DoctorWhat

I had a BS/SD toon that kicked alot of ***... When I didn't understand what exactly defence in this game means.

Oh, and he soloed Agent G's arc, even with all the EBs in it.

And to restate this was BEFORE I UNDERSTOOD EXACTLY WHAT DEFENCE meant.

He's epic. Particularly since I now know what defence is now and how to abuse it.

For me it is the humble Jab.

It does decent damage for it's end, it's stun effect can stack with teammates, but it's fast on the recharge. With i18 it got better, for Tankers anyway, with the addition of Bruising.

For myself it depends. If I was on a Melee toon where redraw wasn't an issue, boxing. On a ranged toon Kick. Otherwise I wouldn't really bother with it.

The hero and villian ATs are VERY different. For the most part I find it works like this...

Corruptor = Blaster without Melee and control options, but with buffing, debuffing and healing options. Can also be seen as the redside defender.

Mastermind = Defender with less buff/debuff/healing values are able to bring their own team with them.

Dominator = Controller without buffs/debuffs/heals, making up for it with an awesome Domination ability and high powered ranged and melee damage abilities.

Brute = Tank with less defenses but more attack and the ability to generate even more attack with Fury. Can also be seen as a redside scrapper.

Stalker = Scrapper with less survivablity, but stealth abilities with leads to massive burst damage.

I also have a KM/SR, Brute in my case, also for theme reason (Speedster Concept). I like it, but I'm leaving the toon on the back burner until Inherent Fitness

I prefer IOs myself, but, IIRC, two or three will do it with about a 15 sec overlap depending on the IOs level. In higher levels it may only take one IO.

No real experance with DA, but lots with an SD tanker. With AAO you getting a nice attack buff and Shield Charge will make up for MA's lack of AoE.

DA, from my understanding, is a bit of a swiss army knife. Not the best tool for any one aspect, and a bit squisher (By squishier I mean you'll be hitting your heal more often than say Inv), but has more well rounded resists (CoughPsiCough) and has more options to deal with problems than other sets. It needs a skilled player to make it shine.

Agian, however, I have no personally experance with DA and all that is based on what I've seen and heresay.

Yeah, until you can fully manage your endurance Brutes can be a pain to play, but once you have it under wraps you'll only be stopping when your REALLY low on HP or nothings left to kill.

Can't speak for WM, but SD is decent. Mostly defense with some resists it's also good for offense adding an AoE attack and an attack boost through Against All Odds.

My SD/SS Tank is quite fun, but I'm sure a SS/SD Brute would also be awesome.

I've been using a Thugs/Poison myself which is a lot of fun. Save the suicidal Arsonist, but I hear he gets a bit better after the second upgrade.

Generally I think Tankerminds should allow Tanks and Brutes to hold the aggro. Tanks have all the tools to hold it and Brutes benifit from being attacked thanks to Fury. That said it doesn't mean you can jump in and Tankermind, just that you should let the ATs built for it handle it.

Second, and this is a big thing when I play MMs, put the team over my henchmen. Yes, I understand that an MMs damage (And damage management) comes from their minions, but most players will do more than a minion. Bubble everyone before the battle if possible. If it's not possible, prioritize (Ie, Melee first, anyone in close to the battle and pets second) and do your thing.

Above all though if what your doing works in spite of that... Then keep doing it and ignore what I said.

Of the tanker primaries I have experance with Willpower, Invulnerability and Shield Defense.

Inv is, IMO, the best at taking damage and mitigating it short of a Stone, but you don't get any movement penalties. Dull Pain alone is worth the price of entry and Unstoppable is three minutes of 'You Can't Touch Me'. Followed by ten seconds of "Oh Nuts I'm About To Get Creamed".

SD is an offensive powerhouse. It's defenses are soild but with the attack buff from Agianst All Odds plus Shield Charge, a PBAoE attack, you'll outdamage most other tanks. Hell My SD/SS Tanker can add Rage on top of that. AAO + Rage + SC + Footstomp = Dead Minions and Dead or Hurt Everything Else.

WP is a jack of all trades set. Decent resistance, defense with an HP boosting power and good regeneration. It suffers from a lackluster taunt aura, but a good player can mitigate that. It's only real problem is it's can't take hits like other sets can, avoid like other sets can and while it has regen it has no self heal.

My own input. Thanks for reading.

I've used my t1 attacks in all my chains. My theory is I HAVE it so I may as well USE it. It doesn't recive priority in slotting, it only gets leftover slots. Bruising is just another tool in the shed to use, and enhances a Tankers use in team play.

Well, my SD/SS tank will be able to pick up Combat Jumping give some vertical movment (Super Speed user) and Aid Other/Self while my Inv/SS Tank might take a Leadership or get Super Speed as a travel power. My Will/SS meanwhile (I like SS, can you tell?) can take elements in the Fighting Pool (Like Tough) and my Inv/Fire can get all her attacks, and maybe a nice Leadership ability or two.

You can start a fight with PS to get some quick buffs while your Fury builds. By the time it wears off your Fury bar should be at a nice level.

Don't forget loading Practiced Brawler with two Recharge IOs and an End Reduc. By the time you have levle 20 IOs it'll be almost Perma.

For me I want alternate Animations for both Martial Arts and Super Strength designed to work with Shield Defense; ie make it look like your bashing them with your shield.

Haven't read through the posts yet, so no idea if anyone else brought it up...

And while less 'Alternate Animation' and more 'Alternate Looks' maybe make it so you can colour your Mastermind minions and maybe select from a small variety of looks. For Thugs, for example, make a mafia and cowboy themed sets.

Just a suggestion.

My crab didn't really like how she was drafted and defected as soon as she could.

Too bad for Arachnos, nee?

I'm doing KM/SR. Pre-GR I was planning on making a KM/SR Scrapper with Super Speed as an overall Flash-like speedster, but since I was taking her through Preatora I thought being a Brute would fit the concept better.

God I am in LOVE with KM now... I would make sweet, sweet love to it...

Funny story.

I originally wanted to call my spider (Solider, Build one being a Crab path, Build two being a Bane path) Sapphire Spider since her crab based armour was blue. That was taken. So I when to try Cerulean Spider. Also taken. Four or five blue shades later I found one shade of blue I could combine with Spider.

Ultramarine Spider.

What I did NOT realize at the time was that Ultramarines are in a little thing called Warhammer 40K. They are, accoring to the WH40K wiki, a chapter of Space Marines. A very powerful, well known and infamous chapter. And a spider in blue crab armour has a bit of a passing resemblance to the Ultramarine's armour.

I had no idea until someone in game asked if I was a 40K fan. Once it was pointed out to me I went 'Oh boy. I think this is going to get interesting...'

My understanding of it is (Still working on getting my SoA to be a crab) is that Crabs CAN tank, but they're not designed for it. Mostly they're Area of Effect fighters with good defenses, but a weakness to Knockdowns. I have, however, heard stories of Crab tanking and tanking well when called upon.

Not an actual bug, more of a 'I have no idea where else to put this yet'. I've been told that if you have a Spider that has one build as a Crab Spider and a second as a Bane Spider the backpack will appear on both. For me, and other, this is a bit of a let down as I'd like to be rid of that thing once in awhile without respecing, even if changing to a non-crab build is needed.

All my suggestion is that if a Spider has one Crab build and one Bane build to remove the backpack while being a bane. I understand that you can't have wings/capes as a Crab, but in this case I think it's a matter of making sure you can't add wings or capes on your Bane build if you have a Crab build.

Just proposing is all.