Your Ultimate Tanker

[Mezmera]

1 hour ago, Heatstroke said:

and 35% defense is as sturdy as it gets.

 

High hp and near capped resists across the board is all fine and dandy but endgame incarnate content you want positional defenses near that 59% mark plus then the 4star HM content adds another 30% you'll need to attain.  Those capped resists and high hp will serve you well but you'll really want to avoid hits as much as possible too in that content.  Then there's the Cim's on the ITF that'll debuff that defense and unless you also carry high DDR you're gonna get walloped.  

 

Run that thing through a 4star to see just how sturdy it is.  

[Heatstroke]

23 hours ago, Mezmera said:

 

High hp and near capped resists across the board is all fine and dandy but endgame incarnate content you want positional defenses near that 59% mark plus then the 4star HM content adds another 30% you'll need to attain.  Those capped resists and high hp will serve you well but you'll really want to avoid hits as much as possible too in that content.  Then there's the Cim's on the ITF that'll debuff that defense and unless you also carry high DDR you're gonna get walloped.  

 

Run that thing through a 4star to see just how sturdy it is.  

 

 

yeah I dont do all that 4 star stuff dont have the time patience or energy.. and I do just fine on regular ITF's

[Jiro Ito]

My mace/willpower is just okay and definitely not cut out for hard mode.  I love my shield/ice but struggle with him in four star stuff.  Rad/em is my go-to now; I used IO sets to get him up to 49% melee defense on top of all the many tools it already has in its box and he just shines on four stars, etc.  I have a bio/savage in the works and am excited to see how that plays in the endgame.

[SeraphimKensai]

For Four Star stuff I generally use my Invuln/MA or Invuln/Kat tanker, otherwise my SD/Elec and SA/Rad does well enough. I want to give my SR/Rad, Elec/Ice, and DA/SS a whirl and see how they fair as well (I've used them 1-2 star TFs to various effect on pugs).

Edited January 25, 2023 by SeraphimKensai

[Mezmera]

1 hour ago, Heatstroke said:

 

 

yeah I dont do all that 4 star stuff dont have the time patience or energy.. and I do just fine on regular ITF's

 

You're missing out! 

 

This made me overhaul my tank which I didn't play as often because as you say tanks are default sturdy enough for regular content without much thought required.  Getting my tank highly tuned to lead these has gotten me to enjoy playing her so much now that there's actual challenge.  

[StriderIV]

2 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

For Four Star stuff I generally use my Invuln/MA or Invuln/Kat tanker, otherwise my SD/Elec and SA/Rad does well enough. I want to give my SR/Rad, Elec/Ice, and DA/SS a whirl and see how they fair as well (I've used them 1-2 star TFs to various effect on pugs).

Love al those combos. I haven’t taken my Shield/Elec on a 4 Star yet. It was my first 50 on HC. So much fun. I feel like the combo would do well in HM stuff though and wondering why I haven’t taken it for a spin yet 😂

[SeraphimKensai]

1 hour ago, StriderIV said:

Love al those combos. I haven’t taken my Shield/Elec on a 4 Star yet. It was my first 50 on HC. So much fun. I feel like the combo would do well in HM stuff though and wondering why I haven’t taken it for a spin yet 😂

I don't do near as many 4 star runs as I'd like but I typically end up solo or on pugs when I do get a chance to play these days, and as the baby severely limits my playtime sometimes I'm lucky to have 9 minutes for a speed ITF.

[ryry71511]

was hoping to get some help on this build i already have the toon iod but doesnt seem to do that great on tanking groups any help on this would be appreciated very much thanks my friends

Tanker - Shield Defense - Electrical Melee.mxd

[PLVRIZR]

9 hours ago, ryry71511 said:

was hoping to get some help on this build i already have the toon iod but doesnt seem to do that great on tanking groups any help on this would be appreciated very much thanks my friends

 

 

I'll just post my shield/mace, since durability is your concern.  This build, without procs or incarnates, has 60/51/55 positional defenses, with a fairly affordable build (four of the sets are Multi-Strike x 2, Crushing Impact and Perfect Zinger).  Hope this helps:

 

https://www.midsreborn.com/builds/download.php?uc=1857&c=780&a=1560&f=HEX&dc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

[cyberwraith]

On 1/25/2023 at 1:46 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

For Four Star stuff I generally use my Invuln/MA or Invuln/Kat tanker, otherwise my SD/Elec and SA/Rad does well enough. I want to give my SR/Rad, Elec/Ice, and DA/SS a whirl and see how they fair as well (I've used them 1-2 star TFs to various effect on pugs).

Would you be willing to share your Invuln/Kat build?  I've had a concept running around in my head to make one, but I'm terrible at builds.

[Hjarki]

On 1/24/2023 at 4:08 PM, Mezmera said:

High hp and near capped resists across the board is all fine and dandy but endgame incarnate content you want positional defenses near that 59% mark plus then the 4star HM content adds another 30% you'll need to attain.

I'd argue that aiming for such benchmarks is counterproductive. You're shifting an enormous amount of effectiveness from everywhere else to 4-star level defenses/offenses and not actually doing much for the team. Sure, you'll be able to handle the beating but your teammates will be flopping over dead on a regular basis because you normally can't tank everything.

