Golden Azrael

If you can link to any.... Def or res capped builds...? Hover tanking for 50 levels taught me a new appreciation for Hovering. I'd never mastered Hover play on live. This time I have. And applying it to a Fire/Fire blaster has been a revelation as that was another attack set I'd never mastered on live. Attack. Dead. Attack. Dead. It's very much how you deploy your attacks. And still using 'tanking' tactics to stay alive. And? I swapped out Fire Breath (slow inaccurate AoE) and Flares and Man's for Kick, Tough, Weave. Had to drop Hasten temporarily. Not that you need it. Fire is so damaging. Inferno is vaporising even on 2 slots of dam. Now I've got Burn. Another power I never got on live or the point of the immob'. But I think the penny has finally dropped on that one. More combat testing coming up. Your tips on ice hover blasting, noted. I had a hover ice blaster on live. Used to to get 3 levels just hunting snipers in Founders. The new ice aura makes many more things possible. What proc' in AoEs are you referring to? (Proc, not something I was into on live. Now I have 'some' of them in 'some' of my builds.) Azrael.

I think those are good suggestions! Rage single stack would solve a lot of the debate. (And having the other so-so melee sets of Ice/Stone and Energy with their 'version' of it would by phase 2 of lifting tanks out of the doldrums. Hurl having AoE with 3-5 mob knock back would be great and would make it more fun and give it a real taunt element to it. A much more SS feel as you say. As for a World Breaker punch? Just give Hand Clap (a power I like...) at least the damage of Foot Stomp and SS all of a sudden becomes a far more compelling set. Give Haymaker a 3-5 targets would give it far more of a SS feel. And I'd boost the damage numbers on Jab and Punch (giving it haymaker's single target knockdown.) There's lots that can be done (see above) to SS to transform it from a 'so-so' set to something which hinges on Rage and KO punch to give it that oomph factor. It would also set the stage for other melee sets like Ice (please, no jokes...) and Energy Melee to capture some glory and gather some former glory in the latter's case. Tanks are slow. So I've no problem with them hitting hard, doing knock up, down or flying. They're the Supermans and Hulks. We know what happens in the comics. With a little bit of tweaking and some imagination and just using what the game already has in it's mechanics the next gen fun factor can be brought into re-birthing this rebirth of CoH. Azrael.

Fire/Fire. Death. Dead. Death. Dead. I've been in Hospital a lot with it. I found it the hardest on live. Causes a lot of aggro. 'Lack' of mitigation for about 34 levels. Unless you count Rain of Fire and your Ring of Fire. Which can...be used to good enough effect. There is a slow and hold effect between them. I might have to resort to using tactics. Azrael.

Never played a Dark blaster. 😛 Played it on Defender upto about L10. A slow, debuffing set. The 1st three attacks are ok. You get Moonbeam, a snipe, nice and early. No BU, though? The 1st two attacks have enough punch about them in the early levels. My Duo partner played a Dark Def' and the blast set held it's own. With no BU it didn't have the kick bottom or zip of energy or seem as fun. But he managed to get through 50 levels of it. There's a decent group hold in it...and a heal aspect attack. I never found it that compelling to roll a blaster with it. If you like being 'dark' and debuffing it may be for you. Azrael. PS. As for giving Archery a go. Good luck. I have an Archery/Trick Arrows Defender. Love the debuff set (Which must be amongst the best in the game....) but he Archery feels limp lettuce. Piddly. But if you find it fun, more power to your bow arm. The Red Hats do ok on it....but they usually hit you in packs. PPS. Re-forged my fire/fire blaster as a hover blaster. It's really helped survivability. Taken Man' and Hover for the def'. With Tough and Weave on the horizon to buy time to fry the mobs. Using tanker pulling tactics of blasting and pulling to a corner to narrow the incoming damage. Though you can blast in the open with a couple of inspires if you get your attacks in quickly. It seems to be 'how' you deploy your fire attacks. A set I never mastered on live. But this time....I hope to through build choice and tactics.

Elec is frustrating. I think it is the lack of T4 single target hitter with high damage that hurts it most. Seems to miss a lot too. I'd say that Sentinel version of the blast set makes more sense due to installing the T4 high blast single target in and moving Short Circuit to later in the build. It plays far better because of that. With the added sturdiness of Sentinels, it buys you time for ball of lightning, Lightning field and short circuit time to drain a mob and with any chain hold a mob will be helpless as you pick them off. End drain is satisfying. eg. Power Sink means you have a constant top up of end even minute or sooner. I've played elec tanks, scrappers, stalkers, dominators (my favourite) and elec blasters. And I have rolled an Elec sentinel which I have taken out the gates. Loads of fun on my elec tank. I had that paired with Mace. Scrapper version was elec/elec. Loved Lightning Rod and Thunder Strike. Stalkers. Just the surprise attacks Palpatine style. Dominator? The pinnacle of challenge. End drain. control. Blast. Scrapper blapping. It really does have it all plus a 'God button' in Domination! For me? The best inherent in the game. Elec has a lot to like. The drain, the crackle, the variety of power and utility (you really ought to try teh elec/elec domi. And it has the elec patron too...) but it's not the hardest hitting set and can seem a bit grind-y tap, tap...tap....tap....and missy.... But I took Assault and Tactics and that helped a lot. And powersink? 🙂 Once you get the Elec shield you can sit in with a mob and drain and hold them with near impunity. You can before...but just more so. It's not all about damage. Sometimes it's about interest. And elec dominators have it in abundance. The blaster elec/elec. To me? It's the elec blaster elec blast isn't. I think the elec domi has a nice blend of melee and blast. It's down to that T4, I'd say. Maybe that needs looking at and the dam' numbers? Maybe the more end drain you do the more -res you do? Ie they find it hard to fight back because they're increasingly tired? Don't see that being too hard to implement. The self buff of elec blaster is combat based but it doesn't give elec the kick up the back side the ice and energy ones do. Doesn't fix the couple of flaws it has elsewhere. Fire, likewise suffers similar problems as you don't seem to get your mitigation early like you do on eg. Ice. Azrael.

