Grey Pilgrim
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Posts
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Joined
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There are nights when I just ignore bad tactics because they really aren't making a difference. But if the team is suffering for it, I will say something.
The bit on "team chemistry" in the positioning section is kind of why I put this in. People tend to get a little bit to stiff in their ways, either ordering people around, or taking offense at minor suggestions for improvement. I have had some obvious Tanker newbies react positively to comments like "I see you aren't running Fire Shield: you really should do that so you can take more hits while we're fighting all these Outcasts." Whereas other ones say "play your own AT, I know what I'm doing." Like all I ever play was the one character I was on, or something.
I actually had another Controller get sulky and quit the team when I asked if he would not use his AOE immobilize when my Controller had already used Earthquake, as it was hurting the effects of Earthquake (Knockdown). He left, even after I and the rest of the team kept insisting that he not leave, that it was just a suggestion to coordinate tactics. Ugh.
So yeah, I just don't bother making suggestions in game unless the team is suffering for it. -
For the storyline types, do remember that The Center is the leader of The Council. From the Kheldian story arcs, it is uncertain how much the Nictus in The Council (Arakhn and Requiem) are using him, or are keeping him around for other reasons. In the last of the story arcs, you uncover a large amount of correspondence between Requiem and Arakhn. Requiem suggests that Arakhn has feelings for The Center, and that is why she is keeping him alive (she knew him before becoming Nictified in the 40s like Requiem did). She continues to suggest that they need him for some unstated reason.
Basically, that whole storyline is still up in the air, as we don't know who the Nictus is behind transforming Romulus (and that Requiem was presumably working with). -
Yeah, I updated it so you could see the sets.
And what the heck... you could click on the data links before and have Mid's open up for you. Now you can't. That is just... weird. Mid's and the new boards need to learn to play nice, I think. -
I hate you, Masque.
MoSTF for the win! Down with Dr. Kahn runners!
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Yes, another one, just what we needed! Heh.
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The forums were being cranky about putting my Mid's builds in, but I also don't want to take up too much room (a long post with builds is more daunting than a short one you can click on to get more details). So I have a minimal listing in there now for each, but you can at least see what sets I'm putting in each one.
Working on updating the positioning section for working with another tanker effectively, as well as positioning for your teammates. -
Ocho posted that Dual Pistols and Demon Summoning are a part of GR, so you need that to play those. Pre-ordering unlocks them early for you, though. They might open them up a year down the road, but probably not for awhile, if at all.
Schismatrix, the EULA thing was aimed at the OP, who was talking about selling his accounts on Ebay, which is against the EULA. Basically a gold farmer then.
Not sure why GR would make you want to quit, though. We still get free issues, and this should have a lot of extra, making it worth the purchase. Not sure why a smaller population game can't expect that when WoW can... -
The Ocho has posted more on this question (towards the end of the post).
The move down was made because a fair amount of veterans did not have 50s yet, and with how much time has gone into the epic archetypes, they want them to be more playable by all. I completely agree with this. People will learn the ATs like any other AT, and there should be more players of them. I don't really like the "epics" having a smaller population because of the level 50 requirement.
I do hope that we will see more Khelds and more tweaking of our powers because of this. Good stuff.
Also, no more epics are "planned to be unlocked at 50." So they could be planning them for other levels (heh, total speculation on our part), or they're just focusing on the new endgame content for that. -
Slows are pretty much present everywhere. The Outcasts can slow you, the Council can (I grew to hate, hate, HATE marksmen and galaxies on my Peacebringer), psychic attacks can slow you, etc. It really does make a difference on Fiery Aura to pick up some defense and Temperature Protection.
Positioning is indeed something people do not think about. That example is true from a series of teams I was on fighting Nemesis. I would have defenders and controllers standing right next to me as we were fighting 1-3 mobs at once, being defeated, and then complaining that I wasn't taking the aggro. They quieted down when I told them to stay away from me and they'd be fine (and once they realized they weren't dying all the time away from me). But it was quite silly that I even had to say it.
I should probably add some to the positioning section for more than one tank. I was a Blaster on a Dr. Kahn TF with two tanks, and I was dying all the time. I was doing a lot of carnage, too, but I should have been very safe. The problem was that both tanks were bunched together all the time, and did nothing about the many outlier mobs that were out there (there is one room in a 5th Column base that was terrible for this: we certainly had over the aggro cap for both of them in that room, but they didn't have up to their cap on them... they had maybe 20 on them in the middle, while another 30 or so were around the room, merrily dropping us squishies, no matter how many we dropped). -
Quote:That change to Temperature Protection is quite nice. There are a lot of slows on this game (if you have played a lot of defense characters, you may not know this as much- I know it very well after playing Fiery Aura and Peacebringers a lot), and they add up. 20% resist, or even better, 40%, is just great.Originally Posted by Heraclea
Very nicely done. Gives me something to think about, as to actually wanting Temperature Prot. or Rise of the Phoenix.
Your use of fonts appears somewhat inconsistent, unless it's intentional.
I switched to my offensive build during the Holiday event, and I was wondering why the snowmen were being more pesky than usual. Then I remebered- my offensive build didn't have all the slow resist my defensive build does. That has now been rectified, and I am much happier for it.
Rise of the Phoenix is situational, but it is darn useful when you need it. You should know when you're going to drop (probably on the edge of your seat waiting for Healing Flames to come back or to pop an inspiration), so it's easy to activate right away before the mobs switch to your team. Then you fire this off, and your team doesn't really lose out: most of the mobs are stunned or sent flying, and you can get all your toggles up quickly. By the time the mobs are back in it, you and your team should be able to have mopped up a lot of them.
As some have posted, Self-destruction followed by Rise of the Phoenix is fun just for chuckles, too. Heh.
You're right about the fonts, Hera. I put it all in Trebuchet to make it look a little different, but then the post with the builds will not stick to Trebuchet. I'm not sure what the deal is. That one was annoying to, as I had to edit it and add one Mid's build per edit... the forums don't like more than one in a post for some reason.
I may go back and see if I can get them all to stick to something. Maybe add some colors along with the bolding to make the headers stand out more (or just underline those). -
Good luck with the Clouded Senses. If that's the -to hit that caps at 30, a few of those took me forever on my Sonic/Sonic to get. But I may not have had as much money to throw at the problem as you, heh.
Good luck with the run tonight! -
Yeah, sorry, Peter. Sundays are not as good for me, as I'd have to get done sooner, making TFs harder. Saturdays are pretty much the only nights I can fit in the longer TFs, so I try to keep them open.
Adding in Astro and Hamster. You bringing anything in particular, Ham, or are you wanting to see who else shows up and grab one of your many heroes to fill in whatever gaps we have? -
Quote:Hmmm, not sure how that part got left out. It has been added to the Burn and Combat Jumping section (I pretty much recommend getting CJ to any Fiery Aura tank... relying on Burn for mez protection is no fun). Thanks for the heads up.Originally Posted by Godpants
Interesting guide, but regarding Burn you didn't mention that it is Fiery Aura's only inherent source of immobilization protection, and that protection is perma out of the box.
Keep up the good work
Brophog, I see what you mean about corner pulling. In all honesty, I don't really corner pull any more, especially after the -range change to taunt. If it looks like my team would get in over their heads if they ran in, I say that I'm pulling, and taunt the mobs (sometimes we're so used to steamrolling that teammates run in anyway, heh).
This works for anything other than snipers (which are rare), since mobs like to get in close after they're taunted now.
I could see how I should add another rule, which is discussing things with your teammates. That way you could set up knockback well (if someone on your team uses it much), discuss who is leading in, etc. There have been some very power hungry tankers out there that boss people around (I've seen people post about it), so that rule would help out with that bad tendency, too. A tanker should go in first and not be shy, but they should work with their teammates.
Thanks for the heads up! Hope it works well. -
Hello, fellow Tankers. At long last, I have finished my guide to tanking, Wall of Fire style. The main part of the guide is to address tanking with Fiery Aura and Fiery Melee, but the last part of guide goes a bit more general and advocates following my four rules of tanking.
I figure it will be of much help to the frequent questions I hear about Fiery Aura, and also Tanking in general. Please check them out and let me know what you think in this thread, or the guide thread (linked above). -
Part VI: The Four Rules of Tanking and Wall of Fire Tactics
Being a Tanker means you're tough and can take punishment. So you can just dash into a mob willy nilly, right? Wrong. The above approach can work just fine if youre a Scrapper (or even a Brute, depending on your approach with them), but not a Tanker. Being a Tanker means you should control the mobs aggro, and to do this requires good thought and methodology. Here are my four Tanking rules; use them to guide you in controlling aggro effectively:
Rule #1: Make Good Use of Gauntlet and Aggro
Rule #2: Position Your Tank to Best Effect
Rule #3: Use Recovery Powers and Inspirations Effectively
Rule #4: Use Taunt to Your Advantage
Rule #1 Make Good Use of Gauntlet and Aggro
As a Tanker, you have an inherent called Gauntlet that is applied to each of your attacks. Basically, when you land a hit with any of your Primarys attacks, an AOE effect goes out from your attacks, automatically taunting your foes. This is great, as you want a mob to be focused on you. The upshot of this is that you should be attacking as a Tank. You add to the damage of your team and keep mobs focused on you, and its also a lot more fun to be dishing out some punishment (rather than just standing there and taking it on the chin all the time).
Do note, however, that aggro (also known as threat) is cumulative and stacks a few different ways--you dont automatically keep the attention of the whole mob by attacking once, for instance. Rather than explaining all the mechanics behind gaining and holding aggro, Ill tell you what it boils down to in practical terms (Im more of a practical player, rather than digging into the numbers TOO much). First, getting the attention of the mob and doing damage first is a must for a Tanker. Scrapper players brag about how they like to be first in to a mob and go nuts. A good Tanker should be willing to put this Scrapper mantra to shame: you want to get there first! This will help you get the mobs attention and keep it.
