(PC) Most Effective Tank With Low Investment?

gaidin · December 2016

Hi all,

I'm an old City of Heroes AV-soloing Scrapper at heart, so my main is a 2.8k GWF - but my small guild needs a tank, so I was wondering what class and what spec would allow me to be an effective tank with as little investment as possible?

I'll be most frequently running with a 2.7k Healadin (Transcendant Holy Avenger Ench. & Owlbear Augment), a 2.8k MoF CW, and a 2.7k Ranger (spec unknown atm) and another random DPSer, if that matters.

I'd not be investing in r12 bondings, no transcendant/perfect/pure weapon/armor enchantments, and no owlbear augment (as I've seen tankadins use to boost DPS), or the like. I'll probably invest in r9 enchantments slotted and looking to barely hit 2.5k ilvl. Active companion will cap at epic, and the others will probably remain blue.

Any advice is welcome and thanks for your input!

-Gaidin

silverkelt · December 2016

my gf only has normal bondings on it and is 2.8k atm.. i can tank up to orcus in cn with little issue (other then sometimes the mother loving green balls get me...

Before binding oath nerf, I wouldve said paladin takes little to no investment at all.. a 2k paladin could tank up to cn no issue. Post binding oath nerf.. its doable with a low i level paladin, but I would say GF is easier atm, plus you can farm faster even with a mid 2k gf.. as you can kill all solo content quite easily atm with that class.. its frankly feels as fast as any of the dps classes.

Anything beyond cn, takes some (considerable investment) even for tanks.. but up to cn.. normal bondings, r8s is quite doable for everything.

gaidin · December 2016

silverkelt said:
my gf only has normal bondings on it and is 2.8k atm.. i can tank up to orcus in cn with little issue (other then sometimes the mother loving green balls get me...

Before binding oath nerf, I wouldve said paladin takes little to no investment at all.. a 2k paladin could tank up to cn no issue. Post binding oath nerf.. its doable with a low i level paladin, but I would say GF is easier atm, plus you can farm faster even with a mid 2k gf.. as you can kill all solo content quite easily atm with that class.. its frankly feels as fast as any of the dps classes.

Anything beyond cn, takes some (considerable investment) even for tanks.. but up to cn.. normal bondings, r8s is quite doable for everything.

Good to know, thanks for the info.

One question, and this may not apply to GF, but for GWF an augment with 3x offense is better than any companion with anything less than r10 bondings - is this different for a GF due to the companion's debuffing abilities, such as Dancing Shield/Ambush Drake?

Thanks!

rjc9000 · December 2016

gaidin#2096 said:

silverkelt said:
my gf only has normal bondings on it and is 2.8k atm.. i can tank up to orcus in cn with little issue (other then sometimes the mother loving green balls get me...

Before binding oath nerf, I wouldve said paladin takes little to no investment at all.. a 2k paladin could tank up to cn no issue. Post binding oath nerf.. its doable with a low i level paladin, but I would say GF is easier atm, plus you can farm faster even with a mid 2k gf.. as you can kill all solo content quite easily atm with that class.. its frankly feels as fast as any of the dps classes.

Anything beyond cn, takes some (considerable investment) even for tanks.. but up to cn.. normal bondings, r8s is quite doable for everything.
Good to know, thanks for the info.

One question, and this may not apply to GF, but for GWF an augment with 3x offense is better than any companion with anything less than r10 bondings - is this different for a GF due to the companion's debuffing abilities, such as Dancing Shield/Ambush Drake?

Thanks!

Waitwhat? Who told you that Bondings are only good at R10s?????

Bondings Stones, assuming you have the gear and enchantments to stuff into your companion, already equal augments at normal and beat augments at greater. This applies to all classes.

GWFs, which are only really useful for DPS, need all the goodies they can to maximize every cent of their DPS.

On a tank based GF, you can get by with augments, but your stat milestones are much easier to work with if you use a Bonding companion.

You don't quite "need" a debuffing companion for a GF, as a survival based companion such as a Acolyte of Kelemvor is perfectly useable for a tank based GF.

emilemo · December 2016

gaidin#2096 said:
Hi all,

I'm an old City of Heroes AV-soloing Scrapper at heart, so my main is a 2.8k GWF - but my small guild needs a tank, so I was wondering what class and what spec would allow me to be an effective tank with as little investment as possible?

