The Ice Man Rocketh
And you have Absorb energy, since I got this one power playing my tank has become so much simpler. I hardly ever have to worry about endurance and have not had to waste slots to get the fitness pool.
I wholeheartedly agree about Hibernate. It is the wild card that let's you escape bad luck of the dice ( mixing metaphors terribly here ). I think it is a much maligned power and I personally prefer it to Unstoppable.
Also the only resistance based tank is Fire. To call invulnerability resistance based is misguided. They are defence based and can reach the same levels as Ice, however not during the alpha strike as they need enemies to get that protection. Stone is not resistance based until you hit granite and they have a pretty solid amount of defence there too, better than an Ice Tank unless the Ice Tank has Energy Absorbtion defence buffs left over.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
I still don't like Hibernate; I won't argue that it's a superb survivability tool, but if, as you suggested, you needed to spend 1/3 of a protracted battle in Hibernate, the rest of your team would almost certainly be dead.
With Hibernate active, you have no aggro control other than what was running at the point you activated it. 30 seconds of no Taunt, taunt aura or punch-voke and none of the mobs will have even a passing interest in you.
On the other hand, if you team is capable of surviving while you sit in Hibernate (usually without forewarning), then you have to wonder if they really need you in the team at all.
Omnes relinquite spes, o vos intrantes
My Characters
CoX Chatlog Parser
Last.fm Feed
I run hibernate for periods of 10 seconds, rarely anymore than that. Running it for 1/3rd of the battle is irresponsible and shows that your team probably doesn't need you. Although saying that some teams just want a tanker for the alpha strike in which case Hibernate serves that pretty well.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
[ QUOTE ]
I won't argue that it's a superb survivability tool, but if, as you suggested, you needed to spend 1/3 of a protracted battle in Hibernate, the rest of your team would almost certainly be dead.
[/ QUOTE ]
If the rest of the team were so useless as to fail to heal you, or to kill or mez enemies, so much that you had to spend any serious time in Hibernation, they aren't worth saving. Not only can they not survive without you, they seem to be wanting you to solo PL the mission for them.
No, I was thinking of soloing particularly hard bosses, or PvP in describing such a protracted single fight. If you had a team with you, no fight should really last long enough for that to be a possibility, never mind an actuality.
http://www.savecoh.com/
My problem with team members are entirely based upon not allowing me to fully taunt control before they start. I am aware that there are streaks of possible heavy hits that may reduce you to popping into hibernate. However as Unthing is with 10 secs its not that different to Rage which is also 10 secs. You can keep aggro over this (i not tried AVs tho with an Icetank but doubt it at certain stages of certain AVs especially with certain secondaries) but this just leads me to my pretty much only problem with team members in not allowing me to fully taunt control before they start. I dislike using Rage so I can also understand Spad with hibernate. However just after the first Alpha i'd expect the team to allow me to consolidate so if they see me go into hibernate they wouldnt of already started attacking and can wait a mo out of perception range.
[ QUOTE ]
One of the first things you come across when people talk about Ice Tanks is that "defence is a luck-based protection". These people are usually those awfully pesimistic people for whom the glass is always half empty.
[/ QUOTE ]
I dont know anyone who says the Icetank is gimped so not sure on the half empty bit. Luck based it is like it or not.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
Ice is combination of luck and control. That makes it skill based - your luck based defenses create a variable situation and you then apply the excellent and extremely powerful tools of chilling embrace, hoarfrost, and hibernate to control it.
Hibernate is a very cool power because it's so versatile. You can hide and heal for 30 seconds in a desperate situation to effectively give yourself an extra life, or you can freeze up for a mere moment to block some impending big hit. You can hibernate briefly to recover health or endurance, or to counteract an unlucky damage spike. It's a great option to possess.
[ QUOTE ]
you will go into a fight that no other tank could survive and walk out without a scratch because luck ran good for you.
[/ QUOTE ]
Granite tank says otherwise
i'm a bit 50/50 with regards to hibernate. the thing i dont like is that it feels like it takes soooooo long when you're stood in the middle of the mob and can't hit them cause of it. I know in reality, it's only a few seconds, but in this game a lot can happen in a matter of seconds.
hibernate, imo, is a good power. not as powerful as unstoppable or GA, but without their inherant penalties.. which puts all three on a par.
best thing about ice tanks, imo, is undeniably chilling embrace. SUCH a good power!
