City of Heroes Coldfront (CoH, CoV)

Book I: Genesis

The DM/DA Bible, rev .7

Everything that you never wanted to know about CoH’s most confounding Scrapper—the smoky assassin.

forward

I have been posting bits and analysis of DM/DA on the CoH boards for over a year, and some of you might even agree with something that I say now and again. For those of you who find my suggestions and observations to be completely useless and self indulgent, good news! I am finally doing something that you will find useful and can appreciate—Print this out and put it in the bottom of your birdcage. For the rest of you, especially players who have some experience with DM/DA and who are struggling to overcome perceived weaknesses of the combination or who have played it in the past but have been unable to get the performance you had hoped for out of it and have given up on it, I hope that you find some useful information and suggestions. If you do, then I have accomplished my goal, if not, then at least Polly the Parrot will have something new to use for target practice.

Special thanks to Q_Arkhan for previewing this monstrosity and giving me some helpful input.

introduction

The Scrapper AT in CoH is my personal favorite. It is built to perform on a doctrine of self-sufficiency and has a well-deserved reputation for an often-reckless disregard for the consequences of taking hasty action. Scrappers kick butt. They would also take names, but if a Scrapper had a pen, he/she would probably just drive it through someone’s eye rather than use it for its intended purpose. Scrapper rush in where angels fear to tread.

Scrappers are all about their assortment of damage-dealing attacks. Where other Scrapper primary sets are built around either strong, front-loaded or AoE damage, Dark Melee is designed around putting out a steady stream of damage and filling in the cracks of its deficiencies in threat removal speed and endurance efficiency with a Batman Utility Belt’s worth of tools in the form of utility powers. For clarity’s sake, a utility power is a power in a set that provides an ability (sometimes it’s a synergistic ability, sometimes not) that cuts against the grain of the primary goals of the set as a whole. Touch of Fear, Dark Consumption, Confront, Soul Drain, and Siphon Life are Dark Melee’s utility powers. All Scrapper melee sets contain some utility powers, but no set has more than Dark Melee.

While we’re still in the introduction, let’s revisit the point that I made in the previous paragraph about Dark Melee and look at how it is a little bit different in its approach to Scrapping. Dark Melee has great damage per second (Dps) output, but it lacks the tools to instantly destroy a single mob (Broadsword, Katana, Martial Arts) or to tear down an entire group of mobs simultaneously (Spines). Claws is probably the most balanced melee set overall, as it fits smack in between the other sets with a balance of good AoE and single target damage.

Dark Melee is the only Scrapper primary without a legitimate, AoE attack (compare Lotus Drops, Dragon’s Tail, Whirling Sword, Spine Burst, and Spin). Where all of the sets have a Build Up power that allows them to increase their accuracy and damage, Dark Melee has Soul Drain (in place of Build Up and an AoE), which not only requires a “To Hit” check (as does Follow Up from the Claws primary), but it requires a hit on seven targets to realize its full potential, which is comparable to Build Up’s.

The net effect on combat of these differences is that Dark Melee lags the other sets in performance in the early part of combat. By the time Dark Melee is finding its rhythm, most other sets have taken down a couple or three opponents, and very likely at a lesser total endurance cost at that! HUH??! Why would you play Dark Melee if it’s slower and less efficient than other sets? Less damage for more endurance? Less damage mitigation because of a lack of front-loaded damage? What a waste.

Not so fast. So far, we have looked at what are apparently negative aspects of Dark Melee with respect to the other Scrapper primaries, but there is much more to playing CoH than front-loaded and AoE damage. I just wanted to point out some of the ways that Dark Melee is different than other Scrapper primaries. We will get back to Dark Melee in a bit and look at some of its finer qualities and discuss why it is not worse off than other Scrapper Primaries, but first, there is something else that we need to look at, Dark Armor—The other half of this Scrapper combo.

Like the Dark Melee primary power set, Dark Armor stands out from the other Scrapper secondaries as being built upon a completely different set of mechanics. Last year, if you read my essay, Layers of Damage Protection , which is now all-but obsolete, then you are surely familiar with the idea that defenses come in several distinct varieties, each with its own merits and weaknesses. If it is already lining the bottom of your birdcage, then I trust that you found its content less than compelling.

Where Regeneration and Super Reflexes almost completely rely on Healing and Defense (with a Capital “D”) respectively for damage mitigation, and Invulnerability relies on Resistance and Defense (With its duration and recharge time, in anything but the most trivial situations, Dull Pain is a Resistance enhancement more than a heal), Dark Armor relies on every layer of the Damage Protection model to achieve its full potential.

Since the changes in I5 and I6, specifically, the Global Defense Reduction and ED (aka, The Crisis of Infinite Nerfs), the Dark Armor balance has shifted somewhat in what would probably be agreed upon as the “strongest” combination of powers, but the basics are still the same—Upon a layer of solid Resistance, stack a BIG Heal, some Stealth and a little (very little nowadays) Defense, a “To Hit” debuff, and add in some control (in the form of Fear and Disorient) and a damage field of pure negative energy, and you have a potentially devastating (to your endurance) defense.

Dark Armor cannot match Regeneration’s ability to heal (on a constant and reliable basis), nor can it begin to compare to Invulnerability in terms of damage Resistance, and comparing its Defense and “To Hit” debuffs to the effects of Super Reflexes...HAH! The things that make Dark Armor different, its damage field and control elements, all require “To Hit” checks, making them conditionally unreliable. To make matters worse, Death Shroud and Cloak of Fear both have an exorbitant endurance cost, and Cloak of Fear has a base PvE accuracy of 50%!!! Oppressive Gloom damages you when it hits a mob, whether it actually stuns them or not! WHAT?! Why would I want this crazy set of powers?! Why indeed? Like Dark Melee, there is more to Dark Armor than just its downsides.

I hope that your appetite is sufficiently whetted to keep reading. Hopefully when you finish reading this guide, you will understand not only why you are not crazy to play such a combination of misfit powers, but also why you might be crazy not to give it a try.

Moving forward, I will lay out the powers in both Dark Melee and Dark Armor and discuss each of them in some detail. After that, I will analyze the interaction of the synergies within each set and the cross-set synergies that exist. Once we have established the interactions of the powers with one another, I will get into some specific builds and the associated “Scrapping philosophy” behind each one. For the sake of being current, I will address PvP and PvE concurrently in my power analysis, but I will separate them in the section on builds in order to give proper attention to the differences in philosophical approach to the PvP game, as well as making the distinction between PvP’ing in an open zone versus in the Arena.

As a note on content, although I am frequently in the middle of mathematical discussions and debates on the forums, this guide has no mathematical content. It is a strictly philosophical treatment with practical commentary. While I am a big believer in letting the numbers tell the story, it is appropriate from time to time to step back out of the details and get a clearer look at the big picture.

Book II: Numbers

powers

Dark Melee is all about setting up and maintaining a steady stream of damage that cuts down everything in its path. For the first ten seconds it falls behind other Scrapper sets in endurance and damage efficiency because of its lack of big hitters to take out enemy mobs. It closes the gap quickly though and often doesn’t bother to discriminate who is being hit with what. Each blow that Dark Melee strikes puts a “To Hit” debuff on its victim. These debuffs pile up quickly and opponents will be left whiffing.

Here are the powers in the set with brief commentary (any and all numbers are from CoH/CoV Character Builder v 1.7.6.0, powers DB v 1.0.96 and rounded off where convenient):

Shadow Punch

Activation time: .6 seconds
Recharge Time: 3 seconds
Endurance Cost: 4.5
Brawl Index: 1.399 Negative Energy, .9333 Smashing

Fast Facts:
Shadow Punch is generally considered “optional.” It has the highest damage per Activation Time of any Dark Melee attack.

Commentary:
I love Shadow Punch, but I have a tendency to respec out of it, not because I feel like it does not continue to be useful in the late game, but because economically, there are powers that yield a greater return later. A high DPS is great, but versatility and control are better.

Recommended slottings:
3acc/3dam (PvP)
2acc/3dam/1recred (PvE or PvP with Tactics)
1acc/3dam/1recred/1endred (PvE with Tactics or PvP w/Focused accuracy)
3dam/2recred/1endred (PvE with Focused Accuracy or casual PvP)

Smite

Activation time: 1 second
Recharge Time: 6 seconds
Endurance Cost: 7
Brawl Index: 2.777 Negative Energy, .8888 Smashing

Fast Facts:
Smite is comparable to Shadow Punch in performance terms, but it does almost 60% more damage. Combined, Smite + Shadow Punch hit for the same damage as Shadow Maul in around half of the time.

Commentary:
Smite is one of the most satisfying attacks I have used in the game. It hits like a hammer and is a great final blow. It is not a power that I would ever consider to be an optional pick.

Recommended slottings:
3acc/3dam (PvP)
2acc/3dam/1recred (PvE or PvP with Tactics)
1acc/3dam/1recred/1endred (PvE with Tactics or PvP w/Focused accuracy)
3dam/2recred/1endred (PvE with Focused Accuracy or casual PvP)

Shadow Maul

Activation time: 3 seconds
Recharge Time: 8 seconds
Endurance Cost: 8.5
Brawl Index: 4 tics at .75 Negative Energy, 4 tics at .75 Smashing

Fast Facts:
Shadow Maul is considered optional by some players and indispensable by others. It is the most endurance-efficient attack available to Dark Melee. It’s cone will often allow a player to hit two to four nonstacked mobs, depending on how cooperative mobs are and how good a player is at lining them up.

Commentary:
Shadow Maul requires a bit of tactics and practice to get the most out of. If you tend to plant your feet in a fight, then Shadow Maul will not seem all that great to you, as you will tend to hit a lot of single targets. Although its biggest point of detraction is its obvious, rooted animation, it is really not but .2 seconds slower in activation than Headsplitter (Broadsword’s ultimate attack). It just seems like eternity. One point of note on SM is that if you are getting low on Health and are thinking of Hitting Dark Regeneration, do not fire off Shadow Maul. The fact that Shadow Maul is available at Level 4 allows Dark Melee to develop faster than any other Scrapper primary in terms of its ability to take down multiple foes. Shadow Maul is my, bar none, favorite power in all of CoH. I often find myself fantasizing about what I could do with it in the workplace...

Recommended slottings:
3acc/3dam (PvP)
2acc/3dam/1recred (PvE or PvP with Tactics)
1acc/3dam/1recred/1endred (PvE with Tactics or PvP w/Focused accuracy)
3dam/2recred/1endred (PvE with Focused Accuracy or casual PvP)

Touch of Fear

Activation time: 1.2 seconds
Recharge Time: 8 seconds
Endurance Cost: 8.5
Brawl Index: 0

Fast Facts:
Many players consider Touch of Fear to be optional; other players think those players are crazy and swear that it is the most powerful thing in Dark Melee. PvP’ers will hate you when you freeze them in their tracks with the power of supernatural FEAR. One application will cower any non-Fear resistant Minion or Lieutenant, and two applications will cause a Boss to soil his britches. ToF sports a 20% “To Hit” bonus and is useful out of the box.

