Iron_Tyger

You know, I find it's the concept that make the toon for me. Well, that and I love melee - "Pound stuff up close? Yes please!"

Right now my faves are my Mace/DA tanker (once I got Stamina,) and my MA/Shield scrapper.

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Some people have expressed they like the change of pace and felt that the forums had grown a bit unruly.

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Count me as one.

Internet forums are not necessarily the friendliest of places, and this certainly isn't the WoW forums, but I really wonder how forum posters define "common courtesy" some days here. Sometimes the most innocuous threads, the easiest questions, or the most sincere pleas for help are made into something ugly by a poster that just has to call someone else names.

I personally think the system of giving titles on this forum for people who pad their posts encourages some of this behavior, and feel free to disagree with me, but have you ever meet someone who was wise and kind but at the same time talked your head off? If so, I'd bet it's less often than you know people who are silent smartasses.

Keep in mind, there's one Lighthouse, and a significant number of everyone else. He can't possibly modsmack (sometimes even when you ask him to) all the threads that have offensive content as soon as they pop-up because more will be created in that same instant.

Maybe the best solution would be to follow the rules, enjoy the spirit of the season, and try being nice to one another for a change. That way, there's no need to see Lighthouse modsmacking everythread; he can sit back and enjoy the goodwill.

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While under the influence of Taunt, a creature:
1) cannot run away;
2) cannot use powers on targets other than the Taunting player.

This might be enough to explain the observed behavior, in conjunction with the AI behavior rules.

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Is this the same thing a player-controlled villain experiences when they are taunted? I know they can still move freely, but are they limited to only attacking the Taunter? If a villain were taunted, but chose not to attack the Tank, would he even be able to target another character or NPC?

I understood the discussion about "Aggo" and "Feeling," but on the PVP side does Taunt act as a "reticle governor," in the same way that Placate for Stalkers works?

Map of Paragon City
Category: Decorative
Customizable: No
Type: Purchased in the edit window.
Description: You know the map that's at the entrance of every train station? Yeah. That's what I want. It doesn't have to have flashing areas, or beacons showing anything, or some highly customizable whoop-de-doo. I just want the same simple map that's already coded into the game. Please....

“I didn’t have the heart to tell those junior superheroes the real reason I’m out here everynight – What really drives me to wear this brown jumpsuit and belt. It’s that first glimmer of what being a super-hero meant to me. That same joy I felt when all this was new. Deep down inside, I love being in the middle of the chaos. I love to hear the sound of buildings collapsing, the screams of people in need of rescue, the look on their faces when I’m the one there. If I had to go back to that boring mundane life before powers, I’d become just as bitter and hateful as those I fight. We walk a fine line just for the thrill of it, and many heroes turn to crime. It’s not easy being a hero in this city of villains. But as long as I’m around, everyone will know I’m the one setting things right. That may be selfish, wanting all that attention, but it leaves me with the greatest satisfaction of all.”

Playing

When you’re playing COH, you have two options: Teamed, or Solo. For purposes of this guide, I’ll let Tyger talk about solo first.

“…But that’s enough ancient history, you want to hear about recent exploits. Just last night I was checking out this crazy right-wing paramilitary group, and they have these agents called Sappers that pack some heavy duty weaponry. Well, last night I got this tip about a warehouse, and when I stepped inside I could see the Sapper just down the hall, flanked by the usual flunkies. With the glow of the Sapper’s gun and smell of ozone he couldn’t stand out more if he were wearing a camouflage prom dress. I prepared my self mentally, raising the usual shields, and then grabbed a rock to throw. By the time the Sapper landed from that pelting, I was on top of him with an uppercut that sent him right back into the air. One more jab and he was out. Then all I had to do was wipe up the leftovers. They toppled with a nice slam of my foot.”

Take time to size up your opponent. Hit the Tab key to cycle through and identify larger threats lurking in the mob in front of you. Malta all look alike so it’s sometimes hard to pick out the Sappers, Trolls and Nemesis have click powers they use when just standing around, and not seeing a Shadow Cyst Crystal until you’re on top of it will ruin your day beyond belief. If you can pick your targets wisely, it will help tremendously. Solo, stragglers and runners are ok. It’s one less critter trying to hurt you, and you can get to them later.

