Lacrymosa

Some armor's are very Taunt aura heavy, and by some I mean Dark Armor and Ice Armor. Those two are extremely taunt aura heavy, others are not. Invul has Invincibility, Fire has Blazing Aura, WP has Rttc, Stone has Mudpots, and Electric armor will have Lightning Field. My point is that all armors come with one or more taunt aura's. And yet I still take taunt, for either stray mobs or perma aggro, also makes a good mob pull device. I never frown on taunt. Plus as a tank your never going to pull the DpS numbers of blasters and scrappers.

I was one of the old AR/Devs back in the day, I never loved it. I tried but Devices ruined all Synergy I was hoping for. In terms of damage Trip mine and Time Bomb are devastating, but unfortunately are very solo friendly as you cannot throw them at said mob or trigger their explosion. Saying Devices is a solo set is an understatement. That being said, its a love hate relationship. Once you hit high enough levels, the sure strength of an entire team will make using your caltraps and mines, obsolete. You can still run in and "alpha" with the tmine but its still and issue I dislike.

With all that in consideration, know that if you pick AR/Dev, you will have access to no Build up type powers. So I would advise for a "better" secondary. EM makes you the "king of cones" making your Full Auto hit more foes which is very nice. Its obviously very strong, and focus's on single target damage. Its just a very fun and fast powerset early on.

If the "pom pom's" arent your thing, try fire melee.

Bots have more defense then say "human" pets. And come with a snipe...on that note, bots have Mez protection which I myself enjoy. Though If you want overkill....Thugs is the vert definition of the word. At the same time , people choose anything that blasts these days, as going into melee is just plain dumb. I roll my Nin/Dark from time to time and just hate it when they decide to melee every little thing. Of course it comes with the territory, YMMV.

Lastly, you don't see many Zombie MM's as their the weakest, Mercs are pure Ranged(more so than Thugs) so its a very famous set. Currently I'm rolling a Thugs/Poison, and a Bot/Traps, both of which are great EB killers.

Really anything WP and Granite are "win" tanks. Even without Io's WP tanks rival with survivability with Granite's. I have both at lvl 50 and really enjoy tanking anything. Did the STF with both (easier with the granite for obvious reasons). Honestly I will never understand the people who complain about the penalty, didn't get Teleport?, but I digress.

If you wish to drain and AV with a tank, I salute you....because you will pretty much be hitting a "wall" that doesn't break. As for AoE dmg I would go with Pyre mastery, Melt Armor + Fireball. It's not outstanding dmg but if you want to "feel" like win, then by all means. ELM is pretty weak by itself, (Excluding Brute Rage) so imagine with the -dmg penalty of Granite. If indeed you wish to End drain foes, I would suggest EA/ELM, it obviously synergizes.

Besides that, Granite(32+) and WP's(30+) are, "I don't die" tanks.

You should have seen the I1-I4 days of Tanking, especially fire tanks. Burning Lusca down in mere minutes...

In terms of End sapping, I would go with Ice/Elec. Or Fire/Elec due to Consume. In terms of synergy, I would go with DM for the Dark Consumption end drain and the heal (Siphon Life). If indeed it is an End Drain monster you wish to have, I would go with Elec/DM.

Its comes with seven toggles, how is the total end drain of running even five of them seem ?overrated"?. And you even mention using Tough, a total of eight toggles....yeah I'm sure you won't notice the end drain. -.-

Secondly you get Dark Regeneration at level Eight. It's pretty much, THE way of life for lvls 8-22. Not to mention the cool down can be reduced to 15 secs. I don't know what you were doing at level 8, but I can be sure it wasn't taking on huge mobs without Dark Regen.

You know if its anything Energy Melee, im gonna give it an A+, but for Dark Armor, I'm going to have to respectuflly disagree with you Talen. DA suffers from tons of end drainage. Seven toggles arent exactly stam friendly, so synergizing with DM would be fitting for the Dark Consumption power. Though any AT can be coupled with anything, its really how comfortable you wish to be. I say go with DM for the health and end mitigation, or stone for the aoe stun locks (fault and tremor), gives you time to heal or deal some dmg.

