Does Dark Blast underperform?

[Corbie]

Made my first blaster and have him at level 37 right now with level 40 IOs.

 

I am not super impressed by my damage.  Expected more.  Just wondering if Dark Blast was a poor choice? Or maybe im doing something wrong I dont know.  Friend of mine has an electric blaster and seems to chunk things a lot more often. 

[Nemu]

Is your friend punching stuff in the face as well? Side by side dark blast should not feel lacking compared to electric blast, however some players choose to play entirely ranged blasters which means they skip all the melee attacks in the secondary, and when you put that up against a player that embraces the melee attacks to punch face as well as blast face, the former will feel lacking at times.

 

Share your build, maybe it's your power selections, maybe it's your slotting, having that context helps.

[Without_Pause]

I would be curious to see the build. In terms of leveling, my default is just using level 25 common IOs. Dark also has a range heal, and to be honest, depending on their build, ie Elec/elec, I find end drain not to be that great at mitigation, and more so in today's playing of the game with +4 mobs. Short Circuit's animation isn't ideal for a PBAoE either. My experience comes from having a Kin/elec on live as a main and leveling a Elec/kin controller on HC into the 40s. The controller version is better, but good luck draining end on a +4 AV. FYI, Elec blast has never been know for it's damage.

Edited September 28, 2021 by Without_Pause

[tidge]

In my experience: Dark is not as fast as quickly defeating enemies, but I wouldn't call it under-performing. I suppose a case can be made about inefficiencies inherent with damage-over-time and 'overkill', but I don't think that is close to being a primary issue with Dark.

 

The most difficult aspect I had adjusting to my Dark/Temporal Blaster was this: My build is not really designed for "Blapping"... and so while I have PBAoE, in practice I don't find myself leading with them... which ultimately means that they aren't strictly a key component of my attack chains. This feels like under-performing compared to many of my PBAoE characters, but I have taken this character through a lot of content at a variety of difficulty settings without really noticing terribly inefficient times.

 

In groups, I can take more risks but even so I find keeping the field of enemies in my vision makes me more effective on the teams.

 

EDIT: I should add that my character has and uses the melee and PBAoE, but primarily on the enemies who get to me, or for when I decide to engage in close combat.

Edited September 28, 2021 by tidge

[Uun]

It doesn't feel as hard-hitting as many other sets due to all the DoT. It also trades some damage for more control and utility. Tenebrous Tentacles is pretty awful damage unless you load it with procs. Abyssal Gaze needs more damage and a shorter recharge to make it comparable to Cosmic Burst, Freeze Ray and Lancer Shot (all high damage attacks with a mezz).

[PluckySidekick]

Dark is kind of a sleeper.

 

If you embrace the DoT and some of the melee, you'll love it.

 

It's not a FAST killer but it's as effective as any other set when you get your build set up.