Shield/X Tank help me decide!

[ZeeHero]

I have an idea for a Shield tank but I am torn between a few powersets for primary attacks, the options under consideration is psi melee, street justice, and electric melee. What are the pros and cons of each?

[Warboss]

I don't know what the toon's concept is, but those sets seem unrelated.

 

PSi Melee for me was/is pretty "meh" except when pairing with Bio (maybe Rad too)(gets much better post 50). With SD it might be okay, but wouldn't be my first choice.

 

Street Justice does well with Shield from what I've seen, it is a power set with combos, so if you're okay with that being part of the play style, it would probably be a good choice.

 

Electric Melee is fun with Shield, but  you need some major recharge to get the full benefit from the double teleport attacks (Shield Charge and Lightning Rod (?)(sorry can't check that power name atm).

 

Just out of curiosity what is the concept, or what are you trying to build for?

 

Although somewhat of a given (see sig) my favorite paring with Shield has always been Fiery Melee. Add a KD proc to Fire Sword Circle and with moderate recharge, you can get a power that cycles pretty quickly does decent damage (and it's fire!) and KDs a large number of goons.

[Erratic1]

15 minutes ago, Warboss said:

PSi Melee for me was/is pretty "meh" except when pairing with Bio (maybe Rad too)(gets much better post 50). With SD it might be okay, but wouldn't be my first choice.

 

Rad/Psi Tanker was my first Homecoming character, taken to 50, and certain seemed functional though not anything special even if tossing foes in the air is a lot of fun.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Erratic1

[ZeeHero]

The concept is still rough but some form of punching with energy manipulation, the most important part is the energy shield generated by one hand thus shield defense (with energy elemental shield) so the energy attacks could just be normal punches, or electric fists or blades.

[ZeeHero]

Given the concept energy melee is on the table too, since it was buffed it may be worth while for a tanker no? my primary reason for tanker over brute is I Want to take advantage of the arc increase.

Edited July 20, 2021 by ZeeHero

[Erratic1]

24 minutes ago, ZeeHero said:

The concept is still rough but some form of punching with energy manipulation, the most important part is the energy shield generated by one hand thus shield defense (with energy elemental shield) so the energy attacks could just be normal punches, or electric fists or blades.

 

So...

 

 

Justice, from Marvel's 1980s New Universe line.

[ZeeHero]

I guess that's a good analogy, but not very  familiar with him.

[Bill Z Bubba]

1 hour ago, ZeeHero said:

Given the concept energy melee is on the table too, since it was buffed it may be worth while for a tanker no? my primary reason for tanker over brute is I Want to take advantage of the arc increase.

 

Shield/Nrg is a fine pairing. It's my goto whenever I want to solo something that should kill me. Excessive survivability and single target damage output.

[Erratic1]

1 hour ago, ZeeHero said:

I guess that's a good analogy, but not very  familiar with him.

 

He formed an energy sword with one hand and a force shield with the other. Shield/Psi Armor would probably give the best approximation to the character (not that I am suggesting the combo).

[Warboss]

The one thing I will give PSi Melee is the animations are great and fun to watch, but the overall performance of set seems lacking to me. Based off your toon concept I'd say it is an excellent choice and you seem to be leaning that way. Energy Melee, especially now, is also and excellent set, but you have the "Pom-poms of Doom" (which can now be colored) as opposed to a PSi fist, PSi Blades and "mass fling" in Mass Levitation. So if the visual effect is what you want, PSi Melee is your choice.

Edited July 21, 2021 by Warboss

[ZeeHero]

It's not that psi melee doesn't perform. it's that it's half psi damage which is garbage vs zombies and robots that make up a very significant percentage of all enemies, especially in endgame stuff its always tons of robots.

[Marshal_General]

1 hour ago, ZeeHero said:

It's not that psi melee doesn't perform. it's that it's half psi damage which is garbage vs zombies and robots that make up a very significant percentage of all enemies, especially in endgame stuff its always tons of robots.

That is why you pair psi melee with a primary that can do it's thing without going much into the secondary for set bonuses like SR and maybe shield. Then you can proc the ever-loving F out of the attacks.

[Bastille Boy]

For what it's worth, my best tanker is Shield Defense / Energy Melee. This is the only toon I have that can solo the difficult AE mission 801.2 at max difficulty.

 

Of the options you listed in your first post, I'd go with Street Justice. It's not top tier for tankers, but it's a solid set. I find Electrical Melee frustrating on tankers, due to the low single-target damage. It is best on Stalkers. (Street Justice is also best on stalkers, but it's fine on other melee ATs.)

 

Dark Melee is also worth considering. It provides a self-heal, which Shield Defense lacks.

[ironjoe]

You can always try making each on the beta server and auto leveling them to 50 to see how you like the animations. Shield Defense is great and pairs well with most things.

