Viscount_Gareth

Very nice guide!

I have a tri-form (built that way from the beginning), so my playstyle is a bit different. Regarding your comments on tri-form builds, I would note that many, if not most, tri-forms do not take all three shields. I only have Shining Shield, and upon respec put all of the pre-Nova slots in it, so it is 5-slotted. I find that extra smash/lethal protection very helpful in improving my survivability. I may pick up one of the other shields at 49, but I doubt it (I still haven't decided on my last power selection). It's not that I don't think the other shields would be helpful, but I just don't have room for them in my build and they protect from damage types that aren't as prevalent.

Great job! Very useful!

I do question the endurance number for Quantum Flight that you derived from Verxion's Hero Planner. This seems drastically low, as it is barely more expensive than Energy Flight's endurance number. My link to the Toggle Cost Calculator website doesn't seem to work anymore, but I believe that the number you list would be manageable with single-slotted Stamina--which is patently not the case as it takes 6-slotted Stamina and at least 3 End Reducers in Q-Fly to make it break even.

Very well written and informative! Bravo!

/e clap

Very nice guide!

A couple of comments from my perspective (since the guide is written from yours ).

Blazing Aura is a Must Have for low levels--I slotted it 1 Acc, 5 Dmg on the route to Burn and it really helped me level faster. After Burn, I would say that it drops to the Should Have or Optional category. There are many pluses to the power for gathering groups together in missions/herding, as well as for a continued damage power, but it becomes more situational and will depend on personal desire/playstyle (it is another passive damaging power as opposed to the "I want to hit something" playstyle). I personally respecced out 4 slots when I respecced around level 24 and still have only 1 Acc and 1 End Reduc. enhancement in it. It is by far the most expensive toggle in the Fire primary or among the common toggles taken by Fire tanks, such as Tough, Weave, Acrobatics, Super Jump, Super Speed, etc. I believe it is twice as expensive as either Fire Shield and Plasma Shield. You can check out the Toggle Cost calculator for comparisons at:

http://www.arscoh.com/phpBB2/calcs/toggleendcosts.php

Unless you really hate using Burn for damage (and there are a few Fire tanks that do--and only use it for status protection), then I would recommend 6-slotting Burn with Damage enhancements ASAP. It truly is the power that defines the class for most Fire tanks! It makes up for our relative squishiness by allowing us to take out opponents faster. As one poster put it in another thread--a Fire tank's best defense is the damage it does. Since the secondaries chosen by Fire tanks differ (and can be chosen by other types of tanks), it really comes down to the damage done by Burn (since other tank primaries have powers roughly comparable to Blazing Aura). To maximize that offensive defense, you need to maximize the potential of Burn. I'm not a Fire tank that likes to do nothing but Provoke/Burn, but I also recognize that it is the most efficient means to take out minions and is a major factor in taking out LTs and Bosses. It is also relatively End efficient, so you can continue to damage your opponents with the Provoke (soon to be Taunt) and Burn cycle while recovering End for other attacks.

Just my 2 Infl., YMMV.