Snarky

Dark Dark has no defense debuff resistance. So any defense you slap on, in a fight with debuffer, will be stripped off. In my opinion it is better to build up resistance values. Resistance is it’s own resistance debuff resistance. So even though the “cap” is 90, the goal is 100 to avoid debuffs. Dark Dark also creates a “faux defense” with it’s powers. 1) to hit debuffs. 2) Fear aura 3) Stun aura 4) non suppressed stealth 35’ All of these things work to slow/stop/reduce the times you are attacked or hit. Defense. In my build I ensure these are functional.

I am not sure if Yomo is still doing a giveaway. If so he is going to take a day or three to reply. But i would try. In game send an email ti @Yomo and let him know you need funds. He was giving 100 million ti anyone that asks. I was assuming, as, un, I assume mist if us were, that you were using sets. With a mostly non set build you are going to encounter a ton of problems. There is a silver lining. If you love Bkasters and keep playing them it gets better. You are on the hard end of the learning curve right now. The things you learn on a Blaster no other archetype learns how to do. Apply sheer force to the problem.

It would be Dark Dark in my opinion. After taking every power except the T2 punch in Dark Melee (they are all good, and in my opinion necessary) you will have very little room left. So, do you push more into theme? Or do you want to slant the armor and put on the extra gizmos to survive anything the game throws at you?

In my opinion a well built Invul/Dark Tanker will be the hardest pvE player driven toon to kill in 99% of situations. I rad Dark/Invul Brutes on live. Insane how strong they were. I have a Dark Invul Tank and he is all that, and a side of chips. Just does not fit my concept for vampire main as well as Dark Dark Tank.

Just a slight bit lower on Tank surprisingly. Brute and Scrappers match, and tank is about 90%? of those values on power with -tohit. Another oddity of CoH

There is a Dark/Invul Scrap in my future. Hard ST damage specialist I hope.

an AV will most times step out of a ton of immob/holds/and various other mezzes. basically, if you are counting on something like 1 ST immob power you better be hunting sappers

I was leaning to Brute. (and My Dark/Dark Brute has 1450 badges...) Then i played them both. I do still love the ST damage on the Brute. But... Everything else is better on the Tank. Shadow Maul works. (and is much weaker on a Brute) Touch of Fear is better. Soul Drain! Dark Consumption, Dark Regeneration, The damage Aura, Fear Aura, Stun Aura, better resist values, higher health, better ATOs. So... just rounded a 1000 badges on the Tank lol. Should finish Ouro badging today, then about half goldside to Flashback, and 2/3? of story arc achievement through Ouro. Sigh. Grind monkey grind!

add knockback

I had the same issue when I tried a Fire Fire Blaster many years past. What has changed? I now know the mobs really well. I know which ones I can Nuke, and which ones will turn around and hit me with brass knuckles spelling N0L0V3 If you do not have the terrain and the mobs memorized it is a lot harder to pull Blaster magic.

So, I have been running a LOT of Blaster the last year. And each one I build has LESS defense. I never take tough or weave. I do take manuevers, and slap the two 3% Def I/Os in the epic armor. That is it. I used to build for ranged defense. With a Dark Blaster you can throw a Mag 4 stun on a group as you go on to nuke. But mag 2 is fine. Now let me BLOW YOUR MIND. I run a Fire/Fire/Fire Blaster with NO damage mitigation except maneuvers and the two +3% Def I/Os. He is impatient, and LOVES to get to a fresh spawn first. He loves to aim, build up, swoop and Nuke. If there is another spawn near he will incarnate nuke them (fire, ranged) and if there is a third spawn nearby he will throw 2 fire rains on them. Doesnt he get attacked? Funnily enough, when you light people on fire, even if they survive they are often distracted. Even video game people. Oh, since I did not build for defense…. I built for DAMAGE. And Alpha is max DAMAGE, and interface is +Fire DAMAGE. Do you smell that? It is the smell of victory. Smells a lot like burning Freakshow Tank i know. His tactics (?!?) never change. I will eat a medium purple before facing off against a Vicky robot heavy spawn in incarnate trials. And Barrier is a great Destiny for this playstyle as well. Ever hear of Jackie Chan. Frustrated him to work with Hollywood. He knew tricks like using wooden crates to, at the last second, stop himself from being crushed between a car and a dumpster. Gave himself just enough time to jump out of the way. But the camera did not catch it. That is how you play a Blaster. You know what the outcome is before you ever jump into a spawn. If you are in doubt, probably need another wooden crate…

I started on Brutes. I love redside. It was a different era. Time changes all things. Even old vampires. I asked yesterday, both here and in the Brute forum, which is better for Dark Melee. A Tank, or a Brute. Truthfully I still think Brute edges it out. I am not going to run a hundred experiments and record all the data. Brutes do better at ST than Tanks and Dark Melee has always been an ST focused set. But nothing exists in a vacuum. I run Dark Dark. Now, for those who do not read all my ramblings let me get to the points. I always take all Dark auras. The bottom line is the Fear and Stun auras create a “faux defense” that makes up for Dark’s lack of defense mitigation in nearly all situations. Without needing defense debuff resistance. So, three auras with 50% greater radius…. A damage, a fear, a stun. Plus the greater effectiveness of Dark Melee AoE. So, now that you know the auras are definitely better, the Dark Melee is better aoe if still not as good at ST, as on a Brute, and… better health and resistance values on a Tank. Even a stubborn old vampire knows when to just take the win and fade away. Sigh, time to badge. At least I have Really Hard Way on that Tank from the back shelf lol. Nearly impossible to get these days.

And never spell check! Great things happen. It is how languages evolve

No, I think you got the picture right. I took a look at Sentinels because it had more of what I wanted. Then I started looking at the armor I wanted. Was on a Brute for a day. Now on a Dark Dark Tank lol. Box time. Oh yeah!

Cranberry juice and Ripple... Cripple.

Always post, always! Life life like there is no tomorrow. (There might not be one!) was just teasing btw

a careful (or drunken) read of the original post will give hints as to the point of the glowies. That it brings ambush and the AV back. But. You may not read that. Or this. And will forever more be mystified.

you hyphenated "end-game" but not "late game" is there a reason? since we are being precise....

When the game turns 21 you can have Tequila again.

Did I click that? Oops...

I played it as Invul/KM Tank. No Tank is bad. The whole concept was Tank Mage, I made a magic themed/costumed and the big movements look like spell casting. Then a lot of the stuff is ranged. Short range but still. Again, no Tank is bad. Yawn…uh, what was I saying?

This really gets “to it” last year I leveled a LOT of toons to low 40s-50. My standard was 4DFBs, then all the TF/SF/Trials in order (ranked by last level of the content). This included a dark dark and ice ice controller. These things were able to make any team safe and control the battle like the top banana at the circus. But, … never “felt” powerful. On fast teams they were useless. (But so are my Brutes/Blasters unless i am also racing to objectives.) But Controllers just hang with the team, sadly usually the less effective members, because that is where the most controlling is done. Rarely do i agree with the Archetype write ups. But the Controller one is pretty spot on

Same thing happened to my old Tarterus. So, because it is me….first i ignored it. That worked for…a time. Then i peeled the damn thing off and superglued it back in place. This was not pretty, not fun, and not precise. After weeks of random smear still drooling and dried superglue particles migrating the thing settled into a cohesive slab. good luck 🤪

Dark Melee. I have my opinion but i want to hear what you guys think. Better on a Tank or a Brute?