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jinxycat

Posts: 18
Joined: 08/21/2005
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Tanks and Other things

ok a few things.

firstly i would like to say something about tanks i have teamed with, around the 40- 45 lvls and they have ranged from either just plain crap or annoying. Now when i sat annoying i mean like when you have a good team, wiping out massive groups and the tank just seems to take forever to run to the next group, just arsing around for no reason. that annoys the hell out of me. the rest have just been unable to tank at all.

so i have set out to make the best tank who ever lived (post I6 of course) in the form of WP DB cos just love the scrapper i have.

ok 2nd thing, the cascade effect. your in a team, a great team xp sooooo fast, then you finish a mish, 1 person leaves, then a 2nd then a 3rd then your left on your own. it only ever happens on good team, never crap ones too.

08/24/08 21:59

Epsilon Unit

Posts: 5
Joined: 08/22/2007
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RE: Tanks and Other things

If this is a question im not seeing it, and if you want to make a really good tank ild go with WP or Stone/DM, of course not alot of damage but will are probebly the best tank builds out there, tanks are annoying in general to me so meh :P

@Decendant Death
Broken arm + meds = fuzzeh funneh feelings- Dont be offended if my typing is slightly off or if im a bit wacky, i did break my arm and the meds are messin with me.... My eternal graciousness in the form of stupidity will follow O_O
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08/24/08 23:30

BigChill

Posts: 55
Joined: 10/26/2007
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RE: Tanks and Other things

This just seems to be just a rant about the frustrations of what has apparently happend. Life gets in the way, ppl have to go, sombody's a tad distractied, or otherwise just not paying attention. It just gets there.

As for 'the best tank their has ever been' or whatnot. WP/DB as a combo may not be it. Even taking taunt, you will find your capibilites of 'tanking' with a tad of a gap.

Howso? WP has the single worst agro management aura availible to a tank. Its also the only one. Makes you rely on Taunt and your secondary's capibilities. DB is very single-target oriented. Typhoon may show at 16, but its a small area, and gauntlet is a very localized effect. The restrictions of combos, and perhaps the tendancy to use them, will mean without paying attention, you'll let agro slip by. When that happens, that team wipe you despise so much will occur. WP may keep you alive, but i'm sure the team may not appreciate it. However, this is just a possibility, its also entirely possible with a tough tank backbone like WP and enough thinking you'll be fine, but still...

Tanking is not merely jump in and get attention and move on. Sometimes its more of realizing what needs to be taken, and what you need to skip. Their is plenty of lackluster that comes with the AT, frustration of a lack of dmg, the occasional agro leaks, the aggro cap itself. It will just pile up at times. To truely tank well, you need to play everything into line, not just the toughest armors and one of the best offense.

Getting agro, keeping it, staying alive, and making sure to keep that off the team are all pieces that need to be balanced. Their will allways be times where it simply could not be done, where even the best are over their heads. Their will alos be times where the person behind the tank simply isn't able to do their part well, either through build flaws or just misjudgement. Take it as it comes, nd leave it at that. Its all ups and downs, you just need to work with the flow, see why it happens, and work with it. Nobody's perfect after all.

Big Chill is a conscranker: he conrols a mob so they do nothing, scraps a target till they can't stand, and tanks what's left till the job's done.

Dive in, have fun, and think about it later.

Do not pray for challenges to equal your strength, but for strength to equal your challenges.

08/25/08 13:39

RonJ73

GameAmp Staff
Posts: 2
Joined: 01/10/2005
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RE: Tanks and Other things

If your goal, as a tanker, is to hold aggro and keep your team alive, Willpower is probably NOT your best choice. If your goal is to be a bit more of a Scranker, Willpower kicks some tail. Before the Energy Melee "nerf" (I use that term loosely because I don't consider it much of a nerf) my Will/Energy tanker was just a beast for soloing as a Scranker.

Now...going with a team based tanker. Ice Armor or Stone Armor are probably going to be your best choices. Ice out aggros all other tanker primaries, hands down. Ice has excellent survivability. Stone's aggro control isn't quite as good as Ice, but still pretty good. However, Stone's survivability usually outdoes Ice by a tad.

