Nyghtmaire

Frickin’ bible right here.

Years of therapy teaches me to assume the least offensive interpretation of events. So thumbs’ up!

Yes a million times. And trying to maximize a character *while* leveling: max efficiency in slotting at every stage, allows for getting to the core of a character. On a separate thought, tinkering with builds/IOs/slotting to turn a whacked out combination into a powerhouse is divinity.

I’ve been leveling my dom (earth/dark) a bunch this week. In groups, focusing on damage (of course), cc’ing hard targets, reducing defense so the team hits more often, spreading -tohit to add layers of safety, and -if/when things get borked - carpet bombing with controls until the team readjusts. For example, defending the door on Yin is hilarious with all the controls available in earth/. At higher levels, the aoes from patron and ancillary pools become available. High level teams typically have less need for the controls. This allows for more focus on damage. Luckily, doms can bring the pain. For me, chasing permadom is a full time activity when playing a dom. There is a post further down as to to how to get this as early as possible. It’s a fun minigame. And with permadomination, the AT plays in a different fashion. For example, reliably holding bosses always gives me a jolt. At that point, a dom can neuter alphas with their controls.

This is a massive -regen source. I lean to a mandatory power pick. The rez is secondary. For Dark Servant, Cloud Senses 4 slotted for recharge or 6 to add defense is my go-to. No matter what, the proc is gold. Goes off on everything. Overall, /dark is an amazing toolkit with all the best toys. I’m leveling this very combo now, and am excited to read further comments.

If it fits in your build, Rune of Protection from the Sorcery pool works as a long-term (60 seconds?) BF, but does not accept recharge enhancements. Increasing range defense also reduces hits getting through as many mezzes are delivered through ranged attacks Target priority works well too. Kill - ahem, “arrest” - the mezzers first. Break LOS to minimize exposure. Active play. You can also pre-BF, akin to @Frozen Burn’s suggestion.

I wish this were a real badge now (and would run it on all my characters just for the title option). To add the pot - Full Tilt Telamon: collect all the Atlas Park Tour Guide badges in 4 minutes or less.

Henchman attacks? Absolutely! I usually end up building my reactive slot to t4 first on my MMs (after getting the three level shifts ).

Darkx3 FOREVER! (but you should probably listen to the experts above 😆)

My tank hovers in the 70s with MotT procs, buts that’s really it with a damage focused build.

I was being facetious. Apologies. For weaknesses, there’s also KB protection absence and lack of meaningful-speed/recharge. All of these things can be addressed through clever slotting, but these weaknesses are present at base. For cloak of fear, dark melee as a pairing really is the secret sauce to getting it to work (and stacking with Touch of Fear). Juicing the accuracy with Soul Drain in a crowd (the only time you really need CoF to work) and managing endurance with Dark Consumption. Otherwise, you’re left with Vigor or other late-game remedies.

Or bake the mediocre proc effect into the power.

Wow! I really like this concept on so many levels.

THIS, especially with the endurance cost reduction to resummoning. It becomes more sustainable endurance-wise to resummon rather than heal. For nature, it is useful to think of it more as a control and buff set rather than a healing set. I have a Necro/Nature with a lot synergy; suspect it would go well with demons (but doesn’t everything?). While I’m sure it will work well with Bots - anything can be made to work, it would be hard to beat a similarly expensed bots/traps.

Inspirations really are the secret sauce of this game. Amazing things can be accomplished when eating a bunch of skittles. Also, @Nemu’s blaster guidance is spot on and useful for just about every AT (even scrapper/brute/tankers oddly enough). It certainly changed my gameplay across the board, and made playing the game more enjoyable to boot. Good luck with your experiments.

This is all phenomenal. Thank you all very much. Lots to think about and test. I love this character almost like it is my first ever rolled. It's freaky how hat happened!