Second, be sure to attack frequently so Gauntlet can do its thing. Switch up targets as necessary, but focusing on bosses and lieutenants is going to be best, as theyre usually the most troublesome--most minions will stay on you because of Gauntlet, and the random 1-2 that peel off can be picked up by Taunt or your teammates--and they won't cause too much mayhem in the meantime.
Third, get your aura as soon as you can afford its endurance cost, as this adds to your AOE damage and threat/aggro generation. For many tanks, like a Wall of Fire Tanker, this might wait until SO levels (level 22). However, for sets like Invulnerability, getting it right at level 18 is a good idea. Adjust as needed to your powerset and situation: Fiery Aura Tankers can certainly make things work with Blazing Aura before level 22.
And fourth, be willing to move the mobs around to increase your control of their aggro and damage, as well as putting them in a better position for your team to take out quickly--but more on that in the next section.
Rule #2 Position Your Tank Effectively:
Position to defend your team: As mentioned in the aggro section, jumping in to a mob first is a good thing to do. But equally important is WHERE you go in a mob. Why is this so important? Just like you, many mobs have AOE attacks: some of them cones, some of them auras, etc. This means directing those attacks is a needed thing for a Tanker to do. If youre following Rule #1, you have the mobs turning to face you because you have grabbed their aggro, so rather than stopping at the start of a mob group, you should try to position yourself in the middle to the back of a group.
This means most cones will be pointed away from your group, and that mobs will have hopefully moved back enough for the rest of your team to avoid the AOEs landing around you. If you notice teammates getting in too close, you can remind them of the danger AOEs provide to them (I have had Controllers and Defenders get mad at me for not controlling aggro when they were standing next to me so not everyone is aware of how AOEs work- I had control of the aggro, they were just putting themselves in a bad spot). Do note that some builds can take the damage from those AOEs, and some players may choose to take the risk. Your job is to do the best you can with controlling aggro for your team, not control every action of your teammates.
You will notice this effect more against certain mobs. I recently was on a team where some squishies (low HP, low resist teammates) were in the arc of an Archvillains cone, and they were dropping fast. I told them to get out of the cones radius, and there were no more issues with them suddenly being defeated.
The other advantage of being in the middle to the back of the mob is that you will be able to move on more quickly to the next mob, which is one of the main goals of rule #1. When your team has the current mob just about wrapped up, either run off to the next mob, or get their attention somehow (mobs that are close can be roped in by using Taunt, for instance).
Position for best team chemistry: Wait, what? Chemistry? This is a MMO, not a dating site (ignoring those crazy RPers in Pocket D, of course)! What I mean by this is striking a good chord with your team. With some teams you can just wing it, but if you're having difficulties, don't be afraid of coordinating approaches. I have never had a team react badly when I suggest that I need to dash in first, how to wait a second with AOEs to get the mobs nice and clumped, etc. I have heard people tell horror stories on the forums about tankers that dominated their team and ordered them around... just hint: don't be that Tanker. Have fun and chat things over with your team, and make it clear that you're talking strategy, not ordering people around.
Position to maximize your team's attack potential: This is fairly straightforward to say, more difficult to practice. Note your team's powers and coordinate with them as best you can (this ties in with the chemistry suggestion as well). If your teammates do a lot of knockback, try to grab aggro and pull your foes against a wall to get the most out of the knockback they can unleash. If the Controller you are teamed with has a debuff patch (an AOE power that is centered on a certain section of the map), make sure you don't move mobs out of the patch. And of course, If you're teamed with a bunch of Scrappers and/or Tankers, you can probably run in and go nuts, though leading in with a tanker or two will probably position the aggro to best effect and clump up the mobs more for your melee centered AOEs. No matter what, be flexible and adjust to the situation!
Position to coordinate with other Tankers: Tankers are my first love and I play them all the time, but I do frequently play other ATs. That experience has shown me some... fairly dramatic "don't do this!" actions from Tankers. This rule comes from one such experience.
I was on a Dr. Kahn TF a couple months back while playing a Blaster, and I had a terrible experience where I was being defeated constantly--even though I was teamed with two Tankers. The problem was that these two Tankers loved to stand by each other and attack whatever was in front of their face. The problem with that was huge swarms of foes ignored their little circle of gauntlet, and gleefully dropped their teammates as much as possible. They were also less than charitable when I asked them to spread out more so we wouldn't keep dying so much (they told me not to tell them what to do... which was certainly not helping the chemistry of the team).
There is absolutely no need for this when playing with another Tanker: work with them to grab as much aggro as possible, and don't stand next to each other! Select one tank to be the main guy to jump in first, and then have have the second tank pick up any foes that don't go for the primary tank. As with all the other positioning rules, be aware of your environment, your foes, your team, and adjust accordingly!
Rule #3 Use Recovery Powers and Inspirations Effectively:
A good Tank knows their capabilities (and a Wall of Fire is no exception, even if it is fun to merrily blaze away at all the foes you have around you). Thats where you need to know how to use your recovery powers. Experience guides this in part, of course.
Inspirations: Some players seem to object to using inspirations. Certainly, you want to build your Tanker to be as effective as possible. But there will be times where you want to be a little tougher, have some more defense or offense, etc. Dont be ashamed to use inspirations at these times. If you know a second mob is coming and your Tanker might be taking a bit more damage than they can handle, up your resists or defense with an inspiration. In fact, certain AV encounters will be significantly easier and better for your team if you prepare effectively with your inspirations (Nosferatu, Ghost Widow, and Recluse in the Statesman Task Force immediately come to mind here).
Recovery Powers:
Not every set out there gets a recovery power: this is a great advantage every Wall of Fire Tanker gets to leverage. That said, Consume does have a long recharge time (180 seconds base, about 90 seconds when slotted decently well for recharge), so you do want to think about when to use it.
For long AV fights, you want to be able to go the distance. Slot Consume well for Endurance Recovery, so you can get a good chunk of endurance from one mob (and slot it for accuracy as well: you want it to hit!). If possible, though, fire it off when your endurance bar is low, and youre surrounded by foes. That way youre getting the most bang for your buck from the power. Also note which foes you are fighting, as you may want it up. When fighting Malta, I try to save Consume for those times when a Sapper gets a shot in on me and I need to recover some endurance fast.
Healing Powers:
Healing Flames gets a similar methodology to Consume. If you slot it well, you can recover about 50% of your health every 20 seconds. This means that if youre in the middle of a fight, dont use Healing Flames when you have only lost about 1/3 of your health. Wait until you are at about 50% health to get the most out of Healing Flames. You can adjust this a bit as needed, of course. Also, get used to how long it takes Healing Flames to recharge. In some intense encounters, that may not be fast enough. Be willing to use inspirations to shore up your defense or resistance in these situations, or give quick boosts to your health while Healing Flames is still recharging.
For other tank sets, this same methodology still holds true. Dull Pain style powers have a long recharge, and they increase your maximum HP, as well as healing some of the damage you have taken. So, while it can sometimes be worth proactively using Dull Pain before a tough fight, it is usually in your best interest to wait until your Tanker has received some damage before using Dull Pain (though you don't want to take too long: if you're taking more damage, more time with a higher level of HP can be advantageous).
Good enough for recovery powers, now on to using Taunt effectively.
Rule #4 Use Taunt to Your Advantage:
Taunt is a much debated power on the tanker forums. Some argue that you cant tank without it, while others say its not needed at all. I fall somewhere between, and in my opinionated, Wall of Fire way, I would say you should be somewhere in between as well.
What is that position then? I argue that Taunt is useful, but where you fit it in your build is a bit optional. With some of my tanks, I fit it in sooner (as in the 20s), and with others, I wait until the 30s or even early 40s. Because you can tank without it, but I do think you should have it. One added note: it is easier to fit in Taunt more easily and quickly with Inherent Fitness, which came in with I19. You can still hold off on it if you have other powers you would prefer to pick first, however.
As shown by Rule #1, you can maintain the aggro for your team without taunt. Jump into a mob before your team, move about as needed to pick up stragglers, and use your attacks to keep attention from the mob on you and not on your team. That said, there are times where this may not be enough. First off, Taunt is autohit on all foes in PvE, so youll be able to keep attention on you even when you cant hit anything else very well with your attacks (which can happen, especially if youre fighting the Circle of Thorns, Devouring Earth, or Nemesis). Taunt is also ranged, so you can pick up mobs far away from you without running to them yourself, something which is useful both for you and squishies that may have caught the attention of a mob: taunts animation is faster than running to the target (most of the time) and keeping mobs in a fixed area from the start of the engagement can help your teammates out, as well as improve their damage from having mobs clumped closely for maximum AOE damage.
Another great use for Taunt is that it is a guaranteed hit on an Archvillain, which your team will thank you for when fighting an AV. Gauntlet will not always hit an AV (even if your attack landed), and it is possible for a teammate to do enough damage on your target (AV or otherwise) to make them stop attacking you and switching to your teammate. Taunt is not necessarily an I win button with aggro, but its awfully close--I rarely see Taunt fail to draw in an opponent it is used on. If I fail to use taunt regularly on an AV, I often do see them turning to face the other teammates, which is a bad thing for any tank, I would say.
A lesser known and acknowledged use for Taunt is that it now lowers a mobs range. What use is that, you say? A simple scenario can show this off. You dash into a mob, blazing away, but you only have a few of them in melee and aoe range. The rest seem content to stand a way and shoot at you with various implements of villainy, rather than getting close where you can burn them with fire. What do you do? If you run towards any of the others, the few around you may decide to shoot you from range rather than follow. Whats the solution? Simple--insult their mother and see them come running.
There are more situations than this where shortening a mobs range helps, of course. Using Taunt is a good guarantee that a mob at range will be closer than they were before, which is useful on a team or solo.
All of these things make Taunt a useful power, meaning it is a good idea to pick it up at some point for any tank.