The only tanker Primary I didn't take into account is Dark, simply because I have NO experience with it. I know Dark has good survivability, as it does cover Psionic damage, unlike the other sets (minus Willpower). But I'm not sure what holes it has aside from Energy Damage.

Bottom line, if you want to go "Classic Effective Tank" go with Ice, Stone or Invulnerability. Ice and Stone will handle Elemental damage types much better than Invulnerability, but Invulnerability will handle Smash/Lethal better.

Best of luck to you. I won't get much into Secondary sets, although they are VERY important for mitigating damage. If you're going to team a lot, go with Stone. It's knockdowns are fun.

City of Heroes/Villains
Onion - L50 - Katana/Super Reflexes/Body Mastery Scrapper
Scotch Bonnet Girl - L50 - Fire Aura/Fire Melee/Pyre Mastery Tanker
RonJ73 - L50 - Stone/Energy Aura Brute
Aurora Australis - L50 - Willpower/Energy Melee Tanker

08/25/08 15:47

bigspeer

Posts: 3
Joined: 02/22/2006
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RE: Tanks and Other things

I have a 50 Ice tank and Stone tank and it sounds like you'd enjoy Ice a lot better.

Stone Armor has great survivability, but if you're in Granite, I find it really hard to manage aggro properly because of the huge -rechg.

My name is Jean Claude Van Damme and I dance for you...

08/25/08 19:15

LordStarwolf

Posts: 3
Joined: 08/28/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: Tanks and Other things

Ok Big, really, be honest now.............where in the hell do you get those avatars? They are really.....disturbing.

08/25/08 21:13

jinxycat

Posts: 18
Joined: 08/21/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: Tanks and Other things

ok ok ok, perhaps best tank ever was a slight over exageration, but i do plan on making a highely effective one. shes up to 19 atm going strong.

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08/26/08 05:35

RonJ73

GameAmp Staff
Posts: 2
Joined: 01/10/2005
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RE: Tanks and Other things

Going back to what Chill and I mentioned earlier: A Willpower Tank isn't going to be extremely effective at tanking.

If you're insistant on using Willpower/DB, make sure you slot your RttC with at least 1 or 2 taunts. Each of your "quick attacks" as well as your AoEs should also be slotted with a taunt. You'll need to switch targets often to make sure Gauntlet is "grabbing" enough enemies. Slotting is going to be your key to making Willpower effective for tanking.

(By the way, please don't think I'm bashing Willpower. I LOVE the set. I even have a guide on it somewhere. It's just not the best for "classic" tanking.)

08/26/08 09:55

bigspeer

Posts: 3
Joined: 02/22/2006
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RE: Tanks and Other things

I think slotting a taunt enhancement in an attack power might be overkill. Ya gotta remember, Gauntlet affects the 5 people immediately around who you're attacking. If you just constantly cycle thru the close villains you should be better than if you focus on one guy.

My name is Jean Claude Van Damme and I dance for you...

08/26/08 17:49

RonJ73

GameAmp Staff
Posts: 2
Joined: 01/10/2005
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RE: Tanks and Other things

Bottom line. Play with it. See what you like. :)

08/26/08 18:51

jinxycat

Posts: 18
Joined: 08/21/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: Tanks and Other things

ok at lvl uuuuuuurm, 22 now and i thought time for an update.

So far im loving willpower as a tank set, i already knew it was good as i lvled my scrapper up in the 20 - mid 40s with a willpower tank.

So far keeping aggro isnt too much of an issue, all my slots are to my primaries atm, with 2 taunts in rttc atm plan on a 3rd at 23.

teamed with a rock rock tank just before i logged off earlier and i have to say mud pots managed to out aggro me. but once i get my attack chain done, and slotted right ill be happier i think. with my scrapper i just cycle through blinding feint, attack vitals and sweep. survivabilty is also good atm with all 25 IOs on the most important powers, 20s or 15s on the rest.

i might jump back on for a bit now actually.

adopt your own virtual pet!

08/26/08 19:19

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