my only real recommendations would be:
take TI to start, Take Unyeilding at 8, Take Invincibility at 18.
your decisions on how your character will actually be played should work round those keystone powers, taunting or not taunting can easily be decided with the handclap/taunt choice at level 16.
superstrength is a good and adaptable secondary so you will have fun any way you play as long as you get those Invul powers in place asap.
@ExtraGonk
Thanks ExtraGonk--great avatar by the way.
Doc
thanks 
if you really want to pin a build down i can help with specifics, however i'd say play it thru, i certainly find it more fun that way
@ExtraGonk
If you can fit in Dull Pain nice and early too your life as a tanker will be a lot easier.
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Extragonk
I think I'll plan it ver loosely in reference to your advice. I'm not into the long term high level idea yet.
Generalissimo_2
I like Dull Pain, my lev 7 has it. I've seen people use it before a difficult battle but I like to keep it as my safety net: healing's not enough or not there, and I haven't any insps to help. Even in my limited experience it's saved me a hospital visit several times. I know I wouldn't get debt but it's the principle.
Thanks
Doc
Do temp inv and resp phys dam work at the same time? If so it's a strong defence, agreed?
Thanks
Doc
They do stack, yes - but the resistance you gain from TI is significantly higher than that from RPD (30% versus 7.5%), so the extra gain by adding RPD isn't "all that".
More advice please.
I took Unyielding last night when I got to lev 8 and tried it out as soon as I could. I was in a team fighting outcasts in their base and gave Unyielding a try against shocker types. I wasn't stunned or put to sleep as sometimes happens(not that often though) but I did seem to be taking a fair bit more damage than usual despite TI being on.
Am I using this defence with the wrong foes? Am I mistaken in thinking I was taking a lot more damage? Am I doing anything wrong at all or is this supposed to happen? I did read that I was more likely to be hit but I was surprised by how much.
Battleflag
Unyielding got a badly penalty.. -5% defence to all elements, so although you get extra resist, they will hit you more often.
Later on you can overcome the -5% by tough hide (bit def to all element) and invicibility, who grants a XX % acc and def to each mob in melee range.
As for the lower lvls, i took combat jumping to at least pull back the -5% to -2,5%. Once you hit lvl12 you can slot Unyielding with DO resistance (go for 3res/1end-red) so the resistance becomes a bit more usefull.
And to get around current lvl, pop a purple once in a while helps alot.
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I think Unyeilding reduced your defence a bit, so you get hit more, and also if you were taking energy damage only Unyeilding yould help you against it, as TI doesnt help against that.
I have a INV/SS at lvl 15 on Defiant so my experiance is from that.
unyeilding does provide resistance to status effects like holds, immobilise, sleep and knockback etc.
but yep the down side to it is it drops your overall defence by -5% so you do get beat up a bit more. to negate that it does have a resist to damage component too it but you will probably feel the pain a bit till you get up to invincibility at 18, this is where you can get some defence back into the build.
Later on you can pick up Tough Hide which effectively negates that -def on unyielding.
this is where dull pain becomes a real front line power.
stick with it, what i'd recommend is as you say, learn which baddies you need to use it on and which you can do without, a lot of the fighting early can be done without using unyeilding.
mind you thinking of your example, the shockers do ranged energy damage, TI is smash lethal shield only and unyielding resists will not cover the energy damage incoming but at least you weren't getting slept
Later you can choose to pick up the 'resist energies' and 'resist elements' which will provide a little to take the edge off damage types like that, but your tanker will always be a smashing lethal resistance specialist and be a bit wooly vs the otehr damage types.
@ExtraGonk
Thanks for taking the time everyone.
So what mobs should i consider using Unyielding with, I'm thinking of who I'll run into in the near future(lev 8 now). I imagine it will be handy against Thorns.
Battleflag
yep, thorns, the outcast bosses and lt's have holds, clockwork bosses and lt's have sleeps, vazilok bosses have stuns. trolls can cause knockback too.
i'd say clocks and thorns are probably the prime ones at that sort of level
@ExtraGonk
Thanks Extra
[ QUOTE ]
They do stack, yes - but the resistance you gain from TI is significantly higher than that from RPD (30% versus 7.5%), so the extra gain by adding RPD isn't "all that".
[/ QUOTE ]
Keep in mind that every extra percentage helps relatively more. The closer you get to 95% the harder every single extra resistance begins to count.
[ QUOTE ]
So what mobs should i consider using Unyielding with
[/ QUOTE ]
Unyielding is always useful, there's nothing worse than seeing a tanker getting mez'd.
Toggle it up when you log in and keep it always on, no matter the foes.
Each and every enemy type has some kind of mez(knock up/down/sideways, sleep, stun, holds are everywhere, hence the need of Unyielding always on,
The only way I can be detoggled of Unyielding on my tanker is a faceplant 
Thanks All
When I first posted the question about unyielding I was a few levels lower, I'm lev 13 now. It's proved to be very handy, especially against Thorns and similar. I still toggle it on and off though jiaozy.
Battleflag
[ QUOTE ]
The only way I can be detoggled of Unyielding on my tanker is a faceplant
[/ QUOTE ]You're not herding big enough groups then
Now that you're a bit higher up you'll probably find that you're starting to need it on more than off, and once you hit 18 almost everything will be coming your way so you'll need it on permanently . at that point i found it was TI that i toggle changed a lot, leaving unyeilding and invincibility perma on.
its then just a small hop to getting stamina so the endurance won't be such an issue.
really pleased to see you're still enjoying it
@ExtraGonk
After being advised to change from Defiant to Union in order to get more role play opportunities I'm considering reinventing my tank. He's only lev 7 so it's no big deal and this time I thought I'd see if anyone would be good enough to give me some specific build advice.
My character's Inv and super str.
Thanks
Doc