Call Me Awesome

I haven't checked in a few weeks but I used to make a nice chunk by buying Kinetic Combat Acc/Dam for 50 merits, crafting and then selling them for 50-70 million. It was a sure thing and a good return on investment... especially since as an uncommon that recipe isn't available for A Merits.

Buy the recipe at max level (35) and then craft it (only common/uncommon salvage) then toss it on the market.

Well, the Fire/Dark combo gets insanely effective as it matures... mine at 50 is one of my most effective teammates. The combination of Fearsome Stare to cower an entire spawn followed by Tar Patch/Rain of Fire/Fireball works extremely well to eliminate the riffraff and soften up the rest for your team.

Pyre mastery is pretty much my default choice on a tanker, it provides good damage, a decent hold (that's mostly just a prerequisite power) and the best tanker APP AOE attack in Fireball. My two choices are Energy if you have end problems and Pyre for more damage if your end is under control.

For ideas on a soft capped IO build check out my guide in my signature; I haven't priced it recently but the basics shouldn't cost a ton. When I first wrote it everything I quoted could be had for under 20 million... prices have gone up a bunch since but with some patience you ought to be able to get it done for 150 or so. If you'd prefer the Reactive Armor sets are available from the Paragon store for points if you'd rather spend $20-30 in real money on them. Smashing Haymaker are still cheap on the market and Mocking Beratement (taunt set) is dirt cheap.

Well, for starters what kind of budget do you have for your build? You can be decent with a good build on SO's, a budget Set IO build will run ~150 million or so and you can push that however high you want with more frills in the build.

Your build does need some work, on SO's you'll want your armors (TI, Unyielding, Tough) slotted 3 resist/1 endred, Invincibility and Weave want 2-3 defense/1 endred. Slotting more than 1 endred in your toggles is of limited use, most of your end use comes from attacks anyway. Your attacks want 1 accuracy/3 damage/1 endurance. For the last slot you can toss in a recharge. One accuracy is generally plenty for an Invuln, particularly if you slot the Kismet 6% accuracy (it's +6% tohit actually but it's labeled accuracy).

Taunt is AUTOHIT in PvE... you have no need of accuracy there unless you're going to PvP. Tough Hide needs two more defense, it gives you the same def as Weave for no end cost.

Slotting taunt duration in your attacks isn't needed... your aura and attacks will have no problem holding aggro without that.

Here's what I'd probably go with on an SO build, it's similar to what my namesake Inv/Stone had pre-issue 9:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.953
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Science Tanker
Primary Power Set: Invulnerability
Secondary Power Set: Stone Melee
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Pyre Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Temp Invulnerability -- ResDam(A), ResDam(3), ResDam(3), EndRdx(5)
Level 1: Stone Fist -- Acc(A), Dmg(13), Dmg(29), Dmg(31), EndRdx(40)
Level 2: Dull Pain -- Heal(A), Heal(5), Heal(25), RechRdx(31), RechRdx(42)
Level 4: Heavy Mallet -- Acc(A), Dmg(7), Dmg(9), Dmg(11), EndRdx(11), RechRdx(43)
Level 6: Boxing -- Acc(A)
Level 8: Unyielding -- ResDam(A), ResDam(13), ResDam(15), EndRdx(15)
Level 10: Taunt -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(37), Taunt(46), Taunt(50)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- DefBuff(A)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump(A)
Level 16: Tough -- ResDam(A), ResDam(17), ResDam(17), EndRdx(21)
Level 18: Invincibility -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(19), DefBuff(19), EndRdx(21)
Level 20: Fault -- Acc(A), Acc(23), RechRdx(25), RechRdx(33), RechRdx(33)
Level 22: Weave -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(23), DefBuff(29), EndRdx(31)
Level 24: Resist Physical Damage -- ResDam(A), ResDam(33), ResDam(43)
Level 26: Tough Hide -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(27), DefBuff(27)
Level 28: Resist Energies -- ResDam(A), ResDam(43), ResDam(50)
Level 30: Spring Attack -- Acc(A), Dmg(34), Dmg(34), Dmg(34), RechRdx(42), RechRdx(42)
Level 32: Unstoppable -- RechRdx(A)
Level 35: Tremor -- Acc(A), Dmg(36), Dmg(36), Dmg(36), EndRdx(37), RechRdx(37)
Level 38: Seismic Smash -- Acc(A), Dmg(39), Dmg(39), Dmg(39), EndRdx(40), RechRdx(40)
Level 41: Char -- Acc(A)
Level 44: Fire Blast -- Acc(A), Dmg(45), Dmg(45), Dmg(45), EndRdx(46)
Level 47: Fire Ball -- Acc(A), Dmg(48), Dmg(48), Dmg(48), RechRdx(50)
Level 49: Resist Elements -- ResDam(A)
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Level 2: Swift -- Run(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal(A), Heal(46)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod(A), EndMod(7), EndMod(9)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet
Level 1: Sprint -- EndRdx(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run