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
you will go into a fight that no other tank could survive and walk out without a scratch because luck ran good for you.
[/ QUOTE ]
Granite tank says otherwise
[/ QUOTE ]
A Granite tank would not walk out again.
At least not before this time NEXT millennium...
Just because granite is uber doesnt mean, he wont survive a slaughter, it comes down to skill. A [censored] tank will not survive, granite or not. Ice is more favourable in my opinion, the debuffs put me off lvl up my granite who is stuck one bar away from 34.
lol i understand this post is not meant to be comparing ice armour to stone armour,but just from me playing my stone tank (3 bars away from level 36) with a ice/nrg tank level 37 in the team ...... he was struggling,i was tanking level 42s with ease thanks to granite now slotted 3res 3def this could be and individual case maybe he wasnt as skilled as other ice tanks are but he was dieing every other mob and was eventually sk'd to level 40 at which level he still just a secondary tanker me actually being the one herding them up for the team, since i hit lvl 32 i have been looking for a tank that can take the same amount of aggro as a stone tank as the de buffs in granite have been putting me off even with hasten and rage helping me a bit. i previously thought an ice tank would be the tank that could do this, but now ive been put off lol i dont think and ice tank could run into any fight and survive where a granite tank could not, but if anybody does hav the answer to my prayers a tank that can take almost as much dmg as a granite and move then tell me! but till then i'll stick with stoner lol
Tanking is not just about taking damage - it doesn't matter how much damage you can take if you can't manage aggro properly.
Many a time has a Stone Tanker in Granite Armour stood proud as they survive insurmountable odds while the rest of their team start the long trek back from hospital.
Omnes relinquite spes, o vos intrantes
My Characters
CoX Chatlog Parser
Last.fm Feed
Tanking +5s is something only a Granite can do consistantly, especially on a large team I'd say an Ice tank with all the powers can do +3s ( +4s with support ). If you add Aid Self or Weave I'd up that maybe by +1 but I'm not sure.
The difference better an Ice tank tanking and a Granite tanking is that whilst a Granite is brilliant at shrugging off aggro but no so good at taking damage, an Ice tank is less good at taking damage but is the master of grabbing aggro. There is no way to buff aggro-magnetism survivability but lots of ways to buff survivability ( 80% of defender primaries ), so it depends on the rest of the team and the players involved who ends up best. The other thing is whilst the stone tank is really slow, the Ice tank slows everyone down so appears really fast.
All tank primaries have their forte and often the enemy type, playstyle and the other player in the team make so much difference.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
[ QUOTE ]
Ice is combination of luck and control. That makes it skill based
[/ QUOTE ]
My ice tank is on my last tank to 50 list, lets get the skill based tanks to 50 first! Thats cos she has icepatch cos honestly the only skill required from a primary is: heal in time, know your aura for taunt duration and know your limits in terms of survivability with a given team and tank to make up for them and thats no different to any tank.
@Joshua, Thing with tanking +5s Joshua is they arent subjected to high levels of taunt duration, you can herd and then the icetank can aggro steal, be attacked more and do himself no favours. When double tanking its best if auras of tanks dont cusp but at those levels an icetank will get hit more and harder without the resistances to back it up. My icetank would usually be better off but then she has an icepatch.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
[ QUOTE ]
but if anybody does hav the answer to my prayers a tank that can take almost as much dmg as a granite and move then tell me! but till then i'll stick with stoner lol
[/ QUOTE ]
Easy, use TP self, a LOT. Amazing tricks can be done with this power to keep aggro. As for not keeping aggro, get provoke as well, slot taunt and provoke for recharge and there is no way an ice tank can keep aggro more than you, AND you can shrug off damage.
@Boerewors
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
you will go into a fight that no other tank could survive and walk out without a scratch because luck ran good for you.
[/ QUOTE ]
Granite tank says otherwise
[/ QUOTE ]
I've teamed with Granite tanks many times with both of my Ice Tanks. There are situations where no tank is going to have a picnic. Lack of team buffs, and a lot of inbound slows and end-drain debuffs for example. A granite tank without SB is a bit of a gimp anyway, but when hit with slows, he's the saddest lump of useless inert rock you could play.
