Nyghtmaire

I was curious as the Soul Extraction changes (as I missed beta testing - new job and all…), so I checked out a Pylon on my Necro/Dark/Soul. T4 Intuition radial, hybrid Support (not active), t4 radial reactive, and t4 barrier (activated … just to be safe). 73 seconds. That’s ridiculous. I’m sure a necro/storm would be far quicker even without -regen. Okay to be fair, I doubt this would be possible without Barrier unless the pets were held back to stack sufficient -ToHit (eyeballing being able to stack ~21-24% with Dark Servant AND pets after resistances from the Pylon — almost the pets’ softcap with maneuvers, procs, and Shadowfall). And even then, one unlucky hit roll would still pulverize ‘em.

Good question. I’ll monitor stealth next time I’m on. Suspect it does not reestablish until combat is over so long as hits keep coming, something remains in Death Shroud, or you’re attacking.

Cloak of Darkness’s stealth suppresses when attacking or getting hit (basically, once in combat). Makes me want to put Dark Obliteration back in my build now for pulling. And Darkest Night. https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=tanker_defense.dark_armor.cloak_of_darkness&at=tanker Edit - @Zect Thank you for your thoughtful response. At a fundamental level, I agree with your approach. Lots to think about, meaningful choices, etc.

This is a great idea. I have Paralytic Radial (to add to Darkest Night) next on my list for the -dam now that Necro/dark can get pet resistances so high.

So, your recommendation is to use amplifiers, lock the build to Barrier, and play a different secondary?

Would play this version in a heartbeat. And would get me to take Detonator …

Absolutely on Vigor. I lean on Soul Drain to get CoF to hit consistently. Wouldn’t have to if I went with Vigor.

Alright @Snarky, I know you are not a fan of *any* defense building on dark armor sets. However (and ignoring that facet here), this is a build that leans into capped S/L/N/P resistances without the tanker proc (F/C capped with one proc, Energy can reach ~85% with three stacks), and leverages Oppressive Gloom, Soul Tentacles, Touch of Fear, and Cloak of Fear with the Hybrid T4 Radial Control. Basically, hit a spawn with Soul Tentacles then jump in the middle to let Cloak of Fear work its magic while cycling fear effects around with Touch of Fear. While the hybrid is active, stuns get passed around like bad candy, stacking with Oppressive Gloom and/or the Unspeakable Terror proc in cloak of Fear. Mag 10 KB protection. It happens to have 45% Melee/40% S/L (I ditched a Kinetic Combat set that was muled in Shadow Punch after the recent patch) which works as an extra layer of mitigation. Maybe this will give you an alternative perspective on slotting options. I go back and forth with running Tactics for extra ToHit, or Darkest Night for more debuffing (replacing either a) Dark Consumption or b) Super Jump). What I like about Dark X 3 tanks is that there are meaningful choices and tradeoffs that can be quite impactful. I've found that having the option to switch to Musculature Radial for Alpha, Barrier for Destiny, and Melee Radial or Assault Radial (beyond what is listed in the build) provides a lot of flexibility.

Welcome back! I’d suggest that just about everything goes with Necro now (caveat: I have no experience with traps and kinetics with Necro). With slotting in the upgrade powers, the dead have beefier resistances and more max health. The attacks are useful, even with only the base slot just to get the summon. And the pet attacks are more effective. For storm, recharge is great to build for which also helps bring Soul Extraction up even faster. Working together, that’s a lot of damage and a bunch of pets on the screen. Hell, *I’m* convinced now. Time to roll one of these up… Good luck!

Sanity check? Sanity Check?!?!?

Thanks for the heads-up!

I’ve never had to target a pet to get soul extraction to work since the new changes.

I’m leveling a symphonic dominator but yet do not have the pet. Opinion forming soon*. As for pets (MMs excluded) generally, I see them more as DOTs with a very efficient cast IF they can survive long enough. As for RP, I think of them as a chaotic manifestation of overflowing power. This is usually for controllers. With level 50 incarnate dominators, usually end up leaving out the pet, or slotting it with 4 pieces of a recharge pet intensive set but never using it. *”soon” meaning when I stop doing other things and focus. And when the surge ends at work. And after the holidays. And probably something else.

I feel your pain. But THIS is the test of a build. Fuck Trapdoor and Pylon tests. Survive a miserable PUG? That’s some hardcore building.

This is the best advice on the boards…and poetry, almost.

