The Best Tank in the Game is a Bio Armor Stalker

[jackalcoh]

I've discovered (by accident, just playing) that the best, most powerful tank in the game is a Bio Armor Stalker.

My stalker never gets hit.  I mean never gets hit.  I did a TF the other night and I would go several missions in a row and never get hit.  Not once.  And when I did get hit I took very little damage.

Also ran a couple games with a dedicated tank, and we had multiple total party kills.  Every died.. _EXCEPT ME_, I was up and running each time the tank and entire team had already been wiped... happened several times.

With the Bio Armor Stalker you can make a nearly unstoppable tank that also does extreme damage.

So I looked at the stats.  My Stalker has 11-50% on DEF, and 49% on  DMG RES (see stat screenshots).

So if you want to make a nearly unstoppable tank, make a the bio-armor stalker

 

[JnEricsonx]

I've done stuff with my Nin/Nin stalker where people ask me if I'm part tank.   Well, when my def is capped+extra def from the parry attack....maybe?

[Xanatos]

2088 maximum hit points means you're not tanking the hard stuff.

[Machariel]

regardless of how sturdy you can make /bio, the fact that the rest of the team died means it can't be the best tank, since even an invincible stalker can't hold aggro well enough >__>

[Apogee]

No Defense Debuff Resistance, no taunt, low HP, low Defense, low Resist Damage, High Damage output. Sounds like a DPS class, not a Tank

[Sif]

Plot twist: OP never took damage because they'd already ghosted to the boss/glowie and were waiting for the team to show up 😄

 

^{While Stalkers used to be total crap (despite how much I wanted to enjoy them), they're a joy to play these days, and like their Scrapper brethren can occasionally survive against all odds.}

[Crater Kate]

Oh man.

 

I don't know if this is trolling or not, but I am 100% taking the bait.

 

I haven't laughed this hard in a while.

Edited October 30, 2020 by Crater Kate

[Croax]

2 hours ago, jackalcoh said:

My Stalker has 11-50% on DEF, and 49% on  DMG RES (see stat screenshots).

[Luminara]

3 hours ago, jackalcoh said:

I did a TF the other night and I would go several missions in a row and never get hit.  Not once.  And when I did get hit I took very little damage.

Also ran a couple games with a dedicated tank, and we had multiple total party kills.  Every died.. _EXCEPT ME_, I was up and running each time the tank and entire team had already been wiped... happened several times.

 

You weren't being hit because the tank was tanking and support was buffing your Defense or debuffing the enemy ToHit, as well as your buffing your Resistance or debuffing the enemy Damage.

 

Tanking isn't just being in a fight, either.  Tanking is pulling aggro off of everyone else.  You've got no tools for that.  Tanks do.  Tankers, specifically, have it built into their archetype.  If they fart, it draws aggro.  Tankers and brutes also have Taunt, which pulls aggro.  Your archetype is designed to avoid or shed aggro, and you've got neither Gauntlet nor Taunt.  Tanking and shedding aggro are mutually exclusive.

 

Sorry, friend, but you're not a tank, you're just a damage dealer.  If you want to find out what tanking really is, respec into Provoke from the Presence pool.  Just don't try it on a team, because you'll go down harder and faster than a skydiver without a parachute, and you have a responsibility not to leave your teammates hanging like that if you advertise yourself as a tank.

[Lines]

Sorry to break it to you, but those numbers are kinda middling. One thing to account for is that Hide provides extra defence when not in combat, including that big boost to AoE Def. Everything else will drop (I think) that second 4.33%.

 

Good that you're having a great experience with it, though!

[Sovera]

Stalker is pretty okay, but Stalker /Bio is mediocre. You were not surviving due to the Bio part but because of the Stalker part. Stalkers have reduced agro that means the mobs will pretty much focus on everyone but the Stalker.

 

Glad you're having fun though, but don't try hard(er) content expecting to solo it by face tanking with Bio. The good news is that 'hard(er)' content means debuffs and only some factions do it. Cimerorians in the ITF will eat you alive and spit the bones, but Council are fine.

[Gulbasaur]

6 hours ago, Xanatos said:

2088 maximum hit points means you're not tanking the hard stuff.

