the proficiencies we'll need including proficiency with Constitution saves a bunch of hit points the defense fighting style and second win for some healing let's assume that we're using Point by and Tasha's rules and talk about race later we need to start with 15 strength 13 intelligence and 16 Charisma because we'll only get three ability scores improvements and we're going to use one to get the warcast de feat we also want 10 dexterity so we don't lose any armor class we apply our plus two racial bonus to our highest stat Charisma and our plus one bonus to our second highest strength that's most of our stats we leave wisdom at eight take our con up to 12 and that leaves us with two options for our remaining points we can either have 16 strength or 14 intelligence we aren't going to need to prepare many spells and we won't be using spells with saving throws in this build so let's pump strength to 16 with 16 Charisma and no use for it we're going to have to cut with a relatively suboptimal stat allocation for a while and we'll have a relatively low con but by level two we'll be more durable than most dedicated tanks an Arcane deflection will help us make our concentration checks when choosing our race we want anything that gives us more durability I like the Earth gasi for this build because it gives us the blade Ward canri but more importantly it lets us cast it using a bonus action a number of times per day equal to our proficiency bonus this is a really strong option for the build because we hope to be attracting as many attacks as possible and even with our ridiculously high Armor class some attacks will inevitably get through resistance against damage from physical weapon attacks is a great tool to have in our toolbox and even better if we can get it using a burnus action the Earth ganassi gets dark vision too which is always something to look out for for background anything goes when I played this build using my character Thunderstone I took FK hero because it the idea of a guy that likes to take hits for others well if you can find a background that helps the build please let me know in the comments we want to get our AC to ridiculous proportions as soon as possible so we next take four levels of wizard choosing the war magic subass we want the first level for access to shield and absorb elements and the second for Arcane deflection and that nice plus two to Armor class or plus four to saving throws the plus two to Armor class is like a mini Shield that only works for one attack and doesn't cost a spell slot but we'll mostly be using this for the burners to saves when we need it for can trips we take blade Ward if we don't already have it booming blade and shocking touch do what you like with your other spell picks but it's always good to take ritual spells because Wizards can cast spells with the ritual tag if they're in the spell book without preparing them at level two wizard we could switch to Paladin but level three wizard gives us blur which makes us that much more durable and then level four will give us War Caster this will mean we don't need to worry about Spell components it'll help us keep blur rope and it'll let us use booming blade in place of an opportunity attack if we need to worry about Spell components then we use shocking touch as our main attack until we get to level five and take warcaster if we don't have to worry about Spell components then we can equip our one-handed melee weapon of choice and use booming blade instead either way from level five we'll be using booming blade as our main attack until we get the extra attack feature the level five assuming that we took 16 strength and our accuracy and Dam damage output is almost on par with a level five fighter while we only get to make a single attack booming blade adds an extra d8 Thunder damage on the main hit at this level our durability however far exceeds that of most tanks in heavy armor blur gives enemies disadvantage and attacks against us and we can use the shield spell to get to 26 AC if 21 isn't enough at level five our build is now firmly in place and we get to decide which aspect of being the ultimate tank we want to explore next we can either keep taking wizard levels to get some nice concentration spells counter spell and durable magic earlier or start taking Paladin levels for higher hit points more damage potential with Divine Smite and extra attack and a bigger bonus to all saves earlier if you go for the wizard route then take wizard levels up to at least wizard level 10 and use the extra ability score Improvement for a plus two to Charisma for spells take counter spell and either protection from energy or intellect Fortress at level five intellect Fortress is probably the better pick because you already have absorb elements for Elemental damage at level six take the spell that you didn't pick and from then on you can take whichever spells you want a level 10 wizard we get durable magic setting our base Armor class to 23 and giving us a plus two bonus to all saves while we're concentrating on a spell we can then either take the final wizard level to get Fs Ban's Platinum Shield or leave it for later if you want to go for the Paladin route then you might want