All of them, to a degree of difficulty. Sonic. You can sleep them. Used with an energy manipulation 2ndary? You'll do just fine. -res. What's not to like? Fire, you can incinerate them. It's frustrating as you don't get any mitigation (you have to build in Def', hover and tough to get your to your mitigation tools) until much later on with 'Hot Feed' etc to make the mob flex with Rain of Fire. 0 x 8? You're going to have to burn inspires in the L20s range. Unless you're set up with lots of def', hover and tough? Kill or be killed. Who is faster on the draw. Energy? You can send them flying. Since the self buff end reduction, you can pick on mobs of 3-4 np and not worry that lack of end is going to be the end for you. That and insta-snipe have been transformation. You're never out the fight. I now just use fly and attack from a flying around position. BLAP heaven. Nova Snipe. Torrent Snipe. Snipe TF. So many variants. Elec? You can drain them. Could do with the T4 short circuit swapping out for the high damage attack from Sentinel elec. Less bast friendly due to that momentum killing T4 attack. It doesn't rock and roll like energy. Missing something. Maybe an elec sentinel is what you roll there with elec 2ndary. Ice? Is closer to what you're asking. You can hold them. Ultimate mitigation. Then it's over. With the slow self buff aura you can take on mobs with ease. It's lethal. Part controller, part blaster. You are Captain of your own destiny. Single Target killer? Tick. Ice Nova? Ice Storm? AoE covered. The latter is the solo king out of the blasters I've tried above. With potent AoE capability. The slow and hold mitigation? You are the ice assassin. Not quite as much fun as energy or water? But highly satisfying and engaging game play. For AoE. Water blast has mitigation. Slow them. AoE them. Knock them down. Steam them. Heal off the corkscrew attack. And that Water Nova. Good night vienna. Great fun. What you pick as your secondaries also counts. I tend to go for matching sets. eg. Ice/Ice. But Sonic blaster and Water don't have matching sets. You don't have to pay for subs or slots any more. Roll them. Try them. Azrael.

Ty for the build. 🙂 You have 10 procs in your build? 😮 Azrael.

I have a Fire/Fire blaster. I tried it twice on live. From diving many times with Vahz in the Steel sewers to being parked at L17 in the Steel Hospital. Then I got one to L40s...and I found it very frustrating. Little mitigation or maybe I just hadn't mastered the Rain of Fire/Hot Feet trick or inflexion. It's the mitigation, right? So it's kill or be killed. You gotta be quick. Super quick. Ice has been a revelation since the self buff (something the Water blast set pointed to a new dawn with the self buffing heal attack power....and the crash less and faster novas...) as the self buff aura has been a massive fix to something that couldn't be run even with x3 end reds in it. Energy, too, with the end discount has been a total reboot with the insta snipes too. Less successful is the elec reboot. It's okay. But need to get rid of short circuit for a harder hitting t3 power like on the Elec Sentinel. And, yes, Fire. I finally got round to rolling a Fire blaster. Tried the Fire cor' 1st. But I thought, why be half a jedi? Do or die. Do you feel, lucky, punk? Just scorch things to death. You need a blaster for that. But? No mitigation? So, I carry lots of luck and tough and some health inspires. Re: the post above. I've never tried tough, weave and...Man's (to get the defence up, right?) or Hover on a fire blaster. (I have used hover tanking on my SR/SJ tank....and on my FF/En Def'. To great effect.) So, I'm guessing those buy you time. Other things I've thought about are having placate, intimidate and invoke panic. There's Assault which would get you more damage? But what we're after is mitigation to buy you time to incinerate things. I'll try the defence/tough additions with Hover. Those make sense. Let you know how I get on. Ofc. ...having a tank as a pivot would make it all a bit easier. But it's nice to be self sufficient, to a degree for occ' solo play. Azrael.

