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Last Updated: 2010-09-03 08:00:02 UTC

Hero of a Thousand Roles: A Storm/Dark guide v1.1

Written by Daibanchou

INTRODUCTION

After several posts about my respec and APPs on the Defender board, I received several PMs from low-level Storm/Darks looking for specific build advice on Storm/Dark defenders. While I couldn't answer them because I was busy at work, I'm currently between projects, and so I've decided to write a guide to Storm/Dark power choices, slotting, and strategy.

ZealotOnAStick's excellent Storm guide is required reading for any prospective Stormie, and I'll try not to repeat what he said too much. Instead, this guide will focus on Storm powers as they interact with the Dark Blast secondary.

In my opinion, Storm/Dark is one of the most synergistic primary/secondary combos in the game. There is multiple redundancy for almost every power, with Dark and Storm both providing controls and debuffs that stack with each other, partially making up for the lack of a self-heal. Storm/Darks can take the role of Controller, Offender, and even Tanker as needed, based on the situation. The result is a very versatile toon, able to contribute to any group without giving up any ability to solo.

Oh, who am I kidding? The real reason to be a Storm/Dark is because Tenebrous Tentacles is one of the few ways available for Stormies to keep mobs inside of Freezing Rain for the entire duration. The rest is gravy. A lot of gravy.

PART 1: POWERS

Numbers are taken from Agent_Unknown's guide to Dark Blast at 40+. Some of the numbers are incomplete, meaning that I'll hop on to the live and test servers to check them out and fill them in for later versions of this guide (or, if an intrepid hero can give me those numbers, that would work too)

Gale (Level 1)
End Cost: ??
Recharge: ??

Use: One of many control tools available to the Stormie, Gale is a wide cone knockback. Unfortunately, and there's no way to mince words about this, it's a waste of a power. Knockback is available to the Storm/Dark in spades, with Hurricane, Tornado, Lightning Storm and Torrent available at varying points in your career, and all of them do much more than just a point or two of damage in addition to their knockback aspects. I don't recommend taking this--just listen to our Storm controller cousins complain about being forced to take this, if you don't believe me.

O2 Boost (Level 1)
End Cost: ??
Recharge: ??

Use: The token heal of the Storm set, O2 Boost is an essential tool for teaming, and I recommend it even to those who plan on soloing most of the way. You'll still get more use out of it than you'll get out of Gale, whether on teams or just helping a toon in need. In the early game, before most scrappers get their status resists, O2 Boost will help others avoid Sleep and Disorient effects, and if nothing else, will reduce downtime. As a bonus, O2 Boost can be used on newly Awakened heroes, allowing them to get back into the fray without having to stagger drunkenly away from the battlefield.

Slotting: O2 Boost has a relatively quick recharge, but a low heal, meaning that you should probably stick one or two Heal enhancements in there. Solo-heavy builds can ignore O2 Boost without a problem, as it's useful out of the box, but team-oriented builds should probably stick a few more slots in it for the times when they're primary healer, and a mob manages to get a lucky hit on a teammate. Personally, I don't have O2 Boost slotted, as the other Storm and Dark powers are slot-hungry demons.

My current slotting: Heal
Slotting for teams: End Reduc, Heal x5

Dark Blast (Level 1)
End cost: 6
Recharge: 4

Use: Your one-two single target punch along with Gloom.

My pre-respec slotting: Acc, Damage x5
My post-respec slotting: Damage x4

Snow Storm (Level 2)
End cost: -0.76/sec
Recharge: ??

Use: In the low-level game, Snow Storm is an extremely effective damage mitigator, slowing mobs to a crawl. The mobs will attack less often, and runners will be hindered. After picking up Freezing Rain, Snow Storm will be your interim method of keeping the mobs from scattering, but after level 16, you'll stop using it very often.

In the high-level game, Snow Storm stays useful against the many monsters and archvillains you'll be facing, since every little bit counts against them. I personally recommend taking this power, since I didn't take Moonbeam, and this is a fine power to take at level 4.

