Dwarven Defender is The Tank Class, if you're playing a Dwarven Defender and you're not a tank, then the gods should smite you for heresy. If you're playing as comanded by the rules of logic, when the gods try to smite you down, you'll survive. Here's how to make the second choice to work.
The thing about Dwarven defenders is their Damage Reduction, so you first need to know how it works, I've seen people asking about this several times. The generalities about DR are as follows:
DR does not stack, when you recieve damage, the highest apllying value will be the one working, the game tests first for the soaking vlaue (#/whatever) and then the magical enhancement(whatever/#). For example (this is unrealistic), you've got DR 5/+2, 15/+5, 10/+10, 7/+10 and 6/-. When recieving attacks with +4 or lower magical enhancement, you will soak 15 damage, the 5/+2 does nothing there because 15/+5 soaks 15 and overrides the lowest DR. When recieving attacks from +5 to +9 you will soak 10 damage, because 15/+5 can't soak a weapon higher than +4 and 10/+10 soaks higher amount than 7/+10, they don't add. Finally, if you recieve attacks from +10 or higher, only 6/- can apply, as the sign "/-" means it soaks damage regardless of the magical enhancement. For practical means, the DRs 5/+2 and 7/+10 are non-existent in this example, they will never apply, no matter what circumstance. The only stackable means of DR is Barbarian's DR/-, Dwarven Defender's DR/- and Epic Damage Reduction's DR/-.
Now that we all know that DR/- is the best type of DR, since it cannot be breached, you can visualize how if you have, for example, DR 30/- (which is the max you can attain), all the other DR sources that soak less than 30 damage become non-existent. I think only Epic Warding soaks more damage than that. This is your goal when using a Dwarven Defender, as the class that gets the highest DR/- in the game.
Dwarven Defenders shine the most in mid to low magical environments, where you won't fight enemies that deal 2d6 electrical damage or the like. A low magical environment ensures that you'll recieve a lot of "weak" physical damage from about any meleer (except PvP vs Clerics with their Darkfire or spellswords with Flame Weapon), but since your DR doesn't depend on your items, you're tanking at full power.
Building a Dwarven Defender
The issue attaining a high DR is that your current DR depends on only two factors: Epic Damage Reduction feats and Dwarven Defender level. Simple math explains that the higher DR you want, the more levels of Dwarven Defender you need to take.
Race
The race can only be dwarf, so start liking those small bearded guys.
Stats
I'll assume agreement in that we want EDR, that means the build requires 21 Constitution for epics, preferably at level 20. A Dwarven Defender needs 13 DEX for Dodge, start with at least 16 of CON (preferably 18) and enough STR to hit and kill people, a bit of INT for skills if you can't afford without them, that about sums it up.
Skills
As any meleer, you raise Discipline, maybe Tumble, preferably with a class that gives it as class skill. You won't be good at Hiding or any of that stuff, and you'll probably start with a low INT to reach an acceptable STR score, so I recommend picking only few important skills.
Feats
There has been some discussion about the EDR feats. Like, if you're already a heavy Dwarven Defender why waste more feats on more Damage Reduction? the whole point of the class is not needing to do so. That much is accurate, but it's not the most effective. A little amount of DR is not amazing, you can't tank with a regular DR, try it, it's better to have more, tested and logically supported. If you're a tank, be a tank, and raise your DR as high as possible. Anyone can break a DR of 9/-, a regular Greatsword can deal that much, even a dexer can hit through. Any meleer deals above 15/-, so if you really want to resist, you want to soak 20s (because, well, there's no higher than that, but I'd sure like to soak more). Strength based meleers can still deal above 20 damage, but you can ensure at least a good amount of damage gets avoided. Aside from Red Dragon Disciples wielding Greatswords, dragons or scimitar Weapon Masters that make criticals so damn often, you should be soaking about 50% or more physical damage. PvM-wise, you shouldn't be fighting such heavy damage dealers very often.
