Commenting on the original topic, I just put together a tank of a troll, who is also hideously nasty in melee combat. She's good at soaking damage, because that's what she's there for as a team role: to grab opposition's attention so the squishier mages, hacker, combat rigger, and face have a chance to not be blown away in combat. While being powerful in combat is rewarding, the goal is to enable the other players to strut their stuff.
On the other hand, I couldn't bring myself to completely max out this character's damage resist pool at chargen: I wanted her to have average attributes mentally, plus minimal competency in the Basic Shadowrunning Skills. Athletics, Influence, Stealth, Perception. If a character doesn't have a little bit of each of those skillsets, how can they survive the shadows?
