City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Tank Farmer

Ars Valde

By Ars Valde,
Posted on: 2010-03-16 14:03 in Tankers

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rylas View Post
Because if you're going to run content over and over again, you may as well do it on a toon you enjoy. If the tank is the AT you enjoy most, then why not?
Sure, if you can make farming enjoyable go for it.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercury_Down View Post
Sure, if you can make farming enjoyable go for it.
Dude, the guy wants to use a tank. Does it upset you that much?

We need to change your name to Debbie Downer.

@Rylas

Kill 'em all. Let XP sort 'em out.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Calash View Post
Did you just agree and disagree with me in the same sentence?



1 - Never argued against Fire/Kin. OP made a statement about not wanting a Fire/Kin so that part of your "um, good" argument is lost.

2 - The difference between killing the mobs in 5 or 7 seconds is not worth the potental downtime of dying. You make no $$ when you are flat on your back.

3 - I can build an AE mission that will take advantage of the aggro abilities of a tank...solo. When you hit the aggro cap, anything extra ignores you until ether aggro wears off or a spot opens up on your aggro list. By throwing taunts around I can keep mobs coming at me while never stopping the carnage.


Your entire, slightly insulting, counter argument is, um, funny and entertained me.

1. In response to when you said "In that case the killing speed between the three AT's listed is marginal and I would prefer the extra aggro control along with extra survivability as I gather and position them." You left the path of talking only about tanks which is why I responded the way I did about tanks being the slowest/worst of the ATs I listed.

2. Given that I mentioned you can tailor an AT to a regular world map or tailor an AE map to your AT you won't be spending any time on your back because you can create a situation where your AT is unkillable, that means a tank is still the slowest/worst AT for farming out of the ATs I listed. You can make any AT as tough as a tank but you can't make a tank kill as fast as the other ATs.

*note I have not said tanks cannot farm, only that they are the worst when compared to fire/kins, scrappers, and brutes.

3. As a solo farmer you are already at the aggro cap once you engage the bad guys. I'll have as much aggro on a fire/kin or elec/sd scrapper as your tank while solo farming.


I apologize for being slightly insulting. I find farming very boring. As such, I want a toon that will allow me to spend the least amount of time farming as possible and hope to save people time by providing them with good farming advice. When I see bad advice that does the opposite I tend to get a little snarky.

I have farmed with a fire/fire/fire tank, a sd/SS/fire tank, elec/SD scrapper, spines/dark scrapper, elec/sd brute, warshade, and of course fire/kin troller. Out of the bunch I prefer the fire/kin and elec/SD scrapper. I've spent a great deal of time farming over the past three years (+?) ever since starting a second account and those two toons are by far the best I've used to farm with.

 

Posted

I often farm with my SD/SS/Body tank.
I always farm on +4/8, sometimes with bosses too.
With AAO, damage set bonuses and double stacked Rage, I'm at damage cap 90% of the time. Shield Charge with damage cap and procs is a glorious thing.
Main reason I use my tank over my ele/ele or spine/fire scraps, I hate runners. For some reason despite being the only one in the mob, and having damage auras, they love to run. I never have this issue with my tank, or if they do I just taunt for -75% range.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by DR_EVIL_NA View Post
Main reason I use my tank over my ele/ele or spine/fire scraps, I hate runners. For some reason despite being the only one in the mob, and having damage auras, they love to run. I never have this issue with my tank, or if they do I just taunt for -75% range.
This happens on my spines/fire scrapper so much that I'm thinking of starting a SD/fire tank to replace her. I've been told that mobs run less from tanks because of the stronger taunt aura, is this true? It's not horrible or anything - there's always Impale - but when I start getting multiple runners it starts to feel like herding cats.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by macskull View Post
Tank and farmer don't belong in the same sentence, unless it's "Tanks are not good farmers." That being said, if you're set on a Tank you'll want Fire/SS/Pyre or Shield/SS/Pyre. Really I'd go with a Spines/Fire Scrapper.

you realize the reason they nerfed fire tanks so badly in the first 6 issues was because they were the best p.lersfarmers in the game right?

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Severe View Post
you realize the reason they nerfed fire tanks so badly in the first 6 issues was because they were the best p.lersfarmers in the game right?
And they are still being punished...

My shield/fire is much better than my fire/ice, by far. For farming... fire/shield scrapper though.

