A Newbie in need of assistance

[Insomm]

Hello there!

I started playing CoX just a few months back when I found out about Homecoming through Strippin's stream. Having never played the game previously, I have run into countless walls.

For a few weeks I played a lot, and I mean, A LOT. I have a couple characters in the 30s and several others that range from teens into the 20s. Truth is, I leveled mostly through grinding DFB and (getting carried in) radio missions later on.

The one thing I wanted to try the most, however, is a tank. I have attempted it multiple times, but I just can't seem to figure it out.

I have spent countless hours reading guides in the old forums through the wayback machine, the wiki, and some of the posts here, but I still seem to be stuck with the same problem I had before.

Today I created a Dark/WarM tank and decided to level by myself. I set notoriety to -1/x8 (after a few levels) and enjoyed the feel of slowly draining a mob of Arachnos soldiers through a few of the starting missions. As soon as I hit level 10, I went to a new contact who asked me to deal with some Skulls. While I could take several Arachnos previously, I feel like as much as 5 Skulls are a struggle for me.

 

While I think I have a grasp of enchantments (or at least what they stand for, IO sets, frankenslotting, etc), I think that might be what I am struggling with. I have seen people with level 20-30 characters tanking massive amounts of monsters in radio groups with ease, yet I can't seem to survive much past the alpha strike.

The one brute I did take into the 20s and went for radio missions roughly 3 months back would literally eat the alpha strike, die, and then get revived to do the same for the next pack of mobs. I know, I should've been running a Tanker from the beginning.

 

So here are my questions/TL;DR:

What is a good/simple tanker power setup for a complete newbie to the game with no resources for expensive IO slotting and lackluster knowledge of the game?

Are enhancements essentially the only thing that decides how good your character is, or are there other factors?

I am running my defensive auras, combat jumping, etc, but I am wondering if perhaps I should be placing more focus on my primary skills for tanking (picking every single one)?

Sorry for the slight wall of text

 

Edit - some spelling mistakes and one more question:

 

I have seen several posts talking about good single target/AoE power sets, but I can't find a good list of them (where as I found one covering def, res, and hybrid armors).
Is there any post that talks a bit about the strengths and weaknesses of all the damage sets for a tanker?

Edited September 10, 2019 by Insomm

[Shoulung]

To start, I think those people you watched handling large groups of mobs probably had their character funded by their level 50 farmers. If you right click on their portrait, click info, and scroll down to the bottom of the power tab, you’ll most likely see a ton of set bonuses. I found my work/dm tank pretty easy to level, though I tend to group a lot with tanks in general due to their lower FPS. Wp has a lot of survivability, and the life drain in dark shores up one of its weaknesses, the lack of a clickable heal. I personally run missions at-1/x1, just to move through them faster, because I’m trying to maximize merits to get my IOs faster. You might want to think about getting into summer blockbuster before it ends too, as a half hour nets you a random Overwhelming Force IO, which you can equip. Any extras you get you can sell for 5-10 mil on the auction house. 

[Justaris]

Dark Armor, while it has amazing potential at endgame with a fully realized build, is certainly not the most accessible Tanker primary starting out.    If you're looking for something you can dive right into, you might consider shelving your DA for a while and returning to it later when you're ready to create your superlative signature tank (and have the bankroll of influence to manage it without too much strain).    

 

In terms of primary powersets I would say Invulnerability and Shield Defense are good places to start.   They do well in lower levels, they don't require a lot of tinkering to do well in a majority of content, and you'll get a good sense for how to tank.     I personally prefer Dark Armor over both of them, but that's with a carefully considered Invention-based build.   

