Necro/Dark, or How I Learned to Love the Undead
By
Antimatter_NA,
Posted on: 2006-02-07 10:53 in Player Guides
I was going to try my hand at writing a Nerco/Dark guide myself until I saw yours. There were a few things that I did differently and that is mainly just a playstyle preferance. One thing that I think is very note worthy and something that I haven't seen anywhere else is a little bit of info about Soul Extraction.
Many people and it seems yourself included are not big on the power. And there are good reasons not to be, I think I'm a little biased from my Warshade background, but the extracted soul seems to have one thing that I will always want it around for. That one thing is Range beyond anything I've seen capable on a Mastermind. The Soul blast attack that it has seems to be at the very least Sniper range and I use that little fella for Pulling all the time.
Standard pull: Target Mob, click attack macro for the Soul from the henchmen window, then immediatly click the Passive macro for the Soul, and then wait for the mob to come running in.
It seems to work fairly reliably since I'm sitting on the other side of a room under the Shadow fall.
I Just thought that the benefit of the power is never fully expressed. And that is why mine is Slotted to get one out as soon as Possible.
Zero
Don't get me wrong, I love this power. I can see why it would be useful at any and all times, but I had too many other powers that I viewed as being higher priority. I imagine that the boost in DPS has to be awesome.
Depending on what the Epic powers in the 40's are like, I may be slotting it up later on in my build.
Great guide! I'm enjoying my Necro/Dark quite a bit....the sets play off each other really well. I do have a couple notes/suggestions though:
First, zombies seem to be quite flammable. I'm pretty certain they take extra damage from fire attacks, which means Longbow Flamethrowers suck muchly. (This, on top of the smell of burning zombie.)
The good news is: Shadow Fall. While the defense buff is pretty trivial, the resistance it gives to Energy, Negative and Psionic attacks is nice, something like 20% to start. Toss a few resistance enhancements in there and it's like asbestos underwear for your zombies. (Don't worry, they don't complain about the chafing.)
One other note is on Fearsome Stare...in addition to accuracy and fear duration, some people like to toss debuff enhancements on it, too since as you point out the accuracy debuff is pretty significant. YMMV.
And personally I *like* Vengeance. 
It's a nice buff for the entire team, though you can only use it after someone on the team dies. (And no, dead henchmen apparently don't count....although I've read that if you target a fallen teammate, the henchmen get the buff along with the rest of the team.)
Story Arcs:
"The Joy of States-mas", #533168
"A Mosaic of Shattered Dreams", #497506 (2011 Players Choice winner!)
"Television Presents: Attack of the Toons!", #373710
"Lightning in a Bottle", #376222
nice guide. very similar to my build. and I really really agree with the approach of "you donnt do damage yourself".
In fact I never got even gloom, my only attack is brawl.
Sucks when your henchmen are dead, but I don't think you would be better off with a few attacks either. Retreat and regroup!
I didn;t think about slotting Shadow fall with damage resistance, I'll have to try that. Yes those zombies do burn quite well I'm afraid.
The biggest drawback of the build is endurance. If you don't like worrying about your blue bar, this is not a build for you.
[ QUOTE ]
nice guide. very similar to my build. and I really really agree with the approach of "you donnt do damage yourself".
In fact I never got even gloom, my only attack is brawl.
Sucks when your henchmen are dead, but I don't think you would be better off with a few attacks either. Retreat and regroup!
I didn;t think about slotting Shadow fall with damage resistance, I'll have to try that. Yes those zombies do burn quite well I'm afraid.
The biggest drawback of the build is endurance. If you don't like worrying about your blue bar, this is not a build for you.
[/ QUOTE ]
I have to agree say that I'd probably substitute Leadership for Fitness, as I think Stamina is pretty well needed in a chracter that constantly uses summons and debuffs, especially toggle debuffs like Darkest Night. Otherwise, this is an excellent build that is extremely detailed, and it's something I'll be using for my next character. 
Psychkid- lvl 32 Emp/Psy Defender.
