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The Ultimate TANK WIZARD Build In D&D — Transcript

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0:00So, you want to play a tank. And I'm not
0:02talking about tanking the role play
0:04sense of the world. I'm talking rocking
0:06up to D&D as a literal M4 Sherman. Throw
0:10out your barbarians and your paladins,
0:12they are nothing compared to this. This
0:14is the ultimate tank wizard build in
0:17Dungeons and Dragons. And we're building
0:19in Shard because it's free. Link is down
0:22below, follow along. To build this,
0:24you'll need content from the 2014
0:25Eberron book and either the 2014 or the
0:28D&D 2024 Player's Handbook. All of those
0:31are free available on Shard. This build
0:33works basically the same using 2014 or
0:352024 rules. I'll just note the tiny
0:38variations when they crop up if they
0:40matter. Let's do this.
0:44Okay, for stats we are going with point
0:46buy. You're going to want 15 in
0:48intelligence, 14 in constitution, 14 in
0:50dexterity, eight in strength, 12 in
0:53wisdom, and finally eight in charisma.
0:56Yes, we're physically weak and we have
0:57terrible social skills. We are a wizard.
1:00Our species is the Mark of Warding
1:02Dwarf, which does some very important
1:04things. Firstly, it gives us plus two in
1:06constitution and plus one in
1:08intelligence, so we're starting the game
1:10with 16 in both. Very nice. It also has
1:13a perk that says your speed is not
1:15reduced if you don't meet the strength
1:17requirements when you're wearing armor.
1:19So, even though we are technically as
1:21weak as a kitten, we can still walk
1:23around in plate mail if we find any.
1:25There are other essential benefits to
1:27this species that we'll get into later,
1:29but first let's talk about that armor.
1:31We're a wizard, where are we going to
1:33get it? The answer is we start the build
1:35with a level in fighter. This gives us
1:37proficiency with all types of armor,
1:40weapons, and shields. It also gives us a
1:42fighting style, and we are picking up
1:44defense which gives us a plus one to our
1:46AC while we're wearing armor. Now, most
1:49GMs that I've played with will let
1:51players start the game with splint
1:53armor, which is relatively cheap and
1:55easy to make, but I'm going to assume
1:57that we are poor. We will play strictly
1:59rules as written and take gold as our
2:01starting equipment, which gives us 125
2:03gold to buy everything. That means we
2:06are going with the cheapest heavy armor
2:08out there, which is chainmail, giving us
2:10a flat AC of 16. And because we're a
2:12dwarf, we can ignore this strength 13
2:15requirement. We can move just fine.
2:17Because we have shield proficiency and
2:19the defensive fighting style, that gives
2:21us a base AC of 19 at level one. Not
2:24bad. And the shield only cost us 10
2:26gold, leaving 40 left over. If you can
2:28get splint armor, our AC is 20. And if
2:31your GM is smoking crack this week and
2:34give you full plate mail at level one,
2:36your base AC is 21. For this guide, I'm
2:39going to assume you get splint armor
2:40around level four and full plate mail at
2:43around level seven. But now we've got to
2:45talk about our actual background. And if
2:47you're playing in the 2024 rules, you're
2:49going to want to pick up farmer, which
2:50gives you access to the tough feat. If
2:52you're playing 2014 rules, you're going
2:54to want to take wild spacer instead for
2:56the exact same reason. Either way, we
2:58now have this tough feat which buffs our
3:01HP by plus two for every level we have.
3:04When it comes to combat, for this level
3:06we are just a fighter. So, hold your
3:07shield in one hand and attack with a
3:09rapier in the other. A rapier costs 25
3:12gold, so you've still got 15 gold left
3:14over in your pocket. You only need to
3:15get through one level fighting like
3:17this, and a 14 in dexterity is fine for
3:20level one. You're attacking with a plus
3:22four to hit for 1d8 plus two. It is
3:24fine. We also get second wind on account
3:27of being a fighter, which isn't a bad
3:28bit of healing to have in your back
3:30pocket. Bonus action, restore some hit
3:32points. We're a self-repairing tank.
