Cuppa_fluff

Thanks Molar! Thats a great build right there.

EDIT: By any chance would you know how much this build might cost?

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I just PMd _Castle_ and he says the whole LR buff thing is buggy. It is intended that he be buffed, but it currently doesnt work that way.

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Incredible guide! I just started my Ice tank (level 16) and have found your guide very helpful. Is there any chance I could get a sample build for Ice/SS (max regen/recharge, dont bother with psi resists)?

This is just another phase of the United States where we blame things that have gone on since the begining of time (violence) on a new technology that some do not understand.

Here are some examples that came and went:
Jazz, Rock 'n Roll, Heavy Metal, movies, comic books, TV.

All of the above were condemned by parents saying something along the lines of "This has a bad influence on my child!" when really, it was the parents having the bad influence. If you (parents) deem something too mature for your 8 year old, dont let them do it. Don't let them play GTA (a rated "Mature" game no less), dont let them listen to Cannibal Corpse, so on and so forth.

And for all the politicians that say "Video games are making our youth more violent!". Look at the facts, go back to the 20s, no video games, but kids still grew up to be mobsters. Any war, we send 18 year olds out to kill people from another country, we ENCOURAGE them to.

If someone goes out and steals a car, runs over civllians, and has a rocket launcher fight with the police and blames GTA for their problems, its not GTA. That person had a warped mind.

And here is one final thought, Religious Wars have caused more death than anything else in this world. More than video games, more than heavy metal, more than rap and hip-hop, more than gang violence. Yet we don't condemn religion do we?

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heres the thing there is alot more powers that are situational. Take gale please! I hate gale 99% of the time as a scrapper or tanker I end up having to chase clear across a mission to get to mobs and sometimes it causes aggro of mobs in another group as someone tries to get to the mob. Gale has its uses like when you have the mob in an alcove and you want to use it as a soft control but most of the time gale will cause confusion and anger in teammates. I bet if you went through every powerset you would find 1 or 2 powers that a new player shouldnt take, is situation, or simply "useless" to someone based on thier needs/build. You should have made a guide showing some of the powers that are situational or overused and tips on how to use them properly so as not to anger your team.

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Great idea I think ill make a different incarnation of this guide. Hopefully it wont be flamed as much, this one did deserve it though.

I herded for nearly a year.....and i didnt take a single screenshot. bad bad me. Thanks for all you photos everyone

thanks everyone

Edited it because i realized what you guys were pointing out. Thanks for the feedback, tell me what you think of the new guide.

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To the OP:

Your power choices seem haphazard to me. For example, you called out Rain of Fire as a power not to choose, but you omitted the other, nearly identical rain powers.

Furthermore, you singled out Black Hole, but didn't mention the similar or identical Detention Field and Dimension Shift. Why not? These omissions cause me to question how comprehensive your analysis really was. It seems not to have covered "all power sets except the new ones and epics".



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A very valid question. Why did i skip out on Ice Storm, Blizzard, and Freezing rain?

Ice storm, has more damage and a slow effect that keeps the enemies in the rain longer. And if Shrek~Silver's builder is correct does far more damage and ticks than Rain of Fire. Blizzard + Build Up + Aim is an insanely powerful combo that has a massive slow effect. Freezing Rain, one word, knockdown. If their on their back, they cant hit you.

Dimension Shift, this one i actually meant to put in. Now Detention Field, that is a single target phase if i am not mistaken. Taking out a key enemy for a while (boss/AV/EB) is a great tactic.

Alright, these are my thoughts of powers that would may not be suitable for newer players. Mind you these are in a team situation, many of these are far more useful solo. These powers tend to be very situational or take a lot of skill to use effectively. Now you may ask, "Gee fluffy, why does Rain of Fire get put in but not Ice Storm?" Well my friend, some powers, though seemingly identical, have different effects. In that case its that Ice Storm has better damage and a slow effect that will keep baddies in the rain longer. I will not be covering new powersets or epic ATs, my knowledge to them is limited.


Lets break it down by AT.

Blaster
Rain of Fire-fire blast (While a very cool power, the scattering effect it gives is just not worth the minimal damage)

Taser - Devices (A disorient is nice, but getting in melee range does not balance it out)

Lightning Field - Electricity Manipulation (It drains a lot of endurance, not a lot of damage, you have to be in melee range, could take agro from the tank....)

Lightning Clap - Elec Manip (While an AoE disorient is very usefull, you have to get into melee range, you have to wait for the animation, if there are any non-stunned, you're gonna be taking some serious punishment. It also deals no damage.)

