Heraclea

I have had no problems at all working in hasten, weave, and haymaker into my build. What else are you taking?

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Heraclea: Level 50 Magic Tanker
Primary Power Set: Invulnerability
Secondary Power Set: Super Strength
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Temp Invulnerability -- Aegis-Psi/Status(A), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(3), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Aegis-ResDam(31), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(45)
Level 1: Jab -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(3), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(50)
Level 2: Dull Pain -- Numna-Heal/Rchg(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Numna-Heal(7), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg(25), Mrcl-EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 4: Haymaker -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(5), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(13), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 6: Air Superiority -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(7), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(11), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), HO:Nucle(46)
Level 8: Unyielding -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(9), ImpArm-ResDam(9), ImpArm-EndRdx/Rchg(11), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(46)
Level 10: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 12: Taunt -- Mocking-Taunt(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(13)
Level 14: Fly -- Frbd-Fly(A), Frbd-Stlth(15)
Level 16: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Numna-Heal(17), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(17), Heal-I(50)
Level 18: Invincibility -- GftotA-Def/EndRdx(A), GftotA-Def(19), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(19), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(33), GftotA-Run+(42), LkGmblr-Rchg+(43)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(A), P'Shift-EndMod(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(21), P'Shift-End%(48)
Level 22: Knockout Blow -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(23), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(23), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), HO:Nucle(43)
Level 24: Resist Elements -- ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResPsi(25)
Level 26: Tough Hide -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(27), LkGmblr-Rchg+(27)
Level 28: Rage -- AdjTgt-Rchg(A), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg(29), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(29), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(37), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(37)
Level 30: Resist Energies -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpArm-ResPsi(31)
Level 32: Boxing -- Rope-Acc/Rchg(A), Rope-Acc/EndRdx(33)
Level 35: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(36), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(36), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(36)
Level 38: Foot Stomp -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(39), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(39), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), Sciroc-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(42), LkGmblr-Rchg+(42), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(45), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 44: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 47: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Resist Physical Damage -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet

My main shield tanker is Shield/War Mace. Since Mace's damage was buffed, the two sets are very comparable in terms of damage output. There are a couple of factors that tip the scales in Mace's favor, IMO.

Utility - As noted above, Axe is all knockdown. Mace has some knockdown, some chance of stun, and one sure-shot stun: if it hits a Lieutenant or lower, that mob is stunned.

Stuns are more reliable to incapacitate problem mobs like Sappers than knockdown is. Having a mix also allows you a wider variety of invention sets to use, if that's a consideration. I like Stupefy, myself. And since you get a full taunt aura (unlike Willpower) stunned mobs aren't going to cause you issues with losing aggro by wandering.

AoE - Shatter hits a wider cone (45*) than Cleave (20*). In fact, on my Shield/Mace tanker, I respecced out of Whirling Mace; since I have 3 AoE attacks counting Shield Charge, I saw no need to take the weakest (even if widest) one.

I think I had set up Mids that way deliberately, so that the numbers would be closer to someone who was building with SOs rather than IOs.

I haven't done the blue side TF yet, but I did do the villainside TF on my DM/WP brute, the one I use as a red side tanker.

Reichsman was rather boring. Not really difficult when you had the temp powers, though. He did have an annoying tendency to heal himself back to full health.

The many ambushes in the final mission were amusing for me, but not at all fun for the rest of the team. If the blue side final mission is anything similar, tankers will not worry about losing a place on the team at all.

At 2 1/2 hours, I didn't have enough time to run both in an evening, so I spent the rest of the night making mauve and hot pink Fifth Columns.

I have a whole bunch of characters named after historical and literary figures.

The one that fits best was Betsy Ross; She was, of course, the person legend credits with designing the American Flag. Her costumes range from colonial to contemporary, but most of them include a flag motif.

I remember reading Castle saying, in effect, that the Reichsman fight was meant to be a "devices fight", or rather, a gimmick fight requiring choreography and coordination.

Which means, in effect, that apart from the costume and MA changes there is effectively no new content in i15. I got sick enough of failing and failing again against that sort of rubbish in other online games. Somebody is out of place. Someone does the wrong thing at the wrong time. The raid wipes: start over. There is much screaming and recrimination. Ventrilo or Teamspeak is required. The guild breaks up: this is "serious business". Lose 50 DKP!

