A Dark/Regen Build

[Spaghetti Betty]

Regeneration seems to be a hot topic as of late, so it's gotten my brain juices juicing on what I could pair with it to make something that truly screams, "Hey, tough guy. I'm pretty mediocre and I'm looking for a fight."

 

So this is what I came up with.

 

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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

probably a cthulu monster: Level 50 Mutation Brute
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Smite -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Fast Healing -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(34), Prv-Absorb%(36)
Level 2: Shadow Maul -- SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprUnrFur-Dmg/Rchg(9), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), SprUnrFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), SprUnrFur-Rchg/+Regen/+End(15)
Level 4: Reconstruction -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(5), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(5), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(7), Pnc-Heal(7)
Level 6: Touch of Fear -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(33), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(34), ToHitDeb-I(34)
Level 8: Siphon Life -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBrtFur-Dmg/Rchg(9), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), SprBrtFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprBrtFur-Rech/Fury%(39)
Level 10: Quick Recovery -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(11), PrfShf-EndMod/Acc(11)
Level 12: Dull Pain -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-Heal(25), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(39), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(40), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(40)
Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 16: Integration -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(17), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(17), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(19), Pnc-Heal(19)
Level 18: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 20: Resilience -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(21), UnbGrd-ResDam(21), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(23), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(23), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(25)
Level 22: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 24: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Soul Drain -- AdjTrg-ToHit(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/Rchg(27), AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(27), AdjTrg-EndRdx/Rchg(29), AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx(29)
Level 28: Instant Healing -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(43), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(43), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(43), Pnc-Heal(45)
Level 30: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(31), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(31), UnbGrd-Max HP%(31)
Level 32: Midnight Grasp -- Hct-Dam%(A), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Hct-Acc/Rchg(36), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(40), TchofDth-Dam%(46)
Level 35: Revive -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(45), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(45), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(46), Pnc-Heal(46)
Level 38: Moment of Glory -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 41: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(42), Rct-Def(42), Rct-ResDam%(42)
Level 44: Gloom -- Apc-Dam%(A), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Apc-Acc/Rchg(50), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 47: Darkest Night -- DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(A), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(48), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(48)
Level 49: Super Jump -- WntGif-ResSlow(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Fury 
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(3)
Level 1: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(3)
Level 49: Double Jump 
Level 50: Spiritual Core Paragon 
Level 50: Born In Battle 
Level 50: High Pain Threshold 
Level 50: Invader 
Level 50: Marshal 
------------

 

 

Now, this is strictly just pen to paper. I'm gonna pop this into beta at some point to see what kind of mileage I can truly get out of this bad boy.

 

I'm completely open to critiques and shared builds of your own if you have one. Thanks for reading.

Edited February 7, 2022 by Spaghetti Betty

[fancy ketchup]

I havent used mids at all so im just looking at this off the top of my head..and maybe you already plan to but super jump can take a winters gift - slow resistance 20%. Slows are one of the things that can drive you bananas with regen. 

[Spaghetti Betty]

1 hour ago, fancy ketchup said:

I havent used mids at all so im just looking at this off the top of my head..and maybe you already plan to but super jump can take a winters gift - slow resistance 20%. Slows are one of the things that can drive you bananas with regen. 

I always forget to slot my travel power with anything until I'm in game. I'll update the link with it slotted next time I'm at my PC. Thanks.

[Spaghetti Betty]

Added Winter's Gift to SJ so it wasn't empty. Some other minor tweaks as well.

[fancy ketchup]

 I'm hoping you get more responses.. I have just recently hit 50 with my wm/regen and have found it a lot of fun to play and the most challenging to build of all my toons. and any knowledge on regen I enjoy reading...but considering no one has said anything yet I'll add this link

@Nemu has some great input in there which  has helped me out a lot. Sorry if you have already read it or the info there isnt anything new for you but it really opened up possibilities for me with that powerset.

[Nemu]

A few comments:

 

Emphasize powers that you actually use, I'd rather dump slots into smite than revive.

 

I wouldn't focus/slot for passive regen at all, I'd cut the slotting out of fast healing and integration on a first pass and see if there are better options available.

 

Soul drain needs to hit, and your accuracy against +4 or even +3 mobs assuming incarnate bump is not stellar. I'd recommend tactics to up your to hit and to deal with blinds.

