Heraclea

There are Roman 'canopy' pieces you might be able to work with, red tiles and a gentle slope.

Closest thing to a regen tanker is Bio Armor or Willpower.

This factor became more and more important, and is especially crucial in late added content. The only way to stay in the game is not to get hit.

I noticed that my sentinel's willpower defenses included no taunt or -tohit effects. All of my tankers, even my willpower and super reflex tankers, annoy Atlas Park grays just by standing too close: not the sentinel. This actually opens up possibilities, especially since it shouldn't be too hard to build up a sentinel to at least scrapper level defenses, and my water/WP sentinel at least is able to keep mobs that want to melee at bay, especially since she now has caltrops, or whatever the ninja version of caltrops is. You can stealth; you can stealth without really being concerned about stealth failures from stuff like Rikti drones or Nemesis snipers. This opens up a world of merit farming and team utility. Building a Tanker or most Scrappers and Brutes as a stealth/TPer is mostly a fool's errand.

Numbers larger than twenty-four are witchcraft. Nobody I know has that many fingers and toes.

Help Me is purple, Helper yellow. You can change the color of your titles when you level far enough to get one. For some reason they default to solid black.

On Invuln I use the passives as mules for the Steadfast, the Gladiator, and other defense and global resist uniques. If those IOs didn't exist I might skip 'em. I dislike the useless attacks you have to take for Tough and Weave, but they are the easiest way to get closer to the softcap. You know my feelings about toggles that chew on your endurance. It's Fitness Pool all over again. I have some fondness for Kick's kick'em in the nuts animation, it seems thematically appropriate for my female tankers. Kick is generally judged worse than Boxing. If either of them were as useful as Air Superiority I'd be fonder of them. I am starting to be of the opinion that chasing softcaps is unnecessary, and may adversely impact the enjoyability of your character. Heraclea's defense can't be calculated directly, because a fair chunk of it comes in the form of the -tohit debuffs she applies to everything she attacks. Her frankenslots improve this aspect. Math doesn't tell the whole story of Catrina's defense, because many of her attacks and especially Quills are slotted with chance for recharge slow procs that also reduce incoming damage randomly. Other tankers are throwing precious slots into Taunt, which does just fine with its default slot, although the psionic damage proc is kind of fun. My actual experience is that layering is more important than softcapping, especially if the pursuit of set bonuses leads to slotting decisions that take away from key powers. Tough is more beneficial to defense primaries, and Weave more to resistance primaries. I know, this is not the accepted wisdom of the crowd. Generally, I think you should build as if you were slotting generics, and use that build to decorate with set bonuses. The main point of enhancements is to improve your attacks and defenses with accuracy, damage, recharge and endurance reduction, and the same with your defensive powers. I do believe there was a design decision to make the orange sets with desirable bonuses deficient in key areas; what I notice most is accuracy, which I think needs to be a priority even more important than damage. With resistance and defense sets, I make endurance a priority and try to crowd out recharge, which is useless in your toggles. Your attack slots should approach the ED caps for both accuracy and damage; then work on endurance reduction for the lowbie powers and recharge for the grownups. I suspect that attention to these aspects improves your survivability more than a 3.5% resistance bonus. Dead mobs need no defense.

Whoa whoa whoa! Animated costume pics?! How'm'I 'spose to compete with that?! Can probably be captured from the powers costume creator screen. Mystic Fortune posted an Aztec themed character a few pages back. This is Catrina, born Catrina Calaveras, an archeologist and anthropologist who unearthed a mysterious crystal skull and was tasked by the Aztec gods to put the hurt on the Skulls, who had ticked them off for reasons you can well imagine. What actually happened in game was that she got on a team that was stomping through some Skulls storylines in Kings Row, including new Skulls AVs I had never seen before. When she got the Kill Skuls badge through regular gameplay, she worked it into her story. Then there's Grandma Gnosis, illusion/rad controller (was ill/emp from i2 to i23). Her costume is also grounded in game lore:

What I have always done is /bind numpad0 target_name "sapper", and changed the name based on what I want to target. This requires ten seconds of setup based on whatever you are fighting, but does not occupy a valuable power tray slot. I use the rest of the numpad for banter binds, and I really ought to write a guide to adding snappy banter to your fighting sometime.

