Ultra Sturdy - Demons/EA Build(s)

[Dr Causality]

I've been mentioning in some other threads that Demons/EA could be built to be by far the sturdiest MM combo I'd tried.    So wanted to share a build or two for people to look at or test on Beta server.    

 

Just to be clear I'm only claiming Demons/EA is top tier in Survivability.   /EA has poor DPS potential, so I'm not sure how I'd rate it overall against other all around top combos using  /Storm, /Time or /Cold.       But the survivability that can be achieved is insane.      I ran it against +4/+8 Carnival paper mission barely taking any noticeable damage.   Cleared a rob bank in Grandville against +4/+8 Arachnos without any difficult.   It even handled +4/+8 Malta with double spawn rooms.  Malta was still a threat and I had play more carefully against the Malta double spawns....  But most of the MM's I've tried just can't do +4/+8 Malta solo at all. 

 

The /EA basics:

Absorb in essence increases the pets effective HP, preventing them from getting one or two shotted as easily.   High Resistance is a force multiplier for Absorb.   It appears that incoming damage is first reduced by Resistance, before it's taken from the Absorb HP pool.   This means that even a relatively small Absorb HP pool goes a long long way on Res Hard Capped pets (90%) and MM (75%.).   /EA can replenish the aoe Absorb Shield HP pool roughly every 5s or 6s on modest global recharge builds.      Demons/EA can hard cap most of the pets to many damage types and can also hard cap the MM to S/L/F/C, with the lowest other Resistance holes in the mid 50's for pets and the mid 30's for the MM.     Add to that AOE mezz and KB protection, a large Chain Heal with low cooldown and you have a very sturdy mastermind.

 

But what's the gimmick, you're wondering?      

 

When testing how HP buffs impact the Absorb mechanic using HoarFrost (....it doesn't buff  /EA's Absorb if you're wondering**)     I found that with Cardiac Radial I could hard cap the Res of most of the pets AND also hard cap the MM's own Res to Smash/Lethal/Fire WITHOUT taking either Tough or an Epic Res shield!       The problems for /EA are poor DPS potential and no +Def numbers.   Well if you can build to mostly hard cap Resistance without needing an Epic Shield or the Fighting Pool, then you'd have a lot of power slots left to fill in Damage and +Def bonuses.   

 

By the numbers the sturdiest Demons/EA build I came up used the 'Chill Mastery Epic' and the Fighting Pool.     Hoarfrost easily gives you another 23% Toxic Res and +40% HP.   Frozen Armor lets you soft cap S/L Def.       So you end with impressive numbers like these (**Note: Faraday Cage is bugged Mid's so in game Res numbers will actually a bit higher than shown here...) :

 

 

 

The problem was even with proc-ed out Flash Freeze, the Damage was still anemic.    But looking at those numbers I realized, I didn't need the Fighting Pool or an Epic Shield.

 

 

So after lots of tuning I finally reached this 'Fire Mastery' build with greatly improved DPS, but that still retains most of hard capped Resistance and with 5% from Barrier reaches around 32.5% Def to all types except Psi.  [It was very challenging to get the Def numbers without Weave, but I was intent on not using power choices on Boxing and Tough....] :

 

  [Edit:  I added real in game numbers in the first reply to this post.]

 

 

 

  

The reasons this is impressive are,

 

• It's similar Resistance and Def as other top set combos, except with /EA and Cardiac Radial you also have an aoe roughly 400 HP Absorb shield on 6s cooldown!
• Those numbers are achieved using only two toggles, Hover and Maneuvers.    Meaning's there's almost nothing to drop, even when you're sapped of endurance you only lose 7% Def and keep all the same Resistance and Mezz protection because Faraday Cage isn't a toggle, nor is Ember Shield, nor Barrier (for the 120s  5% Def and 6% Res...)
• It does all this while fitting in Bonfire, Hover, Hasten, Tactics, Provoke, proc-ed out Fireball, Force Feedback proc-ed out 'Crack Whip', and Corruption for stacking -Res, etc.
  • To do this I had to give up,  +Rech Bonuses, and the Discharge + Defibrillate -End drain combo.   But Bonfire is much better mitigation than the -End drain was and it also does a little bit of damage.

