In my opinion you can do quite well with just your normal toggle armors if you choose too. While it is easier to build around just granite armor, you can still have a very effective and entertaining build with the primary armors.
I actually spent a lot of time considering the same thing as you before I even started to level my stone/stone tank. I decided with my tank to take rock armor, crystal armor, and minerals as normal toggle armors, simply because those three cover the majority of damage types. Like you said you can always run granite in fire heavy missions. I found myself not wanting to run granite all the time just, because I made a costume that I get a lot of compliments on all the time, so I am very happy with it. Hiding it just makes me unhappy with him most of the time.
As for your attacks you can't go wrong with the mallets, seismic smash, fault, and tremor. I'd debate whether the others in stone melee are skippable. I don't really plan on taking build up except in my solo build and I am skipping boulder toss, most likely.
Stone fists, the mallets, and seismic smash give you a pretty good single target damage chain while remor and fault give you excellent damage mitigation tools for you and your team and are invaluable tools. I'd definitely consider keeping those in your build. Your power pools are really discresionary. I know some people consider tough/weave overkill, but I like to have as much resistance and defense as I can possibly muster so they are good to have in my build. Haste is also something I wanted to take simply, because I plan on trying to mitigate as much of the -recharge penalty as possible for when I am running in granite.
It's really personal preference, but you can do well out of granite if you build for it. But if I were to generally answer your question after all that....yes,stone is all about granite.
You've got two builds. I say go for one with all the armors and one with just granite, play both and experiment until you find out which one works best for you.
Quote:
This looks pretty solid; the only quibble is I'd probably have snagged EE at 2 and then Heavy Mallet at 4 but that's something that can be argued either way.|
Originally Posted by MonkeySpirit
Hi, everyone!
I'm, building my first tanker, Titillation, a sexy mud wrestler who got superpowers after her producers used Crey toxic waste in one of her fights. She's standing at level 22 right now and, following what I've gleaned from the forums, she has taken the following powers: Level 1: Rock Armor Level 1: Stone Fist Level 2: Stone Mallet Level 4: Earth's Embrace Level 6: Swift Level 8: Rooted Level 10: Taunt Level 12: Recall Friend Level 14: Teleport Level 16: Mud Pots Level 18: Health Level 20: Stamina Level 22: Stone Skin |
Quote:
|
So far, I'm pretty happy with her performance. She can only defend herself against Smashing and Lethal damage, but taunting enemies and keeping them in melee usually means they only use attacks with an L/S component, which makes it ok. I'm finding it pretty exhilarating to run missions of say, Sky Raiders and not take any damage at all. However, when I've faced elemental users who have no melee attacks or use elements that don't have an L/S component (mainly fire, electricity and dark blasts, the only psionics I've faced insisted on wasting time pointlessly trying to mezz me), I find I have to rely on my regeneration to get me through. This can go badly pretty easily if Earth's Embrace is not recharged and I don't have inspirations to help me. I haven't done that many CoT missions because I'm scared of their fire demons and ice and dark ghosts, who can probably overwhelm me. |
Quote:
|
My Primary offers me three elemental armor toggles which would protect me in such situations. But should I take them? The general consensus seems to be that the answer is no, that I should wait for Granite to come around and then forget about armor toggles altogether. On the other hand, some posts advocate taking at least one or two of those powers and lead a more active life, attacking more often because the enormous -recharge of Granite is not in place, and only using Granite when my survival is at stake. To be honest, the second choice sounds like a lot more fun. But now I have to choose which powers to take between level 22 and 32, when Granite arrives. I wanted to take Heavy Mallet at 24, to complete my single target attack chain, which leaves 3 power choices open. |
Quote:
|
Going full Granite would surely mean picking Boxing/Tough/Weave right now and Hasten later to counter the -recharge a bit. |
Quote:
| Going hybrid would mean picking Crystal Armor (energies def + def debuff res), Minerals (psi def + delicious perception against Arachnos) and possibly Fault, for added mob control, and leaving the Fighting pool for the 40s. I'd only be open to pure fire attacks, but then I'd just run Granite all the time in fire-heavy missions. |
Minerals does have some uses, primarily against a few all-Psi baddie missions in the 40's. Offhand I can think of maybe 8-10 missions in the entire game where Psi damage predominates. If you get hit by a perception debuff eating a yellow insp. solves the problem nicely.