The AI should be changed in that case to make these NPCs act like hostages whose number one priority is escape. In game, they actually act like they have a death wish. They will aggro spawns you could have easily slipped past or even just ran by. The idiots in tips and radios may not be smart enough to find their way around a pipe, but at least they don't do the let's you and him fight routine of Todd and the Lady Grey hostages.

I ended up stripping my fire/EM tanker. Rolled the character during i2 if I remember rightly. Still have some early screenshots of her in the Atta caves. I wanted a 'DPS tanker' and understood that Fire was the DPS tanker primary. I chose Energy Melee because I thought the combination would look good together in the days before power customization. The nerf simply broke her. One thing about fire armor is that its survivability is dependent on your self heal. Having it uavailable because of a seconds long forced AFK while you watch an animation play made her no longer capable of fulfilling her role. If you're a tanker who relies on the self heal, three seconds of forced inactivity is a long time. The fact that your big attack does damage to yourself to activate compounds the problem. I stripped her of her valuable IOs in a respec and exiled her to a seldom visited server. Towards the end she made occasional appearances when Tanker Tuesday rolled around to that server.

Finally got around to making a redside character.

My understanding is that all attacks invoke Gauntlet if they are executed by a tanker. This is one of the reasons why I recommend Salt Crystals to tankers who do not need energy pool for further endurance relief. It is a fairly large PBAoE that attacks 12 enemies simultaneously IIRC.

Example of this: a mission called 'Meet Hamidon's Fury'. Think the contact was 'Number 6'. Don't take anything from him. At any rate, at the end of the mission, which had the typical shifting goals, the mission spawned three 'Avatar of Hamidon' archvillains. First time, at the tanker/mission owner's chosen level, we died instantly and uncomprehendingly to these things. Nothing in the mission suggested a strategy. We reset the mission with difficulty set to baseline. Something put enough of a dent in these things - a green light flashed and they were two thirds dead - that enabled the team to separate them and beat them down. I was not the owner, and did not read the mission text - but it definitely seemed like these things were killed by a deus ex machina. The player character 'heroes' definitely contributed very little to the 'victory'. By the time it finally ended we were just grateful to see the 'mission exit' button. The mission was a trap: when we reset it we had to Ouro out of it. Choosing resurrect to supergroup base was apparently deliberately broken; you still resurrected in a broken hospital without the expected inspiration vendor. And you're in an instance, so of course no auction house. No amount of interesting new maps changes the fact that this content is simply team unfriendly and badly designed.

I always use /bind numpad0 target_name "sapper" or whatever it is you're looking for. I believe the quote marks are needed. I usually use numpad for banter binds, and need to write a guide to making those. But 0 is always a targetname bind, which changes with enemy. You just have to use part of the name: "sapper", "surgeon", "engineer", "protector" all work.

Solidly connected to in game lore, although most DFB babies miss out on the memorable Hellions map and mission where this appears.

