Stone armor - skippable powers?

[NiklasWB]

I’m thinking about trying a stone/stone tanker and I’m wondering if there are any skippable powers that I can opt to not take and still make a good/viable tanker build.

 

I am specifically not a fan of the fire effect from Brimstone armor or the floating gems from Minerals. Would it be super bad to skip these? Also not a fan of Mudpots.

 

Would a build without these three powers be completely worthless? I’m not looking to be optimal, just viable.

Or would I just be better off taking Invulnerability since I wouldn’t have to sacrifice looks for efficiency then?

[Onlyasandwich]

It would be pretty bad to skip any one of these unless you're living in granite. Even then, mud pots is your taunt aura. I would recommend either recoloring ice to be in theme if you can, going pure granite, or maybe just grabbing rock armor from an epic on another AT.

 

Brimstone has a significantly different alt effect you might like.

Edited May 30 by Onlyasandwich

[Sovera]

It would be plenty bad to skip any of those three. Minerals is your source of psi defense. Without it you'd be naked to psi since you don't even have psi resist. You'd also lose the +recharge baked into the power.

 

Mudpots is your agro aura. Without it you'd be relying on punchvoke and Taunt only. Definite no in my book.

 

Brimstone you'd lose resistance to Fire, Cold, and Toxic, on top of losing the Brimstone damage proc. As a Tanker you kinda want all the help you can get for a bit more damage, IMO. Stone Armor does not have defense against Fire/Cold so you survive that damage on your resistances, which you'd be skipping if not taking Brimstone.

 

 

 

The only skippable power IMO is Granite. And yeah, it's difficult to fit everything which has held me back more than once on some Stone Armor combos, but on the other hand it's nice to have a set that is solidly good instead of SOME sets I will not name where I'll always skip three or more powers that are simply so bad. If they are that bad and are never picked then there is something wrong with the set. But it does make fitting things easier.

 

 

Edited May 30 by Sovera

[Haijinx]

I suggest skipping powers like Fly or Leadership. 

[NiklasWB]

Thanks for the replies all. Seems pretty clear that skipping those three powers is not viable. I’ll rethink the character build and might go for another archetype or primary.

[ExeErdna]

Personally, the only one skippable is Granite. If you're playing in more teams that are gonna be fast it's kinda pointless to have.

[arcane]

IMO there are three acceptable ways to play Stone Armor:

 

1) 9 powers - back and forth between all armors and Granite 

2) 8 powers - no Granite 

3) 5 powers - Granite only, no armor powers that are exclusive with Granite

 

I know a guy that doesn’t fit into any of these categories and it baffles me.

[Lusiphur Malache]

I'm in my mid 30s with a earth/elec tank.  I skipped Earth embrace and granite, don't miss either.  I'm soloing +3/4x, could maybe go higher, but I have end issues.  Of all my tanks this one is the sturdiest.  Level 50 should be interesting.

[Sovera]

45 minutes ago, Lusiphur Malache said:

I'm in my mid 30s with a earth/elec tank.  I skipped Earth embrace and granite, don't miss either.  I'm soloing +3/4x, could maybe go higher, but I have end issues.  Of all my tanks this one is the sturdiest.  Level 50 should be interesting.

 

Hmm. Sure. Kinda? Earth's Embrace COULD be a pass. All it adds is 20% Toxic and another about 1.100+ HP (EE says about 700 HP but there is some multiplicative at play. Probably the accolades?) to the build (from 3534 down to 2466). This in turn also affects regeneration of course (63 HPS down to 44 HPS) which is the only sustain the set has, but, inspirations and incarnates could take over.

 

That said it's a 1.1k buffer for all effects comparable to an absorb shield like Bio or Rad has. But both Bio and Rad could pass Ablative or Particle Shield too if they wanted.

 

It might not be a GOOD plan, but it's a plan 😄 

 

 

It's also what would affect the build the least, IMO. As mentioned above Mudpots is the agro aura so invaluable, Minerals is +recharge and psi defense so invaluable, and Brimstone is both damage proc and fire/cold/toxic resistance which is needed since the build has no F/C/Toxic defense.

 

While leveling I push EE way back since the heal is miniscule and having near or be at softcap defense is godmode that doesn't require more. Early leveling mobs hit slower and weaker to help leveling players. Mobs get stronger the close we are to 50, but, we are at such a power creep peak with IOs (and especially with Stone Armor) we might never even notice it.

 

That said Toxic can be nasty and we have no defense against it so we need to rely on resistances.

 

Edited June 2 by Sovera

[Lusiphur Malache]

On 6/1/2024 at 8:01 PM, Sovera said:

 

Hmm. Sure. Kinda? Earth's Embrace COULD be a pass. All it adds is 20% Toxic and another about 1.100+ HP (EE says about 700 HP but there is some multiplicative at play. Probably the accolades?) to the build (from 3534 down to 2466). This in turn also affects regeneration of course (63 HPS down to 44 HPS) which is the only sustain the set has, but, inspirations and incarnates could take over.

 

That said it's a 1.1k buffer for all effects comparable to an absorb shield like Bio or Rad has. But both Bio and Rad could pass Ablative or Particle Shield too if they wanted.

 

It might not be a GOOD plan, but it's a plan 😄 

 

 

It's also what would affect the build the least, IMO. As mentioned above Mudpots is the agro aura so invaluable, Minerals is +recharge and psi defense so invaluable, and Brimstone is both damage proc and fire/cold/toxic resistance which is needed since the build has no F/C/Toxic defense.

 

While leveling I push EE way back since the heal is miniscule and having near or be at softcap defense is godmode that doesn't require more. Early leveling mobs hit slower and weaker to help leveling players. Mobs get stronger the close we are to 50, but, we are at such a power creep peak with IOs (and especially with Stone Armor) we might never even notice it.

 

That said Toxic can be nasty and we have no defense against it so we need to rely on resistances.

 

Since this post I've dinged 50, respeced a few times, and might have a couple more in the future. Ditched mudpots for Earth's embrace, reconsidering that choice, but still no granite. I find it strange to wander into a mob and nobody attacks until I do, feels like an insult 

[Sovera]

6 hours ago, Lusiphur Malache said:

Since this post I've dinged 50, respeced a few times, and might have a couple more in the future. Ditched mudpots for Earth's embrace, reconsidering that choice, but still no granite. I find it strange to wander into a mob and nobody attacks until I do, feels like an insult 

 

Trying to pair Stone Armor with some sets is a pain since Stone wants so many powers, but between the two I'd still ditch EE instead of Mudpots if it came to it.

[SeraphimKensai]

Depending on your build....maybe granite. I only took it out of nostalgia for my stone tank to be honest. Everything else is necessary.

[UltraAlt]

On 5/30/2024 at 5:45 PM, NiklasWB said:

make a good/viable tanker build.

 

It is unclear if you simply intend to power-level to 50 and then "build" your character or if you are planning to play the leveling content.

Other build factors would also include if you intend to play end-game content only or if you are going to exemplar down to run content.

 

There are plenty of power sets where the power choices are different if you are getting them as you level or if you are just getting them all at once once power-leveled to level 50.

As far as I can tell, this is especially true for Stone Armor.