Tanky Hardcore build

[Mrburnsie]

Need a tanky easy build to try hardcore, been away for a long time and would need help.

[NavFamG]

I don't think many of us here are playing on the Hardcore server, but as the dungeons are the same as the normal one's ........ Although you might get a more exact answer over on the Official Forums.

I'd say either a Fighter - Vanguard or a Paladin. Both have a VERY good chance at getting a good 2 handed weapon drop from the inside the village quests so you're starting out with a good damage dealing weapon, lot more hitpoints for the fighters and for the Paladin you have a limited self heal ability with the 'laying on the hands' spell they get.

From what little I've seen here and the more over on the Official Forums, there's a good chance you'll have the opportunity to try out some different builds as you work through your deaths.

Take it slow, be cautious and take advantage of all the others playing to group. Good Luck.

[Doug]

I'd go Paladin, if only for the Lay on Hands. Then there'd be the decision of whether to go full DPS (two-hander) or survivability (sword and board). The typical DDO logic is that the best defense is a good offense and that DPS = armor. But when you absolutely, positively can't afford to die.. leave the DPS to others in the group and concentrate on survival. It's a more traditional approach to DDO, where real tanks haven't been required much except for raids in years. The good news is that they've boosted aggro-pulling abilities considerably recently.

[Exothermically Eclectic]

Originally posted by dnddiehard:

Don't listen to this guy either, if you look at his other posts, he didn't know you could TR in less than 3 days even.

Proof please.

[Doug]

Originally posted by dnddiehard:

Originally posted by Doug:

I'd go Paladin, if only for the Lay on Hands. Then there'd be the decision of whether to go full DPS (two-hander) or survivability (sword and board). The typical DDO logic is that the best defense is a good offense and that DPS = armor. But when you absolutely, positively can't afford to die.. leave the DPS to others in the group and concentrate on survival. It's a more traditional approach to DDO, where real tanks haven't been required much except for raids in years. The good news is that they've boosted aggro-pulling abilities considerably recently.

What are you even saying? Everything you said here is wrong. No vet players think DPS=Armor, I mean that doesn't even make sense. No vet thinks the best defense is a good offense either. Please stop giving advice to players, you are clearly new to this game in that you play it on steam. The best defense is actually dodge, not offense. Dodge is a chance to COMPLETELY miss. The next best defense is AC in that if you get it high enough the mobs "to hit" might not ever be able to trump your AC (so again a chance to completely miss). The next next best defense is to stack your PRR/MRR really high and that would take away a % of damage to you. The next best defense would be elemental absorption which again would act like PRR/MRR but for elemental attacks. Then stack your resists. Last but not least spell absorption. So yeah I mean when the guy says the best defense is a good offense, know he doesn't know much about DDO.

Lol. Right. Nobody focuses on DPS in DDO. Nobody believes that the best way to avoid being damaged is to put the mobs down as quickly as possible. You sound like you read all the Wiki, but have never actually played with real people. All of what you have said is correct. And yet, if you do all of it at the expense of DPS, you'll die quickly. Dead mobs do no damage.

In fact, there's another 'defense' that's also more critical than all the ones you quoted: Crowd Control. Given the right combination of DPS and CC, most mobs will never have a chance to do you damage, and all the other defenses will go largely unused.

Further, if you're playing in a group, if one person maxes a combination of damage-reduction abilities and aggro-generating ones (becomes a tank), the rest of the group can put a lot less focus on defenses and more on CC & DPS. In effect, a tank is your third line of defense. And all three come before any of the ones mentioned above.

In conclusion, how much effort you need to invest into your defenses depends a lot on how you play and with whom. If you solo, you'll have to invest in defenses, because bosses are usually impossible to CC and won't generally go down quickly. On the other end of the scale, if you run in a static group you can designate a tank, CC, healer if required, and DPS and each can modify their investment in defenses accordingly. If you PUG, it's a bit of a crapshoot every adventure, so don't neglect your defenses too much. But in any case, DPS is critical and insta-kills are the king of DPS.

And yet again: self-proclaimed as more intelligent than the rest of us, but constantly leaps to conclusions. I don't play DDO on/from Steam. Never have. The evidence that I do is exactly the same as the evidence that you do (being here on these forums). I joined the forums here when Steam started carrying DDO.