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I would recommend Dark Melee, because it has Dark Consumption, or Claws, because it's fairly end-light.|
Originally Posted by Hostillian
Just coming back to the game and thought I'd take another brute for a whirl. I'm wanting to try /DA but am not sure what primary would work well with dark. I know dark melee will, but I don't want to be handcuffed by one primary due to the heavy end cost.
Thanks in advance =-) |
I'd suggest avoiding Mace, Axe, Super Strength, and Stone, unless you have a strong plan for endurance management. These are some of the more expensive brute primaries.
Whichever primary you pick, Dark Regeneration will be your worst endurance sink. It is definitely worthwhile to save your merits and pick up a Theft of Essence: Chance for +Endurance to slot into it; it will refund some of (or sometimes even all of!) the cost of Dark Regeneration.
And grab a build planner to plan out your build. Watch your End Consumption vs. End Recovery, and do NOT put purples or very rare or expensive in the build. This way, you can know what to expect while levelling, instead of being frustrated because your levelling build isn't as good as your planned final build.
You might also want to find Desmodos' guide for Dark/Dark scrappers. Much of what's in it will still apply for brutes.
@Roderick
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Excellent advise. |
Originally Posted by Roderick
I would recommend Dark Melee, because it has Dark Consumption, or Claws, because it's fairly end-light.
I'd suggest avoiding Mace, Axe, Super Strength, and Stone, unless you have a strong plan for endurance management. These are some of the more expensive brute primaries. Whichever primary you pick, Dark Regeneration will be your worst endurance sink. It is definitely worthwhile to save your merits and pick up a Theft of Essence: Chance for +Endurance to slot into it; it will refund some of (or sometimes even all of!) the cost of Dark Regeneration. And grab a build planner to plan out your build. Watch your End Consumption vs. End Recovery, and do NOT put purples or very rare or expensive in the build. This way, you can know what to expect while levelling, instead of being frustrated because your levelling build isn't as good as your planned final build. You might also want to find Desmodos' guide for Dark/Dark scrappers. Much of what's in it will still apply for brutes. |
Let me add, Slot knock protection IO's instead of accrobatics (huge end sink). Dont run shadowcloak while fighting AT ALL, EVER (huge end sink)!!! Impervium armors are a godsend. Get your endurance accolades.
And while I do agree with what you've said about the synergy between dark melee and dark armor, with the above IO slotting advise, endurance usage/problems arent much of a concern anymore.
Letting you choose other primaries without fear of being an endwhore.
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Originally Posted by Shadow Ravenwolf
My favorite combo is Faceplant/DebtCap with the TeamWipe Ancillary
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Originally Posted by Dispari
Yeah, I like Blasters too.
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My two favorite DA brutes are my SM/DA and my DM/DA
The SM DA has a lot of recovery in it. Yes Fault+Opressive gloom is THAT good
I use the DM DA to fear everything everywhere all the time. Stacking CoF with with a high recharge Perma Intimidate and smacking the lucky ones with ToF makes me giddy.
DM/DA is pretty darn awesome for so many other things. The two bag o tricks mesh together well.
Claws and Fire are also nice with DA. Keep in mind you can stack up to 30% positional def with DA. making it very survivable in non DDR cases. And when feces hit the fan, Dark Regen is there to bali you out. =)
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I don't agree with the advice to avoid Mace; it's great in combination with Dark, and the end issues are completely manageable if your build has sufficient end reduction.|
Originally Posted by JamMasterJMS
Excellent advise.
Let me add, Slot knock protection IO's instead of accrobatics (huge end sink). Dont run shadowcloak while fighting AT ALL, EVER (huge end sink)!!! Impervium armors are a godsend. Get your endurance accolades |
And if you're referring to Cloak of Darkness, it uses exactly the same endurance as Acro and any number of other shield armors. Like most damage auras, Death Shroud and Cloak of Fear do cost a lot of endurance to run, which is why they should be heavily slotted for end reduction.
My Characters
Knight Court--A CoH Story Complete 2/3/2012
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Nobody said to avoid mace.|
Originally Posted by Finduilas
I don't agree with the advice to avoid Mace; it's great in combination with Dark, and the end issues are completely manageable if your build has sufficient end reduction.
