CPTRob

Hmmm..let's see here, I think I want to make a new CoH toon. What shall it be?
Blaster- too squishy, but cool firepower...Too weak at high levels
Defender- semi-squishy, semi cool firepower (nah)
Controller- too weak at low levels (I'll be bored for 20 levels)
Scapper- Non-squishy, good attacks against single point targets good defense (Mental note- make scrapper for solo play)
Tanker- Solid Defenses, good team play, good attacks. (We have a winner!)


What kind of tanker? Ice (too controller-y), Stone (too slow), Invulnerable (good, but I need Pizzazz!) Fire..yes that is it! By God we have a winner. Pretty easy so far....


Tanks need defense & resistances, let's look at the primary powers.
I'll need fire shield (6 slotted), plasma shield (6 slotted) with tough (single slot), weave (6 slotted), combat jumping (single slotted), and acrobatics (single slotted).
I have to get boxing to get tough/weave and I'll need a travel power too, so I guess that means Super Jump since I need CJ, and I want Acrobatics.

MAN...That's 8 powers and 15 LVL UP slots just to be a walking meat shield. This might make attacking tough, but let's check the other numbers before I panic.
Hmm, it looks like a lot of toggles (6) just to stay alive. Let's look at the endurance issues....Holy Shitzu Batman, I am in the negative before I start attacking. How in the HELION am I gonna make this work? Think...think..think
I think can fix it with 6 slotted stamina, but this sucks (literally). In order to get stamina I will also have to take hurdle and health...dang it! 11 powers and 20 LVL UP slots. "grumbling"

Ok..relax....let's look at the other primary powers. I am gonna need blazing aura (power #12) for punchvoke (auravoke effect) and extra damage at low levels. I will 6 slot that one too (25 LVL UP slots total). Uh oh...that one really burns endurance. Maybe I can have my wife build an empath to travel with me for RA...UUUgggghh

Temperature Protection sucks.
Healing flames is a must (Power #13). (6 slotted brings me up 30 LVL UP slots)
Consume does pathetic damage, but wait...it also restores endurance...YAHOO and the truth will set you free! (Power #14 and single slotted for now)
BURN ROCKS! I'll 6 slot it. Why build a fire tank and leave this one out? (power #15 and 35 LVL up Slots)
Fiery Embrace looks cool. (Power #16)
Rise of the Phoenix will be at lvl 50 when debt becomes a non issue, but otherwise, nah.


My eyes are starting to burn and bleed from crunching numbers and reading the forums for useful information...maybe I can download Pac-Man or just play solitaire..."sigh"
Ok man..pull it together you are halfway done. Now I need good secondaries. Let's look at AoEs, since they match well with BURN.


The ONLY choice for Tanker AoE is Fire Melee, so that was easy, let's see what I have to work with.
I am stuck with scorch, oh well.
Combustion and Fire Sword Circle look good for AoE (both 6 slotted mean 18 powers and 45 lvl up slots)
Right now, it looks like I should be able to drop BURN patch, hold mobs in place with Blazing Aura, click Combustion and then FSC. I can throw Fiery Embrace in there for good measure.
**mental note to me** click consume to recharge endurance BEFORE toggles drop and death kicks me in the stones!

What about point targets like AVs and Bosses.

I have brawl, scorch, and boxing so far. I am not gonna do much with those.
If I get Incinerate and Greater Fire Sword, I should be able to deal out some decent single target damage when combined with Burn. (Both 6 slotted means I have 20 powers and 55 slots used).
Ugghhh I just realized that I am going to need hasten 6 slotted to cycle my attacks with Burn and have little or no down time. (21 powers and 60 LVL UP Slots) This is my last power pool too. I better recap to make sure I am not leaving anything out.
Oh yeah...Taunt....to taunt or not to taunt...that is the question! I will choose to TAUNT. (22 powers)

Defense/Resistances (15 LVL Up Slots)
Fire Shield / Plasma Shield / Combat Jumping / Acrobatics / Tough / Weave
AoE Attacks (20 LVL Up Slots)
Blazing Aura / Burn / Combustion / Fire Sword Circle
Single Point Attacks (10 LVL Up Slots)
Incinerate / Greater Fire Sword
Endurance Powers (10 LVL Up Slots)
Stamina / Consume
Other Powers (10 LVL Up Slots)
Healing Flames / Fiery Embrace / Taunt / Boxing / Hurdle (or swift) / Health / Hasten / Scorch / Super Jump
That is a confirmed 23 out of 24 powers and 65 out of 67 LVL UP Slots that I think I NEED to be a solid Fire/Fire Tanker. Dang..that doesn't leave much room for uniqueness does it?
A nice option is Rise of the Phoenix at lvl 49 or Conserve Power from the EPIC Pool. for the last power and the spare 2 slots can go into taunt or health or where ever.


