"Dark Armor sucks. It can't tank anything."

After reading this thread, I was inspired to roll a Dark/Axe. So thanks, thread!

WARNING: I bold names.

To be fair the OP did demonstrate what amounts to using no secondary. You would have a point if he was rapidly defeating things like your dm/shield was, but through most of the clip nothing starts dying until well into the battle.

If you want a clip of him just standing there getting beat on I'm reasonably confident he could provide it, but there is no purpose as it was already demonstrated to the same effect.

The difference between these two videos is that Dech's demonstrates what an incredibly well built dark armor set can do regardless of the attack set. Yours demonstrates what an incredibly well built dm/sheild can do and is a display of the synergy between the two sets. Namely the heal and the endurance refill.

If the goalpost is shifting to build synergy then I'd suggest that a DA built to similar spec as Dech's paired with stone melee could probably set fault on auto and leave the game running overnight vs those same mobs.

Don't get me wrong, the toon you showcased was awesome, it was just a different type of demonstration than what the OP did.

And yes you did recovery from the end crash well. It was fortunate that dark consumption lit up at that exact moment.

I still prefer Dark armor/Dark melee. I use Dark melee whenever I can justify it for a concept (I only build thematic toons.) Dark Melee has an incredible synergy with Dark Armor. I think of Dark Armor as a heal based tank, rather than a resist or defense based one. That little attack heal sure helps. Also the PbAoE attack that refills the blue is a nice breath of fresh air. Also, according to the scrapper boards Dark melee has incredible damage dealing potential, both at low recharge and high recharge.

But this is a post about Dark Armor. My Dark/Dark tank is now at 33. I have shelved it for a few days as I alt onto some scrappers, but am happy with the build. I have two -KB I/Os in it, but I need one more. The last AV I fought (KHTF) was knocking me once in awhile. Other than that all SOs, and feeling strong. Although, like a regen scrapper, watching the timing of the heal is real important.

Hey, thought I'd chime in.

I'm a fan of Dark Armor on any AT it is available on (yes, even Stalkers, though only slightly less so than others).

TL;DR version: DA takes effort, skill and patience. It does just fine solo, teamed and on Task Forces (presuming there will be buffs).
If you spend the time to learn it, it does well. If you spend money, it can do some pretty crazy things.

Long version:

Dark Armor gives you the tools to be very, very unique with your character. You can stack fears. You can stack stuns. You can stack resistance OR defense or BOTH. You can stack heals. You get a self-resurrection that gives you complete safety in PvE short of AV/EB. It also gives the most resistance of any tank sets to more exotic damage and mez types: Toxic, Psionic, Negative, Endurance Drain, Fear and Confusion. It even provides +Perception, so pesky Widows are a joke.

On to some more serious business:

DA is awesome without IO bonuses. With Tough/Weave/Cloak of Darkness/CJ and a couple one-slot wonder IOs, you can be pretty dang hard to take down even without agonizing over slotting and or using a character planner.

On a Tank, if you take the above powers on top of your own toggles, you wind up with the following:

70% S/L res
33% Energy/Toxic res
48% Fire/Cold res
65% Negative res
80%+ Psi res
19% defense to Melee/Range/AoE (via Weave/CoD/CJ)

Very respectable, and you still haven't touched IO sets/bonuses.

The four holes of Dark Armor:

1. Lack of KB protection (easily solvable)
2. High endurance costs (easily solvable)
3. Weakness to -Recharge. (easily solvable)
4. Low Energy resistance (not so much of an issue unless fighting heavy hitting mobs like Neuron, Antimatter, Nightstar, PPPs)

Solution:

1. Karma or Steadfast KB protection IO (easy to pick up for between 3-20 mill, almost anyone can make this by level 20-25 tops).

2. Performance Shifter: Chance for +Endurance in Stamina (or Physical Perfection, or one in BOTH if you prefer), Theft of Essence: Chance for +Endurance in Dark Regeneration, Miracle: +Recovery and Numina +Recovery/Regeneration in Health.

Note: the only ABSOLUTELY necessary one of these is Performance Shifter, it is very easy to get and by far the cheapest (125 merits). The other procs are useful, but not required to maintain decent endurance recovery. If you DO manage to get them, your life will become very easy. Slot for endurance reduction in each attack. If you can afford to frankenslot Dam/Acc/End ios, then do so. It helps immensely.

3. Hasten, Recharge bonuses and Force Feedback: Chance for +Recharge.

Hasten I only have for times where I am under heavy fire from -recharge effects (Arachnos, Carnies, Malta, Council). You can pick up about 20-30% global recharge rather cheaply by using Stupefy in OG, Crushing Impact or even Taunt sets (which are incredibly inexpensive and VERY nice).

4. This is the toughest hole to fill for a Dark Armor (in my opinion). I have never had trouble with Clockwork, Rikti, Freakshow, Carnies or Praetorian minions who use EM.
My biggest challenges are AVs (and rarely PPPs). Neuron, Marauder, Synapse and the like will rip you apart, sadly. The only real way to fix this is to focus on +Energy Defense bonuses. I decided, however, that with so few mobs, and very slight chance to meet up with them while solo, that I did not need to do this personally.

Player skill will easily make or break this set. If you can solve these issues and practice, customize, and make it your own, you will end up with a very powerful character. On its own, it can be good. With a few IOs, it becomes awesome. I have never gone all-out towards putting sets on a character, but I will with this one. I imagine it will be incredible once I am done, and I can't wait.

I've had so much fun working towards 50 thus far, but its only just beginning.

I cant belive people are still replying to this post.

Its not based on any reality and its retarded.