Never really played EA, but I do love IA on Tankers. Especially Chilling Embrace. However, that same power can cause some issues for a Brute wanting to build up his fury as the -recharge won't help at all.
Other than that, IA is a fantastic set.
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I'd say Ice Armor, if only to be unique. I see very few Ice Armor brutes out there. Not sure why, probably because its FX aren't the prettiest.
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Originally Posted by Square_Woot
I'd say Ice Armor, if only to be unique. I see very few Ice Armor brutes out there. Not sure why, probably because its FX aren't the prettiest.
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I'd be surprised if you saw any, given you can't choose Ice Armor on brutes. My understanding was this armor is not getting proliferated to brutes due to the conflict with -recharge and building fury.
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That was the reason given back when CoV launched.|
Originally Posted by Prime313
I'd be surprised if you saw any, given you can't choose Ice Armor on brutes. My understanding was this armor is not getting proliferated to brutes due to the conflict with -recharge and building fury.
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Since then the developers have not really commented on Ice Armor for brutes.
Ice Armor IS coming to Stalkers as of I21 though.
I really can't stand ice, its just soo ugly. I don't understand why people want it so bad.
"I have ridden the mighty moon worm!"
-Al Gore
Fiery Aura is only good for farming, I'm cereal
@Caucasiafro
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stupid easy to soft-cap to Smash / Lethal / Energy / Neg Energy. As in "Single Origin" easy to soft-cap. |
Originally Posted by ultrawatt
I really can't stand ice, its just soo ugly. I don't understand why people want it so bad.
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Plus it can also get a tank over 3200 HP with [hoarfrost], as well as a crashless complete-invulnerability T9 with [Hibernate].
On top of that the Tank Ice Armor also has a minus damage component with [chilling embrace], which helps the entire team, not just the Ice Armor.
With [permafrost] or [winters gift 20% slow resistance] Tank Ice Armor can also have 100% resistance to slows.
So, the question is, why would you make anything else?
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You need to go check the stalker numbers. Not so easy to softcap, and that is what the brute numbers would look like.
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Originally Posted by je_saist
stupid easy to soft-cap to Smash / Lethal / Energy / Neg Energy. As in "Single Origin" easy to soft-cap.
Plus it can also get a tank over 3200 HP with [hoarfrost], as well as a crashless complete-invulnerability T9 with [Hibernate]. On top of that the Tank Ice Armor also has a minus damage component with [chilling embrace], which helps the entire team, not just the Ice Armor. With [permafrost] or [winters gift 20% slow resistance] Tank Ice Armor can also have 100% resistance to slows. So, the question is, why would you make anything else? |
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Yes, I should have clarified that the soft-cap was about the TANK powers.
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Originally Posted by Test_Rat
You need to go check the stalker numbers. Not so easy to softcap, and that is what the brute numbers would look like.
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Originally Posted by je_saist
So, the question is, why would you make anything else?
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It has terrible resistance, except for that oh so common cold damage.
I went into the thread not even knowing Ice Armor wasn't available on Brutes, now I kinda wanna roll a tank just to try it. >.>
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I have an Ice/SS Tanker who stalled in the mid-40s. (Yes, that's pre-heavy IO investment and pre-Incarnate.)|
Originally Posted by je_saist
stupid easy to soft-cap to Smash / Lethal / Energy / Neg Energy. As in "Single Origin" easy to soft-cap.
Plus it can also get a tank over 3200 HP with [hoarfrost], as well as a crashless complete-invulnerability T9 with [Hibernate]. On top of that the Tank Ice Armor also has a minus damage component with [chilling embrace], which helps the entire team, not just the Ice Armor. With [permafrost] or [winters gift 20% slow resistance] Tank Ice Armor can also have 100% resistance to slows. So, the question is, why would you make anything else? |
The reason she stalled was because the one thing I think Tankers should be good at - surviving burst damage, she wasn't. I think it's the antithesis of tanking to get unlucky the with RNG and be plastered. That may work for Scrappers or (possibly) Brutes, but that doesn't fly with Tankers - especially when the times you want them most are the times burst damage tend to be heaviest. Hibernate is a good panic button if the burst doesn't kill you, but it's also limited to once every two minutes due to the nophase period. (It really rankles me that Scrappers have access to it and the nophase timer is the same on all ATs.)
Chilling Embrace is a great power, no doubt, but against AVs the -rech is heavily resisted, and the dmg debuff is effected by enemy resistance and the purple patch (and AVs tend to be up-level), so not as strong when you'll likely need it most.
The other thing that really did Ice in for me is the fact that defense is cheap. There are sets with little to no inherent defense that are being softcapped (Regen, Elec, etc) while Ice cannot do the same with resistance.
I want to like Ice Armor (like many sets), but it has some severe deficencies that I find hard to overlook (from a performance standpoint). As for whether I'd play EA or Ice, they both tend to has the same issue.
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That answered the question nicely, ty. |
Originally Posted by Sarrate
I have an Ice/SS Tanker who stalled in the mid-40s. (Yes, that's pre-heavy IO investment and pre-Incarnate.)
