what is the secondary? cos like fire secondary would be coolios for non granite, i always wnated to try non granite but i couldnt be bothered.
superstrength secondary has i still like to smash and i found a fire rather lame sound effect for me.
did a fire brute on CoV but by lvl 30 was rather bored 
If you are not getting Granite then your only options are Tough, Weave, Aid Self, Maneuvers, Hasten ( to speed up recharge of earth's Embrace ) or control type powers from your secondary ( Hand Clap / Foot Stomp ). I haven't tried hand clap or Foot Stomp so I can't advise there.
Aid Self is the best choice from a pure numbers point of view, it is interruptible but is available very often. It does seem a bit lame though.
Tough and Weave together are both worthwhile IMO, although Weave has only a small defence bonus ( 6.75% 3 slotted ), it does affect all damage types and so will stack with your primary. There are quite expensive toggles, costing more each than the toggles from your primary by about 50%.
Maneuvers provides a small defence bonus ( 3.5 3 slotted ) this stacks with armours the same as weave. This is a costly toggle.
Hasten speeds up Earth Embrace, whilst this does make a difference it is far less than Tough or Weave. It has about the same effect on survivability through EE being up quicker as Maneuvers but also increases attack rate.
If you had all of these powers you would be as tough as if you had a single slotted Granite ( slotted for resistance ).
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
i had thought about healing pool my self and am still considering it.
earths embrace already slotted three health, three recharge and hasten three slotted recharge , if dun at start of fight basically takes me from 1 mob to the next with no difficulty.
if i were to go healing pool i may even consider 6 slot health and add another health to rooted just to max out the health regen rate with the lvl 34 respec looming , think i might pander to that idea b4 i decide.
I only have tough and can tank +2s and +3s easy enough but do rely on Tremor and Fault to seriously reduce incoming damage. Gets tricky when they attack at range and certain mob types will always be hard. Tough drains my end badly so I can imagine what weave might be like on top. Can see that being a problem as Fault and Tremor do more to keep me safe than I suspect Weave would and I wouldn't be able to use them much with no end....
AV's would be hard. Can tank 50% of them without GA as long as they are only about +1 but the rest just do too much damage.
ARRRGH YES BOYS N GIRLS WICKED IDEA I FORGOT!
my secret for my next tanker
invul/ice without unstoppable
wil not work too well in suation where slip from icey melee
I C E P A T C H. wil work super, when ur getting duffed just turn on ice patch and u wil be fine.
with invul invincebility i wil stil have all of them around me slippin n giving me a bonus
its also possible to perma the icey melee ice patch! wa za ta da!
@Flange
Defiants one and only flange
232 badges
Lui - lvl 50 energy/energy blaster
AuroraPB - lvl 50...PB
Amoeba - lvl 35 Granite/Fire
Zombie Russel - lvl 30 Katana/Invul
Kamigawa - lvl 25 Katana/Super reflexes
Salizar - Fire/Rad ( in the making )
ARRRGH YES BOYS N GIRLS WICKED IDEA I FORGOT!
my secret for my next tanker
invul/ice without unstoppable
wil not work too well in suation where slip from icey melee
I C E P A T C H. wil work super, when ur getting duffed just turn on ice patch and u wil be fine.
with invul invincebility i wil stil have all of them around me slippin n giving me a bonus
its also possible to perma the icey melee ice patch! wa za ta da!
@Flange
Defiants one and only flange
232 badges
Lui - lvl 50 energy/energy blaster
AuroraPB - lvl 50...PB
Amoeba - lvl 35 Granite/Fire
Zombie Russel - lvl 30 Katana/Invul
Kamigawa - lvl 25 Katana/Super reflexes
Salizar - Fire/Rad ( in the making )
got my 2nd stone tank at lvl 31,for which i wont be taking granite.
currently have all shields but minerals ,which will be taken by lvl 40.
in the main earths embrace get me out of most situations ,but i'm now gettin to the point where instead of being +1 +2s ,i'm being asked to do +3s which is gettin tricky.
so is tough an weave worth it ,i have no experience of these powers an wondered what opinion would be and how they would help me?