Although nearly insane from creating this toon, now I have to plan how and when to take each power. Luckily, we get 3 respecs at 24, 34, and 44.

Initially, you simply must have Fire Shield, Plasma Shield, Combat Jumping, Super Jump, Blazing Aura, Burn, Consume, Healing Flames, and Scorch just to make the above tank workable. Otherwise, you can be a Scranker or Tapper!
Feel free to get Hasten and Super speed, but you'll need someone to TP you around Terra Volta. It sucks for runners.

You might be thinking...

But TuTANKHaman, I thought this terribly long post was about the life cycle of the Fire Tanker. So far all I see is a basic character map for a cookie cutter toon.
We are getting there. This is where I hit all the problems that you might not see in MEPHE's super cool Fire tank Guide...


Prior to lvl18 (before BURN) and Single Origin Enhancements(LVL 27), you don’t do much damage at all, your defense is almost non-existent and you resistances suck. At the same time, every raging lunatic is beggin you to take TAUNT so their squishies don't die. Guess what happens. You rely on high hit points and healing flames to keep you in the fight. If you take Taunt early, you will die a lot from being overwhelmed unless you are an excellent tactician.


At level 18 you get BURN and oh, how the pick up teams love you. You can now help them kill tons of whites and yellows with out much effort on their part. they get to "ride the experience bus for free!" Better have Taunt or really thick skin though....someone is gonna complain if you don't.

Stamina becomes an issue again (even with consume) around level 18. You need to be thinking about a respec if you haven’t taken swift and health to set up STAMINA.


Suddenly, around level 27-30 (when SOs are available) you become a transformed super tank against all smashing, lethal and fire damage foes. (If you don't have 6 slotted Fire shield and 6 slotted Plasma Shield, you have missed the Tanker Boat and you are more than likely considered a weak scrapper..)


Suddenly Rikti pop up. Who said life was fair? Just as soon as you get UBER, they throw you a group of villains with Psionic and energy attacks. Suddenly you suck again. You drop back to fighting 3-4 villains at a time and the now spoiled squishies whine that the "free ride on the experience bus" has slowed to a crawl by comparison.


If you didn't take boxing, and tough then you are probably unable to take weave before your next respec. 6 slotted Weave really helps against psionic, toxic and energy blasts (as well as smashing, lethal, and fire) which you resist from least to most. (Cold is never really an issue)


A few more levels pass and with enough hit points, continued use of 6 slotted healing flames, and a decent bubbler/empath you go back to killing tons of villains (Rikti included). This is the beginning of the 8 hero team phase.


You find that a good controller, a good defender and you can take out purples but the dozen. You add on a few scrappers to fatten up the mobs and a blaster for comic relief and your 8 hero team is complete.


You approach the 34 lvl respec. If you haven’t taken and 6 slotted hasten/weave/stamina this might be a good time to do so.


You start bumping into Carnies. These villains were designed to screw with the fire tanks. Sure, other ATs hate em too, but when you are a toon who kills 5 or more villains at a time with AoE AND you rely on endurance to keep your toggles going, CARNIES SUCK (literally, they suck your endurance with each death).


Suddenly, you are back to a pathetic pseudo-scrapper or you fight smaller and lower level mobs. To my knowledge, there is no way to counter Carnies Death Screams (endurance siphon). Blasters/defenders/controllers are at range, so they might be less affected. Scrappers and non AoE Tanks kill 1 at a time, so it doesn't hurt as bad. You get to drop burn, click FSC and run. Hopefully, your team will understand. Again, the free ride on the experience bus slows to a halt. (I tried to avoid Carnie missions).


You feel pretty UBER at mid-late 30s until Arch Villains start popping up. You wonder to yourself, how bad can it be? I can kill 20 purple minions with a boss or LT thrown in. AVs should be workable. Think again.


