tank character

[SneakWalker]

Hi everybody,

I want to make a tank character with barbarian, blackguard and duelist. Does the duelist's elaborate parry feat give +5 deflection AC when parry mode is on (of course when parry skill is 30) or does it give that AC passively?

Also, is there any penalty in such a build?

[MrSmith]

Hi everybody,

I want to make a tank character with barbarian, blackguard and duelist. Does the duelist's elaborate parry feat give +5 deflection AC when parry mode is on (of course when parry skill is 30) or does it give that AC passively?

Also, is there any penalty in such a build?

Do you have a breakdown of your actual build? How do you plan to spread your attribute points? Earth Genasi is an excellent choice for high strength/Dex... albeit suffers on Intelligence.

Barbarians function best with high strength and constitution scores to maximize the benefits of rage.
Blackguards function best with high strength and charisma scores to maximize the benefits of power attack/cleave... Dark Blessings saves relative to charisma.
Duelists function best with high intelligence scores to supplement their AC and damage with Insightful Strike in addition to increasing skill points to maximize Elaborate Parry, et al skills.

I suspect you are going to forego Insight Strike since you are not taking any levels of Swash. Tanarukk and Half-Orcs allow you to take Barbarian and Swashbuckler, if you were so inclined, without penalty.

[SneakWalker]

I want it to be a purely defensive/protective character.

g.dwarf, CE, veteran
str 14, dex 13, con 16->21, int 14, wis 8, cha 14->16

barbarian 20
duelist 7
blackguard 3

tumble 30, parry 30, listen 30, spot 32, umd 10, sc 15, ...

wh.frenzy, ice t.bers., d.shield, ICE, e.d.reduction 1-2-3, b.fight (no epic rage).

These are the ones that come to mind.

[YYA]

I cannot help but to say that you might find better mileage with a Barbarian 20/Divine Champion 10, as the Divine champion bonus feats allow you to grab Epic Damage Reduction... which frees up feats to get Fast Healing...

So do you want someone one to make you a build for it, and if so, are you going to mule over equipment or not?

[SneakWalker]

Actually, I wanted to get information about the features(especially “elaborate parry”) of the duelist. I also wanted to know if there would be any conflicts with barbarian and blackguard.

I'm about to give up the duelist. It seems more logical to choose aasimar instead of gold dwarf. If I'm not going to choose dwarven defender, dwarven always seems illogical to me anyway.

[YYA]

Barbarian and Blackguard? I cannot think of any conflicts.

[SneakWalker]

Barbarian and Blackguard? I cannot think of any conflicts.

I meant between barbarian+blackguard+duelist.

[YYA]

I meant between barbarian+blackguard+duelist.

Nothing prevents you from making a Barbarian/Blackguard/Duelist. For example, if you go for a Spear Using EDM Barbarian 20/Blackguard 3/Duelist 7, it is going to be a build that has a lot of damage potential. Your character is going to wear armor, you are not going to dance around naked.

But since you wanted to go for a more defensive build Barbarian does offer natural armor from Ice-troll Berserker feat, Blackguard does give Charisma Modifier to your Saves, and Duelist 7 does give that free +5 Deflection AC from Parry, but I think going for more damage through Epic Divine Might is the better choice over just stock tankiness.

[SneakWalker]

and Duelist 7 does give that free +5 Deflection AC from Parry.

Yes it is; this is what I really want to ask. Is it necessary to use the parry skill actively for +5 deflection AC or does it give it passively?

[YYA]

It is a passive bonus, and thus far, it is largely the only reason why anyone would ever invest in the Parry skill beyond PRC requirements.

[MrSmith]

Will the build hold aggro? To be a successful tank, you have to be able to hold a threat's attention. This is especially hard to do in a party with a ranged fighter... While I personally can-not-stand-the-click-click-click play style of a Man at Arms every couple of rounds, this class does go out of its way to help you become the aggressive character in the party.

Keep in mind too the +5 AC Bonus from Elaborate Parry is "a deflection bonus to AC, it doesn't stack with any other source of deflection AC." It's not hard to get +3 deflection relatively soon and after a couple of weeks entirely feasible to purchase a +4 deflection cloak for 40 cents on the dollar via the auction. So in the end, Duelist really only adds +1 AC Deflection.

Cheers!

[SneakWalker]

It is a passive bonus, and thus far, it is largely the only reason why anyone would ever invest in the Parry skill beyond PRC requirements.

thanks.

[Tyrpaladin2000]

Hi everybody,

I want to make a tank character with barbarian, blackguard and duelist. Does the duelist's elaborate parry feat give +5 deflection AC when parry mode is on (of course when parry skill is 30) or does it give that AC passively?

Also, is there any penalty in such a build?

I am not against your build, but most clerics with water and air domain are good tanks, since they can avoid most spells, traps, and can get a similar AC to a fighter if you add level of Dragonslayer for tower shield and tumble. You can also get a practiced spellcaster to get +4 toward spells.