Anglican

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The pet is every 15 minutes, and the spout is every 4? minutes (last two from memory, could be wrong).

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The pet lasts 4 minutes and recharges in 15, so available 27% of the time.

Water Spout lasts 30 seconds and recharges in 3 minutes (17% of the time), but can be enhanced with recharge reduction and 3 even SO's will bring it down to a tad over 90secs, meaning it is out about 33% of the time. From my testing so far with just a single recharge it is out often enough for most purposes (good for starting on a boss or PvP foe, or as a panic button if you bite off more than you can chew with your standard controls) and with more recharge should be better still. It's quite expensive for me in terms of endurance (I already run pretty heavy) so I may experiment with slotting a bit - perhaps 2 rech, 2 dam, 2 endrdx.

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If you use an immob, does spout do good damage?

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Well I wouldn't call it outstanding damage, but the damage ticks come pretty thick and fast if a target is knockback protected and there are no other distractions for the spout. With some damage enhancements I could see it doing a reasonable amount. Unfortunately it doesn't show up on the user's damage log so I can't give you any reliable numbers - I may have a go in the arena and ask an opponent if it shows up for them.

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Let me know if you want someone to help test it. With the bugs nuking all my progress (have to keep re-copying my toon over to load the test server without it crashing), I doubt I will get to try any of these powers on test. I have done the mako arcs about 3 times so far, with each later on becoming unable to be played due to it crashing when the server is loading.

I had even got a GM to boost me past the no map darkness COT mission, but hes stuck now.

So, from a normal game POV, we can do CS every 32 seconds. The pet is every 15 minutes, and the spout is every 4? minutes (last two from memory, could be wrong).

I dont mind an AOE, on my fire/fire dom I may actually take another AOE to add to breath of fire, combustion, and hot feet. On my ice/nrg, I didnt take whirling hands, and not planning on CS. Two weak AOE type attacks just add the agro, dont help a lot.

If you use an immob, does spout do good damage?

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Thanks Atomic, you're always welcome to fight with us.

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Sadly, I cant join in this because now my second copy of my dominator is crashing on signing in (is it the Mako missions causing this?).

When I've been able to go to RV, its been 500 jazzillion heros to ~10 villains. Cant test anything, too many heros, all wanting to kill a poor helpless villain.

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My apologies for posting just based on the numbers, but I really don't have time to try out all of the PPPs in less than a month.

This is a review of Captain Mako for Dominators

Water Spout seems like a nice control addition to an AT that already has many long recharging control powers.

Shark Skin is a welcome addition, since Dominators don't have access to decent armours otherwise. I hear that it's pretty good resistance.

Bile Spray is a weaker version of the cone attacks that most of the Dominator secondaries already have. Its only interesting feature is that it is Toxic damage which is not defended against, and not much resisted against. With damage of 33 at level 40, (vs even con?), it compares unfavourably with Frost Breath doing 40 against +1s at level 36, and Psychic Scream which does 30 against +2s at level 40. The 32 second recharge is too long, when compared with Dominators other AoE attacks.

I find non-perma pets to be an interesting idea, although there are many things I would rather have. I can always get a steady supply of Shivans anyway. Considering the fact that Domination is not always available, they could make a Dominator's effectiveness more consistent. This will really depend on the particular pets.

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So, in super summary mode, a average cone attack, same as we have but on a LONG recharge timer, an armor (which is great, but protects le/SM + cold which is exceedingly rare), and a pet available on a long timer.

Seems to me, with the recharge timers, the armor is likely to be the only thing normally used. Does this seem to be true? Or is the timer on spout not prohibitive?

Anyone got numbers on Makos shield? Is it the same for all ATs?

Seems like it breaks the "adjusted effect per AT" idea if its a flat amount (which the AOE attack seems to be).

I think a secondary effect of -fly, -jump and -recharge/slow would make a big difference. It would be like a partial hold. I think it fits well with the concept of fighting through a hold, myself.

Alternately, if it reduced damage/accuracy of the opponent's attacks (ie. if hold broke due to BF it became a debuff) that would also work.

IMO, a BF broken hold having a slow/-fly/-jump/-recharge effect would fit thematically and be effective. The level of each effect could be adjusted to make it reasonable.

Any info on the pets, as in some being Lt and some being boss types? Is it simply the powers available, or is it different both in health, defense/resists, and powers?

It would really suck to have a sickly LT pet when someone else can slap out a boss on ya. Hope it just power selection.

