Pondering a Dark/Storm

I've been looking at Dark/Storm for quite awhile and thinking about possibilities.

Given how much time I've spent looking at leveraging procs, I decided to take a look at possibly the most maligned power in /Storm: Gale. Looks like it could actually be made pretty decent with some procs? Looking at what it can take I come up with:

Force Feedback +Rech
Explosive Strike +Smashing
Posi Blast +Energy
Javelin Volley +Lethal

With those 4 procs you turn a quasi-useless (Hurricane is generally FAR better for positioning) AOE power into what should be a decent attack power that provides a very hefty +rech boost when working with a decent sized spawn. As it's a wide cone, it should fit very nicely with Living Shadows and Fearsome stare, and the three of them together Should provide pretty dang good AOE dmg before you even get into /Storm's major dmg powers.

Living Shadows can also hold more procs than I thought:

Posi Blast +Energy
Javelin Volley +Lethal
Glad Net +Lethal
Trap of the Hunter + Lethal
Cloud Senses +Negative
ATO WotC +Psi

Very expensive to collect some of them, but not bad for those that like the sow's ear -> purse style of build tweaking.

Arg

Don't forget that Gale also gets a damage boost from damage-based Interface slotting (IMO, save the slots you were planning for dmg procs for other powers; unless you just happen to have extra slots).

On my Fire/ and Plant/Storms I use an ACC IO and the FF proc; using Gale as a recharge mule assist for Tornado, Nimbus and Creeper stacking.

Definitely going to throw Grav Anchor's proc back into my AoE Immobs.

You might want to save the CS proc for Stare.

I don't know if slotting the Soulbound Allegiance proc would be more effective in Haunt or Umbra?

Achille's proc in Freezing Rain (and maybe Tornado) if you're looking to recoup any damage loss from not slotting so many other procs.

Contagion proc if you're planning to use Possess as a core power.

How effective will they still be after the proc changes?

I was planning to use a full 6 pack of Cloud Senses in Fearsome Stare, but it's not a unique so I'd probably use one in FS and another in Living Shadows..

The procs I listed for LS are all the dmg procs it CAN slot. I'd probably only slot 4-5 of them as you really need at least one slot (prob 2) for Acc/Endred etc. I'm really not big on +hold procs esp on a Dark/. The -ToHit is really all I need for the mass of the spawn, AOE control other than -Immob is wasted for me.

Having played my Dark/Dark through a large amount of incarnate content, I've got a pretty good feel for Dark in the end game as well as on the way up, and having cones that mesh is REALLY the way to go. I completely melt spawns with FS -> LS -> Bile Spray, and have since long before I got any incarnate abilities, they just make it BETTER.

Having another cone added into the mix would just be even better. Will I have slots for it? Absolutely. As I largely don't need the AOE controls, and several powers out of /Storm are skippable (Snow Storm, O2 Boost, Thunderclap), I'll be pretty flush with power slots and should have ample enh slots to go around.

Long term I plan on 6 slotting Coercive Persuasion in Possess, the question becomes what to do with the ATO set? On my Dark/Dark I have a 5 pack of WotC in Dark Grasp, and the WotC proc in LS. Here I think I'll keep all 6 WotC together for the additional +ranged def, the question is, should they all go in Dark Graps or elsewhere? Once I hit 10th I think I'll probably put the ATO 6 pack in FS to get the use out of the proc and help with rech, end and acc. But once I get up into the mid 20's I'll probably respec the ATO set out of FS and put a 6 pack of Cloud senses in their place.

Arg

I have seen posts of quite a few people who have tried to make a proc-filled "purse" out of the Gale "sow's ear." Most of the folks have reported back saying that it wasn't worth the effort. Gale is, by its nature, a situational power that is intended to scatter foes. Yes, you can use it against a wall or into a corner without scattering foes . . . but that's what makes it situational. Yes, I tried it -- the low accuracy requires slotting up for Accuracy in addition to the procs, and it still seems to miss a lot.

Certainly no problem with trying it out, and it will probably seem pretty cool at first. But as you use a proced-out Gale over time, you will probably find it less useful than you think.

Well, if I'm going to spam it to get the +rech, I might as well get some dmg out of it. And with just the two slots in it it actually DOES contribute meaningful dmg. Would be a lot better if I could add the Javelin proc, but it seems just about impossible to get your hands on PVP IOs.

Arg

Fair enough.

From my experience playing though incarnate content with my Dark/Dark (including the third tier Interface fire dmg proc and the dmg boost from third tier Alpha Musculature), I've found that incarnate abilities make it even more a case where you have a smaller/simpler attack chain than you do on the way up.

My Dark/Dark summons her pets (up to 6), opens with Fearsome Stare and proceeds to spam Living Shadows and Bile Spray until the entire spawn is gone. It doesn't take very long.

So the actual NUMBER of powers used is quite small, mostly pet summons and the three cones. That being the case, throwing Gale into the mix (with procs) should just make it that much faster, and I can't imagine that I'll be sooo slot poor that I can't afford 2 extra slots for gale. It's not a question of more reliable or less reliable dmg, it's just a question of: "Should I add more AOE cone dmg, or not?" when phrased that way, ummm, it seems pretty simple?

I should clarify that I'm building specifically for 8X spawns at relatively low level differentials, generally +8/+1 after I get the level shift from the alpha slot I'd go up to +8/+2 maybe +3. That said, I'm expecting the dmg output from a mature /Storm to be quite a BIT higher than from /Dark simply because a Dark/Storm should be able to leverage Tornado REALLY well.

Arg