3:34Finally, fighter gets us proficiency in
3:36constitution saving throws, which is
3:38going to be fantastic as a wizard with
3:40powerful concentration spells. We've
3:42laid the tracks, it's time for level
3:44two, and Thomas the Tank Wizard really
3:47gets rolling.
3:51It's level two, and we are taking our
3:52first level in wizard. Having a 13 or
3:56higher in dexterity and intelligence
3:57means we can multiclass into this. Now
3:59we can start learning magic, and oh boy,
4:02do we start learning magic. Our species,
4:05the Mark of Warding Dwarf, gives us
4:07access to the spell Armor of Agathys.
4:09This spell is a key feature of the
4:11entire build, so let's go over it. First
4:14level spell, abjuration. It's a bonus
4:16action to cast in D&D 2024. It lasts one
4:19hour with no concentration. You gain
4:21five temporary hit points. And as long
4:24as you have temporary hit points, no
4:26matter where those temporary hit points
4:27come from, when a creature hits you, it
4:30takes five points of cold damage. The
4:32spell does end early if you have no
4:34temporary hit points remaining, but it
4:36is very important to recognize that if
4:38you gain more temporary hit points from
4:40another source, the spell does not end.
4:42The best part though is that if you
4:44upcast Armor of Agathys, the damage you
4:47deal and the number of temporary hit
4:48points you get increase by five for each
4:51slot level above the first. We also get
4:53our regular wizard spells at this level.
4:55I would say definitely pick up the
4:56cantrip firebolt for some reliable
4:58ranged damage. And let's grab burning
5:00hands for some area of effect damage,
5:03disguise self for some utility, and
5:05obviously, you're going to want to take
5:06the shield spell. With the shield spell
5:09on standby, our effective AC is 24 when
5:13we're targeted for an attack. We also
5:15have 24 hit points at level two, which
5:17is crazy for a wizard. A typical
5:20barbarian will only have 25 at this
5:22level. And of course, our Armor of
5:24Agathys is giving us plus five temporary
5:26hit points on top of that. And with 16
5:29intelligence, we've sacrificed
5:31absolutely nothing in terms of power to
5:33achieve this. We're hitting just as hard
5:35as any other wizard would be. Yes, you
5:38will be burning through spell slots fast
5:40as you cast shield to defend yourself,
5:42but we'll get more spell slots very
5:43soon. Next, take another level in
5:46wizard. If you're playing D&D 2014, this
5:48is where you'd get your subclass. If
5:50you're playing D&D 2024, you get it next
5:52level instead. It doesn't really matter.
5:54Let's move on to wizard level three and
5:56deal with both the subclass and our
5:58second level spells all at once. And
6:00here we are, baby. Wizard level three,
6:02and we are picking the Abjurer {slash}
6:05Abjuration subclass. This baby is
6:08ridiculous, all thanks to the Arcane
6:10Ward feature. Our tank is coming
6:13together with layer on layer of defense.
6:16We have heavy armor, we have a shield,
6:18we have the tough feat, we have Armor of
6:20Agathys, we have the shield spell, and
6:23now we have this. Whenever you cast an
6:25abjuration spell, you can take a strand
6:27of that spell's magic and use it to
6:29conjure an arcane ward, which lasts
6:31until the end of your next long rest.