Ultimately, Paragon and their Owners (NC) were in it to make money. That can have an effect on creative decisions. IT's in the past. And in the past, it will remain. And, with SCORE/Homecoming you see something different. The actual gaming community 'gets it'. Some of the chances already made (see issue '25/26etc') changes based off a player's perspective rather than a studio's pressure to e.g.. Time sink you. eg. Bases. Free. No grind anymore. Veteran levels (which I like) add a 'post 50' sense of levelling and a fair return in Emp Merits/Threads for you time invested. XP boosting so you are in charge of your levelling (which means you get through the game without the grind and can try...MORE alts.) When it comes to nerfs. The tank changes have a global picture relative to other ATs. ie. 1st of all you have to fix the Tank AT in general before you get around to the quagmire of individual sets (of which, many are flawed and need individual attention and a simple swap Tier 1 and 2 won't do it.) So, Tanks get a dam boost and higher cap, Brutes get their's trimmed slightly. Tanks get more tanks and brutes get to escape the building with their 'fat' diet relatively intact. So, specific changes re: Energy. Let's take SS/Fire as an example. SS/Fire is a tank combo which has 'so much.' You get Rage which boosts SS to an insane degree and you can x2 and even x3 briefly (if I remember correctly from my old SS/Shield Brute....) overlap it. Basically, this has the effect of leaving other Tanks, damage wise, in the dust. BU for 15 sec out of every minute isn't the same as having 'teh RagUR' for 2 mins.' If that wasn't enough? Fire has the damage Auras to get to this, so RAGE is boost the damage auras on top of it being a damage aura. AND if that wasn't enough you have the ridiculous 'BURN' which allows a SS/Fire tank to drag aggro to a spot and 'burn' it do death. In seconds. By way of comparison? My SR/SJustice tank has to press, press, press, press, press, press (hand cramp....) it's way to achieve the same effect and it takes much longer to kill stuff. Even as an incarnate (bar the 'Mighty!' punch.) No Rage. No Auras. No end return. No health return. No BURN patch. So, there IS disparity between Tank sets and they won't address that THIS time. Nerf Fire/SS then? 'No.' I think bringing things into parity can be a more creative solution. Finally, then. Let's bring this to Energy melee. Using the 'fat' diet tank as evidenced above. Let each set get their on its own merits. Energy melee should have an energy equivalent of 'Rage' that replaces BU. What do we call it? Energy Storm! Energy Barrage! For 2 minutes you harness your inner elemental rage and channel energy into your attacks. 2 minutes. 1 stack. No Crash. You can't overlap it. It replaces BU completely. It gives you sustained to hit, damage AND? End drain and a disorientating effect on mobs such is the dizzying 'whirl' of your attacks. You even get a 10% speed boost for 2 mins. 😛 Energy Well. (There is an emote for this effect) You sink your hands into the floor and drain energy from teh Earth itself to disorient and energy smash foes to their inner core. This is your 'Burn' equivalent.) It could be Whirling Hands. But it will need a good passover to give it the same oomph advantage Burn has. I'm saying each tanking set should have an AoE 'Burn' that shakes up the mob. For it to be whirling hands. Damage needs to be upped to high. Maybe a DoT after initial damage with a dollop of Disorient. Rage is a creative mechanic. But with BU, you get the feeling they ran out of time to give each tank a creative mechanic so just put in the generic BU for other types. So, Energy Melee can be brought into broad dam sync (or the disparity reduced) and can still be specific a slow and heavy hitter (which tanks are) with some revisions to the numbers. That and make En Transfer hit fast with 'some' splash damage. I don't think Energy Melee is unique in needing attention. Ice, Stone seem very 'old' compared to eg. Titans weapons. In the same way blasters were broken? That fix to snipe and the self buff aura have completely transformed Energy blaster, ice blaster, fire to a degree and elec isn't too bad (though I'd swap out Short Circuit for the harder hitting elec attack which is in the Sentinel set.) The broad AT tank changes is just the beginning. They're listening. We'll need to get the tank patch live 1st and keep the pressure on for eg. Energy Melee review. But I suspect it won't be the only one ripe for change. Azrael. PS. "I vote NO on adding gimmicks to Energy Melee. (I would also vote NO to make any changes to the Stuns component in PvE). Energy Melee should be returned to the top tier of single-target attacks for generating (and keeping) THREAT. In my mind that means faster attacks (ehem Energy Transfer) to switch between targets if necessary and (generally) harder hitting single-target attacks at the expense of a mediocre (but not pathetic) AoE. If Energy Melee isn't going to end up at the top of single-target damage, it should at least be at or near the top in terms of achieving a reliable single-target attack chain that does respectable damage without having to resort to Hasten (or Incarnates)." I agree with the basic premise of 'fast and hard.' There's no reason each tank can't specialise. That was probably the original intent. But when you're stuck in the air with Total Focus and the rest of the team are onto the next mob...you know that probably needs fixing. Fast and hard? Why not. That's its remit. Hero 1 seems to manage it. As does Overdrive NPC who seems to hit alike a truck. There can be broad changes to the AT, specialisation but some parity brought with some innovation on top to make each tank 'more so.' I think all that's possible.

