No other archetype can take as much as Tankers can. Not the Brute and certainly not the Scrapper. The tradeoff is that Tankers aren’t as gifted as other archetypes in terms of offense. A Tanker’s attacks are weaker, lack any long-range capabilities, cost more endurance, and recharge more slowly. Despite these limitations, a Tanker is very valuable to a team because of what he or she brings to the table.

The special ability that’s inherent in Tankers is called Gauntlet. Every time a Tanker attacks, he enrages a target and those around him, enticing them to attack the Tanker. It sounds like a passive Taunt—an ability that causes enemies to focus its attacks on the character using it. Taunt is also the power that a Tanker is known for, but it’s not a good idea to get it during the early levels. Why? Getting Taunt at low levels will make you dependent on having a team and makes you the focus of your enemies. If you’ve already done this, you can compensate by getting more defensive powers to help you survive.

Fiery Aura
Of all the primary Tanker powers, Fiery Aura is the most offensive set that you can get. This also means that Fiery Aura is lacking in resistance and defense, but it’s not such a bad thing because you’ll be able to do more damage than the average Tanker. The disadvantages: you’re vulnerable to knockback, psionic, cold, and immobilize effects. Plus, you can’t dodge. The benefits: aside from looking awesome, you engulf yourself in protective flames that give superior resistance to fire damage.

• Blazing Aura: When activated, this toggle power burns your enemies that attempt to enter melee range. Blazing Aura lasts as long as you have endurance, and it happens to be pretty cheap in consumption. Just be careful in using this power though, because it’s a form of taunt that aggros your enemies. Recharge time is quite fast, and inflicts minor fire damage over time. You can get Blazing Aura starting level one, but you might want to prioritize getting Fire Shield first because it’s your earliest defensive power. Blazing Aura can be slotted with the following enhancements: Accuracy, Damage, Recharge Reduction, Reduce Endurance Cost, and Taunt Duration

• Fire Shield: Like I mentioned earlier, Fire Shield is your earliest defensive power. Being the Tanker that you are, you may want to prioritize Fire Shield because it gives you good resistance to lethal, smashing, and fire damage. This power also gives minimal resistance to cold damage, and protection from disorient effects. Six-slotting Fire Shield would make you even more powerful. Also available starting level one, Fire Shield can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, and Damage Resistance.

• Healing Flames: Your fire Tanker simply MUST get Healing Flames. When activated, you can heal around 15 to 20% of your health, but this adds up when you consider other factors like enhancements. You may have to wait up to a minute when recharging, so you have to place in a few Recharge Reductions. Aside from the healing, this power also gives you protection from toxic damage for a while. Healing Flames is available starting level two, and can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Heal, Recharge Reduction, and Damage Resistance.

• Temperature Protection: Temperature Protection gives you strong resistance to fire damage, and some resistance to cold damage to boot. You may be tempted to get this power because it’s always on and costs no endurance, but you won’t really need it. Why? For one thing, Fire Tankers have a good resistance to fire damage, and cold damage isn’t very common in CoH/CoV. Temperature Protection is available starting level six, and can be slotted with the Damage Resistance enhancement.

• Consume: At first glance, Consume looks like a good power. You can inflict minimal fire damage on nearby foes, and you get to replenish your endurance. Here’s the rub: you can only use Consume properly if you’re surrounded by foes—which means this usually happens at the start of a battle. If you’ve had your share of confrontations, you’ll realize that an endurance boost is more useful at the latter part of a fight. Still, you can use Consume and get that much-needed boost before all your enemies run out. This power is available starting level eight, and can be slotted with the following enhancements: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Modification, Recharge Reduction, Reduce Endurance Cost, and Taunt Duration.

• Plasma Shield: A Tanker is all about defense, so you really should get Plasma Shield once your character reaches level 12. The Plasma Shield provides you resistance to energy, negative energy, and fire damage. More importantly, Plasma Shield also gives your protection from sleep and hold effects. The great part about this power is the very short wait when recharging. With the necessary enhancements, your Tanker will be a force to reckon with. Plasma Shield can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, and Damage Resistance.