 

What makes Dark so good is the combination of insanely powerful heal in Dark Regeneration, good Resistances in the toggles, and above-average Defense for a Resistance-based powerset allowing for leveraging of both Defense and Resistance to high degree with a careful build.     For reference, Resistance is damage reduction upon being hit while Defense is reduction in the chance of being hit.  Layering both, and the game's most powerful heal on top of that, and you've got a mighty Tanker indeed.    However, Dark Armor also has a high endurance cost in its toggles (particularly Cloak of Fear and Death Shroud) and lacks knockback protection in its status effect immunity powers - these are both things you must build around and compensate for, otherwise you will struggle.   These can both be entirely remedied with Inventions, but out of the box it's a problem.   

 

If you want to stick it out with Dark Armor, I encourage you to do so, and I'd be happy to help you fine-tune your build, just want you to know what you're in for.

 

In terms of secondary powersets, there are some that offer synergy of one kind or another with the primary powerset and others that just offer variations in damage type or position.    Many of the weapon sets (specifically Broadsword, Katana, Martial Arts, Titan Weapons and Staff Fighting) offer powers that boost Defense - this makes your task building Defense with Inventions that much easier.      Some powersets offer ways to help manage endurance - Electrical Blast offers some mild endurance drain, while Dark Melee offers a much stronger endurance drain in Dark Consumption which works similarly to Dark Regeneration but for endurance instead of health.    Staff Fighting also offers an endurance discount, another means to arrive at a similar end.    

 

For a Tanker, you'll want to look for utility powers like those I've outlined above that synergize well with your primary powerset.     Failing that, look at the secondary effect - every powerset has an effect added to its attacks and you'll ideally want one that's useful.   -Resistance is a good all-around effect as it functions as a damage boost not just for you but for your entire team.    Slows can be useful to reduce the volume of incoming damage and keep enemies clustered around you more easily.    

[biostem]

So a few notes:

 

Many enemies from the Skulls faction use dark attacks, which debuff your tohit chance, thereby making you whiff a lot, and if you have any AoE powers that normally buff you, since they'll miss more often, you won't benefit from them as much.  Second, since tanks generally lack in the damage department, you'd be better off sticking to a more normal setup for missions - especially since war mace lacks a lot of AoE damage.  Also, and unless I've misunderstood what you wrote, are you trying to run these missions solo?  If so, what exactly are you "tanking" - there's no team to protect and no one backing you up.  I'd suggest rolling a brute or scrapper, if that's what you want.  Otherwise, grab a few teammates who can bring damage and buffs/debuffs, to make your questing more enjoyable.  Cheers!

[Insomm]

10 minutes ago, Shoulung said:

You might want to think about getting into summer blockbuster before it ends too

They might have been twinked toons, you are right. This was over 3 months ago, so I am unsure.

Would you mind elaborating on this summer blockbuster thing?

 

 

8 minutes ago, Justaris said:

If you want to stick it out with Dark Armor, I encourage you to do so, and I'd be happy to help you fine-tune your build, just want you to know what you're in for.

I appreciate the offer, but I will try and drop the character for now and return to it later. Although I quite liked the character concept, I have several others sitting waiting to get a chance.
Turns out I just got what might be a perfect Inv/Katana character.
Do you think that would work out decently for someone starting out and running crappy SO setups?
Also, would this be a set that I might look into getting medicine for a heal other than dull pain?

And is it a set I can invest into getting perma hasten/dull pain in the future? (I read a lot, but I cant gauge how hard most of it is to attain)
 

18 minutes ago, biostem said:

Also, and unless I've misunderstood what you wrote, are you trying to run these missions solo?

You did not misunderstand me.

I didn't want to get into a group just to go down over and over again (did that 3 months ago and led to a quick disband). So I thought I would get a feel for it first, and move onto the actual thing a bit later.
The -ToHit might be why I felt like I was healing much less with Dark Regeneration...

Initially I feel like Death Shroud+Dark Regeneration was doing enough that it felt like I had some AoE, but that quickly went away. I will keep that in mind for the future.
I will probably look into making a Brute at some point in my career since they seem to be the go-to farmers, but that is a plan for a distant future 😛

[biostem]

4 minutes ago, Insomm said:

You did not misunderstand me.

