Iron_Vixen

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The worst was when I saw a traitor to Tankerdom claiming that ED was no big deal cause she was getting Stealth, Tough, Weave and Combat Jumping and slotting them all so she'd be fine. The second it's fine that you have 3 manditory pools to maintain a defense, something's wrong. Some people really need to be executed.

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Yuck. Who said that? Are they insane? Needing 3 pools on top of a primary to do the same job is ok to this person? She sniff paint fumes a lot or something?

Here is what I respecced into earlier today:

1-Temporary Invulnerability: Dmg res(1), Dmg res(3), Dmg res(5), End redux(7)
1-Jab: Acc(1), Dmg(5), Dmg(13), Dmg(33)
2-Punch: Acc(2), Dmg(3), Dmg(13), Dmg(15)
4-Dull Pain: Rchrg(4), Rchrg(7), Rchrg(11), Heal(15, Heal(25), Heal(29)
6-Resist Elementsl: Dmg res(6), Dmg res(17), Dmg res(27)
8-Unyielding: Dmg res(8), Dmg res(9), Dmg res(9), End redux(11)
10-Taunt: Rchrg(10), Rchrg(46)
12-Combat Jumping: Defbuff(12)
14-Super Jump: Jump(14)
16-Resist Energies: Dmg res(16), Dmg res(17), Dmg res(27)
18-Invincibility: Defbuff(18), Defbuff(19), Defbuff(19), End redux(33), Tohit buff(43), Tohit buff(43)
20-Knockout Blow: Acc(20), Dmg(21), Dmg(21), Dmg(23), End redux(34), Rchrg(36)
22-Haymaker: Acc(22), Dmg(23), Dmg(25), Dmg(31), End redux(37), Rchrg(37)
24-Swift: Run(24), Run(45), Run(46)
26-Health: Heal(26), Heal(40), Heal(42)
28-Rage: Rchrg(28), Rchrg(29), Tohit buff(34), Recharge(43), Tohit buff(46)
30-Stamina: End Rec(30), End Rec(31), End Rec(31)
32-Unstoppable: Rchrg(32), Rchrg(33), Rchrg(34), End rec(37)
35-Resist Physical Damage: Dmg res(35), Dmg res(36), Dmg res(36)
38-Footstomp: Acc(38), Dmg(39), Dmg(39), Dmg(39), End redux(40), Recharge(40)
41-Tough Hide: Defbuff(41), Defbuff(42), Defbuff(42)
44-Conserve Power: Rchrg(44), Rchrg(45), Rchrg(45)
47-Laser Beam Eyes: Acc(47), Dmg(48), Dmg(48), Dmg(48)
49-Hand Clap: Acc(49), Disorient(50), Disorient(50), Disorient(50)

Resists(approx):

S/L:66.6%
All other non-psi:27.6%

Unstoppable will be used a lot by us now it appears, the res is poor (S/L is tolerable) and Unstop will let us cap till it falls. I ran out of good places to put slots at some levels, so just stuck stuff wherever (one of the flaws of ED), which is why I stuck a 2nd recharge into Taunt.

Jab, Punch and LBE come back too fast and cost too little to bother slotting recharges/end reduxs in them, so that narrowed my choice for them as well. I did ponder sticking some def debuffs in LBE, but if it's 5% debuff, it's only 1% each anyway, so I gave Hand Clap more Stuns.

I cannot seem to get a copy onto test, so I went against a couple PI spawns on live. KO Blow really took a damage hit from this, although it still packs a wallop, especially with Rage. I was able to fight a couple groups, including a 50 Malta Tac Ops Commanders boss with 2 Hercules class Titans that of course formed into a Zeus after I damaged them both. I won with no real issue, but this was a very simple sample. I will give more feedback as I see what happens after I6 goes live (and any changes that occur).

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I didn't get to play in the event because I went to see DOOOOOOOM.

Could anybody tell me if the battle was swinging one way or another?

Were villains or heroes as a collective force winning the overall war?

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Generally speaking, the villains got trounced. I was in a few different iterations of the zone, and the heroes were almost always further along on the tug of war bar.

