Re-optimizing my Demons/Dark - Final pass!

[Onlyasandwich]

Hello Mastermindians!

 

I have been running this venerable combo with a pretty strong build, but the introduction of the ice mistral proc brought me to revisit. It wasn't a hard task to find the slot I needed to pop this in Demon Prince, but I see a few other spots for optimization that I would love your insight on.

 

Here's the build:

Spoiler

This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.1.2.5
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Mutation Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Demon Summoning
Secondary Power Set: Dark Miasma
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Summon Demonlings -- SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), SprCmmoft-Rchg/PetAoEDef(48), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(50), EdcoftheM-PetDef(50)
Level 1: Twilight Grasp -- TchoftheN-Acc/Heal(A), TchoftheN-Acc/EndRdx/Heal/HP/Regen(15), TchoftheN-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(37), ThfofEss-+End%(50)
Level 2: Lash -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3), Hct-Dam%(3), TchofDth-Dam%(5), ExpStr-Dam%(5), FrcFdb-Rechg%(48)
Level 4: Tar Patch -- DS:DSyncSlowRechEnd(A)
Level 6: Darkest Night -- SphIns-ToHitDeb(A), SphIns-Acc/ToHitDeb(7), SphIns-Acc/Rchg(7), SphIns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(9)
Level 8: Enchant Demon -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 10: Crack Whip -- SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg(A), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), PstBls-Dam%(11), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(43), ExpStr-Dam%(46), FrcFdb-Rechg%(48)
Level 12: Summon Demons -- SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg(A), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), SlbAll-Build%(13), SlbAll-Dmg/EndRdx(15), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(37), RctArm-ResDam(40)
Level 14: Howling Twilight -- DS:DSyncSlowRechEnd(A)
Level 16: Shadow Fall -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(17), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(17), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(34), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(34), RctArm-ResDam(37)
Level 18: Hell on Earth -- SprMarofS-Dmg(A), SprMarofS-EndRdx/+Resist/+Regen(19), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(19), SvrRgh-PetResDam(33), CaltoArm-+Def(Pets)(33), SlbAll-Dmg/Rchg(34)
Level 20: Fearsome Stare -- CldSns-ToHitDeb(A), CldSns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(21), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb(21), CldSns-%Dam(23), GlmoftheA-Dam%(25)
Level 22: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 24: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(25)
Level 26: Summon Demon Prince -- SprMarofS-Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprMarofS-Acc/EndRdx(27), HO:Nucle(27), ImpSwf-Dam%(29), IceMisTrmt-+ColdDmg(31), SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx(33)
Level 28: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 30: Tactics -- GssSynFr--Build%(A)
Level 32: Abyssal Empowerment -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 35: Dark Embrace -- GldArm-End/Res(A), GldArm-ResDam(36), GldArm-3defTpProc(36)
Level 38: Dark Servant -- SphIns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(A), SphIns-ToHitDeb(39), SphIns-Acc/ToHitDeb(39), SphIns-Acc/Rchg(39), SphIns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(40), CldSns-%Dam(40)
Level 41: Soul Tentacles -- HO:Nucle(A), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(42), PstBls-Dam%(42), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(42), JvlVll-Dam%(43), TraoftheH-Dam%(43)
Level 44: Soul Storm -- HO:Nucle(A), GldJvl-Dam%(45), NrnSht-Dam%(45), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(45), UnbCns-Dam%(46), Apc-Dam%(46)
Level 47: Victory Rush -- EndMod-I(A)
Level 49: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 1: Supremacy 
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+(9), Prv-Absorb%(36)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(29)
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon 
Level 1: Cold Demonling 
Level 26: Demon Prince 
Level 12: Ember Demon 
Level 1: Fiery Demonling 
Level 1: Hellfire Demonling 
Level 12: Hellfire Gargoyle 
------------

 

The essential question is how I will manage endurance, and whether Victory Rush is too much of a pain, as well as the tradeoffs involved in fixing things with Ageless.

 

Victory Rush here works pretty well as a one-slot wonder, but has pretty wonky mechanics. It has ~40% up time, and solves endurance woes pretty completely when up. This gives me a sort of "beast mode" where I can slam attacks without care. To be honest, half the time I'm too busy with other tasks supporting my pets.

 

The problem is that it's finicky. If you have any strategies for using victory rush effectively I'd love to hear them! Manually targeting a boss or LT corpse is very annoying. It's pretty useless if you end up getting a minion.

