GI Justice

All I see, anymore, are people talking about Ice Armor. In my experience as a Tanker, I've played Shield Defense, Willpower, Invulnerability, Electric, and Fire. I've stayed a Ron Jeremy-length away from Stone Armor, because it seemed cliche, and I'm not partial to one power dictating both my appearance and performance.. Ice Armor, I have no experience with, either. In Mids, it doesn't seem incredible. I mean, yes, decent on paper, but what exactly is so great about it?

I really wish they would make diamagnetic's -regen irresistible. As it stands, the -regen component is pretty much irrelevant, even stacked to the cap. I can't remember the last time -regen significantly helped me on any sub-EB mob, either; and ironically, anything EB and up has that super awesome resistance to debuff. Ironic.

Everyone, stop replying to Johnny. It'll never be enough. Regardless of what you say, facts presented, of quoted developer intent, OR your personal opinions, you will never convince him of anything other than what has been decreed as law within his own, delicate sensibilities.

I actually know of another guy over twenty, IRL, who acts in this fashion. What's his name, you ask? Johnny. Irony.

To the OP: You can definitely make your character work with SO's. You can still complete the Trials with SO's; but try to be well rounded with your power and enhancement options. A 50++ SO is -almost- as good as a standard 50 IO.

This may sound stupid..but.. Do you have all of your powers activated? Unyielding, included?

For Willpower, I'd recommend Stone Melee. It has great damage mitigation, which synergizes well with the healing factor of Willpower. If you've utilized Fiery Melee and Super Strength as primaries for Scrapper and Brute, respectively, you may want to check out Dark Melee. It doesn't have the Area of Effect potential that Stone Melee has, nor does it synergize as well, in my personal opinion; but for a Tanker, it has incredibly high damage potential.

@ Auroxis/Grey Pilgrim
Too origin specific IMO.

The great thing about our costume options combined with our powersets is that you can easily make a tech looking hero whose powers are derived from technology. Could be Invulnerability, Willpower, even Fiery Aura.

I think it probably works out better than having such a specific powerset.

-I can understand that. As another poster mentioned though, Granite Armor could be viewed in the exact same fashion. I don't feel the necessity to post all of my ideas about the armor(Maybe it's a magical gift from the Well?), but there are plenty of possibilities.

@ Airhammer
you lost me @ click mez protections.

-Shield Defense actually has a click Mez protection. The bonus damage tied in would actually make it overpowered as a toggle, in my opinion. And if it were, the Endurance cost would need to be very high, and this is an already Endurance-draining concept. I also didn't want it to be possible to double stack, hence the long recharge--not sure on exact numbers, though.

@ Davonyx
I think it's an interesting idea. I dunno if I'd actually enjoy running it, but I'd definitely give it a shot. Some comments:

1. I feel like the added Toxic res is kinda wasteful, since there doesn't seem to be much Toxic damage coming in after the lowbie levels.

2. Is Magnetic Overlay a single bonus, or is it influenced by the number of enemies around you? With an end cost as high as it is, I sure hope so. At the same time, I wonder if the res bonuses are too generous. Say it has a max 10 targets. That's +50% S/L res, +100% E/N res, and +50% typed defense. That sounds broken. (Of course, this is all just speculation since the OP doesn't really mention how it works. I just wonder.)

3. Hydraulic Aid's damage bonus seems a bit much, especially for 2 minutes. Of course, the end cost/rech make up for that... I feel like it could work well on its own just as a mez protection power...

4. Like MO, are the bonuses given by Impervium Reinforcement based on the number of allies within AoE range, or are they set? I realize that some are mentioned to be unenhanceable, but what about those that aren't?

5. I don't understand why Chassis Blast has such a high end cost, especially due to the -dam/-res to self.

6. You totally stole the tier 9 power's name from YuGiOh. I have never been a fan of these types of powers from any powerset, so I can't really say much about this power.

All-in-all, it seems overpowered in some respects while underpowered in others. From my understanding, it doesn't sound like it would be that great, but who's to say based off of rough numbers lol. I definitely like the idea, though.

