tellania

Speaking as someone who prefers and mainly plays tanks, thank you for the fun. Most fun I've ever had was sole tank on a team of 7 blasters. It cant get more fun than that! Thanks blasters, for the fun and incredible momentum you provide.

Since we are talking unkillable ... You need to consider secondaries for mitigation as well. Resistance, Defense, +HP and regen are primary mitigations. Heal can straddle both primaries and secondaries (dark melee, fire armor), and should be considered. Secondary are knockdown/back (e.g. axe, ice, etc), and any builtin CC (fear on a dark tank, Ice/SS having a hold, ICE having -recharge, etc). Primaries usually let you stand there, order a pizza, eat the pizza, and come back alive. Secondaries (and heals) can offer CONSIDERABLE survivability, but require you to click to ensure survivability. A stone/dark tank will be more survivable than a stone/fire tank, esp against Recluse. Though, as mentioned, stone/ can be painful to level, but its my 'A' Game player for those master STF (or is it lady liberty TF now?). moments, it is dead last in 'let me log in and casually play with a PUG or solo' moment. I didnt mention damage, since brutes/scrappers do it faster.

SL 90%, EN 76% Melee defense: 36.8% recharge: 116% Lots of procs for laugh and giggles (damage and knockdown) Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Tanker Primary Power Set: Fiery Aura Secondary Power Set: Ice Melee Power Pool: Force of Will Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Fire Shield -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(3), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(3), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(5), GldArm-3defTpProc(21), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(43) Level 1: Frozen Fists -- Empty(A) Level 2: Healing Flames -- Prv-Absorb%(A), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(5), Prv-Heal(9), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(9), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(11), Prv-Heal/Rchg(11) Level 4: Mighty Leap -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A) Level 6: Frost -- HO:Centri(A), HO:Centri(7), HO:Centri(7), Rgn-Knock%(46) Level 8: Boxing -- SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(A) Level 10: Taunt -- PrfZng-Dam%(A) Level 12: Plasma Shield -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(13), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(13), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(15) Level 14: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(15), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(19), UnbGrd-Max HP%(19) Level 16: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(17), GssSynFr--Build%(17) Level 18: Burn -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(23), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25), Arm-Acc/Rchg(25), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(27) Level 20: Ice Patch -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(21) Level 22: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(23) Level 24: Weaken Resolve -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), TchofLadG-%Dam(29), RechRdx-I(29), ShlBrk-%Dam(34), AnlWkn-%ToHit(36), CldSns-%Dam(36) Level 26: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(27) Level 28: Freezing Touch -- SprGntFis-Rchg/+Absorb(A), SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg(37), SprGntFis-Dmg/Rchg(37), SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), SprGntFis-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43) Level 30: Blazing Aura -- SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(A), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(31), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(31), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(31), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45) Level 32: Weave -- ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(A), Rct-ResDam%(33), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(33), LucoftheG-Def(33), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(34), Krm-ResKB(34) Level 35: Greater Ice Sword -- TchofDth-Acc/Dmg(A), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx(36), TchofDth-Dmg/Rchg(45), TchofDth-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), TchofDth-Dam%(50) Level 38: Frozen Aura -- SprMghoft-Rchg/Res%(A), SprMghoft-Dmg/Rchg(39), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), SprMghoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Arm-Dam%(40), Erd-%Dam(40) Level 41: Gloom -- Apc-Dam%(A), Apc-Dmg(42), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(42), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Apc-Acc/Rchg(43) Level 44: Darkest Night -- ToHitDeb-I(A), ToHitDeb-I(45) Level 47: Summon Widow -- SlbAll-Dmg(A), SlbAll-Dmg/Rchg(48), RechRdx-I(48), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(48) Level 49: Dark Obliteration -- PstBls-Dam%(A), CldSns-%Dam(50), Ann-ResDeb%(50) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Gauntlet Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Empty(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina -- Empty(A) ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1430;664;1328;HEX;| |78DA6594C94F136118C6BFE94CC142D997B295A5888552062A24EE121131469B906| |062E23669EA808D134ADA92E8D1C4F50FF0A6468F5E3C7B1413F5E4C9831A4D3C8A| |0B6882463CD5B7F33C36869974E6D779DEF77BB76F669297A7838F8F5E9D545AF0B| |093CAE7AD93A9C54B76CE9F4C2D64D2AA7454CAD90ED59AB6E7EDC5BC6DCE64ECDC| |15EBD0722ED54A4BD2766CDB3C96B6F14F35CE66B38E3993CD89929DB74E651CA70| |65266E16221B3B850E5DECD2DD9F6856A189C92257464299336A772CB05DB9ACB2E| |3B5632952F48B236A96240CE95805CB4525D45BFFAA92B953094EF17F91B3436C1E| |69D602C240BC286EAA8523C8AF293433D0B309844D3D6B8FA1BB86D95FC0C567D21| |BF828541A57446D33FF85CAD4B32F8A1E9FE0981A1AB8A2D1CD9055FAD12B32DADA| |FBC63B85A58D607A805F2F07B2E42353AD6ABD971901D07D9712D3BD625600D7D6B| |E85B4BDF46FA36FE01BB25571D72F9EA8695ABD5FFE323E47E21B91BE06334EC86D| |6BA076CDB4BEE033BF6833D12B7096BB426C66B2623525F0BEAD35AA8B592799967| |887B115A91584D32CF579C2B7DFA2A747727FB5F43EF5FF5B9F72FA5CE76E66CA76| |F07D92BF574326EE76DCC79FB2DF21A791D8CDE006337C1A71237CCFEC30FA175DF| |25EF91F7C1F803D0901E7BF884F61CC7AC7B37C852F32536837DF5E4A672FBE8935| |A23AC35725A10951ECF80F1B3E0C839F23C98B0C088AC1D60DE81F7C8B7E30DF996| |7C07460F607ED175CC2F2DF220FB1C4CC03614274748138C8D821F834A0D73E6C3E| |398759C9C977826DF03F320FC472749EECBE806EE6DF11DE37338F604B604F735F1| |09F576195BDFDC21A3FC1D28C63CD6318F92F028E31E65C2A39CF028B346F98BA13| |45709D497BF03C535D9034DFBDFFADDA3AC7B941F1EE52F2F40F150| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