For a level 31 Inv/WM tanker on SO's I'd go with something like this:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.953
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 49 Natural Tanker
Primary Power Set: Invulnerability
Secondary Power Set: War Mace
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Temp Invulnerability -- ResDam(A), ResDam(3), ResDam(3), EndRdx(5)
Level 1: Bash -- Acc(A), Dmg(15)
Level 2: Dull Pain -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(5), Heal(7), Heal(31)
Level 4: Jawbreaker -- Acc(A), Dmg(7), Dmg(9), Dmg(13), EndRdx(25)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- DefBuff(A)
Level 8: Unyielding -- ResDam(A), ResDam(9), ResDam(11), EndRdx(11)
Level 10: Super Jump -- Jump(A)
Level 12: Taunt -- RechRdx(A)
Level 14: Boxing -- Acc(A)
Level 16: Tough -- ResDam(A), ResDam(17), ResDam(17), EndRdx(25)
Level 18: Invincibility -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(19), EndRdx(19)
Level 20: Clobber -- Acc(A), Dmg(21), Dmg(21), Dmg(27), EndRdx(31)
Level 22: Weave -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(23), DefBuff(23), EndRdx(31)
Level 24: Resist Physical Damage -- ResDam(A)
Level 26: Tough Hide -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(27)
Level 28: Whirling Mace -- Acc(A), Dmg(29), Dmg(29)
Level 30: Resist Energies -- ResDam(A)
Level 32: [Empty]
Level 35: [Empty]
Level 38: [Empty]
Level 41: [Empty]
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
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Level 2: Swift -- Run(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod(A), EndMod(13), EndMod(15)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run

I have to say that Street Justice has been probably the most fun set I've leveled so far... my StJ/Inv scrapper hit 49 last night and there's just something that makes you grin about kicking the bad guy in the junk or hitting him with Smashing Uppercut and launching him straight into the air. Of course my scrapper is 4' tall so 3 guesses where the aforementioned uppercut hits the target?

There's a reason I named him "Balzy"

I've actually tanked all five AV's in the Kahn TF at 54 while the team took out Reichsman... it's common for us to simply stay on him while the tank hauls in all the addon AV's as they release and holds them together with Reichsman. Vanessa is generally not a big problem; while she's Psi she also doesn't hit all that hard and my natural regen and the occasional dull pain or green pill takes care of what gets through my defenses.

That's with CMA, my Inv/Stone tanker. I'm softcapped to S/L/E/N and I've ~25% Melee/Ranged as a byproduct to help mitigate Psi damage. I've done the same with my Shield/Fire tanker and I do need more caution against all 5 AV's but it's doable particularly if I have some team buffage.

I don't think there's an AT in the game that doesn't have a powerset/build combination that can't survive her for 5 minutes, particularly if inspirations and/or outside buffs are allowed. Name an AT and someone's probably come up with a build that's durable enough for the job.

The Miracle in Health... everything else is subject to the needs of a particular character. Frequently I do toss the Numina into Health as well but it's not a sure thing and depends on when I can get slots available.