"Hey, being a Healer is hard! I have to bust my [censored] to make sure my teammates aren't busting theirs!" ~Psychkid
Shadow Fall definitely slows you down some, but not much.
The only time I really notice it is when I forget to turn it off after a mission and use superjump, you can really see a difference.
It doesn't matter. Take this power. It helps you, your minions and your team. Slot it for damage resistance. The stealth effect is just a nice bonus.
I recently respecced out of the Leadership Pool and took the other two powers in the Teleport Pool instead. No, Teleport Team isn't going to get you across a map, but it is useful. And Teleport Friend is a blessing in those stupid multi-tiered Orenbaga maps where your pets are determined to fall off no matter what you do to try and help them.
I'll be updating the guide when I get a chance to talk about my thoughts on the effectiveness of this change. I'll say that without the Leadership Pool, I have no use for Stamina. We'll see if that changes once the Epic Powers are announced, but even throwing off all my debuffs constantly, I rarely have Endurance issues anymore.
I do miss the +Perception, though.
Mastermind
- I hardly see anyone use poison, although I hear it's a good set. I guess the concept of it just isn't very appealing. I know it isn't that appealing to me.
- Trick arrow, obviously.
- Zombies are the least used.
Corruptor:
- Sonic Blast
- Sonic Resonance
- Traps
- Cold Dominaton
- Energy Blast
For the record, I will be posting a big old update to this thing once I hit level 40 (38 right now).
Updated Guide is here: Undead Love , so let this one die.
Geek Boys Necromancy/Dark Miasma Mastermind Guide
The first thing I want to go over are some of my ideas on how to play a Mastermind. If you dont agree with these principles, then its likely that you wont agree with a lot of the things that I have to say in this guide.
1) You are not here to do damage. If you see orange numbers over someones head, then its because your pets are damaging them or youre not doing something right. It may not seem that way at level 4, but if you stick with it to level 40 youll see this is true. Dont invest in anything that does damage other than your pets. Period.
2) Pets r dum. Really. You cant simply fire and forget them or you (and your team) will die. A lot. Those pet controls that youre given at level one are mostly sufficient to keep your pets going (though there are a lot of good guides for fine-tuning them), but I would suggest creating a button that sets your pets to aggressive at a specific location so that you can force them into melee combat. Necromancy pets are at their deadliest at close range, so being able to place them in a specific location is a must in boss and AV/Hero battles. This will also help keep you alive since the games AI will be more concerned with the mob coming at them than the guy in the back providing debuffs.
3) Pet AI is not an excuse for you being dumb. You can control them with the tools that the developers have given you, so do it. This AT requires micro-management. If you dont like it, then you need to move on.
4) You suck at PVP. Get over it. The stuff you can do in PVE more than makes up for it.
5) I interchange the words pet and minion. If youre really anal about that, then this will annoy you. Dont bother complaining to me about it, because Im not going to care. Yes, I get that theres a difference, but they are synonyms in the current vernacular of most of the player base (me included).
Powers:
This is just the standard list of powers, what they do, and what I think of them. Ill post my build at the end, but you dont have to follow it. There are a lot of variations that work, but I have my own opinions on what works best. I pulled the numbers from another guide, so if theyre wrong let me know.
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Necromancy:
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Dark Blast: Level 1
Damage (Brawl Index) -- 2.78 [Type: Negative Energy]
Endurance Cost -- 6.5
Recharge -- 4
Range -- 80
Debuff -- Enemy Accuracy
Your basic single target blast. Not necessarily a bad attack, but its got a low base damage and its not going to get much more powerful even if you slot it. While I think its a good idea for you to have a single attack, this isnt the one that I would suggest.
Also, if you take this at level 1 instead of your Zombie Horde, then youre an idiot.
Slotting: One accuracy. Tops.
