Innocta

Please post the following guide :
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=293747

Introduction
This guide is written with the intention of providing enough information to those new to the game, the AT, or the specific sets of Water Blast and Cold Domination, to successfully play this set combo. As such this guide goes into more depth than just “I like power X, 5 Stars!” I am making no assumption on the skill level or experience of those reading this guide and this guide is primarily directed towards those players that are not veterans. I love this set combo and it is now my favorite ranged/debuff set combo, it is this affection that has inspired me to take the time to write this guide. To the best of my knowledge all the information in this guide is accurate, the data taken from City of Data, Mids, and the in-game combat attributes.


TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Overview of the Water Blast/Cold Domination Corruptor
General Discussion
Inevitable Comparisons between Blasters, Corruptors, and Defenders
Throughout the Levels
Tips
Some Caps and Facts to Keep in Mind
2. Behind the Scenes: The Math Behind It All
The Net To-Hit Formula
Defense: Soft caps, Vectored and Typed
Rules to Remember: The Flat 5%, Streak Breakers, Cascading Defense Failure
3. Water Blast
Intro and Tide
Powers with Data and Commentary
Tidal Chains
4. Cold Domination
Intro and Debuff Chart
Powers with Data and Commentary
Debuff Chains
5. Power Pools: Season to Taste
Travel Pools
Pool Powers
Ancillary Pools: Epic and Patron
6. Incarnate
General
Alpha through Hybrid
7. Building a Better Toon
General Discussion
Build Strategies
Power and Slot Efficiency
8. Build

1. Overview of the Water Blast/ Cold Domination Corruptor.
This power combo is a debuffing/aoe tsunami that will blow through entire spawns with ease. While the single target damage chain is descent it is the Area of Effect department that we will really shine in. The set also offers some descent group buffs and some self protection, solos very well end game and is an excellent team toon.
Pros/Cons of Water Blast: Water Blast is a fairly balanced set, split evenly between AoE and single target, though most of the best attacks are AoE, which is nice when facing groups but not as efficient when facing single targets. The knock up and downs of Water Blast really helps in the survival department (this does turn into knockback if your significantly higher level than your foes, like a 50+3 fighting L 50s) as does the heal over time of dehydrate. Water Blast attacks cause minor speed and defense debuffs and inflicts mixed damage types; cold, smashing, and fire. Also features a new mechanic, using stacks of tide generated by attacking to fuel enhanced attacks. This is not a button mashing set; to reach the full potential of this attack set you must become proficient in juggling tidal stacks.
Pros/Cons of Cold Domination: Cold Domination is a debuff/buff set; with brutal AoE debuff capabilities coupled with crushing single target debuffs. While we can debuff a variety of stats it is our ability to floor the defense and resists of enemies that is our bread-and-butter. As an added bonus we can also buff our group’s defense vs. vector and typed damage. Cold Domination is a late blooming set, the best debuffs are the last powers in the set, making the mid levels somewhat frustrating to wade through. Long recharge times on certain key powers also puts a damper on things and only one buff helps us directly.
Role: Widening The Margins of Success: Debuffs rule, damage is King, and buffs are a nice addition. That, in a nutshell, is our role. We can make otherwise difficult fights easy. We add to the defense of our team, lower the defense and resists of our foes and provide a good level of damage. Pre buff, debuff, then damage. This is one of the reasons why I really enjoy cold, the shields last 4 minutes so I can just pre buff my team then concentrate on destroying the mobs.
Inevitable comparison with defenders and blasters: We are NOT gimped blasters with debuffs and buffs and we are NOT weak defenders with better damage. Can we do as much as damage as a blaster? In theory yes, in general practice, no. Conditionally, blaster primaries are, out of the box, more damaging than corruptor primaries by about 25 % Furthermore blasters (depending on secondary) will have access to build up allowing for better front loaded spikes, while we need to dip into the epic pools for one of the two damage boosting powers, either power build up (less damage than build up and much longer recharge) or soul drain (which ranges in effectiveness from almost worthless to moderately useful). We do have scourge which can pump up our damage output but scourge is really only noticeable on tough opponents, such as AVs and Heroes ( in other words scourge wastes a lot of over damage on almost dead minions)so it doesn’t quite make up for lack of a less damaging primary and no build up. However, we do have access to sleet and Heat Loss to debuff resistance by 30% each. We also share the same damage cap of 500% with blasters. So assuming no outside buffs the blaster will do more, if we are hitting the damage cap ceiling we will pull ahead just from scourge( the -30% from sleet and Heat Loss will actually allow us to do more damage than the cap would otherwise allow ( though on a team the blaster would also benefit from debuffs) An incarnate corruptor that takes musculature or intuition as an alpha, takes either soul drain or power build up with assault hybrid can match a non incarnate blaster for damage ( exceeding it in certain circumstances, sleet and scourge). On certain team set ups corruptors are very valuable, an extreme example of this being the Really Hard Way Badge on Magi trial. With enough kins to hit the damage cap the corruptors scourge ability really shines.
Can we buff/debuff as well as a defender? No. A corrupter’s buff set is their secondary and cannot match the higher values from the defenders primary… in most situations. Which brings us to the value of +special to a corruptor ( power build up, power boost and clarion radial all grant +special) for our debuffs, which does allow us to hit the maximum amount of defense debuff allowed, as well as greatly enhancing every other kind of debuff except –resist. Sadly, ice and glacial shield are enhanceable for resist which means that our shields are not buffed by + special like an FF bubble is. I would gladly give up the ability to mule the +def globals for a greatly enhanced shield. More on +special later.
If you still can’t decide if corruptor or defender is right for you consider what kind of play your going to be doing? Solo? Small pugs? Trials? That may well be a deciding factor, following is a my brief opinion on which AT may suite you.
Solo: Defenders and corrupters will, overall, level at about the same pace, defenders higher debuffs with vigilances damage bonus and corruptors with higher damage and scourge, solo it doesn’t matter much which you play. Early levels are easy, the mid levels slightly easier for defenders ( earlier access to sleet) while corruptors will pull slightly ahead at higher levels.
Small teams: 2-4 people, in this range I would give the edge to the corruptor, sure defenders can still buff/debuff better but they lose the damage bonus of vigilance. Cors better damage makes smaller teams more effective while still providing descent buffs/debuffs.
Mid size to Full Teams: This is where defenders can really shine, 5-8 players range, their higher buffs and debuffs come into play. As more players and varied Ats join the team the importance of a single defender’s damage diminishes (not to say they become useless by any means). Corruptors trade off of higher damage and scourge also means less and the cor is best served by finishing off the weaker enemies so your allies can concentrate on the foes that are still dangerous. Depending on the makeup of the team a corruptor at mid levels may feel somewhat over shadowed if teamed with defenders and blasters.
Leagues and Itrials: When you start joining trial leagues, with 16-24 people you have to get used to one simple thing. No one character regardless of AT and set matters. Defenders buff better? Great, No one cares. There are so many other buffs from defenders, corruptors, controllers and masterminds, stacked leadership, hybrid support, barriers and clarions that at any moment everyone is at or so close to their caps that the potency of a single toons buffs don’t matter. Defenders’ better debuffs ? No one will notice (unless you’re in some crappy PUG trial that’s completely unbalanced and your trial leader is semi-retarded and decides to go with it anyways, in which case the strength of your buffs/debuffs still doesn’t matter cause you are doomed.) Corruptors scourge ? Nice on hard targets but…guess what? There is so much damage being thrown around that it just doesn’t matter. You could go LD and the league would still get along just fine without you.
Which is actually nice; at this level play what you want, it’s enough that you have buffs, debuffs, and damage and use them. That x does a better than y ceases to make a difference. (Again, horribly unbalanced pugs being an exception, I am fortunate to have a large pool of players (@60) with the majority of them being 5-8 year veterans. On any given night we can field a league, with maybe just a few pick ups to pad the league.) What does matter is the player. Want to be good on a trial league? It is actually pretty easy; all you need to do is READ CHAT and FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. That’s it. More trials are lost from players simply not reading than any other factor. Read chat, follow your trial leaders instructions and you’ll be golden.
Oddly enough itrials and solo is the same in that it is ok to be a little selfish when it comes to your build. Yes, still take the shields but don’t feel the need to max the slots on them to eke out a few more percentile points of defense. But what you will need to do is be able to operate alone within the league without face planting it every 5 minutes. I mean everyone dies occasionally, that’s ok, but excessive death wears thin. There are certain times and trials that will require you to take care of yourself. Leagues are more selfish than teams, no one is going to babysit or TP you around just cause you can’t manage to get from one building to another in a TPN without dying. Build some descent defense so that you aren’t completely screwed if you’re separated from the league; make sure you have enough stealth to get around in a lambda. But mostly play what you want, only the most micro managed leagues have preferences and you are unlikely to find one like that on a random pick up league.
OPINION PIECE: Why I play only Corruptors: Because we blow every other ranged class out of the water. No, really. I focus on end game content, and spend the majority of time either on Tfs and Trials or solo. I see no point in playing a blaster (though they are being looked at...again at the time of this writing) why would I choose slightly more damage over someone who can still provide excellent scourging ranged damage and can debuff, buff, heal ? And while I wouldn’t discount the value of a defender I hate the loss of vigilance’s damage bonus and with heat loss the end reduction is meaningless. Cold to cold dom if you build it right the only thing a defender is going to do better is buff. I’ll take better damage and scourge over better shields. On some debuffs, namely –resists, the defender and corruptor’s are the same and with power build up and radial clarion sleet can hit for a whopping -101% defense. Once you can meet the debuff cap primary over secondary sets ceases to mean much.
General Advice throughout the level range: The first 20 levels concentrate on damage; grab every attack you can, the two shields but slot in favor of attacks. Damage at this level range is both are primary source of defense (dead foes can’t hurt you) and our primary contribution to teams. Keep your team buffed with shields and start attacking and don’t stop until everything that moves is dead. While you have access to two decent debuffs at this range, it’s all you have and they don’t quite make you into a debuffing machine. Don’t skip the shields, part of our focus is defense, giving it to our allies and taking it from our enemies, even the small bonus we provide will reap dividends( if you’re really considering dropping the shields, delete and roll a /storm). In this range you can also pick up one or two other powers, perhaps a travel power or leadership or haste.
21-31 is the hardest stretch, you’ll pick up a few more attacks and will continue to slot them up and while our offense will still be good we have the same buffs and debuffs that we had from 1 to 20. The foes start getting tougher and we don’t get a third debuff until 28, close to the end of the stretch. Benumb is awesome but is only single target and has a long recharge. Start to slot up your debuffs and shields, invest a couple slots into health and stamina and get your slots to the point where they are looking well rounded because in the next ten levels you will be investing (slot-wise)heavily in just a few powers.
32-40. At 32 we get geyser, one heck of an aoe which will help us out a good deal, both in the offensive and defensive way. At 33 and 34 use your slots wisely because your two best debuffs are coming up at level 35 and 38 and you won’t have any spare slots until you hit the next range. Sleet changes the game for you, is one of our most effective debuffs, is an aoe, and the recharge is low enough where, at a minimum, you should be able to have it up for every fight. The combination of defense shredding and lowering your opponent’s damage resistance will give you a considerable boost to your damage capabilities. Spawns will fall faster and easier and your solo speed will jump up and you’ll finally be able to feel like a debuffer when in groups. With sleet we also gain the ability to “juggle “a spawn to an extent. Sleet can cause knockdown, which combined with water burst and geyser, two aoes that do kd/u, can keep foes on their backsides for a considerable time. Heat loss furthers your ability to lower –resists and adds excellent endurance management.
41-50 The final stretch, in this range you will finish slotting up your important powers and will pick up a few from your epic or patron pool if desired (You can actually start choosing at L35 but if you pass up sleet and heat loss for a pool power something is wrong). 47 is one of my grail levels, the level I can slot sets. Personally I could care less if I lose bonuses when being ex’d down, I‘ve done the game before with just SOs. So I always slot the highest possible level in enhancements (with the exception of procs and unique enhancements where the opposite is true.)
TIPS: Spend time when leveling by working on the four accolades that grant +Hit points and endurance, this is the largest source of extra hp and end. Blue side (Atlas Medallion, Task Force Commander, Freedom Phalanx Reserve, and Portal Jockey) Red side (Born in Battle, High Pain Threshold, Marshal, and Invader). If you need to check the requirements for them I would suggest visiting Badge-Hunter.com to check them out. May also want to download the vidiot map pack overlay while you are there, it gives the loc of every history plaque and explore badge as well as TF contacts, mob locations, and the monster spawns.
E-mail yourself some tier 3 or super inspirations, a few break frees and some awakens, maybe a couple others. We only have one possible source for a self-rez, and that’s soul transfer the 2nd tier choice in the darkness mastery epic pool. Always have a couple of break frees, if you need them and don’t have one you will regret it.
Start to scale your mission setting difficulty up as you level, start with enabling solo boss spawns and increase the number and level slowly as you go. Not only will you get more xp/influence and drops than normal but more importantly practice in handling larger and tougher spawns. If you have never played a particular set before avoid excessive power leveling. My comfortable solo setting is +1 x6, anything lower is boring and anything higher can be more work than is worth it (number of bosses).
Caps and Facts: Some numbers to keep in mind:
Damage Cap: 500%. We have the same damage cap as blasters, stalkers, and scrappers. Note that base damage is 100% not 0%, so 400% is our max increase. Powers that debuff resistance can cause damage above and beyond the cap as can scourge.
Resistance Cap: 75%
Hit points: Base: 1070 (at L50) Max Hp: 1606 (at L50)
Maximum Defense: 175% ( soft cap = 45 and 60 in incarnate trials)
Maximum Recharge Rate: +400%
Agro Cap: 17. One player can attract the “attention” of up to 17 enemies.
Debuff Maximums: defense (-100%), speed (-90%), recharge (-75%)

2. Behind the Scenes: The Math Behind It All
The Net To-hit Formula:
Accuracy (acc+acc buff -acc debuff*) x To Hit (To hit buff - to hit debuff) - Defense ( Defense buff - Defense debuff)
* No current sources of accuracy debuff or buff exists, included only for the sake of completeness.
As our primary role impacts the third part of the equation it doesn't hurt to understand the math behind to hits rolls.
Defense soft cap: the maximum allowed amount of defense that is used in the net to-hit formula, which in most cases is 45% (60% in itrials). There is a maximum hard cap for defense, which I have heard as anywhere between 200- 300 %, with massive stacked defenses I have never seen anything higher than 175% in the in-game combat attributes window so that's the figure I am using. You can possess a value higher than the soft cap which can be nice because of the subtractive mechanic of defense debuffs.
Defense comes in two categories: Vectored defense (commonly referred to as positional defense) which is Melee, Ranged and Area of Effect and Typed Defense which is Smashing/Lethal, Energy, Negative Energy, Fire, Cold, Psi, and Toxic. Every attack can be defended by at least two (and sometimes three) of the above factors and the game will use the highest applicable bonus. Example: Hydro Blast is a ranged attack that causes cold and smashing damage so defending against that attack will check ranged, cold, and smashing defense. If you had a 30% defense to ranged and a 20% defense to cold and a 15% defense to smashing/Lethal you will be defending using ranged defense ( the highest defense that applies, 30% in this case). In addition, there is one source of untyped damage and that’s Hamidon and his blooming mitochondria.
There are three other factors that can come into play with the Net to-hit formula and these three rules apply to both players and non players.
The flat 5%: Simply put no matter how high (or low) your defense or to-hit is there is always a 5% chance to hit or miss.
Streak Breakers: This mechanic tracks the number of consecutive misses and as the number of misses grows there is an increasingly higher chance of earning a streak breaker (number of misses exceeds a threshold, the number of which I do not recall) - which means the game is basically taking pity on the poor soul and allowing them to hit. This can lead to spikes of damage on high defense characters in protracted fights with large spawns and can be a contributing factor on the third rule.
Cascading Defense Failure: not so much a rule as an unfortunate event, CDF happens when facing enemies that debuff defense and any toon that depends on defense for survival is vulnerable to it( though Super reflexes and to a lesser extent Ice has a good deal of defense debuff resistance). Especially common fighting enemies that cause lethal damage that cause -def. You can start out a fight just fine but you get hit by one or two debuffing attacks that lowers your defense resulting in even more hits which causes even more stacking -def which in turns causes more hits, and suddenly your health is dropping and your popping greens and purples to just survive. That's cascading defense failure in action.

3. WATER BLAST: This ranged set features an internal mechanic, tidal force. Tidal force is a power build up mechanic not a combination mechanic. It offers an even mix of single target and Area of Effect and has descent mitigation in the form of knock up/down and stuns and the attacks debuff speed and defense. The key to success with this set is to understand tidal chains, to achieve optimal performance simply button mashing attacks is not the way to go. Water blast attacks come in three flavors; either grants a stack of tide with no extra benefits, consumes all tidal stacks and has a scalable effect or is variable.
+tidal force; The following attacks grant one stack of tidal forces( each stack lasts 15 seconds, max of 3 stacks) and gains no extra benefit from having stacks of tidal forces.
Aqua Bolt, Hydro blast, Whirlpool, and Steam Spray: four attacks to build tidal force, 2 single target and 2 AoE.
Variable: Water Jet and Dehydrate are variable attacks. If you have 2 or less stacks of tidal forces the attack operates as normal and grants one stack of tidal force. If you have three stacks when the attack is used the attack consumes all tidal force and has an enhanced effect. Water Jet casts faster and instantly recharges and dehydrate has it’s healing over time increased by 50%.
Scalable attacks that consume all tidal forces when used, Water Burst and Geyser, you don’t need three stacks of tidal force to cast but it has a greater effect.
Water Burst:
0 tide= normal damage 33% kd
1 tide=+5% damage, 45% kd
2 tide= +12% damage, 70% kd
3 tide= +25% damage, 100% kd

Geyser:
0 tide: normal damage, 0% stun
1 tide= +5% damage, 33% stun
2 tide= + 12% damage, 60% stun
3 tide= + 25% damage, 100% stun

TIDAL CHART:
+ tidal force +/- tidal force -tidal force
Aqua Bolt Water Jet Water burst
Hydro Blast Dehydrate Geyser
Whirlpool
Steam Spray
Tidal Forces

Aqua Bolt: Light damage (cold/smashing) –def, grants +1 to tidal power.
Damage 70 Cast: 1 s Recharge: 3 s Endurance cost: 4.37 Single target, 80’ range ACCx1
This is the fast casting, fast recharging attack option available at Level 1, and it does feature the fastest cast and recharge of the whole set. It doesn’t do a lot of damage but the beauty of this power is its ability to gain the attacker tidal power. At first glance it may seem like it would be the one attack to skip if needed but its 1 second cast time is very helpful in gaining that one tide you will need to pull off some tasty combos. On a respec you may opt out of it but leveling up it’s invaluable

Hydro Blast: High damage (cold/smashing) –Speed, % chance to cause knockdown, grants +1 to tidal power.
Damage: 123 Cast: 1.67s Recharge: 7s Endurance cost: 7.7 Single target, 80’ range ACCx1
The single target workhorse of the set has a good balance of damage, cast time, and recharge. This will be your main source of single target damage throughout your characters lifespan. You have to take either this or Aqua bolt, I would suggest both as the next couple of attacks feature long recharges.

Water burst: Moderate damage (cold/smashing) –def,-speed, scaling chance to cause knockdown, consumes all tidal power.
Damage: 75 Cast: 1.73s RCH: 16s END: 15.18 Targeted AoE, 80’ range, 15’ radius centered on target, 16 targets max ACCx1
This is an excellent and fun power to use and will be an important part of your early attack chains and later will provide an important piece for juggling your opponents. This power does not require you to have tidal force, does not grant any tidal force, and consumes all tide stacks the user currently has. For each stack of tidal force the user consumes the attack grants bonus damage and a scaling chance to KD your targets, 100% chance to KD at 3 tidal stacks.
A fast casting AoE with KD ? Heck ya. This is one of the better powers in the set and there are quite a few. It is effective and fun to use. Later you can juggle groups of foes with this, sleet, and geyser.

Whirlpool: high DOT (cold) foe- Speed- def, grants +1 tidal force
Damage: 180 Cast: 2.03 RCH: 1m END: 15.6 ACCx2 Radius 25’
This is our location targeted AoE, our version of a “rain” power though it works slightly different. It is more like a tar patch that causes damage rather than a true rain, though like a rain whirlpool will check for scourge at each tick. It slows your foes keeping your targets in the AoE longer and has a descent minus defense of 10%. Get this one asap but you can probably hold off on slotting it up until later.

Tidal Forces: +42.50% acc, + 21.25% damage .Grants caster 3 stacks of tidal forces*
Cast: 1.17s RCH: 1m30s END: 5.2 Duration: 10s
Our self buff, adds a good amount of acc and damage and grants 3 stacks of tidal forces. This is nice for either starting a fight with a power that benefits from full tidal forces (water burst or geyser) or to spike a boss (water jet+ water jet). The usefulness of this power for us is the tidal power, some combos later on you will want tide NOW, and this is your go-to power for that. * NOTE: While the power description states it adds 3 stacks of tide you have to pay attention to its odd working. If you have 0 tides it adds 3, if you have 1 stack it adds 2, if you have 2 stacks it adds 1, if you have 3 stacks it adds 0. This is important because it does not grant you three stacks of tide that overwrite previous stacks. So if you are in combat and have 2 stacks of tide and want to use, say a maxed out Geyser, hit tidal force and then your first stack of tide times out, you will not have the 3 tide you need to max it out. This can make timing geyser and water burst something of an exercise in luck in extended battles

Dehydrate: Moderate damage (cold/smash) with a minor dot component (cold) foe-SPD,-def. Grants +1 tidal force.
Damage: 144 Cast: 1.87s RCH: 8s END: 8.53 Single target, 80’ range ACCx1
You’re third single target attack, this attack deals more damage than Hydro blast with a recharge and end cost that is in the same ballpark. This does offer one additional benefit, it grants you a small heal over time (5 ticks) This is NOT a heal, it simply does not grant enough health fast enough to count as one, however it is very nice to keep your health topped off and as part of your chain can over the course of a protracted fight, mission or TF provide a substantial amount of hp, boosting your odds of survival. If you use it when you have 3 stacks of tide the heal is boosted by 50%. EXAMPLE: AT level 50 the way I have it slotted it heals for 50 HP per tick (250 hp) or 75hp per tick (375 hp) with 3 stacks of tide. With a fresh boost it can heal 67 hp per tick (335 hp) to 101 hp per tick (505 hp) if at max tide. With a 150% recharge I can alternate Hydro blast and Dehydrate in a continuous chain that can provide almost nonstop heal over time, very nice in a protracted elite boss/ AV fight.