This is a major reason why I no longer play those games. I seriously hope that this has been changed from the Test version.

Welcome back! Playing a scrapper is like riding a bicycle. You never really forget how. It's not that complicated

But if you've been away from the game for more than 2 years, you may need to bone up on the inventions system.

I tried the updater bypass, and was unable to connect when I got to the logon screen.

I suspect this is the i15 live publish, and that everything is offline for the time being.

Going to happen that way when you have so many sidekicked players. My spines scrapper is an adequate tank, at least with some backup; but had I known we'd have so few for round 2, I'd have brought on my wp/dark tank.

But I was reluctant to hospital out because ... I had a sidekick whom I didn't want to leave in the lurch. My stiff was keeping them at 49. Still, I got 200+ merits for the 2d raid, and a debt badge, and that's enough reward.

That's about the extent of it. I think that technically any critter level 47+ has a chance to drop a purple recipe, but that chance is fairly miniscule, less than 1 in 1000. Don't expect to get one the first day. In the last year and a half of regular play I have seen maybe four of them.

I do not know whether the purple recipe chance goes up with the level of mobs, so that level 53 mobs are likelier to drop them than level 50s are.

Working the Roman wall is still a good way to farm up magic salvage and lesser recipe drops, that can be auctioned or vendored.

ADD: The healer is called Immunes Surgeon. He's always going to be a nekkid Spartan type; there will be exactly one per spawn of Romans. The only Roman who looks like him is the Immunes Engineer, who lobs fire at you and is the likeliest to run. Kill the surgeon with single target attacks first, then keep pounding on the rest of the Romans until they all die with whatever.

That may well be it. The other problem is that when a resistance or regen set gets overwhelmed, you see it coming and have time to react. When a defense set gets overtaken, you can hit the ground quite quickly. Shields has less of a problem than SR does, in my experience, because Shields has better resistance to physical damage alongside the defense.

In general, I tend to think that defense based sets aren't all that impressive on scrappers, at least compared to regen/resistance based sets.

I've never tried a DM/SD scrapper. I do have a DM/SR scrapper, and while the character is pretty good, she isn't all I hoped she'd be. This character was my AE project; the plan was to level her mostly on AE missions. You'd think that combo would be very strong, with Reflex's pure defense being supplemented by the constant to-hit buffs of Dark Melee. Unfortunately, she suffers the same fate of all defensive sets: vulnerability to debuffs, and random number failure; and when the dice roll against her, she only has scrapper HP to fall back on. (Also, SR is very inefficient when it comes to endurance.) I probably will finish taking that character to 50, but I can already see that she's going to be very expensive to outfit properly.

I made a Spines/WP scrapper a month and a half or so later. This character soon rocketed past the DM/SR scrapper, made 50, and is in fact my current project to outfit with IO sets. She has much wider choices, since I feel no need to concentrate specifically on positional defense bonuses. This is my light tanking scrapper; I've tanked the ITF on the scrapper several times, even while sidekicked.

Spines would rock as a tanker secondary, just as Regen on a brute would probably lure me back to redside.

On the other hand, if you take either Hover or Combat Jumping, both of them allow you to slot a defense set enhancement as early as level 7. This may make for a tight build, especially with DA, since you know that with Fire or DA Stamina at 20 is imperative.

I more or less mothballed my Fire/Energy tanker. (I moved her to Champion, actually, so I'd have a high level "tanker" there for Tanker Tuesdays. It was between that and deleting the character.)

Since Fire is so dependent on its self heal for survival, making the animations take three times as long to play is very specifically harmful to that combination. The stuns of EM do nothing to help fix Burn either.

First, she lost her primary; then she lost her secondary. There just wasn't enough left of the character to justify her occupying a slot on my main server. I respecced into Air Superiority so she could have a fast recharging attack that did moderate damage. Air Superiority helps Burn like nothing in EM does.

This is my "yeah, right" goal build. The IO enhancements are only hypothetical at this time, but the build functions quite adequately with only a handful of the sets shown. The power selection and order is pretty much the way I levelled.

