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[!]: Old build dating back before Martial Power. Please see Tank 2.0 for a more updated build. Tank 3.0 release is still unannounced and will most likely come following a book with more drastic changes than PHB2 offered.

Tank: How to Build an Unstoppable Force

Getting to Know Your Tank:

“Eh? around here they call me ‘Tank.’ My real name... Meh, my real name ain’t important. All ya need to know is that if ya mess up me bar, I’ll mess up yer face.”

Tank is a massive dwarf by dwarf standards, standing just over five feet and weighing well over 200 pounds with a fiery blonde beard and a tan complexion. He was the former bouncer at the Whiskey Dog Inn. Sure, his past life as a soldier for his clan is much more reputable, but far less relevant. Lately, Tank has spent his time throwing drunkards out of an inn for a fair payment of drink and lodging. He is as tough and solid as the stone foundations of the Whiskey Dog Inn and even more stubborn than the half-witted, drunken patrons that reside there. Tank lived a tolerable half-life until one of his rather brash and costly extrications of an inn patron left him without home and work. Now, Tank is ready to take up any quest so long as it offers enough pay to afford some quality dwarven spirits.

“Now now, ya can try to push me, son. But I’ll warn ya, I push back.”

Tank is a Dwarven Fighter / Iron Vanguard / Demigod that revolves around being as immovable as stone, as forceful as a landslide, and as resilient as the earth itself. Utilizing the benefits of Iron Vanguard’s Trample the Fallen and Enduring Warrior features, Tank is not only resilient but also very destructive. Constitution is the single-most important ability score for a defender’s survivability and Tank takes full advantage of it.

Building Your Tank:

“If ya get me a hammer, I’ll getchya yer princess back.”

Ability Scores
[FONT="Courier New"]STR: 16 +3 +10 = 26 +8
CON: 18 +4 +10 = 28 +9
DEX: 12 +1 +2 = 14 +2
INT: 8 -1 +2 = 10 +0
WIS: 14 +2 +2 = 16 +3
CHA: 10 +0 +2 = 12 +1[/FONT]

Nearly all of Tank’s powers and features benefit from a high constitution score and a high constitution is the single greatest boon to a defender’s survivability; therefore constitution is his primary ability score. Tank also requires a high strength score to ensure that his attacks hit his targets and pack as much punch as possible. Fortunately, if Tank misses, he has his constitution score to fall back on for damage, and if he hits, his constitution just heightens the hurt. Wisdom is Tank’s tertiary score. It gives a bonus to his Opportunity Attacks, which is important in making sure that his enemies don’t get to rough up his friends, or more importantly, run away in fear.

Skills
[FONT="Courier New"]Athletics
Endurance
Intimidate[/FONT]

With the exception of Intimidate, Tank is simply feeding off his primary ability scores. Intimidate comes from years of dissuading drunkards from getting themselves forcibly removed from the inn.

Feats
[FONT="Courier New"]1: Toughness
2: Durable
4: Armor Proficiency (Plate)
6: Dwarven Weapon Training
8: Shield Push
10: Improved Initiative
11: Hammer Rhythm
12: Dwarven Durability
14: Armor Specialization (Plate)
16: Iron Will
18: Lightning Reflexes
20: Great Fortitude
21: Bludgeon Mastery
22: Epic Resurgence
24: Blind Fight
26: Improved Second Wind
28: Danger Sense
30: Distracting Shield[/FONT]
[!] Grey feats are useful, but not vital to the build.

Between a very high constitution score and the feats toughness, durable, and dwarven durability, Tank has nearly the highest pool of hit points for any character. Plate armor gives Tank a nearly perfect armor class, and iron will, lightning reflexes and great fortitude compensate low dexterity and wisdom scores. Shield push is invaluable for two reasons: Tank can help protect his allies by pushing enemies out of striking range before they land an attack, and he can also add even more hurt to his combat challenge basic attack via Trample the Fallen. Hammer Rhythm is pure butter for this build and paired with constitution damage on most attacks, grants Tank a formidable average damage per round.

At-Will Powers
[FONT="Courier New"]1: Tide of Iron, Cleave[/FONT]

“No! I said ‘get outta me way!’ Ah, now that’s better.”

Tide of Iron is invaluable to Tank. It is perhaps the best positioning at-will power available for any class, and Tank puts it to even more use with Trample the Fallen. Compared to other classes, the average damage of Tide of Iron is comparable if not better than nearly all other at-will powers. Cleave is useful for smashing minions and reaping the benefits of Enduring Warrior.

Encounter Powers
[FONT="Courier New"]1: Passing Attack
3: Crushing Blow
7: Come and Get It
11: Frontline Surge
13: Silverstep [Replace: Passing Attack]
17: Mountain Breaking Blow [Replace: Crushing Blow]
23: Warrior’s Urging [Replace: Come and Get It]
27: Cruel Reaper [Replace: Silverstep][/FONT]
Tank’s encounter powers focus on applying constitution damage whether from using a hammer or from pushing the target back.

“Really? Ya thought it’d be that easy for ya to hit me?”

It might seem that Warrior’s Urging and Cruel Reaper are out of place for the theme of applying constitution damage; however, the combination of the two linked through an action point is pure devastation for any group of foes. Furthermore, both powers grant Tank a better chance at controlling and marking multiple targets.

