Erratic1

If you're out running radio missions in PI with a full group of fellow 50s, all kited out, perhaps. But at that point why aren't we all playing Blappers? If you're running with a less optimize team or using the new, higher difficulty settings, or dealing with specific events within TFs (or all of the above) then one's ability to survive comes into play.

Dude, I posted a video of a Tanker clearing at record speeds. That is -=NOT=- opinion. That is objective, recorded demonstration. As for opinion, it is your post full of the use of the word, "my".

I am not sure it is the only way. A good way certainly but there are other ways to buff outgoing damage. And it is not like SS and Rad do not exist for Brutes, and yet nobody has posted the like. Of course the Brute would need to build Fury, keep it up, does not hit as many targets....but details, details.

*glances at his previous post to make sure it is a sub-4 minute clear posted by a Tanker*

What AT is being played here? Doesn't seem to be a brute. I am not sure any other AT has shown a sub-4 minute run, let alone on a first attempt on a build. But I am not here to re-ignite the great Brute/Tanker war of...was the last flare up just last year?

*glances at Energize and Energy Drain and wonders what is being said*

The real trick is the eyes. You have to trick the costume editor. 😄

Can I at least give Canada part of the blame?

Okay, if I am suggesting something to someone who has no experience whatsoever with tanking or the Tanker powersets.... ...Invulnerability/Dark Melee? My first melee character taken to max was a DM/Inv scrapper back in the days when Tankers did not get DM. He was stupidly tough. Never tried the combo again on Tanker but it has to be glorious.

Truthfully? Whatever is going to endlessly fascinate them and make them stick with the character (especially if/when things get tough) to level 50. My Elec/Rad Tanker struggled with endurance while levelling him, even with Energize as a power, slotting Performance Shifter, putting in Endurance Reduction enhancements...he was just always barely not avoiding detoggling and having to limit his attacks to do so. But conceptually I could not let him go. I would fiddle with his build, planned his costume multiple times, had a bio to fit the costume and powers. Other characters giving me that much trouble, especially as they break into their 40s, would have been benched and I would have gone onto my next project. Slowly, oh so slowly, as he neared 50 things began to get better. He is a true, brought to full functionality via set IOs, creation. But even without IOs in mind, I would advise finding a concept you love and will be deeply invested in.

It feels like bait and switch here at times. Sure, at level 50 you've got the slots to slot endurance reduction and damage resistance. A low level tanker? He's got a limited number of slots to work with and a lot of ground to cover. FWIW, I only slot one endurance reduction in toggles and double slot attacks (eventually). Dark Armor...oh the endurance woes. Great set in the end but the road getting there...ouch. I should make a Dark/Rad or Dark/TW tanker for the ultimate, "I'm out of endurance" experience someday. 😁

Muling (using a power's slots for holding set IOs with useful effects) is outside the realm Azrael qualified. He is talking about beginning level broadly and no more than SOs in the end. I've got Weave on my Elec/Rad Tanker for muling purposes--Shield Wall (+5% Res), Reactive Defenses (+3% Resis and Scaling Resist), and Luck of the Gambler (+7.5% Recharge). Having no DDR, his defense values are an afterthought.

You qualify that we're talking about beginning level tankers, say that you can notice the impact of Weave (particularly unslotted), but somehow the endurance cost of the power at those low levels is not an issue? Weave costs 0.33 endurance per second, meaning it costs more than 25% more endurance to run than the typical defense/resist toggle, and you are layering that on top of your primary toggles and the endurance consumed by making attacks. At low levels it is easy to run yourself out of endurance. Yeah, pop a blue where you have to but for the most part running out of endurance is far more detrimental to survival than not running Weave, especially on a resist tanker. But let us compare the impact of running Weave to not running Weave. Assume fully slotted Weave (SOs) running at about 8% Defense(All) and making even cons miss 8% more often. Compared to a non-Weave using Tanker they are taking 85% of the damage. So it is like them having 15% more health. So Weave, consuming 0.33 endurance per second, with 3 SOs is worth 15% more life (in the face of incoming damage sufficient to drop your character). Stick one slot in Health and slot 2 Healing SOs. Your total health regeneration goes up by more than 15%. This has cost you 1 slot and no extra endurance. It is not exactly an apples to apples comparison since you otherwise need to survive a minute in the face of incoming damage for the health regen to play out but there are unstated assumptions on the Weave side of things too (like lieutenants and bosses being in the mix who hit more reliably).

