D3, need some advice

Greetings, fellow defenders. I have reactivated after a four-year absence, and need your advice as to how I should rebuild my seriously out-dated D3.

Back in my heyday, HOs were dropping like rain (at least one a day for several months), so I have enough between my 50s to put together the build below...Question is, should I? The alternative is to put the HOs on the market and use the income to acquire some IO sets. Some pros and cons for the HO build:

Pros:

-- I can make this build NOW. I have enough inf stashed away that picking up the common IOs I need to pad it out will be cake. Getting the IO sets that I want will take forever at auction.

-- Two nucleolus, for example, will provide a larger buff than 1 dam & 1 acc IO (66% to each vs. 42.4% to each) using the same number of slots.

Cons:

-- Missing out on a ton of set bonuses. Particularly recharge, which I want for stacking Tar Patch, among other things.

Note that this toon was an AV-killer that relied a lot on HT for the -regen and stacked PG to keep them in place. Blackstar is just there for fun

So, friends, what would YOU do in my position? Here's the HO build I came up with (slot levels are arbitrary):

[Edit: The Nucleolus in TG should be a Lyso, oopsie]

Level 1: Twilight Grasp HO:Nucle(A), HO:Lyso(3), HO:Lyso(3), HO:Golgi(5), HO:Golgi(5), Heal-I(7)
Level 1: Dark Blast HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(7), HO:Nucle(9), HO:Enzym(9), HO:Enzym(11)
Level 2: Tar Patch RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11), RechRdx-I(13)
Level 4: Gloom HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(13), HO:Nucle(15), HO:Enzym(15), HO:Enzym(17)
Level 6: Combat Jumping DefBuff-I(A)
Level 8: Shadow Fall HO:Ribo(A), HO:Ribo(17), HO:Cyto(19), DefBuff-I(43), ResDam-I(43)
Level 10: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(19), RechRdx-I(21)
Level 12: Hurdle Jump-I(A)
Level 14: Super Jump Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Tenebrous Tentacles HO:Perox(A), HO:Nucle(21), HO:Lyso(23), HO:Lyso(23), HO:Enzym(25)
Level 18: Health Heal-I(A)
Level 20: Stamina EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(25), EndMod-I(27)
Level 22: Night Fall HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(27), HO:Enzym(29), HO:Enzym(29), Dmg-I(31)
Level 24: Darkest Night HO:Enzym(A), HO:Enzym(31), HO:Enzym(31)
Level 26: Fearsome Stare HO:Lyso(A), HO:Lyso(33), HO:Endo(33), ToHitDeb-I(33), ToHitDeb-I(45), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 28: Acrobatics EndRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Howling Twilight RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(34), EndRdx-I(34), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 32: Dark Servant HO:Lyso(A), HO:Lyso(36), HO:Endo(36), Heal-I(36), RechRdx-I(37), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 35: Petrifying Gaze HO:Endo(A), Acc-I(37), Hold-I(39), Hold-I(46), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 38: Blackstar RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39), Dmg-I(40), Dmg-I(40), HO:Lyso(40)
Level 41: Moonbeam HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(42), HO:Enzym(42), Dmg-I(42), RechRdx-I(43), IntRdx-I(46)
Level 44: Conserve Power RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(45), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 47: Power Build Up RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48), RechRdx-I(48), ToHit-I(48), ToHit-I(50)
Level 49: Super Speed Run-I(A)

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Four years... wow.

Do you know about Enhancement Diversification? (more than "three SO's" of a single thing is wasted. 95% for most things, 56% for defense, damage resistance, acc debuff, range, and a few other things.) This happened just after the Global Defense Nerf ("You mean that I should have to use enhancements when fighting on the hardest difficulty with seven AFK teammates? This sucks!")

Also, they redid Defense and Acc Debuffing in a way that is, umm, complex to explain.

And many, many other changes.

Welcome back. You may want to do some homework.

A few things.

First, to expand on what Fulmens mentioned, they have made it so that the way mobs calculate attacks always makes 1% of defense amount to a 2% reduction in an NPC's average DPS against you. The implications of that for toHit debuffs are a bit complex, because foes resist toHit debuffs for being both over your level and being ranks above minion. However, every point of effective -toHit you inflict on a foe is just like a point of defense for you (and adds up with any actual defense you have).

Overall, a lot of your slotting looks fine for the things you're using to slot. Since you have the HOs laying around, using them is fine. Bear in mind that removing them later will be annoying if you chose to (taking multiple respecs). For a variety of reasons but IMO heavily around the attractiveness of alternative rewards, a lot of people don't go for HOs these days, making them rare and thus expensive (and thus valuable to sell), so it would be very wasteful to overwrite them. However, it's a lot easier. Selling them for cash now would be viable, but you might want to do some research into what to buy to replace them. Meanwhile, your character would be less efficient - the HOs are definitely better than the SO or common IO alternatives.

