Can anyone throw me some insights on DM/FA?

First let me just say, I know Shields has essentially usurped Fire as THE damage/AoE secondary, and that Dark/Shields is beyond godly. BUT, I have a Fire/SD that I'm leveling, and I've played a TON of Defense based secondaries lately and I'm looking for something different. I know fire is viewed as squishy, and I'm used to a relatively high platform of survivability (Think DM/SR). (Also, I assume endurance management will not be a problem)

My basic question: Can a Dark/FA be made pretty tough with the double heals, to-hit debuffs, decent resists, and some IO slotting, and still be an offensive powerhouse with Fire hopefully helping with Dark's sad lack of AoE?

I've been playing a DM/FA brute pretty exclusively for the last month or so and gotten it up to lv42. Grain of salt as I'm using brute HP values, but I think it should be roughly comparable.

The last five melee toons I leveled to 50 were a NW, a Ice tank, DM/SD scrapper, SS/SR brute, and a Claws/SR scrapper, all softcapped. So I'm pretty accustomed to high survivability as well! I do have a lv50 SS/Fire brute for comparison too.

DM/Fire works pretty well. I wouldn't say the survivability will impress, but it is decent. I wouldn't say it lacks AoE between Soul Drain, the two PbAoE +End powers, Maul, your damage aura, Burn, and maybe Fireball from your epics! It doesn't have the reliable AoE of Shield Charge or Footstomp, but you can really make a big impact on groups if you are willing to pace yourself correctly. It's nice to be able to start every new group at full HP and End, too.

I think mine is at about 50% S/L resists (with the normal toggles plus Tough), with about +30-40% Rech that helps get Healing Flames up quickly. Add in Siphon Life constantly topping off your green bar and you'll be in pretty good shape. But I'm not jumping into big giant groups of anything like I might with my DM/SD or an SR. I will be taking RotP.

Last night I was doing very well vs. Rikti at +0/x3. Easier foes I can do okay at +1/x6, but I suspect that's about the top end of what the build can handle without serious investment.

I've also been chewed up badly by Romans and Arachnos at those same difficulty settings. For someone used to getting missed so often, it's a bit easy to get beat up by the stuff you would just ignore on something at 45% Defense, like Fortunata's -Rech and Mu -End.

I was on my DM/FA for a few missions, did okay, then hopped onto my DM/SD for a bit. The difference in survivability and damage was noticeable, and the DM/SD was far less click happy. Overall I think it's really fun to play, though. I am enjoying it more than I expected.

My DM/FA scrap has been sitting at 35 for the better part of the last six months, now - waiting for my Nin/Nin Stalker, Warshade, Peacebringer, Mind/Kin Controller all to reach their 40's (and the Peacebringer to ding 50). I really should get back to him soon, but my BS/Shield just got headsplitter, and I'm itchin' to get it slotted.

I'll be honest, old Gaslight (the DM/FA in question) could be tougher, but so long as he isn't slowed he's very hard to kill. It helps immensely if you've got any sort of /Regen experience, but just remember to hit Healing Flames after the alpha strike and every time you hit half health and you'll be fine.

And take Burn. Most old-timers love to revile this power because they remember what it USED to be back in the day before the fear effect was added, but remember it's in your secondary, meaning that its primary purpose is mitigation. Yes, it does damage. It does OODLES of damage to any poor sots who are unlucky enough to have a controller hold them in place when the scrap fires it off, and I suppose if you got good with air superiority/dark app you could do it yourself, but the judicious use of Burn as mitigation can contribute considerably to your survival.

Burn gives you 100% melee damage mitigation every time you use it, giving you enough time to use healing flames, retoggle, pop an inspiration, or whatever you need to do to defensively, while at the same time providing enough damage in each tick that the enemy is still in range to not put a vast dent in your dps.

With 15 seconds of downtime out of the box, it's up every spawn, so no slots necessary at first. Later on you can slot for damage if you intend to try to use it as an attack against immobilized mobs or a/v's, but don't forget its contribution to your survival.

Okay, enough about Burn. Didn't mean to go off on a tangent, there. When you get into IO's, building for positional defense and recharge will help greatly, and a winter's gift slow resistance IO will really help as well.

Siphon Life was a godsend to Gaslight - it hits like a truck and the heal is just enough to supplement Healing Flames. There's a whole thread about slotting it somewhere that ought to be stickied, but with proper slotting you can do wonders with that power.

I've got a DM/Fire build to get you started in the guide in my sig, but practically anyone could build a better one (it was only intended as a starting point)