Tanker duo question

[Archmage1000]

I have a Tanker friend that I would like to play with.  But my question is what to play with him.  I am looking for a really good aoe archetype with a secondary that will buff and keep him alive.

 

Any thoughts on what to play with him?

[Omega Force]

You can't go wrong with defender or corruptor.  What kind depends on his primary powers and theme.  For instance, if he's resistance-based, you want a defense focused support set like Cold or Time.  If he's defense based, you want to increase his resistance with Sonic or Thermal.  If he's a healtank (Bio, Regen, WP), look into recharge buffs and controls (like Ice and Water), to buy him time to regenerate.

 

It's a nice touch if you pick a set that matches his theme, as well as mechanics.  People might remember the Ice Brothers better than two randos.

[Archmage1000]

The Tanker he will be is Dark/Claws if that will help.  I was thinking either Defender or Corruptor myself, just not sure what power sets to take

[Omega Force]

Cold.  Early on you buff his defense and elemental resistance with Ice/Glacial Shield, later his stealth with Arctic Fog, and cap it off with an endurance boost from Heat Loss.  Snow Storm will slow down their attacks early on, giving him time for his Dark Regeneration to recharge.  Your blast set could be whatever.  Fire, Ice, and Water are all good.  Dark Blast is okay, I guess.

 

You could also go with a Force Field corruptor.  Take Deflection/Insulation Shield and Dispersion.  Throw the two buffs on him and spend all the rest of the time blasting.  If that's too boring, Time doesn't bring the defense as early, but your heals and slows should cover the gaps as you level.

 

A better match to his theme would be a Dark/Cold controller.  All the awesome of Cold a little slower, but your Dark and his will make it easier to stack fear, stun, and to miss with his battle auras.

 

Another that might work is a Beast/Cold mastermind.  If he's a semi-feral critter he'd fit right in with your bitie pack.

[Archmage1000]

So I would like Water as my blasting set, Cold seems really good, only problem is no protection from holds, mez's, etc.  Guess I can have a bunch of break frees with me.

 

Now the question would be Defender or Corruptor.  Would having better defenses from Defender be better or more damage from Water with Corruptor?

 

 

[Sovera]

Anything kinetics. Maybe Fire/Kinetics Corruptor. They will love Speedboost for their whole career (especially as Dark Armor) and the early healing and later on when the later is no longer necessary it is swapped for the damage boost.

 

Defender if wanting the Kinetic goodies sooner.

 

 

While the tankers survive a lot it depends what enemies you two decide to tackle. The more exotic (Praetoria, Ward, etc) the more having a source of healing can turn the tides. And when enemies are particularly dire do not discount the Kin's auto-knockdown toggle (with proper IO otherwise it's knockback).

 

Honestly you could go Plants but it's a terrible set in terms of fun. One Seeds of Chaos and there is nothing to fight since mobs are ignoring the team. Very efficient, very powerful, but with an end result of nearly being the equivalent of clicking a button for free XP with only the hassle of moving between mission locations.

[Omega Force]

8 hours ago, Archmage1000 said:

Would having better defenses from Defender be better or more damage from Water with Corruptor?

The eternal dilemma.  At the end of the game, your allies will likely be tough enough that you'd be willing to trade the defender buffs for corruptor damage.  Which Tier 1 power are you going to use?  Cold's is okay as a proc bomb if you devote enough slots to it, but doesn't do much otherwise.  Water's Tier 2 looks silly to me, so I'd always take the Tier 1 instead.  I'd personally go Cold/Water to start with the T2 shield and the better looking T1 blast, but Water/Cold is a valid life choice for getting your best attacks early.

[Archmage1000]

Had another thought on the Defender, how would Elec/Elec work.  It has a heal, has a way to give end to all.  Has status protection, has -Regen, and when not needing to buff or debuff can attack and drain end from mobs

[Omega Force]

We didn't have that on live, you wanted Elec3 you went blaster, like Jack intended.  It looks like it buffs heals and resistance in Mids -- great for a Shield or SR tanker.  The Dark/Staff build I have lying around has 90% SLNFCP resistance.  +11 defense from a Cold corruptor would have a much larger impact on his survival, mathmatically.

