Talk to me about Soul Absorption

[Papaschtroumpf]

So, my Ill/Dark controller hit 50 last night and I'm about to respec him into purples, and one topic of conversation was when to take Soul Absorption. 

I took it pretty early on the way up, but when I respected into attuned IOs in the 30s, I moved it out to my 40s because I realized I never used it.

Some people talk about it as one of the cornerstones of the set, so I feel like I am missing something about this power, but I haven;'t found a good Darkness Affinity guide that goes over its tactical use.

 

My understanding is that it gives you a base regen and base recovery boost, and that this boost is increased bythe number of ? around you.

I use ? because some of the wikis and Mids and in game descriptions don;t seem to agree on whether this is impacted by live foes, defeated foes or both. 

 

I mostly don't have endurance issues with my build and have what seems like a more effective heal with Twilight grasp which is why I rarely used it when I had it.

But i's a team buff, so I guess I could help the team with recovery and regen, if they're willing to stand still long enough over a pile of (dead bodies?) to benefit from the effect.

 

It also has a -10% toHit on the affected foes, so you want to use it on live foes for this to have any use, which would be contrary to using it on corpses???

 

So can you guys tell me why you like (or don't like) Soul Absorption and how you use it most effectively?

 

 

 

 

[Psyonico]

it works on both living and dead bodies. There is an accuracy check for the living.

 

I like it, shores up endurance usage for me and helps the team too.

 

On my Ill/Dark I have it 4 slotted with Numina's

On my Dark/Dark I've got 2 Endmod/Acc/Rech and 2 Miracles (Heal/End/Rech, Heal/Rech)

 

YMMV

[Camel]

I love the power. On my Fire/Dark Controller it is permanent and gives myself and my teammates +1,000% regeneration and nearly capped endurance recovery. I only play in melee on that build though, so the synergy is great and it's easy for me to stay buffed and keep my team buffed. I 5 slot mine. 1 Heal, 1 Heal/Recharge and 1 Heal/End/Recharge. Then I put two Efficacy Adaptors in it, 1 End Mod, 1 End/Recharge, all +5.

[Papaschtroumpf]

Oh, I'm taking it, it's just a matter of when and what slotting.

 

Because of set bonuses I want a 6-piece set of Numina and a 4-piece set of Cloud Senses

Both Twilight Grasp and Soul Absorption will take either, but I'm having a hell of time understanding the Mid's numbers for Soul Absorption

 

Case #1 slot Cloud Senses in Soul Absorption and Numina in Twilight Grasp:

  

TG heals 1084 per activation

TG ToHit debuf is -5%  I just realized that's only the TG target, I always thought this was an AoE around the target. 😞

Aslo the Numina proc is now active at any examplar level

 

SA number say this: (set to a conservative 3 foes hit)

 

Case #2: reverse the slotting

   

TG now heals for almost half less: 663

TG To-Hit debuff is now -5.7% 

So TG is defeintely a lot more efficient in case #1

 

but why do the SA numbers look so different than above and which ones are best (Numina has got to best)?

 

 

It seems that Numina is best in Twilight Grasp unless the recovery/regen from SA is worth all the sacrifices

 

[Papaschtroumpf]

Doh! I fell so stupid! thanks!

 

New numbers with Numina in Soul Absorption:

 

 

what's the difference between the left and right Regen(s)? also case #1 showed 3 Regen(s) numbers? Mid's doesn't provide a tip, so I'm still not sure how to compare the numbers

So I still feel stooopid 🙂

 

I think I'm leaning towards leaving the Numinas in Twilight Grasp, living with whatever I got from Soul Absorption in terms of regen, but I can easily slot it much earlier than 41. 22 seems like a good target, Hasten is at 24 and I may need some of the recovery when examplared that low with Hasten. EDIT: oops, can't take it before 28 anyway

 

 

 

Edited March 31, 2020 by Papaschtroumpf

[Papaschtroumpf]

it looks like the easiest way to understand the effect of SA is to monitor the "totals" window and see how the recovery and regen bars are affected. Deosn;t tell you if it's the same for the team or not

[Peacemoon]

It’s a great power and worth taking as early as possible. Even if you don’t have endurance issues, can be a great help to the team. To be fair I think the +regen is more useful and I slot with 4 doctor’s enhancements, focusing on heal and recharge. This is for the +resist mainly.

 

Twilight’s grasp I slow with nictus for the same reason - the full set.