Stop Hitting Yourself: A Unique Tank Build with Insane Defenses | D&D 5e

This build is a unique take on the tank playstyle, focusing on the idea of "stop hitting yourself". Our viewer Geltza challenged us to build the best "Stop hitting yourself" build and here's what we got.
This porcupine tank is a multiclass between the Armorer Artificer and the Celestial Warlock taking the Guardian Armor and the Pact of the Chain. Utilizing some unique mechanics and strategies, this build can dish out damage while still tanking a ton for its team.
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[@bwaresunlight]

I would add two levels of Abjuration Wizard and take the Armor of Shadows invocation because you can spam the mage armor to rebuild the abjuration shield. The shield takes damage BEFORE for the temp hp from Armor of Agathys, which will get you a lot more mileage.

[@finalfantasy50]

the scaling is awful for a second level dip, 2xlevel+int so 4+int which wouldnt cover much at all, you really want to go deep into wizard to make it worth it

[@bwaresunlight]

@finalfantasy50 not really since you can spam mage armor and armor of agathys over and over. You're not trying to build a massive shield here, rather you're just trying to give yourself a small buffer for your hp so that your AoA lasts for more than one turn. You're right though, going deeper would be even better and give a larger shield. I was simply saying that I'd add 2 levels to start, I mean he didn't take this build to a high level so youve got room to work.,

[@jonmacbuff2268]

Totally!

[@elliotbryant3459]

@@bwaresunlight I gotta agree with finalfantasy50 here, a low amount of hp per initiative and low or middle level wizard spells vs higher level warlock features does not compare well [delaying or precluding mystic arcanums, high level invocations and more of them, subclass features and your 3rd slot/sr]. Especially considering that diverting from celestial means fewer healing light dice at 6hp a pop if used on yourself w/ GotELO in effect, and 1thp per warlock level per short rest

[@bwaresunlight]

@elliotbryant3459 I guess if were doing this build, I'd only take a 2 level Warlock dip and go heavy into Abjuration Wiz.

[@ericmerrill9808]

Just gotta say, you do really well with all your thumbnails. Always really fun to look at and nail the theme of the builds.

[@sillvvasensei]

Even better: 6 levels of Arcane Trickster / 14 levels of Abjuration Wizard Feats/ASIs: Rune Shaper (Armor of Agathys), Eldritch Adept (Armor of Shadows), INT 18, INT 20 - Armor of Shadows lets you restore your Arcane Ward easily - Cunning Action lets you move in and attack the enemy (Booming Blade or other spell), then Dash away as a bonus action. - When you provoke, you can Uncanny Dodge to resist the damage if your Arcane Ward is depleted. - Uncanny Dodge + Armor of Shadows making Armor of Agathys go really far, and you can cast it as high as 8th level.

[@williamfrey1821]

I would make sure to add the warcaster feat to this build for opportunity attacks with booming blade and your gauntlets, and fighting initiate-superior technique with riposte, so even when they miss you you can hit them.

[@defmod3397]

Cool Build! I have made one very similar to this in the past. I don't go with Celestial because there are two warlocks that get access to a perfect spell for this, fire shield. Fire shield is similar not Shadow of Moil except you can choose between cold/fire resistance and retaliatory damage, it is not concentration, lasts ten minutes, doesn't provide enemies disadvantage to hit us, and can even stack with it. The Efreeti genie, and the fiend both get it and the fiend gets temporary hit points on kill, plus 1 resistance to any type of damage, so I usually go for that. Using fire shield for retaliatory damage opens up the door for more efficient use of spell slots because you don't have time reapply it like you would have to with armor of agathys. Plus it synergizes with temporary hit points, unlike armor of agathys. And the fiend warlock gets temp hp on kill of a, creature, and we can use fiendish vigor in combat, giving us at effectively a pseudo regeneration feature (at the cost of an action)

[@Bootsofwings]

I had come up with a storm lord esc build, you go clockwork soul sorcerer+tempest cleric, take tempest to 6 and rest in sorcerer, every hit knocks them 10 feet back and you can still use wrath of the storm as a reaction

[@glitchking666]

Excellent build, armor of agythis is an amazing spell and using shadar kai to maximize it works so well

[@saltypork101]

I realise that the commenter specified this route, but for me the essence of "stop hitting yourself" is more "you're the one hitting me". So i would go rune knight with the unarmed fighting style, and when I attack someone I'm already grappling I just flavour it as making them hit themselves. Maybe call them names and demand their lunch money, idk. As an extra bonus, you get the cloud rune. I think that's pretty on-theme.

[@lordjunal7470]

There are few things that you need to clear up with your DM first! Booming blade component is a melee weapon worth at least 1cp, so make sure to get your DM approval that the gauntlet of the guardian armor will do!

[@ChristnThms]

The Abjurer Wizard trick is well known. A recent addition to the concept is the Runechild Sorcerer from the Tal'dorei book. The mechanics are a bit different than the Abjurer, but the damage reduction technique is similar. Being able to convert Sorcerer Points to charged runes at a 2:1 ratio, and then slots to Sorcerer Points also makes the Runechild incredibly durable.

[@christophermadsen7245]

Same concept for protection the armor of agathas going clockwork soul using sorcery points to reduce the dmg.

[@ChristnThms]

@@christophermadsen7245 only kind of... for the Clockwork, if you use your sorc points for your buffer, you cannot use them for other things. With Runechild, using your sorc points for ANYTHING powers your buffer.

[@parkerwinkler834]

I would absolutely love to see your take on a poison-damage based build. Someone who can make poisons, apply them to their attacks effectively, and can use the couple of poison damage spells that we get.

[@DnD_Daily]

I've got you: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4G4o32sdsl_m8ksi=T150AUptm7MJveai

[@donatszabo141]

2 lvl warlock for invocations. Shadar kai, and full abj wizard. You can add lvl 1-2 fighter to get heavy armor shield, and take heavy armor feat to get - 3 on damage if there is not much magic Items in game

[@shmutsy1924]

Have you done a build around the Graviturgy wizard? I know they're unpopular, but they've got a lot of cool tools and spells to play with. Being able to move enemies around in 3 dimensions feels like a very fun theme for a character.

[@LeakysTV]

This is my favourite character concept, i will say that heavy armor master and abjurer ward work pefect with this. What i wanna do is Goliath, Ancestral Guardian Barbarian 3(or5) + Runechild Sorcerer (works with Clockworks also but i want to keep that frost giant rune magic theme). between rage and all that damage reduction and you can extend Armor of Agathys or change its element

[@kaizokutaxinihoney]

I will suggest a simple challenge, make a fighter+(an other multiclass if it is needed) that utilizes whip in the best way possible.

[@aquartertwo]

With Variant Human and the Rune Carver background, you can take the Rune Shaper feat to get an upcast-able Armor of Agathys, and go full INT-caster and do Abjuration Wizard after Armorer Artificer instead of Warlock.

[@scrubnub6203]

A good use for shadow of moil on this build is to hold a doorway or a corridor. Then it's either they hit you which is difficult or they fan reach the rest of your party

[@KevUnchained]

I would actually multiclass into Barbarian for reckless attack which is a mini taunt to all enemies. Advantage on attacks will help with low STR too. Armor of Agathys is an hour long spell so you could have it up before combat and then rage. You can drop rage if you need the spell again.

[@KregisAurelius]

Str doesn't matter as we're using int as our attack roll. So there's no low roll and we'd miss out on all of barbarians strength focused stuff. Also while armor of Agathys is good its still only going to be like 20 hit points at 4th level spells so youre gonna want to cast it more than once in combat. Barbarian rage would just be too inconvenient for that.

[@KevUnchained]

@@KregisAureliusI’d replace the artificer levels so you’d use strength, and you don’t have to rage in order to recklessly attack. Rage would give you beefiness on command while AoA would give retaliation in between rages.

[@tillfangohr9286]

Thanks, you heard me!

[@lexmtaylor]

I agree on Armorer but I would mix it with college of swords Bard. You can add a level of Hexblade to get Armor of Agathys early and be able to be Charisma focused. But can also be Intelligence focused and wait to get Armor of Agathys at level 10 Bard. All three flourishes in Swords Bard are good. Obviously extra defense is great. But the Cleaving Flourish hits a second or third target with your Thunder Gauntlets and Mobile Flourish can position and help you move on a battlefield.

