Thoughts on my Dark Armor + Dark Melee Tanker, Paradoxic

So I've been playing all sorts of different toons in the City of Heroes (as well as a Fire/Dark Cor in the City of Villains) with all different archetypes lately. I am soloing most of the time with a bunch of lowbies. It happens mostly while I watch the news, so I just take my time while slogging through the boring lowbie stuff.

But after tonight, I guess Paradoxic will be my next real Tanker to focus on leveling up.

I got her from level 24 to 28 in four hours. The real surprise is that I actually gave her some playing time, and in doing so, I'm finding that the Dark Armor and Dark Melee set is maturing quite nicely and is starting to be fun to play.

Oh, and having several people complement me on Paradoxic's costume is a nice addition too.

A Dark Armor Tanker plays similarly to a Fiery Aura Tanker where the initial resistance isn't really great so it makes the alpha strike for jumping into mobs a bit rough. There isn't the HP boost + Heal that Invulnerability, Stone, and even Ice Tankers have, but just a plain old heal with no HP boost. There isn't much knockback protection either, so that makes getting acrobatics (or a unique KB prot IO) a must.

When I tank in COH, I like to jump right smack dab in the middle of the mob, taunt, pop a pbaoe attack to get their attention (am thinking of 'whirling axe' on my Inv/BA), and taunt again to get a good hold on the argo management. DM attacks do not really give me that option, at least not at this level. The heal in DA sort of works, but the recharge time is too long and the damage is too low to adequately make use of the Tanker's gauntlet in this case.

I believe I will be getting the damage aura in the DA set to balance this out, something I've never really had to do with any of my tankers. But again, it does make things interesting because it is a change in playstyle to accommodate for the lack of pbaoe attacks for argo management.

As for her build, right now, I am kind of playing it by ear. I'll post up something for her eventually.

The Faultline Story Arc

If you haven't run it already, do check out the Faultline story arc. The story is pretty good and the missions were fun. Its also nice to check out the scenery.

Below is a pictorial entry of my adventures in Faultline running as my Dark/Dark Tanker, Paradoxic. Enjoy!

Yes, the good doctor is much taller than me.

Looking for that boss to pwn.

Villainous propaganda!

Is he that wimpy, or am I just that awesome?!

A nice shot of the hideout interior.
The submarines are not shown, I already destroyed them =)

"Listen Buddy.. "

Getting ready to save the world -again!

Paradoxic Hits Security Level 18

Sunday was a much slower day in terms of leveling and overall gaming activity. I just ran a bunch of missions solo at my leisure and was able to get Paradoxic to level 18. It's just one of those days, I think.

Tonight's run was mostly uneventful, not that I'm complaining mind you. Of interest is the Montague Castanella story arc. In terms of the writing, its a good story, one I actually enjoyed going through.

The best (most novel) part was being able to cure the Lost with the use of a wand that is created by collecting items from the missions. I wish they had more missions like that.

Inroductions: Paradoxic

Now that my Stone Armor Tanker, Annzilla has leveled up, it's time to start a new Tanker.

Now introducing, my Dark Armor & Dark Melee Tanker, Paradoxic!

She was originally a Dark Armor & Energy Melee Tanker, but I decided to re-roll her today to a Dark Melee because I never really had a Dark Melee character before, so why not!? Besides, it just really seems to go with the whole dark and mystical look. She is of magic origin after all.

I don't have a full background story for her, but the gist is that she is some person transformed by some evil magical object that enables her to control some dark plane. She is constantly battling the inner demons that seek to control her by bending it to her will for the good of mankind. That's how she remains sane, I suppose.

I'll elaborate on the story once I work out the details.

Lowbies starting in the trenches. The good old stinky sewers!

As for game play, so far, I'm really enjoying what Dark Armor has to offer.. or rather, I find that it goes very nicely with the Dark Melee set. It is somewhat of a challenge for me to keep the argo as there is really no defensive taunt aura.

But then again, I am a lowbie, not even to the Single Origin enhancement level yet so I may be speaking too soon on this matter. From my understanding however, since its pretty fun to play her now, I expect it be even better once I do get to SO level.

I am excited to keep playing her, so stay tuned for more on Paradoxic's adventures in the City of Heroes!

P.S. I got from level 1-16 in one day (no PLing). Not bad, eh?