I would lean more towards Traps than Dark for high end Defender soloing (built in Mez protection). For secondary either Ice or Sonic is a good choice.
I wouldn't bother with Power Mastery on Dark, the damage boost is short and the -to hit doesn't really help with toggles. Instead I'd take Dark Mastery for Soul Drain (note, the Dark Mastery version is a lot better than the Soul Mastery version). With decent slotting you can have Soul Drain up at least 50% of the time and a Dark or Traps Defender can afford to wonder into melee to use it.
Ice blast is definitely the right choice. Fire blast will be a good choice for area damage too, but it's not out yet. You could also consider soul mastery, since it has power boost, which recharges in half the time that power build up does. Disadvantage is that you have to unlock patrons to get it.
There is absolutely very little left on the shelf with a Dark/Ice/DARK defender. Dark has some great pre-emptive mitigation in fearsome stare and howling twilight. Dark miasma has two sources for healing yourself. These also debuff targets. With dark miasma it should almost be a knee jerk reaction to take the Spiritual Alpha for heal, recharge, stun, and slows. Tar Patch is a superior slow power with its -resistance. Shadow fall screams for six slots of resistance, defense, and status/kb bonuses.
Ok that was the story of Dark Miasma from my heart. My head tells me in cold calculating numbers that Traps is far easier to cap defense-wise without an APP. Traps has a more consistent and higher values of -regeneration. Traps has seeker drones, which are expendable self-destructing pets that grab aggro and debuff. Triage beacon while not useful for every group shines when the fit hits the shan and AV spawns. Traps also plays a very different style of approaching enemies. One small downside to traps is that when you do take damage, big hard damage in the 5% window of the defense cap, it doesn't have a good self-heal in itself. I have a Traps/dark/Dark that also took oppressive gloom. OG is my new favorite understated epic power. Dark consumption and soul drain makes any defender a good candidate for rolling nukes. Traps/Ice/Dark would be a great tank-mage.
Triumphant Defenders Forever
Psylenz FF/Psi, ArticQuark Storm/Rad, Symon BarSisyphus Bots/psn, Max VanSydow Thugs/Dk, Cyclone Symon Bots/stm, Blue Loki Ice/Cd, Widow 46526
HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.
Yeah for what you want to accomplish traps/ice/dark seems to be the best most reliable character. You can get Medicine to heal yourself and others as well. With your high defense it'll be easy to get it off. Ice will help with that too.
Also, like stated before /fire would be good as well whenever it is available.
/ice really have subpar AoE exept blizzard. AR, Archery or Rad does considerably better if you are solo. /fire would definately be the best.
If you want to be able to wipe 0/8 spawwns solo and be descent team contributor you may also want to look at corruptor AT.
Hi all,
I'm a longtime player that's just coming back to the game after a long break. After years of scorching alt-itis with countless Controllers and Masterminds, and several Dominators, I now have my sights set on getting a Defender to 50.
I even have delusions that the new character is going to become my new main, although the architecture of the delusion requires that I deny the reality of my alt-itis, which seems to be in temporary remission. Maybe I should find a support group to help.
In any case, I've been educating myself through reading forum posts, and playing around with builds in Mids. What I lack is experience with any of the Incarnate content, and how that affects decisions that I'm making.
I'm looking to create a Defender that can accomplish the following:
* Be able to solo both super-safely and super-quickly on 0x8 with bosses by the mid-30s through 50. Between satety and speed, I lean much more towards satety. I would prefer my character be basically immortal, and just wait for my opponents to die of old age if necessary.
* Be a great team contributor.
* Bring peace on Earth, and harmony and love to everyone everywhere.
I think what I want is Dark/Ice/Power. Dark for the fantastic safety, Ice for the great AoE, and Power to amp up the -ToHit and damage output.
What I would like to know:
* Are there other suggestions that people have for primary/secondary/EPP to accomplish my goals?
* What should I be aiming for as far as IO set bonuses for Dark/Ice/Power? I'm guessing +recharge, and +def for ranged and AoE.
* Will carrying a tray full of breakfrees be adequate status-effect protection?
* What should I be putting in to the Incarnate slots?
Many thanks in advance!!