It has a higher healthpool than rage in 1v1, more than double of what rage can have, meaning rage is a turtle tank in boss fights, not that active, atomic can be active in them, not only can but has to be. It's the same as ice, blocking offers only slight benefits. One on one combat is atomic's sweet spot since you can use the combo mechanics to the fullest.
It's possible to do better, just have to know what to use where, combos work well against trash mobs whilst the geiger (gaigar?) AM works better in raids since it's easier. Plenty of atomics have beatten me (rage) several times in alerts and duos, in raids as you know rage isn't very effetive, takes a lot of skills to do well with the melee and range damage, well midrange and within 7m powers will do better on any day.
The tanking is the most challening and the most fun in the game, I'd argue. Fair trade. It's tough, but keep practicing.
And also read it. Most of us are saying it's doable, just has a higher skill req than other tank sets. That is what we would like to be adjusted. It isn't a necessity though. Atomic tanking is fine, just gotta be keen on your loadout and cooldowns. Would I like it to be a little forgiving? Sure. I'm just getting tired of people saying "atomic tank sucks look at the dev discussion". That's not what the discussion is about, not even close.
Not part of this league but.. Bottom line.. just like with dps all you have to do is learn to play. Everything else is just excuses of horrible players.. most of which are the ones testing powers on the test server. P.S Well not solo tank.. but it is elite.
why is fire worse in 1on1 ? fire is shining in 1on1 lol ... fire sucks most when u have to move to avoid fatal corruption for example compared to other tank powers which all earth, ice, rage and atomic can move around quite well !
Yeah, Atomic is pretty balanced with the other top powers like Earth, Ice, Gadgets, Mental, etc. But if the Atomic DPS you invited really beat 2 DPS who were 6 CR higher than him, those 2 must've been really bad. Unless they were Rage, Nature, Elec, or HL, there's no excuse for such terrible performance.
I agree that Atomic isn't the best tank, but it's silly to think that a good player can't solo tank Black Hand without a struggle. My leaguemate's been doing it since day 1 of the Episode. If you really want a video I'll see if I can record our next run.
The main problem to responses like this is that people are confusing general player skill with the actual powerset mechanics and the numbers behind the mechanics. A good tank player will do just fine with Atomic but that doesn't change the fact that Atomic as a tank powerset is subpar compared to other tanks. This thread compares the tank powersets which I suggest anyone who still believes that Atomic is amazing or doesn't need more work put into it. In a 2 tank and 2 heal setup any tank power that can't survive shouldn't even be on live. Good players can do well with less but why should they when they could obviously do even better if they had more? Why are we even balancing DPS powers if the answer is just "get good"? Some people are able to hang in their with Nature or Electric despite their obvious flaws compared to other powers so because of few exceptions should we just not bother with balancing those powers?
I doubt that is directed at me, but just in case if people read my posts as the "atomic is fine" category, I just wanted to clarify my stance. Do I want it to get some love? Yes, I truly think it is due for some. But I really hate seeing these threads of new players asking how Atomic is, and they read these exaggerated responses of "oh, tanking is just awful stay away." It isn't awful. It is such a fun, cool-looking, capable powerset. I just don't want people potentially missing out on some fun just because of someone saying the sky is falling.
Do you really believe that reading the numbers will make any difference to the average player's performance?? It might make mine or yours a little bit better by fine-tuning some aspects but to the great majority numbers are meaningless. After all the guy I was responding to was/is certain that the power sucks simply because he read it on the forums.. For all we know he might be incapable to tank more than 5 adds with any power except Rage.. The point of the video is to show that it is possible to be good with atomic, yes it needs more out of you as a player but it is a visual confirmation that the power does not suck. Perhaps it's not for everyone. Probably you haven't even tried BD elite last boss.. that's why you think 2 tanks 2 heals is an easy job.. there are things that are unforgiving in that boss fight and this Atomic tank managed to it just fine. The thread you mention is a really good thread for people that are interestead to learn more about tanking. Although reading something can only help you so much, you have to actually be able to do it and a forum post doesn't help on that aspect. Of course if you are given more then it's better, but where is the line? I do fine with it, so if you give me more then I will be able to solo, something that at the moment is improbable with the other 4 powers. Same thing can be said for Ice.. people say it's the best/easiest tank power and yet many fail with it.. less jack it up too... There needs to be a line. Horrible players must suffer the concequences of being really bad at it ( whatever that "it" might be ). You mean the 2 year long ( mostly failed ) power balance.. Yeah.. that shouldn't have happened in the first place. It's a prime example of the devs handing higher performance to players that are unwilling or incapable of getting it themselves. But since we did start on this path, no powers should be "unbalanced" and if the community ( mostly forums ) were in their right mind and stopped with the: "My neighboor's grass is greener than mine.. lets set it of fire!" attitute, it is more than likely that we would already be there and all powers would be somewhat balanced. To be fair Elec, Nature and HL dmg performance are kind of devs' fault..
Tanking is great The only thing I'd change is the AOE combos, which make it virtually impossible to refresh or reactivate the aura once you're surrounded by NPCs able to use counter mechanics. My Atomic alt isn't ready for current tier stuff, yet, but at varying CR's less than 100, I have soloed the first boss of Nexus, the Raven Bounty and the T6 Superman bounty in Metropolis Battlezone. Seems fine to me.
Atomic tanking is great. It's not as easy as other powers since you can't turtle but that's what I love the most about it. Last sunday I tanked UM just for the fun. Was loot locked and didn't want to spend replay badges, but it was awesome. Can't rememeber last time I played any instance I didn't need just for the fun of playing it.
They arnt but ppl call them as such. I've said it before if your good at pvp you can be a good tank. Counter wise mind you
I think for the most part the tanking for Atomic isn't as bad as many have said, i think its more of a higher learning curb compared to the other powers. I've seen league mates solo every raid as an Atomic tank two of them will make you be like ok now I want to switch to tanking, while the rest are just ok. I've seen pug's who could and couldn't tank our of a paper bag with holes in it. And that's with an tanking power, it just takes time to learn and get it down.
