Thank you for this.
I'm a lvl 8 stone/fire tank and loving the challenge!
I am normally a def and stupidly and blindingly took hover out of "the norm"...must respec out.. darn.
I'll be trying out your suggestions for the first tank i've ever got to lvl 8! The others seemed very uninteresting to me...
Cheers! 
Justice
Everwood
Triumph
The Trust
well, frankly you should have taken Rock Armor AND Stone Skin
Pre 32, that combo will make you pretty uber as long as you're not fighting things that lack a s/l component (spectral daemons, Fir Bolg, etc)
Earths Embrace helps a lot too
personally I did rather well pre 32 with Rock Armor, Stone Skin, Earths Embrace and no Crystal or Brimstone armor
now, not trying to rain on your parade, of course once you are 32 and have granite, you are ridiculously well defensed
unkillable by almost anything short of Lusca or Hamidon. and even Lusca takes a while to bring you down.
Wavicle, Energy/Energy Blaster, dinged 50 in Issue 4, summer of 2005.
@Wavicle, mostly on the Justice server.
Scorch isn't as useless as you make it out to be 
I'm running an Invul/Fire and I have Scorch 5 slotted, 2 Acc 3 Dmg and it does decent enough damage for the end spent. Consequently, I don't have Fire Sword, but Scorch shouldn't be deemed as worthless in my opinion.
[ QUOTE ]
Scorch isn't as useless as you make it out to be I'm running an Invul/Fire and I have Scorch 5 slotted, 2 Acc 3 Dmg and it does decent enough damage for the end spent. Consequently, I don't have Fire Sword, but Scorch shouldn't be deemed as worthless in my opinion.
[/ QUOTE ]
Scorch has been claimed to have the best dps of all the Tanker secondary starting attacks (the ones you have to take anyway).
Sailboat
If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
----------------------------------------------------------
The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog
I recently roled a stone/fire tank and currently love it. Conceptually the whole molten rock feel to it is great. I do wish breath fire was more viable to the build since it has cool animation.
I do have a question about granite armor though. If it has a direct effect on the recharge of your powers, does that mean I need a recharge pog in all my attacks?
Also since I am only lvl 18 how do you cope with endr problems. Stamina does not seem to be the answer. Should there be multiple edr. redct. in armors? Attacks? What have you all noticed from your experience?
Recharges:
- if you got hasten, 1 rch in all attacks is enough
- if you don't, 2 rch are mandatory in my opinion
Endurance is only a problem before HO enhancements. Slot at least 1 in each attack and armor you have.
My experience with the build is that you don't need a lot of attacks to be efficient. You're a meat shield. if you're looking for a dmg dealing tank, fire/fire is what you're looking for.
Scorch and combustion will lead you to lvl 26 easily at which point you'll have Fire Sword Circle.
The build is really great for aggro control, which is the tankers job imo
@Viper Kinji
Currently working on:
Turtle Snapper - SD/MA/Ice Tanker
I have yet to understand why anyone says that Stone/ is gimped, in any fashion.
First of all, it's one of the few sets that provides a Defense to Psi. Granted, it's not a resist, which would have been nice given that the bulk of the set is resists, but it's more than any other Tank gets against that particular damage type. This means that once the Carnival of Shadows shows up, your teammates need no longer fear their damage-soaker dropping.
Second, I highly suspect that a large part of why you felt gimped prior to Granite Armor is that you intentionally skipped most of the resistance toggles in the set. There isn't a single power in the Primary that's not worth taking, even Stone Skin. With creative juggling of your toggles, you should easily be able to handle any situation into which you find yourself thrust. For my part, I was capable of soloing in Invincible pretty much as soon as I had SOs, and I did have to deal with a few AVs single-handedly along the way, though I'd hardly count Maestro as that much of a challenge.
Third, Fire Sword generally isn't a useful pick. YMMV as always, but I found that the recharge time versus the damage meant I was better off slotting Scorch with an extra recharge and throwing it twice in the same timeframe.
Fourth, I think the slows in Mud Pots are a waste. Sure, it's a great power, but its radius doesn't extend far enough around you to make the slow effects that useful. I stick an endred in mine, as well as a taunt duration and an accuracy to make sure the damage actually hits.
Fifth, if you're relying on Granite for your primary mitigation, then either you would have wanted Hasten somewhere in your build to offset the reduction in recharge rate that it causes, or you'd probably want some recharges in your attacks. You don't have Taunt, and you don't have a Taunt duration in Mud Pots, so you're going to be relying on Gauntlet to hold aggro, but they're going to come up too slowly for you to reliably overcome the power of the insane elec/elec blaster that's running up beside you and zapping your herd. Worse, you're not going to be able to protect the Kin/ defender that's keeping you Speed Boosted so you can move.
Finally, I really don't think the Fighting pool is going to do you much. Yes, it's a few extra points of both resistance and defense, but it's an extra pair of end-heavy toggles that, if you have Granite, you'll never need. If you're fighting a mob in which Granite Armor, Rooted and the occasional inspiration isn't enough to overcome, then you and your team have bitten off more than you can chew.
I know that, for my part, I only use Granite as the Uh-Oh button, and at 50 I can routinely solo on Invincible and clean up three- and four-person maps, given enough time. I usually team with a Kin/Sonic defender and then a few open SK slots, and my regular teammates have learned that if I've dropped into Granite, things have not gone according to plan.
I will admit, I'm not a PvPer, but the few times I took my Stone/Fire tank into a PvP zone, it took at least three opponents to actually scratch my health bar in any serious fashion, and four to actually keep the damage coming in fast enough to really be an issue. Outside of that, I was keeping all of my targets taunted sufficiently that my teammates could make short work of the rest of the opposition. Solo, it's usually a stalemate proposition, and most Stalkers realize that pretty quickly. "Oh noes, you have ASed me; I pop Earth's Embrace now". Six toggles running means at worst, I lose mez protection for a few seconds. This is by no means an optimized PvP build, but then, I never optimize for PvP.
For comparison, here's the build that I use:
Level: 50
Archetype: Tanker
Primary: Stone Armor
Secondary: Fiery Melee
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Stone Skin==> DmgRes(1) DmgRes(3) DmgRes(3)
01) --> Scorch==> Acc(1) Rechg(23) Rechg(39) Dmg(45)
02) --> Rock Armor==> EndRdx(2) EndRdx(7) DefBuf(7) DefBuf(11) DefBuf(13)
04) --> Earth's Embrace==> Heal(4) Heal(5) Heal(5) Rechg(11) Rechg(13) Rechg(17)
06) --> Mud Pots==> Acc(6) EndRdx(15) Taunt(15) Dmg(36) Dmg(37) Dmg(37)
08) --> Rooted==> EndRdx(8) EndRdx(9) EndRdx(9) Heal(17) Heal(19) Heal(19)
10) --> Taunt==> Taunt(10)
12) --> Teleport Foe==> Acc(12)
14) --> Teleport==> Range(14)
16) --> Swift==> Run(16) Run(42) Run(46)
18) --> Health==> Heal(18) Heal(42) Heal(42)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Combustion==> Acc(22) Rechg(23) Rechg(40) Dmg(46)
24) --> Brimstone Armor==> EndRdx(24) EndRdx(25) DmgRes(25) DmgRes(31) DmgRes(34)
26) --> Crystal Armor==> EndRdx(26) EndRdx(27) DefBuf(27) DefBuf(31) DefBuf(36)
28) --> Minerals==> EndRdx(28) EndRdx(29) DefBuf(29) DefBuf(31) DefBuf(36)
30) --> Fire Sword Circle==> Acc(30) Rechg(37) Rechg(40) Dmg(45)
32) --> Granite Armor==> DmgRes(32) DmgRes(33) DmgRes(33) DefBuf(33) DefBuf(34) DefBuf(34)
35) --> Incinerate==> Acc(35) EndRdx(39) Rechg(40) Dmg(45)
38) --> Greater Fire Sword==> Acc(38) Rechg(39) Rechg(43) Dmg(46)
41) --> Build Up==> Rechg(41) Rechg(43) Rechg(43)
44) --> Char==> Acc(44)
47) --> Fire Blast==> Acc(47) EndRdx(48) Rechg(48) Dmg(48)
49) --> Fire Ball==> Acc(49) EndRdx(50) Rechg(50) Dmg(50)
Checking numbers at City of Data...
Granite Armor is 50% Resistance to all but Psi. Stone Skin is 10% Resistance to Smashing and Lethal. With well slotted Granite and 1 slotted Stone Skin, you slightly exceed the 90% Resistance cap for Tankers. (Find a better use for those extra 2 slots in Stone Skin.) Tough does absolutely nothing except cost END. Well actually, it does help when you've been hit by Resistance debuffs. But I'd still say it's really not worth it.
Granite Armor is 20% Defense to all but Psi, or 31% when well slotted. Weave is almost 8% more when slotted, which is VERY significant. That said, Granite Armor is so silly strong that Weave isn't needed. I'd only consider it for the Statesman TF if you have to face multiple high level AVs, or maybe for a PvP build.
Rock Armor is what you need at lower levels, but it's handy at higher levels too. It doesn't come with the damage and recharge debuffs that Granite Armor has. It's sufficient for solo and small teams, and helps you defeat mobs faster.
I don't see how Crystal Armor goes with Minerals. Of the mobs I can think of that use nasty Psi (Carnies, Psychic Clockwork, and the Praetorian crazies), you'd be better off with Rock Armor.
Mud Pots is nice for doing damage, grabbing agro, and slowing mobs. It costs 0.78 END/second, which is the same as 3 of your armors. It REALLY needs END Reduction, I'd give it 2. It also needs Accuracy to hit. While Slow is nice, I don't think it's needed.
Focused Accuracy is an even bigger END hog than Mud Pots at 1.18 END/second. Give it 3 END Reductions before you slot any armor.
Conserve Power only costs 10 END. I'm amazed you would use 2 slots of END Reduction on it when you skip them almost everywhere else.
Breath of Fire is a really great attack. It does about the same damage as Fire Sword, but it costs 50% more END and can hit 10 targets. Sure it's a waste to use it on a single target. But if you're a Tanker and can take a few seconds to group mobs together, it's the most END efficient attack in the set by far.
Overall, I'd say your slotting is fairly poor. You've got 3 Accuracies in every attack, plus Focused Accuracy. There's absolutely no reason for that unless you want to PvP. For PvE I'd recommend 2 at most, and no Focused Accuracy. You've got almost no END Reduction, so you'll run out of END really fast if you actually fight. I bet you had problems even with a Kin Defender using Speed Boost on you all the time. KristyTracer went a little overboard with 2 END Reductions in armors, as I'd recommend only one. I'd put an END Reduction in most attacks, as well as Recharge Reduction.
