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Ahrim Varecres

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to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

i justed reach lv 12 on my stone tank and cant decide on which power to get

i can get

Stone skin
rooted
earths embrace
brimstone armour<------

i curently have

rock armour
stone mallet
haevy maellet
stone fists
combat jumping
mud pots<----------- i regret deeply
and taunt

should i get brimstone and if not what

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

09/21/06 16:05

Xolquar

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

I say brimstone. Also, start grabbing as many armors as you can.

Clicky.

09/21/06 16:16

Sunshine

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

I would suggest brimstone. you'll need it later so grab it now

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09/21/06 16:50

Brimstone Titan

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

Why the heck are you guys talking about me?

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09/21/06 16:58

KnightHawk81

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

QUOTE

Stone skin
rooted
earths embrace
brimstone armour<------

i curently have

rock armour
stone mallet
haevy maellet
stone fists
combat jumping
mud pots<----------- i regret deeply
and taunt

First off...Yikes. Your current Survivability is questionable LoL.
Second...What is your playstyle?? Are you mostly Solo? 8-man teams? Somewhere in the middle?

At level 12, I'm guessing your main haunts are Perez Park, Steel Canyon (near Atlas or Galaxy) or the Hollows, and you're having to hit the hospital a lot more than you think you should.

Your build is ok for a Brute (City of Villains Archetype if your new to the game), but a Tank does not do NEARLY enough damage to survive without their armors. You might not be having the issues yet, being in the lower levels still, though you've probably started to see some energy problems.

This is how I started my Stone/Stone when I ran one:

Rock Armor (lvl 1)
Stone Fists (lvl 1)
Stone Skin (lvl 2)
Heavy Mallet (lvl 4)
Earth's Embrace (lvl 6)
Swift (lvl 8)
Rooted (lvl 10)
......................

I can't remember what I took after that.

Anyway...any travel power you get (except Teleport) will not work if you have Rooted or Granite running, so you may want to plan around that eventuality. Combat Jumping does not work with Rooted or Granite either.

As for taking Brimstone at level 12...maybe. It kind of depends upon where you spend most of your time. If you're facing off against a lot of Outcasts, Trolls, or Circle of Thorns, I'd say get it. If you're just taking mostly Lethal/Smashing or Energy damage, I'd hold off on it and pick up either Earth's Embrace, Rooted, or Stone Skin (in that order of preference).

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09/21/06 17:38

Krulgur

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

QUOTE

Brimstone is pretty much worthless. The damage enemies do with fire before you get granite is nominal at best. I originally picked it up thinking the same thing. I was doing a lot of outcast killing, Frostfire runs and with it active or not active, the damage was damn near the same.

As for mud pots, it'll be your best friend later on, the extra damage it does and the ability to piss off your enemies makes it invaluable. I hard it early too, then respec'd out, and after whiffing so often with my main attacks, I REALLY wanted something that did do damage. Mud pot cooks your enemies while you just sit there. It's hilarious to watch an enemy drop from the damage while you are smacking down another in that group.

As for combat jump, I know why you took it, and it will be nice to get super jump. But when you get granite, you can't jump at all. I use super jump to get around town, then rock up for battle.

Rooted would be my first choice, offers you mez/knockback/knockdown/hold/stun resistance. During the next 10-15 lvls, a lot of stuff with knock you silly, and rooted keeps you safe from those attacks. Stone skin would be second for damage resistance, and then earth's embrace for the self heal and damage resistance.

09/21/06 21:34

Brimstone Titan

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

QUOTE

Brimstone is pretty much worthless.

Whaaa?

I'm hurt...

Great Sig Made By Death Fetish

09/21/06 21:59

Miss A Medica

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

All I have to say is I'd do Brimstone any day. *wink*

09/21/06 22:08

pathofwrath

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

So would I...mean of course you would!

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09/21/06 22:31

Oz Rawk Fyst

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

1st off I would have gotten Stone Armor way sooner. I am a L38 Stone/Stone and I am a pure team oriented meat shield. I do a little damage, but can maintain major aggro with all my aoe attacks. The only Armors I carry are Stone Armor and Granite. Stone is for traveling and standing around Granite the rest of the time. As was said above you will come to love mud pots. Sure it is a pain in your endo right now, but necessary later. At this point I suggest Stone Armor or Earth's Embrace. Early on you can do without some attacks. Combat Jumping will not be necessary considering all the defense you get anyway.

This is one you will have to play with to match your play style. I have used every respec thus far including the free ones. Of course I had to give up something I really love, Super Jump, to be happy as a team player. Have fun!

