Excelsio
-
Posts
27 -
Joined
-
Quote:Why specifically is SD better on a scrapper than a brute?Originally Posted by DreadShinobi
Survivability is relative. A brute can do anything a tank can and do more damage while they're at it. However looking specifically at shield defense, its alot better on a scrapper than a brute, so that may be something to consider also.
I came up with a Electric/SD brute build in Mids, and I was able to softcap all 3 positions. Does SD somehow impede Fury generation? -
Hi all,
I came back to the game recently after a long break. In prior years, I played lots of Controllers, Masterminds, and Dominators.
Now, I'm finding that I'm really enjoying playing a Shield Defense/Electric Tanker -- I love being able to lead a team in to battle, stay in the center of the action, and be nearly immortal.
However, even though I love the survivability, the damage seems anemic. I team most of the time, and it's the occasional times when I solo that I really notice just how low the damage output is.
My character just reached 35, and I'm thinking a lot about endgame with him. I'm wondering if I should instead focus my effort on working on a Electric/SD Brute.
Would Electric/SD Brute's survivability be 'good enough' that it's worth it to gain the extra damage? Or, will the Tanker's damage be patched up enough by Musculature Alpha and Reactive Interface that it's worth it to retain the extra survivability? I know those are open-ended questions, and I'm looking for open-ended responses.
Many thanks in advance! -
Hi all,
I'm a longtime player that's just coming back to the game after a long break. After years of scorching alt-itis with countless Controllers and Masterminds, and several Dominators, I now have my sights set on getting a Defender to 50.
I even have delusions that the new character is going to become my new main, although the architecture of the delusion requires that I deny the reality of my alt-itis, which seems to be in temporary remission. Maybe I should find a support group to help.
In any case, I've been educating myself through reading forum posts, and playing around with builds in Mids. What I lack is experience with any of the Incarnate content, and how that affects decisions that I'm making.
I'm looking to create a Defender that can accomplish the following:
* Be able to solo both super-safely and super-quickly on 0x8 with bosses by the mid-30s through 50. Between satety and speed, I lean much more towards satety. I would prefer my character be basically immortal, and just wait for my opponents to die of old age if necessary.
* Be a great team contributor.
* Bring peace on Earth, and harmony and love to everyone everywhere.
I think what I want is Dark/Ice/Power. Dark for the fantastic safety, Ice for the great AoE, and Power to amp up the -ToHit and damage output.
What I would like to know:
* Are there other suggestions that people have for primary/secondary/EPP to accomplish my goals?
* What should I be aiming for as far as IO set bonuses for Dark/Ice/Power? I'm guessing +recharge, and +def for ranged and AoE.
* Will carrying a tray full of breakfrees be adequate status-effect protection?
* What should I be putting in to the Incarnate slots?
Many thanks in advance!! -
My first 50 was a Fire/Rad. It's a powerful and extremely fun combo.
If you're looking to get in to Controllers, I would also highly recommend Illusion/Rad. Check out Local_Man's fabulous guide for advice on it.
Fire/Rads tend to be in danger -- they need to jump in to the middle of the action for Hot Feet + Choking Cloud to make an impact. In comparison, Illusion/Rad is much safer, and still does nice damage. -
My Doms are steamrollers! I love 'em!
My Controllers, on the other hand (other than Fire or Plant/Kin)... This is the sort of steamroller that they are, and it sums up my feelings about them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLlUgilKqms
Edit:
Dominators, for being a 'Villain' AT, at least have the decency to give their opponents a quick arrest. Controllers, on the other hand, seem to be much more sadistic in that they force their opponents to stand around in agony for a small eternity. -
Quote:I created a Mind/Energy Dom about a month ago, a few weeks before my original post in this thread.Originally Posted by mintmiki
I was on one ITF where a mind dom dragged most of the team through the mishes. Then the whole team quit right before romey except the dom, my emp and a phail scrapper. The dom pretty much soloed romey and the towers. I think he could prob do it on his own with the help of insps only.
Just asked him. Yes, he's done it before solo.
