Weekly Discussion 48: Dark Armor!

[skoryy]

I love my staff/dark brute to bits.  Properly built out, dark is a beast of a defensive set.  Between the resists, Dark Regen, and Soul Transfer,  you're rarely hitting the hospital or asking for wakeys.  That said, I also chose staff for her partially because Form of the Soul would help with the endurance issues during leveling.  That also said, its not like there's plenty of other armor sets with endurance issues.  Still, there's some room for improvement in DA, or at least discussion.

6 hours ago, KelvinKole said:

It's not always well understood, but Dark Armor's "Core" shields do cost less than comparable powers in other sets, the sheer number of toggles that DA runs is what makes the endurance demand feel so high.

This right here.  I don't call her 'Toggle Lass' for nothing.  You have seven(!) toggles, two clickies, and zero auto powers.  One of the toggles is also your damage aura, so that's even more endurance drain.  The other damage aura sets get some endurance mitigation so you're feeling kind of left out here as well.  I'm not sure I'd want to change any of these to auto powers, but I do feel that's something worth pointing out as to why everyone feels DA is hard on endurance.

6 hours ago, KelvinKole said:

Oppressive Gloom and Cloak of Fear are both entirely skippable in the game now.

Cloak of Fear improved when fear went from 'run away' to cower.  Now tanks and brutes don't have to worry about chasing off the guys they want to taunt.  I use it on my brute as cowering minions does give you a little bit of mitigation, and it makes a convenient set mule for Siphon Insight.  I imagine it might be a little more useful if you buffed the to hit debuff, but I'm playing a brute so what is debuffing even.

 

Oppressive Gloom, meanwhile, is where DA really needs the rework.   A mag 2 stun for an HP drain?  Even if that might be useful mitigation for scraps and stalkers, they don't have the HP to actually use it.  I don't know if Cipher can run the stats, but I'd easily believe this was skipped on like 99% of dark armor builds.

6 hours ago, KelvinKole said:

The entirety of the set offers no debuff resistance. This is basically unheard of. It offers some resistance to end drain, but many other sets offer defense debuff resistance, slow resistance, or -recovery resistance. Cloak of Darkness, another power that is sometimes skipped, should provide resistance to tohit debuffs. Your Dark Armor; resisting negative energy damage is your thing and resisting its effects should also be your thing.

Alternatively for Cloak of Fear, I can endorse this.  Playing a staff brute with no inherent +to hit outside of Form of the Mind levels, I weep every time the CoT drops my roll to hit down to below freezing.  Being able to shrug off their attacks doesn't help when I'm flailing away helplessly back at them.

[Zepp]

Overall the set is more endurance-intensive than other defense sets and the layered approach is difficult for some players to get into.
There is a need for more mez protections in the set.

The mez toggles need a rework, CoF needs its endurance consumption cut in half & mag increased to 3 and the HP drain may need to be cut as well as adding a chance for mag 3/4 stun in the OG aura.

 

I like the idea of the set, but it just needs some love.

[Galaxy Brain]

Out of pure curiosity, what is the benefit of layering Fear and Stun together at Mag2 each? Running either one (Gloom more likely) will essentially shut off all minions from the fight, and the -ToHit of the fear aura while nice is too unwieldy for tougher targets with it's acc check and end cost.

 

If there was some way for these to interact it'd be nice... if not directly just some synergies that make it attractive to run both at once even tho the two mezzes are usually redundant. Like, maybe if you could "Feed off their Fear" and gain +End if the fear actually hits? Likewise the stunning effect can lower enemy defense to allow the fear to proc more often and thus refill end.

Edited April 28, 2020 by Galaxy Brain

[Brutal Justice]

2 hours ago, SwitchFade said:

I want to get clear answers from the dissenters:

 

Why, EXACTLY, are you who are objecting to a reduction in end consumption?

For the sake of balance.  Does dark armor have to pay no penalty for having the strongest heal in the game?   

 

Also diversity.  Why do people want all powersets to play the same?   There are about 3 Mids builds that pop up on here that can be copy and pasted into almost any setup.  A res build, a def build, a recharge build.  All three, more or less, just exchanging the same sets of IOs in varying amounts.  

 

Dark armor doesn’t need all 7 toggles to be a top performer because dark regeneration carries the set.   Cloud of darkness is easily skipped in favor of combat jumping.  Never ran it back on live because I didn’t want to be a fluffy cloud or be stealthed as a tank.  Oppressive gloom is easily skipped.  It only affects minions which are rarely a threat.  Also, I don’t have access to the numbers but doesn’t oppressive gloom have a pretty small end cost as a trade for hp.  Cloak of fear is easily skipped because it’s a huge end hog for the amount of return you get from it.

 

Think of those three powers as passive powers in other sets that most meta gamers skip anyways.   Flavor powers if you will.  If you choose to take those powers then plan for them.  There are end management abilities available to all builds in the epic powers available starting at lvl 35.   Soul transfer is completely optional but it can actually be a game changer of a power.  

 

Skip those three toggles and you’re only running 4 toggles which is pretty typical.  Dark regeneration is your big end drain, and it should be at its level of power.  

 

I have an ice/km tank at lvl 47 who is an absolute end hog and has been since icicles at lvl 12.  I didn’t even get energy defense until lvl 18 ON A TANK.    That’s lvl 28 for everybody else.  I have 5 toggles from ice armor at higher individual end costs than dark armor.  Energy absorption is great but I have to have about 4 guys around me at all times to keep my end up.  

If I am tanking an AV I have to start prioritizing toggles.

 

Dark armor isn’t the only set with endurance issues.  You plan for them and play around them.  The same goes for minimal fx.  If you don’t want to look like a dust cloud, don’t play dark armor.  There are more natural sets if your goal is to look natural.

 

In my opinion, all of the armor sets are in a pretty decent place right now.  Some need some minor tweaks, like glacial armor’s available lvl, granite armor’s penalties re-evaluated, and possibly some help for cloak of fear.  

 

Dark armor is in a pretty good spot performance wise.  It has some unique build quirks.  Leave those alone.  Stop power creep and homogenization.  Instead, help the sets that actually need help and nerf the clear outliers.  

[Myrmidon]

4 hours ago, SwitchFade said:

I want to get clear answers from the dissenters:

 

Why, EXACTLY, are you who are objecting to a reduction in end consumption?

This.

[Myrmidon]

53 minutes ago, Mr.Sinister said:

 

Dark armor is in a pretty good spot performance wise.  It has some unique build quirks.  Leave those alone.  Stop power creep and homogenization.  Instead, help the sets that actually need help and nerf the clear outliers.  

I have an SG mate that took Dark Armor to 45 so far. He keeps asking me “when does this one become fun?” That is on an SO/Common IO build with the essential +End IOs.

 

As a practitioner of Dark Armor ( my second most played set), sure, I can use sets to allow for a 12-13 toggle build, but should I really have to?

[eknudson]

Interesting reading. My dark tank definitely doesn't feel like he's severely underperforming-- outside of autohit damage almost nothing bothers him much, and if you don't kill him fast, dark regeneration is ready to refill the green bar. It did take a few inf to get there, but he was strong to most things on the way up

 

Cloak of Darkness is weird. My tank doesn't actually want to be stealthy most of the time, but I need the defense to get to 45%. Cloak of Fear needs such heavy slotting to be useful-- I would like to see it either have slightly better base accuracy or slightly lower end cost. 

 

Can we flip soul transfer and cloak of darkness, and make soul transfer a power that returns end if used when not dead? Do that, buff cloak of fear, I really don't think the set needs much more.  Maybe give it 4 points of kb protection somewhere-- it has a limited toxic and energy resistance already, does it need the kb hole too?

[Brutal Justice]

4 hours ago, Myrmidon said:

I have an SG mate that took Dark Armor to 45 so far. He keeps asking me “when does this one become fun?” That is on an SO/Common IO build with the essential +End IOs.

 

As a practitioner of Dark Armor ( my second most played set), sure, I can use sets to allow for a 12-13 toggle build, but should I really have to?

You don’t have to use sets.  You have to use sets to run max diff just like everybody else.  Every quirk dark armor has can be addressed with power selections.  I run no enhancements until lvl 22. Then I run common IOs to lvl 47.  Then I start a set bonus build.  I pick up a couple unique IOs on the way usually but that’s it.  

 

I looked it up, Oppressive gloom has an end drain of .08/s.  That’s minimal.  Drop cloak of darkness for combat jumping which has an end drain of .06/s.  Without set bonuses that 5 def from cloak means nothing compared to CJ at 2.5.  

 

Dark armor With 5 toggles has 1.29/s end drain  unenhanced.  That’s without running CoF or murky cloud and instead using combat jumping to cover the loss of immob protection.  Ice armor has an end drain of 1.96/s with its five toggles.  Fire armor with its 3 toggles and combat jumping has 1.1/s.  I would wager dark armor is more durable than both of these sets on common IOs.  

 

Dark regeneration uses 33.8 endurance.  You could fire that every 16s with common IOs.  That’s your end drainer.  Any power that can take you from 1 hp to full every 16s should cost that much and should be heavily taxing for the sake of balance.  

Edited April 28, 2020 by Mr.Sinister
I said stop murky cloud. I meant cloak of darkness

[Myrmidon]

53 minutes ago, Mr.Sinister said:

 I run no enhancements until lvl 22. Then I run common IOs to lvl 47.  Then I start a set bonus build.  I pick up a couple unique IOs on the way usually but that’s it.

Interesting. I have all of my builds completely ready to go at level 1 (all sets and such waiting for their levels) and I find it odd that people wait until 47-50 for sets.

 

Parhaps I should clarify. I have found the keys to working around the Endurance management of Dark Armor, however, should it be necessary for such a pattern to exist?

[metacore]

Drop the stealth from CoD or at least let us select when to have that effect (prob too hard so just drop the stealth at least on Tanks).
Im not sure the last time I needed a Tank to stealth... anything. Im sure there will be some that do but for the vast majority fo the time a Tank is meant to DRAW aggro not avoid it.
This might need some of the DEF values adjusted but thats for Devs/playtesting.

 

CoD also has +Perception so add the ToHit DeBuff Resistance to that.

 

Take the Immob Res from CoD and give it to Obsidian Shield.

Give some -ToHit to Death Shroud.

Get some numbers on EndUsage (at SO level) (will try and do this if I get the time).

[Naraka]

7 hours ago, SwitchFade said:

I want to get clear answers from the dissenters:

 

Why, EXACTLY, are you who are objecting to a reduction in end consumption?

Because the set can perform just fine with the costs it has.  Someone else mentioned players pushing to have all sets perform and be built the same way.  I ask, why should every set be made to require all the same build considerations?  If running all the toggles burns through your endurance too much, why not seek out specific build options rather than homogenize all counteractions of each set?  There are armor sets that have practically zero use for outside endurance assistance and even more sets that can be made to just ignore endurance consumption outside of END draining/-recovery situations.  Pretty similarly, Dark Armor can nearly ignore outside healing assistance because it's heal is so strong and recharges decently fast.  Since there are methods outside of IOs to assist in mitigating endurance, why not use them?  And then you have the comments saying how niche the mez toggles are so why run them all at the same time?  To bloat your endurance consumption so you have something to complain about?

 

Which then feeds into my other reason: I'd rather be given a reason to run all/more toggles than to just have it made cheaper to do.  I've read some pretty interesting ideas and arguments for buffing the mez toggles to provide extra utility to deepen the differences of the set vs checking off another set that, with IOs, completely circumvents another avenue of team assistance and build synergy.

[Parabola]

1 hour ago, Mr.Sinister said:

Dark armor With 5 toggles has 1.29/s end drain  unenhanced.  That’s without running CoF or murky cloud and instead using combat jumping to cover the loss of immob protection.  Ice armor has an end drain of 1.96/s with its five toggles.  Fire armor with its 3 toggles and combat jumping has 1.1/s.

All this is true but both those sets (eventually) get an end recovery power. I think you mean not running cloak of darkness rather than murky cloud? I would never leave cod out as it's a less costly weave with other benefits but I take the point that it would be pretty optional on a SO build.

 

2 hours ago, Mr.Sinister said:

I would wager dark armor is more durable than both of these sets on common IOs.  

Than fire armor? Sure. Ice armor? I don't see it. An ice armor tank can softcap typed defences on SO's and be endurance sustainable due to the absorption power. It also has a hefty debuff aura to take the edge off what does come through and a heal/+maxhp power. Ice has holes that are harder to plug with IO's but I'd rather run an ice on SO's than a dark (and in fact did back on live pre i9).

 

1 hour ago, Mr.Sinister said:

Dark regeneration uses 33.8 endurance.  You could fire that every 16s with common IOs.  That’s your end drainer.  Any power that can take you from 1 hp to full every 16s should cost that much and should be heavily taxing for the sake of balance.

Indeed. IO's again make balance difficult for this power. Not only is it easier to build in more end reduction alongside the other things you need (acc, rech, maybe heal), but there is also the theft proc that can make the power endurance neutral or even better. This is a massive change in performance between SO's and IO's and it's hard to get away from that when talking overall balance.

 

As I said in my first post in this thread dark armor is really strong on IO's but I still remember what it was like on SO's and I wouldn't want to go through that again...

[Naraka]

2 hours ago, Myrmidon said:

Interesting. I have all of my builds completely ready to go at level 1 (all sets and such waiting for their levels) and I find it odd that people wait until 47-50 for sets.

 

Parhaps I should clarify. I have found the keys to working around the Endurance management of Dark Armor, however, should it be necessary for such a pattern to exist?

I usually only bother with set IOs until after level 30 so I can start getting attuned but even then, it's more a matter of crafting, converting, playing the market a little to earn everything as I go so some sets won't be filled out until well past lvl 38.  But it's really what you make of it.  The most draining effects on a build are likely the clicks anyway, not the armor toggles.  

1 hour ago, parabola said:

Than fire armor? Sure. Ice armor? I don't see it. An ice armor tank can softcap typed defences on SO's and be endurance sustainable due to the absorption power. It also has a hefty debuff aura to take the edge off what does come through and a heal/+maxhp power. Ice has holes that are harder to plug with IO's but I'd rather run an ice on SO's than a dark (and in fact did back on live pre i9).

Ice Armor has it's quirks too, primarily being light on healing and that bit of a Fire damage hole (practically no defense and a smidgen of resistance to fire...I say a smidgen because even with multiple saturated Energy Absorptions stacked, that will be what you don't cap on a SO build) which is a relatively common damage type.  Its mostly name to fame utility is its slow resistance so no worrying about those psi attacks slowing the recharge of your heal...

...oh yeah, it seems Ice armor has a psi hole as well with no defense or resistance to it.  There's also the tier 9 which I actually like (I take it on my Stalkers if they take Mako) but some see it as a hinderance.

 

DA on the other hand has moderate to good resistances to everything, even psi and toxic.  It's main hole is KB, weaker to energy, strong -recovery and -ToHit.  I wouldn't mind the -ToHit hole being filled as the other aspects can be overcome either by smart play, build considerations or IOs.

 

As for preferences to run, I'd rather run both.  And I'd rather running both not feel the same.

 

[Naraka]

Looking at making some builds with DA, it's a pretty fun set to work around with because of its varying effects.  The main thing leaving me wanting is Cloak of Fear and Cloak of Darkness. 

 

With CoF, the only things to game it with to stack is either the presence pool which is mostly bad and slot hungry to make work or using some -ToHit powers to get nearly -20% ToHit if you're playing a Tanker or Brute.  Having more fear powers or perhaps a feedback loop to enhance other fear powers could be the synergy that power needs (for every foe within the cloak that is actually feared (so synergyzing with teammates that use fear powers too), you get a boost to the duration of your fear powers for 8sec stackable up to 5 with the 5th stack giving you a 45% chance of +1mag to Cloak of Fear. 

 

Cloak of Darkness has some nice effects but it's just a bummer you need it for immobilize protection.  I'd rather that be pushed into Obsidian Shield so that Cloak of Darkness becomes another optional toggle effect.  Add to it -ToHit protection along with its +perception and you then have the option of turning it off when you don't need its effects or keeping it on if you have a build that utilizes the +def.

