r0y

Yes, it is ironic, as I am boggled why they made it the way they did. Such a missed opportunity. Not sure if HC/SCORE can re-do it to a nice, heavy single-target attack with a confuse component. It would be unique and fun ("man, I hit him so hard, he got all confused!"), not to mention unique proc opportunities. It's just so bad in every way, it really drags a mediocre set down to "probably best to avoid" status. Also, at least for tanks, they should re-break Greater Psi Blade. The insight spread was awesome and made the whole set's mechanic useful.

Do you have this build? I'm curious how positional soft-cap was achieved via sets. I'm guessing you went with Martial Arts (yay, Storm Kick!) This is what I had (still have it, slots were emptied, thus it's on my "retired" page in the character selection screen):

Likely it was psi melee that turned me off of the set; that and it seemed the "layers" of regen/absorb were on very long recharges (Rad Therapy & Particle Shielding), Ground Zero heals allies (not a fan of this mechanic) and also a lengthy cooldown. Resistance-based sets are best when one layers in near-soft-capped defense, as the debuffs are not a guarantee hit, as it is with resistance only. ZERO defense in the set, so it makes power pools and slotting mandatory to achieve a modicum of defense, and even then, it's not nearly enough, so you are heavily-dependent on the other layers. Regen and Absorb are not the best, unless you really get regen (e.g. Regen or WP) and absorb (120s) needs a shorter cooldown (e.g. Bio's @90s). For me, it seemed I was waiting for "help" while getting pummeled. Sure, capping S/L/Toxic is fun (toxic!), not much is doing cold (the set's "hole"), I was only able to achieve about 26-30% typed, 35% ranged defenses. Regen was not awesome, and there was no reliable +HP (rad therapy didn't add much, it felt... like 350? can't remember...) I mean, compared to the other resistance-based sets (apart from Stone) Rad is excellent! Unfortunately, there are better options for tanks, and lots more for brutes/stalkers (e.g. Energy Aura). I wish tanks got Energy Aura... But I'll wager Psi Melee had a lot to do with it. It is an OK set, was made tolerable when Greater Psi Blade was "broken" and spread insight strike. They "fixed" it, and now it's a very lack-luster set, which is too bad, I love the mitigation of Mass Levitate (oh, please give that to Mind Control! Maybe replace TK). Then you PUNCH (tk blow, mental strike), or do you have a psi blade (sweep, psi blade) - set feels confused, thematically. I get they wanted to avoid a pure-psi damage, so let's throw in the two most resisted things (smashing and lethal) and split the few attacks up. Then there's Boggle. That's only there for a set mule or (usually) avoided altogether. What a waste of an attack! Especially when it could have been a massive single-target PUNCH that confused the mob (instead of disorient)! That would have been epic and funny. I do like Rad Armor on Sentinels, however, it's one of the most survivable sets I've played. Just wasn't thrilled with it on a tank.

"Terrible" might have been an over-statement. How about "not as good as" (Bio, Dark, Invuln, SR, Energy Aura). Rad Armor is better than Fiery Aura, Shield, Electric Armor, Ninjitsu... Stone (though Stone is way more survivable, it's annoying to play for me). So Rad Armor is more likely in the middle of the sets. In my view, obviously. YMMV.

I was bored tonight and was thinking: sure wish we had account-wide bank and salvage/inf storage (beyond a personal SG with bins, etc). So I thought, well, why not have a macro that will move cash to one's @<global> and I came up with this: /macro $ "emailsendattachment @r0y Cash-Dump 20000000 0 0 "Cash from $name." Now, emailsendattachment takes SIX (6) arguments: <string> <string> <integer> <integer> <integer> <string> I've heard the other two integers are the placement of the attachment (not sure what or why). I leave them both 0 (zero). The above macro will then place (assuming I have it) 20,000,000 (twenty-million) inf in my in-game e-mail box to my global name. Handy. So just before logging out, or whenever, spam the macro a few times. I copy macros across my characters (via popmenu) so once each alt has it, I can then start storing my influence/infamy/information in my global mail, at least until I hit the limit - but with the frequency and amount of alts I start, that likely won't happen. Just thought I'd share it, and this sub-forum seemed the likely spot.

