Ice is pretty much where it's been at for a while now. It's pretty consistently in the middle of the pack, so it doesn't get tweaks up or down. The visuals are the real reason I see people not wanting to make an Ice Armor character.
Performance-wise: it's really easy to soft cap it to S/L/E/NE damage with one enemy in range of EA, and then you've got a heal and CE as backup. You've got a damage aura (for a total of two aggro auras). You've got pretty comprehensive status protection, at least for hero-side content. And, if the fecal matter really hits the oscillating unit, you've got Hibernate to hide in until you heal back up.
Not a bad set, if you ask me, but I might be a bit biased.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
Ice/ is actually a great set. You've got LOTS of layers of mitigation going on here:
- Great defense
- A damage aura
- A slow aura that also delivers -DMG
- An Endurance/Defense booster
- Toggle mez protection
- A self heal
About the only thing it's shy on is resistance. You have some decent Fire and phenomenal Cold resist. So anything that gets through your defenses is going to hurt.
Honestly, the best set I've found to pair with Ice/ is /Ice. /Ice is a VERY crowd-controllery attack set. Ice Patch is a phenomenally useful tool for attack prevention. It doesn't do any damage, but, on the flip side, if the enemy is falling on their face, neither are they. That's better than capped defenses right there!
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
Quote:
You can minimize the appearance of the visuals using customization to the point where the ice is almost invisible. You can also use the close fx distance setting to turn off all effects on your character if you really hate the effects, but really want the set.
|
Originally Posted by Aett_Thorn
IThe visuals are the real reason I see people not wanting to make an Ice Armor character.
|
What is a good secondary to pair with Ice Armor?
In the past I got Ice/SS up to level 40 a few times but I hated the old Rage crash, and hated the new one more. Still do. So I deleted a level 35-40 Ice/SS tanker at least 3 times. Later I got used to the Rage crash and so now I am sure I *could* do Ice/SS again, but I am kinda holding out hope that Brutes will get Ice Armor. I have become accustomed to Brute damage, and conceptually he should have been a Brute all along.
But that leaves me realizing I dont have an Ice Armor character. So I am wondering about a good sevondary for it that has good damage other than Super Strength.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Lewis
Random AT Generation!
"I remember... the Alamo." -- Pee-wee Herman
"Oh don't worry. I always leave things to the last moment." -- The Doctor
"Telescopes are time machines." -- Carl Sagan
Quote:
Looking solely at endgame builds (softcap, rech/regen/recov, etc) anything can go with Ice Armor. Once you get to that point the set doesn't really need any extra mitigation from the secondary.|
Originally Posted by UnicyclePeon
What is a good secondary to pair with Ice Armor?
In the past I got Ice/SS up to level 40 a few times but I hated the old Rage crash, and hated the new one more. Still do. So I deleted a level 35-40 Ice/SS tanker at least 3 times. Later I got used to the Rage crash and so now I am sure I *could* do Ice/SS again, but I am kinda holding out hope that Brutes will get Ice Armor. I have become accustomed to Brute damage, and conceptually he should have been a Brute all along. But that leaves me realizing I dont have an Ice Armor character. So I am wondering about a good sevondary for it that has good damage other than Super Strength. Any suggestions? Thanks, Lewis |
Leveling up is a different story, however. Same goes for playing with just SOs. Those types of circumstances encourage use of secondaries that compliment Ice/ and even plug up some of its holes.
Dark Melee - IMO, the best set to pair with any Defensive set because of Siphon Life and -tohit.
Battle Axe - KD is always welcome and will give you some breathing room.
War Mace - Stunned mobs will be slowed by CE and won't wander off too quickly.
Dual Blades - Combos and some KD are nice
Electrical Melee - Drains and -recovery to stack with EA
Energy Melee - Pom poms of poop
Fiery Melee - No added mitigation but won't need it in the late game
Ice Melee - No brainer if you like matching elements. Stacking slows and IM's aoe damage is great. ST requires an epic's blast to become decent. Ice Patch is awesome early on but less necessary in the late game.
Kinetic Melee - Stacking -dmg. You can go to pretty ridiculous levels once you toss in incarnate powers and Soul Mastery's Darkest Night. That said, you can get DN with the other sets and still have a nice 35% -dmg with DN+CE
Martial Arts - Storm Kick's +def will be a boon early on and DT's KD will be great.
Stone Melee - Moar stuns and KD
Street Justice - Haven't really played this one too much but I don't see why it wouldn't work with Ice Armor
side note: I also hope Brutes get both Ice Armor and Melee. Ice Melee will be sick with Fury
SG: Guadians of Paragon - VG: Paragon's Darkness
The Usual Suspects: Fimboolvetr (Icer Tank), Tsukiyomi (Mind/Psi/Ice Dom), Smiting Dragon (Dm/Sr Scrap), Widow Mortis (NW)
Up and Comers: Ameterasu (Km/Reg Scrap), Arrhymian (Elec/Nin Stalk), TDMKII (Bot/Traps MM)
Quote:
Ice/KM stacks -damage very nicely. The crystal option for Stone Melee can look somewhat like ice if you color it correctly.
|
Originally Posted by UnicyclePeon
What is a good secondary to pair with Ice Armor?