Water jet: High damage (cold/smash) foe – speed
Damage: 173 Cast: 1.43s RCH: 10s End: 10.19 Single target, 80’ range ACCx1 +/- tidal force(see below)
The last single target attack, this is your hardest hitting single target attack and is unique among the set mechanics. Water jet does not require tidal force to use; you may use it with 0, 1, 2, or 3 stacks of tidal force. If used at 0-2 stacks of tide the power functions at its base level and grants +1 tidal force. If used at 3 stacks of tide you get “enhanced water jet” which casts faster than normal AND recharges instantly and consumes all tidal force. So you can spike a foe by rapid casting this twice in a row (or use it once against two different foes). This enhanced water jet may only be used once every 15 seconds; a small tide buster symbol is displayed in your buff window to help you keep track.

Steam Spray: High damage (fire) + minor dot (fire) foe-def, grants +1 tidal force
Damage: 161 Cast: 2.53s RCH: 16s END: 16.85, AoE cone 40’, 50 degree arc, 10 targets max ACC 1.20x
This is our cone attack; it has a nice wide arc which makes fitting in the maximum number of targets easier, especially at close range. Unlike the previous attacks this cone deals fire damage. While not a game changer the ability to cause multiple damage types can be nice. This cone is one of my favorite attacks, it grants tide, it has a good range for a cone and hits hard. Optimally used after a sleet +geyser chain to finish off Lts. and minions or right after a sleet + whirlpool and even hits hard enough to be used on single targets.

Geyser: High Damage (fire) +high dot (fire) –SPD
Damage: 290 Cast: 2.93 RCH: 3m 25s END: 20.80 ACC 1.40x targeted AoE, 80’ range, 25’ radius 16 targets max
Consumes all tidal force, causes knock up and a scaling chance to disorient (100% at 3 stacks of tide) and does bonus damage for each stack of tide, both the initial damage and the dot portion are boosted. This is it, our tier 9 nuke and like most of the recent sets this is a crash less nuke. Your penultimate opener geyser is sick when used with tidal force + power build and right after sleet and/or Heat loss. Excellent damage that knocks up and stuns (mag 3) up to 16 targets, what’s not to love.

The damage values above are just for comparison sake and are figured using a value of 99.08% (three level 50 IOs) rounded up.

Water blast requires more forethought as you need to be conscious of tidal force to get the most out of certain powers. While no power requires tidal force, three of them do have added benefits to full tidal force.
Stinging a tidal chain is actually fairly easy with practice; just keep the following in mind:
DO NOT use water burst or geyser in the middle of a chain if you are building tide to use a different amped up attack. Regardless of how many stacks you have these two attacks use all stacks.

You can use dehydrate and water jet as a standard attack that will build tide just don’t accidently hit the wrong one at the wrong tikme, at 3 tide they both consume all tide. If your button mashing and queuing an attack you can inadvertently consume all your tidal force.

To keep “juggling” a spawn do not cast all your attacks that casue kb/kd back to back, interspace other attacks between them. Like Sleet+ geyser+ steam spray+ water burst.

Some of my favorite and commonly used chains are :

SURF'S UP :Geyser+whirlpool+steam spray+water burst
SINGLE TARGET LOOP: Hydro blast+Dehydrate+ Hydro blast+ enhanced water jet/water jet+hydro blast+ filler attack(steam spray or whirlpool)+ Dehydrate ( with 3 tides) + water jet and so on ( Av's).

When your moving fast Geyser will be up for every other spawn, juggle it and either water burst or whirlpool and steam spray to open with. ( Alternately use Judgement)
Whirlpool requires a bit more consideration as you have to decide on whether you want to A) Use if first to maximize its full damage potential or B) reserve it for the middle of combat to maximize its scourging goodness.

The hardest part is organizing your hot key bar for ease of use. I use my attacks on bottom bar #1,
1) Hydro Blast 2) Steam Spray ( most commonly used single and AoE attack that always builds tide) followed by 3) Dehydrate 4) Water Jet (variable tide powers) 5) Water Burst 6) Geyser ( the two powers that consume all tide and has an enhanced effect) 7) Whirlpool ( situational power, always builds tide but has a long enough recharge where it is out of my normal combat chain, and I normally click it with my mouse vs using the number keys) and 8) Judgement

4. Cold Domination, the icy half of our character

Debuff Chart: Primary role is debuff, a role at which we excel at; - defense,-speed,-recharge,-damage,-resist,-endurance,-regeneration,-special.
- Defense: Infrigidate (single), sleet (AoE)
-Speed: infigidate (single), snow storm (AoE), sleet (AoE), and heat loss (AoE)
-Recharge: Infigidate (single), snow storm (AoE), sleet (AoE)
-Damage: Infigidate (single, fire only), benumb (single)
-Damage Resistance: Sleet (AoE), heat loss (AoE)
-Endurance: benumb (single), heat loss (AoE)
-Regeneration,-special: benumb
Secondary minor sources:
-Defense: aqua bolt, water burst, dehydrate, steam spray
-Speed: hydro blast, water burst, whirlpool, dehydrate, water jet, geyser

Infrigidate: Foe –SPD, Rch, def, damage (fire only)
Single target, 80 ‘range End cost: 10.4 RCH: 15 Duration: 20 Cast: 1s
Defense: -25% dam buff:-30%
This is our main single target debuff, its 15 second recharge isn’t hard to lower to the point where you can infrigidate multiple targets in a single encounter. Bosses, Lts and/or any dangerous melee fighter are favorite targets. The – def makes it much easier to hit so leading with this at low levels is a good idea. This is your auto level 1 choice and better hope you like it, this and snow storm are our only debuffs until you hit Level 28.

Ice shield: + defense (melee, smash/lethal) +resist (fire/cold)
End: 7.8 Rch: 2s Range 80’ radius 30’ cast: 1.17s Duration: 240 s Defense: +11.25% Resist: 9.38%
The first of our shields, both of which form the core of our buff set. Don’t be a tool, get both shields, it’s a 4 minute def buff and now that it targets your whole group it’s incredibly easy to keep everyone shielded. Even the smaller returns corruptors can make a big difference on how much, as a group, damage is taken. As an added bonus it’s also an easy way to slot a LoTG 7.5%. I like getting this at 10, adding 1 more slot at 11 and using it to mule steadfast:kb and steadfast +def. You can hold off a bit on getting it until you have your basic attack chain covered but I recommend (even on a respec build) to get it and glacial at or before level 20. So when you x down for tfs you can buff your team.

Snow Storm: Foe -spd, - rch –Fly
End cost: .52/s Cast: 2.03 rch:10s range 80’ radius 25’
This is one of the skippable powers, at least on a respec build , I used until it I had both sleet and heat loss, it’s an AoE debuff that cuts your opponents spd and recharge by 50 %. And yes that’s pretty awesome. Drop this on a group of foes and all you have to do is survive that initial volley. Bad guys only get a handful of attacks and once they have used them they have to..wait..and wait..and wait for the recharge. After they pop off their range attacked foes that are default will spend most of their time trying to close the distance. Too bad for them they are moving in slow motion. If you have an extra slot to spare drop a minus rch proc in it. Also if you want to keep the majority of a spawn under the snow storm influence do not drop the toggle on the same guy you tagged with infrigidate, the two slows combined means he can barely move and the other will eventually outpace him and leave the radius of the storm. This debuff does have a drawback and that is its fairly hefty cost of a half an endurance per second. Keeping this running while attacking full tilt will drain your bar fast. Another tip is to keep track of your toggle, sometimes they like to run and an active snowstorm can agro enemies further away if it hits them. Early levels while your solo or in small teams it nice to have but later on it has two other drawbacks. One, in a fast moving team it's a pain, your anchor or even the entire spawn will die before it has time to make a difference. Two, the snow storm can cause foes to run (to try and beak the toggle) and this can make some fights for more annoying than its recharge debuff is worth. Was one storm defender on a TPN onetime that insisted on dropping a snow storm on maelstrom, chasing him around and still trying to break the LOS on marked for death was not fun. I used this while leveling up but upon my Level 47 respec ditched it, haven't missed it once.

Glacial Shield: + defense (ranged, AoE, energy, negative energy) + resist (cold)
Other than the defenses it buffs this is identical to Ice shield. And yes I also recommend you get this one.

Frostwork: +HP, + resist (toxic)
Single Target, 80’ range, End cost: 14.5 RCH: 60 Duration: 120s Cast: 1.17s
+15% toxic resist (unenhanceable) +44% hp
Skip it. What? You need more? Frostwork is the little engine who thought he could but in the end really couldn’t kind of power. It is too little for too much endurance on a recharge that’s too long. If this would buff the whole team it would be a different story. Maybe. Early on its semi useful if you have, say, a brute or scrapper tanking but end game another power selection will likely give you more mileage. Endgame the amount of hp needed to cap is small enough where this power will make little difference.

Arctic Fog: Team: stealth, + def (global), + resist (fire, cold, energy, slow) Toggle: PBAOE
End Cost: .52s Radius: 40’ Cast: 1.87s Base Defense: 3.75% Base Resist (fire, cold, energy) 15% Base Resist (slow) 60%
This is an all around excellent power, its only drawback being the .5 end a second endurance cost. Enhance to lower it and never turn it off. As the only buff that benefits you it’s an important part of your protection. Combined with super speed and/or a +stealth enhancement gives you enough stealth to run through missions. I put a +celerity stealth into sprint and use super speed, I can stand right in the middle of a spawn with all three running( yea, 2 would be enough to stealth a mission but didn’t pick up SS until L49, the celerity is for when I am ex’d down) The descent slow resist is also a nice bonus.

Benumb: Foe- damage, - endurance, -regeneration, - special
End cost: 13 Recharge: 120s Duration: 30s cast: 2.07s range 70’ single target
Benumb is a brutal single target debuff that will ruin the day of anyone you cast this on. It sucks up some endurance and their regeneration takes a hit, but the best part is lowering their damage by 50%, and to add insult to injury a minus special. Think anti-power boost. All in one sexy little package that screams “Give me to an AV!” Sadly, benumb is so awesome that the devs gave this a 2 minute timer. Even with some good recharge benumb just won’t be available as often as you want it. Save this for particularly dangerous foes and make sure you use sleet and/or infigidate before casting this. A missed benumb is a very sad thing. In pvp players really like this one, make sure to give them one as often as possible-like Christmas cheer.

Sleet: Location AoE minor dot (cold) foe- speed, -recharge,-defense,-resist (all), knockdown
End cost: 18 Recharge: 60s Range: 60’ Radius 25’ (10 target max) Cast: 2.03 Duration: 30s
Sleet is your workhorse debuff, it does everything you could want and more. With good recharge you can have this up for every fight. The debuff portion of sleet…isn’t quite working as intended and no one really knows why. The debuff portion of sleet seems to only last 15 seconds if the foe is still inside the AoE when the ice patch visual melts. Whether this is the way it is supposed or not I have no idea. Tons of threads get into this; I would suggest seeking them out and reading the more in-depth analysis of it there. Regardless of bugs or not, sleet is one evil debuffing machine. I lead with sleet in practically every fight, reducing the defense and resists of up to 10 foes at once makes all the powers you throw at them after sleet that much more effective. The minus spd ,rch and knockdown is just icing on the cake. You must get this power and I recommend 6 slotting it ASAP.
I do not recommend slotting it for damage though, the minimal dot doesn’t enhance to a value to make it worthwhile, use scourge tactics and a proc to add damage. Once all rains were bugged and would check for procs every tick of damage making all rains a proc vehicle that would shred foes. This has been fixed and now rains only check for proc once per foe like other AoEs. Still, one or two procs, like Achilles heel chance for –resist and Lady Grays’ negative energy can be a descent investment. I just wouldn’t go overboard and slot too many procs. A power boosted sleet will floor a spawns defense. Base defense debuff:-30%, frankenslotted with debuff/recharges and a couple procs I increased the debuff to -45.53. With Intuition alpha, power boost and clarion epiphany I can amp it up to -101 % turning everything in its radius into the proverbial broadside of a barn that takes 30% more damage from all attacks. Nasty stuff.

Heat Loss: AoE debuff/buff 10 targets max for-end,-speed, -resist (all), team plus endurance plus recovery
Endurance Cost: 15.6 Recharge: 360s Cast: 2.17s Duration: 90s Range: 70’ Radius: 15’ - 30% resist
Ahh, Heat Loss. A dual purpose power it provides another nasty –resist debuff which will stack with sleet, lowers speed and is an excellent endurance drain (with just 74% end mod it almost completely drains an endurance bar) refills your endurance bar and places a endurance recovery buff on you.
The big question isn’t how Heat loss will be used, stacked with sleet or staggered, but where you will be when you cast it. Works like so: When you cast this on an enemy, that enemy and every enemy around it (in its 15’ radius, max targets 10) will be drained of endurance and have the debuff applied. Every team mate that is near the targeted enemy will receive a buff stack for each enemy that is drained; additionally you (regardless of range or proximity) will receive a single buff icon as will any team mate that is close to you. You can either stand back and buff ranged attacker slightly and your melee attacker significantly or you can cuddle up to grant yourself the maximum amount of buffage (10 stacks). With the same 74% enhancement each buff stack grants 3.5 endurance per second, even one buff icon is an excellent endurance recovery buff. A full stack will provide virtually unlimited endurance to the tune of 35 endurance per second.

While all the powers are useful there are certain combos that will prove highly useful to you, greatly increasing your efficiency, damage and survivability. On the debuff side it’s fairly simple:
Sleet. Always lead with sleet, it will make every target easier to hit and make them take more damage. It will slow them a little (and we want the group to stay together) and reduce their recharge while possibly knocking down them down.
Sleet + heat loss= a nasty one- two punch that severely debuffs a spawn while providing endurance management. This is the preferred combo but heat loss doesn’t recharge as fast as sleet so sometimes you will have to just rely on sleet alone.
After sleet or sleet + heat loss you have to make a decision. You can either A) continue debuffing with snow storm for AoE and infigidate and/or benumb for single or B) start attacking using the 15 second debuff window on sleet to maximize damage. Then debuff single targets after your AoE chain is done.

5. Power Pools: Season to Taste

I am not going to go through every pool, I will instead focus on those that I feel have something significant to add to the average build/player.

Travel Powers: Some players feel that Travel powers are obsolete and there is some truth to this. Outside of the fun factor getting around is so much easier than it was years ago, easy to the point that you can get around quite nicely without one. With Ninja and beast run, the transforming travel powers (coyote, panther), rocket board, jet packs for sale in Grandville and Firebase Zulu (and as a recipe) not to mention that the ferry, tram and helicopters are linked on top of SG teleporting ,Ouro portals, Tunnel Portals, and Mission Tps traveling across multiple zones has never been easier.
There are, however, tactical reasons to pick one up. Super speed is great for navigating open maps and for stealth stacking (SS+ Arctic fog). Flight is very handy in some situations and Hover is good for Ghetto Kb protection and some +def, Recall friend could be a good investment as it is easy to make a cold cor into a stealthy character. Beyond those, unless your aiming to get the last power in the pool there isn't much to recommend the rest. Of the first pick non travel powers two are good choices; Combat Jumping with its incredibly cheap end cost, decent defense and that you slot a LoTG 7.5 % in it, and Haste, which can benefit virtually any character.
As for the last power picks only Burnout( amusing but honestly not that great for us) or Afterburner (if you went the flight route) are worth the cost in powers.

Some power pools are worth more to us than others:

Leadership: This pool is one of my favorites and now that Fitness is inherent I can usually fit in one or two of them. The bonuses are on the small side but they buff your entire freaking team..and they stack ! And every little bit counts.
Maneuvers: Throw a LoTG 7.5 in it and the end/def from the same set and call it done. 3.5% of global defense to your team, add that to your shields and anyone in your arctic fog and you adding a modest amount of defense.
Assault: We get 15% from it. Not to shabby, extra damage is extra damage. The taunt and placate resist has some utility to it.
Tactics: My personal favorite. Remember the Net To-hit formula? Notice how the base accuracy was multiplied by the to hit? That's a good thing and it works for your whole team. I hate fear and confuse and this shortens the duration of those. The plus perception is handy in some situations also. I like to slot a Gaussian chance for build up in this and never turn it off. The build up effect has no animation so every once in awhile I do 68% more damage for an attack or two.
Vengeance: Awesome power but one I have never personally had much luck using. I'm either out of range, they get rezzed first or no one dies. To situational for my tastes but a decent investment for those that like it.

Fighting: Making yourself semi-squishy is a good idea, Tough by itself doesn't add a ton of resistance but even a little against the most common damage type can be helpful and you can use it to gain set bonuses or to mule the 3% global defense unique enhancements.
Weave: Is the power I normally take this pool for, the base defense for weave is the highest of any power available to us and is easy to enhance for a cool plus 6% to defense.

Concealment: Don't like phase shift, stealth and invis do not stack with arctic fog and we don't have trouble slotting x5 Lotgs 7.5% and I'm too selfish on my builds to waste a power on grant.

Medicine: One of the reasons I like cold is that I don't have to run around and heal people, Clarion trumps stimulant and we have dehydrate for some healy goodness. Maybe useful but not one I would recommend.

Presence: Haven't touched it since they made Taunt AoE probably never will.

Ancillary Pools: There are eight epic/patron pools to choose from, each offering five skills to help you round out your character. Of particular interest is the availability of a shield. A couple of pools offer a single target hold, which can be of some use (mainly hami and lady grey) and mako offers an AoE immobilization. Most of the utility skills offered tend to be endurance management which isn’t a great choice as we have Heat Loss. Thematic consideration aside there are a handful of powers that that are more effective than others.

Power Mastery:
Power build up: We do not have access to a build up normally and the boost on tidal force is on the weak side. PBU gives a 68% damage boost and as a bonus gives +special, used prior to attacking and/or debuffing PBU will enhance the effectiveness of your powers. Downside is the long recharge, getting the recharge down around the 90 second mark is a good idea. It will also boost your defense from certain powers for its duration, this isn't something you count on but as you are most likely using this just before attacking a defense boost isn't a bad thing. Consider it a bonus.

Soul Mastery:
Power Boost: Another source of plus special but has no to hit or damage boost. The duration is slightly longer and the recharge is half that of Power Build Up. + Special is a good investment as it helps enhance our secondary to a point that can match a primary set. This is a second tier option and you will have to pick another power to get, either Dark Embrace (a decent shield) or Soul drain. Soul Drain isn't as effective as the melee version, offering only a 6.8% damage increase per foe(max 7) on a four minute timer that requires you to be in PBAoE range.

Dark Mastery:
Soul Transfer: The only self rez offered.

Mace Mastery: The redraw is a pain but mace does offer a good selection of powers. An AoE immobilization (a source of -fly) and a single target hold. Scorpion shield is the only shield offered to Corruptors that adds defense- a nice 12.5%, the potential downside being that the defense is typed. Focused Accuracy is an expensive toggle but offers +per and to hit and most importantly resist to to hit debuffs.

6. Incarnates
The incarnate system is City of end game content, it provides a plethora of benefits and powers and extends the lifetime of a character. This last point can be nice as it gives the level 50 player something to work for besides badges. The incarnate salvage and building can be a pain, especially if your new at it. Following is a few tips to help ease the pain.

Before worrying about making everything Tier 4 get your level shifts. No other factor will make itrials easier than this. There are three level shifts available from three different powers all offered at the third tier, Alpha, Lore, Destiny. Open up the slots and build to tier 3 ASAP. Then worry about making tier 4s and filing Interface, Judgment and Hybrid.

Maximize your salvage gain, every completed trial gives a reward table with the option of a random salvage. In addition every badge you earn gives a random common or uncommon salvage so even if you are not a badge hunter they are worth doing. TPN and UG both offer bonus threads. Once per trial per day you are rewarded with an empyrean merit, so doing a variety of trials can be beneficial. Don't waste your E-Merits! You can convert them to rare and very rare components (among a variety of things) which may be of great use if your unlucky with the random rewards.Talk to Taskmaster Gabriel and do the Da arcs, the first completion for each arc you get the choice of a random incarnate salvage (though like trials all four tables have a chance the rare and very rare rewards are even more rare) except max's arc(gives no reward) and the Dream Doctor( gives 2, 1 for each part). When all the arcs are done talk to Gabe and get your 2 E-merits. You can repeat the whole Da arc once per week for more merits. After the initial run the arcs can be flash backed from ouro and once per 20 hours you can recieve the incarnate salvage reward. I do one per day in a quick run for a random roll, with Heather's arc done when the others are complete(very easy to zoom, around 20 minutes for the whole arc).Doing these and itrials will eventually get you the salvage you need.

ALPHA : What is the alpha slot ? Think of this (your first incarnate ability) as a giant global enhancement that enhances every power that it could enhance. Example: If your alpha increases accuracy every single power that you have that can take an accuracy enhancement will be boosted. If a given power cannot slot an enhancement then it will not be boosted by an alpha. Higher tiers give larger bonuses and more of the bonus will ignore the ceiling of ED.
What is the best alpha for a water/cold cor? Well, none of the alphas are bad per se but you can go one of two routes, either play to your strengths or shore up a weakness. Think about you want more of; we have heat loss and it is up enough to provide us with endurance management, we debuff defense so accuracy isn’t a huge concern, so that really leaves four things that we may want to enhance: Defense debuffs, damage, defense buffs, and recharge. A good alpha is one that boosts what you want/need the most and provides the largest variety of buffs that you want. Try to shoot for at least two things you want boosted, if it only enhances one thing make sure you really want it. Two alpha’s do a lot for us and a few more are an ok choice depending on build.
Intuition Radial Paragon: Increases Hold duration, damage, defense debuffs and slow movement by +33%, To hit debuffs and range by 20%. 2/3 of the bonus ignores ED, applies a level shift. There are 4 things this alpha will boost for us, of most importance is the boost to defense debuffs and damage. But we also have quite a few –SPD powers so it’s not a bad bonus and range can be nice, especially since we didn’t slot much of it. Look at what this will do for you: Increase damage for 9 of our powers (the 8 attacks from water blast plus sleet), Increase the defense debuffs of Infrigidate and Sleet. Increase the slow of Infrigidate, Snow Storm, Sleet, and Heat Loss. Increase range of our powers from primary/secondary (Only Tidal Forces and Arctic Fog do not benefit from this.). That is a lot of mileage from just one alpha and the range and slow is likely to give you the full bonus on each power as they are usually not slotted heavily for it.
Musculature Core Paragon: +45% damage, +33% to Immobilization and Defense Debuffs.2/3 of the bonus ignore ED. Applies level shift. This bad boy enhances both our primary and secondary function- defense debuffs and damage. Nice, it’s hard to go wrong with that. Not taking into account whether or not you took an immob or a hold from epic pool the only benefit of musculature over Intuition is the damage bonus.
The two alphas above are what I would recommend but your build may have other considerations. Such as:
I want to increase my recharge. Ok, two alphas increase recharge- Spiritual Core gives the largest bonus at 45% but the stun and heal provides little benefit to us. The radial version decreases the recharge to 33% but will also affect slow and to hit buffs. Agility core gives end mod 45%, recharge 33%, and defense buffs 20% which isn’t a bad bargain. The end mod will affect stamina and heat loss and virtually every power will benefit from recharge. The defense bonus (the evils of schedule b) gives small returns; your shields will see around a 3% increase and other powers around 1% or less. If you take agility do it for the recharge and end mod and count the def bonus as extra flavor. If you take this alpha solely for the defense increase you will be disappointed. The radial side drops the end mod bonus to 33% but adds in movement speed bonus of 33%.
Because of our defense debuffs and heat loss cardiac, nerve and vigor do not give us a large return on our investment and resilient hardly any benefit at all.