• Burn: You can ignite the ground beneath you, freeing yourself from immobilization effects. Foes that enter the flames you leave behind will take moderate fire damage over time, but you must be near the ground to activate this power. Burn was a more formidable power in the earlier days of CoH, but was nerfed to what it is now. Make no mistake, this power still has its uses, but recharging has now been slow, and is rather costly on the endurance. You can get Burn starting level 18, and slot it with the following enhancements: Damage, Recharge Reduction, and Reduce Endurance Cost.

• Fiery Embrace: You can boost the damage of all your fire attacks for quite a while. Fiery Embrace also increases the damage of all your other non-fire based attacks for a short period. Deciding to get this power would depend on how you’re designing your character. If you want to make an offensive Tanker, then Fiery Embrace would be useful to you. If you seek to concentrate on defense, then skip this power. If you do decide on getting it, Fiery Embrace is available starting level 26. Fiery Embrace can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost and Recharge Reduction.

• Rise of the Phoenix: Ahh, the last power of the set. Rise of the Phoenix is your resurrection with a twist. The resurrection blasts nearby foes with an explosion and knocks them down and disorients them. You will revive with about half of your hit points and endurance. Rise of the Phoenix will leave you invulnerable for a brief time, and protected from experience debt for 20 seconds. Your Tanker shouldn’t be dying in the first place. Like all last powers, Rise of the Phoenix is available once your character hits level 32. This power can be slotted with the following enhancements: Heal, Endurance Modification, Recharge Reduction, Damage, and Disorient Duration.

Ice Armor
If you seek resistances and enemy debuffs, give Ice Armor a second look. Just a word of warning: this set is pretty noisy, so you may want to go easy on the volume, especially when using earphones. Ice Armor doesn’t absorb damage—it seeks to make foes miss. This is a good thing because when an attack misses, you avoid the damage and its secondary effects (if any) altogether. It’s a bad thing because when an attack hits, you get hit bad.

• Frozen Armor: While Frozen Armor is active, it provides good defense to smashing and lethal attacks. It also reduces cold and fire damage. Endurance cost for Frozen Armor is pretty cheap, as it is a toggle power. It recharges at a very fast rate, so there’s hardly any waiting time. Get Frozen Armor when you start out at level one. This power can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, Defense Buff, and Damage Resistance.

• Hoarfrost: This power increases your maximum hit points for a short time. You can also use Hoarfrost to heal yourself. On top of these benefits, it grants you resistance to toxic damage. You can’t depend on Hoarfrost too much though, thanks to its unforgiving recharge time of around six minutes. Unfortunately, you really have to get this power so slotting is the best solution to trimming that recharge time. Hoarfrost is also available starting level one, and can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, Heal, and Damage Resistance.

• Chilling Embrace: It’s surprising to see the definitive Ice Armor power available starting level two. Chilling Embrace is a must have because of many reasons: you slow the attack rate of all nearby foes, as well as their movement speed. What’s more, it’s a toggle power that stays turned on as long as you have the endurance to spare. Chilling Embrace is easy on the endurance, so you’ll be using it for a long time. Recharge time for this power is very short, and it doubles as an aggro magnet. As for using Chilling Embrace, you can just run around with your enemies running after you. Since they’re slowed, enemies won’t be able to catch up. Be wary of the ranged attacks though. Chilling Embrace can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, Slow Duration, and Taunt Duration.

• Wet Ice: When you activate Wet Ice, you become nearly immune to disorient, immobilization, hold, sleep, slow and knockback effects. This power also adds a slight increases your defense to all attacks except psionics. Wet Ice also reduces cold damage and grants you resistance to defense debuffs. This power can be stacked with the other armors in the set. Since nobody wants to get affected by said attacks, Wet Ice is really a must-have for any self-respecting ice Tanker. You can get this toggle power starting level six. Wet Ice can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, Defense Debuff, and Damage Resistance.