I wouldn't waste extra slots in Swift. If you've got a Kin friend, you won't notice the slots in Swift. If no Kin, those slots will let you move faster, but it'll still be hard to notice it. You'll want to Teleport everywhere in combat, or turn off Rooted and Granite when out.
Taunt is needed to hold agro versus AVs. You don't do enough damage to out-agro a Blaster or Scrapper, and Mud Pots and Gauntlet don't work on AVs.
Your attack chain looks pretty light. It looks like you're not using Scorch or Boxing at all. Without Hasten, you probably waste time standing around even at higher levels when you have plenty of attacks. Before level 28 it looks like you're only using Fire Sword and Combustion.
P.S. Check my sig, I've got a 50 Stone/Fire.
Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.
I've moved on to Diablo 3, TopDoc-1304
Admittedly, I skipped Breath of Fire for concept purposes on my Stone/Fire, but then, I'm also very poor with cone attacks in general; most of the time I end up only hitting two or three enemies at most. Plus, when I'm tanking with my Stone/Fire, I tend to do less pulling/herding and more in situ combat, since I've learned how to juggle the aggro of multiple groups with my AoEs and ranged attacks. This usually means that instead of being able to hit a whole group with BoF, I get at most two or three; I find I'm usually better off in those situations being able to throw Scorch or Brawl three or four times around different targets instead.
As for running multiple EndReds in my armors, I'll admit it's excessive, but I built for long-haul combat, and if I hadn't put those slots there, I'd have pretty much ended up using them as Damage slots or beefing my travel power, which felt like a waste. It came down to "do I do more damage, something for which I'm not optimized" versus "should I be able to turn on every toggle I own and keep fighting in case something shows up on a map that I wasn't expecting". Too many times I tried to run with one or two of my toggles down to conserve endurance and then discovered once on a map that there were extra enemies doing something I hadn't counted on, so I built for certainty instead of efficiency. =n.n=
Kristy
Ahh, I like the guide. I'm just wondering why you took fire sword a lvl 4...It's such a horrible waste of a power. I'd rather wait for Greater fire sword. Plus, I'm thinking what did you use as a travel power...TP sucks for traveling. I'm always being told stone is sooo slow. And I really see it when I team with the 32+ stone tankers. They constantly need SB if they're going to herd. TPing into mobs is great and all, but that's not exactly gonna get you anywhere fast.
[ QUOTE ]
I have yet to understand why anyone says that Stone/ is gimped, in any fashion.
First of all, it's one of the few sets that provides a Defense to Psi. Granted, it's not a resist, which would have been nice given that the bulk of the set is resists, but it's more than any other Tank gets against that particular damage type. This means that once the Carnival of Shadows shows up, your teammates need no longer fear their damage-soaker dropping.
Second, I highly suspect that a large part of why you felt gimped prior to Granite Armor is that you intentionally skipped most of the resistance toggles in the set. There isn't a single power in the Primary that's not worth taking, even Stone Skin. With creative juggling of your toggles, you should easily be able to handle any situation into which you find yourself thrust. For my part, I was capable of soloing in Invincible pretty much as soon as I had SOs, and I did have to deal with a few AVs single-handedly along the way, though I'd hardly count Maestro as that much of a challenge.
Third, Fire Sword generally isn't a useful pick. YMMV as always, but I found that the recharge time versus the damage meant I was better off slotting Scorch with an extra recharge and throwing it twice in the same timeframe.
Fourth, I think the slows in Mud Pots are a waste. Sure, it's a great power, but its radius doesn't extend far enough around you to make the slow effects that useful. I stick an endred in mine, as well as a taunt duration and an accuracy to make sure the damage actually hits.
Fifth, if you're relying on Granite for your primary mitigation, then either you would have wanted Hasten somewhere in your build to offset the reduction in recharge rate that it causes, or you'd probably want some recharges in your attacks. You don't have Taunt, and you don't have a Taunt duration in Mud Pots, so you're going to be relying on Gauntlet to hold aggro, but they're going to come up too slowly for you to reliably overcome the power of the insane elec/elec blaster that's running up beside you and zapping your herd. Worse, you're not going to be able to protect the Kin/ defender that's keeping you Speed Boosted so you can move.
Finally, I really don't think the Fighting pool is going to do you much. Yes, it's a few extra points of both resistance and defense, but it's an extra pair of end-heavy toggles that, if you have Granite, you'll never need. If you're fighting a mob in which Granite Armor, Rooted and the occasional inspiration isn't enough to overcome, then you and your team have bitten off more than you can chew.
I know that, for my part, I only use Granite as the Uh-Oh button, and at 50 I can routinely solo on Invincible and clean up three- and four-person maps, given enough time. I usually team with a Kin/Sonic defender and then a few open SK slots, and my regular teammates have learned that if I've dropped into Granite, things have not gone according to plan.
I will admit, I'm not a PvPer, but the few times I took my Stone/Fire tank into a PvP zone, it took at least three opponents to actually scratch my health bar in any serious fashion, and four to actually keep the damage coming in fast enough to really be an issue. Outside of that, I was keeping all of my targets taunted sufficiently that my teammates could make short work of the rest of the opposition. Solo, it's usually a stalemate proposition, and most Stalkers realize that pretty quickly. "Oh noes, you have ASed me; I pop Earth's Embrace now". Six toggles running means at worst, I lose mez protection for a few seconds. This is by no means an optimized PvP build, but then, I never optimize for PvP.
