Power pools for Shield/Ice tanker
well i have a shield/fire but your gonna need tough and weave and hasten is good as well
and yup stamina is a must.
your main goal is to soft cap it to45% defense to really help make ya golden.you can use a ton of different sets to help it out.
On mine I wont go for tough/weave, but it's because I plan to soft cap her with IO sets as soon as I reach 50, in the meanwhile I have CJ and a 3% steadfast, so she's softcapped (45% in all positions) with only a small purple. Before each mission I refill my inspi tray with purples only, and I dont have a problem being the main tank even on tough maps.
However, if you don't plan to invest in expensive IO sets at 50, getting to weave asap is a better choice i think. Your both toggles, Phalanx 5%, CJ 2x slotted for defense, the steadfast IO and weave with 3 defense IOs = something like 43% defense, close to the soft cap. You'll live well there, without inspis.
Hasten is a must have if you ask me. Hasten 3xslotted for recharge, BU 3xslotted for recharge, Shield Charge frankenslotted so it has something like 25% acc, 95% dam, 25% end, 95% rech. In this way SC and BU are always up together, and very often.
Of course you'll need stamina asap (level 20).
Powers to avoid or not : everything is a no brainer in SD, but Grant Cover, not that it's not useful but you can go without.
For /Ice it's a bit more complex, most attacks are good, it's up to you. I would take in first place the AoEs (Frost and Frozen Aura) and slot them for damage, then also BU (to go with SC). A good solid second choice would be Ice Sword to have more single target attacks in case you have to solo something. Taunt can be quite useful also, I wouldnt skip it if you plan to be main tank in large teams.
For the Epics, it's a matter of personnal choice. /Fire seems the logical choice for dmg (filler, Fire Blast + Fireball), but /Ice is the logical choice for concept (filler, Ice Blast or Shiver + Ice Storm) and not that bad either. I think I'll go with the second one on mine. Note that it's not easy to go down to the 3rd epic power and at the same time take everything you need from powersets and pools... You may easily fall short of power choices.
Anyway, it was just to give a few tips. Don't hesitate to ask any more question. Good luck with your toon
[ QUOTE ]
I've decided to roll my first tanker (mostly play blasters/corruptors/dominators/defenders). I didn't know what powersets are the best or anything like that so I went with Shield Ice for thematic reasons. I think I'll be okay with it since Shield is supposedly very offensive for a defensive set and Ice melee is pretty defensive (soft controls).
2 questions...
Anyone have suggestions on power pools to take? Will I need stamina? Should I get hasten? Are the fighting pools worth it?
Anyone have suggestions on powers to avoid for Shield/Ice?
[/ QUOTE ]
Mine ended up with Fitness through Stamina, Leaping for CJ and Super Jump, and Fitness through Tough. I'm another of those who has buffed up their defense with IO sets to avoid weave. The end cost was driving me nuts. Tough, meanwhile, I can't recommend enough. Those higher-end S/L hits will tend to do enough damage to pose a little bit of a problem without it; the Romans are particularly bad since they come with def debuffs.
The earlier you can squeeze weave in the more effective a tanker you'll be when exemplared, if that's a point of interest.
I ended up in Arctic Mastery, looking way down to Ancillary pools. Shield Charge, Ice Storm, and Frozen Aura give me acceptable AoE damage, stacking Ice Block with Freezing Touch is handy, and ice blast is part of my attack chain.
I've been looking at mids and it seems like I definitely won't have enough power slots to take all the powers I want (every power in both shield and ice sound useful).
As a PvE tanker, is it good to get things like single target holds (freezing touch) or just leave that to the rest of the team?
Why is Freezing Aura good if it sleeps the opponents (I thought teams don't really care much for sleep)?
Is power pool version of taunt worth it? Is acrobatics?
freezing aura had damage placed in it..yes its still a sleep but its and aoe damage power now more then a sleep
I've decided to roll my first tanker (mostly play blasters/corruptors/dominators/defenders). I didn't know what powersets are the best or anything like that so I went with Shield Ice for thematic reasons. I think I'll be okay with it since Shield is supposedly very offensive for a defensive set and Ice melee is pretty defensive (soft controls).
2 questions...
Anyone have suggestions on power pools to take? Will I need stamina? Should I get hasten? Are the fighting pools worth it?
Anyone have suggestions on powers to avoid for Shield/Ice?