Ill/Dark been a looong while

[Oynx63125]

I have been away for a while ( 3-4 years) and have come back and am working on an ILL/Dark controller. I just hit 35 and am starting to look toward end game and builds. I am hoping for some feedback on building the rest of the way. Strictly a casual player honestly, mostly  solo. I have 3 or 4 respec available as I know mistakes have been made.

 

The questions:

1. Running 25 & 30 basic IO's at the moment. What invention sets should I start hunting and if you can why? Figure recharge and accuracy are major things to look for. I have about 250 million to spend but am learning the ropes of making influence.

2. What ancillary / epic power set would you recommend and why?

3. Are there must have accolades?

4. Any "For the love of god don't" things I need to be aware of?

5. Any "Make sure you" things as well?

6. Any of the multiple questions I should be asking but don't know them yet.

 

I have Carnifax's cheap build downloaded. Is this still up to date? (Thanks for this if you see this post BTW)

 

Thanks

[ZorkNemesis]

I can't check my own Ill/Dark right now, but off the top of my head...

 

1. I recall focusing sets on as much Recharge as possible.  Phantom Army being available at all hours is a pretty big help and Fade and Soul Absorbtion are great to have at near perma recharge.  So this resulted in me getting sets like Basilisk's Gaze for my Holds, Expedient Reinforcement for PA and Phantasm, Luck of the Gambler wherever I could put it, and whatever other Recharge bonuses I could find and afford.

2. I picked Energy Mastery for theme mostly.  I think I had the idea that Power Boost could majorly buff Fade and Soul Absorbtion but I can never be sure if thaf's correct anymore.

3. The usual four: Atlas Medalion/Marshal, Freedom Phalanx/High Pain Threshold, Portal Jockey/Born in Battle, and Task Force Commander/Invader.  Every AT can benefit from 20% more HP and 10 more Endurance.  Don't worry about the others though Vanguard/Megalomanic and Archmage/Demonic are always useful when needed.

4, 5, and 6 I will defer to the actual experts.

 

Edited June 6 by ZorkNemesis

[Doomguide2005]

1. Haven't done Ill/DAff but like Zork I'd focus heavily on recharge as getting PA out with minimal cooldown is definitely a priority goal.  Mine is Ill/Traps. 
2. I went with Psionic Mastery so as to use Rune of Protection and then for later game Indomitable Will.  Between those two later game Mez should be pretty unlikely.  IW is in play when exemping by lvl 30 onward.  IW is also heavily benefitting from the high recharge as it is essentially perma with only about 2 seconds cooldown.  Rune covers earlier and helps plus the cooldown gap which will grow a bit when running exemplar and later boosts resistances.
3. Pretty much what Zork said.  None are really vital but especially the +endurance boosts are quite helpful on almost any character especially high recharge build

      4,5,6.  Again like Zork I'll defer but the tough part for me would be Darkness Affinity.  Lots of powers I'd want mixed with a lack of familiarity with the set,  There's Fade which, outside of new Force Fields, is one of the only ways to gain DDR outside of Incarnate Ageless.  Then you add in Howling Twilight, another pet, Twilight Grasp, Tar Patch and the rest of the extensive tool kit that is Dark.  Speaking of pets you'll have enough to rival a Master Mind.

[Oynx63125]

Thanks for the feedback. it is appreciated.

 

[Shocktacular]

1. Like others have said, build for recharge. Also, remember that only 5 copies of a given bonus value apply, so if you're trying to get that sixth "10% recharge reduction" bonus by slotting lots of purple sets, don't bother; it won't do anything. The first 5 will, though, and you can have more recharge bonuses of other values that will still apply (ex. you can have 5 "10% recharge reduction" bonuses and up to 5 "7.5% recharge reduction" bonuses and all of them will apply).

 

2. I went with psi because it fit with my character and I like having Indomitable Will for mez protection. With all the +rech in my build, it only has a second or two of downtime anyway.

 

3. What zork said. Stat boosters are always good.

 

4. This is obviously just my opinion but... Don't skip Spectral Terror. It's your primary means of group control with Illusion (since Flash has such a long recharge) and it's got some -tohit that will stack with the -tohit from Dark. You can also put some damage procs from fear IO sets into it if you want so that it does actual damage.