Meanwhile, the Ice Tank, highly resistant to slows, and not needing buffs just to get through a mission in less than a month, just sailed on through.
Granite armour is incredible, which is why it has such extreme penalties to balance it out.
The buffs it takes just to enable a granite tank to actually have a fight, rather than be an inert punchbag turn any tank into an awesome killer - with or without granite.
If you'd like to see that demonstrated, I'd be happy to team my ice tank with your granite clad stoner, and count bodies as we go. How about we start with CoTs with big mobs of earth thorns, and then move on to Knives of Artemis with the stacked caltrops?
My Ice Tank doesn't need RA, doesn't need SB, and in fact needs no buffs at all bar an occassional heal, though he does appreciate anything that raises his defence cap, like Fort.
My Ice/Ice tank adores Malta mobs, happily running in to slap a freeze hold on the sapper, putting him instantly out of the fight. On the very rare occassions where he misses, or the slightly less rare occassions where there is a second sapper, the sapper has generally missed me with enough shots that I take him out before he ever hits me.
Now of course, I'm citing cases where Ice is unusually strong where other tanks are weak. But that is the point. While there are certain situations in which a Stone Tank can outlast my Ice one, there are very few where it can out-perform one.
http://www.savecoh.com/
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
but if anybody does hav the answer to my prayers a tank that can take almost as much dmg as a granite and move then tell me! but till then i'll stick with stoner lol
[/ QUOTE ]
Easy, use TP self, a LOT. Amazing tricks can be done with this power to keep aggro. As for not keeping aggro, get provoke as well, slot taunt and provoke for recharge and there is no way an ice tank can keep aggro more than you, AND you can shrug off damage.
[/ QUOTE ]
Ice Tanks will always grab more aggro than an Granite tank. -70% recharge on taunt and provoke?. Less gauntlet taunting?. Chilling Embrace and Icicles?. Less mobility?.
Asfar as I can see, even maxed out aggro'ing a Granite tank will not outperform even an Ice tank with one slot in taunt. Thats the price you pay for being a Granite.
I think that maybe looking at a couple of sample builds may be helpful in understanding just what an Ice Tank can do. Anyone of you with Ice Tank builds you love are welcome to share them here, with a few notes, where they may inspire others to discover the absolute joys of Ice Armour.
The following is an Ice/Ice tank that was designed to be a dedicated team meat-shield tank, and in that role will excell. However, this build is not a heavy-hitter, and would chug along pretty slowly if used for soloing.
Name: Meatshield Ice Tanker
Level: 50
Archetype: Tanker
Primary: Ice Armor
Secondary: Ice Melee
---------------------------------------------
01) - Frozen Armor - EndRdx(1) DefBuf(3) EndRdx(3) DefBuf(7) DefBuf(7) EndRdx(40)
01) - Frozen Fists - Acc(1) Acc(5) Dmg(5) Rechg(9) Dmg(9) Dmg(40)
02) - Chilling Embrace - EndRdx(2) Slow(11) Taunt(11) Slow(37) Slow(46)
04) - Hoarfrost - Heal(4) Rechg(13) Heal(13) Rechg(15) EndRdx(15) Heal(46)
06) - Wet Ice - EndRdx(6)
08) - Combat Jumping - DefBuf(8)
10) - Taunt - Rechg(10) Taunt(17) Taunt(37)
12) - Swift - Run(12)
14) - Super Jump - Jump(14)
16) - Health - Heal(16) Heal(17) Heal(31)
18) - Glacial Armor - EndRdx(18) DefBuf(19) DefBuf(19) DefBuf(23) EndRdx(39)
20) - Ice Patch - Rechg(20) Rechg(21) EndRdx(21)
22) - Stamina - EndMod(22) EndMod(23) EndMod(25)
24) - Icicles - EndRdx(24) EndRdx(25) Acc(29) Acc(31) Dmg(31) Dmg(33)
26) - Energy Absorbtion - Rechg(26) EndMod(27) Rechg(27) EndMod(29) EndRdx(34) EndMod(39)
28) - Boxing - Acc(28)
30) - Tough - EndRdx(30) DmgRes(34) EndRdx(34) DmgRes(39)
32) - Hibernate - Rechg(32) Rechg(33) Rechg(33)
35) - Freezing Touch - Acc(35) Acc(36) Hold(36) Hold(36) Rechg(37) Dmg(45)
38) - Weave - EndRdx(38) DefBuf(40) DefBuf(43) EndRdx(43)
41) - Focused Accuracy - EndRdx(41) EndRdx(42) TH_Buf(42) TH_Buf(42) TH_Buf(43) EndRdx(46)
44) - Hasten - Rechg(44) Rechg(45) Rechg(45)
47) - Greater Ice Sword - Acc(47) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) Acc(48) Dmg(50)
49) - Build Up - Rechg(49) Rechg(50) Rechg(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) - Sprint - EndRdx(1)
01) - Brawl - Acc(1)
01) - Gauntlet - Empty(1)
02) - Rest - IntRdx(2)
You'll notice a lot of end-reductions in the slotting. Ice Armour is very heavy on endurance, and since this particular build is based on maxing out the defence side, and is therefore low on damage dealing, a lot of fights may last a long time unless you have damage-dealing teammates.
