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Pre-I5, the best tank i came across was myself with Sulphur SL50 Fire/Fire Tanker 
Now... I'd have to go with Stone.
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ah ha it was you who didnt show up for the first shard tf on sunday. I wouldnt turn around and say that now i'd have to go with stone as tanking is a matter of playstyle having everyone elses health bar barely moving is what i class as good tanking. The other thing is that no tank needs to be as hard as stone tanks as in most cases the in fight position and the rest of the team counts. 90% of the tanks i could ask would think they are the best tankers around and half of them wont play post ED.
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.
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I could pretty consistently manage 100% aggro with my inv/mace using taunt,provoke,whirling mace and invincibility.
Some people found it boring to be honest but I always had a laugh 
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laziest moments for me as a defender 
what i liked most about Mr Cuddles was what i'd like to call his force tanking attitude he'll tell people not to do stuff, to wait in places, to attack at certain times and sit down on his butt unless people complied because he was tanking and he knew how to play his tank. Granted against what any tanker has never experienced its a learning situation.
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.
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And if i drop, and I ALWAYS dropped before anyone else, the team took this as the RUN signal 
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sounds alot like my ice tanker atm i dont mind takin one for the team but i aint takin one for a complete noob in the team is my attitude.
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.
but its still not the tankpowers that are bad, after ED yes the defenses got lower, so did the enemy stats, sure we cant keep as muc haggro as before ED, thats wy the spwnrate is lowered. its all balanced out so IF (and this goes for all AT's) you play according to the balancing system you are just as good as before, just in a smaller scale in ALL aspects of the game.
@EU Brimmy - Union and Exalted servers
Hehe im not taking one for the scrapper who aggros five groups either... Im talking about a reasonably balanced team.
Roll on issue 7 for ice tanks. Has anyone noticed how there seems to be tons of them about at the moment?
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but its still not the tankpowers that are bad, after ED yes the defenses got lower, so did the enemy stats, sure we cant keep as muc haggro as before ED, thats wy the spwnrate is lowered. its all balanced out so IF (and this goes for all AT's) you play according to the balancing system you are just as good as before, just in a smaller scale in ALL aspects of the game.
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The problem is you become good compared to enemies much later, so tanking early on is hard, which makes people scrank rather than tank and not try to gain aggro. So you get less good tanks. There have been various threads in the US boards about people who made new tanks and found that by using their primary they failed to be anything good, but by ignoring their primary and just concentrating on their secondary they got good results.
It seems the mainstay of most tanking builds are now one of four powers, Dull Pain, Hoarfrost, Earth's Embrace and Healing Flames. Heavy slotting on these makes a vast difference to survivability, ignoring them can mean a non-survivable toon.
I feel that at high levels tankers are certainly balanced about right to make them challenging, but I am concerned that the powersets are balanced for the whole primary set, something which most builds cannot fit in.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
Ice is my fave, as the powers are so great and FAB! and they have stronger tanting, so you can hold the agro while Hibernating most ppl don't seem to clock onto that...
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Roll on issue 7 for ice tanks. Has anyone noticed how there seems to be tons of them about at the moment?
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I'd like you think my Ice tank Vostok inspired a few of those people
right you are in that part, ppl that make tanks now do actually go for the attacks much rather than the defenses, and since that little change they made so that tanks can get their attacks sooner then they used to didnt help it much. Maybe some of the/us experienced tankers should arrange a crash course in tanking and how to make them.. :P
@EU Brimmy - Union and Exalted servers
Actually I've learned a lot about tanking from these boards (I read a lot) and my Ice/Ice tank is a lot of fun. He's only level 16, as I have chronic altoholism, but against even level mobs he feels like a real tank. It's just when everything gets red/purple that he feels as weak as a kitten
I'm looking forward to SOs and I7.....
ye ice tanks needs a good push in the defense section if you ask me, i have one too, had to leave him at lvl 6 cuz i died at least 3 times every mish, and when playing on heroic, thats just not good. ehehe
@EU Brimmy - Union and Exalted servers
AT level 6? my experience has been ice tanks are the most surviavble at low levels. Scaling problems arent really a problem at this level, and the significant damage mitigation of chilling embrace (if you have it) really bumps up your protection. Of course, you will also be a complete aggro magnet compared to other tanks
ye the defenses can stand up to it, for a while, using the first armor the knockback protection and attacking drains the end clear out in 2 enemies wich means the defenses drop wich means i die..
@EU Brimmy - Union and Exalted servers
Ah... dont attack then 
You don't need the Knockback protection of Wet Ice at level 6. Frozen Armour ( the first one ) is needed if you have the end to spare. However Chilling Embrace, a power whose description does not do it justice, is an absolute must , it is the reason Ice tanks work well as you can make enemies spend more than half the fight running to catch you up. Also it is the best power I've seen for gathering enemies together in one place ( Mud Pots might be as good but as it is usually paired with Rooted I doubt you can do the same trick ).
