Pointers for a Dark armor/ Battle Axe Tanker

[Solifugo]

Hello, first and foremost I'd like to point I'm mostly a noob in this game and I have no idea what I'm doing. However, I do have a concept in mind that, even if not perhaps minmaxed, I'd like to at least make playable. I'd kindly need your help building it since optimizing IO sets can be quite overwhelming...

As the title says, it's a Dark armor/Battle axe Tanker. Let's work with that.
 

The idea is to make a tank that melts packs using death shroud. Logically, it needs high dps on it and good survivability overall in order to survive the time it needs to melt everybody. I think dark regeneration is probably key here, for it is a good hybrid option for aoe dmg + survival.... Perhaps?

 

Meanwhile, he uses battle axe to "crowd control" his current target, spamming knockdowns and knockups (chop, gash, swoop; more can be fitted as needed, at very least I'm thinking on employing pendulum since a bit of extra aoe dmg + knockdown would not be bad) to buy himself more time to melt while facing less agression from key targets.
 

For power pools I'm thinking about running fighting for ye olde tough + weave; Leadership seems good but dark armor seemingly has a lot of toggles already... Perhaps I can skip it?

 

Super speed seems cool for hasten, but since this build supposedly damages firstly through its dot, then perhaps, PERHAPS... It can skip it?

 

Sorcery. It is a concept thing, the character's roleplay is that he is an apprendice sorcerer of sorts. Yes, an axe slinging tankish apprendice sorcerer, go figure. I took arcane bolt because I'd rather pull mobs with a ranged attack instead of wasting my 10s cd taunt to pull (Sometimes I play with friends and they rely on me to save them from aggro on occasion) and because I feel it has less chance of pulling another pack since I don't have to get close; I also like having some ranged attack option in case I get hit by a heavy slow or immobilized. I use mystic flight for transportation and plan on taking rune of protection for extra tankiness since I'm already here.
 

Lastly, I'm thinking about picking dark mastery (EDGYNESS!); maybe by then I'll switch arcane bolt for a ranged nuke from this pool (or perhaps use them all together for more ranged combat capability?), then follow up with nightfall for more aoe (also, "nightfall" matches perfectly my character's concept!) and perhaps tar patch for crowd control, if it is worth it. Is it?
 

I'm completely at a loss for what IO sets I'll use, save for theft of essence on dark regeneration. The rest... Mayhap I can skip heavy investiment on recharge timers? Seemingly I'll run into some endurance problems... 
 

Could you ppl kindly rate these ideas and give suggestions?

[tidge]

I have used both the primary and secondary, but not together.

 

For Dark, I suggest building for 14 points of KB protection via set bonuses and uniques. You could probably get 13 with Axe, which would be fine for most content. I recommend 3-pieces of Gladiator's Armor (for 3 points) 3-pieces of Fury of the Gladiator (3 points, this is a set you could slot in both Death Shroud and Axe Cyclone) and then uniques. If you went all in and got over 20 points (3+3+3+4+4+4), you wouldn't have to worry about FREEM!.

 

I don't think Death Shroud will be as impressive as you hope, you will have to judge.

 

As for pools, I would not pick either Sorcery nor Speed. I like Force of Will for Tankers:

1. Excellent travel power
2. single-target debuff (resistance, defense, ToHit) that requires minimal slotting
3. AoE Cone that likes %damage (good for Tankers)
4. You should not need Unleash Potential, but if you want a backup survival tool that doesn't rely on enemies it might be a good idea (depending on what you intend to tank)

I'll cut and paste from two different tankers to give you an idea of how I would start this build... making adjustments for slots and uniques as necessary.

 

The Dark slotting from one of my Tankers:

 

Spoiler

Level 1:                 Dark Embrace   

 (A) Gladiator's Armor - End/Resist: Level 50+5

 (*) Gladiator's Armor – Resist: Level 50+5

 (*) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)

 (*) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%

 (*) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Reduction (4 points)

 

Level 2:                 Murky Cloud     

 (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance

 (*) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance

 (*) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime

 (*) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP

 

Level 8: Dark Regeneration         

 (A) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge

 (*) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Endurance/Heal/HitPoints/Regeneration

 (*) Touch of the Nictus - Chance for Damage (Negative)

 (*) Scirocco's Dervish - Chance for Damage (Lethal)

 (*) Eradication - Chance for Damage (Energy)

 (*) Theft of Essence - Chance for +Endurance

 

Level 10:              Obsidian Shield

 (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance

 (*) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance

 

Level 12:              Cloak of Darkness           

 (A) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)

