Really Stuck with Pairing Shield/

[Zeraphia]

So my goal is to make a very tanky tank yet damaging in AOE (I specifically care more about AOE than I do ST because there's lore and stuff to "get by.") I want to tank LR and iTrials, even if I used to use oranges occasionally to fill the gaps, that's ok. But I'm torn on the secondary I should choose...
Top contenders so far: 

War Mace (this can slot -res into its Shatter AOE and thus make it deal much higher ST spikes with Build Up also has the really good cone T9)

Super Strength (Has Foot Stomp and **RAGE** which can empower Mu Mastery very well...)

Dark Melee (This has Perma Soul Drain with high recharge and has great ST and will help with the healing to a defense-based set also would be able to still empower mu mastery's ball lightning and electrifying fences)

 

The question is, will Rage affecting Mu Mastery because its high DPA AOEs deal more damage than non-raged War Mace with Mu despite the great cone at the end?

Yes there is theoretically Assault Core for a pretty high 75% boost to damage half the time for Mace to makeup for lost rage and the higher potential with its base powers... But is it? Really want input/opinions.
I'm really really really torn between these two choices and I don't want to make a "bad" character.

Edited February 17, 2020 by 33053222

[Kaballah]

Everything pairs well with Shield, if AOE damage important to you then pick really just any set/epic combo that has a lot of AOE.  I gotta laugh at the idea one of these choices will be "bad", SD is as superb set and there isn't a wrong answer.

[Ironscarlet]

You cant go wrong with any  of them but out of all three I would go with Dark, for the heal and the 2 aoe u can proc out. SS toys can get to 415% damage with 2 rages and full against all odds but the crash might get your team wiped or sometimes you wiped rare but bad timing happens.  You can over invest in def but will sacrifice  resistance to do so for rage crash.  Dark you could also go  epic of your choice because your +end aoe.  The other 2 you might have to go energy mastery for physical perfection to help end problems or go incarnate but if you go incarnate  you will sacrifice damage. People do not relies shield is not endurance friendly at all.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Ironscarlet

[Call Me Awesome]

There's not really a bad pairing for Shield... well, except for the few that aren't available like Claws.  The top popular pics seem to be Electric, Fire and Broadsword.  I've played all of these, but admittedly only SD/Fire as a tanker, and all of them are quite effective.

 

Of the sets you've listed I've only played Dark Melee and that only into the upper 20's before abandoning it due to a lack of AOE.  I admit to a bias against SS, originally due to the fact that back in the old days it seemed like every other tank you saw was Inv/SS and later because I disliked the way Rage works.  While I haven't played Mace I had a friend with an Inv/Mace tank back in the issue 5-9 era and the set seemed quite effective albeit very endurance heavy.

[TungstenShark]

Not on your list, but what about Savage Melee? Has great AoE as well as ST goodness. Just a thought.

 

If you are sticking with one of three you listed, I like SS least of all just because of the harsh crash. Dark Melee would get my vote but War Mace looks even better following the Tanker changes.

Edited February 18, 2020 by TungstenShark

[KelvinKole]

While I don't personally love the set, I have to think Radiation Melee would pair pretty well. You'll add a self heal and damage aura, filling both of those "holes" in shield, on top of very good Aoe damage from atom smasher and the contamination effect being boosted by AAO. 

 

[Heraclea]

My shield tank is /Fire, which has fair AoE and non-smash/lethal damage, and looks good with the swords.  /Electric was a classic combo on old live, and also has multi target attacks.  Dark Melee will give you the heal you lack with Shields, but the AoE potential is limited and slow.  Radiation has a nice AoE and a less reliable self heal. 

[Infinitum]

The way to look at shield is, its at least top three in terms of survivability.

 

Then you get shield charge which is a great attack.

 

Then you get one with the shield which is an awesome t9.

 

Literally anything thats allowed is a good pairing with shield, and the correct way to slot it is to slot shield first and optimize it then build the attack around it. 

[ironjoe]

Like others have said nothing is really bad with shields. I love my SD/SS Tank and he does fine on iTrials and the only thing that touches him is LR but he can still tank that. 

 

I'd recommend creating your build on the test server and giving it a run to see how it feels and if you want to play through. I will say I have seen your Over the top defense build and it should be fairly good. On mine I didn't build for as much defense but all my resists are higher so I find that to be adequate when rage drops along with the damage mitigation of all the knockdown.  Or just build several alts and just have fun with them and not worry.