Confused

Ok,maybe im a old traditionalist on playing video games,but iv just activated a new account,and recently got into a argument with 3 diffrent players in the game,over what i see as the most rediculous things.Mainly about power set choices that i perfer to play with,and was refused a team spot.

These 3 decided to berate my choice to pick Fire Armor for a tanker and a scrapper that im starting out from scratch with on my new account.They spattered me with geek talk,sighs,and attitudes that any Treky,or Star Wars Geek would understand,about mids,and the math on paper,and this and that,and how i should just shoot my self for picking the most pathetic and underperforming armor set in the game.

They refused to answer a question that went agenst there "Math" over the power set,which was recharge time.Fire Armor is a alternate Regen power set that has a extra BU and relies on resistance other then regeneration % like the acctual regen set does.Hasten,slotting for recharge speed,and whatever else you can throw on there takes the fastest based self heal in the game and makes it a staple for fire armor its self.The same way Regen counts on Reconstruction,and Dull Pain,which granted both have a longer timer then healing flames does.I dont think FA is broken at all,and its very formitable,when you stop treating it like Invln and WP,you should treat it like Regen,and belive me,1 heal button vs the many Regen has makes this a no brainer,easy to use set.It definatly does not under perform when you acctually do your own thinking.

Im curious,the most durable tanker iv ever played on this game was a fire armor tanker,iv solo'd AVs with it(on invinsible),beaten other players that im told should just tear through my tank like hot water through tissue paper.Alpha tanked missions that Willpower and Invuln tankers just couldnt handle,and im using the weakest armor set in the known game?Did i miss something here?I perfered to run missions without the aid of a healer,most times,i never bothered searching for one if i made a team,(unless the entire team begged for one)i never needed one,yet many other builds that are supposedly better then mine,need one,or they simply "Cant tank".

Its about the only armor set i can stand using for a tanker,or a scrapper.The rest just have to many holes.What i mean by holes are questions you should ask your self about every build you make.(atleast i ask my self these questions.)

1) Does this build have the ability to burst heal its self?
2) Does this build have the ability to Survive most damage?
3) Does this build do what i want it to?
4) Does this build have a power that could leave it at 1 HP and vulnerable to death after a short timmer?

My personal answers for these questions are for me,the individual playing the character,which in turn is the only real way to play a video game,is to build around what you like,or feel comfortable with,not whats "Suggjested" by a player or a group of players.

1) Answer - Yes,it Burst Heals,it does not require a healer,self sustained.
2) Answer - Yes,its damage resistance Values are higher then half the list of other armor sets in its available AT Class.
3) Answer - Yes,it self heals,it has a extra damage boost,and it can scatter enemies if im getting in over my head,on top of massive agro grabbing without the need of wasting a power on "Taunt".
4) Answer - Thankfully no,this build doesnt require a Blessing & Curse power to stay alive.

Iv heard the old arguments,about how you have no KB protection,or how Burn makes enemies run instead of nukes em in a blazing hellish death,those are mute points,becuase i hear people advocating power sets that also have no KB protection,such as a Spines/DA Scrapper,no KB built it,but its suggjested.(thats a totally diffrent rant in its self)

When did FA become this weak armor set i keep hearing about and just dont see?

FA is the second weakest tanker armor set overall, no if or but about it.

Being the second weakest tanker armor set still means you can tank all the content in this game without anyone babysitting you, just like any tanker can.

People who tell you any powerset is gimped and isn't worth playing are ignorant. Looking at your post you too could learn a few things about the way survivability works in this game, though.

you sound like one of the geek speakers i ran into in the game,are you convinced of your game knowledge as well?

weakest,or even 2nd weakest,your still waaaay off,and trust me,a lesson in survivability i dont need.

thankx for your reply however...i guess..

1. Are you having fun? If yes, proceed. If no, examine why and seek appropriate answers and measures.

2. The primary reason any particular powerset gets flak, especially the whiny type, is due to ignorance. Granted, FA actually does have holes (no natural kb protection, so acrobatics or IO's do nicely now though, not much in the way of exotic damage resists), but so does every other set.

A large factor which has made people claim armor tiers in functionality is due to how close to godly one can become with IO's (max'ing/softcapping defences etc), and that defence, especially in large amounts, is simply much more practical than resists in this game (PvE anyway); especially at the higher levels where attacks, when they hit, tend to have secondary effects, such as endurance drain. FA relies solely on damage resistance, and can get negative rep from that.

Things to keep in mind, depending on what level you are, you may or may not notice these things. And always, refer back to point 1.

Fire Minded, you're missing Nihilii's point (also ignoring Nihilii's experience). By the Numbers, Fiery Aura does not protect a Tanker as well as other sets can. Several other factors can affect this, though, including Build, Pools, Slotting, IO Bonuses, Secondary Powerset, and Most importantly, the playstyle of the Player (and team).

We are not, in any way, trying to talk down your justifiable pride in your Tanker, or say that Fiery Aura is a 'bad' powerset. Anyone who does so is an idiot.

And, Invulnerability has more resistance and defense, plus Dull Pain.
And Stone Armor has Granite... as well as a few other trivial things.
All other factors being the same, Fiery Aura is less effective As A Protective Set than some other protective powerset(s).

But you have clearly compensated for that with your Tanker - Congratulations!! You may now return to your regular round of Task Forces and Raids and AE 'monster' missions, secure in the knowledge that you have a good Tanker.

Be Well!
Fireheart

One thing no one has mentioned yet is that Fire is less rugged than other primaries by design, because it has more offense. It's supposed to be weaker defensively, to create a different way to play and a wider range of options, exactly like a Granite tanker is stronger defensively at the cost of mobility and damage, and for the same reason.