Some specific questions or suggestions.

• Why so much recharge in Dark Servant? Is it to resummon him when he dies? Bear in mind, you can only summon one at a time now. If it's so you can sacrifice him a lot and get him back faster, that makes sense. My own slotting for him is two Endos and two Enzymes. However, how to slot him is a lot about personal preference. I don't find his healing very reliable due to his AI, and prefer to slot his mez and toHit debuffs.
• I would have recharge in my attacks. You have them at reasonable values for damage and endurance. The accuracy is high on some, but that's because of the liberal use of Nuclei for damage. 66% Acc is probably plenty, and if it's not hitting things you want to hit, you might consider investing in either Tactics or a Kismet: +toHit unique IO. If you could get a 6th slot in each attack even 1 IO recharge would help.
• I would also go for recharge in Twilight Grasp. I guess it depends on how you use it. I often solo my Dark Miasmists, and when I take on a lot of stuff at once, a fast recharging heal is sometimes very useful.
• It's not really very strong to slot +defense in Combat Jumping these days. It has its place if you're trying to eke out the last couple of percent on a build that's shooting for the magic number of 45% defense (the most that is normally useful under the accuracy/toHit rules we mentioned before). This would be a great place to stick that Kismet if you get one.
• What was the goal of Acrobatics? Is it KB protection? If so, know that the protection from it was reduced and while it's still very good, it's no longer perfect and very strong KB will still get you. Also, you can get relatively inexpensive single IOs that give 4 points of protection (Acro gives 9 now). These various IOs can be slotted in defense or resistance powers, making CJ or Shadow Fall places to put them. These IOs are also cost zero endurance to use, as opposed to Acro.
• I recommend more recharge and some fear duration in Fearsome Stare. IMO, this is a staple power for a Dark Def, and while the -toHit is important and useful, so is leaving a foe feared for a good long time and being able to stack the power on bosses. This is a pretty good power to look into your first IOs for, because toHit debuffing sets are pretty cheap, and you can mix those with Endos to get more rounded-out stats for the fear, toHit and recharge.
• Now, it's possible you really do, but do you really want Blackstar back as fast as possible? Part of my asking this question is that I'm not a huge fan of Defender nukes unless they have significant damage boosts going on, and Dark Miasma's not one of the sets that gets "singnificant" boosts in the way I mean.
• Can you turn the accuracy in Pet. Gaze into another Endo, and then one of the holds into a recharge? I, too, like having PG, but its duration-to-recharge ratio could use all the help it can get.
• The +toHit in PBU really isn't worth slotting for, IMO. It's quite small and only 12.5s long, and PBU's got a long recharge. If you want to take any of my suggestions about adding recharge to attacks or KB IOs, here's a place you can grab two slots for those purposes.
• The +Resistance "armor" toggle in the epics is really nice on a Defender. If you decide to dump Acro, taking Temp Invuln and slapping a Ribo or two in it (if you have them) is a decent plan, IMO. (My DDD is also a user of Power Mastery.)

It helps tremendously, thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UberGuy Why so much recharge in Dark Servant?

Going by Darkity's guide (current as of i13) recharge enhancements in DS cause fluffy to cycle his powers faster...still true? Truth be told, slotting this power caused me more grief than anything so far. My old slotting of six recharge is obviously useless, heh. He does so much, and it seems I have so little to give back

Your advice is duly noted here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UberGuy What was the goal of Acrobatics? Is it KB protection?

Yup, I'm now prepared to drop it for Temp Invul. I have bids down for two of the -KB IOs already. This is exactly the kind of help I needed

Quote:

Originally Posted by UberGuy Now, it's possible you really do, but do you really want Blackstar back as fast as possible?

No, honestly at this point I was running out of places to put the slots but I can fit them into TI.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UberGuy Can you turn the accuracy in Pet. Gaze into another Endo, and then one of the holds into a recharge?

Actually, I can I have another Endo I was saving for my Ill/Kin but I think I can find another before that toon ever gets enough levels to use it.

The thing about recharge Enh in pets causing their powers to cycle faster got changed a while back.

If I recall correctly, it was because some powers like Lightning Storm were crazy-powerful so they made pet power recharges not affected by your recharge slotting. Which, I think, was an unintended side effect to begin with.

First, a technical quibble:

Oh, man... I'm almost sorry I brought up Defense/ToHit. Skip to the yellow stars if you don't want to deal with Wall of Text.

The Paragon Wiki article is good. However, sometimes it helps if someone else says the same thing differently; either that or I love to hear myself talk.

