best(est) of dark

[honoroit]

so, dark/dark? what works best for you?

 

Ive tried out a dark dark tank, and found them very end hungry.

 

(i wish confront was aoe, provokes me)

 

dark dark controller is grand. dominator maybe, but darkness affinity is really very good.

 

(tentacles, control, sadness)

 

stalker, brute or scrap, never tied.

 

sentinels dont count.

 

blaster gets a nicer cone with tenebrous. presume theres a darkness manipulation.

 

defender, or corruptor?  

 

(pew)

 

blaster or a melee?

im totally wrong about sentinel?

warshades can play too?

---

if you could only pick 1 AT dark/dark/dark, maybe dark/dark/soul - what would it be?

[FupDup]

I haven't yet tried Dark Blast or Dark Armor on Sents (gonna get there eventually), but one thing to note is that they actually get a recovery power unlike other variants of DA. 

[DocMidknight]

  My all time favorite dark/dark pairing is troller and my namesake toon. I've run dark/dark scrapper, dark/dark stalker and a dark/dark dom all to 50.....the dom and scapper are insanely fun with the stalker feeling a bit underwhelming with damage he did manage to tank Rommy while doing an all stalker TF though. I would probably say after the troller would be the dom for fun and crazy stuff as I rediscovered this combo after watching some videos that @Voltak had put on the dominator forums

[Lazarillo]

So first off, props to /Dark Armor, on Brutes, which is honestly pretty great.  It's solidly easy to cap damage resistance on it, particularly using a Cardiac Alpha power that will also solve most of its Endurance woes (but where doing the same on the tank, a lot of it gets wasted because you go up to and above those resistance caps, in some ways, too easily).  It does suffer a little bit in the late game against the high amount of energy damage a lot of groups churn out, particularly when you've got them also adding defense debuffs to those energy attacks (PPD, Clockwork, even Praetorians), but on the flip side it's also one of the few sets that can protect itself against every status effect in the game (lookin' at you, Longbow and KoV, with your Terrorizes).  So on the whole, best single Dark set, IMO, and I love it.

 

But since this is specifically inquiring to being 100% Darkity Darkdark, does DM also hold as strong?  Well, it's still a solid choice, and there's some synergy between the sets.  It's not my favorite melee set but is probably good enough when you consider pairing it such a nice armor set.  Toss in Soul Mastery's Darkest Night (another big end drain, but again, if using Cardiac, that helps a lot), and you're going to be looking at all around a pretty tanky combo.  The question becomes, is "tanky" what you want from your token edgelord character?

[TygerDarkstorm]

40 minutes ago, Lazarillo said:

  The question becomes, is "tanky" what you want from your token edgelord character?

No, obviously you want it to be @Snarky 😜

 

... I'll see myself out now

[honoroit]

43 minutes ago, Lazarillo said:

is "tanky" what you want from your token edgelord character?

sorta! more definately psychotic and will hop into mobs alone if the group is even half a blink slow to my tastes!

 

something that makes you feel thats its discordant, but oddly quick at the same. more nightmare grasp than...shadow maul.

 

maybe i could sneak in savage, on a scrapper. but thatd be cheating.

 

something like it doesn't line up right, on purpose

 

 

Edited March 24, 2023 by honoroit
fluff and stuff

[Snarky]

52 minutes ago, Lazarillo said:

So first off, props to /Dark Armor, on Brutes, which is honestly pretty great.  It's solidly easy to cap damage resistance on it, particularly using a Cardiac Alpha power that will also solve most of its Endurance woes (but where doing the same on the tank, a lot of it gets wasted because you go up to and above those resistance caps, in some ways, too easily).  It does suffer a little bit in the late game against the high amount of energy damage a lot of groups churn out, particularly when you've got them also adding defense debuffs to those energy attacks (PPD, Clockwork, even Praetorians), but on the flip side it's also one of the few sets that can protect itself against every status effect in the game (lookin' at you, Longbow and KoV, with your Terrorizes).  So on the whole, best single Dark set, IMO, and I love it.

 

But since this is specifically inquiring to being 100% Darkity Darkdark, does DM also hold as strong?  Well, it's still a solid choice, and there's some synergy between the sets.  It's not my favorite melee set but is probably good enough when you consider pairing it such a nice armor set.  Toss in Soul Mastery's Darkest Night (another big end drain, but again, if using Cardiac, that helps a lot), and you're going to be looking at all around a pretty tanky combo.  The question becomes, is "tanky" what you want from your token edgelord character?

I agree with so much here.  I do take issue with the idea of Dark being vulnerable to defense debuffs.  Like, so much it makes me want to rant.  If you are building defense into your Dark on purpose you are honestly lost on how Dark works.

