Putting in my two cents here:
I played a SS/Stone brute on live (Erik the Viking on Victory server), probably my most played tank style class. I love it completely. Flaws and all. I have thousands of hours of experience on it, spread amongst farming, tf's, and other content. When CoV came back, it was the first toon I rolled, and I have I think 3 of them.
The latest is a stone/elec tanker (Doom's Stoner, Torchbearer) I made on a whim, specifically to NOT need SB. I have capped movement speed, and pretty close to capped recharge. With no incarnates (except for alpha slot that gives move speed) it *runs* amazingly well. Half slotted. He is definitely a meme toon, but I love him so much.
Some highlights for you:
Capped Movement (42.6 mph in granite, 36 ish with rooted, SUPER FAST for a granite, basically as fast as a level 1ish toon with sprint and ninja/beast/athletic run)
Teleportation (for getting around outside missions, obviously)
Capped Defense (except the obvious psi)
Capped Resistances (ditto, without Earths Embrace)
Stealth (that's right. concealment pool works in granite)
Recharge will be capped (it IS capped with an ageless)
Decent END management, easily kept up with the odd blue
TONS of AOE damage from ELEC, plus cross punch from the fighting pool (hilarious)
Damage is good, not great but thats to be expected.
With a few keybinds he's a complete monster. Is he efficient? Not particularly. Can he farm? Yes. Well? Meh that's not what he's built for. Can he tank Lord Recluse? Also yes.
Most importantly... is he fun?
For me, YES!!!!!!!!!!
Could it use some changes? Depends on what and where. I think if you change Stone Armor too much, you take what it is meant to be away and replace it with something more generic, which I personally would hate to see. Everything on Homecoming is becoming generic, and I hate it. The flair and individuality that made each build unique is slowly being chipped away by a new playerbase that wants CoV to play more like some other game it's not. I've considered looking for a new server to play on that's more like how it was on live for just that reason. Will I move? Maybe, but I love this community so much.
A thought for the devs, if you want to keep changing and improving the game, keep the spirit of it alive. Maybe consider creating a way for players to choose between the proverbial "new coke or old coke" classes. If you are going to change ANY class, just create a new powerset with a similar theme but run differently. You could leave Stone Armor as it is, with a few basic balance changes here and there, and create a whole new powerset that has the spirit of Stone Armor but functions differently, like having the different toggles stack and getting rid of Granite Armor entirely. You've already shown that you can create amazing powersets. Be creative, but don't sully the spirit of the game we fought for SO LONG to get back.
YMMV, just my two bits.
Also, if you need any help with a build, hit me up. I'm always up for helping 🙂
