Tanker advice

[Bucksby]

Hey all - new to COH  - looking for advice for a Tanker set-up to start with 

 

Been playing a shield second brute for a bit and am keen to move more into the tanker archetype

[MoisesG]

Welcome to CoH.

For a first time tank i would suggest Willpower. it has a bit everything, resistance, defense, regeneration, and endurance recovery.

it is a set and forget powerset so you can concentrate on the mobs, plus it offers a pretty smooth ride all the way to 50.

 

Aside from Willpower, any tank would be viable and fun to play, just maybe a bit more involved like Invulnerability, Bio, Radiation and some others.

Read the descriptions of the different types and play what you think you will enjoy or that appeals to you.

[Psyonico]

Welcome to City!

 

Are there any sets that cry out to you? Either primary or secondary?  That would help narrow down options. 

[Xandyr]

To the OP,

  First, welcome to the City!

 

 Now, to the nitty gritty....

Every Primary powerset can tank. HOW you want to tank, and your concept, will determine what powersets you want.

  If you want to do more damage, then definitely take a Resist based set as they typically have a damage aura (Fire Armor has Blazing Aura, Dark=Death Shroud, Electric=Lightning Field, etc). Bio has a damage aura, has 3 different "Adaptations", which one will also increase your damage across the board on every attack. See my sig for a tutorial on Bio.

  Invulnerability is considered the "classic" tank. Shield offers an additional attack in Shield Charge, plus with more enemies near you, you gain a damage bonus across the board.

   Willpower, as was mentioned,  is a "fire and forget" powerset. Turn your toggles on, and never look back. It can achieve absurd levels of Regeneration,  with the potential to have capped Energy/N.E/Fire/Cold defenses, along with the potential to have capped Smashing/Lethal Resists. 

 

  I would recommend looking at synergies between Primary and Secondary sets as well. For instance, Staff, while in Form Of The Body, can increase your Resists, and Guarded Spin will also add to your Melee/Lethal Defense. Pairs great with WP or Bio. 

 Energy Melee attacks can stun, as can Oppressive in Dark Armor. Stack the 2 and you can stun A LOT.

  Martial Arts has a power that increases your defenses. That would help if you are near the softcap for defense (45%) and push you to it ,or exceed it. Or use the the stun capability of it to stack with Dark Armor. Or use the boost to defense to "round out" your Resistance Based powerset. 

  I, personally,  have found that concept and fun trumps everything else. I LOVE my WP/Staff tank. I created a (personal) backstory for him that includes personal details. That tank IS me. The Staff animations are fun and hits EVERYTHING around you. Is it my most damaging Tank? Nope. Do people "recruit" WP tanks for 4 star content? No, they want Rad, Bio, Shield, or SR. But I don't care. I'll bring my WP tank to anything. I may die, but that's part of the game. I have soft capped defenses to most, capped S/L Resists, and can hit about 300 HP/Sec.

 

Hope that helps. Once you narrow down your Primary/Secondary powersets, let us know. There's a LOT of knowledge and experience in these forums, and most everyone is willing to help and explain "why" we chose which powers and why we slotted them the way we did.

 

Good luck!

[SeraphimKensai]

I'd suggest checking the Tanker Tuesday thread seeing where the gang is going in a couple days and rolling/transferring a tank over to that server to run the event and see how other tanks perform and then pick people's minds.

[Thraxen]

Do super reflexes. It’s also set and forget. The powers can all be graphically invisible as well. Hit 45% def to melee, ranged, and aoe and you’re golden. Few of the unique procs and combat jumping will get a tank to the sweet 45% mark easily. Also frees up tons of room on your build for chasing other stuff. 
 

Welcome to the game. It’s probably a lot at first but game is fairly easy compared to a lot of other mmos. If you want a lil seed money holler at @thraxen in game.  Most of us that play waaaaaaay to much can throw a bit around to new people and it isn’t a big deal. 

[PLVRIZR]

On 11/11/2023 at 1:29 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

I'd suggest checking the Tanker Tuesday thread seeing where the gang is going in a couple days and rolling/transferring a tank over to that server to run the event and see how other tanks perform and then pick people's minds.

This week (11/14) we're on Torchbearer.  Meet in King's Row, at the Independence Port gate at 9P EST.

[Warboss]

19 hours ago, PLVRIZR said:

This week (11/14) we're on Torchbearer.  Meet in King's Row, at the Independence Port gate at 9P EST.

 

This and I didn't even have to make a shameless plug. PLV did it. 

[SeraphimKensai]

3 hours ago, Warboss said:

 

This and I didn't even have to make a shameless plug. PLV did it. 

Well I think my post woke him up. I honestly thought about tagging the both of you on it.

[Warboss]

15 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Well I think my post woke him up. I honestly thought about tagging the both of you on it.

 

Thank you for suggesting TT, I should have given you props for it as well. It's always good to see other players recognizing events for the fun and benefits they provide.

[SeraphimKensai]

2 minutes ago, Warboss said:

 

Thank you for suggesting TT, I should have given you props for it as well. It's always good to see other players recognizing events for the fun and benefits they provide.

I don't really need props, I get enough of those when I'm working on a theatre production. Jokes aside, Tanker Tuesday is a fun event, it just happens to be before my 1 year old goes to bed, so I've only gotten the chance to go like once in the last year or so.

[Warboss]

Understandable, family comes first. Feel free to join us when you can. If you get kid to bed successfully, send us a tell on TankHQ and we'll get you on a missions team (as space allows).

[Without_Pause]

Stone/fire. Theme wise it works. Stone is a different vibe than Shield. Fire Melee is worth looking into on a Tanker due to only Tankers getting the three AoE attacks and Tankers get larger AoEs, so it is a double bonus. You can also minimize Stone's look to where it is fairly tolerable, and you don't really need Granite. I did Shield/fire due to the look, but if I had one Tanker build to rule them all, Stone/fire.