YMMV---IMO
Ice Ember

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by DR_EVIL_NA View Post
I often farm with my SD/SS/Body tank.
I always farm on +4/8, sometimes with bosses too.
Again, why?

If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
----------------------------------------------------------

The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog

 

Posted

i would say it would be for drops..not everyone farms for xp ya know :P

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailboat View Post
Again, why?

Because he wants to. Great thing about choices.

YMMV---IMO
Ice Ember

 

Posted

i still break out the fire tank to farm cause it breaks up the fire/kin alittle.

great thing about it is i have many choices to farm with if i choose that way it doesnt get old.

 

Posted

I farm on my Inv/Fire tanker on +1/x8 with bosses and unless I run Malta maps and fail to spot the sapper, it's 100% pure boredom because I'm in no danger of dying.
The killing speed of other ATs or power combinations might be superior, but my tank performs exactly how I like it.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ice_Ember View Post
Because he wants to. Great thing about choices.
Sure. But let's note for the general readership that farming on +4/8 is much less effective at getting drops per unit of time farmed.

You're free to play any way you like. But I keep seeing this meme, and I suspect that people think it's somehow "better" at producing rewards. It's not -- it's decisively worse except perhaps for power leveling, which is a different thing than farming. I suspect the reason I keep seeing it is that posters don't entirely understand, and just assume that the hardest setting is the best reward in all cases, or they're copying something they saw someone else post.

If it's fun for you, go for it. I'm just trying to help people who are still learning how things work avoid confusion, though.

If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
----------------------------------------------------------

The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailboat View Post
Sure. But let's note for the general readership that farming on +4/8 is much less effective at getting drops per unit of time farmed.

You're free to play any way you like. But I keep seeing this meme, and I suspect that people think it's somehow "better" at producing rewards. It's not -- it's decisively worse except perhaps for power leveling, which is a different thing than farming. I suspect the reason I keep seeing it is that posters don't entirely understand, and just assume that the hardest setting is the best reward in all cases, or they're copying something they saw someone else post.

If it's fun for you, go for it. I'm just trying to help people who are still learning how things work avoid confusion, though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ice_Ember View Post
Shield/Fire scrapper or Shield/Fire tank. Scrapper is faster, but more susceptible to the lucky hits. Tanks are slower with the higher con mobs.

I would run the scrapper at +3/8 and the tank at +1/8, with no bosses for the fastest runs.

I have both and the scrapper is much better at faster farming. The tank is just slower b/c of lesser damage. Both can be soft capped, the tank is just easier to do. Hasten is not needed with IO's for recharge.
I am glad I already covered your concern then.

YMMV---IMO
Ice Ember

 

Posted

Quote:
Sure. But let's note for the general readership that farming on +4/8 is much less effective at getting drops per unit of time farmed.

You're free to play any way you like. But I keep seeing this meme, and I suspect that people think it's somehow "better" at producing rewards. It's not -- it's decisively worse except perhaps for power leveling, which is a different thing than farming. I suspect the reason I keep seeing it is that posters don't entirely understand, and just assume that the hardest setting is the best reward in all cases, or they're copying something they saw someone else post.

If it's fun for you, go for it. I'm just trying to help people who are still learning how things work avoid confusion, though.
Sailboat (or anyone really), have you got a link confirming this when concerning how +2x8 is the best all round. Concerning purple drops is +1x8 better and +3x8 better for PL? Sorry, I realize this a little off-topic but I couldn't really find anything like this around the forums.

@Fail (Used to be @Tux) and @Tuxedo Infinitus Defiant/Freedom/Champion
Favourite Toons: Prosper [Ill/Rad] Controller :: Infinitus [Fire/Elec] Blaster :: Pocket Dynamo [Fire/Shield] Scr :: Fast [Cold/Sonic] Def ::
Inspire [Plant/Storm] Controller :: Quality - SS/Fire Brute :: Double Down [DP/Kin] Corr :: Pwnz [Fire/Cold] Corr :: Fail [Fire/Son] Corr

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by _Tux__EU View Post
Sailboat (or anyone really), have you got a link confirming this when concerning how +2x8 is the best all round. Concerning purple drops is +1x8 better and +3x8 better for PL? Sorry, I realize this a little off-topic but I couldn't really find anything like this around the forums.
Not sure I can find the link, but somebody did a very simple calculation that works something like this:

A level 50 even con minion has x hits.
If you have an attack chain that delivers y dps it lasts x/y seconds.
It awards z XP.