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I tried 2 different Villainesses for this thing, and a big issue with that was the villains I saw were not cooperating as well as the heroes. Heroes seemed to be far more cohesive and coordinated and villains were more chaotic and disorganized. Almost like the movies/books in a way.

Yes I felt it was very dull. I have had more fun sitting down than at the event.

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Lag has to be expected when you have three times as many people as any other server on (there were over 6000 people logged in) and nearly everyone of them is in Siren's Call.

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Of course. Although I was amazed we had even 1/10 as many as we did. I was in SC 15 on my MM at one point.

I have to agree with the OP. I hated PvP in other MMOs and this lag infested hell was no better. I wanted to take a look-see and wonder if CoH/CoV could do better than WoW or EQ's PvP, and it wasn't. Less lag would have helped but it still was dull and irritating.

Yeah MM and Brutes some too. I am loving MM a lot.

Not until they get the thigh boots currently not selectable with bottoms with skin! I can get some really nice looks, but I can't pick the thigh/tall boots unless I use a skirt or tucked in pants! If heroines will wear bikini bottoms with the seductive appeal of thigh boots, you bet villainesses will!

But seriously, I think it looks pretty good overall. The game does function well and is playable now. It should be even better as they patch more and more in the upcoming days. Some major total freeze-ups that crash me to desktop (although not very common it can be very frustrating), my weird first costume overwriting my 2nd on just the skirt (my MM had her first outfit with a mini-skirt to get thigh boots, since I could not get the boots with a bikini bottom. I went and made her second outfit with normal stilettos and a bikini bottom, but everytime I logged or zoned, the skirt from my first outfit overrode my bikini of my second. So not only are the thigh boots bugged for some outfits, but I had to change my first outfit to drop the skirt to stop overwriting my second one! I even tried fixing it twice to no avail, so stopped wasting inf on it), and some broken missions (like my one with the black pit 20 feet from the door), but overall decent. I do really want the boots issue fixed when you folks can. Must have my thigh boots with bottoms with skin again!

Well SR certianly needed something. I am not sure if this is exactly a best-fit, but something that could help them out (especially with ED looming on the horizon) is good. Ice could use some love as well while you folks are at it.

I had to ask about this though:
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I would suggest, however, not removing the flame-retarding longjohns until you deal with Ice Tankers and the perceived Nerf to Invuln Tankers

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Perceived? Losing (before this ED nonsense I might add) 50% resistance to Fire/Cold/Energy/Negative Energy (and that is only if you 6-slotted all our applicable res powers like I did. If not it's worse!) is certainly beyond simply 'perceived'. It's quite bloody obvious.

Well with the new enhancement diversification thing coming out I will have to rewrite the guide or append it here once we have some testing numbers. Hopefully we can still actually tank with this....thing.

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Here is a question, with the resists' getting gutted so much is even necessary to take them?... I am thinking of Resist elements and Resists energies? I am thinking of couple of presence powers for a "concept" as opposed to "the best" Inv./SS tanker you can get. (Which to me- you have clearly outlined.)


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I went for maximum damage mitigation. The passives are not very efficient right now, but I saw no alternative. You most certainly can forego them for other powers as you see fit.

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I was thinking of provoke instead of taunt, not as effective but would go into me getting invoke panic. Part of the concept I have- Just a thought.

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Provoke can still work, just lacks the auto-hit. The auto-hit is extremely handy of course, but Provoke can still work (or you can grab both!).

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Also does using hurdle and combat jumping cancel each other out? Jump kick would give me one more attack/damage power.

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Hurdle stacks with CJ. I used to haev Jump Kick but it's a long animation, it's up to you if feel it's a good fit. It;s not garbage but it is slow.

These numbers for Rage:
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Rage (click) Available at level 28:

Rage gives 120 seconds of +80% base damage and +66% accuracy to all attacks. When it crashes it makes end fall by 25%, makes you unable to attack for 10 seconds (I call it the NAP:Non-Activity-Period, term first used by WillyW), and gives a -10 (?) def debuff in that 0 second period.

