Dark/Time

[Snarky]

In my continued search for a Blaster i like i cycled back to Dark with Temporal as the seconday. I will be taking Soul as Epic. I might take Force as a pool. This will give me 4-5 cones which will be the preferred attack chain. Hoverblast ftw. I am playing with a build which most here would prob dislike based on my power choices but it suits my playstyle. The ranged defense as it sits is 55% at 50. Not counting possible incarnate choices.  I will prob start Frankenslotting this down to 45% with all toggles off. Toggles are CJ Stealth and Hover

i liked AR and Ice but Dark just feels more powerful. The PBAoE nuke is not as problematic as i thought. It is a very situational power which is not up that often

 

 

[eknudson]

Questions for you since my dark blaster is still fairly low-- have you tested different slotting on umbral torrent and tenebrous tentacles? Are they best slotted as simple acc/dam/rech/end attacks-- or with the many procs that both can take.  Do you have abyssal gaze, and if so is it slotted as a hold that does damage, or as an attack that happens to hold?  I'm assuming with your defense you don't need a LOT of healing so life drain is probably mostly an attack.

 

I see a lot of posts that gloom is clearly superior to dark blast-- is it?  Dark blast does more damage/second, almost as much damage/animation, and does all of its damage up front and not as a DoT. Opinion?

 

Haven't tried hoverblasting. How does that work in indoor maps?

[Snarky]

Hoverblasting works better indoors than not hoverblasting. Not an opinion but a fact. Whether caves or office building. Clear out ground floor and team moves upstairs.  Just. Hover up a few feet and reorient and continue laying the hate downrange

 

i am currently 6 slotting all powers to obtain the ranged def bonuses. There is a huge ranged defense in holds set so the hold is slotted as a hold. However it is up for possible frankenslotting. It does a crapton of damage. But combined with the hold from temporal i can lock down any one target which is damned useful and ST is not something i am either short on or want to concentrate on so i may leave it. I am building the toon as a firing platform for cones. When i have to drop down to ST it is because the plan went sideways or i am fighting an AV. In which case the first weird attack from Temporal actually becomes useful to spam more than a hold turned into a damage power. The heal is slotted with Ranged Damage set with ranged defense. If i am leaning on it for a heal we are pretty much at run or faceplant or nvm. The plan went sideways long ago

 

again i have a lot if opportunities to tweak or frankenslot at this point. Well maybe not a lot. But dropping 5-10 points back in ranged defense opens up some options. But to get to 55 i ignored all distractions and just slotted for ranged defense. The first cone that does KB is slotted with univsal dam with proc that turns KB to KD. The second cone has Blaster set. The cones from Soul Mastery are slotted to their secondary effects that offer ranged defense bonuses. 
 

as i edit the build i can strip some of these 6 slots down and tighten it up. There are opportunities to make the build different but i want to make it better

 

as far as ST goes again it is not my build goal to do ST. I prefer to Insta snipe then hold Anything that distracts me from my hoverconemadness

if it is really pissing me off i drop the second hold on it and proceed to burn it down keeping the holds on it and if useful angling around it to make it the anchorman for recharged cone attacks on any friends near it. Freak super stunners are definitely in this category as are succubus.  The jump bots ar surprisingly hardy against my attacks as well and make good anchors.  There are few things that stand up to a Blasters attack chains when focused on them, and Dark is not well defended or resisted against. I have a Kismet plus ACC bonus in stealth which is always toggled on in combat. I always hit better and thanks to Dark my opponents always hit worse. 
 

I will need to post the build at some point. I need to do a first edit from the rough draft. Also i do all my message boards from the phone and the build is on another comp. minor but real complication of having 4 primary computers in my life  And not remembering passwords. 
 

i am more Brute than Blaster and not familiar with arcanatime dps calcs of various powers. I am going by feel and usefulness at this point. If i am not doing AoE i tend to be sniping and holding. Not saying it is best but i am rolling a disembodied skull and it feels fun and evil
 

 

 

 

Edited January 2, 2020 by Snarky

[tidge]

I took a Dark Blast/Temporal Manipulation to 50. I was charmed by the power displays and animations!

 

It is relatively weak on defenses, but was explicitly trying to build a toon with a different play style than most of my other ATs. I tried for plenty of Global Recharge, with the nice side effect that Chronos is an auto, providing a Build Up (via Gaussian's proc) every trigger. Slotting Chronos this way allowed me to delay picking Aim.

