Infinitum

Either way the bes guidance is find what works for you enjoy it and be good at it, the rest is just personal preference and opinion. 👍

Yeah that's the difference in the two styles I guess, I havent been on a team in several years of actual gameplay that wants to wait to gather or force choke points. The other style is basically collapsing the spawn and dealing with stragglers, and you can use taunt for both, or not use taunt for both. Every now and then I still go to the freakshow map and burn a bunch of them in a dumpster, but with the agro cap being limited theres only so much a tanker can hold anyway. Thats why more often than not gathering and location based attack isn't as effecient as zerging the map with the tank being the tip of the spear. By the time my aoes have hit the spawn is hurt pretty bad and the team throws down controls and AOE I'm usually moving to the next group at that point with the team not far behind.

My pleasure. Taunt is useful, don't get me wrong. I'm one of the ones that don't take it none of those builds have it. I don't have any trouble holding agro, and that's mainly because I rely heavily on auras and AOE to do it. I hardly ever see anything get peeled away from me, and when it does its usually something OP that has it under control anyway. Basically absorbing the alpha and keeping the bad guys clustered around you is all you need to do if they even last that long because on most good teams you can run ahead in a few seconds to rinse repeat. On a bad team you have to go slower and hopefully they will listen to your instructions to stick together, you will still be ok. The main thing is to keep attacking and take the alpha like it's a badge of honor and mockery of the bad guys throwing it out. Rawr. If you needed to take taunt though it is useful and nothing wrong with that, but not required if you do it the way I do. Either way works and is only represented either way by the skill of the person at the controls. So it's more a reflection of being comfortable knowing my builds can handle anything and that the team's I'm normally on have each other's backs and we are really really good at it. I could have used taunt the other day to more easily herd 12 GMs to Portal Corp. lol

Yeah i dont ever test with outside buffs - just to get a reliable baseline. Ive basically spent the last year finding the best in class in the tank category, and the most burst and over all best damage output for a tank I have found is Fire/Psi even when compared to Fire/EM. Em is just too back loaded on the damage, slow and no reliable AOE to compete with it. It is fun to pop a boss with EM but its almost like a circus one trick pony. Im really hoping for a buff soon, because i have 2 characters that have been built for a while, but they are just too slow to compete with the others i have. I do bring them out occassionally just to one shot things for the heck of it lol TW i dont even include that because its an outlier when paired with something like BIO so im not putting that into the equation here - the rest are pretty well balanced around the games rule set. I keep going back and forth between Invul and Shield as the most durable - with Rad and SR being a close second, Elec Armor Third. (I haven't ran with dark armor or stone though - I know people love those sets, I just couldn't get past their drawbacks.) Fun Factor is Shield Elec because of the decimation from the 2 teleport attacks.

You should try that with Fire/Psi Melee Build Up+Gaussian+ Insight+ Musculature+Assault Radial I have actually hit with Greater Psi sword for around 1800 points of damage to a lvl 53 death mage. Even without Musc. and Assault i routinely hit around 1200-1500 under normal circumstances with the BU+Gaussian+insight. - You have to learn to set this up though thats why its best to lead with Mass Levitate on a group to better the chance to gain insight then let it rip. The Shield Elec is similar but its more of a fast strike teleporting I am Zeus try and stop me feel then you lumber around and you can almost feel the dread in the enemy as you wait for the next barrage of your LR SC combo to come back.

Ultra Infinitum - Tanker (Shield Defense - Electric Melee).mxd Thats the build im referring to.

I will tell you a fun one that you may not have considered, Shield/Elec You have the combo of Build up - Lightning Rod, Shield Charge, thunderstrike every 20 seconds and its wiping mobs even pretty close to eliminating bosses too. It does have the down time but its like a battleship reloading the other attacks are decent and maintain agro, but the broadside is one of my favorite things in the game with that setup. It obliterates groups like its nothing. Build UP + LR + SC + TS is actually a good bit greater than a burst of ET and its doing it with the tanker aoe radius. Combine that with musculature and then assault radial and its insane what this combo does. Throw in the Mighty Radial judgement and mobs are like come on man!!! lol