For comparison, here's the build that I use:
Level: 50
Archetype: Tanker
Primary: Stone Armor
Secondary: Fiery Melee
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Stone Skin==> DmgRes(1) DmgRes(3) DmgRes(3)
01) --> Scorch==> Acc(1) Rechg(23) Rechg(39) Dmg(45)
02) --> Rock Armor==> EndRdx(2) EndRdx(7) DefBuf(7) DefBuf(11) DefBuf(13)
04) --> Earth's Embrace==> Heal(4) Heal(5) Heal(5) Rechg(11) Rechg(13) Rechg(17)
06) --> Mud Pots==> Acc(6) EndRdx(15) Taunt(15) Dmg(36) Dmg(37) Dmg(37)
08) --> Rooted==> EndRdx(8) EndRdx(9) EndRdx(9) Heal(17) Heal(19) Heal(19)
10) --> Taunt==> Taunt(10)
12) --> Teleport Foe==> Acc(12)
14) --> Teleport==> Range(14)
16) --> Swift==> Run(16) Run(42) Run(46)
18) --> Health==> Heal(18) Heal(42) Heal(42)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Combustion==> Acc(22) Rechg(23) Rechg(40) Dmg(46)
24) --> Brimstone Armor==> EndRdx(24) EndRdx(25) DmgRes(25) DmgRes(31) DmgRes(34)
26) --> Crystal Armor==> EndRdx(26) EndRdx(27) DefBuf(27) DefBuf(31) DefBuf(36)
28) --> Minerals==> EndRdx(28) EndRdx(29) DefBuf(29) DefBuf(31) DefBuf(36)
30) --> Fire Sword Circle==> Acc(30) Rechg(37) Rechg(40) Dmg(45)
32) --> Granite Armor==> DmgRes(32) DmgRes(33) DmgRes(33) DefBuf(33) DefBuf(34) DefBuf(34)
35) --> Incinerate==> Acc(35) EndRdx(39) Rechg(40) Dmg(45)
38) --> Greater Fire Sword==> Acc(38) Rechg(39) Rechg(43) Dmg(46)
41) --> Build Up==> Rechg(41) Rechg(43) Rechg(43)
44) --> Char==> Acc(44)
47) --> Fire Blast==> Acc(47) EndRdx(48) Rechg(48) Dmg(48)
49) --> Fire Ball==> Acc(49) EndRdx(50) Rechg(50) Dmg(50)
[/ QUOTE ]
That's a great guide...I love it...Absolutely love it.
I'm sorry but your guide is kinda off..
My stone/fire tank is at 11 and only has scorch, and besides all the primaries available it only has hurdle from the fitness pool
I just started a stoner and reading this thread I'm curious why no-one takes SS for the -speed of granite?
NOTE: The opinions expressed here represent the opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of those who hold other opinions.
um, b/c you can't use any travel powers in granite, save TP. the second you click any,even sprint, you come out of granite. read a few of the guides for stoners.
3 slotting sprint, and taking as many of the plus run speed bonuses as you can (and there are many) is the way to over come this
I normally wouldnt agree with dumping rock armor, and then keeping crystal.
smashing/lethal is the #1 damage component in the game, and most psi attacks are a combo of psi and smash or lethal.
imo, a good stoner doesn't stay in Granite 100% of the time, he shifts in/out of armors, as the battle progresses.
I guess you have tough and weave to help out..either way I don't think I'd keep crystal....and as many have stated...I really don't see why you'd want the fighting pool, especially after 32...
curious - have you actually ever really played this build...?
you have ZERO end redux in mudpots, which has a huge end cost. Slotting slow does very little in mudpots and is a waste?
combine that with tough, weave, focused acc, all of which have VERY high end costs, especially FA. and you have a end cost that would kill three horses.
You must just be standing there with auras on is all I can say.
You didn't slot end redux in rooted, granite armor, or anything for that matter.. I kinda call b.s. on this build, unless you slotted every IO known to man for end recovery.
about the only thing i really agree with is 3 slotting swift.
sorry, but I strongly advise an inexperienced player from using this build/guide/
[ QUOTE ]
um, b/c you can't use any travel powers in granite, save TP. the second you click any,even sprint, you come out of granite. read a few of the guides for stoners
[/ QUOTE ]
um, thats why I was reading this thread...... thank you for your answer.
/shuffles off to read some more/
NOTE: The opinions expressed here represent the opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of those who hold other opinions.
That's also why they tend to 3 slot Swift from the Fitness pool.
Btw, there's a difference between -speed (movement) and -recharge (time powers activate). The more significant handicap is probably the recharge.
Without Rooted on (say you take Acro, or you have Clarity or Clear Mind being buffed on you), you can move pretty quickly with just Granite.
'pretty quickly in granite'? played a stoner ever? its a -70% movement rate for granite.
Stone tank would have to be loony, self gimped, or some oddball concept to take acro, especially since he'd then have taken CJ and SJ along with it
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I have yet to understand why anyone says that Stone/ is gimped, in any fashion.