I don't mind the long showy animation. But that and Total Focus (on teams) can be after the Lord Mayor's show. On my own. Not the end of the world but slightly quicker would be nice. Shave a second off. The new out of combat snipe is definitely quicker. The in combat snipe is loads quicker. It makes the gameplay more 'teh snappy.' I remember a friend playing EM. It was a solid, hard hitting single target set. Nerfing it? The danger in nerfs is you can make something less compelling in trying to 'fix' it. The tricks is try and keep something compelling while keeping true to what made it 'cool' in the first place. In the case of EM? Just make it more so. And a bit of splash on EM or nudging up Whirling's AoE dam would be hardly game breaking? Stun, too, don't take it. Why stun something that you can empty of HPs? Stun, rather add high dam and AoE element to it to make it more compelling choice. Imagine a stun that makes a mob of 5 wander around disorientated. I don't mind the pom poms animation of ET except for it's length. Need to be a bit more snappy. I would't opposed to using the Power Thrust animation on it...or even Stun. Often thought Power Thrust was one of the best animations in the game that needed a more worth level of animation, AoE element and disorient. ie. I could see it as a Tier 9 power. You put that punch into a group? BOOM! 5 go flying. Extreme damage. Disorient. AoE splash damage. I like Thunderstrike. Bit of AoE splash damage. Mobs get sent flying. I like that, personally. High dam. Azrael.

Good ideas. Azrael.

Captain Powerhouse's explanation makes sense to me. The Tanker changes, whilst not revolutionary, are most welcome and most needed for that AT. The huffing and puffing to L20 on Live was arduous. SOs at L22 were like life giving oxygen. This is the 1st keystone in terms of getting Tanks back on the map and heading in the right direction. Brutes getting a trim of their cap makes sense and Tanks are brought into alignment with other ATs. Seems fair to me. It will hardly make any real world difference for 95% of players. So, Cap' chanced his mind. So what? People are allowed to that for compelling reasons. This isn't Tanks vs Brutes (thought comparison help make an assessment...) but more Tanks broader sense along with the other ATs too. Ergo factoring Brutes vs Blasters. A broader context then just their nearest comparative. Brutes have it real good. Just like Scrappers. Most of the survivability a tank, most of the damage of a blaster with higher ultimate output. The sweet spot of dam res and dam output. The next keystone? Give all other non-SS tanks '1 stack' of a version of Rage to replacement BU. Azrael.

Pretty it is. But it's fun to play. Smooth as butter. Great blasting. Great melee. I've rolled an Energy Defender, Sentinel and Blaster. Shame the Energy melee tank isn't as good (doesn't seem to have the same rock and roll zip.) My favourite set. Love 'teh' knock back. My duo partner and myself names our duo characters 'Team Knockback.' 😄 I am going to try out a proc and turbo recharge version on my Sentinel or Blaster. It's inevitable. Azrael.