Zombie Horde: Level 1
Endurance Cost -- 19.5
Recharge -- 90
[Levels 1 - 5] -- 1 Zombie
[Levels 6 - 17] -- 2 Zombies (-1 Level)
[Levels 18+] -- 3 Zombies (-2 Level)
Status Resistance: Sleep, Fear, Disorient, Slow
Damage Resistance: [40%] Smashing, Cold, Negative Energy, Toxic, Psionic
Initial Abilities: Zombie Brawl
Enchant Undead*: Projectile Vomit [Ranged Cone], Zombie Vomit [Melee AoE]
Dark Empowerment**: Siphon Life
Your journey to being a God among mortals begins. Your first pet is a useful companion from level 1 all the way up. At first youll love him and cherish him, but soon youll realize just how expendable these guys are and throw them around like the cannon fodder they were born (and expired and re-animated) to be. Zombie Brawl does great damage right away at level 1, but these guys really start to shine once you hit level 6 and they start vomiting on everything. Remember how much it hurt when that first Vazhilok took you down with their toxic damage? WELL WHO HAS THE PEA SOUP NOW, PUNK!?
A word on the final upgrade: yes, its nice for your zombies to be able to heal themselves. It isnt absolutely necessary, though. Youll want that first upgrade on them before you go into battle (at least when you have a choice in the matter), but the second one should only be added as needed. They fire it off with a decent amount of intelligence, but for the most part they go down in 2 or so hits in higher level missions anyway. The little bit of healing they do for themselves isnt going to keep them alive long term. Thats your job.
Slotting: How you slot this depends on what other powers you take. I have the Leadership Pool helping everyone with Accuracy, so I slotted 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, an Accuracy Debuff (which a lot of people think is a waste) and a Heal (which may be a waste see my thoughts on their Siphon Life above).
Gloom: Level 2
Damage (Brawl Index) -- 4.8888 [Negative Energy]
Endurance Cost -- 10.66
Recharge -- 8
Range -- 80
Debuff -- Enemy Accuracy
A single target blast that does damage over time. I think its important to have a single attack for pulling and debuffing and this is the power I chose. Great Damage per Endurance spent, but youre still not going to be one-shotting much of anything. Ever. I go through plenty of fights where I never use this and find myself using it as a debuff more than anything else. It doesnt do enough damage to grab agro from your pets most of the time (and why would you want to?), but every little debuff helps.
This was really useful at low levels, but the closer to 40 I get, the less I use it. I imagine going from 41-50 Ill use it even less. As a side note, I took Dark Blast at first and respecced into Gloom later. I wish Id had it from level 2 on since it really is so much better than Dark Blast. If youre picking one or the other (which you should be), I would suggest going with this one.
Slotting: It might be tempting to put more than just that initial slot in here, but dont. A single Accuracy will do you just fine. Besides, you need those slots for your buffs and debuffs.
Enchant Undead: Level 6
Endurance Cost -- 16.25
Recharge 6
If you dont take this at level 6 then youre an idiot. Really. Permanently buffs your pets (at least until they die or are Dismissed) in super-fantastic and necessary ways. The buffs are detailed in the individual pet descriptions.
Slotting: A single recharge is sufficient, but you may want to add an Endurance Reduction as well. It doesnt cost that much to use it on its own, but when youre buffing 6 pets right after summoning them, it can be painful.
Life Drain: Level 8
Damage (Brawl Index) -- 1.1212 [Negative Energy]
Endurance Cost -- 19.5
Recharge -- 15
Range 60
A ranged attack that heals you and debuffs the target. This power become superfluous as a /Dark. If your secondary is something that doesnt have a self heal in it, you might want to take this. Otherwise, I wouldnt advise wasting the power slot when there are so many things that are so much more useful.
I never even thought of taking this, but in my experience with Siphon Life on my Regen Scrapper, I can see how this could be useful. It does damage, heals you, and debuffs an enemys accuracy all at once, which is nice. It doesnt do any of these things particularly well, though. Again, its fine if youre reading this guide to build something other than a /Dark, but otherwise I would avoid it.
