First Storm / Dark Build

Not having ever played with either set, I'm SURE I'm missing a few nice powers of the sets could someone please look over my build choices and see if they are solid power choices, or if I'm misisng something really obvious?

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

Level 50 Mutation Defender
Primary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Secondary Power Set: Dark Blast
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Ancillary Pool: Power Mastery

Hero Profile:
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Level 1: Gale Empty(A)
Level 1: Dark Blast Empty(A), Empty(3), Empty(11), Empty(17), Empty(36), Empty(36)
Level 2: Gloom Empty(A), Empty(3), Empty(11), Empty(17), Empty(29), Empty(36)
Level 4: Snow Storm Empty(A), Empty(5), Empty(5)
Level 6: Steamy Mist Empty(A), Empty(7), Empty(7), Empty(15), Empty(40), Empty(40)
Level 8: Moonbeam Empty(A), Empty(9), Empty(9), Empty(15), Empty(34), Empty(39)
Level 10: Freezing Rain Empty(A), Empty(37), Empty(37), Empty(37), Empty(39), Empty(39)
Level 12: Dark Pit Empty(A), Empty(13), Empty(13)
Level 14: Hover Empty(A)
Level 16: Fly Empty(A), Empty(46)
Level 18: Tenebrous Tentacles Empty(A), Empty(19), Empty(19), Empty(23), Empty(25), Empty(27)
Level 20: Night Fall Empty(A), Empty(21), Empty(21), Empty(23), Empty(25), Empty(31)
Level 22: Swift Empty(A)
Level 24: Hurricane Empty(A)
Level 26: Health Empty(A), Empty(27), Empty(29)
Level 28: Torrent Empty(A)
Level 30: Stamina Empty(A), Empty(31), Empty(31)
Level 32: Lightning Storm Empty(A), Empty(33), Empty(33), Empty(33), Empty(34), Empty(34)
Level 35: Life Drain Empty(A), Empty(40), Empty(43), Empty(45), Empty(45), Empty(45)
Level 38: Blackstar Empty(A), Empty(42), Empty(42), Empty(42), Empty(43), Empty(43)
Level 41: Power Build Up Empty(A)
Level 44: Temp Invulnerability Empty(A), Empty(46), Empty(46), Empty(48), Empty(48), Empty(48)
Level 47: Total Focus Empty(A)
Level 49: O2 Boost Empty(A), Empty(50), Empty(50), Empty(50)
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Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance


The slotting levels may not be right, but I can adjust that later.. I would like to be a nice support character for our SG, and able do do a bit of PVP.. Saying that, I would still like to do lots of mayham and destruciton in our PvE runs we do often..

Any opinions?

Now to be fair I have only just started my storm/dark, but I have play both sets individually to 50, so here are a few suggestions:

Gale has a terrible to hit rate with no consequential damage with just kb working for it. Torrent is another cone knockback with no significant damage. I find much better directional control with hurricane. However, if you MUST have 1 of the cone KBs torrent is better... by a little bit. Truthfully, I would skip both...

I find I like the O2 boost as mez breaker and a quick shot of HP until the teammate can take care of themselves. Even if you drop it later, it is nice to have while leveling up.

Blasts should be slotted as *you* like, but I find *I* prefer to 5 slot them to get max effect.

Getting both snowstorm and Steamy Mist before stamina will be painful... very. Just keep that in mind.

I would seriously skip dark pit. You aren't taking anything else to stack with it, it is only mag 2 with a huge end cost and recharge time for low benefit. It is only really good when stacked with another aoe stun.

I would STRONGLY recommend getting stamina as early as possible - especially before hurricane (and considering the number of toggles you will end up with, plus the big ticket items like lightning storm, you will appreciate this).

Oddly, I would suggest a different epic pool. There just isn't a lot PBU will do for you as a Stormy, other than increase your own damage (so not bad - but assault from the leadership pool can do that to a lesser degree all the time - and it will help teammates too!). Oh wait - I see you are taking Blackstar... PBU would be just fine. Total Focus is questionable... If you are running Hurricane, you simply can't TF a mob! Now, depending on your play style, if you use Hurricane as the emergency back-up system, TF is ok. If you run Hurricane 24/7, then drop TF like the hot potato it is. Temp invul is a perfectly acceptable toy. If you do take this epic, I would suggest getting conserve power, because this puppy looks to be a bit end hungry...