My non-melee characters usually get a stealth IO in their travel power unless they have full invis already (Illusion for example) and most characters without KB protection get one KB IO or the Kinetic Crash bonus.

Beyond that each build will vary based on the strengths and weaknesses of the powersets; I usually try to build to the strength of a set and shore up as many weaknesses as I can without compromising the strengths.

For farming what you want is lots of AOE damage and enough durability to survive the spawns you're fighting long enough to kill them. For that you'd be hard pressed to find much better than the aforementioned Fire/Fire combo.

HOWEVER, while with enough investment and a very good build a Fire tanker can certainly be tough enough for most content it isn't going to reach the durability level of a well built Invuln to say nothing of a Stone. If I were looking for high durability with good (for tankers) damage I'd probably consider Inv/Fire.

What you're looking for is somewhat contradictory with the way tanker powersets work. What I would do if I were you is roll the tank for durability and tanking ability and keep the brute for farming... unquestionably the brute will be faster at it. While you can use a tank for farming you can also use a wrench to drive a nail... but a hammer will do it faster. I'd go with the strengths of the AT's and use the right tool for the job.

Some scrapper secondaries can get plenty tough enough to handle the durability portion of tanking... but there's only a few with strong taunt auras that can handle the aggro portion and even then they're not as good at it.

I've played Invuln and Shield as tanks and as scrappers, both of them to 50 and both of them tanking for teams. While the scrappers can pinch hit for a tank provided the team is good they have a MUCH harder time picking up the pieces when things go bad and both of those sets have excellent taunt auras to hold aggro.

Now if what you want is high damage with high survivability then the choice is to roll a Scrapper... with good use of IO's you can boost the scrapper's durability by a considerable margin while there's very little you can do to boost the tanker's damage. If on the other hand you want to actually Tank and manage aggro then roll a tanker... they're simply better at it.

I'm reasonably sure it's giving the hours a particular character has been logged into the game; that's what we've been told it was and it makes sense with the results I have.

My longest active is CMA with something like 4,000 hours and the 50's that I play frequently tend to average in the 300-600 range. Most of my characters have hit 50 in ~200 hours prior to the XP boost a few issues ago and they tend to make it in ~80-150 now. Obviously that's fairly normal leveling, not PL'ing.

I'm a bit late to the party here, but in a nutshell, what do you want to do with the character? Do you want to tank, manage aggro while putting out decent damage with a somewhat more durable character? Then roll a tanker. On the other hand if you mainly want to deal damage while still being nicely survivable then a brute is the better choice.

I've taken a SD/Fire tanker and a BS/SD scrapper to 50, both of them are quite capable and durable. The tanker's more survivable of course, and was considerably cheaper to IO out while the scrapper deals considerably more damage.

The bottom line is that it's your call, either SD/WM or WM/SD will work quite well, it depends on which you want, more durability or more damage. I've never played WM before but it looks like a quite capable set ever since the last round of buffs brought it out of the cellar, I don't think you'll go too far wrong whichever you choose.

Um, yeah there's a lot of room for improvement there; your attacks are basically unslotted and your armors are overslotted with less useful sets.

Please, check out both of my invuln guides in my signature. You currently have very little in effective set bonuses and absolutely terrible slotting in your attacks. It's completely possible to have many times the durability you currently have along with good damage.

A thumbnail suggestion would be:

• Take the Fighting Pool - Boxing/Tough/Weave

• 4 slot Reactive Armor in TI, Unyielding, Tough & RPD

• 5 slot your single target attacks with 4 Smashing Haymaker (or, if you've the resources, Kinetic Combat) and one Acc/Dam/End from another set.

• Slot 3 Eradication and 2-3 Scirocco in your PBAOE attacks.

• 6 slot Taunt with either Mocking Beratement or Perfect Zinger

• Slot Invincibility with 2 Enzyme HO's (47+) or 3-4 Gift of the Ancients

• Drop one slot from Dull Pain

• Slot the Steadfast Protection 3% defense unique into one of the passive resists.

• If you're taking Build Up stop at 3 slots; you aren't getting much of use to you with your slotting.