JUDGMENT: Everyone loves judgment, it’s a big nuke that provides excellent damage and comes in a variety of flavors:
Cold: a long range cone (think super frost breath)
Fire: a targeted AoE (super fireball)
Energy: chain ranged AoE
Negative energy: pbaoe (super blacks tar)
Vorpal: Smash/lethal: a self targeted cone (hits everything in front of you regardless of target you have selected)
The core side provides % chance to cause extra damage; the radial side provides a form of control (stun, hold, etc). Really, there is no way to go wrong with a judgment choice, they are all descent. If you can’t decide go with Ion, it is easy to use. I went with cold for thematic reasons.

INTERFACE: a passive power that adds a chance to proc various debuffs and minor damage dots with most damaging attacks. Interfaces are a small but nice bonus, a single type of interface may stack up to 4 times on any given foe. Pick one that sounds interesting to you, a few which synergize well with us, are:
For pure debuff Gravitic( -recharge rate,- secondary effects,- recovery debuff ) and Paralytic ( defense debuff, damage debuff) are nice pairings. But maybe you want to pick up a little extra damage as well (and who doesn’t), thankfully they added more dot/debuff powers so reactive isn’t as prevalent as it once was. Remember a given interface can only stack 4 times, so if you have 15 players with reactive a lot of those are going to be wasted. The dot/debuff powers are:
Reactive, the golden oldie, minor fire dot and – damage resistance
Degenerative: - max hp, minor toxic dot
Preemptive: end drain and minor recovery debuff, minor energy dot
Spectral: chance to immobilize and minor negative energy dot
Cognitive: confuse proc, minor psi dot

The core and radial sides have the same effect; they just swap the percentage chance around.
Don’t beat yourself up over which interface to get, get one that sounds good to you and you will be fine. I picked up cognitive first for soloing, psi damage is nice and every once in awhile I get some confused foes.

LORE: your own pets! What’s not to like. This slot will give you your second level shift once you get a tier 3 made, and is the most important part of this power. Really. Yes, the pets are nice and fun! But it isn’t which pets you have that makes it important but rather if you have the level shift that goes with it. They have added a huge roster to this incarnate ability, like 16 of them. I will not go into detail on the individual ones, there are far too many and this guide is long enough, hit the internet and do some research. Pick one that you think is cool or matches your theme. Lore pets are not part of your build, the recharge is far too long for that, they are an extra power you have that you can pull out for some extra damage and to have fun with, choosing x over y isn’t going to make or break you. Personally, I picked up Polar Lights, it kind of matches my theme, they are refreshingly unobtrusive (I’m looking at you, Raleruu) do some nice aoe damage. The core side does increased damage and the radial side offers an invulnerable pet that offers some sort of support ability.

DESTINY: The second best incarnate power, just after alpha, and like alpha will net you another level shift. This is the hardest one to decide on and the one I would recommend building multiple powers for, so you can pick and choose depending on what situation, and what’s needed by your league. The following is entirely my opinion; take with a grain of salt.

CLARION: We made it 50 levels and a whole bunch of trials without any real mez protection; about time to change that don’t you think. Clarion for us is king. Beautiful, beautiful mez protection, Get it! Pet it! But which flavor to get: Core vs Radial.
Core provides longer protection 120 seconds vs. Radials 90. They both provide the same level of protection but core will provide slightly better protection for slightly longer as the buffs diminish. Then why even consider radial? Well, radial provides a little thing called special boost. Did you take power boost or power build up? Like it? Radial provides you and your entire freaking league the benefits of boost. If you didn’t take either boost powers here is your chance to be able to boost your secondary effects, if you did you can stagger the two or even stack it. Yes, stacked boost! Want to floor a spawn with a maxed out sleet. Then get radial. With the plus range from this and intuition radial I can out range every mob in the game which can be an advantage.
On leagues the two most popular destiny abilities are Barrier core and Clarion core so why not choose Radial? Well, the answer, of course, is solo and small team play. You decide, in the end both clarions are awesome, pick the one you like: Core (120 seconds of protection) or Radial ( 90 seconds, plus range and special) but get one of them, you will never regret it.

BARRIER: add defense and resists to your league, barrier is a great power but to many barriers is wasted. As long as you have a barrier in effect you’re good. I find barrier most useful on small teams or when teamed with friends that are side kicked with you on L50 missions.

AGELESS: Offers endurance and recharge. The core side also offers recovery buff and the radial side debuff resistance. When clarion and barrier have been stacked enough ageless is a nice choice. Also may consider this if your starved for recharge (as in you didn't take an alpha with recharge and you can't afford a lot of + global recharge).

REBIRTH: Rebirth offers a large league wide heal and another buff depending on which side, core offers + HP and Radial +regeneration. I find radial more effective. Like Ageless Rebirth is a great destiny when the clarions and barriers are covered, especially good on DD and MoM Trials, where the mass heal and regen can be a huge boon. (Most other trials allow clumping, so the normal heals are generally enough).

INCANDESCENCE: an interesting destiny, this one offers a league wide teleport and healing received along with for kb and stun. Seen this used to great effect on Hami Raids. Not a good choice for a first destiny it does offer certain tactical advantages to have when you can afford to build other destiny. Note: If you do not know when/why to use this destiny don't.

HYBRID: Of the four Hybrid powers only two of them offer any real benefit to us, Assault and Support. A hybrid power is a toggle that last two minutes and has a two minute recharge. Hybrid offers two abilities, the active toggle itself and a passive ability that is always on as long as the hybrid itself is slotted.
Assault is a great way to boost raw damage. The passive boost adds +10% to damage (at tier 4). At tier 4 this damage boost comes in two flavors; core gives a 65% chance to add a stacking buff, up to 5 stacks can be active at a time and each stack grants a +15% boost to damage(for a potential 75% increase in damage, 85% including the passive boost), this is a significant amount of damage. The radial side offers a high damage energy damage proc that will proc of most damaging powers.
I've tried both and did not like the radial as much; I got more out of the raw percentage boost. However, if you are bumping against the damage cap ceiling radial would be the way to go, the proc damage isn't figured into the cap damage (on my kin I took radial for example).

Support is much like a giant leadership buff that provides league wide buff: 1x accuracy, +8% to damage, defense, and +special (at tier 4). The + special isn't as broad as most and only boosts the control type status effects (Fear, stun, hold etc.) Core has a 40' range and offers a doubled bonus to pets and the radial has an extended range of 80'. Hybrid support can be stacked up to 5 times. Like any kind of stacking buff as soon as the maximum has been reached any other is rather wasted. Of the boosts the defense is perhaps the most useful and it would be +def that would make me get support.

7. Building a Better Toon

Here is the section that will bring the most opinions, ask 20 players to give you a build and you’ll get 20 different builds, each swearing their build is the best and pointing out its pros and cons and defending their choices. Thing is this; they could ALL be good builds. There are countless ways to build a given AT and its powersets, it is one of the more interesting aspects of the Invention system. The benchmark of success is if the build does what you want. If it doesn’t, or if you question the build, or if it fails

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat....=0#Post11878225

THE FORTUNATA:
You excelled as a Blood Widow, your martial skills and command of tactics was exceptional,
but it was your higher than normal potential for advanced psychic abilities that brought you to
the attention of your superiors. Under the tutelage of the most powerful psychics in Arachnos,
you learned to harness the potential power within your mind.The basic psychic abilities you
once worked hard to attain paled in comparison to what you are now capable of.
Psychic and warrior, you excel at infilitration and intelligence activities. If your might at arms
fails you can always unleash the terrible force of your mind.Others who were once your
competition now step carefully when they are around you. You hear the whispers of their
thoughts..puppetmaster...mindwitch.. It doesn't bother you. You are beyond that now,
no longer simply...human.You are one of the elite.

Fortunata at a glance:
# of power choices available: 30
# of melee attacks: 5 ( 4 single target, 1 aoe)
# of ranged attacks: 8 ( 4 single target, 2 cones, 2 aoe)
# of control powers: 6 ( 1 Immobilization, 2 holds, 2 confuse,1 disorientate)
# of protective powers: 6
# of team based buffs: 5
# of passive powers: 3

Fortunata Training power selection list:

Level 1: Poison Dart, Swipe, Mental Blast, Telekinetic Blast
Level 2: Strike,Subdue
Level 6: Dart Burst, Aim
Level 8: Follow Up, Psychic Scream
Level 12: Spin, Lunge, Dominate, Psionic Tornado
Level 18: Confront, Scramble Thoughts
Level 26: Total Domination
Level 32: Psychic Wail

Fortunata Teamwork power selection list:
Level 1: Combat Training: Defensive ( still an automatic selection)
Level 2: Combat Training: Offensive
Level 4: Tactical Training:Maneuver
Level 10: Indomitable Will
Level 16: Tactical Training:Assault
Level 20: Tactical Training:Leadership, Mask Presence
Level 22: Foresight
Level 24: Mindlink
Level 28: Confuse
Level 35: Tactical Training:Vengeance
Level 38: Aura Of Confusion

Fortunata Training:

Telekinetic Blast : Level 1, single target ranged attack
Damage :Moderate smash/psi with knockback
End Cost: 5.46 Recharge:6s Cast: 1s Range: 80
A good fast activating attack power with a kb component, taking this comes down to your feelings
on Kb. Has a variety of uses, a "get-out-of-my-face" power, to strategically knock back into
a certain area,or off a building. Kb can be a boon in a tough fight as the time your foe spends on
its back is time it is not beating on you. Pair this with Air Superiority and/or Nemesis Staff
for some pretty serious knock back/down control over an opponent.

Subdue: Level:2 Single target Immobilization
Damage: moderate psi damage
End Cost: 9 Recharge: 8s Cast:1.67s Range: 80 Duration :8.05 s Magnitude: 3
Immobilization has its uses,sometimes. Decide what kind of control your going for.
If your leaning towards aoe you may be better served by picking up the aoe immobilization from
the patron pool.If your thinking in blaster and want to "root and nuke" remember that you
do have good defenses that didnt dissappear when you chose Fortunata.Stopping a runner
is handy as is rooting an opponent that is the anchor of a toggle power. Is it handy enough
to spend one of our prescous selections ? I didn't think so. Pick up Strike instead.

Aim: Level 6, click self buff
End cost: 5.2 Recharge: 90s Cast:1.17s Duration: 10s Buff: 50% boost to tohit and damage
Aim is used for many of the samethings and the same ways that Build up is,with 30% less
damage and more tohit buff. Pop this off before an aoe,like psychic wail, or before a melee
hit while being masked.Or just before using an aoe control like aura of confusion or Total
Domination. Fortunata can have aim and follow up in the same build if they so desire.Few
ways to use that is for a 1-2 combination from hide-like so while masked hit Aim, attack with
Lunge,use follow up, and attack with strike.Lunge will do critical damage with the boost from
aim and strike will also benifit from increased damage from follow-up as well.(note that
together they add up to the same damage boost as build up,80% but with 60% tohit ).A
personal favorite-Aim+total domination+follow up + psychic wail ( or skip total domination,
depends on what your facing)Or, even aim+follow up+psychic scream+ psionic tornado.May
even want to throw a mass immob at the start too, if you picked one from patron. Or,
Aim+ aura of confusion+ follow-up + join in the party with melee. Pretty much any combo
would benifit from increased tohit and damage, and as Fortunata are still,or can be, descent in
melee, follow up isnt such a bad idea.

Dominate: Level 12, single target hold
Damage:moderate psi damage
End Cost: 7.23 Recharge: 8s Cast: 1.1s Range: 80 Duration: 16.15s Magnitude: 3
Gotta love this one,this will be one of your main control powers, its fairly fast recharge coupled
with its mag 3 hold will let you lock down your opponents. one application will hold a minion
or a Lt., two will hold a boss. Its long base duration helps when stacking magnitudes.
If you need to lock down a boss quickly you'll need to combo this with total domination.
When it comes to control powers this one is a must have.

Psionic Tornado: Level 12, ranged attack aoe
Damage: moderate psi damage
End cost: 21.1 Recharge: 20s Cast: 2.37s Range: 80 Radius: 20 Debuff: -30%rch,knock up
Expensive with a fairly long recharge, this is the nonetheless an effective and fun power to use.
Those wishing to create an aoe build will jump on this one, those that dont can skip it.
Outside of its chaotic knock up effect the damage this does compared to its cost and recharge,
makes this more of a lone bolt than part of a chain.

Scramble Thoughts: Level 18, single target ranged attack disorient
Damage: minor psi
End Cost: 10.4 Recharge: 16s Cast: 3s Range: 80 Duration: 13.4 magnitude: 4
Punch drunk. In addition to dominate you'll more than likely want at least one other
form of single target control. Your options are this disorient and/or confuse.

Total Domination: Level:26, Aoe hold
End Cost: 15.6 Recharge: 240s Cast: 2.03s Range: 80 Radius: 20 Duration: 10.7s
Magnitude: 3
The aoe version of Dominate, this power applies a mag 3 hold over a good size area.
Unlike Dominate,however, this does no damage and has a lengthly recharge of 4 minutes.
Long enough that in a group it will not be available for every spawn.I juggle this with
Aura of Confusion to soften up large groups. Even with its long recharge you will find this
an excellent tool. Total Domination is nice to set up a spawn for,say, psychic wail or
aoes,or even melee combat. Afterall, one of the best forms of mitigation is a hold.

Psychic Wail: Level: 32,close aoe
Damage: extreme psi
End cost: 20.8 Recharge: 360s Cast: 1.97s Radius: 25
Extreme psi damage over a good size area which also applies a mag 3 stun. This is
a blaster/corruptor tier 9 nuke. While its not required of you to take this power, you should really
want it. Unless your crazy.

Fortunata Teamwork:

Confuse: Level 28, single target confuse
End Cost: 8.53 Recharge: 8s Range:80 Duration:26.8s Cast: 3.37s Magnitude 3
As another form of single target control this is an excellent power, with its long duration,
and fast recharge. For more on the joys of confusion see the section below .

Aura of Confusion: Level: 38, Aoe confuse
End Cost: 26 Recharge: 240s Duration: 26.8s Radius: 25 Cast: 1.67s
An aoe form of confuse, one of my favorite powers, wether you want to pick this up
depends on if you want another form of aoe control besides Total Domination.

The Joys of Confusion: I love confusion, few powers allow you to so completly mess
with your opponents. Making your enemies attack each other is not only an effective control,
but proves to be highly entertaining. Its not a hold,true, but the mitigational effects are similiar.
Either way the foes are not damaging you or your team, and the damage they do speeds up
rate of at which you clear spawns.The aoe Aura of confusion can easily turn the tide of a combat
gone badly. Solo Aura of Confusion is a godsend, allowing you take out spawns you otherwise
might not be able to tackle, without using Psychic Wail.
Attacking each other isn't the only thing confused enemies will do, depending on their powerset.
Rikti guardians will bubble you, Tsoo sorcerors will heal you,and so on. Just Icing on the cake.
The only downside, and in the grand scheme of things its a minor one, is the lessened xp. But
every once in awhile you'll get one of those people that just don't get confuse and they'll whine
about it. I've even had players complain on a team of level 50s.Confusion is a very powerful
tool, and in a sense Fortunatas gain two very strong tier 9 powers, Psychic Wail and Aura
of Confusion,which is pretty much Mass Confusion from the Mind control set.

Personal Thoughts on the Fortunata:
You're primary function is no longer melee damage but as you have access to the blood widow
powers thats still a viable option but shouldnt be your primary role. You have access to some good
ranged attacks but,again, your role isnt just that of a blaster. You can choose from a descent arsenal
of control powers but that doesn't mean that has to be your only role. More so than a Night Widow
you are hybrid of many different potential roles. Ranged attacker,controller, melee fighter.
Flexibilitly is the key strength of the fortunata, regardless of what they are doing, what they are
teamed with, or what they are facing the Fortunata has the tools to get the job done. This can also
be a weakness, this blend of powers, as you have to decide how and if your going to blend them
together. Do you specialize in control or damage? Do you ignore the team buffs? How the heck
could ever fit in all the powers you would want ?
A pleasant challenge and its this blend that caused me to respec into Fortunata. I had first
chosen Night Widow, and while I enjoyed it, team buffs not withstanding, It felt like every other
melee charcater Ive had. Maybe I was just burnt out on melee. Level 50 Tank, Level 50 scrapper,
Level 50 stalker,Level 50 Brute and servers full of melee alts from the teens to the 40s.I've always
been a melee centric player which is why I chose the Night Widow route.Don't get me wrong,
I had fun with her and it is an effective fighter, but I wanted something...I don't know..more?...
unique? And the fortunata was it. Until her Id never played any other type of character
besides melee past 40.
I have good defenses, sure I lost access to Elude but with the mitigation from controls my
survivabilitly was the same for the most part. I still had teambuffs which is a nice thing to bring to
the table. I still love melee and while I miss Slash alot, I do still have strike and lunge, and with
mask presence can still stealth and do crits. Alot of range power choices,which I didnt take too
many, I didnt want a blasterish character. And ,of course, some sweet control powers.
Not just a character with melee and ranged damage....thats everyone to some extent. Not
just a character with some defenses and minor buffs or the abilitly to control mobs. But..
all that plus status protection was the selling point for me.No one, and I mean no other
Archetype has all these things on a consistent basis. What a combo. It felt...like coming home.
It was when I started to do more and more Sf's and the co operative zones that I started to
think about shifting to a fortunata, especially the Cimmora Tf. I love those large battles.
The single target damage I excelled at,while useful and nice for the main bosses, and as I
was not a tanker type, the contibution i gave...scratch that...the contibution I felt was minimal.
Every been on that Tf being the only melee grouped with multiple corruptors,blasters,
masterminds and controllers ? Except for bosses, the minions and lts just..melt away.Alot
of times before you can even get to them much less start an attack chain.
I had a couple veteran respecs still unclaimed so I went ahead and did it,changed my colors
and went Fortunata. Then I did Cimmora again and..wow. Loved total domination,and Psychic
Wail,and Aura of Confusion, and going toe to toe with a Boss or one of the Minotour or Cyclops
Elite bosses and still holding my own ( granted I was bubbled and had an ice shield...but still).
Good times.
Then I went and flashbacked most of the missions in the game as a fortunata. Still had a blast.


Fortunata power combinations: Some are repeats from the preceding material.

Mask+ aim+ lunge+follow up+strike for spiking a boss
Mask+aim+ Aura of confusion for a safe way to throw out that confuse
Aim+ total domination+follow up+ psychic wail
follow up+aim+spin+psionic tornado
Mask+aim+ aura of confusion+follow up+ psionic tornado
Mask+aim+psychic wail
....and ,well you get the picture,most of the combos involve these powers:
Mask Presence, Aim, Lunge, Strike,Aura Of Confusion, Total Domination,Psychic Wail,
Follow Up, Psionic Tornado and patron aoe immobilization,Spin and Psychic scream.

The Solo Fortunata: The soloing fortunatas main problem is two fold, the first is the
build, with so many choices available its hard to pick just what to take, if you dont use
foresight (not the power but thinking ahead) you can be left with not enough damage or
too much of one kind,or too little control or so much your damage suffers or your
defense lacks and you take to much damage or...and so on.The second problem
is endurance, you must manage it. Controls are expensive as are your aoes, mixing these
in while running toggles and attacks can chew through a bar of endurance fast.
Our inherent Conditioning is only a touch better than none at all so staimina is highly
suggested.
You do have more options when approaching a spawn, you can opt to crit from stealth,
or start from range or lockdown any troublesome foes.At higher levels several powers
really shine for the soloist. Total Domination,Dominate, Confuse,Aura of Confusion,
and,of course,Psychic Wail. Minions are hardly ever a threat with control powers
available unless you don't notice them. The hardest time is if you are facing a large spawn
with a tough boss, a few lts and troublesome minions( bless you indomitable will !!,many
minions that would be troublesome aren't wiith you). At mid levels you have to exercise
carefull use of your powers, try targeting the boss,Aim+ Total Domination+ Dominate
to lock down the group. You now have to decide if you try to take the boss down fast and hard
before total domination wears off or if you try to take out the minions and lts before the boss
is free.Once you have Psychic wail slotted up thats an option in addition to or in place of
locking down the group. When you have aura of confusion thats also a good option, I use
all three of those combos and juggle them so i can burn through multiple spawns at a good
pace. If you dont have or dont have access to those powers you'll have to rely on
pulling and good uses of your controls plus attacks.
Fortunata in a group: Your role in a group, as your very flexibile, depends on your build
and the compostion of the group.If your group lacks control fill that role, same for
damage dealing.Hopefully you have at least maneuvers and mindlink to buff the team.
If you have a good blend of Ats just relax and have fun,applying powers as the situation
dictates.

