Is a melee ac tank possible? How do I build one?

[Golo]

So in building a melee character for either the adventure path or Starfinder society the max level is 12. So I would like to focus on the playable levels 3-12. Having an awesome AC or other defenses at level 15 or 20 does not help this character.

I'm defining a tank build as a pc that can stand in melee a long time without help and keep the npcs off the ranged party members as much as possible. Its more of a defensive build than a dps build. There is enough dps in the party already.

Build goals
1 Bad guys on average need to roll 15+ to hit
2 High Stamina/ HP
3 high DR or Resistances.
4 Enough melee damage to not be ignored. This is not a max melee damage build.

Class ideally soldier, solarion or exo-cortex mechanic but I'm open if there is a better option. I'm open to light, heavy or powered armor.

Due to party composition and flavor it would be ideal if is a Vesk or Ysoki but I'm open to any of the non-AA races as our GM isn't allowing any AA races at this time. However if there is an awesome AA option I may be able to swing it.

Its possible that High AC is not really possible or achievable. In that case I would rather have High DR/Resistance and Stamina to last through the fight.

I understand that many saving throws are going to be failed and accept that as likely so don't be too concerned about saving throws this is more about melee toughness and tankiness. If there is room I'm totally down for taking iron will etc but I'm more focused right now on the tankiness aspect of it.

[baggageboy]

The best AC I can imagine would use the following:

-Vesk for 1 AC
-Soldier with guard fighting style
-Gear boost for 1 kac
-Phase shield for 1 eac
-Blocking Weapon 1 AC for melee
-Extra arm to allow using Phase shield and blocking weapon at the same time.
-Best heavy armor you can afford.

IDK if this would be enough to be truly considered a tank, but you can take the info and run the numbers.

[nicholas storm]

You can't get AC high enough in starfinder for bad guys to need a 15+ to hit you. A vesk soldier with guard style and gear boost for AC would have the highest AC in the game.

Lets look at a 5th level vesk soldier wearing vesk overplate, with Dex18

EAC 9/KAC 11 gives

EAC of 10+9(armor)+4(dex)+1(armor savant)=24
KAC of 10+11(armor)+4(dex)+1(armor savant)+1(armored advantage)=27

This is the highest possible AC wearing 6th level armor at level 5.

From the Alien archive, a 5th level opponent can have +14 to hit, hitting you on a 10+ for EAC and 13+ for KAC.

But definitely if you want the highest AC, play a vesk soldier with the guard specialty and take armored advantage at level 3. In comparison, my 5th level soldier will probably still be wearing lashunta ringwear II and have a EAC 20, KAC 22.

[nicholas storm]

Optimally in starfinder you want damage to be distributed to the whole party rather than 1 character. The reason is that after each combat everyone can take a 10 minute rest and spend 1 resolve to gain back all of their stamina.

As such a tank taking all attacks is undesirable in my opinion.

[Texas Snyper]

Soldier 1/envoy X, soldier for weapon and armor proficiencies, STR key stat, and blitz spec. Envoy has despiriting taunt to give a -2 to a for. They also have Not In the Face where the for takes a -4 to attacking you. Then you can pick up Draw Fire where all foes in range take a -4 to attack anybody but you.

[Jimbles the Mediocre]

Starfinder doesn't really have a traditional tank roll (per se), but the feats Bodyguard and Stand Still make it harder for enemies to attack your allies. Combine those this a high AC melee build, and you'll keep some of the heat off of your DPS friends.

[HWalsh]

There are 2 ways to do this:

1: Light Armor underneath Power Armor with a Vesk using a Titan Shield.

2: A very rare Vesk Soldier 1/Solarian X build.

I need to check the levels to see if this is possible by 12.

[oldskool]

Texas Snyper wrote:

Soldier 1/envoy X, soldier for weapon and armor proficiencies, STR key stat, and blitz spec. Envoy has despiriting taunt to give a -2 to a for. They also have Not In the Face where the for takes a -4 to attacking you. Then you can pick up Draw Fire where all foes in range take a -4 to attack anybody but you.

Yeah, there are creative ways to combine melee with the Envoy. Desperate Defense and Duck Under are also worth noting.

[Peat]

To approach from another angle, I wouldn't discount a Drone Mechanic as a damage sponge.

The Shield line of Mechanic Tricks gives quite a bit of Temp HP that stacks with Forcefields and recharges every Resolve point. You can also use your Combat Drone as a pile of HP that can absorb a few hits as well. If it gets too low, use Drone Meld to get some flat x/- DR and protect it from being completely destroyed.

You lose a few AC as compared to Soldier, but can take a lot more abuse when you do actually get hit.

