I have a WP/fire on test, i have to say... No.
Sets like stone, SS or axe/mace(lesser) have aoe tricks to migate the incomming damage very nicely, EM has this hugely ST, ice is awsome. Fire lacks any form of this. Since you 100% rely on regen, spike damage can be really dangerous. Single target imho its a nightmare, specialy when u stuck on powerchoices, you will skip some ST fire attacks. WP isnt that awsome in 1 on 1, combined with nasty mobs and no mez-abilities of your attacks, it can get tricky. (i got pretty much my .. handed on a plate by 2 sappers - no epic, no AS).
I do note, that is very based on my playstyle. Specialy as i compared it with Axe (you can perma knockdown a boss), mace (you can stun/knockdown, nice overal), stone (hello nonstop AoE knockdown) and SS (rage = bad, footstomp rules). Ice is the lowest damage, but icepatch is plain lovely.
Yet however, if you take a build with tough/weave included, wich pretty much require stamina too, makes your very tight on power-choices, you become quite tough to fight the majority of mobs. Without tough/weave, you still have your tier9 as panic power and a bunch of lucks/greens.
Btw, granite with 3slot swift (run) moves around 'ok'. Only with a Kin you move fast, however still cant jump.
WP is jack of all trades, their lack of instant healing or a 'omg tier9' is compensated by a high psi resist/defence and a smart setup on SL resist and elemental defence. Yet however, slotting and powerpicks are nasty.
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
[ QUOTE ]
Half of me sees this as great, half of me sees this as type defence?? why would I be able to dodge an arrow or a sword but not a ball of fire or a shard of ice (assuming I have one shield running ofc) and why is there some damage types I can't avoid no matter what (exluding IO set bonuses).
[/ QUOTE ]It's not dodging, it's deflecting/absorbing.
[ QUOTE ]
Does WP have good synergy with Fire melee?
[/ QUOTE ] I didn't test a WP/Fire, but both sets excel at fighting large groups, so I'd imagine so.
Fire Melee's secondary effect is -fight duration. Most other sets have tools that offer -fight duration "to self or someone else" within a fight duration. Build out of concept then adapt to the challenges it brings. I am not saying go fire melee unless you choose to so don't hate me if you hate it :P
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.
Thanks for the input guys. As for 3 slotting swift for Stone, I did that Sinergy but still not fast enough 
and at times I felt to dependent on speed buffs whilst in rooted.
Also I went Stone Melee with my last tank and didn't like it but maybe that was only because of the cons that came with the pros. I might consider WP/Stone for the AoE mitigation perhaps I'll enjoy it more than I did 
. Again thanks for the advice always nice to get different perspectives.
And i have a WP/stone also (I basicly made every possible WP or DB set i could think off, day before the lvl36 bump)
Yet, those are tight builds, but you can leave tough/weave basicly out since you can migate a huge chunk of damage because of the 2 aoe knockdown/stun. Add a few ST stun/KD/hold and it does really lovely.
Downsides? End heavy, slow recharge and mainly SL. I did quite alot rikti missions on invinc, a very nice set that works lovely. It feels way more 'tough' then the WP/fire, although it does do somewhat less damage. -slow is your enemy, -end.drain is not funny, but outside that it works good.
All my attacks (fist, 2 hammers, 2 aoe, BU) were 2acc/2dmg slotted on -1 (35 SO on lvl36), i still was doing pretty good damage output and i never actualy got on very low health. SoW is up quite often, gives a good resist boost to survive just somewhat longer.
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
... I pose a question. Does WP have good synergy with Fire melee?
I am relatively newish with tankers on the whole even though I once had a level 32 Stone/Stone which hit the trash can after merely 3 missions because Granite really wasn't my playstyle (I like my alts to be able to move quickly hence my two SRs and a leccy Brute).
The slows were pretty much all that ruined stone tanks for me, other than that I did love the roll of tanking however, since my foray into Tankyland I have not returned to the AT due to not finding the right sets.
After having played a res based Brute to mid 40's I am of the mind that res based shielding is not for me and this means neither fire nor Invul (too shiney too) appeal to me.
Ice however I have a mixed opinion on. Half of me sees this as great, half of me sees this as type defence?? why would I be able to dodge an arrow or a sword but not a ball of fire or a shard of ice (assuming I have one shield running ofc) and why is there some damage types I can't avoid no matter what (exluding IO set bonuses). Thematically I just can't get my head around this.
Having read a small bit about WP but not wanting to really ruin any suprises I might find with the set I haven't been spending much time on the test server to experiment. I do prefer the sound of less toggles to run along side QR and the broad mix of res and def instead of mainly focusing on res to see you through a fight.
I have considered the melee sets and currently have had plans for Ice/Fire.
I just want to know whether it'd be worth my time rerolling again with WP/fire or whether these 2 sets don't synergise all that well from fellow tankers who'd more likely have far more experience with than myself with the AT.