I didn't want to get into a group just to go down over and over again (did that 3 months ago and led to a quick disband). So I thought I would get a feel for it first, and move onto the actual thing a bit later.
The -ToHit might be why I felt like I was healing much less with Dark Regeneration...

Initially I feel like Death Shroud+Dark Regeneration was doing enough that it felt like I had some AoE, but that quickly went away. I will keep that in mind for the future.
I will probably look into making a Brute at some point in my career since they seem to be the go-to farmers, but that is a plan for a distant future

Thanks for the clarification.  How are you slotted?  If you aren't running any tohit buff powers, like tactics, you'll probably want the equivalent of 3 acc SOs in any power you need to hit vs enemies that are higher level or applying tohit debuffs on you.  Going back to the character you mentioned - war mace excels at single target damage, so perhaps focus on fewer higher level enemies...

[Justaris]

11 minutes ago, Insomm said:

They might have been twinked toons, you are right. This was over 3 months ago, so I am unsure.

Would you mind elaborating on this summer blockbuster thing?

 

 

I appreciate the offer, but I will try and drop the character for now and return to it later. Although I quite liked the character concept, I have several others sitting waiting to get a chance.
Turns out I just got what might be a perfect Inv/Katana character.
Do you think that would work out decently for someone starting out and running crappy SO setups?
Also, would this be a set that I might look into getting medicine for a heal other than dull pain?

And is it a set I can invest into getting perma hasten/dull pain in the future? (I read a lot, but I cant gauge how hard most of it is to attain)

 

Summer Blockbuster is an seasonal event currently going on which is queued using the LFG tool (similar to Death from Below), and gives special IOs from the Overwhelming Force set which are not available any other way.    If the event is turned off, they will only be available from other players on the Auction House and may become more expensive due to scarcity.    This particular set is popular because it contains an IO that converts Knockback to Knockdown, although that can also be achieved using the Sudden Acceleration set which is less difficult to get.   

 

Inv/Katana should work just fine, just make sure to use Divine Avalanche liberally as soon as you get it to boost your Defense.     You should do fine on SOs and you can gradually transition to generic IOs for minimal cost as you level up into the 30s or so.     Dull Pain is pretty strong and between the Resistances in the toggles generally, the Defense from Invincibility and Dull Pain it's unlikely that Medicine will be necessary.    If you don't feel tough enough you'd probably get more mileage from Tough & Weave in the Fighting pool, and just carry extra green inspirations.      Hasten is useful for most builds and getting perma is more a matter of stacking Recharge bonuses than a factor of any particular powerset.    So yes, certainly possible.   

 

Inventions, which is a more complex topic in an of itself, is mainly about stacking similar small bonuses to get a large net effect.     Broadly speaking, it's common to build for recharge reduction (leading to perma of click powers such as Hasten) or to build for Defense.    Depending on what values you're starting from in your particular powersets, there's usually some opportunity cost in pursuing one goal over another.   For instance, you might build for perma-Hasten by stacking many Set Bonuses giving recharge reduction, but then not have enough slots left over to meaningfully bolster Defense in the same build.   There are other goals you can stack for as well, of course, those are just two of the most common.

Edited September 11, 2019 by Justaris
For clarification

[Shoulung]

Summer blockbuster is an event trial you get into through the lfg tab. It requires 4 people to run, so smaller than the usual TF. You have to be at least 15 to join one, but gets easier in your late 20s when you get some initial IOs slotted. It’s fun and takes about a half hour to clear. As far as inv/katana there is some nice synergy there with the +def in some katana attacks bridging the gap to def cap until you get your IO sets.

[Insomm]

2 minutes ago, biostem said:

How are you slotted? ... Going back to the character you mentioned - war mace excels at single target damage, so perhaps focus on fewer higher level enemies...