The Hydra mission in the Abandoned Sewers (lvl 36 to enter I think) is where you realize you went wrong somehow. There are 6 monsters to fight before the Hydra called Kraken. They do toxic damage if you are at range and have about 10 go zillion hit points. Well not really, but they have a lot.

Suddenly you realize that BURN, FSC, Combustion, Boxing, and Scorch just aren’t enough to hurt the darned thing. Incinerate and Greater Fire Sword become required. Hopefully you are ready to take them as soon as possible. (LvL 35 and 38 powers).


After you and a good team of high 30s beat all the Kraken (30-70K exp each) you get to fight the AV (Hydra). Now the funny thing here is that you can't damage it without special Rikti Temp powers and the Hydra does thousands of damage in Psionics. It can ONE SHOT a fire tank, and if you get lucky and live, the second, third and fourth shots will get ya. (The controller in your team better be good).


In your 30s and 40s you get a lot of experience for Crey, Nemesis, Devouring Earth, and Circle of Thorns, who were made for Fire Tanks to Arrest. This is cake, but the inevitable Fire Tank Screwing comes along in the Malta Group.


Sappers drain endurance using long range endurance siphoning cannons. if you don't spot them 1st and make a plan for the team to kill them/hold them you will get sucked and the your toggles will drop. That is when the Heracles and Zeus class Titans hit ya. Big damage with no toggles equals death.


You near level 50 and you finally think (humbly) that you are pretty UBER. your team (Super Group) loves you and you hope the road has been worth it.


The last and perhaps ultimate screwing is Fire Base Zulu. This is a dimension of land masses floating in the sky. Since you probably didn't take fly or Teleport (too few powers available to splurge) now you have to jump between sky islands. Very frustrating.


The hamidon raid is the last big challenge. Dozens of toons line up along the ridge in the HIVE to push the Hamidon back. All damage is Psionic....everyone is spamming heals....you are hoping for a few Hammi-o enhancements and death hits you time after time after time. it isn't because you have a bad toon. It is because the server lags so bad from the 50 other toons sucking its resources that you can barely move, attack or heal.


Lastly, as you consider retiring to a nice old Tankers Home at age 49-50, you get inundated with players who want you to power level their toons. All you want to do is maintain the pace and get yourself and a few key SG members into the lvl 50 hall of fame. No one saw this coming. The DEVS didn't do it...impatience and human greed are the last of the Fire tanker plagues. (Unless you consider PvP and all the NERFS as one long never ending plague.)


Feel free to add anything you want to this Guide. I made it for myself (as my lvl 50 contribution to the Tanking community and all newbie’s), but know that Mephe has a better build guide out there. Also realize that the CoH planner that Joe Chott made is an awesome tool to plan your own toon.



Good Luck and GODSPEED,

TuTANKHaman lvl 50 Fire/Fire Tanker-Victory

I totally agree here.

I fought Diabolique, who used flying to her advantage and man she was tough to kill. The blasters, defenders and flying Melee had a tough time without us Jumpers and TP-ers.

What about certain tactics with certain villian types. Council are trained soldiers right. They act just like hydramen who are essentially mindless beasts. Battlefield combat would make blasters ESSENTIAL. My tank would be hard pressed to close with and kill the enemy if they used advance and retreat tactics and hit me from bunkers and so forth.

I also realize that reforming the programming is costly and time intensive. This is not thwe best solution, but it would be the coolest.

I read the majority of this thread and I was astonished by the unity of my fellow blasters. KUDOS to you all. You poor forsaken heroes.

All seem to agree that blasters do not stand out anymore as damage dealers. They have been surpassed in many ways by scrappers, offenders, and even fire tanks. Good grief, who else is there...the controller. Well if you consider Fire Imps, they have a damage claim to fame also.

It is painfully obvious that something has to be done here.

Look at the facts. Do an analysis and at least tell us why Blasters can't be altered to be more effective if you DEVs wont help Blasters out.

Coincidently, blasters are better at providing humor than being Offensive Juggernaunts. In fact, most of my blaster pals provide endless comic relief as they rack up thousands of points of debt. They joke about it as a way to deal with the agony that is being a blaster. We all laugh along with them, silently praying that they stop fighting and watch for a while before they die again. (We always have 1-2 contollers and 1-2 Tankers around 40-48 lvl so aggro isn't the issue here!)

The real question is why play a blaster at all?

