Dark vs Soul which one would be better to use in the long run

[Washuchan]

I have a lvl 50 poison/dark def now and I would like to get some input/advice on which power is better to use. I know with soul I get the power boost which helps in alot of ways, but dark has 2pbaoes plus get some stam back to which I like. Power boost on soul is so yummie to. This toon would be used for everything in pve. I'm second guessing myself on this and I leaning towards dark right now as my epic/app.

[Bopper]

2 minutes ago, Washuchan said:

I have a lvl 50 poison/dark def now and I would like to get some input/advice on which power is better to use. I know with soul I get the power boost which helps in alot of ways, but dark has 2pbaoes plus get some stam back to which I like. Power boost on soul is so yummie to. This toon would be used for everything in pve. I'm second guessing myself on this and I leaning towards dark right now as my epic/app.

You need to tell us the build. Without knowing what power boost is boosting, I'd say Dark because the Soul Drain for that version can hit more targets and is on a shorter cooldown.

[Washuchan]

This is just just something I was playing around with. Yes I know its fine tuning and I will being that this weekend for it and making alot changes. On this build I was taking most of the winter sets and the ato sets. I nothing set in stone yet for my build.

Defender - Poison - Dark Blast test.mxd

[Dahkness]

If built correctly you can get soul drain nearly perma from Dark Mastery. On my poison I love to run Fold Space and Soul Drain. I feel you get a consistent dmg buff and if you run OG as well you get that stun when using fold space to help lessen the blow from taking alpha with fold space.  It’s great with VG as well. You can lead into so many combos. 

Edited June 12, 2021 by Dahkness

[Bopper]

3 hours ago, Washuchan said:

This is just just something I was playing around with. Yes I know its fine tuning and I will being that this weekend for it and making alot changes. On this build I was taking most of the winter sets and the ato sets. I nothing set in stone yet for my build.

Defender - Poison - Dark Blast test.mxd 11.79 kB · 0 downloads

I'm unable to look at your build at this time, but I think the answer will come from your playstyle. In this case, there's sort of 2 styles. The cones from dark blast would suggest you might like to play at range and utilize their secondary effects. In such a case, power boost makes good sense. 

 

However, Venomous Gas and Blackstar would suggest some beefy melee situations, and having the superior version of Soul Drain would pair nicely with that. So my vote would likely be Dark Mastery, and that's coming from someone who loves Soul Mastery in general.

[Washuchan]

I was playing around with this using winter sets and ato sets and got some decent number on these test builds. One build has dark and the other one has soul. Both look nice on paper, but I was leaning towards dark build myself, but i'm going to try another build based more on recharge to try for from perma soul drain.

Defender - Poison - Dark Blast test 2.mxd Defender - Poison - Dark Blast test 3.mxd

[Doomguide2005]

     Unless I'm remembering incorrectly or funds are tight your 2nd (and third) builds can have different pools and epics.  Give one Dark the other Soul.  Nothing like playing them to best learn which fits your playstyle best.