Is the Rage icon blinking not a decent indicator? (Yeah, I know it can be easy to miss when you're suffering scrapper lock half way through a battle. I had that with Elude on my SR/SJ tank and dropped it on the respect.) I like the 'SNIPE!' when a good snipe hit comes off the blaster's sniper canon. Perhaps a 'RAGE ON!' (RAGE HARD!) or merely 'RAGE!' when you press teh button. With red 'spider sense tingling' lines emitting from your alt's head at the start of rage. And maybe these start blinking above your head when it's about to drop? That way, it's directly on your alt at the start and end of rage? Can't miss it then. As for the penalties. For the 1st stack non. Because the Rage is focused. But it's very 'hard' to keep angry and focused for al long time and any 2nd stack should reflect that. But it doesn't have to be the -def, -dam-, -end and -everything bar running away collapse that it is now. For the 1st double stack I would have the end penalty because using that angry energy might drain you, then any third stack? Because you're tired and drained of end? You are thrashing about wildly and your accuracy suffers. That makes more sense to me. You get tired then you get less accurate over each stack. Maybe by the 3rd stack your res/def suffers 'a bit...' -10% or 20% because you're not thinking straight and you don't keep your guard up. It would make sense on a third stack that the penalties would be greater then the 2nd stack. Just follow some kind of logic or role play thought behind the effects. When you're fresh in battle? No penalty. Then? You begin to lose focus. Then you begin to lose your discipline. 1. 2. 3. No penalty. Then end. Then Acc/-res/-def. But not cripplingly so. But enough to balance the benefit of 3 stacks with a penalty. Nothing in life is free so they say. There's always a price to pay. Azrael. PS. And I'd also like to re-iterate my thoughts on non-superstrength tanks getting their BU buff replaced by a single stack Rage. It's not fair that SS tanks get Rage for a whole two minutes with a chasm higher of benefits vs BU for a piddling 15 sec. It's too large a disparity. That's why Tanks aren't being played. Not enough 'teh dmg.' Easy to fix. Give ALL non-SS tanks a single stack of Rage. That lifts Ice, Stone and Energy Melee out of the mediocrity they're in. Fun to play. But the ability to affect battle by 'Punching someone in the face' (props to Cap Powerhouse for that one....) needs to be brought to parity with their taunting and taking damage capacity. Someone that can take that kind of punishment should be able to hit harder. SS tanks get to double and triple stack (with penalties for each additional stack) their unique power. But other tanks have access to a version of this 'Rage' power. Eg. Ice 'SHARD FURY' gives a boost to your damage for 2 mins with intense cold and slow debuff. Stone 'MAGMA FURY' give you access to 2 mins of a whole can of Whoop Az where you hit like a mountain and disorient them them into the next century. Energy 'NOVA WRATH' unlooses a torrent of explosive force into each and every attack disorienting...knocking down, up and across the space time continuum. So you get a damage component and a bit of 'something' else debuff to each set. Dark Melee, 'Shadow of Darkness' clouds you're enemies minds for 2 mins, and every punch drains significant end but the damage is punishing, not only can't they hit but you hit them so hard their senses recoil into the fabric of reality itself. See folks? It's not so 'hard.' It's the will to make changes and take Tanks to the next level on their own terms. Brutes are rage builders. That's their mechanic, we understand that. Tanks are piston like slow but hard hitters. So when they do hit you they hit hard. The current state of affairs is because the brute came along and out designed tanks in terms of damage whilst retaining most of their survivability. And, like blasters, this was allowed to drag on for far too long on live. Solution? Tanks get a flat and sustained boost for 2 mins. That's clear. Brutes can be faster, they can be more single target, they can have a higher theoretical damage cap. Eg. Hulks. Throw out Build Up. That's better for long range hitters like Blasters. Tanks are at the heart of battle so SS's Rage makes a whole lot of sense to affect the battle for longer. eg. 2 mins. I'm just arguing that other tanks have access to that and the sitting duck to replace is build up which doesn't make a whole lot of difference to my Stone Tanker, my Ice Tanker. Meh dmg currently and bu doesn't help 'that much.' Having a single stack version of Rage would be transformative. THEN you'd see people flock to tanks in droves. Limiting the damage/to hit bonus to just SS tanks is and always has been 'odd' to me. Let SS keep multiple stacks (With 'some' penalties for successive stacks...) but let other tanks have their own version of it. It gives people an excuse to dust off their tanks and play them again. it would be nice to have something in the ball park of a titans tank or a ss tank. The basic changes to tanks are welcome but overdue. Nothing revolutionary in any of them. They just make sense for the AT. But Changing BU for a single stack of Rage. Then I'm going to play my Stone, En or Ice tank a whole load more. (Ice melee could do with a look at, whilst you're at it...it's....really poor. Needs better damage on Ice melee and maybe put some extreme cold dam on that 'bigger Ice Sword' which is meh. And Energy melee? Mediocre. Needs to be faster on Energy Transfer and make some AoE splash on that.) But tanks are more AoE based. They have a lower theoretical limit? But they still hit very hard, especially on multiple targets because their anger is more focused and disciplined. They're not on the irrational level of eg. The Hulk. They're more the superman or 'The Thing' types. They hit hard standard, they can dish it and take it out the box with (see the much improved basic damage, taunt, higher theoretical damage cap and the radiating AoE damage....and can last the distance because their modus operandi is not sustained a builder of anger all the time.) But they still are missing that 'cutting loose' or 'IT'S CLOBBERING' TIME!!!' mechanic. And it there in front of our noses with SS's Rage. And I see Rage and Fury as different things. We may argue they are both irrational types of anger. But I'd argue that Fury is the Hulk's 'Don't get within miles of him...you aint going to reason with that....he's just wrecked a city.' vs Superman's lost it because something hurt Lois Lane and opened a can of anger on someone. Or when the Thing loses it vs the Yancy Street Kids or the Torch for eating his cornflakes. Sermon over.

Well. For starters. Homecoming. Revisiting some of the ATs for a brush off the dust. See Tank Beta changes. (Swap out the BU for 1 stack of RAGE for all non SS tanks, non drop for Ice/Stone and Energy tankers...would be a big boost.) Blasters have already had their passover late in i24 beta. Sure, push for change but watch the stability. (The last patch gave me sticky buttons and powers activating 3 seconds later....) Possible move to Unreal 4 game engine to smooth out the old graphics and give them a brush up. The ultra mode that Paragon did gave a big lift to the look of the game. Similarly a move to U4 might be able to give more crispness to the game at 4k resolution. That said, I like the look of the current graphics and animation. Part of its charm. Atlas Revisited project had some nice examples of how the graphics could be taken forward to a CoH 1.5. Any chance of roping in some of the original devs on a consolation basis and get the Battalion arc and the Moon base done? That is low hanging fruit to me. And completes the cycle of the original studio. Consult Matt Millar or Jack Emmert via the Dark Web. 😉 There's plenty of power sets that the villains/resistance etc use that could be turned into ATs. Council Werewolves. Wolf at. Resistances with their beam guns (much better than the beam set in my view. More epic powers. (How come electricity epic isn't available for elec doms?) Finish the incarnate powers (the planned ones the devs didn't finish....off?) Sorceror AT. Storm covers some aspects of this. But a magic set? There's plenty of powers out there to chop and change some of the primary assault/attack sets into different combinations to create new hybrid sets. I'd re-engineer the incarnate trees powers into a proper Super Epic set using the standard interface. Re-engineer some of the zones to give them new life. Lift the cap to 60 but no higher. (Why? Chance to use your epics and incarnates.) Content 1-50 for each AT (PB/WS style.) So that way when you role a new alt? You get a 'new' story customised for you.) That's just some. But in general. Honour the legacy in Safe hands. Azrael. PS. COH already has a lot, loads of content. But not all of it is often played and some of it is over played. So maybe more rewards to take different paths through the game. That said, some of the early paths are somewhat stale even though I like them.