Slotting: Another power that's pretty much as good as it's going to get out of the box, Snow Storm is an end hog that should probably get an End Reduc. Since Slow enhancements only enhance the run speed debuff, and mobs are going to have a run speed of 0 when you're around anyway, don't bother putting anything else in here.

My current slotting: End Reduc
Slotting for teams: End Reduc

Gloom (Level 2)
End cost: 10
Recharge: 8

Use: A very respectable single-target blast, Gloom's main drawback is that it is DoT, and on teams, its damage will often be wasted when a mob dies before taking many ticks.

My pre-respec slotting: Acc, Damage x5
My post-respec slotting: Damage x4

Moonbeam (Level 4)
End cost: 17
Recharge: 12

Use: In exchange for not getting Aim, Dark gets its snipe at a very low level. Personally, I never found a need for Moonbeam, since I'm happy with the Dark Blast-Moonbeam cycle for single targets, and with Tentacles-Nightfall on groups. The aggro a Storm/Dark tends to draw can keep this power from being useful, and you just don't have many slots to spare. If you do work this into your build, be sure to stick accuracies and damage in it, like any other blast.

Steamy Mist (Level 6)
End cost: -0.76/sec
Recharge: ??

Use: The first of several must-have powers in the Storm set, Steamy Mist provides team Stealth, a 7.5% defense buff, and 20% resistance to Fire/Cold/Energy damage. You will always have this power on, both for the stealth aspect and for the defenses it provides.

Slotting: There is a constant debate on whether to slot Mist for defense or for resistance, and I take the middle road on the debate, slotting it for both. In my current setup, it provides a respectable 28% resistance and and 12% defense, but your mileage may vary. Just remember to six-slot it--This may not be a flashy power, but it will save your life and the lives of teammates a thousand times over.

My current slotting: End Reduc, Dam Res x2, Def Buff x3

Freezing Rain (Level 8)
End cost: ??
Recharge: ??

Use: The second gotta-have-it in Storm, Freezing Rain is what makes you a viable solo Offender, as well as a valuable addition to any group. A resistance debuff, defense debuff, slow, and knockdown power all in one, Freezing Rain's main drawback is that enemies treat it as they would any other AoE damage power, and flee the area as quickly as possible. In lower levels, Snow Storm will help keep them inside the debuff range, and at level 16, Tenebrous Tentacles will make sure that they sit still for the duration.

Slotting: Rain is your best power, and you'll want it up for every fight, if possible. As such, stick as many recharges in it as you can. Those worried about accuracy should put some Defense Debuff enhancements in there, especially on the higher mission difficulty levels. If you feel you have the space, you should put an Endurance Reduction in here, due to the end-hungry
nature of all your other powers.

My current slotting: Recharge x3, Def Debuff x2, End Reduc

Dark Pit (Level 10)
End cost: ??
Recharge: ??

Use: Also known as the smoke grenade, Dark Pit is a ranged AoE disorient with an extremely short activation time, making it great against groups of minions. In later levels, combo it with Thunder Clap to keep bosses and lieutenants dizzy, but take this power as soon as is feasible to keep minions under control. I actually delayed taking Hurricane because of this power, and I didn't regret it for a second.

Slotting: Dark Pit's main drawback is a hefty -33% accuracy penalty, so you'll need two Accuracy SOs to make it accurate. Fill the rest with Disorient Durations. If you're wanting to go full Controller mode, six-slot it, but four is just fine.

My current slotting: Acc x2, Disorient Duration x2
Optimal slotting: Acc x2, Disorient Duration x4

Hurricane (Level 12)
End cost: -0.94/sec
Recharge: ??