 

Build in more slow resistance, all that recharge means nothing once you get a few slows stacked on you. Regen's survival depends largely on how quickly you can cycle those heals, while recharge is important, slows will cripple you, don't skimp on slow resist.

 

Split up the superior brute's fury into 2 sets of 3. 5% s/l defense for 3 slots is as efficient as you are going to get for stacking S/L defense, which for regen builds is the best defense to stack.

 

Dark/Regen is tough, despite the heals and the to-hit debuff, the lack of AoE is going to hurt you against factions with heavy debuffs. No build is going to struggle at survival against a few hard targets nowadays, the real killer is numbers - the damage/debuffs that trash mobs do to you adds up and will be the death of you if you don't have ways to deal with them. Even with a softcapped build you will need to learn to move, use line of sight, prioritize targets, and use every survival trick in the blaster playbook when things get rough.

 

That said you can still build something that lets you breeze through normal content. 45% S/L will cover a lot of attacks and you have enough tools to keep you on your feet against stuff like lol council without breaking a sweat.

 

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 Brute
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Smite -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(3), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3), KntCmb-Knock%(5), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(5), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11)
Level 1: Fast Healing -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Shadow Maul -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBrtFur-Dmg/Rchg(13), SprBrtFur-Rech/Fury%(13), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(23)
Level 4: Super Speed -- WntGif-ResSlow(A)
Level 6: Touch of Fear -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(7), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), SprBrtFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9)
Level 8: Siphon Life -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Knock%(34), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(37), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(46)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(11), LucoftheG-Def(46)
Level 12: Quick Recovery -- SynSck-EndMod(A), SynSck-EndMod/+RunSpeed(17), SynSck-EndMod/Rech(17)
Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 16: Integration -- TrmIns-Taunt(A), TrmIns-Taunt/Rchg(47), TrmIns-Stun%(49)
Level 18: Reconstruction -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(19), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(19), Prv-Heal/Rchg(21), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(21), Prv-Absorb%(23)
Level 20: Resilience -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), ResDam-I(43)
Level 22: Kick -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(39), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(39), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39)
Level 24: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(25), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(25), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(34), UnbGrd-Max HP%(34)
Level 26: Soul Drain -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(27), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Arm-Acc/Rchg(33), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(33)
Level 28: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(29), ShlWal-Def(29), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(31)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-Def(31), Rct-Def/EndRdx(31), Rct-ResDam%(33)
Level 32: Midnight Grasp -- Hct-Dmg(A), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Hct-Acc/Rchg(36), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Hct-Dam%(37)
Level 35: Tactics -- RctRtc-ToHit(A), RctRtc-ToHit/Rchg(36)
Level 38: Moment of Glory -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 41: Gloom -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Apc-Acc/Rchg(42), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Apc-Dam%(43)
Level 44: Dull Pain -- Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(A), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(45), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(45), Pnc-Heal(45), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(46)
Level 47: Instant Healing -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(47), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(48), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(48), Pnc-Heal(48)
Level 49: Darkest Night -- HO:Enzym(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Fury
Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 1: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A)
Level 1: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 4: Speed Phase
Level 50: High Pain Threshold
Level 50: Invader
Level 50: Marshal
Level 50: Born In Battle
------------

 

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If it were me I'd drop instant healing and pick up dark oblit and put 5 piece ragnorak in it for some more AoE and KD mitigation. For every scenario where instant healing made a difference I can imagine 20 more scenarios where I'd rather have another AoE with a chance to KD to cycle.

[Spaghetti Betty]

2 hours ago, Nemu said:

snip

Thanks a lot for the input. Building up S/L defense didn't occur to me. I don't play enough Brutes and it didn't click that I could just 3-piece Brute's Fury and build off of that foundation. I wasn't using Smite in my attack rotation so I didn't bother slotting it, but I can see where you're going with it.

 

I did do some small testing on my own with what I came up with and it did fine in general content. Darkest Night and positioning was doing more work than my click heals were, which is some food for thought.

 

All that being said, the build you posted pretty much blows mine out of the water and gives me a lot to think about. I'll do some more testing and report back.

[Koopak]

So Nemu and I are probably going to disagree on a lot, but i should add the caveat that i haven't stress tested my builds yet for Brute. I got Scrapper, which is my main, basically as far as I can and then took a pseudo hiatus from the game, but I'm getting back into the project in my signature now, if slowly.