6:33The maximum hit points of that ward is
6:35equal to twice your wizard level plus
6:38your intelligence modifier, so nine HP
6:40right now. The important part is
6:42whenever you would take damage, the ward
6:45takes the damage instead until it has no
6:47hit points remaining, and then you take
6:49on any leftover damage. Even if the ward
6:52falls to zero hit points though, you can
6:54recharge it by casting another
6:56abjuration spell, shield or Armor of
6:59Agathys, for example. Whenever you do
7:01this, the ward regains hit points equal
7:03to twice the level of the spell slot
7:05expended. So, when we drop a bonus
7:07action second level Armor of Agathys,
7:09which we can do from this level, we gain
7:1210 temporary hit points and our ward is
7:14recharged for four hit points. And the
7:16amazing thing is that Armor of Agathys'
7:19damage will trigger anytime an enemy
7:21hits you, even if they don't deal damage
7:24to you. So, if an enemy hits you with a
7:26melee attack, even if they don't get
7:28through your ward and strike your
7:30temporary hit points, they will still
7:32take the 10 cold damage from Armor of
7:35Agathys. Let's calculate just how tanky
7:38we are right now when we add everything
7:40together, which I will call our
7:41thickness index. We are level four right
7:44now, so let's assume we've picked up
7:45splint armor and we've got a fully
7:47charged ward and have just cast Armor of
7:49Agathys. This gives us a thickness index
7:52of 61 when you account for our 42 hit
7:55points, 10 temporary hit points, nine
7:57bonus hit points from our ward spell,
7:59and an AC of 20 plus five anytime we
8:02cast the shield spell. And all of that
8:04is without concentrating on a spell, by
8:06the way. So, we can still cast a
8:07powerful hold person
8:11or other concentration spells as we
8:14level up. And remember, anyone who
8:15touches us while we have temporary hit
8:17points is taking 10 cold damage
8:20immediately. Next up is wizard level
8:22four, which means it's time for a feat,
8:24and we are taking the good old-fashioned
8:27War Caster. This buffs our intelligence
8:29to 17, it lets us perform the somatic
8:31components of spells in the hand that's
8:33holding our shield, and best of all, it
8:36gives us advantage on our concentration
8:38checks. We are also proficient with
8:40those thanks to our level in fighter.
8:42But wizard level five is just round the
8:44corner, and you know what that means.
8:46Wizard level five means we learn
8:48fireball, hypnotic pattern, all the
8:50third level spell goats. It also means
8:53Armor of Agathys is now buffing us for
8:5515 temporary hit points and dealing 15
8:58cold damage every time an enemy hits us.
9:01Wizard level six is going to let us
9:02share our tanking power with others
9:04thanks to Projected Ward. When a
9:06creature within 30 feet of us takes
9:08damage, we can cause our ward to
9:10intercept, and that will take the damage
9:11instead. It's okay, but what we're
9:13really excited for is hitting wizard
9:15level seven. This is where the
9:16penultimate pieces of this build fall
9:18into place. We are going to pick up the
9:20spell polymorph for some absolutely
9:22insane tactics, and we're going to pick
9:24up the spell fire shield for the memes.
9:26Fire shield is very simple. It gives us
9:29resistance to fire or cold damage, and
9:31any creature that hits us is going to
9:32take another 2d8 damage. This stacks on
9:35top of Armor of Agathys, and it's also
9:37non-concentration. Is it funny? Yes. Is
9:40it worth it? Probably not at this level,
9:43but when we grow up a little bit and
9:45have more fourth level spell slots to
9:46play with, it's something you might want
9:48to consider. But really, polymorph is
9:50the prize that we are after. It's an
9:52action to cast, and we can transform any
9:55creature into a beast of a CR lower than
9:57or equal to can actually transform into
9:59any beast in the game, including the
10:01T-Rex. Now, polymorph is a fantastic
10:04spell to turn enemies into a worm, but
10:07we're interested in casting it on
10:08ourselves. Why? Because going beast mode
10:11does not affect any of our other
10:13important features. We will still have
10:16our ward, our armor of agathis will
10:18still be active, we will just also
10:20happen to be a giant ape. Yes, the best
10:23option for us is the CR7 giant ape. This
10:27gives you 157
10:30hit points in D&D 2014, and armor of
10:33agathis is adding at least 15 temporary
10:35hit points on top. And remember, while
10:37you have those temporary hit points, any
10:39enemy that hits you is taking 15 cold
10:42damage automatically. But it is so much
10:44stronger in D&D 2024. That's because in
10:47this version of the game, polymorph
10:49doesn't change your hit point total, it
10:51just gives you 157 temporary hit points.