 

So it's normally going to be a lot more effective to just build for normal content and then include a '4 star' Defender/Controller who takes the entire team from normal to 4 star.

[Zect]

26 minutes ago, Hjarki said:

I'd argue that aiming for such benchmarks is counterproductive. You're shifting an enormous amount of effectiveness from everywhere else to 4-star level defenses/offenses and not actually doing much for the team.

 

This is correct. i-capped defense, or anywhere near it for that matter, with 1 enemy in range is overkill on invuln, and means you've skimped on offense and valuable dps. You need 110% or so defense to softcap vs 4* Nictus Romulus with his Tactics. A cold fender gives about 34% def. An emp fender with powerboosted fort is about 44% def. (Maneuvers included for both figures.) Unless specifically building for no-support runs, a reasonable comp of 2-3 support toons plus a modest def cushion of 30%-45% is sufficient and leaves some buffer against debuffs. Just use take the Social Skills power pool and make friends with fenders, corrs and widows.

[Mezmera]

13 hours ago, Hjarki said:

I'd argue that aiming for such benchmarks is counterproductive. You're shifting an enormous amount of effectiveness from everywhere else to 4-star level defenses/offenses and not actually doing much for the team. Sure, you'll be able to handle the beating but your teammates will be flopping over dead on a regular basis because you normally can't tank everything.

 

So it's normally going to be a lot more effective to just build for normal content and then include a '4 star' Defender/Controller who takes the entire team from normal to 4 star.

 

It's the optimal thing for you to do.  Why wouldn't you want to build your tank into the tankiest thing in the game if you have the know-how to do it?  Isn't tanking what is expected when teammates see your symbol?  I've sacrificed no real damage uptick or anything else that would make me more effective running all content than maximizing my ability to tank aggro at full throttle save for not going with Fold Space.  

 

My tank set up as she is can pull even some of the puggiest teams through these in good order as long as I know to build the team for a few essentials.  I can tank the first 16 targets and since I'm aware of the increased perception enemies have in these I am much more mindful to watch for incoming aggro from the side so I can head it off before it reaches the team.  Once you absorb the alpha the team tends to settle into each group so if we over aggro I'll pick up that incoming alpha since the team should have a handle on the current group. 

 

Most other content in the game is so laughably easy that I would just hop onto a blaster or something to 'tank' regular content, so yes I have more damaging characters to breeze through normal+ content if needed.  You're not doing your job as the tank if you're not maximizing what you can do and just assuming others can carry the day for you.  

 

What this hardmode stuff has done is get me to play characters to their max ability throughout all content.  Instead of thinking high benchmarks are a bad thing maybe you should strive to get more creative so if it falls to you that you're able to be relied upon to get your team through one of these superhero.

Edited February 12, 2023 by Mezmera

[Nyghtmaire]

15 hours ago, Zect said:

Just use take the Social Skills power pool and make friends with fenders, corrs and widows.

More valuable than Fighting in 99.9999% of build options!

[Sir Myshkin]

Huh, I'm kind of surprised at how much Stone Armor really is glossed over with really only a couple of advocates to the cause. All of the negative's to Granite are easy to build out, and I don't have to invest anything into Rock or Crystal armor to get exactly what I need out of them.

[ClawsandEffect]

Gotta throw some love for Dark Armor. My wife has a Dark/Fire that she runs that didn't die for over a year. 

 

I'm working on a Dark/BS that on paper should be just as tough. And a Shield/StJ that I'm having a lot of fun with. 

 

I've got Rad, Electric, SR, Willpower, and Fire that are all pretty good too.

 

I built the Electric/Psi tank specifically for running Synapse TFs because there is no better build for that particular TF. 

[Story Archer]

The Tanks that I've played extensively have been Will/SS, SR/DM and Rad/Stone, which is currently my favorite.

 

Radiation Armor/Stone Melee:

• 90% Res to all but Cold & Psi (over 50% on those), Soft-capped defense vs. Melee and 27% vs. Ranged & AoE.
• Two different Heals (one for you AND one for your group) that double as proc'ed out mini-nukes, both up every 30 seconds or so.
• Between Hasten, Beta Decay, 3x FF procs and 3x LotG, the global recharge is nuts.
• Plenty of +regen and +recovery.
• Highest-damage Tanker I've ever played.
• Room for maxed out Tactics and Maneuvers to help the team.
• 85% Endurance Drain resistance and 95% Slow resistance are a bigger deal than many realize.

 

Having said all that, I've got a Dark / Dark on paper that looks like it will be able to do things no other Tanker could imagine...

Edited March 19 by Story Archer

[Story Archer]

I'm not going to lie - this Rad/MA is pretty strong.

 

It's basically got soft-capped positional defenses to go with 90% Res vs. S/L/E/F/T with 80% NE and 55% C/P... all without Incarnates. Heck, it's not even counting the ToHit and Damage Debuffs from Beta Decay (or Darkest Night).

 

The only thing keeping me from playing her is how awful the visuals of rad armor make my costumes look. When will we get minimal FX options for all toggles??

 

Edited March 21 by Story Archer