Dark Amor....negative resistance

It was just a retort regarding the whole CJ argument - wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

That's also a funny comment from one of the guys saying dark armor needs buffs because it uses so much end. Blues drop a lot more frequently than breakfrees.

Since there continues to be a discussion about endurance costs of sets, etc. I threw this together. I know it's not perfect, but this might help compare apples to apples better.

NOTE: With Shield Defense and Super Reflexes; I included a "end/second" cost if Practice Brawler and Active Defense were able to achieve a 120s recharge. (Basically averaging the activation cost across 120s.) It's not perfect, but I did wish to include an end cost for them.

Rooted is nothing like an immobilize. It's like being web grenaded all the time for a variety of benefits. Unyielding Stance was like an immobilize, because it was one. That was one of the earliest major defense set do-overs because it sucked.

Why is having to take CJ bad? Because if you have to do it it isn't a choice. It would mean willpower players get three power pool selections instead of four. It would mean they get one less power pick to choose from. That isn't what this game is about when it's at its best. That said, of course CJ is a great power. I take it on literally every character I make. The difference between feeling like a shrewd builder and a patronized follower is the presence of compulsion.

I don't find knockback to be all that dangerous even when I'm playing a squishy who for some reason does not yet have a -KB IO. It is the most transient status effect that can be inflicted on a player character. It is a common effect, but it virtually always occurs as a chance to proc rather than a guarantee. In any case, by the time it becomes really prevalent you've had many levels to find some way to protect yourself against it.

why would you add DP in the toggles calculations

Ok. Version 2 of this. Any other mistakes, or additions you'd prefer to see? And if it's things like Dull Pain, etc. how would you like to see that included?

I'm torn by that statement.

Personally I don't believe Dark Armor and Cloak of Fear were designed to be used at the same time. Mind you, I certainly could be wrong. That being said, I can see the attraction of doing so. For now I have yet to find a compelling enough reason to include CoF on any of my DA toons.

The thing about the self heals is that they cost 10.4 end (Healing Flames, Dull Pain, Earth's Embrace, Energize) so you don't quite feel it because you'll be using them instead of an attack usually - and 10.4 end is about the cost of a level 8 attack such as Thunder Strike, or just a bit more than Bone Smasher (8.5) and less than others like Heavy Mallet (11ish).

So when I use the self heal on my em/nin stalker or my ss/fire brute I barely feel the end cost, and they're slotted mostly for rech and heal (the usual doctored wounds setup).. Total Focus on my Stalker is far more noticeable since it costs 18.5 end and I use it way more often than Kuji In Sha, same as KO Blow on my Brute, also 18.5 end, used way more often than healing flames. The other ones I have are elec, ea and ice so they have end management tools, stopped caring about endurance on my sm/elec brute even when she had a single rech SO on Power Sink.

I'd call it pretty different since for knockback there are IOs to take. You can also take hover if you don't like leaping, even post-change that still leaves you immobile for less time than being knocked to the floor does. The point about immobilize is that the only option is CJ if there's nothing in the set itself. Feel free to hover all you want but you still won't be going anywhere. Having mentioned unyielding stance, teleport also comes to mind but typically if you're trying to escape from a group of NPCs you need to be able to duck around corners, precisely the kind of thing teleport cannot do.

I agree that willpower and shield getting complete status protection wasn't the best way to do it. Maybe willpower because I can kind of see it conceptually? From a balance perspective though it should have at least one hole. Why? Precisely because, as you say, the way they did it sets an unfortunate precedent that holes are something bad, something to be fixed.

In fact they are something to be fixed, but the player should be involved in that. One ought to have to use their noggin on their own behalf at least once in a blue moon. The KB hole that most possible character combinations share is an example of weakness done right since now there are so many different ways to guard oneself, even if many of them are just different varieties of one flavor of IO. Their original balance metric for defense sets was idiotic (one toggle at a time, some sets don't get to move), but after GDN they did most of their best work in that area.