Elec Armor/Dark Melee: WOW

[BuiltDifferent5]

I just want to say I’ve leveled this combo recently and… WOW. What a beast it is. Two endurance recoveries, 2 heals. Maxed out resists pretty much across the board with nice AOE and ST damage. This thing just GOES.

 

I honestly haven’t seen this combo a ton, but I feel it is pretty amazing. Anyone else run an Elec/DM Tanker? How do you like it?

[One IV All]

So I just mentioned running this combo as well in another thread. It is an absolutely beastly combo, as you said

I liken it to the energizer bunny: it can just keep going and going and going.

[Xandyr]

21 hours ago, BuiltDifferent5 said:

I just want to say I’ve leveled this combo recently and… WOW. What a beast it is. Two endurance recoveries, 2 heals. Maxed out resists pretty much across the board with nice AOE and ST damage. This thing just GOES.

 

I honestly haven’t seen this combo a ton, but I feel it is pretty amazing. Anyone else run an Elec/DM Tanker? How do you like it?

Told ya so  haha

[Erratic1]

22 hours ago, BuiltDifferent5 said:

I just want to say I’ve leveled this combo recently and… WOW. What a beast it is. Two endurance recoveries, 2 heals. Maxed out resists pretty much across the board with nice AOE and ST damage. This thing just GOES.

 

I honestly haven’t seen this combo a ton, but I feel it is pretty amazing. Anyone else run an Elec/DM Tanker? How do you like it?

 

My first Brute was Dark/Electric. After playing it for a while and not seeing anyone else playing the combo, I came across another one doing some stupidly high level farming. I asked him why nobody else seemed to realize how good a combo it was.  He replied, "No idea, but its our little secret."

 

So its not really surprising to me that it works well on a Tanker. The Brute was nigh unkillable. Probably stupid good on a Tanker.

[BuiltDifferent5]

2 hours ago, Xandyr said:

Told ya so  haha

Dude you did. I just still wasn’t prepared for just how… amazing it would be lol. Honestly hard to think of something in the game it couldn’t do/at least hold it’s weight in.

[BuiltDifferent5]

1 hour ago, Erratic1 said:

 

My first Brute was Dark/Electric. After playing it for a while and not seeing anyone else playing the combo, I came across another one doing some stupidly high level farming. I asked him why nobody else seemed to realize how good a combo it was.  He replied, "No idea, but its our little secret."

 

So its not really surprising to me that it works well on a Tanker. The Brute was nigh unkillable. Probably stupid good on a Tanker.

I totally just ruined the secret with this post, my bad man 😂

 

Yeah across the board it is so solid on a Tanker. Pretty easy to hit most caps. -tohit from DM is nice as well. Endurance is never an issue and AOE is pretty good with your damage aura, Shadow Maul and a proc’d our ToF.

 

Honestly, could see it being just as great on a Brute. Elec hits caps there pretty easy, the damage aura keeps fury up and ToF/Shadow Maul fire off really quick.

[Story Archer]

My favorite defensive sets for Tankers have always been Electric Armor and Radiation Armor. Those two proc'ed out mini nukes on Rad Armor just nudges it over the top for me.

 

Maxed out, I remain convinced that nothing beats a Dark/MA Tanker for survivability - see the image below for numbers with purple sets (1st) and numbers without ANY purple sets, and that's not accounting for its massive Heal up every 10-12 seconds, or the DM attacks/Cloak of Fear debuffing everyone's ToHit - but I really don't like Eagle's Claw and I find having a Recovery power is just too important. There is such a thing as being TOO survivable, especially if it gimps you in damage output.

 

[Sovera]

12 minutes ago, Story Archer said:

My favorite defensive sets for Tankers have always been Electric Armor and Radiation Armor. Those two proc'ed out mini nukes on Rad Armor just nudges it over the top for me.

 

Maxed out, I remain convinced that nothing beats a Dark/MA Tanker for survivability - see the image below for numbers with purple sets (1st) and numbers without ANY purple sets, and that's not accounting for its massive Heal up every 10-12 seconds, or the DM attacks/Cloak of Fear debuffing everyone's ToHit - but I really don't like Eagle's Claw and I find having a Recovery power is just too important. There is such a thing as being TOO survivable, especially if it gimps you in damage output.

