Beginner friendly (near) immortal Tanker good for leveling and end-game: Stone/Fire Melee.

[biostem]

1 minute ago, Sovera said:

both +defense uniques, four SOs, and Amplifiers.

Those things are not new player/beginner friendly, and do not take into account all the other benefits I brought up in radiation armor, (additional +recovery, absorption, a self heal that is more readily available, etc).

[Sovera]

They are when I also point out to where they can make money, and how even without the uniques they will be at around 33% where a single small luck will put them at 45%.

 

 

I'm not discounting all the rest. Rad Armor is strong and capable. I just have an extensive experience leveling resist based armors and there is a world of difference in passively not being hit and leveling while trying to have our stat poor heals be available as we are pelted by everything that has debuffs attached.

 

We can argue at end level Rad Armor pulls ahead where Stone Armor's lack of an actual heal does not keep up, but that's where incarnates kick in. Outside of Hardmodes I think it does well enough.

 

Edited February 29 by Sovera

[Sovera]

Soloed Manticore in 1:36 minutes, of which 20+ were spent on the three AV fights 😄  Had to use three Recovery Serums during that time but was in literally no danger since what few hits landed were regenerated before another landed, so no inspirations used.

 

The damage is very Tanker like with GFS hitting for 146 damage (not accounting for Fire Melee DoTs, Brimstone, or procs), but both got whittled down.

[Sovera]

Was soloing Numina when I had to face CoT and got ToHit debuffed. Fortunately Focused Accuracy was there to rescue my butt, but then I thought how it is really not needed to always have it on, and checking on the numbers, there really isn't. It is used when mobs have extra defense or when a mob debuffs.

 

So some painless minor slotting changes (acc/dmg/end instead of dmg/end) and the build has the hardcap to hitting +3 enemies without FA being turned on, which, at this point, means the endurance woes are licked at 1.6 consumption and 4.6 EPS leaving 3 EPS without accounting for the 4 endurance procs from Performance Shifters and Panaceia.

 

That does not really change my original plans for Incarnates. I'll still take Musculature with the endurance boost and then decide whether I want Barrier for a buffer towards defense debuffs or Vigor to replace a heal. The gut says Barrier since no heals help once defense is in the negatives and the extra 5% will slow down cascading failures.

 

Devouring Earth continue being a pain that I can't facetank, but it's a matter of going to a spawn, unload both AoEs, float away from the stacked buffs/debuff fields they lay down, then when they rejoin me BU + AoEs again. No biggie. Play smart 😛

 

Dat Jurassik must be resistant to fire because chrissakes it was a good 15 minutes to whittle it down.

 

Edited March 3 by Sovera

[Bacon Wrangler]

@Sovera The link in your sig for this build comes back to this thread. Do you have posted the complete build somewhere?

[Sovera]

2 hours ago, Bacon Wrangler said:

@Sovera The link in your sig for this build comes back to this thread. Do you have posted the complete build somewhere?

 

First post.

[The_Traveler]

i did update a few things in my stone/rad build... itsa beast for sure.  i run FA all the time with no issues... no incarnates yet either.  i left the -res debuff in the auras because i team primarily and it's something extra i can bring since my damage is lower (although i dont have much trouble joining farms and holding my own or soloing +3x8)

 

The Build - may adjust a bit once i start trying hardmode stuff. 

Spoiler

Hero Tanker
Build plan made with Mids' Reborn v3.6.6 rev. 3
──────────────────────────────

• Primary powerset: Stone Armor
• Secondary powerset: Radiation Melee
• Pool powerset (#1): Teleportation
• Pool powerset (#2): Fighting
• Pool powerset (#3): Flight
• Pool powerset (#4): Speed
• Epic powerset: Energy Mastery
  

──────────────────────────────

Powers taken:

Level 1: Rock Armor

• A: Shield Wall: Defense/Endurance/Recharge
• 3: Shield Wall: Defense
• 5: Shield Wall: Defense/Endurance
• 5: Shield Wall: Defense/Recharge
• 17: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
  