Closing:
Well, that does it, folks! I hope I helped provide some good tanking tactics and maybe/hopefully you got tapped into a fun new combination: Fire/Fire! -
Part V: Wall of Fire Slotting Approaches
When it comes to slotting for City of Heroes, it is extremely important to know your end goals. If you don’t know this already, City of Heroes has something called Enhancement Diversification, which basically means that you shouldn’t slot for any one characteristic in your power more than three times (with enhancements that are of about Single Origin strength), as Enhancement Diversification kicks in and you will no longer get the full benefits of each enhancement (once you get to Single Origin levels… if you 3-slot three Single-Origin damage enhancements, for instance, each one provides you with about a 33% boost to your accuracy. Taken together, your damage for the power will end up at about 94% or so, once ED takes out part of the percentage).
So, you have to figure out not only what powers to take, but what enhancements to place in each power and how many you need. Invention Origin sets further complicate this (but in a good way) providing you with more benefits to consider. If you slot an IO set, the IO set’s bonuses will be bestowed upon your character. This is of great advantage to any hero, and a Wall of Fire Tanker certainly loves this.
With all these tidbits, it’s quite clear why you want an end goal. You have a LOT of options for slotting, and you want to make sure your Fire/Fire Tanker ends up as a Wall of Fire, not a piddly sparkler kids play around with on the 4th of July.
For a Wall of Fire tanker, there are two useful end goals to shoot for. 1) An offensive build, or 2) a defensive build. Even within these two approaches, you have some leeway when it comes to power and slotting choices. You should still have the same end goal, however… to be a Wall of Fire! You want to tank for your team: to take the heat, and to dish it out. While discussing both approaches, I will try to discuss some power picks you’ll want to decide, as well as slotting. You should also keep in mind my discussion of the Incarnate powers in Part IV (when thinking about how you want to perform at level 50).
A Discussion of Enhancement Slotting
I frequently see people ask whether you need to use the IO sets that are in the game. You can certainly go the basic route with your slotting, and only use Single Origin Enhancements, or Common IOs. However, this is quite limiting to your build. Why? IO sets provide you with a whole slew of benefits. When it comes to just slotting for a power, it’s much easier to get a variety of benefits.
Take an attack, like Fire Sword, for instance. If you are using common IOs, I would recommend slotting for 2 accuracies (so you can hit: no one likes to miss, least of all a Wall of Fire!) and 3 damage (which ups your damage as much as ED will allow in the power itself). You can only have six enhancement slots in a power, and you have already used five, meaning you can only slot for endurance or recharge in this power. You can get by doing this with all your powers, of course, but if you use IO sets, you can slot adequately for accuracy, damage, endurance, AND recharge in six slots, and probably five if you choose your enhancements right. That’s a benefit that is hard to ignore.
Now, if you’re worried about the cost of IO sets, realize that you can do something called “frankenslotting.” What this approach does is use recipes from many different recipe sets to get the benefits you want in the power you are slotting. You do not get the bonus stats from slotting an entire set, but you do get the benefits of using an IO set in your power. This can be a great thing, as there are many cheap recipes on Wentworth’s that you can buy up and then “frankenslot” without breaking the bank. Excellent!
Also be aware that there are many cheaper sets you can slot in your powers. Resist powers have a couple of cheaper sets like Reactive Armor and Titanium Coating (though Reactive Armor has been raising in price a fair amount, it’s still cheaper than Impervium Armor). Red Fortune is a fairly cheap defensive set heroside (it’s somewhat expensive for villains, I’m not sure why there is such a difference). For PbAOE attacks, Multi-Strike and Cleaving Blow are pretty cheap and have some decent bonuses that can help you out. Melee sets are a bit harder… Crushing Impact recipes cost a bit, but they don’t use quite as much expensive salvage as Touch of Death and Mako’s Bite. Focused Smite does not have very good bonuses, making it a cheap buy if you’re only keen on slotting up a power well and don’t care about bonuses (or if you are frankenslotting). Taunt and end recovery powers are more rare, so they usually end up being cheaper (especially for Taunt sets). There are other guides for sets and IOs, so look for them and ask around for more help. You can PM me as well, but there are parts of the forums focused on the markets and inventions, so the regular posters there are pretty knowledgeable.
The Offensive Wall of Fire
Now we’re moving on to the specifics of slotting. First off, what’s the goal for an offensive Wall of Fire build? Generally, you’re trying to take a good amount of attacks (especially Area of Effect attacks) that will up your damage ability. You’re trying to kill your foes before they get you with this approach. You also need to be aware of your endurance use and recharge, as you don’t want your attacks to take forever to recharge, but you also don’t want to run out of endurance as you’re fighting either.
The following build makes use of Mid’s Hero Builder, which I highly recommend to anyone planning out what they’re going to do with their hero (for a more detailed look at the build, click on the data link to open the build in Mid's). This first uses common IOs, but you can easily substitute SOs if that’s what you want to do. To get your powers recharging quicker, this build leverages Hasten. To help out with endurance use, you’ll notice Stamina is 3-slotted, some heavy endurance powers have endurance reduction slotted (realize that it’s your attacks, etc. that really hit your endurance, even more so than your toggle powers), and that Consume will also help you out.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.91
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Wall of Fire Defensive Build: Level 50 Magic Tanker
Primary Power Set: Fiery Aura
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Melee
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Pyre Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Shield -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(3), ResDam-I(15), ResDam-I(19), ResDam-I(25)
Level 1: Scorch -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(31), Dmg-I(42), Dmg-I(46), Dmg-I(46)
Level 2: Fire Sword -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(3), Dmg-I(5), Dmg-I(9), Dmg-I(11), EndRdx-I(15)
Level 4: Healing Flames -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(5), Heal-I(7), Heal-I(7), Heal-I(11), EndRdx-I(13)
Level 6: Boxing -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 8: Consume -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(9), RechRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(43), EndMod-I(50)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 12: Plasma Shield -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(13), ResDam-I(17), ResDam-I(27), ResDam-I(27)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Taunt -- Taunt-I(A), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 18: Burn -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(19), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(40), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 20: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 22: Blazing Aura -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(23), EndRdx-I(23), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(42)
Level 24: Temperature Protection -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 26: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 28: Fire Sword Circle -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(29), Dmg-I(29), Dmg-I(31), Dmg-I(31), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 30: Tough -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(45), ResDam-I(45), ResDam-I(45), ResDam-I(48)
Level 32: Weave -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(33), DefBuff-I(37), DefBuff-I(48), DefBuff-I(50)
Level 35: Incinerate -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(36), Dmg-I(36), Dmg-I(36), Dmg-I(37), EndRdx-I(37)
Level 38: Greater Fire Sword -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(39), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(40), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 41: Char -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(42), Hold-I(43)
Level 44: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 47: Melt Armor -- Acc-I(A)
Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix -- Heal-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(50)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Code:| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1606;696;1392;HEX;| |78DAA594DB4E13511486F794D6D2136D39B5055A5A04292D141A35F17061542421A| |149A3446FD466800D4C9C14D21622773E80AFE083186F3CEB23F8121E2EBCAF6BED| |7FD143CA9D93F6FF66AF59A759337B2A2FD7C34ABDBAA3ACF07DD76E366BDB76FD8| |56EF82AF681B33BF3C476DDECD17E76C369E8ECBADED7F5A673AAB3F74E1C77CFAF| |944AC1BB864BBAB4E1E8C659EDEE49C34ECA958A76F5B9DD9CC737EB87BAA1EBADD| |2F949A47A74E492CBC161CBA91F84CD6A4BDBC7B4089AC5A363ADF7E2E674B37EEA| |349D1DC7755A67F107C7CE6EA97AD6D0B58ADD6C518524B5749DFE1F022416FD55D| |BAB7284B4F20023CB06A340128807951CE43E654C1946522DA5CD6AA50FA34149AE| |DA3E0BEE1EC00B876120088CA0F247EA6948A2868A70072ECDF72208841165D1947| |D88523EB87FA6447ED340DBE747DD612009875CD1F45EC0AA9C3598A444018C4405| |32C6E10B250AC99442B9DEAA31CC65AA0F09CA109156227993619C261185C98A961| |18AAA5F29775CEE368EEE46812CA692031665B2889AA3126352620CA6F79468024D| |FA26D0DD24124DE62EC8270FEC134525E46E1368FF1B9952D26B0AB9578104DDC5B| |4F43A8DDC330264CBF4A180BA43D46B5AA697866959B0DC8B55C04BEEB3E23E2B9D| |03F319F8016520493DCD494F7368E6B220DD8B790152A5286A41A216E07E4590EE8| |54C7D11513FE8B5CC23CA9387FB125058C0A4296D511E4B1133FB4B1F8D92984A70| |FE4E035E13D31A5EE2196F6763D18F0EB53560A97A3BBB4959C6B2E4EDECDEFF3AD| |E86CF6B051EF20EDF66A9B23C6679CAF28CE5398BCDB2C3B2CBD27ED7898EDEE086| |6EB2DC62B9CD32112379CD9EFE10498825CC1261196189B2C458C658A658DEB0B40| |3B1CEB7A0FD93BF26F2AA5A2B666CBF7A4D7963FADD355916865B06FE74AF782CEC| |F5F13EAC0D8CBC3060290F58AE0D58AE0E58BAA3FE0703A8132A| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
So, that’s a Common IO build. Now, what’s an offensive approach look like with IO sets? Sure enough, I do have one approach for you. With this slotting setup, I went for a good chunk of recharge, accuracy, and damage bonuses, while still leveraging Hasten. To help keep this build fairly sturdy, I also grabbed a decent chunk of Smash/Lethal defense. If you go with this approach and find yourself still being too fragile for your liking, you could toss out Fire Blast and Assault to pick up Tough to up your Smashing/Lethal resists, which will have a noticeable impact on the damage you can receive. However, you would have to move slots around, as you’ll want to slot up Tough to get the full benefits from the power (though if you are at level 50, you can slot a Cardiac Incarnate Boost to help with this some). If you want to invest even more in the build and get more S/L Defense, you could slot Kinetic Melees in Scorch and Incinerate, but Kinetic Melees will cost you a lot of influence or merits, just so you know. Without further ado, here’s the build:
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.91
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Grey Pilgrim Offensive Build: Level 50 Magic Tanker
Primary Power Set: Fiery Aura
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Melee
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Pyre Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Shield -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(3), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(15), S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(19), RctvArm-ResDam(25), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(45)
Level 1: Scorch -- S'ngH'mkr-Acc/Dmg(A), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx(21), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/Rchg(46), Zinger-Dam%(46)
Level 2: Fire Sword -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(5), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(9), Zinger-Dam%(11)
Level 4: Healing Flames -- Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(A), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(7), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(11), Dct'dW-Heal(13), Dct'dW-Rchg(15), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(17)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 8: Consume -- Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(9), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(25), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(42), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(43), Efficacy-EndMod(45)
Level 10: Taunt -- Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(37), Mocking-Taunt/Rng(43), Mocking-Acc/Rchg(46)
Level 12: Plasma Shield -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(13), RctvArm-ResDam(17), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(27), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(27)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Winter-ResSlow(A)
Level 16: Temperature Protection -- S'fstPrt-ResKB(A)
Level 18: Burn -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(34), Oblit-Dmg(37), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(40), Oblit-%Dam(50)
Level 20: Build Up -- Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(A), Rec'dRet-Pcptn(31), AdjTgt-Rchg(33), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(34)
Level 22: Blazing Aura -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(23), C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg(33), C'ngBlow-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Sciroc-Dam%(42)
Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 26: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(33)
Level 28: Fire Sword Circle -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(29), Oblit-Dmg(31), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-%Dam(43)
Level 30: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Rise of the Phoenix -- H'zdH-Heal/Rchg(A)
Level 35: Incinerate -- S'ngH'mkr-Acc/Dmg(A), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx(36), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/Rchg(36), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), F'dSmite-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37)
Level 38: Greater Fire Sword -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(39), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(40), T'Death-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Char -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(42)
Level 44: Melt Armor -- AnWeak-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx(A), AnWeak-Acc/Rchg(45)
Level 47: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dmg/Rng(50), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 49: Fire Blast -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21)
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The Defensive Wall of Fire
There are different approaches to making a “defensive” Fire tank. Some people really go for Smashing/Lethal defense, as it’s so common in CoX. I preferred to go for an approach that is going to be of equal strength to just about any encounter you will face in CoX: this build is one that I personally use on my Fire/Fire tank. It has about 22-24% defense to Melee/AOE/Ranged/Psychic damage, which is just about every kind of attack you will face in CoX. I have tanked most of the encounters in-game with this, and done so effectively. One other thing to note is that “Defensive” is a little misleading, as this build can also dish out plenty of damage. There are some expensive sets in here, but there are also a goodly amount of cheap sets as well.