 

Oppressive Gloom is a cool power that people often sign off because it only affects minions...but Tankers, Scrappers, Stalkers and Brutes have a plethora of powers that stun either very reliably on a single target or liberally in an AoE.  This is a power that, if leveraged in your build craft, can feel like a cool payoff for its minor HP drain.  I mean, MA can keep some hard targets stunned, EM is another option for lots of ST and AoE stuns, Kinetic Melee, the near entirety of War Mace, Stone Melee has some AoE stun.  Despite what meta-builds tend to aim for, having a Stone Melee Tanker using OG and just Faulting stuff sounds quite entertaining.

 

Then comes the endurance management.  There are options.  Outside of IOs, Tankers/Brutes can get Conserve Power.  Those that like the Leadership pool can take Victory Rush.  Some sets like Savage, Dark Melee and Staff can get you some bonus options. All of them can take Physical Perfection.  Needing to take aspects of your build into consideration to aid or synergize positively is what makes building characters fun...but if you don't actually need anything and extra stuff is just a perk, it's perceived as less rewarding.

[KelvinKole]

Not really liking the idea of moving the immob protection out of CoD. In general, I don't like the idea that any power in a set can be easily skipped. It's already easy enough to get immob protection and defense from combat jumping, so CoD is already toeing that skippable line.

 

Dark Armor is a very strong set and I think the way to keep it balanced is to add value to the powers people don't take. Not necessarily to buff the set, but to increase the investment cost required to run it at max potential, while adding some flavor or plugging some minor holes. 

 

Sets like invuln, energy aura, electric armor, bio, super reflexes, Shield, etc. all function better when you take everything. Dark can reach similar levels while skipping 3-4 of its powers. Any rebalance for this set somehow needs to address spreading out what it does well, while making it more fun (less exhausting) to level, and without raising its ceiling too much higher. 

[Galaxy Brain]

Can I ask everyone this:

 

Why pick dark armor, specifically, over another armor set?

[KelvinKole]

7 minutes ago, Galaxy Brain said:

Can I ask everyone this:

 

Why pick dark armor, specifically, over another armor set?

I'll bite. 

 

Two reasons I do it. Theme and pride. 

 

Theme is self explanatory. 

 

Pride because it does take some resolve to get it to 50 and build it out. But it does reward you for doing it, in the end. 

[ArchVileTerror]

Theme, 100%.  Same reason to pick -any- Power Set.

I just can't wrap my head around people who only play with the leading performance flavours of the month.

 

And to nip it in the bud:  Why does it matter how Dark Armour performs if you're just playing for theme? 

For me?  Doesn't matter so much, but there's something to be said about a Set which is so difficult and punishing that it ends up becoming the number-one voted Set for a deep look by the community.

Dark Armour doesn't -need- to be great.  Dark Armour just has to be good enough that people who -want- to play it for theme don't feel an overwhelming sense of dread for having to slog through its overwhelming downsides.

[Galaxy Brain]

So, two votes for theme but I could color fire aura dark and say its netherworld energy for my theme as well.

 

What makes it stand out and fun to play over other armors?

Edited April 28, 2020 by Galaxy Brain

[SwitchFade]

4 hours ago, Naraka said:

Because the set can perform just fine with the costs it has.  Someone else mentioned players pushing to have all sets perform and be built the same way.  I ask, why should every set be made to require all the same build considerations?  If running all the toggles burns through your endurance too much, why not seek out specific build options rather than homogenize all counteractions of each set?  There are armor sets that have practically zero use for outside endurance assistance and even more sets that can be made to just ignore endurance consumption outside of END draining/-recovery situations.  Pretty similarly, Dark Armor can nearly ignore outside healing assistance because it's heal is so strong and recharges decently fast.  Since there are methods outside of IOs to assist in mitigating endurance, why not use them?  And then you have the comments saying how niche the mez toggles are so why run them all at the same time?  To bloat your endurance consumption so you have something to complain about?