I've tanked incarnate stuff on my widow. The bar is quite a lot lower than you might think.

[Carnifax]

Like people said : "I can survive in a fight" and "I can take the alpha" are nothing like "I can tank for the team" because once people start shooting you've no way to keep the aggro off the squishies and on you. And the lack of DDR means that you can very quickly see your Defenses stripped away (have a solo chat with a +4 Rune Soldier or a Carnie Ring Mistress with your Combat stats running and you'll see them rapidly strip it away). 

 

On a team being good enough just to absorb the alpha can be enough, if you have Support or Control behind you because they can very quickly neuter the spawn for you. Which is another point. Never think "I am totally amazing" because chances are the only reason you seem so unkillable is that there's a raft of Control & Debuffs being silently thrown in to support you and neutralize the enemies. 

 

[Omega-202]

Stalkers can be made beefy as hell, but the same build on a Tank, Scrapper or Brute will always be beefier, so the premise of this thread is wrong.  

 

But, congrats on finding out that Stalkers aren't the glass cannons so many people think they are.  A well built Stalker can have more than enough bulk to wade through most of the game's hardest content without breaking a sweat, but it's not beating a similarly built Tank.  

[Fan Mail]

Is this fake news?

[cranebump]

I say yin. Yin yin yin.

 

"Oh, yeah? Well, you're wrong, 'cuz it's yang. Yang yang yang."

 

YIN!

 

YANG!

 

YIN!

 

YANG!

 

"Hi there. You're BOTH right."

 

...

 

YIN! (etc., etc.,, etc.)

[Yomo Kimyata]

18 minutes ago, cranebump said:

I say yin. 

I Lost My Daddy!

[Gulbasaur]

58 minutes ago, Omega-202 said:

A well built Stalker can have more than enough bulk to wade through most of the game's hardest content without breaking a sweat, but it's not beating a similarly built Tank

It's also a bit of a challenge to maintain aggro on a stalker. It can be done, but it's something you have to actively maintain.

 

That said, I've had times where I've had to actively try and pull aggro off "tanks" because they were precious little fire farm babies out in the real world and were getting whomped.

[Troo]

Good stuff.

 

It's always great when someone finds a build that just works really really well for them.

 

Sure a Tanker in CoX is more than just survival. I'm glad @jackalcoh feels tanky on their stalker. (there will be enemies that challenge you, enjoy the journey!)

[Omega-202]

32 minutes ago, Gulbasaur said:

It's also a bit of a challenge to maintain aggro on a stalker. It can be done, but it's something you have to actively maintain.

 

That said, I've had times where I've had to actively try and pull aggro off "tanks" because they were precious little fire farm babies out in the real world and were getting whomped.

Forget maintaining aggro, they're more likely to run away from my Stalker than to stick around and die.  It's my one complaint about Stalkers and Scrappers in general and also why I have 4 ranged attacks and as much KD as possible on my Stalker.  

[EmmySky]

My dark/dark defender, fire/ice sentinel and peacebringer would like to have a word with you regarding the best tank in the game.  Behind the saloon at 2.  Bring a pine box.

 

😁

Edited October 30, 2020 by EmmySky

[Bill Z Bubba]

Max diff, no faceplants (and this means no cheating with the base porter macro,) no temps, no amps, no insps, enemies buffed ITF. Go do that successfully and then we'll discuss one's ability to tank.

[Solarverse]

Sorry OP, but that is not even close to Tank Stats. Also, what @Bill Z Bubba said. Good luck.

[Solarverse]

43 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

Max diff, no faceplants (and this means no cheating with the base porter macro,) no temps, no amps, no insps, enemies buffed ITF. Go do that successfully and then we'll discuss one's ability to tank.

To add to this, +4/8 and Solo. And trust me when I say, most Tank's can't even pull this off.

Edited October 30, 2020 by Solarverse

[Bill Z Bubba]

22 minutes ago, Solarverse said:

To add to this, +4/8 and Solo. And trust me when I say, most Tank's can't even pull this off.

I'm guessin that since I solo so much I always forget to add that part and just think it assumed. I gotta quit doin that.