[@lr781]

I had this one undead warlock beasthide shifter with the rebuke talisman invocation. Had no Agro mechanic but it was a terrible idea to focus attacks on him. Just refresh temp hp constantly and when I did get downed he would explode. Not a tank but fun as hell

[@haydenwillmott4687]

Challenge build idea, the Unarmed Robo Ronin. Must take the Samurai Fighter subclass, and no more than 4 levels monk, and must use a Warforged or Autognome race

[@edoardofedeli1205]

Very nice build! I play one with the same strategy, but i’ve gone Mark of Warding Dwarf and Armorer 3 Abjuration Wizard 3. Arcane Ward goes on top of Armor of Agathis, so it will proc more times with a single spell slot used, and you have all the broken wizard spells to support this strategy (Absorb Elements, Shield, Find Familiar, Gift of Alacrity, Warding Wind, Haste…) and have the flexibility of the wizard spell book to do the rest!

[@MJStart82]

You previously posted a mage slayer build, which was great, but I'd like to challenge that build further and see a mage slayer build that does NOT utilize a spell casting class.

[@tobiasschmid9216]

you can build a beautiful mage slayer with a shadow monk. the subclass gets access to some spells however. does that already make it a spellcasting class for you?

[@bijnahonderdeuro]

@@tobiasschmid9216 The gunk (CL gunner monk, taking SS at 4) is an excellent mage slayer. They ignore up to three quarters cover and deal high damage (difficult concentration saves) with sharpshooter. Their mobility and range mean they can line up their shots easily without getting themselves surrounded by the enemy mage's minions/guardians. Slot in archery somewhere, possibly action surge, and you're golden. Shadow's access to silence, darkness and pass without trace certainly are the strongest choice for dealing with casters, but you can make it work with any subclass. Ascendant Dragon gives you a means of attack that you don't need to roll for (and therefore bypasses Shield) as well as additional, terrain independent mobility and at later levels elemental resistance. Kensei's Deft Strike puts the slay in mage slayer. In addition to dealing extra damage, it and focused aim both can trigger ki-fueled attack to get a third shot in. Neither of them are as reliable as Shadow's spells at saying no to enemy spells, but they do provide their own benefits and flavours.

[@martinsikes1400]

Few things that you missed: Gift of the Gem Dragonborn, amongst other Reaction abilities to allow Opportunity Attacks wheather from a missed atttack from your auto-Disadvantage to attacks rolls against you, or just in general. A few Levels of Battlenaster Fighter will hekp this build out a lot possibly.

[@dan80thomas66]

I’d like to see a build centered around a Bugbear monk/rogue multi-class that can sneak into a large group of enemies and tear them apart with his “Bear” hands.

[@junsonofjack3740]

Yea this is pretty dope. Shadar kai let’s you do some funky stuff! Damn near a barb with spells.

[@kingbaby291]

In my experience the strongest using this template is 3 lvls arti (armorer or battlemaster both have their own reasonable reasons, i prefer battlemaster because the defender can use shields, weapons, and magic items), 1 level into genie warlock (for the lamp) and the rest in abjuration wizard. You could do without warlock but the lamp later gives you a place you can spam glyph of warding for instant buffs mid combat, none of which you need to concentrate on, and +pb in damage once per turn. AoA, flame shield, etc. For race choose satyr for spell resistance, shadar kai, or earth genasi for bonus action blade ward. I prefer satyr. For background anything that came after strixhaven comes with a free feat so PYF. I like wildspacer for Tough, giant foundling for strike of the giants (lotta good options) and rune carver will get you AoA without having to warlock dip, and cartomancet for a free casting of any spell you know at any level once per long rest. Feats are all PYF i like defensive ones like gift of the ___ dragon feats, or sentinel.

