earth/storm-whats the current thinking

My earth/strom -er has now reached 40, and over due a respec, he has been sitting idle since i19 and free stam came out.

So what is the current thinks on what not to take , and which pool are worth it from 41 upwards.

thanks in advance for all advice.

---

There is no "conscensus" on what to skip. I skipped Salt Crystals and Stone Prison on mine, took everything from Storm, and took Hasten/Super Speed. I like Super Speed on a Stormie to enable me to "herdicane." Plus, the stealth combines with Steamy Mist for full invisibility without having to get a Stealth IO. Other pool power options include the Medicine Pool, Leadership, Recall Friend. Some people going for a high defense build may want the Fighting Pool.

Some folks might want to skip either Quicksand or Snow Storm, as they are both Slow powers. However, Quicksand is a location-based power with a massive Defense debuff and some nice strategic uses. Snow Storm is a foe-AoE toggle with -Fly and substantial -Recharge. So I took them both.

Stalagmites and Thunderclap are both stun powers, but both are made better by having both -- you can stun Bosses with the combo.

---

LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control

I decided to skip Stone Prison and Salt Crystals from Earth and then O2 Boost and Lightning Clap from Storm. I just couldn't fit Stone Prison and don't care for Salt Crystals and I figured with the amount of control I was able to dish out with this build, some one else can worry about what O2 Boost provides to the team. I just found that Lightning Clap didn't fit into my playstyle. Oh and I use Hasten and Combat Jumping with the intent to pick up the Earth Mastery set when I get another few levels.

---

I skipped Salt Crystals and Thunderclap on mine. Pools I just took CJ/SJ (I'm addicted to Combat Jumping) and two leadership toggles (plus I'll probably take Vengance at 49). For Epic pool I'm going to take the first three powers from Fire.

In regards to Stone Prison, I mostly took it because I like having a second attack at lower levels. I've been thinking that I might spec out of it in exchange for Thunderclap in my primary build since all of my powers from level 32 onward are damage powers so I use it less.

On the subject of Quicksand/Snowstorm I highly recommend Quicksand at low levels since the -defense makes a huge difference. It's less important at higher levels since -defense is pretty much useless against AVs (and if you can hit the AV you can hit almost anyone else) so you could realistically manage without either power. Personally I find Quicksand is slightly more useful than Snowstorm but both are useful (if somewhat situational) powers with minimal slotting required so I recommend taking at least one of them.

---