 

5. The "Chance for Build up" proc from the purple pet set Soulbound Allegiance WILL WORK if you put it in Phantom Army, and it's great. Also, get a Knockback to Knockdown IO for Phantasm (if you're taking it) so that it doesn't knock enemies out of your Tar Patch. (As an aside: I ended up taking Phantasm because the buffs & heals in /Dark + Group Invis + Maneuvers is usually enough to keep him alive most of the time even on high-level content).

 

6. Just be aware that ill/dark can be VERY clicky and fast-paced in combat since you have a number of things that will need to be re-applied frequently (mostly PA and Fade, but also Tar Patch, Spectral Terror, and Soul Absorption if you need the +regen/+recov). There are also quite a few summons and location AoE powers, so being able to quickly and accurately target the area where you want them to appear is important. Also, I'm not sure about the compatibility and stacking of Shadow Fall and Superior Invisibility. Does anyone here know how that works, exactly? And how does Group Invisibility figure into things?

Edited June 9 by Shocktacular

[ZorkNemesis]

On 6/9/2024 at 4:49 AM, Shocktacular said:

Also, I'm not sure about the compatibility and stacking of Shadow Fall and Superior Invisibility. Does anyone here know how that works, exactly? And how does Group Invisibility figure into things?

 

I don't know if they can be stacked.  I don't think they can and believe they are mutually exclusive so you can't run both.  I actually skipped Superior Invisibility on my Ill/Dark because of my belief of this.  However SI does have the perk of being able to attack without breaking stealth, making you far less likely to catch extra aggro when you attack.  Shadow Fall doesn't provide this benefit but offers other perks such as damage resistance and team support.

 

EDIT: It's right in the description of the power that you can't use other Concealment powers alongside Shadow Fall (Group Invisibility still works).

"You cannot use any other Concealment type power while using Shadow Fall."

 

Edited June 13 by ZorkNemesis

[Shocktacular]

I know that they used to be mutually exclusive, but I thought that was changed a few months ago. I'm not completely sure, though.

I also took Group Invisibility instead of Superior Invisibility for this reason initially. I remember considering re-working my build after the adjustment, but I just didn't have room for SI without getting rid of GI and I wanted to keep GI to help protect my Phantasm.

Edited June 13 by Shocktacular

[dlx3200]

My build I'm using now.

Controller (Illusion Control - Darkness Affinity).mbd

Edited July 21 by dlx3200

[Without_Pause]

I think I grabbed @DocMidknight's build from this thread. Once you get perma-PA, the rest is gravy. It's one of the rare genuine 'any map' builds.  

 

Edited July 21 by Without_Pause

[Oynx63125]

Thanks for these. I will definitely take a look. This certainly a click heavy set. I was doing a zombie invasion and thought I was going to get a hand cramp 🙂

It is a blast overall though. She still has some growing to do and I look forward to tricking her out and seeing exactly what she can do.

 

I have to read the threads on incarnate powers and see what those add in. I never had the chance to use those.

 

 

[Without_Pause]

If you think it is click heavy, don't play Kin or EA.

[Riverdusk]

On 6/12/2024 at 6:45 PM, ZorkNemesis said:

 

However SI does have the perk of being able to attack without breaking stealth, making you far less likely to catch extra aggro when you attack.  Shadow Fall doesn't provide this benefit but offers other perks such as damage resistance and team support.

 

 

 

 

Actually shadowfall also doesn't suppress on attack (only on clicking glowies, same as SI).  You can easily monitor that in combat attributes (under PvE stealth) and see that the 35 feet worth doesn't go away when you attack.   It is just that Shadowfall's stealth is less,  so you are still seen if you get too close to a secondary group.  With SI you can literally stand inside a second group while attacking a different group and have the second group not react.

 

Shadowfall is the way to go though anyway.  Like said, It being AoE and its resistance buffs are too nice.  Then just use a stealth IO in sprint or wherever (which does stack with shadowfall) and still get enough stealth to be invisible in most cases.  

[victusfate]

I have a blast with my ill/dark, here ya go

AA_LegionVictus_IllusionDarkSoul.mbd