Desmodos's DM/DA guide.

This has got to be the best guide I have ever read, and there are some great guides out there.

Time to roll a dark/dark

At last! I am out from under the guilt of not having written a New Testament or getting around to building the Dark Melee Dojo... Nice work, Des! You are a tribute to your... ahhhh... Well, great job!

I meant to comment on this some time ago, but I haven't been spending much time on the forums of late. It's good to see someone take up the cause of the much-maligned dark warrior, and I know from experience that it's where it needs to be: in your capable hands!

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At last! I am out from under the guilt of not having written a New Testament or getting around to building the Dark Melee Dojo... Nice work, Des! You are a tribute to your... ahhhh... Well, great job!

I meant to comment on this some time ago, but I haven't been spending much time on the forums of late. It's good to see someone take up the cause of the much-maligned dark warrior, and I know from experience that it's where it needs to be: in your capable hands!

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It's easier to see things clearly once you stood on the shoulders of giants. Your bible began it all and is still a worthy read.

Thanks for this Des. I have a 50 DM/DA brute with a rather strange build, but I could never quite decide how to build a scrapper with the same combination. I'll try it again, after re-reading this guide a few times.

I noticed in a DA slotting thread that you mention slotting for positional defense and I'm curious as to why, maybe it's something I'm missing? I've slotted my DA's (tanks and scrappers both) to cover S/L defense and can reach close to if not the soft cap without detriment. It also seems to require less slots to get S/L defense bonuses than positional. At first I thought it had to do with the coupled +max health bonuses but I get those as well. Or is it just preference?

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I noticed in a DA slotting thread that you mention slotting for positional defense and I'm curious as to why, maybe it's something I'm missing?

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In small part, it has to do with how things started. Initially, positional defense was far more plentiful than typed. I never felt the need for defense prior to IOs, but I did feel a gaping whole to energy damage. I tried really hard to build strictly for energy defense (before it was paired with neg. energy). In doing so I incidentally amassed a lot of positional defense that simply worked better at the time.

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I've slotted my DA's (tanks and scrappers both) to cover S/L defense and can reach close to if not the soft cap without detriment. It also seems to require less slots to get S/L defense bonuses than positional.

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Despite S/L being the most common type of damage in the game, I never felt the need for additional mitigation beyond Dark Embrace and Tough. Part of the issue with typed defense is you need to build for all of it (S/L, F/C, and E/NE), or you'll find that investment great in one mission and near useless in the next. If you build for equal amounts of typed defense as I would be positional defense it would equally effective.

But I do have another reason for my preference. Blessing of the Zephyr has -KB IOs and has hefty ranged (3.13%) and AoE (3.13%) defense bonuses. I LOVE this set because it grants Dark Armor the freedom to build for any travel power. Assuming you use Hover or Combat Jumping, a single power can provide KB protection (mag 4) and 4.99% defense to Ranged and AoE. I find that so appealing I frequently take Hover and Combat Jumping on the same character. CJ + hover + SJ/FLY grants you -12 KB protection and 13.11% defense to Range and AoE.

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At first I thought it had to do with the coupled +max health bonuses but I get those as well.

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I know there has been some recent discussion about +HP on Dark Armor builds. Presently, I do not recommend pursuing +HP bonuses. I do not believe they add anything significant to Dark Armor's survivability. I do not dispute additional hit points translate to additional mitigation, but rather Dark Armor already has more pressing bonuses to pursue. In other words, more an opportunity cost issue.

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Or is it just preference?

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Well yeah sort of. If you chose to pursue KB protection by means other than Zephrys, then you could make a very valid case for targeting typed defense over positional. I just advise you get equal amounts to all positions. 25-30% defense to S/L/F/C/E/NE would be just as effective as 25-30 % defense to M/R/AoE.

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In small part, it has to do with how things started. Initially, positional defense was far more plentiful than typed. I never felt the need for defense prior to IOs, but I did feel a gaping whole to energy damage. I tried really hard to build strictly for energy defense (before it was paired with neg. energy). In doing so I incidentally amassed a lot of positional defense that simply worked better at the time.