Fortunata Builds:

Cold hard facts:
# of available powers to a Fortunata from primary and secondary: 30
# of powers available to a level 50 character: 23
# of powers available if a travel power is taken: 21
# of powers available if a stamina build is chosen: 20
# of powers if both stamina and a travel power are selected:18
Note: that combat training:defensive is an automatic selection

Ouch,lets assume that we want stamina (recommended) and travel power (for conveinance)
that leaves only 18 free choices. 18 out of 30 powers not including pool powers or
the patron pool.
If you want a complete defense consisting of TT: maneuvers,foresight,Indomitable will,and
Mindlink that only leaves 14.
If you want a full attack chain of 6-7 attacks,that only leaves 7-8 left.
These control powers are extremely valuable: dominate,total domination,confuse,and aura of
confusion. That leaves only 3-4 left. If you want mask presence, your down to only 2-3
choices. You can take one less attack so you have 3 full choices. Enough to get your
patron pet if you want, or a few more tactical training buffs, or some more attacks.

THE GRAIL LEVEL OF 24: whew, you've finally made it. Now you finally get to become
your Nightwidow or Fortunata. Before we can compare and contrast the two branches we need to
go over the powers (beyond the core blood widow powers) that both branches have in common.
These will be discussed below and not in the sections on Night Widows and Fortunatas.

Night Widow/ Fortunata Training:

Mental Blast: available to both at level 1, a single target ranged attack
Damage:moderate psi
End cost: 5.46 Recharge: 4s Cast: 1.67 Debuff: - 30% for Rch. Range:80
This is good single target attack, it does psi damage which isnt a common resist type
for Mobs. Its a pretty balanced attack overall. For a Night Widow looking for an additional
ranged attack or a different source of damage beyond lethal and toxic this is agood choice.
For Fortunatas this is also a good choice as it could be one of your main single target attacks.
I've had this on both kinds and enjoyed it.

Psychic Scream: available to Fortunata at level 8, to Night Widow at level 32
Damage:Moderate psi, ranged cone
End Cost: 13.5 Recharge: 12s Cast: 2.67s Range:60 Arc:30 degrees
Debuff: -50% foe Rch
This cone attack has afairly high end cost and recharge speed making it more suited
to soften up or finish off a spawn than as a staple attack, though with proper enhancments it
could become one if you chose. A Night Widow looking for another Aoe power might consider
picking this one up as its performance is higher than Dart Burst or to be used in part of a combo
with dart burst for ranged aoe abilitly.A Fortunata will be well served by this power as their
control powers can set up a spawn for aoe attacks. Not every Fortunata has to have a ranged
mentality, nor every Night Widow a melee one, flexibility is one of the strengths of the Widows.

NIght Widow/Fortunata Teamwork:

Mask Presence: available to both at level 20
End cost: .21/s Base defense: 2.5 %
This is the widow toggle stealth power, it has the same effectivness as the stalkers in terms
of stealth though it lacks the stalker bonus to defense.Like the stalker any melee attack made
while masked will result in a critical strike doing double damage, Night Widows will most likely
use Slash while a fortunata will use Lunge or Strike. Mask Presence does not incur a movement
penalty and cannot be stacked with another form of stealth. Attacking,being attacked or interacting
with an object will suppress the stealth portion of Mask Presence.The "recharge" of stealth is
20 seconds. This power is incredible and I highly suggest bothbranches to take this.Even just
as a stealth power this will would be usefull. Giving both the option to crit for a better spike
damage makes it a clear choice.

Mindlink: available to both at level 24
End cost: 10.2 Recharge: 300s Cast:3.67s Duration: 90s Radius: 35
This buff power is the fourth layer in a widows defenses and the second that also grants bonus's to
their team. This adds 5% tohit buff, 30% resist to psi damage, and a 10% bonus to defense.
With 1 IO the bonus is 12.6 %, with 2 IOs: 15%, and with 3 IO's:15.8%
This is an excellent power and really deserves a spot in your build.This is one you'll want to slot
invention sets in to reduce the recharge.

Tactical Training: Vengeance: available to both at level 35
Recharge: 300 s Duration:120s Range: 60 Radius: 100
Should ateammate fall and this power is activated the entire team thats within the radius will
be granted,a 7.5% heal,25% defense to all,35 % to hit and to damage and resists status effects.
An excellent buff though very conditional, those running in full teams alot on ahigh setting or
those that do alot of Sf/Tf's will find this a good power to have. Soloist or casual groupers should
probably steer clear of it.


General observations that apply to both Night Widows and Fortunatas about their general capabililies.
1) have access to both single target and Aoe attacks across both ranges, melee and range.
2) have access to three damage types, lethal, toxic and psi
3) possess good defensive abilities when layered along with (in pve)complete status protection.
4) possess descent team buffs though Mindlink and Tactical Training.
5)capable of both sustained dps and spike damage
6) usefull for stealthing missions and scouting, and with the approriate power ( tp friend,assemble
the team) can allow their team to jump to the end of missions.
7) are both perfectly capable soloist as well as teammates.

Now lets get down to some specifics in comparing the two branches:

Defense: both Night Widows and Fortunatas have exactly the SAME defenses unless the Night
Widow is using Elude. If CTefensive, TT: Maneuver, Mask Presence,and Foresight are
all taken ( assumin all but Mask are 3 slotted) at level 50 base defense will be :
29% vs ranged and aoe and 41% vs melee.If Mindlink is active the defenses will shoot up
to 45% ranged,aoe and 57% vs melee. This is an excellent level of defense. For comparison
sake a Super Reflexes Scrapper with all passives and active defenses 3 slotted but without
elude weighs in around 40% to all. A ninjitsu stalker 29% ( with hide aoe is much higher-70ish%).

Teambuffs: both the Night Widow and the Fortunata have exactly the SAME team buffs.

Melee Combat: The Night Widow is clearly better at melee combat damage, they have two
nice additions to their arsenal-Slash ( extreme damage), and Eviscerate( superior damage,cone).
They also have access to placate which allows more critical strikes as well as build up.

Ranged Combat: Fortunata has access to more ranged attacks than the Night Widow, 1more single
target attacks, an additional aoe, and tier 9 blaster/corruptor nuke-Psychic Wail.

Control/ Debuff Powers: Fortunata has access to a single target hold,immob,disorient,confuse,
and an aoe hold and confuse. Nightwidow has the aoe smoke grenade.

To recap: considering all the powers they have in common:
Night Widows gain higher damaging melee attacks,placate, build up and the tier 9 defense
power of Elude.
Fortunatas gain a couple more ranged attacks, the tier 9 nuke psychic wail, and a host
of control powers.

I'd suggest upon hitting 24 and before training that you make a copy on test so you can build one
of each and give them a test drive.Then choose. Don't despair if you change your mind, upon a free
or earned respec a different branch can be chosen. I played Night Widow till the mid 40s then
switched to Fortunata.


THE NIGHT WIDOW:
You've risen past the ranks of the Blood Widow, handpicked by Ghostwidow herself as an
example of the deadliest assassins in her ranks. Your ruthless and have the cold heart
of an experienced killer. As a Blood Widow you were trained and formed into a weapon,
as a Night Widow you've been tempered and sharpened, polished until you shone.
Advanced training in martial arts and weaponcraft,meditation and grueling conditioning
to enhance your psychic abilities.Additional training in tactics and espionage.
The highest endeavors in any field is indistinguishable from art, and thats what you've
become. An Artist. One of the elite.

Night Widow at a glance:
# of powers available from primary and secondary: 27 ( two are mutually exclusive)
# of melee attacks: 7 ( 5 single target, 1 cone, 1 aoe)
# of ranged attacks: 4 ( 2 single target, 2 cones)
# of defensive powers: 7
# of team buffs: 5
# of passive powers: 4

Night Widow Training power selection list:

Level 1 : Poison Dart, Swipe, Mental Blast
Level 2: Strike
Level 6: Dart Burst
Level 8: Follow Up OR Build up ( these are mutually exclusive, you cannot take both)
Level 12: Spin, Lunge, Smoke Grenade
Level 18: Confront, Slash
Level 26: Eviscerate
Level 32: Psychic Scream

Night Widow Teamwork power selection list:

Level 1: Combat Trainingefensive ( still an automatic selection)
Level 2: Combat Training:Offensive
Level 4: Tactical Training:Maneuver
Level 10: Indomitable Will
Level 16: Tactical Training:Assault
Level 20: Tactical Training:Leadership, Mask Presence
Level 22: Foresight, Mental Training
Level 24: Mindlink
Level 28: Placate
Level 35: Tactical Training: Vengeance
Level 38: Elude

Night Widow Training:

Build Up: Level 8 click self buff
End Cost: 5.2 Recharge: 90s Duration: 10s Buff: 20% tohit 80% damage
An excellent spike enabling buff, Build up features the largest boost to damage of any power.
Those looking for the highest possible spike damage will love this power. I took this over
Follow Up upon respec because this combo was to good to ignore: while hidden-Build up,
Slash,Strike-switch target-placate,lunge,Eviscerate. Very nice.But this does bring us to
the showdown:

{{{ Build Up VS Follow Up:
Build Up: clickable, 10 second duration, 90 second recharge, 20% tohit, 80% damage
Pros: most significant damage boost for spikes,can be activated while hidden to greatly
increase a critical strike,can be used to boost a ranged volley at range,no chance of failure
Cons: long recharge ( though 3 lvl 50 IOs reduce the recharge to 45.2s), enhances but
remains outside of your attack chain
Follow Up: attack, moderate damage, 10 second duration, 12 second recharge, 10 % tohit,
30% damage buff
Pros: is in itself an attack- your boost is part of your chain,good for sustainable Dps,
With a touch of haste or a recharge enhancment it comes sustainable
Cons: can miss,doesnt lend it self to large spikes, cannot boost a ranged attack outside of
melee,cant prebuff you while hidden, but could buff a critical from using placate. }}}

Smoke Grenade: Level 12,ranged aoe -perception - tohit
End Cost: 7.8 Recharge: 15s Cast: 1.37s Range: 110 Radius: 35 Duration: 60s
This aoe debuff power envelopes everyone in its radius in smoke, reducing their perception
by 90% and imposing a -3.75% tohit debuff.Eh. As much as I hated having this used on me
I just can't bring myself to take it on live. Not that it isnt usefull but .....what you could take
in its place may be much better. Widow builds are tight as it is.It is good for when you hit large
spawns and your team has multiple ranged attackers. Can help keep them safe provided you
have someone to divert their attention. Even with Mask Presence there are anumber of NPCs
that see through it. Smoke could help you sneak past them. These npcs include Lt.Rippers,
Longbow agents with leadership,Raleruu eyes,rikti drones, behemoths.

Slash: Level 18, single target melee attack
Damage: Extreme Lethal with toxic dot
End cost: 14.2 Recharge: 16s Cast: 1.33s Debuff: -40% foe Rch Spd
Here it is the showcase melee attack, delicious damage, good fast animation, and afairly robust
debuff. You must take this at 18 on your respec,you'll love it, you'll use it aften as you can. Slash
will be your alpha attack from hide, a built up critical from slash gives a special warm fuzzy feeling
inside. Give Slash your best enhancments,it deserves them.

Eviscerate: Level 26, melee cone
Damage: Superior lethal with toxic dot
End Cost: 13.5 Recharge: 12s Cast: 2.33s Arc:90 degrees Debuff: -40% foe Rch and Spd
Your best melee aoe attack, far more damage than spin but in a 5 ft 90 arc cone instead of a
radius. Cost less endurance and has a faster animation than spin. The damage is good enough
that you will use Eviscerate on single targets.Though like all aoe attacks the damage endurance ratio
is more effective with a greater number of mobs attacked, If using build up make eviscerate the last
attack in your chain, as long as build up is active when you activate the power the damage buff will
still enhance the attack and with its lenghtly animation time you can fit a couple of your other
attacks in.

Night Widow Teamwork:

Mental Training: Level 22
This is quickness from Super Reflexes renamed. Its a passive power that grants a 20% haste
bonus, a resistance to slow effects, and increases speed.A descent power but not one thats crucial
for a build. If you have an extra selection open in your build and have no other form of recharge
( haste or set bonus's) thenthis may well be worth it. Of,course it will recharge haste faster,too.
A solid choice but again with atight build this may be one you can live without.

Elude: level 38, massive buff
End Cost:2.6 Recharge:1000s Duration:180s Cast:2s Buff: +60% defense(base)
+100% recovery rate(base)
This is your tier nine borrowedfrom Super Reflexes, its your socalled "god mode", or ultimate
panic button. This will cap your defenses, increase both your endurance recovery rate and your
speed and jumping height.It also grants resists to defense debuffs.The downside is the crash
that drains you of endurance and leaves you unable to recover it for brief time, and its very long
recharge time. I had it, used it in PvP, or against Malta and some Av'/hero. If using this to engage
powerful foes you must be aware of its duration, Widows dont get a self-rez power. Some players
swear by it, others swear at it. You decide.

Playing as a Night Widow:

Solo Widow: Every kind of spawn/opponent provides a different challenge depending on its
size,make up,and your build.As Night Widows have Mask Presence,
this gives them the luxury of critting on the greatest threat first.We will use a build I used as an
example. This Night Widow had the following attacks: Slash,strike,lunge,eviscerate,spin,poison
dart,psychic scream, nemesis staff,undead axe with mental training and Haste. I selected the
attacks based on this philosphy- flexible melee and range capabilitly, with strong single target
attacks and enough ae damage to severly weaken the minions while engaging the greatest threat,
to spread out the damage types that are inflicted and provide ameans to pull and damage flyers.
Haste and mental training to reduce the longer recharges. The examples below are just a few
suggestions.
Standard spawn with a boss that must die, like a CoT group with a Succubus. While hidden
get into position, hit build up, and use in order-slash,placate,lunge,strike,eviscerate,spin,
psychic scream,poison dart, of cousrse the boss most likely died during evicerate.No matter
use the aoe attacks to soften up the group and your single target attacks to finish them.
Have a care for overdamage, if your current foe only has a small amount of health left
dont waste the potential damage of,say, slash by using it to finish it off. Switch to another target
if your most damaging attacks are the only one available for use. That minion will be taken care of
on your next round of ae attacks or may very well die from your toxic dot. This kind of group is
most common sort, a sizable spawn with the boss being the most dangerous opponent.
Spawn where there is a boss but it is not the greatest threat.Like with the Malta Group.
You have a gunslinger boss but there is also a sapper present. That sapper MUST die.Even
the operations specialist isnt anything to laugh at, sure he may not bother you, but ask a
corruptor or a dominator if they think tasers are funny.In this scenario you would position yourself
while masked near the sapper, hopefully he is near most of the rest of the spawn.The problem with
this kind of situation is the weakness of placate, placate briefly puts you in hide. But, if you are hit
while hidden its suppressed and you may not be able to achieve another critical.If used rapidly
enough at the outset its not to hard to pull of, but we want to split our criticals between two
opponents.(for the sake of this example were not using popping some purples or using elude
as an option,even though they are both good ones).Do not use build up, use slash from hide, this
outright kill or leave the sapper with little health. Face the bulk of the group and use psychic wail,
target the boss, use eviscerate and spin.What we are attemting to do is place a sizable amount
of -rch on the minions,enough that after their initial attacks you will have time to, build up-placate
the boss and hit him with lunge and slash to knock of a descent amount of health.After this the
strategy is routine, aoe and single target your way through the group.
Spawn where taking a stealthed position is not possible.Like with a nemesis group with a
sniper in it. These guys will see you from far away.In this case, you cannot crit from hide, and
your at your weakest cause nemesis is aranged faction by default. You need to close fast and
eliminate them.Close fast and try to flank, bringing as many as possible into the 30 dgree arc of
psychic scream, hit build up, use scream,close and use eviscerate and spin.Start picking them off
your single target attacks,and use your aoe as they refresh. When only a couple are left you can
pull off a placate critical strike.Another situation like this would be rikti with drones, or in a cot
dungeon with crystal emanotors near them.
There are are strategies, of course, but that should give you a basic overview on what is
possible.Also learn to pull. Its becoming a lost art with the charge mentality of most players,
but there are times when its a handy skill.

The Widow in a group (assume PUG,friends and VG mates will often have tactics they have
learned together through experience and planning.) What you bring to agroup are the same
strengths you have solo (damage and defense) but with teammates you enhance their abilities
through your team buffs. ATs I like to group with are brutes, cold dominators ( ice shield are
sweet for def based sets), FF Masterminds ( same reason as cold dominators), and bane spiders
as surveillance is an awesome power.Every other At is good,too though I prefer no more than
2 masterminds on a team. Anyway damage is your primary role with team buffs being secondary.
What your not is a stalker,don't try to be one or play like one. Use your critical spike abilitly to
aid you in quickly removing threats to your team,don't get fixated on it. Your not a one trick pony.
Avoid the boss killer mentality, it may not pose the greatest threat and brutes,stalkers, and
corruptors tend to bee line for bosses. He's not gonna last long. Look for other targets with
potential to harm your teammates, especially dominators,masterminds and corruptors.
Foes like Storm shamans, malta sappers and specialists,snipers, engineers, tsoo blue inkmen
and sorcerors,rikti guardians or communication officers. Stay with the group, if you join for
a mission dont explore ahead while their fighting unless its requested.
Your a melee specialist but your not a brute. If you have one on your team let him tank and
soak the alpha strikes.Brutes gain fury from being attacked so let them. Avoid "scrapper lock"
more than one death has occured because a melee has run ahead of the group to engage a foe,
without bothering to take a second to evaluate the situation.
Pay attention to the area, evaluate the situation, be proactive in your actions not reactive.
Watch your support players and be prepared to intervene before they get in over their heads.
Be mindful of aggro,learn to gain it and loose it.

The Widow in a Sf/Tf: which is pretty much the same thing as a group with the following
addendums. Be aware of the objectives. Find out what,if any, strategies are being used.
Stay with the group, support the group. Follow the leader. Use mindlink at the right times,
run your buffs always. If you die, be patient, your groups rezzer is busy.Find out if anyone
has vengeance. Dont hospital unless there is no other option.
Most Sf/tfs ARE HARD for a reason, there made to be lengthly challenge. Be prepared
for one. Bring a couple of awakens.
I tend to play safety on tfs, that is, between the frontline fighters and the backround support.
Let any brutes,tanks or scrappers rush in, wait for the opening vollies from any blasters, or
corruptors and the holds from doms and controllers(yes,i'm talking about the co-operative
Tf here, which will become more common I think as issues are added). Then quickly
evaluate the situation, look for any dangerous enemies or boss's still standing,look for an
aggro rush towards the backline, decide where your damage will be the most usefull
and apply it quickly,surgically,and forcefully. Then pick the next target. The glory here is in
your teams success.
Follow your leader's orders if given them, he/she might be an idiot but a stupid coordinated
stratgey can work better than a chaotic free for all. If targets are called-kill them, if any specific
actions are required do them.If you need to be at a certain place, be there.

Nightwidow Builds:
Cold hard facts:
# of available powers to a Night Widow from primary and secondary: 27 ( again,2 are exclusive)
# of powers available to a level 50 character: 23
# of powers available if a travel power is taken: 21
# of powers available if a stamina build is chosen: 20
# of powers if both stamina and a travel power are selected:18
Note: that combat training:defensive is an automatic selection
As you can see there is no way to fit in every Widow power, it cant be done. So, its really
important that you decide on a specific build strategy, even if said strategy is a very basic general one.
Some hints: If you use a character Builder its very easy to overchoose powers, especially attacks.
You don't need every attack to be a descent damage dealer.Shoot for 3-4 core attacks and a couple
fillers, if you look at your build and you have 9-10 attacks, you could do some trimming. Lean and
mean is the order of the day.

Your an agent of the espionage arm of Arachnos. Your an assassin,a hot flash skirmisher. Your armed with razor sharp poisoned steel,limited psychic abilities and excellent tactical skills. Your the product of one of the worlds most dangerous militaries, the technocratic byzantine Arachnos.Your roles are many. From the frontlines to the shadows you watch,analyze and wait. When the time is right you strike with cold surgical precision. You are a Blood Widow.
You have fought them for years, learned to respect them as a force to be reckoned with.
Arachnos. Now, you have the chance to be one of their elite, the Widows.
In this guide I will detail in depth each power available to the Widows. Offer advice on selecting
powers and certain power combinations. I will discuss the Widows role in standard groups,
soloing, and as a member of a strike force. I will give advice on choosing which branch is
most suited to a particular playstyle.I will outline strategies that have worked for me.I will
list several build examples that I have used as well as a couple I plan to experiment with.
What this won't be is a how to guide. I'm not gonna tell you how to level, where to go,
what to do. One of the broad assumptions I'm making in this guide is that you have earned
this At by leveling to level 50 in a previous At. You already know how to level. I am also
not going to tell you how to slot a power, which is largely a matter of preference and
with Invention sets the milage can vary. You should already know about ED and the restraints
it places, know the value of accuracy, the importance of endurance managment.
One other assumption I am making is that you want to play a level 50 Widow, not just level
one. A great deal of the advice pertains to this philosphy, which doesn't invalidate it for
lower levels, but keep this in mind. Unless otherwise stated all numbers given as examples
are calculated using level 50 IOs.

The Widows,like all Soldiers of Arachnos, utilizes a branching level scheme. Every Widow
starts out as a Blood Widow which is the trunk or core of the Widow ATs.You play as
Blood Widow until level 24, where upon training you are granted an immediate, free,
mandatory respec. It is at this point where you choose which of two branches you wish to
pursue, The Night Widow or Fortunata.You build your character from level one and up,
rechoosing all your powers but this time the additional powers of whichever branch you
chose is also available.Note that the core powers of the Blood Widow are still available
to both of the branches. Do not ignore these core powers as they form the nucleus of
builds from both branches.
The Blood Widow is primarily a melee combatant with limited ranged capabilitly, very
modest defenses for most of their career, and descent team buffs.

The Widow power list:

Widow Training:
Level 1: Poison Dart, Swipe
Level 2: Strike
Level 6: Dart Burst
Level 8: Follow Up
Level 12: Spin, Lunge
Level 18: Confront

Teamwork:
Level 1: Combat Trainingefensive
Level 2: Combat Training:Offensive
Level 4: Tactical Training:Maneuver
Level 10: Indomitable Will
Level 16: Tactical Training:Assault
Level 20: Tactical Training:Leadership
Level 22: Foresight

WIDOW TRAINING POWERS:

Poison Dart: Level 1, single target ranged attack
Damage: moderate lethal with toxic dot
End cost: 5.2 Recharge: 4s Cast: 1.5s Range: 80 Debuff: -regeneration 25%
I love this power and highly suggest you take this over swipe. It does more damage and has
more uses then swipe. You can pull with it. You can hit flying mobs with it. You can take out
a runner without having to chase it down.It has -regen to it, so if you ever plan on fighting an
elite boss, Archvillain, Hero,giant monster, or a regen/willpower power set, that debuff will come
in handy.It's also very cool.Now those that are planning on the Night widow path may be saying
that Night Widows are meleecentric and since their best defense is in melee range,its the melee
attacks that work best for them.Yes. But, and I'll let you in on a little secret, single target ranged
attacks work just as well pointblank as they do at maximum range.Shhhh. Don't tell anyone.

