Reyne_Maker

My latest project is a Dark/Inv, it's a long way from done, but below is what I'm currently building too.
(I'll also freely call it a long way from perfect, and am sure someone will post better)

The hope is that it will be a smash/lethal resisting god, that's Invulnerability's strength after all, and that she will be able to solo huge chunks of the ITF without having to worry about that pesky 'cascading defense failure' that say, shields, can suffer from.

The two big things that stood out on your build were that you skipped Shadow Punch, and that you have low recharge, so -
*Swap 'Touch of fear' for 'Shadow Punch'
*and bring in Hasten.
This will strengthen your Attack Chain in a big way.

Anyway, as comparison, my current WIP -

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Dark: Level 50 Natural Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Invulnerability
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Smite -- (A)(3)(7)(7)(9)(9)
Level 1: Resist Physical Damage -- (A)(3)
Level 2: Shadow Maul -- (A)(11)(11)(13)(13)(27)
Level 4: Temp Invulnerability -- (A)(5)(5)
Level 6: Dull Pain -- (A)(37)(37)(37)(39)(39)
Level 8: Siphon Life -- (A)(31)(31)(34)(36)(36)
Level 10: Swift -- (A)
Level 12: Boxing -- (A)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- (A)(15)(15)(43)
Level 16: Unyielding -- (A)(17)(17)
Level 18: Health -- (A)(19)(19)(21)
Level 20: Stamina -- (A)(21)(23)(23)
Level 22: Shadow Punch -- (A)(43)(48)(50)(50)
Level 24: Tough -- (A)(25)(25)(27)
Level 26: Soul Drain -- (A)(40)(40)(40)(42)(43)
Level 28: Invincibility -- (A)(29)(29)
Level 30: Resist Elements -- (A)(31)
Level 32: Midnight Grasp -- (A)(33)(33)(33)(34)(34)
Level 35: Tough Hide -- (A)(36)(46)(50)
Level 38: Resist Energies -- (A)(39)
Level 41: Weave -- (A)(42)(42)
Level 44: Dark Consumption -- (A)(45)(45)(45)(46)(46)
Level 47: Hasten -- (A)(48)(48)
Level 49: Conserve Power -- (A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- (A)
Level 1: Sprint -- (A)
Level 2: Rest -- (A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

Fair Call Umbral,
but math aside, I'm yet to see a softcap build that doesn't use Weave.

And Spirit chaser, you already had Hasten in that build you sneaky dog . . .

Even better, the Def debuff resistance given by Active Defense can double stack, and most likely will if you devote more than one slot to it.

Spirit Chasers suggested power pick guide is an Awesome guide though, and pretty much the order I'd pick the powers in if I rolled a DM/SD tomorrow,
With one little niggle, -
* get Phalanx Fighting BEFORE Against All Odds, *
Remember, AAO is a taunt power, my Shield scrapper regularly rips the aggro from tanks with it, especially willpower tanks, so make sure you're using both SOs and have as much def as possible before picking it up, or you will die.

It goes without saying that the next two powers you'll want are MG and Shield charge, but following those (and maybe Dark Consumption) I'd seriously advocate the fighting pool.
Tough will double the smash/lethal res you already get from Deflection,.
Weaves extra 7% def is huge on what is a Defense based set.

And then comes the tricky question of IOs . . .

On the Sheild side of things,

skip Grant Cover and One With the shield.
You will want to supplement you survivability with the Fighting pool.
And leave AAO till later in the build.
True Grit should be mainly slotted for health, and pickup the steadfast unique early.
Don't skip Phalanx fighting, but don't waste slots on it.
And choose either Flight or leaping for your travel power for the extra def from CJ or Hover.

Why you may ask?
Because your goal for Shield Defense is to reach the defense soft-cap (45%) which isn't easy, so every little bit helps.
As a set it also gives you some extra resistance (Deflection), and HP buffs (True Grit) and both of these will serve you well early on.

And it also has the most AWESOME attack in the whole game - Shield Charge.

