The Tanker - Subarchetypes
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A Tanker is a Tanker is a Tanker, right? Well, for the most part. The primary role of a Tanker is to absorb damage and draw fire for a group. However, the different Power Sets that the Tanker has access to protect the Tanker in different ways, and so different strategies are needed to use them well.
Brick: The Brick is what most people think about when they think of a "tank". This subarchetype, usually called the "Invulnerability Tanker", is really the most popular choice, although Invulnerability's place as the pinnacle of tanking has been overtaken by Willpower. Although it has a weakness to psychic attack, Invulnerability has more passive powers than any other Tanker Power Set, defending against multiple damage types at once. It is better at defending against physical damage than elements or energy, but against most villain types in the game, this is more than enough. The Invulnerability Tanker also has a power that makes him better at dodging attacks the more enemies he is in combat with, and so he's particularly suited for keeping large groups busy. The Brick basically maximizes this defense, making himself an almost invulnerable target. He can absorb huge amounts of damage, allowing his allies to act without worrying about being attacked in return. The best tactic to use when tanking is for the tank to keep the enemy group occupied, while the other heroes pull off targets one at a time. Unfortunately, holding aggro is difficult without strong attacks, and since Enhancement Diversification it is more difficult to develop passive powers, and so you can't really concentrate TOTALLY on defense.
Stone Tanker: The Stone Tanker is similar to the Brick in that he can absorb massive amounts of damage. In fact, the Stone Armor Power Set is the only one that offers resistance to Psychic damage. Where the Stone Tanker differs is that his status protection power and his most powerful armor both slow down his movement. Thus, while the Brick is fast and powerful, an unstoppable force of energy, the Stone Tanker is slow, ponderous, and rooted to the ground. For the most part, however, the strategy is identical. The Stone Tanker simply has to wade into the fray and hold down the group of foes. Like most elemental Tankers, the Stone Tanker also has a power to slow his opponents, although only at close range. It should also be noted that since the Stone Tanker's final armor prevents him from Flying, he may be less likely to take that particular Pool Power. Teleportation is a popular way to get around the Stone Tanker's movement restrictions.
Fire Tanker: The Fire Tanker is very different from most Tankers. It can do an EXTREME amount of damage, almost as if it were a Scrapper. The difference between a Fire Tanker and a Scrapper is that most of the Fire Tanker's damage is passive. It is simply dangerous to be NEAR the Fire Tanker. For this reason, the Fire Tanker can be just as well defended as another Tanker, but would not be nearly as good at actually "tanking". Since the Fire Tanker cannot absorb damage as well as he can deal it out to his opponents, he has to be careful not to be overwhelmed. Drawing fire is not a problem, as enemies will aggro on him just from being in range. The Fire Tanker has Burn to slow down his foes, and Healing Flames to try and compensate for the additional damage he will take, and it may help further to stay on the move. In a group he has to use his abilities wisely, to draw attention without taking too much damage.
Ice Tanker: The Ice Tanker is sort of a compromise between the Fire Tanker and the Stone Tanker. While he can't deal the damage of the Fire Tanker, or absorb damage like an Stone Tanker, he does have more powers to root and slow his foes. Thus, the Ice Tanker is just as good as the other Tanker types at holding foes and keeping them distracted. He just has to do what he can to keep down his opponents' attack speed, and keep an eye on his Endurance. Ice Armor is also one of the few Defense Sets (Invulnerability and Willpower being the main others) that get stronger the more foes are in melee with the Tanker. Energy Absorption provides more Defense based on how many foes are in melee, which makes it an excellent set for tanking for a team. The Ice Tanker also has two more auras, one which deals damage, as with Fire, and one which slows the attacks of his foes, serving as a secondary defense. All of these auras taunt the foes around him, which while this is not unique to Tankers (Dark has three "Taunt Auras" as well) it is certainly quite powerful for tanking. Note also at this time that Ice Armor is totally unique to Tankers. No other Archetype has the Power Set, although Brutes were originally intended to have it, but the slowing of foe attacks turned out to interfere with Fury. It is hoped that Stalkers may get the set, or perhaps an alternate version will be developed for Brutes.
