Which is better for Shields? Tanks or scraps?
By
bAss_ackwards,
Posted on: 2009-07-14 14:54 in Scrappers
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I am planning a shield something for my next build and I was wondering which was better suited for it. Any opinions?
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Dono. I'm told that Shield Defense isn't so great for a tanker. That said, I'm leveling up a Shield Defense/Dark Melee tanker specifically as an alternative to a scrapper rather than as a traditional tank. Also, I could have heard wrong - I'm no tanker expert, and don't frequent the tanker forum.
"That's because Werner can't do maths." - BunnyAnomaly
"Four hours in, and I was no longer making mistakes, no longer detoggling. I was a machine." - Werner
Videos of Other Stupid Scrapper Tricks
I like my SD/SS tank so far. I did see a SD tank repeatdly get dropped by LR in STF even with its def stacked with ice armor. Made taking the towers a pain. They may have to *cough* take tough and weave to survive such a task. Then again, I don't how the tank or the ice defender were slotted. I did see a soft cap SD/SS tank take on mobs in the supa dupa troll AE arc and pretty much did not get touched. That's not a farm. Just a real hard arc. Seeing that gave me something to look forward to on my tank.
"All problems can be solved by throwing enough scrappers at it."
@Riez on Virtue, Protector, Champion, and Exalted server.
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I like my SD/SS tank so far. I did see a SD tank repeatdly get dropped by LR in STF even with its def stacked with ice armor. Made taking the towers a pain. They may have to *cough* take tough and weave to survive such a task. Then again, I don't how the tank or the ice defender were slotted. I did see a soft cap SD/SS tank take on mobs in the supa dupa troll AE arc and pretty much did not get touched. That's not a farm. Just a real hard arc. Seeing that gave me something to look forward to on my tank.
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Its probably just slotting. last time I did an stf, our stone tanker got floored many many times. We ended up using a buffed sr scrap for our alpha soaker.
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I like my SD/SS tank so far. I did see a SD tank repeatdly get dropped by LR in STF even with its def stacked with ice armor. Made taking the towers a pain. They may have to *cough* take tough and weave to survive such a task. Then again, I don't how the tank or the ice defender were slotted. I did see a soft cap SD/SS tank take on mobs in the supa dupa troll AE arc and pretty much did not get touched. That's not a farm. Just a real hard arc. Seeing that gave me something to look forward to on my tank.
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Its probably just slotting. last time I did an stf, our stone tanker got floored many many times. We ended up using a buffed sr scrap for our alpha soaker.
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That is a weird situation when the Scrapper out-tanks the Tank. 
Even when I do survive beyond the Tanks in my groups I still don't feel like I am tanking. For one, I am not taunting at all. Ever. All the enemies that don't feel like attacking me spill over onto my team mates and that certainly isn't good tanking at all.
Playstation 3 - XBox 360 - Wii - PSP
Remember kids, crack is whack!
Samuel_Tow: Your avatar is... I think I like it
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I like my SD/SS tank so far. I did see a SD tank repeatdly get dropped by LR in STF even with its def stacked with ice armor. Made taking the towers a pain. They may have to *cough* take tough and weave to survive such a task. Then again, I don't how the tank or the ice defender were slotted. I did see a soft cap SD/SS tank take on mobs in the supa dupa troll AE arc and pretty much did not get touched. That's not a farm. Just a real hard arc. Seeing that gave me something to look forward to on my tank.
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Its probably just slotting. last time I did an stf, our stone tanker got floored many many times. We ended up using a buffed sr scrap for our alpha soaker.
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Ive seen that before. that's just horried. at the least, have the armor 6 slotted 3 def and 3 res and take the auto powers. oh well.
"All problems can be solved by throwing enough scrappers at it."
@Riez on Virtue, Protector, Champion, and Exalted server.
I've been in that situation before and I had to take alpha at the end of a Khan TF when the team died to Richie. I lasted a good 10 minutes or so but eventually fell as there was still a second AV in play. I did survive long enough for the team to rez up though.
What level is your tank now Werner? Any differences you noticed so far?
The petition link to Save CoH:
http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
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I like my SD/SS tank so far. I did see a SD tank repeatdly get dropped by LR in STF even with its def stacked with ice armor. Made taking the towers a pain. They may have to *cough* take tough and weave to survive such a task. Then again, I don't how the tank or the ice defender were slotted. I did see a soft cap SD/SS tank take on mobs in the supa dupa troll AE arc and pretty much did not get touched. That's not a farm. Just a real hard arc. Seeing that gave me something to look forward to on my tank.
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Its probably just slotting. last time I did an stf, our stone tanker got floored many many times. We ended up using a buffed sr scrap for our alpha soaker.
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ouch.
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What level is your tank now Werner? Any differences you noticed so far?