When I started looking at this, I ended up redoing the whole thing. I don't have strong opinions on how to make an expensive WP/SS build. I do have strong opinions on the order when WP powers should be taken - specifically, Mind over Body and Heightened Senses always get put off until after Quick Recovery. A willpower build doesn't need energy pool. On other tankers you might want a third performance shifter; but you're Willpower; play to your strengths. You do want the very handy powers from Earth Mastery, which generate Gauntlet on up to twelve (IIRC) enemies and help you grab initial aggro from large spawns, which Willpower's weaker taunt aura does not help with. They also are places to slot exotic sets that give good bonuses and may save you a bit of inf. The benefits from Focused Accuracy are given in this build in the form of several to-hit bonuses. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Science Tanker Primary Power Set: Willpower Secondary Power Set: Super Strength Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Earth Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: High Pain Tolerance (A) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance: Level 40 (5) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP: Level 50 (15) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%: Level 30 Level 1: Jab (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage: Level 35 (3) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance: Level 35 (3) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge: Level 35 (37) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 35 (46) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 Level 2: Fast Healing (A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance: Level 50 (5) Panacea - Heal: Level 50 (15) Panacea - Hea/Recharge: Level 50 Level 4: Haymaker (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage: Level 35 (7) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance: Level 35 (9) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge: Level 35 (46) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 35 (46) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage: Level 40 Level 6: Indomitable Will (A) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage: Level 50 (7) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance: Level 50 (43) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50 Level 8: Rise to the Challenge (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - Chance for Recharge Slow: Level 50 (9) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance: Level 50 (37) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (40) Numina's Convalesence - Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 Level 10: Taunt (A) Perfect Zinger - Chance for Psi Damage: Level 50 (11) Perfect Zinger - Taunt: Level 50 (11) Perfect Zinger - Taunt/Recharge: Level 50 Level 12: Quick Recovery (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End: Level 50 (13) Performance Shifter - EndMod: Level 50 (13) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge: Level 50 (37) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy: Level 50 Level 14: Boxing (A) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 Level 16: Mind Over Body (A) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance: Level 50 (17) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance: Level 50 (17) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (34) Aegis - Resistance: Level 50 Level 18: Heightened Senses (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50 (19) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance: Level 50 (19) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (34) Luck of the Gambler - Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 Level 20: Knockout Blow (A) Superior Might of the Tanker - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 (21) Superior Might of the Tanker - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50 (21) Superior Might of the Tanker - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (31) Superior Might of the Tanker - Damage/Recharge: Level 50 (34) Superior Might of the Tanker - Recharge/Chance for +Res(All): Level 50 Level 22: Tough (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All): Level 50 (23) Gladiator's Armor - Resistance: Level 50 (23) Gladiator's Armor - Resistance/Rech/End: Level 50 (43) Gladiator's Armor - End/Resist: Level 50 Level 24: Weave (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50 (25) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance: Level 50 (25) Luck of the Gambler - Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 Level 26: Air Superiority (A) Overwhelming Force - Accuracy/Damage: Level 35 (27) Overwhelming Force - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 35 (27) Overwhelming Force - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 35 (31) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 35 (33) Overwhelming Force - Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 Level 28: Rage (A) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge: Level 50 (29) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (29) Adjusted Targeting - Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (31) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge: Level 50 Level 30: Combat Jumping (A) Kismet - Accuracy +6%: Level 30 Level 32: Hand Clap (A) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge: Level 50 (33) Force Feedback - Accuracy/Knockback: Level 50 (33) Force Feedback - Recharge/Knockback: Level 50 Level 35: Salt Crystals (A) Call of the Sandman - Chance of Heal Self: Level 50 (36) Call of the Sandman - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50 (36) Call of the Sandman - Accuracy/Endurance: Level 50 (36) Call of the Sandman - Accuracy/Sleep/Recharge: Level 50 Level 38: Foot Stomp (A) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 (39) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50 (39) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50 (39) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (40) Superior Avalanche - Damage/Endurance: Level 50 (40) Superior Avalanche - Recharge/Chance for Knockdown: Level 50 Level 41: Quick Sand (A) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge: Level 50 (42) Pacing of the Turtle - Accuracy/Slow: Level 50 (42) Pacing of the Turtle - Accuracy/Endurance: Level 50 Level 44: Stalagmites (A) Absolute Amazement - Accuracy/Stun/Recharge: Level 50 (45) Absolute Amazement - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50 (45) Absolute Amazement - Chance for ToHit Debuff: Level 50 Level 47: Cross Punch (A) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50 (48) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50 (48) Armageddon - Damage: Level 50 (48) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage: Level 50 Level 49: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50 (50) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50 (50) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50 Level 1: Brawl (A) Empty Level 1: Gauntlet Level 1: Prestige Power Dash (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Slide (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Quick (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Rush (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Surge (A) Empty Level 1: Sprint (A) Empty Level 2: Rest (A) Empty Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift (A) Empty Level 2: Health (A) Miracle - +Recovery: Level 40 (50) Miracle - Heal: Level 40 Level 2: Hurdle (A) Empty Level 2: Stamina (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End: Level 50 (42) Performance Shifter - EndMod: Level 50 (43) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge: Level 50 ------------

I adore the fact that you have made a high concept supergroup with its own unique backstory and culture, and built your base around it. I made my Amazon Army medbay into a purple healing chamber; this is better.