Any chance for customisable Taunts, Captain Powerhouse? By that, I mean. /Taunt 1 or /Taunt 2. The 'ahhhh....' vs the 'Hurrrr' (sick bucket.) I really don't like the 'HurrGHH!' (It seems to be on all my tanks....but my Duo Partner's SS/Fire tanker (big body type) has the 'Ahhhh' while every one I've rolled is HURGGGHHHHH! It drives me crazy. Azrael.

It's a fair comment. It think it's the penalties that drives me nuts. Especially on a shield (defence) based brute. Crash. If you're on 23% as a l 50? Yer dead unless you run from teh mob. 'look, at Superman....he's running away...!' "Except it annihilates the reason some of us play super strength in ~Brute~ archetypes. " Stacked for SS. Non-stack for all non SS tanks. Simples. That would really help the so-so damage of ice, energy and stone. Along with the base dam and group ceiling and splash AoE changes....tanks would be more compelling to play. Azrael.

Swapping the animations for those two might be an idea.... Azrael. "What if they turned ET into a targeted AoE with only 5 max targets, similar to Thunder Strike? Each target besides the primary takes some Energy damage, but if you don't hit some extra targets you take that damage instead. As an example, if you hit only the primary target, it's identical to how it works now. Hit 1 other target, and you take half the damage you take now. Hit 2 or more extra targets, you take no damage. I dunno, I'm just spitballing. I like the animation. I figure making it an AoE means the animation is more justified." Good idea, Vanden. It would give Energy another AoE which it's light on. I don't see the problem in giving a bit more oomph. Go back to its pre-change style. Energy Transfer being fast and hard. Beef up the AoE. Job done? En Transfer having a Thunder Strike style AoE splash damage would be good. Extreme damage for the main target and high damage for the rest. I hit you so hard, I knock the rest of you out... I like Energy, it's the tweety bird set. As in that's what you should be seeing. More stuns. I'd even give the stun a high damage element. A lot of these pre-titans (favour of the month and dev' catch to play the latest cool thing...so make it teh KING DAMRGE!@) tanking sets are old. Tweaking here and there re: the tanking changes. Swapping 'some' of the T1 and 2s make sense for Energy. Some not. Energy Punch is a better T1. Barrage is a better T2. I can't speak for all sets. Whirling hands is so-so without another AoE power to stack with. Energy Transfer is a good candidate for it. And as for Build Up? I'd make all non-ss tanks have single stack no end drop punishment instead of Build UP. It's a simple swap out. And the so-so damage of ice/stone and energy would be transformed along with the higher base dam and higher team cap of damage and the AoE 'splash' damage change. Then Tanks would be more competitive on their own terms with brutes. They become more 'tank' like. 'I punch you in the face' and can make a difference. I'm slow? Sure. But I hit hard. and.... "Heh, yeah, I've never wandered into that section. Mainly because I've never played a Dominator. But hey, anything's possible. I like the sound of Assault sets, but have always shied away do to any protection from the primary outside of control. I try not to have my hopes too high with EM changes coming through anytime soon. But it's at least good to see that something's happened that could end up having an impact on EM. Just keep nagging them on the forums. 😉 I think you are making a strong case for energy melee on tank. As for Domi? You got to try one. They are a thing of beauty. Try an elec or stone one. Lots to do. Challenging to play. Perma Domi is godly. I say that with 1 SR/SJ tank at 50, a stone/wp tank at L39, one ice/ice tank at L41 and an en/invul tank at L8, I think. And a beta server En/Invul tank at L50. (Had one on live at L50. Diamond hard it was. 1.5 billion build.) I was less impressed with Energy with Incarnates after trying a titans weapons rad tank with incarnates on Beta. Times have changed. And a revision here or there...as per some of your suggestions are over due. Some of these sets are old or got left behind or the AT itself got out designed by eg. Brute. Not the only AT that was superseded by CoVs ATs. I like Brutes super damage potential. But I still like tanks teh TOUGHNESS! The recent Tank changes on beta are a start. Step in the right direction. But as per my other comments, not the only thing that needs changing for them to be more competitive.