Commentary:
Skipping Touch of Fear really puts you at a relative disadvantage to other Scrapper sets with respect to offsetting Dark Melee’s inability to take down opponents early in a fight. At the lower levels, this is not true b/c you have Shadow Maul, and they don’t (Nyah Nyah!), but later in the game content, without Touch of Fear, you will start losing fights that other, non Dark Melee, Scrappers would win. There is some debate over the magnitude of DM’s debuffing effect—other Dark Melee attacks put about a 5% “To Hit” debuff on anything hit by them (reducing the chance “to hit” of an even con minion by around 10%); I have never attempted to test the precise value, but ToF appears to provide a debuff in the 10-20% range.

Recommended slottings:
2acc/2recred/1endred/1feardur (PvP)
1acc/2recred/1endred (PvP with Tactics or Focused Accuracy)
2acc/3feardur (like the Fear Meh, PvP build)
1acc/1endred (normal PvE play)

Siphon Life

Activation time: 2 seconds
Recharge Time: 15 seconds
Endurance Cost: 12
Brawl Index: 2.777 Negative Energy

Fast Facts:
Siphon Life is another Power that many players consider optional. It is a 10% base heal and does the same amount of damage as Air Superiority, albeit Siphon Life’s damage is pure negative energy.

Commentary:
I have always had a weakness for Drains in any game. They are typically undercosted, and there is just something glorious about “two for one” phenomena. With each decrease in overall Scrapper defense, Siphon Life has grown more valuable. In economic terms, Siphon Life was “improved” by ED, since it can now leverage its multifarious capabilities without giving up anything in the process. Adding Siphon Life to your attack chain is comparable in many situations to having Tough (except that healing helps offset all damage types). In my testing, I found it to be a superior option to Aid Self for DM/DA.

Recommended slottings:
3acc/3dam (hardcore PvP)
3acc/3heal (PvP)
1acc/3heal/1recred/1endred (PvP or PvE with Focused Accuracy)
2acc/3heal/1recred (PvP with Tactics)
2acc/3heal/1recred (normal PvE play)

Confront

Activation time: 2.2 seconds
Recharge Time: 3 seconds
Endurance Cost: 0
Brawl Index: 0

Fast Facts:
Confront is easily the most frequently skipped power in Dark Melee. It has its place in some specialized builds and has the benefit of giving a Dark Melee Scrapper added effectiveness in providing that buffer between the front line aggro and the squishies, but most players will take their chances without it or pick up a ranged attack later in life to replace it.

Commentary:
I have one build in which I have ever used confront (my so-called AV Buster build). I prefer to let my attacks do the talking and to personally intercede if I need to protect a squishie. IMO, Laser Beam Eyes, Dark Blast, and either of the Shuriken attacks are the best in-combat Taunt options a DM/DA Scrapper has available.

Recommended slottings:
1rnginc

Dark Consumption

Activation time: 1 second
Recharge Time: 180 seconds
Endurance Cost: .5
Brawl Index: 2.222 Negative Energy

Fast Facts:
Dark Consumption allows Dark Melee to make up for some of the endurance inefficiency in its attack chain (from the heavy costs of using its tools to the fast burn of endurance due to the quick hitting of some of its attacks). Hitting three mobs will take you from the bottom of the endurance well back to the top.

Commentary:
This is one of the truly great powers available to any Scrapper. The value of the ability to recover endurance while still fighting at a frenetic pace cannot be overstated. The fact that it deals damage is just icing on the cake. I got addicted to putting two endmod enhancements in this power because of the frequency with which I found myself needing it when I only had two foes still standing. This is especially common for DM/DA builds that run Death Shroud full-time.

Recommended slottings:
3acc/3endmod (hardcore PvP)
3acc/2endmod/1recred (PvP)
1acc/2endmod/3recred (PvP or PvE with Focused Accuracy)
2acc/2endmod/2recred (PvP with Tactics or normal PvE play)
2acc/1endmod/3recred (another normal PvE play)

Soul Drain

Activation time: 2.4 seconds
Recharge Time: 120 seconds
Endurance Cost: 15.5
Brawl Index: 2.666 Negative Energy

Fast Facts:
Soul Drain fills the role of Build Up for Dark Melee. It has a 20% bonus “To Hit” and its buff lasts for a full 30 seconds. Soul Drain is rarely skipped, and some players, albeit a minority of them, slot it for damage—a commentary on how starved Dark Melee players are for an AoE attack. Soul Drain can hit a maximum of seven targets and appears to have a maximum damage buff of about 110%. Its “To Hit” buff per target hit is unknown but is widely believed to be in the 7.5 to 12.5% range.

Commentary:
Soul Drain is a great power; however, with the onset of ED and the loss of perma-Hasten, it is no longer an every fight power. Dark Melee could always fight well without it, but under the right conditions, a good Soul Drain could well change your religious beliefs, at least when it comes to Scrapping. Although without the idea might seem mildly to completely insane, Soul Drain is not a bad lead off in a PvP fight, depending on whether or not you are fighting the Easter Bunny; using “PvP slotting,” from a single target, for 30 seconds you can have a better “To Hit” buff than Tactics provides, a larger boost to damage than you get from Assault, and deal pretty good damage, as well as slap a “To Hit” debuff on an opponent in the process. Soul Drain is really powerful once it is hopped up on HO’s.

Recommended slottings:
2acc/3damage/1endred (hardcore PvP)
2acc/3thtbuff/1recred (PvP)
2acc/3recred (any)
3 recred (PvE with Tactics or Focused Accuracy)

Midnight Grasp

Activation time: 2.1 seconds
Recharge Time: 15 seconds
Endurance Cost: 12
Brawl Index: 6.333 Negative Energy

Fast Facts:
Midnight Grasp is the ultimate power for the Dark Melee set. Many players consider it an optional power, and some do not think that it fits in well with the rest of the powers in the set. Regardless of what you think about it, Midnight Grasp does the most damage of any attack Dark Melee has available and the damage it deals is all negative energy damage. It also puts an Immobilize (mag 3) effect on anything that it hits.

Commentary:
Midnight Grasp essentially leads off with a smite-level hit, followed by 10 tics that add up to the same amount of damage dealt by Siphon Life or Air Superiority. It is often under-appreciated because of its Damage over time component. Midnight Grasp is the power that smoothes out Dark Melee’s damage-dealing (Dps) curve, covering Shadow Maul’s somewhat anemic Damage per Activation Time with its DoT. A Soul Drain-augmented, Midnight Grasp critical hit is nice, as the critical is front-loaded damage, unlike Shadow Maul, whose critical damage is applied at the end of the animation. Midnight Grasp is not a very efficient power on teams when used on Minions, as other players tend to blow through them while the DoT is still ticking off. Regardless of its shortcomings, I strongly recommend against skipping Midnight Grasp.

Recommended slottings:
3acc/3dam (PvP)
2acc/3dam/1recred (PvE or PvP with Tactics)
1acc/3dam/1recred/1endred (PvE with Tactics or PvP w/Focused accuracy)
3dam/2recred/1endred (PvE with Focused Accuracy or casual PvP)

Dark Armor is a protection scheme that heavily depends on the player behind it to make it work well or fail miserably. It is built on a foundation of mediocre Resistance with a heal that grows more dependable as the number of available targets increases; layer on a stealth power with an anemic Defense, and three PBAoE auras (a damage field and two mag2 control (Stun and Fear) effects), and a crappy self-rez power, and you’re done. High endurance costs and the “To Hit” checks in Dark Armor’s PBAoE’s are all that has ever kept the set from being outrageously nasty and unbalancingly powerful. As it is, it should not be underestimated though. Properly built and played, every now and then, when the planets line up for you, Dark Armor will allow you to do things that will leave even “uber” Scrappers scratching their heads saying, “How’d he do that?”

Note: Endurance cost and recharge numbers are included for some click powers but not for toggles, because, quite frankly I don’t really trust them.

Dark Embrace

Fast Facts:
You’ll take it, and you’ll like it. You get no option on this one. DE provides your Smashing, Lethal, Toxic, and Half of your Negative Energy Resistance. Provides 22.5% Resistance to S/L damage and 15% Resistance to Negative Energy and Toxins.

Commentary:
Keep it running in most all fights. There will be an occasion here and there where you can shut it off, but you are likely to forget...

Recommended slottings:
3 damres/1endred (Any)
1 endred (experimental builds)

Death Shroud

Fast Facts:
DS is the only damage field power available in any Scrapper Secondary (Spines has Quills).

Commentary:
Unless you are building for PvP, NEVER skip this power. Contrary to popular opinion, even slotting it only for accuracy and endurance cost reduction, it will substantially increase your effectiveness and endurance efficiency. Many fights would be fifteen seconds shorter if not for an accumulation of “slivers” of Health. Death Shroud is nice in the late game (and in PvP) where Smashing/Lethal resistance is at an all-time high. It interrupts interruptible powers when it hits, so it definitely has some potential PvP value.

Recommended slottings:
3dam/3endred (Any with Focused Accuracy)
1acc/3dam/2endred (Any with Tactics)
2acc/2dam/2endred (PvE)
3acc/3dam (PvP)

Murky Cloud

Fast Facts:
MC provides your Energy and the other half of your Negative Energy Resistance. It also gives you resistance to Endurance Drains. To be precise, it provides 15% Energy/Negative Energy Resistance and 22.5% Fire and Cold Resistance.

Commentary:
This is a nice power. There is some debate on when you actually NEED to take it, but it is one of the foundation powers in the Dark Armor set. You will appreciate it in PvP when you see what Electric Blappers (and Sappers and Carnies in PvE) can do to other Scrappers with their endurance drains. With only 15% in base Energy Resists and ED, MC is no longer a lock for additional Resistance slotting.

Recommended slottings:
3 damres/1endred (Any)
1 endred (Any)

Obsidian Shield

Fast Facts:
OS is one of the few powers in the game to offer Resistance (37.5%) to Psi attacks. OS also serves as your mez protection and provides protection from Fear.

Commentary:
I never slotted OS for resistance, as the base is pretty high, and significant Psi damage is pretty uncommon in PvE, but there is enough in the late game (post L40) that it is definitely not a waste of slots. I am seeing a lot of Psi running around in PvP, but I have yet to form an opinion on whether it is prevalent enough to justify more than an endurance cost reducer in the default slot in OS.

Recommended slottings:
3 damres/1endred (Any)
1 endred (Any)

Dark Regeneration

Activation time: 1.2 seconds
Recharge Time: 30 seconds
Endurance Cost: 34
Brawl Index: .5555 Negative Energy

Fast Facts:
DR is Dark Armor’s bread and butter Heal. It costs a significant amount of endurance, but it is the only heal available to Scrappers that can take you from the blinking red to full in two seconds. Dark Regen has a base heal of 30% of your total Health per target hit.

