Look for post in this section and you decide. All sets have their own up and downs. Also look at the guide section. iirc there was a post in USA forums about comparing tanker primaries.
I am also new to tanking too. And after little research i decide to build an inv/em tanker. I can say inv down side to you, no psychic protection. But i think other team members easily cover that weak spot. EM is so so offense set but there are so many inv/ss tankers so i choose EM.
Good luck with your tanker. 
I am new to tanking too, but that doesnt mean I havent rolled a loads of tanks already.
Truth is, the only AT I didnt find amusing is the tank. I havent given up tho, I am still trying.
I've tried Inv/Em (nothing special), Stone/Ice (no endurance AND no damage), and now I play as a Ice/Em (the best so far) somedays. I hardly got them higher than lvl 12, and lvling with a tank remained a pain, no matter how hard I tried (I lvl faster with any squishy).
I know tanking gets better with time, and real life starts after 40 (or maybe sooner), but I am really curious about how the hell can one run thru the painful period and enjoy tanking.
And I still can't handle the fact that even with my armor on, they hit me hard, but most of the time I don't have them on, because I am unable to attack then (endurance issues).
Any advices are welcome, because I really want to learn how to love the Tanker AT.
(oh, and hi Knightly m8 )
Brush
Very breifly:
Stone Armour:
Pro's: Defence to psionics (unique), Granite Armour (makes you the toughest tank there is, at expense of much reduced damage)
Cons: Least mobile tank there is. As a consequence of this making sure everything hits you and not the vulnerable (i.e. your main job) is your challenge. As a consequence, teleport is the travel power of choice.
Fire:
Pros: Most damaging tank there is.
Cons: Least tough tank there is. And you probably need acrobatics (or at least hover) to stop yourself getting knocked about all over the place.
Ice:
Pros: Best at making sure you get hit (i.e. your main job) and protecting the vulnerable... because of best mobility and excellent aura's. Gets slightly tougher the more enemies it faces.
Cons: Not much these days. Vulnerable to fire but thats about it. Quite possible the FoTM. You are potentially open to "unlucky streaks" of high damage because you are defence based, not resistance, but this is (in reality) a rare problem.
Invun:
Pros: Extremely tough against smash / lethal damage (the most common and often the hardest hitting). Get's more tough the more enemies it faces.
Cons: Nothing in particular. Can be slightly weak vs all other types of damage but not hideously so.
As regards to secondaries:
EM/Superstrength: Excellent at high damage to single enemies. Which is not good if you are in big teams with lots of enemies around you.
Fire: Excellent at damaging lots of enemies around you. Which is good in big teams.
Mace/Axe: In-between Fire and SS/Energy.
Ice: Weakest damage, but significantly increases your toughness, as it can make enemies around you fallover / slow / freeze.
Stone: Mixed bag. Some very high damage single target (although slow to recharge) attacks mixed in with some of Ice control-type powers.
Minor con with inv, it has no damage aura. But believe it compesensate with a always hit taunt, unlike fire blazing aura wich needs a tohit check. Fire has its improved healing flames, wich makes it a very solid tanker nowadays, untill you face some nasty -recharge.
Most sets are basicly what you like to play, overal they are quite evenly balanced. I'm raised with a perma-granite, have a fire and inv tanker also, but overal i remain loyal to my granite Ice i tried, but the set just doesnt suit me very well. And a big pro on granite/rooted, massive resist to end-draining (sapppper).
Mace/axe have the redraw syndrome, SS has a long lasting Rage and a awsome aoe knockdown (compensate -dmg with granite quite well), EM has the possiblity to perma stun basicly anything and remains at low damage for very long time. Both work great imho, focus on the boss with the single targets, keep the rest of the mobs taunted/gauntlet or busy with the taunt aura.
But for basicly any set, endurance is a big problem untill you get Stamina, and even then it can become very tricky. Specialy if you attack alot, wich in small teams or solo happens.
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Looks like cognito covered most aspects of tankers like you said you've not lvl'd your tanks up to a point were shields are slotted and with SO enhancements thus not reaching their full potential i've played with Fire/EM/SS and they are all good secondaries i'm biased toward Invul/EM as it's my favourite
Alot of tanker powers are trial and error to find what works for you so take what you want if you don't like it respec for something that will go with your tank the guides on here will help with slotting and most good choices for primary/secondary
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[ QUOTE ]
I am new to tanking too, but that doesnt mean I havent rolled a loads of tanks already.