Bubble / Energy defender. (Have an En Blaster, En Sentinel....) What I'd find was an emptying of the end bar. I got really ticked off with it on live. Found the same problem on re-live. So? The fundamental changes to en/en blaster transformed end on the en blaster. Such a deep end discount, I barely have any end problems! End isn't a problem there. At all. Sentinel? It took me about 38 levels to nail down the end. (Having Energy Armour 'heal/end' buff, a bit like the blaster version but not as good..., helps...) But my key strategy is 1 end for light attacks, 2 for heavy attacks. Any Toggles? 2 end reds. ...and by the time the end got to about half way or less then the self buff in the energy armour would kick in. Better that then the previous stat of emptying the bar completely after a round or two of your attack chain. So annoying being out of end. On teams? I'm now the guy with 3/4s end bar while others are on the last 1/4 of their end. I hear the En' Sentinel is mediocre damage. It maybe have. But I had fun playing it and it would have been my dream on live to have a blast energy tank. Which is what it kind is. Or an energy blasting scrapper? I've been tanking with it. Great stuff. On this build, I even went extreme with x3 end reds on some heavy attacks until I stopped the end bar draining down so quick. So, Defender was the 1st thing I rolled back on live (twice...with the last being a set build which was so disappointing...)...and persuaded by my Duo partner, I re-rolled it. End was again an issue. But learning what I'd learned from teh Sentinel, I was prepared to be patient...and take the long view. Toggles? Two ends. Toggle management? Essential for some of those powers like Repulsion Field. Force Bubble? Toggle management as they are end heavy. But both have two end reds in them. I wanted 3 end reds in each but slots were tight. All attacks? 2 end reds. Absolutely nail gunning the end problem down. And I could last a fight vs an AV with moderate paces attacks where my duo partner could not. But I'd made nailing the end a focus of my build. One bonus vs mobs, was a revelatory power that isn't often discussed? Victory Rush. Every 5 mins? Two minute END boost! Off a defeated mob. Defending on mob level the bigger the boost. Often we hear about Assault and Tactics. Manoeuvres even. But Victory Rush is a must have power for me now for any defender. Along with Assault and Tactics. It's transformative. It can stave off any end problem with a boost from mob or every other mob. Along with end reds? A sound basic strategy to keep more of your end bar from draining out. Now? By the time I got to epics? I chose elec epic pool and took? Power Sink. So now I drain end off mobs all the time in melee. 🙂 So I have end reds x2 for the most part on attacks/toggles, victory rush AND Power Sink. (And if you can't get that power to work you're holding it wrong. 😛 ) Then a good set build will nail down your end some more with the usual IO suspects like the Numina, Miracle and Performance Shifter Proc'. I haven't even took Ageless (I have barrier instead, naturally....) and I have all the end I need! I can call end upon command with Power Sink every minute following a hectic bout of combat. Victory Rush will keep it ticking at the top...and sold set build has all the end bonuses and the odd end reduction thrown in there. I'm running +4x8 with bosses. Np problems! I no longer tolerate running on empty. But you have to make end reduction a focus of your build. And that isn't cheap in terms of slots. But I'm concerned with a good SO build to about L45. Putting in IO sets at 35. But a Set Build from 45-50. And sure, when you get incarnates? Ageless is what you want. But that's on top of a sound build. Not a band aid. Azrael. "The only powers that can be problematic are the AoEs. I can't see anyone with a real beef over single target knockback. The issues with AoEs can be mitigated by positioning and judicial use. I look at Energy blast as more difficult, but more rewarding than other sets. It's also one of the more visually pleasing sets. I used to really look at Energy blast as pretty "meh". Liberal application of procs however has made this a joy to play. Basic slotting for me has been pretty simple as well: Single target: Gladiator's Javelin, Explosive Strike, Force Feedback, & Entropy procs. AoE: Positron's Blast, Javelin Volley, Explosive Strike, Force Feedback, Annihilation, & Sudden Accelleration procs. Watching all the recharge procs going off almost becomes a game in itself. With the insane amount of blasting you end up doing, it's best to pair it with a non-busy primary. FF, for example *really* dovetails nicely with it. All that said, I think Energy blast on it's own isn't that bad. Using Force Feedback proc in every power really does make one of the more unique sets to use." Sara, that has been revelatory. Shame I've finished my Defender build. But I will take this advice over to my En Sentinel (which has a 'non-busy' 2ndary) or my En/En which I want to turbo charge with a set build. I've never really bothered or saw the fuss in Procs. But your post changed my mind instantly. It 'dovetailed' nicely with my recent building experience for my Defender En/FF and my Tanker SR/SJ. I'd like to have a good swing at procc'ing an Energy build. I want fast. FAST. Knock back. KNOCK BACK! Carnage. Turbo fast. Sara, have you got an energy build you can share? *bats eyelids sweetly.

I've tried rolling a SR/SJustice on beta. Specced it out for Set IOs. Inspired by this thread. 😉 Already rolled an SR/SJustice. But wanted to check out forum builds. Currently L43. SOs. Just shy of the cap at the moment. But when I respec at 44, I'll remove Elude and take Tough to add some resistance and Weave to get me past the soft cap. I'm a hover tank so I'll have a bit extra. Can't wait to start building it out. It's not cheap but it is potent. Past the soft cap. Decent incarnates. Perma-hasten. Packed some resistance in there. End and health are past tense in terms of issues. I think it's about how much you want to push each AT through their glass ceiling. Find SR/Sjustice a bit plain jain. But it's fun to play. Bone breakingly compelling. Azrael.

That's a very good post. And an intricate but 'simple' solution. I hope the developers are playing CLOSE attention to this particular post. I think this pretty much nails it. There's a price to pay for each stack but it's not all or nothing. Those who want 1, 2 or 3 stacks get to enjoy it on their terms. And includes IO setting for those that really want to push it. And helps push SS to a pre-eminent position again. And if feels like it stays true to the power as is...just massaging it's obvious flaws. That said. I would like to see all non-SS tanks get a single stack of Rage to replace BU. Sets like Ice, En and Stone would really benefit to take tanks to the next level. Whilst the current beta chances are nice. They're only what is necessary to take the underperforming tank to a better base. Give me 'Single click' rage to replace BU on my ice/stone and en tanks? I'll actually play them. 🙂 Azrael.

