What is the most fun tank combo you have played and why?

[Infinitum]

Just for fun, and informational, wanted to see what you guys had to say.

 

For me it's Shield/Elec - because it's nigh unkillable and massive AOE burst damage that literally gives you a sense what it must feel like to be like Zeus or Thor.

[Bopper]

I actually have fun with my Stone/SS/Soul, as it is somewhat unconventional as a proc monster in a damage/recharge neutered primary. But it has durability, it has AoE damage, it recharges fast, so it's fun.

[Redlynne]

The only Tanker that I've played with Incarnate slots was a Level 50 Ice/Ice/Arctic Tanker on Virtue ... who deprived 7 other Tankers of aggro on a Tanker Tuesday ITF run (and I did warn them ahead of starting that was going to happen).  They simply couldn't believe me when I told them up front that my build "inhales aggro like a wind tunnel" and they were all like "yeah yeah, sure sure" ... and then when we started playing they discovered that NONE of them could pull ANY aggro off me.

 

8 Tankers on the team ... and ALL of the aggro, from start to finish, was entirely MINE ... on an Imperius Task Force.

 

And when we finished ... they still couldn't believe the performance I'd gotten out of my Ice/Ice/Arctic Tanker, who I played more like a Brute than like a Tanker (meaning, VERY aggressively!).

[Sir Myshkin]

Ice Armor/Stone Melee/Soul, Unstoppable Aggro Magnet with Soft Control. It may not be winning the damage race, but it puts things in lockdown pretty hard core, and is incredibly difficult to kill on just SO's alone. Give it Incarnates and Procs and you're looking at a raw monster.

 

Side tangent: I have noticed that the changes to Gauntlet and how AoE Taunt (Punchvoke) is proliferated more effectively in application has made it possible for non-Ice Tankers to pull--or at least keep--aggro away me. I am actually somewhat disturbed by this fact as I took it as a bit of pride in being able to strip all aggro.

Edited March 8, 2020 by Sir Myshkin
clarity on taunting

[NEW DAWN]

The more immortal I am the duller the game, games are fine if I am challenged to come up with something, perhaps a dynamic the team have never implemented before based on whatever the pug is made out off, it's good when someone on another character suddenly has some sex appeal no one ever knew before. Every character must play differently. As a dark armour going from nigh 0 health to full health in every spawn really knocked my socks off, next came fire.

 

[Gauntlet_Prime]

The tank I am currently running has been the funnest one for me I have ever had.  Dark/Savage sitting at 32 that has been an absolute gem to play.  I never played dark armor because I had always heard it was so end starved that you had to plan heavily for it but it has been surprisingly easy to deal with.  Perf Shifter and the +End proc in the heal and single basic IO in each toggle has made it unnoticeable.  Also stacking up bloodlust gives about a SO worth of end redux.  I leveled with mostly Shred and the damage aura on -1/x3 and found the XP was flying and to me single-handedly taking on armies and slashing them all down felt great.

 

Just a big mean AoE hound.  I love him.

[wheresmycow]

I'm split between my Rad/TW and SD/DM.  Rad/TW just feels godly with survivability and damage, but as I level up my SD/DM, I can appreciate the fact that almost nothing hits me and whatever does gets healed.

[Pzn]

I'm really enjoying my Dark/fire tanker as an AoE proc machine.  Dark regen is in a perfect sweet spot for procs with it's recharge time and set options.  My build has enough tohit and accuracy bonuses to hit +4s at 95% while slotting all my attacks 4 procs/2 dmg.  It still has a decent amount of global recharge and it's plenty survivable.  The only holes in the resistances are toxic and energy.  I use kinetic dampener from the p2w vendor to cover energy resistances when I need them.  I think that sacrificing heal IOs in dark regen for procs is a good tradeoff.  You spam the power more often as an AoE attack so you are constantly topping off your health.  The recharge is still plenty fast even without slotting any in it.

 

The procs in combustion and fire sword circle seem to go off at a very high rate.  They both have a moderately long recharge and a 10 foot radius so they come out strong with the PPM formula.  The tanker radius buff is applied after the fact so you have 2 AoEs procing at the rate of a 10 ft AoE hitting targets in a 15 ft radius.

 

I had to make some really weird slotting choices in order to get sufficient accuracy and recharge bonuses.  I ran out of things to slot useful sets in because so many powers are filled with procs.  So I had to get creative and slot brawl and boxing with purples.

