Introduction
This aims to be a comprehensive, (and totally awesome), guide to both the Stone Armor primary and the Ice Melee secondary for tankers. I played this rare and unforgiving combo to 50 ...
and then kept playing it. Five free respecs later I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't. A lot of what I'm about to offer goes against conventional wisdom, (Most notably my rant about how everybody but me plays Granite Armor incorrectly). I'd like to
think I know what I'm talking about, but I'm open to criticism.
Now, about this guide: Don't just think of it as a guide to Stone/Ice tankers. I'll be the first to say that a guide to Stone/Ice tankers would be one of the most useless guides ever written because
nobody plays the combo except for me. Okay, that's not true. In my 20 months of playing I do admit that I've seen
one other Stone/Ice tanker
and I think I've read
one post on these boards to the effect of "I just got my Stone/Ice tanker to 50 and ..." The point is, Stone/Ice is one of the rarest combos in the game and I don't expect most people who read this guide to be playing that combo, but rather I expect that you are playing either Stone Armor or Ice Melee and you want some advice. If you
are playing both, well, even better for you because I'll still be taking to time to point out synergies and redundancies between the two.
The Basics
We'll start with quick review of each set.
Stone Armor: In short, Stone Armor is
totally awesome. In fact, it's
so awesome that they had to give some of the powers some serious drawbacks just to balance it out. I'm thinking here of Mud Pots, (Monstrous endurance cost, poor damage), Rooted, (Horrible movement speed), and Granite Armor, (Neuters your offense beyond hope). The only "meh" power is Brimstone Armor and it's still plenty good at what it does. The set is rather inoffensive but
very good at keeping you alive, even long before you get Granite Armor. The thing to remember is that the set is high on defense and low on resistance, though the lack of resistance can be made up with regeneration, (More on that later). Because this set usually keeps you moving slowly, you'll want to take Teleport as your travel power to allow for more efficient movement during combat.
Ice Melee: Ice Melee is the least offensive set for the tanker. You must never forget this. Dealing damage is always a part of the tanker's role in a team, but Ice Melee was designed more for control. If you take Ice Melee and try to play your tank like a scrapper, you will be very frustrated. If you look at Ice Melee as a tool for defending your team, you will have fun. If you want to solo, avoid Ice Melee. If you like playing your tanker like it's a support role, Ice Melee is totally awesome. The real gems in this set are Ice Patch and Freezing Touch. Something worth noting here is that Ice Melee can combo well with Fire Armor. Not only can Ice Patch and Freezing Touch mitigate damage and make up for the defensive holes in Fire Armor, but Ice Patch can also allow Burn to deal its full damage like it did in the old days, which can make up for Ice Melee's offensive gaps.
As for what Stone and Ice do together I can sum it up like this: Stone/Ice plays like an old school tanker. If you want to grab all the aggro and prevent your team from taking any damage, this combo can still do it. After I6 I returned to my tanker after a two month break and joined an AV team and started herding mobs together, (Only two at a time with the new rules of course), and was met with, "Wow I've never seen a tanker do it's job before," which was a bit confusing to me because when I last saw Peregrine Island, tankers were doing their job too well.
These are dark times for tankers. With the glory of massive herding a distant memory, many have given up on learning how to play the archetype effectively and instead try to play their tanks as if they were Brutes without rage bars. "I've got the most hit points so I guess I'll dive in first." A pox on this attitude. You can still hold the aggro. You just have to believe. And Stone/Ice can help.
The Powers
Here we are at the meat of the guide. I will review each power and discuss how it might react with your opposing primary/secondary.
Note: When I provide numbers, they are the base numbers for the power. If I provide a second number and present it as "enhanced" that is the number you get when the attribute is enhanced by three even-level SOs. I'm not here to do super fancy math, I just want to offer a basic idea of what the power does.
STONE ARMOR
1) Rock Armor (Level 1) - Self Toggle
Defense (Smashing, Lethal): 16% base, ~25% enhanced.
Endurance per Second, (EPS): 0.24
Suggested: By Level 4.
Slotting: 3 Defense Buff, 0-2 Endurance Reduction to taste.
Your bread-and-butter defense toggle. Even with the global defense nerf, the Stone Armor toggles are still excellent. Something to remember with this one is that a lot of attacks that are traditionally viewed as being energy or fire or ice also have a smashing or lethal component and are therefore filtered through this defense as if they were just plain ol' smashing or lethal, (Whereas smashing and lethal resistance toggles are not so versatile), so this toggle is capable of a lot more than some people might assume. There aren't many scenarios where you aren't going to want this toggle on. You absolutely should not leave home with out it.
2) Stone Skin (Level 1) - Auto
Resistance (Smashing, Lethal): 12.5% base, 19.5% enhanced.