[@elliotbryant3459]

I would have gone with earth genasi over shadar kai, the bonus action bladeward resistance lasts until the end of your next turn where as shadar kai is the start of your next turn, so you could do provoke opportunity attacks with resistance the following round without needing to spend another limited use feature. Yes it's only resistance to BPS damage, but you can generally use your judgement on when it would be most effective to use. Dumping the casting stat of the class that has a significantly higher level allocation seems suboptimal. I would probably dump int at 13 and have a decent strength for your thunder gauntlet attacks. Ideally get strength to 18 using a +2 ASI and Heavy Armor Master. Should try to take resilient wisdom at some point as well, many a failed wisdom save results in lost concentration.

[@darkspearow1501]

How would you build a martial class that focusses on improvised weapons. Like someone that has nothing and relies on the surroundings to help him in combat.

[@Wouldyoukindly4545]

I really want to play a lvl 1 Life Cleric (themed as a blood mage), with 1 level of Hexblade, and the rest of the way Abjuration Wizard. The character will be concentrating on Vampiric Touch, using the Life Cleric's ability to add to the healing, and casting Armor of Agathys and Fire Shield on themselves. I'd say Shadar Kai with Elven Accuracy, using their familar to get advantage. Just running the numbers, a 17th level character can solo and kill 3 adult red dragons at the same time. Obviously tactics and battlefield conditions are a thing, but also most games don't have a solo character fight 3 dragons. And they don't really steal the show because at their heart they are just an amazing tank.

[@dracosdiabolis1769]

Ya could build this "naked" lol no armor. With 2 lvl dip into wizard. Go Abjuration for Arcane Ward. (Will/DnDshorts - Tank Wizard) if you wish for more AC pick Tortle. Sage. You forgot about Elemental Adapt for the Armor of Agathys. ☕️ ☕️ All and all. Love the build

[@chrishicks1737]

Barbarian/warlock for ultimate resistance and armor or agathys damage.

[@isaacthek]

The hadozee Dodge reaction is actually more powerful than the Goliath reaction, since you get more uses overall you save more damage.

[@beaumassie3845]

Monlock radian build with the gene patron

[@dgauthreaux4522]

What about an actual "Nightcrawler from X-men" build? By that I mean a character that teleports around consistently and reliably. Doesn't have to be at will, but does have to be how the character fights. Maybe Wildfire Druid? Or Fey Warlock/Ranger?

[@ericmerrill9808]

I’d say to mix in some clockwork soul sorcerer levels. That way you can also get spell slots for fire shield and to use more slots for hellish rebuke. It’ll be hard to get people to attack you more than once. So dump as much damage on whoever hits you first before they try to ignore you. On top of that being able to turn your sorcery points into a shield to absorb more hp before it hits your armor of agathys points is a really good ability as well.

[@taylorsmith9197]

I initially was thinking something similar but Sorcerer nor Celestial Warlocks get Fire Shield. Would have to go either Genie or Fiend Warlock, Wizard, or Wildfire Druid to get that spell on this build. Could go Armorer too (lvl 13 i think), but that is just an Armorer build at that point.

[@samuelbroad11]

can you use the absorb elements trick with green flame blade, targeting yourself as the second creature? would upcast well with warlock levels.

[@Litchert]

Is it worth a two level dip into rogue for cunning action dash, giving you more mobility to cover the battlefield?

[@ttsdty]

Challenge build the invisible Dhampir assassin

[@isaacthek]

I want to see a maxed reach melee character to see how crazy it can get. Add in sentinel, tunnel fighter, pole arm master to completely shut down melee combat...

[@jacobweinstock2180]

Idea Suggestion AOE MASTER aka the Walking Catastrophe, similar to Humanoid Typhoon Just wreck as many mons as possible and destroy everything around you Probably not effective against Bosses and Damage sponge

[@chaosblades89]

Could you use hellish rebuke as well for your reactions?

[@junsonofjack3740]

I better see armor of agathys!

