Post by Shapey on Oct 18, 2022 21:23:31 GMT -5
I've gotten all 4 roles down now, but there is a mysterious 5th role that often goes unseen until you're at things like cosmics. However, that's a whole 'nother guide to make, which I personally believe I need a little more research on before publishing. So now, we're back to DPS--to one, in fact, that doesn't get much credit: Darkness. This is one that can be played numerous ways with lots of tweaks to crank out higher numbers or deal more damage over time, but for this publication, I'll stick (mostly) to the powers within the frame, with a couple options to swap out.
This build is level-friendly.
Super Stats
○ Intelligence (Primary)
○ Dexterity
○ Ego or Constitution
Talents
○ The Marksman (+10 Int/Ego/Dex, +8 End)
○ +8 Intelligence
○ +8 Dexterity
○ +8 Ego or Constitution
○ +8 Endurance
○ +5/5 Int/Dex
○ +5/5 Int/Ego or Int/Con
Powers
Energy Builder: Shadow Bolt
Power 2: Shadow Blast (Devoid)
Power 3: Shadow Form (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 4: Concentration
Power 5: Shadow Embrace (Rank 2, Rank 3 or Draining Shadows)
Power 6: Conjuring
Power 7: Dimensional Collapse (Glimpse of the Abyss, Lingering Darkness)
Power 8: Ebon Ruin (Rank 2, Nyctophobia)
Power 9: Soul Vortex (Rank 2, Drain Soul) or Hex of Suffering (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 10: Lifedrain (Rank 2)
Power 11: Ebon Void (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 12: Resurgence (Unchained)
Power 13: Planar Rift (Rank 2, Rank 3) or Endbringer's Grasp (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 14: Mind Wipe
Specializations
Intelligence
○ Enlightened (3/3)
○ Tactician (2/2)
○ Expertise (2/2)
○ Detect Vulnerability (3/3)
Guardian
○ Fortified Gear (3/3)
○ Ruthless (2/2)
○ Find the Mark (3/3)
○ The Best Defense (2/3)
Vindicator
○ Aggressive Stance (2/2)
○ Merciless (3/3)
○ Focused Strikes (3/3)
○ Mass Destruction (2/3) or The Rush of Battle (2/3)
Intelligence Mastery
Travel Powers
Up to the player. Dark Flight is pretty fitting but definitely the slowest travel. Be sure to rank one of them to Rank 3
Gear
Starting:
○ Critical Rate Primary Offense (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem Precision, Condemning Handguards) with Intelligence mod(s) and a Soviet Guard's Resolution (Gambler's if unavailable)
○ Defense Rate Primary Defense (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem/Viko Defense, Barricade Duster) with Intelligence mod(s) and a Growth Amulet (Impact Prism if Constitution was taken)
○ Efficiency or Utility Primary Utility (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem Efficiency/Utility) with Intelligence mods and a Gambler's Lucky Gem
○ Clever Secondaries (+20/20 Dexterity and Ego), Acrobatic Secondaries (+20/20 Dexterity and Constitution) if Constitution was taken
Ending:
○ Distinguished Offense Gloves with Intelligence mods and two Soviet Guard's Resolutions (One Gambler's and one pure Severity if unavailable)
○ Distinguished Freedom Armor with Intelligence mods, one Growth Amulet, and one Impact Prism (Two Impact Prisms if Con)
○ Distinguished Efficiency Helm with Intelligence mods, Shadow Destroyer's Contempt, and a Veteran's Core of Might (Impact Prism or Growth Amulet if unavailable)
○ Critical Belt of Determination with Int/Dex mod
○ Onslaught Tights of Fitness with Int/Dex mod
○ Onslaught Helm of Efficiency with Int/Dex mod
Gameplan
Be sure to open any fight, be it single target or mobs, with Dimensional Collapse or a fully charged Shadow Blast to trigger Conjuring. When against mobs, use your taps generously, Soul Vortex should vaccum them in and make it easy to hit all targets with Dimensional Collapse. If you took Hex of Suffering, try to use both that and Collapse on a mob closest to other targets. Keep mobile with Shadow Embrace, as it is a cone AoE and the position of you to your target matters. When there are fewer targets, begin picking them off with Ebon Ruin. You can also open with your Ultimate if there are multiple targets. In single-target, use Shadow Blast to apply Devoid, then use Dimensional Collapse and Soul Vortex/Hex of Suffering. Follow up with 4 Ebon Ruins, then use the aforementioned 2 powers again, as they should be off cooldown by then. Use your Ultimate after Collapse and Vortex/Hex any time it is off cooldown. In either scenario, use Lifedrain if you need being healing, or stand near targets that were affected by Vortex while blocking. Use Resurgence in dire situations.
Other notes
The energy of this build will ping pong quite a lot, but Intelligence stacking builds with Conjuring typically don't get short-charged due to energy issues. There is a decent difference in damage between taking Ego and Constitution, since Expertise increases eithers' benefit by 20%, but the DPS will still be more than enough for a lot of challenging content, so it's up to the player whether they want the bulk or bigger numbers. This is also a build where a Depleted Uranium Core isn't a best-in-slot mod. When leveling, Shadow Blast is actually one of the stronger blasts, so simply getting Devoid after ranking up your Passive should be good enough for most low level encounters.
Darkness has a lot of options, but some of the better ones are behind unlocks. They can be put into this but it needs some juggling around--of course, I'd think by the time you unlock some of them, taking the powers in leveling order wouldn't be an issue! Personally, I don't do much with Darkness (though one of my earliest characters is Darkness) due to how it's encouraged to stack Presence and employ Mental States, which... doesn't work well with DPS, considering the cost of most tier 3 Darkness powers. This build clearly demonstrates you can work around it, but it doesn't use much of the "fundamentals" of the frame (lots of self-healing things).