Yeah the only problem with 2 shotting the bosses with EM though is a lot of times you corpse bomb or sliver bomb for a lot of wasted DPS, and on EM its actually better DPS wise to run Energy punch than total focus because over time they have a higher DPS than the ET -Total focus combo. I normally rotate ET - Energy Punch - Barrage - ET with the occassional whirling hands thrown in. Crushing Uppercut is actually not far behind ET when it comes to burst if you Hit it with combo 3 or Combat readiness, and the main difference between crushing uppercut and ET is that Crushing uppercut connects faster and rarely corpse bombs like ET does. Im a long time EM player also but the current state of EM is pretty sad compared to the rest of the newer sets especially - thats just the unfortunate truth. You can outburst EM/ET with just about any Psionic Melee combo on insight also.

Take a look at my build titled Infinitum in the build collection I just posted.

IMO SJ is waaay more useful than EM when paired with shield especially. Better AOE and Cone, Faster feel, more fluid feel, and honestly better damage potential. If EM gets a buff that may change. Elec Paired with Shield is like a battle ship firing off a massive AOE barrage every 30 seconds but then you just play agro control between with lighter dmage. Elec is the most fun paring with shield IMO Dark is like a otherworldy brawler - very fast feeling and fun also - will be really really good if they revisit the Darck Consumption buff. SS is always good, but IMO SJ is better paired with shield. If you are looking at builds I have most of these in the Build Collection i just posted in the Tanker section here.

