Dark/Dark/Dark advice

My Dark/Dark/Dark brute is 45 and I'm planning for a respec at 47 to be my first character that I really IO out. (Though I have limited inf and no real stockpile of Merits, so my "IO out" is probably your "beginning use of sets")

Background: I mainly solo, never PvP, and my online free time is limited to a few hours/week. I enjoy the strategic timing of D/D where I have to pace my uses of Dark Regen and Dark Consumption, and pop inspirations when appropriate, but I don't have to sweat too much to kill something.

My current build is not optimal. I've read guides (most applicable are quite dated) and played in mids, but I still have a few questions, largely due to lack of experience with planning at this level.

Rather than just posting the build, I first want to ask general questions. Then I'll tweak the build with better understanding and post it for further critique.

Defense: I'm currently looking at upping my defense. This means Weave, Cloak of Darkness, and Maneuvers. Even slotting Combat Jumping for Defense. I'm currently looking at 19% defense. Since I'm also running Cloak of Fear and Darkest Night for -To-hit, I _think_ that'd give me a good effective defense, but I'd like to be sure before I commit.

Resistance: To save on Endurance and slots, I'm not looking at running Tough. Should I reconsider? That's a ~10% change in my S/L resistance. Aside from Psi and Toxic, I'm looking at resistances in the 30s. (Psi and toxic are int he 50s). But is that good?

Attacks: Running low on Slots, I'm looking at giving Gloom a token slot. I'm 6-slotting the basic 3 attacks along with Midnight Grasp. (not to mention the other useful powers). I'm ignoring Boxing. Will this too often leave me waiting for an attack to recharge? Likewise, my respec drops Air Superiority, which I used in my early levels a lot and now rely on every now and then to drop some annoying flier (I SJ). Will I miss it?

Toggles: I end up with Dark Embrace, Murky Cloud, Weave, Maneuvers, Cloak of Fear, Death Shroud, and Obsidian Shield. Mids is currently predicting recovery of 2.8/sec with toggle usage of 2.2/sec. (Not counting attacks nor +Endurance Procs nor Dark Consumption). I have no idea if this is a tolerable difference or if this represents a "rolling fury" kind of Brute.

Hasten: I have no Hasten in the Build. Currently I get by without it, with Soul Drain up about every other fight and Dark Consumption up every third or so, but I've been tempted. (Soul Drain every fight and DC almost as much sounds like heaven). It seems doubtful that I'd get enough +Recharge from the Sets I can afford to get similar impact without Hasten. Am I missing a massive performance increase?

Thanks in advance!

This is a guide by Nalrok_AthZim on the D/D/D Brute:

http://tinyurl.com/24ul5bz

I'm sure he'll come in and offer any other advice, but that should get you started.

I can take a stab at some of your questions, but I'm by no means an expert (I've got plenty of questions myself on my DM/FA brute):

As far as the Defense and Resistance questions go, I'm fairly clueless. It's one of the things I'm having trouble with myself. Not sure how much you know about Def vs Res, but Defense prevents an enemy from hitting you at all (so with 50% Def to Melee, for example, any melee attack made against you has a 50% less chance of hitting you). Resistance lets them hit you, but it mitigates the amount of damage you take (so with 50% Resistance to Smashing damage, any Smashing type damage will hit for 1/2 of it's inital value). I'm sure there's a LOT more to it than that, but that's about the extent of my knowledge.

From looking at Nalroth's guide, it looks like /DA is a Resistance-based set, which is the same as /FA. From what I've read about /FA, most people will go with a +Rchg/+HP/+Regen build, because trying to get Def to the S/L softcap on a Res based set is almost impossible without gimping the build. It can be done, but you wind up giving away damage, endred, rech, acc, etc. in order to get it.

I've been aiming for 15-20% Def from Set Bonuses and as high a Recharge as I can get, which would also include trying to fit in Stamina into the build to help the +Rchg.

The good thing about your power pools is that both DM and DA have heals. DM has Siphon Life, which is nice for topping off your health, and DA has Dark Consumption, which is apparently the best heal in the game from what I've read.

Based on all that, it seems you may be better off going for a +Rchg build and using your Darkest Night toggle to keep from getting hit. I'm planning on the Soul APP myself just to get DN so that I can do this as well.

