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Heavy Weapons Tank
jschariot
Posts: 23 Arc User
I'd appreciate any thoughts on this build, based off recommendations for a Might tank, with some tweaks.
I'm fairly new to the game, so there's a lot to learn and a lot of history to catch up on. Be kind.
Gear suggestions as I start to do end game content welcomed. Most of the "stickied" stuff is years old and its hard to tell what bits are just old and what bits are actually out dated.
Heavy Weapons Tank
I'm fairly new to the game, so there's a lot to learn and a lot of history to catch up on. Be kind.
Gear suggestions as I start to do end game content welcomed. Most of the "stickied" stuff is years old and its hard to tell what bits are just old and what bits are actually out dated.
Heavy Weapons Tank
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The build is also missing a good single-target attack. In HW's case, that best attack is Annihilate w/ the Scorching Blade advantage (adv) that makes use of Clinging Flames (CF). You can put up CF quickly by using Eruption w/ adv (it's a bit faster than Cleave). Regardless, here's some tweaking of your build:
(Unnamed Build) - Freeform (Tank)
v3.43:35
Super Stats
Level 6: Strength (Primary)
Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
Level 15: Recovery (Secondary)
Talents
Level 1: The Devastator (Str: 10, Con: 10, Rec: 10, End: 8)
Level 6: Paramilitary Training (Str: 3, Con: 3, Rec: 3, End: 3)
Level 9: Relentless (Str: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 12: Quick Recovery (Con: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 15: Physical Conditioning (Str: 5, Con: 5)
Level 18: Bodybuilder (Str: 5, End: 5)
Level 21: Boundless Reserves (Con: 5, End: 5)
Powers
Level 1: Bludgeon
Level 1: Eruption (Magma Burst)
Level 6: Enrage (Giant Growth)
Level 8: Defiance (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Pulverizer
Level 14: Iron Cyclone (Rank 2, Vortex Technique, Challenge!)
Level 17: Endorphin Rush (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Annihilate (Rank 2, Scorching Blade, Challenge!)
Level 23: Resurgence (Rank 2)
Level 26: Arc of Ruin (No Quarter, Wildfire)
Level 29: Guard (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 32: Decimate
Level 35: Aggressor
Level 38: Unleashed Rage (Rank 2, Commanding Presence)
Adv. Points: 36/36
Travel Powers
Level 6: Flight (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Athletics (Rank 2)
Specializations
Strength: Swole (3/3)
Strength: Physical Peak (2/3)
Strength: Brutality (2/2)
Strength: Juggernaut (3/3)
Protector: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Protector: Beacon of Hope (1/3)
Protector: Unrelenting (1/2)
Protector: Bulwark (2/2)
Protector: Defensive Expertise (3/3)
Warden: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Warden: Ruthless (2/2)
Warden: Elusive (2/2)
Warden: The Best Defense (3/3)
Mastery: Protector Mastery (1/1)
Iron Cyclone and/or charged Arc of Ruin (Arc) can be used for AoE. For bosses, put up CF w/ Eruption, tap Arc to put up No Quarter (NQ), and use changed Annihilate as your main filler attack (while tapping Arc to refresh both CF and NQ). You can also use Annihilate on tougher trash mobs, but you'll prob want to build up knock immunity on them first; you can do that by knocking them w/ other attacks, such that they get three stacks of the knock resistance buff (they'll be knock-immune for the duration at that point). Gears mostly for Con, w/ some Str (for Enrage) and Rec (for Pulv).
(edited here to add some gearing advice)
As for gear, when you hit max lvl: if you have low funds, then you can start w/ basic lvl 40 Rare (blue) primary gear you can get in the AH that boosts your SS's, and you can slot mods in them to further boost some stats (rank 5 mods tend to be pretty cheap to start with). You can also get fitting Rare or Unique (purple) lvl 37-40 secondary gear in the AH (no mod slots in the basic 2ndary gear, but that's okay as it still adds some extra stats). In Offensive gear, you can slot Confront mods (or just get crit rating and crit severity, if you can't get Confront), for Defensive gear you can get +maxHP and/or extra +Defense, and for Utility gear you can get an Ironclad's Willpower mod for +HW dmg (and/or just get some extra cost discount and cd reduction).
If you have more funds to start w/, then you can go for stuff like 'Heroic' or 'Legion's' gear and R7+ mods, which you can sometimes find in the AH.