This is a build that is designed to tank constantly through any mission or task force without ever needing a rest in most cases. Energy Absorbtion is a fantastic power for regaining endurance, and one of the best powers in the Ice Armour set, often missed out on because people mistakenly slot it for defence enhancing.
You may wonder why I chose to take Ice Patch at 20th level, leaving Stamina to 22nd. Once you take the Ice Patch you'll know exactly why. This is an amazing damage prevention power, which combined with your high defence and slow effects, is why you can outlast a granite tanker in most cases. That's why Ice Melee is generally the best defensive compliment to any tanker primary.
Of course, you can't help noticing that this build has only the basic attack power and brawl for damaging, until gaining Icicles at level 24. I did say that this build was geared to defence. However, Frozen Fists is a fast-recharging attack, and in this build it has a single recharge enhance slotted so that it is a constant jabbing attack that keeps your gauntlet up. In numbers terms, it means you are doing equivalent damage a little over 2 brawls per second before you get Icicles.
Again, this is a defensive build that is nigh-on unbeatable at defending and herding for a team, holding aggro supremely well, and able to move around very quickly to adapt to situations such as another wave of mobs suddenly ambushing.
I'll put up a more aggressive build later, but wanted the extreme defender build up first, particularly because so many mentions of granite armour had been made in this thread so far.
http://www.savecoh.com/
ok... granite armour is ONE armour, STONE is the powerset... i know what you mean when you say 'granite tank' but it's almost as irritating to me as people calling themselves 'healers'...
in fact, i don't see how any tank requires less or more skill to play than any other tank type, each has it's own play style and niche it fits into. Personally i think, if anything, defence based sets would require more skill than resistance based sets, because they are less predictable...
yes, a tank with GA can survive +5s better than an ice tank can. but... lets be honest here.... the maximum diff you can set your mishs to is invincible, so unless you're leeching in someone else's missions there is NO NEED to be fighting +5s. I must say, i have seen a lot of stone tanks do this: "bah they're only +7's i don't need sk!'.. but they cant taunt or punch the bad guys for ****, so what you end up with is a very surviveable, very useless team member.
[ QUOTE ]
ok... granite armour is ONE armour, STONE is the powerset... i know what you mean when you say 'granite tank' but it's almost as irritating to me as people calling themselves 'healers'
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, I know what you mean. But to me there is a difference between a Stone Tanker and a Granite Tanker. The Stone Tanker is the one who doesn't Respec most of his other primary powers out of his build once he's got Granite Armour. The Stone Tanker keeps his options open, spending probably the majority of his time in the other armours, and uses Granite as his version of Unstopable - for those extreme cases where it is better to sacrifice all his attack potential in order to be the most resilient force known to any team.
The Granite Tanker is the one who pretty much lives in granite form, and has taken pool powers such as hasten, swift (slotted for speed), etc because he intends to spend all of his time in granite form. He ditches most other armours from his build, sometimes all other armours, in order to take more attack powers instead, to get around the -recharge penalty by simply having more attacks in his chain.
That latter form of Granite Tanker has little understanding of the huge array of tactical opportunities available to a real stone tanker, and has limited himself, and his team, in order to be a one trick pony, largely dependant on buffs and pool powers just to get by. He's a Granite Tank.
http://www.savecoh.com/
[ QUOTE ]
That latter form of Granite Tanker has little understanding of the huge array of tactical opportunities available to a real stone tanker, and has limited himself, and his team, in order to be a one trick pony, largely dependant on buffs and pool powers just to get by. He's a Granite Tank.