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Aren't the Coral Gaurdians you summon bosses? if so, then that equates to the Red Coralax-Hybrid since the Reds are bosses as well, but IMO, the one reason why the Dominators don't get the Red one is because they already have pets, maybe?

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Nah, I think its because doms are so uber, with all the complaints about them doing soooo much damage and being sooo much better at PVP than other ATs, they are using this to balance the AT. It was balance the PPP or give them a nerf.

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If you fail = you get the Leviathan arc and fight Mako himself
If you don't fail = after McKnight, he tells you to come back at 45

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Hmm well that's weird - coz I didn't fail the first mission (Agent Greer), and I just completed the initial arc (where you get the badger and unlock the Patron Pool by defeating McKnight) and he has just given me a new mission in Sharkhead to investigate the Leviathan - which sounds like this second arc you are talking about.

The only thing perhaps that may be different is that I had almost made it to 41 before I began his arc (only recently discovered the workaround for crashing in Grandville so I'd been doing Nerva missions I had left over) so I actually dinged 41 before I unlocked his Patron Pool - maybe it is like those Kheldian arcs which were a bit bugged and didn't give you the missions at quite the right levels. Were those who didn't get his second arc still 40 at the time? Maybe see if he will give you that second arc afterall once you are 41?

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How did you get around the Grandville crashes? I was at the Ace mission, and havent been able to log on since. It freezes loading Grandville. My tank can still get on test in RV and doesnt freeze. I've recopyed my dom over to test to try to be able to play, but havent tested it yet.

I would prefer tank level resistance and defense, with double the health . But thats me, Im easy to please (not like YOU guys ).

Has anyone tried the new armors yet in PVP? Seems like the domination change plus the armors would really help. One without the other may not be that great, but seems like all the complaints deal with survival, more than effect, in PVP.

Wouldnt help in SC or BB or Warburg, but seems like it would help a lot in RV, and thats where people are talking about FON and IW.

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if mako is the stalker, why does his stalker pool not have any stalker-oriented powers? like a conserve-power type click buff but instead of cutting end costs by half it cuts time to hide by half for some duration

and why do all the attacks cost so much end and recharge so slow and do barely any damage

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They aren't meant to add to your Primary or Secondary pools. They are meant to give you somthing you lack. Like a good range attack.

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Exactly. Take dominators, for example. We get a pet. Oh, wait. No, we get a low damage AOE. Wait, um, have that too.

On the good side, we do get armor (doms dont have it) and a water spout thingee.

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No you'll probably just see the Mako logo (the one on his statue) glowing on your chest or something. At least that's what it looked like in the I7 preview with a supposed Black Scorpion shield (the hourglass looking thing.)


Anyway, does anyone know if Captain Mako's first mission impacts your "path" in any way if you fail it or pass it? or does he give you the same set of missions regaurdless?

I failed it and I got a "get the file from longbow" mission after. Anybody else?

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I completed the first mission, and got the same mission. did you get "framed" after this?

Im also finding that survival in PVP is difficult. Part of that is whenever I am on test, there are about 100 heros to about 10 villains, most of whom are cowering in the base.
The first time I tried PVP, I got domination real fast (was a major battle at the villain base), and I held a boat load of heros, for however long it took for them to eat the BF. The return fire was ugly.

Its kinda hard to test, because the numbers are so overwelmingly in favor of the heros. Im dying as soon as I leave the base, but so are all the brutes and such too.

Maybe they should wait a bit and then give all test villains in RV a boost to level 50. It would give us more of a chance to test everything.

First, I dont find my dom underpowered in PVE. I can solo at the highest difficulty setting. I can only speak for ice/nrg and fire/fire, but both solo fine in PVE. As for having to team for EBs, I have generally soloed EBs, the exceptions being Infernal and Aurora Borealis. On teams, Ice/* is a good contributer with ice slick. Fire/* is much harder to contribute on a team, if facing higher level mobs due to accuracy and reduced durations.

The problems I see are:

1) Breakfrees prevent control in PVP

2) Doms still have no ability to survive until building domination (which will penetrate 1 BF).

3) In PVE, AVs/EBs are immune to holds, which are a doms main capability.

4) Now that all ATs will have holds and AV/EB are immune to holds (the ones you really need to be able to stack holds to affect and the ones people would really want you around to affect them), what role are dominators going to play in the 40-50 level game?