First of all, it's one of the few sets that provides a Defense to Psi. Granted, it's not a resist, which would have been nice given that the bulk of the set is resists, but it's more than any other Tank gets against that particular damage type. This means that once the Carnival of Shadows shows up, your teammates need no longer fear their damage-soaker dropping.
Second, I highly suspect that a large part of why you felt gimped prior to Granite Armor is that you intentionally skipped most of the resistance toggles in the set. There isn't a single power in the Primary that's not worth taking, even Stone Skin. With creative juggling of your toggles, you should easily be able to handle any situation into which you find yourself thrust. For my part, I was capable of soloing in Invincible pretty much as soon as I had SOs, and I did have to deal with a few AVs single-handedly along the way, though I'd hardly count Maestro as that much of a challenge.
Third, Fire Sword generally isn't a useful pick. YMMV as always, but I found that the recharge time versus the damage meant I was better off slotting Scorch with an extra recharge and throwing it twice in the same timeframe.
Fourth, I think the slows in Mud Pots are a waste. Sure, it's a great power, but its radius doesn't extend far enough around you to make the slow effects that useful. I stick an endred in mine, as well as a taunt duration and an accuracy to make sure the damage actually hits.
Fifth, if you're relying on Granite for your primary mitigation, then either you would have wanted Hasten somewhere in your build to offset the reduction in recharge rate that it causes, or you'd probably want some recharges in your attacks. You don't have Taunt, and you don't have a Taunt duration in Mud Pots, so you're going to be relying on Gauntlet to hold aggro, but they're going to come up too slowly for you to reliably overcome the power of the insane elec/elec blaster that's running up beside you and zapping your herd. Worse, you're not going to be able to protect the Kin/ defender that's keeping you Speed Boosted so you can move.
Finally, I really don't think the Fighting pool is going to do you much. Yes, it's a few extra points of both resistance and defense, but it's an extra pair of end-heavy toggles that, if you have Granite, you'll never need. If you're fighting a mob in which Granite Armor, Rooted and the occasional inspiration isn't enough to overcome, then you and your team have bitten off more than you can chew.
I know that, for my part, I only use Granite as the Uh-Oh button, and at 50 I can routinely solo on Invincible and clean up three- and four-person maps, given enough time. I usually team with a Kin/Sonic defender and then a few open SK slots, and my regular teammates have learned that if I've dropped into Granite, things have not gone according to plan.
I will admit, I'm not a PvPer, but the few times I took my Stone/Fire tank into a PvP zone, it took at least three opponents to actually scratch my health bar in any serious fashion, and four to actually keep the damage coming in fast enough to really be an issue. Outside of that, I was keeping all of my targets taunted sufficiently that my teammates could make short work of the rest of the opposition. Solo, it's usually a stalemate proposition, and most Stalkers realize that pretty quickly. "Oh noes, you have ASed me; I pop Earth's Embrace now". Six toggles running means at worst, I lose mez protection for a few seconds. This is by no means an optimized PvP build, but then, I never optimize for PvP.
For comparison, here's the build that I use:
Level: 50
Archetype: Tanker
Primary: Stone Armor
Secondary: Fiery Melee
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Stone Skin==> DmgRes(1) DmgRes(3) DmgRes(3)
01) --> Scorch==> Acc(1) Rechg(23) Rechg(39) Dmg(45)
02) --> Rock Armor==> EndRdx(2) EndRdx(7) DefBuf(7) DefBuf(11) DefBuf(13)
04) --> Earth's Embrace==> Heal(4) Heal(5) Heal(5) Rechg(11) Rechg(13) Rechg(17)
06) --> Mud Pots==> Acc(6) EndRdx(15) Taunt(15) Dmg(36) Dmg(37) Dmg(37)
08) --> Rooted==> EndRdx(8) EndRdx(9) EndRdx(9) Heal(17) Heal(19) Heal(19)
10) --> Taunt==> Taunt(10)
12) --> Teleport Foe==> Acc(12)
14) --> Teleport==> Range(14)
16) --> Swift==> Run(16) Run(42) Run(46)
18) --> Health==> Heal(18) Heal(42) Heal(42)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Combustion==> Acc(22) Rechg(23) Rechg(40) Dmg(46)
24) --> Brimstone Armor==> EndRdx(24) EndRdx(25) DmgRes(25) DmgRes(31) DmgRes(34)
26) --> Crystal Armor==> EndRdx(26) EndRdx(27) DefBuf(27) DefBuf(31) DefBuf(36)
28) --> Minerals==> EndRdx(28) EndRdx(29) DefBuf(29) DefBuf(31) DefBuf(36)
30) --> Fire Sword Circle==> Acc(30) Rechg(37) Rechg(40) Dmg(45)
32) --> Granite Armor==> DmgRes(32) DmgRes(33) DmgRes(33) DefBuf(33) DefBuf(34) DefBuf(34)
35) --> Incinerate==> Acc(35) EndRdx(39) Rechg(40) Dmg(45)
38) --> Greater Fire Sword==> Acc(38) Rechg(39) Rechg(43) Dmg(46)
41) --> Build Up==> Rechg(41) Rechg(43) Rechg(43)
44) --> Char==> Acc(44)
47) --> Fire Blast==> Acc(47) EndRdx(48) Rechg(48) Dmg(48)
49) --> Fire Ball==> Acc(49) EndRdx(50) Rechg(50) Dmg(50)
[/ QUOTE ]
That's a great guide...I love it...Absolutely love it.
I'm sorry but your guide is kinda off..