I kept my “Wall of Fire” goal in mind with this setup. I didn’t want to waste a power pick on Acrobatics, so I fit in a good amount of –KB enhancements. I wanted to take a good amount of punishment, so I picked up Tough and Weave from the Fighting Pool, as well as a lot of positional defense (about 22% to melee, ranged, and AOE attacks). I also wanted to be able to take on Psychic damage from Carnies and Shadow Shard foes, so I picked up a goodly amount of defense and resistance to those attacks (some psychic attacks are only typed as psychic, so going just for ranged, melee, and AOE defense won’t always cover it). I also wanted to do good damage, so I was able to pick up some damage procs in my attacks, as well as a little recharge, accuracy, and damage bonuses.
I have a lot of fun with this build solo and on teams and would highly recommend something like this build to any Fire/Fire Tanker. Do keep in mind that this is a build that leverages the Alpha Slot, so I would not recommend running Maneuvers unless you have a Cardiac Alpha going: it's quite an end drain otherwise, and it's mostly there for a bit more recharge at high levels (using a LoTG +recharge IO).
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.91
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Grey Pilgrim I19 Build: Level 50 Magic Tanker
Primary Power Set: Fiery Aura
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Melee
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Teleportation
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Pyre Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Shield -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(3), ImpArm-ResDam(3), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg(5), ImpArm-EndRdx/Rchg(5), ImpArm-ResPsi(7)
Level 1: Scorch -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(17)
Level 2: Fire Sword -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(11), Mako-Dam%(19)
Level 4: Healing Flames -- Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx(A), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(21), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg(21), H'zdH-Heal/Rchg(23), H'zdH-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(23), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(25)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- Krma-ResKB(A)
Level 8: Consume -- P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(A), P'Shift-Acc/Rchg(27), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(48), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(50), P'Shift-EndMod(50), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 10: Recall Friend -- Winter-ResSlow(A)
Level 12: Plasma Shield -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(13), ImpArm-ResDam(13), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg(15), ImpArm-EndRdx/Rchg(15), ImpArm-ResPsi(17)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(A), Zephyr-ResKB(19)
Level 16: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 18: Burn -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(34), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(40), Sciroc-Dam%(42)
Level 20: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 22: Blazing Aura -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(27), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(29), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(31), Sciroc-Dam%(31)
Level 24: Boxing -- F'dSmite-Acc/Dmg(A)
Level 26: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 28: Fire Sword Circle -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-%Dam(34)
Level 30: Tough -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), TtmC'tng-ResDam(46), TtmC'tng-EndRdx(46), TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg(46), TtmC'tng-EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 32: Weave -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(43), RedFtn-Def(43), RedFtn-EndRdx(43), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(45), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(45)
Level 35: Incinerate -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(36), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(37), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 38: Greater Fire Sword -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(39), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(39), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), T'Death-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Taunt -- Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(42)
Level 44: Temperature Protection -- S'fstPrt-ResKB(A)
Level 47: Char -- EoCur-Acc/Rchg(A), EoCur-Acc/Hold/Rchg(48)
Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix -- Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- QckFt-EndRdx/RunSpd(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet
Level 6: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(25), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(42)
Code:| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1609;791;1582;HEX;| |78DAA594594F135114C7EF74A1B69DAED085B505595A9696464D441F0C8820094D1| |A833C285087329481DA36D3A2A02F7E004C8CDB9B1FC4F8E2AE1FC144BF82CBA389| |4B3DCB2D90F4D1093DBF7BCFDCF3BF67FE7786ECDEAC2AC4BD0B42512F96B45A2DB| |FA4957774D39ED58A46213C6FEAFBF19C512A9AC6CDF842662A3EB36B94361C4288| |4E5E979FD537F5724D4FCD19BAB99F9FDE35B5A8BC93D54B7A334FE3C042794B37F| |5723DD51CA8B94AA5945AD4B5AA512E0669B2042BAB15B3AED58D4AD9D7BCBFA19B| |B52DA3EAA1F99C51DCAA4341E052D528A472FBA69ECF6AB53AEC1385C6CEC0EF951| |382023FD1B08B4118C48465849120D88618C384B62421E012F26A58C426A057B8B6| |097E831074495590557001946E134E188C22C1B54508EE105E4333565965BD443B7| |55C66CC13C2D38C19423402088830986CE74710F69F02536F41C8410D34EC8EC716| |5CDCF584907E4AC83C623C648CC1CA8C180221276F2F9CDD56147A0773B7B4C7CDF| |6A86C8FCAF678D91E2FDBE3677B2220E46121C5F319B6888AE0170BEA05E08E4FF6| |EA0B29B8EB7B27DEE02D02B7C887FE3B8C7DC2E06DC2C
Part III: Fiery Melee Overview
As with the Fiery Aura overview, the numbers (base for the powers- not enhanced) for the following were found using the in game numbers system, City of Data, Mids Hero Designer (both of which can be found at Paragonwiki), and certain knowledgeable forumites (thanks!). Advice on each comes from me and my play experience, as well as from a lot (perhaps too much) reading of the forums and other players approaches. All info is current as of I19. All powers in Fiery Melee are clicks.
Scorch: Available at Level 1
Damage Scale: 1.08 Accuracy Scale: 1 Endurance Cost: 4.37, -20% resist (resistable) to one target for 10 seconds
Activation Time: 1 sec. Recharge Time: 3 sec. Range: 7 feet
Well, tier 1 attacks for tanks changed a lot with Going Rogue as well. Scorch is your basic Tier 1 attack power that you are stuck with, but now that's not so much of a bad thing anymore. Tanker Tier 1 attacks now cause something called Bruising, a -20% resistance to one target that they hit (only one application at a time on a target, so you can't stack this with another attack from yourself or another Tanker, though you can keep it going continuously if you reapply it within 10 seconds). This means that you want to use Scorch often, as it will help you a lot with dropping hard targets.
Another thing to keep in mind is the changes to Fiery Embrace: if you slot Scorch for more damage, Fiery Embrace will do more damage with Scorch as well. All in all, however, Scorch is still a weaker ST attack, so if you can fully slot it for damage, it won't be the end of the world. Older slotting methodologies for rapid recharging powers like Scorch still apply, though: you can slot it normally with some accuracy and damage, slot for some IO set bonuses, slot it with a bunch of damage procs so it has the potential to do a good chunk of damage, etc. With the Going Rogue change, I have slotted Scorch as heavily as I could, but more for accuracy than damage (so Bruising would hit reliably), as I just couldn't find more than a few slots to put in there. Even if you follow this approach as well, you may want to slot this power more as you level up, and then respec out of those slots at a later level (probably in the late 30s once you have Incinerate and Greater Fire Sword, that way it wont affect your ST damage negatively in the first part of your career).
Fire Sword: Available at Level 2
Damage Scale: 1.64 Accuracy Scale: 1 Endurance Cost: 6.8
Activation Time: 1.33 sec. Recharge Time: 6 sec. Range: 7 feet
I like Fire Sword quite a bit, and I would certainly recommend taking this power. Until you get to level 35, Scorch and Fire Sword are it for your single target attacks, so youll be relying on Fire Sword quite a bit against tougher targets like bosses, elite bosses, and archvillains. You could just drop Fire Sword after level 35 and save a power slot, but Fire Sword is a strong enough addition that youll want to keep using it (especially if you ever exemp below 35, which I do quite a bit: Fiery Aura is quite good at all levels).
