Best tank build for end content and 54x8

[Snarky]

I have been involved in too many Tank discussions about “ what is toughest tank” and in the end the OP picks SR, Regen, or Fire.  It is maddening.  
 

Look, how well a Tank performs against different enemies at 54x8 and tougher is largely based on the interaction with Tanks various armors.  
 

A set like Invul that covers the classic Def/Res/Heal and can be built up is great.  I have a Dark that does well, but i built the crap out of it and understand it does not operate at all like normal armors. I play it smart and it does well, for me.  I have heard at least one person say it dies for them in regular content.

 

Even with the toughest Tank built near perfect once the enemies are dialed up you have to be proactive.   So, once you listen to all the advice and pick a Fire armor I wish you great luck.  Just play actively and play to win. 

[Sovera]

7 hours ago, Snarky said:

I have been involved in too many Tank discussions about “ what is toughest tank” and in the end the OP picks SR, Regen, or Fire.  It is maddening.  
 

Look, how well a Tank performs against different enemies at 54x8 and tougher is largely based on the interaction with Tanks various armors.  
 

A set like Invul that covers the classic Def/Res/Heal and can be built up is great.  I have a Dark that does well, but i built the crap out of it and understand it does not operate at all like normal armors. I play it smart and it does well, for me.  I have heard at least one person say it dies for them in regular content.

 

Even with the toughest Tank built near perfect once the enemies are dialed up you have to be proactive.   So, once you listen to all the advice and pick a Fire armor I wish you great luck.  Just play actively and play to win. 

 

My current page 7 Tanker is coming along nicely (only 32-ish atm). Not as easy as some of the stuff I've done and it did Yin's TF in one hour and a half which is incredibly bad (my best is 40 minutes to give context).

 

But at 32 I'm at the point I don't really need to tank much when I'm throwing so much AoE down that I've a spawn killed in the first seconds of combat.

 

I'm sort of tempted to re-do Yin's TF now I'm at 32 and got the whole 'kill the spawn in seconds' down pat with the accumulated slots from the last levels just to get a real benchmark since doing it at max level while all geared is just not the same....

 

Hmm, yes, I'll do it tomorrow, it'll be all XP and merits anyway.

[Snarky]

3 minutes ago, Sovera said:

 

My current page 7 Tanker is coming along nicely (only 32-ish atm). Not as easy as some of the stuff I've done and it did Yin's TF in one hour and a half which is incredibly bad (my best is 40 minutes to give context).

 

But at 32 I'm at the point I don't really need to tank much when I'm throwing so much AoE down that I've a spawn killed in the first seconds of combat.

 

I'm sort of tempted to re-do Yin's TF now I'm at 32 and got the whole 'kill the spawn in seconds' down pat with the accumulated slots from the last levels just to get a real benchmark since doing it at max level while all geared is just not the same....

 

Hmm, yes, I'll do it tomorrow, it'll be all XP and merits anyway.

just watch out when exemplaring.  your enhancer valures get squished and you may lose some set bonuses

[Sovera]

Just now, Snarky said:

just watch out when exemplaring.  your enhancer valures get squished and you may lose some set bonuses

 

C'mon bro, this is me you're talking to 😄

[Snarky]

2 minutes ago, Sovera said:

 

C'mon bro, this is me you're talking to 😄

o right   sorry, still in shellshock from a pug keyes i just did.  and it was...not good lol.  

[Sovera]

54 minutes, boo. Slow. But the new Council makes the old times moot now.

 

So... many... bosses... having to be killed a second time... It was bad enough with Freaks but now the Council do it too (more than before that is).

 

 

So I have no idea if it's really slow compared to my other builds or if it's just slow. I should run the old builds again, but ach, who has the patience for that.

[Haijinx]

The toughest "all the time" is going to be Stone that lives in Granite that has IOs to shore up psi resist.

 

But *yawn*  

 

Invul would be better all around I would think.  

 

For damage, or exemplar there are better choices.

[Sovera]

I'm making a Stone/Fire Melee since the Fire/Elec melee was not making me happy. And, ugh, it's annoying how I'm immortal and still doing good damage. I'm reached Yin and will try to get a time but I feel it will be on the ballpark of my Fire Armor builds while also casually immortal. Seriously, I had 40% defenses by Posi 2 (level 20, exemped to 16, with amplifiers). The poor mobs barely touched me.

 

By Yin I've 43% and not finished slotting and the only time the HP dipped was when I pulled two spawns.... and the kill speed is about the same.

 

UGH.

[StriderIV]

6 minutes ago, Sovera said:

I'm making a Stone/Fire Melee since the Fire/Elec melee was not making me happy. And, ugh, it's annoying how I'm immortal and still doing good damage. I'm reached Yin and will try to get a time but I feel it will be on the ballpark of my Fire Armor builds while also casually immortal. Seriously, I had 40% defenses by Posi 2 (level 20, exemped to 16, with amplifiers). The poor mobs barely touched me.