I have 2 blasters that are around 28th lvl and I haven't played them seriously since I made my Fire Tank. I still love them and I often consider playing them but the imminent death and painful grinding make me move the cursor over the Fire Tank and select him instead. At this point, I really love playing my Fire Tank and I just can't bear to play my Blasters. This is a real shame. Blasters are really the most fun to play......until around the 30s.

I know this sounds like whining, but hear me out. The reasons for playing a blaster should be centered around the general description throughout this forum. Offensive Damage Juggernaut comes to mind. When I play my blasters I find that damage is not what I am the Juggernaut of. I am the Debt Juggernaut or the Caution Juggernaunt. I have even been the "Pull from max range, then run away Juggernaut". How about the "please REZ me" Juggernaut. I assume there are a lot of Power Leveling Juggernaunts out there trying to get to lvl 50 when all else fails.

When I read the description of the Tanker, I decided that I would never be a slow stupid punching bag. Superheroes who stand there and take a beating just sounded boring and futile to me. Then I met my 1st Tanker buddy who showed me the error of my ways.

Fire Tanks are the True Masters of all damage (not Blasters). Not only can they take it, but they can dish it out too. I easily kill more mobs than any 2 other non-fire-tank members of my supergroup. I know it and they know it. I daresay you all know it too. Finally, I have caught up to and surpassed all of my old blaster pals in levels. They linger at each level, fighting +1 or +2 minions while I run on Invincible Difficulty fighting +4 and higher getting 2X-3X the experience per kill AND killing faster by dealing arrests in bulk. (8 hero team has big Mobs...not just herding).

Call me a sell out if you want, but I know the real deal. Blasters are the masters of anxiety and paranoia. They wonder why the DEVs have forsaken them, and why they never get a break. I can't answer why, but until the DEVs make a move and help the Blasters out, I'm gonna play other ATs and invite blasters to share in the wealth of FIRE TANK GLORY. Yes it is sad....but that is the way of things. PLease don't flame me for saying my opinion..I really feel your pain.

TuTANKHaman lvl 48 Fire/Fire Tanker Alt-Victory
Battle Reaver lvl 28 Nrg/Nrg Blaster Alt- Victroy
Maejis lvl 28 Nrg/Nrg Blaster Original Primary-Champion
Shadowlander lvl 14 DM/DA Scrapper Alt-Victory

Blacksky,
I would like to offer some additions to your guide. if you like them, please edit them into your post. If not then no big deal.

#1 Target a scrapper. I play with a lot of scrappers who tend to hold single enemy aggro pretty well. Instead of auto-targeting (clicking an attack and letting iot go to the next available target) target your scrapper buddy (with his permission). Hw needs to hit 1st and then you fire afterward until the 2 of you kill it. Paired up, you can really crush LTs and Bosses.

#2 Use Knockback wisdom.
A) He who knocks the Tanks herd back with AoE will not only aggro a quick death, but will aggro a nasty comment from the tank. Instead, use your Energy Nova or other AoE Knockback when they are down to 50% health (thus killing them).
B) Also, be sure to start from the outside stragglers and work inward with single target knockback. The ones around the tank should be the last ones you concern yourself with. They are being managed (in spite of the tank being flooded by them). Shoot stragglers who are looking for a defender or controller to smack.
C) Use knockback to push stragglers into the tanks aggro radius instead of knocking them out of it. Sure it takes more time and is tricky, but a happy tank is a tank surrounded by every possible minion in the area.
D) Only use Knockback to push a villian over the cliff or building roof to save yourself. No one wants to chase that guy down later (especially in a Kill All mish).
E) When in doubt Hover Blast above the mob, which turns knockback into Knockdown. Everyone loves Knockdown!

#3 Ask the team how you can best assist them BEFORE unleashing your powers. This will let them know to be ready for your attack as well as prepare them to save you if it goes bad. This holds true for all the rain AoE powers which scatters the herd and all NOVA oriented powers which trump the aggro managers and sleep powers and various hold/slow powers that are keeping you alive.

Lastly, realize that almost all ATs have some sort of super cool AoE. If you can coordinate yours with theirs the fireworks are spectacular and the TEAM profits instead of you being a showoff and the team having to save you from the highly pissed of mob that you almost killed.

TuTANKHaman lvl41 fire/fire tank-victory
Battle Reaver lvl 30 NRG/NRG balster-victory