Dark Armor/Broad Sword troubles

[Trademarked Name]

I've been trying to run a DA/Broad Sword tank for the past few weeks. Thematically a nice toon (Think 80's New Mutants rip-off russian/teleporter -costume builder in this game rocks!), but it's really a brutal to run solo and my name should be hoover the way I suck in teams. It's very painful to go from "Yay! we got a tank on the team!" to 5 mins into a +2/8 member run......."Hold on. The tank is dirt napping again guys!" (<-Let me also take a moment to say: CoX players are the best people. What other MMO would people put up with that repeatedly without booting you and claiming "Oh?! You got knocked off the team? Must be a sever problem! Sorry! Good luck on your next team!")

Seriously, The scrappers and sometimes even controllers wind-up running in and grabbing aggro. This is really a frustrating toon. I was doing +2/2 solo with my AR/Dev from the teens once I got Sniper. But this build choice is seriously just painful despite how much I love the concept.

 

I've found that I run out off END so fast with Death Shroud + any resist toggle, that I wind-up just running into mobs and throwing a few hack/slashes before having to take a knee or eat through 1-2 blues MINIMUM. Running with 2 or 3 resist toggles is a fool's errand, and I've changed the battle cry to "Wub-wub-wub" to mock the inevitable sound of END drain. We ran a good 2 hours the other day against freakshow mish's, and by the end I was ready to just delete the toon. (may still do that)

I've managed over many hours with the help of superior team effort to get the toon up to lev 27. But as of the other night, I'm literally slotting nothing but I/O END REDUCE in everything toggle at this point, +3 Stamina END MODs. And I'm still blowing through Take-a-Breathers like a kid with a bag of Halloween candy. And in solo mode, I can't even do +1 lev mishes. +0 solo or nothing and a Boss is at the end it's a guess as to how many dirt naps I take before I can defeat them. (Tanks should be able to solo right?)

 

Pluses:

-The resists are sometimes awesome. I HATE getting Mez'd (especially when it shuts off your toggles!), but Obsidian Shield even without IOs makes me feel invincible against Lost and Rikti mental. Such a nice feeling to be in the middle of several Anethmas or Fortunatas all mind blasting you to null effect. This alone is almost worth all of the sucky dirt napping.)

-Murky Cloud doesn't seem to work as great against freakshow END drains, as OS but you can tell it helps. Sadly with Death Shroud + Murky Cloud + Dark Embrace (to resist Smashers), you're just END draining yourself so you're doing their work for them.

-I just figured this out: Run into mob w DS then hit Build-up+Dark Regen+Slice is a wonderful feeling.

 

Negatives:

-You can NOT run through multiple mobs with all toggles on. You WILL be taking a knee every 2nd or 3rd mob you hit.

-If you're not doing damage, your Taunt is feeble, and as a Tank, I feel like my main job should be holding all aggro on me. And this rarely is the actual case. Sometimes I'm in the center of a mob, Death Shroud on, hit dark Regen and swinging the sword like crazy and no one's even targeting me because I'm not a threat to them. BTW the power TAUNT won't pull enemies. It just brings the whole mob over to your team. Once I taunted an arachnos and it just ignored me. Pitiful. (With AR Snipe I felt like you could sometimes pull 1 or a few at a time when you were back far enough. Not sure what to do with taunt, but I feel like a tank NEEDS this).

 

My questions are (besides - start over and pick better power sets):

For IOs, will I ever be able to unslot those dam'd END REDUCs? (I literally have like 16-18 END REDucs slotted right now! 3 per power) Now that I'm lev 27 and can concievably start some IO sets?

a) what Set IOs would you choose for Stamina on this hoover? (she's a suck machine)

b) what set IOs would you recommend to prevent KB (and where to slot)? I spend half of my time in the middle of arachnos/councel/warrior mobs up ended or on the ground.

c) Are there any sets that would let me drop one or more Resist powers on a respec? (Or sets that make that particular resistance toggle redundant?)

 

Tactically what should I be doing?

d) Are there any really good combos I'm missing with this that might help me hold my own? The "Shroud+Run-into-mob+Build-up+dark regen+Slice was wonderful when I discovered it, but it's certainly no Snipe+Grenade+fullAuto of a AR blaster. I know there is no ONE thing for every enemy. Each has their weakness. But any tips?

e) Any enemies that DA tank might be pretty effective against w/above tip? Against Lost, that Mez protection was pretty nice (also because at low levels they can't hit for crap).

f) How should I be using taunt effectively? What situations? Right now I have RANGE IO on it to see if being further back from a mob will help pull, but so far seems like a waste. I've never been able to pull someone off of another team member when they were in trouble (to be fair, I'm the one usually in trouble.) BTW, the emote of her tossing the sword back and forth from one hand to another is sensational!

g) Is the intent that you just supposed to get used to being super fast at toggling things on/off real fast? The way I've been doing it is: "Oh! This Mish is Freakshow so keep Mez protect up at all times!"

 

Thank you for any help you can provide. I don't need this toon to be ubermensch, but I just want to be able to solo without so much REST between enemy mobs (is 2 enemies a mob?) and be able to team where I'm not holding everyone back (and dirt napping more than an ambushed blaster).

[Kruunch]

Wow that's a lot to unpack.

 

First off, it's not you. While Dark Armor is a great set, it's enormously endurance hungry and learning to deal with that is the challenge of the set.

 

So as you discovered you can't run all your toggles comfortably, so don't try to. Focus on running the main toggles (Dark Embrace, Murky Cloud and Obsidian Shield) as you need those to survive. The other toggles you can add (or not) as you overcome your endurance woes.

 

The main toggles should be 5 slotted (x3 resist, x2 end reduc).

 

To help with endurance, throw an extra slot into Stamina and put in Performance Shifter: Chance for End Proc. Add and an extra slot to Heal and put in Numina's Convalesence: +Regeneration/+Recovery and Miracle: +Recovery.

 

You will find that those enhancements cost millions of infamy, so you will need to farm/play the market (there are guides for both on these forums).

 

As far as taunt goes, it hits 5 targets. If you pull a pack with more mobs, any AOE from your team members will draw agro on those mobs not taunted (assuming you're doing nothing else). Any of your AOE attacks should suffice for keeping agro as long as your diligent about spreading those and your taunt around.

 

Hope this helped.

[marcussmythe]

Ive put below a 'cheap-ish' lvl 30 IO build.  The killers, budget wise, will probably be the ones in Health, but they are worth the price.

 

Set the build to lvl 30, its all lvl 30 stuff and only lvl 30 slots - I reckon by the time you read this, youll be level 30. The BIGGEST game changers in the build are the Theft of Essence Chance for +END in Dark Regeneration (this greatly reduces its cost, and in crowds sometimes makes it an end gain), and the Gaussian's in buildup - it will proc almost every time, giving you a double buildup that can be fired with whirling sword to help nail down aggro, or for additional DPS solo.

 

The rest is pretty boring.  Turn death shroud on as END allows for more aggro (I slotted it for taunt, also slotted recharge and taunt in Taunt, since you said you had aggro problems).  Turn cloak of fear on and off as END allows for more mitigation.  Turn CJ on and off as END allows for more mitigation.  Keep Dark Embrace, Murky Cloud, and Obsidian Shield on 24/7. 

 

If you find you need still more endurance, drop a damage from hack and slice for more endredux.

 

With just DE, Murky, and Obsidian going, as well as Combat Jumping (its cheap) Im showing .53 END/Second out, with 2.74 End/Second income, net +2.21 End/Second.  Your most expensive attack, Hack, burns about 4 END per second, the rest are cheaper.  So your bleeding about 1.8 End per second, assuming you dont rest, dont stop swinging, have no buffs, and Hack as soon as it finishes animating (you cant, itll be recharging and your other attacks are more efficient)

 

Things Not Appearing - Tough, Weave, Manuvers, Hasten.  All these are good things, for later in your levels when you have more slots and better enhancers and more tricks.  Also, no acrobatics, because there are -3- Knockback Prevention IOs.. mag 12.  This should be sufficient.

 

Cant promise this is best build ever, hopefully someone will come along and tweak, but it should -help-.  If you need help in game (or even a small loan for some of the enhancements, I know what it is to be low level and feel trapped by decisions made at lvl 1 in character selection), holler at me on my global.