 

By Yin I've 43% and not finished slotting and the only time the HP dipped was when I pulled two spawns.... and the kill speed is about the same.

 

UGH.

Stone/Fire does sound like it’d be very beastly.

[Sovera]

Ugh... The Stone/Fire did it in 58 minutes while in complete immunity. I can't guide myself with the old times with the changes to council (sometimes 2 bosses transform per spawn, nearly always one, and it adds up), but only 4 minutes slower than the Fire/Elec despite the big nuke in Lightning Rod.

 

So sad...

 

... I might become a Stone Armor guru instead 😛

[Haijinx]

A On/Off Granite Stoner sounds like it could meet the OPS request then.  

 

 

[Vulgaris]

I'm mildly surprised willpower hasn't been mentioned a single solitary time. I've heard people murmer that it was basically "The new invul" and "Tanker's Regeneration"

[StriderIV]

6 hours ago, Vulgaris said:

I'm mildly surprised willpower hasn't been mentioned a single solitary time. I've heard people murmer that it was basically "The new invul" and "Tanker's Regeneration"

I’ve had this thought as well. That being said, being a jack of all trades, master of none can sometimes make it a bit more difficult in the focused HM/4* content where you can plan on covering your one big hole, rather than a few minor ones. Also, WP completely lacks DDR.

 

On the flip side though, it is one of the few sets that provides terrorize protection. I think it has a tougher time solo, but (theoretically) I imagine it could be an absolute monster with the right team behind it for the HM stuff. When you have barriers going off and people are buffing your defense and resists to the gills, I imagine Willpower’s HUGE regen would allow it to shine.

Edited February 27, 2024 by StriderIV
Spelling

[Psyonico]

1 hour ago, StriderIV said:

Also, WP completely lacks DDR.

Heightened senses provides 21.625% DDR, not a ton, but it is there.

[StriderIV]

23 minutes ago, Psyonico said:

Heightened senses provides 21.625% DDR, not a ton, but it is there.

Good call out!

[PLVRIZR]

Ah, Willpower.

 

Agree with everything said about HM content (and add +4/8 ITFs and tanking LR, without Ageless DDR and/or support), but my WP/Fire tank PL'd my first farmer (Spines/FA) and cruises in farms of all types and 98% of all other content.  Middling defense, middling resists, monstrous regen.  The not so distant past buff to Fiery Melee made him even better and more enjoyable.

[BigKahuna337]

I have to throw my Bio/Rad tanker hat into the ring on this thread. DDR being the only weakness (easily overcome with Ageless Radial) this is probably the best solo tanker build I have used. Sitting around 300% regen BEFORE hitting any of the Regen/Recovery enhancing PBAOE's (over 550% after) this build can be built virtually unkillable. Not to mention -Def and -Dmg debuffs that are really difference makers when surrounded by +4/8 mobs. Uber solo"able" in any content.

[Zect]

On 2/14/2025 at 6:56 AM, BigKahuna337 said:

DDR being the only weakness (easily overcome with Ageless Radial)

 

Ageless radial T4 gives:

• 42.5% -def res for 30s
• 21.25 -def res for 60s
• 21.25 -def res for 120s

On a 120s cycle, and the 3 buffs stack.

 

This means that you will have 85% DDR 1/4 of the time, 42.5% 1/4 of the time and 21.25% the remaining 1/2 of the time (which is WP levels of awful).

 

Thinking that ageless radial will save your hide vs -def debuffs is a classic mistake. The good news is that most -def attacks are SL and Bio is designed to meet SL damage with resists, not defense (WP being the other set with similarly hybrid mitigation). Combined with tankers being grossly overpowered, most people who make this mistake don't get to deal with the consequences. A better counter to -def is to anticipate or recognize when non-SL -def attacks are incoming, and counter them appropriately with insps or non-def mitigation clicks, while outputting high dps to kill the critters in question.

[Story Archer]

On 2/20/2024 at 10:16 AM, IUIXIUI said:

Hello,

 

I am currently looking to build the best well rounded tank for end content and 54x8 maps with IOs and incarnates. Looking for opinions and also any mids builds people are willing to share.

 

For pure survivability, for me it's got to be Dark/MA. Now we're talking about the difference between 99.9 and 99.95 here, but still.

 

As an experiment, I built a Dark/MA that meets the following requirements:

• All positional defenses over the soft-cap (no inherent DDR though).
• Most Resistances within a single SMotT proc from being hard-capped (Energy & Toxic lag a little behind), so basically hard-capped Resistances.
• Arguably the best Heal in the game, basically full heal every 15 seconds or so.
• A non-suppressing Stealth toggle.
• Two different Mez auras (Disorient & Fear), one of which also inflicts -ToHit .
• Two different damage auras.
• Substantial DeBuff resistance to pretty much everything.

To be honest, I think a lot of that is overkill, but there are ways to make it even MORE survivable by playing around with the Epic Pools and of course the Incarnates, especially if you're not worried about how quickly you kill things... but if survivability is the only thing you care about, this where I would start.