 

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Tanker
Primary Power Set: Dark Armor
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Melee
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Death Shroud -- Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(3), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), Arm-Acc/Rchg(5), Arm-Dmg(5)
Level 1: Scorch -- SprMghoft-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg(7), SprMghoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprMghoft-Rchg/Res%(11)
Level 2: Dark Embrace -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(15), UnbGrd-Max HP%(17)
Level 4: Combustion -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(17), ScrDrv-Dam%(19), Erd-%Dam(19), Obl-%Dam(21), PrfZng-Dam%(21)
Level 6: Obsidian Shield -- ResDam-I(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(23)
Level 8: Murky Cloud -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(23)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 12: Cloak of Darkness -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), DefBuff-I(25), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(25), Rct-ResDam%(27), Ksm-ToHit+(27)
Level 14: Boxing -- AbsAmz-Stun(A), AbsAmz-Stun/Rchg(29), AbsAmz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(29), AbsAmz-EndRdx/Stun(31), AbsAmz-ToHitDeb%(31)
Level 16: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), StdPrt-ResKB(33), ResDam-I(50)
Level 18: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), DefBuff-I(31)
Level 20: Build Up -- GssSynFr--Build%(A)
Level 22: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(33)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 26: Dark Regeneration -- ScrDrv-Dam%(A), Erd-%Dam(33), Obl-%Dam(34), ThfofEss-+End%(34), TchoftheN-%Dam(34), PrfZng-Dam%(36)
Level 28: Fire Sword Circle -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(36), PrfZng-Dam%(36), Erd-%Dam(37), Arm-Dam%(37), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(37)
Level 30: Tactics -- ToHit-I(A)
Level 32: Taunt -- Taunt-I(A)
Level 35: Incinerate -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(39), Mk'Bit-Dam%(39), TchofDth-Dam%(39), PrfZng-Dam%(40), GldStr-%Dam(40)
Level 38: Greater Fire Sword -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(40), TchofDth-Dam%(42), PrfZng-Dam%(42), Hct-Dam%(42), GldStr-%Dam(43)
Level 41: Gloom -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(43), CldSns-%Dam(43), GldJvl-Dam%(45), Apc-Dam%(45)
Level 44: Dark Obliteration -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(45), JvlVll-Dam%(46), Ann-ResDeb%(46), PstBls-Dam%(46), CldSns-%Dam(48)
Level 47: Soul Tentacles -- GrvAnc-Immob/Rchg(A), GrvAnc-Acc/Immob/Rchg(48), GrvAnc-Acc/Rchg(48), GrvAnc-Immob(50), GrvAnc-Hold%(50)
Level 49: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Hct-Dmg/Rchg(A), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), Hct-Acc/Rchg(13), Hct-Dmg(13), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(15)
Level 1: Gauntlet
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany
------------



 

 

 

[Heraclea]

I can vouch for:

 

Invulnerability/Dark Melee - all the survivability of Granite, none of the drawbacks.

 

Bio Armor/Spines - you just stand there and mobs die.

 

Willpower/Mace - Now that aggro auras have been equalized, this brings a lot of soft control.  I took Quicksand and Salt Crystals on the character, which bring useful debuffs.

 

Shield/Fire - another DPS tanker. 

[Vulgaris]

Dark/Ice for sure.  Between your auras and ice slick nobody gets to hit you- and when they do hit you it's still not a big deal.

[Chazcon]

Shield Defense / War Mace. Great survivability and crowd control. Thematically it feels medieval, and I have played a tank in every game since 2001 in Asheron's Call. So it's a strong tank build and fits me very well. Very fun.

 

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1582&c=710&a=1420&f=HEX&dc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

[Cutter]

Non-answer: all of them!

 

Of the ones I play most*:

• Elec/Staff is stylish, and is my go-to for exemping down for the lower level TFs because she basically can't be end drained.
• Fire/Ice is just plain fun. I missed out on the unbounded aggro/burn cap heyday, but even now Frost>Burn>Frozen Aura does a number on things. And Ice Patch is Ice Patch.
• Rad/Fire feels immortal and does solid damage. And he's a cow.
• Ice/Spines is an aggro magnet when I really want to have it all. And he's a frog.
• Bio/Stone has wicked crowd control with all the knockdowns, and the screen-shaking hits are satisfying. Honestly feels like what Super Strength should (ooh controversial!).
• Shield/Savage for the teleporting goodness (when he gets there, so close!), and the spiked shield option adds to the visceral visuals of Savage.

*got a few others in the wings, but they're either too low or don't get enough use to really have made a strong impression.

[Gauntlet_Prime]

Oh and thematically i love Sky Splitter, my WP/Elec tanker.  He shows up in a blast of golden lightning like a god!  That one always feels good.  Functionally there isn't a ton of synergy but it feels good.