10:55Sure, this works out at slightly less on
10:57our total thickness index, but it also
10:59means that armor of agathis is going to
11:01last until an enemy has chipped down all
11:04157
11:05of those temporary hit points. They
11:07don't need to just break through your
11:09ward and 15 temporary hit points, they
11:11need to break through almost 175
11:14before they stop taking automatic cold
11:16damage on every strike. And don't slouch
11:19on your power, too. You've got those ape
11:21fists hitting twice per turn for 3D10
11:25plus six damage with a plus nine to hit.
11:28Or you can throw a rock with a plus nine
11:30to hit for 7D6 plus six damage at range.
11:33We are so much better than any other
11:36martial character at this level in close
11:38range while in ape form. And if we're
11:41not in ape form, we're still a freaking
11:43wizard. You don't need to polymorph, you
11:46don't need to do this. Fireball still
11:48works. This is just one option among
11:51many. Our next level in wizard gets us
11:53an ability score increase. And we're
11:55going to want to put plus one in both
11:57constitution and intelligence. Our
11:59intelligence is now 18, which is very
12:01nice, but there's one last tech we need
12:03to do before continuing to the late
12:05game, and that's taking one additional
12:07level in fighter. This is, of course, to
12:10grab action surge. In 2014 D&D, you can
12:14use action surge to cast two spells on
12:16the same turn. Action one, fireball.
12:19Action surge. Action two, fireball. But
12:22no matter whether you're playing 2014 or
12:242024, the best use of this spell is to
12:26use your first action to polymorph
12:28yourself, going giant ape mode, and then
12:31action surge to start attacking
12:32immediately. From here, we're going
12:34straight down the line as a wizard.
12:36Let's take this baby home.
12:39We're speed running wizard from this
12:41point to the end of the game. So, all
12:42you need to remember is upcast armor of
12:44agathis to the highest possible level to
12:46deal massive damage when enemies touch
12:48you, and take all the good wizard spells
12:50as you go along, like wall of force.
12:52Wizard level 10 gets us the pretty nice
12:54spell breaker feature, giving us counter
12:56spell and dispel magic always prepared.
12:58Both of these spells repair our ward
13:00when we cast them, and you can cast
13:02dispel magic as a bonus action and add
13:05our proficiency bonus to the check when
13:07we do. Even better, if you cast either
13:09spell with a spell slot and it fails,
13:11the spell slot isn't expended. Now, this
13:13raises an interesting question. If we
13:15cast it with a spell slot, but it fails,
13:17so the spell slot isn't expended, does
13:19that casting still recharge our ward? I
13:23think rules as written, the answer is
13:25yes, it would still recharge your ward
13:27effectively for free without expending a
13:29spell slot, but check with your GM. It's
13:32a nice bonus if they say yes, but it's
13:33not really important. Now, wizard level
13:3611 gives us an interesting option to
13:37consider in place of casting polymorph,
13:40and that is tenser's transformation.
13:42This is a concentration spell that lasts
13:43for 10 minutes. It gives us 50 temporary
13:46hit points. It also gives us advantage
13:48on all weapon attacks, those weapon
13:49attacks deal an extra 2D12 force damage
13:52on a hit, and we can take two attacks as
13:54an action. This really isn't bad, but
13:56seeing as it doesn't buff our attacking
13:58stats and the temporary hit points are
14:00still pathetically small compared to
14:02polymorph, I don't think it's worth it.
14:04Wizard level 12, we can buff our
14:06intelligence score up to 20. Now, we're
14:08hitting as hard as we can with all of
14:10our spells. Wizard level 14 and we get
14:13even tankier, having advantage on saving
14:15throws against all spells and resistance
14:17to the damage of spells. Wizard level 16
14:20then comes along and I quite like the
14:22durable feat here. It buffs our
14:24constitution up to 18, giving us more
14:26hit points, and it gives us more bonus
14:28action healing if we ever need it. Then
14:30we get to wizard level 17 and we can
14:33cast wish. What do you want me to say?
14:34We are basically a god at this level,
14:36but we have one more level yet to take.
