Ice armor\SS advice

[Quaigfharth]

Building an Ice Armor\Super Strength tanker to team with some friends and could use some advice on my build.

 

I know rage is not a great choice for ice armor, but I'll be playing with a couple friends who can help cover the crash.

Maximum Dude.mbd

[Onlyasandwich]

A solid foundation for sure!

 

A few notes:

• Guassian proc in FA is pretty pointless. It will only have a chance every 10 seconds to proc, and a low one at that. Either ditch it entirely, or toss it in rage for the extra bump when you re-up.
• Highly recommend working FFback into Footstomp, and ideally one of your ST powers as well.
• Hurl is fun thematically and sometimes useful to have. Overall still an underperformer these days, and the set bonuses aren't doing anything for you here. Bare minimum I'd swap for laser beam eyes, energy torrent, or even Handclap. Handclap with KD conversion, FFback, and a damage proc along with accuracy to boot is a strong mitigation tool. Ignore if you simply must have it for theme.
• Your ST attacks could use a little love (top off damage, some procs). One benefit of Rage is that it allows you to go easy on accuracy slotting. Energy Mastery is a bit suboptimal for this reason - FA isn't really doing much for you. You also have Energy Absorption to lean on for End, so Physical Perfection isn't amazing here either. I'd consider another epic.
• Especially if you follow the above advise of working FFback into your ST chain, you only need one of Jab or Punch. I'd choose punch, as it has more proc potential. Jab is even worse than Boxing. I like the split for your ATO set here, but you could work things around with some effort, or even just go for a full ATO set in whichever one you keep. Gaining the extra S/L resist isn't a bad trade.
• Unless Incarnate softcap is really important to you, you can afford to lay off a few S/L defense bonuses. Blistering cold in KO blow is nice, but you could save a ton of influence and do more damage if you pulled back to just a two slot blistering Acc/Dam and Dam/End, then focused on proccing it out. This also helps you maintain damage during rage crashes, as procs aren't affected by the damage debuff. You're only going halfway on F/C defense, so while the 5% is substantial, it's not a huge loss since you aren't near softcap.
• Hibernate is actually a really great power. Some folks don't like it, but give it a shot if you haven't before. You do maintain aggro for a bit after popping it, and it activates pretty much instantly, so can really save your bacon and allow you to reset in a bad situation. As a bonus, it only really needs one slot to do its job.

 

One thing you might consider is:

• Drop Super Jump, Hurl, and one other power (maybe one of the epics, Jab?).
• Pick up Mighty Leap, Weaken Resolve, and Unleash Potential in their place. Unleash is really strong, and will give you a handy steroid to pop into incarnate softcap for most defenses, overcome defense debuffs, assist with end, and handle many other problems.

 

Alternatively, going for Rune would be helpful for similar reasons, though you may not wish to fly, so would lack power choice efficiency in that case.

 

There's more that I would do if working from the ground up, but I hope you find this helpful!

 

Edited June 2 by Onlyasandwich

[Quaigfharth]

That's a huge help! Thank you!

[mcdoogss]

FA does give you tohit debuff resistance, but then again double stacked rage gives quite a toHit buffer.  Anyways, -toHit is super annoying.

 

I took psionic mastery on my SS tank, but his primary is Stone with a ton of toggles so harmonic mind is very useful.  Beyond that though dominate and psionic tornado when properly procced out are awesome supplements to SS’s attack chains.  The entomb absorb proc can slide in either KOB or dominate which is effectively a decent heal.  

[WhiskeyDingo]

On 6/2/2024 at 1:26 PM, Onlyasandwich said:

A solid foundation for sure!