Thank you very much. Re S/L/E capping vs range, my experience was that I died more, by a significant magnitude, on the S/L/E path. Also meant I was spending more attention combining inspirations for breakfrees (or running up power picks to RoP) rather than damage. Shadow Maul seems like a trap power (though I specced out early and haven’t tried it at 50). Long root time in melee + 5 target cap on balance seems to have a challenging return on slot investment. Seriously, thank you again. Building this AT presents many opportunities for meaningful choices. The more I consider your suggestions, the more I’m drawn to throwing together a second melee-centric build on test to compare.

Good morning/afternoon/evening - I've been going over the different threads concerning this combination, esp @Snarky's thread further down (much appreciated!). I understand the limitations, and have been playing her steadily through all 50 levels into Incarnates. Absolutely, and inexplicably, my favorite blaster combo and the first I've really invested a full build. Is there a way to squeeze more damage or effectiveness out of this build? I've gone through 7-8 different builds (and played) to refine this character, and am enjoying playing in both blapper mode and range. For example, just swapped out Nightfall to put Midnight Grasp back in - found I missed having a big melee hitter when I had the opportunity to smack someone who gets too close. Range cap and hover have been critical (as I'm sure you are all aware - forgive me, I'm slow and come from a mastermind perspective), as well as full stealth for when the situation calls for it. Also, still figuring out solid tactics so the ability to maneuver around a spawn before engaging has been very peaceful. Finding this works better for me than a previous fire APP/bonfire build. Much faster and more recharge, etc... Anyhow, would appreciate a look from better builders/players than I to see if there is another way to go about this. Thanks in advance. Question: Considering swapping OG for Death Shroud (and swapping the overwhelming force proc into DS for the KD chance -- seems more reliable against more than just minions). While a minor source of damage, either of these powers serve as limited mitigation when going in to fire off Blackstar and Soul Drain. Note - can swap between Ageless Radial, Barrier Core, and Clarion depending on need. The build:

Had one on Live. Was fun but slow. Never made it to level cap, but the 30s were quite the joy.

I thought the owner (funny noun to use) only received the benefit of one shield currently. Is that wrong? If the One-Shield-theory is correct, then that’s a benefit to the player with a decrease in defense values to the pets (except tier 2, which would be an increase). I’m not at my computer so can’t check…

Second the motion.

THIS all day. It’s the key to unlocking the AT. Also, have backup plans for your backup plans for your backup plans. Practice zen situational awareness.

Nice builds all around. Lots of good things to consider. This is the build I'm currently running (while finishing my T4s; only Alpha and Destiny are fully completed). Getting endurance/recovery under control with sufficient accuracy and recharge -- fun balance. Edit - Has been tough and seat-of-the-pants fun so far. Mostly I solo so Taunt was skipped. However now that Incarnates are falling into place, Soul Transfer has seen little if any use so thinking of switching it out. Also, OG is vaguely useful to reduce minion attacks, but the wandering is starting to get on my nerves. Consider swapping THAT for Super Jump so there is a place to slot the slow resistance piece. Always a work in progress. First tank and was a joy to level from the get-go.

What he said.

With Ageless, you shouldn't have a problem. In fact, brute fire farming generally envisions massive recharge and endurance/recovery from Ageless to ensure you don't have to slot/IO for those attributes so much. I can't load your build either, but eyeballing it suggests you don't have enough AoEs or high enough fire defense. It also looks like your defensive powers are overslotted. Also, are you running tough when you farm? If so, turn it off. S/L resistance is not needed. Also note that the Miracle proc in Healing Flames will only trigger when you use Healing Flames. Here is a "modest price" IO build I ran for a while (modest meaning only one AT IO and no Winter or Purple sets). It has 40% fire defense (less than 5% from the softcap), 90% fire resistance of course, and functions fine +4/8. No, it won't set a landspeed record for farming times, but it has enough AoEs to keep going group to group with nearly a gapless AoE chain. I never found the investment in Winter sets to be worthwhile for my brute when something far cheaper seems to work good enough, but that is an entirely different topic. Also, be sure to check out the farm fresh builds topic for updated and state-of-the-art builds.