I was running no +ToHit and I had 0-1 accuracy enhancements on most of my powers. Sounds like I definitely need to prioritize those a little more...
I'm most likely going to be trying out some different setup, but I think fewer higher level enemies might be something I should keep in mind regardless!
As a side question, are there any good AoE tanker primaries/secondaries?

 

 

5 minutes ago, Justaris said:

Summer Blockbuster is...

 

Inv/Katana should work just fine... Hasten is useful for most builds and getting perma is more a matter of stacking Recharge bonuses than a factor of any particular powerset.    So yes, certainly possible. 

Ah, that makes sense! I think I remember seeing some of those on Mid's before.

I will give that setup a go then, and follow the recommendations. Hopefully it goes a little smoother.
Also, even though I have read plenty to know what IOs look like, how they work, and what they do, I am still a little unsure about how exactly to get my hands on them (other than AH). They seem to be crafts, am I correct? So I need a "recipe" and Invention Salvages? I might need to find something that explains that a little more in-depth.

Sounds like I will have plenty of options for the build if I take it to end-game then. That's got me excited!

 

12 minutes ago, Shoulung said:

Summer blockbuster is an event trial you get into through the lfg tab. It requires 4 people to run, so smaller than the usual TF. You have to be at least 15 to join one, but gets easier in your late 20s when you get some initial IOs slotted. It’s fun and takes about a half hour to clear. As far as inv/katana there is some nice synergy there with the +def in some katana attacks bridging the gap to def cap until you get your IO sets.

I will take a look at the summer blockbuster then! Might dust off one of the older characters to do it...
Time to give those power sets a try and hope I don't butcher it 😛

[Justaris]

17 minutes ago, Shoulung said:

As far as inv/katana there is some nice synergy there with the +def in some katana attacks bridging the gap to def cap until you get your IO sets.

Specifically the power Divine Avalanche, which you'll want to use a truly ridiculous amount of the time.

[biostem]

46 minutes ago, Insomm said:

I was running no +ToHit and I had 0-1 accuracy enhancements on most of my powers. Sounds like I definitely need to prioritize those a little more...
I'm most likely going to be trying out some different setup, but I think fewer higher level enemies might be something I should keep in mind regardless!
As a side question, are there any good AoE tanker primaries/secondaries?

Yeah - definitely slot *at least* 2 acc SOs in attacks - 3 if you can spare the slots.  As for sets with a lot of AoEs, most develop that later on.  Stone melee, while not oustanding in any single area, does hit solidly and gets 2 solid AoEs in fault and tremor, (though many of the other attacks are slower in both animations and recharge).  Street justice is a very fluid set with some great attacks and secondary effects to the powers, (though keep an eye on what builds combo points and what expend them).

 

As for armor sets, there are some really neat ones, but a lot depends upon whether you want to go simple or more complex.  Bio Armor has a power, (Adaptation), which grants 3 mutually exclusive toggles, with each causing your other armor powers to gain new effects.  It's not the highest in any particular area, but you can dynamically adjust the powers to your (and your team's) needs.  Radiation armor, while being more straightforward, has some great buffs and utility powers.  Shield defense is an excellent set, includes some buffs for your teammates, and has an great attack/opener in it.  I high recommend reading over the sets over at Paragon Wiki, (just be aware that the information there was from just before CoH shut down during its original run).

 

Best of luck!

Edited September 11, 2019 by biostem

[Shoulung]

I’d say 1-2 acc in each attack will be fine if you’re fighting level appropriate stuff. For group stuff, taunt is auto hit so you’re fine there.

[Sura]

Summer Blockbuster will not be going away.  They're leaving it available.  🙂

 

 

 

[tidge]

I was surprised by your choice (at level 10) to run a tank solo at -1/x8. Even with P2W attacks I feel that you will get a better rate of return (XP over time) by running a more standard difficulty.

