Looking for a Good AOE dmg tank build

Just wondering if there are any good aoe dmg tank build, just like the title says. something that can take the damage of huge mobs, and still kill them. maybe a farmer build? not sure.... but id like to use it more for pve. does ice / fire still work with ice patch, blazing aura, and consume? or something else all together? if someone could post a build it'd be lovely!

/Fire and /SS are the AoE secondaries. Elec too.

Primaries that give a significant boost to your offense are Fire/, Shield/, and Elec/.

Shield/Fire is probably the best for AoE destruction.

probably but isnt.


fire/fire still wins the war in aoe madness and probably always will no mater who says different. the issue i have with sheilds is the nerf to shield charge not to mention the recharge time of it as opposed to burn which is up after it goes off for a non stop damage aoe.

on top of that aao is great and all but fe is just as good since aao is better only for big groups and not so much for little groups.

not to mention fire/fire can have more aoe goodness then shields so yes its a good tank to have.( i have both a shield/fire and a fire/fire and a shield/elec and a fire/ice all sitting at lvl 50 so trust me..i know first hand!)

My Vote would be for Fire/Fire/Pyre

Blazing Aura, Burn, Combustion, Fire Sword Circle, and Fireball.

Thats five AoE attacks. Also the ability to boost the damage of those attacks with Fiert Embrace and Build Up...

I would reccomend a Scrapper unless you are absolutely set on a Tanker. Scrappers have much higher base damage to kill faster with.

well the key to this all is to be able to take massive damage. and not die. thats first priority. THEN, to have GOOD damage, to kill everything. even tho i don't think ill use it for farming, i might! but i have a feeling farmers are BEST at this. big mobs, with lt's and boss's, and killing them all.

anybody have a mid hero's build they could post?

Suggest looking here: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=209345

He posts both a 'defensive' and 'offensive' build.

Be Well!
Fireheart

Fire/Electric or Electric/Electric are great for AoE damage. Shields/Electric is worth a look, too.

Personally, when an AoE tank is called for, I bring out my Invuln/Fire, but he is my favorite character. Invuln is great survivability, but doesn't add anything to your damage.

Another tank to look at, if you're willing to invest influence, is Dark Armor. Great resistance, an amazing heal, and an AoE damage aura and a stun aura. Dark/Electric might do the trick for you.

Any tank can really take a beating, it depends on how you want to play.

I suggest checking the Tankmage forum.

I agree, nothing is like a fire fire of course my opinion may not count because my main is a fire fire and has been for 5 years I don't see going fire mastery though. I only see melt armor and that isn't an aoe but a cool debuff. If you go earth you get quicksand, which is an awesome power I have to say. That's what stands out for mastery powers and the rest just have cones really.

If you are apposed to fire fire, there is shield fire which has a nice power called shield charge. There also is the electric variant which is nice too on damage and AoE, but I think fire/fire/earth is your best bet with AoE focus. + the quicksand burn combo can be amazing I imagine, never tried it since I prefer energy mastery for survivability but that goes into playstyle and preference :P

I have a fire/fire and elec/sd scrapper. On a tank SC is a disappointment. On a scrapper, its hits much. much harder than burn. I can one shot a mob of x8 with SC, and Burn dont do that. And i feel that SD can withstand more damage than Fire Aura. I can softcap SD and can't FA.

The only thing is the fire attacks recharge faster than the 2 charges in SD and EM.

On a tank, id most likely go SD/SS. SD is very durable and with Rage and AAO, SC and Footstomp is nice. Not to mention KO blow. Its not an AoE, but its a one shot tool.

I know Burn is better than Shield Charge. However AAO is better than Fiery Embrace, and that's why I think a Shield/Fire could do more AoE DPS than a Fire/Fire(when up against 10+ foes), or at least compete.

Before the changes to Burn and Shield Charge, Shield was the more offensive set. Three minutes faster clearing identical missions in AE. (6 minutes to 9 minutes on average. SD/Ice vrs Fire/Ice. SD/Fire was even faster)

I no longer have my second account to directly compare the two sets anymore though.

Burn has been greatly improved, but only affects 5. SC has been lowered, but affects 16. AAO > FE. The recharge still sucks.

If you want to farm... scrapper or brute. Higher damage and can be soft-capped, just takes a bit more. SD/SS brute is nice.

Ice Ember

i think the pylon thread has the highest dps tank listed as a fire/ss.
i know thats dps and not aoe dps, but i think it should be considered. ss gets a very good aoe. and if you pick up an epic or patron aoe, you can chain burn-fs-fireball-consume-burn, etc etc

If I wanted an AoE Tanker, I'd go SD/Fire/Pyre. Burn is great but Shield Charge is better. As Auroxis said, while Burn recharges 3x as fast, SC hits 3x the targets and has a bigger AoE.

Plus softcapping a SD Tanker is trivially easy so you'll be much, much tougher than a Fire/ Tanker. I'd take AAO over Blazing Aura any day.

I'll agree with a Shield/Fire being a great AOE damage dealer... for a tanker. Yes, it's damage can approach the bottom end of scrapper damage which is quite an accomplishment for a tank.

Still, if you're looking for an AOE farming build you'll be better served by a scrapper; they bring considerably more damage to the table and if built right offer "enough" durability. My 50 BS/Shield scrapper for example deals much better damage than my Shield/Fire tanker and being soft capped to all positions it's about midrange on the tanker scale in durability. I love tanks, but it's a case of using the right tool for the job. If the job you have in mind is farming large groups of moderate enemies then you really want a scrapper. If the job is tanking for a large team and managing aggro then you really want a tanker. Sure, some scrappers like the aforementioned BS/Shield can do a decent job of tanking in the right hands but they aren't as good as a true tanker. Likewise some highly offensive oriented tankers can kill mobs quickly they aren't as good as a scrapper at that either.

I've taken that BS/Shield scrapper solo into +2/ x8 missions filled with Carnies, Arachnos and Nemesis and cleared the maps; he has enough durability for the task and he kills faster than the tanker.

There's also the brute for the middle ground between a scrapper and a tanker.

My SS/Elec brute is a beast. I can actually solo the cimerora towers on the ITF rather quickly.

SS/Fire is widely renowned as the best farmer(which might be what the OP was looking for), and is probably one of the more common brutes you'll see. It's an all out offensive beast which farms fire mobs extremely well, but is too squishy for my liking in content other than fire farms.

well if you wana talk farming/pling then scrappers or tanks wont do what a brute can do

i hit the ae with my fire/fire brute on +4s/8 man spawns and it took 6 hours to get 1-50...aint no scrapper gonna do that no matter his damage

fury wins in farming...crits dont.