Stun - Energy Manipulation (While good for PvP, there isnt much use in the PvE world. See taser for reasons)

Blazing Aura - Fire Manipulation (A low damage, short range PBAoE aura that could steal agro from meatier ATs)

Burn - Fire Manip. (A patch of fire that scares away the enemies, requires you be in melee range for a few seconds, only mild damage, long recharge...)


Controller

Salt Crystals - Earth Control (While sleeps last a long time, teaming with this is not very affective. The instant an enemy is attacked, they break free. This power is very tricky on an AoE heavy team)

Flash Freeze - Ice Control (See salt crystals, same basic power but in melee range)

Mass Hypnosis - Mind Control (See salt crystals)

Dimension Shift - Gravity Control (An AoE phase shift for the enemy. While useful in a situation such as a new group of patrols comes running in when your not done with the first spawn, your team may get mad for making the main spawn untouchable.)

Defender

Black Hole - Dark Miasma (See Dimension Shift.)

Thunder Clap - Storm Summoning (See Lightning Clap in blaster section)

Scrapper

Confront - all scrapper sets (A taunt. Scrappers are damage dealers not aggro holders. Thats the tanks job. Useful for taking enemies of squishies, its possible to get too much agro.)

Revive - Regeneration (Your not meant to die in the first place. Not to mention this only gives 1/2 life and 1/2 endurance back. Death is a part of the game, but an attack would be better for the health of your scrapper.)

Tanker

Temperature Protection - Fire Armor (You have other powers that resist much more than this, not to mention fire/cold are very rare damage types)

Rise of the Phoenix - Fire Armor(See revive for regeneration scrappers)

Breath of Fire - Fire Melee (A VERY narrow cone, only moderate damage. While multiple enemies are good, this cone is as narrow as it gets. If you dont see the flame animation hit an enemy, he wont take damage. It also uses a lot of endurance.)

Hurl Boulder - Stone Melee (A ranged attack with a long animation, mid damage, short range. A tank is not a ranged machine, its not meant to be. While cool for "WOW! Now thats super-hero-ish" there isnt much other use. As for using it as a pulling method, use taunt.)

Hurl - Super Strength (See hurl boulder)






Those are my opinions. If you have any questions, comments, ideas, arguements, or anything else. Feel free to post them. If they make sense to me ill edit my post.

Alright, i was wondering if anyone could supply some of these screen shots, i used to have most of them but my hard-drive broke and i lost them :/

1) Herding screenshots (from i4 and before)
2) Crystal Titan Screenshot
3) the shadow shard AVs (ones from the TFs)
4) Statesman in the Tyrant mission
5) The halloween event
6) end of beta invasion
7) rikti mothership from end of beta event
8) (because a friend believes it never existed)nipple screenshots

Great guide! I love it

I tend to come up with names that reflect the powers, such as, Burning Transfusion (fire/kin corruptor), Alien Hippie (dont like the name but its too late to delete him now, is a PB.), Sgt. Stoner (stone tank), FrozenOne (ice/ice blaster) and so on.

My 50 though i hate the name, roidal mini-me, alas it was my first character and i knew no different

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alright, im just gonna have to plain dis-agree with you on gravity being the worst controller

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I disagree with whomever said that too.

What I said was, in a sample so small that it's at least a little flakey to draw conclusions from it, it looks like gravity is the slowest leveler.

Gravity's the set I've played second most, after Mind. I dig on it.

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yeah gravity pwnz >.>

alright, im just gonna have to plain dis-agree with you on gravity being the worst controller. Gravity offers great damage for soloing, its holds are very un-laggy on teams when the AoE is used, its pet is tough as nails, one of the very few controllers who can solo hold an AV (pet has a hold). I dont disagree that some sets are better, i just think that it should be removed from the bottom spot and replaced with ice, in my opinion. i just dont think its the lowest.

hmm....i never did try that combo....maybe ill copy over to test and try it out..

nobody likes my guide

Oh, and to all you aspiring fire/stone tanks, you will learn alot about the other ATs, getting to sit back and hold agro while watching what everyone else does. Fire/stone is an amazing combo so have fun with it!

Alright, this is my first crack at a guide, i hope you all like it.

I will be reviewing and giving background information in the fiery aura power set and stone melee for tankers. I will also be giving a rating smileys are good, the more the better, frowns are bad, the more the worse. On a scale of 1-5 faces.
So lets get started shall we!


FIERY AURA
aka: I wanna be a burning ball of death!

Though it is one of the most common sets because of its look and the burn tank era, it really isnt for the first time tanker. It has weak resists, no defense, and requires power pools to be on par with other tankers. For the first timer, it will be difficult, but with a tanker who knows the ropes, this can be an incredible set.