Grave Knight: Level 12
Endurance Cost -- 19.5
Recharge -- 90
[Levels 12 - 23] -- 1 Grave Knight
[Levels 24+] -- 2 Grave Knights (-1 level)
Status Resistance: Sleep, Fear, Disorient, Slow
Damage Resistance: [40%] Cold, Negative Energy, Toxic, Psionic
Initial Abilities: Hack, Slash, Dark Blast
Enchant Undead*: Disembowel, Gloom
Dark Empowerment**: Head Splitter, Siphon Life
These are your warriors. Their awesomeness cannot be fully explained without seeing them fully buffed and in action. Their sword attacks do get the occasional Critical hit, which is enough to bring a tear to your eye. Their ranged damage is nice, but you definitely want these guys on the front lines when youre fighting anything other than minions and lieutenants.
While one might complain about the blandness of the zombies look, these guys look cooler with each upgrade.
Slotting: Again, I have the Leadership Pool adding to my accuracy, so I only have a single one in there. My current build has 1 Acc, 3 Damage, an Accuracy Debuff and a Heal. Your mileage may vary, but I love having the Accuracy Debuffs in there. As much as /Dark makes the bad guys whiff anyway, theres nothing like seeing a particularly tough boss run out of endurance while your pets stand there wailing on him with full health (though this is an exaggeration since everything dies too quickly to run out of endurance anyway).
Soul Extraction: Level 18
Endurance Cost -- 13
Recharge -- 600
Duration -- 300
[Zombie] Soul Extraction => Spirit
[Grave Knight] Soul Extraction => Tortured Soul
[Lich] Soul Extraction => Wraith
Status Resistance: Sleep, Fear, Immobilize, Slow
Damage Resistance: [40%] Smashing, Lethal, Cold, Negative Energy, Toxic
Initial Abilities: Fly, Phase Shift, Ghastly Blast, Life Drain, Necroplasmic Grasp
The ultimate OH SHI- power. This resurrects one of your dead pets as what is essentially a ghost to help you out of a tough spot. This does spawn different minions based on what its cast on, so if you have a choice of who to cast it on, choose a Grave Knight or Lich. The recharge on this is ridiculous, so I save it for boss battles since thats where youre most likely to get overwhelmed anyway. These are on a timer, but its a fairly long one. You dont have to worry about it despawning in the middle of the boss battle it was spawned in, but dont expect it to hang around for the whole show if you pull it out on the first mob in a mission.
The main thing these do is debuff and hold, so dont rely on these guys for a lot of damage. Sure, they help in that department, but their holds are invaluable at higher levels when youll have yourself, your Lich, and your Extracted Soul spamming holds on those bosses and AV/Heroes.
Slotting: Some people slot this with tons of recharges to make it permanent (or, I believe, almost permanent). I can see the usefulness in that, but Ive grown accustomed to using this one only in prolonged battles or when Ive been overwhelmed. Having one of these around all the time would be nice, but I dont feel the need to spend the slots on it. This is largely a matter of playstyle, of course.
Lich: Level 26
Endurance Cost -- 19.5
Recharge -- 90
[Levels 26+] -- 1 Lich
Status Resistance: Immobilize
Damage Resistance: [40%] Cold, Negative Energy, Toxic?*
Initial Abilities: Dark Blast, Torrent [Ranged Cone Knockback]
Enchant Undead*: Tenebrous Tentacles [Ranged Cone], Life Drain
Dark Empowerment**: Fearsome Stare, Petrifying Gaze
HOLY GOD, YES! These are the final pet from your primary, and they are uber. Their damage is nice, but their main use is to debuff your mobs for you at higher levels. Theyre basically like having a no pets-MM with you at all times once you have Dark Empowerment.
At each stage of being a MM, you start feeling a bit weak right before you get your next pet. Well, once you have your Lich youll never feel that way again. Once theyre fully equipped, theyll have a hold, a cone fear, a cone immobilize, a cone knockback, a self heal, and a decent ranged attack to boot. Whats not to love?
Okay, there is something thats not to love. Ill admit that Torrent can be a pain, but for every time this guy knocks someone out of your Tar Patch, hes saved your can ten times. This is an occasional annoyance, but it isnt as big a problem as some people make it out to be.