-Thank you for the compliments. I kept the Endurance costs relatively high to simulate the "Power Core" using its energy. The reason for the Toxic resistance is because I feel like more Toxic will be emerging soon, if the Apex TF is any indication of the future. The high Toxic res would definitely set it apart from a lot of other sets. I didn't really consider the stacking effect of Magnetic Overlay. To be honest, I completely forgot about the stacking bonuses from taunt auras; but I didn't plan on it stacking--at least not for that power. Hydraulic Aid's damage boost may seem like a lot, but with it being unenhancable, it is still less than a saturated AAO from SD. It's also tied in with the Mez protection. Chassis Blast is a very damaging single target power, using energy. I kept the endurance cost high because it is essentially a blast straight from a Power Core. The fact that the damage is enhancable, as well as the recharge, and endurance cost, made me want to add a considerable drawback. The tier 9 was taken from Yugioh and Armored Core, actually; and it seemed fitting.

@ ClawsandEffect
So, if the power set is Powered Armor, would running the toggles dictate what your character looks like, similar to Granite and Kheldian forms?

If so, instant deal-breaker right there.

If it's just toggles, and you're wearing jeans and a T shirt, it it breaks the set's theme of being powered armor. If it changes your character to a different model while you run the toggles it kills costume customization. If it limits your costume choices to only the pieces that look like armor, it'd be even worse.

I don't play Stone Armor for the precise reason that the best power in the set makes my costume completely irrelevant. I wouldn't play any set that replaces my costume with powered armor, especially if I can't decide what that armor looks like.

Honestly, I can't remember what my ideas were regarding the costumes, when I originally thought this up. I didn't want a pre-formatted suit to dictate character themes--that I do know. Either I was thinking that the costumes would remain in their standard format(like everything but Dwarf forms/Granite), or there would be certain templates like Crab/Wolf Spider. Regardless, I didn't want to nullify a player's personal touch to the armors.

My suggestion: Powered Armor

Tier 1: Toggle. Armored Exoskeleton. +25% resistance to Lethal/Smashing, .24 endurance per second.

Tier 2: Auto. Insulated Underlay. +15% resistance to Toxic, 10% resistance to Fire/Cold/Energy/Negative.

Tier 3: Toggle/Taunt aura. Magnetic Overlay. +300% taunt(same as WP), + 5% resistance to Lethal/Smashing. 10% resistance to Energy/Negative. +5% defense to Lethal/Smashing/Fire/Cold/Energy/Negative/Psionic. .52 endurance per second.

Tier 4: Click/Mez protection. Hydraulic Aid. +40% strength(damage) to Lethal/Smashing, +20% strength(damage) to Fire/Cold/Energy/Negative/Toxic for 120 seconds. 10000% Resistance to Knockup, knockback, repel. -12.975 to stun, held, sleep, immobilize for 120 seconds. 20 endurance per cast, recharge time 240 seconds.

Tier 5: Toggle. Filtration System. +25% resistance to Toxic, +10% resistance to Energy, +15% resistance to runspeed, -endurance, recharge, recovery, and regeneration debuff. +20% strength to regeneration. .26 endurance per second.

Tier 6: Auto. Impervium Reinforcement. +5% resistance to Fire/Cold/Energy/Negative/Toxic(Unenhanceable). +10% resistance to Psionic(Unenhanceable). +5% defense to Smashing/Lethal/Fire/Cold/Energy/Negative. +10% Defense to Psionic. +Max HP. +20% resistance to defense debuff(Unenhanceable).

Tier 7: Ranged attack. Chassis Blast. 100-115 damage(energy) to target. 50% chance for mag. 2 stun. -10% defense to target for 10 seconds. -15% to all damage/resistance for 10 seconds, after cast(to self). 20 endurance per cast, recharge time 60 seconds.


Tier 8: Auto. Endoskeletal Augmentation. +20% to Flight Speed, Run Speed, Jumping Speed. +15% resistance to recharge, runspeed, -endurance, recovery, and regeneration debuff. +20% resistance to defense debuff(Unenhanceable).