Swipe: Level 1, single target melee attack
Damage: light lethal with toxic dot
End cost: 4.16 Recharge: 4s Cast:.83s Debuff: - 20% foe Rch and spd
A fast recharging,fast activating, light lethal attack with a minor debuff. You get what you pay for.
It's fast so fills in an attack chain well but does weak damage. Shrug.Its very vanilla. Maybe take
it to get through the early levels and respec it out later at lvl 24.Once you have, say, 5-6 attacks,
maybe a couple veteran attacks, perhaps a pool attack power, and any kind of haste this one will
just sit on your bar gathering dust. Also one of two attacks that does not use the widows retractable
blade.Took it on test, passed it on live, never missed it.

{{ Comparison on the level one attack powers- Poison Dart vs Swipe. They both have the same
recharge at 4s, Swipe activates slightly faster ( .86s vs 1.5s), Poison Dart does more damage,
Swipe costs a little less endurance(4.16 vs 5.2), Poison Dart can also attack at range, the debuff
of swipe is minor and its debuff type is shared by every other melee attack except follow up,
the debuff of poison dart is only shared with dart burst so if you want a source of -regen....}}

Strike: Level 2, single target melee attack
Damage: High lethal with toxic dot
End cost: 7.47 Recharge: 8s Cast: 1.17s Debuff: -20% for Rch and Spd
An excellent power that will become the staple of your attack chain, get it right away at level 2,
keep it forever.Slot it up, you'll get a lot of milage from this one.

Dart Burst: Level 6, ranged cone attack,30 degree arc
Damage: Light lethal with toxic dot
End cost: 8.53 Recharge: 8s Cast:2s Debuff: -25% regen Range: 50
Not a very effective power, semi usefull at lower levels as its the only ae attack available until
level 12. It's damage endurance ratio is to inefficient to be used against a single target, and
its narrow cone ( the same arc as breath of fire, for comparison sake) makes it more difficult
to use in melee range. Those used to side stepping to form the 3 target pyramid or the double
in the line in order to use shadowmaul,Jacob's ladder, or Headsplitter will have an easier time of
it. Might consider taking this early to aid in leveling faster but honestly its likely to take backseat
to other powers when it comes time to respec into a branch. I opted to take a pool attack power,
Air superiority in place of this.

Follow Up: Level 8, single target melee attack and self buff
Damage: moderate lethal
End cost: 7.8 Recharge: 12s Cast: 1s Duration: 10s Buff:10% tohit, 30% damage
An attack as well as a damage buff, follow up is the only melee attack that does not have
a toxic dot and the only other attack besides swipe that uses the fist blades. Get it when
it becomes available, the buff helps out quite abit in taking down mobs. Effective with minimal
slotting. Later if you go down the Night Widow branch you may opt for build up instead, as
those two powers are mutually exclusive. See the Night Widow section for a more indepth
comparison. Fortunata's can take this and aim,however.

Spin: Level 12, pbaoe melee attack
Damage: moderate lethal with toxic dot
End cost: 15.4 Recharge:14s Cast: 2.5s Radius: 8 Debuff: -20% foe Rch and Spd
At level 12 two attacks become available, this and lunge. Lunge is a better choice so
you can hold of on a spin till later. Spin does the job its supposed to, doing descent
damage to a fairly large radius around you. Its downside is the high end cost( the most
expensive melee attack power in the entire SoA widow set), its animation time( the longest
animation of any melee attack in the entire SoA widow set), and its long recharge( the second
longest recharge in the entire set). Spins usefullness is both situational and positional.
That is to say, you need to be surronded by enemies, and lots of them to make spin usefull.
If your soloing on a low setting alot spin may not be a good power for you.Those that are facing
larger spawn sizes will find this power to be an excellent choice. Those opting for Night Widow
will most likely take this to be used in conjunction with eviscerate, those taking the Fortunata
route will probably opt for another choice.Though a good arguement can be made for Total
Domination plus Spin. But we'll go into more depth in the Fortunata section.

Lunge:Level 12, single target melee attack
Damage:High lethal with toxic dot
End cost: 9.48 Recharge: 12s Cast: .83s Debuff: -30% foe Rch and Spd
Get this at level 12, Lunge and Strike will be your core damaging melee powers for both
Nightwidows and Fortunata. Get it. Love it. Slot it. You'll depend on the damage from follow
up+strike+lunge for the next 12 levels.

Confront:Level 18, single target taunt
Hmmm, a single target taunt power. Well, I suppose it would have its uses, though
I do think that another power selection would serve you better. If I really want to grab
someones attention I'll stab them.Also at level 18,a widows defense is still fairly low
so choosing to tank a mob may not be prudent.If a taunt power is desired to, for example,
save your corruptor friend who just grabbed to much aggro, Id suggest the presence
pool, that way if you can scrounge another open power a fear power can be taken, which
the widows lack.More on pool/patron powers in the Widow Appendix.

TEAMWORK POWERS:

Combat Trainingefensive, this is the automatic selection at level 1, which is fine,
because you would choose it anyways.This power is a passive defense vs melee
attacks. Base defense: 7.5% With 1 IO: 9.24% with 2 IOs: 11.2% with 3 IOs: 11.9%
(Remember all numbers are assuming level 50 IO's). This power forms the first layer of
your defense.For those that are not familiar with how defense works I have included a very
basic primer on defense in the Widow Appendix.

Combat Training:Offensive: level 2
A passive power that grants a +10% bonus to accuracy ( note that the bonus is accuracy
NOT to hit buff) Usefull, accuracy is king, if you cant hit all the damage bonus's in the world
won't matter.That being said additional sources of to hit buffs are readily available via
Leadership and as bonus's from Invention sets. To hit isn't as good as raw accuracy but
you have to decide if one of your few power selections available is worth the benefit.

Tactical Training:Maneuver : level 4
End cost: .21/s Radius: 80 Buff: base defense 5%, with 1 IO: 6.16%, with 2 IO: 7.49%,
with 3 IOs: 7.92% ( Note: this is global defense)
Now this is one of the best ideas the development team that brought us this At had.
The defense buff is part of the widows layered defenses, especially at mid levels the
Widows need this buff to stay breathing.The cost to run is minimal and provides a real
bonus to teams that have SoAs. Ever been on an all SoA team with soft capped defenses
because everyone had this power? Very cool. Don't let the mere 5% disuade you, its
still very usefull. So,please take this at some point. I took it at level 4 and never turned it off.
The tactical training powers are one of the things that makes the SoA's unique. Sure,
other ATs can choose to take leadership powers but they dont have it as part of
their makeup. Its the blend of powers that makes the Widows unique. Afterall,every AT
brings damage to the table, quite a few of them have defenses, same goes for team buffs,
but how many of have them all as part of their normal power sets. The real benifits of
this AT is 1) we dont have inherent drawbacks or vulnerabilitlies( cough--voids--cough),
2) we're flexible in melee and ranged combat and have descent defenses and 3) add
to our own and the groups strength via our tactical training and mindlink buffs all the
while contributing to the overall Dps of our group.Ok, rant off.

Indomitable Will: level 10, status protection shield
End Cost: .21/s provides a base 10% resist to psi damage and mag 10.4 protection
vs. holds,sleep,immobilization,disorient,fear,and confusion and mag 10 to knockback
and repel.Very nice. You may not need this right away but its one you'll want eventually.

Tactical Training: Assault: level 16
End Cost: .21/s Radius: 80 Buff: +15% to damage, resists tants and placate.
Yummm.More damage. A tempting power. Which by the way stacks. Remember the all
SoA team example from maneuvers ? Now Imagine 8 assaults running ( actually it was
10, 2 of the crabs had double assaults).Do the math.This power is worth it even solo,
but stacked it becomes truly sick.

Tactical Training:Leadership: level 20
End cost: .21/s Radius: 80 Buff: +10% tohit buff base, resist fear and confuse.
Useful. But with so many choices is it useful enough to you ? In the end I wanted it
but couldn't fit in as I opted for maneuvers and assault.Do have a "captain" build
I want to try on test that takes 7 leadership powers. I'll post it later just for the fun of it.

Foresight: Level 22
Another must have for every Widow. This excellent power has three different bonus's
that it grants, and its a passive abilitly.
1)scaleable resists to all damage types based on their health. That is, the lower the health,
the higher the resist.Users of Super Reflexes will recognize this from their passives
Dodge, Agile, and Lucky.
2) adds a base 7.5% defense to all attacks, with 1 IO: 9.41%, with 2 IOs: 11.2%,
and with 3 IOs: 11.9%
3) adds resists to sleep, hold, immob, stun, fear and confuse.( Quick note about
status resists vs protection-protection has a magnitude threshold that prevents
the effect from taking place until its threshold has been exceeded. Indomitable Will
provides a mag 10 protection vs holds, most holds are rated at mag 3, so it would take
4 holds stacked to overcome the protection of IW.Resists do not actively protect the
user but reduces the amount of time that the effect lingers.
You will take this power at level 22, and its one you'll keep no matter which branch
or build you choose. You now only have 2 more painfully slow levels to go.

The Widow at a glance:
# of attacks: 7
# of melee attacks: 5 ( 4 single targets, 1 pbaoe)
# of ranged attacks: 2 ( 1 single target, 1 cone)
# of team buffs : 3
# of defensive powers : 4
base defense provided from Ct defensive,maneuvers and foresight: 12.5% to all attacks,
20% vs melee
highest damaging attacks:lunge and strike
lowest damaging attacks: swipe, dart burst
must have powers: CT: defensive( automatic selection),Maneuvers,Indomitable will,
Foresight,Strike, Lunge
most skippable powers: confront,swipe,dart burst, CT: Offensive
Pros: can front load on attacks, conceivably have all 7 attacks by level 14
the poisonous retractacle blades just ooze style
the pneumatic darts are cool
Cons: the mid levels ( 12-22) can be rough solo because without Foresight the widows base
defenses are 5% to all, and 12.5% to melee.(if the maneuvers is taken). A smart
Widow will group through this level range.
the wait, maybe its just the anticipation but 24 levels seems almost unbearable.
Soloing as a Blood Widow can be challenging and sometimes frustrating,while you have
have an excellent selection of attacks, staying alive long enough to deliver them is another.
Two factions in particular to watch out for is Circle of Thorns and the Goldbrickers.The Goldbrickers
I found especially annoying as they fly, prefer ranged attacks, and the sonic -dmg resists.
Snakes arent much of a problem and either are the Family, Hellions and Skulls.Vahzilok can be
tough but they have a weakness vs lethal damage so it balances out. Legacy Chain and Wyvern
can be challenging also, dont just charge in when facing those factions.
Effective pulling, wether LoS pulling or with a ranged attack, can make soloing easier. Choosing
defensive powers when they become available is also recommended. Levels 1-12ish are pretty easy,
but after that your relative lack of defense begins to be felt more. If you can afford Do's or even
better IOs go for it,the extra damage will help out quite abit, even more so once lunge is slotted up.
At 14 my attack chain consisted of-Follow Up,Strike,Lunge,Spin ( if facing 3 or more in melee),
Air Superiority,Poison Dart,Nemesis Staff by which time the first attacks would usually be recharged,
if it wasn't quite Id throw in a quick brawl or a throwing knife.If facing CoT Spectres Undead
Slaying axe would be used. Defenses were still just Maneuvers and Ctefensive.
At levels 12-14 I'd suggest grouping, your xp rate will be faster than when soloing, especially
if its a good group. Fellow SoA will often send you tells,looking for an all or a majority of SoA's
group, so getting into a group isn't to hard. Your job in a group at this range is simple, damage.
And then more damage, and keeping an eye out for too much aggro. If your in a standard group
that includes a brute,assist when possible. If your the only melee hope you have an FF MM or
a cold domination corruptor with his shields.If its an all SoA group just go nuts, if everyone
has maneuvers and later assault you will steamroll missions, deaths will be rare. Even 8 widows
would have +40% defense ( Wolf Spiders maneuvers is 10%) which helps considerably.Another
reason all SoA groups are nice is that 1) everyone has certain amount of experience playing,
so truly noobish mistakes are less frequent and everyone has the same goal-TO GET TO
LEVEL 24 ASAP.
Remember at 24 you get a free respec, so you can build your Blood Widow differently than
you might on a standard toon( say,skipping the fitness or travel powers, where normally
you would fit them in or at least get some of the prerequisite powers) SoAs inherent slightly
increases the health and endurance regeneration of the player. Four temp travel powers are
easily attainable in the first half of the game( Raptor pack from Atlas mayhem, zero-g pack
from Kings Row mayhem, goldbricker pack from Golden Roller in Cap au Diable, and skyraider
pack from the skyraider contact in sharkhead.)

Fill in the blank blood widow build sample:
Level 1: Poison Dart, Combat Trainingefensive
Level 2: Strike
Level 4: Tactical Training:Maneuvers
Level 6:
Level 8: Follow Up
Level 10: Indomitable Will
Level 12 : Lunge
Level 14: Spin
Level 16: Tactical Training:Assault
Level 18:
Level 20:
Level 22: Foresight

Taking the above will ensure that you have the best possible defenses available to you,
the start of a strong attack chain and some extra buffage for any group your part of.
Which leaves 3 open power choices at 6,18,and 20. A few suggestions on filling in those
blanks- lvl 6 air superiority for an extra attack, both swipe and dart burst are kind of lame.
Or, maybe combat jumping for an extra 2.5% base defense. L18, perhaps one of the suggestions
from level 6 that you didnt take or maybe a selection from the leadership pool- the pool maneuvers
adds 3.5%, a higher base defense than cj, or another assault leadership power for an additional
+15% damage. Maybe, you'd like a travel power, if you chose a prerequisite power at 6 you could
get it now.Those without the veteran reward attack powers ( 12 and 33 months) may want to
pick up another attack power.For level 20- any of the above examples or maybe TT: leadership.
Don't sweat the choices too much, build to get yourself to level 24 as quickly and painlessly as
possible, then agonize over the choices.Now at this range would be a good oppurtunity to try out
any of the blood widow powers first hand.

This guide is not a primer on the relative strengths and merits of the various powers included in the Dark Melee/ Dark Armor sets but rather to help in the selection of Invention sets to maximise their potential.

Dark Melee (allowed enhancement sets):
Shadowpunch: Melee(single target)
Smite: Melee(single target)
Shadowmaul: Melee(aoe)
Touch Of Fear: Fear
Siphon Life: Melee(single target) and Heal
Taunt: None allowed
Dark Consumption: Melee(aoe)
Soul Drain: Melee(aoe)
Midnight Grasp: Melee(single target) and Immobilize

Dark Armor (allowed enhancement sets)
Dark Embrace: Resistance
Death Shroud : Melee(aoe)
Murky Cloud: Resistance
Obsidian Shield: Resistance
Dark Regeneration: Melee(aoe) and Heal
Cloak of Darkness: Defense
Cloak of Fear: Fear
Oppressive Gloom: Stun
Soul Transfer: Melee(aoe) and Heal and Stun

Break down by enhancement sets:
Melee (single target):
Shadowpunch
Smite
Siphon life
Midnight Grasp
Melee(aoe):
Shadowmaul
Dark Regeneration
Dark Consumption
Soul Drain
Soul Transfer
Death Shroud
Resistance:
Dark Embrace
Murky Cloud
Obsidian Shield
Defense:
Cloak of Darkness
Healing:
Siphon Life
Dark Regeneration
Soul Transfer
Fear:
Touch of Fear
Cloak of Fear
Immobilize:
Midnight Grasp
Stun:
Oppressive Gloom
Soul Transfer

Invention Origin sets and stacking:
Briefly, Invention Origins come in two types. Normal "generic" Io's that work just as do all the regular enhancements(training,dual and single) and those that are named and belong to a set. The set Io's can enhance more than one function, accuracy/damage, for example.What makes the set Io desirable is that once you slot more than 1 of the same set in the same power you recieve various bonus's. These bonus effects can stack up to five times of the same bonus( so an hp bonus of 1.13% can be applied 5 times as well as an hp bonus of 1.88%, which could also be applied 5 times but any beyond that would be wasted. The same set type can be slotted into multiple powers, 2 or more different sets can be slotted into a single power. Within a given set, however, one cannot duplicate the same Io enhancement more than once in a single power. So you cant place 2 Crushing Impact:acc/dmg in the same attack. You could slot Crushing blow:acc/dmg and Mako's Bite:acc/dmg if you wanted. Among the sets enhancments there are those that are Unique (and are labeled as such), these special enhancers can only be slotted once in the entire character.

To maximise or not is up to personal preference. Maximising in this case, would be concentrating on gaining as many of a particular kind of bonus as much as possible, say, regeneration and Enhancement(recharge).The easiest way to go about this is to list (like above) all the powers you have and what kind of sets they accept. For the sake of this guide I will be using my dm/da brute, Hex as an example.

Single target melee: # 5 (shadowpunch,smite,siphon life,midnight grasp,boxing)
Melee(aoe): # 6 (shadowmaul,dark regen,dark consumption,soul transfer,soul drain,death shroud)
Resistance: # 4 ( dark embrace,murky cloud, obsidian shield, tough)
Defense: # 2 ( combat jumping,cloak of darkness)
Healing: # 4 ( siphon life,Dark regen,health, soul transfer)
Fear: #2 ( touch of fear, cloak of fear)
Immobilize:#1 (midnight grasp)
Stun: #2 (boxing, soul transfer)
Ranged Single Target( gloom)
Powers that dont allow set Io's ( hurdle,stamina)
Jumping: #1 ( superjump)

Now, we can see that if we wish to stack bonus's, single target,melee aoe,resistance, and healing will give us the most oppurtunity to do so. So we will look at those first:

Format : set name # of enhancements in set
enhancements 2+,3+ etc, at what number of set enhancments bonus's are given

Single target Melee:

Bonesnap # 3
acc/dmg 2+ resist immobilize 1.1%
dmg/end 3+ 0.75% hp
acc/rch

Pulverising Fisticuffs # 3
acc/dmg 2+ resist sleep 2.2 %
acc/dmg/rch 3+ 0.63 % hp
acc/dmg/end/rch

Bruising Blow # 3
acc/dmg 2+ 1% recovery
dmg/end 3+ 0.75 % hp
dmg/rch

Pounding Slugfest # 4
acc/dmg 2+ 8% regen
dmg/end 3+ .63% def(energy/neg)
dmg/rch 4+ 2% damage buff
disorient bonus

Smashing haymaker # 4
acc/dmg 2+ resist immobilize 2.2%
dmg/end 3+1.13% hp
dmg/rch 4+ 1.88 % def(smashing)
dmg/end/rch

Kinetic Combat # 5
acc/dmg 2+ resist immobilize 2.75%
dmg/end 3+ 1.5 % hp
dmg/rch 4+ 3.75 def ( smashing)
dmg/end/rch 5+ 5% movement increase
knockdown bonus

Focused Smite # 5
acc/dmg 2+ resist immob 1.65%
dmg/end 3+ resist confuse 1.65%
dmg/rch 4+ 1.5% debt protection
acc/end/rch 5+ 3% movement
acc/dmg/rch

Touch of Death # 6
acc/dmg 2+ resist immobilize 2.75%
dmg/end 3+ 1.5% hp
dmg/rch 4+ 2.5 % damage buff
acc/dmg/end 5+ resist held 2.75%
dmg/end/rch 6+ 3.13 % def melee
chance of damage (negative energy)

Crushing Impact # 6
acc/dmg 2+ resist immob 2.2 %
dmg/end 3+ 1.13 % hp
dmg/rch 4+ 7% Enhance (accuracy)
acc/dmg/rch 5+ 5% Enhance( recharge time)
acc/dmg/end 6+ 2.5 % psi resist
dmg/end/rch

Mako's Bite # 6
acc/dmg 2+ resist immobilize 3.3%
dmg/end 3+ 1.5% hp
dmg/rch 4+ 3% damage buff
acc/end/rch 5+ resist held 3.3%
acc/dmg/end/rch 6+ 3.75% def ranged
chance of damage lethal

Coming at this from the perspective of a high level brute, the later sets,of course, hold the most appeal. Looking at the possible bonus's and at what slots they become available can be handy in choosing the best ones to suite your style of play.
All three of the later sets offer some resist to immobilization which is a weakness of Da( remember that resists in this case is not protection from but rather shortens the duraction), loading up on damage buff bonus is tempting but the enhanced accuracy and recharge time catch my eye. Dm is very much a dps set and tightening the attack chain even more will be good.So I went for Crushing blow sets in my single attacks,4 slots for the accuracy and 5 for the recharge are needed.

Shadowpunch : 5 slots Crushing Impact ( acc/dmg, dmg/end,dmg/rch) Mako's Bite ( chance of lethal-71.8 damage,20% chance), Touch of Death ( chance for neg energy dmage,71.8,15% chance). Set bonus for having 3 in crushing impact, I forgo the added acc/rch bonus in order to increase the proc rate of the extra damage enhancments.As sp is in my build is mostly a filler attack and has a rapid recharge this works well.

Smite: 6 slots Crushing Impact ( acc/dmg,dmg/rch, dmg/end, acc/dmg/rch, acc/dmg/end) Touch of death ( chance of neg energy)

Midnight Grasp: 5 slots Crushing Impact (acc/dmg, dmg/rch,dmg/end, acc/dmg/end, acc/dmg/rch)

Boxing : reduced to 1 slot and rarely used anymore, default with acc Io


Melee Aoe attacks:

Cleaving Blow # 4
acc/dmg 2+ 1% recovery
dmg/end 3+ 1.25% def (energy)
dmg/rch 4+ 1% damage buff
acc/rch

MultiStrike # 6
acc/dmg 2+ resist sleep 1.65%
dmg/end 3+ resist fire/cold .945%
dmg/rch 4+ resist stun 1.65%
acc/end 5+ 1.88% def (aoe)
dmg/end/rch 6+ 1.88 % def ( melee)
acc/dmg/end

Scirocco's Dervish # 6
acc/dmg 2+ 10 % regen
dmg/end 3+ 3.13% resist neg energy
dmg/rch 4+ 9% Enhancement (accuracy)
acc/rch 5+ 3.13 % def ( aoe)
acc/dmg/end 6+ 3.13 % def ( psi)
chance of lethal damage

The first are somewhat lackluster, though the stacked defense's could be usefull. The 10% regen of Scirocco's appeals to me though, and since its given at the first bonus is readily attainable.

