Justaris

Ageless Radial Epiphany is a pretty good answer for that, however.

I would usually recommend that you make your own build for revision, but since you can't get Mids working that's not an option. I've posted two builds below- one for solo and one for team play. I would very much recommend having a team play build even if you just slot it with SOs for now and get the Invention Sets later.

As for PvP, while Cold Domination's Benumb is very powerful, the damage-over-time nature of Dark Blast may be problematic for you there. You may find a good niche in team PvP, but generally burst damage tends to be preferred and if you intend to solo PvP you may not be as strong a competitor as others.

It's good that you've provided guidelines on what you're after here. Generally speaking damage bonuses from Inventions aren't all that stellar, but I've come up with a high-Defense, high-accuracy build for you with decent ToHit Debuff as well. The first build below is a solo build without the shield powers, with almost everything you asked for. I put Mace Mastery in for Scorpion Shield, which kept you from getting Power Build Up. The second build is a more team-friendly build that's less offensive but contributes more in a group. Hope you find it helpful!

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.96
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

SOLO BUILDl: Level 50 Technology Defender
Primary Power Set: Cold Domination
Secondary Power Set: Dark Blast
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Infrigidate -- AnWeak-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx(A), P'ngTtl-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(21)
Level 1: Dark Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(48)
Level 2: Snow Storm -- P'ngTtl-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(A), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(5)
Level 4: Gloom -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(45), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 8: Moonbeam -- ExecCtrt-Acc/Dmg(A), ExecCtrt-Dmg/EndRdx(11), ExecCtrt-Dmg/ActRdx(11), ExecCtrt-Dmg/Rng(15), ExecCtrt-Dmg/Rchg(23), ExecCtrt-Stun%(23)
Level 10: Super Speed -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 12: Arctic Fog -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(13), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(13), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(17), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(19), RctvArm-ResDam(19)
Level 14: Aid Other -- IntRdx-I(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(17)
Level 16: Tenebrous Tentacles -- OvForce-Acc/Dmg(A), OvForce-End/Rech(37), OvForce-Acc/Dmg/End(39), OvForce-Dmg/End/Rech(40), OvForce-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(42), SipInsght-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 18: Benumb -- Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(21), RechRdx-I(31), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 20: Night Fall -- SDefendersB-Acc/Dmg(A), SDefendersB-Dmg/Rchg(37), SDefendersB-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), SDefendersB-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), SDefendersB-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), SDefendersB-Rchg/Heal%(42)
Level 22: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def(25), Ksmt-ToHit+(25)
Level 24: Tactics -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(27), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(27), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(29), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(29), GSFC-Build%(31)
Level 26: Sleet -- ShldBrk-DefDeb(A), ShldBrk-Acc/DefDeb(33), ShldBrk-Acc/Rchg(33), ShldBrk-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(33), ShldBrk-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(34), AnWeak-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx(34)
Level 28: Torrent -- SipInsght-Acc/ToHitDeb(A), SipInsght-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(43), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(43), OvForce-Dam/KB(46)
Level 30: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Heat Loss -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(34), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(36), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(36), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(36), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(37)
Level 35: Life Drain -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 38: Aid Self -- IntRdx-I(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(39)
Level 41: Kick -- FrcFbk-Rechg%(A)
Level 44: Tough -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(45)
Level 47: Scorpion Shield -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def(48), LkGmblr-Rchg+(48)
Level 49: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def(50), LkGmblr-Rchg+(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(5)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), P'Shift-EndMod(3), P'Shift-End%(3)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon
Level 50: Cryonic Core Final Judgement
Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface
Level 50: Ageless Radial Epiphany
Level 50: Support Core Embodiment
------------
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 8% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 8% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 8% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 8% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 8% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 8% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 8% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 8% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 5.5% Defense(Melee)
• 4.25% Defense(Smashing)
• 4.25% Defense(Lethal)
• 5.5% Defense(Fire)
• 5.5% Defense(Cold)
• 19.56% Defense(Energy)
• 19.56% Defense(Negative)
• 3% Defense(Psionic)
• 19.25% Defense(Ranged)
• 8% Defense(AoE)
• 10% Enhancement(Range)
• 32% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 8% Enhancement(Heal)
• 37.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 14% SpeedFlying
• 99.19 HP (9.75%) HitPoints
• 14% JumpHeight
• 14% SpeedJumping
• Knockback (Mag -4)
• Knockup (Mag -4)
• MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
• MezResist(Held) 5.25%
• MezResist(Immobilized) 3.6%
• MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%
• MezResist(Stunned) 2.5%
• MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%
• 14.5% (0.24 End/sec) Recovery
• 52% (2.2 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 3.13% Resistance(Cold)
• 14% SpeedRunning
• 2.5% XPDebtProtection