14:38Wizard level 18 gets us spell mastery,
14:41and the options here are actually very
14:43interesting depending on what version of
14:45the game you are playing. Spell mastery
14:47gives you two spells from the wizard
14:48spell list, one first level spell and
14:51one second level spell, and you can cast
14:53them without expending a spell slot. In
14:552014, that's basically all there is to
14:57it. So, you can grab the shield spell
14:59and cast it every single turn for free
15:01forever. In 2024, however, the spells
15:04you pick have to have a casting time of
15:06an action. Just one of many changes they
15:09made in response to silvery barbs. With
15:11that restriction in place, it's a little
15:13less exciting, but you can grab utility
15:15options like maybe disguise self, charm
15:17person, mirror image, silent image, etc.
15:20So, to summarize our thickness index at
15:23this level with absolutely no magic
15:25items at all, we are dropping polymorph
15:27for 157 temporary hit points at any
15:30time, or we're relying on armor of
15:32agathis for 45 temporary hit points. We
15:35also have a ward worth another 45 hit
15:38points that enemies need to get through
15:40before they even get to our temporary
15:41hit points, and we can recharge that
15:43every turn with the shield spell. Anyone
15:45who touches us is taking 45 cold damage.
15:48We have a standing AC of 26 when we cast
15:51the shield spell, and we're rocking a
15:53base hit points of 208.
15:55And we have action surge and bonus
15:58action healing, and we can still cast
16:00wish, clone, mass suggestion, all the
16:02normal busted crap that high level
16:05wizards do. Now, that is a tank, but
16:07let's talk about ways to push it even
16:09further.
16:12Honestly, the great thing about this
16:13build is it basically takes care of
16:15itself. You are a self-sufficient tank
16:18that provides basically all you need.
16:20That said, there are some obvious magic
16:22items that will make you better. Any
16:24magical armor or shield that gives you a
16:26plus one to your AC is just the icing on
16:28the cake. The arcane grimoire is a great
16:30spell casting focus that will raise the
16:32DC of your wizard spells, and it lets
16:35you recover higher level wizard spells
16:37when you finish a short rest, which is
16:38always nice. Finally, a ring of spell
16:41storing is always fantastic for a wizard
16:43to have, letting you store spells inside
16:45it and then hand it off to allies so
16:47they can cast them. You can let them
16:49have some fun with fireball, or even
16:51hold concentration for you so you can
16:53set up some deadly combos including wall
16:55of force and cloud kill. I'll let you
16:57work that one out yourself. This build
16:59is awesome for anyone playing a wizard
17:01who wants to get involved in the action.
17:03It's got a little bit of a Luigi wins by
17:05doing absolutely nothing vibe while your
17:08armor of agathis deals huge damage to
17:10every enemy that touches you and you
17:12just stand there. You can hang back and
17:14rely on your crazy AC to keep you safe
17:16while you fire off powerful wizard
17:18spells, or you can polymorph into an ape
17:20or a T-Rex and just smash. If playing
17:22exclusively one play style gets a little
17:25bit boring for you across a campaign,
17:26this is a build that lets you do both.
17:28And it also comes online so quickly. You
17:31are fulfilling that tank wizard fantasy
17:34after just three or four levels into the
17:36game. And you can build the entire thing
17:38on shard for free using only the free
17:40materials. People always ask, how is
17:42shard free? It was created by a
17:44fundraiser. It was a Kickstarter
17:45project. It's community first, that's
17:47why it's free. I've linked it below.
17:49There is a subscription option if you
17:51want it. I I do recommend it, it's very
17:53good, but I cannot recommend shard
17:55highly enough for people who are just
17:56addicted to building D&D characters that
17:59they will probably never use. I might
18:01have a problem. Also, did you know that
18:03I give 50% of all YouTube ad revenue to
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18:08editing and graphic design for these
18:10videos. I am funded entirely by Patreon
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18:15massive D&D expansions every month
18:17including new species, new subclasses,
18:19and ready-to-play adventures, and you
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18:25supporters between YouTube and Patreon,
18:27I will be able to donate 100% of this
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18:36to that goal. Please consider it. Please
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18:51that's all I got. I'll see you next
18:52time.

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