 

I think it was casually mentioned that the enemies include a debuff that is effecting you. Keep in mind that every enemy has at least 1-in-20 chance of hitting you, no matter your defenses. At x8 they are getting more chances to hit, and while you only have 7 power choices and 10 slots to use.  You barely have gotten into territory where IOs and sets can help! Aside from some P2W enhancements and DFB bonuses (which may help with some debuffs) I don't think you have the tools right now to tank x8.

 

Most ATs start to 'feel' like the AT between 10 and 20. Levels 20-30 is when the enhancements really start to make your AT shine... and/or motivate the first Respec! After lvl 32 you can start focusing on the sets you want/need and ready yourself for end-build planning as the remaining power choices become limited but the number of slots increases. Wealthy toons can start earlier on IOs but when slots and powers are few that isn't a bigger advantage than having teammates.

 

Don't forget this adage: the build you level with is NOT your level 50 build. At lower levels you can do things that would be inexcusable in 50+ characters...for example, you may 3-slot Hasten until you have the recharge & attack chain you want. Hang in there!

[Insomm]

Alright, I thought I would give you guys a little update on my ventures thus far.

With a little more attention to my enhancements and what I was slotting, I was able to have a lot more success with my Inv/Katana tanker than any others I have had before. I am currently level 29 on him, but won't have much time to play today. During the leveling I let my enhancements go red for a while, which led me to repeatedly dying once again, only reminding me how important having those up is...

Currently I'm keeping it simple and going for 2-3 resist/defense DOs and 3 acc DOs on their respective slots. This method has already been eating up a good chunk of the inf I got throughout the leveling process.

 

The "goal" build I got on Mids' was based off of one of the 3.5k+ build database available in the forum. I dropped Build Up and Char (Pyre epic) in favor of Conserve Power and Physical Perfection (Energy epic). I just wanted to have a little bit of a regen feel on the side, specially because leveling with just Dull Pain as a heal has been a little rough thus far.

While I have no idea how realistic/optimized any of this is, or how expensive it would be; here's what I had:

 

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.1
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Tanker
Primary Power Set: Invulnerability
Secondary Power Set: Katana
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Temp Invulnerability

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
• (3) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP
• (3) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)
  

Level 1: Sting of the Wasp

• (A) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage
• (5) Superior Blistering Cold - Damage/Endurance
• (5) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (7) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (7) Superior Blistering Cold - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime
• (9) Superior Might of the Tanker - Recharge/Chance for +Res(All)
  

Level 2: Dull Pain

• (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal
• (9) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance
• (11) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime
• (11) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime
• (13) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance
• (13) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb
  

Level 4: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (40) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 6: Flashing Steel

• (A) Eradication - Accuracy/Recharge
• (15) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (17) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (17) Cleaving Blow - Accuracy/Damage
• (19) Cleaving Blow - Damage/Recharge
• (19) Cleaving Blow - Accuracy/Recharge
  

Level 8: Unyielding

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
• (21) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
• (21) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
• (23) Reactive Armor - Resistance
• (31) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance
  

Level 10: Dragon's Roar

• (A) Mocking Beratement - Taunt
• (23) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge
• (25) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge/Range
• (25) Mocking Beratement - Accuracy/Recharge
• (27) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Range
• (27) Mocking Beratement - Recharge
  

Level 12: Mystic Flight

• (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%)
  

Level 14: Maneuvers

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (29) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
• (29) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage
  

Level 16: Divine Avalanche

• (A) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage
• (31) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• (31) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (33) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (33) Superior Gauntleted Fist - RechargeTime/+Absorb
  

Level 18: Invincibility

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (33) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
  

Level 20: Arcane Bolt

• (A) Superior Winter's Bite - Damage/RechargeTime
• (34) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (34) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (34) Superior Winter's Bite - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime
• (36) Superior Winter's Bite - Recharge/Chance for -Speed & -Recharge
  

Level 22: Rune of Protection

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
• (36) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
• (36) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
• (37) Reactive Armor - Resistance
  