to take wizard five along the way anyway to get access to counter spell countering a fireball will leave you and your party in a much better position than using absorb elements to take half damage or a quarter if you make the save take Paladin to level six to get lay on hands Divine Smite extra attack and most importantly Aura of protection you get paladin spell casting and more spell slots as you level too I take healing and support spells with your Paladin slots but remember that you want to save your spell slots for your defense Shenanigans while you could use Shield of Faith as your concentration spell blur is better for your Paladin subass I couldn't find any that particularly stood out for this build with my character Thunderstone I took oath of the crown because it fit his personality best if you find a paladin subclass that you think fits the build really well then please let me know in the comments you get to select a second fighting style as a level two Paladin I'd recommend one of two choices here if your DM lets you take tunnel fighter from the Unearthed Arana light dark underd dark if they let you take it your DM will probably regret it immediately at the cost of spending your bonus action to enter a defensive stance this will let you make opportunity attacks with booming blade without spending your reaction and let you make opportunity attacks when an enemy moves within 5 ft of you even if they don't leave your reach that will leave your reaction nicely available to cast Shield absorb elements or counter spell or use Arcane deflection if you need it if your DM doesn't let you take tunnel fighter then blessed Warrior is a great pick you can take the guide and and resistance C trips to make sure you'll always have a spell available for durable magic when you get it and for some extra help with skill checks and saving throws for you and your party when you hit Level five Paladin and get extra attack you now have an option with your primary attacks you can either use booming blade which continues to scale nicely as you level up or make two regular attacks to maximize your chances to hit the best option to pick will depend on the situation when you've either taken wizard to level 10 or 11 or Paladin to level six take the levels you didn't pick and use the extra ability score Improvement to increase your charisma to 20 when you have at least level 10 wizard and level six Paladin you'll have a base 23 Armor class and plus seven to all saving throws while you're concentrating on a spell that's huge for your final levels take wizard level 11 for FS band's Platinum Shield Shield if you haven't already then take fighter up to three to get action surge in the Cavalier subass this gives you unwavering Mark which you can use to protect adjacent allies from adjacent enemies at this point if you're adjacent to both an ally and multiple enemies you may want to make two attacks on your turn using extra attack rather than using booming blade this will give you a chance to apply unwavering Mark to two enemies congratulations you're now the tankiest character around now let's talk about some of the spell we've Chosen and how we might want to use them and how our build fares up against a worthy opponent the adult red dragon I love booming blade and it Bonkers in this build it lets us make a melee attack and deal extra Thunder damage if an enemy decides to move away from us for example to attack one of our allies when we get warcaster at level five we can use it in place of an opportunity attack if an enemy decides to run if we hit our foot either accepts the Thunder damage or cancels their move until we get extra attack booming blade gives us a decent damage option and it scales better than most can trips a level five the main attack that we make deals an extra d8 Thunder damage on a hit and the penalty for the enemy moving increases by d8 both the main attack damage and penalty damage increased by d8 at levels 11 and 17 making the Spell solid at every level let's talk blade Ward if you didn't take Earth gasi it can be good to cast this if you expect to take a huge number of attacks especially if you have blur up so there's no need to dodge it costs your action so you'll miss out on making one or two attacks but this build is all about defense anyway if you took Earth gassi then you can use this as a bonus action a few times per day which is huge especially considering we don't have many uses for our bonus action shield and absorb elements are crucial to the build we don't have a high con and we're taking a lot of wizard levels with only five hit points per level if we're taking the average so so we're relying on not getting hit and mitigating damage rather than soaking it we might have to choose between leaving our reaction available for shield absorb elements counter spell or Arcane deflection depending on the situation blur is amazing when we first pick it up and we only have 21 Armor class and it gets better as our Armor class gets higher the lower the chances an enemy hits you in the first place the better applying disadvantage is a crit will always hurt and there's only a one in 400 chance of taking a crit while blur is up we all know and love counter spell and