• Permafrost: Permafrost gives you strong resistance to cold damage, and some resistance to fire damage as well. You also gain an inherent resistance to slow effects. This power is always on and does not cost endurance, so you may want to pick it up when your ice Tanker hits level eight. Permafrost can be slotted with the Damage Resistance enhancement.

• Icicles: While activated, this power will cause sharp Icicles to stick out of your body. All foes that attempt to enter within melee range will get minor damage over time. It’s a useful toggle power that’s even more potent when combined with Chilling Embrace. When both are activated, you’ll be holding your enemies’ aggro. Icicles can be slotted with the following enhancements: Accuracy, Recharge Reduction, Reduce Endurance Cost, Damage, and Taunt Duration.

• Glacial Armor: You’ll need Glacial Armor to protect yourself from energy and negative energy attacks, making them less likely to land. You’ll also get an increase in your perception, helping you to see hidden foes. Glacial Armor reduces cold damage and helps resist defense debuffs. You can get Glacial Armor starting level 18. This power can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, Defense Buff, and Damage Resistance.

• Energy Absorption: Turning on Energy Absorption drains the endurance of all nearby foes. Each foe you drain adds to your own endurance as well as defense to all attacks except psionics. The first foe you absorb grants the highest defense bonus, and you can absorb up to 10 foes. In addition to defense, Energy Absorption also grants you resistance to slow effects. If there are no foes within range, this power will fail. This power doesn’t need an accuracy check, and is very useful overall. You can get Energy Absorption starting level 26, and slot it with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, Defense Buff, Endurance Modification, and Taunt Duration.

• Hibernate: They sure saved the best for last. Hibernate will change the way you play your ice Tanker, making him less reliant on the team healer. When you activate Hibernate, you encase yourself in a block of solid ice, making yourself invulnerable. While the power is in effect, you are frozen solid and can’t act, but who cares? While Hibernating within this block of ice, you heal damage and recover endurance at an incredible rate. You can emerge at will by deactivating the power, but you cannot Hibernate for more than 30 seconds. If you activate this power while in the air, you will fall. Get Hibernate as soon as you hit level 32 because it’s a doozy. This power can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost and Recharge Reduction.

Invulnerability
Strangely, this is the first power that comes to mind when you think of a Tanker. It’s the least flashy, but is very solid as a power set. If you pick Invulnerability, you pick a set with dodge, resistances, and overall good defense. There are four passive powers available in this set, but it’s up to you if you’ll get them all. The great part about these passive powers is that they’re always on and won’t be deactivated when you’re stunned. Just be wary of psionics and rooting powers.

• Resist Physical Damage: You’re naturally tough and inherently resistant to smashing and lethal damage. This power is always on, and costs no endurance. Resist Physical Damage can be stacked with your other damage resistance powers, so make sure you put in the necessary enhancements so that you’ll reach the 90% resistance cap. You can get this power starting level one, and can slot it with the Damage Resistance enhancement.

• Temporary Invulnerability: This one’s a toggle power, and it makes you highly resistant to smashing and lethal damage. Having no enhancements gives you around 33% of resistance to physical attacks. Slotting it with single origin enhancements will give you resistances over 70%, making you a very resilient Tanker. Remember that Temporary Invulnerability will be deactivated when you’re knocked out. This power is available starting level one, and can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, and Damage Resistance.

• Dull Pain: Activating Dull Pain will increase your maximum hit points for a short while. You can also heal yourself if you are injured. The main drawbacks to this power are the endurance cost and the extremely long recharge time. Despite these minor hitches, Dull Pain is a power that you simply must have. Dull Pain is best used before a tough battle than as an emergency heal. When can you get it? As early as level two! Dull Pain can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, and Heal.

• Resist Elements: Here’s one of the automatic powers I was talking about. As the name implies, Resist Elements make your Tanker resilient to elemental damage, particularly the fire, cold, and toxic sort. Like all automatic powers go, Resist Elements is always on, costs no endurance, and can never be negated—even if your Tanker is knocked silly. You can stack Resist Elements with other powers. Resist Elements can be slotted with the Damage Resistance enhancement.