I'd have a hard time stressing enough just how important Fault is to you; it's one of the best powers in the entire set.
Quote:
|
What should I do? I'm very scarce on inf so I can't really slot both builds at the same time. Also, are there any powers in Stone Melee that are skippable? I'm thinking of ignoring Build Up and Hurl Boulder because I'm not aiming for Scrapper damage, and if I want a ranged attack with -fly, I can just pick up Stone Prison from the Earth Mastery pool. Thanks a lot in advance for the advice. 
|
In my experience if you're solo or on a small team (4 or fewer) you're probably ok tanking with only Rock Armor/Rooted/Stone Skin. With few exceptions most enemy groups aren't dangerous enough except in large numbers to need Granite.
The combo of Fault/Tremor works wonders for keeping a spawn on it's butt and with a little +recharge you can effectively keep them down permanently. My Stone Melee character is Invuln, but I don't have Hasten and only around 15% global recharge and that combo works nicely on him. Lead off with Fault, then hit a likely boss a time or two while the spawn gets back up then Tremor to knock them down again... rinse and repeat. That won't work in Granite of course, but it's a fantastic mitigater in Rock/Rooted/Stone Skin.
Stone Armor is about the only set I know of that really doesn't benefit much from IO bonuses for survivability; Granite Armor, Rooted & Stone Skin all slotted with SO's is plenty to tank nearly anything in the game; I ran my first STF with an SO'd Stone/Fire tank and had zero issues with Lord Recluse, even without any support from the team.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
I just got Mids again and was messing around with idea for my Tank. Since I was building him similar to what you had in mind I thought I'd post my pre-tweaked build. Basically it is one build that is optimized for both Granite and normal armor toggles.
It's not as expensive as trying to get a bunch of purple sets and I used luck of the gambler 7.5% recharge IOs since I already have them on another character that I plan on cannablizing.
The build managed to almost negate the recharge penalty of granite (All, but around 6%) and eliminates the speed penalty, however it cannot negate the rooted and granite speed penalty at the sametime.
The build hits the soft cap for all damage types except fire and cold without granite (If you use combat jumping, which I do when I don't need rooted) and of course hits the soft cap for all, but psionic in granite.
I kept tough, because I like having around 40% S/L resistance while using normal armors and you don't have to run it in granite. Granite maxes out S/L resistance and hit around 77% to 80% resistance on everything other than psionic.
It also has around 243% regeneration witout rooted and has 441% while rooted.
I'm not sure how much the build would cost (Minus the 7.5% recharges), but I don't believe it is too much. However, I can't comment very well on prices since I haven't been in the game for a year or so.
The build seems like it would work well enough, but I'm sure it could get better with tweaking.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
King Oak (Normal Build): Level 50 Magic Tanker
Primary Power Set: Stone Armor
Secondary Power Set: Stone Melee
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Rock Armor -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(3), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(3), GftotA-Run+(5)
Level 1: Stone Fist -- HO:Nucle(A)
Level 2: Stone Skin -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Aegis-Psi/Status(5), Aegis-ResDam(7), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(7)
Level 4: Stone Mallet -- KntkC'bat-Knock%(A), KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(11), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(11), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(13), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13)
Level 6: Swift -- Run-I(A), Run-I(9), Run-I(9)
Level 8: Heavy Mallet -- KntkC'bat-Knock%(A), KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(15), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(15), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(17), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17)