Commentary:
DR is just slow enough that you will die if you try to wait until the last possible second before activating it. I usually hit the DR button as an “Oh Poopoo!” button when I hit about 25% Health. Of course I have Siphon Life and use it liberally. If I were depending solely on DR, I would probably hit the button earlier against heavy hitters.

Recommended slottings:
3endred/2recred/1heal (PvE with FA)
1acc/3endred/2recred (PvE with Tactics, PvP with FA)
2acc/2end/2heal (PvE single-target slotting or PvP with Tactics)
3acc/2endred/1heal (PvP)

Cloak of Darkness

Fast Facts:
CoD makes Dark Armor the only Scrapper with the ability to lower its aggro footprint (stealth). CoD not only acts as stealth, but it also provides some Immobilize resistance and a pittance of Defense as well. It also increases perception, which is very important in PvP. Some players consider this power optional, and many more truly dislike the fact that it totally obscures the Scrapper running it. In PvE, Superspeed + CoD = Invisible.

Commentary:
IMO, CoD is not optional. The Immob protection in Combat Jumping is not an adequate replacement for such a great power, and Stealth has value in both PvE and PvP.

Recommended slottings:
1 endred (Any)

Cloak of Fear

Fast Facts:
Cloak of Fear has undergone several changes over time. Pre I3, CoF caused Minions and Lieutenants to flee in panic, and it was widely regarded as pretty weak. In I3, fear was changed into a cowering effect, and the “To Hit” debuffing effect of CoF made it a popular power choice. In I4, the base “To Hit” of CoF was dropped to 50% and the duration of the fear it caused was reduced. In I5, the magnitude of the “To Hit” debuff was reduced to a fraction of its previous value. Outside of HO-heavy slotting, ED had little effect on CoF. CoF is much more popular as a choice for PvP than for PvE.

Commentary:
CoF used to be (during I3 and I4) a great power and the closest thing Dark Armor had to an “Uber” power. Although it wasn’t close to matching up with Elude, Moment of Glory, or Unstoppable, it combined with Cloak of Darkness and other Defense-based powers to give a Dark Armor Scrapper very-impressive, theoretical damage avoidance. Of all the nerfs that have hit any of my characters over the issues, this one made the least sense and hurt the most.

Recommended slottings:
1acc/3endred/2thtdbf (PvE or PvP with FA)
2 acc/3endred/1fear (PvE with Tactics)
3acc/2endred/1fear (PvP)

Oppressive Gloom

Fast Facts:
It’s Cheap. OG costs little endurance to run (hero planner numbers are currently showing it at about double the listed cost in the past) and inflicts a small amount of damage to you per target that it hits (Enhanced by I5’s Scrapper damage buff!). For this price, you put a mag 2 stun on anything in PBAoE range that you make a successful “To Hit” check against. People often complain about the Drunk-Walking mobs with Super Jump.

Commentary:
OG is nasty. It is an underrated PvP power. When combined with Brawl’s toggle-dropping capabilities, it becomes potential death to any PvP opponent without a Breakfree or non- toggle Status Protection. With the decline in power of CoF, OG is my new Dark Armor “core power,” followed closely by Dark Regeneration. Two DA Scrappers stacking OG on Bosses is sweet. One veteran DA Scrapper said that if he had to choose, he would dump Dark Embrace before he would give up his Gloom.

Recommended slottings:
1acc/3stun (PvE and PvP with FA)
1acc/1stun (PvE and PvP with FA)
2acc/1stun (PvE)
3acc/3stun (PvP)
3acc (PvP)

Soul Transfer

Activation time: 1.2 seconds
Recharge Time: 300 seconds
Endurance Cost: 0

Fast Facts:
ST has had more bad things said about it than virtually any power in the game. It is frequently referred to as the turd that has received the most polish. ST is a self-rez with a high-mag AoE Stun that fires off when it executes. It requires a nearby enemy to activate and is supposedly an autohit, although some claim that it can miss.

Commentary:
ST doesn’t so much suck outright as it does in relative terms, as it is a poor economic choice. There is always a better pick available than ST. If you were herding, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but DA is a notoriously bad herding set (unless you have great patience and don’t care about your XP per unit-time returns). As a concept power it is pretty neat, but I limit my concept powers to writing out-of-game fiction and Test server fodder.

Recommended Slottings:
1heal

pools

I am not going to go into a lengthy analysis of power pools, but I do want to address them as power pools are essential to not only the fun factor, but to the survivability of a DM/DA Scrapper. I will evaluate the pools in terms of their relative importance to DM/DA and comment on powers where appropriate. Tier 1 means a pool is a strong choice and integrates well, either having several really good power choices or one or more dominating powers. A tier 2 pool is one that has one or two powers that have some value, but none of the powers provide outstanding value. A tier 3 power pool is one that really has little to offer DM/DA other than concept powers or overkill that really doesn’t serve to enhance a good build.

Concealment

Optional-tier 3

Grant Invisibility-Hmmmmm. Perhaps not.
Stealth-Inferior to Cloak of Darkness in just about every possible way.
Invisibility-Neat power, but you have to take a prereq to get it. In PvE = SS+CoD
Phase Shift-What are you, chicken?

Fighting

Optional, tier 1

Kick-71% longer Activation time than Boxing, 11% more damage. You do the math.
Boxing-Common replacement or Shadow Punch to unlock Tough
Tough-Good supplement to DE for fighting big groups and hard targets
Weave-Used to be good. Too costly to justify for DM/DA except in experimental builds

Fitness

Mandatory

Swift-Makes life feel better
Hurdle-A mini travel power unto itself—combos with Combat Jumping well in PvP
Health-Essential. Pays for OG and acts as a couple of percentage points of Resistance
Stamina-The true reason that you take this pool

Flight

Optional, tier 1

Air Superiority-Substitute for Shadow Punch. Knockdown is good control. Very popular
Hover-Knockdown/back protection, good maneuverability. Available early. Really hurt by ED.
Fly-Best travel power in the game, but needs slotting for speed.
Group Fly-Irrelevant to DM/DA

Leadership

Optional, tier 2

Assault-10% damage bonus. Equals slots 4 and 5 on attacks, post ED. Opens up Tactics
Maneuvers-Tiny defense bonus. Don’t take with DM/DA
Tactics-~7.5% base “to hit” bonus. +Perception. Resists FEAR. Good in teams.
Vengeance-No. It could be a neat power, but no.

Leaping

Optional, tier 1

Combat Jumping-Minimal defense (like almost everything else). Immobilize protection.
Jump Kick- Just..No.
Super Jump-The Compromise travel power. Stands alone. Fast. Reliable.
Acrobatics-The standard Knockdown/back protection of Dark Armor/Fiery Aura

Medicine

No. I know that Aid Self is a righteous heal. Take Siphon Life.

Presence

Optional, tier 3

Only in very experimental builds. Not discussed here.

Speed

Optional, tier 1

Flurry-For a Controller using containment or a damage-starved AT. DM/DA just say No.
Hasten-The grandaddy of ‘em all. If you want Superspeed, take Hasten.
Superspeed-My favorite travel power. Can be annoying. Very fast.
Whirlwind-PvP FoTM power. I used to have it when I couldn’t stack armors.

Teleportation

Optional, tier 2

TP Friend-No. Nice, but no...unless you are escorting friends around the Shadow Shard
TP Foe-Nice Pull in PvE and good PvP power.
Teleport-Very Fast, but labor intensive. Helps cover weak Immobilize resists.
Group Teleport-Not “No,” but “Hell NO!”

epics

Weapon Mastery is a pool for people who want to make ninjas out of their Katana Scrappers. I’ll get it out of the way first. In my scientific opinion, to quote a college Physics textbook, it “sucks great, big slabs of asphalt.” It also lags behind the other epic pools in terms of adding anything truly useful to a DM/DA scrapper build. When I tested it in PvP, I got my butt kicked by everything that I fought that I couldn’t rely solely on FEAR to beat, including builds that I stalemated or completely owned with Body Mastery (Like Electric/Energy Blappers). The “Striker” build with Weapon Mastery was laughable compared to both the Dark Mastery and Body Mastery versions. What was impressive about it was how much Endurance you could invest to accomplish so little. Now, I am not saying that a good player can’t get good mileage out of some of the tools in the set, but it takes a better player to make it work than the other two Scrapper EPP’s. Let’s break down this stinky poo pool.

Web Grenade

Fast Facts:
Web grenade puts a decent (mag 3) Immobilize effect on anything that it hits. It is more popular and useful in PvP than in PvE.

Commentary:
WG is useful in PvP against squishies that don’t take Combat Jumping or when stacked against melees or player with Immob protection. Many PvP players use Teleport, so the effectiveness of Immobilize effects varies greatly. Scrappers in PvE only need an Immob occasionally, and typically as a matter of convenience rather than true necessity, so it is not a great power choice except as something to open up the last two powers in the pool. If there is one, I would consider this to be the true gem in the Weapon Mastery set.

Caltrops

Fast Facts:
Caltrops is the annoying power that the Tsoo and the Knives of Artimis spread liberally about. Caltrops puts a pretty strong Slow effect on anything that enters their area. They deal minor DoT that autohits anything in their AoE.

Commentary:
I am not sure what this power is really good for in PvE besides getting revenge on those groups that used it against you (It is funny to go to Talos or Steel Canyon and use Caltrops on the Tsoo in the streets). It can help in combat under some specific situations, but it mostly serves to steal an action that you could have used to attack something. It is a nice power, just not for a Scrapper, who lacks the ranged, AoE bombs to take advantage of it. In PvP, its autohit has some value against inexperienced Stalkers who might try to AS you from the ground, spoiling their opportunity and setting them up for a boot to the head.

Shuriken

Fast Facts:
A shuriken is a throwing star. You throw a single throwing star for about Shadow Punch- quality, lethal damage.

Commentary:
I have no idea why this power is in the same slot as Dark Blast and Laser Beam Eyes, which both do more damage and are less frequently resisted. I wish I could think of something nice to say besides that it has 20% more range and activates and recharges faster than Laser Beam Eyes. Wait! I just thought of something: The animation looks cool.

Exploding Shuriken

Fast Facts:
Shuriken with shorter range and AoE damage around the level of Laser Beam Eyes.

Commentary:
Great idea for a compliment to Caltrops, but by L47, a Scrapper essentially IS a ranged, AoE attack. For as much endurance as this attack costs, you could kill three mobs instead of just annoying six. Just skip it. Skip the whole, deplorable pool...did I mention that I think Weapon Mastery is a bit of the weaksauce?