My stone/fire tank is at 11 and only has scorch, and besides all the primaries available it only has hurdle from the fitness pool
[/ QUOTE ]
Well lets see your guide then see if this guide is kinda off. 
Nacht Nova Thunder = Level 50 (Liberty) Dark Blaster/Storm Summoning - Defender
Nova Ninja = Level 50 (Liberty) spines/ Regeneration - Scrapper
CanadianMan = Level 50 (Liberty) Super Strength/Invulnerability - Tanker
LibertyBoy = Level 35 (Liberty) Stone Armor
/Fiery Melee - Tanker
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I have yet to understand why anyone says that Stone/ is gimped, in any fashion.
First of all, it's one of the few sets that provides a Defense to Psi. Granted, it's not a resist, which would have been nice given that the bulk of the set is resists, but it's more than any other Tank gets against that particular damage type. This means that once the Carnival of Shadows shows up, your teammates need no longer fear their damage-soaker dropping.
Second, I highly suspect that a large part of why you felt gimped prior to Granite Armor is that you intentionally skipped most of the resistance toggles in the set. There isn't a single power in the Primary that's not worth taking, even Stone Skin. With creative juggling of your toggles, you should easily be able to handle any situation into which you find yourself thrust. For my part, I was capable of soloing in Invincible pretty much as soon as I had SOs, and I did have to deal with a few AVs single-handedly along the way, though I'd hardly count Maestro as that much of a challenge.
Third, Fire Sword generally isn't a useful pick. YMMV as always, but I found that the recharge time versus the damage meant I was better off slotting Scorch with an extra recharge and throwing it twice in the same timeframe.
Fourth, I think the slows in Mud Pots are a waste. Sure, it's a great power, but its radius doesn't extend far enough around you to make the slow effects that useful. I stick an endred in mine, as well as a taunt duration and an accuracy to make sure the damage actually hits.
Fifth, if you're relying on Granite for your primary mitigation, then either you would have wanted Hasten somewhere in your build to offset the reduction in recharge rate that it causes, or you'd probably want some recharges in your attacks. You don't have Taunt, and you don't have a Taunt duration in Mud Pots, so you're going to be relying on Gauntlet to hold aggro, but they're going to come up too slowly for you to reliably overcome the power of the insane elec/elec blaster that's running up beside you and zapping your herd. Worse, you're not going to be able to protect the Kin/ defender that's keeping you Speed Boosted so you can move.
Finally, I really don't think the Fighting pool is going to do you much. Yes, it's a few extra points of both resistance and defense, but it's an extra pair of end-heavy toggles that, if you have Granite, you'll never need. If you're fighting a mob in which Granite Armor, Rooted and the occasional inspiration isn't enough to overcome, then you and your team have bitten off more than you can chew.
I know that, for my part, I only use Granite as the Uh-Oh button, and at 50 I can routinely solo on Invincible and clean up three- and four-person maps, given enough time. I usually team with a Kin/Sonic defender and then a few open SK slots, and my regular teammates have learned that if I've dropped into Granite, things have not gone according to plan.
I will admit, I'm not a PvPer, but the few times I took my Stone/Fire tank into a PvP zone, it took at least three opponents to actually scratch my health bar in any serious fashion, and four to actually keep the damage coming in fast enough to really be an issue. Outside of that, I was keeping all of my targets taunted sufficiently that my teammates could make short work of the rest of the opposition. Solo, it's usually a stalemate proposition, and most Stalkers realize that pretty quickly. "Oh noes, you have ASed me; I pop Earth's Embrace now". Six toggles running means at worst, I lose mez protection for a few seconds. This is by no means an optimized PvP build, but then, I never optimize for PvP.
For comparison, here's the build that I use:
Level: 50
Archetype: Tanker
Primary: Stone Armor
Secondary: Fiery Melee
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01) --> Stone Skin==> DmgRes(1) DmgRes(3) DmgRes(3)
01) --> Scorch==> Acc(1) Rechg(23) Rechg(39) Dmg(45)
02) --> Rock Armor==> EndRdx(2) EndRdx(7) DefBuf(7) DefBuf(11) DefBuf(13)
04) --> Earth's Embrace==> Heal(4) Heal(5) Heal(5) Rechg(11) Rechg(13) Rechg(17)
06) --> Mud Pots==> Acc(6) EndRdx(15) Taunt(15) Dmg(36) Dmg(37) Dmg(37)
08) --> Rooted==> EndRdx(8) EndRdx(9) EndRdx(9) Heal(17) Heal(19) Heal(19)
10) --> Taunt==> Taunt(10)
12) --> Teleport Foe==> Acc(12)
14) --> Teleport==> Range(14)
16) --> Swift==> Run(16) Run(42) Run(46)
18) --> Health==> Heal(18) Heal(42) Heal(42)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Combustion==> Acc(22) Rechg(23) Rechg(40) Dmg(46)
24) --> Brimstone Armor==> EndRdx(24) EndRdx(25) DmgRes(25) DmgRes(31) DmgRes(34)
26) --> Crystal Armor==> EndRdx(26) EndRdx(27) DefBuf(27) DefBuf(31) DefBuf(36)
28) --> Minerals==> EndRdx(28) EndRdx(29) DefBuf(29) DefBuf(31) DefBuf(36)
30) --> Fire Sword Circle==> Acc(30) Rechg(37) Rechg(40) Dmg(45)
32) --> Granite Armor==> DmgRes(32) DmgRes(33) DmgRes(33) DefBuf(33) DefBuf(34) DefBuf(34)
35) --> Incinerate==> Acc(35) EndRdx(39) Rechg(40) Dmg(45)
38) --> Greater Fire Sword==> Acc(38) Rechg(39) Rechg(43) Dmg(46)
41) --> Build Up==> Rechg(41) Rechg(43) Rechg(43)
44) --> Char==> Acc(44)
47) --> Fire Blast==> Acc(47) EndRdx(48) Rechg(48) Dmg(48)
49) --> Fire Ball==> Acc(49) EndRdx(50) Rechg(50) Dmg(50)
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That's a great guide...I love it...Absolutely love it.
