Electric Armor vs Dark Armor

[BuiltDifferent5]

Is there one you’d suggest over the other? Which one is sturdier/holds up better in most 50+ content?

 

Thinking of potentially pairing either with Katana, Savage Melee, MA or Street Justice. Nothing set in stone though, so happy to hear about synergies with either of those armors.

Edited April 12, 2023 by BuiltDifferent5

[ZemX]

Of those two, I'd pick... Rad Armor. 🤪

 

I am sort of being serious if you're willing to expand your choices a little.  Whenever I've considered rolling up a Dark or Elec Armor Tanker, I keep coming back to Rad "doing it better" (IMO) than either.  They are all primarily resist armors that aren't terribly difficult to get at or near the cap on most/all (excepting the occasional res hole).  They all have a self heal.   They all have good (or great) endurance drain resistance.  Rad and Elec also have +endurance powers.

 

The big thing Rad has over either of these is the absorb shield.  This is sort of like another heal or +HP like power that's a third layer of protection on res and self-heal.  It also has great end recovery.

 

It is notably missing a damage aura, but instead has the odd Ground Zero power, which is both a minor team heal and a minor enemy damage power with a large radius and a huge 30 target cap.  Great "proc nuke" potential thanks to the base 90 second recharge.  The self heal can also be procced for damage and +endurance, so it doubles as a very effective endurance refiller as well.   Not as huge a heal as Dark, but also doesn't need to be.  As such it's a lot cheaper to use while still getting the job done.

 

Tier9s are, as usual, skippable in all three of these armor sets, but here again, Rad's is at least something you can consider taking and using, if for no other reason, the +dmg.  It's in the newer style of shorter recharge, less powerful, but also crash-less or crash-lite Tier9s.  Dark's Rez is the least useful for a well-built Tanker, I'd think. Elec's surge is the more traditional "god mode with heavy crash at the end" Tier 9 which you might also rarely use.  Both Meltdown and Power Surge can mule a +res(psi) Impervium or Aegis IO if nothing else.

 

There's not a huge amount of synergy with any of these and your secondary picks though.   Rad does a little -def debuff and Katana does more.  Dark has some minor defense to add to Katana's Divine Avalanche +melee/lethal def.  Street Justice has some stuns if you took Oppressive Gloom in Dark Armor (most people don't, I think).  Savage Melee is pretty much just damage... and that goes with anything.

 

Outside of your choices, Staff Fighting pairs a bit better with any Res armor set due to the nice +res(all) finisher in the damage stance and also has a +def in a cone attack to stack with any defense you already have.  Dark Melee does -toHit and some fear to stack with Dark Armor.  Elec Melee does end drain to stack with Elec Armor's.  etc.

[Psyonico]

I would say that if you are going to go Dark Armor, go Savage.  Savage gives end redux which is nice for dark armor because it's a bit on the end heavy side.  Electric has built in Knock protection in grounded, which is nice, but you have to be on the ground for it, so I generally still slot a Blessing of the Zephyr in my travel power just to even things out a bit.

[Uun]

Both are very sturdy. Largely depends on what you want your weakness to be. Dark is weak to energy and toxic but not that much. Electric is slightly weak to negative but has no toxic resistance at all. (If you're also considering Rad, it's weak to cold and psi.) While it does need a target, Dark's heal is like nothing else in the game. On Dark, I skip Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom. CoF requires a huge slot investment to be effective and even then it only affects minions. OG can be worthwhile if you have another stun to stack with it (as MA does).

[Gobbledigook]

Of those 2 i would pick DarkA over ElectricA.

Dark covers a lot of resists but is weak to energy which is fairly common. The heal is very good until the incoming damage is too much for it as it needs mobs which would need to be a lot.

 

Electric has good resists but with some big holes and the heal is no where near as good as Darks or RadA. ElecA could do with a little something to make it better.

 

But i would choose RadA over both the others. Good resists to most except cold which isn't so common. Very good healing/absorb. +recovery. +damage/nukes.

 

RadA...this is the way!

