Extend the concept darkness to melee

Hi

Melee assistance idea.

Disclaimer : I play a Chalupa Monk but didnt choose darkness.

However when i read it i imagine a solution to the Melee issues of requiring
the player to be in positions where damage potential is much higher.

Darkness is from what it reads like a pre anything shield , that just absorbs initial hit damage.

Its how im understanding it anyway .. if not its how this is assumed to solve the issue.

It would take off the top of the hit , potentially changing it from a High damage hit to a medium , where armour is more likely to affect it and mitigate it further. It is also a barrier to chew through as melee approach or try to exit mobs.

The more you invest in it the more armour becomes viable as it is reducing the value before being assessed by armour mitigation. I have to assume that because it is a ascendancy skill and must differ from energy shield in order of damage calculation , otherwise ... why have it exist.

If it were tied to melee then i think its viable.
It is a ascendancy skill but could just be something in the Warrior Monk areas to push its viability from an initial ignorable benefit without investment to a late game mechanic to mitigate massive hits into a range where armour can make a difference.

Also .. melee .. give em something ...

It can be implemented as an action ...
When you know the hits commin..... hit it!
Darkness can be an activation skill that inititates and lasts x seconds .. a defensive ability... combined armour and block .. you could feel defensively engaged .. short term god of defense.. so that when the big aoe hits .. all the casters vaporise , the evasion classes are praying the energy shield holds .. the tank here can hit temp darkness raise the shield .. kiss his armour and laugh .. and laugh and laugh ...

I don't run!

The question is has the fighter invested enough to take of the top .. with darkness and invested enough in armour to raise the floor enough .. that the two overlap into a range of godly defense...

But if you go only darkness it will be nice and take some of the hit but not without much investment. Perhaps darkness shield value is a percentage of armour * a multiplier that can be modified with gear and skill tree.

Without darkness the fighters are still open to the big hit where armour falls away and the hybrid of energy shield and evasion and health wont be enough .

I mean i read what i wrote there and im thinking .
Ok you know what .. I want to invest in a heavily armoured monk.
and see if i can rely on darkness to mitigate the top end of a hit.


But the thought of doing the ascendance trials and leveling . I need to be honest
the friction level of the game is stopping me ... I could just stockpile gold and respec my guy into it ... just saying the debate is there.. do i have it in me to do it again ...