The reason she stalled was because the one thing I think Tankers should be good at - surviving burst damage, she wasn't. I think it's the antithesis of tanking to get unlucky the with RNG and be plastered. That may work for Scrappers or (possibly) Brutes, but that doesn't fly with Tankers - especially when the times you want them most are the times burst damage tend to be heaviest. Hibernate is a good panic button if the burst doesn't kill you, but it's also limited to once every two minutes due to the nophase period. (It really rankles me that Scrappers have access to it and the nophase timer is the same on all ATs.) Chilling Embrace is a great power, no doubt, but against AVs the -rech is heavily resisted, and the dmg debuff is effected by enemy resistance and the purple patch (and AVs tend to be up-level), so not as strong when you'll likely need it most. The other thing that really did Ice in for me is the fact that defense is cheap. There are sets with little to no inherent defense that are being softcapped (Regen, Elec, etc) while Ice cannot do the same with resistance. |
The only thing ice excels at that other sets dont is recharge debuffs, which isnt all that common (or much of a problem if you kill stuff before it can attack in the first place which any good broot should be able too). So Id rather look nice while being unkillable. And i for one hate ices t9. Wow, 30 seconds of not dying? But you cant attack OR move or doing anything else! Thats amazing!
"I have ridden the mighty moon worm!"
-Al Gore
Fiery Aura is only good for farming, I'm cereal
@Caucasiafro
Yeah the burst damage is the biggest fault for ice armor. Facing off against lvl 54 rikti I thought my stalker was performing in uber fashion till he was DOA after a nice slice to the jugular. But other than that ice armor, although as ugly as stone is, its a pretty balanced set. Once i21 hits EA will start to have its love like never before.
I would pick Ice Armor over EA.
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To be fair, Ice Armor does have some really nice features. For example, Energy Absorption is a great power. The slow resistance is second to none. For all my gripes, I really like Hibernate. It's unique and has a lot off potential applications. It can be used to recover health or end. Hibernate can be used to let debuffs (such as def debuffs) fall off. It can also be used to soak heavy damage while invulnerable (and in conjunction with Taunt, keep tanking as well).|
Originally Posted by ultrawatt
That answered the question nicely, ty.
The only thing ice excels at that other sets dont is recharge debuffs, which isnt all that common (or much of a problem if you kill stuff before it can attack in the first place which any good broot should be able too). So Id rather look nice while being unkillable. And i for one hate ices t9. Wow, 30 seconds of not dying? But you cant attack OR move or doing anything else! Thats amazing! |
The combination of long nophase timer (done mainly for PvP reasons, iirc) in conjunction with no inherent res sours it for me.
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Thank you for your honesty.
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Originally Posted by SuperBull
I would pick Ice Armor over EA.
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I would pick another AT over either.
edit: I have a dm/ea brute and I deleted a fairly high level ice/fire tanker so it's not knee jerk snark. Both sets need something to help with 'sudden tanker death' situations.
Weight training: Because you'll never hear someone lament "If only I were weaker, I could have saved them."
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I would pick EA over Ice. Do I get thanked as well?
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Originally Posted by Gemini_2099
Thank you for your honesty.
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My postings to this forum are not to be used as data in any research study without my express written consent.
My energy armor brute was tossed into the drawer metaphorically speaking, but now with ish 21 around the corner, we shall see.
I have a lowbie ice armor/fire melee tank that I tinker with, might level it up someday.
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Thank you for honest response. |
Originally Posted by EarthWyrm
I would pick EA over Ice. Do I get thanked as well?
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My level 45 Ice/ice tank has been the only tank on two ITFs and I died once in part to clicking on a green and it not going. I know the first time I did this was before level 40. I only have at best level 35 commons in the build. From what I have seen, the biggest issue is the psy hole.
Filling in the lack of resists on Ice is pretty easy by stacking on -dmg debuffs. CE, Darkest Night, Interface procs, and Void Judgement can floor dmg for the length of Void (30s?).
Wouldn't be as effective on other ATs because of lower numbers for CE, though.
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And Hibernate also makes an excellet costume change emote!
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Originally Posted by Sarrate
To be fair, Ice Armor does have some really nice features. For example, Energy Absorption is a great power. The slow resistance is second to none. For all my gripes, I really like Hibernate. It's unique and has a lot off potential applications. It can be used to recover health or end. Hibernate can be used to let debuffs (such as def debuffs) fall off. It can also be used to soak heavy damage while invulnerable (and in conjunction with Taunt, keep tanking as well).
The combination of long nophase timer (done mainly for PvP reasons, iirc) in conjunction with no inherent res sours it for me. |
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Ice Armor grants -Recharge to foes it hits, yes. But doesn't Dark Armor have a PBAoE toggle that Stuns whatever it hits?|
Originally Posted by je_saist
That was the reason given back when CoV launched.
Since then the developers have not really commented on Ice Armor for brutes. Ice Armor IS coming to Stalkers as of I21 though. |
This has always been the major argument and will continue to be so until Ice Armor Brutes make it past the CoV Beta.
So if y'all had a choice which one would you choose? And if so, why?