Thugs/Dark Build Request

[keelhaul1]

I had a bunch of fun leveling my MM. Now that she is 50 I would like a build, something I can solo with not AV level stuff but still be able to team. Thanks in advance!

[Zeraphia]

Here's a stab at it, your minions should be pretty meaty with high res and defense and the -to hit as well as the -dmg, there's an excellent array of procs to help you squeeze out great DPS with this char from both yourself and your minions and the dark servant. 

 

Villain Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Science Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Thugs
Secondary Power Set: Dark Miasma
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Call Thugs -- ExpStr-Dam%(A), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3), SprMarofS-EndRdx/+Resist/+Regen(3), CaltoArm-+Def(Pets)(5), HO:Nucle(5), SvrRgh-PetResDam(7)
Level 1: Twilight Grasp -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(11), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(11), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(33), Pnc-Heal(34), TchoftheN-Acc/Heal(34)
Level 2: Tar Patch -- PcnoftheT-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(A), TmpRdn-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(43), RechRdx-I(43)
Level 4: Darkest Night -- DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb(A), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(7), DarWtcDsp-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(45), DarWtcDsp-Rchg/EndRdx(45)
Level 6: Equip Thugs -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9), RechRdx-I(9)
Level 10: Howling Twilight -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 12: Call Enforcer -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), TchofLadG-%Dam(13), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg(13), SprMarofS-Dmg/EndRdx(15), HO:Nucle(15), SlbAll-Build%(17)
Level 14: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Shadow Fall -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(17), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(23), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(25), UnbGrd-Max HP%(25), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(33)
Level 18: Gang War -- SprCmmoft-Rchg/PetAoEDef(A), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21), EdcoftheM-PetDef(21)
Level 20: Fearsome Stare -- GlmoftheA-Dam%(A), CldSns-%Dam(23)
Level 22: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), Ags-ResDam(34), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(36), Ags-ResDam/Rchg(36), Ags-Psi/Status(40)
Level 24: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(50), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(50)
Level 26: Call Bruiser -- ExpStr-Dam%(A), SprMarofS-Dmg(27), SprMarofS-Acc/EndRdx(27), HO:Nucle(29), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(29)
Level 28: Petrifying Gaze -- UnbCns-Dam%(A), GldNet-Dam%(31), NrnSht-Dam%(31), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(31), HO:Endo(33)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(36), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(37), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(37), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 32: Upgrade Equipment -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 35: Tactics -- HO:Cyto(A)
Level 38: Dark Servant -- CldSns-%Dam(A), TchoftheN-%Dam(39), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(39), NrnSht-Dam%(39), GldNet-Dam%(40), TraoftheH-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(42), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(42), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(42), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 44: Web Cocoon -- ImpSwf-Dam%(A), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(48), NrnSht-Dam%(48), GldNet-Dam%(48), HO:Endo(50)
Level 47: Super Speed -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Victory Rush -- EndMod-I(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- UnbLea-Stlth(A)
Level 1: Supremacy 
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(45)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod/Acc(46), PrfShf-EndMod(46), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(46)
Level 1: Punk 
Level 1: Arsonist 
Level 12: Enforcer 
Level 26: Bruiser 
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon 
Level 50: Ion Core Final Judgement 
Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface 
Level 50: Barrier Core Epiphany 
Level 50: Support Core Embodiment 
------------

[BGSacho]

Here is how I would build it.

First, the goals of the build, focused roughly in this order:

- Pet survivability - re-summoning is very disruptive to your overall damage, so you want the pets as sturdy as possible

- Personal survivability - one of the main ways to increase pet survivability is to do some tanking on your own, you want to be as sturdy as possible to do so. The build aims for hardcap S/L/E res and reasonable S/L def which you can softcap with a purple insp.

- Damage - this means having personal attacks as well as using all the tricks available to increase pet damage
- Amplified debuffs - /Dark has tons of them, so wherever possible, we'll try to maximize their potential

Slotting your pets:

 

The 2 MM ATOs are amazing so you generally want to get the most out of their set bonuses. You can either slot them as 4/6 Command and 4/6 + 2/6 Mark of Sup, or x3 2/6 Mark of Sup. The 4/6 + 2/6 slotting provides global accuracy and defense, which is useful for this build, but it really complicates slotting the pets, so I've opted for x3 2/6. Just the MM ATO sets provide 40% global recharge, which pretty much means you don't need to chase any bonuses for more.

