Camel

Here are some screenshots of some of the numbers I was seeing with Dark Consumption and the proc activating. Absolutely incredible!

I wanted to post this in lieu of the changes coming to Dark Melee. Back on the Live servers, when Shield Defense came out, I immediately made a Dark Melee/Shield Defense Scrapper and have loved it ever since. I knew right away that the powersets combined would be incredible. And they were. Dark Melee had the heal that Shield lacked, and Shield had some AoE that Dark Melee lacked. It was a match made in heaven. Dark Melee also had Soul Drain and Shield had Against All Odds, two incredibly powerful PBAoE +damage buffs that could stack to stupid levels solo. Well.... It just got better. And by better.. I mean INSANELY better. I've tweaked my Dark/Shield/Blaze Scrapper's build many times, and with the new changes to the powers and the new IOs, I figured it was time for another makeover. I can confidently say, that as it stands now, this is one of the best, if not THE best Scrapper combos. It has it all. The buff that Dark Consumption received alone would have pushed Dark/Shield to top tier levels anyways, but the hidden gem is the new proc in Power Transfer. Not only did Dark Consumption become a nuke capable of hitting for over 1,400 damage with a critical (after a fully saturated Soul Drain and AAO buff) but the proc more or less turned this power into Reconstruction from the Regeneration powerset. It heals on average for 500+ HP and can heal for upwards of 700 depending on RNG. I predict some balancing will be done, so this may not be as awesome as it is. The build has perma Hasten and barely perma Soul Drain (the buff ends during the animation for Soul Drain) before a Force Feedback proc. Recharge is at 175% with Hasten active. HP is very respectable at 2,129 (with all 3 HP Accolades) and 1,861 without. But give it a shot! I was going to keep this build all for myself, since Dark/Shield is my all time favorite build... But I wanted to share the love! Some things to note, Dark Consumption and Fire Ball are not slotted the way you are about to see them slotted. I put those Sets in there to get a general Idea of what the numbers would be for recharge/resists. In Dark Consumption, I put 5 out of 6 from the new IO set, Synapse's Shock except for the IO that only gives End Mod. I slotted all the IOs at +5, the 6th slot was the chance for self heal from Power Transfer (the star of the show) this puts the values for the power at 84.5% Damage, 66% End Mod, 53% Acc and 89.9% recharge as well as an additional 15% movement speed from the "unique" IO from Synapse's Shock (which is actually kind of nice because I am using Sprint + Beast run on this build) Fire Ball has the entire set from the new Targeted AoE IOs, Bombardment. This set is wonderful and very appreciated in this VERY tight build for the added 3.75% ranged defense. Give this build a shot! I ran a +0x8 ITF with it in 44 minutes solo without any practice and it did wonderful! Here's the build! Let me know what you think if you try it out! Oh, and since it was on test, I ended up +5ing all my IOs that I didn't use catalysts on. This is only mandatory on the slotting for Dark Consumption IMO, and maybe the slotting for Stamina. Edit: As of right now, the changes to Dark Consumption have been scrapped (pun intended). This build will still function at a very high level even with that change. If you haven’t given Dark/Shield/Blaze a try, I would definitely recommend doing so! Before Dark Melee was looked at by the HC team it still did well at everything. Sort of a Jack-Of-All-Trades build with above average numbers in ST damage and durability. Hero Plan by Hero Hero Designer 2.23 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Scrapper Primary Power Set: Dark Melee Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Blaze Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Smite -- SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCrtStr-Dmg/Rchg(7), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), SprCrtStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprCrtStr-Rchg/+50% Crit(11) Level 1: Deflection -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(25), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(25), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(33) Level 2: Shadow Maul -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(11), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(23) Level 4: Battle Agility -- RedFrt-Def(A), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(33), RedFrt-Def/Rchg(33), RedFrt-EndRdx/Rchg(34), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(34), RedFrt-EndRdx(34) Level 6: True Grit -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(45), Prv-Absorb%(45) Level 8: Siphon Life -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(43), TchoftheN-Heal(43), TchoftheN-Acc/Heal(45) Level 10: Active Defense -- HO:Membr(A) Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13) Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(15), Rct-ResDam%(15) Level 16: Against All Odds -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 18: Dark Consumption -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(19), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(19), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21), Empty(23) Level 20: Phalanx Fighting -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 22: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 24: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(36), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(36), UnbGrd-Max HP%(36) Level 26: Soul Drain -- SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprScrStr-Dmg/Rchg(27), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), SprScrStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), SprScrStr-Rchg/+Crit(31) Level 28: Grant Cover -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 30: Weave -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(31), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31) Level 32: Midnight Grasp -- Hct-Dmg/Rchg(A), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Hct-Acc/Rchg(37), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Hct-Dam%(39) Level 35: Shield Charge -- Arm-Dmg/Rchg(A), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Arm-Acc/Rchg(40), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Arm-Dam%(42), FrcFdb-Rechg%(42) Level 38: Maneuvers -- ShlWal-Def(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(39), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(39) Level 41: Char -- UnbCns-Hold(A), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg(46), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg(46), UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold(46), UnbCns-Dam%(50) Level 44: Melt Armor -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A) Level 47: Fire Ball -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(48), PstBls-Dmg/Rchg(48), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), PstBls-Dam%(50), Empty(50) Level 49: One with the Shield -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Critical Hit Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Qck-EndRdx/RunSpd(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(5), Mrc-Rcvry+(5) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(3), PrfShf-End%(3) Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion ------------

It gets pretty whacky when you do use Soul Drain.... these are even level mobs. 😳

The new chance to heal IO in the Power Transfer set is God tier in Dark Consumption. You thought Dark/Shield was good with ONE heal? How about another that can heal you for upwards of 600 HP? Did I mention that the same power than can now heal you can also hit even leveled mobs for 600 damage BEFORE Soul Drain? I can’t even explain how awesome this is!

No. Because it is. 😎

With these changes, Dark/Shield is incredible. If anyone wants me to post the build I can. I’ve built my Dark/Shield dozens of times, and this one makes all my others pale in comparison.

Wish I could have recorded, pictures aren’t the greatest as I was trying to get a good time and take some pics. Ended up being under 45 minutes! Did it at +0x8.

Soloing Romulus and Requiem.

So... I made a new build incorporating the new changes AND the new IOS and... well... it’s insane. Just did a solo ITF and rocked it.

More of a theory-craft as opposed to something I was going to make on Homecoming. I did make it on the test servers and was pretty surprised! It did pretty stellar damage and was able to handle mobs at +4x8. I wasn’t able to get Leviathan Mastery when I initially made it, so I went with Blaze instead. Water Spout was where a lot of my control (I think) was going to come from, and even without it, mobs were pretty debuffed/controlled.

Wanna team? 😎

My Dark/Shield has both, but I’ll have to find slots for DC. It currently only has a +5 Acc/End/Rch. I’ve made and remade my Dark/Shield so many times... the current build is so tight. Might have to make drastic changes to get that mini nuke adequately slotted.

I had no idea this was live on Beta. I’m currently running a +3x8 solo ITF on a Dark/Radiation/Soul Scrapper. I didn’t take Dark Consumption because it wasn’t needed... will now need to find a way to use it and slot it. Total build revamp. Will be remaking my Dark/Shield on live, too.

I just creamed a little bit. The only downside is now I have to remake my builds!

I think a small stacking buff may work. Make it stack to 5, add a 20% damage increase for each stack, then have a 2 attack debuff or something. Not as extreme as it is now, but maybe add a -50% damage debuff for those two attacks. Maybe even keep the defense debuff for a short duration too.

I think a nice fix to this would be adding more difficulty levels. Maybe boost mob size to x10 and add levels up to +6? This would keep the game in its current state while allowing a more challenging experience. Maybe even a 5% boost to all mob HP except AVs when on a full team. I still find the game satisfying, but I do hope we get the option to have a more challenging experience.

I’ve adjusted my play style accordingly to still make a difference. Debuffs still make an impact, albeit, not huge sometimes. I typically drop my patch debuffs before my team engages the mob. It’s helped a lot. Even on teams that steamroll, you will notice a substantial difference in a mob that is not debuffed VS. a mob that is. Will your team kill it quickly without the debuffs? Yeah. But will they kill that same mob twice as fast with debuffs? Also yeah.

I would highly recommend Dark/Shield. With a good build, there’s not much it can’t solo. The two sets are almost made for each other. Shield lacks a heal, Dark has a heal. Dark lacks AoE, Shield has Shield Charge. Add in two PBAoE damage buff powers (one an aura, the other a click) and the synergy just gets better.

I’ve watched Scrappers and Blasters hit Romulus in the ITF for over 2-3k damage when I have all my debuffs active with my Cold/Sonic Defender. If you count the extra damage being done because of your debuffs, you become the highest damage dealing member in the team! Love debuffing, had to get used to being proud of my teammates damage instead of my own though! 😎

My Cold/Sonic Defender has 50% Defense to S/L/E and Ranged, doesn’t have a heal and has some pretty good resists as well. I can tank entire mobs if I pay attention to Mez. A self heal would be amazing, but I hardly notice it even with my aggressive support play style. If you still want the heal, Rad/Sonic is going to be your best bet. Dark/Sonic would be great too!

I’ll post a build soon when I’m at the computer!

I second what Doom said. +Regen on a Regeneration character isn’t as useful as it may seem. For a general build, +recharge followed by S/L defense is ideal. Mix in some +HP, +Resist and anything else and you have a nice build in the making. If you want a tanker build you want to focus on +Defense and +Resist first. With Psi as your primary you can mitigate not slotting for recharge bonuses by slotting a Force Feedback chance for +Recharge proc into your PBAoE power.

Kinetic Melee or Electric Melee are decent alternatives and might also fit your concept.

I’ve been really wanting to make a Plant/Dark. Plant is phenomenal and so is Dark Affinity. One of the best secondaries on a controller. I’d vote a Plant/Dark or Dark/Dark for a first go at a Controller. I really think you’d fall in love with the AT.

As simple as the title states. Been itching to make a Illusion Controller but torn between these two secondaries. I’d be going Mace Master on /Rad and Leviathan Mastery on /Storm. For my first Illusion Controller, which would you reccomend?