User:GuyPerfect/Grim Glacier

That Tough, Tankery Guy

100px

No background story for this one, I'm afraid. I wanted a Tanker, and I made a Tanker. Lore not included.

All I knew at the time is that I wanted a Tanker that could do that tanking thing... You know, lure the aggro cap around corners and completely incapacitate them while the rest of the team did their thing and raked in the rewards? Yeah, that tanking thing. I wanted to be that tough, Tankery guy. So I got to work. I was looking at the available powersets for Tankers, when I decided "you know, nobody else has these icy things. Lemme give those a go." And thus was born Geoff Gelid, the Ice/Ice Tanker! I got to playing around with it a bit, when I noticed that the powers seemed to be a bit heavy on the Defense side and not so much on the Damage Resistance side. Now, the merits of Defense versus Damage Resistance is a truly epic battle that will span millenia, but the fact of the matter is that I prefer the reliable protection from damage shields over the random number generator that will hate you 1/20 of the time... So I had to switch primaries. I asked a friend what kind of Tanker sets are good for resistance, and he said it was pretty much Fiery Aura... Oh, and Dark Armor, now that Issue 12 is here!

Re-rolling after level 8 or so, I now had the start to a build of Dark Armor / Ice Melee. So I needed a costume Hmmm... Dark and Ice, two things that are often found in nature, right? Well, it took me a good half hour, but I came up with something I liked. I thought the hard part was done, when I had to pick a name for the guy! Dark and Ice, Dark and Ice... Hey, "glacier" starts with a G, now I need something related to darkness that starts with a G. And thus was born: The Grim Glacier.

Sure enough, he controls huge groups of enemies with ease and the rest of the team can turn an army into a floor mat pretty quickly. Ice Patch and Oppressive Gloom alone account for most enemies, where Freezing Touch and Block of Ice take care of any other pesky thing that happens to not give up. It's a truly entertaining combination of Tanker powersets, and it really serves to break down that old axiom that Tankers are punching bags. Tankers are not punching bags: they are aggro magnets. Taking hits is one way to do that, sure, but Dark Armor and Ice Melee really show how screwing with the enemies is just as effective, if not moreso. The only thing I've found is that Dark Armor isn't so great for Arch-villain fights. Relatively low resistance to Smashing and Lethal, and the only HP recovery comes from a power with a base endurance cost of 33 and can miss. So AVs? Not so much a job for Dark Armor. Anything else? Bring it on.

I made his skin dark because you don't see a lot of black people in the game, at least not player characters. It was originally a joke with the Ice/Ice combo, since everyone knows black guys can pull off the "cool" look a lot better than white guys.

I do have a regret with this guy, though. I have a history of hating Stamina. Not that the power isn't useful, mind you, but it's the brain-dead cultists I see following it that bother me. Again, mind you, using Stamina does not make you brain-dead, but when I see level-bumped characters in closed beta end up with Stamina before ever setting foot off of Fort Darwin, I know there's a problem. Unfortunately for me, the way I wanted the Grim Glacier to play required me to take the power due to Endurance consumption with the toggles and that blasted cost of Dark Regeneration. Honest: I tried various specs to see if I could avoid it! Cherish the sight, for I take pride in otherwise being the only member on the team without the Fitness pool. But hey, at least it's a Tanker without Tough, right!?

Character Details

Statistics: Name:   The Grim Glacier Server: Triumph Alignment: Hero Archetype: Tanker Security Level: 50 Primary: Dark Armor Secondary: Ice Melee Ancillary: Arctic Mastery Updated: December 23, 2008

Powers: (Hover mouse)

Build

• Powers are taken at the levels shown
• Enhancement slots are taken when appropriate and only the final state of the power is shown
• Enhancement order is the suggested arrangement during leveling
• All Enhancements are level 50 common IOs

Power			Avail		Take		Enhance (Hover mouse)
	Brawl		-		-
	Sprint		-		-		Run
	Rest		-		-		Recharge
	Dark Embrace		1		1
	Frozen Fists		1		1
	Ice Sword		2		2
	Murky Cloud		2		4
	Obsidian Shield		6		6
	Dark Regeneration		8		8		RechargeRecharge
	Taunt		10		10		RechargeRechargeRecharge
	Combat Jumping		6		12
	Super Jump		14		14		Jump
	Swift		6		16		Run
	Health		14		18		HealHealHeal
	Stamina		20		20
	Ice Patch		20		22		RechargeRecharge
	Hasten		6		24		RechargeRechargeRecharge
	Oppressive Gloom		26		26
	Freezing Touch		28		28		RechargeHoldHold
	Acrobatics		20		30
	Soul Transfer		32		32		RechargeRechargeRecharge
	Greater Ice Sword		35		35
	Frozen Aura		38		38
	Block of Ice		41		41		HoldRechargeHoldRecharge
	Ice Blast		44		44
	Ice Storm		47		47		RechargeRecharge
	Recall Friend		6		49		Recharge