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Only 18, and I don't have a Dark Melee/Shield Defense scrapper to compare. I've built entirely for utility and damage so far, so it pretty much feels like a scrapper.
"That's because Werner can't do maths." - BunnyAnomaly
"Four hours in, and I was no longer making mistakes, no longer detoggling. I was a machine." - Werner
Videos of Other Stupid Scrapper Tricks
If you're just interested in exploring the power set, you will do that earlier on a tanker.
My shield tanker is quite adequate at 50. Like most defensive sets, it takes a while to build. You will have huge holes until you get all the armors and get them all slotted. It also does not exemp down well: run Posi while you are levelling or you never will.
<《 New Colchis / Guides / Mission Architect 》>
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison
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I like my SD/SS tank so far. I did see a SD tank repeatdly get dropped by LR in STF even with its def stacked with ice armor. Made taking the towers a pain. They may have to *cough* take tough and weave to survive such a task. Then again, I don't how the tank or the ice defender were slotted. I did see a soft cap SD/SS tank take on mobs in the supa dupa troll AE arc and pretty much did not get touched. That's not a farm. Just a real hard arc. Seeing that gave me something to look forward to on my tank.
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Its probably just slotting. last time I did an stf, our stone tanker got floored many many times. We ended up using a buffed sr scrap for our alpha soaker.
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Hmm... is it a bad that I do that all the time?
For the record I did a STF the other day with some of the Freedom Horde down in the freedom bored and our tank was a shield tank. The only support we had for him during the towers was an ill/rad troller and we managed just fine. The tank had much more problems with Ghost widow.
Just wanted to clear up the silly rumor that shield tanks can't tank recluse.
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I like my SD/SS tank so far. I did see a SD tank repeatdly get dropped by LR in STF even with its def stacked with ice armor. Made taking the towers a pain. They may have to *cough* take tough and weave to survive such a task. Then again, I don't how the tank or the ice defender were slotted. I did see a soft cap SD/SS tank take on mobs in the supa dupa troll AE arc and pretty much did not get touched. That's not a farm. Just a real hard arc. Seeing that gave me something to look forward to on my tank.
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Its probably just slotting. last time I did an stf, our stone tanker got floored many many times. We ended up using a buffed sr scrap for our alpha soaker.
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That is a weird situation when the Scrapper out-tanks the Tank.
Even when I do survive beyond the Tanks in my groups I still don't feel like I am tanking. For one, I am not taunting at all. Ever. All the enemies that don't feel like attacking me spill over onto my team mates and that certainly isn't good tanking at all.
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Unless you play shields then you have a really good agro magnet 
Pinnacle
Langar Thurs-Katana/SR 50; Hejtmane-DM/DA 50
Rogue Spear-Spines/DA 50; Hypnosis-Ill/Rad 50
Sir Thomas Theroux-DM/SR 50; Melted Copper-Fire/Shield 50
Byzantine Warrior-DB/ELA 50;Blade Tempo-50 DB/EA
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I like my SD/SS tank so far. I did see a SD tank repeatdly get dropped by LR in STF even with its def stacked with ice armor. Made taking the towers a pain. They may have to *cough* take tough and weave to survive such a task. Then again, I don't how the tank or the ice defender were slotted. I did see a soft cap SD/SS tank take on mobs in the supa dupa troll AE arc and pretty much did not get touched. That's not a farm. Just a real hard arc. Seeing that gave me something to look forward to on my tank.
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Its probably just slotting. last time I did an stf, our stone tanker got floored many many times. We ended up using a buffed sr scrap for our alpha soaker.
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That is a weird situation when the Scrapper out-tanks the Tank.
Even when I do survive beyond the Tanks in my groups I still don't feel like I am tanking. For one, I am not taunting at all. Ever. All the enemies that don't feel like attacking me spill over onto my team mates and that certainly isn't good tanking at all.
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Unless you play shields then you have a really good agro magnet
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I have a Shield Defense Scrapper and it still doesn't feel like it gets the job done.
Playstation 3 - XBox 360 - Wii - PSP
Remember kids, crack is whack!
Samuel_Tow: Your avatar is... I think I like it
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I am planning a shield something for my next build and I was wondering which was better suited for it. Any opinions?
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What's the state of your wallet ?
A shield tank can be made good with a lot less inf than a shield scrapper as you start a lot closer to the soft cap, but with a lot of inf, the shield scrapper will be better, as you can softcap that and have the extra offence.
It's true. This game is NOT rocket surgery. - BillZBubba
My shield/Ax tank just hit very and is very survivable in typical team play. Last couple of nights he was played we ripped through the preatorians and with zero deaths versus the AVs including Mother Mayhem.
I spent some time with a BS/Shield on test during the development of the set and that was a decent combo, probably the only way I'd actually have the patience to play a BS to 50.
I am enjoying my /shield brute immensely.