As before and always, thank you for reading.
This build is level-friendly.
Super Stats
○ Intelligence (Primary)
○ Dexterity
○ Ego or Constitution
Talents
○ The Marksman (+10 Int/Ego/Dex, +8 End)
○ +8 Intelligence
○ +8 Dexterity
○ +8 Ego or Constitution
○ +8 Endurance
○ +5/5 Int/Dex
○ +5/5 Int/Ego or Int/Con
Powers
Energy Builder: Shadow Bolt
Power 2: Shadow Blast (Devoid)
Power 3: Shadow Form (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 4: Concentration
Power 5: Shadow Embrace (Rank 2, Rank 3 or Draining Shadows)
Power 6: Conjuring
Power 7: Dimensional Collapse (Glimpse of the Abyss, Lingering Darkness)
Power 8: Ebon Ruin (Rank 2, Nyctophobia)
Power 9: Soul Vortex (Rank 2, Drain Soul) or Hex of Suffering (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 10: Lifedrain (Rank 2)
Power 11: Ebon Void (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 12: Resurgence (Unchained)
Power 13: Planar Rift (Rank 2, Rank 3) or Endbringer's Grasp (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 14: Mind Wipe
Specializations
Intelligence
○ Enlightened (3/3)
○ Tactician (2/2)
○ Expertise (2/2)
○ Detect Vulnerability (3/3)
Guardian
○ Fortified Gear (3/3)
○ Ruthless (2/2)
○ Find the Mark (3/3)
○ The Best Defense (2/3)
Vindicator
○ Aggressive Stance (2/2)
○ Merciless (3/3)
○ Focused Strikes (3/3)
○ Mass Destruction (2/3) or The Rush of Battle (2/3)
Intelligence Mastery
Travel Powers
Up to the player. Dark Flight is pretty fitting but definitely the slowest travel. Be sure to rank one of them to Rank 3
Gear
Starting:
○ Critical Rate Primary Offense (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem Precision, Condemning Handguards) with Intelligence mod(s) and a Soviet Guard's Resolution (Gambler's if unavailable)
○ Defense Rate Primary Defense (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem/Viko Defense, Barricade Duster) with Intelligence mod(s) and a Growth Amulet (Impact Prism if Constitution was taken)
○ Efficiency or Utility Primary Utility (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem Efficiency/Utility) with Intelligence mods and a Gambler's Lucky Gem
○ Clever Secondaries (+20/20 Dexterity and Ego), Acrobatic Secondaries (+20/20 Dexterity and Constitution) if Constitution was taken
Ending:
○ Distinguished Offense Gloves with Intelligence mods and two Soviet Guard's Resolutions (One Gambler's and one pure Severity if unavailable)
○ Distinguished Freedom Armor with Intelligence mods, one Growth Amulet, and one Impact Prism (Two Impact Prisms if Con)
○ Distinguished Efficiency Helm with Intelligence mods, Shadow Destroyer's Contempt, and a Veteran's Core of Might (Impact Prism or Growth Amulet if unavailable)
○ Critical Belt of Determination with Int/Dex mod
○ Onslaught Tights of Fitness with Int/Dex mod
○ Onslaught Helm of Efficiency with Int/Dex mod
Gameplan
Be sure to open any fight, be it single target or mobs, with Dimensional Collapse or a fully charged Shadow Blast to trigger Conjuring. When against mobs, use your taps generously, Soul Vortex should vaccum them in and make it easy to hit all targets with Dimensional Collapse. If you took Hex of Suffering, try to use both that and Collapse on a mob closest to other targets. Keep mobile with Shadow Embrace, as it is a cone AoE and the position of you to your target matters. When there are fewer targets, begin picking them off with Ebon Ruin. You can also open with your Ultimate if there are multiple targets. In single-target, use Shadow Blast to apply Devoid, then use Dimensional Collapse and Soul Vortex/Hex of Suffering. Follow up with 4 Ebon Ruins, then use the aforementioned 2 powers again, as they should be off cooldown by then. Use your Ultimate after Collapse and Vortex/Hex any time it is off cooldown. In either scenario, use Lifedrain if you need being healing, or stand near targets that were affected by Vortex while blocking. Use Resurgence in dire situations.
Other notes
The energy of this build will ping pong quite a lot, but Intelligence stacking builds with Conjuring typically don't get short-charged due to energy issues. There is a decent difference in damage between taking Ego and Constitution, since Expertise increases eithers' benefit by 20%, but the DPS will still be more than enough for a lot of challenging content, so it's up to the player whether they want the bulk or bigger numbers. This is also a build where a Depleted Uranium Core isn't a best-in-slot mod. When leveling, Shadow Blast is actually one of the stronger blasts, so simply getting Devoid after ranking up your Passive should be good enough for most low level encounters.
Darkness has a lot of options, but some of the better ones are behind unlocks. They can be put into this but it needs some juggling around--of course, I'd think by the time you unlock some of them, taking the powers in leveling order wouldn't be an issue! Personally, I don't do much with Darkness (though one of my earliest characters is Darkness) due to how it's encouraged to stack Presence and employ Mental States, which... doesn't work well with DPS, considering the cost of most tier 3 Darkness powers. This build clearly demonstrates you can work around it, but it doesn't use much of the "fundamentals" of the frame (lots of self-healing things).
As before and always, thank you for reading.