Electric Tanker: As with the Ice and Fire Tankers, the Electric Tanker is able to deal damage to foes just by being in melee, with his Lightning Field. He does not do as much damage as a Fire Tanker, and his resistance-based defenses do not provide as much protection as the Ice Tanker. What Electric Armor does provide, however, is Lightning Reflexes, which makes the Tanker's attacks and movement much faster, and Power Sink, which can provide more Endurance. Tankers and Scrappers also get the new power (developed when they got the set) Energize, which provides a minor heal, as well as reducing End costs like Conserve Power. Thus, Electric Armor does help boost offense, just not directly in terms of damage, as Firey Aura does. Electrical Melee also has some very unique and powerful attacks, particularly Lightning Rod, which is both an AoE attack and a teleport, allowing you to close with a group and attack all at once. Chain Induction is also an interesting power, as it can strike up to three targets by jumping from foe to foe around you. Electrical Melee attacks also drain Endurance, and may give it to the Tanker, much like Power Sink. So this also helps to make the Electric Tanker very efficient in terms of Endurance use.
Dark Tanker: I like to call this subarchetype the "sneaky Tanker". It's true that one of the main abilities of Dark Armor is its stealth, and it would seem this would be at odds with tanking. However, once you have established aggro, your stealth from Cloak of Darkness no longer has any effect, so this actually makes a great Tanker set. You just need to remember that foe's outside the radius of your melee can't see you. This helps keep them from overwhelming you, you can take on each group on its own, but your allies might accidently draw their attention instead. Thus, you need to make doubly sure that your teammates know they should wait for you to strike the first blow. Dark Armor has a number of different tools, including a heal that draws life from your foes, two "Taunt Auras" (in addition to its damage aura) that scare or stun foes around you, and a self rez for when things go wrong. In keeping with theme of draining the life force of your foes, Dark Melee has a damage build up power that drains strength from the enemies surrounding you. So the more foes you fight, the more damage you do. (Much like a Brute) Your powers can be demonic in nature, or magical, or just psychic. In fact, Dark Armor has one of the best defenses against Psionic attack, and a real rarity, it protects against Fear.
Action Hero: The Action Hero really isn't bulletproof, nor does he have the power to heal really quickly. He just WON'T DIE. This is the type of character that usually comes out at the end of the movie bruised and bloodied, looking like he's been put through a meat grinder. Yet, whether through force of will, some supernatural luck, or just plain mule-headed stubborness, he manages to survive when no one else could. Willpower is a strong set in many areas, but a master of none. It has some Resistances, some Defense, some hit point bonuses, just enough to get by. It's most powerful effect, Rise to the Challenge, makes the Willpower Tanker almost the Tanker equivalent of Regeneration. Like Regeneration, Willpower also provides great Endurance recovery powers, making it a great offensive set. It even has extremely strong Psionic protection, making it a good choice for a psionic mutant. Where Willpower has a weakness is in what Tankers are supposed to be best at, drawing aggro. Rise to the Challenge, the "Taunt Aura" for the set, is much weaker than any other counterpart. This makes it hard for the Tanker to hold the aggro of his foes, and he must rely more on his punches and his Taunt power to keep foes off of his allies. Like Firey Armor, however, Willpower tends to make a Tanker more offensive, almost like a Scrapper.
Powerhouse: While he seems identical to the Brick in terms of powers, the Powerhouse differs in strategy. The Powerhouse is actually on the line between Scrapper and Tanker, and could be either. Thus, while the Brick concentrates mainly on absorbing damage, and letting his teammates handle the offense, the Powerhouse tries to strike more of a balance between attack and defense. More importantly, the Powerhouse uses speed and skill, as well as brute force. He's very likely to use movement powers from the Pool to increase his speed, or even Hasten to boost his attacks. Because of his balance between offense and defense, this is a very soloable archetype. However, the Powerhouse can be useful to a group, too, as long as his abilities are not overestimated. As with the Fire Tanker, he can dart around in combat to keep his opponents off guard. It should be noted that if Super Reflexes were available to the Tanker, I would probably put Spiderman in this category as well. Wonder Woman also relies more on reflexes, since her bracelets can only make her invulnerable if she is fast enough to use them.