He's not quite ready to try out on a solo ITF run yet. But, I've found the combo to be super, incredibly powerful. -
Quote:Damage dealers on teams are common. What a Dominator brings to the table that's uncommon is added team survivability through control. Perma-doms bring something to teams that no other AT can offer: double-mag control, which will take out bosses with one application.Originally Posted by BlackBellatrix
Maybe I misinterpreted the AT, then. I had felt, from playing up to 30 so far, that Dominators were at least as much about dealing damage as they are about their control.
A Blaster will do better damage than a Dom -- the damage scale is slightly better. A Blaster also has a Tier 9 nuke which Doms lack.
A Kin Defender or Corrupter, or Fire/Kin Controller will also easily out-damage a Dom, assuming the Dom doesn't have a Kin on their team -- if you are a Kin, you always have the powerset with you.
In particular, Fire/Kin Controllers are still the gold-standard for farming, because of the combination of really sick damage (that far exceeds any Dom solo), plus great survivability against anything that's affected by the fast-recharging Flashfire. Containment, which doubles damage after Fulcrum Shift has been applied, causes an entire group of +1/x8 to melt in just a few seconds. I know, because I have a Fire/Kin.
Kins also greatly boost the output of the entire team: Fulcrum Shift caps damage; Speed Boost speeds up recharge of teammates' powers plus provides hefty endurance recovery; Transference provides basically endless endurance for everyone; and Transfusion is a very strong and fast recharging melee heal. Siphon Speed relieves a lot of the need to have to stack global recharge, allowing a lot more build freedom to go after other set bonuses. Transference also allows a Kin to run a lot of toggles.
Compared to a Dom who's not in Domination, a Kin controller is a much better team contributor and is also more survivable than a Dominator: all of the same controls are available and they last longer than a Dom outside of Domination. The Kin's powers are also there enhancing everyone's effectiveness. And if you're a Fire/Kin Controller, you offer all of that plus better damage than a Dom. In every measurable way, better.
It's only when a Dom is in Domination that they will pull ahead and offer something unique to the team. That's why Perma-Dom is so greatly sought after. -
Quote:I would advise against Mind/Fire, or Mind/anything that doesn't have Power Boost in the secondary.Originally Posted by BlackBellatrix
I've also been playing with the idea of going for Mind/Fire instead, as it has a ranged AoE, but we'll see.
When you're against higher level mobs, the duration of your control powers will be reduced. The Incarnate missions in particular are always against +4 level mobs, which trivializes the duration to laughably short times.
Power Boost corrects that by doubling the duration of your controls. -
Quote:Mind perma-Doms with Power Boost in their secondary can also do it, and without inspirations.Originally Posted by Muon_Neutrino
The reason you have problems with them is that, even though these AVs/heroes have been downgraded to EBs, they retain the special mez protection power AVs get - the purple triangles of doom (aka PToD), which gives them mag 50 protection from most controls. This means that, 50 seconds out of every 75, they are almost immune to mezzes except for sleep and immobilize. So you can't hold these sorts of EBs with any reliability, and therefore of course they squish you into the pavement while they aren't mezzed.
The way it works is to cast Confuse from range. Confuse doesn't draw aggro, so you can build up Mag in safety. You can reach 50 Mag because of Perma-Dom, because Power Boost doubles the duration of status effects, and because Confuse has a long base duration. -
My main is also Mind/Energy. I've also played many many Controllers and Masterminds, so I have some good perspective and thoughtful insight in to how the game plays out, and how various powers work strategically both solo and in groups.
I'll second everything that Vid said. I read your post yesterday, and everything that Vid said was exactly what was going through my mind:1. High defense builds for a Dom really aren't worth it.
There's a trend where people try to build their Dom like they build like other ATs, with defense. The problem is that you're not going to get defense to appreciable levels to make a much of a difference. When you go against +2 or higher mobs or certain mob types, the defense won't even be noticed.Your controls are your and your team's survivability. Work to make those available as often as you can. The controls are far superior to defense anyways. If you have them up frequently, use them smartly and play strategically, you will only very rarely ever get hit. Especially with Mind, you have a phenomenal toolkit available to play strategically.
The mindset of a Dominator is strategic, smart play. If your mindset is a high defense build for survivability, you will be disappointed with Dominator -- you would be much happier with another AT, like Tank, Scrapper, or Brute.