You get z/(x/y) XP/second (similar for tickets/inf).

A level 54 minion has x+n% hits
you do m%y DPS because it scales down
It awards z+p% XP.

The numbers are known, but I don't know them.

Short answer +2 and +3 >> +0 and +4.

It's true. This game is NOT rocket surgery. - BillZBubba

 

Posted

For purple drops it's bodies per hour. So +0 or -1 (and x8) is best, unless you can handle +1/+2+3/+4 at the same speed.

For other recipe drops it's bodies per hour also.

For tickets and exp and influence for defeats, the +level matters, but I don't have the calculations for that. Slower defeating is still bad though. :P

If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
----------------------------------------------------------

The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog

 

Posted

Right, thanks for that.

And if I was to use a Tank for farming, it would have to be Shield/SS/Pyre or Shield/Fire/Pyre.

@Fail (Used to be @Tux) and @Tuxedo Infinitus Defiant/Freedom/Champion
Favourite Toons: Prosper [Ill/Rad] Controller :: Infinitus [Fire/Elec] Blaster :: Pocket Dynamo [Fire/Shield] Scr :: Fast [Cold/Sonic] Def ::
Inspire [Plant/Storm] Controller :: Quality - SS/Fire Brute :: Double Down [DP/Kin] Corr :: Pwnz [Fire/Cold] Corr :: Fail [Fire/Son] Corr

 

Posted

+con foes (higher than 50) dont seem to increase in hp, but the damage you do is decreased instead. If your toon has significant +damage, you can offset the issue of +con taking less damage to give you similar kill times on farm runs.

Shield/fire/pyre is probably the best option for multiple AoEs, though I think mace has more cones than fire has pbaoes if you dont mind positioning for maximum effect.

I am an ebil markeeter and will steal your moneiz ...correction stole your moneiz. I support keeping the poor down because it is impossible to make moneiz in this game.

 

Posted

I used a purped-out ice/fire tank for farming for the longest time. I expect shield/fire would do better now, but ice/ has some great perks, capped HP and unlimited endo being two of them.

I'm using a fire/shield/blaze scrapper now.

50s:
Grimmloch, Tactically Delicious, Ugly Frankie, Operative Tracker, CryoFurnace, Professional Help, Silver Sphinx, Aries Knight, Tachyon Aegis, Jade Sphinx
Currently building:
Any one of half a dozen alts!

 

Posted

I'd find Fire/SD/Pyre a little testy on the endurance consumption, especially if your pumping out Ball + Circle and DoT's for the bosses, unless there is a set efficient attack chain. I do know of builds that don't need energy management, but they require Body Mastery. Up to 4.2E/S is great but it's pretty costly, you'll likely average 3-3.5E/S with 0.9 consumption on toggles alone. To be honest, with bosses on, while your concentrating on the bosses you can just keep popping off circle for the Lieutenants/Minions but it sounds very awkward.

OP: I don't really know of any great tanker farm sets to be honest. There's so much out there that is better. But I'd probably say SS/Fire, Fire/Fire for ease or something. Ancilliary obviously depends on the build outcome, budget, etc.

Fury

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wondering_Fury View Post
I'd find Fire/SD/Pyre a little testy on the endurance consumption, especially if your pumping out Ball + Circle and DoT's for the bosses, unless there is a set efficient attack chain. I do know of builds that don't need energy management, but they require Body Mastery. Up to 4.2E/S is great but it's pretty costly, you'll likely average 3-3.5E/S with 0.9 consumption on toggles alone. To be honest, with bosses on, while your concentrating on the bosses you can just keep popping off circle for the Lieutenants/Minions but it sounds very awkward.

OP: I don't really know of any great tanker farm sets to be honest. There's so much out there that is better. But I'd probably say SS/Fire, Fire/Fire for ease or something. Ancilliary obviously depends on the build outcome, budget, etc.

Fury
(He's speaking Brute -- reverse the primary/secondary for Tankers.)

If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
----------------------------------------------------------

The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Severe View Post
you realize the reason they nerfed fire tanks so badly in the first 6 issues was because they were the best p.lersfarmers in the game right?
Emphasis mine

They used to be the best because a) Burn was stupid good and b) you could herd entire maps so having mediocre damage didn't matter since you were dealing it to 100+ mobs at a time.

Neither of those is true anymore.

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