 

Happy hunting!

 

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962

http://www.cohplanner.com/

 

Click this DataLink to open the build!

 

Level 49 Magic Tanker

Primary Power Set: Dark Armor

Secondary Power Set: Broad Sword

Power Pool: Leaping

Power Pool: Speed

 

Hero Profile:

Level 1: Dark Embrace

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO
  
• (3) Resist Damage IO
  
• (3) Resist Damage IO
  

Level 1: Hack

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO
  
• (5) Accuracy IO
  
• (5) Damage Increase IO
  
• (7) Damage Increase IO
  
• (15) Damage Increase IO
  

Level 2: Murky Cloud

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO
  
• (7) Resist Damage IO
  
• (9) Resist Damage IO
  

Level 4: Slice

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO
  
• (11) Accuracy IO
  
• (13) Damage Increase IO
  
• (13) Damage Increase IO
  
• (15) Damage Increase IO
  

Level 6: Obsidian Shield

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO
  

Level 8: Dark Regeneration

• (A) Theft of Essence - Chance for +Endurance
  
• (17) Theft of Essence - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
  
• (17) Theft of Essence - Accuracy/Endurance/Healing
  

Level 10: Taunt

• (A) Taunt Duration IO
  
• (19) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 12: Cloak of Darkness

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 14: Slash

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO
  
• (19) Accuracy IO
  
• (21) Damage Increase IO
  
• (23) Damage Increase IO
  

Level 16: Parry

• (A) Accuracy IO
  
• (21) Endurance Reduction IO
  
• (23) Defense Buff IO
  

Level 18: Combat Jumping

• (A) Defense Buff IO
  
• (25) Karma - Knockback Protection
  
• (25) Defense Buff IO
  

Level 20: Super Jump

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
  

Level 22: Build Up

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

Level 24: Death Shroud

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO
  
• (27) Taunt Duration IO
  
• (27) Damage Increase IO
  

Level 26: Cloak of Fear

• (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - Recharge/Endurance
  
• (29) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance
  
• (29) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance
  

Level 28: Super Speed

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
  

Level 30: Whirling Sword

• (A) Accuracy IO
  

Level 32: [Empty]

Level 35: [Empty]

Level 38: [Empty]

Level 41: [Empty]

Level 44: [Empty]

Level 47: [Empty]

Level 49: [Empty]

Level 1: Brawl

• (A) Empty
  

Level 1: Gauntlet

Level 1: Prestige Power Dash

• (A) Empty
  

Level 1: Prestige Power Slide

• (A) Empty
  

Level 1: Prestige Power Quick

• (A) Empty
  

Level 1: Prestige Power Rush

• (A) Empty
  

Level 1: Prestige Power Surge

• (A) Empty
  

Level 1: Sprint

• (A) Empty
  

Level 2: Rest

• (A) Empty
  

Level 4: Ninja Run

Level 2: Swift

• (A) Run Speed IO
  

Level 2: Health

• (A) Miracle - +Recovery
  
• (9) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
  

Level 2: Hurdle

• (A) Empty
  

Level 2: Stamina

• (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
  
• (11) Endurance Modification IO
  

------------

 

 

 

 

[Trademarked Name]

Thank you guys! This is exactly what I need!

I've just been running trial and error on this, and had no clue what I was doing wrong. In live I had an AR blaster, INV Tank, and honest defender (I had several 50s). And the experience with The INV tank was like a completely different AT! I don't remember any end problems. It was just "wade-in" and mow-down. I remember buying dozens and dozens of superpacks (?) to get all the ATOs and sets I wanted. But never really understood the complex dynamics of the game. I didn't even know about purple sets or what Incarnates were (still figuring that out). But I got into CoX just a few months before sunset. :(

 

I read the tutorials on gaining INF and I'm getting pretty savy with that. But 10's of mills of INF per slot is rough.

Anyhow, thank you for the advice! This is great! +INF!

 

P.S. A couple of last questions: Blessing of the Zephyr: KB redu. Does that work even when the power is off (in the case of a toggle like flight)? Is there anything else worth stacking with that to ensure my feet stay planted?

 

P.P.S. This looks awesome! I can't wait to make changes.

[marcussmythe]

Thank you guys! This is exactly what I need!