I can understand the aversion the Revive for challenge TFs and the like, but for your daily driver I really recommend keeping it and just shoving a 1-2 slot wonder in it. You can think of Revive as a 15 second immunity with death as a prerequisite. That's more than enough time to toggle up and kill or maim whatever killed you. Timed with a MoG cast if you are totally swamped you can easily haul your formerly dead ass through some really rough situations. I've used this fact to save teams numerous times.

I cant begin to agree on Instant Healing, it represents, with crappy slotting mind you, one of the biggest contributors to your overall Effective Regeneration, (the amount of damage you can take per second before trending down). The issue with it is an issue with Regen as a whole, though less so on Brutes, Effective Health. Unless you are awake and prepared every time things get harry you are going to get caught off guard and splatted (another reason Revive is worth for casual play), because you just cant take the same kind of alpha damage as other armors. For this reason you sometimes need to be more proactive, learn what you can and cant handle without Instant Healing, and use it ahead of time.

Similarly you need to train yourself to be less shy with it and MoG, most regen players, myself included, make one of two mistakes, they either use their click survivals to early and often, or to rarely and late. I've got a nasty habit when I'm not paying full attention of using them just in time to die before they take effect but still go on cooldown. As long as those cooldowns seem, they really aren't, especially not with decent recharge slotting.

I'll see if i can find time during my break today to put together my own recommendation, but I will say, as dark, don't over invest in S/L cap. There are other things, iTrials and other praetorian content in particular are made up of lots of energy and psi ranged damage, and your dark attacks and Darkest Night will stack generous -to-hit even through the purple patch.

Edited February 15, 2022 by Koopak

[Koopak]

Update: doing build tonight, sorry about delay, life got busy.

[Spaghetti Betty]

I haven't abandoned the thread. Work got busy this week so I wasn't able to sit down and do testing until very recently.

 

The build @Nemu shared far exceeded my original one in testing (could pull entire rooms using Darkest Night and survive), but I was observing some very similar stuff to mine when it came to really stressful bits: if I had to use Reconstruction I was basically already dead. Wise use of Dull Pain, IH, and MoG kept me the most alive.

 

Which has me curious about possibly dropping Recon and seeking other avenues of soft mitigation. If I have some kind of eureka moment I will definitely post an update.

[Koopak]

Alright here's my take, note the base numbers work out as worse unless you factor in the -to-hit from Darkest Night and Touch of Fear, with anything from the other sources being icing. You will want to make use of Unrelenting in addition to your Instant Healing, for context Unrelenting is comparable to Instant Healing but since its a heal over time it does have the benefit of bypassing -regen. You are more vulnerable to -recharge than Nemu's build but Regen as a set is so fucked over by debuffs of all kinds that you are going to want to take Ageless Radial regardless. I included my recommended Incarnates, but you could easily trade things around. If you totally hate the idea of having Revive, id probably replace it with Maneuvers, or, possibly BurnOut depending on your preferences.

 

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.2.17
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Spaghetti Betty: Level 50 Mutation Brute
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Presence
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Smite

• (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
• (9) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
• (37) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
• (37) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (37) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (40) Superior Blistering Cold - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime
  

Level 1: Fast Healing

• (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal
• (3) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance
• (5) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime
• (5) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance
  

Level 2: Shadow Maul

• (A) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage
• (40) Superior Brute's Fury - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (42) Superior Brute's Fury - Recharge/Fury Bonus
• (42) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage
• (50) Superior Avalanche - Recharge/Chance for Knockdown
  

Level 4: Super Speed

• (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%)
  

Level 6: Reconstruction

• (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance
• (7) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime
• (7) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance
• (9) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime
  

Level 8: Siphon Life

• (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
• (11) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
• (11) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
• (13) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (48) Accuracy IO
  

Level 10: Dull Pain

• (A) Panacea - Heal/Endurance
• (13) Panacea - Endurance/Recharge
• (15) Panacea - Heal/Recharge
• (15) Panacea - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (36) Panacea - Heal
  

Level 12: Touch of Fear

• (A) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge
• (43) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (46) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge
• (46) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance
• (48) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage
• (48) Fury of the Gladiator - Chance for Res Debuff
  

