Aftershock or brick?

Discussion in 'War Room (Powers, Artifacts, & Builds)' started by Apolloin, Feb 24, 2020.

  1. Apolloin Well-Known Player

    So I recently switch my tank to earth and it has been fun thus far. However, I have been experimenting with loadouts for tanking and trying to find out which is better for optimal tanking brick or aftershock? Thanks
  2. Brav Well-Known Player


    Either will do. I find aftershock more fun and flexible then brick though some may prefer brick. I actually have an armory for both as I like to mix it up. Though I mostly use my aftershock build the most as I've recently set aftershock for multi/main adds+boss tanking and brick for single/separate boss tanking.

    You should try both and see which you prefer. If you have an extra armory set them both up. You can mix it up so you don't get bored or use brick when you want to be more relaxed, just make sure to keep brick up.

    Brick tanking to me is more like chain tanking (sharing damage with another tank) and playing as a semi troll, power/shield brick and pull/stun/cc adds for brick and the group while shielding yourself to help mitigate some damage on you while the rest gets transferred to brick during cool downs. (Risky if brick falls, if so shield up and re-summon him quickly).

    Aftershock tanking puts more pressure on you but is a lot more flexible and fun. You will have a couple more slots to place another shield and anything else you would like to help your current situation and tanking play style.

    I personally like having a pull, cc, main shield = gemstone (which is actually the strongest power/non supercharge shield in the game), another shield = Iconic hard light shield (for down times/semi gap though gem can be reused fairly quickly and the hard light shield is a healer shield so it stacks with tank shields which is a plus/benefit, as you can time it at the half mark in your rotation if you wanted too stack them to close the gap and prevent some damage in while repeating and maintaining your rotation), and a supercharge (usually movement shield or iconic heal) for emergencies, last slot can be another pull/cc, immunity, shield, heal, etc (really anything you want/prefer for your situation/play style). Aftershock tanking just has a lot of flexibility where you can setup a load similar to ice while being more durable during semi-gaps/minimal down times.

    (Tip: Remember this; first cast of jackhammer = 6 seconds, cast + combo = 12 seconds, cast + 2 combos = 18 seconds, cast + 3+combos = extend/refresh duration. This is for your defense buff from aftershock tanking. Jackhammer is the go to ability though you have the option of using upheaval as well, which is automatically a 12 second duration on cast and no more).

    Use that tip to your advantage so you know when to refresh your defense buff in your rotation, as you react according to your current situation while tanking. Try them both and see which you prefer. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Good luck and have fun.
  3. Apolloin Well-Known Player

    I appreciate the advice. What artifacts should I be working on? I have manicles at 93, mystic of the seven at 128, Gemini at 90, soul cloak at 88, and the OG tank (pull buff health) artifact at 82. Thanks
  4. Brav Well-Known Player


    You're welcome, no problem. Okay, so the main tank artifacts are currently Manacles, Mystic, and the third one is more of an optional one. (Refractor, AI, Gem, Scrap). Most go for the Gem with this current setup mainly for the extra sc regen/heal for group/self.

    For earth if using a supercharge the Gem would be a great choice as the casters watch circle heals you and if you decide to run with brick it also heals brick/anyone standing in it.

    My earth is an alt so his current setup is Manacles, Scarp, Gem. It works really well for me especially for most content/regular since I run my alts through regular content normally. I can use his super more often which is great as I often random queue content. And my build is more self efficient, which works really well in different group setups of varying range of players level and skill. I like to push myself so I know that even in the most tough situations I can pull through and hold my own for awhile. Of course this doesn't guarantee success depending on the group/situation but usually if the tank can stay up then with a decent group/players content can still get done even if it wasn't the most smoothest run.

    If you plan on running elite then manacles, mystic, gem for now I would say. Hold on to the scrap as its still a good artifact to have especially for a heavy supercharge use/setup.

    (Side Note: Little heads up, there is a new artifact coming with the episode as always but I got an early catch unintentionally I believe. Its still early to say which direction they will go with it but what I've seen was one that will increase defense based on health when it drops to certain ranges. It seems really interesting and I will most likely use it for my fire tank as fires' health drops/spikes often. So that will definitely help fire slow down some damage as they get low giving some time to recover a bit. It should be useful to all tanks though, which is good but fire will most likely benefit the most from it).
  5. Black Jaq Devoted Player

    I have both an Aftershock and Brick armory but I prefer Brick tanking. I like to pull and group up hallways adds tightly (I'm not a tank who constantly pulls them out of range of my DPS). If I'm trying to get the officer onto the platform in Phoenix Cannon, I don't have to worry whether my absorption buff is active or if I need to Aftershock again. Being a Brick tank, I feel, allows me to focus more on counters and interrupts.

    To each his own though. I get called a bad tank by pugs so I'm obviously wrong about everything.
    • Like x 1
  6. Brav Well-Known Player


    You can counter with both but definitely a lot easier with brick as long as you keep him up, though npcs/brick/players tend to give the boss immunity at times which can be a pain. Brick tanking is a bit more laid back which allows you to focus more on your surroundings a little easier. Just like trolling in my point of view which gives you more room to just gather everything and cc/counter while keeping brick up and shielding yourself, etc.

    To me someone who often trolls will have an easier time transitioning to this type of tanking at least until they are ready to go head to head with a boss as a non pet tank setup/power.
  7. Apolloin Well-Known Player

    Yeah I focused on a supercharge tank at first but I noticed that I was too reliant on perfect poise. I have been using mystic, manacles, and OG artifact. I may switch OG with Gemini artifact or scrap. I will keep playing with loadouts and powers. I really appreciate all of the input
    • Like x 1
  8. DeitySupreme Steadfast Player

    Amazing information by both of them. One quick description I would like to add to each form of tanking.

    Brick: sturdy > stable

    Brick tanking does give you more damage mitigation because of the damage that gets transferred to brick. However it is less stable because at time brick can die fast and there is little you can do to prevent that.

    After shock: sturdy < stable

    Because you yourself control when you aftershock, your damage mitigation is up at almost all times (user error) . However it does mitigate less than brick tanking. Both forms are very viable in end game elite raids. You just have to see which play style you like more.

    As for artifact my 2 favorite artifact to combine with mystic symbols and manacles are soul cloak and Gemini.

    For brick tanking I lean more towards Gemini since it can heal him too. And when I use aftershock I prefer soul cloak since it also reduces the cooldown of your sc shield which can be very helpful.

    If you don’t use a SC shield than you could use refractor for extra health.

    If you’re a might dps than you could go with soul cloak so that you could use it for dpsing too.
    • Like x 2
  9. Brav Well-Known Player


    Using gemstone should help alleviate that. I do rotate it at times if hl shield is on cool down/during gemstone semi gap though I usually don't have too unless I took a lot of damage before I could reuse gem/hl. This is with a aftershock build so I have the slots to use them.

    I recently set up a heavy sc build, not necessary but I often random queue so I set most of my alt tanks with a similar/balanced load which allows them to be more self efficient. I have my main pull, cc/mech buff, gem/shield, hl/shield, pp/shield, pb/heal.

    So far that load on my alt tanks have gotten me through some tough situations when running with a random group, it may not be necessary for most runs but for some of the runs it is really helpful to have set and ready just in case.

    My main doesn't use that setup as I run elite with him at times and use him to try most of the newer artifacts before I decide if I want to keep it and maybe follow suit with it on some of my alts. Though at the moment the ones they have work fairly well for them in the normal content they run so far.

    (Side Note: I play each tank power and for me most of their mechanics seem fairly strong/balanced for the most part. My main is fire and though fire is strong too it does lack some compared to the other tank powers, so I'm often looking for that right setup/combo that gives fire that same feel as the other tank powers. With this new artifact that should hopefully be coming soon, it may help give fire that feel that I am looking for as I always felt fires defense was lacking a bit too much compared to the other tanks and its usually not practical to get fire soul max all the time in certain situations. Hopefully that new artifact will change that for me and be part of my go to setups/combos I can stick with for now).
  10. Apolloin Well-Known Player

    Thanks very well put. I do feel sturdier with brick than I do with after shocks. However, aftershock tanking is fun.
    • Like x 1
  11. Apolloin Well-Known Player

    One last question, why don’t I see a lot of people use totem. Seems like it would be beneficial for brick’s survival. Is it the long cooldown?
  12. Black Jaq Devoted Player

    Aftershock tanking is not any advanced tanking skill especially when many players just stand there and Jackhammer. Certain content lends itself to one or the other like GOME if you are the single target tank because Brick can cause the gorgons to stop moving. But when I had to tank Lashina in HH, she tended to stun Brick as opposed to me.
  13. Brav Well-Known Player


    If we had the space for it, maybe but pet tanking is already limited with slots and the heals are minimal compared to the damage intake, along with the long cool down and stationary position which just doesn't make it worth a slot when there are more useful abilities that you can run with. It can be useful if you can make it work in your load though usually an extra personal/self shield is more beneficial than totem as if you can keep brick powered/shielded, he can also heal himself.
  14. Brav Well-Known Player


    There is no need to constantly hit jackhammer, as there is a duration based on combo taps. Those who usually do that either are trying to battle tank or don't know how the mechanic buff works.

    Brick can definitely be helpful in certain situations, though it is not necessary as aftershock tanking is just as viable.
  15. Black Jaq Devoted Player

    Before the Artifact meta, I used Totem in lieu of a SC. It helped more in the past because Brick's health used to be a lot lower. Now, he can take more damage and as long as you keep him powered, he can do Entomb and shield himself.

    Totem was also useful in situations. For example, first boss of Bombshell, I would place totem right at the portal entrance so as soon as the adds spawned, they were knocked down and aggroed.
    • Like x 1