I have a hard time recommending Shadow Meld for DM/Inv as the main source of mitigation from Defense. I've got a high Recharge build and with it Shadow Meld would Recharge in ~25s, lasting only 15s. It's just not as consistent as walking up to a single enemy, corner pulling them, or what-have-you. Maybe in addition to having softcapped S/L/F/C/E/N with one melee foe but I'd rather have an AoE I can use more frequently than the Judgements, such as Fireball. A build with Dark Melee could stand to have some extra AoE.
Here's an example switching out my build that has Blaze Mastery with Soul Mastery:
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.93
http://www.cohplanner.com/
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Succubus Kali: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Invulnerability
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery
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Playstation 3 - XBox 360 - Wii - PSP
Remember kids, crack is whack!
Samuel_Tow: Your avatar is... I think I like it
Quote:
This is one of the main reasons I prefer the Brute version.|
Originally Posted by bAss_ackwards
but I'd rather have an AoE I can use more frequently than the Judgements, such as Fireball. A build with Dark Melee could stand to have some extra AoE.
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Soul Mastery is one stop shopping for an excellent ST ranged attack, a mitigation power & a fairly decent TAoE.
Quote:
Fire Ball >> Dark Obliteration though, so if you actually want to kill stuff with AoE I'd go that route. On that note if I wanted to kill stuff with AoE I wouldn't choose DM either.
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Originally Posted by Deus_Otiosus
This is one of the main reasons I prefer the Brute version.
Soul Mastery is one stop shopping for an excellent ST ranged attack, a mitigation power & a fairly decent TAoE. |
Mains (Freedom) @Auroxis
Auroxis - Emp/Rad/Power Defender Pylon Video Soloing an AV
Pelvic Thunder - SS/Elec/Mu Brute
Sorajin - Elec/Nin Stalker
Neuropain - Sonic/Mental/Elec Blaster
Quote:
My goal for my character Succubus Kali was to be as indestructible as I could possibly be without giving up too much Damage potential in the process. I think I did well for myself.|
Originally Posted by Auroxis
Fire Ball >> Dark Obliteration though, so if you actually want to kill stuff with AoE I'd go that route. On that note if I wanted to kill stuff with AoE I wouldn't choose DM either.
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I got all of the survivability stuff I wanted - perma-capped HP, perma-Hasten, softcapped S/L/F/C/E/N Defense with 1 melee foe, almost hardcapped S/L Resist, one very large heal in situations where I don't need capped HP, and one smaller heal that is constantly topping off my HP.
For the offense part I got enough Recharge for the Smite>Siphon Life>Smite>Midnight Grasp attack chain, I was able to add in a good AoE power (Fireball) to my repertoire, and I've got nearly perma-Soul Drain (which is at the minimum 60% Damage and 12% ToHit).
Yes, she is primarily a single target destroyer but a Fireball with permanent Soul Drain on target cap is something fierce.
Playstation 3 - XBox 360 - Wii - PSP
Remember kids, crack is whack!
Samuel_Tow: Your avatar is... I think I like it
Time to say many thanks to all who have posted.
It looks as though it's mainly a playstyle thing and Scrapper vs. Brute are pretty close in performance which is a credit to the Devs.
One question I still had was whether Shadow Meld made any real difference? It looks like a great defence buff (does it increase or replace other def %'s) on a short timer but there doesn't seem to be much love for it here. Of course it might just be that if you're already soft-capped, anything it adds isn't going to help.
Thanks again, I am going with brute for now because I want the ability to tank some of the Incarnate content as effectively as I can whilst still putting out very good damage.