Battle Axe Dark Armor ???

[Thraxen]

Anybody got a good one already?  Trying to figure out how many times I need the FF+recharge to get hasten perma.  Seems like hasten is almost required for using dark regen as needed.  Maybe not.  

[Uun]

16 hours ago, Thraxen said:

Seems like hasten is almost required for using dark regen as needed.

Dark Regen has a base recharge of 30s. I don't have Hasten on my DA tank, nor do I have hefty amounts of global recharge, but with 47% in recharge slotted my Dark Regen is up every 16s. I can count on one hand the number of times I've needed it sooner (and it's usually because I was debuffed and it missed). More important is slotting it for end reduction as well as slotting the Theft of Essence %end proc.

 

I just leveled a BA/Bio brute, and even with Bio's end management tools, I found end usage to be problematic and often had to resort to using Efficient Adaptation. Dark Armor has no end management tools, so I expect BA/DA will be challenging end wise. 

[Thraxen]

Yeah, end is f'n horrible so far.  Just hit 32.  Here is a rough first pass.  Between Cardiac, panacea, and two perf shifters I would hope its good once 50.  We shall see.  Probably too many ff+recharge.  Might forgo hasten and slot up for more resists somewhere.  

 

 

Cursed Thrax - Brute (Battle Axe - Dark Armor).mbd

[WuTang]

On 5/13/2025 at 3:23 PM, Thraxen said:

Yeah, end is f'n horrible so far.  Just hit 32.  Here is a rough first pass.  Between Cardiac, panacea, and two perf shifters I would hope its good once 50.  We shall see.  Probably too many ff+recharge.  Might forgo hasten and slot up for more resists somewhere.  

 

 

Cursed Thrax - Brute (Battle Axe - Dark Armor).mbd 43.52 kB · 0 downloads

I have a BA/Bio Brute and found with FF +recharge in Pendulum, Axe Cyclone, and Swoop it can maintain near 100% up time of the proc.

 

But, I'm with ya on giving /DA a try. I'm trying to make it work on some as well, BUT hate the blue bar blues... I also have found that the +endurance proc in the heal to be flaky and not terribly reliable unless you are swarmed, so I don't rely on it.

[Thraxen]

I've already scrapped him.  Made it to 30s, but I just don't like DA. Unsure why I keep trying.  

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Thraxen said:

I've already scrapped him.  Made it to 30s, but I just don't like DA. Unsure why I keep trying.  

try dark/dark  the synergy is real.  a heal and an end rec power

[Thraxen]

Yeah I may again. I didn’t like it before when I tried it on tank. I have a bio/dark tank I like. Skipped the end power though as it’s not needed. He is 50 and done. I think dark might just be better on a tank with easier ability to get high reaists. You have to have capped resist. Heal has to be up often. Have to have some slow resists from sets.  Seems like a lot. Have to get kb protection.  Either skip clock of fear or crank up acc. 
 

one day the concept will click and I’ll deal it. But lightning hasn’t struck yet. 
 

I did make a vamp toon tonight. Storm/dark corr. Covered head to do in full white to reflect the sun. Works in my head anyway. Dracula makes some pretty stormy weather on the book and some of the movies. Unsure how I’ll rationalize dark servant. Maybe a vampire servant in most form?  I’ll get there I guess. 

Edited May 16 by Thraxen

[Snarky]

5 hours ago, Thraxen said:

Yeah I may again. I didn’t like it before when I tried it on tank. I have a bio/dark tank I like. Skipped the end power though as it’s not needed. He is 50 and done. I think dark might just be better on a tank with easier ability to get high reaists. You have to have capped resist. Heal has to be up often. Have to have some slow resists from sets.  Seems like a lot. Have to get kb protection.  Either skip clock of fear or crank up acc. 
 

one day the concept will click and I’ll deal it. But lightning hasn’t struck yet. 
 

I did make a vamp toon tonight. Storm/dark corr. Covered head to do in full white to reflect the sun. Works in my head anyway. Dracula makes some pretty stormy weather on the book and some of the movies. Unsure how I’ll rationalize dark servant. Maybe a vampire servant in most form?  I’ll get there I guess. 

here are my Brute and Tank examples

 

Brute Dark Dark Darkest Night 1.0.mbd Tanker - Dark Dark v7.2.mbd

[Jacke]

It's possible to make any weapon work with Dark Armor.  Dark Melee does have all the tools to make that a bit easier.  But with a good build and attention to detail, you can manage the big demands Dark Armor makes on Endurance and pair it with any weapon Powerset.  Since this is a skill needed for nearly every build in the game one way or another, learning to make good builds with Dark Armor and Level them while not bottoming out the Blue Bar is good practice.

 

Do get the S.T.A.R.T. temp power Recovery Serum to help too.  It'll get you through the rough patches as you learn more things.  Do learn how to pay for the Enhancements a good build needs along the way will help in some other vital skills needed: How to get Influence and also get those Enhancements at the cheapest price.

 

 

[Yomo Kimyata]

On 5/13/2025 at 12:16 PM, Uun said:

Dark Regen has a base recharge of 30s.

 

Only power in Dark Armor that needs recharge and it is up all the time, so you are good with ... 

On 5/15/2025 at 9:16 AM, WuTang said:

I have a BA/Bio Brute and found with FF +recharge in Pendulum, Axe Cyclone, and Swoop it can maintain near 100% up time of the proc.

 

Even just Pendulum and Axe Cyclone and it feels like it is always up, but if you want a third option I'd use Cleave.  The beauty of that proc is that it has a chance to activate on every target, so I generally only put it in AoE attacks.

 

On 5/15/2025 at 4:46 PM, Thraxen said:

I've already scrapped him.  Made it to 30s, but I just don't like DA. Unsure why I keep trying.  

 

It actually has a decent synergy.  Axe Cyclone pulls them all in to debuff and mez range.  The proposed buffs for Cloak of Fear are welcomed although overly generous imo, and when the next patch comes out you might like it more.  Or not.  

[WuTang]

On 5/31/2025 at 5:55 PM, Yomo Kimyata said:

Even just Pendulum and Axe Cyclone and it feels like it is always up, but if you want a third option I'd use Cleave.  The beauty of that proc is that it has a chance to activate on every target, so I generally only put it in AoE attacks.

I went with Swoop for the single target rotation. It has a decent proc chance, near 40%, So when I stop using Pendulum it's a nice gap filler between Cyclones. I actually opted out of Cleave, it felt underpowered even proc'd out.

[WuTang]

On 5/15/2025 at 11:28 PM, Thraxen said:

Unsure how I’ll rationalize dark servant. Maybe a vampire servant in most form?

Shadow Servant! Drac has all kinds of magic...depending on where you look.

[Thraxen]

I ended up with a fire/dark defender that named him blood mist. Red and black. 

[Uun]

3 hours ago, WuTang said:

I actually opted out of Cleave, it felt underpowered even proc'd out.

Cleave is an AoE (albeit with a 3 ft radius and a 5 target cap), so performs better when you hit more than one foe. Agree that it's underwhelming as a ST attack.