Use: Hailed as the Zone of Squishy Safety, Hurricane debuffs range and accuracy, pushes back mobs, and knocks them down. In the low-level game, the range debuff will be sufficient that mobs will be unable to attack from range, instead running straight into Hurricane's loving embrace, only to be knocked back again and again. Hurricane is another must-have power, though it won't always be on like Steamy Mist and Freezing Rain, due to endurance and team concerns.

Slotting: Hurricane is a power that I wish I could slot more--with three slots, it's still very, very good, but against monsters and Archvillains, I want another three slots to put their accuracy as low as possible. However, I don't have that many slots, and unfortunately, this power feels the crunch. Thankfully, the Dark secondary picks up the slack when it comes to debuffing accuracy, so don't feel too bad about those last few slots.

My current slotting: End reduc, Acc Debuff x2
Optimal slotting: End Reduc x2, Acc Debuff x4

Tenebrous Tentacles (Level 16)
End cost: 12
Recharge: 10

Use: This is the reason that you won't be getting Stamina until level 22. Tenebrous Tentacles is your only attack that deals non-Negative Energy damage, but most importantly, is a cone immobilize power. Unlike Controller immobilizes, Tentacles does not have a -knockback component, making it even better for your herding purposes.

Slotting: An excellent power that can be taken in a few different directions, I use Tentacles for the damage in addition to the immobilize. However, you can also enhance its immobilize duration or accuracy debuff, to make it more controlling.

My slotting: Acc, Dam x5

Thunder Clap (Level 18)
End Cost: ??
Recharge: ??

Use: A fairly straightforward PBAoE disorient, Thunder Clap combos extremely well with Dark Pit to keep LTs and bosses out of the fight. And as a bonus, Tenebrous Tentacles keeps the mobs from wandering around after they've been stunned. For pure silliness, you can change costumes in the middle of a Thunder Clap, shouting "Shazam!" or other magic words as appropriate.

(Please note: Hurricane and Thunder Clap are not a combo)
(Note the second: Thunder Clap as of I3 appears to be bugged, in that it has not missed once for me since Issue 3 came out. I went to the test server, where my character is still level 43 or so, and tried it on L50 possessed scientists. It hit all of them, though it didn't actually do it very long. So, while it's bugged, take out all Accuracies and put in DO durations. You'll still be using Dark Pit more often, thanks to the range and speed)

Slotting: Since you'll mostly be using the faster, ranged Dark Pit anyway, don't spend too many slots on Thunder Clap. It's your secondary disorient, so you can get away with just sticking a Disorient Duration in it and forgetting about it. However, if you want to go into true Deftroller mode, add Disorient Duration and Recharge slots to taste, so that you can keep bosses and lieutenants chain stunned.

My current slotting: Disorient Duration
Optimal slotting: Disorient Duration x6 (until you need accuracies again)

Night Fall (Level 20)
End cost: 16
Recharge: 10

Use: Your other source of cone damage, Nightfall is a long, narrow cone, meaning that to affect the same group your Tentacles just hit, you'll often have to step back a few feet, then fire. Nightfall is said to have the largest accuracy debuff of the Dark Blast powers, but this is mostly anecdotal evidence, due to the difficulty of finding enough mobs to get a sufficient sample size (for some reason, Night Fall tends to kill the mobs after they attack three or four times).

Slotting: Since Night Fall attacks in almost a straight line, I recommend sticking a Cone Range in there to widen the cone a bit, reducing the distance you have to step back to affect mobs. The rest should be damage, since a well-slotted Tentacles -> Nightfall -> Tentacles -> Nightfall is enough to kill most yellow minions, and oranges require an extra Tentacles.

My slotting: Cone Range, Dam x5

Tornado (Level 26)
End cost: ??
Recharge: ??

Use: Tornado is one of those powers that looks good on paper, since it disorients, deals damage, knocks back, and debuffs defense. Unfortunately, it just doesn't make the cut in most builds, due to iffy AI (said to be fixed soon) and the fact that uncontrolled knockback is not a combo with Storm's ability to position mobs.