Blazing Aura : A very basic damage aura. Every second or so it ticks dealing minor damage, making it a very effective agro tool. One problem...It misses. This power should be taken for its agro management and deserves 3 slots, 1 taunt, 1 endurance, and 1 accuracy.

Rating:

Fire Shield : Your basic but most useful armor. It gives high resists to smashing, lethal, and fire. It also gives a small resist to cold. It will be your most used armor over your carreer. This power deserves 5-6 slots depending on how you play, 3-4 resists, and 2 endurance.

Rating:

Healing Flames : A very fast, very effective heal with a small resist to toxic. Though it lacks the +HP and massive heal of the other sets, it is a great power. With the speed that it recharges you will find that you can have almost 3 heals stakced at one time, giving a large boost to toxic resist. In the time it takes Dull pain or the other tankers heals to recharge, you can heal many many times and, if used right, you can find yourself staying in the fight much longer than the other tanks. This power deserves a definite 6 slots, 3 heal, 3 recharge.

Rating:

Temperature Protection : This is a passive resist ability giving moderate resists to fire and cold. Two very rare damage types. With cold being so rare and your fire resist bein almost capped with your other powers, this is a definite skip. But if you must take it (which i highly discourage) it deserves 3 slots. all resists.

Rating:

Consume : One of the best powers in the set, Consume is a +endurance, a -endurance for the enemy, and minor damage. With 4 enemys hit you can restore your endurance fully with no slots. I reccomend 5-6 slots. 2-3 endurance modification and 3 recharge.

Rating:

Plasma Shield : Your resist to Mez, an absolutely essential power. It also gives a large resist to fire and a small resist to cold. This and fire shield will nearly cap your fire resist, a must for fighting nemesis. The mez protection is great, when its on, the only way to be stunned is...well impossible now with the agro cap, though it can be broken through in PvP. This power deserves the same slotting as fire shield.

Rating:

Burn : This power used to be awesome, now, it is awful. It makes enemies flee, does small damage, has a long recharge rate, and its only protection is to immobiliztion. I highly discourage anyone from taking this power, but if you must it deserves 4 slots. 2 recharge and 2 damage.

Rating:

Fiery Embrace : This power is very useful to one set, fiery melee. It boosts the damage of all fire attacks for 20 seconds and a smaller boost to all attacks for 10 seconds. The large recharge makes it un appealing, if you take it (I highly reccomend for fire/fire tanks) it deserves 3 slots. all recharge.

Rating: situational, for fire melee , for anyone else

Rise of the Phoenix : A very lacluster final power for a tanker, it does not give resists, endurance boosts or anything that the others give. It is a rez, that unslotted leaves you with 1/2 health and 1/2 endurance. The upside is the 20 seconds of invulnerability that can give you time to escape and heal. If this power is take it needs six slots to give full heal and endurance, 3 heal and 3 endurance modification.

Rating:

This concludes the Fiery Aura section of the Guide.


STONE MELEE
aka: I want to see the screen shake!

Stone melee is a very under-utilized set that has great potential. It has great damage that can put me on par with some scrappers. Stone Melee also enjoys a very potent disorient effect that has the ability to disorient most foes, PvE or PvP. It has one drawback, its endurance usage. For anyone who plays it, they know it SUCKS endurance. That being said, it is not for the un-experienced player, the endurance usage makes it very hard for a first timer to effectively tank. Experienced players will know how to avoid this and become extremely effective with the set. Now, for this section of the guide i will not give slotting tips because everyone has their own take on how an attack should be slotted. Now! we begin.


Stone Fists : Your basic, low endurance, minor damage, fast recharge attack. nothing fancy here, just an attack that is required. Its disorient is very small.

Rating:

Stone Mallet : A moderate damage, mallet attack with a quick recharge. From this power on, all attacks begin to cost major endurance. This power i reccomend for the knockdown, good chance to disorient and it being a staple of your attack chain.

Rating:

Heavy Mallet : A high damage, medium recharge, high endurance power. A very effective power that will soon become a staple of your attack chain, adding to its effectiveness is a large disorient chance.

Rating:

Taunt : This is taunt, an automatic agro on you power. point, click, agro 5 guys on you. A staple for agro management, dont pass it up.

Rating:

Build Up : Your damage boosting attack, it gives a high damage boost, with a long recharge. If you pass this up, dont expect to be doing great damage.

Rating:

Fault : A power that does no damage. It has a knockup effect on the enemy and a small disorient. In my opinion, a waste of a power. It does nothing but put weak enemies on their back for 2 seconds.

