I want to build a Support Tank.

[iWeasle]

Hihi!

So, first I just want to say that I've read the pinned topic about the Holy Trinity and I understand the roles don't have to work like this, it's just something I want to do.

Two of my favourite roles in games have always been Tanking and Support (be it heals or buffs), but it's not often you can make a character who is dedicated to just those two things. I'm hoping that the freeform nature of CoX will help me in that regard.

 

Basically, my goal is to make a character who Tanks while focusing on buffing and/or healing his allies. I'm fine with also using CC for Agro Management, but I want to be able to take a serious hit.

 

I'm trying to figure out how best to accomplish this. Most ATs that have support sets are pretty squishy, and most ATs that can take a hit don't have much in the way of support, so after some research I'm thinking that the answer is a Bodyguard mode Tankermind. I'm thinking Necromancy for the ToHit debuffs, but don't know if there's something hiding in another set which would make it better. I was also planning on either Pain Domination or Empathy, but don't know which would be better for this concept, but I'm not wedded to them either.

For power pools I'm guessing I'll need at least the taunt out of presence, but I'm guessing that's not the end of it. I probably want some powers which reduce the damage I take even further. Would Leadership: Maneuvers be good and would I want anything else from the pool? Would Fighting be worth investing in?

For Epic pools, all of the Patrons and several of the others have further defensive abilities, not sure which would be the best though.

 

Of course I'm also happy to consider whole other concepts if that would work better 🙂 .

Lastly, I would prefer to first look at builds that don't operate on making something that normally has a long cooldown always on, but if that's the best way to make this work I'm willing.

 

 

Thank you very much!

EDIT: A word.

Edited November 6, 2020 by iWeasle

[JJDrakken]

Tanker - Super Reflexes - Dark Melee.mxd There you go Support Tank

 

Now if your asking for a Support that Tanks: Controller - Gravity Control - Force Field.mxd

[Haijinx]

Dark Armor has a lot of controls 

 

Stun+Fear

 

Combine it with something that also has Stun perhaps?  /Electric maybe for the handclap stun

[Tsuko]

 

[DanaDark]

Hmm, honestly the things you are really looking for aren't in the game. There are some such as dark melee for debuffs and shield for team buffing but not much in the sense you're probably looking for in a more active role. And various other power sets. But nothing truly in the sense of a tank with an empathy secondary for example.

When I play my tanker, the best "support tank" is a brute. I like to move on from the enemies when there's only 1 or 2 remaining... and many times those can be bosses and cause havoc to the beck end squishes. A brute that can stay behind and protect them is absolutely adored in my teams at all times.

I have built a sentinel that can tank just fine, so I imagine the grav-ff troller could be built in a similar way albeit done differently.

[UrbanHound]

Radiation Armor has a PBAE heal in Ground Zero. Not sure if that is the "support" you're looking for but it's an interesting quirk in a pretty powerful set. 

[Koopak]

Guys, guys, guys....

This man, this LEGEND, is suggesting playing a Tank roll on a MM so he can use the support power set MMs get..... Why is everyone suggesting tanky support classes and supportive tanks? Lets entertain this a moment, I think the man is onto something.

 

Necro makes some sense but it lacks any AoE powers which hurts your concept i think, you will only be applying -tohit on one maybe two targets. However Demonology has -res which is nasty and even has a cone to play with. The melee range could be an issue though so pick your poison. Main thing will be keeping track of your pets, get an idea of what 60' looks like because any further and they aren't going to be contributing to your defense.

Support sets vary but if you want to be durable focus on ones with self buffs worked in.

Pools, yer gonna needem, you'll almost certainly need Fighting for Tough and Weave, and Maneuvers from Leadership. Combat Jumping if you can get it too. Main thing you will need is Provoke from Presence to help you pull aggro that isn't on you or your pets.

Incarnates, Melee Radial Hybrid will be critical to helping keep aggro in bigger pools, its the only way to get a taunt aura, so its kinda a must have.