When picking which attack to start with, remember that Ragdoll physics are the best thing to happen to an SS Tanker since Unyielding lost the Stance. It effectively makes the villain lose a turn to pick himself back up. Hurl buys you some time when facing opponents at range; by the time they’re getting back up, you can be there with just sprint. I absolutely love to hit Hurl, press “f” to auto follow my target, and then queue up Knock Out Blow. That’s twice that they’re unable to act. Hurl also works as a Taunt, which comes in handy later when we talk about groups.

Unyielding and Invincibility are your “always” toggles; you should “always” have them on when soloing a big group, but when snooping around a mission first, Invincibility’s taunt can be a liability. I just snoop with Unyielding and Sprint on and hit Invincibility when I’m getting ready to pounce. Dull Pain and Unstoppable are your “Oh Crap” buttons. When you start going down, Dull Pain first, wait till its heal is almost gone, then hit Unstoppable.

Foot stomp, while most useful for its aggro-pulling, still has the Ragdoll effect that I’ve come to love. Think of the time the enemy spends on his back as another type of shield. The “don’t shoot me and bounce instead” shield. It does decent damage when slotted right, to boot.

For whaling on bad guys, you can’t beat the attack chain of Hurl-KOBlow-Jab-Punch-Jab-Haymaker. With a recharge SO in each, Hasten is a waste of time. Dash with a little Rage for ACC and DAM boosts, and there isn’t anyone you can’t whittle down to nothing. I found that with an ACC in each attack and an ACC boost in Rage, I can consistently hit anything up to +4. If the secondary effects are slotted to be reliable, you have 3 chances to lay them out with Knockdown and 2 to disorient using the above attack chain. Don’t listen to the nay-sayers who would have you take power pools for your attacks.


Let’s move on to Teams

“Oh, you want to hear something bigger? Well, let’s see. I know. There was this awful fight about a month back. I was with Meringue’s crew again, and it was awful. A massacre. I think Paragonian’s contact set us up. You see, it was your standard bust – disarm and attach a ‘go straight to jail’ tp card to each of the baddies. Cake, right? I took point as field leader and we found a weapon rack fairly quickly. Then it all turned sour when I got cocky and blindly bumped into a clutch of Sky Raiders.

I figured we were eight healthy super-heroes in our prime, with honest-to-god powers and stuff, what could they do to us? Well, they took down Meringue first. Dynabot 2.0, Paragonian, and I were occupied with the herd, and a couple of ‘porters homed in on Meringue’s energy blasts and zapped right to his location in the back of the group. There was so much gunfire that I didn’t notice until he was gone. Emerald Emily, our healer, went down next. It was so fast I didn’t see what happened.

In what seemed like the same moment I noticed the grape-colored pinstriping on two of the skiffs in front of me, Samurai Swan ran into the next room. She was trying to find room to move our wounded, but walked right into another squad of Raiders. She was gunned down right in front of my eyes. Time seemed to slow way down and I kept saw Meringue telling me to ‘know my role’ over and over as both groups surrounded what was left of us and then in a flash it was over. Everyone was down but me and a dozen troops with guns ablaze. For someone who can take a tank round, I felt so helpless.”

Let’s say you are the Tanker on a team with one of each AT. Like it or not, your wisest bet is to go ahead and be a Meatshield. An Empath can spend their time healing you, or spend it healing everyone else. That means your taunt is invaluable; only you can take hits that others can’t. Use the powers that keep all the villains on you. Foot Stomp and Invincibility hold the aggro of those close, Hurl and Taunt are for the stragglers. All too often, I’ve seen a lone villain who’s standing just a little ways off take out a team by hitting the squishy heroes hard. You have to watch for these and pull them back to you. Once all the bad guys are herded around you, they are easy prey to AoE attacks from your allies.

“However this time, the helpless feelings passed, and all that was left was Rage! I yelled out in a primal bellow and you could see the light go off over the Raider’s heads: They knew I was pissed. As they rushed me, I hurled and kicked each of them down the hall, away from my teammates and into an area where I could really let loose. I slammed four up into the air at once, and clocked one with a piece of rock bigger than my head. By the time I had wiped out all but two, my team was rejoining the fight, and I collapsed…exhausted by the fight.”

If someone dies, try to move the herd of villains away from them. The deceased can rez and rejoin the fight so long as you keep everyone away from them. Also, set a bind or macro to warn your team when something’s about to hit the fan. When Unstoppable drops, you need to have some inspirations handy or a good healer. Both is preferable. If you have neither, you should warn the squishies that they are going to have to tank until you’re back to normal.

