Ice/Dark?

After over five years of playing in the City, I am finally making my first Tanker. I am usually the Blaster or Controller, but I've decided that I want one of each archetype at 50 heroside.

I've always wanted to try the Ice primary (despite the very mixed opinions I've read here about it.) I just like the way it looks, and I actually like Chilling Embrace on my Rad/Ice Blaster.

At first, I was going to go with /Fire, since I always enjoy having as many AoE's as possible, but then I realized that /Dark has -ToHit, so I thought that might combo well with Ice/.

Does anyone have experience with that? Does -ToHit work with a defense set, or is there some rule that prevents that? Having very little experience at all with defenses, damage resists and so on (except for the fact that a dead target is the best defense in the game -sorry, bad Blaster joke) I have no idea how to get the most out of Ice/.

I'd still like to be able to do some damage for those times that I am playing alone, so does /Dark hit pretty hard? Any particular reasons to play it or avoid it? (I've the same questions for /Fire as well.)

One last Ice/ question. Does it need the Fighting Pool, or can I Tank without it?

I hope I didn't ask too many questions here.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Ice Tanking!

First off, yes, Defense and -ToHit will stack. However, -ToHit doesn't work quite as well as Defense. Still, the ToHit formula (condensed) works like this:

Final ToHit = [(Accuracy - Acc Debuffs + Acc Buffs) *[Base ToHit - ToHit Debuffs - Defense + ToHit Buffs]]

As such, -ToHit, from the perspective of the target, is just as useful as Defense is, since they both subtract from the same value. So Ice/Dark works really well in that case.


Secondly, Dark Melee is more of a utility set than a damage set. However, it still puts out very good numbers, especially since they buffed the self-heal power to do more damage. It's going to be a little different than other melee sets that you might have played, though, since instead of Build Up, it gets Soul Drain. So, your +Acc and +Dam aren't going to be static, but instead will depend on the number of foes around you. That's not a bad thing, just something to keep in mind.


Secondly, no, you don't need Tough and Weave to tank. No Tanker sets needs them to tank. Do they help? Yes, yes they do. But you certainly don't need them. Considering all the Def that you'll have, combined with the -ToHit, the self heal, and the single target fear power that you can get, you may find that you're in no trouble, depending on what kind of teams you're running with.


Secondly, as for comparing Fire vs. Dark Melees:

Fire will do more damage, both in AoE and single-target. However, Dark will have more utility and secondary effects. Fire relies on killing things fast for mitigation (think of your Blaster), whereas Dark relies on its secondary effects (and killing the enemies) for mitigation. Either one would work fine, so go with whichever one seems more fun to you. Or, if you want, make one of each, and see which one you like better!



Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions!

My two infs worth:

If you want AoE go with Fire. Ice/Fire Tanks are very effective/efficient at crowd destruction (and a lot of fun to play).

Dark Melee has the Awesomeness that is Siphon Life, which shall we say is a "very aggressive combat heal". And can help you survive when your Defense waivers. As Aett stated it is more of a utility set, but does put up good numbers. Don't be afraid to move around and position yourself to get the most from Soul Drain and Shadow maul. I haven't done Ice/DM (although I think about it from time to time), but I have run several DM Tanks, and it is a fun set.

Personally, I like taking Tough an Weave on my Ice Tanks (actually on most of my tanks, as it makes them that much more survivable), but it is a play style and personal choice.

Go with either Pyre Mastery or Energy Mastery for you Epic. Pyre will give you Fire Ball and Char (which can be helpful against Sappers) and Energy will give a very helpful KD/KB (on greens and lower)/damage power with Energy Torrent which puts the goons on their backsides and give you that much more time for some additional shots/mitigation (this works really well with FSc )

Let us know which way you go and how you like it, best of luck and welcome to the wonderful world of Tanking! (BTW, Tanker Tuesdays are a great place to go and see all the Tanker sets in action).

Ice/Dark should be an excellent combo. You have great synergy between the defense and -to hit. Add in extra endurance stability from dark consumption, Soul Drain and chilling embrace to debuff, icicles for extra debuffing and damage.

You will be able to put out excellent ST damage, and decent AoE damage to boot.

I would take tough, as a bit of damage resistance is always nice, weave is also nice to make it easier to softcap. Neither is necessary, but they are a good idea. Weave is definitely skippable if you IO well.

Thank you, everyone, for the great advice. I've decided on Ice/Dark, and so far (only lvl 4) I am enjoying it.

My slotting urges are pure Blaster, so it will be a challenge for me to remember that I have a totally different role here as a Tanker. I am looking forward to figuring out my best slotting in a new archetype setting.