StriderIV

This gave me a lot of food for thought! Arcane bolt is a great call out. What are your thoughts on the sorcery tree for this build? Worth going or am I kind of pigeon holing myself by going that route?

I just wanted to say this discussion has been SUPER helpful and finally got me to continue leveling my Rad/SS Tanker… man this is a mean combo.

Jumping off of @One IV All's Cap post, I have been working on a homage myself to the crossover hero Solider Supreme (Cap + Doc Strange). I felt like Shield/Kinetic Melee was kind of the perfect fit. Anyways, this is what I'm looking at some far and would love anyone's thoughts/feedback. Some notes: Definitely looks end heavy. Will have to rely on teaming (which I plan to do) or some accolades. I took at look of "thematic" choices which I know might not be optimal. I went Sorcery Tree for Spirt Ward, Mystic Flight and ROP. I might be better served just going standard flight for some extra defense, or dropping that altogether go leaping pool for combat jumping. I usually ALWAYS take taunt, but Repulsing Torrent kind of functions as a ranged taunt here. I do like focused burst as well... however I skipped due to so many power selections. Perhaps I'm better served moving some things around to pick it up, as having another ranged attack with Repulsing Torrent is pretty unique to Kinetic Melee? Arcane Aegis - Tanker (Shield Defense - Kinetic Melee).mbd

So I think Shield/StJ is “the” Cap set up, but I definitely dig the idea of Shield/Battle Axe “Worthy” Cap as something a little more different and original. I can’t really speak on one being “better” than the other though. I’ve personally messed around with doing a hero modeled around the Cap variant “Soldier Supreme” where he gains the powers of Doctor Strange. He’d be a Shield/Kinetic Melee Tanker.

Yeah, I had someone say to me "WP might be the only set that fairs BETTER fighting multiple EB/AV's due to how RTTC works" compared to just fighting one haha. I always think that, with the RIGHT team behind it where you're buffing defense and rotating barriers, WP/ could be amazing... if only due to the fact that it can get massive regen underneath all that resist/defense. Might just be one of those things where it's "better on paper" rather than in practice though.

Hahahahaha alright, but that just rolled off the tongue easier than “people of moderately acceptable intelligence.” 😂 Edit: Not meant as a slide to anyone, I’ve learned/gained insight from every person I listed, whether I agreed with you or not!

This is interesting. I took both end recovers on mine, but it might be overkill. I'm gonna play with mids and see what else I can come up with to improve. Currently have Char, could grab Fireball instead. Gloom/Dark Obliteration fit thematically though.

@SeraphimKensai I lol'd 😂 I do admite that Dark/Elec seems like it could have some interesting use cases that are unique to it. Typically I skip Lightning Clap myself on Elec Melee, but I can see it's value when paired with Dark Armor.

I think you hit the nail on the head for me as well. DA/ElM will truly feel like a "Shadowstorm" flying around. EA/DM just drives SO nice though.

Honestly, great choices across the board. Hard to stack rank them, but I'd probably say either Elec/DM or Shield/DM would be slightly more optimal than DA/ElM. I do happen to have an Elec/DM Tanker and a DM/Shield Scrapper. DM/Shield Scrap runs as advertised and really is just a solid jack of all trades. I see no reason why it couldn't work nice on a Tanker (I think @SomeGuy has mentioned how ToF procs REALLY well now). That is what I do on my Elec/DM Tanker and it pretty much goes as you say.... the thing is very self sufficient and never stops. I honestly don't know why I see it more, since it feels pretty "easy" mode. You can check out this thread on it a while back where @Erratic1, @Xandyr, @Sovera, @BuiltDifferent5 , @Syant and @Story Archer chat about it: This isn't to say that Dark Armor/Elec Melee wouldn't be AWESOME... I love my Dark/Staff Tanker. I just feel you might need to make some more concessions with the build in order to deal with endurance, KB proctection, that kind of stuff. If you can work your way around that, it could be beastly. All this being said, I've picked the brains of many of the amazing builders I already mentioned, as well as some more of these geniuses who might be able to give some insights. I always find these discussions fun!: @Onlyasandwich, @Zect, @PLVRIZR, @Spaghetti Betty, @Warboss, @Werner, @SeraphimKensai, @Ronin_Around, @tidge Why, I really feel like I'm summoning the Justice League here.

That’s right! Dark/Elec could function similarly to Dark/KM.

I guess technically Bio Armor has synergy as well, since Generic Contamination does -dmg as well. @Xandyr and @Maelwys both know how to build that pretty well =P

@Sir Myshkin has theorized a Shield/KM Tanker before. Not sure if he has ever done the build in practice though. I could see Ice/KM being good for similar reasons.

I just wanted to say, this is one of the awesome parts about this game. Like, I would have never thought to play this combo in THAT way… and yet you did and made it effective. I just can imagine how awesome the toon must look hovering there dropping Guarded Spin on baddies haha

Darkest Night could be a cool option… Bio has the endurance tools to deal with if. I think you’re right, might hold onto FA. As for IS, it DOES seem to proc well. I did drop a set in it, but might play around more with procs.

This is beyond helpful, thanks!

Thanks for this Maelwys! I do like how Serpent's reach kind of works as a quasi ranged attack. In your opinion, would you keep Innoc Strikes and have enough AOE with Guarded Spin and EOTS? Maybe grab an epic blast? Or do you feel Innoc adds enough value?

This is a Bio/Staff I was working up. Seems like it should be pretty tough/adaptable 😛 Thanks for @Xandyr and @Onlyasandwich for giving me some ideas and letting me stand on their shoulders. Some thoughts: Wondering if I should drop an attack (Maybe Innoc Strikes?) to pick up an epic pool power, maybe Gloom or something like that. Could also just drop Focused Accuracy, not sure if is needed. If I drop FA, it can open up another epic pool (or maybe Combat Teleport?). Would love to hear your thoughts/any changes you might make! I’ve been messing around with what primary to pair with Staff. Bio seems to have a lot of synergy. Ricad Taranis - Tanker (Bio Armor - Staff Fighting).mbd

Haha should have known! How do you like it compared to your Bio/Staff? I’m assuming sturdier (figuring your in offensive for Bio), but less damage overall. Although I’m sure Brimstone procs might help a bit in that department.

Gonna look at a Stone/Staff to go along with your Bio/Staff? 😂

Source checks out.

I’ve been messing around with this combo on a Stalker and it is TOUGH. With it being that tough on a Stalker, I can only imagine how tough it would be on a Tanker.

I could see Fire/StJ being strong for the same reasons as Rad/StJ! Paging @Sovera who I believe ran that combo a while back. While probably not his favorite pairing, I remember him saying it was fun!

All the options so far are definitely top tier for being sturdy haha. SR/DM I assume would be great for the same reasons Invuln/Dark and Shield/Dark are. Dark Melee seems to be a top choice. One of my personal toughest ranks is Electric Armor/Dark Melee. Two heals and two end recovers make you keep going and going. Shout out to Staff Fighting as well, since it brings +Def, +Res and knockdowns to the equation. I have mine paired with Dark Armor and the thing is monstrously tanky. I could see it pairing well with any of the sets that bring their own heal, like Bio and Rad Armor.

Only lv 16 so far, but I’m enjoying it! Street Justice is right up there with Staff Fighting for me as far as enjoyable melee sets go. While Staff has this nice flow to it… StJ just has that crunch. If you ever watched Daredevil on Netflix, it reminds me of that kind of fighting 😂 honestly, if it is lacking in one area, it’s AOE dmg… and Rad Armor really helps with that. So on paper it seems like it should be good! Definitely high in fun factor for me.