Level 14: Kick

• (A) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge
  

Level 16: Integration

• (A) Panacea - Heal/Endurance
• (17) Panacea - Endurance/Recharge
• (17) Panacea - Heal/Recharge
• (31) Panacea - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (33) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance
  

Level 18: Tough

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
• (19) Reactive Armor - Endurance/Recharge
• (19) Reactive Armor - Resistance
• (21) Reactive Armor - Endurance
• (21) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
  

Level 20: Resilience

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
• (23) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
• (23) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
• (25) Reactive Armor - Resistance
• (25) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)
  

Level 22: Weave

• (A) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance
• (27) Shield Wall - Endurance/Recharge
• (27) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
• (29) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
• (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (31) Kismet - Accuracy +6%
  

Level 24: Provoke

• (A) Accuracy IO
  

Level 26: Soul Drain

• (A) Superior Brute's Fury - Damage/Recharge
• (36) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (36) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 28: Instant Healing

• (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal
• (33) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance
• (33) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime
• (34) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime
• (34) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance
• (34) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb
  

Level 30: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (31) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 32: Midnight Grasp

• (A) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage
• (39) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Damage/RechargeTime
• (39) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• (39) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (40) Superior Unrelenting Fury - RechargeTime/+Regen/+End
  

Level 35: Gloom

• (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
• (43) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (43) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
  

Level 38: Moment of Glory

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (42) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 41: Intimidate

• (A) Accuracy IO
  

Level 44: Unrelenting

• (A) Panacea - Heal/Endurance
• (45) Panacea - Endurance/Recharge
• (45) Panacea - Heal/Recharge
• (45) Panacea - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (46) Panacea - Heal
  

Level 47: Revive

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 49: Darkest Night

• (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance
• (50) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance
• (50) Dampened Spirits - To Hit Debuff/Endurance
  

Level 1: Brawl

• (A) Empty
  

Level 1: Fury

Level 1: Sprint

 

 

[Spaghetti Betty]

So, I've been absorbing a lot of what you guys have been saying and doing a lot of trial, error, and respeccing on my own. I understand that between Darkest Night + Dark Melee, softcap isn't necessarily required (maybe for incarnate content, but I hardly do that outside of a team), and the -to hit stacking means I can get away without having a few keys tools other */Regen toons might need. However, when it came to gaining necessary other mitigation, I ended up somewhere far different.

 

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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

spin to win: Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Smite -- PlvFst-Acc/Dmg(A), PlvFst-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), PlvFst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(5), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5)
Level 1: Fast Healing -- Prv-Absorb%(A)
Level 2: Shadow Maul -- Erd-%Dam(A), Erd-Acc/Rchg(7), Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), SprBrtFur-Dmg/Rchg(9), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprBrtFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11)
Level 4: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 6: Touch of Fear -- Erd-%Dam(A), Erd-Dmg(13), Erd-Acc/Rchg(13), SprBrtFur-Rech/Fury%(15), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg(15), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17)
Level 8: Siphon Life -- PlvFst-Acc/Dmg(A), PlvFst-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), PlvFst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(19), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(21)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(21)
Level 12: Dull Pain -- Pnc-Heal(A), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(40), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(40), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(40), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(43)
Level 14: Super Speed -- WntGif-ResSlow(A)
Level 16: Integration -- TrmIns-Taunt(A), TrmIns-Taunt/Rchg(34), TrmIns-Stun%(34)
Level 18: Dark Consumption -- PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(A), SynSck-EndMod/Rech(36), EnrMnp-EndMod/Rchg(36), Acc-I(36)
Level 20: Resilience -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 22: Whirlwind -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(27), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(27), FrcFdb-Rechg%(29)
Level 24: Kick -- SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37)
Level 26: Soul Drain -- Arm-Dam%(A), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Arm-Acc/Rchg(37), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(39)
Level 28: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), RctArm-ResDam(29), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(33), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(33), RctArm-EndRdx(33)
Level 30: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(31), ShlWal-Def(31), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(31)
Level 32: Midnight Grasp -- Hct-Dam%(A), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(34), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Hct-Acc/Rchg(46), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46)
Level 35: Instant Healing -- Pnc-Heal(A), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(43), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(43), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(45), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(50)
Level 38: Moment of Glory -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 41: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(42), Rct-Def(42), Rct-Def/EndRdx(42)
Level 44: Tactics -- RctRtc-ToHit(A), RctRtc-ToHit/Rchg(45), EndRdx-I(45)
Level 47: Gloom -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(48), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(50)
Level 49: Darkest Night -- HO:Enzym(A), HO:Enzym(50)
Level 1: Fury 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(23)
Level 1: Stamina -- SynSck-EndMod(A), SynSck-EndMod/+RunSpeed(23), SynSck-EndMod/Rech(25), PrfShf-End%(25)
Level 14: Speed Phase 
Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon 
Level 50: Melee Core Embodiment 
Level 50: Ageless Radial Epiphany 
Level 50: Reactive Core Flawless Interface 
------------