Darkness Mastery is the EPP that you would expect a DM/DA Scrapper to jump at to complete the trifecta of Darkity/Dark/Dark. It packs even more utility and control into a utility and control-rich combination. The powers in Darkness Mastery are nice. The only question you have to answer in choosing it is whether or not you will get more mileage out of more tools than from making the ones that you have more effective by choosing Body Mastery.

Torrent

Activation time: 1 second
Recharge Time: 15 seconds
Endurance Cost: 18
Range: 20
Brawl Index: 2.222

Fast Facts:
Torrent is one of only three powers in the Scrapper EPP’s to have a one-word name. It is a fast-acting knockback with a wide cone.

Commentary:
Torrent is not so great by itself, but it combos really well with Tenebrous Tentacles to create nice situations for DM/DA’s PBAoE’s and Shadow Maul by allowing you to blast Immobilized mobs into a corner. By itself, I prefer Energy Torrent b/c it does not Knockback.

Petrifying Gaze

Activation time: 1.7 second
Recharge Time: 32 seconds
Endurance Cost: 9.5
Range: 70
Duration: 10

Fast Facts:
You have to love it. PG is a Scrapper’s only single-target Hold (mag 3)! Tsoo Sorcerers use this power to great effect.

Commentary:
If they nerf Pet Gaze any more, it is going to become an uneconomical choice. While not up to par with Touch of Fear, PG is very effective in both PvE and PvP. The recharge time on it is a bit excessive and prevents you from readily stacking it, but it is still a nasty power to contend with.

Dark Blast

Activation time: 1 second
Recharge Time: 6 seconds
Endurance Cost: 6.5
Range: 80
Brawl Index: 2.777

Fast Facts:
A fast-activating power that has the same BI and recharge time as Laser Beam Eyes, does pure Negative Energy damage, and has twice the range...for the same cost. In a word? Sweet.

Commentary:
Dark Blast and PG are almost enough by themselves to warrant making Dark Mastery your EPP of choice. If you don’t at least think about it, then you should...then you should take Body Mastery instead.

Tenebrous Tentacles

Activation time: 1.7 seconds
Recharge Time: 20 seconds
Endurance Cost: 12.5
Range 30
Brawl Index: 2.260

Fast Facts:
A cone Immobilize that puts out a DoT on the order of the damage of Dark Blast. It is a combo power with Torrent.

Commentary:
Nice. The Dark EPP is full of wonderful toys that afford a great opportunity to expand the capabilities...of a Regen Scrapper...DM/DA already has gather and control with DS+CoF/OG, so the value of TT+Torrent is much less. If you play Regen, then you may just choose to go to the dark side, but for DM/DA, the power of FA and CP is just too great to pass on.

Body Mastery is the pool for players who understand math. For DM/DA, the first two powers alone are better than any combination of powers in the totality of the other Scrapper EPP’s. Body Mastery also gives Scrappers Laser Beam Eyes...nuff said. Here’s the tale of the tape:

Conserve Power

Activation time: 1.2 seconds
Recharge Time: 600 seconds
Endurance Cost: 10
Duration: 90 Seconds

Fast Facts:
CP essentially halves the endurance cost of every power you have for 90 seconds.

Commentary:
CP will let you see what it is like to play a Regen Scrapper with 3 slotted Quick Recovery and Stamina. It feels good. Take it. Body Mastery is worth taking for this power alone. Back in the days of Perma-Hasten, it was possible to get Dark Consumption back up during Conserve power’s duration with a single recred slotted. Ahhhhh, the good old days. Conserve Power was all but made with Cloak of Fear and Death Shroud in mind.

Focused Accuracy

Fast Facts:
FA gives a 17.5-25% base “to hit” buff. It is the most feared power in the game by players of defensive sets. Many players complain about its high endurance cost.

Commentary:
My God...what a power... Struggling through 40+ levels of having chronic bad aim is finally rewarded with the most powerful weapon in the game. Dark Melee meets reliability. Aaaat Lasssst...My love has come along...my whiff fests are over...Bubbling mobs will finally diiieeeeeeeee!!! Sorry. I had a moment. Seriously though, this is the power that compliments Dark Melee as a set more than any other. Some people say that you can substitute Tactics for Focused Accuracy. Those people are wrong. Despite having been double nerfed (base “To Hit” bonus reduced and “To Hit” enhancements being moved to Schedule B), it is still the cat’s meow. It was more or less unaffected by ED (Some Regen Scrappers may beg to differ).

Laser Beam Eyes

Activation time: 1.7 second
Recharge Time: 6 seconds
Endurance Cost: 6.5
Range: 40
Brawl Index: 2.777

Fast Facts:
LBE does the same damage as and has a hair slower activation time than Air Superiority. It is a widely popular power and has a small defense debuff associated with it.

Commentary:
A pull and an attack, LBE can be substituted for Shadow Punch in the DM attack chain. It does pure energy damage, which is less resisted in the late game, and is frickin’ cool, Superman style. I love me some LBE. It is also a good power for zapping would-be runners.

Energy Torrent

Activation time: 1.1 second
Recharge Time: 24 seconds
Endurance Cost: 15
Range: 16
Brawl Index: .8333 Smashing, 1.833 Energy

Fast Facts:
ET does knockdown, although it does knockback once you slot for it. It is regarded by many to have a pretty heavy endurance cost and a too-short range. Some veteran DA Scrappers have suggested using it as a reasonable substitute for Death Shroud.

Commentary:
ET is nice but needs slotting to shine. The biggest drawback to it is that you can’t take the entire Body Mastery pool without giving it the short shrift in slotting. For DM/DA, ET provides another control power to add on to the list. Personally (utilizing a strategy suggested by Kali), I like it best as an opening move in combat to start things “off the right feet.” Knockdown is nice as a form of damage mitigation and has the added benefit of not knocking foes out of range.

Book III: Kings

cross-set synergies and analysis

The Dark Melee/Dark Armor combination contains some strong synergies and complimentary powers that go a long way toward making it one of the strongest combinations in the game.

The synergistic relationship that jumps out at you when breaking down the mechanics of the sets is the combination of Cloak of Fear and Touch of Fear. Alone, each is a strong control power, but together they are devastating. The strongest (in PvE) relationships in the two sets are those that combine Death Shroud with the PBAoE Aura’s and click powers. Death Shroud generates aggro and draws opponents into range so that Oppressive Gloom, Cloak of Fear, Dark Consumption, Soul Drain, and Dark Regeneration can do their nefarious work. I have heard people decry Death Shroud as breaking Cloak of Fear, but they actually work very well together versus PvE mobs. Between the “To Hit” debuff in Cloak of Fear and the reduction in frequency of attack of Feared mobs, CoF provides substantial damage mitigation even with Death Shroud running.

Certainly, stacking Touch of Fear and Cloak of Fear debuffs and Fear effects suggests that you can never have too much of a good thing. Many people who play DM/DA cite this power combo as one of the things that attracted them to the combination in the first place. The ability to reduce your need to a single Touch of Fear to lock down a Boss is a definite survival booster, but with other control options available and the loss of the large “To Hit” debuff in CoF, this is no longer sufficient justification inandof itself to take CoF.

Stacking heals, “To Hit” debuffs, and Fear are all mechanisms that make DM/DA more powerful and more reliable as well (since all of these abilities/effects require “To Hit” checks). Unfortunately, the potential levels for any of DM/DA’s abilities are much higher than you will ever be able to achieve ingame, so back-of-an-envelope calculations that indicate that you are unbeatable should be discarded. The fact that all of DM/DA’s stacking effects are built on single target applications stacking on AoE effect values limits its potential to absolutely dominating single targets and more modestly affecting groups.

For simplicities sake, in a nutshell, here are the important power relationships between and within DM and DA:

Soul Drain + Anything that deals damage

Siphon Life + Dark Regen -> Redundant Healing (especially good since both require a hit)

Touch of Fear + Cloak of Fear -> Stacked Fear + “To Hit” Debuffs

Cloak of Fear
Oppressive Gloom
Dark Regeneration + Death Shroud -> PBAoE + Aggro generation
Dark Consumption
Soul Drain

DM “To Hit” Debuffs + CoF + CoD -> Stacked “To Hit” debuffs and Defense

“To Hit” Debuffs + Resistance + Defense + Heals + Control auras -> Layered defenses

The accumulation of “To Hit” debuffs from DM attacks is not insignificant. Each successful hit applies its debuff for about five seconds. They add up quickly and enemies will rapidly lose their effectiveness as their accuracy goes down the proverbial toilet.

builds

Leveling Builds

Level 1-30 (SO slotting)
---------------------------------------------
Name: Fist of Allah
Level: 32
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary: Dark Melee
Secondary: Dark Armor
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Shadow Punch==> Acc(1) Acc(3) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(17) EndRdx(27)
01) --> Dark Embrace==> EndRdx(1)
02) --> Smite==> Acc(2) Acc(5) Dmg(7) Dmg(7) Dmg(17) Rechg(27)
04) --> Shadow Maul==> Acc(4) Acc(9) Dmg(9) Dmg(13) Dmg(13) Rechg(29)
06) --> Air Superiority==> Acc(6) Acc(11) Dmg(11) Dmg(15) Rechg(15) Rechg(19)
08) --> Swift==> Run(8)
10) --> Obsidian Shield==> EndRdx(10)
12) --> Touch of Fear==> Acc(12)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14) Fly(29)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)
18) --> Dark Consumption==> Acc(18) Rechg(19)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Dark Regeneration==> Acc(22) EndRdx(23) EndRdx(23)
24) --> Hover==> Fly(24) Fly(25) Fly(25)
26) --> Soul Drain==> Acc(26)
28) --> Cloak Of Darkness==> EndRdx(28)
30) --> Murky Cloud==> EndRdx(30)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Critical Hit==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)

This is a basic build to get you through to level 30. It is designed around getting you the things that you will need right before or around the time that you need them. It has four legitimate attacks at L6 and adds ToF at L12, giving you a strong combination of early damage and control. Pre-stamina, you will probably only run Dark Embrace in big fights, relying on Air Superiority and ToF as your primary damage mitigation. Life gets better after Dark Consumption and Stamina. The choice of Fly is one of power economics rather than of preference (I like Super Speed).

Some players might take Dark Regeneration or Murky Cloud earlier, but I would recommend going the control route instead, as the endurance costs are more manageable in the early game, and your energy is going primarily into damage dealing. Either strategy will work, but since I am writing this behemoth, I am expressing my preference

. With the reduction to the magnitude of the Energy Resists to Murky Cloud, its value in the early game is more in the resistance to endurance drains that you will see from Clockwork and Outcast Shockers. If these situations concern you then take Murky over Touch of Fear. It will definitely help. Just remember that I am somewhere saying, “I told you so,” when players who took my advice are clobbering Ogres (Troll bosses) in Skyway while you are avoiding them b/c you can’t hit them (ToF will help run out the timer on their Rock Armor).