Epic Damage Reduction also boosts playability a lot, because you can't tank effectively until you get a decent DR, that means as a tank you're garbage all pre-epic. Even in epics, you need DR as soon as possible, because Dwarven Defender levels alone will give you only 15/- by level 32, so without EDR you're not a cool tank until about level 40, you don't want that. The fastest build to attain EDR III is Fighter 8 / Champion of Torm 4 / Dwarven Defender 10, at impressive level 22, but EDR III can be achieved at level 24 with any X 10 / Dwarven Defender 14. An option that happens sometimes is to leave EDR into Dwarven Defender bonus feats in order to take Great Strength VII (which is nice for melee), however, that would attain EDR III at a late Dwarven Defender level 22 (minimum overall level 32). 24/- is still way better than 15/-, so consider playability when choosing your epic feats. If you take EDR III later than that you've got priority issues.
Pre-epic, all the usual melee stuff and needed for the pre-requisites: Dodge, Toughness, Blind-Fight, Weapon Focus, Improved Critical, Knockdown. You can dual-wield if you take Fighter or Champion of Torm for added feats, or grab a shield an maybe Expertise if you're aiming at being a party tank.
In Epics you want EDR III, Epic Weapon Focus and Epic Prowess, maybe Armor Skin if you like the AC, all those can be taken as Dwarven Defender's bonus feats, other than that, Great Strength.
Boosting AC is not really necesary, you're expecting to have high DR, so even with a low AC you'll survive easily. Improving AC will really make you a resisting tank but a weaker damage dealer. A DEX based Dwarven Defender / Rogue with Epic Dodge and EDR III is quite difficult to kill in melee, however, it won't deal good damage and any mage will trash it. My advice is to focus on STR and forget about AC, or else you won't kill enough for playing solo.
Class
When it comes to multiclassing, you need to remember you want a high level Dwarven Defender for a lot of DR, so don't go and take 30 levels of another class, that won't do. Dwarven Defender gets the last DR at level 30, but if you go that far then you'll be unable to get epic stuff from other classes. Say, if you're a Fighter / Dwarven Defender, EWS might be worth losing that last 3/- DR. So for multiclassing purposes, you should take at least 18 Dwarven Defender levels but don't raise it over 26.
Arcane Archer is impossible, unless you do the Tenser's Tranformation trick to make your race Elf upon level up. I won't explore if it's a good option or not, brand it as illegal.
Assassin is acceptable, even though you can't expect to hit many Knocdowns or Hide effectively. Uncanny is useless after having Defensive awareness too but Assassin will grant access to UMD, Tumble and Improved Invisibility with a low level investment, which is awesome for solo.
Barbarian is so so. Rage is a good addition, but even though its DR stacks, it's not cost effective. Barbarian gets 1 DR/- at level 11, which means you'd lose the 3 DR/- from Dwarven Defender 30 and so on. DR-wise, Barbarian is useless.
Bard is cool, but hard given the alignment shift. Good skillset, the bardsong is neat, the buffs are good too and it's the only non-crappy BAB class that will let you take Red Dragon Disciple or Pale Master. Overall, a good choice.
Blackguard is barely decent. It will give you Bull's Strength, but that's about it. You'll end losing saves from Dark Blessing since Dwarves get low CHA.
Champion of Torm is nice. Feats and saves, you can get EDR III faster than with Dwarven Defender alone and the saves will make a tank more effective.
Cleric is always great. It requires a decent level investment and some WIS too, so you'll end up losing DR, but AB, damage and AC get really boosted by the buffs.
Druid is not good, it grants a few buffs, sure, Energy Buffer is nice for a tank, but it's not Druid exclusive and Cleric or Wizard will serve a lot better buff-wise.
Fighter is one of the best. Given Fighter is dwarf's favored class you won't get XP penalty no matter which thrid class you choose. The feats are very useful too since Epic Weapon Specialization will make a lot of damage difference and more feats means EDR faster. Fighter is a high BAB base class, so it's the perfect starting class, where Champion of Torm cannot be selected at level 1.
Harper Scout is horrible, it will make you waste 2 pre-epic feats in Alertness and Iron Will and you won't get anything worth it instead.
Monk is very decent, it will add a lot of APR since DR will allow you to drop the armor for the cheese.
Paladin is bad, all the Charisma related stuff goes to hell when you're a dwarf.
