Question on Inv's autos

So I know these were always considered pretty skippable powers, but I was wondering if that's changed. My brother has a lvl 50 Inv tanker and he told me I want to take every single power in Inv, and that the autos are good now because they give resistance to Def Debuff, Slow, and end drain.

So I just wanted to know how necessary the status resistances given by these powers are and how it affects if I should take them or not.

They were good before. They're better now. I'd drop Unstoppable before any of the passives on my Inv/ or /Inv builds.

I suggest taking them, at least Tough and RPD. The others as well if you can fit them in. Not because of the res values, or the debuff protection, but because of a combination of the two. Might not seem like much individually, but when you start throwing all that good stuff together it makes for a helluva tough tanker.

Cool. Thing is I'm making an Inv/War Mace tanker and WM looks pretty tight. I read some guide (bit out of date though I think) that said if you have to drop an attack, Whirling Mace is the most likely one, and I guess I can understand why since it's pretty much just an AoE Bash, but I do like having as much AoE as possible.

Yeah, Warmace is a pretty sweet set. The tier 2 attack, like with most tanker secondaries, can be skipped or respecced out of later on. I like AoE, and passives, so I'd keep Whirling Mace, but that's just my opinion.

Unstoppable is certainly skippable. I don't even use IO sets and rarely find a use for it (about 3 times in 2 years, and 2 of those times I died anyways). If you plan on soft-capping (Call Me Awesome's Guide) you can definitely drop Unstoppable. I would keep Whirling Mace for a teaming build to help with aggro. And I believe CMA's guide has taunt fully slotted for set bonuses. Take a look and see if it gives you any ideas.

I've got 2 WM tanks, and I'd recommend keeping Whirling Mace and skipping either Pulverize or Jawbreaker. (Most players skip Pulverize, but I kept it on my Dark/Mace to stack the stuns.)

As for the Invul passives, I'd say that Tough Hide and RPD are must haves, ResEn is desirable, and ResEl is nice if you can fit it in. ResEl is definitely the most skippable, IMO. F/C damage isn't terribly common, and Slow Resist is the least needed secondary affect of the three.

You rang?

Just to clarify, here's the skinny on the changes to Invuln with issue 13:

Resist Physical Damage went from 7.5% S/L resistance to 10% S/L resistance AND got a 25% resistance to defense debuffs.
Resist Energies went from 7.5% E/N resistance to 10% E/N resistance AND got 25% resistance to endurance drains
Resist Elements went from 7.5% F/C resistance to 10% F/C resistance AND got 20% slow resistance
Tough Hide gained 25% resistance to defense debuffs

What that means is that RPD and TH are now quite valuable to you; more thanks to the debuff resistance than the actual values of the powers. Prior to issue 13 the Romans on the ITF would take my Invuln's defense down into the deep negatives... lowest I recall was about -50% defense. Since issue 13 and respec'ing into a soft capped build I have yet to see my def drop below 40%.

Res Energies is now useful, both for the small end drain resist and for protection against the third most common damage type... but it isn't a critical power. I do have it in my Invuln builds, but it comes late... typically as the 49 power.

Resist Elements I completely skip; Fire/Cold damage is very rare and the slow resistance isn't enough to make a real difference... mobs that slow will hit you hard enough that you'll never even notice the slow resistance. This isn't to say it's worthless... just that a soft capped Invuln tanker usually has a very tight build and you're going to have to make sacrifices... Res Elements is simply about the least important primary power you have.

I went into a bit more detail in my soft capping guide and it should apply quite well to any secondary. I focus first on S/L defense, then on E/N defense and finally on F/C defense. As a side effect you'll also build fairly significant melee/ranged/AOE defenses that will apply to psionic damage.

Whew, I guess I tend to get a bit long winded... anyway good luck with your tank; if you build it right there's nothing in the game you won't be able to handle.