Electric Armor: I might be doing this wrong.

[Curveball]

So I've been playing with staff as an attack set, and I read somewhere (reddit, maybe?) that it paired well with EA. So I made a Staff/EA brute, thinking that yeah, Sky Splitter adding round-up-to-10% resistance would be a nice boost to this resist set which seems to be a little weak on the Negative Energy, Psi, and Toxic side (stronger for Psi than a lot of others, but still on the low side compared to other defenses).

 

I'm at level 48 now, and I've capped out resistance to Smashing, Lethal, and Energy (obviously energy), and I'm at 68% fire/cold, 54% negative, 59% psionic, and 39% toxic without any staff buffs. So as far as damage mitigation goes I think the character is in a good place. And offensively, the staff attacks combined with the EA damage field do great. I know staff is generally thought of as a lower damage set because of the long animation times but his basic attacks aren't appreciably slower than the others, the AOEs are a little longer but they're fantastic AOEs, and sky splitter is a bit on the maddeningly slow side but it does have the 10% resist buff in form of body and it's awfully satisfying when it lands. I can live with that.

 

In fact, I really don't have any complaints with the set beyond an innate irrational desire for my character to be perfect in every way which is just one of those things I have to route around when I'm playing games.

 

But I'm bothered by the fact that, for the most part, I just don't use Energize or Power Sink, and Power Sink seems like such a set-defining power based on discussion that I figure I have to be doing something wrong.

 

I mean I obviously haven't built it up properly - it's currently two-slotted with recharges, so it's not sapping at the levels it could, though I've read that its ability to drain energy from mobs sort of falls off a cliff when you get to the high level encounters, which is where I'm about to be. The biggest use case I see for it is to jump into a huge crowd at the start and fire it off in order to get the 15% per hit recharge (EDIT: regeneration, I meant regeneration) bonus, and then fire off Energize to get another 100% on top of that, to help recover from the damage I don't already block. I can see the use of that in crowds, less for fighting the end boss or AVs or GMs.

 

So I thought I'd ask: how should I be using Power Sink? Is it the set defining power I assumed it was? Does it become less useful at the end game? Do I need to completely retool everything in order to properly build it out? (slots are precious commodities! I've only got three to go!)

Edited Saturday at 06:21 PM by Curveball

[Psyonico]

In my experience, it should be slotted primarily for healing and recharge to get the regen bonus up as high as possible, after that, a bit of end redux and end mod can go a long way.  I wouldn't preemptively use Energize, I'd save it for when your health actually starts to drop. since a burst heal when you need it is better than regen when you don't.

[Curveball]

OK, I'll start thinking of it as primarily a regen click power and go from there. Thanks!

[Uun]

Power Sink was changed in the June patch (i28p2), so stuff written before that may be out of date. They reduced the -end and +end per target and added the regen buff. While it's still useful for refilling your blue bar, it's no longer effective at flooring foe endurance. The regen buff can be pretty significant if you hit 10 targets. The power doesn't need a lot of slots to be effective, generally some combination of heal/rech and/or endmod/rech IOs/HOs. How much you need the endurance buff will depend on which Staff form you play in. Body and Mind need it more but Soul doesn't. 

 

 Power Sink

• This power now adds a regeneration buff for each enemy hit.
• 17.5% regen for the first target hit (only while grounded).
• +17.5% regen for each additional target.
• +End per target lowered from 25 to 15.
• No longer has a chance at lowering enemy recovery.
• -End lowered from -40 to -35.

[Curveball]

I think I'm at the point where I don't really need the end recovery part, I was more interested in the sapping potential though it appears that's not it's primary purpose any more. It does stilll seem quite useful as a massive buff to regen before you engage large crowds, though!

 

At this point I think I just need to get the right HOs and I'll be good.

[SomeGuy]

I don't have a good opinion about Staff. Like, at all. 

 

My opinion about Electric Armor? One of the best resist sets in the game. It's amazing.

 

The comments about Energize and Power Sink caught my attention. Granted, I don't even have Power Sink slotted, and honestly don't know if I ever use it...but Energize is a, to me, MUST HAVE/USE power in Electric Armor.

 

I personally don't put a lot of value to Power Sink, especially once you have figured out your end issues, but I do have it for OH SHI moments and for exemping when recovery serums aren't enough. Energize gives a faily significant Endurance discount, not to mention it's immediate heal and HP/s, Energize is a HEAL. The end discount and HP/s are bonus eggs. Do NOT prioritize those, Prioritize the healing portion of it. 

 

Don't think of Energize as a regen power. Nothing in this game does enough regen to prioritize building for that mindset.

 

Defense > Resistance > Max HP > DPS >--------HP/s

 

That's a good template to keep you alive. 

 

Why DPS? If it's dead, it can't hit you. And not much in this game can't out DPS your HP/s.

 

This is my current TW/ELE Brute build. Yes, it slaps.

https://api.midsreborn.com/legacy/download?uc=1808&c=773&a=1546&f=HEX&dc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

Edited yesterday at 04:34 PM by SomeGuy

[Bill Z Bubba]

28 minutes ago, SomeGuy said:

Don't think of Energize as a regen power. Nothing in this game does enough regen to prioritize building for that mindset.

 

Even if you're on a regen using character? I built for regen and HP on my SR characters cuz they don't get hit and every little bit helps over time. And yes, apparently even HP is buffed on brutes on test right now. Got another 200 HP or so to play with there. (If memory is working, it fails a lot these days.) My claws/sr brute was already tough but he's a monster on test right now.