I'll be most frequently running with a 2.7k Healadin (Transcendant Holy Avenger Ench. & Owlbear Augment), a 2.8k MoF CW, and a 2.7k Ranger (spec unknown atm) and another random DPSer, if that matters.

I'd not be investing in r12 bondings, no transcendant/perfect/pure weapon/armor enchantments, and no owlbear augment (as I've seen tankadins use to boost DPS), or the like. I'll probably invest in r9 enchantments slotted and looking to barely hit 2.5k ilvl. Active companion will cap at epic, and the others will probably remain blue.

Any advice is welcome and thanks for your input!

-Gaidin

I had to comment just to say Hi to another CoH veteran

As for the question. Play a GF, Swordmaster, Conqueror. Reach good numbers for defense and deflect and that along with the tanking powers the GF has and the Conqueror capstone will allow you to protect and buff your party while also doing some good ol scrapping yourself.

asterotg · December 2016

emilemo said:

gaidin#2096 said:
Hi all,

I'm an old City of Heroes AV-soloing Scrapper at heart, so my main is a 2.8k GWF - but my small guild needs a tank, so I was wondering what class and what spec would allow me to be an effective tank with as little investment as possible?

I'll be most frequently running with a 2.7k Healadin (Transcendant Holy Avenger Ench. & Owlbear Augment), a 2.8k MoF CW, and a 2.7k Ranger (spec unknown atm) and another random DPSer, if that matters.

I'd not be investing in r12 bondings, no transcendant/perfect/pure weapon/armor enchantments, and no owlbear augment (as I've seen tankadins use to boost DPS), or the like. I'll probably invest in r9 enchantments slotted and looking to barely hit 2.5k ilvl. Active companion will cap at epic, and the others will probably remain blue.

Any advice is welcome and thanks for your input!

-Gaidin
I had to comment just to say Hi to another CoH veteran

As for the question. Play a GF, Swordmaster, Conqueror. Reach good numbers for defense and deflect and that along with the tanking powers the GF has and the Conqueror capstone will allow you to protect and buff your party while also doing some good ol scrapping yourself.

While most of the GFs I know play this build and I play a conqueror SM GF, too, I dont think, that it is a budget build, as asked. Even with R12 bondings at 3.3k IL I have to watch out tanking Orcus.

On a budget I would go GF SM tactican. For quality of life, I would level the GF as conqueror and switch AFTER all the grind.

gaidin · December 2016

rjc9000 said:
Waitwhat? Who told you that Bondings are only good at R10s?????

Bondings Stones, assuming you have the gear and enchantments to stuff into your companion, already equal augments at normal and beat augments at greater. This applies to all classes.

GWFs, which are only really useful for DPS, need all the goodies they can to maximize every cent of their DPS.

With the holidays, I haven't checked back, so, firstly, Happy Holidays!

As to the Bondings, I got the idea from Lia Knowles GWF guide where, after recommending an augment if you can't afford bonding runestones, she says, "The key in using these companions is basically equipping greater (or above) bondings in their Runestone slots. Those (r12's) provide 95%x3 of the companion stats to you in combat." Perhaps, this is in error?

At any rate, that's why I was running under that assumption.

I'm working on leveling a GF now (Conquerer) and will try out your Tac GF spec once I get to 70. I appriciate the feedback!

gaidin · December 2016

emilemo said:

gaidin#2096 said:
Hi all,

I'm an old City of Heroes AV-soloing Scrapper at heart, so my main is a 2.8k GWF - but my small guild needs a tank, so I was wondering what class and what spec would allow me to be an effective tank with as little investment as possible?

I'll be most frequently running with a 2.7k Healadin (Transcendant Holy Avenger Ench. & Owlbear Augment), a 2.8k MoF CW, and a 2.7k Ranger (spec unknown atm) and another random DPSer, if that matters.

I'd not be investing in r12 bondings, no transcendant/perfect/pure weapon/armor enchantments, and no owlbear augment (as I've seen tankadins use to boost DPS), or the like. I'll probably invest in r9 enchantments slotted and looking to barely hit 2.5k ilvl. Active companion will cap at epic, and the others will probably remain blue.