Likely a very valid assumption. SR isn't enough resists, IMO, as it would truly make the set godlike. The scaling is fine when the incoming damage is consistent and not alphas (it would be allowed to "work"); however, either my bad luck or who-knows, but the ones you'll remember are the big hits that get through and you have little-to-no scaled resists going on. You have OK regen (about as good as SR will get w/o gimping) and your resist numbers seem ok for most stuff. Though Energy damage is very prevalent in the end game, so any that gets through will hit you darn hard. E/N is actually hard to slot for, since toxic/psi is often achieved in 6-slot bonuses via LotGs, purples and ATO's and a bunch of other stuff. So you are going to use a 4- and a 3- slotted attack as your mainstay? I think Smite might be unnecessary; I know it hits harder than Shadow Punch, but you'd free up two slots and have a throw-away power (like Rescuscitate w/ an absorb proc or spirit ward, etc) - move the two slots into siphon and either gloom or dark oblit. Shadow Maul should always be in your attack chain, single or aoe. It is so fast and cheap, it is easily spammed. In fact, I have Sands of Mu and I can Shadow Maul, Sands, Shadow Maul... then siphon/others while sands recharges. But the point is, in the time it takes to activate/animate Sands of Mu, Shadow Maul is up again. Dark hits for not much, but similar to Claws, it is FAST. Siphon is your big single-target damage, after Shadow Maul, and since Midnight Grasp is skipped (wisely). I guess what I am trying to say is: Make sure you fully-slot out your main attacks, Shadow Punch (you did), Shadow Maul (you did), Siphon Life (almost did), and Gloom (mostly because set bonuses and utility). Depends how much you like Gloom and Dark Oblit I suppose. I'd drop Smite and Dark Oblit, repurpose their slots to Siphon (winter d/e) and Gloom (apoc d/e), take Soul Tentacles and proc it out (posi, bombardment, trap/hunter, grav/anchor) then take either Spirit Ward or Resuscitate (absorb proc, either). Maybe drop the purple hold proc (Grav/Anchor) from Tentacles and add another damage proc to gloom? Lots of options. I'm thinking a "proc monster" version of tentacles will be more of a return... Mids is showing 224.5 damage with the 3 damage procs (the purple hold proc is optional, but man is that some nice mitigation for Minions and LTs) and it's up every 9.47s Also, the cone is how you're playing this guy, thanks to Shadow Maul, so you should always be in the ideal position (in a perfect world).

They should just be toggle/drops like Nature's Lifegiving Spores, or at the very least have similar cooldown, etc.

I use siphon life as 4/2 damage/heal: 4xSuperior Blistering Cold + 2xPreventive Medicine. It's a meh heal that is ok for topping off, but it's also my 2nd best attack (shadow punch, siphon, shadow maul). I dropped Midnight Grasp, as it slowed my DPS/DPA chain due to decent recharge. As I'm sure you know by now, Mids is wrong in the heal% for Siphon Life. It is about 10% (base?). @Bopper or some other numbers guru would know best. For me, Siphon (in-game) is this (I have 2410.52 hp): I added in Aid Self for an "oh crap" situation, that heals me for ~745hp and it's up every 6-7 seconds, should I really need to heal. Medicine pool also gives one Injection, which I 4-slot with Cloud Senses for the 6.25% recharge, as well as +max end and E/N resist. It's a great set, and I use it on bosses/AVs for that little debuff.,, not sure how good it is, but hey, a debuff is a debuff. Without accolades/incarnate stuff here are my totals:

After playing some more, I realized I rarely used Wild Bastion. An awesome heal in the form of a HoT (heal over time), as well as decent absorb, etc. Problem is, I haven't yet needed an "oh shit, the entire team is dying" power, and it was really only there to mule the Panaceas for the 7.5% global recharge. So I thought: why not drop that and pick up the mag 2 stun, throw in some purples for a 10% recharge, and at least have something you can use more often than Wild Bastion's very long recharge... Also, if one was doing this (or similar) build and did not already have the IO's, Absolute Amazement is easier to acquire than Panacea, I bet. I could be wrong... Then I thought: I'm moving around a lot, as one needs to with cone-based sets (both nature and dark blast), dump hover/fly/afterburner for cj/sj, gaining 1 power pickup. So I got torrent, proc'd it out some and got another cone attack. Mids says it's almost as damaging as tentacles, so it's ok. Sacrificed two of the slots for the KB-KD proc and the +rech proc. Don't really need the +rech, as Hasten is perma w/o incarnate stuff, and Overgrowth is 7+ seconds off perma. Defenses suffered a bit, but I bumped resists a hair, but with all the -ToHit flying around, backed by a solid heal/hot (Regrowth), I think survivability will be decent. I am worried about not hovering while blasting, it's such a life-extender for squishies... I'll see. And the stats (no accolade/incarnate/etc):