[ZeeHero]

I ended up going with street justice. already have a few EM toons and there is one annoying thing about EM despite the buffs making it good, its still very  very slow feeling. STJ is fun becuase it plays much faster than a lot of other sets so it actually feels good especially in comparison.

[MrAxe]

Only one negative to really consider with Shield/Energy Melee is that the energy clips through the shield and is always on during combat. May not be a big deal for you but it drove my ocd crazy back in the day because it looked so ugly.

[Bill Z Bubba]

On 7/21/2021 at 10:53 AM, ZeeHero said:

I ended up going with street justice. already have a few EM toons and there is one annoying thing about EM despite the buffs making it good, its still very  very slow feeling. STJ is fun becuase it plays much faster than a lot of other sets so it actually feels good especially in comparison.

 

Considering how much corpse blasting I still do when teaming with my shield/nrg tank, I can agree with this line of thinking.

[Bill Z Bubba]

30 minutes ago, MrAxe said:

Only one negative to really consider with Shield/Energy Melee is that the energy clips through the shield and is always on during combat. May not be a big deal for you but it drove my ocd crazy back in the day because it looked so ugly.

 

I got around this by going black nrg pompoms and the dark shield.

[PLVRIZR]

War Mace!!!  "Mace to the Face", for the win!!!

 

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Mace to the Face_v3.0: Level 50 Science Tanker
Primary Power Set: Shield Defense
Secondary Power Set: War Mace
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Deflection -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(3), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(5), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(13), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(17), ImpArm-ResPsi(21)
Level 1: Bash -- PrfZng-Dam%(A), PrfZng-Taunt/Rng(7), PrfZng-Acc/Rchg(17), PrfZng-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(23), PrfZng-Taunt/Rchg(23), PrfZng-Taunt(33)
Level 2: Battle Agility -- ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(A), ShlWal-Def(3), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(9), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(15), ShlWal-EndRdx/Rchg(19), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(25)
Level 4: True Grit -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(7), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(9), UnbGrd-Max HP%(11), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(11), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(13)
Level 6: Pulverize -- CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx(31), CrsImp-Dmg/Rchg(40), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg(50)
Level 8: Against All Odds -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 10: Taunt -- PrfZng-Dam%(A)
Level 12: Kick -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A)
Level 14: Super Jump -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A)
Level 16: Active Defense -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Phalanx Fighting -- ShlWal-Def/Rchg(A), ShlWal-EndRdx/Rchg(19), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31), ShlWal-Def(31), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(37), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(45)
Level 20: Build Up -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(34)
Level 22: Whirling Mace -- MghoftheT-Rchg/Res%(A), MghoftheT-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), MghoftheT-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), MghoftheT-Dmg/Rchg(43), MghoftheT-Acc/Dmg(46), MghoftheT-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 24: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(25), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(33), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(33), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(34), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(45)
Level 26: Shield Charge -- Mlt-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Mlt-Acc/EndRdx(27), Mlt-Dmg/Rchg(27), Mlt-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Mlt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29)
Level 28: Weave -- ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(A), ShlWal-EndRdx/Rchg(36), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(37), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(43), ShlWal-Def(43), Rct-ResDam%(46)
Level 30: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(36), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(37)
Level 32: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 35: Shatter -- Mlt-Acc/Dmg(A), Mlt-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Mlt-Dmg/Rchg(39), Mlt-Acc/EndRdx(39), Mlt-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Mlt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42)
Level 38: Crowd Control -- GntFis-Rchg/+Absorb(A), GntFis-Acc/Dmg(40), GntFis-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48), GntFis-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48), GntFis-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), GntFis-Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 41: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 44: One with the Shield -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), ImpArm-ResPsi(50)
Level 47: Focused Accuracy -- GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(A)
Level 49: Grant Cover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Qck-EndRdx/RunSpd(A)
Level 2: Rest -- IntRdx-I(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(5), Prv-Absorb%(42)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(34), PrfShf-EndMod/Acc(45)
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 4: Ninja Run 
Level 50: Resilient Total Core Revamp 
Level 50: Mighty Core Judgement 
Level 50: Diamagnetic Total Core Conversion 
Level 50: Ageless Core Invocation 
Level 50: Melee Total Core Graft 
------------

[KaoticKarl]

On 7/25/2021 at 11:38 AM, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

I got around this by going black nrg pompoms and the dark shield.

Mine is dark purple pom-poms with the Nictus shield. I never notice clipping, and it looks pretty sharp overall with the matched-coloring armor I use.

[ninja surprise]

On 7/21/2021 at 9:53 AM, ZeeHero said:

I ended up going with street justice. already have a few EM toons and there is one annoying thing about EM despite the buffs making it good, its still very  very slow feeling. STJ is fun becuase it plays much faster than a lot of other sets so it actually feels good especially in comparison.

 

Also you won't run into a bunch of clones of your powersets, which is always award. I haven't seen Shield/SJ very frequently at all.