Hero A Day - Draco Nyx

Nyx is the second of the Draco tankers I created.  I liked the look of Draco Rex and I really like Fire Aura as a defensive power set so I decided to theme a group of fire tanks on one account with similar names and looks to Draco Rex. One power combination I wanted to try was Fire Aura / Dark Melee and thus was born...

DRACO NYX

Fire Aura is my favorite defensive set - decent resistance to smashing and lethal defense to start, then a damage aura, a self-heal, and an endurance recovery attack are all available before 10th level, making for a well-rounded character before offensive sets are even considered. Burn at level 18 is a nice offensive type power as well. Plus, and not inconsiderable in it's importance, Fire Aura just looks good.

Dark Melee is a strong offensive set that in addition to decent attacks adds another self heal at level 16 in Siphon Life.  Dark attacks also carry a -tohit component that strengthens Fire Aura's resistance by making more attacks miss.

Synergies - If an effort is made to improve defense through IO's and pool powers, then the strong resistance of Fire combined with the defensive boost of Dark and bolstered by 2 self-healing powers and an endurance boost makes for a very resilient tank and one that has good offensive capabilities as well.

For pool, powers I'm going with Flight (theme, prob only Air Superiority and Fly), Fighting, and possibly either leadership (though I'm not sure he needs more toggles) or maybe Medicine to stay with the idea of resilience, I'm not sure yet.

Much of the look was determined by the precedent set with Draco Rex.It's mainly the Monstrous parts with the veteran reward Demonic Wings, the Organic Armor shoulders, and the Valkyrie chest plate and belt. I thought about going with black for a color scheme but it's been done and I wanted something more colorful and so went with a more purple scheme.

Draco Nyx is still fairly low level but looking good so far. He runs on Virtue server whenever possible so if you see a big purple flaming lizard run by, give a shout out.

Hero A Day - Oakenshield

I decided to delete one (low-level) character from an account and move him to a different account where he fit the theme better. This left me with a tanker hole on Triumph server where I play with the family a lot. I had heard good things about Invulnerability/Dark Melee as a combo set and wanted to try it out. I was also out of ideas for the time being on stone looks or dragon looks so I decided to go in a different direction and thus was born...

Oakenshield

Invulnerability is one of my favorite defense sets, especially on a tank. It's pretty straightforward, there really aren't any tricks to it.  The offensive aspect of it comes late but it's a strong set and looks good. There's a good guide to starting it out here if you are interested in it and need some guidance.

Dark Melee is a set that I have more experience with on the scrapper side than the tank side but I am liking it so far. For Oakenshield. Combining Invuln's Dull Pain heal with Dark's Siphon Life heal. this should be a pretty durable character.

For Travel Power I'm trying out Super Speed and we'll see how that goes. Aong the pools this one may take Medicine for the thematic impact. Beyond that it's probably Leadership or Fighting.

For the look I wanted a nature spirit/walking tree theme as when creating Charcoal Man I had thought that the Omega set might work for a wood/tree look with the right coloring. I tried it out and thought it worked, so then it was just a matter of the face. Bio-organic face, organic armor on the head, green leaves for hair, big green full beard, and a glowing green alpha combat aura on the eyes completed the look. The Invulnerability powers are colored a bright green and I've given Dark Melee a bright green color to represent life energy.

I'm very happy with the look hough I admit I'm not sure what else I will do with him as far as other costumes and alternate looks. There's really no doubt about what he is and I think he fits the powers quite well.

Oakenshield runs on Triumph server, mostly solo right now but is always happy to join a team.

Hero A Day - Captain Transylvania

My first shield tanker was created to team with one of Aluminum Girl's alts, the Legendary Lorena. Lorena has a distinct vampire/goth chick theme as she is a Dark Melee/Super Reflexes scrapper with pale skin and blood red powers. She had run with various other characters but I felt the need for a specific partner for her to run with and a tanker seemed like the best choice and thus was born...

Captain Transylvania

Shield Defense is the tanker primary that has been a flavor-of-the-month for some time now, both because of the ease with which it can be softcapped and the offensive greatness of shield charge, even after it was toned down a bit. Being a Defense set it pairs well with a super reflexes scrapper in that if it can;t hurt her it probably won't hurt me but it has the downside of anything that tears through me will probably tear through her even more quickly. Certain enemies will not be fun with these two, but many will be just fine.

Dark Melee is a strong secondary with many good attacks including Siphon Life, a wonderful attack that is also a self-heal and one of the set-defining powers. Having similar attacks to my intended partner may turn out to be a weakness in some cases but having two dark attackers means that targets will have a negative to-hit modifier coming in from both of us which should stack, making our defenses even stronger.

Travel power is super speed to ensure he can keep up with Lorena as that is hers. He may end up with some Fly as well (in keeping with the theme) and probably Fighting or Leadership.

For the look I wanted pale skin with a dark uniform. Lorena's costumes tend to emphasize the blood red color so I went for more black with blood red as an accent. I wanted more subtle transitions than in many of my designs so I used the blend option. Boots and gloves were spiked as was the belt and the shoulder pads to keep with a pointy fang-ish theme. I needed a good symbol for his shield and chest so I went with the chalice with a red interior, a sort of "blood chalice" ala the vampires from Warhammer and various recent Dracula movies. It's unusual and I think it works.

Overall I am happy with the look and they do look good together. The pair run on Justice server so keep an eye open for us there.