Dynama

So overall thoughts; this seems like a way to present a playstyle that isn't present in the game to a large extent and to make that playstyle useful rather than just an affectation. It's a playstyle I've found in WoW's Demon Hunter before and one that many people enjoy. I think that's an important component of making any new archetypes. If it's just going to play like the extant ones, I don't see the point, so bringing something new answers the "why". As for "how" it's implemented: My main concern with attaching this stick and move kind of style to a Tank will see enemy groups pulling back and forth across the battlefield, since most enemies prefer melee, which disrupts the rest of the team's attempts to use AOEs and ground patch effects. It can also force melee on your team to constantly chase enemies down, which can be frustrating. I can see that your design attempts to remedy this by having the Skirmisher apply controls through their inherent; if enemies are stunned, held, or feared, they won't be chasing you down on your retreat cycles. But those effects probably aren't universally applied enough to keep the enemy groups together, and while it would be fun solo, many teams won't enjoy you playing an AT which breaks up the "herd and smash" model of CoH gameplay. In that regard, this may be better suited as a DPS AT than a tanking one. That said, I don't think something has to be optimal to be implemented. Players can accept that this kind of tank has a different playstyle and will make different asks of the rest of the group. For the Skirmisher player, though, I think it might be wise to include some mobility in the AT itself to facilitate getting away from enemy groups. If you melee a group of enemies and then run away to range them again, and they aren't controlled in any way, they'll just keep up pace chasing you and you'll find yourself still in melee. A player could use Flight or Combat Teleport or something to get away faster, but that's relying on a pool power to make a core function of the AT work. Might it be better, taking a page from the WoW Demon Hunter mentioned above, to bake a "retreat" power into the Armor sets for the AT? I know you're using the Sentinel variations but a -slightly- tweaked power could include a "jump back thirty feet" function in it, with suitable style for the armor set. Similarly, it might feel better for the assault sets to include a "charge back in" option, though I suspect you'd rather leave that as a feature of individual sets, since some of those already exist. It would make the whole thing play smoother, though, and if those powers also had some other effect (aoe damage, aoe debuff, control, taunt? something) it would justify using them in the rotation and make it feel more like a rhythm than just "hit a few powers, run away, hit a few more powers, run back in." It's a promising idea and I'm in favor of anything that works to add a new playstyle to the game, so long as that playstyle is fun for the people who want it.