Justaris
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Posts
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Joined
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There's a huge difference in damage with your choice of secondary. With the exception of certain powers such as Against All Odds, your primary doesn't really impact how much damage you do as a Tanker all that much. A large chunk of a Tanker's damage usually comes from a damage aura and so if you choose a primary that lacks a damage aura, that could be a factor as well.
Far and away the biggest factor is going to be the secondary you choose, as this will dictate how many AOE damage powers you have, how many single-target powers you have, and generally what you'll be good at damage-wise. You seem set on Super Strength as a secondary since both of your options are */SS, and Rage will certainly up your damage output considerably.
If you're looking to maximize damage output and you're set on making Super Strength your secondary then I'd recommend Shield since Against All Odds will add even more to your damage and Shield Charge will give you some extra AOE. -
While it's difficult for us as players to answer questions about future development decisions with any degree of certainty, it's highly unlikely at this point. I would guess that if we were to get new ATs it would be many months if not years away.
Also, I'm not certain that there's really a need, as a new AT that fills roles already covered by existing ATs has very little incentive for established players to use. -
Quote:If you are passive and tend to just wait for other people to form the TFs/trials you want then maybe the above might hold true, but otherwise that's pretty gross hyperbole. Longest it's taken me to form something is about an hour and that was for a Dr Quaterfield TF. Mostly it's much faster than that.Originally Posted by Shred_Monkey
There are servers out there where getting into the specific iTrial you want, or TF you want may take a week or 2 of waiting. For that reason, I'd recommend playing Virtue or Freedom. Zones produce multiple instances when the population gets high and there's no fighting for spawns to begin with... so I really don't see any downside to high population servers.
I see a big downside to low population servers in waiting for building teams/trials/TFs. -
That was essentially my goal, to be able to slot whatever I wanted without restriction. While I've managed to salvage my investment and then some, with about 200% return, it's nowhere near the billions and billions that others are reporting, mostly because I had to work and couldn't get online until several hours after converters had hit live. Add in that I had over a dozen alts standing by with alignment merits and only a handful of rogues/vigilantes who still had significant stockpiles of reward merits, and this was a frustrating day.
Don't get me wrong, I've still come out ahead and I have enough to (ironically enough) finally purple out my warshade, but it's still a bit irksome to know that had I been home when the servers came up this morning I could conceivably have ten times as much pretend money, enough to cover all my alts with plenty to spare. That was my goal, and it'll take me a day or two to be able to see the (not insignificant) upside past the shadow of what could have been. Oh well. -
That's laudable, but of course ultimately meaningless for anyone who was wanting to capitalize on the actual release of converters.
I'm trying really hard to be civil and rational, but this is damned frustrating. -
I'm in the same boat. Did a bit of marketing on my lunch break, but what would have been billions of influence is now just barely making back what I invested to take advantage of this, given that I'm already hours late to the show. I too converted nearly all my reward merits to alignment. Oh well.
At least the crash means I can get things I want. -
I don't think labeling incarnate content as pay to win is, well, at all correct. It's subscriber content and has been structured as such since the beginning of Freedom, yes, but that's one of the few large incentives to subscribe (I'd say unrestricted number of active characters would be the other, with most everything else being available to a high enough tier of premium account with no further investment ever).
This is to be expected in any hybrid model - there must be good incentives to subscribe if you expect anyone to remain on the subscription service at all. Where you diverge into pay-to-win territory is when your microtransactions and/or your subscriber incentives so overshadow the rest of your content that there doesn't seem to be any way to contribute in a meaningful way without spending significant volumes of real money.
Incarnate content is very specifically gated and completely turns off below level 50, which is clearly a protective measure to keep incarnate content from trivializing the lower-level game. Microtransactions are carefully balanced and, like the one in this thread, obviously monitored to keep them from being overpowered since this is particular example is getting changed. -
You'd better move me to the 'on deck' list - if today is any indication, I'm likely get home late tomorrow and will likely miss the first couple runs entirely if not the entire shindig.
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Will try to make this, 6:15 EST is a bit early for me to make, but I could most likely make the second run if not the first as I usually get home sometime between 6 and 6:30 EST.
@Justaris, Tanker -
Grats!
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Would love to help out with any or all of the above.
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I'm about ready to just sell it on the Market, just trying to avoid the fees to get a bit more bang for my buck, but you're probably right.
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Level 50 Gladiator's Armor +3% Defense PvP IO is still available for sale.
Send tell to @Justaris or send PM if interested in purchase.
Price reduced to 1.9 billion, could use the influence for an upcoming project. -
You seem to be thinking of both Death Shroud and Cloak of Darkness. Death Shroud is the damage aura and has kind of a rolling shadow effect around you, but the one that covers you in blackness is Cloak of Darkness. Although if you set it to No Fade or Pulse in the customization options it doesn't really cover you in blackness like it used to.
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I'm in. Sounds like fun.
@Justaris -
But Cloak of Darkness isn't a damage aura...
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If you're talking about a direct port, Kat/DA scrapper to Kat/DA brute, then the higher resistance values on the armor powers would make the brute more survivable. Of course, you're going to want to heavily leverage Divine Avalanche in both cases.
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My Dark Armor Tanker is by far my favorite Tanker to play and a strong contender for my favorite character overall (and I have over a hundred at this point). I would suggest you post a build for us, so that maybe we can figure out where you are having trouble and maybe offer some advice. My DA tank had some endurance issues leveling up as well, but once he started IOing out nearly all of that disappeared and now at 50 he's a match for any other tanker I've come up against. I've routinely outtanked guys using Granite with him. So my vote is to stick with it, it really is worth it.
That said, I can clearly see you're very frustrated at this point, and there are many options for passing off other powersets as dark-themed. You've had good advice here on that, I don't have too much to add. -
"Board Transit" missions are instanced and can be reached via any multi-destination transit point (trams, ferries, ouroboros). Just head to the nearest one and you'll see your mission as a destination option at the very top, separated from the regular destinations by a divider.
Incidentally, I happen to agree about the complexity of the Valentine's tip system - it's a bit cumbersome just to figure out how to unlock it, since even vet players who've already done the Ganymede/Scratch content have to do it again, and the tip assignment seems to be completely random, making charaacters who are pure hero or pure villain unable to complete certain Tips if they can't access those zones. It's a neat idea and there's a lot of clever writing in the Tips (both comedic and dramatic), but the implementation could have used some polish. Maybe next year. -
Traditionally the GM killers have been controllers and masterminds. For speed I would say most likely a Bots/Traps Mastermind, although Thugs should work well too.
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'Best' is relative of course and you might have a case there, but as far as 'only AT that functions well with others of our kind', well, the Repeat Offenders might want to have a word with you. Also Tanker Tuesdays and any number of others, but the Repeat Offender all-defender teams in particular would be a strong contender for 'functions well'.
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While I think that good points have been raised here and there are certainly particular aspects of some of the Incarnate Trials (the tpn civilians and the lambda sabotage runs come to mind), there are also encounters in the Incarnate trials that favor Masterminds. The most obvious is the prisoner's phase of the BAF which is made absolutely trivial with enough Masterminds, but the final phase of the MoM trial with its need for rapid dps can also be leveraged easily for an MM since it's not so different from how you would take out an AV or GM solo.
Also, since the henchmens' level is dependent on your own, an MM is at an especially severe disadvantage without level shifts. However, once shifted, I've found my MM is a powerful contributor on trials. I do have to occasionally dismiss and resummon pets for certain phases, but I adapt. -
Selling a level 50 GladArmor +3% Defense IO that recently came into my possession. Asking price is 2 billion. Contact @Justaris in-game or send me a pm if interested in buying. Thanks.
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Quote:Well, much of my original work on the build was based on the general knowledge and posts of Dechs Kaison, so I'll give you the link to his website (which is also in his sig above)Originally Posted by U_S_C_I
Rangle and Justaris, could you post your builds please? I just took my dark/dark tank out of retirement and I'm looking to rebuild him...yes, I have the technology.
Thanks.
http://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2011...cks-build.html
Like him, I don't generally like to give out builds since it has the irksome consequence of other folks copying a build suited to my playstyle and preferences and perhaps having trouble when they try to play the same build in a different way. I much prefer to offer advice on feedback on someone else's build, that way I can focus on the big stuff and allow the rest to be the build you made and thus are more likely to play well with and enjoy.
