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Im just the opposite. I cannot stand Rage. I still took it, I just don't like it. Its just not fun. Of all my 50 tanks, my /SS is my least favorite because of rage. I know, Im weird that way
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I tried to understand, but I used some objectivity when reading. I have a Granite/SS and took rage for the -dmg of GA, I never have a problem popping Rage and going to work on enemies. The weaken debuff lasts for ten seconds. If you cant handle the wait then, tanking is not for you. Lets not forget you can perma Rage, which keeps me running Rage all mission long. Don't get confused, just because its not called Build up, it does the same thing for a longer period. Thats like saying you hate hitting hard for more than ten seconds. 
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Yes I know all about perma rage and how to live through the debuff, I had it and used it even way back when you were affecting only self with it.
Its just the feel of it..for a lack of a better explanation. Its the the animation..the glow....the "i better wait 5 seconds before charging in so I can hit hard". I just dont like it.
I even took hand clap just so it'd give me something to use when rage was down that I knew didnt do damage anyway...I just cannot get into a good rhythm with a /SS tank.
But I have no problem waiting for Aim + BU on a blaster before firing. It seems those penalties just feel less of an obstacle for me to overcome. I can still hit hard with a blaster w/o Aim+BU, maybe thats it. But an SS tank out of rage just feels like girl fighting to me (sorry to any ladies I offended, just trying to make a point).
-Largo
Founder of A.G.O.N.Y. Supergroup on Victory
Member of Thought Sanctum VG on Victory
Member of St0rm Batallion SG on Guardian
I would recommend invul/fire. I'm running one now and he's a lot of fun. dive into a big group and get the invinc +def bonus then AoE the buggers.
We don' need no stinkin' signatures!
Only level 32, so I can't say how well this scales, but I am feeling pretty insane on my SD/DM. Here's what I do:
1) Enter mission on invulnerable, preferably against melee-oriented enemies.
2) Grab about 10 enemies from 3-5 spawns.
3) Get them all arranged around me and then Soul Drain for about 50 damage each.
4) Shield Charge for 250+ damage each. This usually kills or nearly kills minions and leaves lieutenants under 50%.
5) Finish off the remaining mobs with shadow punch/smite/siphon while Shield Charge recharges.
6) Kill 2-3 more spawns with just an initial shield charge.
7) Soul Drain should be recharged, go to step 1.
This works well in PUG's too where I find that, with buffs and depending on team mix, I can be a real damage power house on top of tanking. It also helps that it's easy to get your enemies grouped quickly and your shield charge can take the heat off of the initial alpha strike.
Caveat: this is my first character so I don't know how it feels compared to other builds. I just know that compared to other players in my PUG's I feel pretty damn powerful. I have Shield Charge fully slotted with Multistrike (which was quite affordable) but I haven't been able to slot up Soul Drain yet. I hear I'm about to get a lot of damage with Midnight Grasp too so I'm hoping that the momentum will keep going and I'll still feel this uber at 50.
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You're doing it wrong if it costs you "billions". Both in building it and playing the market.
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My purpled-out build says otherwise.
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Wow, you found room for purples?
I have just finished* painstakingly slotting out my Inv/SS Tanker for typed defense. (*Finished subject to the caveat that he's 48 so he has 1 power and 4 more slots [counting the default in that power] to go, and I also am still waiting on two bids to come in that will boost his +regen. The defense part's all done though.)
I feel like I had no room for purples, because purples don't have typed defense bonuses. Pretty much all my powers have sets for typed defense bonuses (and through careful planning, still pretty good enhancement values). My utility powers are either one-slotted or in the case of Dull Pain, can't be purpled.
I do have room for the Hecatomb proc in Jab, but I might stick another end reducer in there instead. that's just one IO though, not a set.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding -- are you purpling AND soft-capping? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm feeling like I must have missed something.
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I operate under a totally different design philosophy than most Invulnerability Tanks. 
My first post was more sarcasm than anything - I'm aware that most Invulnerability upgrades focus purely on the Defense cap and don't cost even a fraction of what I went for. I am more well-rounded with my upgrades, with a strong emphasis on procs in my attacks. After all, what's dead can't hurt you anymore.
