City of Heroes Character Guide - the Tanker

City of Heroes is MMORPG designed by Ncsoft. Players can either create original super heroes or model their favorite DC or Marvel characters like Superman, the Hulk, the Thing or Zephaniah Comic's Glicion. The Tanker, the Big Man, is a must for even the smallest super team. Like his military namesake, the Tanker, can take a lot of damage and keep on smashing. Tankers have more hit points than any other character class.

Beside being damage sponges, Tankers have the best defenses in the game. Tankers choose from the following primary power sets: Invulnerability, Willpower, Dark, Ice and Stone Armor and Fiery Aura. Carefully choose your defensive power. Each Tanker has attacks they can laugh off and attacks that are their Achilles heel. For example Invulnerability Tankers have the best defense against Lethal and Smashing Attacks and no defense against Psionics. On the other hand, Stone Armor Tankers have a good all around defense but their stone armor greatly reduces their movement. Some powers, Fiery Aura and Dark Armor, have some offensive bite to them. These Tankers can create a damaging aura that hurts nearby foes. This constant attack can bring a Tanker victory in a close match up.

Tankers secondary power set is melee. They can choose from Dark, Fiery, Ice, Energy and Stone Melee, Dual Blades, Super Strength, Battle Axe or War Mace. Unlike the Scrapper, Tanker melee attacks do not do double damage. Tankers will rarely defeat foes in 3 hits or less. They outlast their foes. Take every defensive power at your disposal. Select the melee power options that you like the best. City of Heroes characters can go on Respec missions after level 25. Tankers can rechoose their powers after completing the mission. By this level, you will know which melee powers you love and which you can do without. Tankers, except for those with Willpower as their primary defense, need to cut at least three melee powers from your secondary set.