Could you list preferences on WHAT bonuses you are looking for? I had a fire/ice, and (beyond the armors) the only critical powers were burn/ice patch (Ice is painfully low on damage). I made myself into a tanktroller (took ice APP, holds, etc). Are you looking for melee defense, recharge, something else? Do you intend to solo or team? what settings? Just an fyi, firey embrace increases all damage, not only fire (fire should be more). Frozen aura now does damage (footstomp level AOE, all cold!) So, you have 2 powerful AOE's (not including anything from the APP pools). frost the power is actually pretty good if you put some range in it (dam/range hami's). Greatly helps with getting more bang per buck. healing flames will keep you alive. burn+frozen aura = much aoe goodness (not quite a fire/spines, but respectable). Or, you can be the jerk tanker, leave your burning aura off, put a placate proc (fortunata hypnosis) and fire it off with your frozen aura. Make the team wonder why you are not holding any aggro...

ONLY Hyperstrike can give the exact reasons, but I would lean to the +perceptionIO over the kismet +tohit (its tohit, not accuracy, despite its claim). Without the build, I am making some assumptions: 1. Base to-hit is 75%. If the build has large IO bonus of +accuracy, it may make be close to 'max out' accuracy (95% maximum), and not needed. 2. Invulernability has an aura (invincibility) which gives +def/+to hit per foe in rnage. More in aura, the less you need additional to-hit bonuses. 2% (base) to-hit per foe. 3. Dark melee combat buff (soul drain) gives +2% per hit per foe. Its base is 90% (according to pine's) to hit, add a minimum 2% from invincibility, and you are at 92% to hit(!), BEFORE any accuracy bonuses. With no global bonuses, its easy to have soul drain up-time to 50%, or full time with enough global bonus. 4. siphon life (the heal, I believe you referred) is base 75% to hit. Not very difficult, with a single target (invincibility+soul drain) to give 4%-6.4% to hit (if slotted). Siphon life is melee, so it can miss single target, but 10seconds recharge time, and 10% base heal, it can easily be slotted to 20% heal every 3-5 seconds. That is INSANE. Even with NO accuracy slotting, 4/5 hits will connect, healing 80% HP over 20 seconds (assume 4 second recharge, 5 attempted hits). Now, kismet +to-hit IS very nice. But why perception? From experience, fighting widows (recluse minions) they tend to spam smoke. I LITERALLY can not target, nor see them. With my invul/ss tank, all I could do was hide behind a door (because the widows will range attack outside of footstomp), and put footstomp on auto ... It was painfully slow ... I had to ask for help, just to target the widow's, so I could make progress (this was happening EVERY mob). If you PvP (I dont), it is preferred for seeing stealth foes (not sure about stalker hide ..) A reason to have the kismet is Crey paragons. They tend to elude, which maximizes their defense. In that case, you'll want every bit of +to hit and accuracy as possible, as you will be wiffing up a storm. Easiest solution: carry both, use the cheap IO unslotters to change as desired (or depending upon enemy types).