As for the attacks: You could do a character copy over to the test server, do the respec on the test server, and try the build out there. That will let you decide if making the changes you're indicating will be viable or not for your playstyle.

End/Toggles: I've read somewhere that you should aim for as close to 1/sec end use and at least a 1/sec differential between recovery and useage. You're only looking at a 0.6/sec differential as of now - it seems your toggles don't have hardly any EndRedux in them at all if you're using 2.2 end/sec. I think that's going to be an issue, but again the test server respec could give you a better idea.

I hope this helps!

A family emergency is preventing me from actively updating my guide, Swift, but I'll address your OP real fast here.

Defense: I run Weave, Cloak of Darkness and... set bonuses. I stack Darkest Night atop that and survive quite well sitting at 15.1% defense, the equivalent of a small purple.

Resistance: You're looking at the resistances you get. With Tough, you'll be able to bump up your S/L resistance. I slotted the Cardiac Radial Alpha, and with that and IO's my current resistances are 56% S/L, 62% Psi, 48% Toxic/Neg, and 42% everything else.

Offense: You can afford to 5-slot your attacks with the exceptions of Soul Drain, Siphon Life and Midnight Grasp. I'm going to do my best to get my build to you, as I have Hasten, Fighting, my Travel Power and 50% global recharge.

Remember this: If it can't kill you in the time it takes Dark Regeneration to recharge, it can't kill you. If it CAN kill you, it has to kill you twice. Soul Transfer is a godsend to this combo due to low resistances, but with high recharge you may not need to worry about using it unless you find yourself against something nasty (Nemesis, Romans, Rularuu).

Look for another post by me soon, I'll do everything I can to get more info to you.

Swift, here's my current live build. I've built for modest defenses and a good chunk of Recharge. My build is slotted with Cardiac Radial, so that will account for number discrepancies.

I will say that in recent months I've been EXTREMELY lucky with recipe drops, such as the Numina Unique, the 5-piece set of Absolute Amazement and the Hecatomb. I don't have the money/time to buy those otherwise.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.91
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Nalrok Ath'Zim (Live): Level 50 Natural Brute
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Dark Armor
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Shadow Punch

• (A) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
• (3) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
• (13) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance: Level 50
• (37) Crushing Impact - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
• (45) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance: Level 40
• (15) Reactive Armor - Endurance: Level 40
• (15) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance: Level 40
• (34) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge: Level 40

• (A) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
• (3) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
• (13) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance: Level 50
• (36) Crushing Impact - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
• (43) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50

• (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
• (5) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance: Level 50
• (5) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
• (36) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50
• (40) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50

• (A) Cloud Senses - ToHit Debuff: Level 30
• (7) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 30
• (7) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/ToHitDebuff: Level 30
• (36) Cloud Senses - ToHit Debuff/Endurance/Recharge: Level 30
• (45) Siphon Insight - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50

• (A) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
• (9) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
• (9) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance: Level 50
• (25) Crushing Impact - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
• (40) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50
• (46) Healing IO: Level 50

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance: Level 40
• (11) Reactive Armor - Endurance: Level 40
• (11) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance: Level 40
• (37) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge: Level 40

• (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50

• (A) Resist Damage IO: Level 50

• (A) HamiO:Golgi Exposure
• (17) Touch of the Nictus - Healing: Level 50
• (17) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
• (23) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Healing: Level 50
• (43) Touch of the Nictus - Heal/HitPoints/Regeneration/Recharge: Level 50
• (43) Theft of Essence - Chance for +Endurance: Level 30

• (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Endurance: Level 50
• (19) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50
• (19) Efficacy Adaptor - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50
• (23) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge: Level 50
• (46) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod: Level 50
• (46) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy: Level 50

• (A) Defense Buff IO: Level 50
• (21) Defense Buff IO: Level 50

• (A) Defense IO: Level 50

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance: Level 50
• (25) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range: Level 50

• (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up: Level 50
• (27) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance: Level 50
• (27) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge: Level 50
• (31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance: Level 50
• (34) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance: Level 50
• (37) Accuracy IO: Level 50

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance: Level 40
• (29) Reactive Armor - Endurance: Level 40
• (29) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance: Level 40
• (31) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge: Level 40