I like the way my dominator plays in PVE. Its why my dom made it to 40, and the other COV ATs are at 20-26. I dont enjoy having indirect attacks like immobilizes doing all my damage (ie. trollers). However, the Patron power pools seem to have plugged the holes in the melee toons (brutes and stalkers getting holds and ranged attacks) while the only real thing doms got were an armor (and another pet - had one already, another weak AOE - already had one, and a specialty power - endo drain already had one).

I think something that needs to be considered is that controllers have control, with containment they have more damage, and with defender secondaries are more able to survive when things dont get held. There is simply no advantage to playing a dom versus a controller, except having a more fun style of play, which is very much based on an opinion.

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FYI, all you "chum" fans, you need to know what that word means. "Chum" is the bait used to lure sharks, composed of ground bits of meat (usually fish) and blood. Water is "chummed" by scattering this mixture into the water, and the scent of it then attracts sharks.

I'm guessing the reason it was changed to "Bile" spray was for more correct representation.

If you're one of those who subscribe to the "chumz0rz iz k3wl!" camp, you might also think "d34th n1nj4hz spr4yz0rz" is k3wl too, but you won't get my vote there either .

Perhaps they could change it to something more Coral-centric? My vote would be "Toxin Jet" or something. A coral reef holds many mysteries. Chum, however, isn't one of 'em.

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As a dominator, with an cone that does ~30 damage, Chum is very fitting. The spray part is from return attacks.

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From Castle's post :

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I think you're letting your ATist rhetoric blind you to the point that Castle's list strictly discusses solo PvP, which he explicitly qualifies. Furthermore, he goes on to vaguely suggest that PvP-performance hierarchy is wholly different on teams -- which is ostensibly what PvP is built around.

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In team play, most AT's are within 30% of one another. The few exceptions should be looked at. Defenders, Controllers, Corruptors and Dominators are NOT at the bottom of this list, by any stretch.

"Release the numbers" -- I can't. It really is proprietary info, and the generalities I'm providing are about as far as I can go.

"OMG! He's nerfing EM!" -- Nope, at least not for I7.

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Could it be that tankers are the exception that are going to be "looked at" in terms of PvP?

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They are clearly going to buff stalkers, as they dont team much currently . Tanks are fine, as clearly shown by them letting taunt be removed by running and coming back. Taunt was appearently overpowered, as shown by this action .

So, it doesnt include doms , defenders, corruptors, or trollers. That leaves blasters, tanks, brutes, scrappers, MMs and stalkers. As MMs are getting a boost, I think we have a winner.

Behind MMs, I cant see blasters, stalkers, brutes or scrappers being considered subpar for teams, as they are the ones who normally rule PVP, as far as I can tell by looking at the people winning fights.

So, I expect scrapper and brute health to be increased, stalkers to get better defenses, and maybe a nerf to aid self and health. This would seem to follow the normal pattern. Oh, and to compensate blasters for them losing aid self, more unresistable blaster damage.

Finally, domination removed from PVP, cause a kick to the groin will make them (doms) quit whining.

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I'm only 26 and I recall most of this stuff. A lot of the computer jargon is over my head, I admit that, but I still think its said that I've had to explain He-Man and Thundercats to my teammates. I constantly feel old in this game. I'm seriously thinking of forming an SG for children of the 80s. We'd talk about the decline of society and the downfall of the good cartoons from our past and never gain a level

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I'd throw my alt in the SG if it existed...although I'd probably complain about the lack of leveling....:/

Thundercats HO! Respect the Sword of Omens I say...

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Some people didnt understand it, but I have compared my plant manager to Mumra (everliving source of EEEVIL!!!).

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I had several years of online gaming behind me even when SOE had Meridian59 and were just testing things before coming out with EQ.

SOE didn't have M59; that was 3DO. Remember when they were going to (metaphorically) take over the world?


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Meredian 59 gave a new meaning to watching grass grow. Never have I spent so much time wacking rats, to gain 1 % in skill, to then die by a PKer and lose 5% in that skill. Plus, blue mushrooms make lightning?

I remember Mountains of Yserbius, off the Sierra network. Truly a dungeon crawl. THAT is old school (unless you are goign back to pong, which I had and also played ).

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Anyway, let me know if you think Tanks are working best on smaller teams these days.

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Tanking for a small team is doable. Easy, for the most part. And fun.

I think its larger teams (6 maybe - definitely 8) on high difficulties (Invincible comes to mind) is where survivability becomes a major concern.

