I'm a Gazelle, not a Gorilla.

Ahem.....I know, I know there are you die hard Tankers out there that love your Tanks. This post has nothing against Tanks or Tanking in general. It is my experience of Tanking for a second time as I felt I would give it one more shot.

As you all know, everyone has a certain play style in this game. Some people prefer the finesse type play style, while others prefer the more "knock-down and drag-them-out" style of play. About 6 months ago or so, I tried my hand at a Tanker. It was so long ago, I forgot what build it was but I think it was a Dark/Dark Tanker. Anyways, after level 20, I ended up deleting that Tank and converting it over to a Controller which I eventually got to level 50.

About three days ago, I started another Tank up, a Invul/Super Strength Tank. Got him to level 15 then deleted him. I know there are those of you who are saying "give it a chance and see what happens in the higher levels" or "I never gave my Tanks a chance to blossom". The reality is, I play more like a Gazelle rather than a Gorilla. You know, a Gazelle, the small slender antelope that typically has curved horns and a yellowish brown coat with white underparts, found in open country in Africa. They are very agile and quick on their feet, but lack defense against attacks a.k.a. my Blasters...hehe.



Then you have the Gorilla, the big lumbering brute of a beast with major defenses and if you get it angry, will tear your arms off!



With that being said. I came to the realization that I play more like a Gazelle, not a Gorilla. I like to "finesse" my foes and then take them out. Although, I do have my Warshade Rino/Lobster that I take out on occasion and do get a nice rush from his pounding attacks. And with his thick skin, can take a large amount of melee damage and still keep standing. I also have my Stalker which I love as I can sneak up on foes to do some serious damage. But to be a Tanker, jumping in the middle of a group of foes and just "key mashing" until they die, I just didn't get all giddy about it. And for you true Tankers out there, I applaud the Gorilla side of you. Taking that charge and getting hammered all the time for the team takes a certain type of player.

So, I bid you Tanks a farewell as I continue my "Gazelle" quest in CoX. Who knows, maybe someday I will get the itch again to be a "Gorilla",..nah,...maybe not. Latrz!

I am more of a ....



mother bear defending cubs, myself.....

<《 New Colchis / Guides / Mission Architect 》>
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison

Honestly, that is really something inherent to the Tanker. There CAN be Tankers that are fast and agile, dodging everything that comes at them no matter how intense the wall of bullets get. See Vash the Stampede from Trigun, for instance, or the female Dove. There have been times I wanted to see what Tankers could do with Super Reflexes, and I do think with Proliferation they should get it, or a variation at least.

The problem is, though, that the concept of a Tanker is really that of a wall. Dodging bullets means you are taking the risk that one of those bullets will hit someone else you are protecting instead. So you usually have to taunt, and have an awareness of your surroundings beyond that of just being a big, tough rock in the way of the bad guys. It's simply easier to be a Gorilla.

Honestly, Energy Aura and Super Reflexes, when they Proliferate to Tankers, will probably be more for off-tanking. There will be too much of the chance for a sudden Def failure. Dark is kind of like that, although with all of its utility powers and -Acc, it has a lot of mitigation beyond just the Res and Def. And of course, I like the way the stealth gives it a unique, kind of non-tanking feel. As long as my allies let me go first, I like just appearing in the middle of the group and going "Boo!".

Even my main Tanker, though, as much as he is an unstoppable blast of energy rocketing at his foes, still puts himself between the gunfire and his allies. I'm not disagreeing with your assessment, I quite agree with it. It's not for everyone, I guess, which is why there are Scrappers and Stalkers and Brutes. (And they have their own fun parts...)

I'm more of a



Charging into spawns, stomping and poking and kicking... or sometimes just running right through them on my way somewhere else.

Tanks aren't everyone's "cup of tea" so to speak. If you should get the urge to try again, give a Fiery Armor/Fiery Melee -Super Speeder a try. They tend to be more Gazelle like in their approach to tanking then Gorillas..

Sounds like more of a damage issue than anything.

Blasters are lots of damage.

Tankers are lots of defense and a little bit of damage (compared to say blasters, scrappers).

Blasters & Scrappers walk into a crowd go click click boom and move on or die (scrappers less likely to die, blasters more likely to dish out a big higher damage at the cost of life)

Tankers are a...walk in take a pounding, slowly beat doen the opponents.

That's what I get from the OP's post. Which is pretty much true. :/

Hmm, this seems to be more about secondaries rather than primaries. In general, except for martial arts sets, which tankers don't get, fist-fighting seems to be more brute force than finesse. Maces and axes aren't exactly subtle, either.

Honestly, the only tanker secondary that seems to fit the bill is Dual Blades; it gives much more of the impression of grace and precision than the other sets. For a primary, any would do really, but I'd go with something unobtrusive, like WP or Invul. It would be kinda weird to have a graceful sword-wielder covered in Ice or Stone.

So, want to try Invul/DB or WP/DB?

I'm more of an...



Or at least, this guy is:

Im the superbeast.

They make Scrappers for a reason..........

I love traditional tanks, but found FA/DM a nice change, not really a team tank, more a sort of heavy scrapper. Fun solo and small team toon. 2 "buildups", 2 heals, 2 consumes.

I was with you for a long time Fusion. I came from red side so I was a Brute fan first and for most...mad dash from mob to mob to keep fury up...kill them before they can come close to killing you. Tried tanks several times and just felt too week in the early levels.

but I have seen the light...four years later...and I am really starting to like tanks (damn Tanker Tuesday Tour adding server atlitis to my toon altitis). Just like you can make a Stone armor that does not need a kin or TP you can make a Tank to fit your needs. I would give Shield/elec a try. That is one of the builds that I am trying (among 6 or 7 others). Shield charge and Lightning rod will have you zipping between mobs faster than any Gazelle I have ever seen.

Subtle is right.

Though none of mine are males, my concept of a subtle tanks is...



Oh, and similar to a tank is a katana/wp scrapper spamming devine avalanche. With SB, you can get your melee and lethal defense to 144%, though that level is beyond stupid, you can do it.

If you are more of a controller type, I am surprised that the soft control that dark/dark tanks didn't fit your playstyle that well, or at least become a good compromise. A Dark/Dark tank has the ability to perma-fear bosses, which basically means they don't atack until you deal damage to them first. And the fear effects do prevent some of the foes from actually attacking you at all. Alternatively, You should try Dark/Mace or Dark/Energy, as both of those sets have potential for perma stun on bosses. A buddy of mine plays a Dark/Mace Tanker, built for recharge and utilizing some stun IO sets, he very rarely face plants if at all when I run with him. Sure, he isn;t the mack daddy of damage by any means, but he is very effective with mob control, and Crowd Control usually keeps them from wandering off ;D

Or you might try a Fire or Electric/Stone Melee... I've found both Primaries to be very active and mobile sets while Stone Melee provides soft control in Fault and Tremor, with the satisfying "SMACK and SMASH" of the mallets.

I always though of my Tanks as more like this: