Is Dark Melee viable?

[Daramar]

AOE seems to be the name of the game now, especially in endgame. 

Thematically I want to make a DA/DM tank. I'm wondering if DM is viable since it only has 2 AOE's that you get later in the game (lvls 28 and 35). All the rest are ST except the wonky cone Shadow Maul (that a lot of the DM guides say to skip anyway).

How hard is it going to be to keep aggro on a large mob with everybody unloading AOE every which way.

[Hopeling]

4 minutes ago, Daramar said:

How hard is it going to be to keep aggro on a large mob with everybody unloading AOE every which way.

As a tanker, not especially hard. Even your ST attacks are AoE taunts. You also have a taunt aura, and you can get another AoE attack from epic pools if you want to.

 

Dark Melee is a good set. It's not a farming set, but it will kill things and keep you alive.

[eknudson]

7 hours ago, Daramar said:

AOE seems to be the name of the game now, especially in endgame. 

Thematically I want to make a DA/DM tank. I'm wondering if DM is viable since it only has 2 AOE's that you get later in the game (lvls 28 and 35). All the rest are ST except the wonky cone Shadow Maul (that a lot of the DM guides say to skip anyway).

How hard is it going to be to keep aggro on a large mob with everybody unloading AOE every which way.

I find it great for soloing. It's not as great for team play except for elite bosses and archvillains.  Old guides from before the melee range was increased in I13 were a lot more negative on shadow maul. The depth increase to 7' made the cone a lot more viable. 

[Heraclea]

It is a premier set for tankers and defense based melee characters generally.  The lack of AoE is not terrible; there are two PBAoE attacks in the set, but both do benefit from a lot of recharge.  And of course, in the endgame this becomes much less relevant once the Judgment slot opens up. 

 

It is especially good for tankers because the consistent -tohit on the attacks is the equivalent of adding defense against the mobs hit by them.  One of the attacks is also a self-heal, a pretty good one with accurate heal slotting.  You also get reliable single mob control in Touch of Fear.  These advantages more than make up for the slow AoEs in my opinion. 

 

I think that for tankers it pairs up best with defense based armors like Reflexes or Shields.  With Shields you of course get an AoE attack in the primary, available earlier than brutes or scrappers can get it.  It also works well with mixed sets like Invulnerability and Willpower. 

Edited July 30, 2019 by Heraclea

[Nightmarer]

Well, no offensive melee set has absolutely everything, otherwise this game would be boring. Sets that excel at AoE lack a Self Heal so there's always something that can be improved but in this case, Dark Melee is awesome set, and yes, it lacks AoE but it is a great toolbox set and Tankers can benefit much from it.

You can add all the AoE you need via Primary (Fiery Aura, Shield...), via Pool Powers (Spring Attack, Sweeping Cross) and via Epic Pools (Fire Ball, Ball Lightning, Energy Torrent, Dark Obliteration...) and all that on top of your Judgement Slot so, yes, it's great set and extremely viable for pretty all melee chars.

 

In this particular case, DA brings a bit of AoE dmg via Death Shroud, one of the best if not the best self heal in game and -To Hit from Cloak of Fear plus Def from Cloak of Darkness that have a great synergy with the -To Hit from DM attacks, it is a matter of adding whatever you think the build lacks from other sources.

Edited July 31, 2019 by Nightmarer
Correcting typos

[Demon Shell]

If you ever find yourself tanking a Yellow Mitochondria you'll be glad you have DM if your using DA. DA's heal will never land against that thing because it's AoE Defense is like freaking infinity.

[Snarky]

Dark Melee Viable?  Hmmm.  Long time Brute player here.  I run two sets into the ground on Brute Builds. Super Strength because Smash!  And Dark Melee. Because Dark Melee is the stronger of the two. It has a heal. It has a PBAoE end recovery power. It has. PBAoE 30 second buff power with no crash. It has a mean ST damage curve. My main 50 I just started running End game with is a Dark Melee Invulnerability Brute. With agility Alpha the little AoEs come up regular enough to be useful as AoE. But I ran this build on live before incarnated with over 200% Rech and it was the meanest thing I ever saw.   So yeah.  Dark Melee is viable

[Marshal_General]

12 minutes ago, Snarky said:

Dark Melee Viable?  Hmmm.  Long time Brute player here.  I run two sets into the ground on Brute Builds. Super Strength because Smash!  And Dark Melee. Because Dark Melee is the stronger of the two. It has a heal. It has a PBAoE end recovery power. It has. PBAoE 30 second buff power with no crash. It has a mean ST damage curve. My main 50 I just started running End game with is a Dark Melee Invulnerability Brute. With agility Alpha the little AoEs come up regular enough to be useful as AoE. But I ran this build on live before incarnated with over 200% Rech and it was the meanest thing I ever saw.   So yeah.  Dark Melee is viable

What is your single target chain? I am trying to decide between the T2 and 3 powers.

[Moka]

A Dark/Dark stalker does not know the definition of death, except for its enemies.

[Murcielago]

Dark Melee is alright, weak on AoE, decent single target damage, nice build up power, and a small heal power. It goes well is shield defense. 

[wjrasmussen]

On 7/29/2019 at 7:19 AM, Daramar said:

AOE seems to be the name of the game now, especially in endgame. 

Thematically I want to make a DA/DM tank. I'm wondering if DM is viable since it only has 2 AOE's that you get later in the game (lvls 28 and 35). All the rest are ST except the wonky cone Shadow Maul (that a lot of the DM guides say to skip anyway).

How hard is it going to be to keep aggro on a large mob with everybody unloading AOE every which way.

All builds are viable.  Not all builds are equal.   Which question are you really sling?

[Murcielago]

2 minutes ago, wjrasmussen said:

All builds are viable.  Not all builds are equal.   Which question are you really sling?

This is also a valid point, if everyone's concern is maximum damage then everyone would be playing Ill/Cold controllers or TW/Bio Scrappers. The game would be very boring. Play what you think is fun. If it isn't fun then don't play it. 

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Marshal_General said:

What is your single target chain? I am trying to decide between the T2 and 3 powers.

I take all powers in Dark Melee. I have to take a fighting pick but I rarely use it unless my speed is needed to crap.  Because dark is filled with utility powers and the big ST is late it is important to keep the tier 1 and tier 2 fast hitting attacks chewing at your enemy. And remember each quick hit Debuffs their to hit effectively increasing your defense. The whole set is very good. The only time you should be making a choice what to hit is the shadow maul and the midnight grasp. Use those against healthier targets and do not waste them   Spam the targeted heal whenever it is up.