[nihilii]

17 minutes ago, StriderIV said:

Staff is kind of a dark horse. If I can get over the animations (some are really cool), it seems to pair well. Guarded Spin helps with defense, although not as much as Katana’s DA. Lv 3 Sky splitter in offensive stance gives a bump to resists. I’m not sure if that is redundant though. If I’m going Cardiac Alpha, most of my resists may be maxed already.

This thread seems familiar. 😄

I'm kind of in love with the idea of DA/Staff, now that Staff will finally have its redraw issues fixed.

DA struggles a bit with energy resistance, so the Sky Splitter buff still ought to help.

Staff comes with a 10ft (=15ft on Tanker) PBAoE and a ranged attack. Animations are lengthy and you'd likely want to run Guarded Spin -> Precise Strike -> Serpent's Reach to get those 3 stacks of Perfection for the Sky Splitter buff.

So, not much room for Gloom... But in a sense, that's an opportunity to grab Conserve Power. CP + Cardiac to take care of endurance. Barrier as Destiny to shore up def/res, likewise patching the DDR hole through overwhelming defense.

[Psiphon]

DA with OG works well with Energy Melee, stacking stuns on all mobs including bosses.

Edited April 13, 2023 by Psiphon

[StriderIV]

56 minutes ago, nihilii said:

This thread seems familiar. 😄

I'm kind of in love with the idea of DA/Staff, now that Staff will finally have its redraw issues fixed.

DA struggles a bit with energy resistance, so the Sky Splitter buff still ought to help.

Staff comes with a 10ft (=15ft on Tanker) PBAoE and a ranged attack. Animations are lengthy and you'd likely want to run Guarded Spin -> Precise Strike -> Serpent's Reach to get those 3 stacks of Perfection for the Sky Splitter buff.

So, not much room for Gloom... But in a sense, that's an opportunity to grab Conserve Power. CP + Cardiac to take care of endurance. Barrier as Destiny to shore up def/res, likewise patching the DDR hole through overwhelming defense.

This combo sounds spicy. I’m torn between either taking Mecurial Blow or Precise Strike.

[ZemX]

1 hour ago, StriderIV said:

This combo sounds spicy. I’m torn between either taking Mecurial Blow or Precise Strike.

 

Mercurial while leveling and Precise after you have more slots and global recharge.  If you did decide to take OG in Dark Armor then Precise Strike's disorient would stack, for whatever that is worth.  Otherwise neither secondary effect on the T1/T2 is worth worrying about more than the fact Precise is much better DPA in your attack chain.  But DPA only matters once you can close the attack chain.  Early in leveling I prefer the faster lighter attacks to standing around doing nothing.  Not an issue if you intend to farm your way up, of course.

 

Another decision might be Innocuous vs. Serpent and that one just depends on whether you want more AoE or better ST.   On a Tanker, I tend to prefer more AoE.  Having two 135 degree 9ft cones to alternate is not a bad thing.

[BuiltDifferent5]

5 hours ago, ZemX said:

 

Mercurial while leveling and Precise after you have more slots and global recharge.  If you did decide to take OG in Dark Armor then Precise Strike's disorient would stack, for whatever that is worth.  Otherwise neither secondary effect on the T1/T2 is worth worrying about more than the fact Precise is much better DPA in your attack chain.  But DPA only matters once you can close the attack chain.  Early in leveling I prefer the faster lighter attacks to standing around doing nothing.  Not an issue if you intend to farm your way up, of course.

 

Another decision might be Innocuous vs. Serpent and that one just depends on whether you want more AoE or better ST.   On a Tanker, I tend to prefer more AoE.  Having two 135 degree 9ft cones to alternate is not a bad thing.

Thanks for this. I know some others in the thread were talking about it, but DA/Staff seems like it’d be very good. Tanky and holding aggro like a beast I’m sure.

[Psyonico]

I'll throw out one other option... DA/MA... You can cap most defenses and resistances with the right build, though it is very end heavy.

