Unkillable (5e Optimized Character Build)

This build is mainly defense based, focusing on making you (almost) unkillable. You can still be killed it's just very hard. This build also requires your DM to be nice as based off of the core rule book you can only start with a max of 15 in an ability using the point buy system but this build requires 16 con at the beginning for most effective use.

The Short Version

Plan to end up with 20 Con. Get Moon Druid’s Wild Shape feature for free Hit points and Hit Dice. Get the Dwarven Fortitude feat to heal with Hit Dice when you dodge. Get Monk’s Patient Defence feature to dodge as a bonus action. Get Barbarian‘s Bear totem for resistance to almost all damage.

Be a bear, laugh as people struggle to hit you and then deal half damage to you while you heal yourself and when they finally put you down, become another bear, laugh as a bear, repeat.

Character Creation

First, choose the Dwarf race and Hill subrace. This gives you

Dwarven Resilience

You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.

Dwarven Toughness

Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2.

Which leads us to the starting ability sores. The most important thing is maximising Con so it would actually be worth rolling for stats and hoping for a 16 which is quite likely. You just want 16 because +2 from Dwarf and 2x +1 from the core feats. Next, if you going for unarmoured defence, have high Dex. Otherwise it doesn’t matter, Str is cool for trying to grapple someone.

If you can convince your DM to ignore race restrictions on feats, take the Half-Orc race for Relentless Endurance or Human variant for the extra feat and try roll a 17 for Con.

Levels

Any feats mentioned are described below.

First take 4 levels is Barbarian. This is for d12 hit dice for lots of HP, Rage gives non-magical physical damage resistance and advantage on Str saves, Danger Sense to help stay safe from traps, Bear totem for resistance to all but psychic damage and a feat which will be Dwarven fortitude.

Then take 4 levels in Monk. This is for Ki and Patient Defence to spend 1 Ki to dodge as a bonus action, unarmoured movement to help get away if need be, Deflect Missiles for reducing range damage you take, Slow Fall to reduce falling damage, the feat Durable which will also max your Con and a Tradition. There are a few different good choices for your Tradition, the base three choices are meh but WotC expansions are really good.

If you’re restricted to the base three choices then it’s really up to you as they all require spending Ki that could have been spent on Patient Defence. If you can use the expansions you have two really good choices. They are the Way of Kensei and Tranquility. Kensei gives you Agile Parry, which gives you +2 AC when you attack and Tranquility gives you free Sanctuary if you want to time out and Healing Hands for effectively +10HP per level and deals with poison and disease.

Then take 2 levels in Druid. This is just for Wild Shape and Moon Circle. When you transform with Wild Shape you use the animals Hit Points and Hit Dice and when you revert any damage you took while in Wild Shape doesn’t carry over (excess damage does though). So

Those are the main 10 levels. After them there’s a lot more choice.

7 more levels in Barbarian for more movement, no more being surprised, another feat or ASI and most importantly Relentless Rage, which lets you make a Con save when you drop to 0HP and don’t die to instead just drop to 1HP which is amazing. The save increases each time it’s used between long rests. 1 more level gives you another ASI or feat.

3 more levels in Monk give you Evasion and Stillness of Mind. So you take a lot less damage from things like fireball and you don’t have to worry so much about fear and charm. 1 more level gives you another ASI or feat.

More levels in Tranquility Monk for effectively +10HP per level.

1-3 levels in Fighter. First level gets You Second Wind which is a nice little bit of self healing and a fighting style with a few choices, described below. Second level gives you Action Surge which is just great. Third level give you a archetype which has a few options. 1 more level gives you another ASI or feat.

The three good fighting styles are Defence from the base choice and Marina and Tunnel Fighter with WotC expansions. Defence is for if you use armour instead of unarmoured defence, so +3 enchanted half plate (with 14 Dex) and shield would give 26 AC. Mariner for swim and climb speeds and +1 AC without armour or shield for an unarmoured build. Tunnel Fighter to make more opportunity attacks for a Sentinel build.

Figher Archetype

Feats

The two core feats are Durable and Dwarven Fortitude.

Dwarven Fortitude

Prerequisite: Dwarf You have the blood of dwarf heroes flowing through your veins. You gain the following benefits:

• Increase your Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• Whenever you take the Dodge action in combat, you can spend one Hit Die to heal yourself. Roll the die, add your Constitution modifier, and regain a number of hit points equal to the total (minimum of 1).

Durable

Hardy and resilient, you gain the following benefits:

• Increase your Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• When you roll a Hit Die to regain hit points, the minimum number of hit points you regain from the roll equals twice your Constitution modifier (minimum of 2).

Extra feats that are good with this build.

Tough

Increases your hit point maximum by twice your level. More HP more tankyness, simple.

Resilient

Get proficiency in Dex saves to deal with fireball and the like.

Sentinel

Set up for an opportunity attack build. Disengage doesn’t work against you, opportunity attacks reduce speed to 0 and they can trigger on nearby attacks. With Tunnel Fighting, reach attacks and or the Polearm Master feat you can be amazing at locking someone down and tanking them.

Lucky

Just a generally great feat. Giving advantage on your saves or disadvantage on attack rolls against you would be your main uses.

Grappler

Advantage on grappling and you can pin. Just good for keeping one person out of combat.

Shield Master

Lets you shove as a bonus action, knocking people prone is handy. It also gives you a lesser version of evasion and +2 to Dex saves.

Equipment

The most important item is the

Periapt of Wound Closure

While you wear this pendant, you stabilize whenever you are dying at the start of your turn. In addition, whenever you roll a Hit Die to regain hit points, double the number of hit points it restores. Requires Attunement.

Then anything that makes you tougher like

Ring of Protection

+1 bonus to AC and saving throws. Requires Attunement.

Cloak of Protection

+1 bonus to AC and saving throws. Requires Attunement.

Enchanted Armor and Sheild

Maximum +6 bonus to AC. Both Require Attunement.

Strategy

So with the base build you have quite a few hit points from being a Barbarian and when you rage you have resistance to most damage, effectively doubling your hit points. Then 4 times per short rest you can dodge as a bonus action which makes attacks against you have disadvantage and your feats let you spend a Hit Die to heal 10-17 HP with D12 or 10-13 with D8, double that with the Periapt, which is also effectively doubled by your damage resistance. You’re also resistance to Str saves, traps, ranged attacks and falling. Unarmoured defence with shield will be about 19/20 AC and dropping the shield will give you +10ft speed. Getting a WotC expansion Monk Way would make it even better with +2 AC or Sanctuary and extra healing.

15 3/8 18 1/6

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