Oz

09/22/06 03:44

bigspeer

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

brimstone could be the ugliest choice available...

:)
as for the brimstone armor, i'd skip it like i would skip any elemental armors. there isnt enough elemental damage in the game IMO to justify taking a shield just for fire/cold dmg.

and miss a, that was hilarious and PoW, great followup

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09/22/06 05:53

Thundarpants

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

With my Stone Tank I found Brimstone Armor to be a skipable one. The fire damage is usually DoT, not large ammounts of front end damage. So it is somewhat easier to manage.

As it appears you are building a Scranker, definately Rooted. One problem I see is that you haven't yet picked up one of the most important powers in the entire set.......Earth's Embrace. Either you always have a healer maintaining you, or you are eating greens like it's no ones buisiness. This is a huge heal.

I'd still say go with Rooted first. The regen amplification you will get from it will negate the DoT fire damage to some degree anyhow.

I know most of the hard core Tankers are freaking out a bit on your build, but that is a good build to get through the earlier levels on. You will want to respec anyhow once you near the 30's and prepare for Granite Armor.

Here is why Combat Jumping is not quite all that bad: Rooted is absolutely the worst for killing your ability to even approach the mobs for the Tank's lead into the fight. I put on the Combat Jumping and head in. Hopefully allowing me to dodge any first volley mez effect, but quickly turn on Rooted ASAP.

In the later levels, once you have Granite, you get even slower. It's frustrating as all get out. Now that my Stone/Stone is there, my next respec will be to leave the Jumping pool and replace it with Teleport. Even though I'm not a huge fan of the Teleport movement power set, it's almost a requirement if you do not have a Kinetics player to run with you consistently.

Mud Pots is your friend. You will see that in time. After the 5 enemy limit on Taunt was introduced, Mud Pots becomes your best means of managing aggro as the Tank should. I six slot mine: 2 End Reduct, 2 Taunt, 2 Slow. They have a hard time getting away, the scatter effect keeps them turning to run, not attacking, thus reducing the incoming DPS somewhat. They will keep turning to attack you, but also keep trying to get away. I'd say it's about a 30% reduction in incoming DPS as opposed to not having it. In the early slotting, I just put the 2 End Reduct in it as I didn't have tough enough armor to justify beefing up the Taunt factor on this power. I deepened my slotting for it later in the build.

So, as a final note. You are trying to run this Tank like a Scrapper, so do what Scrappers do....... Protect yourself from Mez as a priority. Take Rooted.

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09/22/06 07:30

Miss A Medica

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

All joking aside (but I did like your posts PoW and Big), I am really glad that I read this article, because I have a stone tank and the next thing I was going to get was Brimstone Armour and now I'm not sure. If you had to choose between Crystal Armour and Brimstone Armour, which is more valuable.

I also agree about Mud Pots. I wasn't going to get it until WAY later, but I just couldn't keep the aggro on me and my team was dying. Now I "rock."

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

09/22/06 12:41

Thundarpants

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

I'll chime in again. Although I don't have a lot of Tanks, I do have this power set.

This is my thinking on Crystal Armor:

I run like a Scranker, and save Granite for savin my butt when there is too much aggro. If you were to run in Stone armor a lot, think about how Energy damages comes in....... Hard and Heavy. It's not usually DoT except for the few mobs that throw Ball Lightning at you. Usually you are taking direct shots of Energy Blasts or Lightning Blasts. (Run Katie Hannon, you'll see what I mean)

I took it because of the spikes of incoming DPS that energy based enemies will concentrate on me.

If you are building the Tank around the Granite armor and plan to use it all the time, this one can also be skipped.

If you prefer having a decent attack rate and were planning to run in Stone Armor as much as possible. It's a very good shield.

09/22/06 13:47

bigspeer

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

QUOTE

Now I "rock."

lol you are so lame :)

dont have a stony above 10, but i'm gonna guess that crystal armor is energy armor.

i'd say hold off on this until at least 20-24. this is when you face more energy attacks. and its always a situational armor (council and freaks in the 20s).

you might be able to go without it, but i wouldnt advise it.

actually i just thought of something that deserves it own tank thread! off to start a new one!

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09/22/06 13:58

Donovan Wolf

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

The only side armor besides rock armor and the almighty ("im da juggernaut") granite armor that you will need is minerals. One special thing about the stone tank armor set that sets em apart from all other tanks is that minerals makes you resist to psionic attacks. and btw keep mud pots, dey da bomb just keep an end reduction in them to make em manageable till you can put some damage into them. ALso make sure you 3 slot swift before you pick up granite armor. It will help you with your speed in that form.

