Any Beastal/Darkness Builds?

mayhew100 · November 2019

Wondering if there's any viable or fun beast/darkness builds that either utilize self healing, or CC's

flowcyto · November 2019

Sure, though Bestial generally doesn't have much synergy w/ Darkness mechanically, the latter can add some ranged attacks and be used for some utility (lunge, block enhancer, and/or CC). Here's an example w/ a Thrash build:

(Unnamed Build) - Freeform (Melee Damage)
v3.41:33

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

Talents
Level 1: The Chiller (Dex: 10, Con: 10, Rec: 8, End: 10)
Level 6: Accurate (Dex: 5, End: 5)
Level 9: Impresario (Dex: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 12: Amazing Stamina (Rec: 5, End: 5)
Level 15: Boundless Reserves (Con: 5, End: 5)
Level 18: Quick Recovery (Con: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 21: Acrobat (Dex: 5, Con: 5)

Powers
Level 1: Shadow Bolt
Level 1: Shred (Rank 2, Penetrating Strikes)
Level 6: Supernatural Power
Level 8: Unstoppable (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Form of the Tempest
Level 14: Shadow Embrace (Rank 2, Draining Shadows)
Level 17: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Thrash (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Void Shift (Nailed to the Ground)
Level 26: Resurgence (Rank 2)
Level 29: Eviscerate (Rank 2, Messy)
Level 32: Ebon Void (Rank 2)
Level 35:
Level 38:
Adv. Points: 30/36

Travel Powers
Level 6:
Level 35:

Specializations
Dexterity: Combat Training (3/3)
Dexterity: Gear Utilization (2/3)
Dexterity: Deadly Aim (3/3)
Dexterity: Expose Weakness (2/2)
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: Focused Strikes (3/3)
Vindicator: Mass Destruction (2/3)
Warden: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Warden: Ruthless (2/2)
Warden: Upper Hand (2/3)
Warden: The Best Defense (3/3)
Mastery: Dexterity Mastery (1/1)

Open power slots can be for w/e ya want.

SEmbrace won't work w/ Supernatural Power, but it can still work w/ FotT, and you'll generally have decent energy reserves if you gear for some End and Rec. Shred can put up Shredded and bleeds (and has a short AoE cleave component), while Thrash can be your main single-target filler attack (and taps of Evis can refresh both debuffs quickly). Other dps passives, like Night Warrior, can also work here. Gears mostly for Dex, w/ some Con and End/Rec.

mayhew100 · November 2019

Thanks can't wait to try it out

mysticfloater · November 2019

Just a suggestion depending on how you want to play....
The build proposed by flowcyto should be good. That said, it is missing howl. Howl will allow you to apply fear which will be good for other darkness powers and it gives you furious which is helps you get melee crits and can heal you a bit. An alternative way to fear your opponents is to select the advantage on void shift.

I used to run a dual blades with darkness build which combined void shift with life drain and that worked but power management was pretty tough.

Choosing Form of the Tempest (and focusing on Dex) is likely better for damage and will build crit stacks with ranged attacks when you crit however... the only ranged attack is Shadow's Embrace. I love that skill but I suspect it will be hard to power additional Darkness powers that need more than a tap. Given that End is a SS you may with to add a skill that fills your energy bar like "Power Conversion" from laser sword tree. There is a similar skill in the Darkness tree but I cannot think of its name and I avoid it as it debuffs your own healing.

just my 2 cents...

flowcyto · November 2019

Given that End is a SS you may with to add a skill that fills your energy bar like "Power Conversion" from laser sword tree. There is a similar skill in the Darkness tree but I cannot think of its name and I avoid it as it debuffs your own healing.

I think you mean Dark Transfusion, but imo you may not need either it or Power Conversion. SEmbrace isn't meant to be a main attack in my build- more just a light ranged AoE to use before you close the distance and use Shred/Thrash (and also as a way to self-heal in AoE w/ its adv). Again, Darkness doesn't work too well w/ Bestial mechanically; you could choose other Darkness attacks, though they will all have their downsides too in a build like this. Soul Vortex w/ adv, for example, could be a nice utility cd to throw in, but it's obv not going to replace any main attacks either, and it will cost a good bit of energy to throw out.

I suppose if you wanted to make my build a bit more functional, you could replace SEmbrace w/ Venomous Breath for wide ranged AoE that works w/ the EU, but then that's less Darkness used in the theme. Up to the player if that's okay for the concept or not.

Also, I wouldn't say Howl is that important to the build, esp since its longer cd (which is no longer reduced by ranks) means you won't have full Furious/Howl uptime w/ just it anyways. Furious can be an okay buff to nab, but I wouldn't put a high priority on getting it either. It's a similar thing w/ Fear- it's a decent debuff, but not really essential here either (since the build is not using things like SReverb or Lifedrain). I suppose if I did pick things that more directly interacted w/ Fear, then Howl could be considered, as could many other powers that apply Fear (as mentioned, Void Shift's adv would prob be my first choice for a melee build that wants an easy Fear).

Any Beastal/Darkness Builds?

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