Level 1: Contaminated Strike

• A: Gladiator's Strike: Chance for Smashing Damage
• 3: Gladiator's Strike: Accuracy/Damage/End/Rech
• 7: Gladiator's Strike: Accuracy/Damage
• 7: Gladiator's Strike: Damage/Recharge
• 27: Gladiator's Strike: Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 2: Radioactive Smash

• A: Might of the Tanker: Accuracy/Damage
• 42: Might of the Tanker: Damage/Recharge
• 43: Might of the Tanker: Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• 43: Might of the Tanker: Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• 43: Might of the Tanker: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• 46: Might of the Tanker: Recharge/Chance for +Res(All)
  

Level 4: Combat Teleport

• (Empty)
  

Level 6: Mud Pots

• A: Ice Mistral's Torment: Chance for Cold Damage
• 11: Ice Mistral's Torment: Endurance/Slow
• 11: Ice Mistral's Torment: Damage/Slow
• 13: Ice Mistral's Torment: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• 13: Ice Mistral's Torment: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• 15: Fury of the Gladiator: Chance for Res Debuff
  

Level 8: Rooted

• A: Preventive Medicine: Heal
• 9: Preventive Medicine: Heal/Endurance
• 9: Preventive Medicine: Endurance/RechargeTime
• 21: Preventive Medicine: Heal/RechargeTime
• 21: Preventive Medicine: Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance
• 23: Preventive Medicine: Chance for +Absorb
  

Level 10: Stone Skin

• A: Unbreakable Guard: +Max HP
• 19: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance
• 19: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance/Endurance
• 15: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• 31: Steadfast Protection: Resistance/+Def 3%
  

Level 12: Crystal Armor

• A: Shield Wall: Defense/Endurance
• 29: Shield Wall: Defense/Recharge
• 29: Shield Wall: Defense
• 31: Shield Wall: Defense/Endurance/Recharge
• 31: Performance Shifter: Chance for +End
• 39: Power Transfer: Chance to Heal Self
  

Level 14: Teleport

• A: Blessing of the Zephyr: Knockback Reduction (4 points)
  

Level 16: Radiation Siphon

• A: Hecatomb: Chance of Damage(Negative)
• 23: Theft of Essence: Chance for +Endurance
• 47: Hecatomb: Damage/Recharge
• 47: Hecatomb: Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
• 48: Hecatomb: Recharge/Accuracy
• 48: Hecatomb: Damage/Endurance
  

Level 18: Minerals

• A: Reactive Defenses: Defense
• 33: Reactive Defenses: Defense/Endurance
• 39: Reactive Defenses: Scaling Resist Damage
• 45: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
  

Level 20: Fold Space

• A: Invention: Recharge Reduction
• 40: Invention: Recharge Reduction
  

Level 22: Brimstone Armor

• A: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance
• 39: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance/Endurance
• 40: Unbreakable Guard: RechargeTime/Resistance
• 45: Gladiator's Armor: TP Protection +3% Def (All)
  

Level 24: Irradiated Ground

• A: Scirocco's Dervish: Accuracy/Damage
• 25: Scirocco's Dervish: Damage/Endurance
• 25: Scirocco's Dervish: Damage/Recharge
• 27: Scirocco's Dervish: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• 34: Scirocco's Dervish: Chance of Damage(Lethal)
• 36: Achilles' Heel: Chance for Res Debuff
  

Level 26: Earth's Embrace

• A: Impervious Skin: Status Resistance/Regeneration
  

Level 28: Kick

• (Empty)
  

Level 30: Atom Smasher

• A: Gauntleted Fist: Accuracy/Damage
• 33: Gauntleted Fist: Damage/RechargeTime
• 34: Gauntleted Fist: Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• 36: Gauntleted Fist: Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• 36: Gauntleted Fist: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• 37: Gauntleted Fist: RechargeTime/+Absorb
  

Level 32: Tough

• A: Aegis: Psionic/Status Resistance
• 33: Aegis: Resistance
• 34: Aegis: Resistance/Endurance
• 37: Aegis: Resistance/Recharge
  

Level 35: Weave

• A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• 37: Luck of the Gambler: Defense
  

Level 38: Focused Accuracy

• A: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control: Chance for Build Up
  

