No Love for Spines?

[EndOla]

I have never really had a Tank in all my years in CoX. I had a brute a long time ago which never go very far and an Inv/SS tank that got to about 35 or so on Live. That's it. Spines interests me. Looking through the tanker forum I don't see a lot of love going toward .../Spines. Why is that?

I want a tanker that I can run TFs and let the pain rain down on me and laugh in its face. Holding aggro is important for me as is the variety of attacks. I figured Dark/Spines would be fun, but my ignorance is massive on tankers, thus I'm asking for help. I don't need to be the most Min/Max built tanker, but I want to be a mini-beast... 

Please gift me with your knowledge.

Cheers,

End

[Force Redux]

I only have experience with Spines on my stalker... On tankers it will lose out on single target damage, but who cares? Quills is great for what tankers do best - keeping aggro and whittling down groups. 

 

Spines didn't offer much in terms of mitigation, which is why it's more popular IMO on brutes and stalkers, who aim more for damage than invincibility. So your survival is more heavily leveraged by your Primary. 

 

I think it would do very well with most Primaries, but special attention to any with damage auras and a strong self heal... Such as Dark. Do be aware that Dark is an End hog and really shines with IO investment. But I think it would be a solid combo. Certainly has some old school roots.

[ATM Machine]

Good info there.  "End hog" is something I do not want. To mix new and old, Bio or Rad with Spines would work.  Either one is a good pair based on theme. 

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by ATM Machine

[Sovera]

24 minutes ago, EndOla said:

I have never really had a Tank in all my years in CoX. I had a brute a long time ago which never go very far and an Inv/SS tank that got to about 35 or so on Live. That's it. Spines interests me. Looking through the tanker forum I don't see a lot of love going toward .../Spines. Why is that?

I want a tanker that I can run TFs and let the pain rain down on me and laugh in its face. Holding aggro is important for me as is the variety of attacks. I figured Dark/Spines would be fun, but my ignorance is massive on tankers, thus I'm asking for help. I don't need to be the most Min/Max built tanker, but I want to be a mini-beast... 

Please gift me with your knowledge.

Cheers,

End

Tried it, didn't like the sloooow animations. You get the same AoE and better ST and a heal just by using Rad Melee.

 

Dark Armor is a bit like Spines and got left behind by the newer sets. Rad Armor has a little cousin of Dark Regen in Radiation Therapy and instead of being an endurance hog it's an endurance faucet.

 

I'm biased by Fire/Claws is my baby and I've yet to find a more well rounded build. Immense damage straight from level 20 (exemped to 15) and sturdy. Though not as sturdy as something like Rad Armor.

[ATM Machine]

More good info.  I tend to like being a bit different, so if I went Rad/ xxx what would be a less common secondary that is still effective?

 

My first ever character was Regen/Katana scrapper back when Regen was godly.  I loved the fast animation and the animations themselves, something with that flash and speed that still works well would be cool.  And as always a huge weapon is cool.

[ATM Machine]

I ended up going with a DM/Rad brute. I'm only level 10.  The question is, will that pairing work better as a Tank? 

 

Reroll or stay the course? 

 

[Haijinx]

On 8/22/2020 at 5:52 PM, Sovera said:

Tried it, didn't like the sloooow animations. You get the same AoE and better ST and a heal just by using Rad Melee.

 

Dark Armor is a bit like Spines and got left behind by the newer sets. Rad Armor has a little cousin of Dark Regen in Radiation Therapy and instead of being an endurance hog it's an endurance faucet.

 

I'm biased by Fire/Claws is my baby and I've yet to find a more well rounded build. Immense damage straight from level 20 (exemped to 15) and sturdy. Though not as sturdy as something like Rad Armor.

What would Rad/Claws look like I wonder.

[Haijinx]

4 hours ago, ATM Machine said:

I ended up going with a DM/Rad brute. I'm only level 10.  The question is, will that pairing work better as a Tank? 

 

Reroll or stay the course? 

 

Any combo that uses a non standard dmg buff is potentially better on a tank due to the scale differences.

 

 

[ATM Machine]

What exactly is a "nonstandard dmg buff"?

 

I already rerolled as a Tank. Dark Monkey is reborn better and stronger!!!

Edited August 24, 2020 by ATM Machine

[marcussmythe]

The problem with Spines is that Rad Melee exists.  Spines was always a solid AOE set, but unless your schtick is drippy spikes, Rad will fit more concepts.  It is also a better AOE damage set - Spines gets a ranged attack and a nice big cone, but thats not enough draw for some people.

 

The problem with Dark Armor is that Radiation Armor exists.  Both solid resist sets, but one gets huge end costs and two semi-counterproductive toggles, while the other gets end income, absorb shields, and pocket nukes.  Dark Armor might be theoretically tougher, but Rad also has a great self heal and just brings more to the table.

 

Power Creep was a thing, and by the end it was a serious thing.  Newer sets seem to often invalidate older sets if they have the same tasks.

Edited August 24, 2020 by marcussmythe

[Haijinx]

On 8/23/2020 at 9:28 PM, ATM Machine said:

What exactly is a "nonstandard dmg buff"?

 

I already rerolled as a Tank. Dark Monkey is reborn better and stronger!!!

Sets that don't have build-up, but some other mechanic that is up longer / provides a larger average dmg buff. 

 

Super Strength and Rage being the big one 

Dark Melee and Soul Drain is another 

 

On the flipside something like Titan Weapons which gets a punier Build-up would probably favor Brutes, except TW is best on Scrappers so it doesn't matter. 

[aethereal]

15 hours ago, Haijinx said:

Sets that don't have build-up, but some other mechanic that is up longer / provides a larger average dmg buff. 

 

Super Strength and Rage being the big one 

Dark Melee and Soul Drain is another 

 

On the flipside something like Titan Weapons which gets a punier Build-up would probably favor Brutes, except TW is best on Scrappers so it doesn't matter. 

Claws and Kin Melee also have nonstandard build-ups.  I'd expect claws to be a pretty good Tank set partially because of that.  Kin Melee seems like it suffers in trying to find a place anywhere.

[Haijinx]

10 hours ago, aethereal said:

Claws and Kin Melee also have nonstandard build-ups.  I'd expect claws to be a pretty good Tank set partially because of that.  Kin Melee seems like it suffers in trying to find a place anywhere.

Yeah Kin is only good on Stalkers it seems

 

Also any Secondary with a +DMG component would also be included.  Fire/ , Bio/ ..etc

 

Not necessarily better overall damage than the Brute just that the If the difference between Brutes and Tankers would normally be X, the difference becomes smaller if a DMG buff is included due to the tankers now much higher scale. 

 

Making the Tanker relatively better off. 

 

Applies to Scrappers too. 

[Xandyr]

I made a rad/spines tank (and took Soul Mastery for my epic just to have Darkest Night).

 It performs very well, and holds aggro good. Of course, it can depend on how you slot your powers as to how well you survive.