------------
Set Bonuses:
Thunderstrike
(Dark Blast)

• 2% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
• 2.5% Defense(Energy,Negative), 1.25% Defense(Ranged)
• 7% Enhancement(Accuracy)

Thunderstrike
(Gloom)

• 2% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
• 2.5% Defense(Energy,Negative), 1.25% Defense(Ranged)
• 7% Enhancement(Accuracy)

Executioner's Contract
(Moonbeam)

• 2% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
• 3.13% Resistance(Cold)
• 2.5% XPDebtProtection
• MezResist(Held) 2.75%
• 3.13% Defense(Ranged), 1.56% Defense(Energy), 1.56% Defense(Negative)

Blessing of the Zephyr
(Super Speed)

• Knockback (Mag -4), Knockup (Mag -4)

Luck of the Gambler
(Arctic Fog)

• 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)

Steadfast Protection
(Arctic Fog)

• 3% Defense(Melee), 3% Defense(AoE), 3% Defense(Ranged), 3% Defense(Smashing), 3% Defense(Lethal), 3% Defense(Fire), 3% Defense(Cold), 3% Defense(Energy), 3% Defense(Negative), 3% Defense(Psionic)

Reactive Armor
(Arctic Fog)

• MezResist(Immobilized) 1.1%
• 1.25% Defense(Energy,Negative), 0.63% Defense(Ranged)

Overwhelming Force
(Tenebrous Tentacles)

• 12% (0.51 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 3% DamageBuff(All)
• 15.26 HP (1.5%) HitPoints
• 2.5% Defense(Energy,Negative), 1.25% Defense(Ranged)

Superior Defender's Bastion
(Night Fall)

• 30.52 HP (3%) HitPoints
• 10% Enhancement(Range)
• 8% Enhancement(Heal)
• 5% Defense(Ranged), 2.5% Defense(Energy), 2.5% Defense(Negative)
• 10% Enhancement(RechargeTime)

Luck of the Gambler
(Maneuvers)

• 10% (0.42 HP/sec) Regeneration

Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control
(Tactics)

• 5% SpeedJumping, 5% JumpHeight, 5% SpeedFlying, 5% SpeedRunning
• 19.08 HP (1.88%) HitPoints
• 2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery
• 2.5% DamageBuff(All)
• 2.5% Defense(Melee), 1.25% Defense(Lethal), 1.25% Defense(Smashing), 2.5% Defense(Ranged), 1.25% Defense(Energy), 1.25% Defense(Negative), 2.5% Defense(AoE), 1.25% Defense(Fire), 1.25% Defense(Cold)

Shield Breaker
(Sleet)

• 2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery
• Status Resistance 2.5%
• 2.5% Defense(AoE), 1.25% Defense(Fire), 1.25% Defense(Cold)
• 11% Enhancement(Accuracy)

Siphon Insight
(Torrent)

• 4% SpeedJumping, 4% JumpHeight, 4% SpeedFlying, 4% SpeedRunning

Efficacy Adaptor
(Heat Loss)

• 11.45 HP (1.13%) HitPoints
• 1.5% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
• 10% (0.42 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 2.5% DamageBuff(All)
• 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)

Thunderstrike
(Life Drain)

• 2% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
• 2.5% Defense(Energy,Negative), 1.25% Defense(Ranged)
• 7% Enhancement(Accuracy)

Luck of the Gambler
(Scorpion Shield)

• 10% (0.42 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 11.45 HP (1.13%) HitPoints
• 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)

Luck of the Gambler
(Weave)

• 10% (0.42 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 11.45 HP (1.13%) HitPoints
• 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)

Performance Shifter
(Stamina)

• 5% SpeedJumping, 5% JumpHeight, 5% SpeedFlying, 5% SpeedRunning

I notice three of your slots aren't applied in this build - not sure if that was an oversight, but I've got ahead and used them as I'm looking things over. You're very close to S/L softcap here and can easily get there with a little tweaking. Feeback in no particular order:

1) Enhancement Boosters - do you have access to them? You could squeeze a bit more out of the Defense powers that way.