Any advice is welcome and thanks for your input!

-Gaidin
I had to comment just to say Hi to another CoH veteran

As for the question. Play a GF, Swordmaster, Conqueror. Reach good numbers for defense and deflect and that along with the tanking powers the GF has and the Conqueror capstone will allow you to protect and buff your party while also doing some good ol scrapping yourself.

Hi! Always great to see a fellow CoX player! What handle did you run under on the forums? I was Gaidin on the forums there as well. Looking forward to City of Titans?

I like the idea of Conquerer GF a great deal, as it is definitely more my playstyle, but this game is so very Pay-to-Win (or enormous time equivalent) that I simply cannot afford a second main with the kind of investment needed, as I am a casual player (family including a 2-year old). CoH wasn't nearly as awful in that regard, and I had multiple toons with high-level gear (and no kids at the time).

gaidin · December 2016

asterotg said:
While most of the GFs I know play this build and I play a conqueror SM GF, too, I dont think, that it is a budget build, as asked. Even with R12 bondings at 3.3k IL I have to watch out tanking Orcus.

On a budget I would go GF SM tactican. For quality of life, I would level the GF as conqueror and switch AFTER all the grind.

Yeah, that is what I decided too - thanks for your input!

thrill · December 2016

gaidin#2096 said:

rjc9000 said:
Waitwhat? Who told you that Bondings are only good at R10s?????

Bondings Stones, assuming you have the gear and enchantments to stuff into your companion, already equal augments at normal and beat augments at greater. This applies to all classes.

GWFs, which are only really useful for DPS, need all the goodies they can to maximize every cent of their DPS.
With the holidays, I haven't checked back, so, firstly, Happy Holidays!

As to the Bondings, I got the idea from Lia Knowles GWF guide where, after recommending an augment if you can't afford bonding runestones, she says, "The key in using these companions is basically equipping greater (or above) bondings in their Runestone slots. Those (r12's) provide 95%x3 of the companion stats to you in combat." Perhaps, this is in error?

At any rate, that's why I was running under that assumption.

I'm working on leveling a GF now (Conquerer) and will try out your Tac GF spec once I get to 70. I appriciate the feedback!

Theoretically 3 x Rank 9's should provide 150% of the stats, but it doesn't seem to work that way. I have noticed that an equal rank enchant provides more stats on my toon than on my companion with Rank 9s. I am upgrading my bonds to rank 10 this upcoming double RP and I suspect the enchants on my companion will finally start outperforming those on my toon.

asterotg · December 2016

thrill#1417 said:

gaidin#2096 said:

rjc9000 said:
Waitwhat? Who told you that Bondings are only good at R10s?????

Bondings Stones, assuming you have the gear and enchantments to stuff into your companion, already equal augments at normal and beat augments at greater. This applies to all classes.

GWFs, which are only really useful for DPS, need all the goodies they can to maximize every cent of their DPS.
With the holidays, I haven't checked back, so, firstly, Happy Holidays!

As to the Bondings, I got the idea from Lia Knowles GWF guide where, after recommending an augment if you can't afford bonding runestones, she says, "The key in using these companions is basically equipping greater (or above) bondings in their Runestone slots. Those (r12's) provide 95%x3 of the companion stats to you in combat." Perhaps, this is in error?

At any rate, that's why I was running under that assumption.

I'm working on leveling a GF now (Conquerer) and will try out your Tac GF spec once I get to 70. I appriciate the feedback!
Theoretically 3 x Rank 9's should provide 150% of the stats, but it doesn't seem to work that way. I have noticed that an equal rank enchant provides more stats on my toon than on my companion with Rank 9s. I am upgrading my bonds to rank 10 this upcoming double RP and I suspect the enchants on my companion will finally start outperforming those on my toon.

Look for bondings/ cockatrice etc. at the end of the winter festival. The bondings from BOP gifts (chicken egg) should drop the prices and sometimes the companions with bondings go for less then the bondings themselves.

btairborne · December 2016

Make sure to get two mounts with each of the Protectors' insignia bonus. This will get you an increase of 16% to power and defense. Another thing Augments don't have.
I wouldn't recommend more than 2 for a tank, there are more useful things better than the diminishing returns of more Protector's buffs.

(PC) Most Effective Tank With Low Investment?

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