Shadowmaul: 5 slots Scirocco's Dervish ( acc/dmg, dmg/end,dmg/rch, acc/dmg/end, chance of lethal)

Dark Consumption : 4 slots Scirocco's Dervish ( acc/rch, dmg/rch) and 2 recharge Io's

Soul Drain : 4 slots Scirocco's Dervish ( acc/dmg, dmg/rch, acc/rch, dmg/end)

Soul Transfer : 2 slots Scirocco's Dervish (dmg/rch, dmg/end)

Death Shroud : 4 slots Scirocco'c Dervish (acc/dmg, dmg/end, acc/dmg/end, --chance of lethal ?) havnt gotten a spare one to try it so have no idea on how that would work,if at all. If it has a chance on every pulse it would be a meatgrinder,however I doubt it and would most likely be checked,if at all, when power is toggled.

Healing:

Triage # 4
h/end 2+ 4 % regen
end/rch 3+ 0.75% hp
h/rch 4+ 2% enhance heal
h/end/rch

Regenerative Tissue # 5
h/end 2+ 4 % runspeed
end/rch 3+ 1.5% hp
h/rch 4+ 4% enhance heal
h/end/rch 5+ 5% enhance (recharge time)
+regeneration (unique)

Harmonized Healing # 6
h/end 2+ 1.5% recovery
end/rch 3+ resist confuse 1.65%
h/rch 4+ enhance heal 3%
h/end/rch 5+ 1.88% defense aoe
heal 6+ 1.88% resist toxic
end

Miracle # 6
h/end 2+ 2.5% recovery
end/rch 3+ 1.88% hp
h/rcg 4+ 5% enhance heal
h/end/rch 5+ 1.88% defense aoe
heal 6+ 1.88% defense psi
+recovery ( unique)

Doctored Wounds # 6
h/e 2+ resist terrorized 2.2%
end/rch 3+ resist fire/cold 1.26%
h/rch 4+ 4% enhance heal
h/end/rch 5+ 5% enhance recharge time
heal 6+ 1.26% resist toxic,psi
rch

Numina's Convalescence #6
h/end 2+ 12% regen
end/rch 3+ 1.88% hp
h/rch 4+ 6% enhance heal
h/end/rch 5 +resist held 3.3%
heal 6+ 3.75% defense ranged
+regeneration/+recovery (unique)

Check out all the uniques in the heal sets, the good regen and hp bonus of numina's and all the resists in doctored wounds.

Health: 6 slots Numina's (regen/recovery unique,heal) Miracle ( recovery unique,heal) Regenerative Tissue( regeneration unique, heal) Before Io's I would never have 6 slotted health but with 3 heals and the 3 uniques this one power does heavy duty work,with good regen for a passive and almost stamina end recovery.

Dark Regeneration: 6 slots Numina's ( heal, heal/end, heal/rch, end/rch) Cleaving Blow ( acc/dmg, acc/rch)

Siphon Life 4 slots Numina's ( heal,heal/end, end/rch) with an Io accuracy

Resistance:

Steadfast protection # 3
rst/end 2+ 1.5% recovery
resistance/+defense unique 3+ 1.5% hp
knockback protection

Impervious Skin # 5
rst/end 2+ resist sleep 2.2%
rst/rch 3+ 1.5% hp
end/rch 4+ 2% debt protection
rst/end/rch 5+ 5% enhance recharge time
status resistance

Reactive Armor # 6
rst/end 2+ resist immobilize 1.1%
rst/rch 3+ 1.25% def energy
end/rch 4+ 1.25% def lethal
rst/end/rch 5+ 1.25% def aoe
rst 6+ 1.25% def toxic
end

Impervium Armor # 6
rst/end 2+ 2.5 % recovery
rst/rch 3+ 1.88% def psi
end/rch 4+ 2.25% max end
rst/end/rch 5+ resist held 2.75%
rst 6+ 3.13 resist psi
Psionic Resistance

Titanium Coating # 6
rst/end 2+ resist sleep 2.2%
rst/rch 3+1.5% hp
end/rch 4+ resist stun 2.2%
rst/end/rch 5+ resist held 2.75%
rst 6+ def 2.5% melee
end

Aegis # 6
rst/end 2+ 5% runspeed
rst/rch 3+ 1.57% def fire/cold
end/rch 4+2.5 % debt protection
rst/end/rch 5+ 3.13 % def aoe
rst 6+ 3.13 % resist toxic
psionic/ status resistance


Dark Embrace 6 slots Impervium armor ( resist, resist/end, psionic resistance) Steadfast protection ( resist/end,resistance/+def unique) plus an Io resist

Murky cloud 4 slots Impervium armor(resist,resist/end) Steadfast protection ( resist/end, knockback protection)

Obsidian Cloud Impervium Armor ( resistance, psionic resistance) and 2 Io resists

Tough 4 slots Impervium armor (resist, resist/end) Steadfas tprotection ( resist/end, knockback protection)


For the other set options Im not going to list all the options as every other bonus is limited to 1 or 2, but just the relevant pools.

Fear:
Glimpse of the Abyss # 6
acc/rch 2+ 2.75% enhance terrorized
end/fear 3+ 1.88% hp
acc/end 4+ 9% enhance accuracy
fear/range 5+ 6.25% enhance recharge time
acc/fear/range 6+ 3.13% resist psi
chance of damage (psi)

Touch of Fear : 5 slots Glimpse of the Abyss ( acc/rch,acc/end,chance of psi damage) and 2 To hit debuff Io's

Cloak of Fear : 5 slots Glimpse of the Abyss ( end/fear,acc/rch,acc/end,acc/fear/rch) and an Io end reduction

Defense :

combat jumping: 2 slots karma( knockback protection), luck of the gambler( recharge speed 7%)
cloak of darkness: 3 slots Gift of the Ancients ( def/end, end/rch,runspeed 7 %)

Single Target Ranged:

Gloom : Decimation 3 slots ( acc/dmg, dmg/end, chance of build-up)

unset power : stamina (2 slots), superjump (1 slot),hurdle( 1 slot)

the complete bonus's from the sets are :

+ 3% defense,+1.88% defense psi, +3.13% defense aoe, +50% enhancement accuracy, +6% enhance heal,
+17.5 % enhanc recharge time, +5.5% enhance terrorized, + 202 hitpoints, mag 16 knockback protection,
immob reist 9.35%, +20% recovery,+86% regen,2.5 % resist fire, +9.38 resist neg energy, and +7.5% runspeed
This is ontop of all the normal power effects.In terms of raw power my attacks are slightly less effective but now cost less and recharge faster, the attack chain is really tight and the added chance of damage is helpfull.I love my new touch of fear.
With less end recuction in my toggles the end net gain is still in my favor with all the recovery. Concentrating on whichever bonus's you want will make you happier rather than a scattered approach,in somethings specialization is better than generalization.

Its a post (after) respec build, to show what it is currently, as I leveled up it was much different. I would never wait so long to pick darkest night, for example. I should have been more clear on that, in case someone would actually level it like that.
You have some excellent suggestions that some may want to pusue.
I like swift to counteract the spd penalty of shadowfall.
I took stamina on my build as I use attacks alot, those along with the toggles I run ( cj,acro,DN,shadowfall,dark embrace), not to mention healing and fearsome stare.
I kept empty clips for the added ae and, I have to admit, just cause I think its fun.
A sample engagement using my build and style would be something along this line(assuming running on high difficulties and a tough spawn)
Approach the enemy spawn running shadowfall, cj,acro,and dark embrace. goto place my brute to gain aggro, hit them with howling twilight, then soul tentacles, send in minions,drop a tar patch. Throw darkest night on the boss, maybe summon gangwar if I feel like it or the boss is realy tough, line up cone attacks and use nightfall and empty clips. Hit fearsome stare and access the situation. Heal if needed. If not healing, start hitting the boss with dual wield,nightfall and empty clips as they refresh. This makes short work of the minions and what left now is maybe the boss and a couple lts. Clean it up and proceed. If the spawn was judged to be easy I wouldnt use howling twilight. If it was a really tough spawn I'd do the above except I would use gangwar and pwouldnt initiate my own attacks right away,concentrating on minions and healing till it was broken up.

This guide will concern itself on the use, selection, and slotting of the Thug/Dark Mastermind powersets with an emphasis on the Dark Miasma secondary for a pve soloer. I'd highly suggest new mm's ( and even some veteran ones) to read the general guides for masterminds as there are some truly excellent guides regarding tactics and keybinds.

Before we get to the actual powers themselves,let us briefly examine the heated debate betwen masterminds on the taking of attack powers. Some players feel that the masterminds purpose and main form of damage is their minions and all power selections should,in someway, enhance or reflect this belief and personal attacks have no place in their build and playstyle. They are ,of course, correct. Some players feel that their minions, while being indespensible and making up the greatest contribution to their overall damage output, feel that taking attacks only adds to their overall DPS, allows another way to pull, fits their concept, or is just plain fun. They are, of course, correct. The point here is that it is a matter of choice, if you want personal attacks,by all means, take them.
Keep in mind when making this decision that you can take attacks at low levels when your damage output is relatively low and respec out of them later. Veteran respec rewards are especially handy in these cases. Having 1-2 or even all 3 attacks can make the wait till level 12 and 16 much more bearable.
Personally, I like having 1 or 2 attacks available to me. For use in pulling,for something to do in a long fight, to add abit of damage and mitigation in the form of knockdown, and for the fun of having a pistol toting mastermind. To each his own.


Pistolsavailable level 1) a single shot low damage attack with a fairly fast recharge rate. If you want one attack,skip this one and take dual wield. If you want two attacks decide if you want the two single target attacks(Pistols and Dual Wield) or a single target and the cone attack (Dual wield and Empty clips). 1 acc and any others you see fit(though I do suggest skipping this one completly or if taken not to slot it heavily).

Call Thugsavailable level 1) Summons a pistol equipped thug to do your bidding. These are your basic "cannonfodder" minions but will form the backbone of your early career and still add significant damage throughout your lifespan.You gain your first minion upon selecting this power, the second minion at level 6 and the third at level 18. The third minion is an arsonist and uses fire based attacks and can scourge. 2 acc, 3 damage, 1 recharge (for faster resummoning) or and an end reduction( for cheaper summoning).

Dual Wieldavailable level 2) Fire off a shot from two pistols. Does more damage than Pistols and can knockdown your opponent. If you want one attack pick this one. See Pistols above. 1 acc (default) If you feel you must slot this power go the standard attack slotting 1-2 acc,3 damage,an end reducer or a recharge.

Equip Thugs( available level 6) Every minion comes with a default attack, using this power (and later Upgrade equipment) grants your minions additional attacks. This is a good thing as the granted powers 1) are generally stronger than the default attack and 2) gives your minions an attack chain. Do not skip this power. This power recharges fast. Default slot with an end reduction.

Empty Clipsavailable level 8): A moderate damage cone attack with a fairly hefty end cost. Not efficient as a single target attack. Fun though as you unload multiple shots from two pistols. Can add some descent damage to a group thats been herded,packed,held, or pulled around a corner. Beware of added aggro though. 1 acc, 1 end reduction. If you want to slot it more add an additional acc and 3 damage.

Call Enforcers( available level 12) Your first tier two minion, comes equipped with uzi's. Beyond the excellent damage they add to your force the enforcers also posses a form of the leadership skills that is granted to your other minions. This is especially inportant as Thugs do not recieve resistances vs any damage types. Make sure you upgrade them as it grants them the other leadership skills. With Equip Thugs on them they have assault and maneuvers,and later with Upgrade equipment, tactics.You get your second enforcer at level 24.
Need I say that this is a must have power ? Slot as Call thugs.

Gang War: A targeted power which summons a whole posse of thugs to attack your foes.They wield simple melee weapons, are weak individually, can be killed (and healed),cannot be commanded after the initial target is eliminated but will hang out with you and party for a couple minutes.Very usefull as an aggro magnet and a ghetto form of an immobilization as their target will have trouble moving while being swarmed. Be carefull when targeting this power as 1) if the target dies before they are summoned the Gang war wont come and 2) make sure the target is on the ground.
I love this power and you most likely will,too. Of all the the MM's 7th choice,its gangwar that I think is the coolest. Though the necro's ghost summon is pretty cool,too. Could be skipped, I suppose, but I would highly recommend getting this one right away at 18th. 3 acc and 3 recharge. Some players use 3 damage instead but I feel the greater acc is a better deal than the small returns on increasing the minor damage they deal by 99%.With 3 recharges I can use this 2-3 times on a mission map. At higher levels it isnt the Mob Wars damage potential thats attractive but the initial agrro they gain and the soft immob.

Call Bruiseravailable level 26) Here he is- your very own mini pocket brute. He's not as tough or as smart (usually) than a normal brute but he does the job and never whines about fury,buffs, or missed heals. You'll love him. Give him the best name to reflect this. Get used to goto placing him as you would rather have him in melee grabbing aggro and fury then tearing up the pavement. 2 acc 3 damage 1 rch or end reduction.

Upgrade Equipment ( available 32 ) Grants your minions their most powerfull attacks and their coolest looking costume.
Must get. Default slot end reduction.


DARK MIASMA:

The power of darkness is yours to command. The choice of your secondary can be of more importance than your primary, as it is your secondary that will dictate what tactics you will use to allow your primary power set to prevail. Used wisely Dark Miasma is highly effective in both solo and team play and is good against hordes of minions,as well as, Eb's and Av's. I've heard its also effective in pvp as well but I cannot comment on this as my experience in pvp is limited and confined largely to melee types.

Twilight Grasp: ( available level 1,auto selection)you have no choice in getting this power but you would grab it anyways. The masterminds only ae heal, twilight grasp does its job pretty well. Due to the lack of area healing power in Cov this power alone can get you a spot in a group if they cant find a thermal or kin corruptor.(yes, I know rad has a heal too but its weaker than TG). Twilight grasp is an accuracy based heal,so you need to be able to hit the mob in order to heal. This isnt a huge drawback post SO's but in the early levels can be frustrating,especially if your fighting mobs that are +2-3. The heal is centered around you so you have to be in close proximity to those you want healed. This can be its biggest drawback as on a group its unlikely that everyone will stay clustered together.( and we won't even get into the crazy antics of our arsonist). Relative to the instant cast heals of other sets TG is a slow heal,some foresight will be needed as instant saves are not possible. Even with these drawbacks Tg is highly usefull, and not just as a heal. In boss,eb,and Av fights use TG as part of your "attack chain " as it also puts a 10% acc debuff counter on your foe AND lowers the damage they deal. These may seem like incidental side effects but it can make a noticable difference in tough fights.
Strong heal : 2 acc,3 heal,1 end reducer or recharge
Balanced Heal: 2 acc,2 heal,1 end reduction,1 recharge

Tar Patchavailable level 2 ) A useful power, Tar Patch drops a large patch of viscious negative energy that slows the movement of any opponent thats in or passes through it. As an added bonus it reduces your enemies damage resistance by 27 %! Tar patch is usefull as an opener to a fight before your minions or teammates unleash their attacks. Also good as the second move after howling twilight, the slow effect will keep the disorientated enemies closer together.Same for Fearsome stare,which wont draw you aggro as tar patch causes no damage. The additional effects of minus jump and fly can be nice vs certain flying enemies ( goldbrickers,sky raiders,longbow) and I'd imagine would have some use in pvp as well. You can also use this power as a sort of guard from melee opponents, as it will slow them and enemies tend to try to run away from the patch. If you select this power it will be usefull throughout your career,in any kind of group or solo, against herding minons or Av's.A group of tar patched minions is easy meat for your minions aoe attacks. Highly recommend this one. Slot 3 recharge in it.

Darkest Nightavailable level 4) : An excellent power, darkest night is a targeted toggle power that reduces the mob you targeted and all nearby enemies accuracy and damage potential by 22 %. The damage potential cannot be increased but the acc debuff portion can be. With 3 So's tohit debuffs slotted the acc debuff can render minions impotent, and even against hard hitting Eb's and Av's the damage potential debuff alone is worth the end cost. The one significant drawback of this power is that it requires an anchor. Not a big problem solo but in a group can be quite irritating. In all the confusion of combat alot of players will not notice the "anchor " animation and inevitably it seems that the anchor is always one of the first to die. I'd suggest using a bind target saying when using this power in groups.This power is usefull in the early to mid levels when villain powercurves are more in line with their enemies and later in the game when fighting Eb's and Av's.Its the mid levels, after players have So's slotted in their attacks and their attacks more heavily slotted, that in groups (especially with alot of At's that have ae attacks) Darkest Night becomes less usefull as the kill rate of a spawn is so fast. Still a good tool to have solo. I'd recommend getting this one,but build permitting, could be postponed till later if you are inclined to group alot. Slot with an end reducer and 3 tohit deduffs.

Howling Twilight: (available level 10) One of my favorite Dark miasma powers. Not only is it a group rez ( the only group rez in the game ) but is a very powerfull debuff tool.
There is no acc check in its use, your target and all enemies in a descent sized area around it will be slowed,disorientated, and drained of a little health(but not bosses). Solo or in smaller groups when Im comfortable with the groups ability to survive I'll use this as an opener to soften up large/tough spawns. Also good to hit a spawn with a tough boss in it, giving you some extra breathing space as those pesky minions and lts will be neutralized for awhile.Very nice against Tsoo and Malta where the minions and lts can be just as or more annoying then the boss's.Not to mention longbow and arachnos. Slotting : if you use this power as just a rez (shame on you !) throw a rch reduction in the default slot maybe adding another later on. If you use it as the potent combat tool it can be go 3 recharge,3 stun. As a soloer get this asap,you won't regret it. Otherwise fit it in when you can.This power alone can get you into a LRSF where a group rez is extremely valuable.

Shadowfallavailable level 16) A toggle PBAOE, shadowfall offers three benefits to anyone in its aura. One, it offers a limited stealth effect,lowering the distance at which mobs will notice you.Sadly, this will not stack with other forms of concealment but can be handy for moving closer to get into a good attack position. Secondly,it offers minimal defense to melee and ranged attacks.It has some synergy with your acc debuffs but the bonus is small enough to make slotting for more defense inefficient. The last effect and imo the most usefull is the 20% base resist it offers against energy, negative energy, and psionis attacks. Especially the last as very few powers offer resist to psi. Shadowfall reduces the users movement rate but not anyone eles's, I find this highly annoying and use swift to conteract this. Get this power but dont feel like you have to fit in right away. 1 end reduction, 3 damage resists.

Fearsome Stareavailable level 20 ) Another dark power I love, this power has a huge cone effect and will likely be your opening move. Slot sufficient acc to hit as many as posible.Fearsome stare will put a fear counter (which very few things resist) on an enemy causing them to stand and cower in terror,not attacking unless they are attacked, and with reduced acc when they do. In large spawns this is particulary valuable as the minons on the fringe of the battle will be effectivly removed while your minions concentrate their ae attacks on the rest. Can also be used as emergency save your butt power, having another ace up your sleeve is never a bad thing. Get this power. Slot it,use it. Teach them to fear the darkness. 2 acc, 3 fear duration, 1 recharge.

Petrifying Gazeavailable level:28) For most situations the soft control of fearsome stare is enough for my needs but PG has its usefull times.As a mag 2 hold it will hold minions and lts with one appliaction.Its possible with recharge and hold duration to stack and hold a boss but this would require slots that could very well be used more effectivly elsewhere. Still, there are certain enemeies that are so annoying having a real hold can be handy.I've had it but between all my other powers and managing my minions I've found that I dont use it alot.
emergency hold : 2 acc
light,fast hold for holding multiple mobs: 2 acc,1 hold, 3 recharge
Heavy hold for stacking: 2 acc,3 hold, 1 recharge
Note- both would let you hold a boss,more a matter of prefference.

Black Holeavailable level 35) I suppose it could have its uses but....... the annoying drawbacks,mainly waiting around for phased mobs to rephase after everything else is defeated. As an the 8th power in set I would want more than this power offers. As a panic button it could be ok,but, really there are better powers to choose.The one true skippable power in the entire set.

Dark Servantavailable level 38): and here it is at last,one of the reasons you chose dark...an extra pet !!! You cant control him at all but the dark servant will use a good variety of the dark miasma powers to heal and attack your enemies.
Must have power, the servant can be a tremendous help to you and your minions. The question isnt if you get this power at 38 but how are you gonna slot it.
The dark medic: 2 acc, 3 heal, 1 any other
The dark snarer: 2 acc, 3 immob, 1 any other
The dark controller: 2 acc,3 hold, 1 immob
The dark-of-all-trades: 2 acc,1 immob, 1 hold,2 heal
I use the dark medic version, stronger heals for me,my minions,and my teammates at high levels is desirable. Sure,the other powers wont be as strong but helps out a little and I have already addressed through my own powers the enemies I feel to be the most danger. Anything the servant does is like frosting, a tasty addition to your capabilities. The dark snarer or controller would be usefull for any that wants more control action and/or skipped fearsome stare (gasp !) and PG.The last version,to me,is the least desirable. Sure, all of its powers are enhanced slightly but Id rather have it strong in at least one area.

From lvl 1 to 50 you only get 24 power selections.In the primary all three summons, both upgrade powers and gangwars are a must have. You'll want a travel power and thats two more for 8 powers taken.
In dark miasma you have to take TG, and imo tar patch, howling twilight, fearsome stare and dark servant are must haves, with darkest night being desirable ( and perhaps PG and shadowfall)
Lets say you opt to skip Pg, thats 15 powers taken now, leaving you with 9 powers to choose from attacks,pool powers, and the patron pools.And only 6 options if you go with a stamina build.Go the leadership route(with stamina to afford the end cost ) and your left with only 3 choices. With that in mind let us examine the various power pools and their desirability.

The Pool Powers:

Concealment: Stealth, wont stack with shadowfall, if your going for phase shift then drop shadowfall or pick up grant invis. Which can be usefull when lackeying or stealthing a mission on a team. Wouldnt use it on my minions as I generally prefer that they attract attention rather than me, and the tiny defense bonus isnt worth it. May be nice in team pvp and if the ultimate panic button phase shift is your goal,you'll have to take one.Invis would be ok,i guess,for stealthing but,except on,say,cot orenbega maps it isnt that hard to just rush a mission if you dont have your minions out.