2) Weave underslotted. This is the best of the Defense-granting pool powers, you want to slot it accordingly. I was able to get you within half a percentage point of S/L softcap just by adding slots to Weave.

3) Aside from the Kinetic Combats, much of your attack slotting doesn't seem to be contributing to the goal of building Defense. If the goal here is survivability first, you may want to consider sets which help you by adding more typed Defense. Eradication sets for Energy/Negative Defense, for instance.

One more week left for submissions on this - looking forward to seeing what people come up with.

Can't really speak to Dual Blades - I have a couple Tankers with the set but no Brutes. I can't see any real problem with DB/Elec other than the lack of a +Def power in DB, but that's true of any primary other than TW or Staff. I usually build for +Defense bonuses with Electric Armor, which is why I mention it.

As for Fire/Dark, it's got thematic synergy but not much game synergy which is likely why you don't see it as much - Dechs Kaison remarked of his Dark/Fire tanker that he wished he'd taken something other than fire because fire melee didn't really offer him any synergy and the same holds true here. It's not a bad combo certainly, but often people either look for +Def powers or endurance management powers when pairing with Dark Armor and Fiery Melee doesn't have either.

So as for Fire/Dark, it's not a bad combo, it's just that other combos may be more attractive for one reason or another, hence you see fewer Fire/Darks.

For future reference, it's usually better to make your own thread for this sort of thing, since people may not check an existing thread for a new person's help request in the same way. You can also get into trouble for necro-posting if you add onto a thread that is very old (not a problem here, but bears mentioning).

That said, here's some feedback on the build you posted:

1) You're using several purples in this build but on other powers you're not using any Invention Sets at all, so the build is a bit uneven and there's a lot of room for improvement here. Overall, your first priority should be Defense. Right now you don't have any direction on this, you're kind of building all forms of Defense more or less equally. This is not a good approach.

You should choose one of two approaches - typed or positional. Positional generally is harder to do and requires more sacrifices to reach, but is more effective. Nearly all attacks in the game have a type and a position and the game uses whatever Defense value you have that is higher when doing calculations. For example, if a guy throws a melee Fire attack at you, the game will use your melee defense OR your fire defense, whichever is higher. This is why building for everything isn't a good idea - you want to go one way or the other. Your target should be 45% - either 45% Smashing/Lethal/Energy/Negative (the most common types) or 45% Melee/Ranged/AOE (the three positions). Don't get too crazy with purples as they aren't that great for defense bonuses - once you hit your Set Bonus goals you can come back and add in purples here and there where you can for more damage and recharge.

If damage is a bigger concern for you than survivability, you might be happier making a Dark/Dark Brute instead of a Tanker (assuming you haven't already started playing your tank). Now to touch on specific areas I'd look at in the build:

2) Consider Reactive Armor for your resistance-based armor powers (Dark Embrace, Murky Cloud, Obsidian Shield, Tough), as it offers good Defense bonuses if you choose to go the Typed route. Consider Titanium Coating or Aegis if going Positional.

3) Cloak of Darkness is overslotted - you can make better use of those slots elsewhere. I wouldn't go beyond two or three slots total here as you are way over ED caps with five-slotting.

4) You have 8 points of KB protection. In general, 4 points will protect you against most of the KB in the game. 8 points will not save you from much that 4 points wouldn't have also covered. You want either 4 points or 12 points, and for a Tanker I recommend 12 points. I'd find room for another -KB IO. You could put a Karma into Cloak of Darkness, for instance.

5) Siphon Life is a very good single-target attack in addition to being a self-heal. Since you're Dark/Dark and already have the most powerful self-heal in the game in Dark Regeneration, I recommend slotting Siphon Life more like an attack.

6) Dark Regeneration needs more slots! This is a key Dark Armor power and it needs good slotting for accuracy, endurance reduction and recharge. Having the Theft of Essence proc there is a good start, but this is still very under-enhanced. I usually at least five-slot this, if not six-slot.


That should be a start. This build seems unfinished in many places, and I'd be happy to offer further feedback as you develop it. I'm sure plenty of other folks around here would do the same.

Properly built and played, I'd say the closest thing to a tank-mage is still a Warshade. You can also put out very good damage but not get quite as survivable with a Crab variant Soldier of Ararchnos. Tanker damage scalars are always going to hold back damage potential even on high-damage secondaries, it's part of the balance that grants Tankers such high survivability.