 

I'm not saying Elec is bad, just that it doesn't appear optimal for your original goal.

[Snarky]

THat Tank is running Dark Armor.  Keep in mind it is stealthed ALL the time.  Unless it has purposely got agro it does NOT have agro.  Watch yourself.  I love Dark armor but that is a weakness in the design for Tanking

[Archmage1000]

Is there a better Tanker powerset to use than Dark/Claws and same with a toon for me, something better to go with that Tanker

[EnjoyTheJourney]

53 minutes ago, Archmage1000 said:

Is there a better Tanker powerset to use than Dark/Claws and same with a toon for me, something better to go with that Tanker

There are a wealth of possibilities. 

 

If you'd like something fairly tanky, with strong buffs and debuffs, and good AOE, then you could do much worse than a water / cold corruptor. 

 

Dark tanks need more healing like a desert needs more sand. They love love love more endurance recovery, though, and once you get to later levels heat loss helps a lot for that. They also benefit a lot from the defense shields and frostwork (Dark tanks can't self-cap hit points like some other tanks can).

 

Cold also has top tier debuffs that can help a tank stand tall through a lot of challenging content. Sleet is a particularly helpful debuff because debuffing mob defense lets dark's amazing heal more reliably hit mobs. Benumb is also great for hard targets. 

Edited June 3, 2022 by EnjoyTheJourney

[Erratic1]

If you're playing with a Dark Tanker I would look towards a corruptor/defender who can:

• Buff damage output for both of you
• Keep both of you in endurance
• Exercise some level of control from a distance

Primaries: Ice, Water

Secondaries: Kinetics (honorable mention Dark Miasma)

[Archmage1000]

I really do like all those suggestions, my only issue with them is no status protection.  I have tried a few and around lol 10ish I start to get kills tons from holds and mezzs 

[Erratic1]

15 minutes ago, Archmage1000 said:

I really do like all those suggestions, my only issue with them is no status protection.  I have tried a few and around lol 10ish I start to get kills tons from holds and mezzs 

 

You are duoing with a Tanker. There should be very little in the way of status effects coming your way.

[Archmage1000]

Would another Secondary powerset be better than the Claws.  I was looking at /Claws, /Fire, or /Rad

Trying to get a good setup before we begin

 

 

[Sovera]

7 minutes ago, Archmage1000 said:

Would another Secondary powerset be better than the Claws.  I was looking at /Claws, /Fire, or /Rad

Trying to get a good setup before we begin

 

The suggestions so far have all been good. It's true about the CC being a weak point for a ranged character but having a few breakfrees (and the fact you'd be playing with a Tanker who is first in running to danger) should limit this. Remember you can buy more breakfrees from the auction House simply by typing /ah between missions. You can easily go around with six greens and six breakfrees if need be.

 

I would still say a Kinetic for the reasons stated above. At some point heals and defenses are no longer of use (especially in a Tanker duo) since the Tanker is very sturdy and does not require extra sturdy. Helping with the damage and endurance takes over and that makes a Kin helpful through the whole leveling range from squishy Tanker friend to tough-but-slow-damage Tanker friend.

 

In my own experience when we start getting whittled down by the enemies a single 50 inf purple or orange inspiration is enough to turn the tides, and sadly that's what all the contribution from Defenders and Corruptors usually boil down to: preventing that one or two 50 inf inspiration sporadic use.

 

Where they shine is as damage boosters.

 

 

Honestly, if we were to put a tankermage duo and a tankermeleer duo I have good reason to believe the tankermeleer duo will do everything easier and faster.

[Archmage1000]

So what you are saying you think a Tanker and a melee character would actually be easier and faster then the corruptor?