[/ QUOTE ]
This comment makes my blood boil and is sweeping in nature. I play a granite tank, yes a granite tank. I use a lot of tools to keep aggro since my defence is taken care of. Yes I have ONE armour but MANY aggro keeping tools. I believe that a GOOD granite tank is one that has many tactical options with limited tools.
I mean this: Teleport, one simple little power with so many tactical uses. With some experimentation you can work out a tactical TP sequence using the terrain/corridors/boxes to best advantage. Now that is what I call tactical and thoughtful use of one power. Throw taunt/provoke/hasten/rech enh into the mix and yes, you can end up with a granite tank using NO attacks other than an AE aggro such as foot stomp/fault and using taunt/provoke as attacks all the time to keep aggro.
This is similar to your ICE tank Ammon that has 2 attacks, same principle, max out defense means you have less attack powers.
So you base your assumption of tactical awareness on the fact that a granite tank has ONE armour? Just because you use basically ONE/TWO attacks and MANY armours does not mean that an ICE tank is any more tactically aware. So I use ONE armour to keep alive and MANY tools to keep aggro. Surely you must concede that we both achieve the same goal, just through different tactical means?
I am fully aware of the large amount of tactical uses for my tools.
So please, don't offend me by calling me limited and a one trick pony that limits my team through my indestructability. I am a tank, not just a damage spunge, a tank that allows the whole team to easily go about doing their thing while I keep aggro. My Tank takes steps to ensure survivability of the team, not just me.
@Boerewors
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
ok... granite armour is ONE armour, STONE is the powerset... i know what you mean when you say 'granite tank' but it's almost as irritating to me as people calling themselves 'healers'
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, I know what you mean. But to me there is a difference between a Stone Tanker and a Granite Tanker. The Stone Tanker is the one who doesn't Respec most of his other primary powers out of his build once he's got Granite Armour. The Stone Tanker keeps his options open, spending probably the majority of his time in the other armours, and uses Granite as his version of Unstopable - for those extreme cases where it is better to sacrifice all his attack potential in order to be the most resilient force known to any team.
The Granite Tanker is the one who pretty much lives in granite form, and has taken pool powers such as hasten, swift (slotted for speed), etc because he intends to spend all of his time in granite form. He ditches most other armours from his build, sometimes all other armours, in order to take more attack powers instead, to get around the -recharge penalty by simply having more attacks in his chain.
That latter form of Granite Tanker has little understanding of the huge array of tactical opportunities available to a real stone tanker, and has limited himself, and his team, in order to be a one trick pony, largely dependant on buffs and pool powers just to get by. He's a Granite Tank.
[/ QUOTE ]
all i said was that it irritates me.. i am fully aware of why people make the distinction. but you could say the same about empath vs 'healer'/'pure empath' both of which are bandied around a lot. both are absolute rubbish, and insulting to anyone who has an empathy defender.
by the same token i'm sure theres quite a few good stone tanks out there who use GA, but who would hate to be likened to the many bad, debt dodging, 'granite' tanks out there...
Ice/Fire Tank - considerable changes since he started out life in I3 as pretty much the only Ice tank on Defiant.
Built as an offensive meat shield, aggro control is supplemented by two high damage AoE attacks in addition to Icicles from the primary.
