When I stopped playing DC back in December 2015 Brick and aftershock tanking were equally viable. I believe the devs at the time had just given Brick a balance pass to make its absorption more similar to aftershock tanking. Since coming back I was surprised to learn that Brick tanking is pretty much twice as strong as aftershock tanking. I tested both forms of tanking on Calculator bot and escaped meta in BOP open world and the numbers show that aftershocks take almost exactly twice as much damage as Brick. For instance Calculator bot's Solar Flame was doing about 17k damage while I was Brick tanking and about 34k damage while I was aftershock tanking. What's weird is that I came back in late April, right around the time there was a balance pass on all tank powersets. Is there a reason nobody noticed this? Or if they did, why they felt Brick being twice as strong as aftershocks made sense? While Brick can die he can also be healed by Totem, Fortify Golem, and the healer, while a tank using aftershocks can only be healed by the healer. Aftershock users having one or two more slots for shields doesn't close the gap on Brick users.
Your wrong aftershock is much better. Stone skin and brick is same thing only aftershock frees up 2 more spaces. Brick tank carry’s 3 fortify golem, that totem thing I forgot the name and brick power itself. Aftershock only carries jackhammer so think about it
That's my point, Brick tanking is far stronger than aftershock tanking and I'm curious why. They used to both be equally viable back in the day. Some Earth tanks (myself included) use Totem but it isn't necessary. Even then, it's very common for Brick tanks to run Gemstone and Hardlight, so an aftershock tank running Amazonian Deflection (very situational) and movement mode shield still isn't keeping up with Brick tanking. Again, a Brick tank could carry three shields if they drop Totem, which makes them that much stronger than aftershocks. My testing shows aftershock tanking results in twice as much incoming damage as Brick tanking.
From my experience theres 0 reason to run totem, because healers can heal brick and if he is going to die totem wont save him. So technically only 2 spots. And for only 1 extra spot for basically a 2nd tank why wouldnt you brick tank.
Aftershock tanking is actually really strong if you stockpile Dom instead of health. You get a higher defense mitigation than all other tanks by quite a margin. I thought otherwise but an anonymous friend pointed this out to me and sure enough with the extra stats from au grants and artifacts it's easily verified. You pretty much need 2 shields though.
My video shows aftershocks taking twice as much damage as Brick. Metahuman's Uppercut did 11445 12173 11580 damage while aftershock tanking and 5618 5694 5651 while Brick tanking. Pulse Beam was averaging 3800 for aftershock and 1900 for Brick. Imo aftershock tanking is too far behind Brick.
That's a hasty generalization. I've been Earth tanking for years. And I can say with certainty, that both options are viable. Now I can understand why you would assume Brick is superior to Aftershocks. Based off the evidence you provided. For the majority of the content, you would be correct. The majority of content consists of all regular and open world content. Which is very easy, and presence no real threat to Brick. The problems with Brick start to arise in Elite raids and Survival mode. For me I gauge Brick's viability on 2 factors. The size of the room, and mechanics. The bigger the room, the more maneuverability you'll have. You can create distance, and summon Brick back should he die. With mechanics they vary. Sometimes you have to remain stationary, and other times you have to stay on the move. When it comes to AOEs Brick sits in them. Or one shots against Brick can be bad news for you and the group. Ever have a bunch of adds on you, and then Brick dies? Happens a lot and groups are not happy lol. Let's look at some examples. For Survival mode, the glaring problem for Brick was how hard the enemies hit. So what good is 50% damage mitigation, when the source of your mitigation dies in 1 hit? Answer: There is none. You essentially would waste all your power summoning Brick, just for him to die immediately. And wouldn't have power for anything else. Because the meta didn't use a troll unless he was a buff troll. Lets look at Metal part 1 elite raids. For Monsters of Metal Elite Brick was King? Why? The boss arenas were massive, so you had lots of room, and the mechanics were designed to overwhelm you with lots of adds. Which had tons of hard stun mechanics. Moving around was crucial. You didn't want to get pinned by 15 robins or countered by BWL during the Merciless' 1 shot attack. Brick was Ideal. However during the Mr. Freeze fight after you get him out of the ice wall. I prefer AfterShocks. Because his Skull attack 1 shots Brick and encases you. It's not impossible with Brick, but it's more risky. For False Idols Elite Brick is terrible. Why? The room is long and narrow, not a lot of moving side to side. And there is a TON of Mechanics. Most groups never beat the raid let alone the first boss. The satyr's utilize their flute attack which 1 shots Brick. Combined with the other satyr who stun locks you, while the gorgon and minotaur beat the crap out of you. You die in seconds. AfterShocks is ideal for this fight. I can maintain my tank buff, have 3 shields, my pull, and have an extra slot for something else. Usually use PB to get minotard on you right away otherwise he just hammer throws you for 10 mins lol. For AfterShocks, having an extra power at your disposal is great. Because with Brick its: Pull, brick, fortify, 3 shields. With AfterShocks I use unstoppable because its a SC builder as well as a juggle. Combined with jackhammer with precise timing you can stun adds forever so they cant breakout. Very useful when dealing with bow masters or other problem adds in FGSE. Or I can run striking stones to long range effigy's without sacrificing my survival. You got choices with AfterShocks. The Problem with it, is you're weaker. So you cannot be lazy. It's about moving around CC the adds and rotate shields. With Brick it's give him power and spam your pull. Brick tanking in a nut shell everyone. If TLDR applies: Both strong. Both got pros and cons.
You arent taking more, the difference is a portion of the damage you would have taken while brick tanking is transferred to brick. While when aftershock tanking you take all that damage.
I played actively from 2012 through December 2015, came back this year in late April/early May. While I'm still getting the hang of things I do feel squishier using aftershocks vs Brick. Maybe the problem I'm having is I'm pretty much playing each tank the same, identical arts and similar loadouts. Back in the day I only used aftershocks but I had a leaguemate who would tank elite raids or Survival Mode using Brick and he did just as well as me. Watching others play it looks like most elite content is not viable with aftershocks unless using three shields (a movement mode shield in particular) so while I could still practice making aftershocks more viable, I guess my point is that didn't used to be the case. Aftershocks and Brick both offered relatively equal results while being different play styles. Now it seems to mitigate the extra damage received using aftershocks people have turned Earth into Ice. That's like saying a shield doesn't reduce damage, just a portion of the damage you would have taken is transferred to the shield. If I have 10k health and an attack brings my health down to 1k while using Brick, that same attack would kill me using aftershocks.
Being earth as long as I have. I'd say both are viable, but it would depend on the scenario which one would be better. When it comes to turtle tanking, brick is ofc way better, earth is prob the best turtle tank out their whereas it used to be fire once upon a time. When it comes to lots of kitting and CCing of adds, jackhammer is better. But I'd have to say in my experience, brick is the better all-rounder for turtle or "active tanking".
I'm still experimenting with both types of tanking, right now finding EoG with movement shield for aftershocks or Pheromone Bloom with Brick showing good results. Earth really does feel like Ice with better cc options.
I really don't feel the need for a SC on my brick loadout, but then again I turtle with brick. I use Totem, Gemstone, Fortify, EarthenGrip/Lasso, HL Shield, and Brick. I've yet to run into issues with this loadout in most elite content. I've used DashAttack/Perfect Poise (in place of Totem), don't get me wrong...I just don't find it necessary all that often.