So, first I'll admit that this isn't numerically superior in any way, but I just can't stop playing it. Whirlwind was just kinda solving everything problem I put in front of it. 54 CoT, Malta, Longbow, Cims, were all handled pretty soundly without too many close calls. Is it winning any DPS races? Absolutely not.

 

I do appreciate all the help. This project has been a real eye opener on how far the boundaries of this set can be pushed.

Edited March 11, 2022 by Spaghetti Betty
added incarnates

[Nemu]

2 hours ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

Darkest Night + Dark Melee, softcap isn't necessarily required

You make the mistake of confining your benchmark to just the stuff you engage in melee range as a lot of players do the moment they see the word "melee". Consider an average spawn set for 8, how many of those are you realistically interacting with directly via your attacks/debuffs? how many of those are outside of melee range taking potshots at you? Take your dark/regen to one of those late game maria jenkin missions with resistance spread out all over the place or those Dark Astoria mission in caves where the BP/talons are also spread out in their map placement, how are your debuffs going to affect those mobs you can't reach that are totally content staying at that range shooting you?

 

The softcap is not designed to allow you to stand like a statue and trade blows with whatever it is you are trying to kill. You are a Brute, if you have something targeted it's as good as dead. The softcap is designed to cushion those that you can't interact with taking potshots at you. As I mentioned in my original post, the biggest threat to your survival is numbers and not being able to interact with things out of your zone of interaction. I can faceroll against 3 +4 freakshow tank bosses that are in my face, but when the minions and LTs are taking shots at me from the perimeter, draining my end, debuffing my defense/recovery, that's when things start getting dicey.

 

Playing anything regen is like playing a melee blaster, if your mindset is to always plant your feet and duke it out you've lost already. Always be moving, prioritize your targets, use line of sight, use softcontrols, etc... Don't stand still when you hit recon/dull pain/IH/MOG, when you get hit take a hop back and pop the heal mid-air so that whatever return you get from those clicks is not wasted by mobs beating on your during the animation time.

 

I have Whirlwind on my staff/regen brute but I found the end consumption too high to sustain on my elec/regen brute. If you are able to sustain it on your dark/regen I absolutely endorse it. Regen brutes can use all the mitigation they can get.

 

What I can not endorse is dropping quick recovery and recon. Passive regen has it's place but it's the quick cycling heals that you are going to have to depend on more to get your through tougher content, especially those where -regen debuffs run rampant. (as an aside you can be a rock star during the hami mission in LGTF because your click heals are unresistable so they still heal you for the full amount, where are your passive regen gets debuffed to 0) And dropping quick recovery BUT taking whirlwind? That is truly a move that boggles the mind. I can not imagine how you plan to sustain whirlwind without QR, perhaps you are not running stuff at /8 but I can tell you a saturated pack of mobs around you will bottom your blue bar pretty fast, and no matter how much recharge you dump into dark consumption, you are not going to be able to sustain WW indefinitely in that scenario.

 

The builds I make are designed to give you a fighting chance at +4/8. If your aims are lower then I can see your build working out for you.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Nemu

[Koopak]

The solid 33% S/L/E defense is good and AoE KB is a fantastic tool to mitigate incoming damage and stagger alphas. However I have to agree with Nemu that there is no chance in hell of your endurance holding up under any real strain, especially with KB->KD. At aggro cap of 17 targets, which you can definitely fit inside that radius, you are looking at -51end/s (1.5 end X 17 targets / 0.5 activation time).