I'm sorry but your guide is kinda off..
My stone/fire tank is at 11 and only has scorch, and besides all the primaries available it only has hurdle from the fitness pool
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Well lets see your guide then see if this guide is kinda off.
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Irrelevant. A poor guide is.. *gasp* a poor guide whether another one exists or not.
In fact, it's often better if there's no guide at all.
However, this post isn't a bad guide at all. Hurdle on a stoner? I'm sure it synergizes well with rooted.
Well, Ive finally made it. Level 50 and loved (almost) all of my time getting there (except for those times where the debt just never seem to go away
). I made my Stone/Fire Tanker, Valdearg on the Infinity server, after doing a lot of research on these forums. I was looking at how people seemed to really like Fire and Ice at the time. Everyone liked to say that Stone/ wasnt worth it. You were the most gimped tanker in the game until you got Granite Armor. So, being the guy I am, I threw popular opinion to the wind and created my tank.
I must say, those first 32 level kinda killed me. I was so gimped that I couldnt take alpha from like 5 guys. Believe me, my SG wasnt exactly happy with me. Then suddenly, POW!!! Im level 32 and I kick so much that almost every group I got into, someone sent me a tell saying how uber I was. This was REALLY flattering. I was the person who could take hits from over 15 mobs 5 levels above me. I didnt even have any HOs yet. I definitely had a wow moment almost every battle I went into.
Now some skeptics are thinking, Hey Val, I want to PvP, your character sucks then. When a stalker comes up behind you and totally crits you, your pretty much screwed. Your toggles go down, and surly youll die. *Omit pun* Not true. I play with this guy in PvP and he still kicks. Your stalker friend comes up and backstabs you, the chances of him dropping all of your toggles are slim to none. You might lose your Mud Pots or your Rooted, but your Granite wont go down, and you take maybe 40 damage from that hit. Plus, your not stunned or disoriented or anything. That stalker is think WHY DIDNT HE DIE?!?!? And he runs.
But Val, youre freakin slow, you couldnt catch a snail if you had speed boost. Tis true unfortunately. The main downfall of a build like this is that your really slow. Like I CANT MOVE slow. Unfortunately, you cant even use sprint in Granite or if you had Rooted on. Thus, you take teleport and teleport foe bring those guys to you.
I chose /Fire because of the damage potential as well as the 2 nice AOEs you get. You can choose some other secondaries, but I tried other ones and this is great, especially because I hate knockbacks and this build cant deal with running to every mob.
So to recap everything: If you dont like to be REALLY slow, leave now. If you want to be the must uber and most defensive and devastating tank out there right now (dont argue with me, Im just trying to promote this build lol), then stay and listen to this uberness.
Lets begin:
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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name: Valdearg
Level: 50
Archetype: Tanker
Primary: Stone Armor
Secondary: Fiery Melee
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01) --> Stone Skin==> DmgRes(1)DmgRes(3)DmgRes(3)
01) --> Scorch==> Acc(1)
02) --> Earth's Embrace==> Heal(2)Heal(5)Heal(5)Rechg(7)Rechg(7)Rechg(9)
04) --> Fire Sword==> Dmg(4)Dmg(9)Dmg(11)Acc(13)Acc(15)Acc(15)
06) --> Swift==> Run(6)Run(11)Run(13)
08) --> Mud Pots==> Slow(8)Slow(17)Slow(17)Dmg(19)Dmg(19)Dmg(21)
10) --> Combustion==> Dmg(10)Dmg(21)Dmg(23)Acc(23)Acc(25)Acc(25)
12) --> Rooted==> Heal(12)Heal(27)Heal(27)
14) --> Recall Friend==> IntRdx(14)
16) --> Teleport==> Range(16)
18) --> Crystal Armor==> DefBuf(18)DefBuf(29)DefBuf(29)
20) --> Health==> Heal(20)Heal(31)Heal(31)
22) --> Stamina==> EndMod(22)EndMod(31)EndMod(33)
24) --> Hasten==> Rechg(24)Rechg(33)Rechg(33)
26) --> Mineral Armor==> DefBuf(26)DefBuf(34)DefBuf(34)
28) --> Fire Sword Circle==> Dmg(28)Dmg(34)Dmg(36)Acc(36)Acc(36)Acc(37)
30) --> Boxing==> DisDur(30)
32) --> Granite Armor==> DmgRes(32)DmgRes(37)DmgRes(37)DefBuf(39)DefBuf(39)DefBuf(39)
35) --> Incinerate==> Dmg(35)Dmg(40)Dmg(40)Acc(40)Acc(42)Acc(42)
38) --> Greater Fire Sword==> Dmg(38)Dmg(42)Dmg(43)Acc(43)Acc(43)Acc(45)
41) --> Conserve Power==> Rechg(41)Rechg(45)Rechg(46)EndRdx(48)EndRdx(50)
44) --> Focused Accuracy==> TH_Buf(44)TH_Buf(45)TH_Buf(46)EndRdx(46)
47) --> Tough==> DmgRes(47)DmgRes(48)DmgRes(48)
49) --> Weave==> DefBuf(49)DefBuf(50)DefBuf(50)
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01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Gauntlet==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
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Ok. Lets explain myself for some of this. Please note that they are currently in an order for a lvl 50 respec. If you are starting from scratch, I would take your travel powers first and just exchange them for whatever is in their place. Thank you.