Tier 9: Click. Limiter Removal. +30% defense to Lethal/Smashing/Fire/Cold/Energy/Negative/Psionic for 120 seconds. +100% to Regeneration(Unenhanceable) for 120 seconds. +40% to Recovery(Unenhanceable) for 120 seconds. +40% strength to all damage for 120 seconds. -21.625 to stun/sleep/hold/immobilize for 120 seconds. +80% resistance to -Endurance for 120 seconds. +50% strength to recharge for 120 seconds. +1000% resistance to knockup, knockback, and repel. After 120 second duration, -100 endurance, and special damage to self, leaving 100 Hit Points. -40% to all damage for 20 seconds, after 120 second duration.

That looks amazing. Much better than the current "Dark Knight" suit, where Batman's head is bigger than his torso. Batman doesn't kill though, so I don't know how I feel about the longsword.

Gloom isin't available for Scrappers in Soul or Darkness Mastery as an Epic or Ancillary power pick. Dark Blast is available, though, and it hits fairly hard. You might want to try Chain Induction/Dark Blast/Chain Induction/Jacob's Ladder.

You're going to need some hefty recharge for that though, but Shield Defense allows for it.

Early on, you may run into endurance problems, but Stone Melee is one of those sets that does fairly well with anything. Personally, I feel like Stone Melee has better synergy with resistance sets, because mitigation is essentially pseudo-defense.

Not that expensive, at all. It's very easy to slot defensive toggles with Red Fortune, or even standard SO/IO's. If you're on Virtue, send me an email; @GI Justice, and I can provide you with some influence, or bring you on a farm. At bare minimum, I can provide enough to get to IO'd with standards.

It's definitely not a must to reach the soft cap for standard content(45 defense), but without weave, you have no prayer of achieving soft cap on Incarnate Trials. Well..maybe you could, but I'd hate to imagine the sacrifices.

A quick suggestion, though, and I don't expect you to adhere to my style of play: Consider the Fighting pool, in lieu of the Leadership pool. If you could take both, great, but if its forcing you into this sort of decision, the fighting pool wins, hands down; unless you are going for a particular concept. Shield Defense is very toggle heavy, by itself. If you spec into the Leadership pool, you are going to become even more toggle heavy(as you would with Fighting), but the value of the buffs of Leadership, per endurance point, are dwarfed immensely by the Fighting pool.

Lets think about the functional reasons to take Leadership on a Tanker. Off the top of my head, I know Maneuvers gives around 2.27 defense, unenhanced, and Assault gives a 10.9ish boost to damage. First off, that 2.27 defense vs. the 5 defense from Weave speaks for itself. The utility of Assault, however, has always been under scrutiny. If you're fully enhanced, and alotting for reasonable damage, that benefit is even further diminished. Tactics gives +to hit and +perception; and both have questionable degrees of usefulness, for different reasons. The +to hit function of Tactics can easily be substituted with +accuracy set bonuses. The perception aspect matters most in PvP. Then you have Vengeance, which while awesome, requires someone to die; and it doesn't stack, so multiple characters on a team with it is generally a waste.

Now, these benefits are cool to bring for a team, and I'm sure they'll be happy to have the aid; but chances are, there are already multiple teammates with the Leadership pool. If no one has it, the buffs provided by Corruptors, Masterminds, Defenders, et all, certainly suffice. If you're geared toward more solo-oriented action, the value of the Leadership essentially flatlines in comparison to fighting. With fighting, you can pick up more defense, not to mention some much needed Resistance to smashing and lethal.

Here's an opinion from a neutral party in this argument:

I'm on a limited schedule of how much I play, in regards to City of Heroes; and with that said, I'm further limited by when I can play. The fact that the LFG option exists, is evidence of the Devs desire to appeal to the casual player. You would be essentially oblivious, if you didn't recognize the fact that there are spikes in gameplay times, and it just so happens that when I get to play the most, fewer people are online. I play on Virtue, these days; one of the most populated servers, and it as well, is subject to prime times. I used to play on Victory, but due to non-communication, lack of teams forming, etc., I migrated to Virtue.

My point is this: If I wait in the queue for fourty-five minutes to an hour(despite the < One Minute average time to start trial), just to be put on a BAF on which I'm promptly kicked(because I'm a stranger, or I'm the 19th on a team of 18, and the leader doesn't like odd numbers), I'm going to be angry. If it happened enough times, I'd go elsewhere for my super-hero gaming needs. With so many people using private channels, teaming with only people on friends lists, etc., it makes it much harder for someone casual or even new to immerse themselves in the game, and serves to further isolate people. In a massively multiplayer online setting, isolation is detrimental to expansion.