• Unyielding: When you toggle on this power, you become Unyielding—in other words, resistant to all damage but psionics, as well as knockback, sleep, hold, immobilize, Disorient effects. However, your defiant stature means you are more likely to be hit. Putting six slots in Unyielding and placing even-leveled single origin enhancements in them will give you around 44% resistance to all damage (except psionics). Combining this power with Temporary Invulnerability will make you even more dangerous. You simply must have Unyielding once your character hits level eight. This power can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, and Damage Resistance.

• Resist Energies: More automatic powers your way. Resist Energies makes you naturally resilient to energy and negative energy damage. Like other automatic powers, Resist Energies is always on and doesn’t cost any endurance. Six-slotting this power with even-leveled single origin enhancements will give you up to 44% resistance to energy and negative energy! Your Tanker can get this power at level 12. Resist Energies can be slotted with the Damage Resistance enhancement.

• Invincibility: While this toggle power is active, great things happen: For each foe in melee range, you receive a bonus to defense against all melee attacks, some defense to ranged attacks, and a bonus to your accuracy. This power is most effective while fighting multiple opponents. Invincibility is ineffective if you are battling foes at a range, but would still be great if you’re with a team because you get a lot of aggro (Invincibility has a bonus Taunt)—leaving your teammates free to attack your enemies with impunity. Invincibility is what a Tanker with the Invulnerability set lives for, so you should get it once reaching level 18. Invincibility has one limitation: if you get knocked out, it gets turned off. This power can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, Defense Buff, To Hit Buff, and Taunt Duration.

• Tough Hide: Here’s the last automatic power, and it’s a must-have at level 26. Tough Hide makes you much tougher to hit. The best part about this power is always on and costs no endurance. Unlike Invulnerability, Tough Hide won’t get turned off if you get stunned by attacks your Tanker is vulnerable to. Speaking of weaknesses, Tough Hide offers no protection to psionic attacks. This power does not increase your accuracy like Invincibility, but has its own upside. Combine both powers and six-slot them both for best results. Tough Hide can be slotted with the Defense Buff enhancement.

• Unstoppable: Last powers are usually fantastic, and usually have a big drawback. The same principle applies with Unstoppable. Just look at the upside: activating this power makes you extremely resistant to most damage, but also to disorient, immobilization, hold, and sleep effects. Endurance recovery is also increased. Unstoppable costs little endurance to activate (for a last power). Here’s the limitation: when Unstoppable wears off, you are left exhausted and drained of almost all health and endurance. Use this power only in dire emergencies, or if you have at least one Catch a Breath inspiration and your Dull Pain is ready for use. Once you regain enough endurance for Dull Pain, activate your heal immediately. Or, just have a heal inspiration with you. Unstoppable is available at level 32, and can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, Damage Resistance, and Endurance Modification.

Stone Armor
Strangely, there are only four sets in a Tanker’s primaries, and Stone Armor is the last one. The powers in this set will change the way you look, but it’s all cool-looking. Stone Armor is just bristling with toggle powers, and the whole set offers very strong on defense. You’ll be a bit lacking on offense though, and your movement will be very slow. Because of your slow movement, consider pool powers like Teleportation to make up for this.

You might have a better time as a Tanker in a team instead of a solo career if you choose Stone Armor as your primary set. Why is that? Your attacks will be weaker and lack any long-range capabilities, making your battles longer if you go solo. If your battles are longer, leveling up will be longer as well. However, as part of a team, your Stone Tanker will have the potential to stand out because of your outstanding defense. Of course, your team’s success would depend on many other factors, but that’s another story.

• Rock Armor: Activating Rock Armor makes you highly resistant to smashing and lethal attacks. They are less likely to land and affect you. You must have Hurl Boulder or Fissure before selecting this power. You can’t say no to Rock Armor because it’s available starting level one. Unfortunately, you can’t activate Rock Armor and Granite Armor (the last power of this set) at the same time. Rock Armor can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, and Defense Buff.