It's also entirely possible that the players joining may not know what a mission is at all, or may be used to running Death from Below trials. I find lately it's partly people in the know wanting to know what you're doing and partly people very new to the game who don't understand how missions work very well (or at all).

You've already received some good advice and some very workable builds in this thread, so I'll just add my 0.02 worth of experience and reassurance to the mix.

Once you get your Tanker outfitted with 45% S/L/E/N typed defenses and get a Theft of Essence +End proc, you're going to see a phenomenal improvement in your survivability. Dark Armor is actually in an odd position balance-wise since most of the drawbacks to playing a DA tank are also things that can be patched or eliminated with the Inventions system. The result, if you're willing to go for a high-end build, is an extremely powerful character. If you take the character all the way through the incarnate process, the Ageless destiny power also bears mentioning, as it is your ticket to getting significant Defense Debuff Resistance so that your IO Set Defense numbers don't suffer from cascading failure.

My first DA tank is now my go-to tank for anything. He's more useful than my Stone and more survivable than anything else I've played, and regularly out-tanks other Tankers playing more 'traditional' tank powersets like Stone or Invuln (those are strong sets too, but their weaknesses aren't as easy to patch with IOs). I've got three DA tanks now and I'll likely roll up more in the future. It's a fantastic powerset.

It would help to know what your priorities and goals are with this build, Igneos, but I do see a number of things I'd bring up as someone who also has multiple */WM tanks at 50.

1) Absolutely agree about getting Shatter in the build. It's a great attack and not something I would skip. I recommend skipping Pulverize instead, as previously mentioned.

2) Rise to the Challenge is very underslotted. This is one of the key Willpower powers and I would free up more slots to invest here.

3) Not bothering with Smashing/Lethal Defense... why not? It's the most common damage type in the game, and it sounds the decision not to softcap S/L was a deliberate one. I don't really understand the reasoning behind that decision.

4) Gladiator's Armor: +3% Defense. You're already using Panacea and Shield Wall (the latter of which I'm not sure is really doing you much good, but that's your choice), so it looks like you can afford an expensive build. I'd work in the Glad proc to get some more Defense across the board.

5) Indomitable Will could use a bit more love in enhancing the Psionic Defense (or at the very least, a +5 in boosters on the LOTG you have slotted there). This power is a big part of why Willpower traditionally does fairly well against psi and you'll want to give it a bit more enhancing to get that performance out of the build.

Would help to know a bit more about your build (ideally, to see a Mids build if you have one made). That said, here's a very simplistic primer for you (keep in mind this is a generalization and as such there can and will be exceptions).

Ageless - gives you additional recharge, always nice for a Brute, and would be my automatic first choice if you're building Defense from IO Sets in any significant quantity. If you're not using Sets or if you're going for more of a recharge-intensive build then Rebirth might be a better option. The Ageless Radial path offers Defense Debuff Resistance, which I take on all my melee chaacters who have any sginificant Defense from IO Sets. It's invaluable. If you've got a 32.5% or a softcap Defense IO build, I recommend this.

Barrier - good if you think you need the boost to survivability or if you want to rez nearby allies. If you're using a higher-end IO build then you probably don't need Barrier, but if you're on SOs it might be a huge help to you. How often do you die? If you're frequently having close calls and rely on killing things before they kill you, this might give you some additional margin for error.

Rebirth - if you choose this, take the Radial path. The additional regeneration can be very handy especially if you already have large amounts of Resistance and Defense to stack it on top of. ELA is a resist-based set and offers strong resists when fully slotted. If you're surviving just fine and you don't have a lot of Defense from IOs, I would go for a Rebirth Radial.

Again that's general thoughts, but I hope it helps.

I don't see anything too distressing in this build given what I'm gathering from your post are your design goals. You're giving up some of your survivability and tanking ability here in trade for being able to put out a higher level of sustainable damage. If that's accurate, then I think this build should work well.

Personally, I would want Taunt much earlier and better-slotted if I were going to tank much on this build as I have doubts about your ability to hold aggro without it even with relatively high damage output. Given that you've set your bonuses to level 35 (even though you plan to examplar with a different build??, that confused me), it stands to reason that you may be without Taunt entirely when you do this. That's the one major criticism I have for this build.

You could push your survavability further, of course, but that would likely come at the expense of your damage output so I'm not sure that's a decision you want to make.

Overall, a workable build for the goals given.

I have to say, I am surprised to hear that the WP tank was getting creamed by Carnies, and to me that really sounds like a build issue. As others have already said, it would really help to see what builds you're working with on both these characters.