 (*) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance: Level 50+5

 (*) Shield Wall - Defense: Level 50+5

 (*) Kismet - Accuracy +6%

 (*) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage

 (*) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed

 

Level 18:              Death Shroud   

 (*) Fury of the Gladiator - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50+5

 (*) Fury of the Gladiator - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50+5

 (*) Fury of the Gladiator - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50+5

 

Level 35:              Cloak of Fear      (skip this if the build is tight)

 (A) HO Lysosome (Acc/-ToHit/-Defense): Level 53

 (*) Nightmare - Accuracy/Endurance: Level 50+5

 

Level 47:              Soul Transfer     (not really needed, but Dark can collapse in a hurry)

(A) Scirocco’s Dervish - Chance for Damage (Lethal)

 

My /Battle Axe slotting (offense and Force of Will)

 

Spoiler

Level 1:                 Chop    

 (A) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Hecatomb - Damage/Endurance: Level 50+5

 (*) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage (Negative): Level 50

 (*) Hecatomb - Damage: Level 50+5

 

Level 4:                 Gash     

 (A) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50

 (*) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50

 (*) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50

 (*) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50

 (*) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50

 (*) Superior Gauntleted Fist - RechargeTime/+Absorb: Level 50

 

Level 6:                 Mighty Leap       (Dark needs the unique 4 points of KB here)

(A) Blessing of the Zephyr (Travel/Endurance): Level 50+5

 

Level 8:                 Weaken Resolve              (skip the %damage if you need the slots elsewhere)

 (A) HamiO:Lysosome Exposure (Accuracy, Defense Debuff, ToHit Debuff): Level 53

 (*) Shield Breaker - Chance for Lethal Damage

 (*) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage

 

Level 16:              Taunt   

 (A) Mocking Beratement - Taunt

 (*) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge

 (*) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge/Range

 (*) Mocking Beratement - Accuracy/Recharge

 (*) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Range

 (*) Mocking Beratement - Recharge

 

Level 20:              Pendulum          

 (A) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Endurance: Level 50+5

 (*) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage

 (*) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage

 (*) Perfect Zinger - Chance for Psi Damage

 (*) Superior Might of the Tanker - Recharge/Chance for +Res(All): Level 50

 (*) Explosive Strike - Chance for Smashing Damage

 

Level 22:              Wall of Force      (If Endurance is ok, which is unlikely for Dark, replace the Acc/End/Rech with Accuracy IO 50+5)

 (A) Javelin Volley - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50+5

 (*) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage (Lethal)

 (*) Explosive Strike - Chance for Smashing Damage

 (*) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage (Energy

 (*) Bombardment - Chance of Damage (Fire)

 

Level 28:              Axe Cyclone       (I would add the third piece of Fury of the Gladiator here if necessary)

 (A) Fury of the Gladiator - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50+5

 (*) Fury of the Gladiator - Chance for Res Debuff

 (*) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage

 (*) Perfect Zinger - Chance for Psi Damage

 (*) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage

 (*) Explosive Strike - Chance for Smashing Damage

 

Level 30:              Cleave 

 (A) Armageddon - Damage: Level 50+5

 (*) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge: Level 50+5

 (*) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50+5

 (*) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50+5

 (*) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance: Level 50+5

 

Level 32:              Build Up              

 (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up

 (A)Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50+5

 

Level 41:              Unleash Potential            (used as a mule for this character, add recharge to taste)

 (A) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb: Level 50

 

My thoughts on Health/Stamina slotting for Dark Tankers

 

Spoiler

Level 2: Health  

 (A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance

 (*) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery

 (*) Numina's Convalescence - Heal                 (Numina's 2-piece set bonus is very good for Tankers)

 (*) Miracle - +Recovery

 

Level 2: Stamina               

 (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End

 (*) Power Transfer - EndMod

 (*) Power Transfer - Chance for Heal             (Power Transfer's 2-piece set bonus is very good for Tankers)

 

There won't be many slots left to do much "clever" with epic/patron pools. I'd just go for Defense Mules (Concealment) to hold the Karma KB protection piece and/or LotG Def/Recharge uniques.

 

[Solifugo]

Thanks a lot! I'll go through it all and take it all into consideration! 

Also, if I may, I'm having some noob questions, like... What is the difference between "healing" and "accurate healing" sets? Accurate ones are supposed to be used amongst "life leeching" powers like dark regeneration, that may miss?

Also, sets like art of the gladiator (that has a unique IO) can only be completed once, right? I guess unique sets are all a tier above and are desirable as priorities?

[tidge]

2 hours ago, Solifugo said:

Also, if I may, I'm having some noob questions, like... What is the difference between "healing" and "accurate healing" sets? Accurate ones are supposed to be used amongst "life leeching" powers like dark regeneration, that may miss?