Level 41: Physical Perfection

• A: Performance Shifter: Chance for +End
  

Level 44: Hover

• A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• 45: Shield Wall: +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
• 46: Shield Wall: Defense/Endurance
• 48: Shield Wall: Defense
• 50: Shield Wall: Defense/Recharge
  

Level 47: Fusion

• A: Invention: Recharge Reduction
  

Level 49: Hasten

• A: Invention: Recharge Reduction
• 50: Invention: Recharge Reduction
  

──────────────────────────────

Inherents:

Level 1: Gauntlet

Level 1: Brawl

• (Empty)
  

Level 1: Sprint

• (Empty)
  

Level 2: Rest

• (Empty)
  

Level 1: Swift

• (Empty)
  

Level 1: Hurdle

• (Empty)
  

Level 1: Health

• A: Panacea: +Hit Points/Endurance
• 40: Miracle: +Recovery
• 42: Numina's Convalesence: +Regeneration/+Recovery
  

Level 1: Stamina

• A: Power Transfer: EndMod
• 17: Power Transfer: Chance to Heal Self
• 42: Performance Shifter: Chance for +End
  

──────────────────────────────
Incarnates:

Musculature Radial Paragon

 

some things ive noticed...

 Having multiple sustain procs makes a big difference.   i have 4 endurance procs and 2 health procs.  so every 10 seconds i am getting anywhere from 10-30%(40%) endurance bar and 90 or 180 healing.  this fixes the end issue early (put peformance shifter in stamina, crystal armor and theft of essense in rad siphon (which i have come to appreciate).  also going 2 slot bonus with power transer instead of performance shifter gives regen instead of movement speed... i would consider the movement speed late game or if doing Granite builds.

 

at this point i have a few hundred mill invested (just working on merits for Tanker AT sets now) and its been a blast...  I FLEW to 50 in a couple days.  the defensiveness of stone fits my aggressive playstyle (its forgiving).  I typically find a central spot on mission maps and fold space to pull multiple groups to me.  (fold space, fusion, smasher, single target rotation on contaminated boss to finish off trash... it goes quick)

[Sovera]

1 hour ago, The_Traveler said:

i did update a few things in my stone/rad build... itsa beast for sure.  i run FA all the time with no issues... no incarnates yet either.  i left the -res debuff in the auras because i team primarily and it's something extra i can bring since my damage is lower (although i dont have much trouble joining farms and holding my own or soloing +3x8)

 

The Build - may adjust a bit once i start trying hardmode stuff. 

  Reveal hidden contents

Hero Tanker
Build plan made with Mids' Reborn v3.6.6 rev. 3
──────────────────────────────

• Primary powerset: Stone Armor
• Secondary powerset: Radiation Melee
• Pool powerset (#1): Teleportation
• Pool powerset (#2): Fighting
• Pool powerset (#3): Flight
• Pool powerset (#4): Speed
• Epic powerset: Energy Mastery

 

──────────────────────────────

Powers taken:

Level 1: Rock Armor

• A: Shield Wall: Defense/Endurance/Recharge
• 3: Shield Wall: Defense
• 5: Shield Wall: Defense/Endurance
• 5: Shield Wall: Defense/Recharge
• 17: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

 

Level 1: Contaminated Strike

• A: Gladiator's Strike: Chance for Smashing Damage
• 3: Gladiator's Strike: Accuracy/Damage/End/Rech
• 7: Gladiator's Strike: Accuracy/Damage
• 7: Gladiator's Strike: Damage/Recharge
• 27: Gladiator's Strike: Damage/Endurance/Recharge

 

Level 2: Radioactive Smash

• A: Might of the Tanker: Accuracy/Damage
• 42: Might of the Tanker: Damage/Recharge
• 43: Might of the Tanker: Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• 43: Might of the Tanker: Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• 43: Might of the Tanker: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• 46: Might of the Tanker: Recharge/Chance for +Res(All)

 

Level 4: Combat Teleport

• (Empty)

 

Level 6: Mud Pots

• A: Ice Mistral's Torment: Chance for Cold Damage
• 11: Ice Mistral's Torment: Endurance/Slow
• 11: Ice Mistral's Torment: Damage/Slow
• 13: Ice Mistral's Torment: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• 13: Ice Mistral's Torment: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• 15: Fury of the Gladiator: Chance for Res Debuff