• (A) Karma - Knockback Protection: Level 30
• (31) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50

• (A) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
• (33) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
• (33) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
• (33) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50
• (34) Crushing Impact - Damage/Recharge: Level 50

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50

• (A) Absolute Amazement - Stun/Recharge: Level 50
• (39) Absolute Amazement - Endurance/Stun: Level 50
• (39) Absolute Amazement - Stun: Level 50
• (39) Absolute Amazement - Accuracy/Stun/Recharge: Level 50
• (50) Absolute Amazement - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50

• (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 40
• (42) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 40
• (42) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage: Level 40
• (42) Decimation - Chance of Build Up: Level 40

• (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance: Level 50
• (45) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance: Level 50

• (A) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range: Level 50
• (48) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
• (48) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
• (48) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance: Level 50
• (50) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge: Level 50

• (A) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 30
• (50) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 30

• (A) Empty

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50

• (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50

• (A) Jumping IO: Level 50

• (A) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery: Level 50

• (A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50
• (21) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50
• (40) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End: Level 50

• 5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 5% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 5% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 5% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 5% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 3.75% Defense(Smashing)
• 3.75% Defense(Lethal)
• 1.563% Defense(Fire)
• 1.563% Defense(Cold)
• 4.375% Defense(Energy)
• 4.375% Defense(Negative)
• 1.875% Defense(Melee)
• 3.125% Defense(Ranged)
• 3.125% Defense(AoE)
• 6.3% Max End
• 5% Enhancement(Heal)
• 70% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 55% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 5% FlySpeed
• 163.04 HP (10.88%) HitPoints
• 5% JumpHeight
• 5% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -4)
• Knockup (Mag -4)
• MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
• MezResist(Held) 2.5%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 17.35%
• MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%
• MezResist(Stun) 2.5%
• MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%
• 10.5% (0.175 End/sec) Recovery
• 20% (1.252 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 4.095% Resistance(Fire)
• 4.095% Resistance(Cold)
• 3.125% Resistance(Negative)
• 5% RunSpeed

Now that I have a better chance to post, allow me to explain a few things with my build, as I've had a lot of folks look at it and go "Well that's just bizarre, Mr. Ath'Zim!"

First, I do not have Cloak of Fear or Oppressive Gloom. This is because, to me, Brutes do not need either power unless you took them for personal preference. Both toggles are offensive PBAoE mez toggles, and as such, will control enemies that fall under their influence. Disoriented/fear-stricken minions and lieutenants will not attack you. As a Brute, that is detrimental to your Fury. Your goal as a Brute is to hit and be hit, because being hit makes hitting more satisfying.

Second, I have Death Shroud underslotted. This doesn't bug me in-game though; with Soul Drain saturated (and up quite often) and as much Fury as I can attain, it's damage isn't something I need to be concerned about.

Third, I have Soul Transfer overslotted. This is for three reasons: To maximize the stun, allowing me more time to toggle up and re-prep after being defeated; to maximize the recharge of the power, allowing me to use Soul Transfer more often in heated battles (this is how I was able to solo Holtz and the Honoree at AV status, popped Soul Transfer 4 times); and finally to snag that sweet sweet 10% global recharge bonus from Absolute Amazement.

Fourth, I have Tough/Weave underslotted. With my current defenses/resistances and Darkest Night, I find my survivability to be pretty great.

Fifth, I have Dark Regeneration slotted as hard as it can possibly be slotted. With my build, set bonuses and Cardiac Radial, my DarkRegen heals for 901 per enemy(!), costs 9.8 endurance per use(!) and recharges in 14 seconds(!!!!). If it can't kill me in 14 seconds or less, it can't kill me. Ever. Period.

Anything else that might need some clarification? Nalrok Ath'Zim, my first-ever character and first-ever 50 is undoubtedly the lord-god-almighty of all my characters. He hits like a train, has a pretty wicked backstory, boasts an unorthodox personality for a demon, and he's so hard to kill I'm almost positive it pisses off my enemies. And even if you DO kill him you have to keep killing him until I stop using Soul Transfer.

Thanks for the feedback all, I've summarized my responses below:

Quote:

I can take a stab at some of your questions, but I'm by no means an expert

Well you aren't likely to be more wrong than I am As a casual player I'm ignorant of a lot of details, so every bit helps.