I have been a Main tanker since Live and have collected quite a few builds - I have shared them piece by piece here, so I thought i would just put them all in one place, if anyone ever needed them. I rely on not getting killed more than damage output or number of attacks. The damage I can output on each of them is still impressive though. I even included my Brutes that can also tank as well as any of my tanks. Tanker Armor Rankings **REVISED** Strictly my Opinion YMMV 1. Shield Defense 2. Super Reflexes 3. Invulnerability - Still very close to the top, but has slight vulnerabilities exposed a little more with the typed defense change - manageable though. 4. Energy Aura (Brute) - If it were a tanker set - it would be top 3 if not number 1 easy. 5. Bio Armor - I have moved this one down, yeah its great, but without DDR it take a lot more skill to keep this afloat than any of the top 3 IMO. Caveat - In the right hands - this one is potentially top 3 easily. 6. Stone Armor (QoL reasons) - Stone is good, but ultimately - IMO you can do more with the 5 ahead of it here - without any of Stone's limitations. 7. Dark Armor 8. Ice Armor 9. Radiation Armor 10. Willpower 11. Electric Armor 12. Fiery Aura 1-3 are very close - Shield has the edge because it can do everything SR can do without needing to lose health to do it, and also comes with a great nuke style attack that you can teleport through walls and floors to get to your target. Also a great self damage power in AAO and team buff in Grant Cover. 5-9 are also very close - honestly Dark could easily take spot 6 from stone, but stone just has more shielding that's hardened and other mitigation tools - but just barely 8-12 also very close - a lot depends on the skills of the player and the build applied to the character. Update 4/7/2024 - Updated Volente and Quantum Infinitum - I had the wrong Alpha selected on Volente - should have been Spiritual instead of Agility. Agility isn't a horrible choice but Spiritual works better for the healing factor and regen inherent to Bio Armor. Also changed from Barrage on both Quantum and Volente to Energy Punch - its just a quicker power and better IMO - Barrage isn't a bad choice here either - just not my cup of tea. Update 3/30/2024 - Updated all Tanker builds - also removed everything else until I can revise to be current. Some Tanker builds were also renamed because - well I just didn't like their identity. lol Update 3/18/2024 - Updated Tanker Armor Rankings - Build updates coming soon - what is below is out of date, but still will get you close to the mark. - If anything specific is needed please dont hesitate to ask. The most reliable and durable are Infinitum/ Nova Infinitum/ Captain Infinitum/ Captain Starburst/Magnus Invictus/Brikhouse/Quantum Infinitum. The most devastating are - Coming Soon The most fun IMO is Ultra Infinitum - However, Revamped Energy Melee has made any of the EM characters a contender in this category just from sheer play strategy (active target selection and power rotation) and free feel of flow. But honestly every time in play any of these builds I haven't played in a while it's the most fun ever anyway. lol Ikari Kanri and Fulminare are now right up there with the fun factor that Ultra Infinitum has IMO. Hope you enjoy these, and hope they help, if you have any questions feel free to ask. @Infinitum - Excelsior Server Hail to the King Baby - Welcome to Tankerdom! Infinitum - Tanker (Invulnerability - Super Strength).mbd ---- My first ever 50 Live and Homecoming. Really solid. Invulnerability/Super Strength Nova Infinitum - Tanker (Invulnerability - Energy Melee).mbd---- My Second ever 50 Live and Homecoming. As solid as Infinitum, but with the single target destruction from Energy Melee. One of my go-to Tankers Invulnerability/Energy Melee Captain Infinitum - Tanker (Shield Defense - Street Justice).mbd---- Ultra Reliable, not held back by not having a heal - cause you usually can work your way out of any situation by outlasting the bad guys. Shield Defense/Street Justice Ultra Infinitum - Tanker (Shield Defense - Electric Melee).mbd---- Really fun AOE shred anything but a boss build - every 30 seconds you are like a battle ship firing a broadside. Shield Defense/Electric Melee Alpha Infinitum - Tanker (Electric Armor - Psionic Melee).mbd---- Solid Build, Psi Melee is a high damage set with awesome graphics and effects to go with it.. Electric Armor/Psionic Melee Omega Infinitum - Tanker (Dark Armor - Dark Melee).mbd---- really fun Dark Brawler esque build - very solid with ToF Buff, despite the shadow maul nerf - Dark IMO is the best Resistance Set. Dark Armor/Dark Melee Absolute Infinitum - Tanker (Ice Armor - Ice Melee).mbd---- Ice Ice Baby - Very solid survivable Tanker build - that can debuff, slow and control enemies as well. Very fun indeed! Ice Armor/Ice Melee Turbo Infinitum - Tanker (Fiery Aura - Fire Melee).mbd ---- Triple fire - burn baby burn - has improved significantly since fire was buffed. Fiery Aura/Fire Melee Paladin Infinitum - Tanker (Shield Defense - Broadsword).mbd---- I think this will be the final iteration of Paladin Infinitum - he has a shield - he has a sword. Nuff said. Shield Defense/Broadsword Quantum Infinitum - Tanker (Super Reflexes - Energy Melee).mbd---- This could be one of my strongest Infinitum variants - the more I play SR the more I like it - and learn how unkillable it is. Super Reflexes/Energy Melee Lodestarr - Tanker (Fiery Aura - Energy Melee).mbd---- This could be one of the most devastating Tanker builds I have made - combining the AOE and extra damage from Fiery Aura, with the ST capability from Energy Melee - yeah its pretty ruthless. Fiery Aura/Energy Melee Magnus Obsidian - Tanker (Shield Defense - Dark Melee).mbd---- Some time ago someone posted a build request for a Shield/Dark Tanker - and honestly it looks like on paper it would have awesome synergy - so Magnus Obsidian was born. Shield Defense/Dark Melee Magnus Invictus - Tanker (Shield Defense - Energy Melee).mbd---- Keeping with the Shield trend - I wanted to try Shield/EM - and it has the awesome single target capability of EM with the added damage boost, survivability and AOE with Shield. Shield Defense/Energy Melee Radianite - Tanker (Radiation Armor - Radiation Melee).mbd---- Solid - multi tiered mitigation now 90% Res across the board except for Cold - also great damage Radiation Armor/Radiation Melee Novakick - Tanker (Shield Defense - Martial Arts).mbd---- I built this one for my youngest son a while back. It worked well, but like most kids they lose interest fast - Its a solid build with a fun theme. Shield Defense/Martial Arts Brikhouse - Tanker (Invulnerability - Street Justice).mbd ---- My wife's Brawler Tank - Street Justice Invulnerability/Street Justice Eternal Patriot - Tanker (Shield Defense - Super Strength).mbd---- I wanted to see how this pair worked together because I had heard good things - and it is very strong both offensively and defensively. You just have to watch for the rage - and often double rage crash. Shield Defense/Super Strength Invictan - Tanker (Shield Defense - Axe).mbd---- It looks like I am testing to see how well ANY set works with Shield - but come on - its a battle axe... and a shield. Shield Defense/Battle Axe Laceritus - Tanker (Bio Armor - Savage Melee).mbd---- And here we go - this is one ferocious tanker - fast and fluid, daring anything to try to kill him. Bio Armor/Savage Melee Volente - Tanker (Bio Armor - Energy Melee).mbd---- Another Bio Tanker - just as ferocious as the one above but more single target oriented with Energy Melee - fast and fluid boss killer Bio Armor/Energy Melee More to come later - I promise. If you see anything not listed just reply and I will post and updated version of what you are looking for. Thanks for Looking!

