Dark Armor - energy damage challenges

[eknudson]

People running a dark armor tank-- how do you deal with energy damage? I'm trying to add some mitigation with IOs but there aren't THAT many good energy resistance set bonuses and incredibly few energy or ranged set bonuses that I can seem to get in my build. 

 

I'm pretty darn hard to kill against smashing, lethal, negative, or psionic. Not too bad against fire or cold. I feel way too fragile against energy or toxic damage and toxic defense seems to not exist. Enemies like Anti-matter's clockwork that do lots of energy damage, debuff the defense that I've been able to get, and are perfectly happy sitting at range outside of my damage aura are terrible for me! 

 

I can corner pull / herd a lot of these guys into my damage aura solo, but it's harder to pull off on a team.  Any suggestions other than currently out of my budget superior sets, or eradication which caps at level 30?

[oldskool]

Outside of expensive sets (which is what I did) you could evaluate Sorcery's Rune of Protection as a pseudo-T9.  That can potentially cap all your resistances depending on where you are at. 

Also, those resistance inspires are good skittles to have.

[Crowcus Pocus]

I have managed to get very solid EN resists without messing my build.

 

It's not built for full survivability, meaning i could improve it further. However, i wanted to have quite a few procs to help dish out some dmg.

 

This is a screenie from a while ago. I'll check which sets i used and let you know.

 

Edited November 15, 2019 by Falsey

[MrWallace]

I main a dark tank and I find a nice mix of resistance ,def and to hit debuff (love darkest night) seems to work really well. I have tanked all of the top teir TFs with no problem at all. The below is my current build, its not perfect but it might be of some help.

 

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[Crowcus Pocus]

I think it would be easier if you shared your build (or at very least, your secondary) so we can see where we can improve things.

 

And, just in case you didn't know, you can look for specific set bonuses on Mid's (Windows -> Set Bonus Finder). This might help you find good sources of +Res. 

 

Anyway, here are some budget sources of EN/Neg resistance:

1. 3x Unbreakable Guard. (2,25%). 4x will add 3,13% Defense to Melee
2. 3x Force Feedback (3%)
3. 3x Adjusted Targeting (3%)
4. 3x Sciricco's Dervish (2,25%)
5. 6x Theft of Essence (4,5%). You can go with Touch of Nictus instead, but I think the +Endurance proc on ToE is too good to skip.

[HelenCarnate]

1 hour ago, Falsey said:

I think it would be easier if you shared your build (or at very least, your secondary) so we can see where we can improve things.

 

And, just in case you didn't know, you can look for specific set bonuses on Mid's (Windows -> Set Bonus Finder). This might help you find good sources of +Res. 

 

Anyway, here are some budget sources of EN/Neg resistance:

1. 3x Unbreakable Guard. (2,25%). 4x will add 3,13% Defense to Melee
2. 3x Force Feedback (3%)
3. 3x Adjusted Targeting (3%)
4. 3x Sciricco's Dervish (2,25%)
5. 6x Theft of Essence (4,5%). You can go with Touch of Nictus instead, but I think the +Endurance proc on ToE is too good to skip.

Also the Tank ATOs. Are quite handy.

[Bopper]

Just now, HelenCarnate said:

Also the Tank ATOs. Are quite handy.

This^^^. One of them offers 6% EN Resistance with 3x. So you could split that up between 2 powers and get a total of 12% EN resistance, and there is a proc in an ATO set that offers a chance of +Res(all) and I believe is stackable, so you can try to leverage that if you put it in the right power.

[Crowcus Pocus]

Agreed. I just don't consider ATOs to be "budget" sets.

 

But, if you can afford it, 4x shield wall is great source of res, +HP and +regen.

[eknudson]

Here's basically what I'm currently running-- I have enough budget for about one, maybe two purple / tank sets but not enough to completely fill out the build.  Cannot afford 4x shield wall at this point, but I'm working on getting some cash to fund upgrades since Irradiated Ground lets me almost AFK large spawns to see what drops.

 

Capped psionic, 89.8% S/L resistance, 80% negative, those don't hurt. 48.7% energy and 44.6% toxic does, but I have my energy defense up to a helpful level now at over 39%.  Will be a bit higher as soon as I finish my alpha slot.  Reconsidering the energy epic, even though laser beam eyes fits the concept really well.

