Build Request Help

I just started playing the new dark/dark sets on a controller. I'm having a lot of fun with it, but as I'm just getting back into the game I have no direction on how to build this alt. I'm looking to do just a very basic IO build with some procs for mez, status, kb and psi prot. Maybe a stealth in sprint. I also posted the pools I thought of having and what powers out of them. If you think of something different feel free to put them instead but please explain why, just out of curiosity. Nothing too fancy for now. By basic I mean no sets. Thank you for your help, in advance. Who will accept this basic challenge and post a Mids build here:
Archetype: Controller
Origin: Magic
Primary: Darkness Control
Secondary: Darkness Affinity
Pools:
Speed: Hasten, Super Speed
Leaping: Super Jump
Concealment: Stealth
APP: Psionic Mastery
Mental Blast
Indomitable Will
Mind Over Body
World of Confusion

Try downloading Mids and making a build yourself, then post it. Folks will generally be more willing to help when you make a reasonable attempt, even if you are way off base.

Different people have different playstyles. Some play mostly solo, while others mostly on teams. Some like to build for maximum damage, while others want to build for maximum control. Some folks consider defense to be essential, while others feel control and the ToHit Debuff make Defense less needed or not needed at all. These choices affect whether you take certain pools (Leadership, Fighting) or whether you take situational powers.

ok that seems reasonable..Ill play with it tonight and give it the old college try.

There are also a few threads about Dark/Dark. Im pointing you to the one with my build. The pools/APP may differ, but you can get some ideas.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=286199

Ok, here is my basic build. Its a general all purpose build and I want to put procs in it. it is a starting point build, for someone who doesn't have the influence to do all the io sets. So i just wanted a basic build with the procs, as stated before. What do you think? Im more concerned with how the powers are slotted for effectiveness:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.954
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Mr Mid-Nite: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Darkness Control
Secondary Power Set: Darkness Affinity
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Dark Grasp -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(9), Hold-I(9), Hold-I(11)
Level 1: Twilight Grasp -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(3), Heal-I(3), Heal-I(5), Heal-I(5)
Level 2: Living Shadows -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(11), Immob-I(13), Immob-I(13)
Level 4: Tar Patch -- Slow-I(A), Slow-I(15), EndRdx-I(15), EndRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(19)
Level 6: Darkest Night -- ToHitDeb-I(A), ToHitDeb-I(19), ToHitDeb-I(21), EndRdx-I(21), EndRdx-I(23), EndRdx-I(23)
Level 8: Possess -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(25), Conf-I(25), Conf-I(27)
Level 10: Howling Twilight -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(27), RechRdx-I(29)
Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(29), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 14: Heart of Darkness -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(31)
Level 16: Shadow Fall -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Krma-ResKB(31), S'fstPrt-ResKB(33), Aegis-Psi/Status(33), ImpArm-ResPsi(33), ImpSkn-Status(34)
Level 18: Haunt -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(34), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 20: Fade -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 22: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 24: Stealth -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(36)
Level 26: Shadow Field -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(36), Hold-I(37), Hold-I(37), EndRdx-I(37), EndRdx-I(39)
Level 28: Soul Absorption -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39), Heal-I(40), Heal-I(40), EndMod-I(40)
Level 30: Super Speed -- Run-I(A)
Level 32: Umbra Beast -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 35: Shadowy Binds -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(42), Immob-I(42), Immob-I(43)
Level 38: Dark Servant -- RechRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(43), Acc-I(48)
Level 41: Indomitable Will -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(43), RechRdx-I(45), EndRdx-I(45)
Level 44: Mind Over Body -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(45), ResDam-I(46), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 47: World of Confusion -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(48), Conf-I(48)
Level 49: Mental Blast -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(50), Dmg-I(50), Dmg-I(50)
------------
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(7), EndMod-I(7)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run

Your data link isn't working for me, so could you please post your data chunk as well? If you don't know how, go into import/export->short forum export and check the box that says "export data chunk as well as data link".

A few thoughts from a quick look over. All my own opinion, your mileage may vary, yada yada.

Word of confusion. It has a small range, about the range of a typical melee attack. It does about 1/4th the damage of brawl. It only ticks every 4s. The confuse is only mag 2 (will only work on minions), lasts 1.5s (with heavy slotting it can get up to about 3s), and still has a to hit check. Essentially, it's one of the worst powers in the game and there are only a few ways to get any real use out of it. The first is to use it to mule an IO set (confuse sets tend to be cheap and come with great bonuses). The second is to put the contagious confusion proc in it and stand in the middle of large groups of enemies, which doesn't really mesh very well with the cone powers in dark control where you want to be positioned a bit away from the group. And the third is to fill it with various other procs and use it as a damage aura, which against doesn't really mesh with dark control.

The only power you have slotted for damage is mental blast at 49. This is going to make leveling up painful. I'd suggest taking your single target immobilize early and slotting it for damage (it has plenty of duration by default).