[Gilfalas]

The Enhanced Resistance feat, IMO, is a must have if your going to be a 'damage sponge'. Ideally on a 1 for 1 BAB class. If you really want to be damage resistant take it many times and apply it to all the kinetic and energy types.

Subtracting your BAB from the damage of every attack that hits you can add up to LOT of saved HP.

As well, exocortex Mechanics can take several drone mods and shield effects with their class abilities to give themselves a ton of Temp HP along with energy resistances as well.

[Segovax]

Enhanced Resistance doesn't have the clause stating it can be taken more than once, so it can only be selected once.
Additionally the developers have said that Enhanced Resistance apply to all kinetic damage was a mistake and they intend to be correcting that in the errata.

[HWalsh]

The closest you can get it is 14th level

Vesk: -Starting Array

Soldier 1/Solarian 19 - Solar Armor

01: 14/18/12/08/10/10
05: 16/19/14/08/12/10
10: 18/20/16/08/14/10
15: 19/21/18/08/16/10
20: 20/22/18/10/18/10

With personal upgrades:
26/26/18/10/20/10

Light Armor:
Base AC: LVL 1-2 (EAC/KAC w Dex/Vesk Bonus)
Freebooter Armor 18/19 (Solar Armor)

Base AC: LVL 6
Freebooter II 23/25 (Solar Armor)

Base AC: LVL 12 34/34 (Solar Armor)

That is the highest base AC I can come up with for you.
A CR 1 Combatant has a +8 to hit - So you'll be missed 50-55% of the time

A CR 6 Combatant has a +16 to hit - So you'll be hit on a 7/10 so only being missed 30/45% of the time.

A CR 12 Combatant has a +25 to hit - So you'll be hit on a 9 or better, only being missed 40% of the time.

These are the highest possible ACs for a PC. It isn't possible (at this time) to get any higher. At higher levels a Titan or Gravity Shield could situationally add a +3, but even then...

You can't really AC tank in Starfinder.

[Cathulhu]

An exocortex mechanic can get multiple resistances equal to their mechanic level.

[icehawk333]

... You can't ac tank in starfinder, hunh?

Good to know. *adds to list of reasons to not pick it up.*

[Zahir ibn Mahmoud ibn Jothan]

icehawk333 wrote:

... You can't ac tank in starfinder, hunh?

Good to know. *adds to list of reasons to not pick it up.*

If you’re seeking reasons to not get Starfinder, this seems a silly one, since you don’t know the rest of the game mechanics.

Why troll the forums for a game you don’t want?

[Slurmalyst]

@Zahir: Don't feed.

When it comes to the "tank" role, the Blitz Soldier is in some ways better than the Guard.

As for tank abilities in the relevant level range, Blitz gets a self-heal while Guard gets a point of AC if their DEX is high enough and the ability to take damage for an adjacent ally. I expect that last ability to be useful very rarely; those times that you actually want to take damage for an ally, they will rarely be adjacent to you.

Blitz soldier's speed (both in movement and initiative) also helps ensure that he's where he needs to be, placing himself between enemies and the squishies. Remember that any Soldier wearing heavy armor who isn't Blitz will probably be the slowest member of the party.

Note that the Blitz soldier's self-heal is a bit behind the Mechanic's energy shield if the Mechanic invests twice into it, but combined with the fact that soldier is already ahead of Mechanic on Stamina/HP, I don't see the Mechanic really being tankier than a Blitz soldier.

[Azten]

Zahir ibn Mahmoud ibn Jothan wrote:

icehawk333 wrote:

... You can't ac tank in starfinder, hunh?

Good to know. *adds to list of reasons to not pick it up.*

If you’re seeking reasons to not get Starfinder, this seems a silly one, since you don’t know the rest of the game mechanics.

Why troll the forums for a game you don’t want?

It's a reason added to a list. Not one singular reason.

[TarkXT]

AC Tanks frankly didn't work well in pathfinder either. It just gave the GM/monsters reasons to get creative in killing you.

A bullet absorbing juggernaut sounds awesome in theory and I think it's still doable but not in a "I stand there and consumer firepower via Robocop" kind of way.

I'd treat it as a way to take better advantage of subpar cover and as another layer in what should be a multilayered defense. You can get away with 10+ on attack rolls to hit you easily if you can throw in xconsistent ways to maintina concealment or effectively use shot on the run to repeatedly force your opponents to take free shots from you or move into bad positions to take you out.

[Peat]

I'm happy to see ACs be more tightly grouped and "hittable". I know it's certainly not fun as a GM when my options are "Waste my attacks and do nothing on the guy who is effectively immune to damage since they can only be hit 20% of the time" or "make up a reason to attack someone who actually can be hit and piss off the tank who invested all those resources in a 35 AC against my +18 to hit NPCs"