Combustion: Available at Level 4
Damage Scale: 1.3 Accuracy Scale: 1 Endurance Cost: 13
Activation Time: 3 sec. Recharge Time: 15 sec. Radius: 15 feet
This is the first of your many AOE choices as a Fiery Melee Tanker, and Combustion is a solid choice. The animation is a little slower than I would like it to be, but its still fun to see your tanker draw power and then throw out a circle of flame at your foes about you. One excellent thing about Combustion is that it is a PbAOE, which works great for a Tanker- just jump in the middle of a mob, and use this to draw their attention and do mass damage. One of Combustions other advantages is that it has a radius of 15 feet: 5 feet more than Fire Sword Circle, 7 feet more than Blazing Aura and Burn, and equal to Fiery Breath (but Combustion has the advantage of not being a cone)- all of which makes it useful in a big mob and in drawing attention (which is just what you want as a Tanker).
As noted with the discussion of Burn, however, Combustion is lighter on damage than Fire Sword Circle and Burn. I could only slot for so much after Burn was reworked, so I dumped Combustion. Even if you want another AOE, however, working toward Fireball in the Fire APP might be better than Combustion, since that is a ranged, targeted AOE (even though its recharge and endurance costs are much, much higher). It's something of a tossup for me on my offensive build which you can see below in Part V. I run with the defensive build below more often, and Burn and Fire Sword Circle just melt mobs, and I don't find myself needing too much more. If you like running higher than +1 or +2 levels to you, or being considered as four or more heroes/villains, however, you might want more AOEs to play with. Still, I find FSC and Burn to work fairly well on the new Incarnate TFs with +4 mobs.
Taunt: Available at Level 10
Taunt: 41 sec. (Mag 4), PvE Accuracy Scale: 1 (PvP only) -Range to Target: -75% for 12 sec.
Activation Time: 1.67 sec. Recharge Time: 10 sec. Range: 70 feet
Taunt has been much debated (and changed) over the years. At this point in the game, it certainly is a keeper, as it helps you tank more effectively (it is a guaranteed hit against EBs and AVs, lets you draw in foes at a distance because it is a ranged power, AND reduces the range on enemys attacks, etc.). When you should take it is much more debatable. To me, the teens have other priorities, and at that point in your career, youre just not able or needing to take all the aggro, all the time, of a mob- which Taunt helps you do. The 20s or early 30s make more sense (until SO levels of enhancements, Tankers are not as able to take on an 8-man sized mob), and there is more room in your build at that point (although having inherent Fitness does make it easier to fit in sooner). I have held it off until the 40s, to be honest, and you CAN still tank doing that. Just realize you will need to be more active and attacking a lot, and aware of what the foes about you are doing.
A further discussion of Taunt will come in the Tactics section.
Breath of Fire: Available at Level 16
Damage Scale: 1.68 Accuracy Scale: 1.2 Endurance Cost: 10.19
Activation Time: 2.67 sec. Recharge Time: 10 sec. Range: 15 feet
This is your second AOE choice, and I find it to be less desirable than Burn, Combustion, or Fire Sword Circle. I will admit up front to not liking the animation (spitting fire doesnt click with my Fire/Fire Tanks concept, and Tanks still do not have the option to use this attack with a hand cast, as ranged Fire users now can with I19's animation customization options), but it is more than that. BoF is a cone, and this just does not do as well for tanks as PbAOEs do. Generally a tanker will be surrounded by foes on all sides, and you dont want to worry too much about positioning with your attacks. I have plenty of other melee characters with cone attacks, and they are much more of a pain to try and line up. Breath of Fire's range isnt any greater than Combustion, either, so BoFs slight advantages in damage, recharge, and activation time dont add up to me. If youre wanting more AOE than just Burn, Combustion, and FSC, I would say youre better off going for Fireball from the Pyre Mastery APP, as that is also an AOE power (and ranged at that!).
Build Up: Available at Level 20
Damage boost: 80% (All Types) for 10 sec. To-Hit Boost: 20% for 10 sec.
Activation Time: 1.17 sec. Recharge Time: 90 sec.
If your primary is Fiery Aura (as in this guide), you have a choice to make. You can take this AND Fiery Embrace, for a nice boost to your damage: with both, you can either cycle the two powers, or use them at the same time for a substantial burst increase to your damage (remember that damage bonuses cause Fiery Embrace's Fire damage bonus to go up). You could also choose just one of these powers, to leave room for other power choices. Build up recharges faster than Fiery Embrace, but Fiery Embrace gives extra Fire damage for 20 seconds, so it can be something of a toss-up. Though really, with extra power slots made available to us via inherent Fitness, the best option is to go with both. One other thing to note, unlike Fiery Embrace, Build Up will take IO sets (to hit boost), so that can be advantageous as well if your build has room for those slots.
Fire Sword Circle: Available at Level 28
Damage Scale: 1.87 Accuracy Scale: 1 Endurance Cost: 18.5
Activation Time: 2.67 sec. Recharge Time: 20 sec. Radius: 10 feet
Fire Sword Circle is a very fun power: my favorite AOE in both Fire sets. As you start a spin in mid-air, your fiery sword appears (the same seen in the Fire Sword animation), and you slice all the foes around you, with fire burning and exploding about you. Its like what figure skating would be if it were a martial art and the skates were on fire (so in other words, actually cool). It also does very satisfying damage in an arc around the Tanker, so positioning isnt as much of a concern as with Breath of FIre. Without using Fiery Embrace, Combustion and FSC are able to nearly defeat every minion in range (if you use Burn and FSC, minions are down, or will be quite soon from Burn's DoT, and lieutenants aren't doing well, either): I can generally let Blazing Aura finish off the minions after firing off both of these AOEs (while I finish off the boss or lieutenant with my ST attacks). You can imagine how devastating you can be if you also use Fiery Embrace and/or Build Up before using Fire Ball, Burn, Combustion, and/or Fire Sword Circle. The term Wall of Fire almost doesnt do it justice!
Incinerate: Available at Level 35
Damage Scale: 2.5 Accuracy Scale: 1 Endurance Cost: 6.84
Activation Time: 1.67 sec. Recharge Time: 10 sec. Range: 7 feet
Incinerate can sometimes throw people for a loop, because its a single target DoT (damage over time) attack. When you hit a foe, the damage is portioned out in 10 ticks of damage. So at first, it doesnt SEEM like it does much. I have also heard grumbling that all the damage ticks dont always go off. Dont get confused- Incinerate is great! You just have to use it properly. When fighting, you should use this power first off against a target (or after Scorch if it's a harder target), and generally against a harder target (let your AOEs drop those minions). That way, all the ticks will go off on the target, and you will grin with fiendish glee as your foes health plummets (the DoT adds up on top of any other Fire damage DoTs you have on the target, plus your other attacks). Excellent stuff, indeed!
Greater Fire Sword: Available at Level 38
Damage Scale: 3.24 Accuracy Scale: 1.2 Endurance Cost: 12.68
Activation Time: 2.33 sec. Recharge Time: 12 sec. Range: 7 feet
Greater Fire Sword is your big daddy Tier 9 attack, and its a very satisfying one at that. As you bring your arm up, a Fiery Sword appears, and then you slice down, splitting your opponent in two. Its a visceral and satisfying attack that will also put the hurt on your opponents health (besides the initial damage, GFS has an 80% chance to do additional fire damage as a DoT). Youd be nutty not to take this and slot it up completely (youll also want to slot some endurance reduction since its a heavier attack, and recharge if you can fit it in).
Part IV: Power Pools, APPs, Incarnate Abilities, and the Wall of Fire
The Power Pools offer many choices for a Wall of Fire tank- some toss-ups, some obvious take it! powers, and other dont touch that with a 10-foot pole powers (I will be very brief with my discussion of the bad powers). I will walk through and discuss the pros and cons, but as always, make the choice that is right for you (which includes fun as well as efficiency- this is a game, after all!).
Fighting: If you want your Fiery Aura tank to be tougher and able to main tank reliably for anything in CoX, the Fighting set is for you. If you go with the Fighting Pool, Boxing is probably the attack you want. It has the chance to disorient your foe, and wont knock back your foe away from you (which is what Kick does), something that you generally dont want as a Tank.
For the last two powers, Tough is a very nice addition for a Fiery Aura tank. It wont put you at the cap for resisting Smashing and Lethal damage, but it will put you up about 23% to those damage types once you slot it up: combined with Fire Shield, that makes 70% resistance to Smashing and Lethal damage: nothing to sneeze at. It will certainly make a dramatic difference in tough tanking situations. As for Weave, it is also a nice addition for a Fiery Aura tanker. Because Fiery Aura tankers only get resists from their shields, they get hit by just about any status effects that are sent your way, whether they are end drains, slows, etc. Weave is a good way to start counteracting that. With Combat Jumping, you can get to about 10-11% to all damage types, and with IOs, you can go even higher. Good stuff if youre going for a more sturdy Fire tank.
Fitness: Fitness is now inherent, but you do have to think about slotting those powers. Youll be running a lot of toggles and be attacking a lot, so having enough endurance to do that will make your job easier (and more enjoyable): this means you want to slot Stamina well for end recovery, and possibly even with a Performance Shifter +endurance proc. These are pricey at times on the market, but you can get them for one Hero merit from running tip missions. Other comments: Health does not need to be slotted up much as a Fiery Aura tanker, as Healing Flames will be up so often for you. I personally toss in a Numina's unique in there (increases your end recovery and regeneration) and call it done so I can have more slots elsewhere. Some do like to increase their regeneration more, though... if that's your plan, just make sure you get more regeneration from other IO sets, as just slotting up Health more isn't going to do too much just on its own. As for the other powers, slot Swift for run or fly, depending on which you want to do faster, while Hurdle is fine on its own. One note with hurdle, it stacks nicely with Combat Jumping and/or Super Jump to jump about and make it over obstacles easily in missions.