Now, if you ARE going to nuke a bunch, and you are keen on the Dark Pit, consider taking the dark epic. You get the AoE stun aura (Oppressive gloom) which WILL stack with Dark Pit. You get Dark consumption for recovering end AFTER the nuke and you get Soul Drain for +acc and +dam before the nuke... This means you can Tenebrous them in place, drop the freezing rain, run in and stun them with aura, throw soul drain as build up, dark pit to be SURE that they are still stunned post nuke, blackstar, take a blue, dark consumption, clean up the pitiful remains... :-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caedor I would like to be a nice support character for our SG, and able do do a bit of PVP..

Now, I do NOT know about that, and my suggestions could be WAYYYYY off base as far as PvP!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caedor Saying that, I would still like to do lots of mayham and destruciton in our PvE runs we do often..

Gotcha there... :-)

I would skip Moonbeam entirely, but I'm just not a big fan of snipes. Dark / Storm is all about AoE damage (Rain - Tentacles - NightFall). For single target damage you can cycle Dark Blast and Gloom faster than a Moonbeam shot without the annoying interruptable time of the snipe. If you have the vet rewards then NemiStaff/DarkWand add an extra bit of single target punch, the -Def of Freezing Rain helps with their low accuracy.

I would take O2 Boost over Gale at level 1, especially since if you really want a KB cone you have torrent in Dark Blast as already mentioned. I would also do everything to get stamina at lvl 20. You have so many toggles you will be sorry the longer you go without it. In addition to dropping gale for O2 in Psylenz's build, I would not take hurdle that early if you want it (i would skip it entirely). At least put it off until after stamina, so that you can get stamina at lvl 20.

Also, Hurricane will benefit tremendously from additional slots. One acc/debuff will put even con minions at -45% to hit which is effectively soft capped defense. However, enemies above minion rank and a higher level than you will have resistance to to-hit debuffs so having a number higher than -45% is extremely beneficial! I haven't checks these numbers in a while, but Lts. resist by 10%, Bosses by 20% and AVs by 85%. Furthermore, for 1 lvl above you, you're 90% effective, for 2 levels, 80% effective, 3 levels, 65% effective. Slots in hurricane will be espcially important if you plan to pvp.

For another perspective, I'll post the build I have on my Storm/Dark now (roughly):