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09/22/06 14:33

Aurrius

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

QUOTE

Brimstone is pretty much worthless.

Whaaa?

I'm hurt...

Awwwww poor guy ;)

And Brimstone Armour is useless.

@Aurrius | Paragon/Rogue Knights | Union

12/16/06 09:03

Warron Peace

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

Skip Brimstone Armor, but not Brimstone Titan. Pick up Brimstone Titan ASAP, (careful, he's heavy) and toss him in the middle of every mob you see. Your survival will multiply immensly.

Seriously though, Brimstone Armor is useless. Stone is a Defense based set, which means that incoming attacks will be avoided mainly by type. Since almost every Fire/Ice attack in the game has some other damage type with it (mostly Smashing, though there are some Elemental/Lethal combos), your regular Rock Armor will be used to defend against it. Not only that, but Brim Armor is resistence based, so it won't help you avoid the attacks like you want to, but will only lessen one component of them. Not worth the endurance used or the loss of a power choice.

For Stone, Rock Armor, Rooted, and Earth's Embrace are all you really need early on. Crystal and Mineral Armor will become more important later, though I still picked Crystal up earlier to help with the earlier TFs that have energy based foes (Synapse and Sister Psyche's foes both have alot of Energy damage, and Crystal is available during both of their level ranges). Stone Skin can be handy later, when teams start upping the difficulty of the missions slider, and you start having more damage to survive. Mudpots is a matter of choice, though I'd get it. Granite debuffs recharge, and Taunt will come up less often because of it. Having a taunt effect that is always on will help you keep aggro alot easier. Still, better to get it when the diff slider is moving up, especially because its best to have Stamina before you start using Mudpots regularly.

Hope this helps,

W.P.

12/16/06 10:20

Krulgur

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

COUGH3monthslateCOUGH

12/16/06 13:53

govtmorgue

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

ROFLMFAO!!!! 3months late hahahaha

12/16/06 14:24

Warron Peace

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

Yeah, I noticed that this was a rezzed thread *after* I posted. Oh well!

W.P.

12/16/06 16:06

Aurrius

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

Even worse, five months.

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12/17/06 03:53

marvelman

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

Lmao 3 months late that was a good one yea i know i'm a month late

01/07/07 19:40

DeathFetish

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

QUOTE

Why the heck are you guys talking about me?

Ok, who left Brim's cage unlocked? Now I have to leave a trail of noobs out to get him back in. Remember to lock his cage before you leave at the end of the night please.

01/07/07 20:02

Rockshock

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

I know I cant really add anything that hasnt already been said here, but I thought I would.

Im a lvl 40 Stone/stone tank who is a pure solo player.

Brimstone is kinda pointless, there just isnt enough fire or ice out there for it to matter.

Without a defender to keep me alive, I rely on my armours and a powerful Earths Embrace. I use Rock armour for most damage inducing villains, crystals for Mu and Circle of thorn ghosts and Minerals for any mental affects. Tankers are very vunerable to mental attacks, and your going to get a lot of psychic enemies later on, so this is a must!

I chose mud pots once, and never again. Its an annoying waste of endurance, and hopefully, the naughty people wont last long enough for it to matter.

I dont use rooted, as my granite form has so far stopped me from being thrown around like a rag doll.

If your a soloer like me, get Earths Embrace, rest on fast recharge, you'll also want to pick up hasten, to counteract the -recharge you get in granite form. Choose Sands of mu for your 12 month reward for a nice (small) ranged melee attack and get the Geas of the Kind Ones power to buff your Acc when your blinded / against those damn Night widows.

I did team with a Stone/SS tanker the other day who used Granite form and rooted at the same time, and used TP to get around.

01/07/07 23:34

Rommy 2007

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RE: to brimstone or not to brimstone that is the questiion

Always take ROOTED as soon as possible and slot it once each level til it's 4x. It's a self heal and you will NEVER get knocked down, back, stunned or immobilized. The down side is you're a lil' slow. SO WHAT? Gives your stam time to come back. Brimstone is nice in Croatoa cuz that's 90% of what the hit with. 2x slotted got me to 50. Just remember the 'thinner' your body type the more magma you can see. I was huge and it only showed a lil' on my shoulders, hands and feet.I saw one guy w/ stone fists and hurl boulder only as attacks and his brimstone armor covered him head to toe. Kinda lame lookin'.Vesuvius Flex(Champion)

02/07/07 07:27

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