Suprising Solution to Dark Armor Endurance Management

[Parabola]

I think there has been a bit of point missing going on here. I suspect the devs may look at this proc to bring it into line with the behaviour of the chance to heal procs, not because it is op and needs a nerf but to have similar things working in similar ways. That it struggles in a single target power is actually an imbalance that they would be trying to address with a change (at the time of the chance to heal proc change they mentioned that they were underperforming in single target powers).

 

As I said above we are in an odd place with dark armour where this one proc has a disproportionate effect on the overall usability of the set. I hope (and expect) that if they do make a change to the proc they will be making changes to dark armour at the same time. While they are cutting back on the massive end cost of dark regen I'd love them to buff cloak of fear to a more usable state.

[Yomo Kimyata]

How very odd they moved this to the Tanker forum.

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Parabola said:

I think there has been a bit of point missing going on here. I suspect the devs may look at this proc to bring it into line with the behaviour of the chance to heal procs, not because it is op and needs a nerf but to have similar things working in similar ways. That it struggles in a single target power is actually an imbalance that they would be trying to address with a change (at the time of the chance to heal proc change they mentioned that they were underperforming in single target powers).

 

As I said above we are in an odd place with dark armour where this one proc has a disproportionate effect on the overall usability of the set. I hope (and expect) that if they do make a change to the proc they will be making changes to dark armour at the same time. While they are cutting back on the massive end cost of dark regen I'd love them to buff cloak of fear to a more usable state.

I run a LOT of Dark armor.  If this thing was EARTH SHATTERING LIFE CHANGING I would have it on all my builds.  I use it once in a while on mid level builds.  it does not make the cut on final builds.

 

But sure, alter the entre system because this PROC might help Dark Armor where it is struggling the most.  Have a ball.

[Werner]

On 11/27/2021 at 12:25 PM, Parabola said:

Recently I've been using this slotting (robbed from Werner I think):

Level 8: Dark Regeneration

• (A) Fury of the Gladiator - Accuracy/Damage
• (9) Fury of the Gladiator - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
• (9) Fury of the Gladiator - Accuracy/Damage/End/Rech
• (11) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance
• (11) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance
• (13) Theft of Essence - Chance for +Endurance

This gives solid enhancement including a little heal for those times you only have a single target, some resists and some kb protection.

That's almost what I have on my Katana/Dark Brute, so maybe. My Preventive Medicines are heal and heal/rech, trading a little endurance reduction for a little more healing in AV fights. My Dark/MA tanker replaces Preventive Medicine with Touch of the Nictus heal and acc/end/heal, as I was already capping smashing/lethal resists. I don't like relying on the Theft of Essence proc because it might fail you when you need it most, particularly when fighting AVs, but it's still pretty nice.

[Parabola]

6 hours ago, Snarky said:

I run a LOT of Dark armor.  If this thing was EARTH SHATTERING LIFE CHANGING I would have it on all my builds.  I use it once in a while on mid level builds.  it does not make the cut on final builds.

 

But sure, alter the entre system because this PROC might help Dark Armor where it is struggling the most.  Have a ball.

You're still not understanding what I'm actually saying. But anyway, no matter.

 

7 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

How very odd they moved this to the Tanker forum.

Yeah, the AT general section might have been a better fit. We could almost do with a cross AT power mechanics subforum for this kind of discussion.

[Gobbledigook]

Good for Bio also.

[nihilii]

I'm with Snarky here. This proc used to be much better, but since the PPM change it mostly covers the end you're using activating Dark Regen - unless you're also heavily slotted for end reduction and always surrounded by crowds. That 20 feet range and 30s recharge hurts proc rate bad.

 

More power to anyone who gets great use out of it, but I don't even bother to slot it anymore. Would rather rely on Recovery Serums while leveling and Ageless once at the Incarnate level.

Theft of Essence is actually so much better on Bio and Rad, but neither of these powersets are lacking in native endurance management.