Level 10: Rooted -- Dct'dW-Rchg(A), Dct'dW-Heal(19), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(19), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(21), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(21), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(23)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- GftotA-Run+(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(23)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Earth's Embrace -- Dct'dW-Heal(A), Dct'dW-Rchg(25), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(25), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(27), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(27), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(29)
Level 18: Health -- RgnTis-Regen+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(29), RgnTis-Heal/EndRdx(31)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(31), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(31), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(33), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(33), P'Shift-Acc/Rchg(33)
Level 22: Taunt -- Insult-Taunt(A), Insult-Taunt/Rchg(46), Insult-Dsrnt%(48)
Level 24: Mud Pots -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(34), Erad-Acc/Rchg(34)
Level 26: Fault -- Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(A), Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(36), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(36), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(36), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(37)
Level 28: Minerals -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(37), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(37), GftotA-Run+(39)
Level 30: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 32: Granite Armor -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(40), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(40), Aegis-ResDam(40), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(42), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(42)
Level 35: Tremor -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Erad-Dmg(45), HO:Nucle(46)
Level 38: Seismic Smash -- C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(43), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(46)
Level 41: Crystal Armor -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(42), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(43)
Level 44: Boxing -- HO:Nucle(A)
Level 47: Tough -- HO:Ribo(A), HO:Ribo(48), HO:Ribo(48)
Level 49: Weave -- GftotA-Run+(A), GftotA-Def(50), HO:Cyto(50), HO:Cyto(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet
------------
Set Bonus Totals:
- 2.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
- 2.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
- 2.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
- 2.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
- 2.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
- 2.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
- 2.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
- 2.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
- 12.4% Defense(Smashing)
- 12.4% Defense(Lethal)
- 10.8% Defense(Fire)
- 10.8% Defense(Cold)
- 9.25% Defense(Energy)
- 9.25% Defense(Negative)
- 3% Defense(Psionic)
- 7.69% Defense(Melee)
- 6.13% Defense(Ranged)
- 9.25% Defense(AoE)
- 3.6% Max End
- 58.8% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
- 8% Enhancement(Heal)
- 3% Enhancement(Stun)
- 7% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 15% FlySpeed
- 274.1 HP (14.6%) HitPoints
- 15% JumpHeight
- 15% JumpSpeed
- MezResist(Immobilize) 7.7%
- MezResist(Terrorized) 4.4%
- 8% (0.13 End/sec) Recovery
- 40% (3.13 HP/sec) Regeneration
- 2.52% Resistance(Fire)
- 2.52% Resistance(Cold)
- 2.52% Resistance(Toxic)
- 5.52% Resistance(Psionic)
- 59% RunSpeed
Set Bonuses:
Luck of the Gambler
(Rock Armor)
- 10% (0.78 HP/sec) Regeneration
- 21.1 HP (1.13%) HitPoints
- 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Rock Armor)
- 7.5% RunSpeed
(Stone Skin)
- 3% Defense(All)
(Stone Skin)
- 5% RunSpeed
- 3.13% Defense(Fire,Cold), 1.56% Defense(AoE)
- 3% Resistance(Psionic)
(Stone Mallet)
- MezResist(Immobilize) 2.75%
