Making a Tanky Tank that uses martial art weapons (swords)

renegade0 · July 2021

I read an old guide years ago that used INT the primary and SS were DEX and CON, but I'm not sure how viable that is for tanking now days.
The old build I had using this setup did well in alerts, I could hold aggro and barely take damage and did decent damage myself. But now, not so much. I couldn't get any aggro and my damage was worse than my healer who has worse gear, like half the damage and the healer is in support role while the tank was in hybrid. The tank also had an active offense, lol.

So, I'm just starting from scratch. The only real limit as far as theme goes is that I just want this toon to use either swords or claws. I also know I don't want to use heavy weapons and I can also use unarmed along side the weapon. I'm just not sure if it matters or if some powers are just better for tanking over others

The overall goals, in this order:
Never Die Ever (Have you seen the anime "I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense". They made that about me)
Hold Aggro Forever (If I have to suck at damage to never get killed, I should at least be useful)

Here's what I have so far:

I Don't Want to Get Hurt - Freeform (Any / Multiple)
v3.44:37

Super Stats
Level 6: Constitution (Primary)
Level 10: Strength (Secondary)
Level 15: Recovery (Secondary)

Talents
Level 1: The Witch (Con: 10, Int: 8, Pre: 10, Rec: 10)
Level 6: Quick Recovery (Con: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 9: Physical Conditioning (Str: 5, Con: 5)
Level 12: Relentless (Str: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 15: Impressive Physique (Str: 5, Pre: 5)
Level 18: Shrug It Off (Con: 5, Pre: 5)
Level 21: Lasting Impression (Pre: 5, Rec: 5)

Powers
Level 1: Reaper's Touch
Level 1: Bladed Cyclone (Vortex Technique, Challenge!)
Level 6: Inexorable Tides (Challenge!)
Level 8: Intensity
Level 11: Invulnerability (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 14: Energy Shield (Rank 2, Laser Knight)
Level 17: Unbreakable (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Inertial Dampening Field (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Relentless Pursuit (Single Minded, Open Wound, Challenge!)
Level 26: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 29: Bountiful Chi Resurgence (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 32: Rebirth
Level 35: Relentless
Level 38: Reaper's Embrace
Adv. Points: 36/36

Travel Powers
Level 6: Chain Swinging (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Power Skating

Specializations
Constitution: Unyielding (2/2)
Constitution: Tough (1/3)
Constitution: Resilient (2/2)
Constitution: Deflection (3/3)
Constitution: Armored (2/2)
Sentry: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Sentry: Sentry Aura (3/3)
Sentry: Fortify (2/2)
Sentry: Persevere (2/2)
Protector: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Protector: Beacon of Hope (3/3)
Protector: Bulwark (2/2)
Protector: Resolute (2/3)
Mastery: Constitution Mastery (1/1)

Devices

This build is pretty sloppy and probably silly/crappy. I don't know any meta for this game. Like if a pure defense tank is even useful on any teams or I should be trying to build for Tank + DPS or building for DPS with some tanking. I'm used to playing either a healer or tank where that's your only job, but it seems like now days you're expected to do DPS no matter what role you are? If pure defense is viable, I could probably take out some stuff like Intensity. I picked some talents with PRE for the self heals

flowcyto · July 2021

Threat is still tied somewhat to dps in CO, though things like Challenge advs, Confront mods (in Primary Offense gear), and Ultimates w/ a threat adv can help w/ that. Getting a pbAoE attack that has Challenge can also be nice since it can stack 2ndary Challenge's extra threat on top of that from primary Challenge. Anyways, most melee sets now have at least one strong single-target attack, which also helps. Also, Defiance grants the most dmgRes out of all the defensive passives, but Invuln's dmg shield makes it much better for smaller-medium hits (and you don't have to maintain stacks of Invuln like you would w/ Defiance). I'll keep Invuln for now, since it's more versatile overall. Your build has many issues atm, so instead of going through it all, I'll just give you a simple Dual Blades tank build that you can try (I'm going w/ mostly DB cause it's an easy set to play around, but most other melee sets are fine too):

(Unnamed Build) - Freeform (Tank)
v3.44:37

Super Stats
Level 6: Strength (Primary)
Level 10: Dexterity (Secondary)
Level 15: Constitution (Secondary)

Talents
Level 1: The Predator (Str: 10, Dex: 10, Con: 8, Rec: 10)
Level 6: Covert Ops Training (Str: 3, Dex: 3, Con: 3, Int: 3)
Level 9: Quick Recovery (Con: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 12: Impresario (Dex: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 15: Acrobat (Dex: 5, Con: 5)
Level 18: Martial Focus (Str: 5, Dex: 5)
Level 21: Physical Conditioning (Str: 5, Con: 5)

Powers
Level 1: Rain of Steel
Level 1: Blade Tempest (Rank 2, Rank 3, Challenge!)
Level 6: Form of the Tempest
Level 8: Invulnerability (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Steadfast
Level 14: Eye of the Storm (Rank 2, Rank 3, Challenge!)
Level 17: Resurgence (Rank 2)
Level 20: Dragon's Claws (Rank 2, Dragon Rush)
Level 23: Endorphin Rush (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Parry (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 29: Strike Down (Nailed to the Ground)
Level 32:
Level 35:
Level 38: Fractal Aegis (Chilling Reminder)
Adv. Points: 32/36

Travel Powers
Level 6:
Level 35:

Specializations
Strength: Swole (2/3)
Strength: Physical Peak (3/3)
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: Bulwark (2/2)
Protector: Defensive Expertise (3/3)
Protector: Resolute (2/3)
Mastery: Protector Mastery (1/1)

The open power slots can be used for w/e ya want.

Blade Tempest is a basic melee attack that also puts up (and can refresh) Shredded, while charges of Dragon's Claws can be used to add in more single-target dmg (Dragon's Wrath could be taken instead, though DC's large crit severity bonus is nice overall). Blade Tempest's cleave and Eye of the Storm (EotS) can be your main AoEs here (EotS's dmg shield ramps up as its dps ramps down, so fully channel it if you want to max its shield, and cancel and re-channel it early if you want more dmg from it). You can also weave in taps of EotS to put up 2ndary Challenge on bosses while using your other attacks. Fractal Aegis seems a bit weird to throw in here, but it's nice cause it can quickly and cheaply put up a bunch of extra threat w/ just a tap, and you don't have to get normal ranks of it either. I also picked Endorphin Rush as the extra heal since it scales w/ Con (and Rec), so it's good for most tanks. Resurgence can be your big heal cd here. The block enhancer (Parry) could also be changed to a different one, if you want, but they all do the same basic thing (sans Fluidity, which I would avoid here). Gears mostly for Con, w/ some Dex.

You could also take Vindicator instead of Protector as your 2nd spec. This will lower your survival a bit overall, but also give you a good bit more dps and threat gen. Overall, there's tons of other melee Tank builds you could make here, but I hope this gives you a decent start.

renegade0 · July 2021

Thanks! I really appreciate it! I'll play around with this build next time I'm ingame

Making a Tanky Tank that uses martial art weapons (swords)

Comments