Cosmic Defiance Tank Build with Strength Mods?

monsterdaddy

OK, having been away from CO for 3 years I was shocked last night in the PTS to learn Defiance no longer gives energy, needs to be ranked and no longer scales off CON. Yes, we all had a pretty good laugh.

But it did give me an idea. Years ago, someone gave me 6 Rank 9 STR mods and I've toyed with a STR tank idea. Now that Defiance scales off SS this idea might be viable. Obviously with 500-600 STR I would have lots of energy with an Enrage/AotB form and tons of additive damage. The STR spec with +12% melee crit and +3 HP/STR is intriguing too with Vind/Brawler for Setup spec.

Damage testing with a Shred/Tiger's Bite/Reaper's Caress build is giving up to 13K crits in PTS. That's pretty high damage for tanks? (I have to download Parser still to be sure). Definitely should be good enough to hold aggro?

Defensively Knock res is insane. Could get about 171% total dmg res with 6 Defiance stacks and Def adding 33%. Not great vs a CON setup (I think I tested about 218% total dmg res). About 12-14K HP total. Would this be good enough to withstand all the Cosmics?

Thinking STR/CON/DEX with Steadfast as EU and maybe a CoAP since it still fits my theme.

Thanks again everyone. Wow, still so many changes to digest...

flowcyto

Well, by prioritizing Str more than Con you're putting more of a burden on others to keep you alive, and you already can get much energy from blocking anyways (and if using Str PSS then you won't have as high defense w/ Juggernaut; and Brawler + Vind doesn't offer much for defense). It is good for dps, but w/ enough threat mods you don't need very high dps to hold aggro. Having to block often will also hinder your dmg potential as is.

You're free to try such a setup, and it could work well in easier content, but you may be too squishy for harder encounters.

monsterdaddy

Thanks flowcyto. Does Energy Shield with Laser Knight still work as before? i.e. reduces damage by 25% and is on another layer. Do Cosmic tanks use this?

flowcyto

I believe that Laser Knight still functions similar to that. It can have a pretty strong defensive benefit, but it also has a short duration, will lower your base melee dmg, and costs 3 points (and it precludes getting R3). I'm not sure if cosmic tanks use it often, but I usually would pass on it.