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
hmm, i'll look into that when i get home from school.
And as for the mudpots/rooted detail, it, like everything else, depends on the lvl, in the low lvls its a real pain to gather them up since you do need rooted to be sure not to get knockdown or mezzed with in some other way, in the later lvls however its a different story, i can take an example for how my stone would do it.
Gathering maltas with sappers in the mobs:
GA=on Mudpots=on Rooted=on
Take a running start into the first mob activating rooted as you get close, rooted will be fully activated at the time you get the alphastrike, teleport into the next mob, stand there for a few secs to have both mobs gathered and if there is a third mob or you want to take a third mob just tp into that one as well and slam off a taunt on the ones you just left. tadaa..
@EU Brimmy - Union and Exalted servers
Being new to the game I've started 2 toons, getting both into the low 20's. With one being an Inv/SS tanker I'm starting to realise I may not have gone for the best build ever.Now I'm looking to do the Respec thing, I was wondering if any of you guys could recommend a good build or some guidelines as I'm quite happy with the power sets themselves. I do like soloing with him as well despite it being sloooooow at times!
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Alright, what type of tanker has worked for you best?
[/ QUOTE ] Only ever made one tank really. See signature.
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Heh, which one could take the most damage for you?
[/ QUOTE ] see above.
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Best tank you've worked with?
[/ QUOTE ] Now I really can't say, there are too many good tanks..
i cant really answer that one, i've never taken an invu tank higher than lvl 9 :P
@EU Brimmy - Union and Exalted servers
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Being new to the game I've started 2 toons, getting both into the low 20's. With one being an Inv/SS tanker I'm starting to realise I may not have gone for the best build ever.Now I'm looking to do the Respec thing, I was wondering if any of you guys could recommend a good build or some guidelines as I'm quite happy with the power sets themselves. I do like soloing with him as well despite it being sloooooow at times!
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Not sure about the exact build, however these are the minimum power I would consider for a level 24 Inv tank, I'm not too familiar with Super strength but definately get taunt:-
Primary:-
Dull Pain, 3xrecharge, 3xheal
Temp Invul, 3 slots of resistance + possibly a end red..
Invincibility 3 slots ( def Buf ).
Unyielding 1-3 slots resistance + possibly an End red ).
Resist Physical Damage 1-3 slots of resistance
Fitness Pool:-
Swift or Hurdle ( generally I prefer Swift )
Health 1-3 slots Heal
Stamina 3 slots end mod.
Travel Power:-
Prequisite: ( Recall Friend or TP Foe ), Combat Jumping ( 1xDef buf ), Air Superiority (slot ACC + dam to taste ) or Hasten ( 3 slots recharge )
Travel powers : Super Speed (1 slot), Super Jump(1 slot), Fly(1-3 slots) or Teleport(1-3slots).
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
I loved my Fire/Fire mainly because I could solo at a reasonable speed and my AoE's and Burn made me feel I was contributing when in a group.
Not as tough as Stone or Invul. sure but great fun. Fighting CoT was always a seat of the pants experience. Unfortunately a lot has changed since then.
http://www.m3ta.co.uk/coh/
I wrote this guide just before issue 5 so the numbers are out of date (everything has been nerfed basically) but the theories are still sound and the important powers havent changed.
Thanks for the feed back Unthing and Mr_Cuddles. Will definitely be mulling it over before doing the respec. Thanks
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Generally I've found Granite make poor tanks on the whole, they don't seem to be able ( or be inclined ) to hold aggro.
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Sorry to disagree but stone tanks are eaisily the best tank imo even with Granite. Due to the slow recharge on powers Granite gives, taunts do not often come. On my Granite tank i decided to try for the presence pool power taunt aswell as normal taunt. Along with taunt slotted mud pots, i have no trouble retaining aggro as the mobs come to me and stay there.
I am currently trying an inv / nrg tank and i hope to try ice tanks too but i cant say which is best for tanking just yet.
Ive never met a Granite Tank, even with presence pool, I felt ENTIRELY comofortable with, although I reckon it could be done on a skilled team.
Wait until you play ice tanks, you will see there really is no comparison for aggro magnetism. However, you will die fare more easily .
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Pre-I5, the best tank i came across was myself with Sulphur SL50 Fire/Fire Tanker
Now... I'd have to go with Stone.
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Well my criteria of a best tank includes more criteria then being able to take lots of damage and aggro management. I would class that as a skilled tanker. Being the best tanker surely would also need to include stuff like being a great team player and being lots of fun. In which case you would also get my vote sulphur
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