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Fair enough.

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Despite S/L being the most common type of damage in the game, I never felt the need for additional mitigation beyond Dark Embrace and Tough. Part of the issue with typed defense is you need to build for all of it (S/L, F/C, and E/NE), or you'll find that investment great in one mission and near useless in the next. If you build for equal amounts of typed defense as I would be positional defense it would equally effective.

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But almost every attack has a smashing or lethal component and defense uses whichever defense number is highest for that attack. For example, let's say you are targeted for an energy blast hit. This attack consists of both energy and smashing damage. My tank has roughly 24% energy defense but has 46% smashing defense. Since the smashing defense is higher, the engine uses it against the mob's to-hit roll to determine whether or not the attack hits. The great thing is, you avoid the whole attack, not just the smashing portion.

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But I do have another reason for my preference. Blessing of the Zephyr has -KB IOs and has hefty ranged (3.13%) and AoE (3.13%) defense bonuses. I LOVE this set because it grants Dark Armor the freedom to build for any travel power. Assuming you use Hover or Combat Jumping, a single power can provide KB protection (mag 4) and 4.99% defense to Ranged and AoE. I find that so appealing I frequently take Hover and Combat Jumping on the same character. CJ + hover + SJ/FLY grants you -12 KB protection and 13.11% defense to Range and AoE.

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I have no arguement there, I'm slowly convincing myself to take CJ+hover for simple and effective def stacking.

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I know there has been some recent discussion about +HP on Dark Armor builds. Presently, I do not recommend pursuing +HP bonuses. I do not believe they add anything significant to Dark Armor's survivability. I do not dispute additional hit points translate to additional mitigation, but rather Dark Armor already has more pressing bonuses to pursue. In other words, more an opportunity cost issue.

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I replied to a similar thread yesterday in explaining why +1% to health does NOT equal +1% to resist. In fact the disparity increases with higher percentage bonuses. I believe stacking health is beneficial to armors which do not have the resist numbers that DA has, namely defense-based armors and the hybrids. Besides, that's what Dark regen is for,

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Well yeah sort of. If you chose to pursue KB protection by means other than Zephrys, then you could make a very valid case for targeting typed defense over positional. I just advise you get equal amounts to all positions. 25-30% defense to S/L/F/C/E/NE would be just as effective as 25-30 % defense to M/R/AoE.

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I totally agree and understand. Matter of fact, I did it out of old habit of grabbing the 2 set steadfast bonus with the defense IO.


And thanks for answering btw. I hold your guide in high regard. I get many compliments on my builds and try to direct as many as I can to where I learned, your guide being one of them.

Maybe it's the 12 grownup beverages I had while perusing the forums, but I gotta say that I'm incredibly glad to see another in-depth DM/DA guide. My second character all the way back in issue 1 was a DM/DA scrapper, and both sets have gone from being two of the most deplored to two of the best in the whole game. It's kind of fun looking through the old guides and seeing how things have changed.

Anyway, I liked the guide, and it helped me plan through my second build. Thanks for going to the trouble of putting it together!

Edit: I wonder if you might want to address the advantages and disadvantages that a DM/DA Brute or Stalker has when compared to a DM/DA SCrapper or DM/DA Tanker.

DM/DA Brutes have access to a full Taunt, instead of Confront, which my be good for keeping enemies near your debuffs and Death Shroud. Not only that, but it can acquire both Soul Tentacles and Darkest Night by level 44, increasing its ability to lock down enemies and keep them where you want them, as well as keeping them unable to land a blow. Fury, however, may be harder to acquire for a DM/DA brute running Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom.

A DM/DA Tanker gets its DA debuffs much earlier, creating a slightly different type of gameplay in the early levels. Its patron pools give the potential for controller-like powers that can keep enemies rooted in one place and debuffed.

