I was wondering about a few powers for tanking: Perfect Poise - 50% SC but how long does it last, worth using as a tank? Fan of Knives - Cone based CC, but Earth has Shards just wondering which would be more effective Hard Light Shield - Since Earth has Gemstone is it worth grabbing HLS as well? Sonic Cry - Also a Cone based CC, but stun instead of knock. I still haven't decided if I want to go pet based or aftershocks, pet seems like less work. But I hate that Rumblecrush seems to be the only AoE means of PI setup.
Perfect Poise lasts 8 seconds, I think. At least the CC immunity of it. Dunno about the shield. Seems to last quite long though. Fan of Knives has a much longer range than Shards, but hits only three enemies. It's good, but if you're looking for hitting more targets, Shards may be better. HLS and Sonic Shout...your call, really. Can't say much about them as I hardly use them.
the throwing knives work like a charm and have very long range. The HLS, can work as the damage first gets mitigated by defense the hits the shield. That's why an ice tank rotating shields and blocking can take huge amounts of damage.
I use Hard Light Shield in my Earth Tank loadout for Boss fights. It is useful to activate Controls including picking up downed allies. It can be useful to rotate Hard Light Shield with Gemstone Shield (+Aftershock) during boss fights to prevent damage. Sonic Cry is a Radial Area Stun that can be useful for nearby Crowd Control. Note that Sonic Shout is the cone based Iconic Power. Sonic Shout is not really useful as a Tank due to the long animation. Perfect Poise was changed in Update 25 so that the Damage Prevention scales with Dominance & Restoration like most Shields: http://forums.station.sony.com/dcuo/index.php?posts/1690963/
Have to say I like Perfect Poise, the only other Tank type SC is Envelop and even though the healing is nice, the self stun is dangerous as a tank, also you can be blasted away in your little ball during it making it even more dangerous. Shards > Fan of Knives, while I enjoy the extra range of FoK the limited targets is a shame I'm also contemplating switching to Brick tanking, While I like the Aftershock in theory it is almost a requirement to pop Unstoppable before you attempt a Jackhammer, even though it only takes 1 aftershock to hit the 50% absorption there have been plenty of times where I don't even get the chance and I get knocked/stunned right after I hit Jackhammer almost like the mobs know I need that second hit to fully tank.
Perfect Poise is okay... It doesn't last long though. I was using it on my Nature Healer for PvP Arenas. It's a good move to use when you're getting bombarded and need to jump up and run away fast though. Comes in handy against Controllers in 1v1. Beat quite a few of them with Healer role while popping Perfect Poise. Again... only problem is it is such a short duration.