 

Level 8: Rooted

• A: Preventive Medicine: Heal
• 9: Preventive Medicine: Heal/Endurance
• 9: Preventive Medicine: Endurance/RechargeTime
• 21: Preventive Medicine: Heal/RechargeTime
• 21: Preventive Medicine: Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance
• 23: Preventive Medicine: Chance for +Absorb

 

Level 10: Stone Skin

• A: Unbreakable Guard: +Max HP
• 19: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance
• 19: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance/Endurance
• 15: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• 31: Steadfast Protection: Resistance/+Def 3%

 

Level 12: Crystal Armor

• A: Shield Wall: Defense/Endurance
• 29: Shield Wall: Defense/Recharge
• 29: Shield Wall: Defense
• 31: Shield Wall: Defense/Endurance/Recharge
• 31: Performance Shifter: Chance for +End
• 39: Power Transfer: Chance to Heal Self

 

Level 14: Teleport

• A: Blessing of the Zephyr: Knockback Reduction (4 points)

 

Level 16: Radiation Siphon

• A: Hecatomb: Chance of Damage(Negative)
• 23: Theft of Essence: Chance for +Endurance
• 47: Hecatomb: Damage/Recharge
• 47: Hecatomb: Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
• 48: Hecatomb: Recharge/Accuracy
• 48: Hecatomb: Damage/Endurance

 

Level 18: Minerals

• A: Reactive Defenses: Defense
• 33: Reactive Defenses: Defense/Endurance
• 39: Reactive Defenses: Scaling Resist Damage
• 45: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

 

Level 20: Fold Space

• A: Invention: Recharge Reduction
• 40: Invention: Recharge Reduction

 

Level 22: Brimstone Armor

• A: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance
• 39: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance/Endurance
• 40: Unbreakable Guard: RechargeTime/Resistance
• 45: Gladiator's Armor: TP Protection +3% Def (All)

 

Level 24: Irradiated Ground

• A: Scirocco's Dervish: Accuracy/Damage
• 25: Scirocco's Dervish: Damage/Endurance
• 25: Scirocco's Dervish: Damage/Recharge
• 27: Scirocco's Dervish: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• 34: Scirocco's Dervish: Chance of Damage(Lethal)
• 36: Achilles' Heel: Chance for Res Debuff

 

Level 26: Earth's Embrace

• A: Impervious Skin: Status Resistance/Regeneration

 

Level 28: Kick

• (Empty)

 

Level 30: Atom Smasher

• A: Gauntleted Fist: Accuracy/Damage
• 33: Gauntleted Fist: Damage/RechargeTime
• 34: Gauntleted Fist: Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• 36: Gauntleted Fist: Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• 36: Gauntleted Fist: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• 37: Gauntleted Fist: RechargeTime/+Absorb

 

Level 32: Tough

• A: Aegis: Psionic/Status Resistance
• 33: Aegis: Resistance
• 34: Aegis: Resistance/Endurance
• 37: Aegis: Resistance/Recharge

 

Level 35: Weave

• A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• 37: Luck of the Gambler: Defense

 

Level 38: Focused Accuracy

• A: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control: Chance for Build Up

 

Level 41: Physical Perfection

• A: Performance Shifter: Chance for +End

 

Level 44: Hover

• A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• 45: Shield Wall: +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
• 46: Shield Wall: Defense/Endurance
• 48: Shield Wall: Defense
• 50: Shield Wall: Defense/Recharge

 

Level 47: Fusion

• A: Invention: Recharge Reduction

 

Level 49: Hasten

• A: Invention: Recharge Reduction
• 50: Invention: Recharge Reduction

 

──────────────────────────────

Inherents:

Level 1: Gauntlet

Level 1: Brawl

• (Empty)

 

Level 1: Sprint

• (Empty)

 

Level 2: Rest

• (Empty)

 

Level 1: Swift

• (Empty)

 

Level 1: Hurdle

• (Empty)

 

Level 1: Health

• A: Panacea: +Hit Points/Endurance
• 40: Miracle: +Recovery
• 42: Numina's Convalesence: +Regeneration/+Recovery

 

Level 1: Stamina

• A: Power Transfer: EndMod
• 17: Power Transfer: Chance to Heal Self
• 42: Performance Shifter: Chance for +End

 

──────────────────────────────
Incarnates:

Musculature Radial Paragon

 

some things ive noticed...