 

Which then feeds into my other reason: I'd rather be given a reason to run all/more toggles than to just have it made cheaper to do.  I've read some pretty interesting ideas and arguments for buffing the mez toggles to provide extra utility to deepen the differences of the set vs checking off another set that, with IOs, completely circumvents another avenue of team assistance and build synergy.

To be very clear, you are against an END reduction because "just fine"?

 

It would be just fine with an END reduction, too.

 

And you could still play just the same as now, but others, especially those who can't play well on SO slotting could now enjoy the build.

 

Again I ask everyone,

 

Why, specifically, are you AGAINST an End redux? It has no detrimental effect on how you play now and would increase the player base of the set 

[SwitchFade]

24 minutes ago, ArchVileTerror said:

Theme, 100%.  Same reason to pick -any- Power Set.

I just can't wrap my head around people who only play with the leading performance flavours of the month.

 

And to nip it in the bud:  Why does it matter how Dark Armour performs if you're just playing for theme? 

For me?  Doesn't matter so much, but there's something to be said about a Set which is so difficult and punishing that it ends up becoming the number-one voted Set for a deep look by the community.

Dark Armour doesn't -need- to be great.  Dark Armour just has to be good enough that people who -want- to play it for theme don't feel an overwhelming sense of dread for having to slog through its overwhelming downsides.

All great points!

 

Are you against an end redux in the set?

[Nanolathe]

What would I like to see?

 

The set claims to be strong at debuffing enemies and buffing the player as a transference of power. This is only the case for 2 out of 9 of its powers; Dark Regeneration (Heals for Damage) and Soul Transfer, (Player Rez for Damage and Stun). Cloak of Fear has a -ACC debuff, but in no way empowers the player.

 

1. More of the sets powers should, in my opinion, "do what it says on the tin". Below I have made some suggestions for specific powers that are the most concerning from a mechanical and theamatic standpoint, but as an overall direction; Symmetrical effects! However you're debuffing an enemy should buff you in the exact same (or as similar as possible) axis.

 

The set claims to be one of the only sets to offer strong Negative Energy resistances and Psionic Resistances but is weak to Energy. Unslotted, a Tanker has 30% res to Smashing, Lethal, Fire and Cold. 20% res to Energy and Toxic. 40% res to Neg. 50% res to Psi. The value of Psi and Neg resistances has skewed the set away from one of the most important resistances in the game; Energy. The set massively underperforms at a very common damage type mid-to-late game that is only patched by IOs.

 

2. This is not a bad thing and should stay as it is. Too many sets have no real weaknesses that the player has to think around, and if the IO system is to stay as it is, with set bonuses making up for the shortfalls in a set's capability then I see this as the standard that other sets should be put in line with. I do not want to see another set without any weaknesses. Keep the holes.

 

However, I think that the current way the IO system massively skews towards late-game, rare sets to actually achieve this goal for Dark Armour is a problem. Leveling/grinding to a place that gives a DA player the ability to begin patching these holes in their defences takes too long. 

If the IO system is not going to be looked at in detail in the near future, with a view to a total overhaul, then please give us a few IO sets that are designed to help low-to-mid level players patch the holes in their Defences / Resistances (at the cost of not being as generalised as some other sets) 

 

The set does not have any Knockback mitigation; a very, very common effect - and claims to not have immobilisation mitigation either; this being false as it is part of Cloak of Darkness.

 

3. Regarding Knockback; this is not a bad thing in and of itself, but it stands out when compared to other defensive sets. It is lucky that there are several, currently affordable IO bonuses that plug this hole. However without the IO system the only other option for this would be Acrobatics from the Leaping pool. This power is pretty universally regarded as total trash and for some reason requires a 2-power investment in the Leaping pool to unlock! If the IO system were ever to be overhauled, or the price of the KB protection IOs were to skyrocket it would put DA in a very uncomfortable position.

 

I suggest at least allowing Acrobatics to be selected without prerequisites. Reworking the Acrobatics power to actually be worthwhile outside of plugging Dark Armour's and Fiery Aura's lack of Knockack protection would also be a desireable change in my opinion.