 

 

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1:    Dark Embrace            RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx:40(A), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg:40(3), RctArm-ResDam:40(3), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:40(11)
Level 1:    Contaminated Strike        TchofDth-Acc/Dmg:40(A), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx:40(5), TchofDth-Dmg/Rchg:40(5), TchofDth-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:40(13), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:40(13), TchofDth-Dam%:40(48)
Level 2:    Murky Cloud            RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx:40(A), RctArm-ResDam:40(7), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg:40(7), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:40(11), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(17), StdPrt-ResKB:30(19)
Level 4:    Proton Sweep            Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:30(A), Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:30(9), Erd-Dmg/Rchg:30(9), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(19), Obl-Dmg/Rchg:50(21)
Level 6:    Obsidian Shield            RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx:40(A), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg:40(15), RctArm-ResDam:40(15), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:40(17)
Level 8:    Dark Regeneration        Erd-Acc/Rchg:30(A), Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:30(21), Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:30(23), ThfofEss-+End%:30(23)
Level 10:    Death Shroud            Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:30(A), Erd-Dmg:30(42), Erd-%Dam:30(42), Mlt-Acc/EndRdx:50(43), ScrDrv-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(43)
Level 12:    Cloak of Darkness        LucoftheG-Def:50(A), LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(27), Krm-ResKB:30(29)
Level 14:    Combat Jumping            DefBuff-I:50(A)
Level 16:    Radiation Siphon        Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(48)
Level 18:    Taunt                MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg:50(A), MckBrt-Rchg:50(40), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg/Rng:50(40), MckBrt-Taunt/Rng:50(42), MckBrt-Taunt:50(46)
Level 20:    Fusion                RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(50)
Level 22:    Boxing                Empty(A)
Level 24:    Tough                UnbGrd-ResDam:50(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx:50(25), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:50(25), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam:50(27), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg:50(37), UnbGrd-Max HP%:50(48)
Level 26:    Super Jump            Empty(A)
Level 28:    Irradiated Ground        Erd-%Dam:30(A), ScrDrv-Dam%:50(29), Obl-%Dam:50(33), Arm-Dam%:50(33), AchHee-ResDeb%:20(33), TchofLadG-%Dam:50(34)
Level 30:    Weave                ShlWal-Def/EndRdx:50(A), ShlWal-Def:50(31), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(31), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP:50(31)
Level 32:    Hasten                RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 35:    Devastating Blow        FcsSmt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:40(A), FcsSmt-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:40(36), FcsSmt-Dmg/EndRdx:40(36), TchofDth-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:40(36), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:40(37), CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(37)
Level 38:    Atom Smasher            Mlt-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Mlt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(39), Mlt-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(39), Mlt-Acc/EndRdx:50(39), FuroftheG-Dam/End/Rech:50(40), FuroftheG-Dam/Rech:50(43)
Level 41:    Conserve Power            RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 44:    Laser Beam Eyes            Thn-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(45), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(45), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(45), Rui-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:40(46), Rui-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:40(46)
Level 47:    Physical Perfection        Heal-I:50(A)
Level 49:    Maneuvers            LucoftheG-Def:50(A), LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(50)
Level 2:    Health                Pnc-Heal/+End:41(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+:41(34), Mrc-Rcvry+:40(34)
Level 2:    Hurdle                Empty(A)
Level 2:    Stamina                PrfShf-EndMod:41(A), PrfShf-End%:41(50)
Level 50:    Agility Core Paragon    
------------

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1466&c=706&a=1412&f=HEX&dc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

Edited November 17, 2019 by eknudson
Incarnate note

[Crowcus Pocus]

The most cost efficient improvement would be buying the Might of the Tanker proc. Place it in one of your auras and you will have a nice +res boost to all elements when surrounded by a few mobs.

 

Shield Wall is a cheaper investment than purples at the moment, since each purple recipe is going for 15M+ on most servers.

 

What I do is I bid on Gladiator's Net or other less wanted PvP sets for ~4M a piece and then user converters to get whatever I want (including Panacea and Gladiator's Armor uniques). It's also an easy form of making influence.

[oldskool]

On 11/16/2019 at 2:14 PM, Bopper said:

I believe is stackable, so you can try to leverage that if you put it in the right power.

It can stack up to 3 times.  I often have that buff at 2 stacks but it can occasionally spike a 3rd.