Accomplishing those functions... is not really a thing melee does, or does well, in this game.
The best tank is one you don't care about dying. Control is very much the role of casters. And there's really not much in the way of an "aggro draw" option, so... even if you do manage to be tough, it often comes at the cost of not being terribly threatening, and therefore safe to ignore without penalty.
A character that does what you're asking successfully isn't a melee character. It's a spell caster with summoning and control spells.
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Check out the fighter's Lore Warden archetype. Go reach weapon, grab combat reflexes, then hit the Improved Trip/Improved Dirty Trick line of feats. I played a character like that before, and he was freakin' AMAZING.
I would recommend picking up Quick Draw and a Light Quickdraw Shield for hand swapping shenanigans, but taking Improved Trip/Dirty Trick provides excellent control. Can't trip something? Why not blind/daze/nauseate it? It works really darn well.
Hi,
i need a melee character that can protect the party and control the battlefield before him?
Maybe the combination of reach weapons and feats that stop enemies if they are hit.Problem is: The char is level 4, so feats and other resources are limlited.
I've read a few threads in that area, but most of the builds started to get useful at far later than level 4.Is it possible to pull something off in that general direction at level 4?
Thanks for your help.
The scope of what you're wanting to do is honestly too much for just one character, assuming standard point buy. So I'm going to suggest a Druid with an Animal Companion, taking VMC Barbarian (you won't need many feats) and a 1 level dip in Monk later down the road (by 6th level at the earliest).
The Druid character with his high Wisdom and mediocre melee stats (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution) makes for a strong spellcaster that has some unique ways of crowd control while still having melee potential with VMC Barbarian Rage active by 3rd level. Combined with the proper Animal Companion that is taken care of with Barding and Magic Items (such as an Amulet of Mighty Fists +X), and you're looking at a powerful duo that is capable of both fighting enemies and crowd controlling them simultaneously.
You'll also have access to Wild Shape, so you can wade into melee as needed, or have added protection with flight and other defenses as you implement crowd control.
The Race can be anything you want, preferably a 2nd level
Assuming 20 point buy pre-racials:
Strength 14
Dexterity 12
Constitution 12
Intelligence 8
Wisdom 18
Charisma 7
You can lower the Wisdom down to 16 if you don't wanna dumpstat, but know that enemies will be more likely to make your Crowd Control effects if you don't have a high Wisdom score to compensate for your Save DCs, and Intelligence/Charisma doesn't do a whole lot for you.
For feats, you'll really only want Natural Spell (5th level) and Power Attack (retraining 1st level from some other 1st level feat, like Toughness). If you're wanting better Crowd Control DCs, Spell Focus feats can help, but be aware of it only applying to one school of spells, which means you'll need to have a good idea of what spells you want to get beforehand. I'd otherwise recommend Spell Penetration for 9th level, since SR will be commonplace then, and you'll need to shore up your spellcaster disadvantage. You can then either get more Spell Penetration/Focus feats, some Metamagic feats like Rime spell, or Extra Rage Powers to improve your melee capabilities.
Note that for equipment, you won't need any special armor or weapons (outside of an Amulet of Mighty Fists) if you take the Monk dip, and the big thing to note is that the Monk AC bonus will apply while in Wild Shape, saving you money on things like +5 Wild Armor.
You can control enemies well with the cavalier order of the shield level 8 ability, if you hit them with an attack of opportunity they stop moving. That's not until 8 but I don't know anything better earlier. Your best bet until then is to just hurt the enemies a lot with a two handed weapon with high strength and power attack. The other option is tripping but that's not as reliable. Hamatula strike is another option, it lets you grapple on every hit.
To be a tank I think it's best to take the shield brace feat so you can use a two handed weapon with a shield. Combat expertise is needed to get more attacks of opportunity, high guardian fighter at level 2 gets strength based combat expertise and other features to help you protect others.
Since your level 4 you pretty much only have tripping as an option. You don't need any feats or anything to trip, but there are a lot of options to improve your cmb to make your chance of success better.