 

AFAIK: Accurate Healing sets can only be slotted into sets that require ToHit checks, whereas (I believe) Healing set pieces can be slotted more liberally. You have sussed it out: when you want a power to succeed in hitting an opponent, Accuracy will be desired. Slotted accuracy is also important for %proc chances, and as Dark is a very Endurance hungry armor, I recommend the Theft of Essence piece as well. If you will be tanking against significantly higher-level enemies, it might not be a bad idea to replace (from my suggestion) one of the %damage pieces with a level 50+5 Multi-Strike Accuracy/Endurance piece.

 

2 hours ago, Solifugo said:

Also, sets like art of the gladiator (that has a unique IO) can only be completed once, right? I guess unique sets are all a tier above and are desirable as priorities?

 

The game won't allow you to slot more than one of any "unique" piece. I often have the %-Res from Fury of the Gladiator in an attack to improve damage done by allies (against enemies that I am tanking).

 

PVP, Winter, ATO and Very Rare sets will keep whatever set bonuses they offer no matter how low (well, as low as level 7 I think) a player scales down. Generally I find the the Very Rare/Purple set bonuses better than set bonuses offered by other choices, but not always. Winter and ATO can be made into a "superior" set, which offers better set bonuses than non-superiod versions. The enhancement of attribute values of Superior ATO and Superior Winters is IIRC the same as a boosted level 50+5 version from any other set.

 

A single Superior Winter ATO for Accuracy/Damage (for example) offers the same benefits as an uncommon Accuracy/Damage piece at a boosted 50+5. Non-combined Hamidon/D-syncs (level 50) are roughly at the level of a 50+5, combined (levels 51 thru 53) exceed 50+5s. This might explain my recommended slotting for Cloak of Fear (which has a terrible base Accuracy) should you decide you want it... I only take it for flavor, as it is one of the more obvious Dark Armor toggles... but most builds are perfectly fine without it, and possibly better depending on which other power is taken and how the extra slot is used.

[Solifugo]

On 8/28/2024 at 3:47 AM, tidge said:

Considerations

I went through your considerations, and as it is usual for answering questions, they sparked more questions; I'm sorry if this thread is kinda derailing into noob support...

For example, "50+5" on enhancements means boosters, right? Woudn't it be logical (if perhaps prohibitively expensive) to boost everything that is compatible with boosters to 50+5?
 

Also, you have slotted your damaging powers many damage and utility procs. Am I to understand that that is kind of an optimal way to do it for damage? You get better DPS if you fill it with procs? And speaking of procs, how do procs work with, say, PBAoE powers like death shroud or combustion? The procs roll in order to trigger in each hit on each target in range of the power or does it at each 2s roll to proc on every mob in range at once? I guess it is the 1st one? Anyway, is it still advisable?

I'm still a bit of at a loss over why choosing some sets over its alternatives in many cases. Why slot mocking beratement over the other taunt alternatives? The cd reduction total? You have favored gauntleted fist over might of the tanker because the absorb procs require more intensive investiment meanwhile mostly the best use for MotT would be the res proc, that you slotted on pendulum?
 

And last but perhaps most importantly: I'm kind of at a loss over how I should gear my char while lvling. Should I make a plan on mids to define what powers I'll buy and what sets I'll use in order to know where I'll need the slots and until I'm lvl 50 just roll with SOs or can I, for example, buy a ATO set at earlier levels with merits and then upgrade it later somehow without having to buy it again? Should I only care about sets on lvl 50?

Edited August 31 by Solifugo

[tidge]

6 minutes ago, Solifugo said:

I went through your considerations, and as it is usual for answering questions, they sparked more questions; I'm sorry if this thread is kinda derailing into noob support...

For example, "50+5" on enhancements means boosters, right? Woudn't it be logical (if perhaps prohibitively expensive) to boost everything that is compatible with boosters to 50+5?

 

A boosted enhancement is not attuned, so unless it was of a special type (keep reading), set bonuses will not exist more than 5 levels below the base value. E.g. a 50+5 boosted piece won't contribute to a set's enhancement if you exemplar content below level 45. The special types of boostable enhancements that keep their set bonuses across all exemplarable content are:

• "PVP" pieces, which offer an extra set of enhancement bonuses in PVP zones (in addition to offering "PvE" bonuses)
• Very Rare/"Purple" pieces, which can't be equipped until level 50

For PVP or Very Rare pieces that don't boost any enhancement value, they don't need to be boosted. I generally have attuned versions of the PVP pieces because I am a hoarder, and I can slot them at level 10.