[SomeGuy]

18 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

Even if you're on a regen using character? I built for regen and HP on my SR characters cuz they don't get hit and every little bit helps over time. And yes, apparently even HP is buffed on brutes on test right now. Got another 200 HP or so to play with there. (If memory is working, it fails a lot these days.) My claws/sr brute was already tough but he's a monster on test right now.

 

 

Well, look at it like this..

 

You have 110 HP and 1 HP/s. Get hit for 100. You're still alive.

 

You have 100 HP and 1000 HP/s. Get hit for 100. You're dead. That HP/s does nothing. 

 

So HP/s is nice and gives breathing room in between hits, but you were only allowed to have the choice to allow the HP/s to give you breathing room due to the fact you're still alive from DEF > RES > MaxHP.

 

And HP/s is going to go up building for more MaxHP. 

 

I was there when IH was nerfed. Literally nothing, HP/s wise, is as consistently good as that. I will not be on the HP/s train unless it's as broken as that. Yes, the original IH was broken AF. I also played a Inv/Fire tanker in that time frame and was seriously scratching my head how some people thought IH was more OP then Inv tankers then. I could herd +8s with a default slotted Invincibility then. I remember power leveling myself in Bricks the instant I got it. Stupidly fast ride to 50 on that character. It was still 400 hours to 50 on the Claws/Regen. Fifty hours with the Inv/Fire. Quite a difference...

 

I learned a LOT due to these two broken powers, and apply what I learned today. 

 

I seriously just look at HP/s as bonus eggs on my characters. Regardless if defense based or not.

[Riverdusk]

3 hours ago, SomeGuy said:

 

Don't think of Energize as a regen power. Nothing in this game does enough regen to prioritize building for that mindset.

 

 

 

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https://api.midsreborn.com/legacy/download?uc=1808&c=773&a=1546&f=HEX&dc=78DA7594594F135114C7FFD34EC59696B6205464AF62373AB48A0F6E716179912628461F9BA68CD0A4B64D5B12FD166E890FF2A0022AF153F8AE9FC1570559DC571C0F73E6CA2D4D2799DEDF9C73EED9EEE94DDD1A73BF793D791E4AF3683E53A9A42F96E7ABBA239599CD65B1F334D1DB690AD3293DAFEBDAD55C3553485FD733A562A1D2CD9A31FD865EA8E8DA785ECF56CBB96CFA42F966B10CF754B198D726C934579875991FD3255D9FF19838919B9DAB92C22BAC66F472652E570A8C9772598D1D4F17E7F3E954A652D5CBB7FB299308BD6B1DF4A3403C8603F0AB4052850D6E013E867DF0301C448B002FC3226ADDD8812F76533384AF027E08F8CEB0B4B3478EAD6099352A1E0B78C210C25386081619A25862E8A0AEDA25378A1DED8A95F036097A54AC53950E48E939B062334DDC7844D0465EB0C0D08B1899249DD8A04D4D727A4D78C0D5EEC71D0177197CB8C77014F705A4695348C5335A9C921B3891E0F4829478B3AC6916A19769F1C8A13DA2672DA2AF71D1D7167C130DF9C9A0894E3FA7BD5E39801701C56CC816D5E69703F811E386B4226A3373684588E100C202220C47F08A7BF582F6B6C901DA282FD3649502B44B1DA70FEB5014AA3A208F4A0053B40655727B45C06586614C337C24779D72BE9D74E6A6BB43F86DB3E00FC3616C0BF82BC06058A1BD5DBB736A38BAB0CE6EBAF14EC07B865EAC0A586318C007063B95D02397D083138A75EAD6D9869054ACC31861F84425F4C925F4E12C67D58F33DCD77E9C14708A6100A7059CE3D8595A828A54421009360961882182384314499B352C1A4B86B1C053A95209835236B641713E115CE248C39860F0936D58B60D0BDB3836D92489CF0CAD641B93272246A9F3F49046932742135E5ED26742D228091C136EAD3FC4845A7BBF18DD6ADD85634D914B0C8F4B8C934F4CD1A40AF931E835C755C5942A7B238D42310C03EBAEDA2B8AE4D6806FD46BC2ACD9DCA3211EB05B97CD35AE78AB7EF3433EA9B781DA140D5F7C4FE5D1FA22CC54130DE4C906F2E30DE4230DE44E9FF997DB4D64250873C8FF0B7E75EC11FC0369AFE57B
 

 

 

 

You did say 'in the game' so I'd present drain psyche.  My psi assault dominator's regen does a lot imo.  I monitor and see her regen rate turn blue (capped) if I hit enough targets with drain psyche.   

 

Then again she doesn't have to really 'build for it' and she doesn't have much else to build for defensively, so maybe your point still stands.    Regen has kept her alive in some pretty crazy situations though.

 

On 12/13/2025 at 9:41 AM, Curveball said:

But I'm bothered by the fact that, for the most part, I just don't use Energize or Power Sink, and Power Sink seems like such a set-defining power based on discussion that I figure I have to be doing something wrong.

 

 

As to power sink, never found it a focus of the set.  I'd say you aren't doing anything wrong.  It can be a nice little bonus, but usually not even necessary.  Energize I've always found very handy though just to keep endurance usage down even if I'm not fighting anything tough to where I need the heal/regen.  It definitely lets you skimp on some endurance slotting you might otherwise worry about.

[WuTang]

I forget who, but someone built a Brute with insane recharge and even crazier regen. After the last change to Ele Armor Power Sink provides significant regen to a set that can have 90% resists. It's nuts what some have done with it.