Best AOE tank

[Bubbles232]

Ive read some of these posts saying ice is great for holding aggro and what to go with it. 

Im more curious whats a great AOE threat holder,

 

I am leaning towards ice/SS, ICE/RAD, ICE/ICE....

 

Someone please help. Looking to make my first tank and do it right!

[Gulbasaur]

Radiation melee has a lot of splash damage. Attacks have a chance to contaminate enemies, and when you hit contaminated enemies, single-target melee attacks become AoE melee attacks. You have a terrible cone attack (the range is pithy) and a very good melee AoE attack. The only downside is that a few of the attacks are quite slow, but if you are aiming for Tough and Weave then that's not a problem because you can use Kick as filler.

 

I'm not sure how this works with punchvoke or pokevoke, though, as the City of Data archives fall apart when get to the Contaminated effect. I'm not sure if Irradiated Ground has a taunt attached because I think it's technically spawned as a pseudo-pet (and sometimes appears on the mini map), but is worth running all the same for some constant damage and debuffs. If you stand anywhere for more than a few seconds, it basically works as a damage aura.

[Heraclea]

For holding aggro, Spines has a lot going for it  once you get Quills.  Note also that most Spines attacks can be frankenslotted for slows, which keeps mobs near, and for chances for recharge slow with Pacing of the Turtle, which reduces incoming damage. 

[Infinitum]

Triple Fire all the way.  Fiery embrace + build up + sets = unkillable bulldozer on crack with a 360° flamethrower.

[Caulderone]

I've been playing in the builder with an Elec/Spines/Soul today.  Lightning Field + Quills always on.  Spine Burst + Throw Spines + Dark Obliteration in a pack with Darkest Night nerfing them.  And of course, Power Sink to counter the massive endurance drain.

 

Looks like it has potential.

[Zumberge]

Might be reading into your post too much, but you don't need to worry about hitting enemies directly to get their attention: Tankers have a mechanic called "punchvoke" that causes an AoE taunt effect whenever they attack, so even if you're focusing on one enemy at a time they're all going to put more focus on you (and you're going to get Taunt, right?).  But whittling down entire groups at a time is a pretty good plan, and they'll absolutely pay attention to you if you do that.  So.

 

Electrical Melee: One cone, one single-target hit with AoE splash damage, one chain, one very special case.  How the chain works is that you hit one enemy, and there's a chance for the electricity to "jump" to other nearby targets; it's a little unpredictable but it works.  The special case is Lightning Rod, where you get struck by lightning, teleport a short distance, and then reappear in a massive blast of electricity.  It's got a long recharge but it's a ton of damage and is a fun way to stick yourself into the middle of a group.

 

Fiery Melee: Two PBAoEs, one cone.  A Tanker secondary at CoH's launch and still a solid pick for when you want everything around you to die be arrested.  No fancy tricks, just fire.  Good single-target, too.

 

Radiation Melee: One cone, one PBAoE, one toggle, and an inherent mechanic.  The toggle causes toxic damage over time, like Icicles, if they were icicles made of industrial runoff.  Rad Melee's mechanic is that every attack has a chance to cause the "contaminated" status, and if you hit a contaminated enemy with a single-target attack it causes a small bit of AoE damage.  So there's a very high potential for AoE damage but it's not consistent, since something may or may not end up contaminated.  Fortunately the set's Build Up equivalent gives you a 100% chance to contaminate things while it's active.

 

Savage Melee: One cone, one PBAoE, one special case.  Savage Melee was in an unfinished state when the game originally shut down and has since been shaped into usability, but there's still a few issues with it underperforming on certain ATs.  I'm not sure if Tanker is one of them, but you're definitely gonna want to ask someone with experience.  That said, it's a combo-based set where attacks get you stacks of Blood Thirst for more damage and reduced endurance cost of your powers, and you can cash it in to enhance other attacks.  The capstone power is like Lightning Rod from Elec Melee, but with less damage and a way faster recharge time.

 

Spines: Two cones, one PBAoE, one toggle.  Tankers and Brutes got this with Homecoming's proliferation and people who dislike AE farms have regretted it ever since.  You get its PBAoE attack early, the toggle somewhere in the middle, and while one of the cones comes up really late it's also ranged, which increases the amount of targets you can tag with it.

 

Staff Fighting: Two cones, one PBAoE.  You mentioned considering Ice Armor in your post, and Staff's first cone is Guarded Spin, which gives you a hefty defense boost to lethal (and melee) which is gonna stack with Ice.  It's stance-based, which gives you some adaptability, but none of the three forms really directly benefit defense-based... defenses.

 

Titan Weapons: Three cones, one PBAoE.  This set is all about hitting many things at once.  It's also slow and sucks up endurance.  I am a personal fan, but I would argue that you need to commit to the set to the point where you decide you're going TW first and then pick your Tanker primary based on that.  You ever hear the joke about how the A-10 is a gun with a plane stuck on it?  Same deal.

 

Don't take long or short descriptions as a bad thing; The Powers That Were got more creative as time went on so there's more to say about later sets.

[Gulbasaur]

When you get there, the Scirocco patron arc for Mu Mastery is absolutely worth doing for the two AoE powers that do damage over time. If you shoot them at point blank range, you hit pretty much everything around you. They both have fairly short recharges, and one does minor damage with immobilise and the other does (quite high) moderate damage.

 

It's a well-crafted set of missions with a fair amount of variety, so power through with a group and enjoy it.