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
- Cleave : doesn't look like a bad combo power, it's even one of the rare 360° combo power but it's slow, extremely slow. So slow that it's not a reliable combo, which is why most HW tanks simply don't pick it.
- Thermal Reverb provides more energy than Pulverizer and HW can easily proc clinging flames.
- Earthsplitter : if you want another knock power, I would recommend Skullcrusher instead. You have no NttG so I don't believe that to send flying mobs up is the best option. You probably want to send them down into your melee range instead. Also for just 1 AP you can pick the adv. Put Them Down, to combo AoR+Skullcrusher.
The other powers are well picked.
Spes : Protector+Warden, that's very tanky but actually... too much tanky. The more you'll play, the more you'll realize that the hardest job for a tank is not to survive a 25k hp basic boss attack in the face (any consistent build who want to farm cosmics will have its way to handle a 25k hp attack) but to steal aggro from your 150k crit teammates.
The standard spes are usually Warden (+def ofc) and Vindicator (more crit and severity).
About gears : your starting lvl40 gears are going to be Heroic primary gears with +crit strike, +def and +cost discount. Armadillo secondary gears are actually very good with a strong 25% damage reduction (Q store).
From there, you should be able to start farming gcr and ov tokens.
While it sounds like you're wrong on many things and I'm correcting a lot of stuff, I do like to play tank and I wish you to have as much fun as I have.
@holloweaver I asked for advice. You gave some very good advice. I appreciate it. You would also suggest Heroic?
As for Pulv- it actually does scale w/ Rec slightly better than TReverb does w/ End, but only at 3 stacks (3x Pulv at 50 Rec: 3x 8.1= 24.3 eps; TReverb at 50 End = 21 eps). Before 3 stacks, TReverb is indeed better. Ofc you can go back to TReverb as well, if you don't mind the CF upkeep (would also have to hit something like Eruption w/ adv during AoE then, since Arc and Iron Cyclone can't put up CF initially). In that case, I may switch Rec SS for End SS, but still have some Rec talents to boost your resting energy a bit.
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
Cosmics are tough, extremely tough bosses. Heroic gear is rather weak vs Cosmics and yet, I doubt you should go with weaker than Heroic vs Cosmics?
So the "wait until you get better" is kinda a contradictory advice as you won't be able to "get better" with weaker than Heroic.
There are different ways to get scr : Unity, Series, daily Alerts. It goes actually rather fast (well at least fast compared to 250 gcr or 10k ov tokens).
One alternative is an account gearset, such as the Aurum Accelerator. It's not a better gear but it has the advantage that you'll purchase it only once and then swap it from one character to another.
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
My HW tank is a bit unconventional, so I'll put it here just for comparison sake. I do Arc > UC > 3 x Annihilate and apply Flash Fire as needed. I use Brimstone to create a pyre patch in the spot where baby always appear. Makes snagging it very easy. Also good for mooks. I.e. Brimstone followed by Arc.
Orb Knight 3 - Freeform (Any / Multiple)
v3.43:35
Super Stats
Level 6: Strength (Primary)
Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
Level 15: Endurance (Secondary)
Talents
Level 1: The Rockstar (Str: 10, Con: 10, Rec: 8, End: 10)
Level 6: Physical Conditioning (Str: 5, Con: 5)
Level 9: Bodybuilder (Str: 5, End: 5)
Level 12: Boundless Reserves (Con: 5, End: 5)
Level 15: Paramilitary Training (Str: 3, Con: 3, Rec: 3, End: 3)
Level 18: Quick Recovery (Con: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 21: Acrobat (Dex: 5, Con: 5)
Powers
Level 1: Bludgeon
Level 1: Defiance (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 6: Enrage
Level 8: Guard (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Arc of Ruin (No Quarter, Wildfire)
Level 14: Annihilate (Rank 2, Rank 3, Challenge!)
Level 17: Thermal Reverberation
Level 20: Flashfire
Level 23: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Resurgence (Rank 2)
Level 29: Brimstone (Aftershock, Challenge!)
Level 32: Uppercut (Rank 2, Setup)
Level 35: Unstoppable (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 38: Absorb Heat
Adv. Points: 36/36
Travel Powers
Level 6: Scorching Athletics (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Jet Boots
Specializations
Strength: Swole (3/3)
Strength: Physical Peak (2/3)
Strength: Brutality (2/2)
Strength: Juggernaut (3/3)
Warden: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Warden: Ruthless (2/2)
Warden: Elusive (2/2)
Warden: The Best Defense (3/3)
Protector: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Protector: Beacon of Hope (2/3)
Protector: Bulwark (2/2)
Protector: Resolute (3/3)
Mastery: Protector Mastery (1/1)
Devices
2x daily Alerts for 10 scr.
