One thing about WP is that it has a really good low level experience. With inherent stamina and then Quick Recovery landing at 12 you can easily be running your first four toggles even with DO Endurance Reductions. It lets you be a tank sooner I think.
You don't spend a lot of time on those early levels I admit, but for a new player that might make a difference.
I started a WP/Elec tanker a while ago and have had a great run up to about 28 so far.
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My suggestion is to make characters on both. CoH is VERY friendly to having alts (alternate characters) all over the place. I have a friend with over 100 characters, sigh. . . |
Originally Posted by Dlloyd
Torn between union and freedom atm , freedom seems to have a nice population all the time where as union dies out at set times - but i have friends on union that actually got me into the game trying to get them to move
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So rather than getting them to move, have a tanker to play with them when they are on! And have another, different tanker to play on Freedom when they aren't!
There is so much content to this game, that you could take both characters to 50 without either of them ever seeing the same mission (though thats kind of rare, since theres a relatively small amount of content that most people do a lot of, like Task Forces).
In fact if you have enough play time I think its not a bad idea to make a good soloing character like a scrapper and just play contact mission stuff, see the Hollows, Striga, Croatoa, and so on which a lot of people skip these days.
I've been looking at tank sets to start a tank as well. There's not difinitive answer but I think the starter tank set probably is Ice Armor if you actually want to tank. I believe it is the only set with two taunt auras.
I think the reason some think it doesn't shine, is that it is a defense set, and it is much easier later on when you have billions of influence to add defense to a resistence set (giving you double protection) than it is to add resistance to a defense set like Ice. So Ice tends to end up with a single layer of protection. But really, to counteract that, add an attack set with some built in tricks up its sleeve, like Ice Assault with Ice Slice.
By the way, have you downloaded the free utility Mids yet? It makes it so easy to look at sets and see what powers they have, what you like, don't like, etc.
Rich (on Victory, how did it get decided that Freedom and Virtue were to be the highly populated servers?)
For a starter Tank...
If you're solo, or on a small team and don't immediately crank your difficulty to +4x8 (the maximum), then I've found that any of the defensive sets will do just fine and single-target vs AoE offensive sets are irrelevant. It's when your team gets larger and the number of enemies ramps up towards 16 and over, that taunt auras and AoE attacks start becoming important.
It's arguable, but relatively accepted, that Stone Armor is the most survivable defensive set, with layered Defense and Resistance that is awesome, even with only SO slotting. The 'problem' is that the trade-offs of low mobility and a Debuff to offensive damage and recharge make some people crazy - I'm one of them.
Invulnerability and Willpower (and sometimes Shield Defense) are the next tier of popularity. The first two offer layers of Resistance and Defense, in various proportions, while Invulnerability has a large self-heal and HP boost, and Willpower has layers of Regeneration and endurance Recovery, and huge hit-point bonuses, but no self-heal.
Invulnerability says, 'If you can hit me, you still won't hurt me, and if you Do hurt me, I can heal and be even tougher than before." Willpower says, "It's hard to hit me and hard to hurt me, but you can do it - only, if you do hurt me and I don't die, then it will just grow back and meanwhile, I'm gonna be hitting you in the face."
Shield Defense is a Defense-based power, with some hit-point bonuses and some Resistance, but it has no extra heal or regeneration. Shield Defense says, "Ha-ha! Bet you can't hit me! And, if you do hit me, well, I'm tough enough to take a hit. Bet you can't hit me Twice!"
One consideration in this is that, since Tankers inherently have improved Resistance and high Hit-Points, when you layer on the added Resistance and Hit-Points of some sets (even the relatively weak levels that a lowbie has), they are really quite tough! By the time they reach higher levels, with more defensive powers and more slots and better enhancements, they become Awesomely Tough.
On the other hand, even Tankers don't have inherent Defense. When you add a Defense-based power on top of that, well, their Defense is Better, but not so great, at lower levels. Still, when they reach higher levels, with more defenses and slots and enhancements, they can be practically Untouchable!
Upshot is, they have different play-styles and different leveling experiences. Your mileage may vary and your experience may be different.
These three have vastly different 'taunt' auras, as well. Invulnerability's aura adds more Defense and buffs your to-hit for every enemy in range - while cranking out some impressive aggro-generation. Willpower's aura gives you even more Regeneration for every enemy in range and De-buffs Their to-hit, so they have a harder time hitting you - unfortunately the aggro-generation is... anemic. Shield Defense has an aura that steals damage-dealing power from your enemies and gives it to you! It also generates plenty of aggro.
I could go on, and analyze each of the other sets in some depth, but this wall-of-text is getting pretty dense.
Let me just say:
Fire & Electricity = Resistance, no Defense, Self-heal, Endurance-siphon, Damage Aura w/ aggro-generation.
Ice = Defense, some Resistance, Self-heal, Endurance-siphon, Taunt aura AND Damage aura for massive aggro-generation.
Dark... Dark is a weird utility tool-box full of odd effects. Resistance and Defense, plus auras that Damage, Stun, Terrorize, and turn your enemies into zucchini... Okay, maybe not that last one. Also has the most massive Hit-point Siphon/Heal power available to Tankers - we're talking a decent chance of +100% healing, in one shot... all you need is a couple of 'donors' and a big chunk of Endurance.
TL;DR version:
Solo & small teams, without high difficulty modifiers, power-sets don't matter a lot.
Invulnerability and Willpower are generally the easiest/best defensive sets.
Both are 'toggle-up and go' sets.
Willpower is cruise-control for the solo/small-team Tanker.
Invulnerability has a better aggro-aura for ease of use on those larger teams with Lots of enemy.
Shield Defense is also a great power-set, can be a bit weak at first, but grows into a monster. Takes a bit more player-attention to operate well.
Be Well!
Fireheart
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