In the past I got Ice/SS up to level 40 a few times but I hated the old Rage crash, and hated the new one more. Still do. So I deleted a level 35-40 Ice/SS tanker at least 3 times. Later I got used to the Rage crash and so now I am sure I *could* do Ice/SS again, but I am kinda holding out hope that Brutes will get Ice Armor. I have become accustomed to Brute damage, and conceptually he should have been a Brute all along. But that leaves me realizing I dont have an Ice Armor character. So I am wondering about a good sevondary for it that has good damage other than Super Strength. Any suggestions? Thanks, Lewis |
Comrade Smersh, KGB Special Section 8 50 Inv/Fire, Fire/Rad, BS/WP, SD/SS, AR/EM
Other 50s: Plant/Thorn, Bots/Traps, DB/SR, MA/Regen, Rad/Dark - All on Virtue.
-Don't just rebel, build a better world, comrade!
Thanks for the replies. I appreciate them.
I have to think about it. I really just want to hold out hope for ice armor and ice melee for brutes. I would do SS/IceArmor and IceMelee/SR probably.
I also discovered/remembered I deleted my old level 50 fire/ice tanker so I "need" an Ice Melee character too but I had already got a shield/ice tanker to 33 or so but found the tanker speed just a bit slow. So I "should" do ice/ice tanker but it would drive me nuts I am guessing.
Just gotta hope for proliferation. Or else to ice/stjustice. 
Lewis
Random AT Generation!
"I remember... the Alamo." -- Pee-wee Herman
"Oh don't worry. I always leave things to the last moment." -- The Doctor
"Telescopes are time machines." -- Carl Sagan
Totally and completely biased, but I *LOVE* my Ice/Fire tanker.
Softcap to S/L/E/N (64% for Inc trials), Great ST and AoE damage, and a cool (no pun intended) theme! 
Make a man a fire and keep him warm for the day, SET a man on fire and keep him warm for the rest of his life.
Incarnates: K'lir(Fire/Dark Corr):Hot-House Flower(Plant/Fire Dom):Kinrad X(Kin/Rad Def):Itsy-Bitsy Spider(Crab):Two Ton Tony(Mace/WP Broot):Teeny Weeny Widow(Fortunata/Widow) : Zeroth Law (Ice/Fire Tank)
Quote:
if you want survivable tanker then do ice/MA, if you want higher dmg tanker then do ice/super strength or ice/fire|
Originally Posted by UnicyclePeon
Thanks for the replies. I appreciate them.
I have to think about it. I really just want to hold out hope for ice armor and ice melee for brutes. I would do SS/IceArmor and IceMelee/SR probably. I also discovered/remembered I deleted my old level 50 fire/ice tanker so I "need" an Ice Melee character too but I had already got a shield/ice tanker to 33 or so but found the tanker speed just a bit slow. So I "should" do ice/ice tanker but it would drive me nuts I am guessing. Just gotta hope for proliferation. Or else to ice/stjustice. Lewis |
ice melee on the other hand is fairly low dmg output unless you have a high enough rech for a specific attack chain
Yeah, I am tempted by ice/fire. I've come close to making one several times. And in a way I almost want to suck it up and make my ice/SS for the 4th or 5th time. But at least in the case of ice/SS, I know that the very second Brutes get Ice armor, I would delete and reroll as SS/Ice. Or if scrappers got both a modified SS and they got ice armor, I might do that.
But the ice/fire tank could be the way to go. I do love that fire melee for tankers offers Combustion.
Thanks for the replies, hope my questions fell somewhat within the scope of the OP ... in that I have a high interest in Ice armor.
Lewis
Random AT Generation!
"I remember... the Alamo." -- Pee-wee Herman
"Oh don't worry. I always leave things to the last moment." -- The Doctor
"Telescopes are time machines." -- Carl Sagan
I have a Ice/ENG and i love it. Play what u like most.
I forgot to mention that Frozen Aura in Ice Melee accepts Sleep sets. This means you can pop in a Call of the Sandman: Chance to Heal into your PbAoE attack. It works fairly well on my Ice/Ice/Soul.
A cold version of Footstomp that can also give you 100hp whenever it procs, which can proc multiple times? Yes, please.
SG: Guadians of Paragon - VG: Paragon's Darkness
The Usual Suspects: Fimboolvetr (Icer Tank), Tsukiyomi (Mind/Psi/Ice Dom), Smiting Dragon (Dm/Sr Scrap), Widow Mortis (NW)
Up and Comers: Ameterasu (Km/Reg Scrap), Arrhymian (Elec/Nin Stalk), TDMKII (Bot/Traps MM)
Quote:
It was better when it proc'd on every single mob it hit, giving you up to 1,000 HP back every time you used it. I could Tank +2 spawns on test with nothing but Wet Ice and Frozen Aura. Man, those were the days.
|
Originally Posted by Infini
I forgot to mention that Frozen Aura in Ice Melee accepts Sleep sets. This means you can pop in a Call of the Sandman: Chance to Heal into your PbAoE attack. It works fairly well on my Ice/Ice/Soul.
A cold version of Footstomp that can also give you 100hp whenever it procs, which can proc multiple times? Yes, please. |
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
I don't see any talk about Ice Armor.
I have a great concept for a Ice/TW tank...
What's the consensus about Ice nowadays?
In time, I'll come to forgive you.