Flight: Movement pool powers are mostly about your wants and what fits your characters concept. That being said, you can dip into the Flight power pool without being a flyer. Air Superiority is one of the best Power Pool attacks, as it does decent damage, and can knock up a foe, taking them out of the fight for a bit. This can be great for an annoying lieutenant, a Malta sapper, etc. Beyond that, go for fly if it fits your character. I find Hover to be a bit clunky for a Tanker, as you want to be maneuverable. However, Hover recently received a buff to its base flight speed, making it more viable for a Tankers movement needs.
Concealment: I dont have much to say about this Power Pool for Tankers. Tanks were meant to be seen and take aggro, not skulk about the map. Stealth can have utility for any character at some point, but Tanker builds dont benefit much from Stealth and have other power picks that are much more important, I would say.
Leadership: There are some potential conceptual reasons to take Leadership powers, as in some Tankers eyes, you can feel like youre leading your team. That being said, I dont think Leadership offers enough benefits for Tankers. Other power pools can help you tank better (and therefore your team), and most of my Tanker builds are tight already. The endurance cost of these toggles is fairly high as well, which is hard to bear with your own shields and damage auras running. Take them if you want, but realize what youre getting into with these if you take any. I can add that with the Cardiac Boost from the Incarnate abilities, it is more viable to fit in a Leadership Toggle or two, even if you already have Tough and Weave. My defensive build has Maneuvers, and my blue bar hardly budges with it running (but keep in mind you have to wait until level 50 to do this, and it's only active with content at that level).
Leaping: Leaping is another movement powerset, so take it if being able to jump for long distances matches your character. A few other notes, however. Combat Jumping is a VERY cheap defensive toggle to run (costing practically no endurance), which opens you up to many IO options and gives you a cheap 2.5% defense to all. Thats not a lot, but its great when added to Weave and other IO bonuses. Another good characteristic of Combat Jumping is that it provides all the immobilization protection you need, dropping any need to use Burn regularly for this. Because of all these pluses, I'd be hard put not to recommend Combat Jumping for a Fiery Aura Tanker.
Now to Acrobatics and Knockback: if youre not going to get IO enhancements that protect you from knockback (though they really arent that expensive to get anymore, either on the market or through merits), you HAVE to take Acrobatics as a Fiery Aura tanker. Your regular shields do not protect you from knockback, and there is a LOT of knockback in CoX. As a tanker, youll be getting attacked a lot, so you have to be able to withstand knockback reliably. Acrobatics lets you do that. Its a bummer that Fiery Aura doesnt protect you from knockback like most other Tanker sets, but thats the way it is. Find a way to fit knockback protection in, either from IO enhancements or Acrobatics. When looking at what "magnitude" of protection you need, 4 magnitude (one -KB IO) is enough for most KB in the game. If you want to not be knocked about by anything, however... you need to go up to 12. Mag 8 doesn't do much, as most KB in the game is less or more than that. Keep in mind that even at 12, there are some power that can still knock you back, but they're a few rare AVs or special encounters (like bombs during a Rikti raid). I have 12 on my defensive build, and I am only knocked back during those rare times... I rather prefer that.
Presence: Taunt is better than anything else in this pool when it comes to pulling a foe. Intimidate and Invoke Panic can be great, but you have to get Challenge or Provoke first (both of which are much weaker than Taunt), and a Fire/Fire tank doesnt have any Fear powers to stack with Intimidate and/or Invoke Panic. Youre probably better off going for other powers, unless you really like the idea of scaring enemies by the mere presence of your Fire/Fire Tank. Fun, to be sure, but probably not all that efficient, since foes that have been feared will return fire if they have been attacked. Since a Wall of Fire tank will have a lot of AOE powers going, your foes are going to get attacked, making Fear effects not as helpful for you.
Medicine: This pool is pretty much not needed for a Wall of Fire Tank. You have your own self heal, and your team will appreciate you tanking better rather than healing or reviving them. If youre really keen on that ability, you can pick them up from a couple of day job powers as well.
Speed: Another movement pool. Take it if you want it, though I would also recommend taking Hurdle if you pick up Super Speed, to help with the many obstacles that are too high for your normal jumping ability. For the other powers, Flurry really isnt going to do much for you (especially if you already have Sands of Mu from a veteran reward).
Hasten is a popular choice and will up your recharge significantly. This can be nice if you want to go heavy on your offense or get Healing Flames to recharge more quickly. Ive found that this isnt really necessary, especially with IO sets you can get all of your powers to recharge more quickly, and get universal recharge fairly easily (and enough to make a difference in how quickly your powers recharge). Hasten also drains your endurance a lot and is an extra power pick. Take it if you want it, but it isnt strictly necessary. This is one of those powers that I find is easier to fit in now with inherent Fitness and the Incarnate Cardiac boost.
Teleportation: This Pool isnt all that great for a Wall of Fire tank. You can take it for concept reasons, but other travel pools offer more to a Fire/Fire tank, just to warn you. Teleport is kind of clunky to use and doesnt add much to your maneuverability. Even recall friend is debatable, since I would say a tank shouldnt be running from a mob if things go south. A tank should strive to be first in, last out (unless youre running to the next mob and your team has things well in hand), even if your fellow heroes will often fight to be the first in. Anyway, a Fire/Fire Tank has a lot of priorities, and Im not sure Teleport fills any of those well. Still, Teleport Friend can be useful on teams (you can "tanker stealth," or just run through mobs and ignore their attacks, running to an objective in a mission and then teleporting your team to you). It's also an easy spot to drop in a Winter's Gift -slow IO, and it's easier to pick up this power with inherent Fitness as well.
APP and Patron Powers:
I'm just going to touch on these generally, as which pool you go for is up to you and your wants/needs for your character, not to mention how many slots you have to put in these powers (it can be hard to find too many slots for them on some builds). I personally prefer the hero APP sets to the villain Patron powers ones for Tanks. APPs don't require you to do the patron story arcs, making them easier to get (automatic at level 41). I also think they offer you more utility. APPs can increase your damage, as well as including a hold, which I find are rather invaluable for keeping an annoying mob out of fight (like a Malta Sapper, a debuffing mob, etc.). It also helps a lot on Hamidon raids and the Lady Grey TF, as you need to stack holds on certain targets (green mitos) to overcome their regeneration. Having more utility to fall back on is extremely helpful when soloing or on a team. I like the Fire APP for my Wall of Fire Tanking style (for obvious reasons), but the Stone and Ice APPs offer you some nice choices for debuffing, as well as holds. Energy Mastery seems less useful, as Fiery Aura already has Consume to help with its end recovery, and I lean more on recharge and healing flames for my healing needs, rather than regeneration.
The perks of the Patron power sets is that they can immobilize your foes (nice to keep enemies from running away), and you can also get a pet, which can help your damage and just be fun to have. The recharge on these powers are rather high, though, so it may be hard to get them up very often without a lot of slotting and global recharge. Basically, patron powers are fairly nice for doing more damage and debuffing, but not as nice if you want to hold things and have that utility. Decide what fits your character and playstyle, and go with that.
Incarnate Abilities:
I19 offered the start of a major shakeup to how City of Heroes is played, and this affects everyone, Wall of Fire tanks included! They started the Incarnate content for the game, opening up more paths for customization with our characters, and new challenges to face at level 50. I will be adding to this section as Incarnate abilities are added. When thinking about how to approach the Incarnate abilities, it's good to think things through. A good approach for any customization system, is to have an end goal. For costumes, all our customization means squat if your characters look completely lame because you didn't have a strong idea or concept. Same thing for your power and slotting selections. With everything in game, I find out how things work and plan from there, so you'll see that methodology as I discuss Incarnate abilities here, and builds and IO sets in Part V.
The Alpha Slot: With the Alpha slot, you can enhance any of your powers that already accept enhancements. Another way of thinking of this is that the Alpha Slot is a "universal" enhancement slot that can affect many of your powers at once. How you do so is decided by which Alpha enhancement you choose. There are four total: Cardiac, Musculature, Nerve, and Spiritual (the full outline/graph of these powers can be seen on the Going Rogue page). Cardiac mainly lowers the endurance cost of your powers, and eventually ups your resistance and range (if you have a power with those traits), among other things. Musculature mainly ups the damage your attack powers do (among other minor abilities), Nerve ups the accuracy of your powers, and eventually their defense (if any actually give you defense). Spiritual, lastly, lowers the recharge time of your powers, and increases powers that can heal.
Sounds great, right? It sure is, though with a couple caveats. Enhancement Diversification is still in effect, which basically means that outside of Incarnate abilities, you cannot realistically increase a power's abilities beyond a certain level (90-100% for some powers, like those that do damage, 50-60% for others, like those that increase your resistance). However, your Alpha slot allows you to ignore Enhancement Diversification to some extent. The higher the level of your Alpha ability, the more it ignores the effects of ED (common alphas ignores 1/6 of ED's effects, while uncommon alphas ignore 1/3 of ED's effects... and so on). So, you can use your Alpha slot to do a couple of things: fill in holes in your build that weren't already at the ED cap (if you weren't able to slot too much for damage, accuracy, etc.), take your build to "11" by increasing a power's boost beyond what ED limits, or a little of both. The other caveat is that your incarnate ability is only with you at level 50: if you exemp lower, you will lose it. So be careful of how you build your character, as you don't want to gimp them when they exemplar down. You can have multiple builds to get around this now, so go with what you want to do. Me, I kept my old build that let me exemp well, and I filled in its holes and made it even stronger.
The Alpha Slot and the Wall of Fire: So, what should a Wall of Fire Tanker go for with their Alpha slot? To my mind, it's between Cardiac and Spiritual. Why? Well, Musculature basically is only going to help your damage, as the other things it boosts, most Tanker sets do not do (defense debuff, immobilize, etc.), especially Fire Melee. Tankers also do decent damage, but that's not the main thing they're there to do, making a damage boost not too helpful. Nerve is so-so... you shouldn't need more accuracy in your powers if you're slotting well already, and you aren't going to have many defense powers to increase (Combat Jumping, Weave, and maybe Maneuvers, all of which don't up your defense too much on their own), and having a longer hold duration for an APP power isn't that great, especially compared to what Cardiac and Spiritual can do.