the best way to mitigate damage is to avoid it entirely we get up to level seven spell slots with this build and unlike most Wizards we use spells for defense when they're needed rather than for offense every turn so we typically end up with a lot of spell slots to spare save your high level spell slots to counter nasty spells when I played Thunderstone at level 20 I counted the big bad evil guy casting disintegrate at me using a level seven spell slot great waste of Your Action evil Santa when might we want to use protection from energy we have absorb Elements which does a single thing but that takes a reaction which we could also use to cast Shield counter spell make a booming blade opportunity attack or use Arcane deflection to pass a failed save if you're going into a combat and you know there's going to be a lot of Elemental damage flying around then it can be a good option to use for your concentration spell intellect Fortress is really great for this build wisdom is our weakest saving throw with a plus six and it's a really important one if an enemy successfully casts whole person or polymorph oners then all bets are off this is where intellect Fortress comes in it gives us advantage on our intelligence wisdom and Charisma saving throws and resistance to psychic damage a character with 20 wisdom and Proficiency in wisdom saving throws gets a plus 11 to their saves we get plus six but we can make it plus 10 with Arcane deflection so when we have intellect Fortress up and we get advantage on our role we have a much better chance of making the save than other characters with high wisdom saves FS Ban's Platinum Shield is an outstanding spell for this build it gives you half cover for a plus two to Armor class resistance to Elemental damage and evasion so let's say you're fighting an adult red dragon and it uses its breath weapon on you let's say he got really lucky and rolled the maximum damage on 18 D6 108 by level 18 because of Aura of protection and durable magic we have a plus seven to deck saves while we're concentrating on a spell without magical items we can also use Arcane deflection to add four to our failed save that means we can pass a save against the dragon's breath attack with a r of 10 or higher pretty decent odds considering our opponent let's say we fail the save evasion from FIS Ban's Platinum Shield reduces the damage by half and Fire Resistance from the same spell reduces it by half again for a total of 27 points of fire damage as we have a plus 14 bonus to our constitution saves and concentration checks we don't even need to make a concentration check and fizban stays up while we're at it let's see how we Fair against the dragon's other attacks at level 18 if the challenge rating 17 Dragon really doesn't like us and decides to attack us with all of its multi-attack and legendary action attacks it can make a total of six attacks against us each with a plus 14 to hit while we're concentrating on FS Ban's Platinum shield and we have the plus two to armor class from cover we have a base armor class of 25 without magical items and we can raise that to 30 with Shield that means the dragon will need to roll a 16 to hits giving it a 25% chance to hit and 5% chance to crit per attack that means that we'll take on average one and a half hits per round and we'll take a crit on average every couple of rounds or so all of this assumes that we don't have any magical items but by level 18 we'll probably have at least a plus three bonus to armor class so good look Dragon if a normal hit does go through the maximum damage is 20 piercing plus 12 fire as we have FS banss up we half the fire damage leaving us with 26 damage on a very lucky damage roll we don't even have to roll concentration for that and fizban stays up if the Dragon Gets A crit then the maximum damage is 40 piercing plus 24 fire with FS Ban's fire resistance that's 52 damage and dc26 concentration check without magic items we have a plus 14 to our concentration checks we roll them with advantage and we can get a plus 18 with Arcane deflection we have a pretty good chance to make the check but we could fail it of course if we took Earth gasi then we could have used our burnus action on the previous turn to cast blade Ward giving us resistance on physical damage too and ensuring that the worst the dragon can leave us with is merely a flesh wound I had a lot of fun putting this build together and I hope you've enjoyed it have you come across a build that's tankier than this if so let me know in the comments until next time happy adventuring

Channel: DanDMadeEasy

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Keywords: dandmadeeasy, dnd, dungeons & dragons, tabletop gaming, roleplaying games, TTRPG, roleplaying, DM tips, DM advice, D&D advice, dnd tips, dnd advice, dnd build, dnd tank build, d&d tank build, d&d gish build, dnd gish build, dnd frontline, d&d frontline, dnd build guide, how to play a tank D&D, d&d min max, d&d optimization, d&d character, d&d character build, d&d war caster build, d&d fighter build, d&d paladin build, dungeons and dragons, d&d 5e, how to play d&d

Id: zpd_KKz6jZE

Length: 21min 8sec (1268 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 07 2024