So as to the posted question, they are both good, it really deps upon what attacks interests you and any concept you may have. You really can't go worng with shield on either.
@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617
If I want to tank on a scrapper, I always turn to my Spines/Willpower scrapper. Willpower has a weak taunt aura, but it doesn't make much of a difference.
Quills, RttC, and Caltrops all have a chance for -recharge on that character, which helps as well.
<《 New Colchis / Guides / Mission Architect 》>
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison
Happy b-day B_A!
Spines/ D A lvl 50 Scrap, stone/wm lvl 50 tank, Kat/reg lvl 50 Scrap
Grav/Kin lvl 50 Cont, Fire/Enegry lvl 50 Blast
Warshade lvl 50, PB lvl 39, nightwidow lvl 50, crab lvl 42
plant/thorns lvl 50 dom, ice/fire lvl 40 dom, grav/nrg lvl 41 dom
I've played it with both ATs,
As a set? Well, it's not Granite, heck it's not even Invunerability, but it does give you that delicous Damage Aura and Shield Charge. Which makes for a very high damaging Tank.
A Scrapper will always do more damage though, and the Tank will always be more survivable.
It's also easier to hit the softcap on a Tank, (and therefore cheaper)
So at the end of the day, do you want to take damage or deal it? then check your wallet and let that be the decider.
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For the record I did a STF the other day with some of the Freedom Horde down in the freedom bored and our tank was a shield tank. The only support we had for him during the towers was an ill/rad troller and we managed just fine. The tank had much more problems with Ghost widow.
Just wanted to clear up the silly rumor that shield tanks can't tank recluse.
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I never said it couldn't be done. It better be doable. My goal is to do every TF in the game with every alt I roll and don't delete. That includes my SD/SS tank. Unless its a themed STF, most of the time, there will only be one tank on the team so, most likely, if I'm on the TF with my tank then I'm "the" tank for that run. I expect to be able to stand in sands's spawn point and be seen dancing in the cut screen (that is always funny). I expect to be able to get all of the vines in front on the thorn tree by myself. and I expect to be able to tank all 16 of the AVs including GW. My other tanks can survive a soul storm without outside help, I will expect my SD tank to do the same (owts).
"All problems can be solved by throwing enough scrappers at it."
@Riez on Virtue, Protector, Champion, and Exalted server.
I have a question kinda related to the topic at hand: Wouldn't the -def from Rage crashes be problematic for a Shield/SS Tank?
The average (SOs) performance is about that of fire, or perhaps a little higher. An IOed out SD/x Tank is very survivable however (lots of resitance to Smashing/Lethal, capped defenses, lots of life). I made a build that caps all defenses, max hp, and smashing/lethal resistances while OWtS is up. And it has 37 hps of regen. So I would say that how enjoyable the tank would be depends in large part on your budget. However, I just wouldn't exemp below 20 much at all if I were you. All the downs, none of the ups at those levels.
TW/Elec Optimization
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I have a question kinda related to the topic at hand: Wouldn't the -def from Rage crashes be problematic for a Shield/SS Tank?
[/ QUOTE ] nope. That can be handled
"All problems can be solved by throwing enough scrappers at it."
@Riez on Virtue, Protector, Champion, and Exalted server.
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I have a question kinda related to the topic at hand: Wouldn't the -def from Rage crashes be problematic for a Shield/SS Tank?
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Yeah, Rage crash sucks (though much less than it used to). Not sure why it would be particularly problematic for a Shield tank. It sucks just fine on my Invunlerability/Super Strength, but I suppose I do have more resistance to back up my defense.
"That's because Werner can't do maths." - BunnyAnomaly
"Four hours in, and I was no longer making mistakes, no longer detoggling. I was a machine." - Werner
Videos of Other Stupid Scrapper Tricks
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The average (SOs) performance is about that of fire, or perhaps a little higher. An IOed out SD/x Tank is very survivable however (lots of resitance to Smashing/Lethal, capped defenses, lots of life). I made a build that caps all defenses, max hp, and smashing/lethal resistances while OWtS is up. And it has 37 hps of regen. So I would say that how enjoyable the tank would be depends in large part on your budget. However, I just wouldn't exemp below 20 much at all if I were you. All the downs, none of the ups at those levels.
[/ QUOTE ] heh. I will have to. I missed the CoT trial and Posi TF. But I took out kurse and night widow nocturne already (faultline is tha shh...). But I hit 20 when I finished that arc so I will have to fashback to help penny find her dad. And I missed the spelunker badge mission. Those low levels don't scare me. That's what the bag of tricks (temp powers) is for. Exemping down to low level content on high level builds.
"All problems can be solved by throwing enough scrappers at it."
@Riez on Virtue, Protector, Champion, and Exalted server.
I am planning a shield something for my next build and I was wondering which was better suited for it. Any opinions?
The petition link to Save CoH:
http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes