When Reed Richards finished his experimental starship and wanted to take it on an unsanctioned test flight, his college buddy (and former USAF pilot) Ben Grimm agreed to fly it. Together with Richards' girlfriend Sue Storm and her brother Johnny, Ben and Reed launched into space, where they were exposed to unprecedented levels of cosmic radiation.Marvel Source
The radiation triggered mutagenic changes in each of the four passengers. In Grimm's case, he became a brutish creature with orange, rocky skin. Sue's description of him as a "thing" stuck as his heroic nickname, and Thing became a founding member of the Fantastic Four.
Gear
Slot 1 – Semper Fi (Thing Unique) - Great damage, damage on Physical attacks (everything), crit rating, attack speed, move speed, spirit regen (yay), health regen, +alot to Brawling Powers (so all three of our active abilities besides our Movement) Pretty much a must have.
Slot 2 – Bren Grimm's Helmet (Thing Unique) - Health, great def, +to Brawler (our actives again), +Headbutt (yay), +Aggressive Aura (yay), +Hard as Rock (yay!). Get this!
Slot 3 – UCWF Championship Belt (Thing Unique) - Great stats, and a nifty spirit/health on kill proc. What we're really excited about is the +2 Speed (he's so....so slow) and the +to Rockpile powers (all of our good passives/defensive skills). We need this one as well.
Slot 4 – Future Foundation Pants (Thing Unique) - These are okay. The +1 Fighting is great, decent defensive stats, we'll almost never use a Teammate power so the proc is useless to us (probably until raids). +2 to all Powers is of course nice, and the Power Duration is great for keeping Clobberin Time up. I would say to use this, but if you have something like the Hand Ninja Tabi, you'll be better served (DPS) or the Alpha Flight Snowshoes (tanky).
Slot 5 – Immortal Spirit of Kirby (Thing Unique) - So +12k health....hmm. Well. I mean. Yeah? If we can get a cosmic to push some of our staple actives further into the 30's or at 40, I would take it. This is pretty amazing though for the massive health contribution. Use at your discretion.
Artifacts
Artifacts: We really want stuff that gives us spirit or spirit on kill for leveling. Afterwards, we'll focus ons tandard tanky/DPS stuff.
1. Spirit stuffs: Advanced Super Soldier Serum, Moonstone, Odinborn gets us Spirit on kill (very important)
2. Tanky/DPS setup:
Advanced Super Soldier Serum
Pym Growth
Advanced Crimson Crystal
Advanced Meta, Xerogen, HoD, etc.
Other
Blessings: Tough call here. I kind of like Odin so we can get spirit back constantly and damage bosses. Trash won't be so much of an issue.
Costume: +1 Fighting +1 Strength. Our Durability is already maxed and if we get his Uniques we'll get +1 Fighting and +2 Speed, so we may want to shift to +1 Strength, +1 Speed. You can also go for 25% Spirit/Health on Medkit since we're going to be fairly spirit starved.
Insignia: O'Gradysaurus Rex with Spirit and Damage.
Legendary: I think Excalibur is the way to go. We lose an entire affix on Norn Stones because of our Durability, but it would be another good candidate. The flat damage from Excal is amazing, or Gungir since we have like....no crit. Gungir will give us a TON of value for the purchase since we won't be close to diminishing returns.
Medallion: Until we can get our Spirit troubles under control, we almost need Grim Reaper. I can't really think of anything better. Bullseye with a Gungir will be amazing since we don't come near diminishing returns. Kingpin gives us damage and health, very useful. Doom gives us damage, +%Power Duration for Clobberin' Time...also a great option.
Relics: Gibborim. We've got spirit issues, we'll need all the help we can get.
Uru item: Melee or Physical Uru.
Leveling Strategy
Smash smash smashy smash the ground to kill trash, and basic everything else until you get your Headbutt-which you'll use almost exclusively for bosses. Try to get used to keeping Granite Defense and Clobberin' Time up, both of which are necessary to maximize your effectiveness. Also keep an eye on Spirit management, its probably our biggest challenge.
Playstyle
A. Dash around and don't forget to apply Granite Defense!
B. Ground Smash trash to clear them and apply knockdown to the big guys.
C. Brickyard Headbutt to shred bosses.
D. Basic when you run out of spirit (constantly)
E. Taunt your foes with anecdotes about growing up with Mom on Yancy Street, you're still more likeable than Reed.