Suggested: By Level 4 or not at all.
Slotting: 3 Resistance Buff
Stone Armor isn't big on resistances but this is the best auto resistance power in the game. Getting near 20% resistance on a power that is always on and never uses endurance is as good as it gets. (I'm not listening to arguments about Permafrost and Temperature Protection). This, combined with Rock Armor, will take you a long way, especially in the early levels, but it doesn't stop being useful in the end game. You'll notice that a lot of AVs still hit hardest with smashing or lethal. Combine this with Tough and things get even better.
This power
is skippable if you're having trouble fitting everything you want on your tank, as your defenses can take you a long way on their own, and one could argue that it becomes obsolete once you get Granite Armor, but on most normal builds I wouldn't pass it up.
3) Earth's Embrace (Level 2) - Self Click
Self Heal and HP Max Boost: 40% base, ~78% enhanced.
Recharge: 360 seconds base, ~184 seconds enhanced.
Random Incidental Toxic Resistance: 20%
Suggested: Between Level 10 and 24.
Slotting: 3 Health, 3 Recharge
Two words on this power:
Totally awesome. The numbers are roughly identical to Dull Pain and Hoarfrost and those powers are totally awesome too. Once this gets slotted up it will more or less take you from red health to almost full, (Slot the health first). Use this power reactively and it will serve you well.
Also remember the value of raising your hit point total: it will increase the amount of hit points you regenerate over time. Whenever you get a tick of hit points back, you are getting 5% of your health back. If your maximum hit points are increased, then that 5% converts into a higher number. (If you are wondering, improving your regeneration will simply decrease the amount of time in between each tick, not make each tick any bigger).
The need for this power arises most often when you take a big mob's alpha strike in the face, or when fighting an AV. It should be intended to erase sudden-but-infrequent bursts of damage, not sustain you indefinitely. This will not save you from mobs that are beating you senseless. All that will happen is your hit points will go up ... then right back down again. The activation time is not horrendous, but it is long enough that you need to make sure you activate it with a little breathing room on your health bar.
You might consider removing some of the recharge on this power once you get Granite Armor just because Granite Armor can bail you out of any situation that this power can, but I like having a button that saves my hide and keeps me combat effective.
4) Mud Pots (Level 6) - PBAoE Toggle
Damage: Who cares?
EPS: 0.98 (!!!)
Slow, Immobilization, General Taunting-ness: Thumbs Up!
Suggested: Between Level 20 and 30 or not at all.
Slotting: 2-3 Endurance Reduction, 0-3 Taunt and/or slow to taste.
Here's the deal. This power is good, but it has some baggage. First of all, forget this thing even deals damage. The only value that damage has is to taunt the mobs in front of you, which is plenty good, but not worth devoting expensive damage SOs towards. If you want to boost that effect, slot in some taunt duration. Second, it eats up endurance really quick, so it's not too useful before you get Stamina. Furthermore, if you are also playing Ice Melee, by the time you get Stamina you will also have access to Ice Patch, which has a better effect over a larger area. A Stone/Ice really doesn't need Mud Pots, but if you are using another secondary then this power can be very useful for tanking as it can grab a lot of aggro, which, last I checked, was part of your job description.
All that said, what really makes this power neat is the slow and immobilization effects, which can be nice in PvP, (Also it makes a stalker's job harder), and can help keep runners at bay in PvE, so I think this power deserves consideration in any build. Just know what it is good for and what it is not and if it fits your play style, go for it.
5) Rooted (Level 8) - Self Toggle
Protection from Sleep, Hold, Disorient, Immobilization, Endurance Drain: OMG!
EPS: 0.19
Regeneration: 100% base, 194% enhanced.
Big Feet: Slow Walking
Suggested: By level 24.
Slotting: 3 Health, 0-2 Endurance Reduction to taste.
On the surface this is your standard anti-mez toggle, which no tanker should go without for very long. What a lot of people miss with this one is that it also includes a very good regeneration boost
and resistance to endurance drain, (can you say "totally awesome?"). This is why it gives you the big feet and makes you walk really slow: they call it game balance in some circles. (And hey, I've been playing long enough to remember when Rooted immobilized you completely, so things have gotten better). The trick with rooted is making sure it doesn't ruin your effectiveness as a tanker. Two things that help a lot are Swift and Teleport. With Swift you are still moving slow, but noticeably less slow. People will not call you crazy if you three-slot swift either, but I wouldn't call it necessary. Swift makes micromanaging large battles a lot easier, and it's not like you weren't going to invest in the fitness pool anyway. Just make sure you break convention and choose Swift over Hurdle. Teleport should be your travel power of choice if you are a Stone Tanker and it's because of Rooted. With Teleport you can enter every fight quickly and without risk of getting mezzed, and you can hop over a few feet in a pinch if the battle is going somewhere else.
