Elemental tank?

jedite2012 · July 2012

Is it possible to create a elemental tank champion which doesn't rely on might or strength?

i would like to do a tank with all 4 elements, any tips on what type of powers and stats needed for a tank set up like that?

taintedmess · July 2012

All you really need to be a tank is a means to mitigate damage (defensive passive, active defence clicks, heals) and crippling challenge/challenging strikes on a couple of powers there really is no need to go into the might tree or have STR stated.

The glacier AT would be a example of a non might/Strength tank.

your biggest question is do you want to be in melee range or not?

jedite2012 · July 2012

i would like to be melee, im sure there is a few melee elemental powers

beldin · July 2012

jedite2012 wrote: »

i would like to be melee, im sure there is a few melee elemental powers

Brimstone from heavy weapons is maybe some kind of elemental with the Fire-Patch.

Else Devour Essence could maybe be called elemental since at least Poison is also
buffed by Ice and Fireform.

Biggest problem in using different elementals would be however what Energy Unlock you would take.
If you only use maintains there is now at least Overdrive, but i think it still works not with all powers.

taintedmess · July 2012

Your some what limited with melee as fire, wind, elec, and ice are all primerly ranged sets (they do have powers that operate at melee range but there tagged as ranged) only earth offers a mix of both melee and ranged abilities.

Its worth noteing that not going with strength will also hurt a melee builds damage so its probably advisable to at least look at getting some for the bonus damage (it caps out at about 70 so no need to make it a primary or secondary superstat)

Ill see if I can get on later the night and get the build im intending to use on my own elimetalist it might give you some ideas.

jedite2012 · July 2012

thanxing thanx

pugdaddy · July 2012

As a tank, doing damage is NOT your main job. Your main job is to keep the Bosses attention and survive lots of damage.

You probably want Con as your primary SS and take Protector Skill Tree. Also be sure to take at least 1 self-heal power. To survive damage. Ice Barrier can theoretically be used to help with Defense. I've never tried it so I can't speak from personal experience.

Upheaval is a melee range Earth power with Crippling Challenge. Crippling Challenge powers help you keep the Bosses attention so he doesn't kill the squishy DPSers instead. Challenging Strikes also stack Threat on an opponent but Crippling does it better. Crippling Challenge and Challenging Strikes are both Advantages that can be added to some powers.

There are many ranged Elemental powers that can take the Crippling Challenge Advantage. Ice Blast, Lightning Arc, Gust, Cave In, and Fire Strike. These are all Blast powers so you could grab one of those Blast Skills for added effect.
Find the full list of Crippling Challenge powers here:
http://www.champions-online-wiki.com/wiki/Crippling_Challenge

Challenging Strikes:
http://www.champions-online-wiki.com/wiki/Challenging_Strikes
Challenging Strikes make less Threat and might include some aoe powers. Avalanche is a pretty awesome ranged aoe that can take Challenging Strikes. It takes lots of energy, so you might consider taking End as a secondary SS.

As was previously mentioned, finding a good energy unlock for a mixed set build can be a challenge.
http://www.champions-online-wiki.com/wiki/Energy_Unlock
If you use the Tank build, you gain energy fast when you block. Taking Wind Reverberation and Wind Barrier creates an Energy Unlock/ Block combo.

Fire Snakes is a cool temporary pet. You summon it and it does damage for a while before disappearing. Meanwhile, you can use a different attack or block or whatever. Dust Devil from Wind and Ball Lightning from Electricity are also temp pets. If you want a permanent pet, Air Elemental or Frost Beast are elementals.

A nice massive damage aoe is Gigabolt. It takes lots of energy but if you have some End you can build enough energy. It can even be spammed without charging it. Booyah!

You could build a pretty bad-**** elemental tank. Have fun!

Edit: if Earth isn't part of your concept, consider taking Hurricane with Challenging Strikes. Hurricane is a blast. Better for tanking would be Lightning Arc since it is a Maintain that can have Crippling Strike.

nepht · July 2012

Def or Invul ..BCR and lightning arc with CC and u can out tank anything I use CON/REC/END with ego getting a 4th dodge/crit gear BAM job done.

roughbearmattach · July 2012

Electricity makes a good tank, I concur. Lightning arc with crip challenge is amazing at holding threat.