I do agree _Force_, many tanks when paired with another will unconciously compete. On the flip side I have teamed with "weaker" tanks that allow me to lead and provide added dmg. More "mature" players will accept certain definitives and use rational to either, lead or be lead. Another factor could be the server and how new the players are. Though with dual spec, matters of such, shouldn't really be a problem. Yet I still see many Tanks trying to out perform each other "I'm the better one!" "Look at my furrows of worry, I better tank harder".

One of the dramatic characteristics of experience is being with another person and suddenly seeing the ways in which they are like you, not different from you, and experiencing the fact that which is essence in you, and which is essence in me, is indeed ONE, the understanding that there is no other, it is all one.

On that note, I wish many people followed the general idea that being competitive is just a fallacy provided by ego. I never have a problem with another tank on a team. I usually lead the team so I choose the "lead tank". Though in my own defense I switch lead tanks to make it "fair". Though I have run into some very experienced tanks that now switch to their "scrank" build whenever theres already a lead Tank.

My comfortable nature with the same AT as one I'm playing is probably due to playing with and along side a Kheldian. I was either another scrapper for the attack bonus or another tank for defense bonus. I saw the "need to compete" as trivial as we all want ONE thing....levels.

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Ah yes... here we have one of the many "Talking Heads" that are so infamous on the forums that are under the belief that Brutes cannot tank. To you, I can only say... well, nothing really. It's not worth the effort to try to convince you. I do frequently play on large teams with my WM/Elec Brute, however. As for "mediocre resists"... if you consider roughly 80% S/L (with tough), 55% F/C, 90%E, 55%Neg, and 50% Psi resist (rough estimates, mind you) to be "mediocre", then I don't know what to tell you. They're better than most other tanks' resistances.

As for tanking Hamidon on a LGTF... why on earth were you jumping when all you need to do is taunt? You did have teammates, right? Let me guess.. you don't have taunt on your Brute because Brutes aren't Tanks.

Suffice to say, I have no problems tanking for large teams on my /Elec Brute. Maybe it's a matter of playstyle, maybe it's a matter of mitigation via my primary (WarMace); regardless it's pretty shortsighted to say that /Elec (Elec/ for Tankers) is poor for large teams. Many people have demonstrated time and time again that pretty much any primary/secondary combination in the game can be made viable. If you don't like Electric Armor, please don't play it.

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Not only QFT but pretty accurate as well, I love my elec/elec Brute. And I pretty much treat him like a tank (taunt included).

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A bit confident, are we?

I'm curious as to the effect that the lessened amount of -Res hero-side will have on the set's overall survivability, not to mention the increase in Res amounts due to being ported to the Tanker AT. On a Brute, you're getting holes knocked through your armor all the time thanks to Longbow and Arachnos. Aside from the few enemy groups heroes can fight that deal sonic damage (are there even any?) and toxic damage, an Electric Armor user is going to have their defenses tested much less than villains who use the set. In my humble, yet-unable-to run-actual-playtests opinion.

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The same could be said about Dark Armor. Some imagined it would be "tougher" resistance wise, till you play it and realize that you rather role a fire in its place. Regardless it will be a fun set for as people already posted, PVP. And certain unwanted energy based foes. Of course PVE will probably break the AT down with the S/L which is pretty much 90% of the game dmg. Then again I was never happy having two end modifier powers as a Brute(Conserve Power, Power Sink), something about not having a heal always bothered me, but thats personal preference.

I just see the set as yet another; Tough/Weave friendly build. But with dual specs and Io's I doubt many will complain.

Might want to go with the Dark shield(Elemental) it leaves a dark miasma aura when you move but its small and tribla looking on your wrist. Or the electrical shield, small and translucent.

I'm not trying to make waves here but, how does spamming for fillers bother you?. That aside I do enjoy the farming this will bring, easier badge collecting (if thats your thing) and even easier solo levels(if that is also indeed your thing). I just hope it somehow does'nt get nerfed to oblivion. And I know what your thinking, "How could they possibly nerf something like this", been my question since I5.

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So what is the first thing you are doing with this?