True, but I am that way on all my characters. Well, mostly now anyway...on my melee characters I will now (having a bit of pocket change) spring for the +3% Defense IOs from Steadfast Protection and Gladiator's Armor once a Defense based character has reached the point where no further improvement will be had via slotting their base powersets. Oddly enough the resist based melees just have to tough it out*. Thematic I suppose. * I could get them the 5% Resist All from Shield Wall, but I don't do that.

You do not need to have Weave to be able to pop Luck inspirations. And the inspiration is what is doing the heavy lifting here...a small purple is worth 12.5% which is 2.5x the base value of Weave, and 50% more than what you're getting out of a fully slotted Weave. Oh...and it doesn't cost endurance. You keep tossing out "built out" when responding to me. I am talking pure game mechanics here with no reference to sets.

I was in CoH beta. This is a different game. Back then there was no ED and you could slot 6 of the same enhancement without penalty. Sets are the way to regain levels of functionality which went away with ED.

Now, now.... I level on basic (non-set) crafted IOs, but that is because I am lazy and cheap--I neither want to replace SOs all the time and by using respecs later when switching to set IOs I can get the crafted IOs back, throw them in storage, and use them on future characters, thereby saving them a ton of influence. And on the initial character, not replacing SOs all the time also amount to a nice chunk of saved influence. I like to tell myself it teaches me how the character handles, but really it is just me being cheap.

If you are playing a Resist set Tanker you are not going to have much in the way of Defense powers, meaning Weave will be operating on its own. With a base value of 5% Defense (All), Weave when first taken will mostly be an endurance drain of minimal value, taking your chance of being hit by an even level opponent from 50% to 45%. In most circumstances that is not going to be a noticeable difference.

Alpha Barrier is the LEVEL ONE POWER in Radiation Armor. What could be more out of the box than that?

Best I can come up with is it was someone who was in the process of being power leveled and did not have time to train before the TF was announced. Were it not a power level situation I could still see being short a level or two--the team is on a roll and you don't want to leave it, but at six levels I would think power level.

To paraphrase a line from David Lynch's Dune, "Many strange behaviors on Excelsior."

The point was my Brute, who works with SCRAPPER level numeric values, gets to respectable S/L resistance values on what is ostensibly a Defense armor set. If a Brute can get there a Tanker should have no problem.

Electric Armor's Charged Armor gives 35% resistance to Smash/Lethal. Invulnerability hits 40% resistance to Smash/Lethal via Temporary Invulnerability and Resist Physical Damage. So Invulnerability is ahead by only 5% if you (a) take two power at low level and (b) maintain twice the number of slots in them when you probably hardest pressed to do so because powers and slots are least plentiful at low level. To maintain that lead it needs to spend twice the number of slots. Put one extra slot in Charged Armor and give it two SOs and you're at 52.4% Smash/Lethal resistance. Put one extra slot in Temporary Invulnerability and give it two SOs and combined with Resist Physical Damage you're at 54.91% Smash/Lethal resistance. I am not sure how 52.4% is mediocre while 54.91% is worthy of respect. I am not sure any resistance based Tanker needs to take Tough. My first pass on my current Radiation/Claws, which only has base 30% S/L resist via Alpha Barrier, was over 90% S/L resist value. If I can get there with Alpha Barrier, Charged Armor can get there.

I am infinitely more likely to want to join a kill all ITF than a speed one. But I have been on speed ITF PUGs and they went perfectly fine.

With the exception of the one TF I do per week with the SG one of my characters joined, every TF I do is with PUGs. Most PUGs I do run perfectly fine without hiccup. The last problem I had on one was one guy ignoring requests to not zip ahead to the next mission and complete it before everyone could even zone in and that caused the leader to quit and the rest of us to disband. The previous problematic PUG TF does not even come to mind as it is that rare an occasion. I honestly wonder what sort of "Christmas in Heaven" experience people are supposedly getting out of their committed TF groups, because I am thinking it has to be like taking some sort of mix of LSD and unicorn horns with the absolute condescension displayed towards PUGs.