I rolled a En/Invul tanker on Beta Pineapple. Thoughts: Seems to return Energy to it's piston hard hitting roots? Two shotting blues and three shooting whites is good. Where I'd like it to be. You hit slow. You hit hard. So base damage feels better and the results back this up. I'm not having to do 2 or 3 attack rotations and emptying the end bar just to dispatch a modest mob. The aggro' seems good. (I put a Hollows Wilcott mission on -1 x 8 and I was very popular with the Outcasts.) Feels punvokey. End. Much better. The higher base means you're not out of end by the time you get to the 3rd mob. And whilst all tank sets have the tier 1 or 2 swap. I speak for Energy here. Energy punch works MUCH better as a tier 1 power. It's so-so damage as a tier 2 works much better as a more endowed tier 1 hitter. Barrage as T2 works great. ...and then Tier 3 suddenly makes even more sense. Will Energy get it's old energy transfer animation back as a quicker acting power. Not that I dislike the showy pom moms animation. I enjoy the theatre of it. So far, so good. That said. This doesn't feel like a revolution. Not yet. Only what has long been necessary. Acc Taunt, Higher base dam, higher base end are the basics of keeping getting and keeping more aggro, being able to affect the fight and last the fight. All of which make sense for the AT. I am currently playing an end thirsty SR/SJustice tank on live. It feels light on damage (thought can hold aggro well enough...) The base chances will be very welcome. The revolution? Make a single stage of 'Rage' to replace build up for all non-SS tanks. Perhaps SS can keep its version stackable. But giving Rage to all non SS tanks like En/Ice and Stone would be the true revolution and put Tanks back on the map. Titan Weapons is it's own special thing. That said, I rolled one and took it to l50 on beta. Coupled with Radiation. I can see why people rave about it. And why both are popular. Insane. It put my L50 energy invul in the shade. It felt old fashioned (I rolled two on beta...one max and one to level normally as if it were being levelled on live)I say this because, EVEN if(!), the non-SS tanks got 'Rage' single click, I don't think it would feel OP compared to Titans which is unique. And it would give playing tanks a more compelling reason. Not only can you take aggro? But you can affect a fight by getting stuck in. In energy's case you become a super piston. Slow but when the mob gets clomped? It really gets bopped. And that's teh way I feel about tanks, you hit slow but hard. Late on in the game? You should have access to 'Rage' (as opposed to Build Up, just replace it with Rage) single stack. So when you hit slow? You hit super hard. You can genuinely affect a fight. Azrael.

And there we have it. *(Goes off to Beta Server to do the same.) Golden Azrael. PS. I think it's quite simple in the damage debate: Tanks vs Brutes. Tanks use sustained damage (eg. Rage.) Brutes using a Fury mechanism for damage building. One has a lower damage cap. One has a higher damage cap. One can hit hard. The other can, ultimately, hit harder. One should have a 'Rage' button press for 2 mins. The other has a builder bar. Tanks can hit harder wider. Brutes can hit harder single target. So, I'm down with tanks on 8.5. And a brute having melee damage of 9 or 9.5. Higher base damage (which was pretty dreadful for tanks on tiers 1, 2 and 3 soloing....) makes sense. Higher base end (instead of dreadful damage exacerbating an end problem meaning you hit mediocre damage and empty your end bar because you can't hit hard enough or last the fight...) and Acc Taunt Voke off attacks make absolute sense. And the icing on the cake? Your AoEs hurt as you radiate 'controlled' rage further. Rage button? Democratise it to all tanks. So they can have a high sustained damage output like SS tankers. Ice/en and stone would be transformed as would their t 1, 2 and 3 attacks from 'meh' to: 'Gott roll me a tank.'

I wouldn't let the stacking question hold this up. If that was executed as per Cap's idea? It would be transformative. In fact, there's no reason why 'Rage' couldn't be the 'press' option vs the Brute's Fury Builder. Just swap out Build UP in al the non ss sets with Rage button instead. That way, all the 'so so' melee damage sets like En/Ice/Stone would get a transformative boost in damage to not only 'take it' but 'dish it' as well. No crash. No stacking. Just a big click. (Stacking is nice. But that could be looked at later. It's got my brute killed (the end drop, the def drop the death drop....) so many times. It's kinda hard to build up any moment. Which defeats the point of the fury bar.) Giving this to tanks is a big incentive to play them. It also takes away the tier 1, 2 and 3 doing 'enough' damage problem (or tanks in general) as they'd get a doubling in damage from a 'Rage' button. So many tanker tier 1, 2 or 3 are meh on damage. (Having rolled Stone, Energy and Ice...tanks.) Azrael.

I understand the frustrations of the above post. How can it be that a tank is 'helpless' other than to get beat upon? Simple. Replace Build UP with 'Rage' for all non SS tanks and you have a transformative action to all of those old fashioned tanks like Ice, Energy and Stone. Suddenly you CAN be more than a beat shield. You can then put your fist in where it hurts. Another thing missed off this Tanker patch. The actual Taunt sound. Can we have a choice please? Of 'Arhh...' or 'Hurr' (bah, the sick bucket for that one. I don't like the latter but it's been given to all my tanks rolled so far. Can we please /taunt 1 or 2 please? It seems to be linked to body type..? Azrael.