Is there any stat requirements for tank builds typically? Or is it all gear dependant? I restarted my cleric faith build and ,by the end of it, I intend on having about 40 Vit and 40 End. I should be able to just equip the heavy stuff, havel's ring, the wolf ring, and march into battle, right?

Everyone I'm seeing in co-op is an agile roller in combat, there are not too many people who just wade into battle and deflect the bosses attacks. Is that even viable?

That's a lot of questions?

What prompted this thread was the Steel Armor dropped for me last night off of the tower knight in the Undead Church. It looks freaking badass.

Tanks are quite viable in this game from what I've seen. I get the feeling that while Demon's Souls had more of a focus on rolling rather than blocking, this game even things out considerably. This is based on the sheer variety of builds that I've seen in my playtime, so YMMV. I wish I could give you some hard technical data, but I'm still learning.

I guess I'll try it out, that's the only way. Every boss I've played so far was a sprint-fest. If I was burdened like that, I figure those boss fights wouldn't last too long.

I imagine it will come down to tons of absorbing damage into stamina and careful use of your shield. The biggest mistake I see a lot of people making is leaving their shield up after taking a big, stamina-draining hit. It's much better to put your shield down for a moment so you can take advantage of the accelerated stamina regen, IMO.

Tank builds are cool, but make sure you can put out some damage too. I went pyro tank. 7 slots for spells, and some int for a couple sorceries(like hidden body) and then it's all str end and vit. I've got about 1700 hp right now, smoughs armor, havels shield, and I'm under 50% encumberence so I can still roll effectively. Sometimes you don't want to get hit.

Lots of stamina is important, as is a shield with a high stability. Clearly VIT is also called for. My main is tank-ish, and she is doing pretty well for herself, although low m-def is a weakness unless I can pre-equip my tron-disk-thowing shield, whatever its called...

@Maginnovision said:

Tank builds are cool, but make sure you can put out some damage too. I went pyro tank. 7 slots for spells, and some int for a couple sorceries(like hidden body) and then it's all str end and vit. I've got about 1700 hp right now, smoughs armor, havels shield, and I'm under 50% encumberence so I can still roll effectively. Sometimes you don't want to get hit.

My goal is a paladin tank, starting as a cleric. Basically, greatsword, big shield, medium-heavy armor, and throwing lightning bolts.

40 Endurance sounds about right after that is the softcap so.... but might be not enough in tearms of equip load if you want to go really heavy (Havel's Shield, Heavy Weapon in both slots).

If you dont mind havels ring constantly taking a spot then you should be fine for your medium-ish armor. Mask of the Father helps as well but takes the helm spot.

my first char is a tank build, i need some help getting a new weapon. ive just done smough and ornstein, currently wearing havels armour and using a black knight halberd+3. so whats a good strength based weapon for me to go for?

@Sorrowsan said:

my first char is a tank build, i need some help getting a new weapon. ive just done smough and ornstein, currently wearing havels armour and using a black knight halberd+3. so whats a good strength based weapon for me to go for?

Black Knight Sword is pretty amazing.

If you're looking into a serious tank build you really want to pick up the Great Shield of Artorias. It's so ridiculously good it's beyond words. For straight tanking physical damage it beats out Havel's no contest. 88 stability on it so regular mobs barely register stamina drain, and then on top of that it blocks status effects on any hit that you block. Plus it's only 34 strength so unless you really want an all around general use shield, it's really worth picking up. That and 16 weight vs Havel's 26, so damn good >_<!

I swear by the paladin set for armor if you got 40 twinkling titanite laying around or if you're a hardcore farmer. The total defense on it is 410 at a full +5, so Giant' s +5 only beats it out in terms of pure physical defense by a rather small margin, I'll have to check later >_<! Giant's is quite ridiculous for fire defense though so it's a bit of a toss up. Mainly you're going to have to have multiple armor sets if you want to maximize your tanking ability since some of them have different specialties, much like all the shields you'll want to carry around as well for differing situations ^__^! The main problem you'll run into is if you use a great sword level weapons with a great shield, is well stamina drain >_>... I'd recommend a faster weapon or one with a status effect like an uchi/washing pole. Loving the washing pole for the range, it's really quite nice for dropping some bleed fast.

To answer Sorrowsan's question, the black knight great axe is one of the best strength scaling weapons in the game, definitely worth picking up if you can grab it.