Slotting: This is one where you can go wild. I have a single Accuracy (again with the Leadership Pool), 2 Damage, a Hold, a Fear and a Heal. This may get changed around, though. There are so many different things that you can enhance on this guy that you really have to go with what feels right to you. My only real advice is to 6 slot this ASAP and dont concentrate on damage since it isnt his primary function.
Dark Empowerment: Level 32
Endurance Cost -- 22.75
Recharge 60
Say it with me now: IF YOU DONT TAKE THIS, YOU ARE AN IDIOT.
This is your final buff for your pets. It works just like Enchant Undead, but the timer is longer and it uses a lot more Endurance. I usually wont go into battle without my Lich and my two Grave Knights fully Empowered. The powers they receive from Dark Empowerment are what defines this powerset.
Slotting: Depends how patient you are. A few Recharges and an Endurance Reduction go a long way. Just remember that youre not going to be firing this off in combat all that often, so the slots are probably better spent on things that will keep you alive in a more proactive way.
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Dark Miasma:
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Twilight Grasp: Level 1
Endurance Cost -- 9.75
Recharge -- 8
Range -- 80
Healing Radius -- 10 [PBAoE]
Debuff -- Enemy Accuracy, Enemy Damage, Enemy Health Regeneration
A Point Blank Area of Effect Heal that debuffs the crap out of your enemies. You dont have a choice in taking it, but if you did you would be an idiot not to. In my opinion this is one of the best heals in the game even if it does require a to-hit check. Yes, it hurts when it misses and yes, it has a smaller radius than the Defender version. Its still great.
Slotting: I have 2 accuracies in here even though Im running Tactics because I NEVER WANT THIS TO MISS. Get 3 Heals and a Recharge if you can spare it. The debuff is nice, but I wouldnt bother enhancing it.
Tar Patch: Level 2
Endurance Cost -- 9.75
Recharge -- 90
Range -- 120
Duration -- 45
Debuff -- Enemy Speed, Enemy Resistance [-27.76%]
Take this power. Love it. Kiss it. Comb its hair and read it bad poetry. Whisper sweet nothings in its ear at night.
Really, I cant stress this enough: TAKE THIS POWER. It is incredible without ever having to slot it. Slows are always nice, but when you combine that with the debuff to your enemys resistance? Oh yeah, baby. You know Daddy loves you. Who loves you? Thats right. Daddy does.
Slotting: The best part about this power is that you dont ever need to put an extra slot in there if you dont want to. No, you wont get to stack them without putting some recharges in there, but it comes up often enough to be placed on every other mob or so. Usually youll kill things so fast that you wont need it, but when it comes time to take down that AV/Hero youll be blessing me for telling you to take this. Recharges as needed, but I dont see the point in putting a Slow in there.
Darkest Night: Level 4
Endurance Cost -- 0.33 per second
Recharge -- 10
Range -- 70
Debuff -- Enemy Accuracy, Enemy Damage
This is a great debuff that reduces the Accuracy and Damage of everyone surrounding the anchor you cast this on. The base debuff is very powerful, so when you slot this up it becomes ridiculous. I havent been able to put anything other than a second Endurance Reduction in there, but whenever Ive fought Dark Defenders in the Arena, this power was my bane.
Slotting: A single Endurance Reduction is probably plenty, but I have two of them in there since Im running without Stamina. Accuracy Debuffs would also be nice, but I havent been able to fit them in yet. Maybe after my 37 Respec.
Howling Twilight: Level 10
Damage (Brawl Index) -- 0.8333 [Negative Energy]
Endurance Cost -- 32.5
Recharge -- 180
Range -- 20
Debuff -- Enemy Disorient
This is the sets resurrection power. It is a Point Blank Area of Effect power that disorients and damages everyone in a small radius around the target while also resurrecting any teammates within a small radius. Small radius. Are you catching my point here?
An extremely useful power if only for the Disorient. It does not resurrect your pets, so dont bother trying it. I took this power pretty late in the game, but I cant deny its usefulness on a team or when you need to slow down that mob just a little more.
