What to pair with Spines?

[Gobbledygook]

What other Damage Aura primary would you pair with, at best, a back up tank? My budget is decent, but I've never really rocked purples on any build except my Regen brute, and he's not giving anything up. I have a concept for a character that demands the character have spines!

[Psyonico]

Bio/Spines is a destructive force to be reckoned with.

 

Ice/Spines is another fun combo

 

Dark/Spines is good, but end heavy

[Heatstroke]

Ice... Do it... 

Im currently running an Ice/Spines

 

With Energy Absorption is soft capped for Incarnante Stuff. I have Perma Hoarfrost for Healing/Hp Boost and still have hibernate in my back pocket. 

Bio would be a good build but with Ice you leverage Icicles Damage Aura, and Chilling Embrace's - recharge and - damage to foes. The only thing you dont have is high resistances to anything other than cold. 

[Psyonico]

Man, now you're making me want to play my ice/spines.

 

It was my first /spines tank on HC and I usually forget I have him

[honoroit]

Plus... Icicles looks nice,  the way the ice forms and pokes out.. and you can do those semi see through spines to look sort of icy.

 

Toxic dots and cold damage, should be good.

Edited August 14 by honoroit

[Heatstroke]

On 8/14/2024 at 1:25 PM, Psyonico said:

Man, now you're making me want to play my ice/spines.

 

It was my first /spines tank on HC and I usually forget I have him

 

 

Do it.... 

[Glowworm]

Re: "Backup Tank", be aware Ice/Spines is really good at stealing aggro. I assume it's the combo of 2 damage auras and an auto-hit debuff aura. Might very well steal aggro from whatever the main tank is.

[Warboss]

A  couple  a few things off the top of my head:

1) You can help mitigate stealing aggro by NOT slotting Taunt Enhancements into your aggro auras. If you want to be "aggro king" do it, otherwise you'll likely not need them (and based on what I've seen of the aggro mechanics, you'll still probably grab and maintain aggro over other toons, unless someone else has specifically slotted for aggro). Chilling Embrace's slow effect and slow degradation make it idea for holding aggro and difficult to down play.

 

2) Yes, you will grab aggro, be aware of this on the early levels of your toon as your Def and Res won't be high enough for the incoming damage. Not to mention there's something like a three minute recharge on your Heal. If you're teaming, it shouldn't be an issue. If you Duo, it might be depending on what AT the other player is running, If you're solo, it will be at some point.

 

3) Although you say your concept is for a Spiner, if you want a good back up Tank, maybe look at Dark Melee, or Electrical Melee. Dark Melee provides a "Combat Heal/Damage" power in Siphon Live, an additional End Management power with Dark Consumption (which you can add procs too - such as the self heal from Power Transfer), and a pretty fun To Hit/Damage buff power with Soul Drain (very procable as well). Switching gears, last time I ran my Electrical Melee toon he seemed be be reducing the enemies End more than I remember (did I miss a buff/rework of the set?). I think I only have the equivalent of one End Mod in every other attack (roughly speaking). Elect Melee also provides many options for procing.

 

4) Maybe look at SR for your primary and use costuming to make an "Ice" look? I don't know about Stone, Rad would work as you can play up the team heal from Ground Zero and use costuming and coloring to make it an "ice/cold" toon.

 

5) All said and done, I usually have a lot of fun running my Ice/Spiner, so whatever you decide, Enjoy!

 

 

[Heatstroke]

22 hours ago, Glowworm said:

Re: "Backup Tank", be aware Ice/Spines is really good at stealing aggro. I assume it's the combo of 2 damage auras and an auto-hit debuff aura. Might very well steal aggro from whatever the main tank is.

 

 

(whisper voice) do it.... you are the main tank...