The 4/6 Command goes into Gang War, as there's 4 pieces with recharge and Gang War can use as much recharge as you can give it. The rest are carefully spread out to hit accuracy and endurance needs and provide the maximum damage possible. There's a few things you can tweak in each slot:

- Explosive Strike and Overwhelming Force are luxury picks in the Thugs
- The enforcers are really difficult to slot - each of the 3 procs slotted provides an immense amount of damage. This is the optimal slotting I've found for them
- The bruiser makes good use of Build Up, even though he has Fury(he's quite bad at stacking it), but it can be placed in the Thugs instead. The explosive strike proc is mandatory, it's one of the biggest contributors to his dps. 
- Don't worry too much about accuracy on your pets - a lot of the attacks on thugs have innate accuracy(1.1), they have tohit from supremacy/your tactics/enforcer tactics, and the enforcers spray AoE -defense debuffs.

Slotting your personal attacks:

You have enough slots in the build to reasonably slot 2 personal attacks. Normal procs outperform damage% IOs in MM attacks, doubly so for purple procs. The goal here is to get the maximum amount of procs while also getting some accuracy and endurance. Here are four choices you can make:

- Dual Wield - Fast cast, accurate, low recharge, has access to a purple proc and force feedback - dual wield is one of the best dps powers available to MM. The last slot in Dual Wield is optional, since it only boosts damage slightly. You want to avoid slotting any local recharge in Dual Wield since that reduces the proc chance(global recharge doesn't). The main problem with Dual Wield is redraw caused by other skills - I still haven't figured out if redraw is an actual dps loss or just a different animation.
- Petrifying Gaze - use all the hold procs and you get a low-cd, spammable hold which deals decent damage.
- Electric Shackles(prereq Electrifying Fences) - The major problem with Petrifying Gaze is its lack of innate damage, which disqualifies it from some of the best damage increases you have(interface and hybrid assault). Electric Shackles solves those problems. It is also a very cheap option, as it restores half its end cost and has a long recharge. The only problem is that long recharge - it means you'll never reach the same DPS as the other choices, you will use shackles as more of a burst nuke. It also provides you with Electrifying Fences, a decent root you can use even without slotting.
- Cross Punch(synergy Kick) - I gush a lot about this power, I think it's really underrated. It can hold a purple proc(not shared with pretty much any other mm power!), a -res proc(!!) and force feedback(!!!), on top of having innate recharge and tohit bonuses(10% recharge/6s per target hit).The skill itself deals decent damage when synergized with both Boxing and Kick(which you should definitely do) - about as much as dual wield. Just cycling Cross Punch on cooldown on 1 mob with a FF proc gives you 25% recharge - this is why we don't need to chase recharge set bonuses at all. If you need recharge, Cross Punch's got your back. The main problem with cross punch is that it's melee, so it can be a bit harder to use, and's on the higher end of endurance usage.

 

The reason I focus on ST attacks and not AoE is that Thugs already provide amazing AoE(the enforcers are the best AoE pets bar the assault bot). Empty Clips is also very taxing on endurance. It's possible to take Electrifying Fences/Electric Shackles as your two attacks, with Fences providing a small AoE attack.

Slotting /Dark:

 

One of the reasons /Dark is so good is that a lot of the powers work with minimal investment. I'll go over each one individually:

Twilight Grasp - Probably the strongest power in /Dark, you want to maximize its healing potential while capping accuracy. The idea behind the slotting is to pick up the global accuracy from Nictus while reaching the accuracy and healing tresholds, and then completely eliminating the end cost of Grasp via Theft of Essence - it'll proc on most casts, restoring more end than the usage. This means you can liberally spam Twilight Grasp whenever your pets take even minor damage to keep them topped up.

Tar Patch - this amazing power works with pretty much no slotting - all you need is recharge. It has a low end cost and not that many effects to buff, so x2 IO recharges work just fine here.

Darkest Night - This power really only cares about -Hit and Endurance. The slotting is thus quite simple - you can either slot a few basic IOs or try for a decent set bonus. You can slot anywhere between 1-4 slots here depending on what the rest of your build needs. The most powerful component of Darkest Night - the -damage, is available even without slotting for those really hard boss fights.

Howling Twilight - This power is amazing. It pulls triple duty as AoE CC, massive -regen and a rez. Unfortunately, the slotting options for it are...lacking at best. You want to tame the 30(!!!) endurance cost somehow, but you also want it available as much as possible(recharge), so a possible slotting is 2 end redux, 2 recharge IOs, or a set to fill out the goals of the build(but I don't really see one)

 

Shadow Fall - this power is amazing for Demons because it covers their biggest res holes. Here it mostly pulls duty to cap your energy res. The 3/3 slotting focusing on res/def/end is pretty standard, but it's tweakable. 

Fearsome Stare - this is your best opener for fighting large clumps of enemies. Not only does it apply a decent CC, it also debuffs the tohit of minions significantly enough to keep your thug defenses capped even if they run out of your auras. The 5-slot Siphon Insight provides three good set bonuses - 3.75% S/L def, global accuracy and a bit of end recovery, all things the build needs. If needed, you can reduce the slotting or get rid of the power altogether and focus on others.

Dark Servant - The Dark Servant is the second best power in /Dark - it provides a colossal amount of -hit and a second source of Twilight Grasp. You want it up as much as possible, so you're looking for accuracy, recharge and -hit. The Siphon Insight set perfectly matches that, and provides great set bonuses for us. The extra cloud senses damage proc is optional, it's only a minor damage boost.

 

Slotting your personal defenses:

 

There's two big choices in personal defenses - Scorpion Shield vs an epic armor, and whether to take the fighting pool. Both of these are viable choices for /Dark, and pretty much decide which way your defenses will go. Scorpion Shield allows you to easily cap S/L defense and focus more on the rest of your build. An epic armor can be combined with the fighting pool to hardcap S/L(and in this case, E) res while also keeping reasonable +def. Taking the fighting pool puts a lot of strain on your endurance budget, so it's one more thing to consider. In this case, I've chosen to go for hardcap S/L/E res + decent S/L def that you can (almost) softcap by gulping a purple insp. The slotting there is pretty much set in stone - pick up both +def and +res enhancements, 4-slot Unbreakable Guard for its great bonuses, spread all of this around your defensives. I've also slotted an extra Karma enh because it's cheaper than slotting multiple powers for accuracy, but it's not worth it if you don't take at least 2 personal attacks.

 

Incarnates:

Incarnates provide a huge increase to MM damage and survivability, if chosen well. I've ordered them in terms of importance:

Destiny - by far the most important, you want your Clarion Core up and running ASAP. One of the biggest weaknesses of MMs is the lack of mez protection, and this is pretty much the only way to get it. KB protection is especially important, as your pets getting KB-ed out of range of your auras is a death sentence for them(this is also why it's good to take -KB enhancements in your build)
Interface - the biggest damage contributor, it doesn't really matter which one you pick, as long as you go down the radial branch. Degenerative and Reactive are generally the most commonly chosen ones.
Alpha - rounds out damage and provides a little bit extra to all your skills. Intuition boosts most of /Dark's debuffs and the -defense from Enforcers.
Hybrid - This one is a bit of a toss-up. Hybrid Assault is, by far, the biggest single damage increase you can get on your MM, but it is awkward to use(search the forums for details). You can instead take Support, which is a reasonable survivability increase. I prefer to have Assault in my back pocket to give extra oomph in the biggest DPS race fights.

Finishing touches:

There's a few extra things you can consider for the build, especially since we have 1 unused generic pool.

- Combat Jumping, to give you decent vertical movement and round out your S/L def.
- Provoke, to improve your tanking capability
- Vengeance, great for teamplay, especially since you have access to a rez


General gameplay advice:

The main thing to note when playing Thugs/Dark is that you want to play like a blob. The Enforcer Maneuvers work within a 30' radius, which is really quite small, so you want to move around closely packed together - luckily, this also puts everyone in range of Twilight Grasp heals. Try at the least to keep Enforcers next to each other and close to you/the bruiser, as you will be the main aggro holders and suddenly losing the ~20 def from maneuvers can turn the bruiser from a beefcake to a blood spatter.

 

Use Gang War liberally on harder encounters, that's why we take all the recharge in our build, to have it up often. Hybrid Assault + Gang War is a huge damage increase. Try to keep the Gang War in a clump as well, so you can heal them with Twilight Grasp and keep them alive longer, but don't fret too much, they are even more suicidal than the arsonist and made out of wet tissue paper.

