Ice Armor / Dark Melee

[Papaschtroumpf]

I've been getting powers as they come available since I have never played either set (we;;, I think I had an ice armor tank back in Live, I had so many toons...)

Both sets seem to have a lot of utility and I made it to 33 with only regular IOs and mod drops. time to get serious about a real build.

any advice, or anyone wants to hand me their build? feeling lazy tonight 🙂

[Sura]

I love Ice Armor, but haven't tried it with Dark.  I would think they'd synergize well though.

 

Almost everything in Ice is a must-take, with the exception of Hibernate.  I've seen Permafrost suggested as possibly skippable, but I don't like skipping Permafrost because with it, and with the Slow Resist Winter's Gift, the Ice Tanker becomes 100% resistant to movement and recharge slows (which is really nice).  I also put the two DEF boosters in Permafrost.  I think Weave is probably a good idea.  I slotted Energy Absorption for END MOD, but DEF would also be good (endurance drain was kind of my theme).  Icicles is a good place for the Might of the Tanker proc, and possibly other procs, but I just did the whole MotT set in there.  

 

Maybe with Dark as your secondary you could do the Dark Epic pool, and Darkest Night.

 

If it helps, I'll try and put my build below.  It's Ice/Elec.  🙂

 

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[Papaschtroumpf]

Dark Melee has a lot -ToHit, so I don't know that it makes sens to softcap defense from Ice, especially with EA provide additional on-demand defense for larger groups

Both Ice and DM provide a +End mechanism so, I think I can get toggle heavy without trouble.

 

I think an ice/DM build would benefit from a ton of recharge: perma-hoarfrost would be a huge boon to survivability and perma soul drain would be a constant 25% damage buff and toHit buff. Energy absorbtion would also be perma for additional def (I assume it stacks with itself?)

 

I'm not excited about any of the epic pools but Mu might be a way to acquire better AoE damage, so that's where I'm leaning.

 

So I think I want recharge, max resit for at least S/L Fire and Cold because it should be easy to do with Ice, and then work in some defense and regen?  Energy absorption base recharge is not as big as I thought, even fully slotted for defense it's only about 2.2% per foe hit

 

 

 

 

 

[Sura]

I love EA, and you're right on target.  The only drawback is that if you're fighting a single target, you won't fill your END bar or get a lot of DEF, so you have to keep that in mind when you think AV's.  I'm running nine toggles I think?  I should probably know that.  EA stacks up to 20 times if I'm interpreting the UI correctly.  Honestly, I don't even wind up using Hoarfrost all that much, but I feel like it'd only be better as perma.  I will say though that I think you should probably look to softcap, and then let EA pull you up to make up for defense debuffs and the incarnate softcap.

 

I did Mu because of the END drain, but it's really nice having the immobilize to keep things around me and the lightning ball as a good AoE.  Dark would be the only other thing I would look at off the top of my head, but it didn't fit my theme.  🙂

 

You'll over max cold resist (like 110% or something silly like that) without touching it.  My fire resist isn't great, but I can do fire farms at +4/x8, it just takes me a few seconds to get rolling.  I might need to Hoarfrost to start with, but once EA starts stacking and the stuff around me is out of END I can go all day, even against fire.  But like I said, my build also flourishes in stacks of bad guys.  For you, having two sources of END you might do better against low numbers than I do.

[Papaschtroumpf]

My character hit 34 last night and is running a mix of drops (SOs and DOs) and regular IOs I have lying around (so most of them quite downlevel, like 15s and 20s) and hoarfrost is definitely one of the bigger tools in my arsenal, but it's not unusual that some of the powers you rely on switch as you level up and get better ones.

I have been grabbing every power just to learn about them since I have never used either set before (I think I had a DM scrapper back in the old days, pre-IOs,  but don't think I played him much). I even grabbed Hibernate: best way to understand why most people don't.

The other power I'm not excited about so far is icicles, damage seems pretty low, maybe it needs procs? I think Chilling embrace is the taunt aura for ice, not icicles?I feel like I'm missing something. Since DM is mostly single target, maybe I should look at loading procs in my auras, although proc hit frequency math makes my head hurt, so I never know how best to use them.

 

The other power I don't get is Touch of Fear. Single minion/lt fear with no damage? I think I should rarely have to worry about locking a single minion/lt. Maybe I need to look up the -toHit numbers, maybe that's where the utility is? you can't scare the elite boss, but he can't hit you back?

 

It's high time I come up with a proper build. I'll see how much I lose other places by softcapping defense. I know I didn't softcap my dark controller because he has -toHit also, but he dies in the alpha strike too often fir my taste. Of course tankers are another animal and less likely to die in the alpha, but softcapped defense is the easiest way to take alpha, even those debuffs haven't had a chance to get you yet.

[Sura]

Yep, alpha can be a concern, at least initially in a mission, since your DEF will be down until EA gets it up.  Chilling was the taunt aura, but the last patch changed that.  Now any aura that takes endurance reduction enhancements will Gauntlet taunt every time it hits.  So both Icicles and Chilling should be taunting (if you have both).  Good catch on Icicles.  It's something I take, but not until later.  It'll never pop any impressive numbers, but it's constantly hitting and taunting, so I think it's worth it.  The forums told me to put the Might of the Tanker proc into Icicles, and there's a couple others that could be tried as well, but I'm just as baffled by the proc stuff as you are.

 

Can't help with Touch of Fear, haven't played Dark.  Doesn't sound very good though.  Is there anything it might stack with?  Minions and LT's will be the first to go.

