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I could see the combo working quite well with a couple of caveats. For one, Stone Melee is quite end heavy; that might be a problem for you until you start to IO out. For another, you'll be quite weak in AOE damage... if that's important to you then I'd suggest another set. I've played /Stone Melee for almost 5 years now... CMA, my first 50, is Invuln/Stone so I know the set pretty well.|
Originally Posted by Berlock
So I have been playing CoH/CoV for a little under a year now and don't fully understand what is "good or bad" about every combination of classes but I have a friend who is "all things wizard" at this game and is a Lifetime veteran. The only problem is that he knows so much about the game that he can't help me decide on a good candidate Tanker. I've got a 50 SS/WP Brute and 40 Nec/Therm MM that are interesting but I really want to try out a Tanker. I've been playing with the idea of Shield Defense with Stone Melee but what are other people's opinions on such a build? I don't care about "Fire is the only AV/Solo... blah blah...." I just am curious about the potential of this combination and if anyone could maybe post some builds for it? I'd be most appreciative on some Tanker feedback.
I also know about the high about of S/L resistance at higher ends but I've also heard SM overcomes that with it's awesome damage.... any feedback would be greatly appreciated. |
From a durability standpoint it should be highly capable; with only minor IO set bonuses Shield is easily soft capped to all positions and you'll have the added mitigation of Fault & Tremor to knock down the entire group... with some recharge slotting you can almost keep a group on their butts full time. You've the knockdowns in the hammers as well, and Seismic Smash is a MAG 4 hold in addition to being your heaviest hitting attack. Yes, it's MAG 4, it will one shot hold a boss.
The smashing damage I've not noticed being a huge issue overall, there's actually quite a few mobs who are weak to smashing. Those mobs generally are quite strong to lethal but weak to smashing.
One thing you'll need to keep in mind is that no tanker is going to output the kind of damage you're used to with your Brute... damage is our secondary purpose after all. You'll find your durability to be much higher as a tank, once your build matures that is.
If you do decide to roll up a Shield/Stone tank be prepared for some growing pains, the teens will be particularly rough due to lack of endurance and the normal teething problems of an immature defense based build. Until you get your defense above 25-30% you'll feel pretty squishy. Once you have Stamina, SO's and some endred slotting in your attacks things will get better... by the time you start to IO the character, which for me is the early 30's, you'll notice that everything is maturing nicely and there won't be many mobs who will be very dangerous to you.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
I second all that CMA said essentially.
To see some of the endgame performance of one, here's a video I just happened upon a while ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGoxnjj1v3c
@Mazzo Grave
Webmaster Grave, Virtueverse!
Energy/Energy Blaster Guide
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Originally Posted by BackAlleyBrawler
you *******!!!!
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Thanks for the support guys. I appreciate the feedback. I am not overly worried about the lack of AoE that other sets like Fire offer. I think though that it is going to have a lot of potential, not to mention somewhat unconventional.
Also good to know about the S/L resistance. I was afraid that it may have been an issue later on.
What about Super Speed versus Leaping for this build? Which would be better?
As a side note. I'm aware of the lack of damage that Tankers put out versus a Brute. I'm prepared for that. The Brute is a powerhouse, but I'm looking to Tank. So I thought I'd give the blue side Tanker a shot. Shield and Stone Melee just seems fun to me and it's something I don't see around often.
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The SS vs SJ mainly comes down to preference, either will work for you. Personally I tend to go SJ for defense characters simply because Combat Jumping gives me a small def bonus for practically no end cost and it's a place to toss a pair of Blessing of the Zephyr IO's.|
Originally Posted by Berlock
Thanks for the support guys. I appreciate the feedback. I am not overly worried about the lack of AoE that other sets like Fire offer. I think though that it is going to have a lot of potential, not to mention somewhat unconventional.
Also good to know about the S/L resistance. I was afraid that it may have been an issue later on. What about Super Speed versus Leaping for this build? Which would be better? As a side note. I'm aware of the lack of damage that Tankers put out versus a Brute. I'm prepared for that. The Brute is a powerhouse, but I'm looking to Tank. So I thought I'd give the blue side Tanker a shot. Shield and Stone Melee just seems fun to me and it's something I don't see around often. |
SS is easier blueside than redside; the hero zones aren't as nasty to negotiate without vertical movement. I've a few characters who are runners heroside and it's workable.
For your shield tanker I'd suggest looking at Tough/Weave. Tough will put you really close to the S/L resist cap while One with the Shield is up and Weave will get you pretty close to the 45% soft cap. From what I remember playing around with Mid's you can get to a little better than 40% to all positions on SO's... finding that additional 5% in set bonuses is fairly trivial.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
One other question, will I be getting Hasten with this and attempt to perm it..? Or is that overkill?
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Well, do you want Hasten? Really it comes down to that; your survivability isn't tied to click heals or other long recharge buffs and the only click buff you have, One with the Shield, is not affected at all by recharge.|
Originally Posted by Berlock
One other question, will I be getting Hasten with this and attempt to perm it..? Or is that overkill?
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The benefits of Hasten would be getting Shield Charge back as quickly as possible and shortening the recharge on Seismic Smash. On the other hand once your build matures you'll certainly have a full attack chain without Hasten. The Hasten question is a matter of personal preference, if you want it then go ahead, it will be useful. It isn't a requirement by any stretch however, and getting it perma will mean some seriously heavy duty IO bonuses and a boatload of cash.
Some of my characters have Hasten, some don't. CMA, my Inv/Stone tanker doesn't have it and I don't see the need for it either... my attack chain is adequate with IO slotting giving my attacks roughly 40% recharge. I didn't try for a recharge build... while I have a few incidental bonuses they only amount to about 15% in IO bonuses.
My only high level Shield character is a Scrapper at 50, but I didn't get Hasten on him either and haven't missed it. I don't plan on getting it on my Shield/Fire tanker, currently sitting around level 25.
Bottom line, get Hasten if you want or skip it if you want; it isn't a key power.
As a thought on slotting, I like the Gift of the Ancients set in my defenses... 4 of them ED caps defense and gives me some really nice endurance recovery and endurance amount buffs.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
Thanks for all your input. I see that Hasten is pretty useless for this build. I also talked it over with my friend and he agreed that Leaping was probably the way to go. I also won't be doing a mastery with this build as I'll be getting damn near everything in both trees.
So I have been playing CoH/CoV for a little under a year now and don't fully understand what is "good or bad" about every combination of classes but I have a friend who is "all things wizard" at this game and is a Lifetime veteran. The only problem is that he knows so much about the game that he can't help me decide on a good candidate Tanker. I've got a 50 SS/WP Brute and 40 Nec/Therm MM that are interesting but I really want to try out a Tanker. I've been playing with the idea of Shield Defense with Stone Melee but what are other people's opinions on such a build? I don't care about "Fire is the only AV/Solo... blah blah...." I just am curious about the potential of this combination and if anyone could maybe post some builds for it? I'd be most appreciative on some Tanker feedback.
I also know about the high about of S/L resistance at higher ends but I've also heard SM overcomes that with it's awesome damage.... any feedback would be greatly appreciated.