Note: Although what I call “Power Building” is outside of the scope of this writing, here is a tip: For an advanced player with a high level of skill in melee who wants to rapid-level his toon in hazard zones, I would recommend taking Death Shroud in place of Swift and moving Swift into L12 slot (taking Touch of Fear later in life) and pushing Health off to L20 in favor of taking Dark Regeneration at L16, but inspiration management is critical in making this strategy work, and it is not as fun a build to play.

Let’s take a closer look at the build in the developmental levels:

Level 1-12 (TO slotting)

---------------------------------------------
Name: Fist of Allah
Level: 12
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary: Dark Melee
Secondary: Dark Armor
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Shadow Punch==> Acc(1) Acc(3) Acc(3) Dmg(5)
01) --> Dark Embrace==> EndRdx(1)
02) --> Smite==> Acc(2) Acc(5) Acc(7) Dmg(7)
04) --> Shadow Maul==> Acc(4) Acc(9) Acc(9)
06) --> Air Superiority==> Acc(6) Acc(11) Acc(11)
08) --> Swift==> Run(8)
10) --> Obsidian Shield==> EndRdx(10)
12) --> Touch of Fear==> Acc(12)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Critical Hit==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)

Commentary
This is a snapshot of the build at level 12 with slotting for Training Enhancements. When you only have TO’s, Accuracy is about the only thing worth slotting in your attacks, at least for the first three slots, if not four. I typically slot whatever junk I find in the early levels and sell the rest until I get a lot of accuracy slotted into all of my attacks.
Your enemies take a step up in nastiness somewhere in this range, which is why we took Touch of Fear so early. It is not mandatory, but it makes killing Bosses much easier. Combined with Air Superiority, Touch of Fear will let you survive in those horrible Hollows Pickup teams and will make you a very effective Boss killer. Add the fact that you get Obsidian Shield so early, and this build will let you amaze and astound your friends when you can stand toe-to-toe with Frostfire (just don’t do that for too long...).

Once you reach level 12, you will gain access to Dual Origin Enhancements. Without an infusion of influence, you won’t be able to afford many. Get Accuracies for your attacks over anything else.

Level 13-22 (DO slotting)

---------------------------------------------
Name: Fist of Allah
Level: 22
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary: Dark Melee
Secondary: Dark Armor
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Shadow Punch==> Acc(1) Acc(3) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(17)
01) --> Dark Embrace==> EndRdx(1)
02) --> Smite==> Acc(2) Acc(5) Dmg(7) Dmg(7)
04) --> Shadow Maul==> Acc(4) Acc(9) Dmg(9) Dmg(13) Dmg(13)
06) --> Air Superiority==> Acc(6) Acc(11) Acc(11) Rechg(15) Rechg(15) Rechg(17)
08) --> Swift==> Run(8)
10) --> Obsidian Shield==> EndRdx (10)
12) --> Touch of Fear==> Acc(12)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)
18) --> Dark Consumption==> Acc(18) Acc(19)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Dark Regeneration==> Acc(22)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Critical Hit==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)

Commentary
When you finish out this portion of the build, you will be on the cusp of becoming a butt-kicking machine, as Single Origin Enhancements become available at L22. With DO’s in your build, you should do well against most opposition. Air Superiority will become more important as your defenses (besides increasing Health from leveling and Regeneration from the power Health at L16) will not be significantly developing in this period, and it will help cover your deficiencies until you get Dark Regeneration and slot it. Dark Consumption and Stamina will go a long way toward giving you the feel the character will have later in the game.

Levels 14-22 of this build form the developmental core of the character, and the amount of ingame change to the way the character plays will be the greatest in this period. You will start to really feel the weakness of Dark Armor, the lack of knockdown protection, in the teen levels. Fly can serve as emergency protection in the event of chain knockdown or a Ruin Mage encounter, but don’t think that you will be able to fight with Fly running.

This is the awkward phase for most characters, as they are typically developing more offensively than defensively. This build should feel a little less vulnerable than many others, but you will definitely see the problem if you get stuck alone in the middle of a big group of mobs. Your strength will be in fighting one or two dangerous targets, not in slaughtering a dozen minions at a time (Yet...). Try to avoid grabbing too much aggro at once.

L40 Respec Build
---------------------------------------------
Name: Fist of Allah
Level: 40
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary: Dark Melee
Secondary: Dark Armor
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Shadow Punch==> Acc(1) Acc(3) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(17) EndRdx(27)
01) --> Dark Embrace==> EndRdx(1) DmgRes(19) DmgRes(29) DmgRes(31)
02) --> Smite==> Acc(2) Acc(5) Dmg(7) Dmg(7) Dmg(17) Rechg(27)
04) --> Shadow Maul==> Acc(4) Acc(9) Dmg(9) Dmg(11) Dmg(11) Rechg(29)
06) --> Swift==> Run(6)
08) --> Death Shroud==> Acc(8) EndRdx(13) EndRdx(13) Dmg(15) Dmg(15) Dmg(31)
10) --> Obsidian Shield==> EndRdx(10)
12) --> Hasten==> Rechg(12) Rechg(36) Rechg(36)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)
18) --> Dark Consumption==> Acc(18) Rechg(19) EndMod(39)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Dark Regeneration==> Acc(22) EndRdx(23) EndRdx(23) Rechg(31) Rechg(37)
24) --> Hover==> Fly(24) Fly(25) Fly(25)
26) --> Soul Drain==> Acc(26) Rechg(36) Rechg(39) Rechg(40)
28) --> Cloak Of Darkness==> EndRdx(28)
30) --> Murky Cloud==> EndRdx(30) DmgRes(34) DmgRes(37) DmgRes(37)
32) --> Midnight Grasp==> Acc(32) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Rechg(34) EndRdx(34)
35) --> Oppressive Gloom==> Acc(35) DisDur(40)
38) --> Touch of Fear==> Acc(38) EndRdx(39) Rechg(40)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Critical Hit==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)

Commentary
This build is a L40 respec into a classic Dark Melee build with Hasten and Super Speed. Shadow Punch is interchangeable with Air Superiority, and Hasten, Super Speed, and Hover are Interchangeable with Combat Jumping, Super Jump, and Acrobatics if you prefer the Leaping Pool for travel and Knockback protection. It is a fun build to play and is balanced against most game content. It is a hammer when both Soul Drain and Hasten are available at the beginning of a fight.

You have to take off the training wheels to play this build, as the action is fast and often furious. I took you through the developmental period with Air Superiority as a security blanket, and you can keep it if you like, as it is still nice against most Bosses, but you don’t really need it any more. With Soul Drain, Death Shroud, and Oppressive Gloom available, Minions are a non-factor in most combats and serve only to fuel your ability to cut down Lieutenants and Bosses like Hellions in Atlas Park.

L50 Respec Build
---------------------------------------------
Name: Fist of Allah
Level: 50
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary: Dark Melee
Secondary: Dark Armor
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Shadow Punch==> Rechg(1) Rechg(3) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(17) EndRdx(27)
01) --> Dark Embrace==> EndRdx(1) DmgRes(19) DmgRes(29) DmgRes(31)
02) --> Smite==> Rechg(2) Rechg(5) Dmg(7) Dmg(7) Dmg(17) EndRdx(27)
04) --> Shadow Maul==> Rechg(4) Rechg(9) Dmg(9) Dmg(11) Dmg(11) EndRdx(29)
06) --> Swift==> Run(6)
08) --> Death Shroud==> EndRdx(8) EndRdx(13) EndRdx(13) Dmg(15) Dmg(15) Dmg(31)
10) --> Obsidian Shield==> EndRdx(10)
12) --> Hasten==> Rechg(12) Rechg(36) Rechg(36)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16) Heal(40) Heal(40)
18) --> Dark Consumption==> EndMod(18) Rechg(19) Rechg(39) Rechg(43) EndMod(46)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Dark Regeneration==> EndRdx(22) EndRdx(23) EndRdx(23) Rechg(31) Rechg(37)
24) --> Hover==> Fly(24) Fly(25) Fly(25)
26) --> Soul Drain==> Rechg(26) Rechg(36) Rechg(39)
28) --> Cloak Of Darkness==> EndRdx(28)
30) --> Murky Cloud==> EndRdx(30) DmgRes(34) DmgRes(37) DmgRes(37)
32) --> Midnight Grasp==> Rechg(32) Rechg(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(34) EndRdx(34)
35) --> Oppressive Gloom==> DisDur(35) DisDur(40)
38) --> Touch of Fear==> TH_DeBuf(38) EndRdx(39)
41) --> Focused Accuracy==> EndRdx(41) EndRdx(42) EndRdx(42) TH_Buf(42) TH_Buf(43) TH_Buf(43)
44) --> Laser Beam Eyes==> Rechg(44) Rechg(45) Dmg(45) Dmg(45) Dmg(46) EndRdx(46)
47) --> Siphon Life==> Heal(47) Heal(48) Heal(48) Rechg(48) EndRdx(50)
49) --> Conserve Power==> Rechg(49) Rechg(50) Rechg(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Rechg(1)
01) --> Critical Hit==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)

Commentary
This is a L50 respec PvE build that expands the L40 build to include the Epic pools and reslots to account for the availability of Focused Accuracy.

This build is essentially the same as theL40 version, but it is all grown up. It has added Focused Accuracy, Laser Beam Eyes, Siphon Life and Conserve Power. It is, for lack of a better phrase, “wicked bad” and will put the fear of God into most anything that you want to fight.

Other PvE Builds

Fear Meh! (Respec)

---------------------------------------------
Name: Fist of Allah
Level: 50
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary: Dark Melee
Secondary: Dark Armor
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Smite==> Acc(1) Acc(3) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(5) EndRdx(7)
01) --> Dark Embrace==> EndRdx(1) DmgRes(7) DmgRes(9) DmgRes(9)
02) --> Shadow Maul==> Acc(2) Acc(11) Dmg(11) Dmg(13) Dmg(13) EndRdx(15)
04) --> Death Shroud==> Acc(4) Acc(15) Dmg(17) Dmg(17) EndRdx(19) EndRdx(34)
06) --> Air Superiority==> Acc(6) Acc(21) Dmg(21) Dmg(23) Rechg(23) Rechg(25)
08) --> Touch of Fear==> Acc(8) EndRdx(19) Rechg(25) Fear(27) Fear(29) Fear(29)
10) --> Obsidian Shield==> EndRdx(10)
12) --> Swift==> Run(12)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)
18) --> Dark Consumption==> Acc(18) Acc(31) Rechg(33) Rechg(33) Rechg(33) EndMod(34)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(27) EndMod(34)
22) --> Dark Regeneration==> Acc(22) Acc(36) EndRdx(36) EndRdx(36) Rechg(37)
24) --> Hover==> Fly(24) Fly(31) Fly(31)
26) --> Soul Drain==> Acc(26) Rechg(37) Rechg(39)
28) --> Cloak Of Fear==> Acc(28) Acc(39) Acc(39) EndRdx(40) EndRdx(40) EndRdx(42)
30) --> Cloak Of Darkness==> EndRdx(30)
32) --> Midnight Grasp==> Acc(32) Acc(37) Dmg(42) Dmg(42) Dmg(43) EndRdx(43)
35) --> Murky Cloud==> EndRdx(35)
38) --> Siphon Life==> Acc(38) Acc(40) Heal(43) Heal(45) Heal(45)
41) --> Petrifying Gaze==> Acc(41) Acc(45) Rechg(46) Rechg(46)
44) --> Dark Blast==> Acc(44) Acc(46) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) Dmg(48)
47) --> Tenebrous Tentacles==> Acc(47) Acc(50)
49) --> Hasten==> Rechg(49) Rechg(50) Rechg(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Critical Hit==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)

Commentary
Fear Meh! is about using Cloak of Fear to make it easier to use Touch of Fear to Scare Bosses for a long time. It picks up a Hold in Petrifying Gaze from the Darkness Mastery EPP and an Immob in the form of Tenebrous Tentacles.