I respecced out of Whirling Mace after I got the 35 and 38 powers. Between them, Taunt, and Shield Charge I thought I had enough AoE, so I got rid of the weakest one in order to add Grant Cover.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Androphonissa: Level 50 Technology Tanker
Primary Power Set: Shield Defense
Secondary Power Set: War Mace
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Deflection -- GftotA-Def/EndRdx(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(3), GftotA-Def(5), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(33), GftotA-Def/Rchg(34), S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(43)
Level 1: Bash -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 2: True Grit -- ImpArm-ResDam(A), Numna-Heal(31), Numna-Heal/Rchg(34), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(37), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(40), ImpArm-ResPsi(46)
Level 4: Jawbreaker -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(11), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17)
Level 6: Active Defense -- HO:Membr(A), HO:Membr(9), HO:Membr(9)
Level 8: Against All Odds -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(11), Taunt-I(15), Taunt-I(15)
Level 10: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 12: Air Superiority -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(13), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(13), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 16: Phalanx Fighting -- GftotA-Def(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(46)
Level 18: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Heal(19), Heal-I(19), Heal-I(40)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(21), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(50)
Level 22: Battle Agility -- GftotA-Def/EndRdx(A), GftotA-Def(23), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(23), GftotA-Def/Rchg(34)
Level 24: Clobber -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(25), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(25), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(31)
Level 26: Shield Charge -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(27), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(27), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Oblit-%Dam(33)
Level 28: Taunt -- Mocking-Taunt(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(46)
Level 30: Build Up -- AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(31), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg(39), AdjTgt-Rchg(39)
Level 32: One with the Shield -- Aegis-Psi/Status(A)
Level 35: Shatter -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg(36), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 38: Crowd Control -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(39), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(42), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(43), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(43)
Level 41: Boxing -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(42)
Level 44: Tough -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), TtmC'tng-ResDam(45), TtmC'tng-EndRdx(45)
Level 47: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-EndRdx/Rchg(48), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(48), LkGmblr-Def(50)
Level 49: Grant Cover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet

Congratulations!

My Shield/Mace happily does without Whirling Mace; then again, she has another AoE attack from her primary to complement the two that come from her secondary.

Travel powers are mostly a matter of aesthetic preference. You could easily swap in Hasten and Super Speed, at least if you were careful enough to get the AP and KR safeguard temp powers and nurse them until you were ready to enter the Shadow Shard.

I usually take Air Superiority on all melee characters, just because of its general handiness. WP doesn't get that much native defense to make Combat Jumping an obviously superior choice. On large teams, yes: CJ > AS; on small teams and solo AS > CJ. Neither is so mightily superior that you'd be broken by taking the other. Teleport is also a possibility: it's very handy to preemptively deal with the Sapper or Raider Engineer or Comm. Officer.

On the other hand, I took Kick specifically because of the issue with redraw in Mace. Boxing works too, of course, and is a handy place to slot two Stupefy's for a recovery bonus.

On the other hand, it's quite feasible to build a WP/Mace tanker for tanking without any IO sets at all. The luxury of such a plan is that any IOs you might choose to add to this build would be pure gravy.

My first priorities in set IOs would be to get some heal/endurance buttons for RttC. Frankenslotting a couple of those will give you the luxury of adding one Dark Watcher's Despair - the recharge slow debuff - into RttC; that IO was made for this power - without compromising your regeneration seriously.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Level 50 Natural Tanker
Primary Power Set: Willpower
Secondary Power Set: War Mace
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting

Hero Profile:
Level 1: High Pain Tolerance -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(5), Heal-I(11), ResDam-I(40), ResDam-I(46), ResDam-I(46)
Level 1: Bash -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(3), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(37), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 2: Fast Healing -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(5), Heal-I(11)
Level 4: Jawbreaker -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(7), Dmg-I(7), Dmg-I(15), Dmg-I(34), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 6: Indomitable Will -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(46)
Level 8: Rise to the Challenge -- EndRdx-I(A), Heal-I(9), Heal-I(9), Heal-I(15), Taunt-I(17), Taunt-I(33)
Level 10: Air Superiority -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(17), Dmg-I(42), Dmg-I(43), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 12: Quick Recovery -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(13), EndMod-I(13)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 16: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(19), Heal-I(19)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Mind Over Body -- EndRdx-I(A), ResDam-I(23), ResDam-I(23), ResDam-I(27)
Level 24: Clobber -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(25), Dmg-I(25), Dmg-I(27), Dmg-I(33), RechRdx-I(33)
Level 26: Taunt -- Taunt-I(A)
Level 28: Whirling Mace -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(29), Taunt-I(29), EndRdx-I(42), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 30: Heightened Senses -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(31), DefBuff-I(31), DefBuff-I(31)
Level 32: Strength of Will -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 35: Shatter -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(36), Dmg-I(36), Dmg-I(36), Dmg-I(37), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 38: Crowd Control -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(39), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 41: Kick -- Acc-I(A)
Level 44: Tough -- EndRdx-I(A), ResDam-I(45), ResDam-I(45), EndRdx-I(45)
Level 47: Weave -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(48), DefBuff-I(48), EndRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50), RechRdx-I(50), ToHit-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet

I've never found Stone Cages that much of a problem --- assuming that the mobs have already been rounded up and concentrated. It's only a problem if it's done to scattered mobs.

Then again, on my tankers I like Salt Crystals as an ancillary power. I really don't care about the sleep, although some of the sleep sets have valuable bonuses that are usually pretty easy to get; nobody slots up sleep, it seems. If the sleep is broken immediately, so what? I have attacked everything around me, up to 10, in a radius that's much larger than any of the PBAoEs available in my secondary. And everything it hits is therefore subject to tanker taunt for more than 10 seconds.

I consider EM to be generally broken in team situations because of the animation and recharge changes. In addition to the ET animation nerf and the TF stun nerf, Barrage was also nerfed - its damage was doubled, but its recharge was tripled.

The worst nerfs were the ET animation nerf, which means that your heavy hitting combination (BU-ET-TF) takes you out of commission for more than six seconds (and also makes the ten seconds of Build Up far less effective). The set is probably very frustrating to try to get through the early levels also; the attack you are forced to take from your secondary is only available ten times per minute. It might be workable for Stalkers, and maybe for Brutes; they aren't forced into taking Barrage. But Energy Melee tankers are pretty much a closed class now. Even after level 38, the feel of the set is like swimming in molasses.

Were it only a matter of scaling back the damage done by the top tier EM attacks, it might be livable. But the animation changes more or less break the set for tankers. As Invuln, you rely on Dull Pain, maybe Unstoppable. They will not activate while you are waiting for the three and four second animations to finish playing. Inspirations are likewise unavailable. Couple that with the fact that EM still is the weakest AoE set, and you are going to have serious problems reacting to developing situations as a tanker, whether they involve your health or a teammate's.

If you play strictly solo it might be worth sticking with. I'd plan on rerolling. Willpower/Stone Melee has a similar feel, a lot more team utility, and Willpower is capable of sustaining Stone Melee better than Invulnerability can.

Taunt is never strictly necessary, except perhaps for the Willpower tanker.

It is valuable for AV fights, but that's a small percentage of what you do anyways, and your ambitions may not lie that way. You seem to have plenty of AoE and offense to gather the attention of lesser mobs.

I use "boughten", but not as the general past participle for "bought"; for me it is a separate adjective, the opposite of "homemade" or "homespun".

I've never bought a purple; the few that I have and use were all drops that dropped for me and directed to the character best able to make use of them. So none of them are boughten, all are homemade.

Likewise I had never sold one until today - an Unbreakable Constraint that couldn't be equipped by any level 50 character I still play regularly.

Can Siphon Insight be slotted into RttC? I thought it needed to be slotted into attacks that needed a to-hit check, and I don't think RttC qualifies.

Right now I have a Willpower tanker with a Dark Watcher's Despair: Chance for Recharge Slow slotted in Touch of Fear.

I have the opportunity to slot a Siphon Insight: Chance for To Hit in the same power.

Which do you think is better?

[ QUOTE ]
Fire doesn't have my ire, kin does. I enjoy my fire/rad tons.

[/ QUOTE ]

If and when I get the character to the point where he can solo effectively -- which I gather is the attractiveness of fire/kin -- it may be a different matter entirely.

But I think it's kind of ironic that my chief complaint is that the character has too much control and not enough damage. nly the buffs of the secondary, not the controls I offer through the primary, seem to be noticed or wanted on teams.

Right now, on a team I look at myself as a "healer" of blue bars. I'm also working on being Not That Annoying Controller, and letting the tankers herd a little and concentrate the mobs before holding or immobilizing them en masse. Density is more important to me than Speed Boost, because of SB's unpleasant side effect.