Yes, level 29 atm. Need the KB to KD proc for repulsing torrent. Figured going -dam was the best route for an ice tank. Darkest night (range pboe of 25') -21% DMG and 10.5% -tohit (unslotted) (I take it on almost all my tanks, its very useful), -14% chilling embrace, and about -7% DMG from KM attacks (burst is -14% and pboe ) (according to MIDs). slotted, darkest night provides -16% to-hit, 49% aoe and -7% (per KM attack) (not sure if the attack effects stack ...) per single attack. Just curious where you got -50 DMG on single target and -28% on surrounding mobs? Seems to be -49% DMG aoe plus -7% DMG per single target applied. Its a great way to go, but currently not too happy with KM damage (the +DMG powers come later ...) at the moment.

Been a while, but I never had a need for permafrost ... until I started encountering knives of artemis and their caltrop throwing spamminess ... THEN you will LOVE having permafrost!

as a lowbie mastermind, here is my opinion: With those 2 other masterminds, it may not matter. I enjoy my thugs/cold (gang war is fun!). /time and /kin are GREAT all-purpose secondaries, with debuffs, and buffs, but not so much in shields. and the reason it may not matter, lots of the powers of kin and time are aoe's, whereas you may benefit a single minion at a time (depending on the buff), and if you are buffing your other teammates ... that is a lot of buffs! plus, when it comes to masterminds, even small teams, you may have laptop/computer stutter issues (depending if its a gaming or not). Masterminds are great for fire and forget, or RWZ raids. (I have mid level bots/time and demons/kin). Thugs/cold can be fun, thugs/traps (havent played /traps since COH closed down), will have some great debuffs but those are already covered. kin and time have heals/regen. I would go with a shield (resitance or defense) so help keep them alive. Just a thought

close to what Coyote said, Fire is more AOE, with SS only having footstomp (hand clap, which is rarely taken, is knock back and does zero damage. Prime candidate for procs, otherwise skipable). Silly question, are you running rage? Base rage is 20% to-hit, and 80% damage bonus. Super strength is pooper strength without it. In fact, there are LOTS of rage discussions, due to this dependency. Also, add in the rage crash, and you can waste a lot of attacks (or even die) from the crash itself. I have an invul/ss, and its a beast in that she doesnt die, AOE can take a bit, as its a good AOE (plus rage damage), but as stated, all smashing damage. So, fire will kill faster (its fire, that what fire does). SS will hit MORE often (due to rage +to hit), and single attacks should do more damage (esp bots, which dont like the smash). AOE wise, footstomp is acceptable, but its not fire (but better aoe than dark melee, which is awesome in its own, but different, right). Fire melee has no secondary effects. SS has a hold (KO blow), footstomp (knock down), jab (stun), and even hand clap, which opens up a LOT of possible proc monster options. Hold has 2 psi procs (plus the superior smashing proc), there is a psi taunt proc, etc. Footstomp can have the tanker IO procs (I put my +res in there, get 2-3 stacks easily), force feedback +rech proc, etc. In short: fire melee better at aoe, SS better at hitting and single target damage. SS has more proc options. Also, check out the tanker discussion on beta. There is a possibility tanker damage may be increased, and AOE's will be increased (# targets, cone width, etc). This may tilt it to fire melee option. Worth checking out.

Or ... 6 slot with 4 heal/rech IO's and 2 Resist IO's ... Much better heal, faster recharge, AND more toxic resist when you do! And if your a stickler, you can ++ each resist IO to max out a bit more resitance.

@M3z Soulbound Allegiance, does it ONLY affect the specific pet its slotted (e.g. bruiser only), or does it have an aoe type effect, where all pets get the benefit? also, how often does it proc? I believe a prior posting showed accuracy did nothing, but slotting damage worked (recharge and endurance seem to affect the caster summons, not the pets themselves). I'd like clarification if that is a wrong assumption.

cutter, Your build is close to being spot on (imho). The tanker +res proc in spine burst (I have a SR/spine) will typically trigger 2-3 times, and contribute to your resistance more than anything else (except the lone AV/GM, where you can get a single stack). Good choice of a KD proc in icicles. Also good in quills, but be careful - some times the KD will stack and become KB if they both proc on same target. I would put a LOTG in EA, then end/rechx2, +end, then recharge. Endurance should not be an issue, unless you are exemplar very low (put the +end proc in stamina and the other +hp/end proc in health; free up 2 slots). More slots into taunt (specifically duration ; any set bonus is a plus). The reason being, worse case, you can hibernate. Taunt the AV/GM, hibernate ; the AV/GM will be focused upon you for 'x' period of time. You dont, necessarily, have to wait until your fully healed, you can always exit early and grab aggro. The AT IO's you choose are regular, as superior versions, the bonuses are MUCH higher. Was this done on purpose? Off hand, I believe a superior version exemp to a lower version still has same bonuses. Permafrost and stealth can go (you can move the LOTG into EA for 5x bonus). Grab an epic pools, I recommend soul mastery (gloom, darkest night). Darkest night has -to hit AND -damage! Add that to your chilling embrace -dam. Since permafrost is out, 6 slot tough for the extra procs. I see a lot of +cold/fire resistance. your resistance will help, as-is for most content. Fire will be a small hole, as its more common than cold damage. Now, for exemp'ing, I'd suggest go alternate build. Not IO'd, maybe just an SO build. 6 slot stamina, etc. When you exemp, the powers are limited by level and when taken, but the SLOTS in those powers are NOT! Thus, if you, at level 50 in your build, but 3 slots into stamina, those slots are available from level 2 onwards (when you get stamina for free). Feel free to go with a more fun build (as its for lowbie content,), e.g. laser eyes at 50, etc. This way, you are more powerful at exemp levels, than actual hero's at that level (due to your slot glut).