 

A few notes:

• Guassian proc in FA is pretty pointless. It will only have a chance every 10 seconds to proc, and a low one at that. Either ditch it entirely, or toss it in rage for the extra bump when you re-up.
• Highly recommend working FFback into Footstomp, and ideally one of your ST powers as well.
• Hurl is fun thematically and sometimes useful to have. Overall still an underperformer these days, and the set bonuses aren't doing anything for you here. Bare minimum I'd swap for laser beam eyes, energy torrent, or even Handclap. Handclap with KD conversion, FFback, and a damage proc along with accuracy to boot is a strong mitigation tool. Ignore if you simply must have it for theme.
• Your ST attacks could use a little love (top off damage, some procs). One benefit of Rage is that it allows you to go easy on accuracy slotting. Energy Mastery is a bit suboptimal for this reason - FA isn't really doing much for you. You also have Energy Absorption to lean on for End, so Physical Perfection isn't amazing here either. I'd consider another epic.
• Especially if you follow the above advise of working FFback into your ST chain, you only need one of Jab or Punch. I'd choose punch, as it has more proc potential. Jab is even worse than Boxing. I like the split for your ATO set here, but you could work things around with some effort, or even just go for a full ATO set in whichever one you keep. Gaining the extra S/L resist isn't a bad trade.
• Unless Incarnate softcap is really important to you, you can afford to lay off a few S/L defense bonuses. Blistering cold in KO blow is nice, but you could save a ton of influence and do more damage if you pulled back to just a two slot blistering Acc/Dam and Dam/End, then focused on proccing it out. This also helps you maintain damage during rage crashes, as procs aren't affected by the damage debuff. You're only going halfway on F/C defense, so while the 5% is substantial, it's not a huge loss since you aren't near softcap.
• Hibernate is actually a really great power. Some folks don't like it, but give it a shot if you haven't before. You do maintain aggro for a bit after popping it, and it activates pretty much instantly, so can really save your bacon and allow you to reset in a bad situation. As a bonus, it only really needs one slot to do its job.

 

One thing you might consider is:

• Drop Super Jump, Hurl, and one other power (maybe one of the epics, Jab?).
• Pick up Mighty Leap, Weaken Resolve, and Unleash Potential in their place. Unleash is really strong, and will give you a handy steroid to pop into incarnate softcap for most defenses, overcome defense debuffs, assist with end, and handle many other problems.

 

Alternatively, going for Rune would be helpful for similar reasons, though you may not wish to fly, so would lack power choice efficiency in that case.

 

There's more that I would do if working from the ground up, but I hope you find this helpful!

 

 

So, to veer off topic, with the FF proc, how many powers should you really be putting it into?

 

I've been working on a Shield/SS and am I supposed to be slotting it into FStomp, KOBlow, and Shield Charge or just two of them?

[mcdoogss]

20 hours ago, WhiskeyDingo said:

 

So, to veer off topic, with the FF proc, how many powers should you really be putting it into?

 

I've been working on a Shield/SS and am I supposed to be slotting it into FStomp, KOBlow, and Shield Charge or just two of them?

i generally slot the FF proc in one ST and one AOE attack at end game.  The reason being is my lvl 50 builds have a decent to very high level of global recharge already, and slots/set bonuses are at a premium. 
 

while leveling though i’ll slot more FF procs than that, global recharge will be lacking and purple sets won't be available so there is more upside.
 

In your case, i’d slot in foot stomp for sure.  Shield charge is on too long a CD imo to get a ton of utility out of it (plus you’ll prob be chaining with FS anyways) so it’s not a clear winner over more dmg procs imo. KOB is a good choice (but I like the entomb +absorb proc in KOB more, especially with armor sets that don’t have heals/absorbs of their own).  Haymaker is the SS ST attack i most often slot the FF proc in.

Edited June 6 by mcdoogss

[Mini-Mega]

Tanker (Stone Armor - Super Strength) 

 

this is my build .  ice/ss has been one of my mains since live. 

[Onlyasandwich]

On 6/5/2024 at 9:03 PM, WhiskeyDingo said:

FF proc, how many powers should you really be putting it into?

 

There is no set number, but simply whether a given power has better slot options, a good proc rate, and if that rotation is already saturated pretty well with FFback.

 

I don't like it in shield charge, as it isn't happening enough to be all that worthwhile (5 second buff).

 

I do like it in at least one ST and one AOE attack if possible, as mcdoogss mentioned. If you have two aoes capable of slotting it, you'll really be able to cycle them smoothly. 

 

On SS specifically, I put it in Foot stomp, Handclap, and Haymaker. You could put it in KO blow, but I prefer extra damage procs there. It could go either way.