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

Calm Horizons: Level 50 Natural Defender
Primary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Secondary Power Set: Dark Blast
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Teleportation
Ancillary Pool: Power Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: O2 Boost Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(A)
Level 1: Dark Blast Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(9), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(25)
Level 2: Gloom Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9)
Level 4: Gale Acc-I(A), Acc-I(31)
Level 6: Hover Srng-Fly(A), Srng-EndRdx/Fly(13), Flight-I(13)
Level 8: Freezing Rain Achilles-ResDeb%(A), UndDef-Rchg(11), UndDef-Rchg/EndRdx(15), UndDef-DefDeb/Rchg(15), UndDef-DefDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(17), LdyGrey-%Dam(43)
Level 10: Swift Flight-I(A)
Level 12: Hurricane FrcFbk-Rechg%(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg(19), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(21), DarkWD-ToHitDeb(21), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(23), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(40)
Level 14: Fly Flight-I(A), Frbd-Stlth(25)
Level 16: Tenebrous Tentacles Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx(A), SipInsght-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Posi-Dam%(19), TotHntr-Dam%(23), Cloud-%Dam(27), Range-I(27)
Level 18: Health Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A)
Level 20: Stamina P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(31), P'Shift-End%(31)
Level 22: Steamy Mist Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam(33), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(33), RedFtn-Def(33), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(34), S'fstPrt-ResKB(48)
Level 24: Night Fall Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(34), Posi-Dmg/Rng(36), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), Range-I(36)
Level 26: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(37), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 28: Dark Pit Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(29), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(29), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(39), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(39)
Level 30: Snow Storm EndRdx-I(A), Slow-I(50)
Level 32: Lightning Storm Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(40), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 35: Thunder Clap Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(39), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(43), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(45), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(45)
Level 38: Life Drain Nictus-Acc/Heal(A), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Heal/HP/Regen(45), Nictus-Heal(46), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 41: Conserve Power RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42), RechRdx-I(43)
Level 44: Temp Invulnerability Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam(46), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 47: Recall Friend RechRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Tornado BldM'dt-Dmg(A), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx(50), SvgnRt-Dmg/EndRdx(50)
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Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
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Set Bonus Totals:
4% DamageBuff(Smashing)
4% DamageBuff(Lethal)
4% DamageBuff(Fire)
4% DamageBuff(Cold)
4% DamageBuff(Energy)
4% DamageBuff(Negative)
4% DamageBuff(Toxic)
4% DamageBuff(Psionic)
6.25% Defense(Fire)
6.25% Defense(Cold)
8.75% Defense(Energy)
8.75% Defense(Negative)
6.25% Defense(Ranged)
3.13% Defense(AoE)
1.8% Max End
5% Enhancement(Heal)
6% Enhancement(Stun)
46% Enhancement(Accuracy)
23.8% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
13% FlySpeed
91.6 HP (9%) HitPoints
13% JumpHeight
13% JumpSpeed
Knockback (Mag -4)
Knockup (Mag -4)
MezResist(Immobilize) 2.2%
18.5% (0.31 End/sec) Recovery
1.58% Resistance(Fire)
1.58% Resistance(Cold)
23% RunSpeed
2.5% XPDebtProtection



The build has total invis and tp for ghosting TFs and such, and the procs are nice in TT.

I like Gale better than Torrent, because Gale is wider, so I get to hit more people with it. Torrent, however, has a much shorter animation, which is really nice. I'd say it's personal preference there.

Dark Pit + Thunderclap gives you an alternate means of mitigation, which is nice, because there are times when Hurricane isn't the best option. If you take the Dark EPP, OG stacks well with this combo, as well.

Other stuff people have already said before...

My Storm/Dark is probably my favorite out of all the characters I have, so I hope you enjoy the toon. There is a whole lot of potential to capitalize on.

Just to throw another log on the fire...

O2 in the long run is much better than Gale. You'll end up getting it if you team at all for any reason. And I wouldnt put it off much past teens or 20's, you'll want the status effect protection for your teammates.

Pretty much everything else has been said. Snipes are timeconsuming to activate and wasting time on a miss, interrupt, or LoS loss is a pain.

Slot End-reduction early on in Snowstorm and Steamy Mist. Later you can swap them out and only have one End-Rdx after Stamina and SO level enhancements. Snowstorm really doesn't need 3 slots. The -recharge effect is not enhanceable, and one -slow will slow stuff down enough that can be slowed down.

Your going to want more slots in Hurricane. You don't really need 6 slots for TT. It's duration is already long enough to easily stack it, 4-5 slots is generally ok.

Stamina by 20 is a great goal, but on a Storm/Dark build to do it you have to push something thats pretty good off until post 20. Hurricane, Steamy Mist, or TT are all ones that I flip flop on. Or just take all 3 and all the prereq's and get Stamina at 22. I've done that before.

Nukes on a toggle based defense defender are difficult to pull off effectively in my opinion. You crash and lose all defense toggles. Stuff that you didn't kill then starts trying to wack you. the -tohit in Blackstar makes this better, but still, I never used it solo, and never used it in teams because I didn't want to deal with the crash and not being able to do something needed. There's some ideas in this thread on how to deal with that though (PBU, stacking disorients, etc). I played with it, still have it on my active build, but it's going away next respec.

Epic pool is to taste. I like the Psi pool for Dominate and Mind over Matter. Oh, one other note, Electric Fence in The elec pool is nice due to the -KB on it. It gives you 2 immobs quickly stackable, and then your target can't be thrown by tornado, allowing it to churn away. I liked it's utility, but in the end didn't like giving up a whole power for it.
GL