 

Dark uses cheezy mezz (Fear and Stun) and a crapton of to hit debuffs, plus unsuppressable stealth to fight the fight IT wants.  Against AVs the Armor and massive health recovery is enough.  This holds up until you get to the damage patches in Incarnate Trials and trying to Tank 4 star content.  But....you are the Brutiest of Brutes.  Not a Tank.  Very good damage, unkillable against your selected prey (nearly everything, as long as you play to your game, not theirs)

 

My build:

 

This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.7
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/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

• (A) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage
• (3) Touch of Death - Damage/Recharge
• (3) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (5) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (5) Touch of Death - Chance of Damage(Negative)
  

Level 1: Dark Embrace

• (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
• (7) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance
• (7) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance
• (9) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (9) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)
  

Level 2: Death Shroud

• (A) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage
• (11) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Damage/RechargeTime
• (11) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• (13) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (13) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (15) Superior Unrelenting Fury - RechargeTime/+Regen/+End
  

Level 4: Murky Cloud

• (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
• (17) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance
• (19) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance
• (19) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime
  

Level 6: Shadow Maul

• (A) Armageddon - Damage
• (21) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge
• (21) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
• (23) Armageddon - Recharge/Accuracy
• (23) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance
• (25) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage
  

Level 8: Fly

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
  

Level 10: Obsidian Shield

• (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
• (25) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance
• (27) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance
• (27) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP
  

Level 12: Siphon Life

• (A) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage
• (29) Superior Brute's Fury - Damage/Recharge
• (29) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (31) Superior Brute's Fury - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (31) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (31) Superior Brute's Fury - Recharge/Fury Bonus
  

Level 14: Touch of Fear

• (A) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/ToHitDebuff
• (50) Cloud Senses - Chance for Negative Energy Damage
  

Level 16: Dark Regeneration

• (A) Obliteration - Damage
• (33) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
• (33) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
• (33) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (34) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 18: Dark Consumption

• (A) Obliteration - Damage
• (34) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
• (34) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
• (36) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (36) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 20: Cloak of Darkness

• (A) Kismet - Accuracy +6%
• (36) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage
• (37) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
  

Level 22: Kick

• (A) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge
  

Level 24: Tough

• (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
• (37) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance
• (37) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance
• (39) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime
  

Level 26: Soul Drain

• (A) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage
• (39) Superior Avalanche - Damage/Endurance
• (39) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (40) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (40) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (40) Superior Avalanche - Recharge/Chance for Knockdown
  

Level 28: Cloak of Fear

• (A) Cloud Senses - Chance for Negative Energy Damage
• (42) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/ToHitDebuff
  

Level 30: Weave

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
  

Level 32: Midnight Grasp

• (A) Hecatomb - Damage
• (42) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge
• (42) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
• (43) Hecatomb - Recharge/Accuracy
• (43) Hecatomb - Damage/Endurance
• (43) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage(Negative)
  

Level 35: Oppressive Gloom

• Hamidon Origin:Endoplasm Exposure
  

Level 38: Soul Tentacles

• (A) Bombardment - Damage
• (45) Bombardment - Accuracy/Recharge/Endurance
• (45) Bombardment - Damage/Recharge
• (45) Bombardment - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (46) Bombardment - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge/Endurance
• (46) Bombardment - Chance for Fire Damage
  

Level 41: Dark Obliteration

• (A) Ragnarok - Damage
• (46) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge
• (48) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
• (48) Ragnarok - Recharge/Accuracy
• (48) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance
• (50) Ragnarok - Chance for Knockdown
  

Level 44: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (50) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 47: Maneuvers

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
  

Level 49: Soul Transfer

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 1: Fury 

Level 1: Brawl

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[honoroit]

hi @Snarky i thought about maybe sneaking in provoke and invoke panic from presence pool. on scrapper. its mag 3 on 60s cooldown. and... 20 foot pbaoe, so catchy.

 

think id get away with dropping fly and maneuvers in your above'ish?

 

i dunno if you have to take 2 anymore, the power pools seemed like they were opened up recently.

 

i dont wanna do it if its 3 choices to get invoke panic, but provoke is useful, and i can be a scraptank?

 

Edited March 24, 2023 by honoroit

[Lazarillo]

2 minutes ago, Snarky said:

I agree with so much here.  I do take issue with the idea of Dark being vulnerable to defense debuffs.  Like, so much it makes me want to rant.  If you are building defense into your Dark on purpose you are honestly lost on how Dark works.