[Walkabout]

Stone Armor / Kinetic Melee

 

1. The animations are HILAAAAAAARIOUS

2. Stone Armor is awesome and no one will convince me otherwise, even if they're right

3. Kinetic Melee is awesome too!

4. When you take this combo into PvP, you will never die. You will also never get a single kill, but you will be a brick wall that steals people's damage

5. Did I mention the animations are hilarious?

[Outback]

Just now, Walkabout said:

Stone Armor / Kinetic Melee

 

1. The animations are HILAAAAAAARIOUS

2. Stone Armor is awesome and no one will convince me otherwise, even if they're right

3. Kinetic Melee is awesome too!

4. When you take this combo into PvP, you will never die. You will also never get a single kill, but you will be a brick wall that steals people's damage

5. Did I mention the animations are hilarious?

Also on this list:

 

Stone/Spines

Stone/Staff

Stone/Martial Arts

[Solarverse]

On 3/8/2020 at 12:24 AM, Infinitum said:

Just for fun, and informational, wanted to see what you guys had to say.

 

For me it's Shield/Elec - because it's nigh unkillable and massive AOE burst damage that literally gives you a sense what it must feel like to be like Zeus or Thor.

Ice/Ice all the way for me. There just is no other Tank combo that I have found as fun as that. My Ice/Ice Tank is built as tough as you can make one, by far not the toughest Tank on the market, but he was fun from level 1 all the way to 50 and beyond, and even though I know he is not always the best Tank for the job, he surpasses all other Tanks on the market in terms of fun.

[Solarverse]

On 3/8/2020 at 1:57 AM, Sir Myshkin said:

Ice Armor/Stone Melee

That is one great Tank, no matter if you pick an Epic or not. Good pick, man.

[biostem]

On 3/8/2020 at 1:57 AM, Sir Myshkin said:

Ice Armor/Stone Melee

I had one of these back on live, named "Glacial Gauntlet".  He was quite fun to play!

[Call Me Awesome]

Well, I've played a LOT of tanks over the years and I think about 7 or 8 of them made it to 50.  My favorite is still my very first level 50 character and namesake, Call Me Awesome.  He's an Invuln/Stone Melee tanker with fantastic durability and great aggro management abilities.

 

Is he the most damaging tanker I've played?  No, that probably is a tossup between my Fire/Fire and Shield/Fire tankers.  The most durable?  No, he's edged out by my Stone/Fire tanker, but he has none of the drawbacks of a Stone tank.  What he is is a mobile, nigh-unkillable character with great aggro control thanks to a good aura and two AOE attacks, Fault & Tremor.  Toss in a couple of procs and Fault becomes a nice damage power as well.

 

Invuln/Stone is a pretty rare combination; there's not much more than 20 of them around at level 50.  It works very well however and it's my all time favorite tank.

[Mopery]

Just got my first tank on HC to lvl 50 and IO'd her, a Dark/Electric on Excelsior named Monster Magnet, and it's the most fun I've ever had on a tank.

 

The synergy between Dark Armor and Electric Melee revolves around keeping most of the group perma-stunned, and then perma-flopped(through multiple aoe KDs). It also helps that BU + Lightning Rod hits like a Mack truck as often as it's up(Gaussian Proc in BU). With 90% resists to all but Energy and Toxic(both 60%+) and near Incarnate soft-cap Melee Defense(58.5ish%) plus near perma-Hasten(perma when FF proc in Lightning Clap goes off a couple times) if they can't kill me in 10 seconds, I don't die.

Edited March 20, 2020 by Mopery
Things and stuff...

[Caulderone]

31 minutes ago, Mopery said:

With 90% resists to all but Energy and Toxic(both 60%+) and near Incarnate soft-cap Melee Defense(58.5ish%) plus near perma-Hasten(perma when FF proc in Lightning Clap goes off a couple times) if they can't kill me in 10 seconds, I don't die.

I'd like to see that build.

[oOStaticOo]

My favorite is a tie between my Elec/TW and Elec/Kat.  Both have 90% resists to everything but Neg En and Toxic.  TW has more AoE goodness, while Katana just mows stuff down fast.  Super fun builds to play.

[Myrmidon]

Willpower/Kinetic Melee. All of the range attacks are excellent for proving gauntlet at a distance and, more importantly, it looks like MCU spell casting. Proving the set works out as well.

[Psyonico]

so, this is kinda dumb, but my favorite tank is WP/Mace with the shovel weapon... just because I like smacking things around with a shovel.

 

He's also really tanky, sitting over 90% resist to S/L and over 45% def to F/C/N/E.

[MrAxe]

Shield/Psi Melee. Shield gives me one of my favourite attacks and another costume piece to customise (plus the 'C' on the Council shield matches very nicely with my main's name). Psi Melee is a personal thing because telekinetic powers are my favourite type. Now my tier 9 AoE has had its damage buffed to useful levels and the cone is wider, all the real flaws of the set are gone. Still I do mourn the loss of AoE Insight Strike though.