Level 24: Resist Physical Damage

• (A) Aegis - Resistance
• (42) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance
• (48) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance
• (48) Aegis - Resistance/Recharge
  

Level 26: Tough Hide

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (37) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
  

Level 28: The Lotus Drops

• (A) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage
• (37) Superior Avalanche - Damage/Endurance
• (39) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (39) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (39) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (40) Superior Avalanche - Recharge/Chance for Knockdown
  

Level 30: Resist Elements

• (A) Aegis - Resistance
• (46) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance
• (48) Aegis - Resistance/Recharge
  

Level 32: Resist Energies

• (A) Aegis - Resistance
• (46) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance
• (46) Aegis - Resistance/Recharge
  

Level 35: Soaring Dragon

• (A) Pounding Slugfest - Accuracy/Damage
• (42) Pounding Slugfest - Damage/Endurance
• (43) Pounding Slugfest - Damage/Recharge
• (43) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage
• (43) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (45) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 38: Conserve Power

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO
  

Level 41: Kick

• (A) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge
  

Level 44: Tough

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
• (45) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
• (45) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
• (50) Reactive Armor - Resistance
  

Level 47: Weave

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
• (50) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
  

Level 49: Physical Perfection

• (A) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
• (50) Numina's Convalesence - Heal
  

Level 1: Brawl

• (A) Accuracy IO
  

Level 1: Gauntlet

Level 1: Prestige Power Dash

 

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While I am having a tonne more fun now, I still constantly feel like I would be better off letting someone else tank. Yesterday I had someone offer to take lead as a Warshade (no idea what they even do) since they had all resists near capped, and I was constantly dropping to Succubi in one of the missions we went into (no resist elements yet, my F/C were somewhere in the teens... 13-15 maybe?).

Also, the Inv/Katana combo feels rather bland both on the character animation and skill effect spectrum. I am missing a little bit of punch with my attacks, or at least some AoE... While I have no plans of shelving the character yet, I will probably run something else alongside him to satisfy that craving. Progress will most likely slow down, but perhaps I will come back to it with more experience/inf to invest into it.

Thank you very much for all the replies!

[Shoulung]

I usually start slotting IOs at level 22, as it’s cheaper in the long run, and they’ll last you until 50. Lvl 25 IOs are the point at which they pass SOs in performance. You can create them at the university or in the vanguard office. There are videos on YouTube that’ll help explain how to make them. For money to make them, try selling your rare salvage on the AH.

[IronJuke]

Inv/Katana is pretty decent, I am liking it a lot.  Fast animations are the ticket. 

Suggest doing Radio missions to level up.   If you can't find one right away, then it's very easy to start one as they fill super up fast.

Plus it's very gratifying to be the Tank and help out.

 

Divine Avalanche is a decent Defensive Parry, so I slot if with Luck of the Gambler (or your choice of Defense)

You really need Build up, also it can take to hit buffs. 

 

Today I soloed the Patron Arc and respecced into Mu Mastery.  Energy Mastery was not very exciting.

Invincibility can take to-hit buffs as well, On tonight's respec, I gave it 6 slots, but that was mainly to get a full set of Reactive Defenses.

I am not sure why people slot out Taunt.  I never have enough slots to do that.  It seems to work fine for most situations using 1-2 slots.

Most people don't bother to slot out Sting of the Wasp.

Golden Dragon is pretty good, so I don't recommend not taking it, ussaully it's a finisher and the KB is not very annoying.

I never take Tough/Weave, I mean unless they are for Mule slots.  They are End hogs. 

Combat Jumping is a better choice for that.

I am putting Hecatomb in Soaring Dragon.

The sorcery power set won't help you much.  I would wager Unstoppable is a heck of a lot better than Rune of Protection.

It's great if you run out of end or get hit by a Sapper.  Although the crash can be a pain if you aren't paying attention.

You did a lot of slotting right in your build, like Dull Pain.

Anyway, Good Luck!

 

Edited October 3, 2019 by IronJuke