“After that, Emily used her empathy to allow our Blasters to see through my eyes, and I could pick one of them to “see through.” It was a weird sensation. Like being paranoid, and having it confirmed.”

Practice and preach “target thru.” If a Blaster, Controller, or Defender targets through your Tanker, they avoid getting aggro, and help keep the villains on you. For your part, watch their health gauges. If one starts going down, click their name and select Taunt. It will affect their target and (if they have their attacker in their crosshair) pull whoever’s hitting them back to you.

It’s also a good idea to set the powers in the upper right of the screen to blink. When Rage goes down, you can’t attack for a few seconds. Watch for it to blink, and hit Taunt or Foot Stomp.

“Finally, we found their captain. It was a brightly polished android carrying a multi-gun. His grape-colored pin-striping indicated he had taken down many heroes before us. But it was all right because we had a plan.”

“Dynabot ran in first, able to withstand the flame-thrower setting the captain threw at us. I circled around, catching his guards by surprise and leading them back to Dynabot. Once I had them where I wanted them, I turned! I slammed my foot where Paragonian’s X-Ray Beams had spotted a small gas pipe underground. It knocked some of the captain’s lackeys off their feet when the building’s foundation cracked, and exposed the pipe. Meringue took a delicate shot and everything went Nova! The Raiders that were left went down hard and fast.”

Now let’s say you’re on a team with another Tanker. I’ll be honest, I used to hate being on teams with other Tankers. You can almost see the aggro tug-of-war sometimes. Then I learned that this was my chance to let them be the Meatshield, and I can truly be a Tank. Quite a few Tankers will run in, grab the aggro in front of them, and whale on the biggest villain they see. That’s when your practice pulling stragglers comes in handy. Let the other Tanker hold the herd, you pull the whole herd tighter in, then take out the minions. After you’ve taken them out, you’re only left with any Lts and Bosses and your team can switch to more powerful single-target attacks.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a city to patrol. I got an idea earlier today. You remember the old Popeye cartoon? You know, the one where he’s fighting the forty thieves? Well, he gets this herd of thieves to jump into this jar that he’s been hiding in, and while their all cramped up he really waylays them. I’m dying to give it a go out by the waterworks in what’s left of Venice, and I think I know the perfect boxcar.”

And last, but not least, there is the ultimate tanking move. Once upon a time it would have been called Box Hunting, but some dev’s “creepy old man in a box” analogy really put that to an end. Now I call it Suicide Herding. I only do this if another tank and a controller are around to help me hold them. First, I turn on Invincibility with its Taunt Aura. Then, I pick a target and hit the auto-follow. While running, I select a mob from group B and hit Taunt. I land in group A with my Taunt Aura going and 5 members of group B heading toward me. I look for group C, target one of them, and hit “f” for auto-follow again. With 10 behind me, I hit Foot Stomp in group C, add another 5 to my herd, and head around whatever corner my group is waiting in.

“It all snapped back one day when I was teamed up with Meringue and a few of his cohorts from the Divine Felines. We were checking out some creepy cult that was all robes and glowy-eyes, when we walked up on this portal. No sooner did I look at it than these demons just started appearing and setting everything on fire! They were all over the place. They couldn’t hurt me, so they ignored me, going after my friends instead. Just as they closed in on Meringue, he yelled at me to “Know your role, Meatshield!” I was so stunned I couldn’t move. I was rooted from shock in an unyielding stance that seemed to last for hours. We eventually got the upper hand again, but when I went home I was still reeling from the fight…and Meringue’s words.”

Here are my powers as they are currently slotted. And if you’re wondering, that’s a Hammi-o in Jab. Improves the stun and the damage. That and the other stun make it very reliable, but it’s a recent addition.

The stuff you can’t see is Jump Kick, with one ACC and one DAM, Super Jump with just one END REDUX, Swift with one RUN, Health with 3 HEALS, Stamina with 3 END MOD, Conserve Power with one END REDUX and 2 Recharges, and Focused Accuracy with an END REDUX.

I won’t go into the details of what each power does, and after 2 years of respecs and freespecs, I can’t tell you in what order I took them. There are many excellent guides in the Tanker forum that crunch numbers and give you reams and reams of data on the individual powers. I have AT guides in a binder going back to “Through the Looking Glass.” One of my new faves is Hegemon's Guide to INV/SS Tanking in Post-I6 Paragon City; It has a lot of great information on aggro even though I disagree on a few power choices, but we’ll get to that later.