 

 

You could probably tweak the build slightly to have less S/L (notice how you're past 90% and this is with just one stack of the ATO) and could use that to bump your Energy resistances. If wanting to minx it could be built for 40% defenses and then Barrier finishes bumping it to 45%, but building straight to 45% is valid too. I don't feel it is important to go past 45% (so 45% and then Barrier pushing to 50%) because defenses on a resist build are just another layer of mitigation. Anything that debuffs defenses will melt them. But for everything ELSE that does not then blessed relief from the myriad of debuffs in the game!

 

If you'd drop the build I could take a look.

[Story Archer]

39 minutes ago, Sovera said:

 

You could probably tweak the build slightly to have less S/L (notice how you're past 90% and this is with just one stack of the ATO) and could use that to bump your Energy resistances. If wanting to minx it could be built for 40% defenses and then Barrier finishes bumping it to 45%, but building straight to 45% is valid too. I don't feel it is important to go past 45% (so 45% and then Barrier pushing to 50%) because defenses on a resist build are just another layer of mitigation. Anything that debuffs defenses will melt them. But for everything ELSE that does not then blessed relief from the myriad of debuffs in the game!

 

If you'd drop the build I could take a look.

 

Keep in mind that the build on the right is with no purple sets whatsoever. You're not going to find anything tougher than that with no purps, I don't think. The finished maxed out build has actually been updated with stronger numbers overall (I'll link it below), but again, with that uber powerful heal up so often, it's really just theory-crafting at this point, the toon is pretty much unkillable.

 

The heal is the perfect compliment because, once you jump into a new mob, it buys you the time (if you need it) for Cloak of Fear/Oppressive Gloom to set in, and to land that first Storm Kick and that ATO that'll get you to all the maxes. After that, just cook them down with the double damage auras and Dragon's Tail, really.

 

Again, this is my 'most survivable build' (no Incarnates - is that what 'Barrier' is referencing?), not necessarily my 'most fun' or 'most effective overall' build. I'd go to a different power set for that. Probably Rad Armor/SS, mainly due to the opportunities for FF and because proc'ing out the two mini-nukes and Foot Stomp means that you can pretty much ignore the negative side effects of RageQuit while still reaping all the benefits. Still, let me know what you think.

 

Tanker (Dark Armor - Martial Arts) L50.mbd

 

Edited May 2 by Story Archer

[Sovera]

1 minute ago, Story Archer said:

 

Keep in mind that the build on the right is with no purple sets whatsoever. You're not going to find anything tougher than that with no purps, I don't think. The finished maxed out build has actually been updated with stronger numbers overall (I'll link it below), but again, with that uber powerful heal up so often, it's really just theory-crafting at this point, the toon is pretty much unkillable.

 

The heal is the perfect compliment because, once you jump into a new mob, it buys you the time (if you need it) for Cloak of Fear/Oppressive Gloom to set in, and to land that first Storm Kick and that ATO that'll get you to all the maxes. After that, just cook them down with the double damage auras and Dragon's Tail, really.

 

Again, this is my 'most survivable build' (no Incarnates - is that what 'Barrier' is referencing?), not necessarily my 'most fun' or 'most effective overall' build. I'd go to a different power set for that. Still, let me know what you think.

 

Tanker (Dark Armor - Martial Arts) L50.mbd 42.9 kB · 0 downloads

 

 

You keep mentioning purples but purples have no bearing on toughness. All they do is add some recharge and accuracy, and a good damage proc. Barrier is an incarnate, yes. If you're level 50 you should be looking for incarnates. Tier three from any Alpha will increase survival and damage by a measurable chunk by making all enemies -1 as long as you're 45+ in level. Barrier is just a panic button giving a truck load of defenses and resists for 2 minutes, but with the caveat they decay over time. They are at their strongest for the first 10 seconds and then slowly dwindle until the bare minimum is 5% to both. But since it lasts 2 minutes and recharges in 2 minutes it can be considered a permanent 5% for level 45+ content.

 

If you haven't picked an Alpha and taken it to T3 it might be why you've slotted a Kismet, but against +3 you have enough accuracy to reach the cap even without it, and since we don't fight +4 enemies under level 45 we consider +3 as the effective level.

 

That said you DO have a purple set in Death Shroud 😄 Not the best place for it btw, it should be in in Dragon's Tail since the damage proc is wasted in an aura (they only check for damage procs every 10 seconds and the AoE math's give it a low chance, in this case 39%) . You can swap Gauntled Fist from Cobra Strike into Death Shroud.