Now what I want to reiterate with this power is that it has an excellent regeneration boost. With this and Health, your regeneration is second only to Regen scrappers, which is especially nice when you consider the advantage having a higher hit point scale has. This regeneration package can make up for what this set lacks in resistances.
6) Brimstone Armor (Level 12) - Self Toggle
Resistance (Fire, Cold): 25% base, 39% enhanced.
EPS: 0.24
Suggested: Don't bother.
This power is good at what it does, but what it does isn't that important. In PvE, fire and cold attacks just aren't that common. In PvP they are much more prevalent, but as I already said, most standard fire and ice blasts are going to be deflected by Rock Armor anyway. As a side note, I'm not sure why all the toggles in this set boost your defense except for this one. Kinda weird. Anyway, if you've already invested in this power on your tanker, try this: Respec out of it, but
don't slot for any endurance reduction on your other toggles; at the end of the day you are consuming the same amount of endurance, and if you were fine then, you should be fine now.
7) Crystal Armor (Level 18) - Self Toggle
Defense (Energy, Negative Energy): 16% base, ~25% enhanced.
EPS: 0.24
Suggested: By Level 24 or not at all.
Slotting: 3 Defense Buff, 0-2 Endurance Reduction to taste.
Time was this power was more than totally awesome, it was
completely ridiculous. More situational than Rock Armor, yes, but you noticed a huge difference when you started fighting Ink Men and Crey Vigilants and Rikti and Freakshow and Circle of Thorns and ... You get the idea. ED and the defense nerf have dramatically reduced this power's effectiveness. There is some debate, but I say
it's still good. But you might not want it all the same. I say you need to choose between this and Tough. Go with Crystal Armor and you are more versatile. Go with Tough and you are more survivable
usually. If you do take it, remember that you don't need it right away, (Build to Stamina first), but try to have it for most of your 20s if you are going to have it at all.
8) Minerals (Level 26) - Self Toggle
Defense (Psionic): 16% base, ~25% enhanced.
EPS: 0.24
Suggested: By Level 38.
Slotting: 3 Defense Buff, 0-2 Endurance Reduction to taste.
Okay, in all honesty, this power is skippable, if only because it is situational. But here's the deal: when I first started playing this game I knew I wanted to play a tanker. I read some cursory things about each defense set and learned that Stone Tankers were the only ones with protection from psionics. I wasn't quite sure exactly what that meant, but I knew it was special. I chose Stone Armor because I wanted to have protection from psionics when nobody else would. I wanted to be special. I am special. And you can be special too. All you have to do is
take this power.
Anyway, it is nice being one of the rare players who doesn't have to quake at the thought of psionic damage. It can still mess you up something fierce, but not any more so than other types of damage. Just remember that Granite Armor does
not protect you from psionic damage, so if you are on the Mother Mayhem mission or up against that wacky Clockwork King or in the middle of a mob of Whisps, (You guys have at least
heard of the Shadow Shard, right?), just remember that this toggle will help you more.
9) Granite Armor (Level 32) - Self Toggle
Defense (All but Psionic and Toxic): 20% base, ~31% enhanced
Resistance (All but Psionic): 50% base, 78% enhanced
EPS: 0.48
Neuters: Movement, Damage (-30%), Accuracy, (-30%), Recharge Rate, (-70%)
Don't Forget: It also offers mez-protection.
Suggested: Level 32!!
Slotting: 3 Resistance Buff
The rumors are true: this power is totally awesome. It is also frequently misused and widely misunderstood.
I'm only going to say this once. Scratch that. I'll say it twice, but I'm only going to say it once
in all caps.
DO
NOT KEEP THIS POWER TOGGLED ON ALL THE TIME.
Seriously people. Do you leave your lights on all day just because the switch is there? Do you turn on your blender and walk away just because you can? No. You turn these things on
when the situation demands it and you should be using Granite Armor the same way.
If it never occurred to you that Granite Armor was
situational then I suggest you go look at the Tier 9 powers in every other defense set in the game. You will find:
1 Granite Armor (Stone)
1 Hibernate (Ice)
2 Self-Rez (Fire, Dark)
5 "EEP!" (Invulnerability, Super Reflexes, Energy, Ninjitsu, Regeneration)
Now set Granite Armor and the two Rezzes aside for the moment. When do you use those other 6 powers?
When you are about to die. When do you use the Rezzes?
Right after you die. When do you use Granite Armor? Any ol' time you want?
Wrong.
If you can't wrap your brain around this just pretend Granite Armor is Unstoppable or Overload or something and use it that way. Seriously, you'll be a much better tanker. Yes, it's important for a tanker not to die. It's also important for a tanker to, y'know,
tank.
Granite Armor offers ridiculous, life-saving amounts of protection in the vein of Unstoppable and Elude, but it offers it in the form of a toggle, and that is totally awesome. But where Unstoppable is balanced with a long recharge time and a drain in endurance when it wears off, Granite Armor is instead balanced with a huge nerf to your damage, accuracy and, worst of all, your recharge time. Not even Hasten could pull you out of the recharge hole created by Granite Armor, (Some days I want to suggest that you treat this power like it was Hibernate, but that's being too cynical).
Here's the thing. When your recharge gets hit that hard what happens to your attack cycle? I ask all those people who like to leave Granite Armor on: Are you punchvoking? Throwing taunts? Throwing holds? Contributing a reasonable amount damage? Or are you just standing there, like the turd-tank you are, staring at a tray full of little dark circles? Seriously, do you enjoy this? Does this count as gameplay to you? Did you choose this tactic because it would enable you to play your character by snail-mail?
I'm saying it again, this time no caps.
Do
not keep this power toggled on all the time.
Rooted, Rock Armor, Crystal Armor and Minerals when you need them will keep you green most of the time. And when your defense does fail, Granite Armor doesn't make you any less indestructible when your hit points are in the orange than it does when you are in the green. (And if you keep Rooted on, you'll find that your hit points come back up pretty quick).
Ranting aside, when you
do use this power, make sure you are good and ready to come out of it when you turn it off. It does have a 12-second recharge time, which can be enough to kill you if you're really in over your head. Also, if you know the mob up ahead is particularly nasty, go ahead and toggle on ahead of time. I mean, it
is a toggle after all.
As for the slotting, the real charm of this power is the resistance, not the defense. And when Granite is on your other toggles are not, so forget the endurance reduction. You aren't using that endurance very fast anyway, Mr. -70% recharge.
ICE MELEE
1) Frozen Fists (Level 1) - Single Target
Base Brawl: 2.3
Endurance: 4.4
Recharge: 3 seconds
Suggested: You should probably take it at level 1.
Slotting: 1-5 various stuff to taste
Seems like it's pretty standard fare to talk smack about your tier 1 secondary. Y'know, the one that you have to take. I'll admit that perhaps being able to skip this one for something else might be useful, but that doesn't mean you necessarily need to relegate this to the ol' "it sucks so keep it one-slotted" pile. Really, it's damage isn't much below Air Superiority - which is more or less the baseline for a solid attack - it recharges quickly, and lets not forget that lovely secondary effect that attracted you to Ice in the first place. I get perplexed by people who think that just because it's your weakest attack it doesn't deserve slotting. If it's the attack you throw most often, it deserves the same slotting you give everything else. Why
not give the ~100% damage boost to the attack you throw most often? The catch here is that you
might not be throwing it that often. Just because you can throw it often doesn't mean it slides seamlessly into your attack chain. But then again, you might. Your primary, your strategy, and your playstyle can affect how useful this attack is to you. You might just want it as a punchvoking back-up for when you are trapped in your Granite cocoon. Or you might be throwing it every three seconds.
2) Ice Sword (Level 2) - Single Target
Base Brawl: 3.7
Endurance: 6.9
Recharge: 6 seconds
Suggested: Level 2
Slotting: 2 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 0-1 something else to taste.
This isn't the greatest attack ever, but it's slim pickings for Ice Melee and this should be your old standard. Take it at level 2 so that you have something that remotely resembles and attack chain at those early levels. Slot it out like a real honest-to-goodness attack. Show it off at parties. The Ice Sword is your badge of honor. It's your way of letting those other players know you are taking the road less traveled.
3) Frost (Level 4) - "Cone" Attack
Base Brawl: 4.7 (DoT)
Endurance: 11
Recharge: 11 seconds
Suggested: Not really. But take it early if you do.
Slotting: 2 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 0-1 something else to taste.
If the devs ever decided they wanted to give Ice Melee a little more oomphabaloo, one place they should focus is Frost. I think this power should be totally awesome, but it's really not. The cone is pretty narrow, something exaggerated by the fact that the range is only slightly more than typical melee. Even in a well-packed group of baddies, you are lucky to hit more than one target at a time. If this was a PBAoE attack, it'd be a no-brainer, but as a single target attack with splash damage it is just too expensive and too slow, and made worse if you are playing Stone/Ice because Rooted ain't exactly set-up-a-cone friendly.
The positive to take from this power is that the secondary effect is much greater than normal. If you wanted something to nerf AVs or other players in PvP with, it just might find a friend in you.
4) Taunt (Level 10) - Targeted AoE
Suggested: Before Level 30
Slotting: 3 Accuracy for PvP or 1-3 recharge and/or taunt duration for PvE.
On many builds this is skippable, but I think most Ice Melee tanks, and especially most Stone/Ice tanks, you'll want the extra aggro management that this classic tool provides. Out of the box this power is very good at what it does, and with the rule changes on how taunts work in PvP, it is a lot better than it was in May - so much better that one might be inclined to call it totally awesome. If you want it to be a house in PvP, slot it up with uber accuracy. Otherwise slot it up according to how often and in what capacity you use it. If you're just pulling mobs off the occasional squishy, you can leave it unslotted. If you fancy yourself a new-school herder you'll want it to recharge quickly.
5) Build Up (Level 16) - Self Click
Temporary Boost: +100% Damage, +62.5% Accuracy
Duration: 10 seconds
Recharge: 90 seconds
Suggested: If you want it, fit it wherever you can.
Slotting: 3 recharge.
This one really comes down to personal taste. I love Build Up overall but don't really find it that useful on my tanker. In a set lacking offense, the occasional burst can be nice. On the other hand, your lack of real fire-power makes this much less useful. I never really felt it sped the grind up that much, but others might feels differently. Clearly if you are going with a Fire/Ice build you are more likely to find this useful. Consider your build and consider your playstyle before committing to this.
6) Ice Patch (Level 20) - PBAoE
Flopping Fish: Extra Bonanza
Suggested: Level 22, assuming you were taking Stamina at 20.
Slotting: 2 recharge, no more no less.
Heeeeeeeeey, now we're talking. This is a player-based, junior version of Ice Slick, and is more or less the most controlling power available to tankers. For those of you who don't know, it creates an area of effect that recursively give all your opponents a bad case of the knockdowns. What you do is you Teleport into the center of the mob, drop this, and watch everybody slip and fall and generally do a whole lot of nothing to you or your team. It's damage mitigation, it's aggro management, and above all it's
totally awesome. It also speaks to the character of Ice Melee when the best power in the set deals absolutely no damage.
In Stone/Ice this more or less can take the place of Mud Pots. Outside of herding or harassing players in PvP, it will do everything Mud Pots will do, and it will do it better and for less endurance and fewer enhancement slots.
In Fire/Ice it has already been suggested that you combine this with Burn for old-school herd-killing.
Slotting it with two recharges will make it perma, or at least so close to perma that a third slot would be blatantly overindulgent. You needn't concern yourself with anything else.
7) Freezing Touch (Level 28) - Single Target Hold
Base Brawl: 4.7 (DoT)
Endurance: 10.2
Recharge: 16 seconds
Duration: 10 seconds
Suggested: Level 28
Slotting: 2 Accuracy, 2 Recharge, 2 Hold or 2 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1 Recharge
The other saving grace of Ice Melee. A standard Mag 3 hold, but only at melee range. Does much more damage over time than most holds, though, and in a damage-light set such as this, you wouldn't catch too much flak for just slotting it for damage instead of maximum hold prowess. I suggest the more controlling version, however, on account of you'll get to have some fun later when you stack it with your EPP hold. Slotted the way I have it above, the recharge will dip below 10 and the duration will jump above 16. Most people prefer 2 Acc, 1 Rec, 3 Hold on something like this and if that suits you better, go for it. At the end game, feel free to sneak damage enhancement onto this thing via Hami-Os.
8) Greater Ice Sword (Level 35) - Single Target
Base Brawl: 5.4
Endurance: 10.2
Recharge: 10 seconds
Suggested: Level 35
Slotting: 2 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 0-1 something else to taste.
Cool. Something else that resembles a normal attack. That brings your total to two, or maybe three if you're having luck with Frozen Fists. A solid attack, and one you should obviously take if you want to have any hope of contributing damage in the late game. I'm pretty sure this one is self-explanatory.
9) Frozen Aura (Level 38) - PBAoE Attack
Good For: A Laugh
Suggested: In an alternate universe where it actually does something.
Slotting: 3 avocados, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 cup chopped tomato, 1/4 cup chopped onion
If you can find a worse Tier 9 power, I'd like to see it. No really. I want to make sure that there are no "rogue" character designers who think that maybe they can find a use for this, so heed my warning:
this is one of the worst powers in the game. Let's go over the facts:
Fact 1: Tenuous Grasp on the English Language
In theory what this does is put everybody around you in a sleep hold. Doesn't sound so bad on the surface, really, until you realize that this thing is like Mag 0.0034. The only thing it will ever hit is minions. What I am saying is that if you take this at level 38 and head for Atlas Park and start picking on those headstrong -37 Lieutenants, they will just sit there and laugh at you and your stupid power. You, a Level 38, getting outsmarted by a Fallen Buckshot. Enjoy your stupid new power, stupid.
Fact 2: Garbledina
Okay so let's say they upped the magnitude. Now we're left with a power that's ... still entirely useless. See, sleeps are generally cool because they last a long time and are resisted less often, but they have this nasty habit of breaking the second you sneeze on the victim. Which you will be doing a lot of you like to use things like: A) Damage Auras and B) Ice Patch and C) teammates who like to play a game called City of Heroes. AoE sleeps are great for the squishy would wants to set up 23 debuffs and then fart out an unholy storm of damage. But for tankers who like to do
things an AoE sleep is about as useful as one of those fish bicycles. You know the ones I'm talking about. I'm talking about
bicycles for
fish.
Fact 3: He's Like a Big Square This Guy
The power is player-based, not targeted, so any hope of maybe using the thing secretively is gone. Not that a tank would much want this functionality anyway, and not that making an attack player-based isn't in flavor with tanks, it's just that an AoE sleep becomes even less useful when it can't be used without generating aggro. It's just weird is all. Unsettling.
Fact 4: Zero Volume Control
The last straw with this power is that it does no damage. I know this is Ice Melee and not supposed to be super offensive, but c'mon, this is the Tier 9 power. Why isn't it at least as good as Tremor or Whirling Hands? If the devs wanted to spruce this set up, they wouldn't do bad by turning this into something that deals a moderate amount of damage.
POOL POWERS
Concealment:
Everybody can find uses for invisibility, but really, you're a tank; this should be a very low priority.
Fighting:
Some people might consider it worth their time to get even more smashing/lethal resistance in the form of Tough. As a prerequisite, Boxing is a very nice little attack useful, at worst, as a punchvoking tool and, for the brave, possibly much more.
Fitness:
ED changed things, but Fitness is still the standard for most builds and you definitely want it here. When choosing between Swift and Hurdle, the Stone Tank irrevocably wants Swift. If you have room, three-slot Swift with speed boost enhancements, but don't make it a high priority, (my build doesn't have it slotted). With your high hit-point total you definitely want Health and you definitely want to three-slot it for regeneration. Finally, you shouldn't have to be told to take Stamina and to three-slot it for recovery. What's cool about the Fitness pool for Stone tankers is that all three powers you take are useful. If you are playing something else, you probably still want to three-slot Health and Stamina.
Flight:
If you are rolling with Ice Melee, you would be wise to look outside your secondary for an attack or two, and Air Superiority can help you out as early as level 6. Air Superiority is a great attack overall and very useful for tankers trying to keep a mob under control. It comes highly recommended for those using Ice Melee and earns an official, "something to think about" for other tanks. Slot it out like a normal attack. As a side note, my latest build decided to take Fly at level 49. Why? So I could be more useful during the mito-stage of Hami-raids, something I have come to appreciate. If you want Fly to help out with your teleporting, take it much earlier, but I advise that instead of wasting a power, you just get better at using teleport.
Leadership:
There are people who might swear by this pool. You might be one of them. Indeed, an attack buff, no matter how small, can be nice for Ice Melee, and +perception is always good in PvP. I really suggest avoiding this pool if you aren't going to PvP all the time, and even then you might consider skipping it anyway because Minerals, last I heard, offered +perception, (I could be wrong on this, so feel free to correct me). If you really want an accuracy toggle that badly, there's a better one in the Energy EPP. These powers can be a real drain on your endurance and I think a tanker would do better to invest in attacks and defenses rather than this hip new Leadership fad.
Leaping:
I would say that Super Jump is the best travel power overall, but a Stone Tank needs to invest in other things. If you are here because you wanted a review of Ice Melee powers before you built your flavor-of-the-month Fire/Ice tank, then I should point out that Fire Armor has no knockback or immobilization resistance and that you should probably invest in Combat Jumping and Acrobatics.
Medicine:
I wouldn't call you crazy for grabbing Aid Self and six-slotting it, but I would call you short-sighted. There is nothing in this pool for a Stone Tank. Maybe a Fire Tank could use the help.
Maybe.
Presence:
I think I could make an argument for taking Provoke over Taunt. 1) It animates faster. 2) The drawback of not being auto-hit is negated if you were just going to be putting Accuracy into Taunt for PvP anyway. 3) It gives you access to the fear powers in the Presence pool. I rolled with Intimidate and Invoke Panic for a while and in all honesty they are pretty good, but rather redundant with Ice Melee, since Ice Patch will mostly do the same work as these and only costs you two slots and one bind. If you are reading this guide for the Stone Armor half only, consider the fear powers if you wanted to add more control to your build. They are good at what they do once you invest some slots.