I saw the same numbers as Werner, 448 on the first posted build 461 if you swap the proc with the 'dmg' and 473 if you swap the 'dmg/end' with the proc.
To me that feels worth doing as it'd only ever be an issue in sustained combat situations, (it's amazing how often those few points of damage are the difference between one shotting the enemy, and having to hit them again.)
And for sustained combat situations theres always the fallback of DC.

My mid's shows it as over 470 per activation compared to the current 448, which for me feels worth it, especially as this is the kind of high end buil;d where improvement is measured in such small numbers.
Bbut yeah, the endurance may become an issue, and I know how cozy I get with the bottom of the blue bar before CP pops, and I've 3 slotted mine.

I'd say Tough/Weave.
against Smash/lethal you should be able to get around over 30%def & 70%Res without compromising anything else on the build. (And Dull Pain is already there as a heal/HP buff).

And with some serious effort you could get over 40%def & 75%res (for smash/lethal). Which is pretty close to Granite Tank territory.

Of course, it all comes back to where the scrapper is headed, on an ITF that's awesome, a lot of AVs will be easy too.
But theres also a lot of enemies that use Energy, Psi etc, that's when Aid Self might be the better choice. (Even if it is an interuptable power that may not save you in time against those enemies anyway)

Instead of dropping the Heca 'Dmg' IO, think about dropping the Heca 'Dmg/End' IO.
Much more damage that way.
You may need an extra recharge in CP for that though, even with Dark Consumption.

[ QUOTE ]
If you've only seen people teleport into mobs with it you've been playing with poor players. Using it while surround is much better since then you get the damage buff from AAO. You have to teleport, but you can teleport to where you're standing. It has a long recharge, 90 seconds, which is why you don't see it more than once a spawn.

[/ QUOTE ]

The knockdown effect is very useful for avoiding the alpha, and frankly, if you hit build up first, you're killing the target cap anyway.
So I wouldn't call them poor players, it's just a different strategy.
(I use it this way, sometimes I need to follow-up with whirling sword, most times I don't,)
But yeah, it's an awesome power and should be used as often as it's available.

but returning to the OPs question, There isn't enough +Rech on the DM/Shield (it's also just short of the def cap, Phalanx fighting in mid's, blah-blah)

From a survivability standpoint, I'm guessing the Claws/Inv will have the SD beat by against groups such as Cimerorans (And who at the upper levels doesn't spend a lot of time on ITFs)
Or anything that is mainly Smash/Lethal (and many AVs are too)
Both sets suffer from the "Psi" hole though

If influence is a big deciding factor, go SR,
Yes DA is End hungry, but it's survivability is sound, however, to push it right up there to the same degree is going to cost you.
SR will give you an inherent +rech and can be softcapped with just a few small IOs, add Aid Self and you're golden.

Interesting thing with these sort of procs in a toggle or always-on power-
They stack when you zone.

I First noticed it with the celerity stealth IO, but the others, miracle, numina, regenerative tissue, all do it to.
It's very handy if you load quick and do speedy mishes.

I was still noticing this, very specificallly with Shield Charge, a month ago. I know it had been the case for other powers, that have been fixed, but I'm not sure Shield Charge has been yet.

smite-SL-smite_MG looks possible while Hasten is up,
(it won't be all the time though, and would definitely be worth finding the extra slot for)

More importantly though, you're not yet softcapped for positional defense, most importantly melee. Mid's automatically assumes one ally in range, which NEVER happens, and this leaves you under 40% for melee defense, and getting hit a LOT!

Oh, and it's worth mentioning that Shield Charge is currently bugged, if you put a proc in it, it will not dmg enemies, but instead dmg YOU,

single best thing i did for my Regen was pick up tough.

Being able to heal a 1000HP in the next 30seconds is no good if an alpha hits you for a 1001 Dmg. Tough will reduce the amount you need to heal, pure and simple.

(And then wait till you get MoG, wait for tank? Bwahahahaha)

I've done this on my Ill/rad (It's slow, but the merits are nice, So a one woman GM team is cool, and every extra participant is gravy)

but without perma "Lingering Radiation" ?

Bwahahahaha!