 

EDIT: Couldn't find the original build so I cobbled this together for you real quick. I'm sure others could fine tune it better. Again - optimized for survivability, not damage, as per your specifications.

 

(final) Tanker (MA - Dark).mbd

 

 

 

So everything within melee range of you (remember that you have Fold Space) is being Disoriented, Feared, Knocked Down from Dragon's Tail, having their ToHit DeBuffed and taking damage from Dragon's Tail and two damage auras all while trying to overcome 53.5% Melee defense AND 90% damage resistance. On top of ALL that, you can also Heal all the way up every 15 seconds or so. That's about as unkillable as you can get in this game.

 

Edited February 21 by Story Archer

[Story Archer]

On 2/18/2025 at 7:36 AM, Zect said:

 

Ageless radial T4 gives:

• 42.5% -def res for 30s
• 21.25 -def res for 60s
• 21.25 -def res for 120s

On a 120s cycle, and the 3 buffs stack.

 

This means that you will have 85% DDR 1/4 of the time, 42.5% 1/4 of the time and 21.25% the remaining 1/2 of the time (which is WP levels of awful).

 

Thinking that ageless radial will save your hide vs -def debuffs is a classic mistake. The good news is that most -def attacks are SL and Bio is designed to meet SL damage with resists, not defense (WP being the other set with similarly hybrid mitigation). Combined with tankers being grossly overpowered, most people who make this mistake don't get to deal with the consequences. A better counter to -def is to anticipate or recognize when non-SL -def attacks are incoming, and counter them appropriately with insps or non-def mitigation clicks, while outputting high dps to kill the critters in question.

 

To be fair, most of the time you get mixed damage types, and -Def applies to everything... so if your method of dealing with -Def S/L attacks is with S/L Resistance, you're letting your defenses to everything else get floored in the process.

[Story Archer]

On 2/27/2024 at 9:44 AM, Vulgaris said:

I'm mildly surprised willpower hasn't been mentioned a single solitary time. I've heard people murmer that it was basically "The new invul" and "Tanker's Regeneration"

 

I find that Willpower tends to struggle a bit against those solo EB's and AV's, at least in comparison to other sets.

[StriderIV]

3 hours ago, Story Archer said:

 

I find that Willpower tends to struggle a bit against those solo EB's and AV's, at least in comparison to other sets.

Yeah, I had someone say to me "WP might be the only set that fairs BETTER fighting multiple EB/AV's due to how RTTC works" compared to just fighting one haha.

I always think that, with the RIGHT team behind it where you're buffing defense and rotating barriers, WP/ could be amazing... if only due to the fact that it can get massive regen underneath all that resist/defense. Might just be one of those things where it's "better on paper" rather than in practice though.

[Story Archer]

1 hour ago, StriderIV said:

Yeah, I had someone say to me "WP might be the only set that fairs BETTER fighting multiple EB/AV's due to how RTTC works" compared to just fighting one haha.

I always think that, with the RIGHT team behind it where you're buffing defense and rotating barriers, WP/ could be amazing... if only due to the fact that it can get massive regen underneath all that resist/defense. Might just be one of those things where it's "better on paper" rather than in practice though.

 

I think it's one of the better options for normal 1-50 content for sure, in part due to its early access to Quick Recovery and due to the fact that Tanks are so BA to begin with, but against the more difficult content I think it lags behind (my first 50 was a Kat/Will Scrapper). It relies on RES as its primary defense against S/L, which means that Lethal attacks hit often, and they usually come with a -DEF debuff. Little to no DDR means that whatever DEF Willpower grants to everything else gets whittled down quickly due to that blindspot

 

No Tank is weak, by any means... but if you look at that DA/MA I linked above, you'll see that it's not what I'd consider to be optimal. I do agree with you though, that it certainly fairs much better on a team than solo, with the build above gaining nowhere near as much a boost in performance when similarly buffed.

 

Edited February 21 by Story Archer

[Mentalist]

So many people recommending stone armor when it has no slow resistance and no cold defense.  It’s super annoying.  I think it also has no endurance drain resistance and no ranged def, so sappers are an insta gg.  
 

Willpower has the some of the same problems.  No ranged def and no slow resistance gives the Tsoo siphon speed spam and sappers free reign.  
 

I like Bio armor because I can defend against and plan for almost anything.  Even against defense debuffs I still have S/L resistance and absorb, especially in defensive mode.  You should also slot for energy resistance with Bio because energy damage is common and comes with -def fairly often too.
 

Fire, cold, dark and psi rarely come with -def so your defenses in those areas should be sufficient.  Even in arachnos maps with the psi debuff ‘scramble thoughts’ most of the actual damage coming at you is S/L and energy.  And just kill the psi enemies first.  

[Sovera]

WP and Bio both work well for leveling. When defense debuffs appear they come from S/L sources to which both have strong resistances.

 

It's in the late mid-game that defense debuffs tied with E/N damage start rearing up, and that's when both sets crumple like paper against some factions. Crey is the early beginning but all praetorean bots are dangerous as heck.