Last night I tinkered with my graphics settings and moved to +0/x3, which has proven challenging but doable. Got several bubbles in a couple of hours last night and hope to hit 46 soon, and then the mythical 47 and my respec.

Quote:

Based on all that, it seems you may be better off going for a +Rchg build and using your Darkest Night toggle to keep from getting hit. I'm planning on the Soul APP myself just to get DN so that I can do this as well.

DN definitely HELPS, but by itself it isn't getting me into that lovely "don't get hit" territory. (/me is jealous of the Dark Armor can't tank video) And currently (pre-respec) I'm dying of end starvation. It's not too bad - I rarely take a knee - but I do have a bit of a blue pill addiction, and if I get overzealous my toggles drop and then everything goes black. (until I hit Soul Transfer)

Recharge is unanimous among the comments, so I'll work Hasten into the Build. I'll drop Cloak of Fear, which will also free up a few slots. That should help with the End, and Cloak will be of reduced benefit once I swap in Death Shroud anyway. I do lose the PBAOE -to-hit though.

Quote:

As for the attacks: You could do a character copy over to the test server, do the respec on the test server, and try the build out there. That will let you decide if making the changes you're indicating will be viable or not for your playstyle.

That won't help me with the set interactions, which are somewhat needed - without those I fall down from end loss and am missing a good chunk of Defense.

Quote:

End/Toggles: I've read somewhere that you should aim for as close to 1/sec end use and at least a 1/sec differential between recovery and useage. You're only looking at a 0.6/sec differential as of now - it seems your toggles don't have hardly any EndRedux in them at all if you're using 2.2 end/sec. I think that's going to be an issue, but again the test server respec could give you a better idea.

That is _great_ info to have, thank you. Now I have a reasonable target to shoot for that I can adjust with experience.

Quote:

Defense: I run Weave, Cloak of Darkness and... set bonuses. I stack Darkest Night atop that and survive quite well sitting at 15.1% defense, the equivalent of a small purple.

Okay, so those are similar numbers to mine (I still like the idea of Maneuvers if I can manage it, but we will have to see).

Quote:

Resistance: You're looking at the resistances you get. With Tough, you'll be able to bump up your S/L resistance. I slotted the Cardiac Radial Alpha, and with that and IO's my current resistances are 56% S/L, 62% Psi, 48% Toxic/Neg, and 42% everything else.

I can't count on Incarnate stuff yet, but it sounds like my numbers aren't terrible, if I take Tough.

Quote:

Offense: You can afford to 5-slot your attacks with the exceptions of Soul Drain, Siphon Life and Midnight Grasp. I'm going to do my best to get my build to you, as I have Hasten, Fighting, my Travel Power and 50% global recharge.

I don't have nearly that level of recharge but the rest makes sense.

Compared to your build from your guide, I'm looking to slot Death Shroud more and the armors less.

Quote:

Remember this: If it can't kill you in the time it takes Dark Regeneration to recharge, it can't kill you. If it CAN kill you, it has to kill you twice.

Yeah, I really do spend my fights nervously watching for Dark Consumption to recharge (because I can't really afford Dark Regen more than once without it), and Soul Drain is my other favorite. Having the three up every fight would make a huge difference, so Hasten is in.

Quote:

Soul Transfer is a godsend to this combo due to low resistances, but with high recharge you may not need to worry about using it unless you find yourself against something nasty (Nemesis, Romans, Rularuu).

Since going to /x3 I've found I ST a lot more useful - Nothing like avoiding a run back through the map. I do have a few questions:

* Immediately following ST, I have a bunch of wandering mobs, often a hard-hitting mob or two, and no toggles up. What should I prioritize (aside from Obsidian Shield)?

* You list some "nasty" groups, which is solid info I don't have. Currently I've found I suffer at the hands of Carnies and Malta the most, because of the end-drain. EBs are rough (Positron wiped the floor with me a few times), either because I have no staying power or because they hit HARD (Positron was hard, Battle Valkyrie wasn't). That Tip mission where I fight a number of Miss Thystles is challenging because I have problems keeping up the DPS without blowing my blue bar away, but I feel I'm close to having it be an amusing cakewalk. Romans hit hard enough that I've avoided their missions for the last couple of levels, but at the x2 level I was able to drop the engineers quickly enough to avoid getting my acc tanked. What should I look out for in the future?