Most folks can't stand the idea of Invulnerability not being at the Smashing/Lethal cap at Resistance or Defense and put alot of their focus on either of those categories through powers and IOs. I'm perfectly fine without them - with this build, I have successfully Tanked everything short of Hamidon in this game with little issue thanks to the use of accolades, utilities, inspirations (where needed), etc. - all which are readily available. My thoughts are that if something can handle 95% of the situations in the game without buffs of any kind, it's solid enough to put some emphasis elsewhere.
| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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That's the build information to date(which, aside from Proc IO levels - which have no bearing - is a perfect duplicate of my build to date including IO Set levels). I already have a mildly-upgraded PvP IO-friendly build I put together from scratch since Mids Hero Designer isn't up-to-date yet that I'm saving up around 1.5 Billion for.
Please note I'm not here to argue the validity of this build or seek feedback, I just wanted to clarify the purples question.
Raid Leader of Task Force Vendetta "Steel 70", who defeated the first nine Drop Ships in the Second Rikti War.
70 Heroes, 9 Drop Ships, 7 Minutes. The Aliens never knew what hit them.
Now soloing: GM-Class enemy Adamaster, with a Tanker!
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Mind if I ask why you'd skip them?
Tremor I can sort of understand. It has one of the slowest animations and has a lower base damage than some, but it's still an AoE and it has a nice 15ft radius. Not having any AoEs is a real drag. (SS was getting tedious to me pre-38. To be fair, my SM is Fiery Aura, so I had Blazing Aura to supplement it.)
Fault boggles me, though. It's hands down the best control power Tankers have access to. I'd go so far as to say that Fault is a defining power of Stone Melee. I can't imagine ever skipping it.
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I use Taunt and (said AoE taunt aura here), when I Tank so its not an issue of aoe. I've played an Invul/enrg, and a Fire/dark, way before I tried SM, I find through my experience Fault and Tremor aren't needed in my case. I just don't NEED them. I have tried them and while fun at early levels, once you get to the point where blaster and scrappers are shredding through mobs (past 32), holding a mob in place for five seconds isn't really noticed when their all dead.
YMMV do I need to post this?, obviously skipping them hasnt hampered my tanking ability. Just posting that their not really needed in the long run. And while yes they do have their place in SM builds, they aren't "go to" powers in my builds. Fun visuals to watch, but to me, their only useful when you don't have a single scrapper or blaster to do dmg on said mob.
"If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything"
"You're like Giraffe's, the way you look down on me, with your vegetarian scorn."
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Only level 32, so I can't say how well this scales, but I am feeling pretty insane on my SD/DM. Here's what I do:
1) Enter mission on invulnerable, preferably against melee-oriented enemies.
2) Grab about 10 enemies from 3-5 spawns.
3) Get them all arranged around me and then Soul Drain for about 50 damage each.
4) Shield Charge for 250+ damage each. This usually kills or nearly kills minions and leaves lieutenants under 50%.
5) Finish off the remaining mobs with shadow punch/smite/siphon while Shield Charge recharges.
6) Kill 2-3 more spawns with just an initial shield charge.
7) Soul Drain should be recharged, go to step 1.
This works well in PUG's too where I find that, with buffs and depending on team mix, I can be a real damage power house on top of tanking. It also helps that it's easy to get your enemies grouped quickly and your shield charge can take the heat off of the initial alpha strike.
Caveat: this is my first character so I don't know how it feels compared to other builds. I just know that compared to other players in my PUG's I feel pretty damn powerful. I have Shield Charge fully slotted with Multistrike (which was quite affordable) but I haven't been able to slot up Soul Drain yet. I hear I'm about to get a lot of damage with Midnight Grasp too so I'm hoping that the momentum will keep going and I'll still feel this uber at 50.
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I just got my SD/DM to 50 and it only gets better.
I've been with groups where they wipe on a spawn only to sit there and watch me solo them down in record time.
Probably one of the best Tanker builds I've worked since the original Burn Tankers (and SD/DM trumps that because you're much tougher).
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Lastly, we have Stone melee. Anyone can tell you, its powerful. Slow and usually full of heart felt misses. But never the less, it shines when its accurate. Deadly in the higher levels, but Fault and Tremor always make me reconsider picking it, or at the very least, make me skip them. Either way, its a slow build up for Stone M.
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Mind if I ask why you'd skip them?
Tremor I can sort of understand. It has one of the slowest animations and has a lower base damage than some, but it's still an AoE and it has a nice 15ft radius. Not having any AoEs is a real drag. (SS was getting tedious to me pre-38. To be fair, my SM is Fiery Aura, so I had Blazing Aura to supplement it.)
Fault boggles me, though. It's hands down the best control power Tankers have access to. I'd go so far as to say that Fault is a defining power of Stone Melee. I can't imagine ever skipping it.
Just my opinion, of course, but I feel both powers have their place in SM builds.