That's not really what I meant, in and of itself.  But in building for extra defense in or not, those debuffs can also send one into negative numbers and make attacks hit more frequently. In my experience (my main /Dark Brute is Energy/Dark, FWIW), that doesn't mean much when I'm seeing defense debuffs augmenting, say, Lethal damage, because Lethal damage pings off my character anyway.  But when enemies are doing them with Energy attacks (again, looking at high-level Paragon Police Department, especially, or Clockwork, or groups that use Praetorian weapons such as Resistance, Warworks, and even the occasional high level Family), those cascades mean more hits build up from stuff that does like 5x the relative damage.

[Lazarillo]

25 minutes ago, honoroit said:

sorta! more definately psychotic and will hop into mobs alone if the group is even half a blink slow to my tastes!

 

something that makes you feel thats its discordant, but oddly quick at the same. more nightmare grasp than...shadow maul.

If you want more "flair" from your Darkness, rather than simply "the toughest option that uses all Dark-tagged sets", you might get more mileage out of going with a Dominator, then.  The big trick is that your primary defense is going to come in the form of offense.  Gotta lock down those legions first (with all sorts of suitably impressive-looking coils of darkness and whatnot), then they can look upon your works and despair.

[honoroit]

 

all the power, please, and thank you. the money and the dollars. 

 

provoke / inspire panic scrapper new amaze? i think so if its only 2x power choices...

 

i shall call my character: the king of salt (pls dont ninja it before im on tomorrow, beasts)

Edited March 24, 2023 by honoroit

[StriderIV]

2 hours ago, Lazarillo said:

If you want more "flair" from your Darkness, rather than simply "the toughest option that uses all Dark-tagged sets", you might get more mileage out of going with a Dominator, then.  The big trick is that your primary defense is going to come in the form of offense.  Gotta lock down those legions first (with all sorts of suitably impressive-looking coils of darkness and whatnot), then they can look upon your works and despair.

Dark/Dark Doms do seem all sorts of cool with the Soul Noir animations.

[Snarky]

3 hours ago, Lazarillo said:

That's not really what I meant, in and of itself.  But in building for extra defense in or not, those debuffs can also send one into negative numbers and make attacks hit more frequently. In my experience (my main /Dark Brute is Energy/Dark, FWIW), that doesn't mean much when I'm seeing defense debuffs augmenting, say, Lethal damage, because Lethal damage pings off my character anyway.  But when enemies are doing them with Energy attacks (again, looking at high-level Paragon Police Department, especially, or Clockwork, or groups that use Praetorian weapons such as Resistance, Warworks, and even the occasional high level Family), those cascades mean more hits build up from stuff that does like 5x the relative damage.

Seriously the only time I have been shocked by how fast this Brute hit the floor was in a shadow shard tf.  Some idiot died in a crossroads in a cave.  I decided to be a hero.  Fing Rularuu could see me right through stealth.  I hade EVERYTHING shooting me from range.  It was packed in all four directions.  
 

Other than that +4 ITF, Incarnate trials, everything in game is yawn.  Until you get to Battle Maiden and Magisteriums damage patches

[Snarky]

3 hours ago, StriderIV said:

Dark/Dark Doms do seem all sorts of cool with the Soul Noir animations.

My Dark Dark Dark Corruptor is about as vicious as you can get.  Debuff and mez mobs to hell then switch to blaster mode

[honoroit]

dark blast appears just superior on corruptor, when compared to blaster, powers wise.

 

[Uun]

I've got a Dark/Dark tank which is extremely sturdy and has handled 3* ITF. I skip Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom. Endurance can be managed (even without Incarnates). I've also got a Dark/Dark dominator that's very strong, but I've yet to find a build I'm totally happy with. 

 

I'm quite surprised that nobody has mentioned the classic Dark/Dark defender, the ultimate in darkity darkness.

[Uun]

2 hours ago, honoroit said:

dark blast appears just superior on corruptor, when compared to blaster, powers wise

I disagree. Dark Pit is a steaming pile of garbage and completely useless unless you've got another AoE stun to stack with it. Umbral Torrent is vastly superior to Torrent or Nightfall. Abyssal Gaze is a solid ST hold with damage. And Aim (with a Gaussian's proc) actually allows you to use Blackstar in a meaningful way. 

[Nyghtmaire]

I’ll throw some more support for a DarkX3 tank - tons of survivability and the endurance issues are easily managed with slotting and other IO goodies and absent incarnates. I do run OG along with a KD proc in Death Shroud to buy time to let the resistance have some breathing room. Just a shadow even at least. 
 

Not mentioned above, classic Necro/Dark/Soul - now with more power after the recent mastermind changes. 
 