[Nyghtmaire]

5 hours ago, nihilii said:

I'm with Snarky here. This proc used to be much better, but since the PPM change it mostly covers the end you're using activating Dark Regen - unless you're also heavily slotted for end reduction and always surrounded by crowds. That 20 feet range and 30s recharge hurts proc rate bad.

 

Or bake the mediocre proc effect into the power. 

[Without_Pause]

8 hours ago, nihilii said:

Theft of Essence is actually so much better on Bio and Rad, but neither of these powersets are lacking in native endurance management.

+1. I popped it into my level 14 Rad tank and the end gain is quite nice since the end cost in Radiation Therapy is so much smaller compared to Dark Regeneration(13 vs. 33.8). 

[arcane]

4 hours ago, Nyghtmaire said:

Or bake the mediocre proc effect into the power. 

I don’t think Dark Armor needs its own in-set endurance tool. Sets have pros and cons, and endurance and DDR are the only Dark Armor cons. It’s otherwise pretty exceptionally invincible after you account for Dark Regeneration’s insane best-of-game healing potential and perfect damage resistance type coverage.

[Parabola]

22 minutes ago, arcane said:

perfect damage resistance type coverage

Eh ... I'd have to challenge that. Holes in energy and toxic are far from ideal. Neither are all that easy (or cheap) to patch up. For my money rad has the perfect holes - cold is largely ignorable and there are convenient single IO's to build up psi.

 

Dark is a good set, but I think it could stand a little freshen up. I can't see that dark regen needs to have quite such a brutal end cost and cloak of fear is dangerously close to being a trap power with high end cost, pitiful accuracy and not particularly impressive effect. Soul transfer also has to be one of the coolest powers thematically in the game but it suffers as all self res powers do from extremely limited utility.

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Parabola said:

Eh ... I'd have to challenge that. Holes in energy and toxic are far from ideal. Neither are all that easy (or cheap) to patch up. For my money rad has the perfect holes - cold is largely ignorable and there are convenient single IO's to build up psi.

 

Dark is a good set, but I think it could stand a little freshen up. I can't see that dark regen needs to have quite such a brutal end cost and cloak of fear is dangerously close to being a trap power with high end cost, pitiful accuracy and not particularly impressive effect. Soul transfer also has to be one of the coolest powers thematically in the game but it suffers as all self res powers do from extremely limited utility.

My non tanky reg Brute Dark Dark has 56% energy and 51% toxic resist.  not perfect but ....usually...enough to let me get that big heal to fire.  There are some hallways it will not save you in, granted.

[Snarky]

Here is the build.  Notice no Theft of Essence PROC...not good enough or useful enough to squeeze onto this build...

This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.5.7
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Snarky 5.0: Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Dark Armor
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Smite -- TchofDth-Acc/Dmg(A), TchofDth-Dmg/Rchg(3), TchofDth-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), TchofDth-Dam%(5)
Level 1: Dark Embrace -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(7), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(7), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(9), GldArm-3defTpProc(9)
Level 2: Death Shroud -- SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprUnrFur-Dmg/Rchg(11), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), SprUnrFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), SprUnrFur-Rchg/+Regen/+End(15)
Level 4: Murky Cloud -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(17), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(19), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 6: Shadow Maul -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(21), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), Arm-Acc/Rchg(23), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Arm-Dam%(25)
Level 8: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A)
Level 10: Obsidian Shield -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(25), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(27), UnbGrd-Max HP%(27)
Level 12: Siphon Life -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBrtFur-Dmg/Rchg(29), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), SprBrtFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), SprBrtFur-Rech/Fury%(31)
Level 14: Touch of Fear -- CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb(A), CldSns-%Dam(50)
Level 16: Dark Regeneration -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(33), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(33), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 18: Dark Consumption -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(34), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(34), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 20: Cloak of Darkness -- Ksm-ToHit+(A), Rct-ResDam%(36), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(37)
Level 22: Kick -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A)
Level 24: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(37), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(37), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(39)
Level 26: Soul Drain -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(39), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(40)
Level 28: Cloak of Fear -- CldSns-%Dam(A), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb(42)
Level 30: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 32: Midnight Grasp -- Hct-Dmg(A), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(42), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Hct-Acc/Rchg(43), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Hct-Dam%(43)
Level 35: Oppressive Gloom -- HO:Endo(A)
Level 38: Soul Tentacles -- Bmbdmt-Dam(A), Bmbdmt-Acc/Rech/End(45), Bmbdmt-Dam/Rech(45), Bmbdmt-Acc/Dam/Rech(45), Bmbdmt-Acc/Dam/Rech/End(46), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(46)
Level 41: Dark Obliteration -- Rgn-Dmg(A), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(46), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(48), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Rgn-Knock%(50)
Level 44: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 47: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 49: Soul Transfer -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Fury 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(15), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(17)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 50: Cardiac Radial Boost 
Level 8: Afterburner 
------------