Rage 3.0, as it is as of this writing is much better then Rage 2.0 was. I did some testing on 49-50 mobs, and was able to hold aggro in the NAP period. I still believe this power is better for soloing, but after my testing, I believe it can also work for groups. I used Taunt a lot, and let my Invincibilty aura hold aggro as well. As of now, I like Rage 3.0, if they do tweak it more, I will add to this. But I believe Rage has returned to being a useful tool for us.


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The +acc and +tohit, I don't remember where I got them from and they may very well be very much out of date. I know we had this parsed before, but I don't think to the +tohit is right, unsure of the +dmg.

Well I'll try to address your concerns.

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I want Fly as my travel power. I'd like Hasten.

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Easy to get Fly instead of SJ. Simply get Hover or AS instead of CJ, and Fly instead of SJ. In your build I see you have it. Travel power is basically up to personel preference. Hasten is harder to say really, it appears you chose it instead of Punch and it appears it's working for you.

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Now, I notice that you put no End Reducers in your attacks - do you find you have few Endurance problems, anyway?


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Pre-Stamina I ran end reducers in toggles (TI and Uy anyway) and in my attacks. I find I no longer need them however. When CP is down, I have to pause here and there soloing, but nothing dramatic. When I am teamed it matters less, since I am not sole damage dealer, fights end before end is a problem (barring end drain).

Your build is decent overall, but I would suggest to 6 slot KO Blow and Footstomp. These 2 powers are too good to do less. If you want to keep end reducers (not a bad idea) in them, try 5 dmg, 1 end redux and see how it goes for you. The slots for these? Well perhaps take some out of Fly or elsewhere. To max all damage mitigation is a lot of slots, but do not ignore your attacks, especially these 2.

If I had to rate quality of damage mitigation (which includes regenning health) I would say in this descending order for invuln:Invinc-TI-DP-Uy-TH/Health-R/El-R/En (R/El is slightly better than R/En due to it having Toxic res). But I left Health at 1 to save the slots and to maximize my AV tanking ability via Def+Res.

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You answered most of your questions yourself. The writing is on the wall, all their eggs in one basket as you put it. I5 was the beginning of the transition of turning CoH from a PvE based experience into one focused on the PvP aspects to be introduced with CoV.

A majority of future content, I would wager especially end game content, is meant to be player generated...ie:PvP.

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Erm. No. PvP will be an optional part of gameplay. Always.

The changes in I5 had very little to do with PvP and a lot to do with boring PvE. It's that simple. No conspiracy there - I think I've stated this several times.

As for the supposed "emphasis" on PvP - I think you'll see that it's just ONE part of City of Villains. It has PvE content levels 1 to 50.

We'll continue to add new PvE content (which I5 did exclusively, I might add) in the future.

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I do hope to see more and more fun PvE coming for both titles. I really love PvE and the only thing I like about PvP is avoiding it. So as long as you are adding it, but keep it optional as you have said, it's all good to go for me. I do not like the direction (Note: the direction, not against some kind of reduction, just the way it was reduced) that Invuln was cut but it's still playable and as long as I can continue to solo or team as I see fit, and can avoid PvP, I will be here for a long time to come.

My intense hatred of PvP aside, slotting RPD up (to rely on it's passive for toggle loss) even with +2s as I do with the other passives only yields a S/L resistance of:17.4%., or +9.9% over no slots. I don't know how much that would really help you all by itself.

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Its called taunt. 3 slotted. (distance, duration, recharge.)

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I never have had a problem with 1 slotted Taunt. I used to use 1 Taunt Duration but after I5's changes to it, I switched to 1 Recharge.

Back in the old days, I did have it slotted with 1 Taunt and 1 Range, but I never need the range anymore anyway. Taunt has a decent range as is.

Not that slotting it is wrong or bad, just that it's not required, simply an option.

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Jump Kick work just fine for keeping you having an attack chain at lower levels, just slot an endrdx and use it for its punchvoke effect really but to help fill that early attack chain too. But then I know you like your boom so maybe not.