 

You'll generally open with some combination of Fearsome Stare/Tar Patch/Personal attack on lt or boss, with your pets close by on defensive/follow. This should let you eat the alpha strike of the enemies and hold aggro on the most threatening mob, while your pets mop up. Be careful when using Attack to focus fire if you're the main aggro holder. Use Goto instead to keep the pets clumped and focused. AoE may seem like a threat, but pets have 60%+ AoE defense and you can heal up damage that goes through that with your AoE heal - it's more important that your pets stay within range of your house-of-cards set of auras. Use your personal attacks to keep aggro on the most threatening mobs, or to finish off runners.

 

When fighting hard +4 content, especially AVs, remember these tips:

- Spam Twilight Grasp. Each cast produces stackable -hit, -damage and -regen which will neuter the AV. Each cast stacks, including the Dark Servant's! You can reasonably expect to have 6 TG stacks up on a boss or AV.
- Don't fret about the Punks/Arsonist. At +4, their damage is quite pathetic. If they keep dying, just forget about them and focus on debuffing the AVs and your personal attacks.
- Howling Twilight, in optimal conditions, provides -500% regen with roughly 50% uptime - this can help you neuter AV regen when soloing.

 

 

 

Villain Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Science Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Thugs
Secondary Power Set: Dark Miasma
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Call Thugs -- ExpStr-Dam%(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), SprMarofS-Acc/EndRdx(3), SprMarofS-Dmg/EndRdx(5), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(5), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(7)
Level 1: Twilight Grasp -- TchoftheN-Heal(A), TchoftheN-Acc/Heal(7), TchoftheN-Acc/EndRdx/Heal/HP/Regen(9), ThfofEss-+End%(9)
Level 2: Tar Patch -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 4: Darkest Night -- EndRdx-I(A), ToHitDeb-I(13)
Level 6: Equip Thugs -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 10: Howling Twilight -- RechRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(15)
Level 12: Call Enforcer -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), TchofLadG-%Dam(17), ShlBrk-%Dam(17), HO:Cyto(19), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg(21)
Level 14: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Shadow Fall -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def(21), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(23), UnbGrd-ResDam(23), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(25), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(25)
Level 18: Gang War -- SprCmmoft-Rchg/PetAoEDef(A), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(27), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), EdcoftheM-PetDef(29), SvrRgh-PetResDam(31)
Level 20: Fearsome Stare -- SphIns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(A), SphIns-ToHitDeb(31), SphIns-Acc/ToHitDeb(31), SphIns-Acc/Rchg(33), SphIns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(33)
Level 22: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), GldArm-End/Res(33), GldArm-ResDam(34)
Level 24: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(34), Rct-ResDam%(34), Rct-Def(36), Rct-Def/EndRdx(36)
Level 26: Call Bruiser -- ExpStr-Dam%(A), SlbAll-Build%(36), SprMarofS-EndRdx/+Resist/+Regen(37), SprMarofS-Dmg(37), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg(37), CaltoArm-+Def(Pets)(39)
Level 28: Dual Wield -- Apc-Dam%(A), GldJvl-Dam/End/Rech(39), GldJvl-Acc/Dmg(39), ExpStr-Dam%(40), FrcFdb-Rechg%(40), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(40)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def(42), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(42), Ksm-ToHit+(42)
Level 32: Upgrade Equipment -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 35: Tactics -- AdjTrg-ToHit(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx(43)
Level 38: Dark Servant -- SphIns-ToHitDeb(A), SphIns-Acc/ToHitDeb(43), SphIns-Acc/Rchg(43), SphIns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(45), SphIns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(45), CldSns-%Dam(45)
Level 41: Charged Armor -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(46), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(46), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 44: Electrifying Fences -- Ann-ResDeb%(A), Ann-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 47: Electric Shackles -- UnbCns-Dam%(A), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg(48), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(48), GldJvl-Dam%(48), NrnSht-Dam%(50), GldNet-Dam%(50)
Level 49: Super Speed -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- UnbLea-Stlth(A)
Level 1: Supremacy 
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(11)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(13)
Level 1: Punk 
Level 1: Arsonist 
Level 12: Enforcer 
Level 26: Bruiser 
Level 50: Intuition Radial Paragon 
Level 50: Degenerative Radial Flawless Interface 
Level 50: Clarion Core Epiphany 
Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment 
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Edited July 28, 2020 by BGSacho