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[Nyghtmaire]

2 hours ago, arcane said:

I don’t think Dark Armor needs its own in-set endurance tool. Sets have pros and cons, and endurance and DDR are the only Dark Armor cons. It’s otherwise pretty exceptionally invincible after you account for Dark Regeneration’s insane best-of-game healing potential and perfect damage resistance type coverage.

I was being facetious. Apologies. For weaknesses, there’s also KB protection absence and lack of meaningful-speed/recharge. All of these things can be addressed through clever slotting, but these weaknesses are present at base. 
 

For cloak of fear, dark melee as a pairing really is the secret sauce to getting it to work (and stacking with Touch of Fear). Juicing the accuracy with Soul Drain in a crowd (the only time you really need CoF to work) and managing endurance with Dark Consumption. Otherwise, you’re left with Vigor or other late-game remedies. 

[Nyghtmaire]

34 minutes ago, Snarky said:

My non tanky reg Brute Dark Dark has 56% energy and 51% toxic resist.  not perfect but ....usually...enough to let me get that big heal to fire.  There are some hallways it will not save you in, granted.

My tank hovers in the 70s with MotT procs, buts that’s really it with a damage focused build. 

[cfarevival]

There are of course many options.  However, my original post was really about my dark/dark scrapper, Nux.  I am still working on him (I don't ever use mids.  Pen and paper for me).  However, I completely do not understand why people would suggest that the Theft of Essence proc is only mediocre.  I have a high, high recharge build.  My Dark Regen CD is just under 9 seconds.  It is in my attack chain in such a way that it fires as soon as it is off of cooldown (it appears twice in my attack chain).  The way I have it setup, it is the source my my +50% critical strikes, 80% of endurance recovery (I do take ageless for the recharge, and bonus +recovery, but this only gets applied when I notice it is down), -res, and a few damage procs.  I may slot it with a KD proc soon.

 

There are of course other ways to handle endurance.  For those of you who chose cardiac as your alpha, you will of course not play this way nor need to rely so heavily on a proc like this.  In fact, you probably will notice little benefit from it.  I may move to cardiac in the future (boost my -res), but I doubt I will.  For those who are brutes and have taken energy mastery, you probably won't need this.  But my goal is to maximize DPS AGAINST a non-cardiac endurance solution.  I like cardiac, but frankly, don't need it with this playstyle.

 

My endurance bar bounces around like crazy.  I have little in my build to help reduce endurance cost or boost my recovery (save for ageless).  However, combined with my habit of mob jumping, I have found this to be an effective solution to never worrying about endurance.  I start popping recovery serum whenever I have to face off against only a few baddies.  If you wanna see, come team up with me in Indom some day!

[Arnabas]

I was so happy when i read this, thinking finally my character may be playable again.

I'm a little disappointed, though. I thought this would be really helpful, but it only seems to fire about once in every 10+ uses, and then it gives me about 20% or so of my End bar. 

[cfarevival]

@arnabas, Do you have any recharge enhancements in it?  If so, that's what made it pretty bad for me.  I had to toss all the recharge enhancements in order to get the effect.  If not, I need to run some comparisons between tank, brute, and scrapper.