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I actually used to have this attack. I liked the animation, but it's a sluggish attack due to the length of time it takes to complete. But I did in fact get it to supplement my Jab/Punch/Brawl days. It certainly is a viable option if people choose to take it.

Considering that CJ is cheap and gives a +jump, and I believe it does partially negate Uy's psi debuff (Even with the way defense has been revealed to work, I believe it does at least reduce the -5 debuff for psi, since TH and Invinc do not give a bonus vs psi. It's not a lot really, but I'll take it), I think CJ ends up a tad better overall as am SJ pre-req though. I don't feel that either choice is bad.

Well Hand Clap or Hurl can work. Hurl is slow but I do miss it's 'fun factor' at times. TP friend is never bad. Perhaps some other pool fits your concept/style?

Justice Blues hits it on the head. KO Blow, Haymaker, and Footstomp are our main attacks. I would focus on getting them as heavily slotted as you can. Rage is also very handy and extremely effective for upping our damage and helps acc too. I end up with 4 in Jab and Punch, I saw no reason to not slot them as much as I could since we end up using them so much.

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i did have a question about how much the difference is between 5 & 6 resist slots is, at least as far as playtesting-i have seen the numbers.

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For TI I take it? It's 30% S/L base. Each white SO is +6%. So 5 slotted would be 60%, 6 slotted 66% (that is with white SOs of course). TI is actually our only really efficient resist power these days.

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concerning rage, have you tried slotting an end redux to see if it lowers the cost of the drop?

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I have not personally. But I seem to recall some other Rage users stating they tried this and it doesn't work.

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also just as an fyi, clear mind or increase density applied as rage drops allows you to function normally as far as attacking & taunting, though the defence & end drop is unaffected.

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Interesting. Sounds quite handy!

Well let me go down the line here:

RPD:I would not recommend slotting it. If you 6-slot TI and Uy with +2 dmg res SOs you get 81.2% S/L res. RPD with just 1 +2 green SO dmg res in it puts you at 90.35%. Even just moving 2 slots out of RPD and cranking Uy and TI up to 6 each you can still move the other 2 slots in RPD elsewhere.

You may want to seriously consider putting dmg in your attacks over end reduc. End reducers in Jab and Punch do not help a lot (I used to have end reduces in all my attacks prior to I3).

Taunt is auto-hit, you do not need to put an acc in it. Also it costs no end to use. If you want it 2-slotted, try a recharge reducer and a taunt duration instead.


If you get a chance to respec , and want to keep a basically similiar build, I would advise (based on your desired build and having the slots of a level 36):


1-TI: 6 dmg res
1-Jab: 1 acc, 1 dmg
2-Punch: 1 acc, 1 dmg
4-DP: 3 heal, 2 recharge
6-R/El: 5 dmg res
8-Uy: 6 dmg res
10-Taunt: 1 recharge, 1 taunt duration
12-CJ: 1 defbuff
14-SJ: 1 jump
16-R/En: 5 dmg res
18-Invinc: 5 def buff, 1 (tohit buff or end reduc)
20-KO Blow: 1 acc, 2 dmg
22-Haymaker: 1 acc, 1 dmg
24-Swift: 1 run
26-TH: 4 defbuff
28-Health: 3 heal
30-Stamina: 3 end recov
32-Unstoppable: 1 recharge
35-RPD: 1 dmg res

This will give you capped S/L and keeps a rough symmetry to your old build. I do recommend slotting more into your attacks though. I can post a more offense oriented build for you if you like.

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1. Swift doesn't help your flight situation... i know lotz of peeps go with that if they are using flight. But u can't beat having a little jump boost while u're on the ground. You won't be flying all the time in a fight with the end drain on fly. Even if u do have conserver power cuz it will run out and then what?


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I don't think Grasp plans to fight in Fly all the time anyway. The choice of Swift/Health is largely personal preference anyway.

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2. Air superiority isn't worth the slots... us it to add to the knockdown of your other attacks as a filler and to knockout fliers.


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From a lot of Tankers that use AS that I have talked to, you either leave it alone or slot it. However, if you plan to use it fairly often, it only makes sense to slot it up since it will be more effective anyway.