I do partially disagree with Nemu's take that you need defense cap even with -to-hit as Darkest Night has a range of 70ft and can be places where needed, but more importantly Nemu's comment about line of sight. You need to be grouping enemies using line of sight pulling and then firmly inserting yourself into melee range of all of them. More importantly however 45% S/L defense doesn't actually help with a large number of ranged enemies anyways. Circle of Thorns and Banished are almost all Eng/Neg/Fire/Cold, While it certainly covers many of them, Malta, Council, some ranged Freakshow, some ranged Carnival, and a bit of Crey, and certainly Aeon Brickers, it doesn't help against a large portion of Praetorian units. I actually wanted to get more Eng defense in for this reason, but was having a rough time of it.

I also feel that giving up so much passive regen, as well as reconstruction are huge flaws, and a lot of why it might 'feel' okay is your latest build drops your max HP by about 500hp. Multiply that by your defense and resistance and you see you are giving up a lot of effective hp, and you are also reducing your passive regen even further by a factor about 1/6th. Compared to a more traditionally slotted regen your passive is approximately getting ~55% of the hp/s

 

Edited February 18, 2022 by Koopak

[Spaghetti Betty]

I understand what y'all are saying. I am fighting at +4x8 and I use every trick in the book. I guess it would help if I included Ageless Radial and Melee Hybrid in the build but I always forget to list Incarnates. Juggling MoG, Dark Consumption, and Ageless keeps my end bar up in a firefight, plus I'm not necessarily keeping Whirlwind on 100% of the time. It requires a lot of attention to play.

 

Trust me, I'm surprised at how well I was performing because on paper it looks like trash.

[Koopak]

Very active play was always going to be a requirement, would you be willing to record a mission or two or organize an opportunity for me to shadow you? If this is working well I'd very much like to study it in action.

[Spaghetti Betty]

Here's an Arachnos radio. I made a ton of mistakes and misclicks during combat so it isn't perfect. Should've had my coffee first.

 

I actually did the MJ mission with Chimera and DE without realizing my recording software wasn't working, so I unfortunately didn't capture that.

 

 

I'd be more than welcome to meet up in game as well (on Beta server) in order to do more stress testing, it's just that my weekend schedule is always ridiculous. Just send me a PM and we can set up a time.

[Koopak]

Okay that is not bad, had a couple close calls but you are holding up well otherwise. Id wanna see this tested against some harder content but i seem to have over estimated Whirlwind's endurance tick rate. I think I can see ways to improve the build while keeping the basic design but im honestly impressed and ammused that this even works.

[Nemu]

Arachnos is hard enough baseline benchmark for regen. Good job. I haven't see "tactical" play like that in a very long time. If you are just planning to play at 50 with the help of DN and incarnates then there's a lot more give to your build as your exercise shows. And if that's your cup of tea then I have nothing else to contribute.

[Menelruin]

Someone made a Dark/Regen build for me a while ago, and I could dig it up, but it's kinda hyper-specialized:  It exists SOLELY for tanking Hami, without any need for outside Supports.  So it's probably not what you're looking for....

[frobdicator]

On 2/21/2022 at 8:25 PM, Menelruin said:

Someone made a Dark/Regen build for me a while ago, and I could dig it up, but it's kinda hyper-specialized:  It exists SOLELY for tanking Hami, without any need for outside Supports.  So it's probably not what you're looking for....

 

I'd be curious to see it, please.

[Troo]

On 2/18/2022 at 1:35 PM, Spaghetti Betty said:

Here's an Arachnos radio. I made a ton of mistakes and misclicks during combat so it isn't perfect. Should've had my coffee first.

 

I actually did the MJ mission with Chimera and DE without realizing my recording software wasn't working, so I unfortunately didn't capture that.

 

 

I'd be more than welcome to meet up in game as well (on Beta server) in order to do more stress testing, it's just that my weekend schedule is always ridiculous. Just send me a PM and we can set up a time.

 

excellent. darkest night, it is a great power. -tohit can be very effective.

 

adding another heal to Regeneration is glorious.

 

 

On 2/15/2022 at 6:53 AM, Koopak said:

Similarly you need to train yourself to be less shy with it and MoG, most regen players, myself included, make one of two mistakes, they either use their click survivals to early and often, or to rarely and late. I've got a nasty habit when I'm not paying full attention of using them just in time to die before they take effect but still go on cooldown. As long as those cooldowns seem, they really aren't, especially not with decent recharge slotting.