Slotting: Its an auto-hit, so I would suggest slotting for Recharge only. If you team more than I do, you may want to invest more in it than I have.
Shadow Fall: Level 16
Endurance Cost -- 0.325 per second
Recharge -- 15
Range -- 40 [PBAoE]
Status Resistance -- Fear
Damage Resistance -- [20%] Energy, Negative Energy, Psionic
Defense -- [2.8%] All
This is a team Stealth toggle that I love. I havent noticed the reduction in movement speed that others claim it has, which either means that it isnt there anymore or its just that minor. No, you arent completely invisible, but it lets you get close enough to get yourself set up for Fearsome Stare or any other powers that you want to aim with precision. Youll really notice the difference in how quickly things attack your pets when you have this off.
Slotting: I currently have 2 Endurance Reductions and 3 Defense Enhancements in there. Im not sure that this is super-efficient, but I noticed a nice boost in my little groups overall defense with those Enhancements. Considering that according to these numbers I found the base is only 2.8%, it doesnt sound so great on paper. Now, when its 2.8% multiplied by everyone in range, it adds up.
Fearsome Stare: Level 20
Endurance Cost -- 10.66
Recharge -- 40
Range -- 80 [Cone]
Duration -- 20
Status Effect -- Fear [Enemy]
Debuff -- Enemy Accuracy
A cone Fear power that many people will claim is no longer necessary. Thats because theyre comparing it to its previous, broken state. This power is still incredible without you ever having to put anything other than an Accuracy in it. Once youve cast this, anyone affected will not be able to attack you unless theyre attacked as they stand there and shiver like little sissies. When they do attack, their accuracy is debuffed, so its less likely to hit you anyway.
Slotting: The recharge is pretty decent on this, but along with Accuracy you may want to put a few in there. The debate is whether to slot it for Fear duration or Recharge since having two applications stacked is better than having a single attack that lasts a little longer. The duration is nice out of the box, but you can never have too much of this very good thing.
Petrifying Gaze: Level 28
Endurance Cost -- 9.75
Recharge -- 16
Range -- 70
Duration -- 12
Status -- Hold [Enemy]
A single target hold. No, it isnt as nice as it used to be, but I still find this to be very useful. Great for getting that Flamethrower locked down before he can turn your Undead Army into shish kabobs.
Slotting: I still dont have anything but a single Accuracy in here. Im thinking of adding more, but the Hold duration is pretty short and Im not sure slotting it is going to make it that much better. Your mileage may vary, of course.
Black Hole: Level 35
Endurance Cost -- 16.25
Recharge -- 120
Range -- 50
Duration -- 30
Status -- Intangible [Enemy]
This makes a group of enemies Intangible. This means that while they cant attack you, you cant attack them either. I can see how this could be useful, but I have no desire to take it. This power has the ability to make your team very, very mad at you.
For the record, I have never played with anyone who uses this power or even has it in their build. Ive been playing since October of 2004. You do the math.
Slotting: Accuracy and Recharge, maybe. Slotting it for Duration seems like a bad idea since you would only be using it to catch a breather or run away.
Dark Servant: Level 38
Endurance Cost -- 32.5
Recharge -- 480
Duration -- 240
Initial Abilities -- Petrifying Gaze, Tenebrous Tentacles, Darkest Night [Single Target]
This is a pet who debuffs the crap out of your enemies for you. Their damage is so-so, but thats not why theyre there. Its all about the debuffs, baby. Unfortunately, you cant control this pet the way you do the others (this is technically a pet while the rest are minions), but theyre still very powerful.
Slotting: I dont have this one yet, but my final 6 slots will be going into it. Back in the heyday of being a Dark Defender, you could have at least 2 of these out at a time, but thats no longer the case. I still want to be able to get these out as often as possible.
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Power Pools:
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Concealment:
You already have Shadow Fall. I dont see the need.
