It's a fine combo. War Mace has plenty of damage mitigation from Stuns and KD, and Shield Defense is very easy to soft-cap with IOs. And between Shield Charge and War Mace's 3 AoE attacks, you'll have plenty of AoE damage options.
There's even a relatively recent guide for the combo, here:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=132014
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Both of them are very capable sets nowadays, Mace was buffed a few issues ago and it's quite good now instead of the joke it used to be. Shield can be very powerful once it matures; it's mostly a defense set so like all defense armors it struggles early. It'll start to feel solid once you get your defense into the 30-35% range and once you reach the 45% soft cap it'll be VERY good. As a tanker you can nearly get to the 45% soft cap on SO enhancements alone so with minimal IO investment it can be a great primary.|
Originally Posted by Coldhard_Cash
Hey guys ive just re-activated my account to see how the games been.Just wanted to get a question out there real quick.
Ive played a tanker quite a bit so before i left the game i made a new one Shield/mace.Wanted to get some info if was a dead combo or does it compare to other build combos these days? Ive tried alot of tanker builds and i like my ice/stone since launch and hes at 50.Been gone since 2008 oct so i dont know how effective the shield or mace is but it looks pretty fun. Got anything for me? |
I'm currently leveling a Shield/Fire tanker; at level 41 I've soft capped Melee/Range/AOE defense and he has a very solid offense. Shield also holds aggro very well... the aura is as good as Invulnerability's aura. The secondary effect of your taunt aura is as a damage buff based on the number of enemies in melee range and Shield Charge is a fantastic AOE attack.
I haven't played Mace, but I have heard a lot of good things about it and have a couple of friends who are playing it. It has decent AOE, good solid single target damage and a fair amount of soft control.
On the Shield side Grant Cover is your most skippable power; I'd start with Deflection at level 1 and pick up Battle Agility in the teens. Active Defense will need 3 recharge SO's to give a good overlap... it's just barely perma with two green SO's. Phalanx Fighting gives you a base 5% defense and additional defense if you have teammates within 8' of you... don't count on it giving more than the 5% base.
There's two schools of thought on the Medicine pool... some think that Aid Self is nice to have and others think that you can simply carry a few greens for when the mobs get lucky. Personally I'm in the second category; I almost never find myself needing a heal without having a green in my tray. I've leveled a Shield scrapper to 50 and my tank to 41 and don't see a need for two power selections to do what the occasional green inspiration will do.
All in all once your tank matures around level 30-35 you should be very solid.
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Cool thx alot for the return info.
But u know what?....after looking at each and every power from shield/mace and comparing them to my ice/stone i see alot of similarities..except..my ice/stone gets EA,chilling embrace(which imo is better then AAO)Hiber and a self heal.Shield offers nothing but the shield charge.Even all the defenses in ice offers protection in almost all areas of resistance while giving nearly the same defense bonuses...if not better in ice.
And to the secondary...all the attack abilities between mace/stone are nearly the same in terms of damage and CC type.Looks as tho the strat is the same no matter how u look at it.
So then tell me...why would i make a shield/mace tank if i have a powerhouse of a tanker alrdy?
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If you enjoy your Ice tanker then by all means play it... there's nothing wrong with Ice. Shield will deal more damage thanks to AAO and Shield Charge and is somewhat more survivable since it has positional defense instead of typed and also includes a fair amount of resistance. Shield is also easier to soft cap since you can get to ~42% full time on SO's, although it's not hard to soft cap Ice. You're correct that an Ice tank will hold aggro better... nothing can outaggro an Icer. However AAO is also very good at getting attention so either can easily do the job.|
Originally Posted by Coldhard_Cash
Cool thx alot for the return info.
But u know what?....after looking at each and every power from shield/mace and comparing them to my ice/stone i see alot of similarities..except..my ice/stone gets EA,chilling embrace(which imo is better then AAO)Hiber and a self heal.Shield offers nothing but the shield charge.Even all the defenses in ice offers protection in almost all areas of resistance while giving nearly the same defense bonuses...if not better in ice. And to the secondary...all the attack abilities between mace/stone are nearly the same in terms of damage and CC type.Looks as tho the strat is the same no matter how u look at it. So then tell me...why would i make a shield/mace tank if i have a powerhouse of a tanker alrdy? |
I'll agree with the mace/stone thought as well... I've thought the same myself that they are similar. Mace offers more AOE damage while Stone has better control and single target damage.
In the final analysis you'll be a potent tanker with either power combination. Play whichever suits you the most.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
Hmm what about a shield/dark or shield/elec? At first glance they seem to benefit each other.
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Shield/Dark would be very survivable; Dark is definitely single target focused... the AOE's are on very long recharge. It's competent and durable; just lacking in AOE capacity.|
Originally Posted by Coldhard_Cash
Hmm what about a shield/dark or shield/elec? At first glance they seem to benefit each other.
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Shield/Elec is popular, particularly as a Scrapper combination since it's hugely AOE focused. It's fantastic at dropping large groups of weak foes but it does lack significant single target punch. I compare Elec Melee with Spines... both offer large amounts of AOE damage at the expense of single target damage and somewhat slow animations.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
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Originally Posted by Coldhard_Cash
Hmm what about a shield/dark or shield/elec? At first glance they seem to benefit each other.
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i took a shield Def/Elec melee tank to 50 several months ago. It was super fun. shield charge and lightning rod are both great aoe death dealing attacks. Add in the other elec melee aoe attacks and it melts mobs super fast. Since it is a tank, it wont do as much dmg as a scrapper of same combo but you are alot tougher. My shield.elec tank has 45% melee defense and near that for range and AoE. I can easily solo x8 missions no sweat. supplement the dmg and acc and defense and resists by using inspirations liberally and you can yawn through mobs. Just be more careful vs mobs dealing tons of def debuff. that is a killer
I can't offer help with dark melee. That set i dont like.
Hey guys ive just re-activated my account to see how the games been.Just wanted to get a question out there real quick.
Ive played a tanker quite a bit so before i left the game i made a new one Shield/mace.Wanted to get some info if was a dead combo or does it compare to other build combos these days?
Ive tried alot of tanker builds and i like my ice/stone since launch and hes at 50.Been gone since 2008 oct so i dont know how effective the shield or mace is but it looks pretty fun.
Got anything for me?