Thank you. This affected me too, and rescan did fix all the files.

Yes, slot deficits .... I know the problem well ... I'm hoping one of the future incarnate powers will simply give you more slots ...

CMA, I bet its the proc +res in Might of the Tanker (lvl 32, hurl boulder). If you have it 'enabled', you'll get an extra 6-6.5% resistance to all. Edit: MotT (at least the proc) is best in an AOE. I'll get 2-3 stacks putting it in footstomp. hint: if you break up superior guantlet fist into 2 sets of 3, you'll get an extra 6% energy/dark resistance (at a cost of -6 SL resist ... but you are over anyways).

Read the beta forums, they plan to fix rage with no crash, as long as you dont double stack it. If you stack it, you'll get the same -def, -res crash (oh, the -end will come at the START of rage, not the end, easier to manage)

I had a ss/dark brute with presence pool (my dark/staff tanker will take it). It is VERY effective, much more than a stun (looking at oppressive gloom), where they wander out of your area (sometimes running speed). It will not hold enemies full time, and if you hit them, they tend to hit back, but its great to reduce incoming damage, when you need a breather. The presence pool allows bosses to be feared, and makes recovering from an alpha helpful. Most people forget the more controller-type damage mitigations (fear and knockdown are available to tanks as AOE's; holds are only single target, and not worth it). air superiority allows keeping a boss perpetually on their backs.

I know widow mind link doesnt take recharge IO's, but will take (and use) def/rech for a lower recharge time. Mid's/pine's is showing strength of will not benefiting for res/rech IO's or from hasten. Its been a while since I played a willpower tank, but do either of those affect the recharge time to strength of will? Or is this power recharge time actually set in stone?

Bopper has a great point. Just to add to it, if you 'could add' either resistance or defense, which one helps more? Example, assume you have 80% resistance and 0% defense. Would 5% or 10% resistance help more, or 10% defense? 80% res, 0% def = 10% damage taken (1/2 miss, 80% damage reduction) 85% res, 0% def = 7.5% damage taken 80% res, 10% def = (1-.8)*(.5-.1)= 8% damage taken 90% res, 0% def = 5% damage taken In general, your survival goes up by boosting your stronger (not capped) attribute (resistance or defense).

Granite tanks are the tanks everyone wants on master runs or certain incarnate trials, not for herding 100 mobs ... Have you tested mudpots yet, and was it (for some reason) insufficent?

Went to dark astoria, fought multple mobs of level 51-53. Groups of 3-4, I could finish off 3 groups, before running out of all endurance (with +20 endurance, and all attacks have 1 end red SO). For an SO build, the extra endurance is a godsend, not overpowered (via IO's and incarnates, I'm sure its a very different story). Largest group I found was ... 6, so the extra range of footstomp (my only aoe), nor the extra mob capacity made a difference. Devs: Are aura's affected by the increase range, e.g. invincibility? Changes are much more mild on street sweeping in DA. Later, I'll go RWZ, much larger groups there, easier to test foot stomp new range and higher cap.

tried out rage on an invul/ss tank in dark astoria. Fully SO'd (man, the prices of IO's there on test ...). all attacks 3 damage/2 rech, 1 end red. I can go through 3-4 mobs, before running out of endurance (3 per mob, figure lt, and 2-3 minions). No unexpect rage crashes (single application) or penalties. I seem to wiff a lot, but I purposely didnt use accuracy. rested, repeat, rested, repeat. overall looks good. The extra endurnace was helpful, but I still need to manage endurance usage.

or say 'screw it' and merge them. Tanks with fury. In fact, brute fury came from the original tanker forum. brutes get tank base protections, tanks get brute fury. Like peanut butter and chocolate. Then remove. We already can have brutes start blue side, and tanks start red side.

The -res from the tier 1 attacks do NOT stack. Though some people have made suggestions for having multiple tanks, including myself:

True story: on a RWZ raid, I used hurl at a rikti boss ... he was dead before I finished my animation. Hurl is hurt by its DPA, but I like the theme. At least I looked awesome, assuming anyone was watching ...