2. All of the toggles in the build are going to suck endurance away like mad. Even if you stick to just the +Def toggles, it's still going to be super Endurance hungry. Even if you slot Incarnate with endurance reduction, it's still going going to heavily suck Endurance.
3. Not taking Hasten is a huge mistake. Hasten is a must for an effective Dom. Here's why:
- Hasten will allow your AoE controls, which are on a long recharge, to refresh much faster.
In the build, I see that Mass Confusion and Total Domination are refreshing in about 88 seconds -- that's a terrible refresh, to be frank. Since Mind lacks a fast recharging AoE stun or confuse like most of the other control sets, it has to use staggered Mass Confusion and Total Domination to make up for it.
Just as you can measure a Damage Dealer's output in terms of Damage Per Second (DPS), you can measure a Control Primary in terms of Control Per Second. The control output of this build is really, really bad -- Hasten fixes that.
- If you go against enemy types that have a -recharge power -- which you will encounter frequently in the 40+ range -- your tiny margin for Perma-Dom will vanish. Hasten provides a nice buffer for that.
- I see in the build that Domination is recharging in 88 seconds, only a 2 second gap. With that small of a gap, you're going to have to watch it like a hawk to recast it. If you set it on auto-cast, the problem then is that it won't recast when you have a enemy targeted -- which will happen very frequently with only a 2 second margin.
- In addition to your control powers, hasten will also allow your damage dealing powers to refresh much faster too. Power Boost, which is a key to the build, will refresh faster as well.
- The Alpha Incarnate slot won't affect Domination.
- Hasten will allow you to reach perma-Dom much more quickly and cheaply.
I know that you said that the build is expensive, and that you're fine with that. But, I'm not sure if you realize just how expensive the purple sets are these days (prices have inflated quite a bit in the last year). Each individual recipe for most of the Purple sets will run about 300-500 million. To get 5 recipes for a single set will cost 1.5 to 2.5 billion. The rare salvage also costs a lot on top of that, as the ones that are needed for the purple sets are in very high demand.
Even if you do wind up spending the many billions to achieve this build, it will be, to re-emphasize what Vid said, sub-optimal.
-
I have 5 Kin Controllers: Fire, Earth, Ice, Plant, and Illusion. I made most of them a few years ago when I was was enthralled with playing the Kin set. Now, not so much, because I love to team, always wanting to give my best, and I find Kin to be too busy of a set to enjoy playing on teams.
For Soloing:
- Fire and Plant are by far the fastest. Fire is faster than Plant, but Plant is much more entertaining. If you're looking for a Controller that's a great soloer that's also a Kin, then hands-down Fire or Plant is the way to go. They're also very safe soloers -- Plant is quite a bit safer than Fire, as he can fairly easily take on packs with multiple bosses, which is something that my Fire/Kin can't easily do. Ironically, my Plant Controllers are also some of the safest characters that I have, pulling ahead of Earth and Ice -- until he meets confuse resistant mobs, negating Seeds of Confusion.
- Illusion/Kin I made back in 2004, one of my first toons. Illusion is enormously slower than Fire and Plant when paired with Kin, but still faster than Earth and Ice. Phantom Army doesn't benefit from the Kin powers, other than Siphon Speed allowing it to come up faster. It's hard to get Phantasm Fulcrum Shifted, since he stays out of melee range. Phantasm will interfere the Kin powers with chaotic knockback, goofing Transfusion, Transference, and Fulcrum Shift. There's also no fast-recharging AoE power to set up containment with in Illusion, which is sort of the whole point of going with a Kin.
- My Earth and Ice Controllers have the distinguished honors of being the slowest characters that I have to solo with -- not just amongst my Controllers with several secondaries, but also compared to my Masterminds and Doms. Even paired with Kin, their damage output is worse than craptastic. Earth and Ice Dominators can have great damage output, but not Earth and Ice /Kin Controllers.
If you're looking for a great team contributor, you have many great choices -- nearly every primary/secondary Controller combo will be great for teams:
- I'd definitely stay away from Illusion/Kin because of Phantasm's uncontrolled knockback -- it won't be on a hit on teams that are expecting benefits from your Kin powers.
- Fire, Plant, Earth, and Ice /Kin all make fabulous team contributors.