Quote:

I would take tough.

Along with Hasten, this is now in the build.

Quote:

As far as single-target attack chain is concerned, the crucial attacks are smite, siphon life, and midnight grasp. You probably need shadow punch unless your recharge rate is very high. I would slot up gloom and incorporate it into your attack chain. The resultant attack chain with shadow punch, smite, siphon life, midnight grasp, and gloom should be smooth regardless of your recharge. Boxing and air superiority are not essential, but boxing is typically used as a set mule.

I see no Shadow Maul in your list. Is there a reason?

Quote:

Typical attack chain uses around 4 to 6 end per second without endurance reduction slotting. Unless you're fighting an AV that takes a long time to beat, it is not necessary to make a build that can sustain fighting indefinitely. On the other hand, a net recovery of 0.6 end/sec is a bit low even with dark consumption. I suggest you to drop maneuvers, and work a bit for higher recovery. Alpha slot should help here as well.

More great info, I really appreciate the comments. I'm looking at dropping Cloak of Fear and keeping Maneuvers (more endurance, more slots). Criticism of this choice welcome. Either way I need to improve the recovery.

A new question for any and all:

* What are some common good things to look at in sets? In another thread someone suggested I get Crushing Impact up to the Acc bonus, and Theft of Essence: +End, all of which looks good and I've snagged but not yet slotted. I've got a +Chance for Build Up for Soul Drain. I'm planning on grabbing a Knockback protection or two (should I get two?), and the Steadfast +3 Defense is on my desired list. Pretties like Numinas and Miracles will likely take a bit longer, as I'm up to a great big 2 Villain Merits and perhaps 100 Normal Merits and while the Crushing Impacts were cheap, the rest weren't and I've blown about a third of the Inf I've got already.

Swift: Always remember to play to your strengths in this game. While it's nice to show off and go balls-to-the-grindstone crazy against a group like the Cimeroran Traitors or even late-game Arachnos, remember where your armors excel.

Watch the video in my signature, the one linked by the insult to Dark Armor. It's me versus +2/x8 Rikti. Rikti do a lot of Smash/Lethal/Negative/Psi. Dark Armor with Tough resists well over half of all of those. If the going gets tough, go beat on someone who, at their strongest, is no match!

Nalrok, thanks so much for the details. I will study deeply.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nalrok_AthZim Anything else that might need some clarification?

You've taken Touch of Fear. While I understand the high -to-hit on the attack, I expect to be in big spawns all the time, so the -to-hit is only useful on my immediate target who should soon be dead (though it will take more time if I'm using a non-damaging attack).

Is this only used for big-bosses (EB/AV)?

Okay, after way too much time spent learning how to use Mid's and exploring the various IO sets out there, here is the build I'm looking at.

Note this is without purples - getting this much will break my bank as it is.

Some specific notes:

- As discussed above, I dropped Cloak of Fear and picked up Death Shroud. I was able to keep Maneuvers. This build is very similar to Nalrok's, with a few changes:
- I didn't max out Recharge time as much as he did - I'm going for more mitigation through defense and more damage through Death Shroud.
- I've gotten two Knockback Resistance IOs instead of just 1. Mag 4 seemed low.
- I didn't stick as many slots into the armors (since I wasn't going for Reactive armor's recharge bonus) nor Soul Transfer (while it's awesome, I'd rather put utility into powers I'll hopefully use more often).
- I did end up sticking Hasten into the build. I'm hoping that Soul Drain and Dark Consumption will be regularly cycling and feeding into my destructive impulses.
- In this build I end up using 2.13 end/sec in toggles (With DN up) and getting back 3.15/sec, not counting procs from Perf. Shifter and Theft of Essence (which is in both Siphon Life and Dark Regen)

While I'm not hitting the "soft cap" on defense, I figure this, stacked with the impact of Darkest Night and lingering effects of Dark Obliteration, should keep most enemies whiffing.

My concerns are:
* I'm a bit overloaded on Accuracy (+59%), except for Soul Drain (which will give me quite a bit more). I'm sure there's a smarter balance to achieve, but at least I won't miss.
* I've no damage enhancement on Gloom and Dark Obliteration, milking both for the large defense bonus from Siphon Insight, nor Midnight Grasp (again, a big defense bonus from Enfeebled operation). I'm worried I might be cutting my big DPS items in favor of defense.