For Cardiac, it's... awesome. You can fit in more utility powers, like Maneuvers or other Leadership powers to help you solo or on teams. Hasten doesn't bug you as much, as you're not using as much endurance to attack, keep up your shields, etc. So it's great for that (and when you are facing end draining mobs). On top of that, though, you can increase your resistance! So that helps out with your Primary Shields, as well as Tough if you take that. With Tough, the Uncommon Alpha slot can get a Fiery Aura Tanker to about 74% resistance to S/L damage (depending on how you slot your IOs). That's significantly better than the ~70% you could get without the Cardiac boost, because of how resistance works (there are other guides on this if you don't know how it works). Without getting in to the numbers, having the Uncommon Cardiac boost slotted in my Fire/Fire tank made him noticeably more survivable than he was before. He can take a LOT more punishment (which is a good thing, given the hard hitting mobs in the new Praetorian Task Forces). And once you get to the very rare level, you can be at about 78% resistance to S/L damage. That is going to be awesome for a Fire/Fire Tank.
Spiritual is also spectacular for a Wall of Fire Tank. You can lower the recharge of your attacks, Consume, and Healing Flames, as well as Fiery Embrace and Build-Up (both of which are going to do more for your damage than Musculature on its own, even though Musculature could help Fiery Embrace some). Also, you can increase your Regeneration in Health, as well as how much Healing Flames increases your health. Spiritual is going to make your Wall of Fire Tank work differently than Cardiac (focusing on damaging and healing more, rather than taking more punishment and running more toggles), but either route can work. I've made both for my Fire/Fire Tank, to use as the situation and team requires (keep in mind that you can only change your Alpha Slot every 5 minutes in game, and you cannot have attacked or been attacked for awhile, so you can't do this on the fly). Decide what will work for your build and go from there.
Part I: What is a Fire Tanker? What’s Up With This Wall of Fire Thing?
So, you’ve decided you wanted to play a tanker. Excellent choice! While tanking is not for everyone, it does hold an important place in City of Heroes. You get to protect your teammates, but you also get to leap in and pound on your foes. Though certain tank builds may do better in either of those “tanker” categories, a Fire/Fire Tanker is in a unique position to do both effectively.
This may come as a surprise to some- when Fiery Aura is mentioned on the forums or in game, the perception most CoX players have of it is that it is a bit weak for a Tanker. Not quite tough enough, perhaps. Pure hogwash, that. A Fire tanker may not be as tough as a Stone Tanker in Granite, but they can still tank-- even when paired with Fiery Melee, an entirely damage focused secondary (most other Tanker secondaries add some sort of mitigation via knockdowns, slows, etc.). Fiery Aura works from personal experience and by the numbers… my Fire/Fire Tank has soloed and teamed (being the main tank on the team, too) through nearly all of CoX’s content.
How about by the numbers, though? For those who don’t know, the reason Fiery Aura doesn’t have the resists of other tank sets is because of that whole “wall of fire” thing-- Fiery Aura is more offensively oriented than any other Tanker Primary than Shields, which it is arguably on par with for damage. And while its resists are lower than most other Tank sets, Fiery Aura has an awesome regenerative ability. You will take a fair amount of damage, but you can recover from it-- which is something that can’t be said of your opponents.
So, the goal of this guide is to do two things: to show that a Fiery Aura Tank truly is a wall of fire (a hero that can both defend a team and add to its damage, not to mention doing well running solo), and how to make that happen. A Wall of Fire Tanker is truly an asset to soloing or to any team in CoX, so these are worthy goals for this guide and for you as a CoX player.
While this guide is not intended to be the be-all, end-all guide to tanking or even Fire tanking, I am aiming to make it as comprehensive as possible for both of those approaches. First, I will break down each of the powers available to a Fire/Fire Tanker (Part II-IV), discuss Incarnate abilities that become available at level 50 (discussed at the end of Part IV), then look at slotting approaches/potential builds (Part V), and then discuss strategies and tactics for Tanking, summed up in my Four Rules of Tanking (Part VI). Enjoy, and I hope this helps you gain an appreciation for the art of tanking: Wall of Fire style!
Part II: Fiery Aura Overview
The numbers (base for the powers- not enhanced) for the following were found using the in game numbers system, City of Data, Mid’s Hero Designer (both of which can be found at Paragonwiki), and certain knowledgeable forumites (thanks!). Advice on each comes from me and my play experience, as well as from a lot (perhaps too much) reading of the forums and other player’s approaches. All info is current as of I19.
Blazing Aura: Available at Level 1, Toggle
Damage Scale: .22 Accuracy Scale: 1 Endurance Cost: .52 end/sec
Activation Time: 2.03 sec. Recharge Time: 4 sec. Radius: 8 feet
Some powers, you can debate whether you should take it or not. The only debate that would involve Blazing Aura is when to take it. It’s a constant wall of fire about you, doing damage to your foes, so what’s not to like about that? However, it does cost a fair amount of endurance, which can hurt your blue bar to drop significantly when used with your others powers--especially at low levels. Now that Stamina is inherent, you might be able to take this power earlier than level 22 (when I used to argue for it). With how much endurance it uses, waiting until SO levels (level 22) might be best still. However, there are advocates that say it can help your damage a lot prior to level 22, so there can be benefits to taking it sooner. Mind your endurance bar whenever you take it, and manage accordingly.
Fire Shield: Available at Level 1, Toggle
Resist/Protection: 30% (Fire/Smash/Lethal), 10% (Cold), and Stun
Endurance Cost: .26 end/sec Activation Time: 1.67 sec. Recharge Time: 2 sec.
Fire Shield is the first of your two shields, and one that you will have on most of the time (though it might be turned off for to help with endurance use prior to Stamina), since it protects you from the most common damage in the game, as well as from being disoriented. The resists in a Fiery Aura tank aren’t as great as those in other Tanker primaries, but this can still get the job done most of the time. With Stamina being inherent now, you can probably take it and use it all the time even below level 10, but do realize it's still going to be an endurance drain.
Healing Flames: Available at Level 2, Click
Resist/Protection: 20% (Toxic for 60 sec.) Endurance Cost: 10.4 end
Activation Time: 1.5 sec. Recharge Time: 40 sec. Heal: 25% health
Healing Flames has been changed over the years, but it’s always been useful. Now, it’s EXTREMELY useful, and should be picked up as soon as possible. Out of the box, it will heal 25% of your health every 40 sec., and it’s easy to get those numbers to about 50% of your health every 22 sec. when you get to the single-origin enhancement level. Some have said using a heal doesn’t match up with their idea of being “tough” or a tanker, but they’re suffering from a perception problem. People don’t think Wolverine is a panzy, and it’s the same with a Fiery Aura tanker. With Healing Flames, you are a Wall of Fire that can keep taking punishment, hit after hit. Just when your foe thinks that you’re down, you flare up like a Phoenix and heal your wounds-- tough as ever and able to continue dealing out the punishment. If the game engine could handle it, dismay would be painted over your foe’s faces after you fire this off. Good stuff!
Temperature Protection: Available at Level 6, Auto
Resist/Protection: 30% (Fire), 20% (Movement Slow, -Recharge), 10% (Cold)
Temperature Protection used to be a terrible power, and easily skippable (Cold damage is pretty rare in game, and you can cap your Fire resists with just Fire and Plasma Shield). The lazy part of me could wish it had stayed that way, because now I want to find a way to fit this power into my build. The reason for that is you can get a 20% resist to slows and –movement with this auto power. Because Fiery Aura is resistance based, you will be hit by everything (unless you go for defense in your build from pool powers and IO set bonuses), so being able to resist the all too frequent slows in this game is helpful. If you can track down a –slow resist IO from the Winter’s Gift set, that will up you to 40% resist to slow, which is nothing to sneeze at (though enough slows will still stack up, unfortunately).
Admittedly, Temperature Protection is just a small boost to performance, but it is still a useful boost- making it a worthwhile to pick. Better to have some slow resist than none, and it’s a good spot to throw in a –KB or Steadfast +Defense IO, both of which are desirable on a Fire Tank. Fit it in when you can, but there are plenty of other powers that are a higher priority (though this is even easier to do now that we have inherent Fitness).
Consume: Available at Level 8, Click
Endurance Recovery: 20% (per foe), +5% recovery per target hit, +50% resist end drain
Damage Scale: 0.4 Accuracy Scale: 1 Endurance Cost:0.52
Activation Time: 2.03 sec. Recharge Time: 180 sec. Radius: 20 feet
Like Healing Flames, this is another power you’ll want to grab as soon as you can on your Fiery Aura tank. It will help you get through the pre-SO level doldrums (when you make it to single-origin enhancements at level 22, you can reduce your endurance use a lot, not to mention your recovery in Stamina), and let you fight for longer without resting for your entire career. Unfortunately, it hasn’t received the Healing Flames treatment and still has a long recharge time. Why Energy Absorption from Ice Armor gets a third of the recharge time AND buffs defense, while Consume recharges in 3 minutes and does some piddly damage, I may never know (it does a little over a third of the damage of Scorch, your weakest single target attack, and recharges in 180 seconds as opposed to 3 seconds). That being said, it’s still a worthwhile power because of the endurance recovery, and you can get the recharge down to about a minute and a half without too much work.
I complain too much, though. Consume was also recently buffed so that each target hit by it gives you a temporary boost to your recovery, and some resistance to end drain. I would have still rather had its recharge lowered, but this boost does make the long recharge easier to bear: your recovery is increased for a time as it recharges, and end drains won't hurt as much (and you'll get hit by everything without defense in your build as a Fiery Aura user)
Plasma Shield: Available at Level 12, Toggle
Resist/Protection: 30% (Fire/Energy/Negative), Hold, and Sleep Endurance Cost: .26 end/sec
Activation Time: 3 sec. Recharge Time: 2 sec.