I sort of agree, but as a Poison/Dark defender, the only thing that Poison needs you to be in PBAoE range for is the trap and the toggle. Well, I can jumpin, set a trap, jump out (not fly, as you can't be hovering to place it. Grrr.). Anyway, I usually only use my toggle in teams and large mobs that I debuff, jump in... trap & blackstar (pbaoe nuke), then hop out. I'll leave the toggle on for the following traps/nukes. It's an active playstyle to be sure. Also, because I hover, once the trap is placed, I re-hover and fly up, shoot down. Cone. Cone. Siphon/Snipe *repeat* /macro pt "powexectoggleoff Hover$$powexeclocation me Poison Trap" makes it a bit easier...

Yeah, I even do the hop n' pop with Shadow Maul (expanded cone = larger "radius" for my SR/DM tank). It's awesome. PUNCH from ABOVE! I remember my son watching me farm (we were wondering who was faster) and he said, "You farm way different than I do... why do you always jump up?" Oh, poor kid. Because Throw Spines and the Mu Epic cone (that he doesn't like to use). He was still faster because he's a twitchy twenty-something, and I'm old. Still, the hop n' pop works very well with melee, I'd just jump a bit higher for "real" cones. Then again, I would NEVER take the Neurotoxin Breath like @Tacheyon did in the original build posted herein. Bad power, skip it. Also, why on Earth would you not 4-slot Cloud Senses in Weaken? A) You want some Accuracy and Endurance in there, since you might spam it; and B) 6.25% recharge! Not to mention 2.25% max end. Amazing set bonuses for just 4! Also, Envenom would benefit from some Acc/Enh reduction as well, similarly, as it may be spammed. YMMV. I would probably skip the hold (Paralytic Poison), in fact I did on my Poison/Dark. Dark Blast is such an active set, I never used the hold (or rarely); I would think that Sonic is just as active to maintain the stacking debuffs, so you probably don't want to deviate from those much (and when you do, it's to apply Envenom and Weaken). Similar with the sleep/cone. Unless you're going to solo a lot and want to sleep/hold stuff. In team play, you'll likely never use the mez on this. Poison defender means 2-trick pony: Envenom and Weaken. Sure, you can take a rez or antidote, but that's rarely used, if ever. So you wisely have chosen a very active secondary and this should pair wonderfully. But you're going to be sonic-blasting (debuffing, really) most of the time. Dropping the Breath and Sleep cones will free up a lot of slots, too. I six-slotted my Venomous Gas (3 to hit / 3 defense debuffs, mostly to lower end cost of the toggle). Not sure about Sonic, but dark blast is so frequent, I was starting to notice endurance issues (not much, but it was there). So I would build for better end management, keeping in mind how much I'm firing off my secondary powers (esp. Nightfall and Tenebrous Tentacles).