Daily Powers
[FONT="Courier New"]1: Comeback Strike
5: Dizzying Blow
9: Victorious Surge
15: Unyielding Avalanche [Replace: Comeback Strike]
19: Strike of the Watchful Guard [Replace: Dizzying Blow]
20: Indomitable Strength
25: Reign of Terror [Replace: Victorious Surge]
29: Force the Battle [Replace: Unyielding Avalanche][/FONT]

Tank’s daily powers do not follow the theme of constitution damage as much as his encounter powers. Instead, they offer other utilities such as the use of healing surges from Comeback Strike, Victorious Surge and Indomitable Strength or the group control from Reign of Terror and Force the Battle. Unyielding Avalance also offers a great amount of healing utility and can help with controlling multiple targets. Strike of the Watchful Guard is pure butter for punishing the Big Bad Evil Guy.

Utility Powers
[FONT="Courier New"]2: Boundless Endurance
6: Defensive Training
10: Into the Fray
12: Inexorable Shift
16: Iron Warrior
22: No Surrender
26: Divine Regeneration[/FONT]

Tank’s utility powers are split nicely between defensive stances, movement bonuses, and healing powers. Boundless Endurance is an incredibly powerful stance and can be taken at level two nonetheless. Inexorable Shift is useful in gaining an advantage from positioning and also has the benefit of guaranteed constitution damage, which can be paired with any of Tank’s attack powers in a single round. No Surrender when paired with Ferocious Reaction and Divine Recovery grants Tank numerous chances to save himself from an otherwise deadly attack.

Equipping Your Tank:

“Aww, ya dented me helmet.”

Recommended Equipment
[FONT="Courier New"]Dwarven Armor
Lifedrinker Warhammer
Shield of Defiance
Battlestrider Greaves
Gauntlets of Ogre Power
Basilisk Helm
Amulet of False Life
Iron Ring of the Dwarf Lords
Iron Ring of the Dwarf Lords
Belt of Vigor[/FONT]
[!] Grey items are useful, but not vital to the build.

“I call this one Headsmasher. And this one... Aye, I prob’ly shouldn’t say this one’s name in front of the little ones.”

Tank’s equipment serves to increase his survivability. Iron Rings of the Dwarf Lords increase his healing surges to 24 per day at level 30 and Dwarven Armor and Amulet of False Life effectively grant two more healing surges. Lifedrinker Weapon functions well with Enduring Warrior to increase the benefit of dropping a foe. Paired with Cleave, Tank will gain a large amount of temporary and normal hit points from slaughtering minions. Furthermore, for the epic tier, Holy Avengers are of great benefit to defenders and may offer a better option than a Lifedrinker Warhammer, but the gear presented here is an option for nearly all levels of play.

Conclusion:

“Aye, that one hurt. Ya can keep beatin’ on me like that all day if ya want, ‘cause unlike you, I can actually take the hits!”

Constitution is far superior to any ability score for ensuring survivability. Tank not only accepts this reality, but fully takes advantage of it by increasing both his damage and utility along with it. Trample the Fallen and Hammer Rhythm give Tank a solid average damage per round, and all of his pushes give him a great amount of battlefield control and extra movement. Tank’s at-will, Tide of Iron, is beefed up significantly so that no matter what, he can apply constitution to his damage and keep a hurting on his foes consistently; it is arguably his greatest tool in combat. With 232 hit points and 22 (24 with gear) base healing surges for 67 (70 with gear) hp each at level 30, Tank is nearly indestructible and can easily endure an entire day of pain. Despite the fact that Tank might have lower defenses than other very defense-heavy defenders, his massive pool of hit points gives him a much better chance at surviving any encounter thrown at him while still maintaining a ton of hurt and the ability to protect his allies with combat challenge and shield push.

“Silly lich, yer weapons cannot harm me. Don’t you know who I am?!”

Favored Enemy wrote:

Very nice write-up! I haven't read up on defenders yet, but it is interesting to hear that Constitution can outweigh Strength as the most important attribute.

Much moreso for dwarves and Dragonborn. Dwarves get the CON bonus, though.

I made a similar character named Crush. He is a warforged and our DM has allowed dwarven durability to apply to warforged as well. I think my dex is better by 2 but my con is worse by 2. took a few diffrent feats however and got about 5 hp less than you 1 healing. In my opinion the warforged is a happy medium between dwarf and human fighter.

Very similar to a build I've been toying with. Two things:

I dropped my Con to 16 (14+2) and picked up Dex 13 and Wis 16 (14+2). The 13 Dex means you can pick up Shield Specialization at 21 for another +1 Reflex defense, and the 16 Wis means you get another +1 to hit on your OAs, and +1 to Will defense. Could be worth the trade-off for 1 Con bonus, but I'm not 100% sold on it.

Also, I'm surprised you didn't include Unyielding Avalanche in there. Unfortunately it's a stance that takes up a Daily Attack power, but it's so good, especially with the high Con. Minions next to you go poof, giving you more health through Enduring Warrior.

Anyway, I don't think either of these is a no-brainer choice. Excellent build.

My build was using the regenerating encounter powers of the demigod to do a lot of area attacks rather than more con based powers (I know but there is one that does knock them back that I kept I think to level 30 and I think I kept one that blinded them when you used a hammer) I also took unyeilding avalache and other powers (Stances) that would allow me to do more damage over the long run because lets face it it might be a long long run because you don't die like ever.

Question: A warforged can use an attched 2 handed weapon with a -2 penalty in one hand right? If so is it still considered a 2 handed weapon? Would the +1 bonus to hit due to weapon talent still apply? the reason I ask is for purposes of potent challenge which would allow me to add con damage to this attack, push them, and give them a -2 penalty to attack as well as the marked condition or something like that.

On the same note, I think that Reaving Strike might get replaced by Strike of the Watchful Guard. Any thoughts?

I think I would go for strike of the watchful gaurd over reaving strike. I know you push them back and gain con to damage but being able to hit someone again is pretty powerful.