[cfarevival]

I am going to post the text to my build from the game.  Maybe this will help:

 

Nux: Level 50 Natural Class_Scrapper

Character Profile:
------------------
Level 1: Inherent Inherent Brawl
    EMPTY
Level 1: Inherent Inherent prestige_generic_Sprintp
    Crafted_Run (50)
Level 1: Inherent Inherent prestige_BestBuy_Sprintp
    EMPTY
Level 1: Inherent Inherent prestige_EB_Sprintp
    EMPTY
Level 1: Inherent Inherent prestige_Gamestop_Sprintp
    EMPTY
Level 1: Inherent Inherent prestige_DVD_Glidep
    EMPTY
Level 1: Inherent Inherent Sprint
    EMPTY
Level 2: Inherent Inherent Rest
    EMPTY
Level 1: Inherent Fitness Swift
    Crafted_Run (50)
Level 1: Inherent Fitness Hurdle
    Crafted_Jump (50)
Level 1: Inherent Fitness Health
    Attuned_Miracle_F (1)
    Attuned_Numinas_Convalesence_F (1)
    Attuned_Panacea_F (1)
Level 1: Inherent Fitness Stamina
    Attuned_Performance_Shifter_F (1)
    Crafted_Recovery (50+5)
    Crafted_Recovery (50+5)
Level 1: Scrapper_Melee Dark_Melee Smite
    Attuned_Overwhelming_Force_F (1)
Level 6: Scrapper_Melee Dark_Melee Shadow_Maul
    Superior_Attuned_Superior_Critical_Strikes_A (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Superior_Critical_Strikes_B (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Superior_Critical_Strikes_C (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Superior_Critical_Strikes_E (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Superior_Critical_Strikes_D (1)
Level 26: Scrapper_Melee Dark_Melee Soul_Drain
    Attuned_Gaussians_Synchronized_FireControl_F (1)
    Crafted_Armageddon_A (50+3)
    Crafted_Armageddon_B (50)
    Crafted_Armageddon_C (50)
    Crafted_Armageddon_E (50)
    Superior_Attuned_Armageddon_D (1)
Level 32: Scrapper_Melee Dark_Melee Midnight_Grasp
    Crafted_Hecatomb_A (50+5)
    Crafted_Hecatomb_B (50)
    Crafted_Hecatomb_C (50)
    Crafted_Hecatomb_E (50)
    Crafted_Hecatomb_F (50)
Level 49: Scrapper_Melee Dark_Melee Dark_Consumption
    Attuned_Obliteration_B (1)
    Attuned_Obliteration_C (1)
Level 1: Scrapper_Defense Dark_Armor Dark_Embrace
    Crafted_Unbreakable_Guard_A (50+5)
    Crafted_Unbreakable_Guard_B (50+5)
    Crafted_Unbreakable_Guard_D (50+5)
    Crafted_Unbreakable_Guard_E (50+5)
Level 2: Scrapper_Defense Dark_Armor Death_Shroud
    Superior_Attuned_Superior_Scrappers_Strike_F (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Superior_Scrappers_Strike_E (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Superior_Scrappers_Strike_D (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Superior_Scrappers_Strike_C (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Superior_Scrappers_Strike_B (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Superior_Scrappers_Strike_A (1)
Level 8: Scrapper_Defense Dark_Armor Defracting_cloud
    Attuned_Unbreakable_Guard_A (1)