Fitness:
This one is a real quandary. Without the Leadership Pool, you dont really need Stamina. If you do have the Leadership Pool, then youre always going to be slotting for Endurance Reduction and using Inspirations. I decided that it was easier to use more slots than to free up three powers so I could use fewer Blues. This all comes down to how you want to play the game, though.
Flight:
Yes, Team Flight works. I dont have it since I dont personally like Flight, but Ive seen it used. It is nice.
Leadership:
My GAWD is this useful. Yes, running those toggles is expensive, but the extra Damage and Accuracy is great. As every guide ever written about anything will tell you, dont bother with Vengeance.
Leaping:
Super Jump is the ultimate utility travel power and it would be nice to have Acrobatics, but theres nothing here thats going to help your minions.
Medicine:
You already have a Heal and a Rez. I dont see the need.
Presence:
You dont want a Taunt and youll already be spamming Fear.
Speed:
Hasten seems unnecessary now that it isnt permanent and Superspeed is a big hindrance in CoVs vertically inclined maps.
Teleport:
This one was my choice. Teleport Foe is the best pulling power ever and is a good way to amuse yourself. I never stop being entertained by watching my minions kill a lone enemy so fast that they cant even draw their weapon. Teleport Friend would be a godsend for moving my pets around if I had room for it. Team Teleport in PVP seems like it would be a lot of fun, too. Again, if I had room for it.
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My Build and Reasons Why:
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Exported from version 1.5C of CoH Planner
http://joechott.com/coh
Archetype: Mastermind
Primary Powers - Ranged : Necromancy
Secondary Powers - Support : Dark Miasma
01 : Twilight Grasp acc(01) acc(3) hel(7) hel(9) hel(9) recred(21)
01 : Zombie Horde acc(01) dam(3) dam(5) dam(5) hel(7) thtdbf(19)
02 : Gloom acc(02)
04 : Tar Patch recred(04) recred(23) recred(31)
06 : Enchant Undead recred(06)
08 : Teleport Foe acc(08)
10 : Hover endred(10) endred(11) endred(11)
12 : Grave Knight acc(12) dam(13) dam(13) dam(17) hel(19) thtdbf(21)
14 : Teleport endred(14) endred(15) endred(15)
16 : Shadow Fall endred(16) endred(17) defbuf(34) defbuf(36) defbuf(36) damres(40)
18 : Soul Extraction recred (18)
20 : Fearsome Stare acc(20) ferdur(36) ferdur(37) recred(37) recred(37)
22 : Assault endred(22) endred(23)
24 : Tactics endred(24) endred(25) thtbuf(25) thtbuf(31) thtbuf(31)
26 : Lich acc(26) dam(27) dam(27) hel(29) hold(34) fear(34)
28 : Darkest Night endred(28) endred(29)
30 : Petrifying Gaze acc(30)
32 : Dark Empowerment recred(32) recred(33) recred(33) endred(33)
35 : Howling Twilight recred(35)
38 : Dark Servant acc(38) hel(39) hel(39) hel(39) recred(40) recred(40)
Level 1: No duh. If you dont take Zombie Horde at level 1, you shouldnt be playing a MM. No choice with Twilight Grasp, but its what you would take if given the choice anyway.
Level 2: Plenty of people skip getting an attack entirely, but Gloom will really help you through those early levels when you have one pet (and especially before you get Enchant Undead).
Level 4: Tar Patch is absolutely necessary. The only debate for me was whether to take it at level 2 or level 4.
Level 6: Enchant Undead. If you ever look at any of my builds, I almost always take a travel or stamina pre-requisite at level 6. This is an exception to that rule. Take this at 6 because you NEED THIS POWER.
Level 8: Im following my grab a travel pre-req ASAP rule here. I chose Teleport for a few reasons, but I took Teleport Foe specifically to be able to grab my opponents and place them neatly into my circle of death. It is a beautiful thing. Even if you dont take Teleport as your travel power, you should consider taking this power.