 

12 minutes ago, Solifugo said:

Also, you have slotted your damaging powers many damage and utility procs. Am I to understand that that is kind of an optimal way to do it for damage? You get better DPS if you fill it with procs? And speaking of procs, how do procs work with, say, PBAoE powers like death shroud or combustion? The procs roll in order to trigger in each hit on each target in range of the power or does it at each 2s roll to proc on every mob in range at once? I guess it is the 1st one? Anyway, is it still advisable?

 

Tankers have lower damage scales than other damage dealing archetypes. Generally, any attack can get to 100% boosting by picking a damage dealing set (this is without external boosts from teammates or inspirations... there is a cap for boosts). AFAIK, %damage procs do either 71.75 damage or 107.1 damage (the Very Rare pieces)... but only if (a) the base attack hits, (b) the %proc fires, and (c) the fired proc hits (based on the powers ToHit chance, not the player's ToHit chance). So generally, if the %proc rate for a power is "ok", and the power is also slotted with accuracy, chances are good that each %proc will do additional damage... so DPS can be improved if the player takes all this into account. Note that (c) exists so that "autohit" powers don't simply sit at the %proc chance.

 

Please note that the RNG is a pseudo-random number generator that fills the RNG space between 0 and 1 "flatly", and that no matter how high the accuracy/tohit any RNG of > 0.95 will miss. The flat nature of the RNG pretty much guarantees that a power with 6 %damage pieces in it will never have all 6 %damage pieces hit. (This was "tested" by another player who didn't quite know what they were testing)

 

Unslotters are cheap, you can always test!

 

22 minutes ago, Solifugo said:

I'm still a bit of at a loss over why choosing some sets over its alternatives in many cases. Why slot mocking beratement over the other taunt alternatives? The cd reduction total? You have favored gauntleted fist over might of the tanker because the absorb procs require more intensive investiment meanwhile mostly the best use for MotT would be the res proc, that you slotted on pendulum?

 

The Perfect Zinger set a %damage piece but has no accuracy (to help with the %damage to hit)... the enhanced recharge from that set also works against the %damage piece. I happen to value +MaxEnd and global +Recharge (from Mocking Beratement) more than whatever else I can get from Perfect Zinger. There are players who skip Taunt, I won't criticize Tankers who take Taunt and only slot it minimally.

 

Similarly, I don't prioritize the set bonuses of Might of the Tanker, but I want the %+Res(all) especially because because that Tanker is Shield primary (a Defense primary). 5/6-slotting the Tanker ATOs means that there are fewer slots for %procs, and the slotted recharge is working against the %proc rate. Everything is a balancing act! (Global Recharge does NOT affect %proc chances.)

 

32 minutes ago, Solifugo said:

And last but perhaps most importantly: I'm kind of at a loss over how I should gear my char while lvling. Should I make a plan on mids to define what powers I'll buy and what sets I'll use in order to know where I'll need the slots and until I'm lvl 50 just roll with SOs or can I, for example, buy a ATO set at earlier levels with merits and then upgrade it later somehow without having to buy it again? Should I only care about sets on lvl 50?

 

For a Dark Tanker, I'd only use the default slot for the toggles and slot them with Endurance reduction. Multiple slots in Tanker primaries do very little for players below level 10. I slot attacks with Accuracy, Endurance, Damage, in that order. You can slot enhancement pieces from sets when possible. Unless you specifically want set bonuses or lots of %damage, I wouldn't over-slot attacks. I have "rules of thumb" but I try to play new (to me) power sets through solo missions to get a feel for what I need before joining teams.

[Yomo Kimyata]

On 8/26/2024 at 7:29 PM, Solifugo said:

Hello, first and foremost I'd like to point I'm mostly a noob in this game and I have no idea what I'm doing. However, I do have a concept in mind that, even if not perhaps minmaxed, I'd like to at least make playable. I'd kindly need your help building it since optimizing IO sets can be quite overwhelming...

As the title says, it's a Dark armor/Battle axe Tanker. Let's work with that.

 

For an intro to Dark Armor, I'd strongly suggest skipping Cloak of Fear, and Oppressive Gloom also won't do a lot for you (although it's pretty low cost).  CoF in my opinion really needs a big investment in order to be worthwhile.  OG will generally keep minions out of your hair, but then again a tank shouldn't be worried much about minions -- it requires a bit more stun in order to be useful against tougher opponents.

 

Hasten is skippable with Battle Axe.  I'll generally put a Force Feedback +rech in both Whirling Axe and Pendulum and when you are fighting large groups you will pretty consistently have +100 recharge up most of the time.