If you're not already using Mids, you can export to it using Titan Sentinel so we can see what you're working with in-game. That should provide most of the answers.

I also play almost exclusively using the keyboard and have a similar setup to what Claws describes above. I just wanted to add that when you target a teammate and then use an attack power, you attack whatever that teammate is targeting. Many times other players may be using this trick to target through you as the tank, but it can also be handy to taunt something off a Blaster in over his head without needing to tab or click to find his target. Happy tanking!

The biggest thing that strikes me about this build is the lack of recharge slotting in Recovery Aura - this is one of Empathy's signature buffs along with Fort and AB, and you want it up as often as possible. Speaking of Fortitude, you generally want to prioritize recharge, defense and tohit in that order for Fort since most people take care of their accuracy issues on their own - so I'd recommend more Defense slotting there.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking of yourself as a 'healer' - it's the buffs that are really going to make you an asset especially in the middle to late game (and it's the buffs that are the reason all-Empath teams steamroll through content the way they do).

This should really have been in the Suggestions Forum

As far as the idea itself, SGs are one of the few reasons to remain based on a particular side (Hero/Vigilante vs Villain/Rogue). Given that blueside tends to be more popular across the board for the most part, you have to consider that making SGs cross-faction like this would not be good news for people trying to build up redside.

That's assuming that this option would even be possible to offer to existing SGs. I for one am not about to start my SG over from scratch after sinking years of work into it just so it can be cross-faction. Coalitions between hero and villain SGs also don't really seem to make much in-game sense, though I can see how that would be handy for players who are on the opposite faction from where most of their resources are located.

Overall, I'd have to say I disagree with this notion. I can see how it might be wanted by some, but it just goes against the spirit of what SGs are supposed to be in my opinion. You don't see the Justice League making friends with the Legion of Doom, after all.

I'll just throw in another vote for Dark Armor, though Dechs pretty much laid out the reasons. I'll just say that it's by far my favorite Tanker. Well, Tankers, since I have two and will probably make a third DA tank soon.

Looks good. I'd recommend Achilles Heel: Chance for -Res over the Lady Grey proc in Laser Beam Eyes, but that's the only thing I think I'd suggest changing. Alternatively, if Laser Beam Eyes isn't working well for your concept, you can always obtain that E/N Defense by three-slotting Eradication in Soul Transfer.

The Force Feedback proc is nice when it works, but think of it as an occasional bonus rather than something you build around. Not a bad choice to put in Fault, just don't count on it always firing.

That's about all I've got. It sounds like you have access to at least some Enhancement Boosters - I encourage you to go nuts with those, especially on the sets that cap out at lower levels like Eradication or Kinetic Combat. Also very good for your 1-slot or 2-slot powers like Build Up and Conserve Power, and for milking just a bit more Defense out of each of your Defense powers. I dropped a ton of those things into my DA build. It worked very well before the Boosters, but they made a noticeable difference.

With regard to Cloak of Darkness: No, the stealth will suppress but the Defense values will not change while in combat (Source). Tactically, Cloak of Darkness is very handy for managing aggro since it helps you to avoid aggoring something accidentally. It's also very handy for stealthing since all you need is a Stealth IO in Sprint combined with it to give you full PvE invisibility.

Combat Jumping is still underslotted for Defense - a single 50+5 Defense IO there will put you very nearly at the E/N softcap. With a few more boosters to your existing slotting you can reach that goal fairly easily. I don't know how many Enhancement Boosters you have ready access to (you can buy them directly off the market and anyone who's opened a fair number of Super Packs probably has a few). If that's a no-go for you, simply freeing up two slots for CJ instead of one should accomplish much the same result. I took a slot from Stone Fist for CJ, you could potentially take one from Heavy Mallet as well if you opt to add two slots there.

This should be an extremely survivable build. As for holding aggro, between Death Shroud, OG and Taunt you should be able to hold aggro very nicely even with a great deal of DPS incoming from your teammates - just keep in mind that there are maximum aggro limits. When I lose aggro it's generally because the spawns under fire are more numerous than the aggro target limit will allow me to control. This is where the mez auras really come in handy, and OG is my favorite of the two. I use Soul Mastery rather than Energy Mastery for Darkest Night, for two reasons. First, the ToHit Debuff from Darkest Night stacks directly with Defense for extra survivability. Second, debuffs have high threat value, so a toggle debuff anchor also helps me to maintain aggro.

