the only suggestion i can think of is just to try and stick with it until you can get DO's (not long now) and test again. its been a while since my tank turned lvl 12 but from what i can remember havin 3 dam res DO's in my armours seemed to make a difference. before then i remember feeling a bit squishie.
You aren't doing anything wrong, it is just an awful period for tankers (the teen levels).
You just have to limit how much aggro you try and hold and work your way into your 20s when it starts to get better.
It's a very long hard slog with most Tanks my fire / fire only really felt good post 35 when I actually had My defences maxed a decent number of attacks and the End to run them. Before that it was painful, very painful it's one of the reasons a lot of people are dropping their tanks because they seem to get nowhere very fast.
On the flip side once you get to a mature build its good, very good you'll solo invincible with ease can hit several levels above your weight and if people know what you're capable of be exceptionally popular for teams. It's worth the effort believe me.
There's a bugfix in the making... Invulnerability changed name to Vulnerability in one of the most recent patches, and this didn't make it to the power descriptions 
.
I think the same mistake I had when i first rolled a tanker, too many secondaries and not enough primaries, and the fact that TO's are, well, for want of a better word, pants. Slot your primaries more and ignore the secondary attacks once you've got 2, perhaps at the most, 3, including brawl. Unless you're soloing, survivability counts for more than being able to take them down quickly.
Defiant 50's
Many and varied!
@Miss Chief
i think the lower levels is where u may find taunt and it only hitting 5 at a time very useful. As for attacks get very few (i had 2 plus taunt till 22 on respec for ED) as you may well find yourself needing stamina for the big attacks anyway leaving you more open to getting key defenses and fitness asap plus a travel power.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
axe id say, its a shame all the melee weapons on this game are naf
Takes a while for tanks to become a formidable force, but once you are you'll be glad you stuck at it trust me. Once DO's and SO's come into play you'll have a better time. Oh and for the record the Battleaxe is great. You'll have great damage later and a stupid amount of knock downs to help you out.
As has been said above you will start to rock when you get SOs. I never upgrade difficulty until I get SOs. There are loads of missions at the lower lvls so you will miss some and possibly badges if you lvl to quick.
So has been said you may well not be doing anything wrong, but perhaps expecting to do more than you can manage without SOs. My lvl 28 tanker can easily tank freaks at +2 lvls and I was tanking +4 minions in a respec mission. So just give it time and perhaps turn the difficulty lvl down until you upgrade your enhancements.
Playing on heroic might also help.
I've said somewhere else as well that tanks are horrible in the early game. Not that great overall imo, but they are 'balanced' according to their lategame strength.. One more reason for beginners to shy away from them.
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On the flip side once you get to a mature build its good, very good you'll solo invincible with ease can hit several levels above your weight and if people know what you're capable of be exceptionally popular for teams. It's worth the effort believe me.
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I would disagree here.. soloing invincibles is not that great idea anymore, we get more xp with lower diff lvl balancing difficulty with efficiency (And with good teams always get more xp). Personally I can solo invincible safely but it is such a bore that I dropped to unyielding for my personal missions.
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I made a tanker a while back, it seemed ok but I stopped using it. Its Inv/Battle Axe
By lvl 11 I had Resist Physical Damage and Temporary Invulnerability, from Axe I had Gash, Chop, Taunt and Beheader - I also got Combat Jumping.
I felt really weak, I've been fighting a lot of Skulls and Trolls on Rugged - and I seem to take a tonne of damage, I can't take on a +1 boss alone without getting my [censored] kicked.
So I respec'd, and this time I took Resist Physical Damage, Temporary Invulnerability, Resist Elements and Unyeilding. But I still feel like I'm taking too much damage. I haven't been in a big team with this toon for a while but I'm certain that if I was, I would take too much damage to do my job as a tanker properly.
I have each invulnerability power 2-3 slotted with resist dmg enhancements.
Can someone tell me if there's something I'm doing wrong? I am new to being a Tanker... and so far I regret selecting Battle Axe - but this doesn't seem right. Has Invulnerability just been nerfed that much that everyone's in this boat?
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Having played and gained alot of experience with inv/axe tank, I can say you haven't done to much wrong. I would recommending missing resist elements (at the lv you are at it makes almost no difference). You dont need to get combat jumping and changing it was a good move (unyielding protects against holds, knockbacks etc). There are many better powers you could get - and I would heartily recommend getting dull pain!
I did not get taunt till middle teens as like yourself found I couldn't take a great deal of damage and if you are soloing there is no need for it. Get a couple more defense and attack powers before getting taunt.
One of the problems you may have is with your slotting (you dont mention it). Make sure you dont add extra slots to unyielding (its not worth it). Put the slots into temporary invulnerability and dull pain.
As mentioned already, early levels are pretty harsh. You cannot take much damage (well its seems that way) but trust me it will change. Once you start getting better enhancements and afew more levels and powers, you will notice a significant difference. Stick with it for abit longer and you should be fine.
If you need any help or further advice just let me know.
Heros
Max Powerz: Lv 50 Tanker
Villains
Max Khaos: Lv 50
Overlord of E.V.I.L.
My Brute - http://maxy-khaos.mybrute.com/
LF SG! Arc ID# 193083
Ye, dont get taunt. Pick up another primary for defence. recommended is DP, i use it as a "heal" so i dont waste it unnecessarily, lowering the downtime waiting for recharge.
As someone said, its not really useful when soloing at the lower levels and wait for it until later.
I would however suggest not picking it up at all.. as a Inv tank you should always be at the vanguard picking up the initial aggro from the entire group, making a jump rite into the middle of the mobs, attacking the highest mob possible. (and hoping the group picked up a healer..)
with invincibility that you can pick up at level 18 this tactic becomes even more preferred.