“After much thought and introspection, I’ve come to a place where I’m at peace with myself and what I do. People out there need me; if it’s not a fire in Steel Canyon, it’s a spy ring with hostages. Someone has to protect what civilization has worked so hard for. I won’t let that one beating stop me…. Being gentle with crime will only get you run over. And I won’t ever take another beating without a fight. I can’t stop being human just because I’m super-human.”

I’m writing this to talk to you about STYLE. These powers are a reflection of a fighting tank’s playstyle, which is vital to handle changes to powers. Playstyle is what makes you have fun playing the game. Change in an online game is going to happen and you have to be able to play through the changing statistics. My particular style is a goal I set for myself: A hero that’s going to keep my attention and keep me pecking at keys (cause I’m neurotic like that…It’s not a game if I’m not involved.) One who is not an END hog and does some good damage solo while being an asset on teams. If this is not your particular style, then I hope you still enjoy the story and learning how I do my thing.

“Part of my new outlook is related to a new-found sense of dedication. Some people run in, thinking they’re invincible. They have so much going at once that they burn out. Medirex, Grubb, Toggle-boy; they all just gave up after making a huge splash. Some of them were trying new doses of Superdine “confiscated” from Trolls. Things with names like Hasten and Temp. Invulnerability. Some got bad batches, and some got better, but I feel so old thinking of all the heroes I’ve met and never seen again.”

In COH’s earlier issues, and even some today, I constantly debated END issues due to too many toggles and yet needing defense. Stamina is the difference between a Tank and a Meatshield. Without it, you can turn on toggles and stand there, maybe go out to get a bite to eat, catch a movie, but you can’t do much of an attack chain without eventually dropping toggles, especially in long battles against AVs or GMs. To me, that’s not tanking, that’s watching TV, so I skip toggles and use my END for damage.

I skipped Temp Invulnerability because even though it’s a great bonus, it’s a Toggle. It can fall against Malta Sappers or Clockwork and it costs END…for Smashing and Lethal protection. For which I already have scads of protection with the slotted passives which use no END and are always on. And Invinvibility. And SG temp powers. Bleh.

I also skipped Hasten because it just encourages me to burn through end, and becomes a liability when paired with Rage. I’m a Rage junkie for its ACC bonus and added damage, but if it’s up, I’ll hit it, putting two Rages up and shortening my duration on the second one because the crash prevents me from attacking when it drops. That’s more time I’m a Meatshield, and not a Tank. While Hasten is great for Dull Pain and Unstoppable, it’s not really needed in the later part of the game. Attacks recharge quickly, and even on the hardest difficulty you can handle your own quite well without Hasten.

Thunderclap doesn’t do damage, pure and simple. It’s crowd control and cool looking, but not for me. I took Jump-kick because I like the crouching posture and had high hopes for the knockback; it’s still handy when a Psi slows your recharge way down.

For travel, I chose SJ. Fly and Teleport are great travel powers when properly slotted and bound correctly, but not in my concept. Thus, I don’t visit the Shadow Shard much. However, I recommend both of them over Super-Speed. In terms of which power truly “feels” the fastest, Super-Speed excels. However, visit Atlas Park on a truly busy day with SS on, and you better have a stress ball or good shrink handy to handle the rubber-banding and lag.

“Me…I’ve decided that you have to look before you leap. It’s not about being flashy, or being the hardest, or the fastest. It’s about standing up for what’s right by meeting force with equal force. You don’t fry a purse snatcher with a solar blast that’ll melt glass, and you don’t try to take on the world in one big smack. You protect the people, everyday, let them know that we’re still working toward a future, and never give up that hope.”

Which brings us to:

Meanwhile, at a Paragon Protectorate Training Session...

“Growing up, I read non-stop about superheroes – Where they lived, what they could do, why they did it – everything. The day my powers kicked in, it was like a dream come true. I felt like a whole new person. Even though I had these funky stripes, I was really somebody… Not some wimpy schmuck from the sticks, but a bona-fied super-human!”

When I first created my Tanker named Iron Tyger back in Issue 1, I didn’t even know where the official forums were. I was too busy creating a “street-level hero;” Someone like Brin Londo aka Timber Wolf of the Legion of SuperHeroes, or Bronze Tiger of the Suicide Squad. I pictured a small guy who could take a punch and unleash a ferocious attack. I started out with the basic powers (RPD, Jab, Punch) and was having a blast. The first levels are all about having fun with few real consequences. I did dumb stuff like slotting brawl and such. At that point it was all about the “Ooo, wow!” factor.

“Pumped up on enthusiasm and adrenaline, I pulled a few good deeds; made citizen’s arrest on several Hellions and a few Skulls. The silly tights! I don’t know what I was thinking; that somehow crime-fighting might be so easy that I could prance around in that get-up. That all changed when I ran into Bonesnapper.”

Eventually, I ran into harder enemies, tougher ones only to get beat down, and so I came in search of advice on the forums. I read and read and read about tanks. I even printed out pages of the Player Guide section to take with me and read on my lunch breaks. After all, Iron Tyger was more than just a toon; He was a Concept Character, and I was going to make him the best hero he could be!

“After the beating he gave me, all I could do was try to recuperate. While my body mended, I occupied my time with so many projects. I worked. I studied. I took up boxing. I studied criminal tactics. I worked so hard that I started to lose sight of who I am, instead of dealing with that defeat and moving on. I became an unmoving, unresponsive rock.”

I followed the advice and did everything the min/maxers advised. I took Temporary Invulnerability. I shunned the passive powers. Iron Tyger became a meatshield. And somewhere inside I realized I was not being true to my creation. I patiently worked towards a respec, then waited for a freespec, then did another respec trial… (Yeah, yeah, I could find the forums but didn’t have enough intelligence or courage to try the test server. Sue me.) After all that trial and error, here is what I’ve done, and what works for me.

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16. Adding Tanker damage has become a little problematic. It makes the almost too powerful...but it's an ongoing issue internally. We are definitely adding more aggro control to the Tanker.


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Just one concern here, and I'm sure you're already on it, but adding aggro does not help the solo tanker...if anything, it makes the situation worse.

I've learned to not try to solo everything, but it's not just preferrable for some of us, it's downright unavoidable sometimes.

Is there a system planned for controlling how much aggro you draw? Are there any plans to have the added aggro optional?

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Something with "You'll rue the day ..." and finger pointing.

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And not just any pointing...evil monkey in my closet pointing, with teeth gnashing!

If you're hunting in AP, GC, KR, SC, or Skyway, and you need to go away from the keyboard or take a knee for a minute, head towards the water in city zones. Mobs do not spawn in water, and few heroes travel through the lakes, so you can rest relatively un-noticed while swimming in the middle of any of the city's lakes.

PLEASE NOTE: This will not work in hazard zones. Enter the water at your own risk in those areas.

I've been on this band wagon a while now. Dance club in Issue 2 of game and in Issue 3 of comic. I think that sometimes the comic is just as good a resource for finding out coming features as the forums.

Looking at my calendar, I see that Rosh Hashanah began Wednesday, September 15th. Today happens to be the 16th.

I admit my ignorance of Jewish Holidays, but I assumed religious observances for Rosh Hashanah began the same night it began.

BTW, (/sarcasm on) Why didn't the devs call in to work for me today? I could have been home playing CoH if they had just arranged a day off for me. Gosh, they're SO inconsiderate. (/sarcasm off)

Enjoy your holy dude, remember why you're there (Some things are bigger and more important than MMORPGs, flamers be darned) and realize the game, event and all, will still be there tonight. I don't get off till 8:30pm, and if there's still portals with aliens there for me, they will be there for you too!

I found this posted by Poz on the Ask a stupid question thread:

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Q. Isn't "Shannon" a girl's name?

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Poor Poz has probably never seen this much gender confusion since "Pat" was on SNL.

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How do scrappers and tankers /assist eachother? With ranged attacks it's easy, you just click on the person you are assisting and start blasting. With melee attacks, you have to find the next target and go to it. Is there a way to easily go to the target that your assist person is targetting?

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Best way is to use the F key to follow your teammate, and then any assist melee attacks will go off if you are close enough to the tank/scrapper's target.



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I usually have a melee attack in my first powerslot, so I press "1" at the top of the keyboard which queues the attack and targets a villian, then hit "F" to run to him. Both are default binds programmed into the game.

Also, taunt and provoke can bring the enemie to you. Taunt is excellent for pulling stragglers away from groups.

Great thread!!!