What does it mean to proc out a tanker?

[Pwnmonster]

I have been reading a lot about tankers being able to hit defense/resist caps easily and use more available slots to proc out powers, which are even better on tankers, because of 10 and 16 Target caps on aoe.

 

Is there a specific proc set to aim for or just the regular sets like Makos bite etc that other classes might use just happen to be better on tanker?

 

Which sets and how many proc sets should I have as my main goal for a good proc build?

Edited September 2, 2023 by Pwnmonster

[biostem]

I assume it means slotting as many of these enhancements with special effects in order to maximize both your survivability and damage-dealing capability.  For instance, slotting taunt with the perfect zinger and triumphant insult special IOs can make it into an AoE damage/disorient ability.

[Spaghetti Betty]

Yes, Tanks can utilize proc bombing very easily due to their superior defenses. Since they don't have to invest nearly as much hitting mitigation thresholds, you can spend more of your effort just barely hitting acc/dam thresholds in your attacks (2 acc/dam HOs is the poster child for this) and frankenslotting the rest of the available slots with Chance for Damage procs, or other fun stuff! A great example of "other fun stuff" is using a knockback-heavy melee and slotting Force Feedback: Chance for +Recharge in your attacks. This effectively means you can circumvent low global recharge from not having IOs sets by dumping out attacks.

 

On top of what might already be available to your chosen melee, Tanks (and Brutes) also get access to another damage proc option in Perfect Zinger, since every attack in their melee can take Taunt enhancements. This usually means they will be able to slot no less than 4 damage procs in an attack if you're not looking for any additional effects.

Edited September 3, 2023 by Spaghetti Betty

[Pwnmonster]

Thanks @biostem and @Spaghetti Betty! That's exactly what I was looking for.

[tidge]

21 hours ago, biostem said:

 For instance, slotting taunt with the perfect zinger and triumphant insult special IOs can make it into an AoE damage/disorient ability.

 

21 hours ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

On top of what might already be available to your chosen melee, Tanks (and Brutes) also get access to another damage proc option in Perfect Zinger, since every attack in their melee can take Taunt enhancements. This usually means they will be able to slot no less than 4 damage procs in an attack if you're not looking for any additional effects.

 

 

A quick comment on using Perfect Zinger %damage: The Tanker's Taunt is not an ideal place for this piece, as %damage requires a ToHit check, even when slotting in powers that otherwise do not require a ToHit check (like Taunt). IIRC, there are a couple of Accuracy/Recharge options in Threat enhancements... but slotting Recharge is working against the %proc rate for the already quick-cycling Taunt powers. This sort of calculus is one of the reasons I prefer the Mocking Beratement set over Perfect Zinger... I'm either single-slotting or 6-slotting Taunt.

 

Perfect Zinger's %damage is a perfectly good piece to add to actual attacks, as described by @Spaghetti Betty, if the attack is going to also have Accuracy slotted.

 

For Tanker Melee slotting, I am more likely to slot Accuracy/Endurance Reduction (at 50+5) than I am Accuracy/Damage (at either 50+5 or 53 via Hami-O or Superior Winter or whatever). This is because the %proc attacker benefits from spamming those AoE attacks (via as much global +Recharge as possible, since global recharge does not hurt %proc chances) so the Endurance cost is often a limiting factor. There also exist Accuracy/Damage/Endurance Reduction pieces as a compromise.

[Zect]

Stuffing tanker attacks full of procs isn't rocket science - just mouseover the various sets in mids, and see which have chance for ___ damage.

 

But making a functional and effective procbombing build also requires knowing how to source acc, endrdx, rech (especially rech) and other needed stats without enhancements in the actual attacks themselves. Further, procbombing builds gobble blue at a rate that's hard to believe until you've played one yourself. Heavy procbombers are one of very few builds capable of spending all the end from ageless core epiphany.

 

This build (not by me; I do not hand out builds as a matter of principle) demonstrates some key concepts of procbombing on tanks. See the first section, "proc rocks", about a granite stone/SS specifically.

I draw your attention to:

1. The use of SS to provide needed tohit; this allows taking musculature (adding even more dps) instead of an accuracy alpha. Without Rage, procbombers often need an alpha that provides acc, such as nerve or vigor, or some other non-enhancement source of acc such as focused acc. This is why SS is in a class of its own when it comes to offensive power.
2. The use of FF procs and set-muling to provide rech and slow resist; see eg. how the frankenslotted winter sets provide both enhancement value and slow res. See also the location of the tanker ATIO sets. They are put in the one power that is not good for procbombing (damage aura). It is normal that even on a procbombing set you have one or two powers slotted "normally" as the bonuses are too strong to pass up.
3. The use of ageless core to provide recovery. This is necessary if you are not playing an armor set with very strong endo management tools such as rad, elec etc or taking an endo management alpha such as Vigor.
4. The mixture of frankenslotting and procs in various attacks, in order to provide optimal damage and enhancement value. This is one of few valid use cases for slotting 3x purple sets because a +5 purple dam/end still outdamages a non-purple damage proc on many attacks, and slotting proc + dam + dam/end gives valuable resists and enhancement value (endrdx!).
5. The use of epic blasts and aoes to provide additional offensive firepower. Procbombing builds typically have low rech in the procced main attacks. This means more attacks must be fielded in order to spend all animation time. If you have to sit there waiting for stuff to recharge, that cuts into your dps gains.

 

I don't agree with all the choices made but overall, it is a very competently designed build.

 

The key concept being illustrated is understanding that granite provides a huge amount of mitigation which thus allows us to under-invest in mits and invest in dps instead. (Non-granite tankers can do the same thing, just to a lesser extreme.) This build invests almost nothing in defense except a few highly efficient pieces such as the res/def uniques and still has 90% res to all and 45% def to all except psi. Makes you wonder what those turtle-tank builders are doing when they throw away all dps to invest in turtling yet fail to achieve the same numbers, eh?

[tidge]