While not the strongest overall DM/DA build, Fear Meh! definitely has its charms. It is very strong on control options and is rarely without an answer to a problem. Despite its endurance-sucking ways, Fear Meh! could easily be converted into one of the nastiest, most annoying, most reviled PvP builds ever.

AV Buster Build - Old School
---------------------------------------------
Name: Fist of Allah
Level: 50
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary: Dark Melee
Secondary: Dark Armor
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Smite==> NucleExp(1) Dmg(3) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(5) Dmg(25)
01) --> Dark Embrace==> RibosExp(1) DmgRes(7) DmgRes(7) DmgRes(15) DmgRes(19) DmgRes(19)
02) --> Shadow Punch==> NucleExp(2) Dmg(9) Dmg(9) Dmg(11) Dmg(11) Dmg(23)
04) --> Shadow Maul==> NucleExp(4) Dmg(13) Dmg(13) Dmg(25) Dmg(27) Dmg(27)
06) --> Touch of Fear==> LysosExp(6) LysosExp(15) LysosExp(17) EnzymExp(17) TH_DeBuf(43)
08) --> Swift==> Run(8)
10) --> Obsidian Shield==> RibosExp(10) RibosExp(21)
12) --> Hasten==> Rechg(12) Rechg(21) Rechg(23) Rechg(39) Rechg(39)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)
18) --> Dark Consumption==> Acc(18) Rechg(37) EndMod(37)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(29) EndMod(31) EndMod(31) EndMod(34) EndMod(46)
22) --> Dark Regeneration==> Acc(22) GolgiExp(31) GolgiExp(33) GolgiExp(33) Rechg(33) Rechg(39)
24) --> Hover==> Fly(24) Fly(34) Fly(34)
26) --> Soul Drain==> Rechg(26) Rechg(29) Rechg(36) Rechg(36) Rechg(36) Rechg(37)
28) --> Cloak Of Darkness==> CytosExp(28)
30) --> Murky Cloud==> RibosExp(30)
32) --> Midnight Grasp==> NucleExp(32) Dmg(40) Dmg(40) Dmg(42) Dmg(48) Dmg(50)
35) --> Cloak Of Fear==> EnzymExp(35) EnzymExp(40) EnzymExp(42) LysosExp(42) TH_DeBuf(43) TH_DeBuf(43)
38) --> Siphon Life==> GolgiExp(38) GolgiExp(45) GolgiExp(45) Acc(45)
41) --> Conserve Power==> Dmg(41) Rechg(46) Rechg(46) Rechg(48) Rechg(48) Rechg(50)
44) --> Boxing==> Acc(44)
47) --> Tough==> DmgRes(47) DmgRes(50)
49) --> Confront==> Range(49)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Critical Hit==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)

Commentary
This is an example of an “old-school,” perma Soul Drain, AV-fighting build. I ran several versions of this build on the Test server that did different things—this one is geared toward AV’s that deal Smashing/Lethal damage. All of them abused Cloak of Fear and Touch of Fear, and the more radical versions slotted Cloak of Darkness and brought in Weave to really amp up the defense. I’ll discuss how you use this build in the strategy section, but it was fun stuff, if not a little tedious. If only my friend with a ton of HO’s hadn’t quit the game, I could have done more AV testing back when it was still possible. I am still a little chapped that he didn’t divest himself of all of his HO’s and give them to me on the Live server before he left, but I guess he is reserving the right to return someday. I wish that I had kept some of those copies on Test, but they would not be very good now anyway. I made some I5 versions of this build that worked reasonably well, but it just wasn’t the same (especially without the extra HO’s).

Pre-I5, Cloak of Fear had a large “To Hit” debuff, and when combined with Touch of Fear, Cloak of Darkness, and Weave, it was insane. If you could manage your endurance properly, you were as tough as anything in the game. The problem with Dark Armor has always been that there is a skill component in getting it to perform at the level of other secondaries because of the need to keep aggro very tight. When they changed Fear to cower foes instead of making them flee in terror, but left the debuff magnitude in tact, and allowed the armors to stack, Dark Armor was imbalancingly powerful. Those who figured it out reaped the benefits. Those who didn’t continued to bemoan their wretched existence behind the performance curve. Although DA could never handle uplevel mobs like Regen, Inv, and SR, it could handle Firetank-esque numbers of even cons, if you could micro-manage the herd.

PvP Builds

Sacrilege! Striker Build 0.5

---------------------------------------------
Name: Fist of Allah
Level: 50
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary: Dark Melee
Secondary: Dark Armor
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Smite==> Acc(1) Dmg(3) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Rechg(5) EndRdx(48)
01) --> Dark Embrace==> DmgRes(1) DmgRes(7) DmgRes(7) EndRdx(15)
02) --> Shadow Punch==> Acc(2) Dmg(9) Dmg(9) Dmg(11) Rechg(11) EndRdx(23)
04) --> Murky Cloud==> DmgRes(4) DmgRes(13) DmgRes(13) EndRdx(17)
06) --> Touch of Fear==> LysosExp(6) LysosExp(15) LysosExp(17)
08) --> Swift==> Run(8) Run(19) Run(19)
10) --> Obsidian Shield==> EndRdx(10)
12) --> Hasten==> Rechg(12) Rechg(21) Rechg(23)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14) Run(21)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16) Heal(25) Heal(25)
18) --> Air Superiority==> Acc(18) Dmg(27) Dmg(27) Dmg(29) Rechg(29) EndRdx(43)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(31) EndMod(31)
22) --> Dark Regeneration==> Acc(22) Heal(31) Rechg(33) Rechg(33) EndRdx(33) EndRdx(34)
24) --> Hover==> Fly(24) Fly(34) Fly(34)
26) --> Siphon Life==> Heal(26) Heal(36) Heal(36) Dmg(36) Dmg(37) NucleExp(37)
28) --> Dark Consumption==> EndMod(28) EndMod(37) Rechg(39) Rechg(39) Rechg(39) Acc(40)
30) --> Cloak Of Darkness==> EndRdx(30)
32) --> Midnight Grasp==> Acc(32) Dmg(40) Dmg(40) Dmg(42) Rechg(42) EndRdx(50)
35) --> Cloak Of Fear==> EnzymExp(35) EnzymExp(42) LysosExp(43)
38) --> Oppressive Gloom==> Acc(38) DisDur(43) DisDur(45) DisDur(45)
41) --> Focused Accuracy==> TH_Buf(41) TH_Buf(45) TH_Buf(46) EndRdx(46) EndRdx(46) EndRdx(48)
44) --> Conserve Power==> Rechg(44) Rechg(50) Rechg(50)
47) --> Teleport Foe==> Acc(47)
49) --> Teleport==> EndRdx(49)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Rechg(1) Rechg(48)
01) --> Critical Hit==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)

Commentary
This build gets its name from the fact that it skips several of what are considered staple powers in favor of higher Dps attacks and greater mobility. You will notice that Shadow Maul, Soul Drain, and Death Shroud are all missing in action. This was the first build that I designed for open Zone play in the high end game. I have tested it in the Arena with mixed results. It has good control in CoF and OG, but in fights that drag out, it sucks endurance like it is going out of style. This build does well against annoying opponents and packs nasty surprises for those who would molest you. You can drop the extra accuracies out of the damage-dealing attacks in favor of recharge time reducers if you are willing to run away from anything that shows any hint of elevated Defense.

The build is the “Alpha” version of my so-called Striker Builds. The Striker philosophy is one of controlling entry into and retreat from combat—fighting only on your terms. Slotting Swift and Super Speed makes you faster than just about anyone you will face in PvP. Teleport is added for getting in and out of combat quickly and serves as additional Immobilize protection and as a quick getaway from TP Foe. Focused Accuracy combines with Cloak of Darkness to increase perception sufficiently to mitigate the Stalker threat somewhat, and the combination of OG, CoF, and ToF gives you good options for dealing with most opponents.

The ideal way to play an effective Striker is to activate Hasten and Teleport into combat range and prepare to kite with Super Speed and Touch of Fear. If Conserve power is available, then you can fight in a pitched battle. Make sure to pop a Breakfree before zipping in if taking on multiple opponents. When fighting multiple opponents, take out the squishies first, as they will not remain in melee range for long, and you can leverage Dark Regeneration and Dark Consumption to greater effect if you need them. If Conserve Power is not up, then it is a good idea to exit any combat that you cannot win within about 20 seconds. You should carry several Blues in your tray with this build, but their purpose is to buy you enough energy to Teleport out or to fire off your AoE heal, not to fight. Your attack chain when you get the upper hand and Fear or Stun an opponent is SP->MG->SP->AS->SP->Smite->Siphon Life->SP->AS. This will rip through most opponents in very short order. Frequently, Dark Consumption has ended up filling the role of an attack when I am close to victory.

Notice that Brawl is slotted only for recharge, as it is meant to be a toggle dropper against melees with toggle-based mez protection. Defense-based sets typically have click-based mez protection.

On the downside, my PvP testing has shown that Shadow Maul is a very valuable power in efficiently dropping opponents. Although this build technically deals more damage per unit time than a build featuring Shadow Maul, the endurance cost is very high when compared with the efficiency of Shadow Maul. Lack of a ranged attack aside from TP Foe can be frustrating when fighting Easter Bunnies (my nickname for PvP’ers who run Combat Jumping + slotted Hurdle and hop around all over the place). Still, this Striker build is one to be “feared,” as it has an answer for just about every situation.