• Stone Skin: Stone Skin is the only automatic power in the set. This power makes your Tanker naturally resistant to smashing and lethal damage, which pretty much sums up most of the melee attacks you’ll encounter. Because it’s an automatic power, Stone Skin is always on and costs no endurance. Six-slot Stone Skin to give you even better resistance. Like Rock Armor, you can get Stone Skin at level one. This power can be slotted with the Damage Resistance enhancement.

• Earth’s Embrace: This power functions like Dull Pain or Healing Flames. In other words, it’s an iteration of a Tanker’s healing ability. Activating this power increases your maximum hit points as well, and grants you resistance to toxic damage. Earth’s Embrace is a must have for any earth Tanker, and you can get it starting level two. This power can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Heal, Recharge Reduction, and Damage Resistance.

• Mud Pots: While Mud Pots is active, all foes in melee range will become snared and entrapped in mud, immobilizing some and slowing others. The boiling heat from Mud Pots also inflicts minor damage over time to the snared foes. Mud Pots is quite the endurance hog, so be careful using this toggle power. While not very spectacular in damage, Mud Pots will get you the aggro that you want. Some earth Tanks still get it, but only after they get Stamina. Mud Pots is available starting level six, and can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, Damage, Slow Duration, and Taunt Duration.

• Rooted: While this power is active, you become resistant to knockback, sleep, hold, disorient and endurance drain effects, and increase your hit point regeneration rate. You must remain near the ground, but you will move extremely slowly and cannot activate fly, sprint, super speed, or jump powers while Rooted is active. Rooted also grants you resistance to Defense Debuffs. This power is available starting level eight, and can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, and Heal.

• Brimstone Armor: Brimstone Armor makes you highly resistant to fire and cold damage. The major limitation of this power is that you can’t activate it at the same time as Granite Armor. Brimstone Armor is useful when you run into enemies that use fire and cold attacks, but the percentage isn’t overwhelming. In the end, getting this power (available starting level 12) is your choice. Brimstone Armor can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, and Damage Resistance.

• Crystal Armor: This toggle power makes energy and negative energy attacks less likely to hit. Crystal Armor also grants you resistance to Defense Debuffs. Like the other armors of this set, you can’t activate Crystal Armor and Granite Armor at the same time. Still, Crystal Armor is more useful than the Brimstone Armor because when combined with Minerals, the enemies you’ll encounter in the higher levels (particularly the Rikti and Carnival of Shadows) will be more manageable. Crystal Armor is available starting level 18, and can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, Defense Buff, and Damage Resistance.

• Minerals: Having this toggle power gives your character the advantage over the garden-variety Tanker, or almost any other archetype for that matter. You see, Minerals can disperse thought patterns and make psionic attacks less likely to hit. That’s not all, as this power also increases your perception to see hidden foes, and grants resistance to confusion. Its major limitation? Minerals cannot be active at the same time as Granite Armor. Despite this, Minerals is a must-have once your earth Tanker reaches level 26. Minerals can be slotted with the following enhancements: Reduce Endurance Cost, Recharge Reduction, and Defense Buff.

• Granite Armor: By this time, you should be wondering why many of the armors in this set doesn’t work with Granite Armor. After you find out what this power does, you won’t have any hesitation to get Granite Armor and use it whenever you can, at least until you run into psionic enemies. When you activate this power, you become almost completely invulnerable and resistant to most effects. It gives you a 50% base resistance and 20% base defense against all attacks except psionic.
  
  However, the drawback is quite significant: You can’t fly, your attack and movement speed are slowed and you do less damage. Granite Armor can’t be active at the same time as fly powers, sprint, super speed, jump powers, and the other armors in this set. But who cares?
  
  Slotting this power with only four single origin enhancements will make you hit the 90% resistances cap already. Granite Armor also grants you high resistance to Defense Debuffs. To move around more easily, Teleportation is your best option. You can easily keep the aggro on you through Taunt. Enjoy.

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