No, theres just no way.

the pollutant story is a low level arc, and SR is a late maturing set,
personally on a defense set I've never really noticed the survivability difference till after 20% is reached, which on SR took me till mid 20s (and mid 30s to get over 30% which was a VERY noticable difference)
But stick with it, you'll be fine,

(At least until Cimerora, their def debuffs are nasty)

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Seeing everyone else has been giving this a shot today, i'd love to see what my survivability is if you can Werner, thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm guessing the empty slot is for the other +3% defense unique? With that, 638. I'm not accounting for Against All Odds in any way, though, which could take you to 690 in ideal circumstances.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks mate, lower than I thought she'd be, and another reason to work on my new Dark/Inv (or maybe Fire/SR with Aid Self could be the better choice)

Seeing everyone else has been giving this a shot today, i'd love to see what my survivability is if you can Werner, thanks.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Valk_v2: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Broad Sword
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Hack -- (A)(3)(3)(5)(5)(7)
Level 1: Deflection -- (A)(11)(11)(13)(13)(17)
Level 2: Battle Agility -- (A)(7)(9)(9)
Level 4: Slice -- (A)(23)(23)(25)(25)(27)
Level 6: Build Up -- (A)(27)(29)(29)(31)(31)
Level 8: True Grit -- (A)(48)(50)
Level 10: Parry -- (A)(31)(34)(37)(39)(39)
Level 12: Swift -- (A)
Level 14: Hover -- (A)(15)(15)(17)
Level 16: Active Defense -- (A)
Level 18: Health -- (A)(19)(19)(21)(21)
Level 20: Stamina -- (A)(39)(40)(40)
Level 22: Whirling Sword -- (A)(40)(42)(42)(42)(43)
Level 24: Phalanx Fighting -- (A)
Level 26: Fly -- (A)(43)(43)
Level 28: Disembowel -- (A)(45)(45)(45)(46)(46)
Level 30: Kick -- (A)
Level 32: Head Splitter -- (A)(33)(33)(33)(34)(34)
Level 35: Shield Charge -- (A)(36)(36)(36)(37)(37)
Level 38: Against All Odds -- (A)
Level 41: Tough -- (A)(46)(48)
Level 44: Weave -- (A)(48)(50)
Level 47: Assault -- (A)
Level 49: Conserve Power -- (A)(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- (A)
Level 1: Sprint -- (A)
Level 2: Rest -- (A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

[ QUOTE ]
I've done it in 5 minute 2 seconds with DM/SD. That's 255 DPS.

[/ QUOTE ]

My BS/Shield is just behind you (under 6min) with AAO fully loaded, of course without, it's almost triple that,

Shields for the win!!

[ QUOTE ]
Go make a DB/Stone Armor tank. thats something I don't think I've ever seen.


[/ QUOTE ]

Actually I've been on ITF (?) with one of these, it's a very strange sight indeed, yet oddly compelling

If Cloak of Fear is the goal, be warned, it's accuracy is appalling, (It's why i hate it) it will swallow 6 slots easily

Ok, so you'll hear dissenting voices on this one, but I'm going to get on my pulpit anyway.
I find DA to be quite a strong, survivable set, it goes well with tough/weave (what doesn't?) and things such as the damage aura are a tasty bonus.
But, it does have it's downsides, there no Knockback protect, you'll need an IO to cover that hole.
It's also a little end heavy, again, not such a big problem (I'm looking at you Dark Regeneration)
On the plus side, it matures early, and it's well rounded, I like the stealth it offers, and, as mentioned, it's very survivable (especially if you plan to add set bonuses)

And that dissenting part? well, it's all about Oppressive Gloom, and Cloak of Fear, I hate em, other's love them, it's one of those things you'll need to try on to see if it fits.

Do you have access to Photoshop or some sort of editing software?
The skin is the easy part, (lasso and colour burn, dodge, etc) the hair isn't that hard either, (start with fat 'sausages' to build shape, and go from there)
But then theres always the option of adding in the cropped details such as the remainder of the bow, his elbow, and maybe cleaning up the edges.

(On the other hand, my que is a little full right now, so I'm sorry I couldn't help for free, and it'd be a no-no to discuss price in the open forum, but pm me if you'd like a little help)

Cheers,
-K

Why is he in the sewers?
Looking for the TV remote of course!

PS, I'd still kill for a decent Wacom though