Considering my first Defender. Dark/Seismic?

[Damoklese]

So im a long time controller player.  Well.. I say that but really im a long time altaholic that is looking to get more than one character maxed out.  Ive played a LOT of controllers and tanks, and ive always wanted to try to make a defender work for me. I like that they are the best when it comes to buffing and debuffing, and that strikes me as a very strong benefit that is often overlooked.

 

Anyway, Ive dabbled a little with Seismic on a sentinel and thought it was pretty cool. So I thought maybe id give it a shot on a defender, and finally have a go at maxing one out.

 

I typically play Solo or in a duo with a friend who plays dps.  But I dont like being a slouch so im looking to contribute some nice damage numbers of my own, and generally just make things easy. 

 

Dark looks like it has some great tools that would synergize with Seismic..but I honestly have no idea what im doing here.  Ive never had to look at the support sets as my bread and butter.  They have always just been a compliment to my main abilities, so now that I need to depend on these abilities for my character to be effective and fun, im a little bit lost.

 

I guess I just want some feedback from the experienced defenders out there on whether or not this would be a new-defender-friendly combo to try?  Am I going to run into a lot of endurance issues? or struggle to be effective?  Is there any pairing with Seismic that you would say is a much better decision?   Dark/Seismic fits my intended character theme, but I can be flexible.

 

Anyway..any feedback and assistance is welcome.  Thanks for reading.

[Uun]

I haven't played that combo but I've played both sets. Dark Miasma is one of the best defender sets and you really can't go wrong with it. Seismic offers good secondary effects (KD and -def) and the Seismic Shockwaves mechanic provides some good buffs when it's active. Dark/Seismic should be very solid. 

 

On Dark, skip Black Hole. Petrifying Gaze is optional. Slot Fearsome Stare with an accurate tohit debuff set (not fear). Slot Dark Servant with an accurate tohit debuff set.

 

On Seismic, skip one of the T1 attacks (I skip Encase). Depending on how many ST attacks you want, you can also skip Entomb, although you may want to take it while leveling and drop it later in a respec. Seismic offers lots of proc opportunities. I slot most attacks with acc/dmg, acc/dmg/end and 3-4 procs. 

[Panache]

Strategy-wise, the switch from Controller to Def means you want to open with your debuffs. Most folks start with Fearsome, then drop a combo of Darkest Night/Dark Servant/Tar Patch. (Personally I like to use Darkest Night to anchor pull the next mob into the current mob’s Tar Patch).

 

Shadow Fall is life, it’s a great resist shield, good defense, and when combined with a Celerity: Stealth IO in Sprint (relatively cheap and available at level 12), you’ve got invisibility. 
 

The other early proc I like for Dark is a Theft of Essence: Chance for Endurance in Twilight Grasp. 

[MonteCarla]

Going from a Controller to a Defender, you're trading AoE control for AoE damage.

The biggest source of this by far is your nuke.

Take Aim (Seismic Forces to you), and slot the Gaussian chance to Build up in it (Adds +80% damage for 5 seconds). This give you a 90% chance of it adding +130% damage instead of just +50%. Use this before your nuke and do them both as often as possible! And drop a Tar Patch first, of course.

For Meteor, you probably also want to slot a KB to KB unique. (I'm not yet there on my first Seismic Blast character)