 

Planned build attached, mines currently level 30.  I'll be moving Conserve Power and Physical Perfection to 35 and 38 respectively so that I can better afford the other toggles 

Sturmfaust - Tanker (Dark Armor).mxd

[Warboss]

It might be just me, but I think Electric Armor might be improved a lot if the recharge time of Energize got paired down. With the set having a power that "increases" base recharge times by 5% (Lightning Reflexes), seems funny that it doesn't really make a dent in the heal's long Recharge. No DDR makes building for Def a challenge and will only go so far (granted getting over 50% helps, but it will eventually fail). Even with capped Resists, the set will still fail under a heavy load (and your a Tank, you should be under a heavy load) and the heal's recharge just isn't fast enough to help. The "god mode" is more like Russian Russian roulette in that you need to eliminate your opponents before your crash, and it's a punishing crash, a REAL punishing crash. Adding some Toxic Resist would be good too, zero is/was a terrible place to start at. Not sure what the logic was on that...

 

I have seen some good Electric builds, but I think overall DA starts in a better place, some Def in the set, OG pretty much takes minions out of the fight. A damage Aura, probably the fastest self heal in the game (can be slotted for damage, takes Theft of Essence proc for refilling your End (you do need high Acc, and good Recharge), and overall good workable Resists. It is an End hungry set, so Theft of Essence proc is mandatory until you can get your IO sets (even then it useful to keep).

 

On live I had an Electric Tank that I lead Hamis with and he worked well, but I really had to tool him out. I think I'd change that build and I do have an Elect/Elect here that I was messing with that is mostly Resists (under 10% Def). He works, but Barrier is needed for really heavy lifting. Granted I need to look at the build as I was playing with a specific concept. I met that, but I think sacrificed too much in the process. My Elect/Fire on live ran at just under or just over (I don't recall) 50% Melee Def (it did make a difference).

[ZemX]

17 hours ago, Warboss said:

It might be just me, but I think Electric Armor might be improved a lot if the recharge time of Energize got paired down.

 

ooo... now this thread has made me curious.   Imagine if you will, how much Elec/Dark would suck.  And I mean that in more ways than one.

 

Energize - Suck health from your foes! (edit: Correction: It doesn't suck health from foes.  It just sucks).

Power Sink - Suck endurance from your foes!

Siphon Life - Suck more health from your foes!

Dark Consumption - Suck even MORE endurance from your foes!

Soul Drain - Okay look.. just eat their souls now.  It will make you stronger.

 

The only thing that sucks as much as this is how much time most of these powers take to recharge. 🤪  But on the other hand, having so many of them would mean theoretically one of them is probably always ready to use and a couple can be fashioned into proc bombs, can they not?  Might even find Power Sink to be unnecessary with all the endurance discount and recovery protection Elec Armor has.

 

Then again, there's that sweet Staff Stance Selection that lets you decide to do more damage or get more recharge bonus. So maybe Elec/Staff? ... hmmm.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by ZemX

[Uun]

While it's not terribly hard to get the recharge of Energize down to 45 seconds, I agree that the 120 second base recharge is significantly longer than the heals in other armor sets. Dark Regeneration is 30 seconds, Healing Flames is 40 seconds and Radiation Therapy is 60 seconds. Only Energy Aura/Energize (which has identical stats) is as long. Also, it would be nice to be able to make the endurance discount and +regen perma (both have a 30 second duration). BTW, Energize doesn't suck health from your foes - it's a non-targeted self heal similar to Healing Flames.

 

Don't skip Power Sink. Even if you don't need the endurance recovery, it's a potent sapping weapon. The base endurance drain is 40%, which can be increased to 78% via slotting. Plus it's auto-hit and AoE. 

[ZemX]

4 hours ago, Uun said:

it's a potent sapping weapon. The base endurance drain is 40%, which can be increased to 78% via slotting. Plus it's auto-hit and AoE. 

 

Isn't sapping an all-or-nothing tactic though?  78% sounds great but if you don't follow it up with other drains that drop them to zero, you haven't affected their damage output at all, have you?  Or am I misinformed?  Never actually tried such a thing myself.  