Commentary welcome!

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.91
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Murderous Mime: Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Dark Armor
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Shadow Punch

• (A) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance
• (3) Crushing Impact - Damage/Recharge
• (3) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (5) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (5) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge

• (A) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
• (29) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance

• (A) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance
• (7) Crushing Impact - Damage/Recharge
• (7) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (9) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (9) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance/Recharge

• (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage
• (11) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance
• (11) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge
• (13) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge
• (13) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

• (A) Defense Buff IO

• (A) Theft of Essence - Chance for +Endurance
• (15) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
• (15) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
• (17) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
• (17) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (19) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Protection
• (36) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%

• (A) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
• (27) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance

• (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%)

• (A) Theft of Essence - Chance for +Endurance
• (19) Touch of the Nictus - Heal/HitPoints/Regeneration/Recharge
• (21) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Endurance/Heal/HitPoints/Regeneration
• (21) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
• (23) Harmonized Healing - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (23) Harmonized Healing - Endurance/Recharge

• (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge
• (25) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge
• (25) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
• (27) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
• (36) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (39) HamiO:Cytoskeleton Exposure
• (46) Karma - Knockback Protection

• (A) Empty

• (A) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
• (37) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance

• (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
• (29) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
• (31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
• (31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
• (31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
• (33) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff

• (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (33) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (33) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance
• (34) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage
• (34) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
• (34) Scirocco's Dervish - Chance of Damage(Lethal)

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
• (37) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (37) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
• (40) Luck of the Gambler - Defense

• (A) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Recharge
• (40) Enfeebled Operation - Endurance/Immobilize
• (40) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Endurance
• (42) Enfeebled Operation - Immobilize/Range
• (42) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Immobilize/Recharge
• (42) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Immobilize

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (50) Recharge Reduction IO

• (A) Stupefy - Accuracy/Stun/Recharge
• (46) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge

• (A) Siphon Insight - ToHit Debuff
• (43) Siphon Insight - Accuracy/ToHit Debuff
• (43) Siphon Insight - Accuracy/Recharge
• (43) Siphon Insight - ToHit Debuff/Endurance/Recharge
• (46) Siphon Insight - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge

• (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance
• (45) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance
• (45) Dark Watcher's Despair - Recharge/Endurance
• (45) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff

• (A) Siphon Insight - ToHit Debuff
• (48) Siphon Insight - Accuracy/ToHit Debuff
• (48) Siphon Insight - Accuracy/Recharge
• (48) Siphon Insight - ToHit Debuff/Endurance/Recharge
• (50) Siphon Insight - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge

• (A) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
• (50) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance

• (A) Empty

• (A) Celerity - +Stealth

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO

• (A) Run Speed IO

• (A) Jumping IO

• (A) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
• (39) Miracle - +Recovery

• (A) Endurance Modification IO
• (36) Performance Shifter - EndMod
• (39) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End

• 2.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 2.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 2.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 2.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 2.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 2.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 2.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 2.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 19.56% Defense(Smashing)
• 19.56% Defense(Lethal)
• 5.813% Defense(Fire)
• 5.813% Defense(Cold)
• 4.25% Defense(Energy)
• 4.25% Defense(Negative)
• 3% Defense(Psionic)
• 15.5% Defense(Melee)
• 5.5% Defense(Ranged)
• 8.625% Defense(AoE)
• 33.75% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 59% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 3% Enhancement(Immobilize)
• 23% FlySpeed
• 168.67 HP (11.25%) HitPoints
• 23% JumpHeight
• 23% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -8)
• Knockup (Mag -8)
• MezResist(Immobilize) 7.15%
• 17.5% (0.292 End/sec) Recovery
• 40% (2.503 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 20% ResEffect(FlySpeed)
• 20% ResEffect(RechargeTime)
• 20% ResEffect(RunSpeed)
• 8.125% Resistance(Negative)
• 23% RunSpeed
• 4% XPDebtProtection

Mag 4 KB protection will negate most things in the game with knockback, with the exception of a few edge cases; that extra -KB IO is scrappable should you choose to do so.