 Having multiple sustain procs makes a big difference.   i have 4 endurance procs and 2 health procs.  so every 10 seconds i am getting anywhere from 10-30%(40%) endurance bar and 90 or 180 healing.  this fixes the end issue early (put peformance shifter in stamina, crystal armor and theft of essense in rad siphon (which i have come to appreciate).  also going 2 slot bonus with power transer instead of performance shifter gives regen instead of movement speed... i would consider the movement speed late game or if doing Granite builds.

 

at this point i have a few hundred mill invested (just working on merits for Tanker AT sets now) and its been a blast...  I FLEW to 50 in a couple days.  the defensiveness of stone fits my aggressive playstyle (its forgiving).  I typically find a central spot on mission maps and fold space to pull multiple groups to me.  (fold space, fusion, smasher, single target rotation on contaminated boss to finish off trash... it goes quick)

 

 

The Performance shifters are not for the speed bonus. It's just the Performance Shifter proc + a +5 endurance mod IO which is the best bang for the buck. Not sure why you'd bother slotting for heal procs when you already have Radiation Siphon on an already very defensive build.

[nihilii]

Personally I remain a Granite fan. It turns you into a wall by lvl 29 (lvl 21 exemplared).

 

I feel it's easy to fall into a trap of past behavior, where we had to run Granite all the time; primarily because the other armors sucked, but also because Granite detoggled everything else.

Nowadays it's entirely possible to use Granite like you would Shadow Meld or Moment of Glory. Except the duration is entirely to your liking. You pop it for 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, to tank whatever troublesome thing is hurting your health bar past normal armors. Then you drop it back.

Oh, and if it turns out you took it off too quickly? The recharge is much faster than SM and MoG too...

 

It's quite flexible and convenient.

 

That said, my own bias: I hardly ever fly save through a jetpack for encounters where jetpacks are absolutely necessary, and I like to do stupid stuff which might lead me to face +4/x8 or +5/x8 enemies while still mostly on SOs.

Either way I love that Stone has been buffed strong enough we can have such radical divergences in perspective and still end up with top tier characters with either choice.

 

To be honest, Stone is overpowered, but Bio is overpowered too and I'm happier seeing 2 overpowered armor sets than just 1.

[The_Traveler]

8 hours ago, Sovera said:

 

 

The Performance shifters are not for the speed bonus. It's just the Performance Shifter proc + a +5 endurance mod IO which is the best bang for the buck. Not sure why you'd bother slotting for heal procs when you already have Radiation Siphon on an already very defensive build.

i see.  i figured the 2 slot of the set was for something a little extra you cant get from an enhance, and therefore more valuable.  

I slot for heal procs as a way to "increase regen" and there really isnt anything better to put in the slot.  contaminated on bosses/ebs/avs/gms can be unreliable without fusion.  im still a pretty fresh 50 on this set and i could see those slots being used elsewhere eventually.

 

i use teleport for travel (with macros).  hover on my build is for theme, and its just there for the defense slotting.  i do need to occasionally FLY DOWN to use atom smasher, but thats only after using the elevation to lazy pull with fold space (think council base maps).  Then as im coming down with the mobs i pop fusion, que atom smasher.  Combat jumping saves you some endurance and has immob res on it, so its better.  

[jopred]

I wanna know has anyone tried staff/regen on brute?

[Sovera]

2 hours ago, jopred said:

I wanna know has anyone tried staff/regen on brute?

 

... what's the connection with a Stone/Fire Tanker thread in the Tanker forums?

[SeraphimKensai]

2 hours ago, jopred said:

I wanna know has anyone tried staff/regen on brute?

Not staff/regen, but I have a savage/regen and I think slow res and recharge are paramount for a regen character. After you get that sorted feel free to stack defense to increase the time between hits so you heal more but we wary about defense debuffs in that situation. Alternatively you can stack resistance to some degree to make you have to regen less.

 

But yeah not the stone/fire and the powersets don't really relate as far as survivability.