Second tip is to drop your rep down to heroic as already been mentioned. It takes a while for the tanker to shine but when they do they SHINE.. (especially the Inv, in more ways than one 
) At level 36 i can two-shot yellow minions and solo purple bosses.. and i dont even think my build is by any means perfect, so just hang in there and be patient.
UNION
Officer Cuffz lvl 50 Inv/Nrg Tank
Badge lvl 50 dwarf/human Peacebringer
Dark Air lvl 50 Ice/Cold Corruptor
Ayre lvl 50 Storm/Elec Defender
Total Cat: @Officer Cuffz
"When I say interview, I mean engage in combat and defeat..." -Laura Brunetti, on how to deal with Warriors.
Currently im building a fire/stone tank 
thought about it carefully, played carefully. im now lvl 23 and am thinking of taking taunt now.
Wanted to concentrate on defense first and foremost. using blazing aura to attract agro.
Did notice a big difference once i hit DO's and a even bigger difference now im on SO's
At my early to mid teens i found that i was feeling that as a tank i wasnt contributing to the team.
Completely different now
My stone/axe tanker felt rubbish until DO's most of the time I didn't bother turning the armours on. When you hit DO's though you will notice a big jump in survivability. Then when you hit SO's you become a force to be reconned with. As for battleaxe stick with it. I suggest getting swoop, beheader, whirling axe, cleave and pendulum. (got to get the first one) With those powers I kept a +3 boss bouncing on his back and was in no danger at all. The knockdowns are very nice for damage avoidance.
I played on heroic until I got fully SO slotted powers. Now I play on rugged and have no reservations about running into +2/+3 bosses.
as been said above your primarys all important, and even tanks need a defender
try build a tank whist arround team play an not solo play.
a good team tank can solo but a good solo tank maynot be able to team
simply beacause it probaley not built to take the damage that you get in a team.
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My Tanker Sucks, what am I doing wrong?
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the flippant answer is to say tanking. Post ED tanks have suffered probably more than any other AT. Still love em though...
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My Tanker Sucks, what am I doing wrong?
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the flippant answer is to say tanking. Post ED tanks have suffered probably more than any other AT. Still love em though...
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I fail to see how ED affects level 11 tanks though, at that level you hardly have enough slots to spare to even 4 slot a specific power let alone 5 or 6 slot them.
You dont have many Single Origin enhancments either...
My point is, If people complain about playing tanks at low levels isnt fun or to hard.. blaming ED is totally up the wrong alley.
The post level 30 game is maybe another thing mind you, but I dont have any experience herding insane amounts of mobs so that a team of blasters can Aim+buildup+ AoE them all to oblivion.... Cant say i miss it either.
Nor can i Solo Arch-Villains.. but the again I have a feeling im not supposed to either.
I still love my tank too though
UNION
Officer Cuffz lvl 50 Inv/Nrg Tank
Badge lvl 50 dwarf/human Peacebringer
Dark Air lvl 50 Ice/Cold Corruptor
Ayre lvl 50 Storm/Elec Defender
Total Cat: @Officer Cuffz
"When I say interview, I mean engage in combat and defeat..." -Laura Brunetti, on how to deal with Warriors.
If i should roll a tanker now I think I would start it as a scranker because without SOs your def/res are really poor, once hitting 24 for the first respec I would drop a few attacks and get more on the defensive..
For all the Invulnerability advice you may want you look look either HERE or HERE.
For the Battle Axe I can give no tips because i never tried it, but the blog of my Invulnerability tanker is in the thread I started and all the playing experience I found out!
The other possible 'confusion' is possibly trying to focus on being a damage dealer, that's not the tanker's primary role. Their role is to soak up dmage, deal some themselves, but is primarily to draw the aggro off the blasters/scrappers so they can do their job without getting squished. Spanky Mc Love Clown (my 21 Inv/Axe) is excellent fun to play, but I have focused on the Inv element rather than the Axe. I am no use to the team if I fall over in the second round of combat, even if i do horrendous damage before i fall over so it is my invulnerability powers that are fully slotted. At 21s level, I still only have Gash and Chop and I am heading for Stamina and more Inv powers before I pick more axe powers (although I am dropping Superjump ASAP).
Tanks - gotta love 'em
Si
In-game @Spanky the Loveclown
Twitter @simon_writes
I have just got to lvl12 on my Tank too...it's the first I have rolled so I have no prior experience to call upon. But there are times when I feel weak and others when I feel unstoppable.
Personally I have only picked Jab and Taunt from my secondary powers. As I tank I think my jobs is to get hit by as many mobs as possible, as many times as possible without dying. As long as I can stay alive long enough for the blasters/scrappers to pick of the stragglers whilst I hold the rest, then I'm happy. However, a nearby empath always helps
I made a tanker a while back, it seemed ok but I stopped using it. Its Inv/Battle Axe
By lvl 11 I had Resist Physical Damage and Temporary Invulnerability, from Axe I had Gash, Chop, Taunt and Beheader - I also got Combat Jumping.
I felt really weak, I've been fighting a lot of Skulls and Trolls on Rugged - and I seem to take a tonne of damage, I can't take on a +1 boss alone without getting my [censored] kicked.
So I respec'd, and this time I took Resist Physical Damage, Temporary Invulnerability, Resist Elements and Unyeilding. But I still feel like I'm taking too much damage. I haven't been in a big team with this toon for a while but I'm certain that if I was, I would take too much damage to do my job as a tanker properly.
I have each invulnerability power 2-3 slotted with resist dmg enhancements.
Can someone tell me if there's something I'm doing wrong? I am new to being a Tanker... and so far I regret selecting Battle Axe - but this doesn't seem right. Has Invulnerability just been nerfed that much that everyone's in this boat?