The challenge for /sonic on a mastermind is ensuring there is sufficient recovery to keep everything humming. It can be ameliorated at with Cardiac (at 50) somewhat, and the resistance boosts are pretty cake. However, I found that I needed Panacea (AND Numina, AND Miracle) for the character and not the pets (although on my Necro/Dark, panacea works perfectly to give the pets an additional flow of health and endurance). If enough heal IOs are slotted, the pets do a very decent job keeping themselves up under most conditions. I also took Heal Other for sporadic spot healing; I use it maybe twice a mission (+3/8, albeit Council). The +Regen proc seems too little for my taste, but might work well with Spirit Ward, if that’s a direction you’re inclined to take. @StrikerFox’s resistance estimates are right on target (just checked in game). And it’s a beast of a combo, especially with tricked out Bonfire and the KD proc in the zombies.

I’m fond of my Necro/Nature and Necro/Sonic. /cold is almost always an amazing answer (shields, +def uniques, and -ToHit = potent layering). Lots of good tools there too. What is it you want to do with your Necro?

This is a great thesis. Wholeheartedly agree. There’s a thread re “Rule of Cool” - what’s cool, or makes your character stylish or even hilarious — is a perfectly good organizational principle for a build. There’s really very few negative consequences in this game. And other than origin, primary power set, and secondary power set, there are few permanent choices.

I agree with @UltraAlt (except I use Mids like some people use the costume creator - mini game in itself). There are so many character slots and potential combinations, I want to build entities that are mostly self-sufficient and who lean in to theme of their a) primary and secondary, and b) backstory/concept. As far as general principles: 1. pick 1 primary purpose of the build. This could be to lean in to the function of armor sets max out resistances or defenses, depending on the flavor of the armor, or get as much recharge as possible if a dominator. 2. aim to have AT LEAST twice as much recovery as testing endurance spent. But seriously, I try to aim for more than that. 3. ensure all my attacks can hit (95% chance) +3 opponents at level 50. For leveling, I try to make sure my attacks can hit reasonably well. 4. Then aim for whatever other goals I have for the specific build. This could be aiming to have more recharge for often used, long refreshing powers. 5. if defense is not a primary concern, if possible, I aim for specific break points. Either 20%, 32.5%, or 45%. But if this is not a primary concern, I tend to be opportunistic rather than focused for this area. Functionally, I sketch out a concept on paper first. I like to see a flow of development purely on the power selection level, asking how will this character develop over time (by level) so it will be fun. Thinking mainly with the concept in mind, how can I arrange the powers to get to do cool things at all (or most) levels. In addition, I plan for some common uniques as early as possible - Numina, Miracle, Panacea, and Kismet. But not always. For example, most blasters can get away with skipping some of the recovery uniques because of their sustain power. Anything more precise is more AT and combination specific. But as an example, I remade my War Mace/Willpower brute. My primary goal was to raise HP as high as possible. Secondary goals were to have S/L def at regular defense soft cap with the remainder of types defenses at at least 32.5 (including psi). Last, I wanted to make sure each attack that could take a FF proc had one to accelerate my recharge when attacking. That’s not to say that this is the best or most effective way to build this power set combination. But those were my conscious goals for the build, and it gave me a focus on how to select IOs and set bonuses with purpose. I hope this helps!

THIS. I started with Masterminds back when CoV was a separate system. Never would have stayed were it not for this AT. Now, I adore everything. There’s something to be said for playing what interests the particular player. With Homecoming, I got my eldest child to play, suggesting something straightforward out of the box. Nope! She made at least 90 different concepts, playing to level 4 at most. Only a VEAT has kept her attention. Kids…

Haven’t loaded it in Mids, but I like the direction of the build. Fold Space and a Grav/Dark is like Anais Nin writing Presidential speeches. So wrong yet so right…

Same sentiment (albeit different name!). Even took Boogle. Why? Because it’s a *cool* way to make new, short-term friends!

That might be excessive. Your tier 2 heals. Spirit Ward (sorcery) and/or heal other can shore up what passes through the massive resistances (likely capped to S/L/F/C/T, and the remainder at mid to high 70s). For defense, you’re left with 10 from the pet procs, additional 15% AOE and Maneuvers ( ~4%). Without Barrier, that’s it. Basically, defense is an afterthought once you go all in on resists with Sonic. I have a Necro/Sonic with similar (albeit different layout of resist categories) spread of resist and defense, but with the addition of -ToHit from the pets. Between that, Overwhelming Force proc in Tier 1 and procced bonfire, they require very little in the way of healing absent really awful mission. But +2/x8? Mostly cruise control pre Necro changes (I haven’t rebuilt with the new changes to Necro so I can probably up expectations with a compliant build).

Agree. Also, were punch “headbutt” (and corresponding animation) with a KD, I’d use it all the time. And laugh every time.

Negative Approach - Nothing (Come back to a MM-Necromancy fix… like, wow man!)