Lets start with Lvl 1
Stone Skin: This power is a lot more useful at a higher level. Before you get Granite Armor, I would suggest taking Rock Armor (a toggle) over Stone Skin. However, when you finally get to 32, respec out of Rock Armor (for you won't use it anymore) and get Stone Skin.
Scorch: Had to take it. Do not slot this, it's kinda worthless.
Earth's Embrace: This is your life saver power when all hell as come down on you and you need a quick full health boost. It give you a nice plus to your max HP as well to keep you alive even longer. 3 Health and 3 Recharge Reduction (Thank you ED).
Fire Sword: Even at a high level I still use this power because I deals a nice DD damage plus a very small DoT damage to make this power a cool and useful BK.
Swift: This is a power that you don't normally slot but since you are the slowest creature on Earth, you gotta slot this thing. It actually helps believe it or not.
Mud Pots: This is a really good slow to keep your enemies nearby when they think they can't deal with a huge rock with a fire sword beating on them. 3 slows to beef that slow and 3 damage or accs or a combo of the 2 if your feeling adventurous.
Combustion: I nice small DD and DoT that's great at pulling agro. It had about the same range as your Mud Pots and I would 6 slot it simply to keep up the acc and make it useful to actually deal damage.
Rooted: This power is uber when you want an extra boost to your health regeneration and this gives you your nice resist to all effects except fear. I would use this in combination with Granite Armor when you know you arn't going anywhere fast.
Recall Friend/Teleport Foe: These 2 are interchangeable depending upon who you usually group with. I have Recall Friend in there because I usually group with a Kin defender and I can run even when I have rooted on. Take Teleport Foe if you don't plan on being in a lot of groups or you want to PvP a lot.
Crystal Armor: This is one of the only armors that I need when I'm fighting psionics. I use it when I decide I don't need Granite Armor (more on that later).
Health: Obvious. You need the health regen.
Stamina: This is a very energy intensive build and Stamina is a must.
Hasten: You NEED this power. When you hit 32, all of your skills recharge insanely slow. Hasten is your life saver when you want to dish out as much damage as you can.
Mineral Armor: This is your defense against psionics (since Granite Armor has none). This cannot be used with Granite Armor. I love this skill because of the cool effects that go with it and it can beat out almost all other tank builds because most all other builds don't have a defense or resistance to psionics.
Fire Sword Circle: Your bread and butter AOE attack. This does great damage and takes out everyone around you.
Boxing: I only took this power so I can later get Tough and Weave. Don't slot it.
Granite Armor (aka teh uberness): This is what makes you the most powerful and defensive tanker in the game. It gives you a defence AND a resistance to everything (except psionics). It lowers your dmg and your recharge and your speed but for the defence that comes along with it, it's well worth it. Keep this up all the time. The only time that you don't use it, is when your taking psionic people. Then you will be using Crystal Armor, Minerals, Rooted and (when needed) Earth's Embrace. Great stuff.
Incinerate: A good DoT for boss killing and killing the guys who don't die from your AOEs. This does sometimes around 30 damage a tick for 10 ticks. That's a lot of damage.
Greater Fire Sword: Your bread and butter DD attack. 'Nuff said.
Conserve Power: I took the energy mastery because of how this end intensive build can kill you when you lose your Granite Armor because of the lack of end. This really works. I slotted the extra 2 end because it too costs a bit of end.
Focused Accuracy: I like it when I am assured to almost never miss. I hope you do too. This is a toggle and an end eater. Another reason to get Conserver Power.
Tough and Weave: Very nice extra defence and resistance to your normal lethal and smashing damage. Makes you even more indestructable.
After all of that I have some reason I didn't take a couple of things. Lets go through those:
Brimstone Armor: I don't like this only because I never fight a faction that has a combo of fire and cold and psy. I don't need to fill up another slot.
Taunt: I've gotten so used to having everyone taunted on me that I found that I never used taunt any more. Some people are a firm believer in taunt and you should always take it. I don't simply because I move around enough that I don't use it. If your not like me in this sense, go ahead and switch out something like Focused Accuracy or Incinerate or something that you think that you won't use a lot.
Breath of Fire: I've heard nothing but bad things about this power. I have over 5 attacks that I use, and I use tons of end as it is and I don't need another attack that doesn't work that well to sap my end.
Build Up: I just didn't take this power because this is a defensive build, not a damage dealing build. I don't have an uber power that can one shot a red or purple so I have not need for Build up.
I think that's about it. I hope you enjoyed this commentary. Please give me any comments or constuctive criticism. I hope you have fun. This build is for the people who want to feel invunrable (for real).
Happy hunting!