I've just been running trial and error on this, and had no clue what I was doing wrong. In live I had an AR blaster, INV Tank, and honest defender (I had several 50s). And the experience with The INV tank was like a completely different AT! I don't remember any end problems. It was just "wade-in" and mow-down. I remember buying dozens and dozens of superpacks (?) to get all the ATOs and sets I wanted. But never really understood the complex dynamics of the game. I didn't even know about purple sets or what Incarnates were (still figuring that out). But I got into CoX just a few months before sunset. :(

 

I read the tutorials on gaining INF and I'm getting pretty savy with that. But 10's of mills of INF per slot is rough.

Anyhow, thank you for the advice! This is great! +INF!

 

P.S. A couple of last questions: Blessing of the Zephyr: KB redu. Does that work even when the power is off (in the case of a toggle like flight)? Is there anything else worth stacking with that to ensure my feet stay planted?

 

P.P.S. This looks awesome! I can't wait to make changes.

 

It seems to work for me on my dark, but I DO run at least some of the toggles a lot.  My understanding of received wisdom is that it does work.

[Redshadows]

I've been running a dark tank for awhile now (he's level 40 something) and I've had a 50 dark/dark brute in the past. I wrote a lot more than I thought I would, and in no way do I consider myself an "expert opinion", but here are some (a lot) of thoughts.

 

Zephyr will work when power isn't on.

 

A good solo combo should always include Hack as the first move because of bruising. It's actually pretty viable to just hack something to death, since it's a decent ST move.

 

I wouldn't recommend even having Slash, and instead just let Death Shroud eat away at the enemy. My reason being is that Slash (going by base damage here) does around 45 Lethal damage while Death Shroud does 8 Negative damage. Slash takes 1.5 secs to activate and 5 end to use, while Death Shroud consumes .5 end a second to do 8 damage to at most 10 targets around you. So with base numbers, Slash takes up a total of 5.5 seconds(recharge + activation) and 5 end to do the same amount of damage Death Shroud does while waiting for Slash to recharge, but it can affect up to 10 enemies. Noted, Slash does have a higher accuracy than Death Shroud, but DA does Negative damage, which is resisted far less than Lethal is. With enhancements, Slash could be worth it, but if you're having end issues, this would be a power you might reconsider.

 

First, you should always have a team. Tankers aren't the biggest damage dealers, but they sure can take it better than most and if it's your team, you decide the flow of the team. If it's not your team, you should either share aggro with another tanker entity (tanker/brute/illusion control) or engage carefully. Plus, you get more xp with more people and it's not just because you're killing more enemies that are stronger. Dark Armor, above all else imo, should have a team.

 

From what you say in your post, you use Dark Regeneration near the beginning of the fight when it's the best heal in the game with 10 targets max and 30% heal on one when it's unenhanced. This should be used when you're near death because then the enemies will have to hit you as much as when you first jumped into the group. Usually, the alpha strike will do this to you, so I understand if you use it because of that. This is similar to Fire Armors Healing Flames, except it's much more powerful, but requires hitting a target and it's probably the thing draining all your end (30 end if unenhanced). This power shouldn't be used for small bruises, but for the worst wounds. I would actually drag the damage from one group, get hit by another one a few times, and then use it.

 

Your combo should include taunting frequently and using parry a lot. I don't know what was going on with your taunt when you said it wasn't working, but it's auto hit and will work up to 5 targets max. It's possible somebody else had a much longer taunt duration in effect on it, or you reached aggro cap (15 or 17 peeps). Taunt doesn't fully pull people to you, it gives them a -75% range penalty, so all but the longest range people (Council and Nemesis snipers usually) will first use their ranged move on you before coming over to use melee. It also costs 0 end to use, which helps since everything costs so much. Damage is a factor in how much enemies will pay attention to you, but taunt is weighed much more heavily. Someone would have to deal, very roughly, 10 times the damage to equal taunt + how long it lasts. Taunts from other people have to be more than half of your current taunt duration to steal the attention away (taunt auras usually do about 13 secs of taunt, so basically any other taunt will steal that away).