 

these are good points

 

 

Edited March 10, 2022 by Troo

[Yomo Kimyata]

Watching this with interest.  I've resurrected the very first build I ever made on Live:  a Dark Melee/Regen scrapper who was an accountant whose software accidentally summoned a demon when working on the taxes of a Russian oligarch.  I was so perturbed at the changes they made for Dark Melee in HC that I boycotted the set for a long time.  I'm still in the early stages of this combination but a few thoughts so far:

 

In general:  

-- Scrappers have a lot less leeway than brutes.  Lower resist caps (really only coming into play with MoG), a little bit harder to build melee or S/L defenses due to ATOs, scrapper epic pools bite the big one.

-- There are some things that this combo does very well.  Lots of healing (Regen + Siphon Life).  More endurance than you can shake a stick at with Quick Recovery and Dark Consumption (or even a Theft of Essence in Siphon Life).  Possibly too much...

 

Thoughts by Offense:

-- What they did to Shadow Maul is an abomination.  I skipped it on several previous builds.  Changing the arc from 30 degrees to 120 degrees and neutering the damage because people couldn't figure out how to position themselves to hit more than one opponent was blatant pandering to the lowest common denominator.  At this point, I'm looking at it as a proc delivery vehicle and a -to hit amplifier.  Seven feet is a ridiculously small range for something that does as little damage as this power does.  With no recharge, you've got about a 50% chance to proc a 3.5PPM, so I'm putting Siphon Insight +to hit proc in there, among others.

-- Touch of Fear is now two powers in one.  Don't waste your time putting in procs that only affect the single target.  The AoE only takes melee procs.  Six feet radius is even worse than seven feet!

-- You may not need the endurance from Dark Consumption, but at 180 second base recharge it will max out proc chances no matter how much recharge you put in there.

-- Soul Drain will also max out proc chances, but will be up more frequently.

-- I really dislike tentacles.

 

Thoughts by Defense:

-- There's going to be a tradeoff between slot usage.  Regen wants recharge, but is it always worth five slots of Panacea for 7.5% recharge?

-- Reconstruction/Dull Pain are going to be as high as I can get them in terms of Healing and Recharge.

-- I think of Fast Healing and Instant Healing as mules.  IH is a great preventative weapon, but has it ever saved you when you activated it *after* you were in trouble?  I'm a lot more interested in recharge than boosting the regeneration numbers.  Integration is critical (and at 16 is really late for a mez resist power), but slotting it for regen maybe not critical?

-- Revive seems identical to the Revive power you get in Hero/Winter packs.  I'd rather not die at all, but for a no-slot power choice I could understand how it trumps a wakie.

 

Other:

-- not a lot of room for mitigation by knockdown/stun/fear.

-- I'll look into the presence pool for this.  Provoke for a scrapper helps with short radii, Invoke Panic, Unrelenting all would be useful.

 

Look forward to seeing more from this thread!

 

[Spaghetti Betty]

Oh crap, I guess I could give an update since this has more eyes on it.

 

@Koopak and I ran Mender Silos a while back to see how my Whirlwind build would stand up to AVs. Just as I thought, this is not an AV build, but I was going toe to toe with a +4 Silver Mantis and I didn't die immediately. Looking back, I wonder if having some trash mobs around during the encounter would've changed things a bit.

 

I will edit that build with the Incarnates I was using, since I never got around to it. But as far as improving that in any way, I'm a little stumped.

[Spaghetti Betty]

10 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

Holy moly

 

As far as Shadow Maul is concerned, my experience is that it's great on Tankers. It's range is astronomical for them with the changes. Pretty solid cone for how early you get it. (But still skippable if you have enough other avenues for AoE. My SR/Dark needs it. My Fire/Dark definitely doesn't.)

 

I've never had an issue with procs firing in Touch of Fear. Putting in any kind of chance for KB turns it into a good mitigation tool. I would just never slot it for fear.

 

At this point, I would almost argue against skipping Dark Consumption. I feel like if your recharge is high enough it will put in a lot of work and you can save the slots on Quick Recovery and Stamina. In the Whirlwind build, I dropped Quick Recovery in favor of it since I needed to fill my blue bar quickly instead of gradually.

 

And as far as defense goes, well, that's why I started seeking out Regen Brute over Scrapper.

Edited March 11, 2022 by Spaghetti Betty
didn't like the original tone, rewrote a bit