Stopping movement would be something along the lines of the Stand Still feat, which can be taken as long as you have Combat Reflexes, which is technically better than the Cavalier ability since it can be done sooner, and with equal effectiveness.
Stopping movement would be something along the lines of the Stand Still feat, which can be taken as long as you have Combat Reflexes, which is technically better than the Cavalier ability since it can be done sooner, and with equal effectiveness.
The cavalier ability is better because you still do damage, and an attack can be easier to hit with than a combat maneuver
I would recommend that you take a look at the brawler archetype for fighter. Additionally, I would take a look at the diplomacy option for the Antagonize feat, and then Standstill and Dazzling Display. It'll help you make a character that's hard to get away from.
Have a look at the Sacred Shield paladin archetype.
He trades smite damage for reducing damage done by smite target to allies by 50%. This is huge damage mitigation. As he gains levels the area increases, gives his shield bonus to allies, etc. Add Lay on Hands, some clutch spells, and whatever you want to do with feats.
If you want a 2 hander with reach there are feats for it in the weapon mastery handbook. You become an amazing frontline controler and mitigator.
Kinetecist with Entangling infusion. I think that might be the best you can get.
Earth gives you some good DR for tankyness.
Water gives you extra AC for tanking, and gives you grease at will.
Aether lets you throw enemies around later.
I would possibly go Water into Earth.
High Guardian Fighter archetype, build as a reach character.
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Hi Davor,
i looked at the archetype but i could not see why this would be a good choice for the char i had in mind.
I loose all my armor proficiencies and gain access to knowledge skills.How does this help? :)
1) You get Combat Expertise for free, which is a required feat for combat maneuvers.
2) The extra skill points let you dump your Intelligence score if you desire, allowing for better physical stats.
3) Tankiness is not only acquired by by heavy armor. A solid Dexterity score is almost more useful for you, as it improves your initiative (You want to go first to get in a good position for AoOs), grants additional Attacks of Opportunity (Amazingly Good), and increases your Armor Class by a fair margin.
4) Lore Warden grants a stacking bonus to all Combat Maneuvers which increases as you level.
Let's say you've got a 16 Dex, and you've picked up a +1 Chain Shirt by 4th level. That puts your AC at an 18, 20 if you get a +1 Quickdraw Shield. A Full-Plate wearer who spends an equal amount on his gear gets a 20, or a 22 with the same shield. 2 points in AC is not a big deal, and we're assuming he does the same sort of trickery with Combat Maneuvers. That's not Including the fact that you still get access to Elven Chainmail (a solid armor choice for you) which you can get enchanted, and all the other gear you'd get as well.
As long as you boost your Dexterity regularly and get decent light armor, your AC will be competitive with a heavy armor-wearer. In return, you get better trips (Fury's Fall), better Initiative, better Reflex saves, and more AoO's, all while having the best CMB for trips and dirty tricks in the game. And you'll want those extra AoOs for Greater Trip.
Halfling Dervish Dance Kensai magus, Bodyguard, Gloves of Arcane Striking, Combat Reflexes, Helpful, rimed Frostbite.
Focus on battlefield control and defensive spells. Mirror Image, Shield, Grease, Glitterdust, invest in Spellblending to grab a few choice wizard spells, etc.
You start our fast with plenty of AoOs and by mid/high level nobody is faster or has more AoO's.
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Build 1 phalanx fighter + wild child brawler.
Combined one handed reach weapon with full Bab and the body guard line of feats on both the pc and the animal companion. Take improved shield bash and shield slam so you can shield bash with stand still and bull rush at the same time.
Build 2
A caster with a reach weapon and an animal com pinion will do the best. A monk druid focused on grappling would work rather well. You could also play an urban druid or a Goliath druid with a reach weapon.
Just remember for all the above builds stand still does not work at reach.
Build 3
Kensai whip magus. Lots of options for debuffing. With wand arcana you can trip all day. It's a very good build but it takes a little time to come online.