I'm going to give a slight oversimplification- note these are my own terms and not standardized vocabulary:

Final To Hit = (Acc term) x (To Hit term).
To Hit term can't be less than 5%.
Final To Hit can't be less than 5% either.

Acc term is where things go like "slotting accuracy in your powers". For critters, it's where things go like "being higher level" and "being a boss".

"To Hit term" is where things go like Defense, and taking yellow insps, and ToHit Debuff.

EXAMPLE 1: An even-con minion attacking an undefended character has Acc Term of 1.0 and ToHit term of 50%, so Final ToHit of 50%.

EXAMPLE 2: a +2 boss attacking an undefended character has an Acc Term of (1.2 for level times 1.3 for being a boss) and a ToHit term of 50%. So 1.56 * 50% = 78% to hit.

EXAMPLE 3:
+2 boss, character with 40% Defense, that would be 1.56 * (50%-40%) or 15.6% chance to hit. Defense comes off the "ToHit" term.

EXAMPLE 4:
+2 boss, character with 90% Defense, that would be 1.56 * (5%) or 7.8% to hit. There's always a minimum of 5% in the ToHit term.

EXAMPLE 5:
+2 boss, character with 40% ToHit Debuff. You only do 80% damage against +2 enemies (the Purple Patch, which you probably remember) and you only do 80% debuff as well. So that 40% debuff becomes 32%. So the Acc Term is still 1.56 and the ToHit term is (50% -32%) or 18%. So that's, umm, about 25% Final To Hit.

**********************************

As far as the specifics of your build: I've never done Dark/Dark, and I'm not good with Hami-Os. Lemme look anyway.

FEARSOME STARE: This is a huge to hit debuff, if slotted, (around 30%) so you want acc, to hit debuff, and recharge. I think of the Fear as a bonus.

So if you slot one Lyso, two Membranes, and an Acc/Rech from Analyze Weakness you should be at about 90% recharge, capped -ToHit, and 55% or so Acc (Seems like plenty to me, but some people hate missing more than I do.)

For your cones, which someone mentioned, you need more recharge. Ideally I'd aim for 55% Acc, 95% Dam, 95% Rech, 40% EndRed and 56% debuffs- but that's about 11 SO's so I will have to compromise. Maybe.

One nucleolus, three membranes, that's 33% acc, 33% dam, 95% rech and 56% debuff. Add a Detonation Acc/dam/end (L44+), that's 53% acc, 53% dam, 95% rech, 56% debuff, 20% end.
Add a Detonation dam/end (L44+) and we're at 53% acc, 78% dam, 95% rech, 56% debuff, 45% end.

That's not quite right.

One Nucl, two membranes, one Siphon Insight Acc/End/Rech, 53% acc, 33% dam, 91% rech, 40% debuff, 20% end ... add a (L50) damage and a (L44-50) Detonation Dam/End and we're at:
53% Acc, 95% Dam, 91% Rech, 40% Debuff, 45% End. So that turns 7.5% debuff into 10.5% (vs a theoretical max of 12%.) I can live with that if you can.

Someone should really check that in Mid's. Detonations are cheap; Siphon Insights are probably cheap.

Hope this was a useful wall of text.

All that follows is my not-nearly-humble-enough opinion:

For Fluffy, my current slotting is 3 lyso and some procs (I like giving him teeth... baby teeth, I know, but something a little more than nothing :-)

The trick to Fluffy is that he *can* take a lot of IO sets, but it takes a *lot* of slots to get the benefits AND make him worthwhile. The 3 lyso ensure that the -to hit (in TeneTent, TwiGrasp, Chill of the night, DarkNight) is maxed and makes sure that he will usually hit with whatever power he throws out there. A nice small 3 slots, which is good if you are running low on slots.

On this same thought (for an additional slot), consider the cloud senses proc - chance for neg energy (yeah MORE neg but...) It should have a chance to go off for every casting of TT, TG, DN plus every 10 sec of DN and Chill. Someone tested it very recently and said it works very nicely.

Slotting him for recharge is a tricky question... if you go for an IO build with lots of Global recharge, then Fluffy probably doesn't need much if any (I run an IO build with lots of recharge, and he is re-castable about 1/3 of the way through his duration - I rarely need to recast without having him available). If you stick with the HO build, you might throw in a lvl 50 recharge IO (like 42% rech). Again, as mentioned, recharge only affect how quickly you can recast him, it does NOT affect how quickly he can cast his own powers.

I think that you do not need to slot his heal - it will only go off when he feels the need to cast it (and you can't increase the rate). YOUR heal is so much better/controllable/timed/enhanceable/etc. that you are much better off relying on your own.

The endo does cover both his TeneTent and his PetGaze, but again, lysos cover more of his powers so I favor the lyso.

Overall, I think you can have him be effective at 3 slots, and even better for a few more...