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I'm just hoping they either, stop nickel and dimeing us, or at least nickel and dime us for better booster packs. We went from Cyborg to magic, and now we have probably the worst/gimpiest booster pack. Literally worth five dollars. And I'm just being objective. By comparison alone all the other packs blow this one away.

Exactly what I said. If people thought AE was bad.....

DA will never have the love that Invul or Rock recieve. Simply due to the fact that its extremely end heavy, with no other alternatives than to either IO it out, or get DM to synergize with the heals and End recov. Bad move by the devs?, sure. Some things are definitive, DA WILL end drain you in low levels, and will only keep annoying you passed lvl 38. Then again I never trusted any Tanker set that came with a Tier 9 rez instead of a "god Mode" but hey holding minions with Ogloom and Cloak o' Fear isnt too bad, is it?. YMMV, but I have had no good experience with the DA set. I've tanked countless mobs and have come to one realization. Dark Regenration is golden in this set. Since lvl 8 Dark regen is pretty much the saving grace of the set. Having a fifteen second PBAoE is truly something to marvel at.

You might want to get tough in place of Soul Transfer. A rez is nice, but if you need to use it in a group, your either doing something wrong, or the healer collapsed on his/her keyboard. And yes its safe to say always having a healer in team is very beneficial with a DA tank.

I fully agree Darminian. Completely. I just laughed at the idea that someone (Hercalieeeya) thought it was broken because of a four second cast time, which of course was false i.e. incredibly inaccurate.

It's pretty much the curse of any Defender AT that comes with a standard "heal other" type power. This is mainly due to the fact that people are now doing Boss Farms, which require atleast some type of heal. As you will be taking tons of damage. Generally speaking the majority usually outweighs the minority. So expect to keep seeing "need healer" broadcasted. I try to explain to greenhorns that defenders also come with a buff and debuff set. but I seriously doubt they're going to listen to anything and old vet says.

Secondly, this very fact is what seperates the "smart" players , from the "only one way to win" players.

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I know these people existed before. But why do they ALL have to come to the surface at AE? I'm getting tired of explaining that ANY type of Defender can be just as effective, even more effective in most cases, than an Empath. I've been asked "Do u heal???" when joining an AE team on my FF/Rad. And I've seen countless Rad/* and Kin/* overlooked because the leader "Wants a healer." What the hell? Is AE killing the Defenders?

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What server do you play on?. I'm on Guardian mostly, and have gotten my Rad/Dark and Kins/Rad to lvl 36+ on AE teams. So I'm guessing its one of those situational things.

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Well, Defender board, what's there to do other than roll an Empath? =/

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Not true, you can actually tell the team your on to give you a chance and see for themselves, or run your own AE teams. I notice people tend to listen to "he who posseses the star", so just make sure your the leader and the sheep will do as you say...as sad as that is.

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Whatever brainless idiot sold Positron the idea of "reckless driving" that he so readily latched on to has done a lot of damage to the game. Every Joe and his dog now think they have the authority to determine player and developer intent and that they have been deputized to act upon it.

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Hit the nail on the head with a sledge.

So by your own definition, if a power takes a total of three or more seconds to execute, its therefore broken?. Just so you know;

Total Focus : 3.3sec
Energy Transfer : 2.67secs
Whirling Hands : 2.5secs

The longest cast for a Tanker secondary is Ice patch :3.47, I double checked and nothing exceeds 3.50 seconds. So I really don't see how anything is broken. You either never played a EM or have and have no idea what your talking about.

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and make them instantly effective whenever clicked

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So you want "insta casts"?, play WoW much?, I rather enjoy the fact that the moves have a sense of flair in CoH, its the player's fault if they die executing a move they know would take "too long". But honestly if you think 3 seconds is too long , you either suffer from ADD or are the most impatient person in the world.

Again, I never had a problem getting my Invul/Nrg to 50, my friend has a Stone/Enrg currently at lvl 44....I don't see what's the problem with leveling with EM if you get on big teams and run missions?. Am I missing someting here?. Broken animations?, can I get a video demonstrating how any of the moves are broken?, I have no problem soloing and performing on teams, so if its broken, I must be doing something wrong....