 

Dragon's Tail is not the best place for Might of the Tanker since you want the ATO proc even during ST situations, which is a moment where we will not be using Dragon's Tail. Since Storm Kick should be your filler power (you should be doing Eagle's Claw, Storm Kick, Cobra Strike, Storm Kick, repeat) but your recharge is pretty low and there's a gap even with Hasten and more so when it is down. Eagle's Claw... Hmm, well, if you like it, but the slow animation even with the damage bonus it has, plus the recharge, etc... You could be better off with just Crane Kick (another FF proc source) or Crippling Axe Kick, and then have Storm Kick, Cobra Strike, Storm Kick, Crane Kick. Repeat.

 

I would say you don't need Gloom (it's been nerfed a bit recently and you should have a gapless ST rotation from MA alone but the low recharge in the build I think it does become necessary to reach a gapless ST rotation) and Darkest Night (we might disagree in this and it's a valid approach). You could take Dark Obliteration and help your AoE which is just Dragon Tail and an aura.

 

As usual my advice on the CC auras is to pick one and accept they are neither very good nor very useful since they only work on minions and minions are the first to die. Keep Oppressive Gloom since A) it costs no endurance and B) it stacks with Cobra Strike (it has a 75% chance to stun at least lieutenants, so it and Oppressive Gloom can stun bosses).

 

You can choose NOT to worry about toxic damage much. There are not many enemies that do toxic damage and to hit you they will first need to get past your defenses. It's just that you've dedicated a lot of slots for what is a niche enemy. But, again, it's a valid approach.

 

A theft of Essence is always a good thing to have in Dark Regeneration to help recoup the massive endurance cost of the power. It makes a large enough difference in groups though less so against one or two enemies.

 

 

 

The build is very nicely done btw, everything is in place. Not much wiggle room but that's expected when pushing defenses in a resistance build. I have a Fire Armor/MA I've dubbed the Turtle that's in my signature. We did about the same in terms of builds but I eased up on the slotting to only reach 40% defenses and 77% resistances so that a second ATO proc and Barrier would push both defenses to 45% and resistances to 90%. This allowed me to slot damage procs, up slow resistances, etc, and, of course, being Fire Armor it was a nice ball of death and mayhem (for a Tanker anyway). Fire Armor is weak to Psi but I tested fighting psi enemies and even solo +3 psi AVs and it was cake between the defenses making them miss and the heal.

 

Since I didn't want to mess with the build too much and start removing Gloom or lowering defenses and resistances to account for Barrier and etc I didn't end up tweaking it much. If nothing else you can slip the damage/recharge from Gauntled Fist and use that proc anywhere else as it leaves your resistances at 85-86%. The next stack of Might of the Tanker will give 6.7% so you will be overcapped again anyway. I put that slot and Kismet's in more endurance recovery but two LotGs could be the play as well.

 

Tanker (Dark Armor - Martial Arts) L50.mbd

[Story Archer]

47 minutes ago, Sovera said:

 

You keep mentioning purples but purples have no bearing on toughness. All they do is add some recharge and accuracy, and a good damage proc. Barrier is an incarnate, yes. If you're level 50 you should be looking for incarnates. Tier three from any Alpha will increase survival and damage by a measurable chunk by making all enemies -1 as long as you're 45+ in level. Barrier is just a panic button giving a truck load of defenses and resists for 2 minutes, but with the caveat they decay over time. They are at their strongest for the first 10 seconds and then slowly dwindle until the bare minimum is 5% to both. But since it lasts 2 minutes and recharges in 2 minutes it can be considered a permanent 5% for level 45+ content.

 

If you haven't picked an Alpha and taken it to T3 it might be why you've slotted a Kismet, but against +3 you have enough accuracy to reach the cap even without it, and since we don't fight +4 enemies under level 45 we consider +3 as the effective level.

 

That said you DO have a purple set in Death Shroud 😄 Not the best place for it btw, it should be in in Dragon's Tail since the damage proc is wasted in an aura (they only check for damage procs every 10 seconds and the AoE math's give it a low chance, in this case 39%) . You can swap Gauntled Fist from Cobra Strike into Death Shroud.