Level 10: I took Hover for utility alongside Teleport. This is partially because of the extreme lag that came up when I first reached level 14 (at about the same time that everyone else who started playing CoV at launch got to 14). I dont need this as much now and may get rid of it if the servers stay as stable as they have been lately.
Level 12: Grave Knight. If you dont take this at level 12 theres a good chance that youre currently dribbling onto your nappie.
Level 14: Travel power. Duh. I took teleport because I wanted something that would provide some support for my pets (Teleport Foe and possibly Teleport Team somewhere in the 40s) that would give me vertical movement. Plus, I like it. Sue me.
Level 16: Shadow Fall gives a defense bonus, stealth, and resistance to certain damage types to everyone near you. You have 6 to 6 pets. Do the math. I went with two Endurance Reductions so that I could make up for not having Stamina.
Level 18: Soul Extraction is a great panic power, but while a lot of people slot it with a ton of recharges so they can have one out constantly, I dont feel the need to use it that way. Ill leave it with the initial slot to help me out of tight spots. Thats enough for me.
Level 20: It feels so weird to be suggesting something other than Stamina at level 20. At any rate, my only regret is that I couldnt get this power sooner. Fearsome Stare is your number one crowd control ability (well, other than your Send in your pets and make everything die ability). No, it isnt as broken as it used to be and yes, the Defender version is better. Its still seven shades of awesome.
Level 22: Leadership prerequisite. No, you dont have to take this pool but I like it. Yes, its an endurance hog, but I dont have room for Stamina. A second Endurance Reduction does the trick for me.
Level 24: The real reason to get Leadership. This is why I have a single Accuracy in all my pets.
Level 26: Lich. Duh. Watch your effectiveness quadruple. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but getting this guy is a big deal. I slotted some of his aspects more than his damage, but thats because it isnt his primary use. Yes, his damage is nice, but those holds and debuffs will make your heart sing.
Level 28: I wish I could have fitted this in sooner, but . . . I didnt. This is about the point when youll start seeing Heroes and AVs, which is where this power really shines. Youll kill the average mob before you get a chance to use it, so it isnt necessary right away in my opinion.
Level 30: This hold isnt nearly as great as it used to be and I should probably have put it in sooner. Im pretty sure I did originally, but this is a respect build as I fine-tuned what I needed and what I didnt. Keeps those Flamethrowers (fire damage HURTS) out of the mix.
Level 32: Another NO DUH power. Youll weep with joy at how much this helps.
Level 35: At this point the /Dark powers start to lose some of their luster. I took this because I felt I should, but I dont use it all that often. If youre planning on teaming more than I do, you may want to get this a lot sooner. Im not saying it isnt useful, just that it isnt necessary (after all, if your teammates dont die, they wont need resurrected).
Level 38: Fluffy! Another power youre an idiot for not taking. The recharge is pretty long compared to the Defender version, so dont expect it to be permanent without some significant slotting. Ill be slotting it for Heals since it will be throwing out Twilight Grasp, but you may want to enhance some other aspect of him.
41-50???
We dont know whats coming with these, but if theres a pool with something akin to Conserve Power, thats probably what Ill be taking regardless of the powers in the set. I really dont need anything else thats going to burn a lot of endurance on this guy since thats a constant battle. Depending on the usefulness of the upcoming Epic Pools, I may be taking Stamina through those final levels. Only time will tell.
I feel like Ive gone into more detail than I needed to here, but I can answer anyones questions if you want to post them in here. Im not necessarily an expert and Im neither a number cruncher nor a min-maxer (though I have my moments), so I know there are things I could have done to be more efficient. In fact, I may well do them in the future. As it stands right now, I can solo almost everything that I come across. No, I havent soloed any AVs or Heroes, but Ive come close (besides, youre not SUPPOSED to be able to do that).
This guide isnt the be all end all, so if you find that some of this doesnt work for you, that doesnt mean youre doing something wrong.
Well, unless youre taking attacks. Really. Im right about this one. They suck and will continue to suck even if 37 slotted. Damaging things isnt your job. Ever.
Have fun out there. And don't go begging me for Infamy. I'm still broke.