What to pair with SD...

[Kabuki]

To best, reliably solo, EB/AVs?

An earlier thread got me thinking of my old SD/SS tanker from live, and now I feel the need to remake them here and engage in one of my favorite CoH pastimes or seeing just how comic book-y I can feel by trying to square off against the biggest thing I can stumble across. But, since I hate doing the same thing twice, and I already have a few SS Tanks and Brutes, what set should I pair with SD to best accomplish my solo shenanigans goals?

Dark Melee is certainly up for consideration, as my main from live was a DM scrapper and it is still my favorite melee powerset.

Radiation Melee looks promising, but I haven't played with it yet.

Street Justice also looks promising, but I am not sure how it's damage output is as a Tanker.

Fiery and Ice Melee both look like they could be good sets to match up.

 

I have no idea as to whether Psi or Savage Melee would fit the bill either as I have not used either as yet in any form.

 

So great and wise council of tankiness, which of those sets would you recommend to best suit my goals of slapping on a trusty shield and trying to beat up anything I come across? Thanks.
 

 

The following are out of the running for one reason or another.
 

Electric Melee just turned out to be too slow on a Tanker for my tastes. The AOE is nice and it synergizes well with SD, but I just can't do that again.
Energy Melee is right out... I still remember when it was a thing of glory back on live. I do not think I have recovered yet from the loss.

The weapon sets are out because I have either a tank or brute with them already, and while fun they are not my favorites.

Kinetic Melee is just too underwhelming for me to deal with those animations again 😞

Obviously, all of the two handed sets are out, so no TW, DB, Claws, Staff, Spines or Katana.

Martial Arts just feels meh, like it was slowed down or something from live... or maybe my brain just remembers it faster.
Stone Melee is out of the running because I am working on it for another concept already.

[Call Me Awesome]

I’ve paired SD with Fire, Electric and Broadsword on various characters, all are good.  My SD tanker was fire, my scrapper was BS and my Stalker is Electric.  Whichever you choose you’ll get a good Tank

[Infinitum]

I'm pleasantly surprised with the damage of street justice. 

 

I built my Shield stj for theme, but honestly it outdoes SS in single target fairly easy without any of the drawbacks of rage.

[Erratic1]

I have a 50 Rad/Shield scrapper, so I can speak to how the combination feels. In short, think of glaciers--inexorable but not quick. The damage is great and the area splash and damage aura clear out trash handily. However it is not a zippy, quick, mash button wildly style of play. It's a ballroom waltz, not a tango.

 

The other thing about the combo is it is a bit endurance hungry. It is not the hungriest I have played but it is hungrier than average. My solution was to on top of slotting endurance reduction in every attack and full slotting Stamina was to slot Performance Shifter, Panacea, take Physical Perfection and slot Theft of Essence, which can mult-proc on a Contaminated hit.

[Seigmoraig]

Dark Melee is a great pairing for SD because it offers some healing ability. SD's only problem IMO is it's lack of healing and endurance, DM covers both of these. Both sets also offer some +dmg which is always nice to have on a Tanker

Edited November 14, 2019 by Seigmoraig

[Kabuki]

Thanks for the replies all.

Hmm, if Rad is slow, then it will likely be out for the same reason Electric Melee just isn't working for me... guess I have gotten impatient in my old age, but the ponderous sets, even with a great pay off, just sap some of the joy from me.

 

Street Justice and Dark Melee are both so appealing, on the one hand we have the crazy street ninja fu that I haven't played yet save on a Stalker, and on the other hand we have the tried and true Dark Melee, primary attack set of my very first 50 (and favorite character) on live, that I always thought would pair so well with SD.

Decisions decisions!

[Seigmoraig]

10 minutes ago, CosmicDreamShade said:

Street Justice and Dark Melee are both so appealing, on the one hand we have the crazy street ninja fu that I haven't played yet save on a Stalker, and on the other hand we have the tried and true Dark Melee, primary attack set of my very first 50 (and favorite character) on live, that I always thought would pair so well with SD.

Looks like you need to roll 2 new toons XD
My first pick when the tanker changes hit will be a DM/SD for sure !

Edited November 14, 2019 by Seigmoraig

[Kabuki]

Yeah, Dark Melee is like an addiction... you want to quit it for something else, something flashy or smashy or bright... but then it works so well, it protects you, it heals you, it wraps around you like a warm snuggly blanket of the abyss, and you just can't let it go. And it really pairs so well with the Defense based sets (I have a DM/SR scrapper currently) because it has those built in heal and endurance recovery powers as options.

[Heraclea]

Shield also supplies Dark Melee's chief deficiency, the lack of relatively quick recharging and hard hitting AoEs.  And of course its -Tohit is the mirror image of Defense, so the synergy between the two is strong. 

[Infinitum]

10 hours ago, CosmicDreamShade said:

Thanks for the replies all.

Hmm, if Rad is slow, then it will likely be out for the same reason Electric Melee just isn't working for me... guess I have gotten impatient in my old age, but the ponderous sets, even with a great pay off, just sap some of the joy from me.

 

Street Justice and Dark Melee are both so appealing, on the one hand we have the crazy street ninja fu that I haven't played yet save on a Stalker, and on the other hand we have the tried and true Dark Melee, primary attack set of my very first 50 (and favorite character) on live, that I always thought would pair so well with SD.

Decisions decisions!

if you go shield and street justice, pair it with ageless radial for destiny and you wont need a heal, ever.  use mighty radial for the judgement and its an awesome combo with street justice and shield.

 

pop combat readiness shield charge the mob, crushing uppercut before readiness and combat level drops will ko the boss then finish the mob off with mighty radial.   if they could bottle that it would be awesomesauce.

[Call Me Awesome]

I'll agree that Street Justice should work quite well, I only played it on a StJ/Invuln scrapper on Live but it's a great set and who doesn't like kicking a bad guy in the balls?