Tanking at 35+ with the various sets? Solo vs Team

Right now I have only one tank at 50th, a Fire/EM tank that honestly feels more like an undepowered scrapper in many situations.

I am trying to build a more durable tank for both solo and team play and have been looking at the various primaries in Mids.

From what I can tell, Stone is nigh indestructible after 35th (with Granite) but due to the debuffs is primarily for team play as the recharge and damage reductions make it harder to solo with. Before Granite, Stone just seems to be the weakest tanker set though. Great for TF runs not so good for solo content.

Invulnerable is potentially as durable to S/L attacks and fairly close in the other categories but without the insane overall durability and drawbacks that Granite brings to Stone. Good for solo and Team TF play.

Willpower lacks a lot of the overall durability but replaces it with fairly massive regeneration and has less of a problem with Psi damage than either Stone or Invulnerability. Great for soloing but not sure of how it fairs in TF tanking.

Ice is pure defense (kind of the Super Reflexes of the Tank sets) and as such means that it is either fantastic or terrible depending on how the random number generator in the game sets up the hit rolls for the enemies. Most of the time you are fine but one really unlucky streak of hits can equal faceplant.

Dark Armor is provides moderate protection and has a few neat tricks but is a fairly massive endurance hog. Seems a lot like the Fire set with maybe a bit more durability. Probably not what I am looking for.

Shield Defense seems to be of moderate resistance and defense with some decent damage thrown in. Potentially a great solo build but not the best for Team TF situations.

Based on this I am considering pushing either my Inv or WP tank to 50th or possibly running up a Shield tanker (again not too sure of their end game tanking potential) however not having played all of these various powersets to 50 I really can't be sure that my estimates are correct.

If I have missed something then please chime in and let me know.

Thanks.

Willpower's weakness is not in durability, but in aggro management. The layers of def/res/regen make for a tough tank that doesn't care about what exactly it's fighting. The down side is that it takes a lot of work to keep everything focussed on you and not the squishies.

Dark has the potential to be the toughest non-Granite tank, but is always held back by endurance issues. High resits, several soft controlls and a massive heal make it a tough nut to crack. Unfortunatly, almost everything is a toggle and it will happilly eat all of your endurance running everything.

I'd say you have it about right although Shield suffers from the same random number generator problem that Ice does while not having Ice's failsafes (Hibernation and Hoarfrost).

Both are fairly nullified with Tough and Weave (as is WP's vulnerability to large alphas).

WP's weakness is heavy ranged alpha's which it's regen toggle won't kick in on and it's so weak defense wise out of the box that it can be eaten down fairly quickly if just relying on the regen components. Also fixed with Tough and Weave (and some judicious IOs).

For soloing and levelling up I prefer Ice or WP to any other Tanker primary because of their go-power (Energy Absorbtion and Quick Recovery respectively). They are tough, non-stop and most of all fun.

For team builds I can't say I've found a Tanker primary that is as versatile and fun as Invuln. Almost no drawbacks (Psi and a "we dare you to use it" T9 power) and the second toughest (overall) set in the Tanker line (Stone being the first).

If you're planning on slotting IOs heavily into your budding Tanker, then any set should suffice. Also your choice of secondaries will be just as important in your decision (or should be).

My WP (level 40) and Invulnerable (level 28) tanks both use Super strength for the secondary. I played them both a lot in the 20s and the WP just seemed to live through more Hell than the Inv tank, however I am fairly certain that isn't a good indicator of the later levels.

If I go with a shield build then the secondaries I am looking at are:

Super Strength: Nice rounded damage set, some mitigation/control, late bloomer though.

Dark Melee: Stacking -toHit, decent damage that scales as more enemies are near, built in, quick recharging heal and Dark consumption helps offset shield's weaknesses (no heal, no steady End recovery), not very damaging against small numbers of enemies. Stacking with Sheild seems to be the FotM though and I don't like to follow trends.

Fire: Lots of Damage, nothing else just damage.

Axe: Never played it. Looks a lot like Super strength in terms of powers and effects while subbing lethal for smashing damage and build up for rage.

Yeah WP levels up a lot easier then Inv does.

By the late 20s, early 30s Inv can start handling alphas that WP just can't deal with (this is before Tough and Weave on either). You really see this when tackling Freakshow with multiple Slicers of varying degrees.

Tough and Weave is (in my estimation) more important for WP then for Inv but definitely noticeably worthwhile for both and makes both very good team tanker choices.

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I am trying to build a more durable tank for both solo and team play and have been looking at the various primaries in Mids.

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Well, we can skip any discussion of solo. With a tank, you could turn off some or most of your defenses and solo just fine. Solo is a walk in the park for any armor set.

You make a lot of mention of teams and task forces. Plenty of TFs are easy enough that anyone can tank them. So lets go extreme. Smashing/lethal is the most common damage in the game. At high levels it's not AS common, but it's still the most common. For extreme tanking, besides stone, I'd go invuln.

For 'general teaming', I use my ice/SS a lot (level 50), but I would not dream of using him for the ITF or STF. Can it be done? Sure. Do others do it? Sure. But, since I also have a level 50 invuln, that's who I use for my 'extreme tanking'.

You say you already have an invuln and WP to pick from. Have you thought about using the WP for soloing and small teams and the invuln for large teams / AV missions?

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If I go with a shield build then the secondaries I am looking at are:

Super Strength: Nice rounded damage set, some mitigation/control, late bloomer though.

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This would be good for a solo tank. Alpha strikes and holding aggro aren't concerns and you've got Against All Odds plus Rage for some serious damage.

I'll recommend Stone Melee. Fault is, in my opinion, the best control available to tankers. It keeps my Fire/Stone alive when tanking for teams. Not to mention all the SMASH the set provides.

An Inv/Stone would be a beast of a tank.

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I'll recommend Stone Melee. Fault is, in my opinion, the best control available to tankers. It keeps my Fire/Stone alive when tanking for teams. Not to mention all the SMASH the set provides.

An Inv/Stone would be a beast of a tank.

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Oh, it certainly is; since the ability to softcap def came into the game the combo got even better.

Truth in advertising though requires me to admit that Inv/Stone was my very first level 50 about 4 years ago and remains one of my favorites of all my toons. Softcapped Invuln gives you some awesome mitigation, and pairing that with all the mitigation in Stone Melee makes it even better.

Hard to beat Fire/ as a solo set. With some attention and TLC it makes a great team tank as well.