Darkity, Dark, Dark, Striker Build

---------------------------------------------
Name: Fist of Allah
Level: 50
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary: Dark Melee
Secondary: Dark Armor
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Smite==> Acc(1) Acc(3) Acc(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(5) Dmg(17)
01) --> Dark Embrace==> DmgRes(1) DmgRes(7) DmgRes(7) EndRdx(15)
02) --> Shadow Punch==> Acc(2) Acc(9) Acc(9) Dmg(11) Dmg(11) Dmg(13)
04) --> Murky Cloud==> EndRdx(4)
06) --> Touch of Fear==> LysosExp(6) LysosExp(13) LysosExp(15)
08) --> Swift==> Run(8)
10) --> Obsidian Shield==> EndRdx(10)
12) --> Hasten==> Rechg(12) Rechg(19) Rechg(21)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14) Run(17)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16) Heal(23) Heal(23)
18) --> Air Superiority==> Acc(18) Acc(19) Acc(21) Dmg(27) Dmg(27) Dmg(29)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(25) EndMod(25)
22) --> Dark Regeneration==> Acc(22) Acc(31) Acc(33) Heal(33) EndRdx(33) EndRdx(34)
24) --> Hover==> Fly(24) Fly(31) Fly(31)
26) --> Siphon Life==> Acc(26) Acc(36) NucleExp(36) Dmg(36) Dmg(37) Heal(37)
28) --> Dark Consumption==> Acc(28) Acc(37) Acc(39) EndMod(39) EndMod(39) EndMod(40)
30) --> Cloak Of Darkness==> EndRdx(30)
32) --> Midnight Grasp==> Acc(32) Acc(34) Acc(34) Dmg(40) Dmg(42) Dmg(42)
35) --> Teleport Foe==> Acc(35) Acc(43) Acc(46)
38) --> Oppressive Gloom==> Acc(38) Acc(40) Acc(43)
41) --> Petrifying Gaze==> Acc(41) Acc(42) Acc(43)
44) --> Dark Blast==> Acc(44) Acc(45) Acc(45) Dmg(45) Dmg(46) Dmg(46)
47) --> Tenebrous Tentacles==> Acc(47) Acc(48) Acc(48) Dmg(50) Dmg(50) Dmg(50)
49) --> Teleport==> EndRdx(49)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Acc(1) Acc(29) Acc(48)
01) --> Critical Hit==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
---------------------------------------------

Commentary
Maintaining the concept of the fast-moving build, but making concessions for slotting needs, this version of the Striker build opts for Darkness Mastery as its EPP of choice. This build does more damage than the Body Mastery version at the cost of some control and some speed. The loss of Focused Accuracy means that the build has to go to extreme accuracy slotting. This is the norm for non-tactics builds in the current PvP zones, but losing this many slots to accuracy will surely sap the potential power of the build in the high-end game. We can already see a loss of Speed in the build from having to give up slots in Swift for accuracy slotting of Brawl. Whether or not the extra damage from Dark Blast and Tenebrous Tentacles offset the increased recharge times of your other attacks is debatable until Hasten comes into play. While Hasten is up, the Dark build has great firepower...until your endurance goes, which does not take long. This is why Dark Consumption is slotted to maximize recovery from a single target.

Overall, this build is less wicked against the general field than the Body Mastery, Striker build, but with Petrifying Gaze, you have one more mechanism to run your opposition out of Breakfrees. This Darkness Mastery Striker is definitely a good squishy killer, but it lags in its ability to take down foes with better damage mitigation/more Health due to its chronic lack of staying power. This build needs lots of Blues in the tray...lots of Blues.

There are several other Striker-style builds that I am looking at and want to test when Recluse’s Victory hits Test, but these are good examples to start off with. Other builds do things like slotting Soul Drain for damage to get the highest damage output that you possibly can in the shortest amount of time, but they are beyond the scope of this discussion, as I have not tested any of them yet, even in the Arena. I plan to follow up on PvP Zone building for the high-end game when I have gotten my head handed to me enough times that there is actual data to report. I am more interested in playing the high end game, and once I understand it, I will scale back and redesign for the lower level PvP zones.

Book IV: Ecclesiastes

philosophies and strategies

Now that you have had a chance to look over the powers and the various builds that I have laid out, let’s talk DM/DA philosophy for a moment. While not the stuff of Aristotle, Voltaire, or Mill, there is a school of thought behind well-played DM/DA Scrappers. “Jump in and start flailing” is fun, but it will not consistently yield the same results for DM/DA as it will for other primary/secondary combinations. Dark Melee does not have enough front-loaded firepower and Dark Armor does not have sufficient, self-contained (in terms of unconditional Resistance, Defense, and Healing) damage mitigation to match up with something along the lines of say, Broadsword/Regeneration.

DM/DA thrives with a good setup and plan of action. It lags in performance otherwise. You may say, “Well I am a good DM/DA player, and I don’t need a plan to be effective. I can jump in and sling hash with the best of them. I don’t need an attack chain. Gamemaster is full of poo poo.” Well, all I can say is that you are right, conditionally anyway. Anyone who has read more than three or four of my DM/DA posts (and actually paid attention) will recognize the term “real fight.” I always qualify my strategy-related commentary with that term.

What I mean by a “real fight” is a fight that I not only might lose, but one that I am more likely to lose than to win. Standing in the Storm Palace looking at a group of L52 Brutes with three Bosses, two Lieutenants and four Minions and having only one small Purple in my tray is a good example of a “real fight” or a fight that I probably will not win. Fights against ten even cons (past L22) with no Bosses are good fights, and may require you to pop an inspiration or three, but they are not “real fights,” they are routine fights. Getting isolated by a full-team, Invincible spawn is a “real fight” these days. The choices that you make in positioning yourself in combat and the order in which you do things and use your resources make a big difference in the outcome of “real fights.” When I am talking about strategy, I am almost always talking about “real” fights.

When you burn your Purples and your Greens, how far you let your Health drop before hitting Dark Regeneration or Siphon Life, and when you click the Conserve Power button are examples of resource management decisions. Some of these are obvious. Some decisions are not so obvious and can and will get you killed when played wrong.

For example, everyone knows that the most dangerous parts of a non-AV fight are when mobs hit with their initial alpha strike and when they have all recharged that initial attack and hit you with it again. Mob AI is such that it often trends down a pretty deterministic path, no matter how many mobs are present. I never cease to be amazed that Rikti soldiers can simultaneously pull their rifles out, shifting in unison, and fire without any practice (they just stand around as far as I can tell until they have something to do). They should head to Broadway with that act, although I daresay that the front row might end up somewhat worse for wear after their first number. The time to pop purples is obviously at the beginning of the fight. Don’t waste them, but don’t be afraid to eat enough to get the job done. If you see a bunch of Lieutenants or Bosses, go ahead and eat three but save that fourth one for later unless you are fighting +3’s, something insanely accurate (e.g. Rularru Eyes), or the Psi-Clockwork King.

Where a regen player sizes up a fight based on what he knows he can handle in terms of aggro and damage, a DM/DA player knows that the outcomes of big fights vary so widely that he cannot predict whether something is impossible or not unless the situation is so outrageous as to preclude the possibility of even attempting it. You might win a fight against ten +1 lieutenants and turn around and five minutes later and lose a fight to six even-con Minions and two Lieutenants. When every cool power you have has a “To Hit” check attached to it, nothing is certain.

melee strategies

A rolling stone gathers no moss

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a DM/DA player, and I have seen a lot of players do it, including myself, is to set your feet in concrete. Standing still in a mass melee is not good for any AT and it is definitely a luxury that you cannot afford when you are relying on Dark Armor to save your life. Stick and move. Don’t run around for the sake of running around; you are jockeying for optimal combat position. When you set your feet, every mob in melee range of you who has the option is hitting you with his most powerful attacks. Each step you take that forces a mob who would have attacked you to chase you instead, reduces the number of hits that you take in a given time period, effectively increasing the effectiveness of your secondary. Coupling this with the fact of the existence of the AoE limit and your PBAoE control armors, and you are more able to spread the wealth in a crowd. Making sure that Death Shroud regularly ticks everyone is a good way to keep mobs from doing annoying things besides attacking you (like using buffs and debuffs and blowing themselves up...that sort of thing). It also helps get the most benefit from Shadow Maul, as you have ample opportunity to punch through nearby ranged mobs, catching them in the fracas. Practice for a while, and you will find that you can keep moving and not interrupt or significantly slow the pace of your attacks. Continuously hitting multiple targets with Shadow Maul makes up for a couple of tenths of a second here and there.

For fun, go to the Hollows, Terra Volta or Crey’s folly, or even the RCS and fight some big groups of mobs that are lower level than you and practice running around one Boss and dragging another behind you as the group shifts to reposition itself to hit you. It is common for Rikti Chief Soldiers and Freakshow Tank Smashers to get so confused that they will get hung up in a group of their own men for a while, then run fifty feet away, completely outside of the group so that they can turn around and get a fresh take on the situation—meanwhile you have beaten their buddy into paste and are looking for another victim.

Divide and conquer

Sometimes you have to fight out in the wide open. That is why we practice the Stick and Move, but there are other times that there is complex terrain or obstacles that can break up aggro or line of sight. This is a specific case of the “almighty pull” and is an important concept in general, but it is especially important to Scrappers and doubly so for DM/DA. Although maxxing out your Soul Drain targets is fun, if you can confuse a group of baddies by getting them involved in chasing you through a maze or hung up on each other trying to get around a corner, you might have better results, especially in those instances where the group has a particularly nasty alpha strike or ongoing attack pattern that might involve more than mere damage (e.g. Green Ink Men).

In Touch of Fear, Dark Melee has one of the great single-target neutralizers in the game. By thinning out a group and fighting them in bursts, a few at a time, Dark Melee can leverage the control ToF provides, and in reducing incoming damage to something more manageable than that of an entire spawn, in many cases, the player can leave Dark Regeneration as an emergency option and rely on Siphon Life to provide the Healing layer of protection. The major difference in DM/DA and other sets in low-number encounters is that a DM/DA scrapper fighting two <whatevers> does not really care what the <whatevers> are, so long as it can make consistent “To Hit” checks against them. +2 or +3 Bosses are not much more of a threat than Minions in terms of actually losing the fight (although the Bosses will probably beat on you a little more early)...that is, until you start missing them. Cloak of Fear + Touch of Fear makes Bosses into Whiny Babies (albeit with dangerous tantrums and smelly spit up).

Attack chains

This is a topic that annoys some people because, for whatever reason, they view using an attack chain as mindless button mashing, or somehow admitting that they use one implicitly diminishes their status as a top-flight player. Neither of these observations is true. An optimal attack chain is a tool that you will need to use at times to maximize your efficiency and to make the most of your skill, and more importantly, it is something that if you understand, will allow you to make better decisions on the fly. Intuition is not a mystical force; it is the interaction of basic knowledge and single-level logic. The more you know about something, the better your intuition will be in matters regarding it.

