What level are you so far?
For your first few power picks, make sure you get True Grit asap. Put off Active Defense to around level 20.
I really should do something about this signature.
No Active Defense is no Mezz protection and no Mezz protection can mean suppressed armours. No one can from your post understand which of the myriad of things could be going wrong, I would suggest we either see your build or preferably see you play and who you play with and the content you do. For all anyone knows it could be lack of active defense that is the problem.
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.
I'm Lvl 35.. Fairly new to CoH..Active defense is on auto and on when possible.
Due to i14 i have been unable to find normal missions and have been restricted (pretty much) to farms or MA missions.
For this reason i have yet to slot my powers with some good enhancements.
Will enhancing make a big difference? (defense buff-wise)
I can stand my ground on two or three enemies of my level. But a big group often takes me down. Or rather makes me flee.
To be honest i havn't a clue what a "Build" consists of on CoH..powers and enhancements i guess...
Enhancing makes one hell of a difference buff wise, its one of my big gripes with the balancing they did in Issue 5 that the armours seem to be balanced out fine after enhancements but before mostly a drain on endurance.
I think that is probably your biggest issue (also with enhancements Active Defence should be perma)
"Well, they found my diary today.
They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
spider, brilliant!"
Heah, I meant Battle Agility, not Active Defence!
At level 35 poor suvivablility is probably down to poor slotting and poor tactics, probably caused by leveling too fast..
I really should do something about this signature.
Alright cheers Cynic! I'll Re-enhance my powers when i reach lvl 37. Only one level to go! 
If you are leveling up fast due to MA farm missions, then that; along with custom made enemies; plus team mates who are leveling up fast and perhaps aren't all that with their builds; both play and slot wise; then versus enemies, say 50 (whom you maybe automatically sidekicked up to 49 against) will most likely give you some problems.
There are reasons people take the time to level slow, do so many maps, so many enemies, one can notice someone whose 50 and yet to discover their characters to the extent that other 50s might. People teamed in PuGs doing the harder content could later become a bit fussed for not getting the staff.
This is most prominent on the Union Server.
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.
So..If i lvled slower..i would theoretically be better?
I don't know what you are doing. It's more about team variation, enemy variation, map variation, time to update build than speed. You can go 1 - 50 on 1 map without defeating anything using the MA.
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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So..If i lvled slower..i would theoretically be better?
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Yes, you need to take the time to learn each power as you aquire it, and how to slot it effectively.
If you are leveling to fast you can turn off earning xp.
Personally, I wouldn't recomend using the MA for leveling at all.
I really should do something about this signature.
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Personally, I wouldn't recomend using the MA for leveling at all.
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Oh i agree..i don't like it that much..but i find it hard to find some groups doing normal missions..its quite frustrating.
Thank you for all the help everyone! 
(By the way i'll study my powers to help me...get good 
)
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i find it hard to find some groups doing normal missions..
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The answer to that is to start your own groups.
A Shield/Mace tanker can also solo effectively.
I really should do something about this signature.
Get Tough and Weave as soon as possible, i got a 50 Warmace/Shields brute(Fully IO Slotted tho), but with Weave you should be ok.
maybe get Combat Jumping also if its needed, it should buff your defense by almost by 10% (3 slotted Weave for Defense) bringing your total Defense to 34% ( combined with the SHield Defense Armors)
49 level 50's(CoH/V), cant be arsed to list em all :P
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Get Tough and Weave as soon as possible, i got a 50 Warmace/Shields brute(Fully IO Slotted tho), but with Weave you should be ok.
maybe get Combat Jumping also if its needed, it should buff your defense by almost by 10% (3 slotted Weave for Defense) bringing your total Defense to 34% ( combined with the SHield Defense Armors)
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Yeah i got some advice from a member of my SG today That i should gte Tough and Weave, and am planning to Respec ASAP.
But i will also get Combat Jumping.
Cheers
For what it's worth, having just got to 50 with my Mace/Shield tank this week, I disagree with the above posts regarding Tough and Weave. Heh, now to justify my stance before I get jumped on...
Once you get past the level 20 hump (of never having any endurance) by taking Stamina, there are two main ways that I can see a Mace/Shield tank being built. The first would be to go for a 'pure' tank bias, taking fewer attacks but aiming for Tough and Weave to up your resistances. Combat Jumping (and Super Jump as your travel power) are a no-brainer for either option.
The second build would be as a scranker, which is the route that I chose. I have _every_ power from my primary + secondary pools, plus combat jumping/super jump, swift/health/stamina, and maneuvers. This, in association with plenty of set bonuses from slotting recipe enhancements, means that my melee and AoE defense run at around 40%, with ranged lagging a little at 34%. That is soloing. With a single shield toon accompanying me, I exceed the soft-cap (45%) for melee and AoE defense.
Add to this the fact that I have 3 AoE attacks with knockdown (one being a narrow cone, almost single-target), 1 single-target attack with knock-up and 3 attacks which can disorient opponents, and I can keep significant chunks of enemy mobs on the floor unable to attack at all. Which means that I don't get hit much And my damage output is remarkable (for a tank).
Having said all that, the absolute _best_ advice that I can give you regarding survivability as a shield tank is to team with other shield scrappers or tanks. Grant Cover and Phalanx Fighting are absolutely awesome, and will quickly push your defences up to the point where you get hit less than 10% of the time. This makes surviving a whole lot easier
Regarding slotting, however, I would recommend the following for your shield set:
Deflection - 6 slots (3 def/3 res)
Battle Agility - 3 slots (def)
True Grit - 6 slots (3 res/3 heal or, in my case, 4 part Impervium Armor + 2 heal)
Active Defense - 2 slots (recharge IOs)
Phalanx Fighting - 3 slot (def - I have 4 slots for Luck of the Gambler in this)
Against All Odds - 1 slot (Taunt IO)
Grant Cover - 2 slots (def/end red or def set)
Shield Charge - 6 slots (Frankenslotted*, in my case, while I save up for Armageddon. Hahaha.)
One With The Shield - 3 slots (res - I have 4 slots with Impervium Armor for the set bonuses)
*Frankenslotting: the practice of using multiple-bonus IOs to gain the max benefit for a power. eg 2 x Acc/Dam enhancements give a bigger boost than 1 Damage IO + 1 Accuracy IO. Taken further, if you slot with Acc/Dam/End/Rech, you gain more than a quarter of an equivalent IO to each bonus. There's a thread on this somewhere, but I figured I should explain the term
Hey everyone! I'm gonna get straight to the point;
My shield/Mace tanker Cannot take any damage at all..its flimsy and dies very quickly.
How can i fix this and be able to fight properly?