Also, sparkstorm with Electric Personality advantage causes damage to all foes nearby. It does cause knockback, which won't be a good idea with mobs in Alerts, but otherwise it is a great power for an electricity tank.

taintedmess · July 2012

Ok cant find the full build (sneaking suspicion it got sent to the bin by mistake)

so I've tried to reconstruct it from memory hopefully it'll give you some ideas

PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name:

Archetype: Freeform

Super Stats:
Level 6: Constitution (Primary)
Level 10: Endurance (Secondary)
Level 15: Presence (Secondary)

Talents:
Level 1: The Behemoth
Level 6: Paramilitary Training
Level 9: Discipline Training
Level 12: Survival Training
Level 15: Boundless Reserves
Level 18: Prodigy
Level 21: Shrug It Off

Powers:
Level 1: Wield Earth (Faltering Strikes)
Level 1: Land Slide (Rock Solid, Crippling Challenge)
Level 6: Stone Shroud (Rank 2)
Level 8: Invulnerability (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Enrage (Endorphin Rush)
Level 14: Pyre (Rank 2, Backdraft, Challenging Strikes)
Level 17: Thermal Reverberation
Level 20: Fissure (Reconstruct)
Level 23: Lightning Arc (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Wall of Ice
Level 29: Electric Sheath (Matter ? Energy Union)
Level 32: Dust Devil (Rank 2, Triple Threat)
Level 35: Empathic Healing (Rank 2)
Level 38: Unbreakable

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Tornado Flight (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Blazing Speed

Specializations:
Constitution: Unyielding (2/2)
Constitution: Fuel My Fire (2/3)
Constitution: Tough (2/3)
Constitution: Resilient (2/2)
Constitution: Armored (2/2)
Protector: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Protector: Bulwark (2/2)
Protector: Defensive Expertise (3/3)
Protector: Resolute (2/3)
Warden: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Warden: Elusive (2/2)
Warden: Reactive Strikes (2/2)
Warden: The Best Defense (3/3)
Mastery: Constitution Mastery (1/1)

Now that I look at it its probably not the greatest levelling build as it wont become all that effective till the later levels but any ways the theory behind it go's like this

Advantaged weild earth will disorientate your target from a distance and turn your rock slide into a AoE knock up giving you some soft control Vs lower level enemies as well as helping build enrage.

Stone shroud is taken because it looks cool when ranked (well i think it dose any ways) and adds extra healing when combined with advantaged fissure

advantaged pyre + thermal reverb will provide you with energy as well as doing more knock which will build/maintain enrage it also carries challenging strikes for agro grabbing.

Lightning arc is in there as your single target zap stuff till it dies for use between applications crippling/challenging

Wall of ice was largely picked because I like it though it also has the advantage that you can fire it of at your targets and lock them in place (hopefully within your nice burn patch)

Electric sheath with advantage is there as kind of a peswado active defence come damage boost

Dust devil picked because its thematic giving a wind ability to the build but is also fire and forget.

I grabbed empathic healing as recoloured red/orange it makes a excellent fire heal it also means you can heal your team mates some and grab your self some healing agro

taintedmess · July 2012

roughbearmattach wrote: »

Electricity makes a good tank, I concur. Lightning arc with crip challenge is amazing at holding threat.
.

I've always found crip on lightning arc unless for PvP to be a waste rank 3 will happily pull agro from all but the most determined tanks and has the added bonus of melting things all the quicker.

jedite2012 · July 2012

looks awsome thanx

chaosdrgnz43 · July 2012

So, you want to make a tank that is like the Avatar. I think it's possible but the stats will be complex.

brixz · July 2012

so about how fun is it to be a tank?

astazia · July 2012

In this game in the most common situations (alerts, questing) you will feel like a wasted slot on the team. A dedicated tank (or healer) isn't required for most content I've seen, anyone with a defensive passive can hold their own and with everything else setup for offense they can contribute much more to the fight. A tank in some of the alerts (timed ones) is a flat out handicap and can make things much more difficult if not impossible. I have a few tanks and it's not fun or rewarding at all, nobody cares that you have agro, and it sucks knowing that because your damage is terrible everyone else has to work harder to finish things in time.

Unknown · July 2012

This content has been removed.

astazia · July 2012

Sounds good on paper, but the reality is that a tank in this game is the person who jumps on top of the water grenade to save his team while everyone laughs. The tank role takes something far more seriously than the game mechanics warrant. Great, awesome, they soak up all the hits from all the enemies, except wait, nobody cares if they are getting hit, it's not an issue. "Hey thanks for stepping in front of that nerf dart for me, that might have wrinkled my tights a little." The only time drawing agro for a squishy is an issue is when they draw ALL of it by jumping in ahead of everyone else.

I'm not saying the game is easy, it's just this isn't EQ clone #57, and the holy trinity isn't worshiped as a deity by the devs. Everyone is strong, a super hero, and can hold their own. They don't need to hide behind a tank or lick the boots of a healer. Trying to fully dedicate a character to one of those roles is a bad idea unless you know exactly what you are doing and why. If you want to play defensively just grab a defensive passive and that's all you need to go toe-to-toe with most enemies, focus everything else on offense, maybe grab an agro related advantage for emergencies. If you dedicate everything to "tanking" you are going to be a horrible disadvantage for your team in most situations, it sucks so bad zoning into Red Winter to see 2 shields and knowing you are probably going to run out of time on the wolf, again.

Elemental tank?

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