Also have a stalker and blaster, both of whom I adore. The stalker is nigh unkillable between mostly capped resists (other than energy), S/L/M softcap, stacked fears between CoF and Touch of Fear, and Dark Regeneration. The blaster is fun but ain’t winning no “best” award. 
 

Still leveling the controller, sentinel, and the corrupter (this one is really a re-roll from live), so too early to say anything other than “fun”. However the sentinel is mechanically the weakest of the bunch.

 

Overall, I’m drawn to the control tools available in the various dark sets, as well as the many ways there are to build each AT. All a little different and all (except maybe the sentinel - still trying to wrap my head around this guy) super solid. 
 

Regarding defense, leaning towards it being another layer of survivability. Having the initial cushion before any cascade certainly helps, along with the -ToHit debuffs. Doubly so with Darkest Night adding an additional layer (along with a -damage component which dovetails nicely with resistance). Certainly not something to chase at the expense of all else, but there are so many IO tools and options it’s almost hard NOT to stack a reasonable amount of defense. Dark characters have many layers of defensive complexity and as many should be utilized. Use all the tools! 

[Meknomancer]

Darkx2 blaster, doesn't get touched 300+ days offline and counting

Darkx2 stalker ,same as the blaster

Darkx2 fender, same as above but only because...

Darkx2 corr, awesome combo

Darkx2 troller, barely gets played despite my love for DA on trollers because....

Darkx2 domi is epic

Darkx2 brute, can't make my mind up on this one

Darkx2 tank, same as brute

Darkx2 sentinel, so so so so very very very bad

Darkx2 scrap, surprised when i realised i haven't tried this yet

Necro/dark mastermind, does this count in the conversation? , if it does its the no.1 dark combo by miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiles.

 

 

[Snarky]

2 hours ago, Uun said:

I disagree. Dark Pit is a steaming pile of garbage and completely useless unless you've got another AoE stun to stack with it. Umbral Torrent is vastly superior to Torrent or Nightfall. Abyssal Gaze is a solid ST hold with damage. And Aim (with a Gaussian's proc) actually allows you to use Blackstar in a meaningful way. 

You are correct. But there is another mag 2 AoE stun available in Dark Dark Dark and it tirns your stun into mag4.  Magic happens. Cloak of Darkness allows you to get close. Toss the ranged AoE mag 2 stun as you wade in with the Aura mag 2 stun. This screws with 95% mobs pretty hard.  Soul Drain and Blackstar with impunity.  Step or TP back and cone of Fear (to bit debuff). Then start barrage of cones and/or ST burn phase

[drgantz]

I'm trying to decide on a Dark/Dark Melee.  I'm mostly thinking of Brute and Tanker, but Scrapper and Stalker are ok as well.

I mostly group in TFs, Radios and other group stuff.  PVE only.

I was thinking that Tanker might be better because it would have a larger AOE radius

[honoroit]

12 hours ago, Meknomancer said:

 

Necro/dark mastermind, does this count in the conversation? , if it does its the no.1 dark combo by miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiles.

 

 

 

necro dark is cool, but i dunno any keybinds thatd not be fiddly on a keyboard thats 10 keyless, im using a 75% one.

[Snarky]

8 hours ago, drgantz said:

I'm trying to decide on a Dark/Dark Melee.  I'm mostly thinking of Brute and Tanker, but Scrapper and Stalker are ok as well.

I mostly group in TFs, Radios and other group stuff.  PVE only.

I was thinking that Tanker might be better because it would have a larger AOE radius

I think Dark Dark is most efficient on a Brute.  But i have both Tank and Brute.  My main issue with Dark on a Tank is that Dark’s non suppressed stealth makes them a less efficient Tank.  Whereas it just adds to a Brute being able to be an unstoppable ball of hate

Edited March 25, 2023 by Snarky

[Meknomancer]

14 hours ago, honoroit said:

 

necro dark is cool, but i dunno any keybinds thatd not be fiddly on a keyboard thats 10 keyless, im using a 75% one.

 

 

I don't use keybinds, i have way too many alts to try and remember which key does what after i switch. My necro/dark runs about 3-4 macro's and 1 of those is the /macro DANCE petsayall <em dance> and the 1 of the others is a pets dismiss. There's enough powers to take up 5-6 trays as it is.

[StriderIV]

Recently rolled a Dark/Dark Dom since I was inspired by this thread… it might be one of the most “cinematic” heroes I’ve made. Sweet animations for so many powers. Reminds me the most of some of the anime clips OP posted haha.

 

I DO want to give a shout out to Water Blast as well… although not a Dark powerset, when you color it all black, it looks like you’re controlling shadows.

Edited March 27, 2023 by StriderIV