This is your other Tanking shield, and therefore a must have. It rounds out your other resists to damage in CoX (other than Psychic), as well as giving you your other mez protection. Be glad mez protection is so easy for a Fiery Aura tanker now. For the first few issues, we had to fire off Burn before fighting to get our mez protection, and we liked it! *looks sheepish* Well, no, not really. Things are much better now, that’s for sure. If you're facing endurance issues earlier on in the game, you can debate turning this toggle off, unless your opponents do a lot of FEN damage, or have a lot of holds and sleeps. Once you can manage it, though, you should always have this on.
Burn: Available at Level 18, Click
Damage Scale: 1.08 Accuracy Scale: 1 Endurance Cost: 5.2
Activation Time: 2.03 sec. Recharge Time: 25 sec. Radius: 8 feet Mez Resist: -12.975 Immobilize, 100 sec duration
Wow, Burn. This power has been nerfed like crazy to the point where I did not like taking it on my build anymore- then brought from its downtrodden state, to one that is quite awesome. Craziness. I am certainly appreciative that these changes were finally made. So, as things sit, Burn is once again a must have power. Burn puts down a 360 degree arc of fire around your tank, hitting 5 targets with one big hit of damage, then doing nice damage over time-- but only if you can keep your opponents close: within 8 feet of you, which is less than Fire Sword Circle and almost half of Combustion’s (foes are only affected while in the patch). Thankfully this is rather easy to do with a Tanker's ability to generate aggro, and also because Burn no longer causes fear in foes! Woot!
Couple things on using Burn well. You want at least 5 targets close to you when you first use it, so each one is getting hit by that big smack of damage when you first toss it down. Mobs entering after you drop the Burn patch will only be affected by the DoT, and miss out on that big initial hit of damage. Oddly enough, though, Burn can be used well as a single target attack if you're fighting a hard boss, EB, or AV. It only costs 5.2 endurance to use, and it does plenty of damage (a good chunk of it while you are using other attack powers). Burn is just that great: you can use it on a big mob, or on a single hard target.
Now a note on creating a Fiery Aura build that used Burn. Having another AOE to choose from can make things difficult when making a build for a Wall of Fire Tanker. We only have so many slots to go around, after all. For my defensive build, I picked up Burn and Fire Sword Circle, dropping Combustion. Burn is far better than Combustion, even with a smaller radius, so it was a no brainer to me. You'll have to pick and choose for yourself, however. No matter what you do about other AOEs, DO take Burn: it's a must have!
One last thing on Burn. For some reason, it is Fiery Aura's source for Immobilization protection. So you have to make sure to fire it off every 100 seconds so you don't get immobilized (or just use it when it happens, which would be annoying in the heat of combat). I find this "utility" of Burn to be annoying to no end. I would recommend picking up Combat Jumping from the Leaping Pool so you do not have to worry about immobilizes anymore. If you're going to use Burn, use it for the damage, not mez protection. For those who don't know, it used to be where we got most of our mez protection from, and it was quite clunky to use- so don't give yourself the headache in the first place!
Fiery Embrace: Available at Level 26, Click
Damage boost: Fire damage added to each attack for 20 seconds
Activation Time: .73 sec. Recharge Time: 180 sec. Endurance Cost: 7.8
Fiery Embrace was adjusted with Going Rogue, along with Consume and Burn. And wow... the changes are spectacular. Fiery Embrace still has a long recharge, but it's understandable now. Basically, it adds Fire Damage for 20 seconds to each of your attacks, based on the damage slotted in the attack (and any damage buffs on your character). So outside damage buffs affect Fiery Embrace, as does Build-Up. So, if you want a real hefty combo, you can use both at once (or use them alternately). You could also use a damage inspiration to up the damage from Fiery Embrace, besides your attack's normal damage. This means the damage boost is weaker at low levels with fewer boost from enhancements, but it's still worth taking. Toss some recharge in this power and get it back ASAP, it's great!
Rise of the Phoenix: Available at Level 32, Click (Must be defeated to use)
Accuracy Scale: 1 Endurance Boost: 50% Health Boost: 50%
Activation Time: 1.5 sec. Recharge Time: 300 sec. Radius: 25 feet
Untouchable: 15 sec. XP Protection: 90 sec. Immobilize (self): 4 sec.
Stun: 14.9 sec. (Mag 4) Knockback: Mag 8.3
Except for Temperature Protection, Rise of the Phoenix has been the most maligned power in the Fiery Aura set, and perhaps for good reason. While other Tanker set Tier 9s obviously extend that tank’s ability to “live” and fight longer, you have to be defeated to use Rise of the Phoenix! Who wants to be defeated to use a Tier 9, which is seen as a premier defensive power in most sets? Not most, and that’s why people frequently don’t like it.
However, there are some great things about this power. First of all, you will always have a revive power, and as much as people talk about how tough they are and never die, it happens. And when you revive, what a power! You get half your health and endurance recovered, knock foes back, and disorient them! That’s a fine way to get back at those that just defeated you. With all those extras, it’s plenty easy to get all your toggles back on and defeat some of your opponents before they’re able to fight again. Not too shabby, and the animation is fantastically cool (you float up in the middle of a fiery phoenix, sending your foes flying everywhere).
There is another angle to correctly appreciating this power, and it’s similar to the thinking a Fiery Aura tanker has to use with Healing Flames. Rise of the Phoenix is a good power, because it shows that you cannot keep a Fire Tanker down! “You thought you had me? Think again! Boom!” Your toughness comes from never giving up and never backing down. That isn’t something to be maligned, that’s something to be respected. You probably will want to wait on taking Rise of the Phoenix (the 30s and much of the 40s have other priorities that you will be able to use all the time), but contrary to popular belief, I would argue that you actually need to have a good reason to never take this power in your build. With inherent Fitness and three extra power picks, you have even more reason to take Rise of the Phoenix. It only needs its default slot to work well, so pick it up when you can fit it in to your build.
Title says it all. I'm trying for the MoSTF with my main, Grey Pilgrim this Saturday at 7 PM Central (that's 8 PM Eastern, 5 PM Pacific, etc.). He's done quite well on the STF before, but I would like to set up a very solid team. I believe I have a few people lined up, but there is room for more. Shout out if you're interested.
1. Grey Pilgrim (Fire/Fire Tanker)
2. Astrolynx (Peacebringer)
3. Satanic HamsterI do hope that they are going to give us a decent feature list before they start giving us pre-order options. The fanboy in me would love to just pre-order, sight unseen, but I like to see what I'm getting.
Especially for the "extras" pre-order. I like most of the costume sets they come out with, but there are some I can live without, and I'd rather another month of playtime than paying extra for costumes, etc. that I'm never going to use (hence my not buying the Science set, for instance).Quote:Your post that he was replying to said we have been downgraded to capes and that you wanted some kind of endgame reward. So it wasn't too hard to read it that way. This other post from you just suggests a more moderate tone, so it is a little confusing.Originally Posted by Debtlover
troll much?
I never said they should be "uber leet grind-for-gear" but having a unlock AT 50 for your FIRST 50 is nice. It is a way to reward you for your first 50.
For your other points, the feature list for I17 and GR is still coming out, and we know Posi is working on something for the endgame, so... do you really need more at this point? I do agree that going to the 30s might help prepare people for the epic ATs (the VEATs do require thinking and build knowledge, if not as much as a Kheld), but otherwise, it's a decent idea.Arc Name: Belated Justice
Arc ID: 88003
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Grey Pilgrim
Difficulty Level: Medium, no Elite Bosses, but some bosses with high damage
Level Range: 20-30
Synopsis: Where does justice end, and vengeance begin? A seemingly straightforward hunt for a murderer sends you against the Warriors, the Tsoo, and the Family- and against the demons that can plague us all.
Estimated Time to Play: 35-45 minutes
I am reposting my arc, as it has been revamped pretty thoroughly. The gameplay is more streamlined and fun (no defeat alls, even if they were on small maps), and the story has been focused and improved. Enjoy and pass on the feedback!Kheldians, and even VEATs, have been in the game for a long while now. It's not really a killer thing for them to be available at 20 for newbies (and honestly, it's much faster to get to 50 now than it used to be... should I be carping about how I got my first 50/access to Kheldians when it was a longer, harder road to get there?). They're apparently tying these in with getting out of Praetoria, and leaving 50 for future developments, like the end game content Posi is working on.
I do agree that level 30 would probably be a better starting point for this, but it's not that big of a difference.
As some have wondered, I do debate whether they have plans to unlock something else at 50, but we'll see.Quote:Haven't really teamed with any herders in years. I always wonder what spiffy anecdotal evidence people have for saying some Tanker was a prima donna and wanted to herd, as I haven't teamed with one... in ages, if ever. Nor do I hear anyone advocating herding in the Tanker section of the forums, unless you mean trying to clump mobs up a bit more for the AOEs, which is never a bad thing.Originally Posted by Silas
That's why I don't.
I do pull on my Tankers from time to time, but that's mostly on Master's runs when we'll be facing about 4 mob groups at once, otherwise.
At any rate, threads like this are hilarious. There are good and bad players both sides, and same for content. Play and enjoy what you like.Quote:Some people do care about that, though, Westley. Not getting regular xp for an arc that is designed well as a story and a challenge (or at least no different than any other game content) is not a good setup. Heck, this problem affects the guest author arcs, too.Originally Posted by Westley
OH NOES! NOT TEH EXPEEZ!
Sorry, I just don't care about XP in AE. They could take it out entirely for all I care. If I run an AE arc, I run it for the fun and the story, not for "rewards". The arc itself is my reward.
Yes, that's WAI... but just for now. I'm reasonably hopeful they'll implement a fix for this soon- the really hopeful part of me hopes this is one of the adjustments to the AE for I17.