Toughest possible combination for hardcore play?

Okay, being fresh out of Tanks for my (admittedly quixotic) hardcore adventures, where any defeat is the end of the character, I want to make a new Tanker...with an emphasis on extreme durability. The character will probably NOT have serious IO investment, since it's too painful to spend big money on a character who might drop dead at any moment; but otherwise I'd like to pick powersets and powers with an eye to both personal survival and keeping my team alive.

Note that we do NOT build carefully-synergized teams (i.e., we don't make sure a Stone Tanker is paired with a Kin, and so on) even though they'd be stronger. Two reasons: one, deaths would disrupt any such strategy, and two, it's more about having (our own kind of) individual fun than building a super-machine.

But I don't have a problem with matching up the two powersets on my new character for synergy and strength.

Opinion time! What would be the best sets for this character? I've experimented with /Shield (on a Broadsword Scrapper with Parry -- very nice!) and, as Tanker, with Fire/Dark (three times, I'm stubborn) and Stone/SS as hardcore characters. I have considerable experience with regular (non-hardcore) Tankers as Fire, Shield, Invulnerability, and Stone; and I have some Scrapper experience with /Dark Aura and /Willpower. Ice and Electric primaries would be new to me. I don't HAVE to go Stone, but it seems like ultimately, in the 40s when things get scarier, it's the least susceptible to sudden catastrophe. I'll listen to any opinons, though.

I'm much less confident about ranking the secondaries in terms of which would offer the most mitigation to myself and my team. Frankly my first thought, in making my "this time I won't die!" character, was to go Stone/Ice. But I could easily see arguments that /Stone or /Axe would provide better team mitigation with knockdown, and that /Dark might be better for personal survival (more due to Siphon Life than to the debuffs). I know next to nothing about /Kinetic either, but I understand it reduces damage, which sounds good (typically we die in hardcore when sudden spikes of damage occur before we think to reach for emergency measures; reducing incoming damage might flatten out those spikes and buy more time for the operator to respond).

Opinions and experiences welcomed. Shouts of "hardcore? you're crazy!" tolerated as well.

My first thought was also stone/ice. I don't think anything can beat that in terms of pure survivability. But I hope you make your teammates aware of your playstyle ahead of time if you do team. I assume that if you get in trouble, you run to survive, and that's not something people expect from a tank. I bet doing TF's with such a playstyle must be pretty intense

Stone Armor is the toughest primary, and as for the most mitigating secondaries it's Dark Melee, Stone Melee, and Ice melee.

Dark Melee is ST focused with a self heal but lacks AoE mitigation, so it's the best of the three for tanking AV's.

Stone Melee is ST damage focused and it has great AoE mitigation with a bit of ST mitigation(holding bosses), so it's good for surviving regular content and dishing ST damage.

Ice Melee is AoE damage focused and has great AoE mitigation with some ST mitigation(recharge debuff, holds), so it's good for surviving regular content and dishing AoE damage.

If you want [Monster Truck Announcer]EXTREME SURVIVABILITY TO THE EXTREME[/MTA] then it's gotta be Stone, especially without a lot of investment. Granite really is that good. It's also that bad, thanks to the "jump even worse than a white man" and "move and attack as fast as a pregnant blue whale in the desert."

I do have a question, though, regarding the whole "hardcore mode." How do you handle self rez abilities? I would think that, as long as the ability is recharged and you get back up that instant, the defeat shouldn't count. I mean, that's part of your powers: "I don't really die the first time."

If I had to make an overly survivable tanker I wouldn't go for Stone Armor for the reasons stated above, it's just too damn slow for my taste.

Invuln is the second most durable, and I would pair it with Dark Melee for maximum synergy.

For sheer synergy toughness without any I/O expenditure: Hands down Invulnerability / Dark Melee. I am talking strong. the Dark melee gives a heal to supllement Invulnerability's mega heal/Health boost that is also an attack. dark melee also has an End recovery attack to help with a tankers sometimes end hog power curve, and allows you to run the two fighting toggles with ease, for extra survivability. This frees up your 41-49 picks for more Aoe goodness. good luck.

Given the many "deaths" in the Marvel universe....and the subsequent storylines with those same dead characters, i am going with death is not forever. Some characters (just like in the cities) sorta die regular, but their power keeps bringing them back. Wolverine and Pheonix come right to mind, and of course I didn't even have to struggle to think of those. I am sure hardcore Marvelphiles will rattle off a few hundred others. (At least a few dozen) So by 'hardcore" are you saying no superpowers? (seems you may be in the wrong game)

No, in this case, he is talking about hard-core, real-life heroing, rather than comic-book heroing. IRL, when you die, the game is over and it's time for whatever your religion specifies after death. No do-overs, no "Miracle Max's Miracle Pill - Cure's 'Mostly Dead' in one treatment!" And definitely no Marvel/DC infinite resurrection & retcon.

It's a game-play choice for those who don't find the 'easy-mode game' exciting enough, so they chose to make the 'fatal mistakes' actually be fatal. It's a bit like the old quote, "Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully." Or, in this case, "may be face-planted if he fouls up..."

Gives one the 'no underwear' thrill that you might remember from your very first venture out from under Ms. Liberty's skirt, into the wilds of Atlas Park, with fear and caution, ready to punch your first Hellion.

If you ever find yourself 'bored' with the beginning game, you could give 'Hard-core' a try.

Be Well!
Fireheart

Okay, I see the lure of this. There are at least a couple problems with it. 1st) it's totally honor system driven. i have gamed a lot. this can be a problem. 2) this is a super powered game. How do you justify using energy blasts from your hands that can flatten dozens, but not a power that rezzes you? How do you justify 27 people wailing on a tank while he stands there and mockingly berates them and laughs (obviously using no superpowers-right) because when he does fall no super powers are allowed. In essence what i am asking in #2 is, what is the plotline/ For the love of god, what universe/world is this that so many fantastic magical/scientific powers are available but when it come to death we are stone age?

I disagree with everyone who is saying stone. If any death means deletion, that includes the missions with loads of psi damage. I'd probably pick willpower or shield, and just make liberal use of inspirations.

Yeah, if you don't mind dropping Granite for the duration, Minerals will deflect Psi attacks easily. Its base defense is so high that it's stupidly easy to softcap with just common IOs. (I pretty much stink at playing the market, so common IOs and a handful of SOs make up the bulk of my characters' slotting, and I still have Psi more than softcapped on my 40-something Stone/Stone tanker with just three-slotted Minerals and three-slotted Weave, all with common Defense IOs. My Tanker easily takes on Psionic enemies that give my Elec/Invuln Brute fits)

If you actually slot for Psi defense Set bonuses on top of that, then you'll be sitting pretty when facing Psi-using foes. (Plus, since you won't be in Granite for the duration, you'll be able to take out the Psi-wielders all the more quickly without the heavy damage and recharge penalties)

Granite (not Stone) would be the toughest, but you have to get to 32 without dying to get there. And it's annoying.

After that you're looking at Inv or WP. Stone Melee or Dark Melee would be my choice for survivable secondaries. Dark for Siphon Life, and Stone for a pair of AoE knockdowns.