Never played spines. ut on the /DA side I have the first 9 powers and then soul xfr.
I tried both Cloak of Fear and oppressive gloom but didn't like them.
I'm sure I will get flamed for this answer. But thats waht worked for me.
On the Spines side it's all good - just don't pick Barb Swipe. And Confront is very missable.
World of Jackcraft.
For me, Cloak of Fear was a end hog. Add that to the other Armours + Tough + Acrobatics and your end problems.... and your likely to have some in comparison to other scrappers.... will spiral.
My play style means jumping into a large mob to get the benefit of all my AoEs etc. While Oppressive Gloom is cheap to run, those ticks of health can really drop fast if you get in the thick of things.
There may be issues around the animation time of Barbed Swipe which I dropped in favour of Lunge, but apart from those 3 powers, I have all the other attacks and armours including the stealth power.
Slot the shields with some End Reductions and think about doing the same for attacks.
As there is no knockback protection in the DA, you might consider the Leaping Pool and go Combat Jump, Super Jump and Acrobatics.
Also Tough might be an option from the Fighting Pool. I have it on my Spines/DA.
To be honest, endurance will be one of the issues you will continue to have to overcome. At lvl 45 at current, my spines, with conserve power is still an endurance hog. Slotting your attacks and shields is really an art and I haven't optimisied him quite yet.
Build Up + Kinetics will be your friends.
Go for Build Up and bribe a kineticist 
Edited: Oops, forget Confront. Didn't bother with that either. 
No discussion of Dark Regeneration?
I just got it and am wondering the best way to slot it. ATM thinking 2x end rdx, 2x acc
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On the Spines side it's all good - just don't pick Barb Swipe. And Confront is very missable.
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I love barb swipe and all the similar scrapper attacks like gambler's cut. at least, in the early lvls. I feel an attack chain is missing something without it. a scrapper should never be standing around waiting for somethin to charge
I can imagine Spines/DA running out of endurance very very quickly.
My experience with DA has been the real need to five or six slot everything. i.e shields 3 res and 2 end and attacks 3 dmg, 1 acc and 2 end red.
Same with Dark Regeneration. You want it up when you need it, and when you need it, you want it to work Hence an acc or two + recharge and end Reds, of course.
Quills and Shroud together do some good DoT, but again, they need five or six slotting to get the most out of them.
This is my biggest pain with the set combination - its taken 45 levels to achieve the same sort of independence that my regen scrapper had at lvl 22!
And I'm still not quite happy with it.. 
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I can imagine Spines/DA running out of endurance very very quickly.
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/em agreee, both are really end heavy sets
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I can imagine Spines/DA running out of endurance very very quickly.
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They do, but it's sooo worth it.
Befriend a kineticist for Speed Boost, Transference and Fulcrum Shift and watch the body count soar
@Hakeswell
Union Ilservian, Evinlea
Defiant Expeditor, Hakeswell
Arc: 70119 Hellion Initiation
I'd do something like this...:
---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name:
Level: 50
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary: Spines
Secondary: Dark Armor
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Lunge==> Dmg(1)Dmg(3)Dmg(15)
01) --> Dark Embrace==> DmgRes(1)DmgRes(13)DmgRes(13)EndRdx(31)
02) --> Spine Burst==> Empty(3)Empty(9)Empty(36)
04) --> Murky Cloud==> DmgRes(4)DmgRes(5)DmgRes(5)EndRdx(40)
06) --> Build Up==> TH_Buf(6)TH_Buf(7)TH_Buf(7)Rechg(46)Rechg(48)Rechg(48)
08) --> Impale==> Dmg(8)Dmg(9)Dmg(15)Range(37)Rechg(37)Rechg(43)
10) --> Obsidian Shield==> DmgRes(10)DmgRes(11)DmgRes(11)EndRdx(40)
12) --> Combat Jumping==> Empty(12)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)Jump(31)
16) --> Hurdle==> Jump(16)Jump(17)Jump(17)
18) --> Quills==> Dmg(18)Dmg(19)Dmg(19)EndRdx(37)
20) --> Health==> Heal(20)Heal(21)Heal(21)
22) --> Stamina==> EndMod(22)EndMod(23)EndMod(23)
24) --> Dark Regeneration==> Heal(24)Heal(25)Heal(25)Rechg(31)
26) --> Ripper==> Dmg(26)Dmg(27)Dmg(27)Rechg(34)Rechg(34)Rechg(34)
28) --> Cloak Of Fear==> Fear(28)Fear(29)Fear(29)EndRdx(40)
30) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(30)
32) --> Throw Spines==> Dmg(32)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Range(33)
35) --> Death Shroud==> Dmg(35)Dmg(36)Dmg(36)EndRdx(39)
38) --> Soul Transfer==> Rechg(38)Rechg(39)Rechg(39)
41) --> Focused Accuracy==> TH_Buf(41)TH_Buf(42)TH_Buf(42)EndRdx(42)EndRdx(43)EndRdx(43)
44) --> Oppressive Gloom==> Rechg(44)Rechg(45)Rechg(45)DisDur(45)DisDur(46)DisDur(46)
47) --> Assault==> EndRdx(47)EndRdx(48)EndRdx(50)
49) --> Tactics==> TH_Buf(49)TH_Buf(50)TH_Buf(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Critical Hit==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
---------------------------------------------
meh, thoughts on this?