[@_Animikii_]

id firstly go either asmodeous tiefling or ask the dm for a special low rare magic item in exchange for 3 infusion slots AT LEAST keeping the enhanced defense for hellish rebuke with the magic item route being nicer because it could even be either a 'at will' item and most dms from talk i have seen about it would be fine with that or you could do a 'proficency modifer a day' route with also it would be able to scale with int instead so you can go evocation wizard to have way more spell slots to make use of rune shaper which you would take at level 1 for armor of agathys cast with your wizard spell slots and int modifier which means you could concieveable reach +45 temp hit points AND that much whenever someone smacks ya AND at level 8 you would take fury of the frost giant with level 4 of course being strike of the storm giant with the frost route with i would also say your hellish rebuke should be ice as you than also go down the route of taking fire shield but of course using the cold shield which hits enemies who hit you within 5 feet with 2d8 cold dmg or if you want, fire dmg on top of fury of the frost giant also giving you resistance to frost while chill shield gives you resitance to fire with than the blade ward cantrip can be taken to make it so you get resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing as well with than you would be basically mostly casting wide range aoe ice spells as an evocation wizard that you stand in so not only are you able to make it so your friends are hard to hit in the storm but they have to run into it to get to any of you and take whatever dmg they haveta take to hit you specifically likely freezing instantly upon doing so XD hell imma check the races to see if there is anything more that can be added in way of reflective dmg but this already is pretty fucking nutty XDXDXD

[@_Animikii_]

yea goliath is a good choice for stones endurance because it lets you reduce the dmg you take and with the armorer artificer, you literally only need intelligence and con cause thunder gauntles scale with your int meaning you can hard focus get your con to 20.

[@Dahaka-rd6tw]

Can you take look of Sorek by tygertygr or Selachian by StoneStrix? Two of my favorite homebrewed D&D races.

[@YourBoyNobody530]

I went Goliath with ancestral guardian barbarian and celestial warlock.

[@thatyoungganns6819]

Do you think you could make a Monk with a warlock dip be viable? I’m curious if there’s any way it would be possible

[@adamkaris]

The main benefit i would see would be a shadow monk with darkness and devils sight. And hex for some variation

[@SunLovinSolaire]

@@adamkarisalso keep in mind Hexblade’s Curse adds Prof to each attack landed, so Monk gains a lot of benefit from that early on.

[@douglasmckenna5575]

I want to mix armorer with hexblade, but I'm not sure how viable that is

[@user-rz1sm6et2w]

please do a build that based on Stone Aegis (from the Stone Sorcery subclass)

[@SunLovinSolaire]

Stone Sorcery, is that new?

[@oliverbehrer5252]

​@@SunLovinSolairenope but its UA

[@TelsMaviston]

Probably Abjuration Wizard/Warlock. The barrier you get just combos way too well with Armor of Agathys.

[@fledgling9097]

Challenge: use the 6th level tempest cleric ability. See how far you can push a single enemy away.

[@taylorsmith9197]

Although i dont know if this is better per se as you celestial warlock self healing should not be underrated. But just as a fun aside, if you did a similar build with a level 11 Fiend or Genie Warlock, you could potentially stack AoA/Shadow of Moil/Fire shield all together. Making enemies take 4d8 + 25 anytime they hit you and you will almost never be crit as all attacks would have disadvantage. With a level of Fighter (or the 3 in Armorer) and warcaster, you could have prof in Con saves and advantage while rocking a roughly 21 AC before magic items while dealing an average of 47 damage anytime you get hit lmao. Granted, you will be using all your spell slots in one go, but it would be funny 🤣

[@fledgling9097]

I umm. I think clockwork soul sorcerer would be better. Still shadar kai. Clockwork soul sorcerer can get armor of agathys and fire shield. Then it also has the ability to reduce damage with sorcery points.

[@8balls122]

a build based around using your ranger's animal companion as a mele weapon. I want to hit people with my dog.

[@augustus1138]

No Hellish Rebuke?

[@DnD_Daily]

Hellish Rebuke is definitely still an option for this build, we just felt that Armor of Agathys is a more efficient spell for the tankiness it offers

[@Drunkassassinful]

Temporary hit points do not stack was there a rule change

[@DnD_Daily]

No rule change you're correct, we are taking multiple sources and using them in different situations. False life gives us a temp hp that we can always reliably have outside or on the first turn of combat, Armor of Agathys is a combat option of temp hp, and then our Armorer temp hp feature is used when we are still in combat but have run out of spell slots for Armor of Agathys or want to have our action open to continue attacking.