- 28.1 HP (1.5%) HitPoints
- 3.75% Defense(Smashing,Lethal), 1.88% Defense(Melee)
- 5% RunSpeed, 5% FlySpeed, 5% JumpSpeed, 5% JumpHeight
(Heavy Mallet)
- MezResist(Immobilize) 2.75%
- 28.1 HP (1.5%) HitPoints
- 3.75% Defense(Smashing,Lethal), 1.88% Defense(Melee)
- 5% RunSpeed, 5% FlySpeed, 5% JumpSpeed, 5% JumpHeight
(Rooted)
- MezResist(Terrorized) 2.2%
- 1.26% Resistance(Fire,Cold)
- 4% Enhancement(Heal)
- 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
- 1.26% Resistance(Toxic,Psionic)
(Combat Jumping)
- 7.5% RunSpeed
(Combat Jumping)
- 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Earth's Embrace)
- MezResist(Terrorized) 2.2%
- 1.26% Resistance(Fire,Cold)
- 4% Enhancement(Heal)
- 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
- 1.26% Resistance(Toxic,Psionic)
(Health)
- 4% RunSpeed
(Stamina)
- 5% JumpSpeed, 5% JumpHeight, 5% FlySpeed, 5% RunSpeed
- 35.1 HP (1.88%) HitPoints
- 2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery
- 2.5% DamageBuff(All)
- 3.13% Defense(AoE), 1.56% Defense(Fire), 1.56% Defense(Cold)
(Taunt)
- 1% (0.02 End/sec) Recovery
- 1.88% Defense(Smashing,Lethal), 0.94% Defense(Melee)
(Mud Pots)
- 1.8% Max End
- 3.13% Defense(Energy,Negative), 1.56% Defense(Ranged)
- 42.2 HP (2.25%) HitPoints
(Fault)
- 2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery
- 35.1 HP (1.88%) HitPoints
- 3% Enhancement(Stun)
- 6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Minerals)
- 10% (0.78 HP/sec) Regeneration
- 21.1 HP (1.13%) HitPoints
- 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Minerals)
- 7.5% RunSpeed
(Granite Armor)
- 10% (0.78 HP/sec) Regeneration
- 21.1 HP (1.13%) HitPoints
- 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Granite Armor)
- 5% RunSpeed
- 3.13% Defense(Fire,Cold), 1.56% Defense(AoE)
(Tremor)
- 1.8% Max End
- 3.13% Defense(Energy,Negative), 1.56% Defense(Ranged)
(Seismic Smash)
- MezResist(Immobilize) 2.2%
- 21.1 HP (1.13%) HitPoints
- 7% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Crystal Armor)
- 10% (0.78 HP/sec) Regeneration
- 21.1 HP (1.13%) HitPoints
- 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Weave)
- 2% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
- 7.5% RunSpeed
Code:
| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1419;705;1410;HEX;| |78DAA5945D5352511486F78143081C0443055193FC0244506772A6ACB1A9B499465| |152C7AB8A8EB845463C3840337995D56D577D5EF5439A7E4A5F535D95F51B68EDF5| |6E9AACCBCE0CEFB33FDFB5F63AFB90BFBF600971745918D6B5AADD6814376C674FD| |63D79BB5C2945972A4E39B16AEF25522BB5FABE5D4D5CBD57A96EA7BD4288381616| |17E48E741A32B7DEAC39B278A5BE5FABC7F4545E56657B82DB5D379C5D59974E33D| |76E58855AAD9ABB5E693AB2D1406759DA0714D6CF9DF50329B7837A5179B7491391| |C5834A29B7E8C87AF9B098B71B4D593F8C514269FABDF39118F4132DB7E8A1C68C7| |075036186E92324C5885FE8A725C42582E916EF69AFA1F71A516A0C0A7396379D3A| |074C334669AF1B7B4DF7066158F80BC04D86B506AC333C542C0F6C5D9EAC500E1D2| |730467E5EEDE7855F27FC3AE117865F187E9F284D1F967B7C05CEE8F42AB0C4E85E| |06F28CDE15802204908511400D7A519F28CD0475298229CEE803F987748810BC638| |81443883842C411620021BC64D4A50FDA35CFF51BD8E4993373DCEBA005112CF044| |5EB978E629F0929178063C075E30C6A93C3D48C6D523692822B23B8CA932E323651| |BC50277F4A74B453AFB033806BE335264D4A7EBDCF798131B79001C010FF17E1F31| |BE906DBFBE0EFD28D528AED228AED238CA38EC55E6C86F30C3F51B3F81AF6434A4A| |B3904A3248C92304AE27AA571BDD2338C09BF7AD9083F8C534DE25493DF18597D6D| |33B4704C1F6B4C72C4896DE02E63B2C4C86E313E533629FD9652C8268D6C26908D4| |1E7C9E8FB90D131DC3496D39B72F3189BFA8B26AD99D6F59A4669663A8059AC6873| |C0FCE3E36BD12396FF192998FA3BA6118347D2E6EF4FFBBF9E3756DBC7B7A6FE053| |69414488C4DD5BAA5E4B6EADE512D5BB5B6949454B7F5D66A671A3AAF12BAA0644E| |C945254FD4226F8024A0C4521254D2A924A424AC24A2A457495CC96B25AD5FF518F| |4D5| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
I'm not a Stone Armor expert, the build looks solid (Nice Defense numbers), but Accuracy looks low. I usually shoot for around 40% Accuracy with all my Tanks. I can slack off a little if they have several powers slotted with Crushing Impact (or other +Accuracy sets) or if it's an Invul running Invincibility. If you Tank mobs higher than you, which is very common for a Stone Tank, you'll be at a bit of a disadvantage as Gauntlet won't be working to it's fullest effect.
