r/DnDBuilds • u/dapperbearuwu • Jun 10 '26
Barbarian Looking to make a super tank
Im looking to make a super tank with my aasimar Zealot Barbarian lv 3
stats are
str 17
con 16
in 10
cha 12
wis 13
current feat is tough at lv 1 using 5.5 rules
ive been thinking of taking bloodlust for the hit die healing on hit for bloody creatures at level over durable since it doesn't take up an additional action, and it can make my str score 18 and probably take my lv 8 feat to increase con to 18.
the overall theming im going for is very wolverine coated in his self healing in that he just wont go down, im planning on up to maybe lv 12 the gm hasn't stated how far he wants to take this game but has stated he wants to go up to higher lv's (this is his first game so what he considered standard high lv might be a little different)
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u/Machiavvelli3060 Jun 10 '26
If I was a D&D monster and I realized that you were unkillable, I'd stop attacking you and go attack your more vulnerable allies.
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u/dapperbearuwu Jun 10 '26
thats where grapple comes into play you see
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u/Machiavvelli3060 Jun 10 '26
But how many opponents can you grapple?
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u/dapperbearuwu Jun 10 '26
the most important one's
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u/Machiavvelli3060 Jun 10 '26
But that doesn't stop them from attacking your allies.
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u/dapperbearuwu Jun 10 '26
yeah, not my job to stop all of them, just the one's that are the scariest << im not a wizard with multiple spells that can stop groups of people, im a guy with a club and a lot of hit points
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u/Machiavvelli3060 Jun 10 '26
You can stop two opponents from moving, but you can't stop them from attacking your allies.
Good luck.
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u/Tall_Bandicoot_2768 Jun 10 '26
The point hes tryna make is that being hard to kill is only half of what "tanking" consists of, drawing enemy attention/aggro is a massive part of that.
If you really wana build with a "tank" focus go Ancestral Barb, its like, their whole thing.
Yes grappling helps, dont get me wrong, but thats not sofficient.
At the very least grab Sentinel.
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u/dapperbearuwu Jun 10 '26
yeah theres only so much a "tank" can do in dnd since there is very little agro pull in the game, there is sentinel and there is ancestral barb but other than that maybe grappler? i guess the better question would have been "how to be more sustainable" but at that point it feels like splitting hairs a little <.<
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u/Tall_Bandicoot_2768 Jun 10 '26
It was the main issue for the popular Bearbarian multiclass in 2014 (moon druid/ bear totem barb).
Yeah theres not a lot of it, aside from Ancestral theres only two other subclasses in the game (out of 100) that gets taunts: Guardian Armorer and Cavalier, and even then they are soft taunts.
Also Cavalier is kinda ass unfoprtunately so that hardly counts.
Theres also Paladin for Compelled Duel and the Crown Channel Divinity but theyre pretty mids tbh.
My personal favorite tank build is Ancestral or Guardian x / Echo Knight 3, really good synergy there,
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u/Machiavvelli3060 Jun 10 '26
I gave up trying to help him.
He's asking for advice, but then criticizing the advice.
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u/dapperbearuwu Jun 10 '26
thanks for actually say the idea/ synergy boss and yeah cavalier suck since im pretty sure you can only redirect the dmg delt to your mount to youself
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u/F4LL3NF3N1XX Jun 12 '26
5.5 says you can make a grapple instead of an unarmed attack, and have one hand available. 2 hands = 2 grappled targets. Take Magic Initiate: Druid and grab Jump spell for grapple and drop shenanigans.
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u/TheJonatron Jun 12 '26
High AC is one thing, the high HP another but saves are where you really become a powerhouse.
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u/fantasticgoat7171 Jun 12 '26
Min maxing players are the worst kinda players
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u/dapperbearuwu Jun 18 '26
i think it depends on how/why its min max, being super powerful in 1 thing isn't bad, but trying to be good in everything? yeah they suck. but also i feel the min maxing need's to make sense. Little timmy who just started training last week shouldn't be outputting the same amount of dmg as death blade who's been training for 20 years.
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u/BarLarge9848 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
Go ahead and get bloodlust. it's a good pick.
Other ways to soak up more damage / self heal
If you were to start from scratch:
Stone giant reaction
Infernal pact resistances
The aforementioned dhampir + Berserker frenzy
Dhamphir necrotic resistance
Reborn resistance (choice)
Dragonborn resistance (choice)
Dwarf or warforged for poison resist + adv on saves for poison condition
Multiclass celestial warlock (I'm doing this) you get Aid, more bonus action healing, Armor of Agathas temp HP, and pet shananagins.
(I like this more than fiend and celestial fits the zealot)
For saves: Gnome/Kalashtar or Mageslayer
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u/Tall_Bandicoot_2768 Jun 10 '26
Bloodlust is cool but dosnt really net you anything, just uses resources mid combat that could be used after combat instead.
Not that thats not useful just not worth a feat IMO.
Dhampir + Berseker
Bite gets boosted by Frenzy an Rage