[@YourBoyNobody530]

Problem with artificer is that you have high AC and if you want to get hit that isn’t going to help.

[@CivilWarMan]

For lineage, I'd do either Shadar-Kai or Earth Genasi. The Shadar-Kai's Blessing of the Raven Queen gives resistance to all damage, while Earth Genasi's Merge With Stone only provides resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from weapons, but on longer fights against weapon-wielding foes Merge with Stone might come out ahead. Once the Genasi runs out of bonus action castings of Blade Ward, they can still keep casting it as a normal cantrip, while the Shadar-Kai only has their proficiency bonus uses of Blessing of the Raven Queen. Ability score focus is 100% on Charisma, and then using the rest to get Strength and Constitution as high as possible. For class, I'm going to keep this pretty simple. Start out with 15 levels of Oath of Conquest Paladin. The reasons for this are thus: 1) Armor of Agathys is a Conquest Oath spell, 2) Compelled Duel, while it's pretty weak, can apply the disadvantage to attacking other creatures, 3) Fear effects apply disadvantage to all of the enemy attacks and combine with Aura of Conquest to lock down their movement so they can't get to other party members, and 4) Scornful Rebuke hits all attackers, ranged or melee, weapon or spell, with psychic damage as long as you are not incapacitated. For the last 5 levels, there are a few possible paths. Option 1) Just go straight 20 levels of Paladin, since the Conquest capstone includes, among other things, a full minute of resistance to all damage. Option 2) 1-5 levels of Undead Warlock, with the rest into Conquest Paladin, for Form of Dread's fear effect. Option 3) 5 levels of Clockwork Soul Sorcerer for the improved spell slot progression, metamagic, and the Restore Balance ability allows you to cancel attacker's advantage and reduce the odds of receiving a critical hit. Option 4) 5 levels of College of Lore Bard, for the improved spell slot progression and Cutting Words, primarily using it to reduce incoming damage rolls by a d8 on top of any resistances, allowing Armor of Agathys and Scornful Rebuke to trigger their damage while protecting AoA's temp hp. Also, with this option, your Cutting Words can literally be "Stop hitting yourself!" Option 5) 3-4 levels of Battle Master Fighter, with the remaining levels in Conquest Paladin. The primary maneuvers for this path would be Menacing Attack, to apply Frightened, and Goading Attack, to give targets disadvantage on attacks that don't target you. Option 6) 3-4 levels of Ancestral Guardian Barbarian, for the extra HP and bludgeoning/piercing/slashing resistance and ability to give your targets disadvantage to attack others while raging, and give their targets resistance to damage if they hit anyway. The rest goes into Conquest Paladin. For this option, Shadar-Kai is definitely the lineage to go with, since the Earth Genasi Blade Ward is not usable while raging. The big weakness of this option is the inability to reapply Armor of Agathys while raging, but Scornful Rebuke still works, and spell slots can still be used for smiting.

[@SunLovinSolaire]

I built a character that was a Zealot Barbarian Genie Warock. They were Built entirely like a Barbarian and played like one. I’d basically went all in on Cold Damage, asking if my Zealot damage could also be cold. It went like this Cast Armor of Agathys, Rage, run into melee. If I can’t *get* into melee, drop prone. That way enemy melee combatants are incentivized to run over and attack me at Advantage, and ranged enemies are incentivized to not attack me due to disadvantage. We started at level 5 with 3 in Warlock and 2 in Barbarian. In my first ever round of combat with this setup I did 30 points of Cold Damage to a Chimera without attacking it.

[@SunLovinSolaire]

After 3 levels of Barb are acquired for subclass, go the rest as Warlock.

[@akmi1931]

Same build idea but fire themed instead. Works fine but kind of boring

[@f.a.santiago1053]

I believe you're still confused about one little detail, though. For the sake of the arcane armor, THE WHOLE ARMOR counts as a single item until they get Armor Modifications feature at 9th level. Until then, you CAN'T place an infusion on your thunder gauntlets AND on your armor because, RAW, items can have only one infusion at the same time.

[@DnD_Daily]

Sorry we weren't more specific, you can place the enhanced defense on your shield and the enhanced weapon on your armor/thunder gauntlets