Question for the masters(DM/Electric Armor)

So...I've been looking at some numbers/synergies....and keep thinking that a DM/Electric Armor Scrapper would freakin' PWN. Confirmation anyone?

I know everyone shoots for soft capped defense when they talk about soloing AVs, but how would a Resistance based toon such as DM/Electric Armor fare?

Think about...Siphon Life,Energize,Dark Consumption,Soul Drain,and all the -To Hit...I'm seriously considering making this my next project.

Thoughts?

I'm guessing you'd get creamed.

A resistance-based scrapper at the resistance cap is taking 2.5 times as much damage as a defense-based scrapper at the defense cap, plus the defense cap is easier to reach in most cases.

Now, you CAN use pool powers and sets to get quite a lot of defense. I'm sure there's some build that can pull it off. But if my goal was soloing AVs, I just wouldn't choose Fire or Electricity unless I was I was specifically trying to prove that it could be done. There are just much better options.

As a side note, the to hit debuff is very heavily resisted by AVs, so that won't be much of a factor.

Now in the rest of the game, when survivability isn't an issue, it would be OK I guess. It'll do pretty good single target damage. You have a damage aura, which is always nice. You'll never have endurance trouble. I hear the endurance drain helps your survivability, though you'll still be pretty vulnerable to the alpha strike.

Maybe I'm off base. I haven't actually put together any Electricty builds. But Dark Melee/Electic Armor sounds kind of meh to me on the surface.

I built a DB/ELA for AV soloing with insps and ended up with ~27 def to all... and found out it wasn't a terrible alt for AV soloing without insps after all.

That said, a DM/ELA doesn't seem to have the same synergy to me. Stacking SL on top of Energize is good, but not as significant as with secondaries without a heal, and Soul Drain and the damage aura are mutually exclusive in a way - if you keep the damage aura on, Soul Drain fodder dies and you get less buffs ; if you don't, you lose one of ELA advantages.

Basically, it's certainly possible but as Werner said there are better options.

I have a Elec/DM Tanker at level 20 that I re-rolled into a DM/Elec Scrapper last night.

I have a Spines/Elec scrapper at level 25 that made me create the DM/Elec scrapper.

My spines/elec is very survivable...although you have to play the "kill them before they kill you game".
Although Energize doesn't come up as much as I would like, your high resistances gives you enough time to react before you die (making it easy to pop insps when needed to survive).
If your heal is not up and you have no inspirations your pretty much done for unless you kill them first.

Electric Armor is actually my favorite armor to play right now.

For DM/Elec I think as long as you get some defense in your build you should be fine.
Having the high resists, tohit debuffs from DM, Energize, Siphon Life and Lightning Reflexes should make it a pretty damn good scrapper.

Edit: As for fighting AV's...very expensive and probably very hard.
I definitely created this build for pure fun...no AV soloing.