Is this right??? (Shield/MA)

[Story Archer]

As I return to the game I loved for so long, I've been trying to familiarize myself with what's new, what's changed, etc. Tanks were never something I really played because I tended to solo a lot and back in the day that's just not what they were intended for. Now I've read some good things about them and I'm giving them a look with fresh eyes. After dipping my toe in with a cursory Willpower/SS build, I went looking to put together a concept I hadn't ever really gotten to try - Shield/MA - and I was not prepared for what I found, so I'm wondering if I'm missing something here:

 

 

 

Is this right? It can't be. Now I'm not going to build this character exactly like this but I just wanted to see - by level 12 with Storm Kick, only the most basic slotting and a few Unique IO's, this character is already essentially at the Defense cap for all, has his status protection in place AND is resisting everything but Psi at 26% or higher? If true then that's just crazy. All Tankers can't be like this now, can they?

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Story Archer

[PLVRIZR]

You have Storm Kick toggled on, so you get +10% defense to all positionals.  In game, it's temporary (3 sec.?).

[Story Archer]

16 minutes ago, PLVRIZR said:

You have Storm Kick toggled on, so you get +10% defense to all positionals.  In game, it's temporary (3 sec.?).

 

Right, I mentioned Storm Kick, and of course its temporary, like Divine Avalanche or Guarded Spin, except its to ALL positionals. The question is how long does the buff last, because the kick's base recharge is only 6 seconds and you have to figure any decent build will get that down to 3-4.

[ZemX]

It lasts 10 seconds and does not stack.

 

https://cod.uberguy.net./html/power.html?power=tanker_melee.martial_arts.storm_kick&at=tanker

 

[Ringo]

It's correct.  Martial Arts doesn't get the -def secondary effect of Katana/Broad Sword, so it gets the boosted Storm Kick.  Divine Avalanche and Parry can stack (and are 15% boosts), Storm Kick cannot.  (edit:  none of them stack for Tankers, see below)

 

The Brute version of Storm Kick gets 7.5% def.  Scrapper and Stalker gets no defense boost.

 

Shield, being a later defense set, gets both Defense and some Resistances.  But it's notable that for non-positional defense Storm Kick gives defense to everything except Toxic and Psychic damage.  So Ice Armor, Invuln, and Willpower tankers aren't getting the same benefit as Shield or Super Reflexes

Edited October 31, 2023 by Ringo
Bad info!

[Camelbobsled]

For tankers Parry, Divine Avalanche, and Storm Kick do not stack. Guarded Spin and Defensive Sweep do stack. It's misleading and I'm sure there's some balance reason for it.

 

[Ringo]

7 hours ago, Camelbobsled said:

For tankers Parry, Divine Avalanche, and Storm Kick do not stack. Guarded Spin and Defensive Sweep do stack. It's misleading and I'm sure there's some balance reason for it.

 

Huh, you're correct! Also looking at City of Data, Defensive Sweep has two different buff timings.  Fast Sweep gets you +def for 7.5s and Slow Sweep goes for 10s

 

Weird

[Sovera]

On 10/25/2023 at 9:24 PM, Story Archer said:

As I return to the game I loved for so long, I've been trying to familiarize myself with what's new, what's changed, etc. Tanks were never something I really played because I tended to solo a lot and back in the day that's just not what they were intended for. Now I've read some good things about them and I'm giving them a look with fresh eyes. After dipping my toe in with a cursory Willpower/SS build, I went looking to put together a concept I hadn't ever really gotten to try - Shield/MA - and I was not prepared for what I found, so I'm wondering if I'm missing something here:

 

 

 

Is this right? It can't be. Now I'm not going to build this character exactly like this but I just wanted to see - by level 12 with Storm Kick, only the most basic slotting and a few Unique IO's, this character is already essentially at the Defense cap for all, has his status protection in place AND is resisting everything but Psi at 26% or higher? If true then that's just crazy. All Tankers can't be like this now, can they?

 

 

Quite so, you can do some silly things early on with MA and Shield. But you won't actually have 44.5% at level 12 because of how IOs scale. But even upwards of 30% will make it easy at that level. By Synapse you -will- be at close to 45%.

[ZemX]

11 hours ago, Sovera said:

But you won't actually have 44.5% at level 12 because of how IOs scale.

 

I always buy 8 hours of defense amplifier (really all three amps) for dirt cheap from P2W at level 1, then run a DFB and pick the hydra defense rewards.  That'll take a defenser like Shield through those pesky low levels in style.

[PLVRIZR]

1 minute ago, ZemX said:

 

I always buy 8 hours of defense amplifier (really all three amps) for dirt cheap from P2W at level 1, then run a DFB and pick the hydra defense rewards.  That'll take a defenser like Shield through those pesky low levels in style.

^---this. 

 

@ZemX is a super pro and anyone would be wise to follow his advice.  The P2W amplifiers are (as noted) super cheap at lvl 1 and make the initial grind a whole like more enjoyable...and this goes for any and all archetypes.