 

So far I have made and tried:

Defender Elec/Elec

Corruptor Water/Cold

Corruptor Water/Kin

 

Will give any others a try that anyone suggest that might be a viable Dark/Claw Tanker duo worthy

 

 

So far it seems water/cold and water/kin is good

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by Archmage1000

[Sovera]

48 minutes ago, Archmage1000 said:

So what you are saying you think a Tanker and a melee character would actually be easier and faster then the corruptor?

 

So far I have made and tried:

Defender Elec/Elec

Corruptor Water/Cold

Corruptor Water/Kin

 

Will give any others a try that anyone suggest that might be a viable Dark/Claw Tanker duo worthy

 

 

So far it seems water/cold and water/kin is good

 

 

 

You do not need to play the game in absolute min max mode. If a ranged character who covers up for the weakness of the tanker friend is something you wish to play then go for it, and ultimately you will make their life easier at the start and at the end (at the start because you provide with endurance and heals and at the end because once their defenses are in place you can pump their (and yours) damage).

 

Two meleers can accomplish the same content though, and not be fussed with CC. You just won't cover for any weaknesses, but even then if you go with Ice Melee you can make something impossible actually happen.

[Erratic1]

1 hour ago, Archmage1000 said:

So what you are saying you think a Tanker and a melee character would actually be easier and faster then the corruptor?

 

Two melees have different failure points than a melee and a ranged and you will play differently accordingly. With two melees, while neither of you is going to be mezzed, neither of you is going to do all that much to help the other if they are low on endurance or health. I am not sure one is pairing is generally easier or faster than the other.

 

 As example, last weekend (or perhaps the one before that) while playing my blaster, I joined with another blaster for what started as a two-man team. Great fun and no deaths were had. Then we invited a third blaster. All squishy, subject to mez, and with the soft controls blasters get combined with all that damage it just was not a problem.

 

 

[EnjoyTheJourney]

If you really hate mez and still want to buff your tanker friend, then there are quite a few good choices ...

 

Controller with indomitable from psy mastery, Rune of protection from the sorcery pool, and melee core hybrid incarnate - You'll have full time mez protection from lvl 45+ and you can have mez protection most of the time earlier than that, and you can pick a secondary that you feel will be very helpful for your tanker friend.

 

Traps, sonic, electric, or force field primary on a defender (or secondary on a corruptor or controller) - These powersets will screen out a lot of mezzes, even if not all.  

 

Dominator - If you can afford a permadom build then your dom has mez protection. Control and damage are their forte; control in particular would do a lot to slow down incoming damage in most situations for both your dom and for your tanking friend. Doms also have noticeable buffs and debuffs. Link minds from psy mastery is probably the best known dominator buff. Another noticeable buff is spirit tree in plant control. A dom can bring some potent debuffs, such as sleet from ice mastery and drain psyche from psi assault. 

 

Villainous epic characters (widows, forts, soldiers, crabs) - These bring substantial buffs and they have mez protection in their secondaries. They also have some noteworthy debuffs. 

Edited June 3, 2022 by EnjoyTheJourney

[Doomguide2005]

     The reality of CoX is by high level we have the ability to be extremely independent.  We hit what we aim at. We can attack nearly endlessly.  Our defenses can be capped.  In short we don't really need a teammate for support for 99.99% of the time, they are just self working additional dps and debuffs.

    But this is a static team (duo).  You know exactly (or will know) what your partner can elect to do or not do.   As a very simple example Dark Armor has no knock protection.  Now this isn't really an issue it's easily solved by adding kb prot IOs but if you're a Kinetics you have access to Increased Density and it buffs Knockback Protection (among other things).  They could totally ignore getting kb protection and never miss it.  The point is you can not only cover weaknesses but between you decide how those weaknesses get covered between yours and his powers and IOs.  Any pairing can work, work well even, but to really leverage the fact you are a duo you need to build working closely with each other to go from friends teaming to a duo wrecking ball.

[Redletter]

On 6/2/2022 at 8:10 AM, Archmage1000 said:

So I would like Water as my blasting set, Cold seems really good, only problem is no protection from holds, mez's, etc.  Guess I can have a bunch of break frees with me.