Edited March 4 by SeraphimKensai

[ZemX]

2 hours ago, Sovera said:

... what's the connection with a Stone/Fire Tanker thread in the Tanker forums?

 

They misread.  Thought you meant "immoral" tanker.

[jopred]

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Not staff/regen, but I have a savage/regen and I think slow res and recharge are paramount for a regen character. After you get that sorted feel free to stack defense to increase the time between hits so you heal more but we wary about defense debuffs in that situation. Alternatively you can stack resistance to some degree to make you have to regen less.

 

But yeah not the stone/fire and the powersets don't really relate as far as survivability.

Oh  snap, wrong thread

[Sovera]

Another version I've been tinkering around trying to fit everything since Energy Melee wants a lot of power and slots and Stone Armor ALSO wants a lot of powers and slots. But I managed to fit it all in though with sacrifices. Some damage procs were lost along the way, recovery (though EM is not particularly endurance heavy thanks to Total Focus having such a long animation (more time for EPS to tick) and ET being endurance free), and it niggles me that E/N is not at 70%, but it is just too many moving parts.

 

I don't particularly think that EM will do better ST than Fire Melee despite the numbers looking huge (Energy Transfer hitting for 722 without BU nor Brimstone's added damage that Mids does not show) and in AoE Power Crash being a cone will not hit all mobs like Combustion does.

 

So why EM then? Well, burst, and a deranged amount of CC for a stupidly high hitting attack set. Time to CC all the annoying mobs before they heal, pop their T9s, or, the latest peeve, transform into werewuffies,  or whatever other annoying crap they do. Even the spam of AoE (target boss, Total Focus, Energy Transfer, Power Crash, Whirling Hands, Power Crash, repeat) does AoE wide CC. Even AVs can be made to stagger.

 

The ST rotation should be something like Total Focus, Bone Smasher, Energy Transfer, Barrage, Bone Smasher, repeat. This ends at 5.7 seconds and just in time for Total Focus to be used (5.7 seconds recharge).

 

Barrage is not very good so there is something to be said for using Energy Punch instead and have the ending at 5,2 instead since any level 50 team will be handing recharge buffs like candy (often simply in the form of Ageless). Energy Punch is also better for exemplaring and leveling since it recharges so fast that it can be a filler. Total Focus, EP, Bone Smasher, EP, Energy Transfer, EP, etc. It's a good alternative while the slotting is not all in place yet, or exemplared, and the damage loss is not even that grievous (20 points).

 

But even at max level if not minding spamming your T1. Energy Punch, Energy Transfer, Energy Punch, Bone Smasher, Energy Punch, ends with the same 5.7 needed for TF to recharge. With the ATO in EP there is something to be said for spamming it like that. In fact, I may have talked myself into doing it 😄 I'll make the changes and post both builds but will be using EP.

 

In a team that does the talked about handing out of recharge buffs like candy it is easy to just use less Energy Punches since the linchpin is always TF. If TF is up then stop EP-ing.

 

Tanker (Stone Armor -Energy Melee EP) Final build.mbd

 

Tanker (Stone Armor -Energy Melee) Final build.mbd

 

Edited March 7 by Sovera

[Sovera]

I return from leveling the Stone/Energy up to 39.

 

Just as I remembered, planned not to do, and ended up doing, I leveled with Energy Punch and Bone Smasher and nothing else. This was a slog. I knew I should have picked Barrage as well and push something back but wasn't sure what I could do without (perhaps Rooted since we have Amplifiers serving for CC protection?).

 

But it's still my recommendation for leveling: grab Energy Punch, Barrage, Bone smasher, Total Focus. When picking Energy Transfer then Barrage can be respec out.

 

Without AoE until level 16 I did it 0x2 which was... ugh... The lack of Combustion was felt. At 16 I did get Whirling Hands and could crank it to 0x6 right away. It was still a bit slow and awkward without the extra attack since the origin power very quickly lost steam and any point in being used.