 

 

Build notes:

 

• Must have Cardiac Radial:  I think it's hands down the best Alpha for /EA.   Boosts your best power Absorb shield, boosts both Ember's and Faraday Cage's Resistance shields which is what lets you hard cap without Tough or Epic shields.  Plus it gives 33% endurance reduction enhancement letting you get away with short slotting powers for more set bonuses.
• Needs Barrier Core:    It's counting on the constant 120s duration 5% Def and 6% Res from Barrier.
  • That let's you reach around 32.5% Def to all but Psi.   So after the 1st portion of Barrier wears off,  if you're still in a heavy fight you pop one small purple inspiration for soft cap typed defense before Barrier is up again.  
• Accuracy is lower than ideal for versus +4, but keep in mind there will be an extra 11% +Tohit coming from 'Empower Circuit' that isn't showing in Mid's.  
• No KB Protection slotted.  Staying inside Faraday Cage gives you Mag10 KB prot.   And beyond that KB is less problematic with Hover...
• You can switch to alternate slotting to swap the Super Command of Mastermind and Superior Mark of Supremacy sets between the Demonlings and Demon Prince.   This shifts 6% Res away from Energy/Negative and gives to Toxic/Psi.  I felt it was better to have it balanced, but swapping also gives Demon Prince 7% more Damage...
• To reach Def and Res numbers you must have the full 6-set of Superior Blistering Cold, that I muled into brawl .     I muled it into brawl to free up two power slots, offering you build flexibility.
• I intentionally left two powers empty, so you can customize to your preferences.   
• Options are:
  • Lash:   If you like the idea of all three whip attacks you can take Lash and move the 6-Superior Blistering Colds over from Brawl.  
    • But my take is Lash is the worst of the three and given Corruption's low cooldown two whip attacks was more than enough.    Corruption and Lash do roughly the same DPA.  But Corruption has a much lower cooldown and faster activation time, so more easily stacks -Res and also has a 96' range from Cardiac in this build,  making it far more versatile.
  • Assault for some more dmg
  • Discharge (and maybe Defibrillate).   You only have a single slot available, so they won't be very effective at -End drain.  But together they can still do it.  
    • Also Discharge is -11% Dmg debuff, so provides some additional survivability.  And also offers a small -50% Regen debuff.
  • Fly+Afterburner:   You can only single slot, but that could give one KB prot IO and LOTG +5 in Afterburner gives you +Rech and gets you near soft cap positonal Def.
  • Amp Up:   Nice to have for teammates.   But also improves Ember Demon's base heal by 50%, so improves your own solo survivability too.   Ember also is the weakest because it can shield itself.  I didn't test thoroughly, but 'Amp Up' improves Absorb, so appears to increase the amount of Absorb the recipient get from your Insulating Circuit chain.  [But it does not appear to pass that higher Absorb on to the next in the chain...]
  • Super Speed:  slotted with single w/ an stealth IO would give you full stealth for zipping to the end of missions....
  • Vengeance:  LOTG mule, and profit from teammate's demise etc. 
• Malta made me realize how useful it was to have the Devastation +Chance for Mag2 Hold proc in Char.   Being able to stack a Mag5 Hold on a Hercules Class Titan boss missiling you from across the room.   I'd consider stealing the FF proc from Bonfire or maybe even one of the Def bonuses sets to have that better Mag5 mitigation option....

 

 

Demon/EA/Fire - Bonfire build:

 

Download Link

 

Data Chunk

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**  The Absorb from /Nature's Wild Bastion is buffed by your HP, as were the other Absorbs I looked at like Bio, so this makes me wonder if /EA's Absorb is bugged?

 

Edited June 2, 2020 by Dr Causality

[Dr Causality]

Here are in game numbers of the build for the MM and Pets:

 

 

Faraday Cage is bugged in Mids', so some in game numbers for the MM's Resistance are 4% higher than shown in Mid's.   You're actually at 74.5% S/L, and 62% Cold,  without Barrier:

 

 

 

 

 

 

T1   Pet Resistance:

 

 

 

T2 Pet Resistance:

 

 

 

 

T3 Pet Resistance:

 

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by Dr Causality