    Attuned_Unbreakable_Guard_B (1)
    Attuned_Unbreakable_Guard_D (1)
    Attuned_Unbreakable_Guard_E (1)
Level 12: Scrapper_Defense Dark_Armor Obsidian_Shield
    Attuned_Unbreakable_Guard_A (1)
    Attuned_Unbreakable_Guard_B (1)
    Attuned_Unbreakable_Guard_D (1)
    Attuned_Unbreakable_Guard_E (1)
Level 16: Scrapper_Defense Dark_Armor Dark_Regeneration (These are all procs in here)
    Attuned_Fury_of_the_Gladiator_F (1)
    Attuned_Eradication_F (1)
    Attuned_Theft_of_Essence_F (1)
    Attuned_Touch_of_the_Nictus_F (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Armageddon_F (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Superior_Critical_Strikes_F (1)
Level 20: Scrapper_Defense Dark_Armor Cloak_of_Darkness
    Attuned_Kismet_E (1)
    Attuned_Luck_of_the_Gambler_F (1)
    Crafted_Defense_Buff (50+5)
    Crafted_Defense_Buff (50+5)
    Attuned_Shield_Wall_F (1)
Level 35: Scrapper_Defense Dark_Armor Oppressive_Gloom
    Attuned_Razzle_Dazzle_A (1)
    Attuned_Razzle_Dazzle_B (1)
    Attuned_Razzle_Dazzle_D (1)
    Attuned_Razzle_Dazzle_E (1)
    Attuned_Razzle_Dazzle_F (1)
Level 4: Pool Experimentation Experimental_Injection
    Attuned_Preventive_Medicine_F (1)
Level 10: Pool Experimentation Speed_of_Sound
    Attuned_Blessing_of_the_Zephyr_C (1)
Level 0: Pool Experimentation Jaunt
Level 14: Pool Experimentation Corrosive_Vial
    Attuned_Achilles_Heel_C (1)
    Attuned_Annihilation_F (1)
Level 47: Pool Experimentation Adrenal_Booster
    Crafted_Recharge (50+5)
    Crafted_Recharge (50+5)
Level 18: Pool Fighting Kick
    EMPTY
Level 22: Pool Fighting Tough
    Attuned_Gladiators_Armor_F (1)
    Attuned_Steadfast_Protection_B (1)
    Crafted_Unbreakable_Guard_A (50+5)
    Crafted_Unbreakable_Guard_B (50+5)
    Crafted_Unbreakable_Guard_D (50+5)
    Crafted_Unbreakable_Guard_E (50+5)
Level 24: Pool Fighting Weave
    Attuned_Luck_of_the_Gambler_F (1)
    Crafted_Defense_Buff (50+5)
    Crafted_Defense_Buff (50+5)
Level 28: Pool Fighting Cross_Punch
    Superior_Attuned_Avalanche_A (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Avalanche_B (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Avalanche_C (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Avalanche_D (1)
    Superior_Attuned_Avalanche_F (1)
Level 30: Pool Leaping Combat_Jumping
    Attuned_Luck_of_the_Gambler_F (1)
    Attuned_Reactive_Defenses_F (1)
Level 38: Pool Speed Hasten
    Crafted_Recharge (50+5)
    Crafted_Recharge (50+5)
Level 41: Epic Blaze_Mastery Ring_of_Fire
    Crafted_Apocalypse_B (50)
    Crafted_Apocalypse_C (50)
    Crafted_Apocalypse_D (50)
    Crafted_Apocalypse_E (50)
    Superior_Attuned_Apocalypse_A (1)
Level 44: Epic Blaze_Mastery Melt_Armor
    Attuned_Achilles_Heel_C (1)
    Crafted_Defense_DeBuff (50+5)
    Crafted_Recharge (50+5)
    Crafted_Recharge (50+5)
------------------
 