[Uun]

28 minutes ago, ZemX said:

Isn't sapping an all-or-nothing tactic though?  78% sounds great but if you don't follow it up withother drains that drop them to zero, you haven't affected their damage output at all, have you?  Or am I misinformed?  Never actually tried such a thing myself.  

It is. Don't hit them when they're at 100%, hit them when their endurance is at a level where they can be dropped to 0%.  

[Warboss]

9 hours ago, Uun said:

While it's not terribly hard to get the recharge of Energize down to 45 seconds, I agree that the 120 second base recharge is significantly longer than the heals in other armor sets. Dark Regeneration is 30 seconds, Healing Flames is 40 seconds and Radiation Therapy is 60 seconds. Only Energy Aura/Energize (which has identical stats) is as long. Also, it would be nice to be able to make the endurance discount and +regen perma (both have a 30 second duration). BTW, Energize doesn't suck health from your foes - it's a non-targeted self heal similar to Healing Flames.

 

Don't skip Power Sink. Even if you don't need the endurance recovery, it's a potent sapping weapon. The base endurance drain is 40%, which can be increased to 78% via slotting. Plus it's auto-hit and AoE. 

 

Cool, thanks for posting those times, although I though Healing Flames had a faster Recharge on Live, did that change here? (might just be me and my "memory")

 

And I agree with not skipping Power Sink, you can really drop your opponents' attacks... but it usually takes two applications (actually about two and a half, depending on slotting) to get all their End floored (Bosses are a bit longer (?) irrc). And during that time you're soaking damage. Now... This is likely not as big an issue if you're on a Team, but solo and teams w/o Buff/Debuffers it's an issue. I think it would be interesting to see how Elect holds up against the reworked Invunl, and use Invuln as a template to make Electric more survivable. See if leveraging the set's Heal (Energize), increase the Regen % and duration, and maybe add a hit point buff would level or at least increase the durability.

[hakurr]

 

It really depends on what you prefer i my self don't like struggling with endurance so i would go with Electric / Savage but this gives you an idea of what each would look like at 50 with no incarnates.

Both sets are good in there own rite but you have to figure out what fits with what you want.

DA/Savage

 

 

Electric Armor / Savage

 

Tanker - Dark Armor - Savage Melee.mxd Dura Cell - Tanker - Electric Armor - Savage.mxd

[BuiltDifferent5]

1 hour ago, hakurr said:

 

It really depends on what you prefer i my self don't like struggling with endurance so i would go with Electric / Savage but this gives you an idea of what each would look like at 50 with no incarnates.

Both sets are good in there own rite but you have to figure out what fits with what you want.

DA/Savage

 

 

Electric Armor / Savage

 

Tanker - Dark Armor - Savage Melee.mxd 5.12 kB · 0 downloads Dura Cell - Tanker - Electric Armor - Savage.mxd 5.4 kB · 0 downloads

These numbers… look REALLY impressive, especially with no incarnates. I’m actually thinking of going Electric/Katana.

[hakurr]

this can easily be converted to Katana

 

Dura Cell - Tanker - Electric Armor - Katana.mxd

Edited April 15, 2023 by hakurr

[Gobbledigook]

On 4/14/2023 at 2:27 PM, ZemX said:

 

ooo... now this thread has made me curious.   Imagine if you will, how much Elec/Dark would suck.  And I mean that in more ways than one.

 

Energize - Suck health from your foes! (edit: Correction: It doesn't suck health from foes.  It just sucks).

Power Sink - Suck endurance from your foes!

Siphon Life - Suck more health from your foes!

Dark Consumption - Suck even MORE endurance from your foes!

Soul Drain - Okay look.. just eat their souls now.  It will make you stronger.

 

The only thing that sucks as much as this is how much time most of these powers take to recharge. 🤪  But on the other hand, having so many of them would mean theoretically one of them is probably always ready to use and a couple can be fashioned into proc bombs, can they not?  Might even find Power Sink to be unnecessary with all the endurance discount and recovery protection Elec Armor has.

 

Then again, there's that sweet Staff Stance Selection that lets you decide to do more damage or get more recharge bonus. So maybe Elec/Staff? ... hmmm.

 

 

You have been spending too much time with @Snarky