Pet slotting. The only one you really need recharge in is haunt as umbra beast doesn't have a time limit and dark servant is perma before slotting. You want damage in haunt and umbra beast as that's kind of their main function, and you want -to hit in dark servant because it has MASSIVE debuffing (-30% in it's version of darkest night and it's damage aura). Umbra beast needs some accuracy as well.

I think you've got overboard with end redux slotting, especially considering you get a great +recovery power (since you have twilight healing I'd personally replace one of the heal enhancements with another end enhancement, but that's more of a matter of personal taste). You primarily want it in the powers you're going to be spamming (eg shadowy binds), powers with prohibitive end costs (as in 20+ imo, although even then personally I don't really feel the need to slot it on things you're going to be using rarely such as the rez and pet summons), and toggles (your toggles mostly look good, but shadow fall costs just as much to run as darkest night so I'd slot some end redux in there as well. Personally I'd go with one less end redux in darkest night as well because the third IO only gets you -0.02 endurance drain while the first and second give you -.15 and -.09 respectively). In general, any time you're going to slot more than 2 IOs of the same type in something you should check the numbers that it's actually giving you because it'll usually be substantially less than what the first two are doing.

Imo you don't need immobilize enhancements in your immobilize powers as they have short cooldowns and often times the target will die before their base duration wears off anyway.

Mids isn't up to date on fade and soul absorption. Fade now lasts 60s, had a 210s cooldown, and grants 9.38% defense+9.38% smash/lethal/negative/psi resists. You'll want some recharge in it.
Soul Absorption grants a larger up front bonus, works on living enemies (with a to hit check), grants less per target, but has a higher target limit. You'll want some accuracy in it.

You can't run stealth and shadow fall at the same time, so there's no point in having both (shadow fall is the better power). You can stack them with a stealth IO though for full invisibility.

Why two travel powers, and why so late?

You skipped fearsome stare, arguably the best power in the set. It has a short cooldown, a good duration, will stop/greatly reduce incoming damage, keeps enemies from running around, and has a strong -to hit component.

Mental blast doesn't do any more damage than shadowy binds and dark grasp, while having a lower accuracy. While there's nothing wrong with it, taking psi tornado instead will give you some of the aoe damage you lack (be sure to slot some end reduction in it though!).

Ok, reposting build as is, have at it. Will look over your comments tomorrow. today wound up being a wash.:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.954
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Mr Mid-Nite: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Darkness Control
Secondary Power Set: Darkness Affinity
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Dark Grasp -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(9), Hold-I(9), Hold-I(11)
Level 1: Twilight Grasp -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(3), Heal-I(3), Heal-I(5), Heal-I(5)
Level 2: Living Shadows -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(11), Immob-I(13), Immob-I(13)
Level 4: Tar Patch -- Slow-I(A), Slow-I(15), EndRdx-I(15), EndRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(19)
Level 6: Darkest Night -- ToHitDeb-I(A), ToHitDeb-I(19), ToHitDeb-I(21), EndRdx-I(21), EndRdx-I(23), EndRdx-I(23)
Level 8: Possess -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(25), Conf-I(25), Conf-I(27)
Level 10: Howling Twilight -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(27), RechRdx-I(29)
Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(29), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 14: Heart of Darkness -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(31)
Level 16: Shadow Fall -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Krma-ResKB(31), S'fstPrt-ResKB(33), Aegis-Psi/Status(33), ImpArm-ResPsi(33), ImpSkn-Status(34)
Level 18: Haunt -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(34), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 20: Fade -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 22: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 24: Stealth -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(36)
Level 26: Shadow Field -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(36), Hold-I(37), Hold-I(37), EndRdx-I(37), EndRdx-I(39)
Level 28: Soul Absorption -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39), Heal-I(40), Heal-I(40), EndMod-I(40)
Level 30: Super Speed -- Run-I(A)
Level 32: Umbra Beast -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 35: Shadowy Binds -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(42), Immob-I(42), Immob-I(43)
Level 38: Dark Servant -- RechRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(43), Acc-I(48)
Level 41: Indomitable Will -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(43), RechRdx-I(45), EndRdx-I(45)
Level 44: Mind Over Body -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(45), ResDam-I(46), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 47: World of Confusion -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(48), Conf-I(48)
Level 49: Mental Blast -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(50), Dmg-I(50), Dmg-I(50)
------------
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(7), EndMod-I(7)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run

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In terms of an SO/common IO build, here are my suggestions:

Different people have different playstyles, as I said before. Some of this reflects my playstyle.

Dark Grasp: Frankly, your single target hold is a key power and really deserves 6 slots. Like other Single Target Holds, it has a 20% Accuracy bonus. You can get by with one accuracy until you are battling higher level foes. You want some Recharge so you can stack it on bosses. You also may want some damage in there . . . even on a team build, you want to kill off a foe every now and then. 1 Acc, 1 Hold, 2 Dam, 2 Rech. If you have trouble missing a lot, change one Recharge for a second Acc.

Twilight Grasp: My standard slotting is 2 Acc, 2 Heal, 2 Rech.