 

Parry gives you +15% defense to melee and lethal, which can boost your survivability immensely if you stack it twice. This also works really well with Cloak of Darkness (for some defense) and Cloak of Fear since it has a -5% to hit to the targets it hits as well as fearing them. This should be your bread and your dark regen would be your butter.

 

On my dark tanker, I almost never attack. I taunt the hell outta everything, and use my first power (in your case, hack) since tankers apply bruising with it. That's a -20% resist debuff on the thing you hit it with. I use my auras to taunt everything I didn't hit with taunt, but I'm probably an outlier. I took both Oppressive Gloom and Cloak of Fear and I like how it stuns most minions and fears the lieus. It takes a bit longer for it to work on bosses, but it will if given the time.

 

As for enemies, Dark Armor is unique since it kinda works against most things;however, DA won't excel at anything but Psionic. Energy and Toxic are its biggest weakness. Energy is fairly common, but a lot of bosses and some AVs use Psionic, so DA is pretty good late game.

 

Soloing would depend on the diff. Tanks can definitely handle +0/x0. +1/x2 might be the most I would recommend, otherwise you'll be without end a lot if you had too many enemies. If anything, xN is better than +N, since you can usually AoE things to death with Shroud + BS moves. If you've got the money and Catalysts, try buying a few procs to put into Death Shroud so it pays to have it on, but in your posts, you say you don't have much. I would recommend collectingreward merits and trading those for desperately needed kb protec IOs.

 

The way I play is I run around within the enemy group, letting my auras mez them. Oppressive Gloom will stun minions, which make up the majority of a group, and Cloak of Fear fears lieus. I aggressively use Taunt on anything that looks like it isn't looking at me. If I had /Broadsword, I would use parry a few times before using much else. If it looks like the team can kill, I won't use any AoE since DA needs to conserve end.

 

Dark Armors, imo, are very passive. They're there to get hit and annoy the enemy, and just when the enemy thinks they've got you, you heal back to full. Oppressive Gloom and Cloak of fear are less mezzes and more mitigation. DA doesn't have much else to buff itself, but with that sword of yours, you've got a lot of potential. Sure, it might suck now, but with enough time and practice, you'll be swallowing(?) the enemy.

[Sarrate]

There have been  a lot of good replies already, but there were some topics that haven't been addressed yet.

 

Full disclaimer: I'm not an expert in DA, but I am currently playing a Rad/Dark Brute (lvl29). (Different beasts, I know.)

 

Second disclaimer: I don't know how much you know about how CoH's game mechanics work, so I'm being very verbose with my explanations. I mean no offense, but I'd rather over explain to someone who already knows than gloss over key facts for people who are unaware.

 

 

I've managed over many hours with the help of superior team effort to get the toon up to lev 27. But as of the other night, I'm literally slotting nothing but I/O END REDUCE in everything toggle at this point, +3 Stamina END MODs. And I'm still blowing through Take-a-Breathers like a kid with a bag of Halloween candy. And in solo mode, I can't even do +1 lev mishes. +0 solo or nothing and a Boss is at the end it's a guess as to how many dirt naps I take before I can defeat them. (Tanks should be able to solo right?)

 

A few things in here stick out.

 

1) Slotting

When you say "literally nothing but end reducs" slotted, do you mean that in the absolute literal sense (all attacks are nothing but end reduc), or is that hyperbole?

 

I ask because, while yes, it's good that you're slotting end reduc in your attacks (they consume considerably more endurance than your toggles), you still need to deal damage if you're solo. Consider you have an attack that deals 100 damage and costs 10 endurance. If you're fighting a +0 enemy with no defense or resistance, you can expect it to do, on average 75 damage, or 7.5 dmg / end. (You only have 75% base to hit, so 25% of the time you miss.

 

Okay, how does this change when you slot end reduc?

End Red     To-Hit  Dmg     End     Dmg/End
0           0.75    100     10      7.5
1           0.75    100     7.50    9.99975
2           0.75    100     6.00    12.4995
3           0.75    100     5.12    14.625

 

With up to 3 end reduc, you're basically doubling your end efficiency, which is great! However, end reduction isn't the only way to increase efficiency. Consider what happens when you slot a single accuracy:

 

Acc         To-Hit  Dmg     End     Dmg/End
0           0.75    100     10      7.5
1           0.95    100     10      9.5

* More acc would help only help against higher level mobs, and mobs with defense/tohit debuffs.
* This is slightly skewed since BS has def debuffs, increasing your chance to hit after you hit.