If you do take it, it's useful to keep any cornered mobs flat on their backs, but other than that, I can't recommend taking this power.

Torrent (Level 28)
End cost: 17
Recharge: 15

Use: Just in case you needed more knockback, Torrent gives you another cone knockback power. I don't recommend taking this, since you have a lot of better choices for knockback, and this just costs too much end.

Lightning Storm (Level 32)
End cost: 45(??)
Recharge: 90

Use: An excellent power, Lightning Storm is a stationary pseudo-pet that fires lightning bolts every 5 seconds or so, spread over 60 seconds. The bolt deals excellent damage, drains endurance, and knocks back. The lightning bolts have a small AoE, and any mobs standing near a targeted mob will also be hit. The endurance cost is hefty, but like many powers that hit multiple targets multiple times, it's actually pretty efficient. To keep mobs in the cloud's range, make sure there's either a handy corner nearby, or simply run to the other side of the cloud and turn on Hurricane as an instant wall. Be VERY CAREFUL with this power in teams--the knockback is much more haphazard than any of your other powers, which can make this a pain for any AT that requires good mob positioning.

Slotting: With the hefty endurance cost on this, stick an End Reduction in here as soon as possible. Hasten lets you keep this power on permanently if needed, and even gives you some overlap. So, do what ZealotOnAStick says, and fill this power with Damage.

My current slotting: End Reduc, Damage x5

Life Drain (Level 35)
End cost: 18
Recharge: 15

Use: The only way Storm/Darks have to heal themselves outside of inspirations and the Medicine pool, Life Drain is a viable option for those who are desperate to see green numbers over their heads. However, given how rarely a Storm/Dark gets hit, the endurance cost, and the large inspiration tray available at the same time as this power, I don't recommend taking this power. If you do, slot it up with Accuracy and some Heals.

Blackstar (Level 38)
End cost: All of it (13 to activate)
Recharge: 360

Use: Blackstar blows things up good. Real good. Unfortunately, it also drops all of your toggles, so you should make sure you're going to hit everything before you activate it. Six damage slots can take down yellow mobs, and orange mobs go down if you Rain first (something I recommend anyway, for accuracy's sake). Take Blackstar--it's a very good panic button and a nice room clearing attack. The hefty acc debuff makes it one of the safer nukes to use, since any survivors will miss more often than not.

(Note: If you have REALLY good timing, you can have Blackstar go off right before an endurance recovery tick, allowing you to have all your toggles up by the time you can pop a Catch a Breath again.)

My current slotting: Dam x6

PART 2: POOL POWERS

There are only a few pools I recommend for Storm/Darks, listed in order of how essential I think they are:

Fitness
Absolutely required. With the sheer number of toggles in the Storm set, along with the end-hungry powers like Freezing Rain and Tentacles, Stamina is a must, so that you can keep blasting at the same time you're debuffing. Swift also helps compensate for Steamy Mist's run speed debuff if you're not taking Super Speed.

(Note for those who think Health will help make up for the lack of a self-heal: don't six-slot Health. Trust me. Instead of healing as slow as molasses, you'll heal at a snail's pace instead. Health is mostly for reducing downtime, so don't treat it as if it'll make you a Regen scrapper.)

Leaping
Combat Jumping is an extremely end-efficient way of getting 5% defense (6% with an SO), and the immobilize protection it gives you can save your life from time to time.

But the main reason to take Leaping is Acrobatics. As Storm/Darks have no natural way of resisting status effects, Acrobatics is the best they can get against holds, aside from keeping around Discipline, Break Free and Resolve inspirations (which you should do anyway). Even though Acrobatics only provides resistance to one hold at a time, that can be the difference between life and a toggle drop-induced death against the Rikti, Circle of Thorns and Carnival of Shadows. The knockdown resistance is even more important than the hold resist in the late game, as Nemesis and Malta are more than happy to keep you flat on your back when fighting against them. I wouldn't recommend taking Acrobatics before level 35 or so, but it's an important concern in the late game.