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I said to avoid mace (and other high end use primaries) unless you had a plan to deal with the end use. Frankly, there's a lot of people who, especially when they're new, will want to turn on ALL their toggles and go smash everything as hard as they can. Slotting, set bonuses, Stamina, or even toggle juggling are all valid means of dealing with high end use - which Mace/Dark has in spades - unless you take steps to avoid it.
Also, as Finduilas said, slot End Reduction. NOT just in your shields, but in your attacks too. Most attacks use more endurance per second than your toggles do.
@Roderick
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And, in fact, until you've got good recovery bonuses and Stamina slotted well, etc... Brutes are actually extremely lucky this way in that your Fury carries more damage boost than a power being ED-slotted for Damage. And keeping in constant motion is important for Fury.|
Originally Posted by Roderick
Also, as Finduilas said, slot End Reduction. NOT just in your shields, but in your attacks too. Most attacks use more endurance per second than your toggles do.
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To answer the original poster's question; I'd go Stone/DA. Fault + Oppressive Gloom is a bit of an "I Win" button for damage mitigation. If you don't care about that as much, Claws pairs really well with it. SS is always a good primary as well.
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Just checked ingame information at start up screen. When did cloak of darkness get an endurance reduction? That power used to use approx. .52 end/sec now its the same as the other armors. Leaving only CoF and DS as end sinks.
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Originally Posted by Finduilas
And if you're referring to Cloak of Darkness, it uses exactly the same endurance as Acro and any number of other shield armors. Like most damage auras, Death Shroud and Cloak of Fear do cost a lot of endurance to run, which is why they should be heavily slotted for end reduction.
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Originally Posted by Shadow Ravenwolf
My favorite combo is Faceplant/DebtCap with the TeamWipe Ancillary
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Originally Posted by Dispari
Yeah, I like Blasters too.
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I've been playing DA for over four years and as far as I know CoD has always had the same endurance cost it does now. Several years ago the three main armor toggles (DE, OS, MC) were reduced from .26 EPS to .21, but unless a change was made to CoD a looong time ago, I think you're misremembering.
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Originally Posted by JamMasterJMS
Just checked ingame information at start up screen. When did cloak of darkness get an endurance reduction? That power used to use approx. .52 end/sec now its the same as the other armors. Leaving only CoF and DS as end sinks.
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My Characters
Knight Court--A CoH Story Complete 2/3/2012
maybe
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Originally Posted by Shadow Ravenwolf
My favorite combo is Faceplant/DebtCap with the TeamWipe Ancillary
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Originally Posted by Dispari
Yeah, I like Blasters too.
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I'm reluctant to suggest Stone/DA for a Brute. I play a DA/Stone Tanker, if the Fault + OG combo works great, but the problem for a Brute is that it stops mobs from attacking you, thus decreasing your Fury generation. That means you have to work a little bit harder to keep your Fury up, but fortunately, Brawl costs 0 endurance now. 
So a month later, what did you choose?
Claws - but after a month I wasn't having fun. Not knocking /DA too much, but I just couldn't get into it. I then started a new thread asking for a good soloing secondary, and several people made a good case for willpower so I am currently running with that.
I don't play this game a lot so I don't really have the time to spend trying to master Dark Armor. However, when I'm done with my current build, I'm going to give /DA another whirl but might end up using Dark Melee.
There are three types of people in this world: Those who can count and those who can't.
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Ok. They do go together perfectly. If you get a chance though I know that fire or elec if you're into them wouldnt be so bad either. Stone may be a good combo as well. Prior to IO's 2 end redux in each armor helped me a lot. Good luck with your WP (I know you don't need it lol)
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Originally Posted by Hostillian
Claws - but after a month I wasn't having fun. Not knocking /DA too much, but I just couldn't get into it. I then started a new thread asking for a good soloing secondary, and several people made a good case for willpower so I am currently running with that.
I don't play this game a lot so I don't really have the time to spend trying to master Dark Armor. However, when I'm done with my current build, I'm going to give /DA another whirl but might end up using Dark Melee. |
Just coming back to the game and thought I'd take another brute for a whirl. I'm wanting to try /DA but am not sure what primary would work well with dark. I know dark melee will, but I don't want to be handcuffed by one primary due to the heavy end cost.
Thanks in advance =-)
There are three types of people in this world: Those who can count and those who can't.