This post is a result of the discussion in a thread on this forum entitled "Have a player who wants to play a Tank but has no idea how to go about it."
The posts on that thread mostly concerned the various ways of building an effective Tank. Most or all of it was good advice as far as I can tell. I mostly play full casters so am no expert.
I made the following post trying to discuss another issue-
"I want to point out some of the pitfalls of helping someone with their character I know all about from experience. First, does the player you have been asked to help know that he has "no idea" how to build and play a "tank"?
First, make sure you know what the player means by "tank". The proper meaning is discussed on the thread, but a lot of less experienced players think it means something like someone with a high AC that hits things.
On having "no idea" does the player know he has no idea? If yes, that is better but you may still have trouble with how much they want you to take over creating their character and telling them how to play it.
If the answer is no you are in for trouble. I suggest trying to get out of helping them.
The build suggested by John Mechalas sounds very effective. But is it what the player wants to play? Do they know it will not be able to do what it is intended to do for many levels? Does the player know how to play the character when they finally reach that time?"
The discussion on the other thread mostly continued as it had been before which would be mostly incomprehensible to a novice player. To be fair, nobody disagreed with me and one or two acknowledged I had a point.