That said, I will post my build below for reference. I should point out a few things about my approach to Tankers that have gone into this build. First and foremost, I build my Tankers to survive. This build has some good AOE ability, particularly at levels where my Incarnate powers are available, but damage output is not the focus of the build and has been sacrificed where necessary to increase survivability. I've therefore treated rechage as a secondary consideration and some attacks are not optimally slotted for dps, as for this build I felt it was more important to have the slots for the set bonuses I wanted. This build is defense soft-capped to S/L/E/N damage and uses Darkest Night to add an additional level of -ToHit on top of that. It is very hard to kill and I have played main tank on just about every TF and trial in the game using it with no problems (haven't had a chance to run a few of the newer iTrials yet. Stupid RL day job)
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.953
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Tin Mage Mk. V: Level 50 Magic Tanker
Primary Power Set: Dark Armor
Secondary Power Set: Electrical Melee
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Dark Embrace -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), S'fstPrt-ResKB(3), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(3), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(5), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(5), RctvArm-ResDam(7)
Level 1: Charged Brawl -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(7), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(9), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9)
Level 2: Murky Cloud -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(11), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(11), RctvArm-ResDam(13)
Level 4: Death Shroud -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Erad-%Dam(15), C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg(15), C'ngBlow-Dmg/EndRdx(17), C'ngBlow-Acc/Rchg(17)
Level 6: Obsidian Shield -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(19), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(19), RctvArm-ResDam(21), ImpArm-ResPsi(21)
Level 8: Jacobs Ladder -- Erad-Acc/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23)
Level 10: Taunt -- Mocking-Taunt(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(25), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(25), Mocking-Acc/Rchg(27), Mocking-Taunt/Rng(27), Mocking-Rchg(29)
Level 12: Dark Regeneration -- Nictus-Heal/HP/Regen/Rchg(A), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Heal/HP/Regen(29), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Theft-+End%(31), Mocking-Acc/Rchg(31)
Level 14: Cloak of Darkness -- Krma-ResKB(A), LkGmblr-Def(33), LkGmblr-Rchg+(33), DefBuff-I(33)
Level 16: Thunder Strike -- Erad-Dmg/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34)
Level 18: Boxing -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(36), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(36), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 20: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 22: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(37), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(37), RctvArm-ResDam(37)
Level 24: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(39), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(39), GftotA-Def(39)
Level 26: Fly -- Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(A), Zephyr-ResKB(40)
Level 28: Chain Induction -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(40), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(40), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42)
Level 30: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Oppressive Gloom -- Amaze-Stun(A), Amaze-Acc/Stun/Rchg(42), Amaze-Acc/Rchg(42), Amaze-EndRdx/Stun(43), Amaze-ToHitDeb%(43)
Level 35: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def(43), LkGmblr-Rchg+(45)
Level 38: Lightning Rod -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Erad-%Dam(45), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 41: Air Superiority -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(46), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(48), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 44: Soul Tentacles -- Acc-I(A)
Level 47: Darkest Night -- HO:Enzym(A)
Level 49: Soul Transfer -- Erad-Acc/Rchg(A), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(50), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon
Level 50: Void Core Final Judgement
Level 50: Diamagnetic Radial Flawless Interface
Level 50: Warworks Core Superior Ally
Level 50: Ageless Radial Epiphany
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(48)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(50)
Level 1: Gauntlet
Level 4: Ninja Run -
Dark Armor is an interesting beast. It's a powerset that has multiple interesting strengths which set it apart from other Tanker primaries - it's use of control powers and its amazing heal power in Dark Regeneration primarily, along with high psy resistance and endurance drain resistance.
On the other hand, Dark Armor has several frustrating weaknesses. Dark Regeneration, arguably the key power in the powerset, has a very high endurance cost out-of-the-box. The powerset does not offer knockback protection. The powerset is significantly vulnerable to energy-type damage, which is one of the most common damage types behind S/L damage.
Now, that list of negatives seems like a lot. For a free player without Inventions, those are going to be factors that heavily influence how you build the character since you'll want Acrobatics to protect from Knockback and you'll have to slot to handle the endurance usage of using Dark Regen.
HOWEVER, once you factor in Inventions, the entire picture changes. Every weakness that Dark Armor has can be addressed or even outright eliminated with Inventions pretty easily. Don't have KB protection - well, now you do. Dark Regen's endurance cost is high - well, throw in a Theft of Essence: chance for +end and the power may actually give you endurance sometimes. Vulernable to energy damage? - Build in S/L/E/N defense to compensate (or positional defense, that works too). The end result is that a well-thought out Dark Armor tanker becomes very powerful with Inventions. And we're not talking super-expensive builds with lots of purples or pvp IOs here either. You can afford everything you really need on a reasonable casual budget.
So how well does DA perform? It's by far my favorite Tanker primary and it does wonderfully, assuming you have IOs. With just SOs it's still good, but there's a lot you have to build around.