Whats the highest damage tanker sets?

[ArchmageMC]

Haven't played in awhile, I remember it used to be

Rad/Bio/FA

Energy melee/SS

Is it still these or did a patch change things?

[Master87]

I believe fire melee is among the strongest for a tank atm

[IronJuke]

My guesses for highest damage (other than Fire) would be ... 

 

Energy Melee

Super Strength

Battle Axe

Psionic Melee

Rad Melee

 

Bio and Fire would probably the best armor sets.  

 

I am trying out a new Tanker with Shield/Energy Melee to see how it will work as I don't have any experience with Defense Tankers at this point. 

 

Edited January 18 by IronJuke

[Grimm2]

I'll affirm that Fire Melee is very good now. They sped up Greater Fire Sword and Combustion, and the swords do -def opening up proc options. Two pbaoe's are very easy to use.  In s/l AE farms, my bio/fire tank slays the EBs faster than the fodder, who are under constant assault from the pbaoes. It's good. 

[Troo]

aoe or single target? there are nuances.

 

In general Bio/Fire would also be my guess.. but I'd never play that. I'd rather Rad/Energy Melee.

[Warboss]

In the past SS with Rage couldn't be beat, even with the Rage crash. Now, with IOs, procing, and changes to some sets I'm not sure. Certainly the right pairing with SS can make big difference. I've always been partial to Fiery Melee and I think the last change to the set gave it "moar Fire damage over time". I'm not sure anyone has done an analysis since the old days. Might be pretty complex now. But, I'd love to know how the sets shake out. As others have said Fire, Bio, Rad would likely be the best Primaries for pairing (Offense wise). After that for the Secondaries, SS, Stone Melee, Fiery Melee(?), the "B" tier might include EM, BA, etc... I know the Battle Axe changes (Axe Cyclone) make it the "Best" set for Tanking period. Since you can use it to draw enemies in and (after practice) actually relocate them. Not sure where it ranks for overall damage, but I know my Rad/Axer using Musculature can pump out some nice number, but so can my Rad/Fiery Melee toons.

Edited January 18 by Warboss

[Gobbledigook]

SS is not the best Single target or AoE but it is up there. A highly resisted set compared to say Fire melee, but SS Rage does offer very nice +to hit which can also make a big difference.

[Bill Z Bubba]

I've been out of the loop. They really fixed fiery melee?

[Spaghetti Betty]

44 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

I've been out of the loop. They really fixed fiery melee?

It's a top 3 melee now!

[StriderIV]

3 hours ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

It's a top 3 melee now!

What are the other two in your opinion? 😁

[Spaghetti Betty]

Just now, StriderIV said:

What are the other two in your opinion? 😁

I would say Energy Melee, Battle Axe, Super Strength, Fiery Melee, and Katana are all vying for top 3, but I don't have the attention span to do any real testing to back that up!

[Uun]

14 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

I've been out of the loop. They really fixed fiery melee?

They did, and they buffed Fiery Aura. Fire/Fire is a real beast.

[electric_emu]

I will echo Fiery Melee.  Very strong now and feels more like a proper analogue to Fire Blast, at least on Tankers.  

[Sovera]

Raw damage I would say Super-Strength. Double stacked Rage is hard to beat and the accuracy bonuses allows to faff around with the rest of the build's slotting. But even with trickery and damage procs and a secondary that survives Rage crashes it can and does become annoying to have the constant 10 seconds of downtime. Also, the AoE starts late at 30 but can be paired with Fire Armor to have it at 18. Honestly I'd love to get my hands on SS but Rage crash is a nuisance.

 

Also, smash damage ends being resisted a fair bit.

 

Energy Melee is the ST beast, but, eh, in our world 'beast' is something that is 30 seconds faster. It's not like in OG Titan Weapons where it meant over a minute. So despite Energy Melee being the strongest ST it does come with some caveats like a messy ST rotation and mediocre AoE (the cone is just eh). But, the CC Energy Melee has is pretty potent and even AVs can be made to stagger. It pairs well with Fire Armor for the second build-up power it brings as well as a much needed second AoE to help clearing mobs. Also, Burn is a good filler to help with the messy ST rotation I mentioned above.

 

As everyone else mentioned already Fire Melee is probably the best allrounder now. Two PbAoEs so no need to aim, exotic damage, a snappy ST rotation with no lengthy animations. It lacks the oomph of EM but it also does not have the lengthy animation of Total Focus.

 

 

Don't sleep on Battle Axe though. Even though it's Slash damage it has even better ST after the tuning patch and good AoE. The only set with an AoE that pulls mobs in (even though technically it's not adding anything to the game it's fun), it adds soft CC, AND it takes a FF proc so it speeds all of the build's cooldowns. It's one of the few sets (Stone, Martial Arts, Kinetic Melee, Claws) with an AoE that allows this and this has an effect not gauged simply by looking at the powers and numbers when heals, Build-ups and etc all recharge faster.

[Warboss]

On 1/18/2024 at 8:40 PM, Spaghetti Betty said:

I would say Energy Melee, Battle Axe, Super Strength, Fiery Melee, and Katana are all vying for top 3, but I don't have the attention span to do any real testing to back that up!

Katana? I'll have to look at that again. I've never had much luck with it (or damage either).

[Spaghetti Betty]

5 minutes ago, Warboss said:

Katana? I'll have to look at that again. I've never had much luck with it (or damage either).

Katana attacks have extremely good DPA and even better proc math. Try a proc bomber that uses Golden Dragonfly -> Sting of the Wasp -> Soaring Dragon.

 

You can do the same with for AoE with GD -> Flashing Steel -> Lotus Drop.

 

Epics only push this further!

[IronJuke]

1 hour ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

Katana attacks have extremely good DPA and even better proc math. Try a proc bomber that uses Golden Dragonfly -> Sting of the Wasp -> Soaring Dragon.

 

You can do the same with for AoE with GD -> Flashing Steel -> Lotus Drop.

 

Epics only push this further!

 

Katana is awesome.  So underrated!!  The first toon made on Homecoming is my Inv/Katana Tanker,  How many procs would you add to the powers you mention.

 

Why use Sting of the Wasp in the rotation? 

Edited January 21 by IronJuke

[Spaghetti Betty]

3 minutes ago, IronJuke said:

I really like Katana.  My first toon on Homecoming is Inv/Katana.  How many procs would you had to those powers?    

That's gonna depend a lot on your build goals, but a pretty universal slotting would be

Golden Dragonfly: 2 acc/dam HOs, glad proc, 2 DMG procs, ff proc

Sting of the Wasp: 4-piece MotT, Achilles Heel

Soaring Dragon: 2 acc/dam HOs, 3 DMG procs, ff proc

 

The 2 aoes are pretty much the same.

 

If I wasn't at work I could probably illustrate this with a build or two. Maybe later!

[ZemX]

On 1/20/2024 at 6:03 PM, Spaghetti Betty said:

Katana attacks have extremely good DPA and even better proc math.

 

I imagine it only really competes with those others if you DO go with a proc-monster build.  It can otherwise feel like you're swinging a cardboard tube against robots, Longbow/Crey bosses, and really too many other enemies that have high lethal resist.