That will give you some framework; after that I'd drop Unstoppable, or at least leave it with the base slot and Leadership isn't the best choice for a tanker.


I hope you haven't built this already; it needs a page one re-write and most of the IO's will be replaced.

In my experience the absolute best aggro machine is Ice Armor thanks to it's 0.5 second tic rate 14 second duration auto hit aura backed up by it's damage aura. It instantly grabs aggro and holds it with vice grips.

Second place is probably Shield thanks to the debuff in it's 1 second tic, 17 second duration autohit aura. Invuln is tied or slightly behind as it lacks a debuff effect but has the same numbers. Bear in mind that Invuln doesn't get it's aura, Invincibility, until level 18 while everyone else gets it by level 8.

After those three you have most of the other sets; those with damage auras all have accuracy checks so they're a bit more iffy to establish aggro quickly and Stone's Mud Pots, while it DOES have an autohit component, also has a slow 2 second tic rate so it can take more time to gather aggro. Once they get aggro those with multiple auras do tend to hold it well.

Ever since Willpower was introduced it's had a, frankly, broken taunt aura. It has a 1 second tic rate and a 1.25 second duration... anything not actually in your aura will loose interest in you immediately. On the other hand WP is no longer the absolute worst since Super Reflexes is (hopefully, as the Brute version is good) bugged with a 0.5 second tic, 1 second duration aura. Neither of these tankers will be able to hold aggro without working very hard and leaning on a strong AOE focused secondary.

Frankly I think you're going to be disappointed in WP as an aggro tanker... I would suggest a re-roll as an Invuln... it's the most durable of the top three aggro tankers, followed by Shield and then Ice.

I'll second the thought on an i5 CPU, it's plenty for anything you may want to do short of high end video and/or animation work. The 2500K seems to be the chip of choice and it's very overclockable. AMD makes decent CPU's but they can't compete with the performance of the i5/i7. That said they do make a decent budget choice... but with $1,200 in the pot you'll have plenty for that i5. Oh, and I don't look any further than Newegg for parts.

As for a case that's completely up to you... you can spend anywhere from $20 - $500 on a case. Generally I buy something in the ~$50 range for a personal system... I don't need all the extra bells and whistles. I suggest a mid tower ATX case WITHOUT a PSU... the power supplies that come with most cases are crap you'll throw away anyway. Figure out how many drive bays you need (and add a couple extra just for giggles... you'd be surprised how easy it is to run out of room a year or so down the road) and what extras you want, like front USB ports, audio ports, Firewire, etc.

For your PSU I've had good luck with Antec, and depending on your video card and how many drives you install you'll want a minimum of 500 watts. Unless you're doing something silly like running a pair of high end vid cards in SLI you shouldn't need anything stronger than 700 watts.

Keeping it cool is easy, also keeping it quiet is a bit of a challenge however. There are high efficiency case fans that are very quiet, they'll cost a few dollars more but they're worth it. I've used a few Silenx fans in builds and they're quiet enough it's hard to tell they're running from a couple feet away. You'll also want a good CPU heat sink/fan, I've had good luck with Zalman and they're also quiet enough that with the case buttoned up I don't hear ANY fan noise from the box... the loudest sounds are the hard drives spinning up.

Beyond that there's other ways to quiet it down more with acoustic insulation on the case but IMO that's getting well into diminishing returns. You WILL want to replace the stock fans that come with the case, they're typically really loud. Also the thumb rule of "bigger is better" applies; a 120mm fan moves more air with less noise than an 80mm so if a larger fan will fit it's better than using a smaller one. Tom's Hardware did a couple of articles recently on cooling and airflow, check them out for more ideas.

Building your own isn't really all that difficult as long as you have patience and the ability to use a screwdriver without breaking anything. When you're ready to buy, and I agree with Ironblade that you'll want to get everything at once, just ask and I'm sure we can put together a "parts list" for you. One thing you'll want is to make sure you buy quality parts... cheap hardware is just full of problems waiting to happen and it isn't much less money than the good stuff.