- Fire and Plant are by far the fastest. Fire is faster than Plant, but Plant is much more entertaining. If you're looking for a Controller that's a great soloer that's also a Kin, then hands-down Fire or Plant is the way to go. They're also very safe soloers -- Plant is quite a bit safer than Fire, as he can fairly easily take on packs with multiple bosses, which is something that my Fire/Kin can't easily do. Ironically, my Plant Controllers are also some of the safest characters that I have, pulling ahead of Earth and Ice -- until he meets confuse resistant mobs, negating Seeds of Confusion.
-
It's my pleasure!
There's a lot more that you can do with these builds, such as slotting some uniques, but these builds will give a focus on spending infamy until the global recharge goal is met. Once that's obtained, then the other toys can be thrown in.
I actually created an Electric/Energy myself a couple of hours ago, as I had been wanting to try out Electric control. So far I love it!
The toon is Electronomicon on Virtue, in case you play on Virtue. -
Here's a build with Concealment instead of Fighting.
- Without the Forcefeedback proc, it has Domination recharging in 75 seconds, and Hasten in 123 seconds.
- With the proc, which is pretty likely since it's slotted in to 4 powers that you'll use often, Domination will recharge in 54.6 seconds, and Hasten in 96.7 seconds.
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.91
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Dominator
Primary Power Set: Electric Control
Secondary Power Set: Energy Assault
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Tesla Cage -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(3), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(7), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(15)
Level 1: Power Bolt -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Bone Smasher -- C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(5), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(33)
Level 4: Power Push -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(11), Dmg-I(11), Dmg-I(15), Dmg-I(34), FrcFbk-Rechg%(43)
Level 6: Chain Fences -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(34)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9), RechRdx-I(9)
Level 10: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 12: Static Field -- CSndmn-Acc/Rchg(A), CSndmn-EndRdx/Sleep(13), CSndmn-Acc/EndRdx(13), CSndmn-Sleep/Rng(36), CSndmn-Acc/Sleep/Rchg(37)
Level 14: Fly -- Winter-ResSlow(A)
Level 16: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 18: Paralyzing Blast -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(19), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(19), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(23), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(23), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 20: Power Blast -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(21), Dmg-I(21), Dmg-I(25), Dmg-I(36), FrcFbk-Rechg%(43)
Level 22: Jolting Chain -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(46), EndMod-I(46), FrcFbk-Rechg%(50)
Level 24: Conductive Aura -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(25), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(31), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(37), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(40), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(40)
Level 26: Synaptic Overload -- Mlais-Acc/Rchg(A), Mlais-EndRdx/Conf(27), Mlais-Acc/EndRdx(27), Mlais-Conf/Rng(29), Mlais-Acc/Conf/Rchg(29)
Level 28: Total Focus -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(31), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(31), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36)
Level 30: Stealth -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 32: Gremlins -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(33)
Level 35: Grant Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 38: Power Burst -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(39), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), FrcFbk-Rechg%(50)
Level 41: Rain of Fire -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(42), Posi-Dmg/Rng(42), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43)
Level 44: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(45), Posi-Dmg/Rng(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 47: Fire Shield -- ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpSkn-ResDam/Rchg(48), ImpSkn-EndRdx/Rchg(48), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48), ImpSkn-Status(50)
Level 49: Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Domination
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A) -
Here's a build that I've created for you. Some comments on it:
- It has Domination recharging in 78 seconds (perma-Dom), and Hasten in 126 seconds. It's actually a bit longer on both: because Hasten isn't perma yet on this build, both Hasten and Domination will take slightly longer to recharge when Hasten is down. I wasn't able to obtain any more set bonuses with recharge to get it lower.
- You'll get vastly better better damage and control with this build.
- I retained the power pools that you selected.
- It uses no purple sets.
- I overslotted some powers, such as Conductive Aura, to obtain set recharge bonuses. This is a typical strategy when creating Perma-Dom builds, especially ones without Purples.
- It's maxed with 5 in the 5 and 6.25 ranges. It has only 2 in the 7.5 (non LotG) range, but I didn't see any other sets that were available that had 7.5
- Power Push and Power Blast don't have any sets in them (just common IOs), because the recharge ranges available were already maxed. You can put whatever sets you want in them that don't have recharge set bonuses.
- Once you can start putting in the purple sets, you can respec and pull slots from some powers, and put them in to more interesting ones.