 

So that single accuracy is almost as much of an efficiency boost as 1 end reduc, but it also means you'd hit more often, which means less misses, which also means fewer attacks, which mean fewer alive mobs.

 

Now take a look at what happens when you start slotting for damage (keeping the 1x acc, since you'll want at least that):

Dmg         To-Hit  Dmg     End     Dmg/End
0           0.95    100     10      9.5
1           0.95    133.33  10      12.66635
2           0.95    166.66  10      15.8327
3           0.95    195     10      18.525

* Note: 1x Acc and 3x Dmg is 1 slot more than the 3 end recuc above

 

Again, similar gains to to end efficiency, but more killing power in less time. As an added bonus, this means killing mobs faster, which means taking less hits, which means less damage taken, less healing needed, and less time for a mob (esp bosses) to regen health.

 

 

That's all great, but I wouldn't recommend a pure damage slotting if you're sucking wind as hard as you are. Try mixing the slotting up a bit. 1 acc, 1 dmg, 2 end reduc? 1 acc, 2 dmg, 1 end reduc? (I don't know how many slots your attacks have, but without IOs, 1 acc, 3x dmg, 2x end reduc would probably serve well for a 6 slotted attack.)

 

I'd also adjust my slotting based on your activity. The more you solo, the more you should worry about offense, where-as the more you group, the lighter you can be on attack slotting, focusing more on keeping aggro and staying alive.

 

2) Mission Difficulty

Something else that comes into play is mission difficulty. I generally prefer to increase the spawn size faster than I increase the level. For one, higher level mobs are harder to hit (requiring more accuracy), take less damage, resist debuffs, have higher accuracy, and have more health. If you're already having trouble dealing damage / killing mobs, these are all huge negatives.

 

You might look into increasing the spawn size first. The mobs will be easier to kill, there will be more of them (you can leverage AoEs more), and since you'll be killing more mobs, you'll get more insp drops, which will help keep the pace up. Faster killing = more insp drops / minute = using more insps = faster killing (more dmg/tohit, more free healing/end, more free defense to reduce the need of toggles / need to heal).

 

The only caveat is when fighting debuff heavy mobs. If you're running at +0 / x8, you'll have a lot more debuffs heading your way. So where a defense debuff here or there isn't bad at x0, it adds  up quick.

 

-I just figured this out: Run into mob w DS then hit Build-up+Dark Regen+Slice is a wonderful feeling.

 

As mentioned before, save Dark Regen for when you need healing. It's an absolutely phenomenal heal, but not so great at dealing damage, and costs way too much endurance to use for damage. This makes me want to mention:

 

3) AoE efficiency

 

Try to maximize your AoEs, especially if you're running at higher spawn counts. An AoE attack costs just as much to hit a single enemy as it does to hit its target cap (usually 5-10). So if you need to jockey for positioning to line up more than 1 mob in Slice, do it. Sometimes this might mean pulling spread out mobs around the corner.

 

Additionally, keep in mind that AoEs are actually more expensive than a single target attack, so using them against a single target will hit the blue bar harder. I'm not saying never to do it, just keep that in mind that - rather than finishing off that solo mob with Slice, maybe wait for Hack or Death Shroud. (Btw, Death Shroud is expensive, but the more targets it hits, the more efficient it is.)

 

My questions are (besides - start over and pick better power sets):

 

One thing you haven't mentioned yet is Parry. If you're having problems with survivability, you should take and use Parry. It's defense buff no joke. On a Scrapper, it yields +15% defense (that's more than an SR toggle!) to melee and lethal unslotted - and it stacks. Take it, love it, use liberally. (If you're not in danger of dying, probably don't use it, as you'd probably be slotting it for defense and end reduc, so it'd deal crumby damage.)