Here is how i would approach it - based on my Rad Rad Tank Radianite. Again its largely unkillable unless against unique damage types thats unresistable. There are two ways to approach the Incarnates Alpha - Musculature if you want more damage - will work fine as you are already res capped to everything important - or close enough - Agility if you want more defense - isnt really needed because endurance is fine on this build, and without DDR it isnt as effective as this is a natively resistance build anyway. Destiny - This is the tough one -Ageless Radial for recharge and DDR is usually the way i go to get the recharge bonus and also the DDR for the defense I do have. -Barrier - more overkill than anything - i never really needed this so i opted for Ageless. -Rebirth - probably second most useful for the regen and heal - even though i rarely ever needed this also. Hybrid - I usually Dual Hybrid on most my toons anyway - My main Hybrid on this one is Melee Radial - because it adds defense, and also a taunt aura +regen. -Assault Radial - when i want a double hit like a baby crit to boost the already impressive damage output. And Im a flyer so all my builds have fly - you can substitute that out. I also approach from a You arent going to take me out mentality first so i max defensive - then build the offensive - but as you can see - still impressive attacks. My Rad Rad Tank is honestly hard to say which is better between my Invul/SS, my Rad/Rad or any one of my 4 Shield varieties. They are all unkillable against any defendable content - whether its Rularu, Incarnate, Debuffers, Hardened AV targets (aside from the patch damage from unique conten - but even then you literally just avoid the patch) Tanker (Radiation Armor - WarMace).mxd

Seriously though, it was her first 50 on homecoming. I think this action needs to be undone, because its a poisonous plant, another name for foxglove which was taken at the time.

https://www.gardenia.net/plant/digitalis-purpurea-common-foxglove See plant names, am i missing something thats potentially offensive here?

Here is another look if you want something thats pretty close to maxing out Mitigation, i can pretty much guarantee to you it wont die to anything in the game aside from unique stuff like hamidon, and apex battle maiden - and only then if you arent on your toes You can rotate melee core hybrid and one with the shield and come close to maxing resistance in every category also, but i never even have to use that strategy. .Tanker (Shield Defense - Rad Melee).mxd

The name is Lady Glove after the plant, since she is a plant/poison controller, Ladys Glove being highly poisonous. Am i missing something here? We are genuinely confused by this.

For all intents and porpoises you are correct sir.

Nonsense, Curbs > Granite 1. Shield Invul or Rad 2. Elec Armor or SR 3. Everything else

Yeah I'm with ya, but I see how first perception that rage sucks, it requires strategy to work around, but in the end its powerful if you mitigate the crash correctly.

Yah, this thread is filled to the BRIM with puns. Its fun to read though because I'm getting hard of herring in my older age.

Well thats good at least you wont flounder around in guilt. You are certainly free to have a whale of a time.

I know, like Clearly Canadian soft drinks, it was good while it lasted but I think it's circling the bowl to the huge fish tank in the sky now. Oroboros where dead things are reborn... that would be a good pet for mender silos. Nemesis plots were always a bit fishy. I know I'm likely jumping the shark now with this dribble. But what can I say other than CARPe diem. And that is how carp melee was spawned - a bad nemesis plot.

So a brute, tank, and scrapper walk into a bar... The tank asks why all the fuss for carp melee? The brute shrugs and continues eating the glass bottle. The scrapper shrugs and responds just for the halibut. They all then laugh raucously, well not the brute, brutes don't laugh.

Meth heads, murderers, rapists child molesters aren't dregs?

Yeah he's just a crap human being all around