Up to 8 daily Series for 24 scr.
Unity is a little special as you get 9 scr + 6 or more if you're lucky. I'm rarely lucky so I rarely get more than 15-16 scr.
Total : 49 scr.
1 Heroic gear costs 150 scr so it takes 3 days to get 1 Heroic.
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
Personally, I'd still rather just get by with mercs (bought w/ Q) and save the scr for JG/DG/VG.
I agree that this is not the only option. I'm just explaining how it is a valid option. The final choice will be his own, anyway.
Onyx Paladin, War Mace
I combined your advice. And realized that I had taken some bad advice on my current build and SS'd Presence, which is WHY Pulverizer is a crappy EU. There's some conflicting suggestions floating around out there (not surprising after all this time) about how to tank and what you need to select to build a good tank.
Series are dailies you get from Ladyhawke then Dr. Ka (after you completed LadyHawke series once).
In Ladyhawke's series, you fight reworked Cobra Lords. They can apply a magic resistance debuff but nothing a tank can't handle. Their most annoying debuff is their ability to increase recharge time on charge-up/maintain powers. That debuff might be very annoying for you as most of your powers are charge-up/maintain (AoR, Annihilate, Iron Cyclone,...).
The final boss is buggy, i.e. : you need to slide behind him before the fight and make sure he never goes in the recess or he might fall through the ground (untargetable, reset hp and you'll have to reset the whole map, restart the whole mission). Beside this, he can stack some strong DoT (negative ions) but nothing a good Active Defense + Endorphin R3 can not cover.
Dr. Ka series are going to be your nightmare and one of the reasons I don't play Defiance tanks anymore. First, you're going to fight New Shadows who're applying a stackable DoT (bleed) and Defiance provides zero damage resistance vs DoT (any DoT, btw). Second, they use these stacks of bleed to get a heal on bleed, i.e. : the more stacks you have, the more they can heal themselves back. And finally they fly without travel power, i.e. : you can not put them down with a NttG (hence I suggested you get a knockdown rather than a knockup power because if you knock them up, you'll never be able to hit them).
The final boss is an elder worm which applies a strong magic resistance debuff combo with a magic DoT. As a defiant tank, he might be able to kill you.
Adventure packs and Comics are different and takes much more time to complete.
I've not encountered any major difficulties in Aftershock. There are just the flying imps which requires either a ranged attack or the NttG adv or just a simple fly TP to attack them in the air.
Demonflame has some easy and some hard parts. The hardest part is certainly Jack Fool and is deadly combo Dragon's Wrath+Dragon's Claws. The 1st attack ignores 50% of your block+resistance and the 2nd attack deals +50% crit severity on crit. Both of them need to be blocked and healed asap ( using a click heal like Conviction in between those 2 attacks does help a lot but you can also use a healing device too). The final fight is tricky as you need to be careful to swap target from the boss to the spawns asap. You don't really need to kill them all. You just need to give time for the demon to complete his ritual safely, that's the good news as a tank.
Serpent Lantern is certainly harder due to the multiple knocks combo with Blockbuster debuff. I don't really do this AP.
Same with Resistance and Whiteout, it's been a long time since I did them and don't remember any valuable infos about them.
Fyi, I'm usually playing my Dual Blades/Invuln tank with 4 pieces of Aurum Accelerator. I do loose a lot of SS stats with these gears but it's a decent tradeoff as I get +energy/second, +hp/second and 25% attack reduction. This allows me to go with offensive spe (INT PSS+Arbiter+Protector). I'm using Protector spes to get heal on knock/hold and to cancel snare, and Arbiter mastery to get heal on last combo hit as well as stronger heals with Enforcer.
Note that heals do add threat too.
Since AOs aren't usually that strong atm, I may drop R2 from Aggressor to get R2 + Challenge on Annihilate (as you also have 1 free adv point), since Annihilate will be your main single-target attack. I may also get Mass Destruction instead of Modified Gear in Vindicator, just to boost your AoE a bit more.
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
What you need to build a good tank (besides the obvious Defensive Passive) : 1 block R3, 1 fast self-heal, 1 Active Offense, 1 Active Defense, 2x challenges.