Fighting : lol, yea right. Maybe in some odd concept build but the returns for a MM isnt worth the powe slots. Last thing we need is an extra melee attack, and 11.8 % smashing/lethal reist or the 3.9 % extra defense isnt going to save the day(and thats with 3 slots in each ). Skip it or make a brute.

Fitness: an excellent pool,that passively enhances the basic attributes of your character.Can travel faster by hurdle hopping then with swift but i like swift better cause it negates the speed penalty of shadowfall and when encounering quicksand thats minus jump swift lets get clear faster. Matter of preference.Health isnt a bad choice,ultimately the game is about Hp and getting alittle more back on the way to stamina isnt bad.And,of course, the gem of the set-stamina. More stamina the better. Enough said.

Flight: safe,slow(until slotted) and easy to travel, flight is a good "squishy" mode of travel and makes Grandville much more bearable.Hover can add a touch of defense and get you above such annoying things as earthquake and the like.Air Superiority is argueably one of the best pool attack choices and could make an ok panic attack to gain a couple seconds. Flight also offers you away to travel in style with your minions and friends-slowly and with a huge end drain- but in style nontheless.

Leadership: A pool in which many MM's decree as mandatory.The effects of Maneuvers(small defense bonus,not worth slotting), Assault( increase in damage,resist to confuse and taunt),Tactics ( very nie power, 3 slotted its almost like having another acc slotted), and vengeance ( wont work on minions,situational but gives an excellent boost to all 3 skills and a small heal) will apply to everyone near you, be they minion or teammate. I like leadership alot....when someone else has it. Its just a weird personal thing of mine but I hate having this pool. I dont like using up the skill slots to get it, the end drain when id rather be using other powers,and hate having to retoggle them everytime I get stunned or held. I had this pool for a good long while and though it did offer some benefit I dont miss it much at all(except tactics). Both my enforcers run their version of leadership, through my secondary I can get better results with defense and damage potential than with leadership. Now, of course, leadership would stack with all that but I opted it out and havnt regretted it. A good solid pool choice and a natural one for an MM.

Leaping: combat jumping gives a decent travel boost and a small defense bonus as well as mag 1 protection from immobilization.I avoid jumpkick like I would syphyllis, the animation takes way to long for what it does. Superjump, unenhanced,offers fast travel with good vertical climb,is easy and cheap to use.One of my favorites. Acrobatics is handy, it offers mag 1 protection from knockbacks and holds. If your looking for some status protection and decent travel, jumping pool is a solid choice.

Medicine- skip it, we have a heal and a rez, no use sucking up the few spare power selections we have with redunacies. Though Stimulant is handy to have.

Presence: lol.....go ahead. See post under fighting.

Speed: Flurry is one of the most end to damage efficient attack powers which is good cause other than that it pretty much sucks...alot. Imagine a weak single target shadowmaul. Yup,skip it and get haste instead. I love haste but on this MM its largely useless so I wouldnt bother. However, SS is very nice for zooming mission maps and can be fun till you hit Grandville. So you'll be taking haste if you want SS. I've never liked whirlwind at all but some players like it. You decide.






Teleportation: Handy,handy. Recall friend for teammates and minions, goof for getting corpses in a pile for Howling Twilight. Teleport foe is ok for pulling and grabbing runners/flyers. If I was to seriously pvp I think I would get this power. Teleport , on the straightaways is the fastest travel power of them all ( unless you have dial-up), but is an end hog and needs a couple slots to be more user friendly.This pool is the other one that offers a way to transport your friends and minions along with you.

Patron Pool Powers: All PP pools offer four powers; an Ae attack, an AE immobilization, a shield, and a single target hold.
Ghost Widow:as a theme this pool meshes nicely with dark miasma,its the one I took and while I enjoy it, if I had the chance I would pick Black Scorpion( see below).
Nightfall: an ae cone that deals moderate negative energy damage and reduces the acc of those hit. 2 acc,3 dam, 1 end rdx
Dark Embrace: wrap yourself in negative energy granting resists to smashing,lethal, and toxic damage. 1 end rdx, 3 resists
Soul Tentacles: an area effect immobilization and negative energy dot. 2 acc, 1-3 immob, 1-3 damage depending on preference.
Soul Storm : single target hold, with this and PG you can play controller. 2 acc,3 hold

Black Scorpian :
Web Envelope: an ae immobilization,- fly - jump, does no damage.
Scorpian Shield :energy shield that grants defense to smashing,lethal,and energy attacks. Also adds resists to toxic damage. This is the power I wish I could take. Think of the synergy of the -acc debuff of miasma with the + defense of this shield.
Mace Beam Volley: cone attack,moderate damage
Web Cacoon: single target hold.

Captain Mako:
School of Sharks : an ae immobilization and dot.
Bile Spray: cone attack dealing toxic damage.
Shark Skin: Passive resists to smashing,lethal and cold damage.
Spirit Shark Jaws: Single target hold with lethal dot.

Scirroco:
Static Discharge: ae energy attack
Charged Armor : offers resists to smashing,lethal and energy attacks
Electrifying fences: ae immobilization and energy dot.
Electric Shackles: single target hold.

Brief summation on the capabilities of dark miasma:

With this secondary you have :
* the only MM aoe heal that also debuffs targets acc and the damage they deal.
* an aoe debuff,slow -fly-jump that seriously lowers enemies damage resistance.
* an aoe toggle acc debuff and damage potential
* an aoe rez that can masquearde as an auto hit aoe stun, slow, damage power.
* an aoe stealth,defense, resist vs energy,neg, energy and psi.
* an aoe fear power, good soft control,huge cone,seldom resisted.
* a single target hold
* an aoe enemy phase
* and a pet that uses many of the above powers randomly to help you out.
* and ,if all that wasn't enough, we get more dates than any other MM.


A note on the first veteran power rewards( havnt gotten the choice of Nemesis staff or blackwand,only 28 months in, I curse the while I left for EQ2 back when it came out)

Sands of mu vs The undead slaying Axe.
Sands of mu: unslotted shadowmaul, does high damage in a melee, roots you for a few seconds, does partial smashing/ neg energy damage with an acc debuff counter.
Undead Axe: moderate lethal with a special bonus true undead (cot spectres and banished Pantheon husks and the like, Vahz isnt included), faster recharge than sands of mu.

Now the main use of these two powers will come in the early levels,when your goofing off, adding some damage to your minions, and as a "get out of my face " panic button. Sands of mu will do more damage and as a theme fits with dark miasma nicely. However, as you can't slot acc with this its inaccurate and missing will hurt- trust me Ive done 50 levels of Dm on both cities- missing with these makes you cringe.
The axe does less damage but is faster,it will add some damage and you get the whole " axe wielding maniac" thing going on.The weapon redraw can get annoying but your not gonna rely on temp powers for damage forever. In the long run,imo, you'll get more use of the axe. When you get to cot spectres the axe can be your friend. Cot spectres suck in general and doing scads of damage to them is nice. Plus dark melee is weak vs spectres.And if a melee attack panic botton is your thing the fast animation of the axe is better.Get as from flight pool if you feel truly need one.

Thug/Dark is a flexible damage dealing machine that is equally suited to solo play or team. Just take the time to learn its limits and you'll be fine. Have fun, make some friends, and dont forget to feed your minions.

Posted below is my build post respec:

+---------------------------------------------
+ Built with SuckerPunch's Online Planner
+ http://www.pf-coh.com/planner/
+---------------------------------------------
+ Name: N/A
+ Level: 50
+ Archetype: Mastermind
+ Primary: Thugs
+ Secondary: Dark Miasma
+---------------------------------------------
01 >> Twilight Grasp ==> Acc(1),Acc(3),Heal(7),Heal(11),Heal(40),Rech(43)
01 >> Call Thugs ==> Acc(1),Acc(3),Dam(5),Dam(7),Dam(19)
02 >> Dual Wield ==> Acc(2),Dam(33),Dam(34),Dam(34),EndCost(37)
04 >> Tar Patch ==> Rech(4),Rech(5),Rech(43)
06 >> Equip Thugs ==> EndCost(6)
08 >> Empty Clips ==> Acc(8),Acc(9),Dam(9),Dam(15),Dam(37)
10 >> Howling Twilight ==> Rech(10),Rech(11),Rech(17),DisDur(43),DisDur(46),DisDur(48)
12 >> Call Enforcer ==> Acc(12),Acc(13),Dam(13),Dam(15),Dam(17)
14 >> Combat Jumping ==> EndCost(14)
16 >> Super Jump ==> Jump(16)
18 >> Gang War ==> Acc(18),Acc(19),Acc(23),Rech(23),Rech(25),Rech(25)
20 >> Fearsome Stare ==> Acc(20),Acc(21),Fear(21),Fear(34),EndCost(37),Rech(45)
22 >> Swift ==> RunSpd(22)
24 >> Health ==> Heal(24),Heal(46),Heal(46)
26 >> Call Bruiser ==> Acc(26),Acc(27),Dam(27),Dam(29),Dam(29)
28 >> Stamina ==> EndMod(28),EndMod(33),EndMod(33)
30 >> Darkest Night ==> EndCost(30),EndCost(31),ToHitDeBuff(31),ToHitDeBuff(31),ToHitDeBuff(48)
32 >> Upgrade Equipment ==> EndCost(32)
35 >> Shadow Fall ==> EndCost(35),DamRes(36),DamRes(36),DamRes(36)
38 >> Dark Servant ==> Acc(38),Acc(39),Heal(39),Heal(39),Heal(40),ToHitDeBuff(40)
41 >> Dark Embrace ==> EndCost(41),DamRes(42),DamRes(42),DamRes(42)
44 >> Soul Tentacles ==> Acc(44),Acc(45),Immob(45)
47 >> Acrobatics ==> EndCost(47),EndCost(48)
49 >> Night Fall ==> Acc(49),Dam(50),Dam(50),Dam(50)

add please:
http://boards.cityofvillains.com/showfla...e=0#Post7098044

A dark armor/ dark melee pve stalker guide

Level Breakdown for a dark/dark stalker build for pve

Character creation and Break out : Pick your sets, in this case,dark melee and dark armor. I chose smite for primary and Hide is the only choice for secondary. Make your costume and most importantly pick a good name. You can change your costume and respec your powers but your name stays the same. Your name is the first thing people have to go one and will make judgements on you based on it. Names are nouns and are capatilized, take the time to do so. If your not sure of the spelling look it up. You'll look like an idiot if you don't. Spelling with numbers, odd capatilized letters, symbols and excessive punctuation will say alot about you.If your trying to be funny or clever,think twice, chances are no one will else will get it. If someone named " dude seriuosly WTH","abefhdbdhbdbbedaaa",or "xD4rkk L0Rdx.." sent me an invite I wouldnt except. As above so below. Take the time to think of a good one. O, and "Dark" and "assassin" in a name is way over used.

So,your in break out,run upstairs grab the explore badge. You can skip the intro running around and go straight outside to get your defeat convicts missions. Do that ,grab the door mission and off to Mercy Island when its done. I choose Burke cause the hatchery mission is challenging.Stop by the trainer and train your second power choice, I chose Shadowmaul.

Mercy Island ( level 2-5) Do your first contacts missions,complete the entire arc or when your level 20 and call him for your cape mission you'll be running back to mercy to finish it before he'll give it to you. Take your time fighting,you have low hitpoints,little defense, and lack assassin strike. Use smite from hide,it hits fairly high and always crits. Learn to use shadowmaul,get used to the rooted animation. If your low on health use a respite before using it as your locked into it for the few seconds it takes to complete.
At the level you get it,shadowmaul is the highest damage melee Ae attack availalable. It's a cone,practice side stepping with melee opponents to line them into a triangle,target the center mob with another mob on either side and slightly behind. It can hit all three and if minions will most likely finish them all off. Shadowmaul can get up to 4 human size targets in its cone but its hard to do,lining up three is easy.At level 3 throw an enhance slot in smite and shadowmaul. Dont bother buying enhancement at this level range,the rate at which you level coupled with the small returns of training origins isnt worth it. Slot mostly accuracy and end reduction when available. At level 4 pick up Dark embrace,throw an end reduction in it. At 5 put 2 slots in smite. At 5th level is when I leave Mercy,I ignore the second mercy contact,grab the explore badges I can reach and high tail it to Port Oakes.

Port Oakes ( lvl 5-12) When you zone in ,you'll get your broker contact. Visit him right away so paper missions under contacts are unlocked. Run paper mission doors until a mayhem is unlocked and grab it from your broker. You should be level 6 by now so stop by the arbiter and train Assassin's Eclipse before heading to your mayhem.Yes ! You now have the signature stalker attack,you'll love it. Finish that and you'll receive a flight pack which is very handy. These travel rewards will let us put off picking up a travel power till much later in our build. After each mayhem your broker will give you a contact. This is the normal way to open up most of your contacts throughout the game,though at some points contacts will also give you others.At 7th throw both slots into your Assassin's Eclipse and at 8th grab build up. The build up plus assassin strike will outright kill almost all mobs but some bosses. There are three badge missions in this range and it can be hard with all the paper missions and mayhems to get them all before you level out of the range. When you hit 9th,put another slot in AS and one in dark embrace. At level 10 you have to decide on wether getting staimna ASAP is a priority for you. With all the toggle powers you'll be picking up in the 20s and 30s I believe it is. So I train sprint at 10th. At this level mayhem takes you to Kings Row and the reward is a jumppack,the last temp travel power given from mayhems.When you hit 11th throw 2 slots into dark embrace. When 12 comes around get placate,its a very important power to have. You can use it to to an extra crit on a boss after an As,to take out a minion or just to drop aggro from a Mob you dont want attacking you. You now have the nucleus of the stalker offensive build,all thats left is to fill out your attack chain. Up till now you may have felt somewhat weak and vulnerable,things will start picking up for you now. Level 12 is also when Dual origins become available. If you have a higher level character to feed you infamy,great buy em for the extra power boost. If you dont I suggest not even bothering with them. As a stalker you can,to a certain extent,pick your fights. Leveling is still fast at this range and enhancements you buy today will be outleveled quickly.The mobs you fight do take a jump in difficulty but not so much that it isnt doable.Somethings to try in Port Oakes; create a group to get your ghost hunter badge to unlock a hidden contact,this will be hard but isnt a challenge fun ? You'll need a full group to do it. Hunt family boss's and under bosses's for badge which unlocks a contact for later on. You can stay in PO for awhile but at 12 I normally move onto Cape Au Diable.

Build at level 12:
Hide- (end rdx)
Smite- (acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg)
Shadowmaul- (acc) (acc)
Dark embrace- (end rdx) (rst) (rst) (rst)
Assassin's Eclipse-(acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg)
Build up-(rch)
Sprint- (run)
Placate-(rch)

Cape Au Diable and Sharkhead( levels 12ish-20ish) Do papers and open up contacts,do some mayhems. There is a couple badge misions to be had in this level range and some fun missions.One of the missions nets you a goldbricker flightpack,giving you three temp travel powers to use. Start grouping and devloping tactics to work with them. Practice as/placate combo's,get comfortable with multi targeting, test yourself on small/medium groups, try taking tough solo bosses. You'll hate goldbrickers as they do energy damage.At this range we will be tightening our attack chains and start to add more of our defensive set.This is when you have to decide on how your going to choose your powers as you progress. Which travel pool do you want to take ? Do you want protection from knockback ? Do you want to take shadowpunch for your attack chain or use a pool attack power in addiditon to or in place of it ? Start slotting up shadowmaul,take another attack-either shadowpunch or a pool power, and select some defensive options.Grab health so stamina is available at 22.The level 20 power Dark regeneration is a must have IMO.
We'll have the tools for assassination,a solid base for a descent attack chain outside of hide , the start of our defense,
a good heal and stamina.At level 22 Single origin enhancements are available, this is when the realization of power starts. If you cant afford a whole batch ( and you most likely will not be able to unless your bank rolled) buy enhancers for your assassin eclipse, dark embrace and end reducers for your heal. Fill in the rest with Do's and To's concentrating on accuracy first.

Build at 22:
1-Hide- (end rdx)
1-Smite- (acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg)
2-Shadowmaul- (acc) (acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg)
4-Dark embrace- (end rdx) (rst) (rst) (rst)
6-Assassin's Eclipse-(acc) (acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg)
8-Build up-(rch) (rch)
10-Sprint- (run)
12-Placate-(rch) (rch)
14-Shadowpunch-(acc) (dmg) (dmg)
16-Obsidian Shield-(endrdx)
18-Health-(heal)
20-Dark regeneration-(acc) (endrdx) (endrdx)
22-Stamina (endmod)

Sharkhead and Nerva (20ish-30ish) With So's the game starts to open up. Do some Sf's,group when possible, refine your skills,fight some monsters,grab some badges. Try to open up some hidden contacts like Doc Buzzsaw.You can skip normal missions in lieu of "defeat boss" paper missions, chaining them together for rapid xp gain.If the random mission gernerator is kind I could average about 10 paper missions per hour ( yes,if your good and you know the maps it only takes about 5 minutes to stealth to the end of one and kill the boss room.) The boss xp and completion bonus's really add up fast. There's two problems with going this route for xp,one you wont be maximizing your infamy gain,and two,and more importantly, the friends you arent making in this range wont be around to help you clear all the elite bosses that start appearing later on.
In this range, as the enemies start to get harder, we will concentrate on our defenses and survivability. The temp travel powers we have are getting low ( a 4th travel temp, a flight pack from a sky raider mission on sharkhead can be earned.) so we will also pick up our travel power. You must make further power selection decisions-are you planning on gaining patron pools later ?, what other pool powers do you want to aid in battles? Do you want tp for mission stealthing?
Dip into the fighting pool for tough ? Haste ? Plan on doing PvP ? Are you getting the soft controls powers from your secondary ?

Build at 35:
1-Hide- (end rdx)
1-Smite- (acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg)
2-Shadowmaul- (acc) (acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg)
4-Dark embrace- (end rdx) (rst) (rst) (rst)
6-Assassin's Eclipse-(acc) (acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg)
8-Build up-(rch) (rch)
10-Sprint- (run)
12-Placate-(rch) (rch)
14-Shadowpunch-(acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg)
16-Obsidian Shield-(endrdx) (rst) (rst)
18-Health-(heal)
20-Dark regen-(acc) (endrdx) (endrdx) (endrdx) (rch) (rch)
22-Stamina -(endmod) (endmod) (endmod)
24-Combat Jumping-( endrdx)
26-Superjump- (leap)
28-Murky Cloud-(endrdx) (rst) (rst) (rst)
30-Cloak of Fear-(end rdx) (end rdx) (acc) (acc)
32- Midnight Grasp-(acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg)
35-Oppressive Gloom-(acc)

St.Martial and Grandville- More of the same but AV,elite bosses become more coomon. You'll need a group for most of these,we just dont have the staying power to go toe to toe with these on a reliable basis. Paper missions and pvp zone missions are still a good source of xp.Our offense is good and our defenses set-up. We are in the end game now and there is only a few selections for powers left in our build. Decide if your going for a patron pool or not. I think they pretty much suck,there are a few usefull skills in them but on this build,I opted to skip it and go with power pool selections.

Build at 50:
1-Hide- (end rdx)
1-Smite- (acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg) (rch) (endrdx)
2-Shadowmaul- (acc) (acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg) (en rdx)
4-Dark embrace- (end rdx) (rst) (rst) (rst)
6-Assassin's Eclipse-(acc) (acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg)
8-Build up-(rch) (rch) (rch)
10-Sprint- (run)
12-Placate-(rch) (rch) (rch)
14-Shadowpunch-(acc) (acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg) (endrdx)
16-Obsidian Shield-(endrdx) (endrdx) (rst) (rst) (rst)
18-Health-(heal) (heal) (heal)
20-Dark regen-(acc) (endrdx) (endrdx) (endrdx) (rch) (rch)
22-Stamina -(endmod) (endmod) (endmod)
24-Combat Jumping-( endrdx)
26-Superjump- (leap)
28-Murky Cloud-(endrdx) (endrdx)(rst) (rst) (rst)
30-Cloak of Fear-(end rdx) (end rdx) (acc) (acc) (fear)
32- Midnight Grasp-(acc) (dmg) (dmg) (dmg) (rch) (end rdx)
35-Oppressive Gloom-(acc) (acc) (stun) (stun) (stun)
38-Acrobatics-(endrdx) (endrdx)
41-Touch of Fear-(acc) (acc) ( -acc) (-acc) (-acc) (fear)
44-Boxing (acc) (acc)
47-Tough (endrdx)(endrdx) (rst) (rst) (rst)
49- Shadowdweller (def)

With this build you have the attack chain of shadowpunch-boxing-smite-midnight grasp with maul to use on multiple opponents. Resists in the form of dark embrace,murky cloud, obsidian shield, and tough. Defense from hide,combat jumping,shadowdweller and the synergy with the acc debuff from attacks,touch of fear,and cloak of fear. Controls in the form of touch of fear,cloak of fear,placate,oppressive gloom,and the low mag immob from midnight grasp.Protection from sleep,fear,stun and holds from Obsidian , pro from immob from shadow dweller and combat jumping,and knockback protection from acrobatics. Backed up by dark regen and the fitness pool to keep us going.

Alternate power selections:
This is,of course,my build which may not be suited to everyone.Some power are easy to replace,below are some suggestions.
Drop shadowmaul to gain a power choice.Perhaps siphon life or haste.
Go the flight route and pick up air superiority instead of maul or shadowpunch. If you do not opt for acrobatics via jump pool you will not have a descent form of kb protection. Hover/flight IMO is a pain with supression and position when used in a fight.
Drop the fighting pool for air superiority and haste or patron pool powers.
Drop Cloak of fear and or Oppressive gloom for another power choice.This would be mistake as what you left with is only mediocre resists and sub par defense. As a set Dark Armor was balanced with these two powers in mind.

Dark Melee and alternate slottings:
Dark melee is a combination of smashing and negative energy damage,the higher damage component being smashing,except for midnight grasp.