The necessity for an attack chain in combat is not to take down four mobs standing outside Deimos Innovations in Talos or to beat down a Corruptor who has wandered to close to you in a practice base raid. The times that you need your attack chain are when you need to output damage as fast as possible. Examples of these times are when you are standing in front of an AV with a Defender behind you, beating on the portal in the Infernal mission, when you just popped three Purples and are facing down a huge group, or any other situation where time is of the essence and you have no intention of running away.

I typically open fights with an attack chain based on the situation, but once engaged and entrenched in combat, I tend to break the pattern where appropriate. For example, if there is a mob that I can put away with Shadow Punch, I don’t fire Midnight Grasp or Shadow Maul for the coup de grace (well, unless it is an annoying mob, and the fight is basically over).

Let’s look at a couple of Dark Melee attack chains.

The classic Dark Melee chain under Hasten or with attacks slotted with two recharge time reducers is MG->Smite->SP->SM->Smite->SP with a pause at the end to eat an inspiration, fire off Siphon Life, Touch of Fear, or whatever you like. This is a high Dps chain that will quickly kill off small targets and greatly reduce the accuracy of hard targets as it cuts into them. You can substitute Boxing, Laser Beam Eyes, Dark Blast, or Air Superiority for SP in the chain without missing a beat. Obviously you can start at any point in the chain so long as you maintain the order of the attacks.

There are some developmental chains that I like to use pre Midnight Grasp. My favorite is a control-oriented chain that is very efficient at keeping Bosses busy getting up off the ground—Air Superiority->Shadow Maul->Air Superiority->Smite->Shadow Punch, again with a brief pause at the end to take an action if the spirit moves you to do so.

There are other attack chains that do good Dps or provide control, but I think you get the idea. I just wanted to touch on the subject of attack chains and explain their relevance. While not a substitute for situation-appropriate decision-making in combat, attack chains can help overcome the tendency of some players to start off slowly and knowledge of them can improve that “feel for things” upon which we often find ourselves relying.

In the words of a wise man, “Know your attack chain. Don’t get hung up on your attack chain.”

v. AV’s

Solo AV fighting is all but a lost art for Scrappers. There was a time that “soloing an AV” meant something different than “the AV killed you without his friends noticing.” It was still possible, even in I5, using a classic strategy, for DM/DA to beat some of the Praetorian AV’s (one of them was not Infernal, I can assure you...). Although I was never a hard-core “Big Game” hunter like PowerFist, I did my share of testing. This is not a topic that I was ever willing to discuss in the open forums, but now that it is patently “impossible,” what the heck?

Using the aforementioned AV-Buster build and good tactics in rounding up mobs with Cloak of Fear, you could hunker down in a safe spot, surrounded by friends, and use Soul Drain to fuel your damage and Dark Regeneration and Siphon Life to keep your health up while you beat the hoohah out of an unsuspecting ArchVillain. The catch was to avoid Dark Consumption, as you would kill off your friends too quickly, and that would spell disaster unless there were enough Lieutenants in the group to handle the damage. Confront was in the build to help you quickly make new friends and to make sure that the AV knew where you were in the event that you wanted to pull him (say, in a situation where he was standing next to a big, fiery portal, and you didn’t feel like fighting 100 mobs at once).

When CoF had a mega “To Hit” debuff value, a well-slotted Cloak of Fear, Cloak of Darkness and Weave were enough to floor the chance “to hit” of just about anything (non AoE) outside of the Shadow Shard. With this combination, you were more than safe from the AV and the group of buddies (Soul Drain fodder) that you had collected. When you added in Touch of Fear to the equation, the AV was spending his time quaking when he was on the wrong side of the triangles of doom. In the heyday of Scrapper secondaries, DM Scrappers of every variety did obscene things to AV’s that probably weren’t legal in several countries.

The key to properly utilizing the AV-Buster build was carrying the right Kora Fruit inspirations. Typically, a single Big Purple (I popped it at the beginning of the fight to get things off on the right foot), Five Big Greens, Nine Big Blues, and Five Big Reds (a whole pack of cinnamon goodness to help keep the flavor after Soul Drain loses its freshness) were enough to get the job done. In combat, Siphon Life generally kept you in pretty good Health, as most attacks missed you or hit for a third to half of your Health in damage, but every now and again, a Big Green sure came in handy. Runners are annoying, but that is why I said that you needed to hunker down.

Post ED, I recommend that you exercise more caution in AV fights and forget soloing. Don’t hold your heals, and don’t expect to impress Anti-Matter with your CoF herding tricks. One of the few things I have figured out in the modern game is that, unless you are just covered up in buffs, attempting to tank the big boys is insane. I turned off Hover in my most recent encounter with Infernal to “take advantage” of his Knockback combined with his inability to “one shot” me (Infernal is a rapid, two-shot specialist). I’d run up on him and hammer him until he hit me and knocked me back. My teammates would pick up his aggro until I could recover and get back into the fight.

PvE

There is really not a lot for me to say about strategizing in PvE fights that I have not already said except to go into the details of how I approach cracking groups of mobs and selecting targets. What that boils down to is killing or neutralizing dangerous support units (like those that heal or put up bubbles or drain your endurance) first and making sure that the Bosses get enough attention from Touch of Fear to be a lesser threat while doing so. Examples of dangerous support units to DM/DA include: Raider Engineers, Tsoo Sorcerers, Spectral Daemon Lords, Avalanche Shaman, Rikti Guardians, Crey Medics, Voltaic Tanks, Earth/Air Thorn Casters, and Green Ink men. Sappers are not as dangerous to DA Scrappers as they are to most other toons, and it is fun to leave them for last at times, just to prove a point.

Fighting in PvE is usually about grinding mobs for XP or influence (Thank God they have started transferring influence to Test!). Sometimes you are testing new tactics or an exciting new power, but this is rare. Reading many player guides, you will see many recommendations that include fighting +3 mobs for the superior XP return and the “challenge.” This is all fine and dandy, but in the time it takes to kill a +3 Boss, you could make significantly more XP fighting even con minions.

Given that, by the time that you reach level 40, you have to kill thousands of mobs to make a single level, I think that there is ample opportunity to pursue enough challenging fights to be satisfied without slowing your leveling pace to a crawl. There will be time for you to run to the Storm Palace and be humbled anytime that you feel that you are too tough or too smart for the game when you reach level 50. If you don’t like the Shard, then there is always Monster Island in Peregrine...Remember, you will make more XP/minute running missions with your difficulty on Unyielding than you will on Invincible. For anyone who wants to make the “Invincible is more challenging argument,” don’t bother. Any well-built, fully SO’ed Scrapper can consistently solo most all of his Invincible missions running nothing but his mez protection and occasionally running away and employing the almighty pull when things get sticky. As a bonus, facing greater numbers of Minions plays to DM/DA’s advantage by supplying greater numbers for PBAoE fodder.

At the lower levels, I always recommend that players hunt downlevel (-1 or –2) groups and keep on moving. As a matter of personal preference, I shun teaming until I hit level 14 or so to avoid the incredible amounts of downtime that pre-travel power teams tend to suffer, although at the very low levels, Atlas sewer teams can yield very nice XP returns that can accelerate a toon from L4 to L10 in short order. Running missions combined with street hunting back and forth to and from those missions is good XP for the solo player. I have gotten into the nasty habit of street hunting to about L14, teaming until L20, and soloing until L30. I have found that I can grind XP a lot faster in certain level ranges without other people getting in my way. Past L30, the game is an incredible grind for the solo player, and I recommend mixing up soloing and teaming and even working in a few alts to keep it fresh.

Applying this to DM/DA, I have decided that my favorite run is beating my way through Independence Port from L22 to L29, hunting even con and +1 Family. The Family do almost exclusively Smash/Lethal damage, and only the Capo Muscle and Underboss are remotely dangerous (unless you have no Immob protection and get snagged by a Consigliere). Uplevel Capo Gunners are a sweet spot for easy XP. The Tsoo are a nice change of pace. Dark Melee has a pretty easy time with Sorcerers, so they are really good XP sources. In the high 20’s, Tsoo Bosses start showing up. They are also pretty easy pickins (especially with Air Superiority) and have good XP values as well. I have been checking out Croatoa and Striga Isle with my DM/Regen, and they look like pretty good hunting grounds. Striga is a good place to get a jump on the Slayer and Silver Bullet badges (for killing Vampires and Werewolves) that you need for the Atlas Medallion. The only caveat I will make about street hunting is that there is no percentage in taking big risks doing it, unless you are just testing your limits. Mission debt is half of street hunting debt, so take your risks indoors.

On the higher level zones, I figure that you will know your playstyle better than I by the time that you reach the 30’s. As a matter of preference, I tend to choose Brickstown over Founders Falls and Crey’s Folly over Eden as places to hunt, mostly because of geographic considerations, mob spacing, and ease of XP. Some people are making good XP running missions in the PvP zones, but I have not shown the discipline to avoid being sucked into the social aspects of PvP, so that is not an efficient choice for me.

In the 40’s, even post-ED, I like the Rikti Crash Site as a hunting ground, but it is more dangerous than it used to be (Note: make sure to let Rikti Comm Officers summon their portals before you kill them. The portal is worth good XP (on the order of six or so Minions worth), but the mobs that come out of it are worth nothing). It was pointed out to me that using Death Shroud and Dark Regen to mass-slaughter DE Swarm is a good way to get your name on the leader board. The Fake Nemeses in Peregrine Island have very good XP value, but they can be annoying pre-Focused Accuracy due to their bubbles. The L43 Greater Devoured on the beach to the west of the PI Ferry are worth pretty good XP at that level, just be careful—they have friends and toxic spit. If you find yourself just wanting to grind a level or two in the late game, get a mission with Freaks or something similar with an objective besides “kill all” and continuously reset and farm it for the mobs. Your own private street hunt with no invites. There is no shame in grinding.

PvP

I am not going to wax overly philosophic about PvP except to say that dying has to be acceptable b/c it is inevitable. Keep your feet moving and your toggles running. As you’ll note from the builds that I have included, speed and travel are important in PvP zones. Your ability to get into and out of combat at your discretion will dictate your success as much as your fighting skills and power slotting will. The hardest thing about being a Scrapper in PvP is understanding that you need to cut bait and run when you cannot get an upper hand or win quickly. Against good players, Scrapper-lock in PvP rarely leads to anything but defeat.

Travel in Arena fighting is about maintaining your mobility for short distances, but flat out speed more rarely comes into play. Slotting Sprint pays off more in indoor fights than it does in outdoor combat where travel powers are unfettered by map constraints, at least in terms of vertical limitations. For example, Teleport is marginally useful in the Arena and often requires another power to help it shine, but in an open zone, Teleport is extremely powerful for offense and defense (getting away, escaping Slow and Immob effects, etc...).

In general, DM/DA does not employ the typical Scrapper approach to PvP. The lack of a good Build-Up power in the