Speed:
Time was we all had perma-hasten. Those days are gone, but you still might want the power anyway. I'm living fine without it, but some people like it as sort of a check against Granite Armor and as a boost during more serious fights. It's a good power, but a matter of personal taste whether you take it or not.
Teleportation:
If you are a Stone Tank, this is your travel pool. Choosing between Recall Friend and TP Foe is really a question of A) how often you PvP and 2) how many slots you can afford to invest. Recall Friend requires no slotting and is more useful in PvE. TP Foe should strictly be used in a PvP setting and definitely wants some accuracy slotted in.
*Fun Bonus Rant!*
Seriously, kids, don't even
think about using TP Foe in PvE. It's annoying to those of us who are competent enough to tackle the mob in front of us. You're a tank for crying out loud. If that mob is too hard for you, log on with your blaster and leave the tanking to those of us without fish bicycles between our ears. I can understand a scrapper using this power
when they solo. I can understand a controller grabbing it for the random utility. I can understand anybody using it
in PvP. But really, when a well-balanced team feels the need to TP Foe every freaking mob it irritates me to no end. You'll have more fun
and earn xp quicker if you can just dive into each mob as quickly as possible. If you aren't able to do that with your team, the lot of you should consider playing WoW where pointing and clicking are the only relevant skills asked of you. If you really need to pull, then
pull and try doing it with something that doesn't have a worse activation time than Total Focus.
As for teleport itself: I hear complaints that it is an end hog. In all honesty, if you have Stamina and put one endurance reduction in this, you should be fine, (Don't forget to toggle down, goonbag). I'll admit that things are a little rough at 14 when you don't have SOs or Stamina, but in the long run endurance really isn't a problem. You
might run out if you start cavorting about the Shadow Shard. On top of this, I highly suggest adding three slots of range increase. Your speed over long distances will be totally awesome if you do this. Some people might rather use those three slots elsewhere and I can respect that. Me, I like to get where I'm going as fast as possible. (Also, you save on endurance if you use fewer jumps between locations).
EPIC POWER POOLS
Arctic Mastery:
You've got a nice progression of powers here: Hold, Ranged Attack, AoE. I like that the hold does all its damage up front, and the ice blast does more damage than the other blasts available to the tankers. Ice Storm is capable of a lot of damage, but the scatter effect is counterintuitive to tanking. You can help it with Ice Patch and/or Mud Pots. It really depends on your playstyle and how fast you like to move; Ice Storm takes a while to recharge and needs some babysitting, but the payoff can be huge.
Earth Mastery:
The powers available to you at 41 are an immobilize and an AoE sleep. Sure, the next powers are good, but you can get similar things from the other sets without being forced to take garbage at 41. I'd say this is the only EPP that you should absolutely avoid.
Energy Mastery:
Once upon a time this was the obvious choice just because perma-hasten could help make Conserve Power available as often as you needed it. Nowadays, Conserve Power is a little lack-luster on a tank, if only for the horrendous recharge time. The rest of the set has some nice utility, but getting a cone as your AoE is a bit problematic, especially for a Stone Tank, and especially when said cone causes knockback. The laser eyes are great for reducing defense and are a solid attack overall anyway, and focused accuracy has it's uses, though it demands a lot of slots to really justify its presence in your tray. This set has no hold, which is fine except that if you are playing with Ice Melee, I think you would be foolish to pass up a chance to hold bosses with stacked holds. Personally, I'd stick with Arctic or Pyre Mastery, but this set is not without its charm.
Pyre Mastery:
More or less the same as Artic Mastery, except you cause fire damage and get Fire Ball instead of Ice Storm. Fire Ball recharges a lot faster and seems more conducive to grabbing attention and keeping it on you, so this is the set I roll with right now. Slot Char like you would any hold and Fire Blast and Fire Ball like you would any attack. Consider slipping a recharge on Fire Ball.
Builds and Strategies
I think Stone/Ice is at it's best when it plays like a classic tanker, or like a tank-troller. Stone/* has the option of trying to build around Granite Armor's drawbacks and making yourself into some sort of super-attack-lump, but I don't think that's the wisest choice for Stone/Ice.
Here's my build as it stands now.
