Ice/Shield Solo leveling build

[Bedlamania]

Hi everyone, 

I'm jumping back in for a bit and was wanting to play a solo scrapper in my free time. I chose Ice/Shield but I'm not sure what the most effective way to build the character is as I level up. So far at lvl 8 I have Frozen Fists, Deflection, Ice Sword, Battle Agility, Combat Jumping and Ice Patch.  My defenses still feel pretty low, bosses and big groups are hitting pretty hard if I don't INSP up.  

Any advice would be helpful

[SomeGuy]

I can not for the life of me remember what I did leveling up, but I can definitely say Ice/Shield scrapper is super safe and fun. EVERYTHING when you are low level is pretty hard. Especially the Circle of Thorns ghosts that wreck you with -tohit. I do remember Defense oriented sets barely creeping along at low levels and then BAM they become gods/goddesses. The combo is really safe once you get shield charge and frozen aura to mix in with your ice patch. You won't be getting hit much. You WILL want to take everything in Shield, with the exception of the T9 (One with the Shield...this is a player's choice sort of thing).

 

It's a good combo. Just be patient like with any low level character. This combo power creeps better than a lot of other combos. Not necessarily in damage, but Ice Melee still does really good ST and AOE.

[Bedlamania]

Are there any Ice powers I should avoid?

 

[Errants]

The Taunt.

The Cone is also meh, since you'll want to be in the middle, anyhow.

[SomeGuy]

2 hours ago, Errants said:

The Taunt.

The Cone is also meh, since you'll want to be in the middle, anyhow.

 

 

This. I forgot it has a cone. That's how much you want to avoid it.

[MoonSheep]

On 1/7/2025 at 4:24 AM, Errants said:

The Taunt.

The Cone is also meh, since you'll want to be in the middle, anyhow.

 

i’d disagree with this - the cone is one of the 3 defining powers of ice melee. frost, freezing touch and chilly footstomp are what makes the set

 

i’d perhaps choose to play the set on a tank for wider AoEs or on a stalker to gain assassins strike ontop of what is a baseline strong attack set

 

you’ll be fine with ice/shield anything regardless, it’s a good all rounder with respectable damage.

 

i wouldn’t worry much about the build until you’re in the higher levels, put some LoTG +Rechs in when your def powers become available and a miracle/numinas in health for the time being. put the two +def IOs in the +HP power for a bit of extra sturdiness

Edited January 15 by MoonSheep

[Errants]

13 hours ago, MoonSheep said:

i’d disagree with this - the cone is one of the 3 defining powers of ice melee. frost, freezing touch and chilly footstomp are what makes the set

i’d perhaps choose to play the set on a tank for wider AoEs or on a stalker to gain assassins strike ontop of what is a baseline strong attack set

you’ll be fine with ice/shield anything regardless, it’s a good all rounder with respectable damage.

i wouldn’t worry much about the build until you’re in the higher levels, put some LoTG +Defs in when your def powers become available and a miracle/numinas in health for the time being. put the two +def IOs in the +HP power for a bit of extra sturdiness

I said it was meh, not bad.
Albeit, I'm coming at it from the perspective of only ever running an Ice/Regen Stalk to 50, and with the amount of Recharge I crammed into her, I'm RARELY wanting for Frozen Aura to be ready to fire.

 

Regardless, on an Ice/Shield which will THRIVE on being surrounded, having to jump OUT of melee for a cone to maximize DPA is less than ideal - hence, meh.

Yes, it opens way low with similar DPA to Frozen Aura. It's not a bad attack. I just felt it unnecessary on my /Regen stalker... on the magnitude of extra resiliency that a /Shield Scrapper would have, not to mention the damage buff from saturated AAO, I'd downgrade it from unnecessary to borderline detrimental.

Is it useable? Yes. And maybe when I roll this Ice/Inv Scrapper I've been thinking about, I may change my mind, and rate it higher.

[Riverdusk]

Frost becomes better if you can fit in some range enhancement, it starts to become quite large and I start to find it much more useful.  Intuition alpha helps there as well (and helps your slows, your hold, and still increases damage).

[MoonSheep]

9 hours ago, Errants said:

I said it was meh, not bad.
Albeit, I'm coming at it from the perspective of only ever running an Ice/Regen Stalk to 50, and with the amount of Recharge I crammed into her, I'm RARELY wanting for Frozen Aura to be ready to fire.

 

Regardless, on an Ice/Shield which will THRIVE on being surrounded, having to jump OUT of melee for a cone to maximize DPA is less than ideal - hence, meh.

Yes, it opens way low with similar DPA to Frozen Aura. It's not a bad attack. I just felt it unnecessary on my /Regen stalker... on the magnitude of extra resiliency that a /Shield Scrapper would have, not to mention the damage buff from saturated AAO, I'd downgrade it from unnecessary to borderline detrimental.

Is it useable? Yes. And maybe when I roll this Ice/Inv Scrapper I've been thinking about, I may change my mind, and rate it higher.

 

i 100% agree with your point about frost making you need to jump in and out of the mobs, it definitely turns you into quite a hopper - combat jumping is pretty much mandatory

 

frost is a good attack with respectable damage but you’re right that it has to be positioned properly 

[hejtmane]

Ice/patch + caltrops keeps you up longer as while

Done ice/shield and ice/ea

[Championess]

I have an Ice/Bio and a lot of Shield toons.  Ice is a pretty strong attack set but its mainly the last two attacks you get that define it.  Freezing Touch and the ice stomp are great attacks, then you take the obligatory first attack and Build Up.  I do agree that early melee cone is above average especially for being a cone but I find later in the game having access to ranged aoes in epic pools like fireball to be far better options.

 

As for shield yeah I'd take all the powers, the only one I could not see taking is Phalanx since your teeamates need to be on your lap to get extra benefit.  I do like to have the t9 as an emergency use power and the crash isn't harsh, plus its a good place for a 4 piece Unbreakable Guard mule.

 

Shield Charge into the icy foot stomp then follow up with a fireball.  If there's anything left standing around you they must be cheating.