- Once you get Incarnate with recharge, your recharge will be much better.
- Stamina has only 1 slot. You might be able to get away with that with Conductive Aura. If you're gasping for endurance too often, pull one or both slots from Jolting Chain or Chain fences and put them in to Stamina.
- You might want to consider dropping the Fighting pool, and taking Stealth, Grant Invisibility, and Invisibility from Concealment instead, putting 3 LotG in them. You'll get even better recharge, and you'll have 5 more slots available for other powers.
- There's a great IO in the Knockback/Force Feedback set that procs recharge. Once you have more slots available, you can add 6th slots to Power Push, Power Blast, and Power Burst, and put the proc IO in them. You can also put one in to Jolting Chain.
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.91
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Dominator
Primary Power Set: Electric Control
Secondary Power Set: Energy Assault
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Tesla Cage -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(3), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(7), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(15)
Level 1: Power Bolt -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Bone Smasher -- C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(5), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(33)
Level 4: Power Push -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(11), Dmg-I(11), Dmg-I(15), Dmg-I(34)
Level 6: Chain Fences -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(34)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9), RechRdx-I(9)
Level 10: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 12: Static Field -- CSndmn-Acc/Rchg(A), CSndmn-EndRdx/Sleep(13), CSndmn-Acc/EndRdx(13), CSndmn-Sleep/Rng(36), CSndmn-Acc/Sleep/Rchg(37)
Level 14: Fly -- Winter-ResSlow(A)
Level 16: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 18: Paralyzing Blast -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(19), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(19), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(23), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(23), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 20: Power Blast -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(21), Dmg-I(21), Dmg-I(25), Dmg-I(36)
Level 22: Jolting Chain -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(50)
Level 24: Conductive Aura -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(25), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(31), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(37), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(40), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(40)
Level 26: Synaptic Overload -- Mlais-Acc/Rchg(A), Mlais-EndRdx/Conf(27), Mlais-Acc/EndRdx(27), Mlais-Conf/Rng(29), Mlais-Acc/Conf/Rchg(29)
Level 28: Total Focus -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(31), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(31), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36)
Level 30: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 32: Gremlins -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(33)
Level 35: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResKB(A), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx(43), ImpSkn-ResDam/Rchg(43), ImpSkn-EndRdx/Rchg(46), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(46), ImpSkn-Status(50)
Level 38: Power Burst -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(39), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40)
Level 41: Rain of Fire -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(42), Posi-Dmg/Rng(42), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43)
Level 44: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(45), Posi-Dmg/Rng(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 47: Fire Shield -- ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpSkn-ResDam/Rchg(48), ImpSkn-EndRdx/Rchg(48), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48), ImpSkn-Status(50)
Level 49: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Domination
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A) -
Quote:I totally agree that most doms die a lot on teams. It's because of AoE damage and control powers that piss off mobs that then target you. AoE immobilize powers are one of the biggest culprits. My Plant/Psi (retired), who's in his mid 40s, used to die a lot.Originally Posted by DarkWanderer
That is true. I would still take Ice on a solo build for Frozen Armor. I like defense better than resistance. In my opinion, Dominators die. They die a lot. If they get hit, they will die. If they don't get hit, they will not die. If you are dead, you can not have any DPS, aoe or st.
EDIT: Hoarfrost is very helpful while soloing. I don't usually take hibernate so I will not comment on that.
In the end, Ice is worse DPS than Fire, but with the increased survivability will help you hit for longer and in the end will create more damage.
I'm finding though that my Mind/Energy hardly ever dies, teamed or solo. He hasn't even gotten to the 40s to pick up the EPP powers yet either. He's been on a couple of level 50 teams, and not only did he not die once on either of them, fighting Malta and Carnies, but hardly anyone died on those missions. One of them didn't even have a healer.
I've played a lot of Controllers and a couple of Dominators, but this is the first time that I've ever put serious investment in to a Mind character. I'm really amazed at how powerful the set is. -
Quote:Yes and no.Originally Posted by DarkWanderer
I always take Ice for the reasons stated above. The -res makes up for the lack of damage (in comparison to fire's).
If you're teamed, then the -res is extremely useful as it will increase the entire team's damage throughput.