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It has serious disadvantages for Stone

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Granite reduces the strength and speed of every secondary not just EM, Even super strength. As much as I love my K.O. blow, I know its hindered by Granite, and even then I still manage to perforom effeciently. So its really the skill of the player in this case. I'm starting to think many of the people on this board that claim they know whats "good or bad", havent the slightest idea of said AT.

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If I wanted to AFK on large pulls and watch TV while in a +5 TF I would have made a Stone

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A bit exaggerated , but still not the point. You have to get to top tier defense and res through IO use for a Fire. Even if IO's were 100 inf a piece, I would still feel like the "little Tanker that could" as opposed to the other tanks that only need So's. Yes Tf's are designed for SO's, that still doesn't mean they can be very unfair to a class such as Fire tanks. YMMV obviously but the majority of fire tanks I know, who aren't IOed out, dont like the damage they recieve during this TF, let alone many other TF's.

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Khelds < SoA in teams
Khelds > SoA solo

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False, I play my Kheldians efficiently, especially when damage dealers join my team. I make sure to be on big teams with one or more Dps, so I'm usually doing heavy dmg throught the battle. Quasar and Unchain Essence have proven to devour mobs better than most blasters. Peacebringers are doing supreme to extreme dmg by level 10...making them DPS power houses from lvl 6 on. Secondly Soloing is a Moot point as nearly every AT can solo.

In teams Kheld shine more for the boost they receive from each teammate, so I would have to go with them on teams. The forms alone give them far more diversity in teams then SoA's.

Ok, I never said you get the attack chain at level 1-10 did I?, the point being that its way more fun than the villainous counter parts. That attack chain was an example why for me in MY OPINION, they have more diversed playstyle. You suffered through 38 levels, but obviously YMMV, did I really need to put that part? I thought it was common place to assume 1-20 is grueling let alone 22-38 for every class. Overall I find the kheldians to be more fun to play.

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The key difference between a Kheld & a VEAT is that VEAT's start out with Mez protection + a minor version of health/stamina as an inherent power. They then suffer for about 14 levels or so until they start building up their team buffs & defensive abilities. After that, you grind for another 10 levels or so as lowly soldier/widow until you hit 24 - at which point your "I Win" button is installed.

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False, the key difference, are the forms, Nova helps with the end mod and higher dps at lvl 6...and dwarf pretty much makes you a tank at lvl 20. Slotted these forms are very formidable in battle.

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Kheldians experience a very fleeting version of this when they get their Nova form, and realize that they can safely kite & blast their way through missions while their fellow heroes are still crawling on the ground like worms. But reality sets in soon thereafter, when you are mezzed & dropped from the sky for the first time. That's the point where the rubber meets the road, and the real challenge begins. The Kheld lovers will perservere & reach heights of glory - while the fair weather players will drop out in disgust & play something more rewarding.

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As opposed to what? grinding a VEAT to 26 with nothing but Leadership pool power rip offs till you get a decent aoe chain going with venom grenade + frag grenade + Call pets chain. And thats at level 38, or you can pummel your way into the mid levels.The OM is nice but as a shade I get two "explosions" by lvl 38, pets included. So thats a tank form, a blaster form, two "booms" and pets....oh I almost forgot eclipse.... a Res ALL.

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VEAT's get an extremely utilitarian inherent ability - Khelians get a crappy inherent + travel powers

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Wait so getting your damaged increased for every scrapper and blaster is bad?, how about your resistance increased for every tanker and defender, or mes prot for every troller?. And having a travel power at lvl 1 is bad?....since when?, have you ever played a kheldian? or did you hit a mid level and stop?.

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Kheldians get 3 forms - VEAT's get a bonus costume slot with a uniform

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You just compared ppowerful forms with a bonus costume....I think you've answered all my questions about playing a kheldian right there.

Lastly, if you want to see Khelds solo well, you can check any youtube vid, the same can apply to PVP, having the ability to solo is shared with many other AT's so its pretty much a moot point. Kheldians don'r need leadership powers as Primaries to be good, they also don't need an inherent as broken as "Conditioning", every Veat I see, I included, have stam.

And I've soloed CC with a WP and an SR, your point being?. With Insp's base boosts and or pets, nearly every AV is solo friendly.