 

 

I started Posi 2 at level 14, again knowing it was not a good idea since it would mean I would not get access to my level 20 power and would need it to beat Vhaz, but I tried anyway. As predicted just EP, BS, and the origin power was not enough to whittle it down. So I started the TF from scratch this time armed with Total Focus. For the cost it has I honestly don't think that there is a point in picking TF that early. It costs too much and while it hits hard it also has a tremendous recharge that early level slotting cannot keep up with. Makes me think if I was to level it again it would be TF that I would push back. In the low levels it is best to keep hitting, IMO, and not be flogged by big gaps waiting for things to have recharged.

 

But armed with TF I got Vhaz down in a timely manner.

 

 

Teamed for Synapse, nothing special to report.

 

 

I was 28 when I soloed Yin. I had Power Crash but with no slots. Aaaand, I mean, it's an extra AoE, but... Cones suck, abysmally. They should at least have Frost's depth to be useful. Energy Transfer I proc bombed immediately as it does not need recharge nor endurance reduction and only minimal accuracy. Of course it hit hard as a truck. I was defeating Freak Tanks with BU + TF + ET with no chance of healing (unless TF missed, or ET missed.... I do love random changes of missing).

 

 

Overall the ST damage was firmly superior to Fire Melee (at least how I have Fire Melee built). Clamor was obliterated and despite being exemplared down and half slotted the rotation with EP was working fine even at that level. She was turned to paste which is a rare feeling I get from playing Tankers where whittling enemies is the normal. Brimstone helped and its effect was palpable.

 

The AoE is not great though. Power Crash hits a third of the mobs and we need to be constantly bouncing trying to line it up. Even when lined it is a cone and doesn't have enough depth to hit all the mobs. So it's a terrible level 28 AoE especially as if we hang on the edge of a spawn to hit with Power Crash then Whirling Hands is not hitting the other enemies. We need to be constantly shifting to make the most use of the cone even if trying to aim it down as a ghetto PbAoE. They should have been swapped and Whirling Hands be buffed a bit. As it is Whirling Hands is a level 16 power, animates slower and costs a bit more but does the same damage of Power Crash.

 

Pretty much for that reason I ended having the same times running Yin averaging 54-56 minutes as Fire Melee despite two shotting bosses and preventing them from healing. The Council also rarely got their transformations off because they were dead from the burst or CC.

 

 

The CC spam is simply brutal. My previous EM was with Fire Armor and used Burn as a filler so there was not as much spam of EM powers. But this time I could see everything I started hitting starting to stagger. I had Clamor drunkenly watch me as I pummelled her. Well, when her triangles were down. Still, that was a solid bit of mitigation, and as I said she melted which is a rare for me to say about my Tanker's damage.

 

 

Verdict: An awkward build with a bit too many sacrifices to be what I'd consider easy or fun. Fly pushed super later, Combat Jumping the same which had me missing those extra 3% defense. 'Late' AoE makes early leveling annoying, and having to use a cone simply slows down everything despite the appreciatively higher ST damage. Total Focus is a dastardly thing to use with its 2.8 animation and it's not uncommon to waste time tabbing through mobs trying to find one that has enough HP that warrants using it, which, in the meanwhile, has had EP recharge anyway.

 

The super high damage of TF and ET makes using anything else a waste of time to the point I catch myself not attacking a 3/4th HP lieutenant because I already realised EP + BS + EP will not kill it and I'll have to use TF, where if I wait those 3-4 seconds TF + ET will defeat it.

 

Playing the build is usually a case of TF-ing one mob, finishing it with EP + BS, then find a fresh mob and use the still powered up ET to then finish it with EP + BS (usually a powered up ET kills a +1 minion anyway, and leaves a lieutenant with a sliver of HP).

 

The endurance problems started going away despite not having slotting more recovered simply due to the fact of two shotting enemies meaning I am not spamming my attacks. That's nice.

 

 

 

FM remains my choice for an easy beginner friendly build with the dual PbAoEs allowing to fight without having to bounce around which ends up making up for the time lost having to kill mobs who are healing or transforming.

 

That said Tanker's damage is on the low side of things especially where it matters: ST. And this build puts the money where its mouth is at. That and the constant CC spam preventing them from using their skills is simply priceless makes it a viable alternative for someone who wants to focus more on the ST side of things. Which is a fair thing to do. Easy soft targets melt in the initial AoE when in a team and then its time to kill the harder mobs which are usually the most dangerous ones.