[Snarky]

On 11/29/2021 at 5:23 PM, cfarevival said:

There are of course many options.  However, my original post was really about my dark/dark scrapper, Nux.  I am still working on him (I don't ever use mids.  Pen and paper for me).  However, I completely do not understand why people would suggest that the Theft of Essence proc is only mediocre.  I have a high, high recharge build.  My Dark Regen CD is just under 9 seconds.  It is in my attack chain in such a way that it fires as soon as it is off of cooldown (it appears twice in my attack chain).  The way I have it setup, it is the source my my +50% critical strikes, 80% of endurance recovery (I do take ageless for the recharge, and bonus +recovery, but this only gets applied when I notice it is down), -res, and a few damage procs.  I may slot it with a KD proc soon.

 

There are of course other ways to handle endurance.  For those of you who chose cardiac as your alpha, you will of course not play this way nor need to rely so heavily on a proc like this.  In fact, you probably will notice little benefit from it.  I may move to cardiac in the future (boost my -res), but I doubt I will.  For those who are brutes and have taken energy mastery, you probably won't need this.  But my goal is to maximize DPS AGAINST a non-cardiac endurance solution.  I like cardiac, but frankly, don't need it with this playstyle.

 

My endurance bar bounces around like crazy.  I have little in my build to help reduce endurance cost or boost my recovery (save for ageless).  However, combined with my habit of mob jumping, I have found this to be an effective solution to never worrying about endurance.  I start popping recovery serum whenever I have to face off against only a few baddies.  If you wanna see, come team up with me in Indom some day!

Theft of Essence is NOT mediocre.  When I first found it I was astounded

 

Since then I have made a few other astounding discoveries about how to make Dark Armor work.  Especially at high levels this is just a clunky cram onto my personal build.  It is still good, I just cannot find a smooth way to integrate it.  And I have those other solutions.    I do still find myself using it on levelling builds 

 

 

[Heraclea]

I find that on my DA tanker (DA/savage), I use Dark Regen so seldom that its costs do not bother.  I have the power six slotted with Touch of the Nictus.

 

One odd thing about the Dark sets I've noticed.  If you want a character whose powers are bright rainbow colors, the Dark powers are your best friends.  

[arcane]

On 11/29/2021 at 3:08 PM, Parabola said:

Eh ... I'd have to challenge that. Holes in energy and toxic are far from ideal. Neither are all that easy (or cheap) to patch up. For my money rad has the perfect holes - cold is largely ignorable and there are convenient single IO's to build up psi.

 

Dark is a good set, but I think it could stand a little freshen up. I can't see that dark regen needs to have quite such a brutal end cost and cloak of fear is dangerously close to being a trap power with high end cost, pitiful accuracy and not particularly impressive effect. Soul transfer also has to be one of the coolest powers thematically in the game but it suffers as all self res powers do from extremely limited utility.

Tiers 7-9 definitely could use a smidge of love, I just think the endurance part of the equation is fine. Dark Regeneration should never ever be underestimated. A full bar of health every few seconds. You have to endure both massive defense debuffs AND massive recharge debuffs to ever be overwhelmed. Also worth noting Rad’s psi res is not as good as Dark’s energy res, even after IO’s.

 

Rad is probably the better set overall but only due to offensive potential. I still think Dark has superior mitigation potential all things considered.

Edited December 2, 2021 by arcane

[Parabola]

32 minutes ago, arcane said:

Tiers 7-9 definitely could use a smidge of love, I just think the endurance part of the equation is fine. Dark Regeneration should never ever be underestimated. A full bar of health every few seconds. You have to endure both massive defense debuffs AND massive recharge debuffs to ever be overwhelmed. Also worth noting Rad’s psi res is not as good as Dark’s energy res, even after IO’s.

 

Rad is probably the better set overall but only due to offensive potential. I still think Dark has superior mitigation potential all things considered.

It's six of one and half a dozen of the other if you ask me, just depends how you like your mitigation to work. I'm not sure I agree about the psi res vs nrg res though - my main rad tank is at 72.6 psi res without SMotT proc and without six slotting any purples, if you really wanted to you could cap it (although it would be a waste imo). I'm not sure I've ever seen a dark build that has capped nrg res, and I'd hate to see how many shield walls would need to be slotted to attempt it!

[Golden Azrael]

I didn't know about the stamina proc Unique you could slot into Dark Regen.

 

It's been a revelation for me.

 

Thanks.  Good advice.

Azrael.

[Major_Decoy]

On 11/28/2021 at 8:01 PM, Werner said:

That's almost what I have on my Katana/Dark Brute, so maybe. My Preventive Medicines are heal and heal/rech, trading a little endurance reduction for a little more healing in AV fights. My Dark/MA tanker replaces Preventive Medicine with Touch of the Nictus heal and acc/end/heal, as I was already capping smashing/lethal resists. I don't like relying on the Theft of Essence proc because it might fail you when you need it most, particularly when fighting AVs, but it's still pretty nice.

Whereas I just decided "forget the set bonus" and slotted two Heal/End/Rech, one from Doctored Wounds and one from Numina's Convolescence.