Speed
Hasten. Everyone takes it, and it's hard to find a build that wouldn't get better with it. I didn't take Hasten until the Issue 3 respec, and while life is easier with it, it isn't essential--be very, very careful with Hasten, as the endurance drain at the end can drop your toggles and make you very vulnerable at an inopportune time. Super Speed and Steamy Mist is a well-documented way of granting yourself invisibility, but I recommend taking Superleap instead, thanks to Acrobatics. Plus, you won't be a liability in Faultline, Terra Volta, and Dark Astoria if you have good vertical mobility.

Leadership
I had Maneuvers and Tactics for a while, especially when I was still regularly teaming with an Empath and a Rad defender. Tactics lets you skimp on Acc SOs, while Maneuvers is another layer of defense you can provide. However, I respecced out of it when I took Hasten, since the last thing I needed was more toggles to drain my end, and I use Freezing Rain instead of Tactics to boost my accuracy now.

Flight
Some Storms use Flight to limit Lightning Storm's knockback component, flying above groups and making it so that Lightning Storm shoots straight down, knocking mobs into the floor instead of off the walls. Me, I just find a corner, or create my own with Hurricane.

2.1: Your Ancillary Power Pool
Your real choice as a Storm/Dark is whether you want Power or Dark Mastery. Power is attractive for Conserve Power's end savings, and Power Build Up to make up for the Dark secondary's lack of Aim. Temporary Invulnerability gives some nice resistances to the two most common forms of damage in the game, and Total Focus is a nice area attack.

However, my personal recommendation is for Dark Mastery, and not just for thematic reasons. Dark Consumption, in addition to being end recovery, is another area attack to add to your arsenal, and two mobs is enough to refill almost an entire end bar if you slot it for end recovery. Oppressive Gloom is an impressive control power that can stack with Thunder Clap and Dark Pit to keep groups controlled (it costs health, though, which can be a concern), Dark Embrace offers some extra resists... and after that comes the crown jewel of Dark Mastery, Soul Drain.

Soul Drain is a respectable AoE attack on its own, and for every mob it hits, your accuracy and damage go up by 12.5% for every mob you hit. I hear from my DM scrapper SG-mates that it maxes out at around 100%, so don't expect to be breaking the damage cap without some inspirations and buffing, but still--doubled damage is nothing to sneeze at at all.

So, while I won't try to talk anyone out of taking Power Mastery, here is my recommended power choice and slotting:

Dark Consumption (Level 41)
Recharge x4, End Recovery x2

Dark Embrace (Level 44)
End Red, Dam Resist x5

Soul Drain (Level 47)
Recharge x4

Oppressive Gloom (Level 49, if you want it)
Disorient Duration

PART 3: STRATEGIES

I've already covered many of these in the powers section, so I'm going to skim over how to use your powers effectively in concert.

3.1: How to be a fill-in Controller
Essential Powers: Dark Pit, Thunderclap, Tenebrous Tentacles, Hasten

Okay, so it takes three powers for you to emulate a Controller's AoE hold. Dark Pit and Thunder Clap to make the lieutenants and bosses dizzy, then Tenebrous Tentacles to get everyone but the bosses to stand still. On the plus side, Tenebrous Tentacles on its own outdamages Controller holds, and you can blast quite well once everything's dizzy and tentacled. The Controller role is great for groups full of damage-dealing ATs, or for the vaunted All-Defender team.

3.2: How to be a fill-in Blaster
Essential Powers: Hasten, Tenebrous Tentacles, Night Fall, Freezing Rain

As an AoE defender, you're outshined by Rad/Rads, since they have Aim to play with. On the plus side, you don't have to get in melee range to blast, and it only takes you two cycles of your cones to take out orange minions, which isn't shabby at all. This role is for when you already have a controller, and is just fine for soloing purposes, too, though when soloing, you can usually just throw out Dark Pit and get to blasting without worrying.

