Shield/Ice Tank Help

Need some help from the more experienced Tanker players out there. Tankers are an AT I have, for the most part, avoided. I've always been more partial to the support ATs (love my Defenders), and have only played one Tanker past level 10 before. (I had an Invul/Energy Tanker I got to 41, but got rid of because no matter how I respec'd and rebuilt, I was having End problems that drove me to the brink of insanity).

But, something inside of me has been goading me to try Tankers again. I love the look of ice-based powers, and decided to roll a Shield/Ice Tanker last night. He's only level 6 right now, but has been rather fun thus far in his uber-short existence.

So, for you more experienced Tanks out there...what kind of advice do you have for me? I'm rather open here, having little to no experience with Tankers in general or Ice Melee specifically.

No advice huh?

Well for general tanking advice I do have a guide (link in sig). Shield/Ice is a fairly rare combo, I've only seen one before.
It should work fine, as soon as your tank is big enough to slot a few sets try to soft cap his defense as it helps tons, and is very cheap on a shielder.
Once you start slotting Frozen Aura try to grab the chance for self heal proc from the sleep set (don't remember the exact name at the moment sorry) with a big pack around you it should give you the equivilant of a small green inspiration every time you fire the attack.
Ica Patch is also a great little panic button which you will find all sorts of cool uses for.

Eden, I think that your lack of replies mainly stems from the fact that your question is just so broad that many might see it as tough to answer.

Will a Shield/Ice Tanker be good? Yes

What kind of advice do I have for you as a newbie to tanking:

1) Take Taunt at level 10. Since this is your first time Tanking, you should get the best tool for the job. If, later on down the road, you find that you aren't using it that much, then you can drop it if you want to (although with the -range debuff on it, I'd take it on almost every Tank I make). As a Tanker, teams will be relying on you to take the hits for them, and Taunt lets you do that reliably from a low level.

2) You're going to be squishy on a full team unless you have support. Until level 22 when you get SOs and have a decent amount of slots in your core defensive powers, you might feel like you're a little weak. Do not be afraid of saying that you need some support in a team in the lower levels (or ever, really). You're making sure that they're not being hit, they should be able to help you out, too. Once you get into the mid-20s, though, you'll feel a lot tougher.


How is the Shield/Ice combo?

It should be pretty good. You're getting into Ice Melee now that it is no longer Le Suck (that's right, it sucked so bad it was in French). It has some nice synergies, with Ice Melee's controls allowing you to fuel Against All Odds and give yourself a nice damage buff without taking a lot of damage in return. Also, the combination of Shield Charge plus Frozen Aura should be a really nice combo. This is especially true because Shields doesn't have a damage aura, so you can actually make use of the sleep effect in Frozen Aura.





Damnit, now I want to make one. Altitus strikes again.

Joe,

You are right, it is a rare combo. That is part of the reason it sounds intriguing to me. I wanted to try something that I hadn't seen before. And, since I like both the look of ice and the slow powers of it, I thought I'd give it a try.

I'll look for the proc you described, and hope I find it.

Aett,

Thanks for the advice. I know my question is rather broad, but since I'm not an experienced tank, I didn't know how to narrow it down. I know that most questions in the AT support threads are usually very specific, so this is a bit of an oddity. So, really, any advice is more than appreciated.

I'll definitely take taunt as soon as I can, and am looking forward to Frozen Aura (sounds fun to me).

I have to tell you, I'm playing around with the build in Mids and I'm loving it. A very, very different kind of tanker in my opinion, one who controls a great deal more than just taunting and then standing there taking a pounding.

It looks like it would be very easy to get right up near the defensive soft cap, you'll have nice damage resistance and though you won't have any healing to speak of, all of your slows and control (Ice Patch FTW) will keep the damage coming in very, very slowly. Grab Arctic Mastery for your EPP and add Block of Ice so that you can stack holds with Freezing Touch and then Shiver for an excellent 'attention-grabber'.

I'm focusing my attack slotting on Ice Sword, Greater Ice Sword, Frost and Shield Charge, taking both Boxing and Frozen Fists because I have to but without any real intention of using them. The character should play to its theme nicely.

Thanks for giving me a bit of unexpected inspiration today. I love playing builds that are uncommon.

Well, with the Bruising ability, you should be using Frozen Fists a decent amount of the time, so you might as well slot it!

Thanks for the advice guys. Anyone have a decent Mids build suggestion?

Wiggz left off Frozen Aura... which is an awesome power now.

I ahve a 50 SD/Ice, though that account is now deactivated. I compared it directly to fire/ice, and at the time, the sd/ice was 30% faster at completing the exact same missions in AE. Both were run using SO's only.

You will be squishy as you level up. Once you IO out... you are awesome. It does not take that many to hit the cap. You can spend as much or as little as you want and will still be awesome, even with just SO's, when you have Weave as well.

Frost is one of the few powers I slot dam/range HO's in. It makes the power shine.

it is a fun powr set combo, and not that common.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Tanker
Primary Power Set: Shield Defense
Secondary Power Set: Ice Melee
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Deflection -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(11), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(13), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(19), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(23), Aegis-ResDam(25)
Level 1: Frozen Fists -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), KntkC'bat-Knock%(37)
Level 2: True Grit -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(15), Heal-I(15), ResDam-I(17), ResDam-I(17), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(25)
Level 4: Frost -- Mocking-Acc/Rchg(A), Mocking-Rchg(5), Zinger-Acc/Rchg(5), HO:Centri(7), HO:Centri(7), HO:Centri(9)
Level 6: Active Defense -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9), Empty(23)
Level 8: Battle Agility -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(11), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(13)
Level 10: Taunt -- Range-I(A)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(50)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(37)
Level 16: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Numna-Heal(34), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(37), Mrcl-Rcvry+(40), Mrcl-Heal(43), RgnTis-Regen+(46)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(21), P'Shift-End%(31)
Level 22: Against All Odds -- Taunt-I(A)
Level 24: Phalanx Fighting -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 26: Shield Charge -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(27), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(27), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Oblit-%Dam(31)
Level 28: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 30: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 32: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(33), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(33), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(33), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 35: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(36), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(36), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(36)
Level 38: Frozen Aura -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(39), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(39), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Oblit-%Dam(40)
Level 41: Gloom -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(42), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 44: Darkest Night -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(A), DarkWD-Slow%(45), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(45), DampS-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(45), DampS-ToHitDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(46), DampS-ToHitDeb(46)
Level 47: Dark Obliteration -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48), Posi-Dmg/Rng(48), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50), EndRdx-I(50)
Level 49: Ice Patch -- RechRdx-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet
Level 4: Ninja Run

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Ice Ember