 

If I drop it, I have a few options:

• Pick up Hover and mule it for a lotg. More recharge woo! I probably won't actually use hover on this character though - it's just not in theme and a bit awkward for the way he fights. Purely a mule.
• Same but mule out my reactive defense scaling resist. This frees up a slot to do whatever with. Whatever what though? I don't see any really useful gains with one slot, at least not compared to a lotg.
• Pick up a travel power instead. Teleport would be in theme. I could also pop a winter's gift in there for more slow resist.

 

I could solve the end crisis with Ageless of course for 50+ content. However, Clarion is really attractive here, not just for the obvious self mez-prot, but to keep my demons from being knocked about. Endurance management even without victory rush right now is workable - I just can't willy nilly spam attacks.

 

What do you think, and where would you fall on these questions? Do you see any neat spots for further improvement?

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by Onlyasandwich
Grammar

[StrikerFox]

Few things I recommend are:

 

1. Add Numina's unique IO to Health. It will provide +10% recovery. 
2. Pick up The Atlas Medallion and Portal Jockey/Born in Battle and Marshal. This will add +10 max end which in turn increases your recovery rate. 
3. Add one more slot to Stamina for an end IO, boosted to +5.
4. Change Darkest Night and Dark Servant slotting to Cloud Senses. CS's +2.25% max end provides more recovery than Siphon Insight's +2% rec.

 

These four changes will add about 0.73/s rec to your current total.

 

Jam in the slow damage procs into the T1 pets. Only the Ice Demonling can trigger them but it's frequent enough that I think it's worthwhile.

[Nyghtmaire]

[Not at my computer so can’t really dig into the build, but here are some initial thoughts]
 

Foundational question: have you collected the +endurance accolades? If not, those make a huge difference. Also, you can swap the Preventative Medicine proc in Health for the Numina. 
 

Agree that the value from Clarion outweighed Ageless. You could just run with Recovery Serums for times you need a boost. Dirt cheap from the P2W vendor. I’ve never gotten Victory Rush to work well (I mean, it works, but always scramble to target a boss - a mini game unenjoyable). 

[Onlyasandwich]

Thank you for the reply @Nyghtmaire!

 

I prefer the utility of PM proc for the relatively minor end benefit of Numina. Both are solid enough in their own right, of course.

 

Good point on the accolades! I'll be able to test more accurately how well I sustain without additional sources of blue with those in hand.

 

I'm sort of leaning towards just dropping the fiddly Victory rush, but am not sure which of the options above I would pursue if so!

 

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by Onlyasandwich

[Onlyasandwich]

36 minutes ago, StrikerFox said:

Few things I recommend are

Thank you for the suggestions! The accolades are a point well taken, though that partly depends on how much time I feel like investing into their pursuit.

 

The slotting choices you mention make sense in the context of end, but I don't know that I really have slots to pull from elsewhere. Maybe the acc/dam in prince, as it is suffering from ED. The current slotting for demonlings is in pursuit of set bonuses that I wouldn't want to sacrifice. I am leaning a bit on global acc bonuses as well in order to support my procced attacks. Having impactful attacks is one of the goals of this build!

 

I'll dig in further in any case to see how these suggestions might integrate with current priorities. Always worth a second look!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Onlyasandwich]

Update: 

 

Decided to just go with teleport! Very in theme, nice to have a travel power, and the slow res never hurts. Nice for playing catch up with teammates in mission as well. Pop through walls with powexeclocation Target!

 

End management is actually pretty okay, Even full bore. It's pretty swingy though. I can get caught in a spot when hasten drops, but a blue or serum keeps me going in a pinch. Sometimes it's nice to have something meaningful to actually gain from all those teammates with end buff powers out there. Falling back on heal spam actually nets me positive end with the theft proc too!

 

I had forgotten how fun and powerful this guy is! Tentacles and whips all over, high damage attacks, wading through crowds with demons rampaging. Nothing quite like it. It can go to "hell" pretty quickly if I don't keep a tight leash on pet placement though, and /dark demands proactive debuffing. Definitely a build for when you want to be very engaged.

Edited January 3, 2022 by Onlyasandwich

[Force Redux]

Demons/Dark is one of my most fun, and potent characters, solo or in group. You got some great advice, above, too. 

[Fira]

I got absolutely no experience with Demon/Dark but here's some minor things with slotting i could suggest:

 

 * Summon Demons are slotted with Reactive Armor, which caps out to level 40. Using Titanium Coating which scales to 50 instead lets you gain +0.5% extra resist, at the cost of switching the 1.5% S/L to Energy/Neg (i'd say that's a gain too, but YMMV).

 * Potentially same for Shadow Fall

 * IMO Tactics +ToHit is really worth investing a slot or two in due to pet horrid hit mechanics in general