Ice/Stone is a good combo IMO
And Ice Armor is also easily Softcapped to S/L/E/N they can take just as good as any tank. They also have 2 taunt auras, and CE is the best taunt aura in the game hands down.
I have both. I love both. My 2 cents.
I dont use Stone outside of Granite, so im not sure how well it fairs. Why not? Well, because im built around run speed and movement speeds so it runs faster than a toon with sprint on. (rouchly mid 20's mph) It's also paired with SS so i dont really lose any damage with perma Rage. Im getting a constant 55% damage boost with it. And i'm either going with the damage boost from the Alpha or the recharge so running in Granite ensures me that i'll never die, while not asking for SB all the time.
My ice tank is capd to several positions and plays very well. Has a slow power with damage ticks, and Energy Absorption adds defense plus reills endurance. (which is nice because youll have about 10 toggles) It's paired with Siphon Melee. (which i really dont like) But i've ran a ton of incarnate missions and tip missions and yet to die. I want to try a few TFs and see how she does.
Stone melee is nice but dont slot for KB or youll be sending mobs from here to China. 
Ice Melee is meh, imo. Ice Patch is the only power i like from it.
I'd pair Ice Armor with DM, SS, or Fire.
I'd pair Stone Armor with Mace, Fire, or SS.
Lots of good advice i'm getting. thank you.
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Stone armor is, unquestionably, the most durable tanker in the game with Granite armor. It pays for that durability with massive mobility penalties along with damage and recharge penalties. Even on pure SO enhancements a Granite tank can stand up to anything in the game. Nothing else can equal it's durability although a soft capped Invuln tank can come reasonably close.|
Originally Posted by Icesphere
Hey guys!
Never made a tank before and was wondering what should my first tank be? I want ice because I don't see many people with it and it looks really amazing. On the other hand stone armor, i heard, is one of the hardest to bring down. People are always asking for a stone tank and generally want nothing to do with most others from what i've seen. I guess what i'm trying to say is: if i go with ice, can i make him so he is a badass tank and can take damage like other tanks? I know a lot of people will say "go with what i want", but if i can make my ice indestructable i would love to go that route. Any advice? |
Ice will be considerably less durable, however it doesn't have any penalties and it does have the best aggro management tools in the game. On SO enhancements, or with limited IO bonuses it has a reputation of being fairly squishy. I've seen Ice tankers who were more than up to the task and I've seen Ice tankers who were about as durable as a wet kleenex. Right now I'm leveling an Ice/Electric tanker and at 28 he's soft capped to E/N damage and at 40% to S/L... he'll hit the soft cap for S/L at 31 on my current build plan. I'm finding him to be quite durable so far although my build is a bit out of reach for the average new player at a bit over 100 million right now... I expect to have a bit over 500 million invested by the time he hits 50.
Regarding the pairings you mention, I wouldn't use those myself... Stone Melee hits hard but it also recharges slowly... not really ideal for a tanker with a recharge penalty. My favorite pairing for Stone armor is Fire melee... one thing Stone does NOT need is mitigation from the secondary so the high damage set of fire melee is ideal, and it recharges relatively quickly.
An Ice/Stone tank would work quite well though; Ice can use the mitigation Stone Melee provides and it won't have problems with the high endurance usage with Energy Absorption.
Ice Melee is a high mitigation set that unfortunately has fairly low damage. Depending on your desires with the tank it may not be the way you want to go.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
So changing my secondary to SS now; it seems that ice melee is too weak to compliment stone and ice so it seems like the safer way to go.
Let me know how ice armor is in later levels, though. Don't plan on starting my tank for a few days. Still have to slot my alpha for a few toons. Plus, it will give me some money to transfer to my new tank for early io's.
Ice Melee has allways been the Tank's control set. The Damage in Frozen Aura killed the sleeper stlye, but its function to lock down a target is unmatched still.
Its stacking slows and Frozen Touch gives it an unparalled ability to reduce and effectively halt an opponent. FT can be stacked itself on a high-recharge Hold-slotting, and adding an Epic hold you'll grab a boss off the bat.
Ice isn't damage, its control. Ice Armour also hails that with its 3 PbAoE taunts. Chilling Embrace and Icicles are a magnet itself, but many often miss that Energy Absorption also adds to it giving the Armour an unmatched option in either flexibility (I skip Icicles) or perfect control with excessive taunts.
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Late levels it depends on slotting, power picks and if you run IOs.
I have Manuvers, Weave, Combat Jumping on an IO'd Ice Armour (actually have 2) at 50 and I can run at about 60% smashing/lethal def and about 50% energy/negative before I top it off with 10% from a full EA.
Sounds nice? The Random Number Generator will cut you down with streakbreaker hits on occasion; but Horafrost and Hibernate can keep you outta trouble in most cases. Just watch out for certain enemies that'll cut that def down with their own ToHit bonuses.
Devouring Earth Quartz and some enemies like the Nemesis' Veng effects can really bring those wonderful numbers down to useless.
Just gotta know what to do. I run an Ice/Ice that can take advantage of its KD Ice Patch or permahold a troublesome boss. My Ice/DB relies on some minor -tohit in Weaken and hoping to cut them down before he gets it himself. Hoping it still adds up when my Kinetic Melee gets there too with her Ice... lots of promise in the end-less endurance the armour set offers.
Ice/Stone... the best of both worlds.. I have one.. its one of the best tanks I have ever made.
The hard things I can do--- The impossible just take a little bit longer.
If numbers are so much more important than a teammate who is fun to play with, forget about the game altogether and go play with a calculator instead. -Claws and Effect-
Quote:
I own 3 Ice/ tankers, and they are completely IO'd. The hardest one to kill is my Ice/Dm. I have done Tin Mage, STF, and other challenging TFs. |
Originally Posted by Icesphere
Hey guys!
Never made a tank before and was wondering what should my first tank be? I want ice because I don't see many people with it and it looks really amazing. On the other hand stone armor, i heard, is one of the hardest to bring down. People are always asking for a stone tank and generally want nothing to do with most others from what i've seen. I guess what i'm trying to say is: if i go with ice, can i make him so he is a badass tank and can take damage like other tanks? I know a lot of people will say "go with what i want", but if i can make my ice indestructable i would love to go that route. Any advice? |
If you are trying to decide between Ice/Ice or Stone/Stone, I would choose Ice/Ice.
Warning: be careful, and don't believe anyone who tells you /Ice melee is not good or is only a controlling set. /Ice Melee is one of the secrets in the game for secondaries. The dmg is solid and reliable, and I will add very respectable dmg.
Please look at the excellent guide for /Ice Melee dmg
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=186523
Repeat Offenders forever !
Make all IO's available in Paragon Market! NCSoft, the chinese are making BIG money selling influence and other stuff in the game. Best way to stop them = make the paragon market a place to buy all IO's and perhaps other things as well.
Hey guys!
Never made a tank before and was wondering what should my first tank be? I want ice because I don't see many people with it and it looks really amazing. On the other hand stone armor, i heard, is one of the hardest to bring down. People are always asking for a stone tank and generally want nothing to do with most others from what i've seen.
I guess what i'm trying to say is: if i go with ice, can i make him so he is a badass tank and can take damage like other tanks? I know a lot of people will say "go with what i want", but if i can make my ice indestructable i would love to go that route. Any advice?