Pale Master is godly. Critical immunity is a specially good choice for a DR tank. You don't want to recieve powerful Scythe or Greataxe criticals (especially from a Weapon Master) and with PM you won't worry about Devastating Critical. Though you usually wouldn't worry much about Dev crit, since a Dwarven Defender with 21 CON gets a neat Fortitude save, it's still better to be immune. Your offense will deteriorate though, but it works nice for a team meatshield.
Ranger, tough choice. Bane of Enemies deals nasty damage, though you'd lose consierable DR. You can dual-wield without wearing an armor alright.
Red Dragon Disciple is hot. Immunity to fire, paralysis and +8 Strength. You don't lose that much DR either.
Rogue is regular, good skillset, but a tank shouldn't play sneaky, hiding won't defend your party.
Shadowdancer is crap, don't Hide when you're a tank dammit.
Shifter is weird. Some shapes can make use of DR. Some other shapes alreay have DR, so what the hell?
Sorcerer is worse than Wizard, dwarves get penalty to Charisma, so forget this class exists.
Weapon Master works neatly as far as ki critical, any more than that is a loss of DR.
Wizard gives very good buffs, but you'll need a separate BAB source to take Dwarven Defender. Mestil's Acid Sheath, Elemental Shield and Death Armor make perfect synergy with a tank. The problem is if you take too many levels of Wizard to make these buffs strong, your DR will suffer and it won't work. BAB is also at stake.
Playing a Dwarven Defener
There isn't really much to say here, you play as a regular melee and try to atract your enemies' attention if you're in a party. Stand in front of your allies, that sort of stuff. Don't Hide or use Improved Invisibility when in a party unless all your party is inivisible.
Defensive Stance is very effective when positioned in tight areas, like a doorway. You can beat an army without any backup by standing in a doorway. The trick to make Defensive Stance useful is simple: take a big long weapon. If you're wielding shortswords, kukris or any other small or tiny weapon, your range can fail. If you're using Defensive Stance and you get hit outside of your range (and I mean melee distance, not with a bow), you'll have to deactivate it to attack, even if it means to walk one step, that won't happen with a big weapon like a Greataxe. For example, I've played kama Monks and Defensive Stance doesn't work properly, luckily a Monk gets Flurry of Blows instead, but for any other class with short weapons, you're screwed.
Don't use Defensive Stance against mages or archers, it's not effective to spend one Defensive Stance for every enemy, you might run out of them too fast.
I think that's all my knowledge on Dwarven Defenders. Having high DR/- makes the melee experience considerably different from any other class. _________________ "My name is Thaxll'ssyllia, but you simians may refer to me merely as "Sir", if you prefer a less... syllable intensive workout."
Edwin Odesseiron - Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Edited By Thaxll'ssyllia on 02/08/09 05:59
You're on a streak, man. Very good guide.
You mention that 30 DR/- is the highest and that taking 30 DD levels block all other Epic class levels. So my little addendum is that if you settle for 27/- DR the 4 levels left for other things in Epic can get you a long way. EWS and late tumbledump f.ex.
A classic build is Fighter12/Rogue2/DD26. Either 5 Epic Bonus Feats + full BAB, or 6 Epic Bonus Feats(EDR III, EP, AS and EWF, EWS is really all you need aside from Great STR/CON, so 7 feats) and 29 BAB. A pity that DD gets his feats so slowly.
I'll sticky this post soon, but I'll leave it a little so it's easier to spot. _________________ We are sons of Odin, and the fire that we burn inside is the legacy of warrior-kings who reign above in the sky I will lead the charge, my sword into the wind Sons of Odin fights to die and live again
Good guide!
Perhaps it should be pointed out that damage reduction stacks with damage resistance and damage immunity.
Sure, I forgot to add it, it's not escentially part of the build design.
If I'm correct Damage Immunity applies first, then Damage Resistance, and then Damage Reduction. If you notice, it's mathematically for your own good it works this way. _________________ "My name is Thaxll'ssyllia, but you simians may refer to me merely as "Sir", if you prefer a less... syllable intensive workout."
Edwin Odesseiron - Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Quote: Posted 02/09/09 04:59 (GMT) -- Thaxll'ssyllia ...If you notice, it's mathematically for your own good it works this way.
Precisely. For one thing, if your damage reduction comes from a spell like Premonition, damage immunity will make that spell last a bit longer.