Living Shadows: This one has a 20% accuracy PENALTY, so it needs 2 Acc. Immob really isn't needed, as it recharges before the immob runs out, so you can just re-cast. The damage is low, so this power really works for damage procs. Before procs, I would say 2 acc, 1 EndRdx, 2 Rech.

Tar Patch: The Slow is not all that important because -- you have Immobilize! The slow only affects runspeed, which is meaningless if foes are immobilized. Tar Patch is a huge Resistance Debuff, which is why you want it up as much as possible. 2-3 Recharge is all. Maybe an EndRdx, but only if you have slots to spare.

Darkest Night: 3 ToHit Debuff, 1 EndRdx. Maybe 2, but I usually get by with 1. By the way, the Dark Watcher set is cheap, so there's really no reason not to slot 4 of them.

Possess: I love confuse powers, and this one is great. It also has a 20% Accuracy bonus, so it only needs 1 Acc. You want Recharge so you can stack it or re-cast when it misses. (Remember that it does not draw aggro -- take a look at the descriptions of the uses of Deceive from my Illusion/Radiation Guide.) Use Possess to take foes out of the fight before it begins. 1 Acc, 2 Conf, 2 Rech.

Howling Twilight: I only use 1 Rech. The stun is only Mag 2, and I really don't use it all that often. I mostly save it as a Rez, but occasionally use it to stack Stun on a boss after Heart of Darkness.

Heart of Darkness: Depending upon your playstyle, I think this is worth some slots. 2 Acc, 2 Stun, 2 Rech. If you don't use it every group or nearly every group, you can reduce a Rech.

Shadowfall: -Knockback and EndRdx are most important. I prefer to slot it for Defense after that. Note that 1 -Knockback (4 Mag) handles about 90-93% of the knockback in the game. Very few knockbacks in the game are in the 4-8 range. To get more benefit (in the 95-98% range), you really need three -knockback (12 Mag). Personally, I don't think it is worth it. One is enough.

Haunt: This is a key source of damage as well as a distraction (similar to Phantom Army, but not invulnerable). Haunt is great to take the alpha, and does a lot of damage if they survive. 1 Acc, 2-3 Damage, 2-3 Rech.

Fade: 2 Defense, 2 Rech minimum.

Super Jump: I would drop this and take Super Speed earlier. Why? Shadowfall + Super Speed provides full invisibility. If you don't want to use Super Speed, then get a Stealth IO to go with Shadowfall. Slot Super Speed with a single EndRdx. My Dark/Dark has Fly with a Stealth IO.

Drop Stealth. It is worthless in this build. You can't run Stealth and Shadowfall at the same time, and Shadowfall is much better in every way. Maybe add Combat Jumping for the Immob protection and a good place to slot IOs like the Luck of the Gambler Recharge. CJ uses almost no endurance and that Immob protection is very nice. You could choose Maneuvers to add more Defense if you are going for a Defensive build.

Shadow Field: standard slotting for controls is 2 Acc, 2 Hold (or other control), 2 Recharge.

Soul Absorption: This power has a 20% Accuracy bonus, so only really needs 1 Acc. 1 Acc, 2 Rech as minimum slotting. I don't see Regen as a big need since you have a great heal already. Maybe add some EndMod.

Move Super Speed earlier.

Umbral Beast: 1 Acc, 3 damage minimum slotting. Rech is not needed since it is persistent.

Shadowy Binds: Best use of this power is as a damage power. It also has a 20% Accuracy bonus. 1 Acc, 3 damage.

Dark Servant: The most valuable thing to slot in Fluffy is ToHit Debuff. 1 Acc, 3 ToHit Debuff minimum. You could slot Recharge but not really needed. You could slot Heal.

The Psi APP is OK, and a good choice if you want mez protection. But World of Confusion sucks. Pretty simple. It is horrible. A few folks use it as a set mule for the purple confuse set, but it otherwise sucks. The radius is tiny and the effects are minimal. It is a waste of endurance and a power pick. Take Psi Tornado instead.

Ok thanks, was just looking in before bed. I'll reread this tomorrow and rework the build.

reworking the build, running out of slots. have to run out for a bit. When I get back, I'll post what I've done so far.

Yes but Im only lvl 22. Thats why Im looking at an SO/IO build. I see a lot of great IO set builds on here. But, what do you do in the meantime while you're working your way up there? That's the point of this build.

Back to mids! lol

I have a kin/elec control controller and need help with build. My controller takes a lot of damage and has very weak offensive powers. I would like some advice from someone with this build and how to make him stronger. I have equipped him with archtype IOs rebuilt his stam/health , buffed up all his attacks with IO enhances all to no avail evem with incarnate powers unlocked

Iup1s: You should probably make your own thread instead of hijacking this one =) I realize the title of this thread made it seem like a generic, all-purpose help thread, but that's kind of the original poster's fault for making an ambiguous title.

As for you, Pogo, I don't have much advice that's any different than what Local_Man has suggested, so keep working at it =)