Magic-Darkness Blaster DPS - Old School Build with new Synergies

avianos

Since my Grimoire and FF Pet Master cannot take full potential of Scarn Bane DPS and in an attempt to revive an old build I was trying to make combining Magic and Darkness I came up with this build which take advantage of everything new and old we were getting

Now that Sorcery is standing on it's own and we got new stuff from darkness and infernal, I could get some really interesting combos
Maybe even more if i didn't focus only on 2 damage types
I already have 1 (NEW) Sorcery DPS, 1 Darkness DPS and 1 Infernal DPS
Why not make 1 new dps which mix everything up (kinda) while revamping an old build idea?
so i did and decided to share the result

This will take advantage of Avenger: Preemptive Strike, Im a fan of this set up for DPS
Magic-Darkness Blaster DPS
v2.3.1-25

Super Stats
Level 6: Dexterity (Primary)
Level 10: Intelligence (Secondary)
Level 15: Constitution (Secondary)

Talents
Level 1: The Chiller (Dex: 10, Con: 10, Rec: 8, End: 10)
Level 6: Coordinated (Dex: 5, Int: 5)
Level 9: Acrobat (Dex: 5, Con: 5)
Level 12: Healthy Mind (Con: 5, Int: 5)
Level 15: Accurate (Dex: 5, End: 5)
Level 18: Investigator (Int: 5, End: 5)
Level 21: Boundless Reserves (Con: 5, End: 5)

Powers
Level 1: Eldritch Bolts
Level 1: Eldritch Blast (Rank 2, Chant)
Level 6: Conjuring
Level 8: Shadow Form (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Spellcaster
Level 14: Skarn's Bane (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Invocation of Storm Calling (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Ebon Ruin (Rank 2, Rank 3, Nyctophobia)
Level 23: Will-o'-the-Wisp (Guide, Ghost Fire)
Level 26: Life Essence (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 29: Thunderstrike (Recharge)
Level 32: Imbue
Level 35: Ebon Void
Level 38: Crashing Incantation (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Adv. Points: 36/36

Travel Powers
Level 6: Mach Speed (Rank 2)
Level 35: Arcane Flight

Specializations
Dexterity: Combat Training (2/3)
Dexterity: Gear Utilization (3/3)
Dexterity: Deadly Aim (3/3)
Dexterity: Expose Weakness (2/2)
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: The Rush of Battle (3/3)
Vindicator: Modified Gear (2/2)
Avenger: Ruthless (2/2)
Avenger: Round 'em Up (3/3)
Avenger: Surprise Attack (2/2)
Avenger: Preemptive Strike (3/3)
Mastery: Dexterity Mastery (1/1)



Focus only on slotting CON and INT, with more focus on INT. DEX's spec Deadly Aim will give you a lot of Critical severity. DEX and specs alone will give you a respectful amount of Critical Chance

Rotation: Will-o'-the-Wisp for Debuffs and Fear, Tap Eldritch Blast -> Fully Blast Ebon Ruin

Ultimate:
○Crashing Incantation: I just really like this one, it's personal preference. Powerful with 2 debuffs (Jinxed & Overpowered) ideal for endgame

AoEs
○Skarn's Bane: A really good AoE, getting overshadowed by the new power Avoid ADVs they are all trash, go straight to rank 3. The Hexed innate ability

○Invocation of Storm Calling is a really good power, use it when you are surrounded by Enemies. with this build I get 2-3k crit while maintaining and 5k crit on final hit. Avoid ADVs they are all trash, go straight to rank 3
People said this power's damage is horrible... I fail to see it with the results I'm getting (the advs however are trash compared to storm summoner)

Singlet Target set up
○Eldritch Blast: Only because I really love this power and I feel it goes wasted, Rank 2 and being used for the Avenger: Preemptive Strike. it creates a very interesting Visual combo with ER
Taking the Chant adv to refresh Hexed from Skarn's Bane (and because rank 3 visuals are an eyesore)

○Ebon Ruin: I really wish there was a Sorcery version of this power, but it hasn't lose it's charm
There is no Devoid adv in this build, however with Avenger's Preemptive Strike and Nyctophobia ADV you can still get some good dps(12k with mercenary level gear)


Utility
○Conjuring: HANDS DOWN, the BEST Themed EU, it works with all the Cursed tagged debuffs
The Recent fix made it EVEN MORE AWESOME since you gain energy over time for being near a cursed enemy alone
a curse has a 12 seconds timer, meaning that for 12 seconds you are getting a lot of energy over time

NOTE: Due to a current bug Debilitating Poison is the only Cursed debuff which cannot trigger this EU. Hexed and Devoid can still work
However Debilitating Poison still works with Spellcaster as intended

○Spellcaster: Your theme form, it triggers with Curses (Hexed, Devoid, Debilitating Poison, Illumination, Jinxed) and Enchantments
REALLY easy to build, it also counts as Enchantment by iteself (keep this in mind if you want to make a Soul Beam DPS, do NOT use Concentrations/Chilled Form, you will nerf yourself doing so)

Use Will-o'-the-Wisp Illumination ADV and Skarn's Bane HEXED innate
a single tap of Eldtrich Blast with Chant ADV will refresh HEXED and keep everything going

Both of them make it very ideal for the entire Mystic powerframe
You can build a Darkness, Celestial or Infernal DPS with those, it's not only for Sorcery

*Both your Form and EU scale INT, take advantage of that

○Will-o'-the-Wisp: I love how much utility options this power provides, it basically provides synergies for 4 powerframes
Use it to apply Illumination, Fear & Clinging Flames. You mostly going to Utilitize FEAR for ER's Nyctophobia damage bonus
No need for Hexed adv, you can apply it by using Skarn's Bane, besides your primary single target attack is dealing dimensional damage