 

Visible drawbacks:

• The %Toxic procs in Gloom, Arcane Bolt, and Moonbeam feel to be somewhat wasted slots, given the Recharge of the powers. The only other place I can think to recycle those slots would be to 6-slot Time Stop (w/ Gladiator's Net) instead of the 4-slot Basilisk's Gaze... or maybe a 2-Slot Aim with Adjusting Targeting (for 2% Damage buff?)
• The choice of Pool attacks (Arcane Bolt, Repulsion Bomb) was made to bring some variety to the damage types.
• Force Mastery is definitely not a top choice, but my concept of the character didn't lend itself to other pools. Repulsion Bomb is slow (on top of an already slow set), but I saw it as some more AoE (w/ Knockdown, Disorient and % -Res). I tried Time Shift while leveling, but I found it to be uneven.
• The build has more Recharge than I *really* need. Hasten is Perma (even without Chronos) but with Chronos on Auto, I need the extra time to remember to click Hasten. I'm not sure the "w" binds that keep cexecuting Hasten to are right for me.
• I dislike skipping both the T6 and T7 primaries, but I'm not sure if I'm missing much. I don't really want two single-target holds, and the short range of the Tentacles doesn't seem like so much fun, compared to Umbral Torrent's ability to seemingly knockdown enemies up to two rooms away!

 

 

Here is what the build looks like at lvl 50. The leveling-up build was nearly identical to the final build, with the differences being using PVP and Overwhelming Force IOs in place of the Purples.

 

Hero Plan by Hero Hero Designer 2.23
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Dark / Time: Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Dark Blast
Secondary Power Set: Temporal Manipulation
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Force Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Gloom

• (A) Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage
• (3) Defiant Barrage - Damage/RechargeTime
• (3) Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• (5) Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (5) Defiant Barrage - RechargeTime/+Status
• (40) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic)
  

Level 1: Time Wall

• (A) Impeded Swiftness - Chance of Damage(Smashing)
  

Level 2: Umbral Torrent

• (A) Ragnarok - Damage
• (37) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge
• (46) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (48) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Recharge
• (48) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance
• (46) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown
  

Level 4: Mystic Flight

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
  

Level 6: Time Stop

• (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold
• (7) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge
• (7) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold
• (9) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
  

Level 8: Moonbeam

• (A) Sting of the Manticore - Accuracy/Damage
• (9) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Endurance
• (11) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Interrupt/Recharge
• (13) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (13) Sting of the Manticore - Chance of Damage(Toxic)
• (39) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic)
  

Level 10: Chronos

• (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
• (11) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
• (15) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
• (43) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
• (43) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
• (45) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
  

Level 12: Arcane Bolt

• (A) Apocalypse - Damage
• (15) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge
• (40) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (40) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance
• (42) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative)
• (43) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic)
  

Level 14: Kick

• (A) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge
  

Level 16: End of Time

• (A) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage
• (17) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Damage/Recharge
• (17) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (19) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (19) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (27) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Recharge/Chance for Fire Damage
  

Level 18: Tough

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
• (42) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance
  

Level 20: Temporal Healing

• (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal
• (21) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance
• (21) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime
• (23) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime
• (23) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance
• (25) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb
  

Level 22: Weave

• (A) Reactive Defenses - Defense
• (25) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance
• (27) Reactive Defenses - Endurance/RechargeTime
• (34) Reactive Defenses - Defense/RechargeTime
• (36) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (36) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage
  

Level 24: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (45) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 26: Life Drain

• (A) Gladiator's Javelin - Accuracy/Damage
• (29) Gladiator's Javelin - Damage/Recharge
• (29) Gladiator's Javelin - Accuracy/Damage/End/Rech
• (31) Gladiator's Javelin - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
• (31) Gladiator's Javelin - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (31) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic)
  

Level 28: Future Pain

• (A) Hecatomb - Damage
• (37) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge
• (37) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (39) Hecatomb - Damage/Endurance
• (39) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage(Negative)
  

Level 30: Maneuvers

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
  

Level 32: Blackstar

• (A) Armageddon - Damage
• (33) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge
• (33) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (33) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge
• (34) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage
• (34) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage
  

Level 35: Personal Force Field

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
• (36) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
  

Level 38: Time Lord

• (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)
  

Level 41: Rune of Protection

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (42) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 44: Repulsion Bomb

• (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
• (45) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
• (48) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
• (50) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
• (50) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
• (50) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff
  

Level 47: Aim

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 49: Temp Invulnerability

• (A) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP
  

Level 1: Brawl

• (A) Empty
  

Level 1: Defiance

Level 1: Prestige Power Dash

 

Data link:

 

Spoiler

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1464&c=689&a=1378&f=HEX&dc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