I found Ice Patch still highly useful from 22 to the late 30s on my Inv/Ice. Until I had Weave in the build, everything well-slotted and most of the set bonuses I wanted, Ice Patch was crucial in keeping me alive.
Ice Patch, then jump in air and Frost as "Death from Above" was also important to my limited damage output.
Late 30s and beyond, with all the defenses in place, and with some enemies not vulnerable to knockdown, Ice Patch became less of an automatic thing. Now only use it against exceptionally large & dangerous spawns, enemies that target my weakness, or just for the fun of it. It's still a fun power.
Nice to have a power that's as effective as it is without any slotting, too.
QR
The thing about ice patch is that it's nice to have SOMETHING as an ice/ice tanker when you are facing foes that do psi or fire damage.
Then it is pretty much just chilling embrace and ice patch keeping you in the game.
"Hi, my name is Ail. I make people sick."
A partial selection from my 50's on Freedom: Ail = Ice/Traps, Luck = Street Justice/Super Reflexes Stalker, Mist = Bane, Pixy = Trick Arrow/Archery, Pure = Gravity/Energy, Smoke = Fire/Fire Dominator
[ QUOTE ]
QR
The thing about ice patch is that it's nice to have SOMETHING as an ice/ice tanker when you are facing foes that do psi or fire damage.
Then it is pretty much just chilling embrace and ice patch keeping you in the game.
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This. As I IO'd out Aett, I found that I was using Ice Patch less and less. Still, against certain mobs, it was definitely nice to have. Frozen Aura allowing me to actually kill large groups also lessened the need for Ice Patch. On the way up though, I'd still suggest taking it to people, since it's a great survival tool that needs no additional slots at a time when you can probably use all the slots you're getting.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
I still hate Ice Patch. A power that roots you in place for the (long) animation has no place in a Defense build, which can be potentially crippled at any time. I'd rather be up, moving, and able to hit Hoarfrost or an inspiration.
Depends the primary. For Fire/Ice, Ice Patch is fairly important for Burn.
In larger groups later on you will generally have a Controller that can AOE control the mobs, or another toon with similar abilities that will render Ice Patch rarely used (as Aett noted).
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I still hate Ice Patch. A power that roots you in place for the (long) animation has no place in a Defense build, which can be potentially crippled at any time. I'd rather be up, moving, and able to hit Hoarfrost or an inspiration.
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you could always pull a mob to your ice patch :P..but yeah it does have a long animation..
It's nice to have 1-2 range enhancements in Frost, I think back in the day i ran (1)Acc,(2)Dam,(1)Rech, (2)Range. This was before IO's tho...
Positron's in frost looks pretty good, even at low lvl's
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]
perma jump is ---> /up 1
I have Frost frankenslotted with IO's, can't recall what off the top of my head. I'll try to post it later when I get home.
I still love Ice Patch, and use it regularly on my Ice/Ice Tank. And not having to add slots? Bonus! The animation time doesn't bother me, my Aura's are busy ticking them off and my attention span is not so short that I need to click on Hey! Let's go ride bikes!
My memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
"The tip of a shoelace is called an aglet, its true purpose is sinister." The Question
Re Ice Patch: For my Stone/Ice, pre-Granite, Ice Patch & Rooted did more for my survival than all my other armors (Rock, Stone Skin, Crystal) combined. I imagine it'd be similar for Ice/Ice pre EA. At 50, I don't use it so much, bit I'd still never go w/o it. Does wonders for Rikti Magi and the like. 
For Frost, a real simple solution is 5 slot Posi's (Skip the D/E) and a range IO (will give you 14.1 range at lvl 50). The recharge isn't awesome w/that plan (only like 26%), but you pick up some nice bonuses, incl the 6.25% recharge. If you have enough global accuracy, you can frankenslot all 3 Dam/Range, the Dam/End/Range, and 2 Rech IOs, but only if you have a *ton* of outside accuracies to play with. I think 5-slotting Posi's is the best way to go, personally.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
I slot 2 acc/rech from taunt, one recharge from a taunt set, and 3 dam/rang HO's. It works well.
YMMV---IMO
Ice Ember
You know, I always forget about HOs when frankenslotting. And I have so many Centrioles sitting in my base. Still like 5-slotting Posi's for the +6.25 recharge for my Stone/Ice, but if I weren't Stone, I think I'd prolly go that route.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
Frost
<ul type="square">[*]Invention IO: Accuracy (50)[*]HamiO: Centriole Exposure (Dam/Rng)[*]HamiO: Centriole Exposure (Dam/Rng)[*]Positron's Blast: Dam/Rng (25)[*]Positron's Blast: Acc/Dam/End (25)[*]Pacing of the Turtle: Chance of -Recharge (20)[/list]
<ul type="square">[*]58.40% Accuracy[*]95.39% Damage (Pre-ED: 102.60%)[*]16.00% End Discount[*]50.40% Range (Pre-ED: 52.00%)[/list]
Positron's Blast (2/6): +2.5% (0.04 END/sec) Recovery
Does a pretty "decent" job of enhancing the power for everything other than recharge ... which is fine, if you've got a lot of recharge in your set bonus totals. Sadly, mixing acc+rng+dam+rech+end reduction all together seems to be a bit of a "bridge too far" as far as the IO sets for PBAoE/Slow/Taunt are concerned. You can get 4 out of 5 of those properties, but not 5 out of 5 together ... while reserving the 6th slot for the -Recharge proc.
It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...
What are some of the "better ways" people have found to slot Frost in */Ice Melee? I'm trying to settle on a 6-slot strategy for Frost and am wondering if anyone's come up with a more brilliant plan than the sorts of things I'm contemplating.
How useful is Ice Patch these days for an */Ice Melee tanker ... or even better yet, an Ice/Ice tanker? I remember how it used to be back in Issue 12 ... but I'm wondering if due to all of the new(er) options available if the usefulness of Ice Patch has (in relative terms) been diminished of late?