You want armour with a lot of poise! Let's you take hits without staggering!

@Tenryu said:

If you're looking into a serious tank build you really want to pick up the Great Shield of Artorias. It's so ridiculously good it's beyond words. For straight tanking physical damage it beats out Havel's no contest. 88 stability on it so regular mobs barely register stamina drain, and then on top of that it blocks status effects on any hit that you block. Plus it's only 34 strength so unless you really want an all around general use shield, it's really worth picking up. That and 16 weight vs Havel's 26, so damn good >_<!

I swear by the paladin set for armor if you got 40 twinkling titanite laying around or if you're a hardcore farmer. The total defense on it is 410 at a full +5, so Giant' s +5 only beats it out in terms of pure physical defense by a rather small margin, I'll have to check later >_<! Giant's is quite ridiculous for fire defense though so it's a bit of a toss up. Mainly you're going to have to have multiple armor sets if you want to maximize your tanking ability since some of them have different specialties, much like all the shields you'll want to carry around as well for differing situations ^__^! The main problem you'll run into is if you use a great sword level weapons with a great shield, is well stamina drain >_>... I'd recommend a faster weapon or one with a status effect like an uchi/washing pole. Loving the washing pole for the range, it's really quite nice for dropping some bleed fast.

To answer Sorrowsan's question, the black knight great axe is one of the best strength scaling weapons in the game, definitely worth picking up if you can grab it.

The BKGA is by far my favorite weapon so far since I am a dex / str build. Also, Havels shield beats Artorias by the fact that its effect is like iron flesh AND it has the highest overall status defense. It may not be the best for everyone but if you can get the str to hold it, it will not let you down. The paladins weight is 33.1 vs smoughs 45.1 which can seem like alot but for a tank, your endurance needs to be high anyways which would equate to you holding either havels ring or ring of favor since it adds to health, stamina and equip weight. And in regards to physical defense, smoughs its top in all vs paladins AND for elemental. The only thing smoughs is lacking is curse defense which if you dont stand in one spot during fights, should never be a problem. The only down side to having smoughs armor + havels though is that if you use anything that is a great (level) of weapon, you will never have the quick roll but be stuck with the medium roll / run. If you weild something like queelags fury sword or a lightning spear it will be fine but to have something like a black knight great axe, you will be slowed down. It hasn't crippled me in any of my pvp fights but it does make chasing people a little tiring as most of the time I just stop and let them run off to go use heal and ill wait and heal myself if needed. Also since you would have havels shield, bosses spells and User spells (pvp) will do practically no damage since the resistances on it are some of the highest in the game, not to mention your armor also has Extremely high elemental defense.

Straight Strength until 50. Then alternated points into Vit and End. I completed the game very easily, but I had problems on Gwyn since he just ate through my block. Looking back, probably less points into STR and more into END. Since Lightning Zwei is good enough and doesn't scale.

I went with a tank build. Put all my points into VIT/END and enough STR/DEX to wield the weapons I wanted (Claymore and Lifehunt Scythe). I made my Claymore into a Chaos Claymore which tore through most enemies. I had full armor and a greatshield. Not great for parrying, but combined with Iron Flesh I was able to just tank most of the bosses. Including the last boss where I just popped an Iron Flesh and used my Chaos Claymore two handed and pressed the attack button until the game ended. So it is certainly viable.

In case anyone is interested here are some values for +5 armors vs some other armor types. Sorry my EKS is only +9 >_>... kinda short on slabs lol, but I believe it's on the wiki if you need more info on it. I'll add some more armors if it's helpful for you guys, I'm just a bit short atm. I'll have to spend some time farming clams again >_<... Thankfully my black iron set only has like the legs left >_<!

The main issue you'll run into is, as Mcshank mentioned, mobility. Some of the weight may not seem like a lot, but even 1-2 can break a build when you factor in all your gear. Havel's is an amazing shield no doubt, but I would never say Havel's shield beats it. There's no contest between Artorias beating Havel's in terms of physical block. 84 vs 88 seems like a small difference, but it's ridiculous how little stamina you lose on the Artorias. That and it makes you immune to any status ailments when you block with it so woo ;3! Havel' shield definitely has more utility when it comes to walking into a situation where you're not sure of a damage type. Either way, why pick and choose use both! They're basically the two best, if not among the strongest shields in the game.