Armored Tanker: The Armored Tanker is similar to the Brick, but uses powered armor to make himself invulnerable. Although no one hero can have the range, strength and defensive abilities of Iron Man, the Armored Tanker is the closest to his original design. If the player who wants a powered armor hero is willing to sacrifice some range, he can end up with a very powerful character. Super Strength at least has Hurl, although Energy Melee has no ranged attack. But note the next subarchetype.
Armored Flamethrower: The Armored Flamethrower is a variation of the Armored Tanker, that uses the greater range capabilies of Fiery Melee to implement some powerful, short range attacks. Combustion and Breath of Fire can both be used as "blaster" attacks, to create a compromise between the Armored Blaster, that only has range, and the Armored Tanker, that only has defense. More importantly, the Armored Flamethrower will be more robust than the Fire Tanker, and better able to "tank" in the traditional sense. So he is an effective combination of two apparently unrelated Power Sets. This concept could be used for an armored hero with "blasters", but Energy Melee has no ranged attacks. Electrical Melee does, however, and so this is another possibility for the powered armor hero.
Barbarian: The Barbarian shares a number of qualities with the Swordsman, his Scrapper counterpart. He's more likely to be the huge, muscled barbaric type, however, perhaps armored in furs like a Norseman. One variation on the Barbarian would be a Dwarven hero, who would use the Huge character model, but be only four feet tall. The Battle Axe and War Mace, like the Broadsword, are high damage weapons, but very slow. It can help to use Brawl, particularly in the early levels, to fill in the pauses between attacks, but this can exhaust your Endurance fairly quickly. Although Willpower and Invulnerability are good choices for either leather or metal armor, or even just sheer muscle, Shield Defense is the natural match to any medieval melee weapon. Shield Defense provides deflection-based protection, causing you to avoid blows instead of absorb them, like Willpower or even Invulnerability. This makes Sheild Defense much like Super Reflexes, a set Tankers don't have access to currently. Shield does lack a healing power, but trades that for the ability to draw on your allies to increase your defense, giving you more protection on a team. You can even use your shield to protect allies. Finally, there is the "Shield Charge" power, which like Electrical Melee's Lightning Rod allows you to teleport right into the middle of a group of bad guys and send them flying.
Mystic Warrior: The Mystic Warrior wields a weapon of great elemental power. His weapon may be a flaming sword, a blade of ice, or a hammer or club with the powers of the earth. Mjolnir would be out of the question, as Electrical Melee doesn't give you a hammer, but an earth god could take the place of The Mighty Thor. In any case, this type of Tanker builds his power around the weapon-like powers Fire Sword, Ice Sword, and Stone Mallet. His defenses, however, are only tough skin and armor, which makes him more like a Brick than the elemental Tankers. Of course, he may also draw upon the other powers from his Melee set for ranged powers, depending on how far he wants to take his weapon's power. A Fire Sword, for instance, could fire blasts of flame as Combustion. The Shield Defense Primary adds another factor to the Mystic Warrior concept. In addition to his sword being on fire, his shield can be, as well. Or, he forms a sword and shield from the elemental forces at his command.
Mystic Barbarian: Combine the Mystic Warrior and the Barbarian and you have the Mystic Barbarian. This is actually the opposite concept from the Mystic Warrior, who uses elemental forces for his offense, but a normal shield or armor for his defense. The Mystic Barbarian draws upon the powers of ice, stone, or the other elements (perhaps from his icy and mountainous homeland) to grant him defense, while he wields an otherwise normal weapon. Of course his weapon could be the source of his power, it just is not made of his power. This is probably the best combo to create Thor, although don't blame me if you do and get generic'ed. :) Any god or mythological hero could be an inspiration for this concept, though, drawing on ancient powers of the elements. Even Dual Blades could be used for a more modern, martial arts inspired take on the idea. As the various defense sets suggested here are covered separately, I won't go into detail on them again. |
