Let's Talk Dark Assault!!!

So I know everyone is drooling over Darkness Control.. but it's Dark Assault that has me giddy.

I mean we get a Psychic Shockwave clone and a Life Drain... DROOOL!!! Oh and a Powerboost Clone to boost up my controls and self-heal! WoW!


My mind is already spinning, thinking about what primaries to pair with it..besides Darkness control.

Fire/Dark, Plant/Dark, Mind/Dark, Earth/Dark... sorry I'm getting overly excited here.

So anyone played the set to higher levels? And what's everyone think the best pairing is?

I'd argue it's the best Dominator Assault set now. Even rivaling Fire Assault in Raw Damage with superior AoE. Granted Fire Assault has Blaze OP, Dark Assault isn't that far behind.

Really? It probably is the best Dominator Assault set, definitely boasting great AoE, great single target, -ToHit is a good defensive mechanic, the self heal is just icing on the cake of a good damage power.

This set has no flaws, and many strengths.

I consider it a midway between Psi Assault and Fiery Assault.

I just hit 22 with my Dark/Dark dom tonight and picked up the PBAoE, Engulfing Darkness. This power is definitely a turning point for the set, as combined with Night Fall's cone, I finally feel like I'm doing real AoE damage. Engulfing Darkness has 2.0 second animation, which is nothing special, but it FEELS fast, which is great for me.

Overall, I'm very happy with Dark Assault. Thoughts on powers so far...

Dark Blast (T1 ST ranged): Nothing special, useful while leveling but I might not slot it in an endgame build.

Smite (ST melee): Solid fast-animating damage. Worth getting into melee range for even when it's your only melee attack

Gloom (T2 ST ranged DoT): Excellent DPA, delivered as a deceptive damage over time effect. This power may not feel like it's doing a lot of damage, but give it an extra second and it'll finish off a lot of things you thought you needed one more attack for. Use it on LTs and Bosses and watch the damage rack up.

Night Fall (cone, 60ft, 19 degree arc): Slightly underwhelming damage, delivered as DoT like Gloom but not as good. Definitely usable due to long range, but you can really feel how narrow it is. Some people may have trouble enjoying this power, but if you make sure to use it from as far away as possible, it'll do its job.

Gather Shadows (self buff): This is extremely similar to Power Boost from Earth and Energy Assault. The difference is, Gather Shadows has about 75% as much boost to your secondary effects in exchange for a 10-second damage boost of 34% (almost as good as Aim and about half as good as Build Up). This feels like a best-of-both-worlds compromise between Power Boost and Aim/Build Up.

Engulfing Darkness (PBAoE 15ft): Another GREAT power - slightly less damage than Fire Assault's Combustion, but with *2* second animation time instead of 3. Get it, slot it, love it. Some folks may complain about needing to get into melee range for this, but it's worth it.

I don't have the last three powers yet, but Life Drain looks like it will add some good survivability and ranged damage if you frankenslot it for acc/dam/rech/heal with as may triple and quad pieces as you can squeeze in. Moon Beam is a complete skip, on the other hand, unless you happen to love snipes or want to mule a cheap snipe set for set bonuses.

And finally there's Midnight Grasp - on paper, this is another great melee attack with a bonus immobilize built in. My only complaint is that they didn't see fit to give us an alternative to the hentai tentacles of doom, considering how Dark Control has a very different aesthetic.

Engulfing Darkness is a Foot Stomp clone in everything but damage type and control effect. You bet your *** it's amazing.

Unlike Combustion, which is just bland and bad.

Kinda shocked they gave the set a power boost AND life drain..seems a little TOO good. Sure..sets like earth and em can power boost seismic smash's hold, and total focus stun, in addition to the entire primary...but PB + life drain and a damage boost??
I got the same feeling when I first saw Shadow Meld for stalkers...Did the dev team actually MEAN to make something so good, or was it a chance collision of awesome?

Once the Devs moved Moonbeam to level 35, the set was sold with me. I was probably going to use it anyways, but that just sealed the deal. Why is it better at 35? Because I can skip it and start getting ancillary pool powers then.

Loving my level 15 Ice/Dark Dom so far. Trying to make it a confusion-based Dominator, which should be a fun attempt, at the least.

I am very excited by fire/dark, and I am tempted by earth/dark. I think plant/dark will be super spiffy too.

In fact, I am almost tempted to remake my plant/fire as plant/dark since she is only level 30. Fire does sick damage but dark assault fits better. Dunno.

Lewis

After Playing dark on beta, I found I perfered Psi.

The Dark PBAOE only seemed to hit 10 targets...
And I am REALLY spoiled by Drain Psyche.

Yeah, I think I will keep my plant/fire.

However, I have a level 2 plant/ice/ice I may redo as plant/dark/ice.

Lewis

I have a 50 Grav/EM/Primal That I'm resisting recreating again as a Grav/Dark.....

I might reroll my mid-20s Plant Thorn as Plant/Dark and just color Dark greenish..

What about Mind/Dark? hmmmmm

Mind/Dark is working out to be fun. I made a "Vampiri" clone.. lol.

Oh with Electric/Dark I was contemplating the +Regen in the primary with the Self-heal in the secondary. Might make a squishy a little harder to kill ;-).