Enhancements, Don't forget the 6 set on Gaussians, or the 3,4, and 5 sets of Reactive Armor, those are some good options for defense from sets. Also don't forget your pet Aura powers to beef up yer bois because they can get squishy if yer not careful. Primary goals will be hit S/L defense cap and resist cap if you can but don't neglect your other types or positionals if they end up easier to do.

 

I may have to play with this concept myself.

(Edit:)
Oh and if you find MM isnt your cupa tea, Arachnos Widows can do some intresting things in that department as well but wont be as varied as a true support set like you get with MM

Edited November 24, 2020 by Koopak

[Meknomancer]

Back before blue and red AT's were combined and you could switch alignments masterminds were pretty much the tanks redside and now they have all those extra secondaries and power pools to choose from you have even more options. Original support tank has to be and probably still is a bots/ff running presence pool. Support your teammates with bubbles , taunt anything attacking them, panic buttons in pff and force bub. Lots of other ways to go now too, elec affinity and storm spring to mind. A lot of players don't like masterminds/refuse to team with them but they are still one fo the most fun At's to play and fulfull every role in the game....just about. I'd still like to see one tank hammi but you can't have everything...yet.

[Steel]

Thanks @Koopak, I must admit that I only skimmed the OP too and moved on to the comments too quickly.

 

On 11/6/2020 at 10:23 PM, iWeasle said:

Basically, my goal is to make a character who Tanks while focusing on buffing and/or healing his allies. I'm fine with also using CC for Agro Management, but I want to be able to take a serious hit.

 

I'm trying to figure out how best to accomplish this. Most ATs that have support sets are pretty squishy, and most ATs that can take a hit don't have much in the way of support, so after some research I'm thinking that the answer is a Bodyguard mode Tankermind.

I only dabbled with Masterminds on Retail (the classic Bots/Traps) and the only MM I've played on Homecoming beyond the early teens has been a Thugs/Kin. I wasn't very happy with her planned build (I wanted to try out the double Fulcrum Shifted Gangwar trick with Burnout) and realized I would have to heavily tailor my playstyle around the shortcomings of Kinetics as an MM secondary, so she got shelved indefinitely. Because what I was really looking for was an MM that could fulfill both the Support and the Tank role, a Tankermind.

Rereading your post got me thinking. In addition to providing (de)buffs with your secondary, a Tankermind needs to be built for sufficient Defense and/or Resistance, but to make life easier you really want to have mez protection as well. You can get mez protection from Dispersion Bubble in /FF (but besides its defense shields /FF is rather limited), or from FFG in /Traps (but while this powerset has incredible debuffs, it lacks the buffs you want).

Another option is Faraday Cage in the Electrical Affinity secondary, and this powerset does provide plenty of buffs. I think Demon Summoning probably has the best synergy here because the pets' shield can stack with your own resistances.

 

On 11/6/2020 at 10:23 PM, iWeasle said:

For power pools I'm guessing I'll need at least the taunt out of presence, but I'm guessing that's not the end of it. I probably want some powers which reduce the damage I take even further. Would Leadership: Maneuvers be good and would I want anything else from the pool? Would Fighting be worth investing in?

From my experience with Bots/Traps, Tankerminding practically requires Provoke from the Presence pool, and every MM should take Maneuvers and Tactics from the Leadership pool (and possibly Assault) by default. The Fighting pool could be useful to hit some caps, but comes at the expense of three power picks. Depends on the build I guess.

 

On 11/6/2020 at 10:23 PM, iWeasle said:

For Epic pools, all of the Patrons and several of the others have further defensive abilities, not sure which would be the best though.

I would have to load up Mids' (I'm on my phone) because I'm not familiar with MM numbers anymore, but if you opt for Demons/EA there's a good chance you can hardcap some resistance types, most likely S/L with the Fighting pool. Either Scorpion Shield (Mace Mastery) or Frozen Armor (Chill Mastery) could then softcap S/L defense. Scorpion Shield additionally provides Energy defense as well, and from the same epic pool there's Power Boost which temporarily boosts your powers' secondary effects (like Defense and endurance drain), and Web Envelope should keep drained mobs from running away, so those sound quite useful to me.