When I get home I will edit this post with more information and some Mids screenies. I started playing CoH back in Issue 6 I believe, and quite a bit after incarnate came out. I have been, and always will be a Tanker and love it. My favourite build ever so far has been Ice Armor / Stone Melee / Fire Epic.
This build is very much thematic, and is based around having access to all the elements as possible, but there is a lot of beautiful synergy that happens. As mentioned by other people, Ice Armor is end hungry and so is Stone Melee, you will be living off of your Energy Drain PBAoE, but unlike most people, I slot it for defence nowadays. This is primarily a result of having access to Incarnate Abilities to drastically curb end costs, but until then, I run Energy Absorption with 3 rech and 3 end mod.
Ice Armor's strength is its ability to push it's defence way above the cap to help accomodate def debuffs, aoe toggle to slow and damage debuff enemies, inherent +perception, and some minor resists. The armor covers a lot of bases at once, and Stone Melee not only HITS HARD, but it has a lot of damage mitigation built into it. 2 PBAoE knockdowns (not knock back), 2 single target knockdowns, a hold, a spam disorient, and a ranged single target. This really helps you setup enemies for ideal ENERGY ABSORBING to help properly your end bar. The synergy between the armor and the melee is beautiful.
Ice Armor is VERY GOOD at holding aggro by itself, but I find that adding in Fire Epic makes the build even more well rounded. Char for the single target hold helps you manage single AV encounters, then Melt Armor and Fireball are just wonderful for more AoE doom! Fireball puts out some good AoE damage, and Melt Armor makes the entire team hit harder. Both of these also do wonders in giving you even more aggro control, which again works towards maximizing Energy Absorption.
This build however is rather painful to level, especially if you are broke. But the end game is super fun for me, as Stone Melee REALLY feels smashy!