Sure, it's easy to love nature. It's like Time Manipulation (Temporal Manipulation?) - it's a but OP and feels like it never got nerfed down or "normalized." I think I might also be a Dark Blast addict. At least on defenders. Their -tohit is crazy, and it's "ok" damage. While not a fireball, one can still spam Tentacles and Night fall back-to-back ad nasuem. Throw in a snipe or siphon life (I didn't take that on this new alt, though) and it's a solid, active attack chain. Perfect for pairing with powersets that are not as active (e.g. Poison, Nature). Well, assuming you're not needing to constantly heal... Anyway, I was wondering if I should proc up my Dark Blast (last 3 slots) instead of Thunderstrike, but my energy defense is close to soft-cap (42.46%) I'd really hate to lose that 2.5% E/N def. bonus. This is my first stab, I made the toon and am currently level 35 and it is a joy to play. Ideally, one wants a perma Overgrowth, and this build gets fairly close (incarnates brings it a bit closer). Spiritual Radial Paragon (according to Mids) narrows the downtime/gap. Not bad. I'm not a fan of +Rech in knockback (I didn't take Torrent anyway). I'm torn on 6-slotted Gaussian's (more def) or 6-slotted Adjusted Targeting (more rech). At level 35, I have 4 gaussians, but might end up going with the adjusted targeting to ensure Hasten is perma prior to alpha slot unlock. I typically fly (hover) on support and ranged toons, so that tightens the build with respect to options, as I'll take Hover/Fly/AB (three power picks vs. standard 2 CJ/SJ for melee/tank types). I think Dark Pit would have been interesting, but Mag 2 is only Mag 2, so probably a good choice to pass that one. Without incarnates or accolades and both Hasten and Wild Growth on auto (using movement binds: /bind w "+forward$$powexecauto Hasten" etc) here are the stats: It is a pricey build, two sets of Panacea ain't cheap, but I had enough in my bins to not worry (converters are my friends!). Any questions, comments or snide remarks will be answered, appreciated and ignored. 😉

The only defender I actually like to play (so far) is my Poison/Dark. Dark Blast is amazing on a defender, decent/exotic damage and very customizable (for themes, etc). It also gives a decent heal in siphon life, but with a Poison/Dark, you're not going to be getting hit much at all. So survivable. A very fun toon to play, either solo or in groups. Even in incarnate trials, I can run into a large mob and start immob/debuff/damaging them. Tentacles, nightfall, etc. I did not bother with resistances, instead I soft-capped S/L/E and have a decent heal that is a useful part of my attack chain (healing 17% and still doing better damage than Dark Blast, at least). Also, the Poison Trap *is* a crap power, UNTIL YOU PROC IT UP! The original reply earlier in this thread completely missed this. The downside (in my build) is you have to be on the ground to place it (like an ouroboros portal). Crappy oversight, but there it is. I just made a macro that detoggles hover/fly and places it. I then have to re-toggle my hover/fly. Other than that, it's a great power. Also proc-out Blackstar... Here is Ursyla's build: Without incarnate or accolade powers, here are the totals:

(not to derail) but yeah, Fire is likely the best, but even my Beam/Bio sentinel feels like it demolishes blues pretty quick. I've yet to do BR on a blaster (corrupter and sentinel only)...

Thus, how one should play a tanker. Thank you. I admit, there are many tankers (players) who cannot achieve this very well or at all; however, some like to show that not only can it be done, but consistently and with great effect. I know I can hold the attention of well beyond target and herd caps. I do it regularly, it's the only reason or challenge I see in playing a tank in this game. Also, if I have a brute/scrapper/stalker on the team, I can sure as hell herd up more than one PC can "legally" handle, anything that "loses interest" can become interested in another melee/damage dealer. I guess if I was with a team rockin' full SO's and super timid, it would be a lot of work juggling aggro tables, etc.; however, again, that is what playing a tank is in this game, should one ever wish to push themselves. YMMV.

All of your reply gave me a lot of food for thought. The above is the hardest for me to work around, without significantly lowering the defenses/resists. I understand the logic behind it, and I'm still taking stabs at theory crafting a Tank build that can work while maintaining adequate defense and resistance. A Brute is easier, as one can split Superior Brute's Fury for 10% (5%x2) melee defense; which allows me to steal slots off the auto-resist powers. Still, I'd like to keep a tank and I am just having a tough go of it. Do you happen to have an Invuln/KM build handy?

Theory crafting is what keeps me interested in this game! So many possibilities. I think you're right: it's a set I have not played, so I'll do it. Even though my red flags are going up on the activation times of the heavy hitters (Burst, Focus Burst, Concentrated Strike). I retired my rad melee toon because of the ungodly activation of the T9 punch. Thanks, Bopper!

Yeah, I was looking at that. I'd have to work in the T2 punch and I'll go with the purple IO's over the Winter Sets for more recharge to limit downtime on Power Siphon. Of course, this all changes the build a bit...