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3. Teleport Foe is kinda a waste in this build as u have it since u can fly to them and air sup them outta the sky. If you're using it for runners you already have eye beams to pick em off... so they really cancel each other out. Drop Eyebeams if you want to go tp foe.


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Not sure on this. LBE is nice and I have not really used TP Foe.

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4. Resist Energies/Elements is a waste of slots in i5... you won't get a good return on that 10 slot investment. If things get rough...see entry #5.



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Not as efficent as they should be, but neither are they a waste. If you don't plan to unstop a lot (and I have only used it 2 times since I5), the small but helpful +res can keep you steady tanking over the roller-coaster of unstop. These passives become critical when tanking AVs as well. This guide is based on heavy defensive slotting and slotting the passives (barring RPD which I would say to get and 1 slot it, just to cap S/L res) is not as good as it was, but it has been effective for me in many hours of tests.

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5. UNSTOPPABLE... is major mandatory in i5 in order to cap all res. In fact, it's good enough with unyleilding that u don't even need to take resist elements/energies. And resist elements is only worth a small look since the toxic resistance was moved from dull pain to it.

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I have never seen DP with Toxic res in it for Invuln Tankers. It was only in Unstop and Uy prior to I5 for us. Now after I5 it is in Unstop, Uy, and R/El. Unstop+Uy can cap, or you can slot dmg res in unstop (70% base afterall).

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7. Unstoppable... 6 recharge... no exceptions....u'll come to rely on his power in the arena or in non S/L fights.... u get 3 minutes of go nuts and only 60 to 70 sec (or so) of down time before it's up again with hasten to go stupid again with the best res you can hope for in i5.

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You most certainly do not need to 6 slot Unstop with recharge. If you need (note:need as opposed to want) unstop that much you are having serious issues. Invinc+TI+UY+passives will carry you quite far. I have only needed unstop 2 entire times since I5 has been live, and both to multiple Sappers. My 2nd post here in this guide highlights my experiences with the exact build in the guide. And the Arena is a farce anyway, so is not relevant here.


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8. hand clap i wouldn't really choose cuz when u need them on you tight for invincibility to do it's job properly...u have less defense to range which gives the mob an advantage over your protection. Also, since u have foot stomp that move totally disrupts your opposition by knockin em off their feet anyways. You would also have unstoppable if things really hit the fan!

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Hand Clap is mostly for stunning mobs and getting them off teammates. It requires thought to know when to use or not use it, but it can be handy if used well. It certainly can ruin a well set up melee group for Invinc if used at a bad time.

Edit: The passive resists are definately still too low, but I have been doing ok (not real happy with the current Invuln, but ok) with this build and not a lot of change to tactics.

Looks solid. The only real change I would say would help with slotting is to cut 1 of the recharges from Rage. Sans Hasten it is perma with 3 +2 SOs. You could drop the fourth recharge and have an extra slot to move where you like.

Very nice build. And you sneak Stamina in a bit earlier which is good.

I would reverse KO Blow and Haymaker though. Get KO Blow at 22 and Haymaker at 26 would be a quick and easy swap and would let you get KO Blow earlier.


And I forgot to mention about Rage. I have it slotted with just 2 recharges (+2 greens. Prior to I5 I ahd 2 +2 green recharges and a +2 green tohit buff in it. since I don't run it perma. Why? It's due to the fact that I don't always need that extra damage but the crash could be devastating. I prefer to turn it on when I think I will need it, and let it ride if not. With my recharge set-up in Rage, the downtime from the Rage NAP is approximately the same as the recharge time. I can still run it close to perma- if I want (and I DO use it a lot), but it let's me decide when and where I turn it on. There are times when I really do NOT want to suddenly lose 20 end and be unable to attack/taunt.

Grrr.

Why is it I find all the the typos after the edit time has expired?

This one I noticed is particularly annoying:

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Level 32 Tough hide (TH): 6 def buff (34,36,37,40,43)


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It should be:

Level 32 Tough hide (TH): 6 def buff (32,34,36,37,40,43)

And of course Unstoppable is now 180 seconds active and 1000 seconds default recharge.