Shadowpunch ( level 1) a fast low damage attack. Has a low end cost,a fast recharge speed and the animation time is very short. The beauty of shadowpunch isnt in its damage per se but that it lends itself to a tight attack chain.
standard attack- 1 acc,3 dmg,1 rch,1 end rdx
filler- 1-2 acc,1 rch,1 end rdx
debuff attack- acc,3 acc debuff,2 rch

Smite ( level 1) must have DM attack,hits for good damage and only slightly slower in recharge and animation than shadowpunch.
standard attack in a chain- 1 acc,3dmg,1 rch, 1 end rdx
high accuracy attack- 2-3 acc,3 dmg,maybe throw in a rch in place of the 3rd acc. Its nice to have at least one high acc attack for the times when you are debuffed or facing mobs with high defense(like rikti drones and bubbled mobs).
faster smite- 1 acc,3 dmg, 2 rch for those who need to tighten up their attack chain.

Shadowmaul (level 2) love it or hate it,you decide. For its level is the highest damage power you have and also the most
damaging melee ae. Has a long animation that roots you and a moderate recharge speed. I find it indespensible at low levels but end game dont use it as much as I can fire off sp-smite-boxing-midnight grasp in almost the same time maul would take. Also it doesnt automaticly crit from hide.Maul doesnt lend itself well to alternate slotting. 2 acc,3 dmg,1 end rdx

Assassin's Eclipse( level 6) the one attack you must have. Loads of damage,looks cool, you'll love having enemies eat your skull. Never to be used outside of hide as it is interruptable and does sad damage as a normal attack.
2 acc,3 dmg the last slot is up for grabs, as it isnt a standard attack there isnt much point in an end rdx, hide takes 10 seconds so a recharge isnt of great importance. A third acc maybe to ensure hits. I normally end up putting a 4th damage in it,yea it hardly raises the damage but it does do more with it. Not like there ia another more usefull enhance for it.

Build-up: adds 50% more damage and some acc. Lovely combined with As. Only lasts a short while,enough time for an as,placate,attack-maybe you can sneak another one in.With 2-3 recharges it should be available when you need it. Some slot acc buff in it,ive never seen the need in Pve.

Placate( level 12) another must have for a stalker. Allows an extra crit on a tough boss or another mob,can stop an enemy attacking you. Very usefull. Can placate from range,so you can placate an mob from a good distance away and use the brief hide oppurtunity to crit on a mob next to you. 2-3 recharge

Siphon Life(Level 18) optional. I rarely take this one,its recharge,end cost and the amount it heals not being worth it with dark regen as aback up. Still,it not a bad power by any means. Coupled with a good defense based secondary that lacks a heal it would be quite usefull. Id choose it if I had more room in a build. 2 acc,2-3dmg*,1 end rdx,maybe drop a dmg for a recharge. * I havnt used this since I was an Issue 1 dm scrapper. Then slotting heals wasnt superior to extra damage as they both modified the same % and the heal is based on the damage done. Not sure if this is still the case or not.

Touch of fear ( level 26) Suggest it, I like ToF for a number of uses. As a soft control to manage spawns,as an acc debuff for fighting bosses,and for time to get into hide for an As on a single mob. Its a fast a fast animation and a good recharge speed. Does no damagethough, but its usefullness outweighs this.
light control- 1-2 acc,1-2 fear ( or none),maybe a rch
Hvy control version-1 acc,3 fear,2 rch,maybe drop a rch for another acc.
Boss accuracy debuff- 2 acc,3 acc debuff,1 rch

Midnight Grasp( level 32) a descent attack but I cant help but feel cheated on our 9th tier attack power. It does do all negative energy which is nice as most mobs have some resists vs. smashing.It gives damage up front then ticks for additional damage. Has a fairly fast animation and an ok recharge speed. Comes with a mag 1 Immobilize,which is enough for minions but not Lts or bosses.You'll end up taking this power since we havnt had a pure attack power since shadowmaul at level 2. 1-2 acc,3 dmg.1 end rdx,maybe drop an acc for a rch.

Some final thoughts:
Dark melee matures very early,with its hard hitting fast attacks( in both recharge and animation) and its early high dmage cone attack. DM attacks has a satisfying sound effect that comes with it,it FEELS very brutal when using it. You'll find yourself chewing through enemies at a good clip at the start. As an added bonus all dm attacks put a low acc debuff counter on your opponent,which can stack. Towards the middle of the game DM does start to lag abit as more mobs come with resists vs smashing damage (hate those CoT spectres). Designed as a sustained dps set for scrappers Dm really lacks the burst damage we need. Then again,so does every set but Em.We also loose one of the more desirable utility skills-dark consumption. Still, Dm has the tools to deal with most situations and lends itself well to soloing.

The poor mans controller ( no, im not going to mash stalker and dominator/controller together for some cute name).
With all the soft controls available to the dm/da stalker you can act as a limited crowd control if your group lacks it and/or is faced with a tough spawn or emergency situation. Brutes tend to dislike it as non attacking mobs dont generate fury. What I do watch for is adds,and mobs that are not being beat on by brutes.Tof can be used to single out mobs and neutralize them,even in the heat of battle as its animation is very fast. In a large room faced with large spawns there is often to many mobs to be controlled fast,if your brute doesnt have taunt your healer may get unwanted aggro. This is a good use for OG,toggle it on and run to your healer. Or if you know its going to happen let it run and stand aways in front of them as a sort of Pbaoe bodyguard. In a tough fight if a brute is in danger of being overwhelmed,pulsing Og and/or Cof can defuse a heated battle. With adds you can stay towrds the fringe of the fight utilizing og/cof in the same way. Be mindfull that Og uses your health to stun, getting alot of enemies with it can be dangerous,especially if you are taking aggro yourself.

A hard set to master, the dm/da set has so much synergy together if you take the time to practice with it. Its host of utility comes at the price of lack of specilization. It doesnt have great resists,nor great defense,or strong control options,or cheap means to heal and regain endurance.It has holes in its status protection that have to be addressed. Endurance awareness is crucial. You cant just turn on your secondary powers and forget them, it isnt user friendly that way. You have to monitor it and change tactics with the situation. If you dont Dm/da will bite you and you will most likely face plant it. Da takes time to mature. ( amusing ,in a twisted kind of way, that Dm matures fast and looses potency late game, while Da is the opposite,starting fairly weak and gaining power as you advance.)

Cheers.

Overview:
Dark armor is a resist based set with the options for soft control, an aoe heal, and minimal defense. It is a flexible set allowing many ways to build and slot it. Many of the powers are situational and you will need to toggle your powers on and off to suit the needs of the encounter and your endurance useage. With 6 toggles the amount of endurance it can eat up really requires constant management. For pve,grouping, and scrapping it out after AS/placate cycle the dark armor set has the tools to get it done. DA offers some resistance to pretty much every damage type in the game, an excellent though expensive heal,and two means of soft control-a pbaoe fear and disorientate,and a personal rez. What the set does lack is protection from knockback, confusion and, unlike the other stalker sets, has no Tier 9 "godmode" power.

The Powers:
Hide (level 1,have to take it): This is, of course, one of the signature powers of the stalker. Turn it on and leave it that way,unless the situation dictates otherwise (such as an escort mission).Offers an excellent level of stealth for exploring, grabbing badges,and positioning for stealth attacks.In pve most enemies will not see you,some exceptions are RIP lts running tactics,Rikti drones, and Raheru sentinel eyes. Being hidden is required for the extra damage from assassin's strike,and most other attacks will do a critical strike if hidden. Attacking, being hit, and clicking on glowies will suppress hide for 10 seconds. Slotting recharge reductions will NOT decrease this suppression time,only the amount of time you would have to wait to activate hide again if it was turned off or dropped. Hide offers minimal defense when active and when hidden a substantial bonus to aoe defense(around 30%ish,if I remember correctly). I use the default slot with an end reducer,some players I've talked to add a few defense slots for a boost. Personally,I dont,but each to his own.

Dark Embrace(level 2, strongly recommend this one) Embrace is the main shield I run and one I never take off.It offers resists to lethal,smashing,toxic,and negative energy. Every faction has at least 1 or more of those attacks types. Get embrace.Use it. Slot with 3 Resist,1-2 end reducers.

Murky Cloud( level 4, question isnt if to get this one but when) This is your elemental shield,offering resists against fire,cold,energy and negative energy,as well as protection from endurance drains. Energy attacks are far more common in CoV and you meet more enemies using it earlier than in CoH. Lost,CoT,Legacy Chain,and Arachnos all use energy damage types and you start facing them from level 5-6 and on.Since early stalker builds are always tight,this one can be skipped for awhile,how long is up to you. 3 resist enhancers,1-2 end reduction.

Shadow Dweller ( level 10, only passive skill in the set)
Shadow dweller adds minimal defense to all attacks, provides resistance to immobilize and adds plus perception. Wether you take this or not will depend on what you have planned for your stalker. If your going the Jump pool route to pick up acrobatics or going with teleport and you dont care about immobs as much, or plan on carrying loads of Beakfree's,you could probably skip this power if your build is tight. If you want to stack perception to see stealth( pvp,longbow specialist,bane spider scouts) you'll want this one eventually.

Obsidian Shield( level 16,you'll need this one as soon as you can fit it in) This toggle shield offers protection from sleep,fear,holds,immobilize,and disorient attacks and resists damage from psi ! 3 resists,1-2 end reductions

Dark Regeneration ( level 20, take it asap and slot it up,this is the baby that will keep you alive and kicking.) Dark regeneration is one of the most powerfull self only heals,you can go from from almost dead to a full bar with only a few enemies to draw from. It does come with a couple hefty drawbacks. First, it has a huge endurance cost (end reduction on this power isnt an option if you plan on using it on a regular basis.) Secondly, this is pbaoe heal that requires enemies to draw from and has an accuracy check. Of any power in DA this is the one that is hardest to decide on slotting. I went with 3 end reducers,1 acc,and 2 recharge.

Cloak of Fear ( level 28, personal choice) One of my favorite power's, this one is a toggle pbaoe fear and is one of the soft control options in Da. Its accuracy check isnt what it used to be but can still be quite effective in helping you survive larger spawns,ambushes,and missions that you need to de-hide from to accomplish. The -acc debuff offers synergy with defense making you harder to hit and can mean less minions and Lts attacking you. This power can also be a group friendly one to use as feared Mobs,unless attacked,wont be hurting your teammates. Has a fairly hefty cost and with the hit to its accuracy,cant be counted on to work when you need it.Slotting 2 acc and afear duration or 2 will help make this more dependable. CoF has a graphic that hides your character in a mass of darkness with the white screaming fear skulls covering it. I think it looks awesome,some people hate it.

Oppressive Gloom ( level 35-personal choice)
My favorite power in the set, a pbaoe toggle stun with a low end cost, be warned though that it does drain some health with each Mob thats disorientated. Doesnt have high enough mag to stun Lts or bosses but very effective against minions. Has saved my life on occassion and the lives of my group. Yea, that right, with this power I actually saved my group. A nasty triggered ambush while fighting a large spawn came from behind.Toggled this on and turned those annoying sappers,tac op,and engineers into drunken fools. Gave the team the time needed to regain their stride. Makes a good save for when your friendly corruptor or dom is getting mobbed by minions,too. Like CoF is also handy for finishing minions after AS'ing the boss and those missions where being hidden isnt possible. Also for grabbing clickies if your in a hurry-find the glowie,AS the lt or boss,placate any others,run OG and grab your glowy and run.With a couple disorientate enhancers slotted you can turn the power on,stun the mobs,then turn it off to conserve health. Consider taking this one,along with COf is one of the things that makes DA unique.

Soul Transfer( level 38 ,personal choice)
A rez for the ninth power.Needs an enemy near to activate.
Gives you a brief while of being invulnearable and stuns mobs near you. Can be handy on ocassion,I guess. With all the power pool choices to round out Da and the patron pools this one is the most skippable power in the set.

Dark Armor and power pools :

Fitness: swift or hurdle, health (to "pay" for Opressive gloom),and stamina ( a must,with 6 toggles in Da not to mention attacking,endurance will be very tight.)

Jumping: a popular choice for DA as it opens the way for knockback protection via acrobatics,and can provide a little more defense and protection from immobilzation. Those looking for a pool power attack to tighten their attack chain may be dissappointed in jump kick. Personally I hate it and will take combat jumping instead.

Speed: Flurry (eh,whatever-good end to damage ratio but...),haste(usefull),Superspeed (love it on mission maps,hate it on city maps-especially Grandville),whirlwind ( on a stalker ? hmm no thanks).

Teleport : handy pool, recall friend for stealthing missions to the end,Tp foe for a pull and in pvp,Tp self is also highly usefull in pvp. no pool attack power.

Flight: Air Superiority( best pool attack power IMO),hover( can be usefull in some cases), flight ( for ease of travel probably the best,though slow and needs slotting)

Fighting: both kick and boxing are a descent attack,though boxing is faster and offers stun over kicks Kb, Tough ( recommend this one if you can fit it in- I like to fight it out after Ive removed the greatest threats in a spawn.) Weave ( for what it costs selection and end wise I dont find it all that usefull)

Leadership: if your going for tactics for + per this would be usefull but on melee builds I generally skip leadership.

Medicine: Aid others ( for healing badge if your that sort),stimulate(offer some status pro for a non-melee teammate), aid self ( with interrupt reduction and 3 heals,this can be a very good self heal,stalker builds being tight Id stick with dark regeneartion), resurrection ( can be handy on occassion)

Presence : ummm. no.

Concealment: Handy especially in pvp for stacking stealth. Stealth( slows movement,adds to stealth,will stack with hide), grant invisibility ( think of 2 stalker partners with this ),invisibility ( not sure if this stacks and with what), phase shift( a save your butt kind of power ).

Some General Observations:

Boss's and minions : on defense based stalkers I found it easier to take out elite bosses and the like ( after popping some purples) then on Da but packs of minions would eat through my defenses( *cough* frikkin longbow and arachnos). While on Da with its resists that can always be counted on and with CoF, and OG for control minions give me little trouble. I could still take most bosses but not with the easy solution of a few inspirations and a 9th teir power.

Arachnos the mixed damage type king and you : this faction has it all : lethal and smashing ? check. Fire damage ? yup
Energy ? O yea. Psi and toxic ? You bet. Luckily you do have resistance to all these types of damage. Assuming even SO's,all shields and tough 3 slotted for resists,your resists will be something like this: lethal/smash=52% cold/fire=35%
energy= 23% negative energy= 46% toxic=23% Psi= 58%
Please note that these figures are to the of my knowledge and may be dated so dont take it as gospel,it will however give you a general idea on where your resist will stand.

Soloing with DA: on my Energy Aura stalker I stealthed every mission I could to get to the boss or end goal.Having to take on all the minions took to much time with hit and run tactics and defense being the way it is taking a stand and scrapping it out wasnt always the viable solution. On my Da I clear every mission,minions are cake with Da. Not only does Da have the offensive tools to take out boss and lt mobs with comparitive ease but also has the tools to stand it out once their down and finish of its minions. With resist based secondary its easier to do a damage assement risk of a given spawn. I know that my shields will resist X amount of damage. Always. Is defense better when it works than resists ? Of course it is. But you cant KNOW when it and the RNB is gonna go your way. This coupled with Cof and Og lets me scrap it out which I enjoy doing. Its still risky but the element of possible death makes it exciting. I also enjoy the cold precision of stalking. This way I get the best of both worlds. I'm not saying that Da is outright the best set for doing both stalking and fighting ,but I will say,that compared to my Ea and ninjitsu stalker the Da comes out on top in a straight up fight more consistently.

Concept and origin: Want a magic concept or backround for your character ? How can you beat dark armor for that ?

Sample fight: Your in a door mission,the sprawling high tech base map facing Longbow post 40. Your soloing on Relentless.
You come to the large central room that has the two ramps going up to circular platform midway up with that power hub thingie,from that platform ramps on either side go up to a circular walkway overlooking the middle platform. Recognize this room ? You have two groups on the middle platform,fairly close to one another as well as a single minion on the right ramp leading up to second walkway.The group on the right has a Nullifier,a special ops,an eagle,and two riflemen. The one on the left has a nullifier, 2 special ops,an eagle and a flamethrower. The single minion is a riflemen,we're worried that if he aggros on us that he will call a third group from up top. The groups are close enough together and spread out enough that both will aggro upon revealing ourself. We go left,and stand behind the nullifier surrunded by his group with the group on the right in sight.All of our defensive shields are on plus tough and acrobatics.We pop a yellow and 2 reds,hit build up, start assassin strike,while the animation is going we target the nullifier in the second group and que up placate.AS hits and takes the first Nullifier down to a fraction of his health, placate fires and the 2nd nullifier is placated.Quickly targeting a minion on my right we take the hidden status of placate and fire of smite which crits almost killing the riflemen.We pop a spare purple as both groups aggro,the spec ops go stealth mode and they open fire on me. I pick another target behind me,sidestep quickly to line up a cone and unleash shadow maul.It only catches 2 but they severly injured.Hit dark regen and top of my health and then I jump over the minions and tuck away behind the power hub thingie breaking the LOS of the second group causing them to move closer in order to attack me.As the first group comes into melee range I toggle on COF,luckily it takes a hold on one.I find one of the injured riflemen and take him out with shadowpunch.Relocate the first nullifier as the second group of Longbow start rounding the corner and togle on OG.Glowy madness. I take out the nullifier with midnight grasp as the minions start wandering around drunk.
Target a one,sidestep to line up a maul,fire it off,finish off the injured ones with smite-shadowpunch-box chains,hitting uninjured ones with midnight grasp as it refreshes to let the dot take effect.Then finishing them off as well.Turn off Og to halt the drain of life,with 3 disorintate enhancers they will stay stunned for awhile.Touch of fear the Nullifier we placated,hit dark regen when it comes up to get us to full health,and finish off the last couple minions.Reapply ToF to nullifier, turn off Cof, wait for hide and AS him.That was fun, we repeat this process with adjustments in tactics depending on map and groups on the top. On a side note-the chain of shadowpunch, boxing, smite is very fast and lets you really put out sustained DPS.

Be flexible and dont panic-words to live ( or die by), work up a plan of attack but be prepared for it to go wrong,if it does dont start jumping around,button mashing and popping inspirations like candy. Think.Act. Force the fight on your terms,make your enemies react to your tactics not the otherway around.And when in doubt.....run.

On grouping as a da stalker( and stalkers in general) some tips: 1) make friends,it will be easier to find groups and more enjoyable,too. Soloing all the time and getting the odd tell asking if you have tp so they can stealth a tf can get pretty old somedays. 2) understand that,hopefully,everyone is here to have fun.Dont demand that you get in position behind that boss before anyone does anything. Don't act like the group is your stalking horse for assassin strikes and taking down the big boys. Don't whine if you rush ahead and do an AS when your group wasnt ready and you die.Cummincate. Don't go off exploring the map(unless asked) while your group is fighting half a map away. Dont get stuck on the boss-killer mentality,sometimes removing an awfull minion ( sappers, tsoo inkmen) will be more usefull to your group.Learn to scan all the enemies,learn which ones can cause problems,adjust to the make up of the group. Got two brutes who bee-line for the boss ignoring the minions,one of which has stuns and holds and locks down your healer ? Take that guy out. You can always placate/crit to add damage to any boss after.Yes, the way stalker AS works puts them outside the normal group dynamic somewhat but that doesnt mean you cant think as a member of the group.Understand not only what the other At's do but what they find fun. Brutes want to wade in,build up fury,and do massive damage while taking hits. Doms want to attack to bring up domination to unleash their holds and such with a fury, corruptors will do their buff/heal/debuff/etc role but love to see those scourge messages appear,especially with Ae attacks,and so on.And what do stalkers love ? Lol that should be an easy one. With some cummunication and some tactics,its quite possible that everyone can enjoy their role. Sadly,some players dont think stalkers can contribute much to a fast paced group. Maybe they've never grouped with many or they got one of the bad ones that colored their views.
As a da stalker,beyond the pretty assassination messages, your presence through OG and Cof(if used wisely) is far more vvisible.Saving your healer from getting mobbed is a good way to get some respect from them.AS the most dangerous target,dont be afraid to use your soft controls and engage in alittle melee action sans hide. You can always pause to slip back into hide for the next group when their busy mopping up the last couple. Be flexible. Learn to adjust.Have fun.and if your group just doesnt get stalkers or are incompetent dont be afraid to leave. Pair up with another stalker, on my non stalker characters when I put together groups I dont care if I have a stalker,not that I wont invite one,but it doesnt matter to me. Two stalkers who know how to work together,however,are godly and makes a huge impact on how misisons go.

Some thoughts on Stalker primaries coupled with Dark armor.

Claws : fast attacks,does lethal damage(for the most part), has 4 single target attacks(swipe,strike,slash,focus) and 2 cones (eviserate and shockwave).Has a range attacked,has a kb attack, lowers defense with attacks.Works ok with DA but not alot of synergy or utility that it doesnt cover.

Ninja Blade: Much like claws in terms of synergy/utility except for Divine avalanche whichs adds some nice melee defense which DA lacks. Some nice synergy with hide,CoF's acc debuff,and shadow dwellers def.5 single target attacks and 2 ae attacks (if counting golden dragonfly) Blade attacks also lower def.

Martial Arts: only played it as a scrapper,somehwat lackluster damage,the oeder in which the attacks are receives as well as the level they get them,puts it at a disadvatage in early to mid levels.Stun on cobra strike is nice giving abit more control ( Not sure how the mags from cobra and Og stack-if anyone does please comment,be cool if they could stun bosses then) and an immob from crippling axe kick.

Energy melee = highest burst damage capable set,has some synergy with Da, the added stun effects will help in controls,a heal can off set the cost of energy transfer,since EM excells at single target damage the controls of DA will help by giving them the time to utilize it.

Spines : sorry,never played spines,so cant make anything beyond educated guesses. Have to read another guide that has more knowledge than I.

Dark Melee: the thematicly matched utility attack set. The minus -acc component helps with Da's Defense, touch of fear adds more control,siphon life another way to heal damage(though I wouldnt consider it a heal as such),shadowpunch and smite are fast attacks and makes a base of a good attack chain. Shadowmaul can be nice,alot of people hate the rooted animation,but there are other attacks that have animations incomparable length.Matures early and lags behind late game due to lack of burst dmage, the last power Midnight grasp being a dot doesnt help and its mag is to low to be usefull.


Well that will end my long winded post, friend of mine couldnt find a dark armor stalker guide so I decided to throw one together. Hope it helps alittle. For those that choose Da I hope you have as much fun as I did. It can be hard in the start but dont give up,when the set is complete it offers alot to different playstyles.
Enjoy.