You might play around with this for a bit and estimate how heavily you are relying on Conserve Power. If you can do without it, Soul is a strong choice.

Some feedback in no particular order:

1) I agree that Dark Regeneration could use a bit more slotting. You have the ToE proc, which is a very good start, but more accuracy, recharge and endurance would be helpful here. Don't worry about enhancing the heal, it's powerful enough out of the box.

2) You have seven 1.25% Energy/Negatibve Defense bonuses in this build, and only five can count under the Rule of Fives. I suggest you drop Cleaving Blow out of Death Shroad and Soul Transfer and use those slots elsewhere in the build.

3) I don't agree with the placement of the Might of the Tanker +Res proc in Dark Regen. I suggest you place it in Death Shroud instead.

4) Combat Jumping is underslotted for Defense.

5) Switching to a full six-slotted Stupefy in Fault will get you more Energy/NegEnergy Defense.

6) This one's a matter of taste as some would argue against another toggle in a build like this, but I recommend Maneuvers to add another Defense power into the mix. By doing this you can easily soft-cap your Defense to S/L/E/N damage in combination with the other changes I've suggested. I would drop one of your travel powers (either SS or SJ) for this.

7) With the other changes, you have more than enough S/L defense, so you can reduce the slotting on Taunt. I'd go with two Taunt/Recharge/Range IOs and a Taunt/Recharge IO. You can add in the chance for psy damage proc if you want.

8) Last but not least, I'd question the choice of Alpha in Spiritual. You're already running Hasten and playing with slotting on Dark Regen I have its rechage below ten seconds when Hasten is up, and at around 13 seconds when it is down. This is without Spiritual. Spiritual gets you an extra 1.5 seconds when Hasten is down and an extra second when Hasten is up, and isn't enough by itself to make Hasten perma.

Personally, I feel that the Recharge, Stun and Heal benefits you're getting from Spiritual are not as helpful as other Alpha options would be for this build. The Heal you quite frankly just don't need, Dark Regen is powerful enough to cover you without enhancement of any kind. The Recharge is of course always helpful, but you're already running Hasten and for a build with a goal of extreme survivability there are better ways to go. The Stun is nice for Fault and OG, making Spiritual a better choice for a Dark/Stone than it might be for other secondaries.

That's the case for Spiritual. For the goals you outlined, however, I'd recommend a Resistance-boosting Alpha instead to synergize with your softcapped Defenses. For this you have two options. The first is Cardiac, which has the very attractive additional benefit of applying endurance reduction across the board. The range boost can also be moderately helpful for Taunt. The other Resistance option is Resilient, which gives better Resistance numbers but at the cost of not really giving you much else. With some enhancement boosters on your Reactive Armors in Dark Embrace and Tough, you can get within half a percent of S/L resist cap this way.

My recommendation would be to tinker with the build and see if you can run with Maneuvers in addition to the other toggles and with your normal attack chain and see how you do on endurance. Cardiac if you need the help, Resilient if you don't. My DA tank runs Resilient.

9) Additional Incarnate Powers - I'd also like to take a moment to mention the Ageless Radial Epiphany power in the Destiny line, which gives Defense Debuff Resistance, a weakness for characters who reach the softcap via IOs. Using Ageless will protect you from having your Defense stripped away by debuffs. I have mine set to autofire instead of Hasten.

You'd likely be better served posting this in the Technical section as they're usually better able to troubleshoot things like this. Off the top of my head, I'd make sure that you have any firewall, antivirus or other gatekeeping software set to permit the NCSoft Launcher and City of Heroes to run and access the internet. Depending on your operating system, Windows itself might be the problem. Another option might be to uninstall and reinstall the launcher. If you've tried all that already, try the folks in the Tech forum.

Here's a link to said forum section: LINK

There is a Defense cap, but realistically you don't need to worry about reaching it in the same way as you might want to reach the Resistance cap. You'll see players talking about 'hard cap' and 'soft cap'. Soft cap refers specifically to Defense (usually) and refers to the fact that the game has a minimum chance to hit for NPCs - as a consequence, once your Defense reaches this level, any further Defense is ineffective except as a bulwark against debuffs.

For most content, the Defense softcap is 45% and that's generally what you should be aiming for. In Incarnate content the enemies have a higher tohit, which adjusts the numbers so that the Incarante softcap becomes 59%. When talking Defense, softcap calculations tend to be more practically useful.