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And AVs. I think AVs got adjusted to ensure I3 tanks couldnt solo them (with a steady diet of reds), then they weakened the tanks. Personally, on a invul/fire tank, I never did the damage required to get an AV down. Even when they couldnt kill me, it was a draw at best.

Large teams arent so bad, as they usually have other ways of winning. You cant herd and nuke for a large team, but typically large teams have multiple tanks (switch agro back and forth), many damage dealers (kill it before the tank goes down), controllers (held mobs dont do damage), or defenders (buff/debuffed, or healing the tank). So, I find that I can tank for a large team, but the other members have to be better than they once did. Unlike I3, their mistakes can now kill me, where once I was going to live, even if they screwed up (normally).

First, nothing in the game has the potential to be as overpowered as a stalker. If you arent the right AT, you dont see them, then dead. Compare to a storm defender, you see them, cant kill them as a melee. however, they cant kill you either. Well, ok. A draw.

So, easy win versus a draw. Not seeing a need to nerf hurricane here.

I have a better idea. Nuke all inspirations in PVP. No break frees (any dom can drop hurricane), no acc, no healing unless in powers, etc. Make people stand on their AT and powers, not who brought the right inspirations.

Last, defenders should make it a pain to kill their team mates (and themselves). Dark defenders are flat out broken in PVP. Storms (and CM from emps) are the only things that make a defender worth inviting into the zone.

Dont nerf storm, bring other defender powers up to their level. Nerf controller defender powers, to the same level as dark control powers (lengthen recharge, reduce effect, lower accuracy/debuff amount, etc). Nuke stalker placate so they have to fight after the AS attempt. There are lots of PVP changes that should happen, this one isnt one of them.

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For the defense case, I have to be hit 10 (or more) out of 20 times. The chance of that happening is around 1 in 100, which is an astounding 10,000 times more likely than the resistance case.

So, if you the question you are asking is "what is the average damage taken?" 25% defense is the same as 50% resistance. However, if the question you ask is "how likely am I to die?" then 25% defense is no where near as good as 50% resistance.

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You're going to drag us all through binomial theory aren't you.

truly thou art evil!

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Average lifetime analysis is a Markov Chain analysis, not so much binomial theory. Last time I said that, someone actually did it. I'm pseudo-lazy: I didn't want to calculate it, but I was willing to write a simulator to model it.

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I have been using 1D random-walk theory, but in the world where there are only two possible outcomes (hit or miss), Markov chains, binomials, and random-walks all work out to be the same thing so it ends up not mattering which notation you use.

The trick I am using to vastly simplify the caculations is to approximate the damage distribution as a gaussian. That way all I need to keep track of is an average damage and a standard deviation. The method may be a tad mathematical for these forums, but if you can handle a square root, you can use the results.

On a side note:
Yes the range of possibilities for a defense build is much wider than for a resistance build. While you will sometimes die in a situation where a resistance build never would, if you get lucky you can do things that are impossible for a resistance build. One particular event triggered my investigation down this road:

I went into a mission to fight Luimary. This is the Elite Boss version not the Hero version (after the patch). The first time I faced her, she downed me in seconds. I came back from the hospital to try again and I took her down with barely a scratch. The difference in the two attempts was so striking that is really piqued my interest in the topic.

Of couse, the second reason I have been doing this investigation is to answer the question many people have asked: Are the EA passives worth taking?


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And the answer is?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Thats ok except when one side has a huge advantage, and you cant leave your base without getting ganked. I think it SHOULD be dangerous for you to pin the enemy in their base.

Sadly, some people think winning when there is NO chance of losing is fun. Personally, when Im on a team that CANT lose in PVP, I usually log out and then log back in on the other side. Its more fun to try to beat long odds, than autowin victories. I wish more people shared that idea, it would make PVP a load more fun.

Something to test, shadowfall grants stealth. I wonder if the crits work when stealth is active, even if you arent hidden.

This could be a bug, that the devs didnt intend, depending on how they handle stealth vs hide in the programming.

Another note, weave does not stack with most tank defenses.

Defense types stack with themselves. Weave is set to work against melee and rng (no AOE, I think), or positional defense type.
Most tank defenses are attack type, meaning cold, lethal, etc. TH/invince is to all types but psi, so it doesnt stack with weave at all. So, no benefit from weave at all.

also, should mention health, with 3 slots. It really adds to the regen factor, even if you didnt want stamina.