Does anyone use Frostwork?

Personally I think that this is a really cool power but I think I remember reading somewhere that people regarded it as useless? Does anyone besides me use this? And if so, who do you use it on?

I typically try to use it on either the main tank and then usually a squishie. Sometimes the squishie takes priority if the tank is perfectly fine on their own.

Bottom line - FW increases survivability by adding HP.

What people seem to not like about it is that its effectiveness varies not only by AT, but by powersets within an AT. Further by how the individual character is built.

Tanks that run around with +HP accolades and perma DP are the worst candidates, as they literally gain 0 benefit with DP active.

Stalkers and Blasters will also frequently gain little, or even nothing, as their max HP is close to their base HP.

That's the argument against FW. What that neglects is basically everybody else. With the HP cap raised, there are still plenty of tanks w/o a +HP power that love FWs, all brutes can use it, VEATs, MMs, also gain full benefits.

Having said that, this is the first power from Cold I cut out when I need to. However if you're looking for a useful 1-slot power (I just put a Health IO and call it a day), FW will do.

I can't speak for all combinations, but in the early days of my Ice/cold corruptor, putting frostworks on my teammate Dark Armor Brute made a big big difference.

I have it, use it, love it. It's a one-slot wonder. Sometimes you run into a low-end WP or whatever build that isn't at or near HP cap and so would totally benefit from some more HP. That said, it's tied with snowstorm for most skippable power in the set. I wouldn't feel bad about dropping it if I needed to do so.

I put the shields and Frostwork on my vet buff pet. usually keeps it alive long enough for it to be an actual help in combat.

Yes, I've used Frostworks. Yes it's skippable. If I was running a pair of Colds, I'd definitely take it to put on my pairs partner, otherwise I'll only take it if I have room.

I use it on my pet on an Ice/cold controller to get it to the hit point cap (1600-ish), but keep in mind not all sets can max out their own hit points (Super Reflexes to tankers hitting now especially, Electric Armor, etc.). There's a new hit point-cap on tankers that's a bit harder to reach since GR launched.

To be clear, it's only tanks with Dull Pain (Invuln) and other hit point powers (like the Will Power auto power) that are already at or near the HP cap.

I think the hit point cap is over 3500 now for tankers (maybe even 3600-ish). My shield tanker with Rebirth (the rare heal/+hp) and its tier 9 running only hits the cap for a few seconds.

Those sets with DP or Hoarfrost can save those powers to use as a heal. Sure the +HP is a waste, but the ~50% heal could be that tank's life saver. This may not even be necessary if FW is already capping their hp as their regen will be increased, too.

I play some (not all) characters in "hardcore" mode, where any defeat means the character "dies" and is deleted or at least kicked out of the hardcore supergroup.

Yes, it's crazy. But I have a character who just got to Frostwork level and plans to use it as much as possible -- extra life in hardcore play is just awesome.

I frequently check HPs as well as powersets. I'll avoid using it on people with Dull Pain in the high levels and if I see a blaster or stalker already close to the cap I skip them too. It is rare for me to be on a team where there are not at least 2 good candidates for Frostworks.

I've changed how I use it slightly. I figure, since I'm already giving good Defense buffs to people, anyone with some IOs might be getting pushed to or past the softcap. So now I just sit back, and any time I see someone's health go down I use it on them.

It's not a heal but obviously that person lacks IOs or like to play more on the edge and grab a lot of aggro so they're the ones that could use the extra health. I've been surprised at who ends up getting the shield the most. For instance, on a team I was running earlier the elect/ controller was the one who got it the most often.

I generally give Frostwork to melee characters, as they're the ones who benefit from it the most. Blasters and Stalkers can self-cap their HP and even if they don't most builds will come within ~100hp of cap when accoladed, which is a waste of Frostwork. Other squishies, maybe, but well-built those will have around 1300hp, which really leaves Brutes, Tankers, Scrappers, and MMs. People tend to forget about MMs but they have the lowest base HP (803 or something like that) and slotted Frostwork can get them almost to the cap even if they don't have their own +HP. Makes them not entirely super squishy when not in BG mode.

Frostwork is a good power, but it requires some thinking about who to give it to so you can get the most use out of it. You'll need to check your teammates' normal max HP by hovering the mouse over their life bars, and have knowledge of what the HP caps for each AT so you'll know who can get the most out of it.