To be honest, this content is probably quite playable on the blaster that I built, like I build most of my characters, for close range team support. At level 50 she has about as much stealth as she can get (invisibility, stealth IO in Sprint, super speed, and of course Recall Friend). The character is also a sapper: she can go into the middle of most spawns undetected and nuke their endurance dry in one or two passes. She plays to her strength by using Incarnates for extra sapping. To me the most interesting thing about this is that it sets up LOLRP. My Roman Amazon characters share political and religious institutions that are unique to themselves. Heraclea considers Yamnaya's tactics to be un-Roman, un-Amazon, and unfair. Yamnaya is with the New Colchis intelligence services, a tiny elite with disproportionate political clout on the home islands. In New Colchis politics, this is expressed by weird religious radicalism that claims to restore the old ways. In Paragon City. the intelligence service is altogether too friendly with Vanguard. Heraclea considers Vanguard to be villains not much better than Malta, using similarly immoral methods. She barely tolerates the presence of a Vanguard trainer in the Amazon Army camp in Paragon City. (The alternative was having a man, as if one of them could teach them anything.) Catrina, my second 50 tanker, stands between them. She is a religious innovator, a firm adherent of the spirit possession hero cult brought to the islands by African women freed from slave ships, that is somewhat disliked by more traditional Roman Amazons. Roman religion has always freely appropriated gods from different cultures, so there's no real grounds in its very informal belief systems to disapprove. On the other hand, she is motivated by self-interest to disapprove strongly of sapping tactics. These religious differences are basically the local equivalent of party politics. Catrina is a 'liberal', Heraclea a 'conservative', Yamnaya a radical who pretends to be a radical traditionalist. Up and coming characters like Grandma Gnosis are entirely too friendly with the intelligence branches. Heraclea is grooming characters like Maiden Heaven and Mother of Vinegar whom she hopes will boost her side's political support in the Paragon City mission. (The Roman Amazons welcome women with budding super powers from Paragon City who are willing to learn enough Latin to get by. Some of these characters are Amazon trained, rather than by birth. They also welcome female infants who manifest superpowers; a baby with superpowers can quickly become a problem for its civilian parents, but Roman Amazons know how to cope with this. Others are super powered women who wanted the training and put up with the culture.) I am going on and on in excessive detail here, I guess. ;)

Night Ward is another of the zones for which once eight years ago was enough.

This guy never bothered me much, and doesn't bug me now all that much. At those levels, Accuracy is literally the only thing, and Endurance Reduction if you run toggles. Have one of your level 50s spend maybe 500,000 inf on Luck Charms and Boresights. It will be a trivial expense for those characters, especially now that the price of salvage is capped. They can make it back with half an hour spent arresting ancient Romans. This is also why in i25 you don't start worrying about inf until level 25 at the earliest. Having the powers is more important than having the slots for them; the one thing you never neglect is accuracy, and you don't waste it even on SOs that will expire. You get the important stuff like the Numina and the Miracle and the Performance Shifter as early as possible with those merits you got on Synapse and Penny Yin and Citadel, and give them a shopping list. Once endurance is not a problem, you can go back and start slotting for stuff like damage. Eventually, as the recipes drop or your crafter memorizes them, you can start replacing your 15s with 30s, and eventually the 30s with 50s, but thanks to ED two 30s are good enough for any purpose.

What amazes me about the game is that it is the greatest game whose devs never really understood what they had made and what made it fun. A whole lot of the material added during the latter third of its official life is borderline unplayable and extremely team unfriendly. Vanguard, revamped Praetorians, goldside content, revamped Dark Astoria, incarnate storylines - you don't want to have a team, dial up the difficulty, or spawn bosses for any of that crap. You will instead spend your days playing and replaying the material from before this garbage, while ignoring it to the extent possible. You will not grind out this stuff, you will not bring friends, you will get bored with it very quickly as a result: the psionic damage and undefended mezz flying around there means that you will prefer to do, literally, anything else. I have two level 50 tankers. They are well built versions of the game's toughest AT. They ignore it, and refuse invites from people foolish enough to try. You cannot soak up the alpha or taunt the spawn here. This stuff amazes me mostly because it testifies to the fact that the devs did not understand the wonderful thing they had made despite themselves. For the entire history of the game, from global defense nerf and ED to this twaddle, the statements and releases from the devs bore constant witness to the apparent fact that they did not grasp what made their game uniquely enjoyable. The greatness of the game arose despite the intentions of its makers.