 

The FFback buff is 5 seconds, and does not stack. However, it does refresh the duration on a new proc. With enough powers cycling in, you can keep pretty high uptime. 

Edited June 8 by Onlyasandwich

[WhiskeyDingo]

On 6/8/2024 at 1:25 PM, Onlyasandwich said:

 

There is no set number, but simply whether a given power has better slot options, a good proc rate, and if that rotation is already saturated pretty well with FFback.

 

I don't like it in shield charge, as it isn't happening enough to be all that worthwhile (5 second buff).

 

I do like it in at least one ST and one AOE attack if possible, as mcdoogss mentioned. If you have two aoes capable of slotting it, you'll really be able to cycle them smoothly. 

 

On SS specifically, I put it in Foot stomp, Handclap, and Haymaker. You could put it in KO blow, but I prefer extra damage procs there. It could go either way.

 

The FFback buff is 5 seconds, and does not stack. However, it does refresh the duration on a new proc. With enough powers cycling in, you can keep pretty high uptime. 

 

Oh snap, am I supposed to be taking Hand Clap?

[PLVRIZR]

41 minutes ago, WhiskeyDingo said:

 

Oh snap, am I supposed to be taking Hand Clap?

My legacy toons didn't go back and respect it in, but all my new SS toons take it.  Now that it takes FF and damage procs, it's really useful.

[WhiskeyDingo]

12 minutes ago, PLVRIZR said:

My legacy toons didn't go back and respect it in, but all my new SS toons take it.  Now that it takes FF and damage procs, it's really useful.

 

Oh that's really interesting.  I've always loved the animation.  So, what, slotting looks like, Force Feed Back, one Acc, and the rest damage procs?

[PLVRIZR]

16 minutes ago, WhiskeyDingo said:

 

Oh that's really interesting.  I've always loved the animation.  So, what, slotting looks like, Force Feed Back, one Acc, and the rest damage procs?

Exactly

[Onlyasandwich]

42 minutes ago, PLVRIZR said:

Force Feed Back, one Acc, and the rest damage procs

Sudden Acceleration KD conversion is key as well.

 

The previous issue was that it caused so much scatter. The KD proc is a game changer!

 

Now you have a power that:

• Animates quickly.
• Does a bit of decent damage with procs.
• Juices everything with FFback.
• Applies a good stun.
• Allows you to keep mobs on their butts in tandem with Footstomp.

[PLVRIZR]

3 hours ago, Onlyasandwich said:

Sudden Acceleration KD conversion is key as well.

Yes, absolutely!

[WhiskeyDingo]

On 6/16/2024 at 10:57 AM, Onlyasandwich said:

Sudden Acceleration KD conversion is key as well.

 

The previous issue was that it caused so much scatter. The KD proc is a game changer!

 

Now you have a power that:

• Animates quickly.
• Does a bit of decent damage with procs.
• Juices everything with FFback.
• Applies a good stun.
• Allows you to keep mobs on their butts in tandem with Footstomp.

 

Finally got around to respecing into it.

This is AMAZING.

[MoonSheep]

this is a really helpful thread - ice/ss is a tank combo i’ve been interested in for years but haven’t explored as i just assumed the rage crash works against ice’s def and makes for a poor combination

[Mini-Mega]

On 6/8/2024 at 1:00 PM, Mini-Mega said:

Tanker (Stone Armor - Super Strength) 42.18 kB · 28 downloads  

 

this is my build .  ice/ss has been one of my mains since live. 

Tanker (Ice Armor - Super Strength)new.mbd

 

i'm dumb, i just realized i posted the wrong build.  this is the correct ice/ss build that i run atm. 

[Aeroprism]

On 6/28/2024 at 2:46 AM, Mini-Mega said:

Tanker (Ice Armor - Super Strength)new.mbd 42.84 kB · 25 downloads

 

i'm dumb, i just realized i posted the wrong build.  this is the correct ice/ss build that i run atm. 

Thanks for that build!  I was looking for a springboard to refresh my Ice Ice tank (one of the first build I made on Homecoming) and that was a very useful starting point.  My tank will be more on the damage side of things but it was a very nice ref: thank you!