DreamingWolf

Originally Posted by Call Me Awesome

Invuln is certainly a good choice, if you build it right it can rival Stone for durability without any of the penalties a Stone tank has to deal with. For a first tanker I'd actually recommend Invuln over Stone for that reason... the Stoner is tougher but the poor mobility often drives players away from the set.

I don't want to give you the idea that Stone's bad... heck, I have 2 Stone tankers at 50 myself in addition to my Invuln. It's just easier learning the ropes if you don't also have to contend with the mobility/recharge/-damage penalties. To start out with, Invuln is definitely stronger than Stone in the early game... Stone's actually somewhat fragile (for a tank) until level 32 and Granite Armor.

Ok, if you've settled on Invuln for the primary we'll need to figure out the secondary. Super Strength is, of course, the "classic" pairing... and it works pretty well. It's very much single target focused until level 38 though which may be an issue... large AOE's make getting/holding aggro much easier, not to mention aiding in the killing of large groups.

Ice Melee has been suggested and it's not bad; the problem with it is relatively low damage. I understand it's been buffed a bit lately though, maybe someone can jump in about how it stands now.

Fire Melee is an excellent choice for raw damage... and it has two rather nice AOE attacks as well. Relatively quick recharge and relatively low endurance cost makes this an attractive option... be aware that it offers zero mitigation so it won't help your durability.

Stone Melee is the way I went with my Invuln, it offers lots of hard hitting single target damage, great damage mitigation with all the knockdowns in the set (both hammers, Fault & Tremor) and as a capstone Seismic Smash... a very hard hitting attack with a MAG 4 hold... yes, it will hold a boss. The downsides are longer than average recharge and moderately heavy endurance use. If you go this way don't forgo Fault... it's one of the best powers in the set even though it does no damage.

Energy Melee used to be the premiere single target set, unfortunately it's been hit heavily by the nerf bat. I realize some people still like it but personally I can no longer recommend it to anyone starting out. Yes, it still works, but it's overshadowed by most of the other sets in nearly every category nowadays. I have a Stone/EM tank at 50 who I haven't touched since shortly after the nerfs.

That's it for the sets I have personal experience with; for what you've said you want I'd suggest considering something with fair AOE to assist in aggro management. Fire, Elec, Stone, Mace and a few others could be good choices. If you want extra survivability Stone Melee, Ice Melee or Mace could work in there nicely. If you want to add to the team's killpower then Fire Melee or Electric Melee would be good options.

In any event, please check out my guide on the first 20 levels of Invuln... lots of players end up with rather poor builds simply because they don't understand what the important powers in the set are. My guide is linked in my signature and it'll give you a good solid foundation to build your tanker on.