This build looks much better but as @flowcyto mentioned, it can still be improved a little more.
My suggestions :
- take some TP points off, what's better between to fly faster or to hit harder?
- you don't need 3 aoe, you could swap Iron Cyclone for Brute Strike w/ Concussion and have a tool against healing mobs and bosses (Demoiselle Nocturne, Baron Cimetiere, etc...).
- Overpower spe is usually a much better choice than Juggernaut.
- same with Mass Destruction, especially for a HW tank (this powerset has mostly aoe attacks).
Here's the edit version.
Note that Brute Strike doesn't deal more damages than Iron Cyclone, a contrario but it frees AP than you can put on your main attacks (Eruption, Annihilate) while adding tools that were missing (stun/interrupt, healing reduction). I also set the 2x challenge threats on your powers.
The idea behind Iron Cyclone was to try to grab a lot of attention quickly... I've seen it in use and it seems like a good idea. Can't say for how it plays. And I don't have an active defense in this current build...I've got two heals...Those 15 second durations kill me. I just can't seem to get my heard around how 15 seconds helps. But then this game is quite different from the only other MMO I have played: COH/COV.
/edit... I guess Resurgence is considered an Active Defense... not sure how that squares, but ok.
Yes, I agree about Iron Cyclone too. It's a really amazing aoe knockto but it's a grab power, an utility and it should not steal AP from your main attacks.
You can still keep it : just swap Brute Strike R1 w/Concussion for Iron Cyclone R1 w/Vortex Technique.
No matter what are your final choices, you need Eruption R2 w/ Magma Burst, AoR w/ No Quarter and Wildfire, and Annihilate R2 w/ Scorching Blade to deal enough damages to hold aggro.
Personally I consider that the point to take an ultimate with its threat adv is to max it or you'll loose some of its threat bonus and then what would be the point to take it if it is to generate as much threat as a T3 power?
Yes, Resurgence is both a heal and an active defense. The 15sec are for the bonus health regeneration. I don't think this bonus is applied to anything else but the Defensive Passive Regeneration?
Yet, the main reason Resurgence is so recommended is the huge hp back you get even if you're being hold/cc. Utility gears can lower the cd to make it available every 70sec which is very fast (faster than a healing device stuck to 90s cd).
Yes, it's very different from CoX. You can mix and match absolutely any power from any powerset. My main DB/Invuln has a Fire Energy Builder, a Darkness lunge, a Celestial self-heal, a Munitions active defense, a Power Armor passive, a Martial Arts Form as well as attacks, etc... While on CoX, I would have been limited to 2 powersets (if I remember well I was Willpower/Dark Melee).
While getting normal ranks of the Ultimate can be nice, I also don't think it'd hurt your overall threat gen too bad to have it at R2 instead of R3, due to it's cd- that is, if you needed a few more adv points elsewhere. It can still hit pretty hard then, and still have the extra threat adv to be a decent burst threat tool.
Resurgence was already pretty good for its upfront, large heal- but now that it has the added health regen effect afterwards it's become quite strong and can fit into pretty much any build. But yeah, it is an Active Defense, and thus will put any other ADs you may have on a shared cd when used.
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
I tried Brutal Strike first, didn't care for it. Iron Cyclone however, completely changes the game. Cycle that, tap AoR... most groups are dead.
I built differently so I could easily switch out and play around with the last couple of powers without having to do a full respec or spend a lot of dough. I may change a few advantages around, but once I get some gear and mods... I think I'll be quite happy for a while. Thanks!
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
So to resume it : your last build this one, is good except one thing : Iron Cyclone. You put too many AP in this power while your priority should be : Eruption R2 w/ Magma Burst + AoR w/ No quarter and Wildire + Annihilate R2 w/ Scorching Blade. Those 3 powers are your damage/threat rotation.
About Vicious Descent, usually most players don't care to pick a T2 lunge and stick to a T1 lunge which has a lower cd and allows for a faster gap close as it is all we really want from a lunge.
Each merc gear costs 35k Q with a cap of 8k Q per day, that's (35*3)/8 = 13.125 so 14 days.
14 days for merc or 9 days for heroic, that's the real decision to make.
send me a message/friend request @h4ngedm4n in game, as well as which pieces you want. I imagine precision gloves, defense breastplate, efficiency helmet are a fairly popular combination.