Truth is, the only AT I didnt find amusing is the tank. I havent given up tho, I am still trying.
I've tried Inv/Em (nothing special), Stone/Ice (no endurance AND no damage), and now I play as a Ice/Em (the best so far) somedays. I hardly got them higher than lvl 12, and lvling with a tank remained a pain, no matter how hard I tried (I lvl faster with any squishy).
I know tanking gets better with time, and real life starts after 40 (or maybe sooner), but I am really curious about how the hell can one run thru the painful period and enjoy tanking.
And I still can't handle the fact that even with my armor on, they hit me hard, but most of the time I don't have them on, because I am unable to attack then (endurance issues).
Any advices are welcome, because I really want to learn how to love the Tanker AT.
(oh, and hi Knightly m8 )
Brush
[/ QUOTE ]
Tanking really starts at 22 when you get SOs, but you can still manage it below that with some skill.
One of the things you will find early on, especially with Ice Armour is that you run out of endurance a lot if you're scranking. There are two options to counter this outside of 3rd party buffs; don't attack or don't run your armours - the former is preferable where at all possible.
If you really can't afford to run all your toggles, make sure you're at least keeping Wet Ice and Chilling Embrace running or you'll start to run into trouble once you hit the teens. Once you've got Stamina (20ish) and Energy Absorption (26) you shouldn't have too many issues with endurance usage any more.
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EM is a great choice for pvp but I do not really like it for pve tanking, it's the poorest aoe power pool, whirling hand is a joke and your strong powers come very late (lvl 35 & 38).
in your opinion Kimuji 
i love whirling hands for PvE tanking so it's AoE moderate but slot with damage and combine with build up can whittle down mobs with easy whilst taking out the lt's and bosses with your harder single attacks
Heroes: Phobos-, Protector-Bot, Shadow of Ra, Bionic Eye, Entropic Chaos, Strike-Freedom.
Villains: Necron Phobos, Khorne-Berzerker, Full Metal Panic, Smasher Devourer, Degrees Kelvin.
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I think EM isn't that bad for AoE. Whirling Hands is fairly early at least at 16, although it does take some planning to fit in an attack at level 16 for a tank. It is the same as most of the other AoEs in damage, the exceptions being the Fire Ones and Foot Stomp from Superstrength.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
The area of effect of whirling hands is very, very short it can only hits mobs that are very close to you. Low damage, ridiculous range (so reduced number of targets) => bad aoe power.
Whirling hands is a not too bad AoE for any tank. Ideally you want everything clustered around you anyway so you dont actually need a large range.
@Mister
Mister Volcano lvl50 Tank SA/FM
Silver Sight lvl 50 Controller Mind/Kin
Cryogenic lvl 50 Tank Ice/Stone
Winters Night lvl 50 Corrupter Ice/Dark
Chaos Agent lvl50 Brute EM/EA
The AoE of whirling hands is actualy the same range as Axe and (iirc) Mace (all 8ft).
Fire wins with fire cicle by 2 ft, combustion does 15ft. Footstomp/Tremor/fault+handclap(no dmg) are all 15ft also, although tremor does little damage then footstomp.
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(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
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[ QUOTE ]
EM is a great choice for pvp but I do not really like it for pve tanking, it's the poorest aoe power pool, whirling hand is a joke and your strong powers come very late (lvl 35 & 38).
[/ QUOTE ]
It isnt a joke when you slot it with taunt and stun SO's, you can manage close targets without even needing to use taunt, while pulling mobs back that peel off.
The best powers do come rather late in the high levels, but believe me they are well worth it. Seeing LT's going down in one or two hits is brilliant, you can't help but smile.
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Seeing LT's going down in one or two hits is brilliant, you can't help but smile.
[/ QUOTE ]You can do it with a Fire/SS tanker, and you can also deal a looot more aoe damage.
The thing is Energy melee isn't designed for aoe damage, though with a tankers primary will help with crowd control.
Its a players choice which power they choose, yes a f/ss tanker will deal a hell of a lot of dmg in one hit, but energy melee can out do that.
Hi
Im new to tanking and i'm thinking of making one but not sure which primary and secondary to choose.
I have my eye on stone or invun for primary
and
stone or superstrength for secondary
I dont know which ones are useless and which is good, but of the armours which one would you say has better resistance to things?
I think if i get armour sorted ill easily be able to choose a secondary for myself
And if its not too much too ask, maybe someone could show me a build on how to slot a tank, from whichever you suggest.
Thank you