Plutoria

Scrapper (Kinetic Melee - Energy Aura) ROP.mbd Designed for taking hits in Hard mode, High overload uptime, when it drops cycle to demonic aura accolade, RoP and or hybrid. By the time one of those drop overload should be up again. For normal content pretty much overkill. This is an actual play tested build and not just theory crafted. FF procs and ageless allowed for shaving off base recharge to achieve desired result. Swap sorc for Experm to get AB if looking to just play in normal content. Scrapper (Kinetic Melee - Energy Aura) AB.mbd

During animation of Sleep Grenade and LRM Rocket no weapon skin is present. Dp/Nin with multiple weapons present on character if it makes any difference.

Subjective opinion but: If we are to assume the cone will stay would we be able to switch heavy burst in there instead? Would at least reward the jumping in and out of fray a bit more with the starting 50 foot range / 30 arc Adds a little more IO diversity Animation is a bit more flavorful compared to buckshot Set is already heavy in KB so one less KB wouldn't be missed.

Minor suggestion would it be possible to add a -Fly component to Cyro Freeze Ray? Would assist in lower level content ( like brickers and sky raiders) and incarnate boss mobs (Talons).

Touched a bit on this set with arse ctrl thread, figure I'd add a bit here. Currently testing Arse/Arse dom. Made a mix of builds and tested them with many foes types 54/8 as a Adepta Sororitas theme. Arsenal Assault: Honestly my new favorite Assault Set ( energy and dark being the others). Love: Targeting Drone Trip Mine because boom! ( Was always the fun part of devices/traps) Ignite - Purify the heretics in the name of The Emperor! Power up Unpopular opinion: As much as we all enjoy a good buttstroke the stun duration is extremely long ( plus with domination it's even longer) for a level 1 attack. Maybe it isn't a consensual buttstroke thus the longer than usual stun duration. Perhaps swap with KD/KB from Heavy Blow and put the stun in Heavy Blow? ( or reduce duration?) Swap Buck Shot for Slug? Slug would help close the ST range gap. Currently using Cryo Freeze Ray from control set (Burst>Ray>Ignite>Snipe & Heavy Blow when in melee range). Ignite, Heavy Blow, Snipe is tearing up bosses at a respectable rate. While I understand people being apprehensive with lethal it is hitting fairly hard with current setup. With all 3 -res procs baked into final build not really encountering issues vs most boss types. Trip mine has been filling the AoE gap ( add in AoE control powers with procs , incarnate) plus with ignite when mobs are close together. While the power scale is inline with PBAOE dom attacks of that tier one notable difference is that trip mine can't use damage procs to compensate. Maybe add the 50% chance for additional Fire damage like as with the other variations of trip mine? This keeps the primary power scale still in line with that tier level and helps boosts the damage for end game usage. This still gives the blaster version the upper edge in toe bombing damage and allows the traps variation a edge in higher damage scale with the interrupt penalty. Baseline defender is still at 126. Even if the additional damage chance is modified as a DoT effect still keeps the defender version more "bursty". 63.96 / 31.98 = 95.94 or 63.96/15.99 = 79.95 Engulfing darkness lvl 16 is 72.18 base ( 23.76 difference) but can still be slotted for procs Tremor is at 58.21 base( can also be slotted with procs) as a level 4 power Whirling Hands lvl 20 is 67.16 base, can proc and has special mechanic of double striking. Combustion lvl 20 is 75.91 base Can proc plus gets modified further from embrace of fire. Ice sword circle 69.74 Can proc and access at lvl 4. Dragon Tail lvl 20 - 52.46 ( lower damage but martial tends to be aoe heavier overall) Psy shockwave lvl 30 - 63.96 Atom Smasher lvl 24 - 90.51 Deafening wave 63.96 at lvl 20 Thorn Burst lvl 20 - 69.26 (data not showing properly for rending flurry) Could also remove buckshot and replace with trip mine This would open a lvl 20 slot Or could pop targeting drone in at 20 Ignite at 24 ( other ATs get at 22 and 28 ) Now opening up slot 30 for something with more punch like a modified Full Auto, modified Heavy Burst from SoA, or Or another melee ST option maybe even a hybrid situation like shooting off a chain induction?

Thoroughly enjoying The new sets on test. Rolled Troller and Dom, but dom has captured my heart. Running a 40k Battle sister theme. I look forward to this being a new main on live. Play tested solo 4/8 all foe types: Tranq Dart: ended up skipping on dom ( but kept on troller). Slotted on troller as x2 heal proc, hold proc, toxic proc power ( was using traps secondary). Sleep Grenade: My current set up is Heal proc, Cold proc, and immobile proc, slow enhancement. Working pretty well and appreciate the built in -slow. My play style tends to be aggressive and I rarely use AoE immobs so the proc immob is doing the trick I can see this as being skippable on both troller/dom ( skipped on the troller). Slow lasts about 30 seconds and with recharge focused build you can spread the love. Currently enjoying the design as it does stagger attacks from foes. Cryo Freeze Ray: I like that it offers a different damage type ( cold) and the general flavor of the attack power. Works as good as every other T2 ST hold. Not required but maybe a lingering -slow/-recharge effect to assist in low level applications without sets/end game influence? ( and additional possible slotting combos). Liquid Nitrogen: Tried different combos, ended up keeping it as one slot wonder. The KD patch compliments the set well. Dom: acc/dmg/end/rech single slot and on troller -12 res proc. Wouldn't mind if Slow Enhancements could be slotted to compliment the -slow factor and tie in with Sleep Grenade. Cloaking Device: Instant love Smoke Canister: tested different combos, Really love this power. Combo works great slotted or single slot on both troller/dom. Opening is great with the debuff to hit and confuse but mostly helps regulate aggro/alpha strikes. On dom i ended up 5 slotting: Confuse proc, Fiery Orb proc, +dmg proc, 2 damage procs ( energy/neg energy). Flashbang: 5 slotted purp with -tohit proc works great Tear gas: 5-6 slotted on different build combos. Gun drone: tried different slotting arrangements, works great if slots to spare and want to dump pet def/res in it to enhance other summons/temp pets. Currently just running with overwhelming KD and BU proc. Hits often and still very tanky out of the box. The KD proc gives it some soft control, the damage isn't anything to write home about ( even when fully enhanced) but it is a great tank pet and honestly I love the fact it helps pull aggro and can tank a few baddies. Gun Drone suggestion: To give more flavor to a control set, perhaps add additional attacks? Thematic suggestions: None lethal ST or AoE Immob? 16 sec recharge Web Grenade or 30 sec Area Web Grenade Beanbag / Taser (with damage) Long Recharge EMP type of attack like with some of the epic pets but of lesser effect? All that said, I can see why people may feel frustrated with how this control set plays. Personally I've always had a love for the soft control style sets over hard control. This set has a nice mix of both but seems to favor the soft control approach ( which matches my general play style.) It's also one of the first control sets where I've taken nearly every power. Traps: Enjoy the updates/overhaul to Time Bomb. Tested on all AT's but MM. I noticed Seekers changed so they no longer accept BU proc but they do take pet slotting now which makes more sense and has merit for most builds using traps. Arsenal Assault: Honestly my new favorite Assault Set ( energy and dark being the others). Love: Targeting Drone ( Can at last skip tactics for Assault toggle) Trip Mine because boom! ( Was always the fun part of devices/traps) Ignite - Purify the heretics in the name of The Emperor! ( with new changes made to power) Unpopular opinion: As much as we all enjoy a good buttstroke the stun duration is extremely long ( plus with domination it's even longer) for a level 1 attack. Maybe swap with KD/KB from Heavy Blow and put the stun in Heavy Blow? ( or reduce duration?) Selfish suggestion, Swap Buck Shot for Heavy Burst (like from SoA) or with Slug?

I appreciate your view and take on the discussion. At the core I actually agree and share many similar view points as yourself. They are in my personal opinion a well designed class that offers much flexibility and variety of build and play styles within their varied power selection. In regards to "Which is why I am wondering why anyone thinks they need to be improved. " I'm honestly not sure how else to further add context. My primary influence was really based on observations and personal experience of how DDR comes into play in how the game has scaled over time and in relation to defense based powersets. I equally agree and thought I was able to communicate how the suggestions I gave outside of DDR implementation were primarily more QoL than balance given the variety of options to build, play and leverage the fantastic tool set SoA has. So I do apologize in my failure to establish that. I would say if anything it is a testament to the class itself as I attempted to look at aspect's outside of DDR and all I could really suggest were Bane Spider Armor possibilities which as mentioned would be more QoL than balance. I agree with you, Banes are absolutely amazing between leveraging their toolkit and further improved once set bonuses and incarnates come into play. I feel it really is a class that gets slept on when compared to the appeal of forts, widows and crabs. In a way Veats in general have made it hard to stay invested in other AT's for me personally like stalkers, scrappers and brutes as they can be built to achieve amazing results PLUS all of the team support they provide. Mentioning the "tissue paper" comment was in context of many years back of my own experience first trying a bane ( coming from the fort/widow side of things) as well as experiences shared from players of past and attempting to think of minor adjustments that might have been able to provide a slightly smoother experience for a inexperienced player or someone new to using SoA whom are wanting to play a support type of character that plays differently than a defender/troller/corr. Its a old game and on private server so perhaps my mistake is considering what perhaps is such a outlier experience had these days. I don't honestly know on that but my intentions were well aligned. It was literally all I could think of which again I feel is a true testament to the solid design of the class itself. I have the impression that what you are communicating is "If it's not broken don't fix it" and if that is the case, you are not wrong, if we take into account all the other possibilities of classes or power-sets I would agree SoA ( and veats in general) are in a solid place. Especially considering how little comparatively they have required tweaks and changes over the years since implementation. It is a small dev team, I myself am entirely ignorant as to the time and resources it takes to implement any type of change behind the scenes, so yes if considering or looking at possible changes with a class that is pretty solid in it's current state starves higher priority projects then naturally as a member of this great community I would rather see efforts and time placed on higher priority projects. I also totally agree that Heats take the crown for slot starvation. When going for that min/max build style many different AT/Power sets will feel slot starved but HEATs for sure are on a whole other level ( and part of the fun of building them imo).

Over the years of playing many support classes and falling in love with all the flavors of Veats ( fort and widow too!) I've poured more hours into these classes ( and still so much more to explore) than I should admit to. While I'm not as active on the forums as to many other amazing contributors providing great information, discussion and general encouragement to other community members to give these fantastic ATs a try, suffice to say I've enjoyed the journey I've made exploring the possibilities and build variations of the Veats. Of the 4 I feel it is fair to admit that I've spent more time with the bane variation than the others. Being a support minded player being able to soft crowd control, offer team buffs, and an array of de-buffs naturally would gain my affection. Often times proposed changes and QoL requests always fall into the MOAR DAMAGE demands, I want to ideally avoid that here. Instead propose a few possible facelifts for the SoA as the devs and community have contributed to fantastic changes, thoughtful QoL updates and the addition even of more challenging content rewarding team play! It is no secret over the years from days of live to homecoming the game naturally progresses with a scaling power creep. Generally speaking, from set bonuses , procs, temp powers and incarnates most of this scaling is available for all to enjoy and further develop their character and class of choice. Occasionally some abilities, power sets and abilities fall behind as new content and power-sets are added to the game. An example many of us are aware of was force field, the changes made imho were fantastic and well thought out and complimented much of the newer content and changes made to the game over the years regarding defense. With some of this context being in mind those that have taken the time to read this may end up seeing where I'm going with this. Proposed updates: Defense Debuff Resist Bane Spider Armor Crab Omega Maneuver Crab Serum Regarding (and the player supported huntsman AT) Bane Spider Armor: 1) Ideally increase natural status protection 2) Add Health enhancement slotting to Bane Spider armor. General baseline durability has always been a little short. As mentioned previously, with access to set bonus, temps, incarnates there are ways to fill holes. The focus however is class identity. The executioner and the huntsmen are fearsome opponents. The version we have baseline are more like tissue paper in comparison. Crab, Fort, Widow all have amazing defensive, bulky and other additions to assist in their "toughness". Bane baseline was like a early version of Ninjitsu...only with less status protection, no self heal and no defense debuff resistance. Bane Spider armor from a base of 4 protection up to 6 or 8 ( effectively bringing it to 8-10 total with wolf spider armor) It is terrifying when the temp power defense amplifier drops and that extra buffer of status protection is lost when in the thick of combat or getting hit by AoE stuns and other things. It is also particular punishing when doing content that prevents the use of defense amplifier to help fill this hole. This would bring it closer inline not only with the other veats ( fort/widow being in the 10 range and crab in the 14 range) but also our scrappy counterparts that find themselves in the fray of melee ( blasters and heats having their own variations of protection dynamic to achieve results). I intentionally have not made mention of KB protection. There are other armor sets that also do not have KB prot included and you can achieve suitable levels of KB prot from set bonuses. Unlike temp powers these bonuses are not restricted from game content. Pool powers also add access to status protection so in general I feel this change is more QoL than balance urgency. Add Health enhancement slotting to Bane Spider armor with either limited enhancement capabilities or full. SoA's are pretty slot starved ( and power selection) as it is, so I don't feel this would be overly game breaking but more adding the option to players in how they seek to customize their character. The base health is at 214 HP for the Bane Spider armor. Veat max health is around 2400 which as is, requires exclusive focus on HP set hunting to get close to 2000. Alternatively could increase the base to around 300-400 and leave it as is only accepting the default resist sets. If this change would be made however I would equally suggest then next change for Crab. Regarding Crab Crab Serum Crab Omega Maneuver Bring Serum more in line on par with Dull Pain. The current version only adds up to around 428Hp base ( which is about half of what Bane base line is). Enhanced you are looking at around just shy of 700 with a 900ish heal ( ignoring incarnate and bonuses). Dull Pain on a scrapper is in the ball park of 1150 heal and 850 HP boost. Alternatively perhaps add a endurance discount or Regen/recovery bonus (effectively a hybrid between dull pain and energize but lower values). Crab Omega Maneuver I know this has been covered many times over the years. The damage for it's tier is anemic. It tends to be more on par with some lighter hitting defender nukes. ( honestly it is closer to the defender trip mine in damage...very underwhelming) I've gone through testing where I'll even massively debuff foes, stripping resistance and yet even with a fully damage boosted Omega, the hardest I seem to get it to hit for is almost a total of 150 damage. Frenzy which tends to be on the tickle factor of damage can even reach higher numbers. That said, the request I have isn't actually about the damage. But rather the unique taunt function. Going with the idea of Veats offering team support this is such a interesting and cool mechanic. If anything I would just suggest lowering the cool-down on the power itself so that with recharge investment or cool down reduction team buffs it falls more in line with the 35-60 second uptime like most other nukes. Rather than just chasing and bloating DPS as a focus , lean more into the alpha soaking role it plays. Perhaps even add a debuffing side effect to those that survive the blast like how seeker drones add a -tohit and - dmg debuff. Perhaps it could lower defense, resistance, damage or tohit. But truly just a shorter cool down would do the trick. The alpha soaking mostly assists in lower level content play. At 50 with sets and incarnates, The crabs I've built can just walk face first into groups of foes like Malta and Arachnos anyway at 50. However with the introduction of hard mode content and other challenges this taunt mechanic could be a fun tool to use to support the team and tank/brutes in the form of additional crowd control by briefly distracting foes. Primary change request is DDR. The difference between having Ageless DDR and nothing is night and day. The Bane in particular can very quickly get shredded. Once I'm able to keep Ageless Radial Epiphany up survivaliabilty jumps ten fold. That isn't to say it instantly becomes impervious to death. I just don't feel as fragile as say a corrupter or blaster without any buffing/debuffing support. Forts and widows get a base of roughly 34% and enhanced reaches around 54%. Elude brings a widow up further to about 80%. I'm not suggesting it needs to reach those levels. Bane in particular is a bit more of a hybrid of defense and resist almost like shield. Fort and Widow are more in line with Super Reflexes. Ageless offers between 21-42 DDR roughly as it ticks down. Many defense and defense hybrid armor sets tend to also be in the 30-50 ball park of DDR. A 30-40 DDR on bane would be just enough to protect it's defenses from being critically stripped within seconds. All defense sets run the risk of critical failure that is part of the game design.. but the moment you step into combat and everything is stripped while having less inherent "bulk" than a crab or scaling resists of widows/forts can be very frustrating. It also makes for a very difficult leveling experience needing to wait till you can max out destiny and throw tons of investment into set bonuses/min maxing. I feel this sadly discourages many people from truly getting to enjoy the Bane since each of the others just "work" more fluid ( endurance woes aside) through their leveling experience. The player supported "huntsman" actually offers a far more friendly leveling experience since it can stay at range much as other squishy ATs/Powersets do. On a personal note, I only started a bane years back (and fell in love with it) because via Mids, they just looked so awful and sad compared to everything else (other veats) I wanted to make it a personal challenge to see what I could accomplish. The class design really surprised me and I love the tool kit and theme. How to implement DDR I would suggest either baked into Bane armor ( not enhanceable) at a set value. Added to Cloaking Device (enhanceable) Or.. Splitting between the cloaking/armor option and adding the other amount to tactical Training Maneuvers. As mentioned at the start of this post what I love most about the Veat class identity is how it is a force multiplier as a team support class. Adding part of the DDR to team maneuvers compliments the support theme design, adds value as a support class since DDR as a team buff is fairly limited. As mentioned before, shield and force field being sets that offer this valuable resistance as well. Forts/Widows bring the extra psi resist and tohit while Crabs/banes could now bring additional buffing support in the form of a team DDR boost. The split could even be as simple as 21% baked into the Bane ( via Armor or cloaking) while the other 21% into the shared Maneuvers which equally benefits the Crab and still giving a defense edge to the bane while the crab keeps its bulky HP/Resist identity. From a team perspective this also helps makes them interchangeable since they provide the same amount of DDR to team. The percentages themselves I'm just pulling from ageless since it makes a noticeable difference yet isn't a game breaking amount ( and often lower than every other source of DDR in a armor set). Even when running true defense sets or widow/forts, I still grab ageless simply due to how valuable and noticeable having DDR is.

Mastermind (Ninjas - Trick Arrow).mbd Go trick arrow and never look back. You'll be surprised at how effective debuffs are. The ninjas keep themselves healed. Its a high APM play-style. Of the countless MM combos i've done, this one shreds hordes of mobs solo (54/8 all foe types, spider, carnies, DA mission mob types ect). Vengeance power boosted is pretty amazing but if you don't team often ( or people don't die often) can swap it out for poison gas arrow and slot the self heal proc into it. Open ideally with a power boosted flash arrow but not required for engagements. This build can pull multiple packs of mob and the ninjas/AoE procs will plow it all down. Grab defense amp buff from P2W for added status protection if you feel it is needed.

Pretty much anything will work with team support. That said, I was playing around awhile back with a KM/EA Stalker, Scrapper and Brute build. Basically high up time Overload and cycling Demonic Aura accolade/Melee resist incarnate toggle to cover the downtime. All three were able to handle single group mobs in a solo environment HM ITF at +2. Brute was much safer given it had a extra 1k Hp to soak spikes ( 3k limit). It's a little different than handling 54s non HM given the extra threats at play though, more moving around and making sure you don't get boxed in. I used ageless debuff resist as well.

For clarity of the post, with the new information knowing Cstrike is now a fixed rate I stopped making it a priority to attain a critical strike off of it now null. I moved the scrapper ATO for crit proc into Cstrike. Made further adjustments to other attack powers to gain a balance of raw damage and procs. Between these two actions the damage now far surpasses that of the brute ( with greater control and frequency of critical strikes) and now exceeds the stalker in AoE clearing while staying competitive with the ST output outside of assassination strikes (to which at that point the stalker dominates). Can't thank you enough Aethereal!

Really appreciate this! Thank you for the insight. It makes much more sense now.

( I assume this is in regards to the scrapper?) The build is operating on high recharge and found I was simply skipping over quick strike for body blow. Every other attack in the ST line up was hitting harder and dispatching foes. Body blow/quick strike is acting more as a set mule and rotation filler. Body blow has the stun stack and higher crit damage ( according to what mids is showing) which complimented a more defensive approach I was aiming for. Focused Burst is added Force feed back proc ( along with burst). This is to keep more uptime of the recharge proc to keep siphon going and to assist with Overload usage/recovery. Generally I was just cycling between Smashing blow and Cstrike. Since many attacks have longer animation times Smashing blow is always off cooldown after Cstrike, burst or focus landed. I would slip in body blow to attempt extra crit strikes or when rebuilding up siphon stacks. I would generally have 4-5 stacks of siphon going so even though Cstrike didn't crit for damage it still hit pretty hard ( usually mid cast I would drop to 4 stacks). Focused burst also had higher crit damage over quick strike and the addition of procs since quick would have had none in this particular build layout. I did play with procs in quick strike but the fire rate was extremely poor. I could also play the RNG game with decimation build up which helps scale the base and crit damage of other attacks further ( though it likely in a long run scenario be better with another proc but generally most things in the game rarely live long enough as it is) Focused burst is also my only range attack. ( It's a tight build designed for hardmode content which I did toss it into that fire and the results worked well.) The other incentive for dropping out quick strike was that its damage buff/debuff only had a 4 second duration and found it was not complimenting the building and maintaining of siphon stack buff/debuff. The original build had quick strike in it. On paper it appeared like it would had worked great in the build I was going for. In practice not as much...

Have been rigorously testing and experimenting with Kinetic Melee on Brute, Scrapper and Stalker ( with Energy aura secondary). Using near identical builds as I was aiming to get an idea between the three when it came to dps vs survival. This mostly is concerning Kinetic Melee with regards to the scrapper. After a few days and several hours each session of testing out all three ATs, The critical hit kit for the scrapper seems to be under performing for this set when pushed at a higher performance investment. I do sincerely feel that the state of Kinetic Melee on a scrapper is just the result of the power creep of the game, where as if assumed basic pre 50, standard ( no sets) enhancements, the scrapper would appear to be working "as intended" for this set. Body Blow, Smashing blow, Burst, Focused Burst and Concentrated Strike are the attacks in the general "chain". I did experiment with quick strike and eventually dropped it for body blow. Not taking the ATO/Procs in account between the brute and scrapper, KM damage output seems balanced with the scrapper pulling a noticeable difference ahead of the brute. By taking advantage of the fury feature of the brute and loading more procs over raw damage into attack powers I was able to quickly bridge this gap. Once I did I then attempted to replicate the same with the scrapper ( to boost it's dps over the brute) and eventually got to place where the brute and scrapper were doing close to average damage per encounter with the scrapper pulling ahead only when enough crits landed. Which for Kinetic Melee oddly enough the critical rate seemed higher with burst than it did with the single target attacks. I could clear faster on the scrapper but only due to the large boost and frequent critical from burst alone. Which is why you will see I subbed more proc and less raw damage for it in the scrapper. Overall the brute and scrapper were doing comparable single target damage with the occasional RNG factor of the scrapper. Since Concentrated Strike does not land critical damage, my primary single target critical spikes would be left to come from body blow, smashing blow and focused burst. For context: Body Blow on both ATs is holding a full set. (Superior scrapper strike & Superior Brute fury) Smashing blow is at 79% dmg with 2 procs (3.5ppm) on scrapper and the brute is at 45% dmg with 4 procs. ( alll 3.5ppm) Burst is at 51% dmg and 2 procs (3.5&4.5) on the scrapper and for the brute 96% dmg with one proc (4.5ppm) Focused burst is 78% dmg, 2 procs (4.5 & 3.5) and a Decimation BUP for scrapper. The Brute is 78% dmg and 3 procs ( 4.5 and two 3.5) Concentrated Strike 84% with 3 procs ( 4.5 and two 3.5) on the scrapper. Brute is 89% with 3 procs (4.5 and two 3.5) The small differences were eventually made as they seemed to complement the mechanics of each class as I aimed to achieved better performance. These both are operating on very high global recharge and ( against conventional wisdom Agility alpha for 33% recharge) The reason for the higher recharge focus was in part due to the goals within Energy aura and for high uptime of Power Siphon. The fire rate of the procs did drop slightly but nothing too noticeable over the course of any given combat encounter. Kinetic Melee vs Scrapper: One of the leading issues I kept coming across with the performance of this set were primarily the relation between Power siphon and Concentrated Strike : Power siphon: With a recharge focused build it is entirely possible to have high up time and on the occasion ( depending on force feed back triggers) steady / perma power siphon for both the brute and the scrapper. Even when I first started with a lower global recharge build ( 110%) I could still get steady uptime ( with force feed back procs) of this power ( having nothing more than a single recharge IO in it) . Concentrated Strike: Does not have a critical damage component. This attack was doing equal damage as the brute. The scaling is technically higher on the scrapper via paper values but when taking into account mob resists ( level 54 foes) and the general random nature of the average damage delivered the brute and scrapper version of this power was at equal standing ( taking into account a high fury bar). Without taking into account the scrapper crit ATOs, CStrike rarely refreshed power Siphon. Even when just holding out and using the attack exclusively I would get a average of 2-4 refreshes from an entire radio mission solo. When I added in the crit ATOs it was only a marginal and barely noticeable increase. Which brings us to the 50% global crit proc... So I tried placing this in a variety of different attacks to feel out where it felt it had performed "best". Generally I noticed Smashing blow and Burst had the best results for this ATO proc. Entering critical strike mode gives a short window in which an attack has a increased chance to land a crit. Arcana cast times: Kinetic Melee has long Arcana cast times ( To which I read were related to the window of how this ATO proc works) . Concentrated Strike would often miss this window or the refresh on Power Siphon was not working as intended. When the ATO was placed in Smashing blow I could usually get crits to fire off body blow, burst and focused burst. When I had it placed in Burst it would trigger often ( almost every activation) but the window for getting a crit on any follow up attack seemed to be lower. I admit I do not entirely know/understand the internal mechanics of this feature to understand why there was such a noticeable difference in performance. Stalker, Cstrike and build up recharge: Ctrike would crit very often and combined with the BU ATO in burst it was total overkill. Enjoyable overkill but the crit rate on Cstrike was above and beyond more reliable and consistent. The passive critical hits on all Kinetic Melee attacks was really fun. The rate of criticals firing was significantly higher than the scrapper. I assume it was due to the critical hits being less damage compared to harder crits a scrapper is intended to have? The function of critical of Cstrike appears to be working on the stalker set with high consistency. The purpose of this write up is to ask, Would it be possible to investigate the the critical rate and relationship between Siphon power and Concentrated Strike in regards to the Scrapper? Maybe by either increase the base critical rate of Cstrike or adjust the Arcana cast time? Or.... maybe .."scrap" the relationship all together and allow a partial critical damage bonus to critical strike since the Brute and Scrapper can hit for equal amounts on this attack. Given power siphon can easily attain a steady up time on both the brute and scrapper...and the high proc rate of build up refresh via the ATO on stalker, it feels that perhaps this relationship between the two powers has become redundant? Another idea if this relationship is preferred between the two ( Siphon/BU/Cstrike) is add higher stack cap to scrapper siphon? In it's current state the refresh from Cstrike is so low that it doesn't feel like a standout feature given the Brute can also keep high uptime and the stalker can critical refresh build up much easier from Cstrike ( without ATO even taking into account)

Oh one last FYI, If you land a power boosted debuff on a boss as main target, and then again as main target hit it with a non boosted debuff before the previous expires, the lower debuff overrides the boosted.

You are most welcome. As mentioned by @SeraphimKensai one of the great things about poison ( and this game in general) is that there are many different ways to build a character and they all work! I love seeing builds and play styles that are so different than my own and the creative approach behind it. If you want to roll Corr , then go with Corr. Poison is a pretty lethal set and is great at making everything hit like wet noodles and melt like warm butter. Tougher mobs do get hit with diminished returns(resists) so in many cases the end result isn't too much different with most sets ( some outliers) between corr and defender. On standard difficulty, poison trivializes everything so regardless of the AT you get the same result. If you want the perk of topping off teammates with ATO heal/absorb proc ( roughly 80hp/absorb so it is minor) or rather have scourge ( the better passive over vigilance) is more or less what it comes down to. I went with defender because I enjoyed having the extra support to my team and for the overkill debuffs that would get hit hard by resists in Hard mode ( the aim of the build). Also...dead teammates get puke rez ( great boost to dps for them) and team gets a power boosted vengeance! The debuff comparison between Corr and Def using identical build (dual pistols not included in chart) via power analyzer on 54 bosses With level shift in a standard mix of radio missions ( tested on different boss types these were the common averages I got) Troller / MM would be close to the corr range (troller gets a better power boost so might be a smidge higher while MM would be a little lower) Just to state again... the performance (boss was of zero threat) between the two was identical (due to how lethal poison is even at minimal base.) For standard content and a blast set with higher base damage / sniper attacks, I would likely go corrupter if the focus is more dps over heal procs. -tohit via Weaken Base / Power boosted / power boost & Clarion Radial Epiphany (first few seconds before Radial quickly diminishes) Defender (poison gas) -12 19 / 31 / 41 Corrupter (PG) -10 13/ 21 / 29 -Defense via Envenom Base / Power boosted / power boost & Clarion Radial Epiphany (first few seconds before Radial quickly diminishes) Defender (poison gas) -16 50/ 74 / 93 Corrupter (PG) -10 33/ 49 / 64 -Heal via Envenom Base / Power boosted / power boost & Clarion Radial Epiphany (first few seconds before Radial quickly diminishes) Defender 13/ 25 / 48 Corrupter 10/ 18 / 25 Defender / Corr -dmg PG -12 / Weak -24 / PG-9 / Weak -19 -Res PG -16 / Venom -26 / PG-9 / Venom -19

For those that don't have MIDs but want to see the values.

I play a Corr ( water) and Def (DP) for poison. The corr got replaced by the defender which is built for hard mode ITF. Used near identical values and slotting in the build. For reference... they both easily face tank 54/8 content once the debuffs are applied ( even heavy psi foes like carnies and spider). Use power boost to break alpha strikes and or stealth in drop poison trap. I found resist + -dmg helped more than high defense . Ageless +debuff resist is pretty vital for tougher foes that strip defense or mess with recharge. Can fit in soul drain if you prefer it, A few things that could be swapped out and moved around for it. Personally never needed soul drain. Used the dark mastery version too. Found power boost pulled more weight for me. Since I'm spoiled by the defender ATOs, could also drop a proc for entropic heal if you find you need a little patching. Highly suggest defense amp from p2w vendor. Getting CC'd can really wreck your day. I have a trick arrow Corr as well with similar stats and does fine without self healing so should be okay with rad. For anyone that is reading this and curious about -tohit/defense ratio.. countless hours of play, testing and experimenting I found 15-25 is the "sweet spot range" and 30 is on par with being soft capped. Corruptor - Radiation Blast - Poison.mxd This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.7 https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn Level 50 Magic Corruptor Primary Power Set: Radiation Blast Secondary Power Set: Poison Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Sorcery Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery Villain Profile: ------------ Level 1: X-Ray Beam (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance (3) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (5) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic) (5) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage (7) Shield Breaker - Chance for Lethal Damage Level 1: Envenom (A) Shield Breaker - Chance for Lethal Damage (23) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff (25) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Defense Debuff (25) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff/Endurance/Recharge (27) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge (27) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff Level 2: Alkaloid (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance Level 4: Weaken (A) Siphon Insight - Chance for +ToHit (19) Siphon Insight - ToHit Debuff (19) Siphon Insight - Accuracy/ToHit Debuff (21) Siphon Insight - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge (21) Siphon Insight - ToHit Debuff/Endurance/Recharge (23) Cloud Senses - Chance for Negative Energy Damage Level 6: Electron Haze (A) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (15) Superior Frozen Blast - Damage/Endurance (39) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown (45) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy) (50) Bombardment - Chance for Fire Damage (50) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge Level 8: Proton Volley (A) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative) (11) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance (11) Apocalypse - Damage (13) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic) (13) Sting of the Manticore - Chance of Damage(Toxic) (15) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage Level 10: Combat Jumping (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed (17) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) (17) Reactive Defenses - Defense (29) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage Level 12: Super Speed (A) Celerity - Endurance (33) Celerity - RunSpeed (48) Celerity - +Stealth Level 14: Maneuvers (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (43) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge Level 16: Neurotoxic Breath (A) Ice Mistral's Torment - Chance for Cold Damage (43) Ice Mistral's Torment - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (45) Ice Mistral's Torment - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance Level 18: Cosmic Burst (A) Superior Scourging Blast - Accuracy/Damage (33) Superior Scourging Blast - RechargeTime/PBAoE +End (34) Superior Scourging Blast - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime (34) Superior Malice of the Corruptor - Accuracy/Damage (34) Superior Malice of the Corruptor - Damage/Endurance/Recharge (37) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage Level 20: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO (43) Recharge Reduction IO Level 22: Aim (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance (39) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance (39) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge (40) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff (40) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance (40) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up Level 24: Tactics (A) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance Level 26: Atomic Blast (A) Superior Scourging Blast - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (45) Superior Scourging Blast - Damage/RechargeTime (46) Superior Scourging Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (46) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage (46) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage (48) Superior Malice of the Corruptor - Recharge/Chance for Negative Energy Damage Level 28: Poison Trap (A) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage (29) Eradication - Accuracy/Recharge (31) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (31) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold (33) Fury of the Gladiator - Chance for Res Debuff Level 30: Venomous Gas (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance (31) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance Level 32: Vengeance (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed Level 35: Dark Embrace (A) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP (36) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance (36) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (36) Impervium Armor - Resistance (37) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance (37) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance Level 38: Power Boost (A) Recharge Reduction IO Level 41: Spirit Ward (A) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb Level 44: Mystic Flight (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%) Level 47: Rune of Protection (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3% (48) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance (50) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance Level 49: Elixir of Life (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All) Level 1: Brawl (A) Empty Level 1: Scourge Level 1: Sprint (A) Empty Level 2: Rest (A) Empty Level 1: Swift (A) Empty Level 1: Health (A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance (9) Miracle - +Recovery (9) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery Level 1: Hurdle (A) Empty Level 1: Stamina (A) Power Transfer - Chance to Heal Self (7) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End Level 49: Quick Form Level 50: Paralytic Radial Flawless Interface Level 50: Void Radial Final Judgement Level 50: Ageless Radial Epiphany Level 50: Intuition Radial Paragon Level 50: Born In Battle Level 50: Marshal Level 50: Invader Level 50: High Pain Threshold Level 24: Speed Phase ------------

TLDR: Would you rather have scourge and higher damage cap or the defender ATO procs with hypothetically additional slot/IO/power selection? That is the only main difference between the two in regards to traps from my experiences. Context: Def usually allows me to hit whatever my def/resist goal is while having more freedom with slot placement and choices of IOs/powers. Corr typically to reach similar values limits my choices as the slots/IOs are being built in mind of reaching X values. In group play with other support ATs I would suggest corr since others help boost those values. Also Corr has higher damage cap and scourge shines on higher hp targets. The defender passive is rather terrible when in actual team play scenarios. Solo scourge allows the corr to clear targets "faster" but the difference between the two is minimal with the builds I tend to use ( pistol,beam,AR). Scourge is like having extra free procs in all attack powers or like a better end redux since its like "hitting twice" thus reducing overall end usage. The defender version of a trap setup is just easier when dealing with more troublesome types (arachnos/CoS). because it hits higher psi def without it being a IO focus ( because pool powers have much higher base values) and the defender ATOs fire off really often so the healing/absorb proc pretty much keeps you in good standing while also keeping pets alive. So on the "harder" foe groups my Def variant clears it marginally quicker since its safer play and I can just focus on plowing things down while forgetting about my insp tray. Small team/towing lackey, Def brings a bit more healing coverage due to the ATOs. But As mentioned before, the actual debuff values between corr,troll,mm,def is minimal when it comes to traps ( MMs can get the resists and defense of trap pets higher so there is that but their version of acid motor is worst imho due to different slotting allowances). The only incentive for def in regards to myself are the ATO procs and additional freedom with slots ( if that even happens to be a goal).

Generally squishy doesn't fit the d3 narrative due to the mix of CC tools, debuffs and healing output. End heavy, yeah.. compared to power sets with native end recovery or end drain resist tools, dark won't compare but that also isn't really the role dark miasma plays anyhow( outside of the troller variant). It does become far easier to manage once you start dipping into IOs and Incarnate though. Picking up ageless ( ideally with the debuff resist) and a End redux styled alpha will go a long way. P2W temp powers can also really help offset this too which.. with the ease of gaining infamy via this build really no reason not to use them as required. I posted a build below to help guide in building if you would like to see how I built my own. This is a Corr version but the Def I spent equal time testing is built nearly the same save for ATOs. I posted the corr to show just how "minimal" you can get with def and res and debuff output while still being sturdy. The idea of this leans more to the strength of dark/dark.. which is the heavy tohit debuff...which allows you to build by cutting corners in the defense area and taking advantage of the -dmg debuffs from yourself and fluffy. This was tested and tweaked playing on countless AE farm runs (S/L), ambush missions vs foes like carnies, arachnos, malta and DA stuff solo at 4/8 (54) so its very sturdy. Darkest night was generally only used for pesky pew pew bosses that like to sit out on the edges of your carnage. Otherwise foes in "melee" range generally it was never required. The kill rate between def and corr wasn't too different but scourge via moonbeam "felt" very noticeable in kill time vs bosses (& Ebs on farms). In actual finishing of said tasks a def would often only be a few minutes behind. So big picture play any flavor they both work. Fearsome>torrent for stacking -tohit while using KD IO > tar patch > soul drain (with KD proc) > blackstar generally killed most foes.. and you are only left with injured bosses which you easily clean up with moonbeam and gloom/lifedrain. Cycle HT and TT for aoe procs for when blackstar is on cooldown ( assuming you are pulling constant foes or over aggro cap with use of pet) cycle RoP and demonic aura as needed. | Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1556;722;1444;HEX;| |78DA65544B4F135118BD773A052985524A5BA0BC5A5A4AA1AFF1B13424801279182| |2D19D92B10CD8886D3385445706137F8031511357C68D0B6364A571EB3B6E5D9B18| |4D740398F85898E8F831E7B36D329334E7CEF9CE3DDFF966EE74E1F2B4F7D1CCD68| |490BEA975BD5A5D9E2A9BE66665A36C362F158A46A96088FDAB997E915A69F9945E| |5A3356B2D3BA79717992B66DF4D66B939BABABA82C14F5EA255D7817CBE5F5ECBCA| |1578AA535DC2C95CD82615EF1FDAFAC1866F542B1E241B162182BFE639562816DC8| |9FC4DD1421473FAF22F8B25CE2A14B084D15C38F81F13430FD9544FDAA782E49265| |9DB8D9A12640C017B3B5DB6F68564A9B084DC9676AD8D6C5CE0DC2E4DB13935CF98| |063671CFA6F7C2462FF77E49166EF416EE67D0FA143CCA7DBFE6A7D01F78C278173| |D3D8A1BC83ED118FC5F51B985F7B6CCC1CF7B12D82EB1A7FDAF6A6394BD35F60A51| |D3566491AD41F4E9FD236CFF9B0921DA78EEB6087ABD26890F7AB78FF51D7BA875E| |C02FB7E32FE000E7C07FA29929F73FA3F82EBFCC0C879BA78B62ECE19BA8E39DE50| |AB00BFDBC0676842ACEDFEC4F805E8A79982FC6E839C71608EB31C070ECD0203A40| |DF3FCE107E895B3E8A24442F470DA9E149EDE10771CE213331C073F3C02CCF18979| |4B8E11EC5522BFE11A3F27ED5A5A07C6A8733F77EE1FC7B451C6006D19E4DE83497| |8C713C0915146CE32B28D2CC9A3E873956E637CBA625B98FE1D4182FD12A7A14BF2| |FE249FF614E74CF16C293E755B743BCA6F7CF4206A6339468D310FCC1CC11E2D454| |8B9AF113D2E3CF67318BF0FFFF404B4B97B98E30605CBF229CBEEA0768BB83C73F9| |309ED70955F0276B597D6AED4BDFBFA5B735EF6016D586AFD666762888948DCCAE8| |3D9AB338A3C832932B3402D8A74DFEA1A297F618ACC6D4C3737564B6E8D3932E51D| |8CE6600E3998C30EA6A5A3F6EF6305C3D41869AC9986F5768CD6AC4977D5F93B813| |A7FDE53E7F586F5D986F562C3FA1F9F8301FE| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

This is my dark/dark that I use regularly. Solos all foe types without any trouble at 4/8 (54). Spent countless hours switching up the build to fit my own play style. I do use the defense amp from P2w vendor since its cheap to maintain.. less annoying hold situations. Rarely even have to use darkest night but when I do its usually when fighting multi group pull carnies or spiders. | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1578;737;1474;HEX;| |78DA65545B4F136110FDB6DD5A28050AA52D50105A2E2DD0DB7A7932C6281862A40| |90931F1C590155ADC58BA4D2F893CFAE0BB97444D7C371A13131E34C65F038840D4| |B628A0F1C1D4E99E21BB499B6CCECCF966CECC7C97A61FCCB9DFCF3FBC2224CF6C4| |E2D959667F57CB9A8E77299A223ADAE692B827EF2ED4A25E72463CC5C3D0D4CCCA9| |C5FBF98C9919B2C45CAB64B366C0D56C56CB6BE50DE15ED42971492FAE648A1B701| |6326A41CBAFB9B052C86456BB4FF9D54CB1744F2B04AF17B495C49CBEAEE5D5B25E| |5C5ED22BB9E5B45A2A93463FF596A0EF5B40F0AFE1106F081459C831BB8167D6250| |3DB54C26159B86ED80C7FECC066F85B66AE5DF423C7E667ECB51B31B20FFE36C54A| |8815D226747788B34BE0EC9FA1FD744208076B3A4EFB50B036B541E89545EC11FC2| |AE53BB97727F7D4B60B74ED0187F6819177D09ADA42ED2F94DBCEB9EDAF319F3B8C| |982E9B03F809FB3196E6B9178035CAEDE0DC8E2AF4DD5C7FF03262CE5E62AC811FA| |7AFE9FBA9E14ECC2C75FAD04BFC9F30627649B71B6B8E6E5EF3F4317A80BD5EC663| |F4DA7F02AC536E0F7A927B8E517BB00E1CDA410F678FE0877E01BF528E97EB79B95| |E5F176307D0FF17FAFE3F5C8FEB3EA373F2F179FA82E0C2345B80670BCC60EFA619| |9F53FC00C70F04B0DF7B543F689C764304ABD0E8218D6168C8C3DCD3F811D6C66B7| |C8675E0F44DE04FD219E1F318E173189DC58CA3DB88193D441FA123C613E0635A0E| |F31E8493AC7B0E18531853C078940223B2485E445F07547782EB4EF03D9FE4FA93F| |C0E266FA18FC82BE444F89D3C218872DDE847DC8DF8076092EF5D92EFA1C2F75261| |ED1F547786F7724685BED789F7DCE4126FC17DA7B81473A97D6834AF21BFD9C6906| |937DD46432CB4308BB2E5DD1A4CD5450CBF5A298E4E6B562E0AAE6EE542A87E6872| |92F4025D2ABF31F5744BED540BA3B430E75B980B2D4CBB87FE6778661FED89820E1| |AF3167B334C36C7C4FA4CFEA5D7E4175D86A661DFB1D8772DB66AB1FF03977B0FB5| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

Threw the build up to give an idea of "how little" you really need to aim for defense. To further on what Uun said.. the amount of -tohit always being tossed and stacked you really only require roughly 18-25 and this is assuming you are playing 54/8 solo. Typically opening with just fearsome stare for the -tohit and tossing darkest night on any troublesome bosses or Eb at range secures your safety. Under most basic missions i rarely even have to use darkest night. In regards to dark servant lockdown can be swapped out for an additional nictus for the acc bonus if you are looking for even more acc overkill. Typically aiming for 144 is all which is required and the tohit boost from soul drain pushes you even more over that. This build was tailored to my own aggressive playstyle so may not be ideal for everyone. The proc in spirit ward is totally optional. I don't have any end issues with the build and found it worked nice for team support and keeping fluffy tanky so he can go murder things on his own. | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1510;713;1426;HEX;| |78DA6594CB4F135114C6EF9D4E41A0A594D2525A5E2D945228A5E36369487848782| |991E85232290336026DA690E8CA60E21F604CD4C49571E3CAA42B8D5BDF71CBDA68| |34D10D60E26361A2E3E97CC7B6C94C32F9CDFDCEB9DF39F7F6DE2E5D9DF63C9EDD9| |B10D237B5A9974AAB5305D3DC2DEE14CCC6955CDED8CE19A2F234D21BAD8656CFEB| |DB1BC65A665A37AFAC4ED2B49D482D36B9BBBE8EC8525E2F6DE9C2B75C286C66160| |D7DCD304B97F345CFFF7131BFBD81C14AC1CC19E6B5660C8A86B1E69F29E6736C43| |FE140C530BA3F47A14C18FA588942A84A68A81217070107C2E292CED1C9708BB6C4| |D09324360A49DD8A38A17925385256459DA312FD5704173BB34C5D6D42C330D36A4| |E1D3B02F6C7ABE2AB6DF4BB270A3B6703F43AE4FC11656FC1A9F22FFD813E67DD46| |C56DC20FBC4E2F07F45E1269EDBB4003FCF59B055624EEB5FAC3BC6DE1A7BF9A968| |0BEF434B10757A17E0DB7B06EC9F075BC9D28B3A2EEF39F80FCC3317C1F125F0355| |9F9E0EBF6B16FDB117CDA0EC1EE9FCC1F5CEF3BE8270B3FAFC7FF115AFB7B26F7DD| |C17BD0C1EB09DD44DD37542AC073039F9113E2DCF027E61730BD2F6D8E7F407F21D| |A8B207A9641EE39F247D839B7124274F219E88CA197DBA475B1D61585F696A645B9| |7EF4377AEA9FE17DDC82E7E025D44DEB5C7F0E7971AADFC3F57B46B1AE183340297| |DECDB97E4B39C00878699BCCEA132EA254FC3F73A0DE37CDEE27BE8E11D21C17E89| |0BC84BF2FC249FFF14F79FE2FB91E273B847C361FE6D878F233632CED4985970EC1| |4E6682922F57DC355B9A3CDF6DD1C7D08FFF40472B50758C71D6A2CC3FB9AE9C41E| |3DA28397652D7B80FC3955F025B6AC6EB57AE72B43CB128B0E6559ADBBC7B672408| |D4859AF1C3A94A39A22E545AC626C1EFC561FFB85EEC7EE62550B23D58EAD11472F| |5987A23994130EE5A443696AABFE0F59413AA01ABAB166EBBECB71FAE69C74474DB| |F17A8E9FF00A2ABF43C| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

Fellow Doomie and freedom player here! I was part of the later crew of doom when Blood was leading. Not 100% sure what common character names I went by at that time since I had a habit of re rolling and making new characters all the time. But I think my "main" was a traps/DP def at the time I think went by the name of Sheoni.

Like yourself I too was on a dark theme kick trying different squishy AT combos. Regardless of AT the end issues felt "always there" (more so than the other power choices) when first leveling up and assuming you are without a fully IO'd set build. It is only a temporary pain however. Fully built with with Sets (and more so the vigor alpha for when fighting 54/8 solo) endurance issues vanished. The AT builds I enjoyed the most were the Trollers (dark, earth, illy, plant), the demon/dark MM (necro wasn't as fluid as demons) and lastly the Corr. However prior to reaching 50 and all the tricks that come with it I have found a couple methods that helped offset End issues in early play. 1# Theft of Essence- Chance for +end in life drain (if applicable powerset) but mandatory in twilight grasp. Assuming not in a team the proc in twilight grasp is amazing often times bringing you from empty to full. I noticed it alone could often keep my end in top shape with the Troller and MM anytime it would "heal" the surrounding pets ( even if they are full health). If you are on a team with others players the "hit" by the heal will also contribute to this happening beyond the basic 10%. 2# Panacea HP/END proc in Spirit Ward. Some may not be aware that the proc triggers on both the owner and the target you ward on. This works great assuming you have the slots to build into spirit ward (thus reducing the end cost and increasing the ward effect) and fluffy or any other pet you cast on becomes very tanky with the heal pulse plus absorb. Additionally if you cast this on another player it effectively gives them a double Panacea proc if they have one in their build already ( traditionally in the health power) or if you duo with a friend or a box account you can place a Panacea Spirit ward on each other giving you both the absorb and double Proc effect. 😉 Between Troller, MM and Corr.. I really have to say Dark Affinity really out shines Dark Miasma when it comes to End recovery due to soul absorb. End game solo 54/8 it doesn't matter as much but those early pre 50/IO levels it really pulls its own. I have not mentioned Blasters or Defenders. This is because I found the debuff/buff values overkill on the Def ( in regards to a D3 build) and scourge as a passive added more punch solo via Moonbeam. The Corr and Def both performed nearly identical but when playing the Corr Moonbeam with scourge was a very noticeable boost in single target boss spiking. (For added clarification I made a series of dark squishy themed builds for troller/mm/cor/def/blaster and played them extensively on Test. My "trial" of choice was their ability to handle roughly 3 groups/waves of Carnies rescue missions ( for the ambush) as well as Arach and Malta at 54/8. ) Blaster never made it to live servers either. I always have difficulty justifying my blaster builds when I can make a Corr counter part using soul drain. Soul drain plus your t9 and then tossing in things like judgement effectively clears out and neuters mob groups to the point you always have a large nuke for each spawn. ( Or ideally you are pulling 2-3 groups to get more bang from your AoE rotations) Scaling down in level 50 IO builds tend to smash through content and when on a team in raids or 54 mishes everything gets steamrolled as it is. As someone that enjoys the blasty feelz but values having a support secondary to contribute and support a team.. I haven't been able to feel the appeal to blasters. So its more a personal preference. They do shine however on teams struggling with DPS vs harder content and I always welcome and value having them on my own teams. Also forgot to add Dominator to the list. While I enjoy Dominators as a AT the dark/dark build i created in mids just didn't appeal to me and the other ATs just seemed to offer so much more in damage performance and utility. I did create a Dark/Earth one however that I may play with at some point though.

I use to run doms often on live built in different ways. You would be surprised at what you can get away with in regards to no self heal, low defense and low resists ( assumed 4/8 54 solo). But you generally have to be aggressive and proactive in your play style (lock down minions, burn and lock down bosses). In general I've found AoE holds to be the least reliable method to pull a glass cannon dom builds off. Honestly, from my own personal play experience the best AoE type of holds i've ever used were from proc'd poison trap (I've found the /poison variant more reliable than the /trap version) and the aoe location hold in /time both of which obviously are not in the dom kit. Generally Stun/confuse/sleep/knockdown/fear have always been pretty spot on from controlling aggro and alpha. Earth of all the primaries I found to be the easiest and safest method to run a glass cannon style dom on..( volcano gas works fairly well as a aoe hold.) The last dom I built that was played that way was my mind/nrg here on homecoming (less safe than earth but more damage).