 

Cloak of Darkness providing your Immobilisation protection doesn't make sense. I'm guessing it was put there to make the power more "appealing" to melee damage ATs... by holding their status protection hostage. Fail. Move this protection somewhere else. CoD should provide you with stealth. If we were to go with a debuff-to-buff style of power as the initial description suggests then make this power also reduce perception for a nearby enemy too, allowing other melee ATs to get closer without being detected.

 

Cloak of Fear and Death Shroud are two powers that are at complete odds with each other. One causes Fear for damage mitigation, while the other causes damage... largely, if not entirely negating the fear effect.

 

4. Remove Death Shroud's damage in favour of a weakening effect that doesn't break an enemy out of their Fear effect. Have Death Shroud buff the player too, based on the number of enemies within its effect. -Damage for +Damage, -ACC for +ACC, etc. I'm in favour of "symmetrical" effects.

 

Oppressive Gloom and Cloak of Fear are two toggles that are severely overlapping in terms of the effective end-goal they wish to achieve. Both give minor control effects; the former stopping attacks but not movement, and the latter reducing movement and attacks if the player does not attack them first. 

 

5. Combine the powers into one, or cut one of them out. My preference would be for keeping the Cloak of Fear, and buffing it to be more effective. Replace Oppressive Gloom with something more thematic or mechanically interesting. Using your own health as a cost for the power is an interesting idea. Having the effect be a Mag2 stun is neither interesting nor in my opinion, congruent. Make it give massive -Regen to enemies around you. Make it -MaxHP over time to enemies around you. Make it -Healing to enemies around you. Make it do all 3!

 

The set is overly reliant on Toggles for its effects at 7 out of 9 powers, leading to difficulties with endurance management and general knowledge of exactly which power grants you what status protection.

 

6. If the set is to be so toggle heavy then the toggles either need to be worth it, or have endurance costs in line with their effects. I like that not ever set is a cookie-cutter duplication of the others. The set does not need to be the same as every other set by any means... but it needs to have equivalent strengths to counteract its inherent costs.

 

Overall I will place theme as the highest ideal for a set to aim for. The mechanics should serve the set's theme. Please don't homogenise the sets into carbon copies of each other.

 

Lastly; Thank you for your efforts Homecoming Developers. I hope to see great things as we all move forward with City of Heroes/Villains!

Edited April 28, 2020 by Nanolathe

[ArchVileTerror]

@SwitchFade

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/18436-weekly-discussion-48-dark-armor/?tab=comments#comment-205131

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/18436-weekly-discussion-48-dark-armor/?tab=comments#comment-205410 (re:  https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/18436-weekly-discussion-48-dark-armor/?tab=comments#comment-205315 )

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/18436-weekly-discussion-48-dark-armor/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-205528

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/18436-weekly-discussion-48-dark-armor/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-205724

 

I am very much for accessibility and enjoyment for players who do not want to obsess over optimization.

Specifically in this discussion:  I am for some kind of adjustment to Dark Armour to either improve the Set's usefulness, or to reduce the impact it has on Endurance.

 

@Galaxy Brain

The colour of a Power is -not- the entirety of what defines a theme in a Set.

@Cutter said it back near the start of this; the description for Dark Armour does not match the actual game mechanics of the Set.

Rather than change the Description, I think it would be nice to lean in to the express theme of the Set and make it really stand out.

But, as low hanging fruit, the Endurance Costs to such a Toggle-heavy Set would be a great band aid if more serious surgery isn't presently feasible.

[Heraclea]

I suppose I oughtta get off my duff and make a Dark Armor character.  Which attack sets have synergy with it?  Staff is an obvious candidate, and Dark Melee has a slow enduurance recovery power, but I have 50s of them. 

 

Savage seems the obvious choice of the melee sets I have not yet tried. 

[Galaxy Brain]

@ArchVileTerror agreed, but "theme" was thrown out so generally that yeah, recoloring fire aura or even rad armor to dark effects and saying that its netherworld energy RP wise does the trick, on theme alone.

 

What mechanically makes DA fun that you dont get from other armors? I ask because that is what the set should be balanced around, it's fun factor.