Tanker Tuesdays: Meet in King's Row by IP Gate 6pm PT9pm ET.
1st Tuesday on Champion, 2nd Tuesday on Justice
3rd Tuesdays (Odd months) Freedom, (Even months) Virtue, 4th Tuesday, Tour, Server TBA
Brutal Thrashing Thursdays: Justice (ask Papa Slade when),meet in RWZ 6pm PT9pm ET.
Quote:
Yeah, I was focusing more on survivability with damage dealing as a tertiary aspect. Secondary of course was holding aggro. I figured with taunt on a high recharge and mudpots with decent accuracy would be enough.|
Originally Posted by NuclearMedicine
I'm not a Stone Armor expert, the build looks solid (Nice Defense numbers), but Accuracy looks low. I usually shoot for around 40% Accuracy with all my Tanks. I can slack off a little if they have several powers slotted with Crushing Impact (or other +Accuracy sets) or if it's an Invul running Invincibility. If you Tank mobs higher than you, which is very common for a Stone Tank, you'll be at a bit of a disadvantage as Gauntlet won't be working to it's fullest effect.
|
However, I could probably drop haste from the build since it still has a 30-40 second downtime in the build and probably isn't necessary with the amount of recharge available. Then I could replace it with focused accuracy would would provided a decent to-hit boost.
I am certain the build could be improved through tweaking, it will, however, take me a while to tweak it correctly without loosing too much of any one aspect.
Hi, everyone!
I'm, building my first tanker, Titillation, a sexy mud wrestler who got superpowers after her producers used Crey toxic waste in one of her fights.
She's standing at level 22 right now and, following what I've gleaned from the forums, she has taken the following powers:
Level 1: Rock Armor
Level 1: Stone Fist
Level 2: Stone Mallet
Level 4: Earth's Embrace
Level 6: Swift
Level 8: Rooted
Level 10: Taunt
Level 12: Recall Friend
Level 14: Teleport
Level 16: Mud Pots
Level 18: Health
Level 20: Stamina
Level 22: Stone Skin
So far, I'm pretty happy with her performance. She can only defend herself against Smashing and Lethal damage, but taunting enemies and keeping them in melee usually means they only use attacks with an L/S component, which makes it ok. I'm finding it pretty exhilarating to run missions of say, Sky Raiders and not take any damage at all.
However, when I've faced elemental users who have no melee attacks or use elements that don't have an L/S component (mainly fire, electricity and dark blasts, the only psionics I've faced insisted on wasting time pointlessly trying to mezz me), I find I have to rely on my regeneration to get me through. This can go badly pretty easily if Earth's Embrace is not recharged and I don't have inspirations to help me. I haven't done that many CoT missions because I'm scared of their fire demons and ice and dark ghosts, who can probably overwhelm me.
My Primary offers me three elemental armor toggles which would protect me in such situations. But should I take them? The general consensus seems to be that the answer is no, that I should wait for Granite to come around and then forget about armor toggles altogether. On the other hand, some posts advocate taking at least one or two of those powers and lead a more active life, attacking more often because the enormous -recharge of Granite is not in place, and only using Granite when my survival is at stake.
To be honest, the second choice sounds like a lot more fun.
But now I have to choose which powers to take between level 22 and 32, when Granite arrives. I wanted to take Heavy Mallet at 24, to complete my single target attack chain, which leaves 3 power choices open.
Going full Granite would surely mean picking Boxing/Tough/Weave right now and Hasten later to counter the -recharge a bit.
Going hybrid would mean picking Crystal Armor (energies def + def debuff res), Minerals (psi def + delicious perception against Arachnos) and possibly Fault, for added mob control, and leaving the Fighting pool for the 40s. I'd only be open to pure fire attacks, but then I'd just run Granite all the time in fire-heavy missions.
What should I do? I'm very scarce on inf so I can't really slot both builds at the same time.
Also, are there any powers in Stone Melee that are skippable? I'm thinking of ignoring Build Up and Hurl Boulder because I'm not aiming for Scrapper damage, and if I want a ranged attack with -fly, I can just pick up Stone Prison from the Earth Mastery pool.
Thanks a lot in advance for the advice.