○ Life Essence: Just for theme. you can go with Life Drain or Mind Drain instead

○Thunderstrike What is this random power from Electricity doing here? Just for theme and for the Restoration ADV
You can pick Telekinetic Shards with restoration instead

○Shadow Form: I wanted to go with Enchanter, but what's the point? I'm not going to use Infernal damage so that damage bonus goes wasted
However if you want to use Enchanter, you can switch Invocation of Storm Calling for Epidemic

○Imbue I grew to really like this AO, theme neutral (magic for this case) it counts as Enchantment so it can trigger Spellcaster and Conjuring
The extra Critical Severity won't even matter because you would have hit Diminish Returns values at this point with SPECs
Honestly if you build a good DPS set up, you don't even need AO


If you REALLY want that Devoid debuff to optimize Ebon Ruin's DPS, just replace Eldtrich blast with Shadow Blast... This is a theme build however
Ulternative, change Thunderstrike with Dark Tether, pick both restoration and devoid adv (However the DEVOID on this power requires Full charge, this alone will slow your set up)

That's all from me, Now I'm waiting for Celestial to get Revamped to make Celestial DPS​​

flowcyto

Last I checked, Rebuke is now working to proc Preemptive Strike, so all Celestial could need is a 'Light' version of ERuin and it'd be okay for having a dps option.

I'd contest that the AoE stun adv on Skarn's can be good, but otherwise its a nice build and overview.

avianos

flowcyto wrote: »

Last I checked, Rebuke is now working to proc Preemptive Strike, so all Celestial could need is a 'Light' version of ERuin and it'd be okay for having a dps option.

Aww this ruins my plan to even use it for with Preemptive Strikes
I did some testing for Celestial DPS, Conduilt numbers are not satisfying

Yeah I can only hope we will get Celestial revamped for Halloween or Christmas (holy light and all that)

flowcyto wrote: »

I'd contest that the AoE stun adv on Skarn's can be good, but otherwise its a nice build and overview.

Indeed it is but on a full dps build Its not worth to sacrifice rank 3 damage for it
Both my Grimoire and pet summoner are using it with Chaos Magic and Warlock's Malice for Spec Debuffs

Thank you ^^ im really excited with the synergies in the sets​​

flowcyto

Aww this ruins my plan to even use it for with Preemptive Strikes
I did some testing for Celestial DPS, Conduilt numbers are not satisfying

Well, before iirc Rebuke was neither procing nor consuming Preemptive Strike. So its nice to have it interacting w/ it to some extent now :x

And yea, Conduit doesn't cut it for dps anymore. Hopefully celestial won't have to out-source for decent dps soon.

jaazaniah1

Just curious. Is Anguish less useful than Preemptive Strike?

avianos

jaazaniah1 wrote: »

Just curious. Is Anguish less useful than Preemptive Strike?

YES, by miles
Anguish is a worthless Spec to me, thats why i never use it, Preemptive Strike is superior and the reason Avenger spec shines

It gives you a reason to use Blast powers as well​​

jaazaniah1

Hmm, you mean that the Avenger tree give you a reason to use blasts, right? Preemptive Strike doesn't give that to you.

I've never checked. How much extra damage does Anguish actually give? On the face of it, something that gives extra damage all the time seems more useful than one that only gives you help at the very beginning of a fight. I mean, a high dps build will wipe out most trash quickly no matter what.

Also curious why Rush of Battle and Modified Gear instead of Focused Strikes and Mass Destruction?

avianos

jaazaniah1 wrote: »

Hmm, you mean that the Avenger tree give you a reason to use blasts, right? Preemptive Strike doesn't give that to you.

Preemptive Strike is the REASON to use blast powers beyond applying/refreshing debuffs

Preemptive Strike is extremly good for Force Cascade, Gigabolt, Tyhpoon, Defile, Fireball, Ice Lance, Ebon Ruin and every range ultimate
The 15% Base damage bonus from a single tap makes a huge difference

jaazaniah1 wrote: »

I've never checked. How much extra damage does Anguish actually give? On the face of it, something that gives extra damage all the time seems more useful than one that only gives you help at the very beginning of a fight. I mean, a high dps build will wipe out most trash quickly no matter what.

Anguish is a 2-digit DOT that ignores resistance and shields
Really not worth it
Go with it if you want, Im not a fan of it

jaazaniah1 wrote: »

Also curious why Rush of Battle and Modified Gear instead of Focused Strikes and Mass Destruction?

Rush of battle is incredible useful for survability, especially on fragile dps builds like this

The build already has good Critical chance, Focused Strikes and Mass Destruction are not needed
Modified Gear to boost offense which is going to boost Aggressive Stance which is going to give you some Defense​​

jaazaniah1

Argh! Sorry. I meant Surprise Attack vs. Anguish. My bad. Is the bonus from the former really superior to the latter? Most trash get mowed down so fast that neither is going to matter much; but how do they stack up in a long haul vs. a cosmic? I'm not arguing for Anguish. I just don't know how the numbers work out.

avianos

jaazaniah1 wrote: »

Argh! Sorry. I meant Surprise Attack vs. Anguish. My bad. Is the bonus from the former really superior to the latter? Most trash get mowed down so fast that neither is going to matter much; but how do they stack up in a long haul vs. a cosmic? I'm not arguing for Anguish. I just don't know how the numbers work out.

Surprise Attack is more useful for the beggining of the boss fights (and villain and above mobs)
its 20% on targets about 90% HP after all, it's good for opening battles​​

flowcyto

Anguish is prob more of a pvp thing, since for pve dps its usually a pitiful amount of total dmg (doesn't scale up from double digits, afaik, so it gets worse as ur gear/build improves). Usually its better to pick something else in Avenger.