 

 

For IOs, will I ever be able to unslot those dam'd END REDUCs? (I literally have like 16-18 END REDucs slotted right now! 3 per power) Now that I'm lev 27 and can concievably start some IO sets?

a) what Set IOs would you choose for Stamina on this hoover? (she's a suck machine)

b) what set IOs would you recommend to prevent KB (and where to slot)? I spend half of my time in the middle of arachnos/councel/warrior mobs up ended or on the ground.

c) Are there any sets that would let me drop one or more Resist powers on a respec? (Or sets that make that particular resistance toggle redundant?)

 

The most important IOs you can slot are (no particular order):

* Numina's +regen/recovery

* Miracle: +recovery

* Theft of Essence: Chance for +end

* A single Knockback Protection IO (Karma for defense, Steadfast for resistance, Zephyr for travel power)

 

Extra recovery is pretty self explanatory, Theft of the Essence - as mentioned by marcussmythe - helps offset the cost, and a single Knockback IO will stop the majority (but not all) knockbacks from affecting you.

 

Btw, make sure Dark Regen is well slotted. It was actually my Brute's first 6 slotted power (2 acc, 2 end reduc, 1 recharge, 1 Theft of Essence).

 

-----

 

Okay, I knew I had a lot to say, but that was a bit more long winded than I expected. Hopefully you found some of that helpful. :)

 

 

(Geeze, my session actually timed out while typing this, and I hit preview multiple times explicitly to avoid that. :o Luckily, Back button had my back... Whew.)

[Gorgar]

You definitely could be getting a better experience out of that combination.  Hope this helps.

 

In my opinion, six-slotting Dark Regen as soon as possible is important.  I generally go with one acc, one theft proc, at least two end reduction and one recharge, the last either end reduction or recharge.  Once I hit level 30, if not before, I'll switch to one Touch of the Nictus acc/end/rech, one Theft of Essence acc/end/rech, three end/rech from other healing sets, and the Theft proc.  This gives me decent accuracy and full end reduction and recharge.  You want Dark Regen to be available as cheap as possible, as much as possible.

 

On a tank or even a low-level brute I'll often slot single-target attacks with one acc and one end for levelling, while slots are hard to find.  AoEs are a good way to keep aggro and do some damage so those I tend to slot heavily, also with acc, end reduction, recharge, damage on a brute.  I don't really bother with common damage IOs on a tank.  When I can slot sets (and I do it early, 22-27 depending on set), damage will come.  I don't care if I can't solo, because I have scrappers and brutes for that.  (Also, once you get your build sorted out, you'll be able to solo, if slowly.)

 

I don't really bother putting end reduction in toggles that are cheap to run like your resists.  3 resist until I put a set of four IOs in.  On DA I sometimes like Impervium Armor, which gives a bit of recovery and some max endurance, which also boosts your recovery (because you get a percentage of max per second).

 

Cloak of Fear is its own special problem.  It's very expensive and doesn't hit.  I run at least two acc/end from different fear sets just to make it manageable and not miss *all* the time.  It's also the one I'll shut off if I'm having end problems but not dying.

 

There is no build I've ever heard of that involves skipping any of the resist toggles.  Take them, slot them, love them.  They're basically mandatory.  Also, you're meant to leave the mezz protection on at all times.

 

DA isn't really a beginner set, but it's a very pretty set and if you can learn to work with it, it'll do amazing things.  It pairs more easily in my opinion with Dark Melee, which gets you another big heal and an AoE end recovery attack.  DA with a non-DM set just needs to work with whatever the mitigation options are in the secondary.  In your case, it's Parry, which is I think melee and lethal defense.  Won't help at all with people shooting non-lethal damage at you, but will be really solid vs things that stand and fight.  Slot Parry with defense and recharge (and acc) and use it.

 

For stamina, two common IOs and two Performance Shifters: the plain end mod and the chance for endurance proc.  That'll help.  My DAs all just put Miracle in Health and call it good.  For kb protection, 1-3 kb protection, Zephyrs in travel powers, Steadfast proc in a resistance power.  Mine all hover so 1 kb protect is mostly enough, I get the other two later maybe. 