3.3: How to be a fill-in tank
Essential Powers: Hurricane, Steamy Mist, pool defenses

In the middle levels, Storms can play tank mage, using Hurricane to herd mobs who can't shoot back due to the range debuff and can't hit thanks to the accuracy debuff. While Storms don't have any taunts and don't have room to take Provoke, the sheer amount of aggro provided by Hurricane, Rain, Dark Pit, Snow Storm and other AoE powers tends to keep the mobs' attention focused on you.

In the late game, an increasing number of status effects and much longer range on mob attacks reduces the Storm Tank's effectiveness, but in certain situations, a Storm can still herd just as well as an Invuln.

3.4: Soloing

Storm/Darks can easily take out red and purple bosses on their own once they have the trio of rain, 'cane, and cloud. Between the three knockback/down powers, Storms can go through boss fights without the boss ever shooting back.

The easy way: Find a corner, and use Hurricane to push the boss into it. Drop Rain on the corner, put up cloud, and shoot Gloom when it recharges, and watch the boss fall down. If you have Tornado, this is the situation where it's useful.

The harder way: Put up cloud, then run to the opposite side of the boss, playing ping-pong with it to keep it within the cloud's range and inside the rain.

Many bosses can also be chain stunned with stacked Dark Pit and Thunder Clap, so the boss HP increase just means that you should watch your endurance and make sure your toggles never drop while Lightning Storm does the work for you. Anything that can doesn't resist both knockdown and disorient should be cake for you.

3.5: Teaming

Hurricane and Lighting Cloud are used less often in team situations, since scrappers and tankers aren't too fond of knockback. However, don't be discouraged by people saying that Storms aren't good partners for the melee archetypes. Scrappers and Tankers appreciate Freezing Rain as much as any other AT that can deal any damage whatsoever, and the Freezing Rain scatter is eliminated entirely by Tenebrous Tentacles, giving the melee and AoE characters no reason to complain about the rain. Lightning Storm can still be used in emergencies, or for the boss juggling strategy sketched above.

In closing, I'll share my current, L46 build for other peoples' reference. I don't claim that this is an ideal build--there are a lot of slots you can shuffle around, but it provides a solid base to work with. My recommendation would be for most people to take Dark Pit earlier than my respec puts it--delay either Steamy Mist or Hurricane for it, and take the one you missed at 24. It'll hurt a bit, but you don't need defense if a mob is dizzy.

Level 1: O2 Boost (Heal)
Level 1: Dark Blast (Damage x4)
Level 2: Gloom (Damage x4)
Level 4: Snow Storm (End Reduc)
Level 6: Combat Jumping (Def Buff)
Level 8: Freezing Rain (Recharge x3, Def Debuff x2, End Reduc)
Level 10: Steamy Mist (End Reduc, Def Buff x3, Dam Res x2)
Level 12: Hurricane (End Reduc, Acc Debuff x2)
Level 14: Super Jump (Jump)
Level 16: Tenebrous Tentacles (Damage x5, Acc)
Level 18: Swift (Run)
Level 20: Health (Heal)
Level 22: Stamina (End recovery x6)
Level 24: Hasten (Recharge x6)
Level 26: Night Fall (Cone Range, Damage x5)
Level 28: Dark Pit (Acc x2, Disorient Dur x2)
Level 30: Thunder Clap (Disorient Duration)
Level 32: Lightning Storm (Recharge, End Reduc, Damage x4)
Level 35: Acrobatics (End Reduc)
Level 38: Blackstar (Damage x6)
Level 41: Dark Consumption (Recharge x5, End Recovery)
Level 44: Dark Embrace (End Reduc, Dam Res x5)

Revision history:
1.1 - fixed some spelling and data errors, added note about Thunder Clap. First posting on the Player Guides forum.

To be added in later versions: Confirmed end and recharge numbers for Storm powers, numbers borrowed from the Brawl Index for damage.

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