[Papaschtroumpf]

OK, so here is a first draft. Ignore the order of the slots, and probably the order of the powers too, this was mostly to try and work out set bonuses

- I highly prioritized Recharge: Hasten is perma, Energy Absorption up every 19 seconds, Soul Drain 2.5s off perma and Dark Consumption under a minute. the striker is only down 27 seconds.

- S/L/E/NE are all softcapped defense, which is probably still overkill since every hit reduces foes toHit and Energy Absorption stacks more defense, so I can probably dial those defense down a bit without much trouble. S/L resist is not bad, at least as the second layer of defense, but I wouldn't mind raising it.

- Fire/Cold are only 22.5% defense before EA, but they are my higher resists

- Psi is a hole, especially since EA does not increase its defense, hopefully perma-hoarfrost and the heals/regen cover that hole, I went all out on Siphon Life!

 

I could get a little more recharge by slotting the purple immobilize in Electrifying fences, but I'd rather have the damage since the epic boosts the AoE capabilities a lot.

 

I could/might take Assault instead of My striker if I need slots somewhere else, that's an easy 10.5% damage buff and doesn't need additional slots

Similarly I don;t really know if I need all the slots in health and stamina given the the +end and heals from the powersets, but I'm being conservative, and they may be useful when fighting a single AV for example (my Warshade can suck wind due to lack of corpses in a similar way)

 

Let me know what you think, as I said this is only a first pass

 

    

 

 

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

WinterGloom: Level 50 Natural Tanker
Primary Power Set: Ice Armor
Secondary Power Set: Dark Melee
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Frozen Armor -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(3), Rct-Def/EndRdx(3), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(5)
Level 1: Shadow Punch -- CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg(7), CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx(21), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23)
Level 2: Chilling Embrace -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 4: Hoarfrost -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(5), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(7), Prv-Absorb%(9), Prv-Heal/Rchg(9), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(11)
Level 6: Wet Ice -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 8: Shadow Maul -- Arm-Dmg/Rchg(A), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Arm-Acc/Rchg(13), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(15), Arm-Dam%(15)
Level 10: Smite -- Hct-Dmg/Rchg(A), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(11), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), Hct-Acc/Rchg(17), Hct-Dam%(37)
Level 12: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 14: Taunt -- PrfZng-Dam%(A)
Level 16: Siphon Life -- HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(39), HO:Nucle(39), HO:Golgi(39), HO:Golgi(40), HO:Golgi(43)
Level 18: Glacial Armor -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(19), Rct-Def/EndRdx(19)
Level 20: Tough -- Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Ags-ResDam/Rchg(36), Ags-ResDam(37)
Level 22: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(23), Rct-Def/EndRdx(25)
Level 24: Permafrost -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(36)
Level 26: Energy Absorption -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(27), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(29), Rct-Def/EndRdx(29), PrfShf-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(31), EffAdp-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(31)
Level 28: Soul Drain -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Obl-Acc/Rchg(40), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(40), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42)
Level 30: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 32: Icicles -- SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg(A), SprMghoft-Dmg/Rchg(33), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), SprMghoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprMghoft-Rchg/Res%(34)
Level 35: Dark Consumption -- EffAdp-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(A), PrfShf-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(42)
Level 38: Midnight Grasp -- CrsImp-Acc/Dmg(A), CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx(42), CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46)
Level 41: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 44: Electrifying Fences -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(45), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), PstBls-Dmg/Rchg(45), PstBls-Dam%(46)
Level 47: Ball Lightning -- Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(48), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Rgn-Knock%(50)
Level 49: Summon Striker -- SlbAll-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), SlbAll-Dmg/EndRdx(50), SlbAll-Acc/Rchg(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet 
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(25), Mrc-Rcvry+(43)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(27)
------------

 

 

[Sura]

I think that looks pretty dang good, nice work on the fire resist, that'll make a big difference.  Ice is pretty much never going to be able to plug the Psi and/or Toxic holes without sacrificing too much in other areas, so I just don't worry too much about them.  Incarnate powers and endurance drain help me out if I get in those situations.  It might be that you'll find with all that recharge that you don't need as many attacks, that happened to me, so you could wind up swapping out something there.  For sure I think that's a very good build.

 

Tankers now have Controller numbers for the Leadership pool, so (provided I'm reading it right) Assault should be +15% to your damage.  🙂

[Papaschtroumpf]

If assault is 15% I will likely add it in at lvl50 and find a good use for the extra slots.

 

The attacks are a place to hold sets so I will likely not worry a out having "one too many" if I get 10% recharge out of it, but I'll keep an eye on possibilities.

I was reading a thread on Dark Melee and many people don't like Shadow Maul because it roots for a long time and is a short cone (it's basically the same as the temp power Sands of Mu). I may replace it with CrossPunch from the fighting pool, which I have never used before. It's a cone too, so should take the Armaggedon set, but it synergizes with boxing and/or kick to a boost in damage and accuracy and recharge. Just an excuse to try something new, but I'll need to run the numbers when I get home and decide 

 

I'm also toying with the Dark epic, mostly for Darkest Night, but it think I like the idea of more AoE damage.

 

 

I haven't put much thoughts into Incarnates, they should be mostly gravy anyway, and I should get a sense for what I need more of, or holes to plug, after I run the build for a while.

 

I started shopping for the build last night. I'm going for attuned enhancements so I can start slotting them as I go, plus I like to example a lot, and I have levelled so fast on this character I hardly did any TFs.

 

I also have alternate sets for the purples and HOs on my way to 50. Sets that more or less provide the same bonuses but smaller (e.g. positron blast or crushing impact)

 

 

Ok, lunch break over ...