EDIT: 3 dmg in Spine Burst.
No EndRdx or rech in throw spines or spine burst? That's gonna hurt...
My build has avoided hasten and becasue I was enjoying the damage output so much, I put off acrobatics for a very long time.
Its probably advisable to get that earlier.
---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: Lil' Green Man
Level: 50
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary: Spines
Secondary: Dark Armor
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Lunge==> Dmg(1)Dmg(3)Dmg(3)Acc(11)EndRdx(11)EndRdx(45)
01) --> Dark Embrace==> DmgRes(1)DmgRes(5)DmgRes(5)EndRdx(13)
02) --> Spine Burst==> Dmg(2)Dmg(7)Dmg(7)Acc(9)EndRdx(9)EndRdx(46)
04) --> Death Shroud==> Dmg(4)Dmg(13)Acc(15)EndRdx(15)EndRdx(17)EndRdx(17)
06) --> Murky Cloud==> DmgRes(6)DmgRes(19)DmgRes(19)EndRdx(21)
08) --> Swift==> Run(8)
10) --> Impale==> Dmg(10)Dmg(21)Dmg(23)Acc(23)EndRdx(25)EndRdx(46)
12) --> Combat Jumping==> DefBuf(12)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)Jump(50)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)Heal(25)Heal(27)
18) --> Dark Regeneration==> Acc(18)EndRdx(27)EndRdx(29)Rechg(29)Rechg(31)EndRdx(50)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(31)EndMod(31)
22) --> Boxing==> Dmg(22)
24) --> Quills==> Dmg(24)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Acc(33)EndRdx(34)EndRdx(34)
26) --> Tough==> DmgRes(26)DmgRes(34)DmgRes(36)EndRdx(36)
28) --> Obsidian Shield==> DmgRes(28)DmgRes(36)DmgRes(37)EndRdx(37)
30) --> Ripper==> Dmg(30)Dmg(37)Dmg(39)Acc(39)EndRdx(39)EndRdx(48)
32) --> Throw Spines==> Dmg(32)Dmg(40)Dmg(40)Acc(40)EndRdx(42)EndRdx(46)
35) --> Build Up==> Rechg(35)Rechg(42)Rechg(42)TH_Buf(48)TH_Buf(50)
38) --> Cloak Of Darkness==> EndRdx(38)EndRdx(43)DefBuf(45)DefBuf(48)
41) --> Conserve Power==> Rechg(41)Rechg(43)Rechg(43)
44) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(44)EndRdx(45)
47) --> Oppressive Gloom==> Acc(47)
49) --> Soul Transfer==> Heal(49)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Critical Hit==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
---------------------------------------------
A decent build might go something along these lines - its held me in good stead so far. Currently lvl 45 with it.
jus rolled out a spiny/Da scrapper any powers to miss/unmissable??? thankful for all help
"We're not tools of the Government or anyone else...
Fighting was the only thing, the only thing I was good at...
But atleast...I always fought for what I believed in!" (Gray Fox)
@Captain Paragon EU @Captain Paragon.