It's not supposed to be weaker overall, necessarily, just less rugged in exchange for more offense.

The new Shields powerset may be a little outside the formula of losing ruggedness to gain its offense, I am not sure. And the Burn nerf certainly changed Fire's offense a lot.

But generally that was the expectation when the original sets were released. Fire might not be the indestructible set, but it was the butt-kicking set -- lots more damage output.

Nothing wrong with being the butt-kicker.

I was soloing with my Fire/Fire tank the other day taking on +0x8 groups of Malta, Nemmies and Council Empire. Properly built a fire tank does just fine, just like any properly built tank.

One thing I think people tend to neglect is the secondary when talking about tanks. Secondaries that offer a greater level of mitigation (ie Stone vs Energy Melee) will obviously effect that tanks surivival.

Having played every tank except Stone (no desire to play one but made my wife's which is darn near unkillable) and Dark (dont like the concept), Fire Armor is definitely one of the weaker sets because it doesnt have the layering effect of defense, resistance and healing. Also its resistances even with tough and weave are lower than other tank sets. However that does not mean that you cannot tank, it simply means you need to be aware of your weaknesses and adjust accordingly.

Fire armor just is weaker than most of the others, and by quite a long way when compared to the best.

Can it do the job ? Of course, particularly when combined with a high mitigation secondary.

Anything you can do with a given spend on IOs to make a fire tank more survivable, you can do equally well or better to the other primaries.

Will you kill stuff faster than most of the other primaries ? yes with the possible exception of Shield.

I have 50 fire/fire, fire/ice and fire/dark tanks, but they are not the ones I pull out for really tough stuff, my WP/SS, Ice/stone, Stone/axe and shield/mace are significantly tougher against general stuff (although there are some significant exceptions for some of them).

In fact against non defence debuffing stuff, I have scrappers with more damage mitigation than my fire/fire that also kill a lot faster.

Stone/Axe.. the only stone I think I would ever make.

I guess i am a bit defensive about my choice in armor sets,maybe i just dont like getting flak just about every time i loggin with a FA toon.Frustrates me...or maybe i just didnt get enough hugs as a kid...or enough cookies...or calcium from drinking milk as a kid...WHO KNOWS!?

What i do know,is that iv had 3 lvl 50 FA/ Tankers in the past on a seprate older account,all with diffrent melee power sets,becuase i could only stand FA/,maybe the fact that i dont need to be next to a enemy to use healing flames is a thing i like,unlike DA's heal,or maybe being able to do a double BU before entering a mob and then mowing the entire mob down appeals to my blasterish way of tanking in the first place.

I guess in the way of tanking,maybe FA/ its not so great,but if your the kinda player that i am,you want something dead...and quickly...i guess thats why i never notice FA's set backs,becuase i play like a blaster,i BU...then BU again...ChArGe!WACK!HACK!SLASH!NUKE!......and all thats left is a smoking crater where the mob once stood.So yeh,i guess for most who want to be punched in the face repetedly,then yeh,FA/ aint for them,but i like to do the swoop in and nuke the mob and run off to the next better.

I can't claim to own OMG so many 50s!!! But I have a high enough Invul, Ice, Fire, and Dark Armor tanks, and I must agree with most posters, based on how much damage can you take, Fire is on the bottom.

And the Tank AT is oftentimes seen as the taking all the damage guy, so many people like powersets that lend themselves to that. Those that like to do damage tend to lean to scrappers and blasters.

That being said, as has been said by other posters, just because Fire Armor has the lowest survivability, it does not mean it cannot tank. It can tank fine once one learns how to deal with its shortcoming.

My favorite tanks are my Ice Armor/Stone Melee and my Firey Aura/Fire tanks. They both tank fine and in very different ways. My Icer just toys with the bodies letting them flip flop like fishes while the team slaughters them. My Firey can clean up the minions or at least put a serious dent in them before the team even begins. Ice survives by taking the hits and not letting them shoot at me. Fire survives by killing them before they shoot at me.

I still take the alpha and control agro. Which as far as I'm concerned, is the first role of the tank. After that, he can have fun however he chooses. Though I like it then they actually are capable to do damage. (Damn taunt bots!)

I enjoy my Invulnerability/Mace, but that has more to do with concept and Mace is just plain fun with all the AoE. So far only the cool concept and costume keeps me attached to my Dark Armor / Ice Melee tank.

This game is not all that hard. All tanks can tank. If anyone starts spewing numbers at you or giving you a hard time, just let them know you are having fun playing this particular set, and ask them to let you tank, and that if you can do the job, then there is no problem. If they are still jerks, simply move on.

If you start getting all high, mighty, and holier than thou because they are acting all high, mighty, and holier than thou, then you aren't really being that much of a better person. You are just using a different argument to claim you are better and smarter, and right.

I think it is definitely more important to have fun and enjoy your concept. My main and favorite is a /Fiery Aura brute, and sometimes I just get bored when I play a /Willpower or /Invulnerability meleer. Fiery Aura is active, engaging, thrilling, and just plain rewarding if you know what you are doing.

Not to mention the fact that you look like a rock star if you are able to do what any other primary can do on a "gimp" set. Sure, things will be tougher for you at times, especially while leveling up, but that makes things fun and prevents them from becoming stale.

Any toon can be made tough with a good build, and that definitely includes fiery aura based ones. The opposite is also true. I have seen plenty of doms that knew their way around tanking better than stone armor tanks, and most of the time, they lived longer too.