Maybe it'd be different if it didn't take a certain number to even initiate a trial--but thinking that there will always be interest or players enough for multiple groups of said event is naieve. As it stands, there is no contact for an Incarnate trial. With that said, there's no way to know if there's even any interest in attempting a trial, aside from going to a specific zone, channel, or looking at the laughably ridiculous, estimated times on the queue. If that's true on Virtue, I'd hate to imagine trying to gather players for a BAF on Victory.

As far as "fixing" the queue, so you can lock other players out.. I think of it this way: Would it be beneficial, especially when you can already "lock" other players out by simply filling the league? Chances are, people who use the queue already have their patience pushed--but being kicked from the league would be the final straw, for a lot of players. As a leader, what does that accomplish for you? That guy or girl--they aren't looking to ruin your gaming experience. They queued because, like you, they wanted to experience the content, earn their rewards, or both. One person isin't going to make or break league moral; if it does..maybe Hyperstrike isin't the one who needs to chill.

I don't have Mids available because I'm at work, but I'd recommend leaving Focused Accuracy with the default slot, unless you planned on running it, constantly. You're probably not going to need the +to hit against the majority of the mobs you'll be fighting, and in the instances you will need it, it is easily toggled. It's such an endurance hog that I, personally, would never consider leaving it toggled, permanently. I'd shift that additional slot to stamina, to give it three.

The Dark Watcher's Despair in RttC isin't doing you a monumental heap of good because, as New Dawn said, the value of the -to hit component is somewhat diminished. Personally, I'd shuffle at least one of those slots into an attack(probably Quick Strike), and save up for a Hecatomb chance for Negative proc.

If nothing else changes about your build, exchange the placement of Mind over Body and Fast Healing. Mind over Body is one of the only forms of pure damage resistance you're going to have; and that is critical at low levels.

Also noticed that you sprang for Panacea. I don't know what kind of resources you're working with, but if you can get that, along with the Reactive Armor/Kinetic Combat sets, you might as well go for a Gladiator's Armor 3% defense.

Edit-With a WP Tank, I wouldn't suggest taking Conserve Power, at all, unless you're also taking Strength of Will. If you're dead set on focused accuracy, and/or want nothing to do with Strength of Will, I'd opt out of Conserve Power. You could pick something else, sling one of it's now defunct slots into maneuvers, and make it a bit more economical. Quick Recovery gives more of a plus to endurance than Stamina does, so consider putting the performance shifters in Stamina, for better overall endurance. Technically, since you're a WP Tank, you could probably get better overall performance out of another ancillary than Energy Mastery, but again, this is all just my opinion.

Your attacks, for the most part, are moderately-well slotted for damage. With that said, I'm not sure how much good a Musculature Alpha is going to do for you; and the later stages of Cardiac Alpha reduce those endurance worries previously mentioned, and boost your damage resistance.

One last question. I saw Super Jump as your level 14 power, but no Combat Jumping until level 30? Is that due to a veteran reward?

Ok, in this game, the point is to post what Archetype(with corresponding powers, if they are an Incarnate or not, etc.) a certain hero would be, along with their origin. After you post your selection and their powers, include a short reason why. For example:

Name-Thor
Incarnate-Yes
Origin-Magic
Archetype-Tanker(Electric Armor, War Mace)
Power Pools-Flight, Speed, Fighting, Teleportation
Ancillary or Epic-Energy or Mu Mastery

He'd be Electric Armor/WM due to Thor being the God of Thunder, and always using Mjolnir, his hammer. The God of Thunder bit would be why I've included Whirlwind, and since he's an excellent hand to hand combatant, the Fighting pool. Not sold completely on Mu Mastery, until it's color tintable. Considering again that he's technically a God, he would undoubtedly be an Incarnate. I specced into Teleport because he typically teleports from place to place.

The point of this game is to have fun; the goal is not to build the most efficient, earth shattering character--so feel free to spec into more than one travel pool, at your leisure. This is all to be as close to the character and their lore as possible.