Rating:

Hurl Boulder : So you want ranged on a tanker? This would be your power, medium range, medium damage, medium recharge. Not the best power because of its LONG animation time. I skipped it, some swear by it, i believe that it has no place in this set.

Rating:

Tremor : Finally, the AoE. Medium damage, medium damage, and a decent recharge rate. It has high knock up chance, combined with the short recharge, nobody can touch you. A must have.

Rating: :

Seismic Smash Last, but certainly not least, the tank nuke. This power gives extreme damage, a moderate recharge and high endurance, easily one of the best powers in the set, with the ability to deal over 400 damage to a blaster in PvP and one shot most minions in PvE. If you want damage, this is your power.

Rating:


This concludes the Stone melee section of this guide.


Now, if youve read this far you must be asking "Gee, Fluffernutter, what would i choose for power pools? its such a mind-boggler."

Well ive got you covered. In this section i will give the four essential power pools to the fire/stone build and what powers to take within them. If asked for speccifically i will give you my opinion on any other power pool.



Fitness: take either swift or hurdle, health, and stamina. why? because your endurance will die without stamina. 3 slots of endurance to stamina and 3 slots to health for heal.

Speed: Hasten, essential to keep those attack chains movin and healing flames and consume comin up regularly. 3 slots for recharge. If you want a second travel take SS.

Leaping: Combat Jumping, Super Jump, and Acrobatics. With fire being the only set without a knockback resist you need acrobatics, this entire pool can be left unslotted.

Fighting: punch, Tough, Weave. As a fire tank, you have no defense, weave will help you out there, same slotting as the armors. Tough will put your Smashing/lethal resist through the roof, slot as the other armors.

Now your saying to yourself, "hmm....now what about that epic pool? i have open powers i can take"

Well in my opinion there is only one pool and one power you need from your epics. Body Mastery's Conserve power to cut down highly on your endurance usage.


So, now that you know what a fire/stone tank needs and can have, why dont you go out an make one?


Any feedback is welcome, wether it be negative, posotive, inquisitive, or just plain stupid.

i see no reason that gamma/brightness cannot be changed, what does it affect? nothing significant. So u didnt get perfect lighting in your shot, why not be able to change it.

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Skills - Not coming. Ever. They tried 9 different systems and couldn't find a fun one.

[/ QUOTE ] THUMBS DOWN!

I am so diasappointed about this, its not even funny.

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As we get older, we learn the art of letting go. Skills got shelved last summer. No more tears, E_C. No more tears.

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Nope... this is an issue with me.

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besides, wasn't it replaced with the inventions system? I thought that was what they were planning to use the univeristies for in i8...

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Yes, and that is why I have my issues. Salvage, worktables, base items, inspiration stations, and the coming invention systems are all the leftover, working parts --- whats left of skills system as a whole.

Nine times... and they couldn't put it all together as skills? Yet, what they had was enought o dish out into other things.

I'm sorry --- not good enough. A skills system they've gone over nine times and got those systems from is on the verge of coming together. They need to do it. If its not fun... then why are these systems being applied to other things... elsewhere?

Does the "fun" rule not apply to that part and what it is now applied too?

I can't let it go... and neither should Cryptic. I'm disappointed they decided to quit on skills and thought dishing out the smaller peices of the skills system to other things would be sufficient.

EC

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theres no reason to be bitter man, u ever say to your wife/GF/mom/dad/friend that your gonna do somin like, oh say, fix the TV? if u couldnt figure it out, would they hold a grudge? most likely not, theyd call the repair man and it would be fixed. no need to be hostile, it was human error, they couldn't figure it out, but in their case there is no repair man and they cant buy a new one. they either keep devoting their budget to this and possibly shortchange other things like new powersets or fixing bugs. 99 out of 100 players would prefer the powersets, bug fixes, zone revamps, new zones etc. etc. etc. it just doesn't seem to be plausible with what cryptic has that they can develop a skill system. don't hold it against them.

WOW!!!! this is great posi, thx!!!!!!!!!!!


EDIT: stupid guy above me, beat me by 3seconds!

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Castle>all other devs put together

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i doubt _Castle_ is that fat..........

did you know.....

that there were far fewer costume options a long time ago?


that you could put to seperate patterns on pants?

that rikti monkeys at lvl 50 used to give 31 prestiege?

that there was a glitch that could get you billions of prestiege?

u can go thro plus 5's like they are greens, yes this has happened, and yes it was amazing

any way u could get larger versions of those images? they are tiny