 

I like a couple taunt/range/rech from different sets, or use a taunt/range or taunt/rech from the same set if you are after a bonus.  More from a set if needed, but two usually seems sufficient.  On DA, I like to dive into the group most of the time (my scrapper actually ports in), and then I'll taunt one of the group if it's big, or one of the guys standing nearby that hasn't gotten the picture yet.  You should always be in the middle of a big fight, surrounded by foes, debuffing them, stunning them (Oppressive Gloom is pretty good), and if someone on your team is in trouble, they should be running to you if they can.  Obviously you can and should taunt stray foes away from your team, but a DA that breaks away from a fight to go chase a runner can be asking for trouble once the fear/stun wears off the guys you were fighting.  You have a lot less protection and opportunity to heal if you're getting aggro from outside melee range.  I'm not sure why you can't hold aggro on a DA, though if you're turning off Death Shroud and not running Cloak of Fear, that might be the answer. 

 

Depending on how set you are on absolutely having to have a) BS, b) DA, c) on a tank, I'd consider taking a couple days to try a couple of things.  You happened to pick a fairly hard mode combination.  DA has lots of potential, but a steeper learning curve than most, and it doesn't have particular synergy with BS.  Doesn't mean it can't be fun and good, but I'm not surprised it's giving you trouble as your first DA.  I also have an inv, and you're right, they play pretty differently.  Inv tanks usually give you lots of friendly warning that they're in trouble, and there's lots of time to find some healing.  Any sort of buff and they're pretty much golden, and if they run out of end, you can pretty much just taunt and let your end refill.  DA *dies* if it runs out of end, because you can't heal.

 

BS/DA would make a pretty great scrapper or brute, if you wanted to keep the concept but not be responsible for the team.  I've got a mace/DA brute that I don't really like tanking on.  She's fun as damage and she can handle missions, but against an AV DA really works better with DM to back it up with a big heal, another fear, and end recovery.  I don't think I'd get better results with the larger HP pool from a tank.  I know DA/* *can* be good, but it's kind of hard mode, so I'd maybe see if you'd enjoy this character as a damage AT and another one as a tank, unless you're committed.

[Trademarked Name]

All great stuff! I didn't have a lot of time to play with the tank last night but I did a respec and got most of the recommended Set IOs except Numina's.

Moved slots around (I was 6-slotting the main attacks b4 - wasteful at lev 27).

I dumped Slice. Picked-up Parry (I had averted this b4 as it seemed like a weak offensive power), and Oppressive Gloom this time.

 

I ran a quick solo radio mish against some Tsoo/Family at +0/x2 and it was a night and day difference.

The respec+enhancements+tactics. Basically changing everything is doing the trick.

The only real issues I had were when multiple Sorcerers were healing the group and each other really dragging it out. I was able to pull upto 10-12 tsoo comfortably without even feeling threatened. But having to concentrate sword swings on sorcerers (luckily they would TP back in close after bouncing out for brief moments). I did have to Oppressive Gloom it once when I got an exceptionally big group at one point that made my health take a big fall. But half of them mezd and wobbled around mitigating any further drop in health. I only had to hit Dark Regen twice. Once on the boss who was really pounding on me.

 

Prior to the respec, with 3 slotted END reducers in each toggle and still suffering from END drain, I assumed it was the toggles draining. As you all guessed, it's seems now that it was the constant sword swinging (slice/hack/swipe + freakshow doesn't help).

In this run, I'm no longer pounding the keyboard throwing blows. And surprise! My END bar is staying pretty much full. Now I'm throwing parrys and brawls (0 End), and moving a bit. When a few enemies drop from the occasional swipe or dark embrace, I move over to taunt another mob dragging the remainders with me to build a bigger crowd.

 

If I can do something similar on a team it would be fantastic! I see the problem in teaming will be facing +2/+3 factions. the damage I'll face will be an order of magnitude greater. With a Defender mitigating dam it will help. But it will take a lot more coordination with team mates to let me run in and grab aggro before they start blasting away.

 

I agree this concept would probably have been better as a brute or scrapper (where broad sword originated), but with the "mystical armor" idea I couldn't help but go to Tank.

[marcussmythe]

I agree this concept would probably have been better as a brute or scrapper (where broad sword originated), but with the "mystical armor" idea I couldn't help but go to Tank.

 

You will likely find far more joy playing the character as they are in your head, and making the powers work in game, than you will in finding the 'best powers in the game', bringing them together, and then manipulating a concept until it fits 'all the best powers in the game'.

 

I know I do.

 

Happy hunting.