Also, I'm not sure of the Power Siphon mechanic. A lot of the "newer" mechanics added prior to shutdown seem wonky (e.g. rad melee, psi melee, etc). I'd rather just have a buildup. Maybe I'm needing to play this and just see for myself. So, Invuln/Spines vs. Invuln/KM ?

I was thinking Invuln/Spines. I do like spines, haven't played it beyond a fire/spines brute famer. Spines wants to be in the middle of a mob (often), and invuln seems to agree! Here's my first stab (pun intended), as I have no experience (other than back on live, and that was too long ago) with slotting, etc. I sacrificed soft-cap defense for more recharge (Winter Sets vs. Purples)... is that a mistake? I could have soft-capped S/L/F/C and slightly better E/N (34% vs 39%). But lower defense/higher recharge means more toxic/psi resists... so it's a tough call, I think.

A lot of kinetic melee seems to be about knocking stuff away. Sure, I can sacrifice a slot and convert KB to KD, but sometimes I want to use all 6 slots for a set bonus. I guess anything *can* work, but it does seem KM looks like it was meant to knock back. I could be wrong, I've only played KM to the first 3 powers (it seemed slow, long activations).

There's also Damage Caps, but people like to get a lot of -Res to circumvent that... does -res not make sense to you or something? Can say the same thing for ToHit, Defense, etc. Hell, why have debuffs? Why go beyond the caps? Oy vey.

WHAT?!? Seriously, WHAT are you doing in the Tanker section? It should be every tank's goal to successfully herd the entire map, if possible. There are tricks and techniques to bumping that up (e.g. Radial Lore intangible pet). Throw taunts and attacks out to aggro-hop, etc. I've been tanking massive herds for years and I've never seen anyone complain. Seriously, why would you say to stop herding as a tank?

There are many combinations, and who knows what will work for you since only you really know your playstyle and likes/dislikes. That said, I'm assuming when you say "IO's" you mean non-sets, or BASIC IO's. Working from that assumption: As others have stated, Willpower WILL be the easiest for you. It is very forgivable, needs ZERO attention (nothing to click, but that means no heal or other "oh crap" power. The T9 is very skippable, and the rez... meh) I would recommend Dark Melee - adds a small heal in a a decent attack, which is part of your chain (Siphon Life, 1 Acc, 2 Dam, 1 Heal, 1 end, 1 rech - or there abouts). The first several powers are all you need, and the set is weak near the end (Dark Consumption is nearly useless, Midnight Grasp is unnecessary, etc). So you'll have Smite, Siphon and Shadow Maul VERY early, and that will be it for the entire time. Shadow Maul carries the set. Also, since you're not really teaming or "going large" (I'll assume): small mobs, therefore not so dependent on AoE. DM fits that bill, too. Also, WP has decent defense with decent resists and great regen (nice layered system), so the -ToHit of DM helps that Defense. Siphon Life helps that regen (via heals). Good synergy. It's an active melee set, perfect for an inactive armor set. MIGHT get boring after a spell, I don't know.

This will be my 3rd Tank in about 10 days. I did SR/DM which is OK, when SR doesn't fail. I am almost 50 on a SD/SM, and I have to say I am enjoying it! Stone Melee seems to help Shield Defense survive more than it would otherwise, because of all the soft control SM's knockup/down provide. So I want to make an Invuln Tank next. I originally thought to pair it with Dark Melee, but I have a lot of DM toons already (least of all that recent SR/DM tank from last week). So I thought Kinetic Melee. That lasted until level 10, when I realized KM is not a good pairing for invuln. Maybe not for anything, really. Too bad. I'm thinking Street Justice, as I have a StJ/EA stalker and LOVE that toon! One of my favorite melee characters. How is Street Justice on tanks? I do realize all the melee are better on stalkers, especially since the fast-cast assassin strike being a nice chain filler. Melee attack sets played (either tank, scrapper, brute, stalker): War Mace, Energy Melee, Dark Melee, Stone Melee, Claws, Titan Weapons, Psi Melee, Staff, Street Justice. So I guess I should ask: What is NOT on that list above that would pair well with Invuln, or is one set just so good it's worth a repeat (e.g. Dark Melee, I'm thinking. Or spines?) Thank you in advance for your replies and insight!