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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name: Mor'gan
Level: 50
Archetype: Tanker
Primary: Stone Armor
Secondary: Ice Melee
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01) --> Rock Armor==> DefBuf(1)DefBuf(3)DefBuf(3)
01) --> Frozen Fists==> Acc(1)Acc(34)Dmg(36)Dmg(39)Dmg(43)
02) --> Ice Sword==> Acc(2)Acc(7)Dmg(34)Dmg(37)Dmg(40)
04) --> Stone Skin==> DmgRes(4)DmgRes(5)DmgRes(5)
06) --> Air Superiority==> Acc(6)Acc(7)Dmg(34)Dmg(37)Dmg(40)
08) --> Rooted==> Heal(8)Heal(9)Heal(9)
10) --> Teleport Foe==> Acc(10)Acc(11)Acc(11)
12) --> Earth's Embrace==> Heal(12)Heal(13)Heal(13)Rechg(17)Rechg(23)Rechg(33)
14) --> Teleport==> EndRdx(14)Range(15)Range(15)Range(17)
16) --> Swift==> Run(16)
18) --> Health==> Heal(18)Heal(19)Heal(19)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(21)EndMod(21)
22) --> Ice Patch==> Rechg(22)Rechg(23)
24) --> Crystal Armor==> DefBuf(24)DefBuf(25)DefBuf(25)
26) --> Taunt==> Acc(26)Acc(27)Acc(27)
28) --> Freezing Touch==> Acc(28)Acc(29)Rechg(29)Rechg(31)Hold(31)Hold(31)
30) --> Mud Pots==> Slow(30)Slow(46)EndRdx(46)EndRdx(50)
32) --> Granite Armor==> DmgRes(32)DmgRes(33)DmgRes(33)
35) --> Greater Ice Sword==> Acc(35)Acc(36)Dmg(36)Dmg(37)Dmg(40)
38) --> Mineral Armor==> DefBuf(38)DefBuf(39)DefBuf(39)
41) --> Char==> Acc(41)Acc(42)Rechg(42)Rechg(42)Hold(43)Hold(43)
44) --> Fire Blast==> Acc(44)Acc(45)Dmg(45)Dmg(45)Dmg(46)
47) --> Fire Ball==> Acc(47)Acc(48)Dmg(48)Dmg(48)Dmg(50)Rechg(50)
49) --> Fly==> Fly(49)
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You'll notice I don't put endurance reduction in anything other than Teleport or Mud Pots. The wiser among us have shown that one saves much more endurance slotting their attacks for endurance reduction anyway. Ultimately the best way to save on endurance is to show restraint with your attacks, which is something a good tanker needs to learn anyway; accidentally dropping your own toggles is a good way to fail your team. With this build your first job is to manage the aggro, not empty your endurance bar.
I have Mud pots and TP Foe, plus my Taunt slotted for accuracy due to I7 PvP considerations. I might suggest a different path for the player still making his way to 50. I used Recall Friend and lived without Mud Pots for most of my journey. You can probably be okay with taking the slots out of Teleport if you're still looking for more.
The basic play strategy is as follows:
1) Toggle up with everything you'll need against this particular mob.
2) Teleport to the center of the mob.
3) Drop an ice patch
4) Hold a boss if there is one, or go after Lts, or whoever is resistant to knockdown. If you only have one hold, don't waste it on the boss.
5) Taunt if you need to, or throw a Fire Ball if you're that far in.
6) Punchvoke, which means throw an attack, tab to the next enemy, throw another attack, tab to the next enemy.
If you are solo-ing, you can skip steps 5 and 6. Also you can always break your strategy when you feel that something else needs your attention, this is just the basic plan that you start with.
Your basic defenses look like this:
Always on- Rock Armor, Stone Skin, Rooted, Health, Tough, (if you get it). This offers mez protection, resistance to the common attacks, and defense against even more. Rooted and Health offers a very nice regeneration package, which more or less acts like resistance against everything.
Situational- Crystal Armor, Minerals. Use these against mobs that have an abundance of these attack types.
Reactive- Earth's Embrace, Granite Armor. When you are in trouble, these can keep you alive.
Herding:
You can pretty much only herd two mobs at once nowadays, what with the 17 enemy limit on aggro. However, it can be fun and, at times, faster than the normal approach. Pick the two groups you want to herd and TP into the one that is farther away.
Don't use Ice Patch and make sure you have mud pots on if you got it. Taunt the group and throw a few simple attacks if you have to. TP into the other group and do the same. Walk or TP back to your team if necessary. Drop Ice Patch when everything is set and proceed as normal.
Alternative Builds:
Alternative builds could focus more on damage, or more on punchvoking. You could invest in simple attacks with low recharge times and slot them with just enough accuracy and recharge to eat through the drawbacks of Granite Armor. Then you can be the Granite Tank you always wanted to be and just punchvoke stuff. I personally find this boring, but I'm sure there are many who would disagree. The build I'm using now tries to strike a balance between everything and I think it does it well. Depending on the team and the scenario, you should be able to adapt your style and strategy to the situation.
Conclusion
That pretty much wraps up the guide. I'm hoping this offers an updated look at Stone Armor as well as provides the niche with their info about Ice Melee, which hasn't been written about much. Comments and criticism of this guide are welcome and I am willing to come back and update it as necessary.
Have fun!