A DM/DA Stalker is an extremely oddball build these days, but it seems to be interesting. You lose Soul Drain, Dark Consumption, Taunt, Death Shroud, and Cloak of Darkness for more Stalker-oriented powers. Using Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom will still be of use, however, to limit the number of attacks from the enemy. Going the Soul Mastery Route and getting Shadow Meld will give you a 15 second invincibility switch (should you already have been slotting for a bit of defense).

looks like the new forums broke all your links

ah,...now I get your comment. I'm waiting for the new Mid's official I16 update. At that point I'll update the guide.


...though I should be able to fix the links. Once I find all the sites again.

Excellent guide. Comprehensive, well reasoned, well presented and obviously based on a wealth of experience. I appreciate the time and effort you put into sharing that experience with the rest of us.

I currently have a level 26 DM/DA scrapper and have incorporated several of your suggestions into my power selection. Specifically...

(1) I'm going to pass up Oppressive Gloom in favor of Cloak of Fear in order to stack it with Touch of Fear.

(2) After initially rejecting it, I'm now going to take Death Shroud (a.k.a. Minion Muncher). I've never munched a minion before... I hear they taste like chicken.

At any rate, thanks again for creating this very helpful resource.

Good guide! Thanks for writing it.

I really appreciate the IO builds, simply because I have not kept up with IO state of the art.

Just a question:

DM/DA with Stamina + Physical Perfection + the usual end-buffing slotting - overkill? I like the additional regen and recovery, but is that overdoing it?

Just to add:

Should I mention that my farm map is a big outdoor Carnie map?

That's just about the only place in the game where my end gets stretched to the limit as is, and only then when I get the mask of vitiation. damned mask!

Thank you sooooo much for this guide. I fell back in love with my favorite powersets and am re-rolling my "all dark" toons just to play them over again. It's also nice to see so many others who appreciate Dark Armor considering how much grief I've taken over the years.

I was fiddling with Mids and found I like the idea of putting a full set of Steadfast Protection in my Obsidian Shield. It gives me the KB resist missing from Dark Armor, and the +Def doesn't hurt either. I found it is a big help on my Dark Armor/Dual Blades Tank (talk about an End hog).

Also, I especially like that Dark Armor is available for Tanks these days. Who can resist a "minion muncher" at level 1?! Early power selection means early slotting, and it helps hold aggro nicely. Sure, Fire and Electric would give me a PBAoE toggle too, but I've always liked Dark. Color customization helps too.

I'm looking forward to seeing a Stalker addition here too. I'm quite a fan of Shadow Dweller.

Hi Des,((or maybe because I do not know you this is to informal?))

I loved this guide so much I finally settled on making a dark/dark and am now 27.

My question to you is, what do you recommend from this point on as a good levelling/frankenslotting IO build to get me to 50 to then use your final IO builds?

Or conversely, do you just recommend level 30 common IO's all the way to 50?

I know you recommend a -KB. Is this too large of a question or unfair to ask? Searching doesn't seem to bring up to much on this specific topic. I found a guide to frankenslotting ((Fulmens I think but forgive me if I am wrong)) but it served to confuse me more.
That may be due in part that I am a male.....I digress.
Whew.....I think that is all. Sorry for the long windedness!!

So I ended up taking a break from CoX last year and never actually got around to IOing my DM/DA, so once again, I'm perusing your guide for aid. I was wondering, in your sig you say you're going on hiatus, will you be updating your builds with the Typed Defense emphasis before then? I am curious to see how those will look, as the glaring Energy hole in DA causes me a lot of frustration when grinding Boreas or doing Rikti raids.

Also, struggling to make the most effective build possible while limiting yourself on certain power choices due to wanting to stick to character concept is frustrating as hell. >_<

Hi Des,

Great guide for DM/DA! I have a DM/DA/Dark Mastery character that I'm looking to max-out, and I was wondering if you had any recommendations now that Fitness is inherent, and we don't have to manually choose that and lose that power slot.