 

Dragon's Tail is not the best place for Might of the Tanker since you want the ATO proc even during ST situations, which is a moment where we will not be using Dragon's Tail. Since Storm Kick should be your filler power (you should be doing Eagle's Claw, Storm Kick, Cobra Strike, Storm Kick, repeat) but your recharge is pretty low and there's a gap even with Hasten and more so when it is down. Eagle's Claw... Hmm, well, if you like it, but the slow animation even with the damage bonus it has, plus the recharge, etc... You could be better off with just Crane Kick (another FF proc source) or Crippling Axe Kick, and then have Storm Kick, Cobra Strike, Storm Kick, Crane Kick. Repeat.

 

I would say you don't need Gloom (it's been nerfed a bit recently and you should have a gapless ST rotation from MA alone but the low recharge in the build I think it does become necessary to reach a gapless ST rotation) and Darkest Night (we might disagree in this and it's a valid approach). You could take Dark Obliteration and help your AoE which is just Dragon Tail and an aura.

 

As usual my advice on the CC auras is to pick one and accept they are neither very good nor very useful since they only work on minions and minions are the first to die. Keep Oppressive Gloom since A) it costs no endurance and B) it stacks with Cobra Strike (it has a 75% chance to stun at least lieutenants, so it and Oppressive Gloom can stun bosses).

 

You can choose NOT to worry about toxic damage much. There are not many enemies that do toxic damage and to hit you they will first need to get past your defenses. It's just that you've dedicated a lot of slots for what is a niche enemy. But, again, it's a valid approach.

 

A theft of Essence is always a good thing to have in Dark Regeneration to help recoup the massive endurance cost of the power. It makes a large enough difference in groups though less so against one or two enemies.

 

The build is very nicely done btw, everything is in place. Not much wiggle room but that's expected when pushing defenses in a resistance build. I have a Fire Armor/MA I've dubbed the Turtle that's in my signature. We did about the same in terms of builds but I eased up on the slotting to only reach 40% defenses and 77% resistances so that a second ATO proc and Barrier would push both defenses to 45% and resistances to 90%. This allowed me to slot damage procs, up slow resistances, etc, and, of course, being Fire Armor it was a nice ball of death and mayhem (for a Tanker anyway). Fire Armor is weak to Psi but I tested fighting psi enemies and even solo +3 psi AVs and it was cake between the defenses making them miss and the heal.

 

Since I didn't want to mess with the build too much and start removing Gloom or lowering defenses and resistances to account for Barrier and etc I didn't end up tweaking it much. If nothing else you can slip the damage/recharge from Gauntled Fist and use that proc anywhere else as it leaves your resistances at 85-86%. The next stack of Might of the Tanker will give 6.7% so you will be overcapped again anyway. I put that slot and Kismet's in more endurance recovery but two LotGs could be the play as well.

 

Tanker (Dark Armor - Martial Arts) L50.mbd 42.36 kB · 0 downloads

 

I appreciate the time taken to respond - very much - and I'm sure we're fine agreeing to disagree on a few things.

 

• I like Gloom for a lot of reasons, including pulling, attacking flyers and having a non Smashing damage type, as well as serving to mule for IO enhancements that I wouldn't be able to use otherwise. 
• Darkest Night helps to protect the group from things that I otherwise could not, like AoE effects being less accurate and less damaging. I don't use it all the time but when I do I'm always glad its there.
• I was very clear that I don't like Eagle Claw at all, for the reasons you just stated. Again, it proves useful to mule certain IO sets but rarely plays a roll in my attack chain.
• Purples very much contribute to defense, largely by granting Resistance bonuses in areas of need and often by boosting your HP, which matters a good deal.
• I have two damage auras, not one - procced out as it is, Cloak of Fear deals just as much damage on average as the Death Shroud, on top of its other benefits.
• Since I often prefer to play a lot of different builds rather than engage in a great deal of post-50 content, I almost never plan builds to be dependent on Incarnates and try to make them as strong as I can without having to invest in too many purple sets either. It's made for a fun challenge.

All of this, of course, ignores the fact that 90% of the time you're going to be so loaded down with buffs from your fellow players that squeezing every ounce of water from a stone is really just an intellectual exercise. If I can get a build close to but not quite at as many caps as I can, I consider that a win. Thanks again for the response, especially in such detail. The board is a huge help for players, especially newer players, with people like you making the time to lend some advice.

Edited May 2 by Story Archer

[Minorinsanity]

Do you have a MidsReborn build guide?

[Syant]

Been saying this for a while now. Elec/DM is my main and dav tanker here link to my build thread.

 

Godly Tank!