You don't need Mez protection for a Dark Armor tanker, they have plenty of that on their own. As for Mez protection for YOURSELF? Well that's something you're unlikely to get as a support character anyhow, since most support sets don't offer mez protection for YOU, only others (some break the mold, but most don't)

On 6/2/2022 at 8:10 AM, Archmage1000 said:

Now the question would be Defender or Corruptor.  Would having better defenses from Defender be better or more damage from Water with Corruptor?

If you're set on Water, I'd say corruptor.

 

However, and I know this may sound odd, have you considered Tactical Arrow? I played through the first two sections of goldside content (Nova Praetoria and Imperial City) with a friend, him playing a Martial Arts/Invul scrapper and me playing a TA/DP defender and I had a blast, literally the only thing that coulda made that more fun was if he were a tanker so he could pull agro off me reliably.

 

Which brings me to another point...

On 6/3/2022 at 3:03 PM, Sovera said:

You do not need to play the game in absolute min max mode. If a ranged character who covers up for the weakness of the tanker friend is something you wish to play then go for it, and ultimately you will make their life easier at the start and at the end (at the start because you provide with endurance and heals and at the end because once their defenses are in place you can pump their (and yours) damage).

 

Two meleers can accomplish the same content though, and not be fussed with CC. You just won't cover for any weaknesses, but even then if you go with Ice Melee you can make something impossible actually happen.

 

On 6/3/2022 at 3:19 PM, Erratic1 said:

Two melees have different failure points than a melee and a ranged and you will play differently accordingly. With two melees, while neither of you is going to be mezzed, neither of you is going to do all that much to help the other if they are low on endurance or health. I am not sure one is pairing is generally easier or faster than the other.

 

You can support your friend while not being a support. Tankers like having DPS buddies around, and as a person who regularly duos with a tanker on a STALKER, I find it really hard to recommend anything else. You want a dynamic duo? The "Superman and Batman" meme is, unironically, a fantastic way to play both mechanically and thematically. It's great. We're a SD/SS tanker and STJ/SR stalker the amount of ass kicking is immense.

 

What Im saying is, you should think about what is fun to play for you FIRST. Everything else is a second thought.

[Erratic1]

3 hours ago, Redletter said:

You can support your friend while not being a support. Tankers like having DPS buddies around, and as a person who regularly duos with a tanker on a STALKER, I find it really hard to recommend anything else. You want a dynamic duo? The "Superman and Batman" meme is, unironically, a fantastic way to play both mechanically and thematically. It's great. We're a SD/SS tanker and STJ/SR stalker the amount of ass kicking is immense.

 

What Im saying is, you should think about what is fun to play for you FIRST. Everything else is a second thought.

 

I did not say a melee could not support another melee but the options a melee has are different and more limited than, for example, a controller or defender. Nor did I write that melee plus support was better than anything else. What I wrote was:

 

Quote

Two melees have different failure points than a melee and a ranged and you will play differently accordingly.

 

I also wrote:

 

Quote

I am not sure one is pairing is generally easier or faster than the other.

 

How you chose to read that as something other than, "Play what you want to play" I do not know.

[Redletter]

10 hours ago, Erratic1 said:

I did not say a melee could not support another melee but the options a melee has are different and more limited than, for example, a controller or defender.

I didnt say you did.

10 hours ago, Erratic1 said:

Nor did I write that melee plus support was better than anything else.

I didnt say you did.

10 hours ago, Erratic1 said:

How you chose to read that as something other than, "Play what you want to play" I do not know.

I literally concluded my entire post, directed at the OP (not you), with;

 

14 hours ago, Redletter said:

What Im saying is, you should think about what is fun to play for you FIRST. Everything else is a second thought.

Or, in another word "play what you want to play".

 

I literally agreed with you, and quoted you to reinforce the support for that argument, the same way I did with other people in this thread, who shared the same ultimate sentiment.

 

Next time, contact me privately if you feel slighted, or a moderator. It's healthier for threads than starting a plainly rude rebuttal chain.