WP question

I'm working on an nrg/wp brute- my probably quixotic goal is for him to be as good a tanker as he can be. I'm not a huge number cruncher, I was just hoping here to get some general suggestions- A friend passed me a build a while back which uses lotsa IO bonuses with +health & +regen; and on top of that I'm looking forward to getting whichever Alpha slot has the heal bonus (Spirit I think).

I mentioned that to a different friend who told me I was all wrong- not to bother with eking out every bit of regen/health, and instead go for absolute max defense through IO sets (I already have weave/tough); then the set's natural regen and resists could take care of whatever damage got past my defense. Then another friend chimed in they were both wrong and I should try to exploit every set bonus to max out my resists.

Sheesh. Since WP mitigates damage four ways (resist, -tohit, defense & regeneration) I know every part of it is critical but. . .what's the general consensus on making a brute /wp into a halfway decent tank?

point per point, def provides more survivability under many conditions

The friend who steered you towards defenses was right. Before I went crazy with the defense bonuses I was built towards 'being able to survive an alpha strike' for a team. Now I'm built for 'I took damage? What the hell?'. I'll never get the next damage taken badge at this rate.

Backed by a tier 3 spiritual alpha my regeneration isn't as crazy as some people have made but it still rivals Instant Healing from scrapper regen - as a toggle. With enough enemies around, most of which are missing, it's Dull Pain + Instant Healing levels of regeneration.

I found softcapping all types too difficult on my brute (was easy on my wp tanker, who even got psi) so I got to the high 30s (except psi) and use Darkest Night against tough foes. Most of the time it works.

All that said a few lucky hits from someone NOT doing smash/lethal will ruin your day no matter what you do. The non-smash lethal resists on WP are pathetic.

Why not just roll a Tanker?

WARNING: I bold names.

But remember, that WP has very little defense debuff resistance, so it doesn't take to much -def to crash your defense. Then your other methods of mitigation have to pick up the slack.

Remember that inspirations drop frequently. Purples last longer than greens.

Running a WP with a tray full of purples is very nice. Here're some binds to make purples

CTRL+<key> "inspcombine Keen_Insight Good_Luck$$inspcombine Focused_Rage Good_Luck$$inspcombine Take_a_Breather Good_Luck$$inspcombine Dramatic_Improvement Good_Luck$$inspcombine Rugged Good_Luck$$inspcombine Emerge Good_Luck"

SHIFT+<key> "inspcombine enrage luck$$inspcombine insight luck$$inspcombine awaken luck$$inspcombine respite luck$$inspcombine catch_a_breath luck$$inspcombine Break_Free luck"

ALT+<key> "inspcombine Uncanny_Insight Phenomenal_Luck$$inspcombine Righteous_Rage Phenomenal_Luck$$inspcombine Second_Wind Phenomenal_Luck$$inspcombine Resurgence Phenomenal_Luck$$inspcombine Robust Phenomenal_Luck"