---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (http://sherksilver.coldfront.net/index.php)
---------------------------------------------
Name: Spad
Level: 50
Archetype: Tanker
Primary: Ice Armor
Secondary: Fiery Melee
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Frozen Armor==> EndRdx(1) EndRdx(3) DefBuf(3) DefBuf(19) DefBuf(19)
01) --> Scorch==> EndRdx(1) Acc(5) Dmg(5) Dmg(7) Dmg(17)
02) --> Hoarfrost==> Rechg(2) Rechg(7) Rechg(9) Heal(9) Heal(11) Heal(11)
04) --> Combustion==> EndRdx(4) Acc(13) Dmg(13) Dmg(15) Dmg(15) Rechg(17)
06) --> Wet Ice==> EndRdx(6) EndRdx(50)
08) --> Air Superiority==> EndRdx(8)
10) --> Chilling Embrace==> EndRdx(10)
12) --> Taunt==> Rechg(12)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14) Fly(21) Fly(48)
16) --> Swift==> Run(16)
18) --> Health==> Heal(18) Heal(21) Heal(23)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(25) EndMod(27)
22) --> Glacial Armor==> EndRdx(22) EndRdx(23) DefBuf(25) DefBuf(27) DefBuf(29)
24) --> Hasten==> Rechg(24) Rechg(33) Rechg(34)
26) --> Icicles==> EndRdx(26) Acc(33) Acc(33) Dmg(34) Dmg(36) Dmg(40)
28) --> Energy Absorbtion==> DefBuf(28) DefBuf(29) DefBuf(31) Rechg(31) Rechg(36) Rechg(36)
30) --> Fire Sword Circle==> EndRdx(30) Acc(31) Dmg(34) Dmg(37) Dmg(37) Rechg(37)
32) --> Aid Other==> IntRdx(32)
35) --> Incinerate==> EndRdx(35) Acc(39) Dmg(39) Dmg(42) Dmg(43) Rechg(43)
38) --> Greater Fire Sword==> EndRdx(38) Acc(39) Dmg(40) Dmg(40) Dmg(42) Rechg(42)
41) --> Aid Self==> IntRdx(41) IntRdx(43) IntRdx(46) Heal(46) Heal(48) Heal(48)
44) --> Char==> EndRdx(44) Acc(45) Hold(45) Hold(45) Hold(46)
47) --> Build Up==> Rechg(47) Rechg(50) Rechg(50)
49) --> Hibernate==> Rechg(49)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Acc(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
01) --> Gauntlet==> Empty(1)
01) --> Power Slide==> Empty(1)
---------------------------------------------
Omnes relinquite spes, o vos intrantes
My Characters
CoX Chatlog Parser
Last.fm Feed
This is a post to talk about Ice Tanks to answer some of the questions a lot of people have about them, and also to correct a lot of the misconceptions about them.
One of the first things you come across when people talk about Ice Tanks is that "defence is a luck-based protection". These people are usually those awfully pesimistic people for whom the glass is always half empty.
Yes, very occassionally, a run of bad luck will cause a bunch of attacks in a row to hit. But by the same rule, occassionally you will go into a fight that no other tank could survive and walk out without a scratch because luck ran good for you.
Let's look at another example - go send your resistance-based tank against a mob of Malta with 2 sappers in. In two seconds all your shields have dropped, and you don't have enough end to raise a two-fingered salute, never mind your shields. Oh, now that's bad luck. Because the ice tank next to you hasn't even noticed the sappers yet because 80% of their attempts to hit him will miss, and they'll likely be dead before the luck lets them hit, what with his aura slowing their attacks.
But in reality, luck is a very small factor if you have a well built Ice Tank. You have enough life as any tanker that nothing short of an extremely powerful elite boss is ever going to two shot you even without your defence. You also have a very good self-heal power, and from level 32 onwards you have Hibernate which gives you total immunity from all effects (like a phase) for 30 seconds and will alow you to recover both health and stamina to full from empty in that time. This recharges very very fast.
An Ice Tanker who dies once past lev 32 is usually due to having been forgetting to watch his life bars, or due to having too many powers queued for his Hibernate to activate at that last second he was leaving it until.
Most tanks are about taking a lot of hits and not taking much damage from them, though they'll still have to take any end-drains, acc debuffs, slows or whatever are secondary effects of those hits.
The Ice Tank is different. Ice Armour is all about not getting hit at all.
You have very high defence that means most foes will miss 9 or ten times in a row.
You have slowing aura, that means that it will take them a lot longer than usual to get those 9 or 10 attacks fired anyway.
Your armour is actually giving a decent damage debuff on all enemies it affects, meaning not only do you have damage resistance in effect, but so does your entire team if you are holding agro effectively.
You have a nice endurance drain AoE that takes away their energy for doing their bigger attacks.
Finally, you have your Hibernate power which prevents any effect at all from affecting you, and lasts 30 seconds, with a pretty impressive recharge. In a protracted fight, you could practically even spend 1/3rd of your time utterly invulnerable to anything at all.
An Ice Tank does not need luck to outlast pretty much any other tanker in long-term fighting. The only luck he needs is to get the damage-taking badges, because Ice Tanks really struggle to earn those.
http://www.savecoh.com/