Groovy_Ghoul

I would not recommend skipping the sword attacks. All three provide a -def, none of the punching attacks do that. The only AOE is Fire Sword Circle. Assassin's Blaze is not a sword attack so going either/or would exclude it and skipping your class defining attack is also not recommended. Weapon Mastery is a great Epic Power Pool. You can absolutely make shurikens work. Take Physical Perfection, Shuriken and Exploding Shuriken.

/Stone is great. I agree with @Force Redux recommending Electric/Stone. Here is a leveling build to give you some ideas. Have fun! Stalker (Electrical Melee - Stone Armor).mbd

Ice Melee. Currently leveling an Ice/Psionic. Really good leveling experience. Recommended.

@tjknight Can you upload your build so I can export and review it better? I've posted my Psi/Psi/Psi build, still working on it, to give you some ideas. I have a few suggestions regarding your build. You need Hide ASAP. It should be your initial pick along with an attack. Level 12 is far too late to take a class defining power. Also slot Kismet: Accuracy +6 in it. Impenetrable Mind provides knockback protection, so the 2x Steadfast Protection: Knockback Protection can be dropped. Celerity: +Stealth does not stack with Stealth, so the only benefit you are getting there is a few more hit points. Suggest removing 2 slots and boost other powers like Memento Mori. Try to fit Panacea: +Hit Points/Endurance in your build somewhere, I recommend in Health. It's just a great IO and I always slot it on every character. I recommend dropping Mental Strike in favor of Psi Blade. Place Assassin's Strike ATOs in Psi Blade. Place Stalker's Guile in Assassin's Psi Blade. Mass Levitate is a great power to slot +FF proc. Psi Armor looks like it loves recharge. I also would place a +FF proc in Telekinetic Blow. Stamina is over slotted, recommend one slot with Performance Shifter: Chance for +End . Between Devour Psyche, Stamina and Harmonic Mind, you will have plenty of stamina. Also recommend taking Concentration earlier and one slot with Gaussians: Chance for Build Up. It has great synergy with the Assassin's Mark: Recharge Build Up. Good Luck and have fun! Stalker (Psionic Melee - Psionic Armor).mbd

Agree with @KaizenSoze. I respec’d my Ice/Regen last night and jumped in a Numina TF. Between the -rech & -speed in my attacks, ice patch and high regen, I had a great time. I need to do some solo testing but so far impressed. Build priority is recharge then slow resist. Any primary with soft controls and/or can use +FF procs, for more recharge, could pair best with Regen. In addition to Ice melee, Stone melee, Electrical melee and Psionic melee should be excellent contenders.

With the implementation of this newest patch, I suggest a name change to: Tanker Tuesday/Wednesday 😆

Overperforming? By what measure? What is the "standard" performance level and how much above this level designates it as "overperforming?" Seems very subjective. I think the developers really need to comment on what lead to this decision. If Tankers are "overperforming," and I don't believe they are, what is the negative impact when you play other ATs and/or COH in general?

I have never understood nerfs in PVE. So what that Tankers have great damage. It's a 21 year old game that us old nerds love to play because we crave escapism, being powerful and saving the day. It's fun being totally awesome, that's the point! Give me a better reason to play a Brute. How about fixing their less-than-stellar ATOs? Elevate Brutes, don't bring down Tankers.

I really like this idea. Change the two resist toggles to defense and the defense auto to resist.

I edited it 30 seconds after posting and realized my mistake

Disregard

Overall, great build. I made a few minor changes to get you to the defense softcap. I dropped Hasten and took One with the Shield for the Resistance Uniques. I switched Kismet to Hide and Grant Cover with LotG, but that is a personal preference. I added one slot to Maneuvers for more hit point and defense. I also added a Psionic Resist to Tough because you are kind of low. Took one slot from Build Up and added it to Active Defense for more Recharge as the defense debuff stacks. I really like your build. Should be lots of fun. Stalker (Electrical Melee - Shield Defense)Forums.mbd

Here's a couple of builds to get you started. Stalker (Electrical Melee - Stone Armor).mbd Stalker (Ice Melee - Stone Armor).mbd

Adding two more builds for consideration. Electrical Melee/Super Reflexes Electrical Melee/Ice Armor Stalker (Electrical Melee - Super Reflexes).mbd Stalker (Electrical Melee - Ice Armor).mbd

Agree that /Inv is a great secondary. It's very tanky. Similar to Shield in that it has a good balance of Resist and Defense. I put together a Electrical Melee/Invulnerability build to get you started. S/L defense 45%. S/L resist 75%. Perma Dull Pain. 50% slow/recharge resist. Stalker (Electrical Melee - Invulnerability).mbd