If you're doing solo farming missions, then no -- you're going to clear a map much faster with Fire.
It comes down to this: do you want to increase your own personal damage output, or do you want to increase your team's damage?
The OP did say this:
Quote:4) Fire vs. Ice - Basically do you guys think Fireball + Reign of Fire + Fire Shield is better than Sleep + Ice Storm + Ice Shield? For aoe dps for soloing? -
Quote:Those are excellent points. In fact, if you assume that you'll always have a Jet Pack, you could even skip Hover, unless you want a mule power for LotG.Originally Posted by ShadowsBetween
Actually, travel powers aren't strictly necessary. With the changes to the transit doors, Ninja Run, and Ouroboros, and the cheap jet packs you can purchase in-game, there's lots of ways to move around. Hover is good enough for getting past cliffs and the walls around Grandville, and is actually relatively fast now. And if the character is mostly for soloing, "slowing down the team" on a TF isn't a primary issue. (In my limited experience, tons of people who team all the time have Teleport Friend, and will practically fight with each other for the right to use it on someone who needs it.)
-
OK, now I understand. Thanks for the info!
-
Hi everyone!
I'm coming back to the game after a long absence. I love all of the new changes!
I was creating a perma-Dom build in Mids, and I noticed that global recharge bonuses continue to stack even if the recharge bonus for a specific value range (like 7.5%) goes above 5 in the stack.
It used to be that you could only have up to 5 bonuses for a specific range; anything above that would be ignored. Is this still the case? Or, has it changed so that you can stack above 5 now?
Thanks! -
If you're interested in AoE damage, Fire Mastery is definitely the way to go. Sleet only does minor AoE damage, and Ice Storm is on a long recharge.
The Ice set is really about added survivability, with a bit of AoE damage mixed in.
Edit:
I took a deeper look at your build, and here's what I noticed:
- You don't have a travel power in your build. Hover isn't going to cover it. You'll need to drop a power to take Fly -- Rise of the Phoenix is probably the best choice to drop.
- Drop Entangle, the single target immobilize. Pick up Mind Probe and 5 slot it.
Overall, this is a good build. -
Here are some observations:
- The build should absolutely take Power Boost. It's the very soul of the Energy set, doubling the duration of control powers. It should be taken as soon as it's available, at 16. It should be 3 slotted with recharges.
- Big ones: take Tesla Cage, your single target hold, and Paralyzing Blast, your AoE hold. A control set without both the single target and AoE holds is completely gimped. Tesla Cage should be taken as your level one power instead of Electric Fence. Paralyzing Blast should be taken by the mid-20s latest. Tesla Cage should have 5 or 6 slots, and Paralyzing Blast should have 6 slots.
- Hasten should be 3-slotted. With only 1 slot and with the global recharge from your build, it's going to have a long downtime, and it might not enable you to Perma-Dom with this build.
- You should also take Static Field, as it's an important part of Electric's mitigation power.
- Power Burst and Power Blast are way underslotted -- these should be at least 5 slotted. With only one slot each, your damage will be anemic.
- Power Bolt does very underwhelming damage, and doesn't deserve 5 slots -- it should only have the default 1 slot.
- Chain Fences is also over-slotted -- go for only one or two slots.
- Sniper Blast is under-slotted, and is a good candidate dropping entirely.
- Take Hasten at very low levels -- before 20 latest, or before level 12 ideally.
- Combat Jumping should only have 1 or 2 slots. One for LotG, and another optional one for end reduction.
- Weave is also very overslotted. As it is, you're only getting 6.6% defense with it. It should have one slot, and with LotG, which will still give you 4.9% defense. Slots are precious.
- Drop electric fence. A single target immobilize isn't very useful.
- Consider pulling slots from Gremlins.
-
Quote:No need for apology - it's just sharing of information.Originally Posted by Killer_of_All
sorry I guess I should have chosen my words a little more carefully.
Embrace of Fire is a fabulous power, boosting damage by 85%, and at Perma-Dom recharge levels, you can have high uptime with it.
With that said, it's also somewhat easily replaced:
- A single Kin on your team will cap your damage, making Embrace of Fire completely un-needed. My experience is that almost every team that I'm on has a Kin on it.
- A tray full of Big Reds will also boost your damage, by 50% each. There doesn't exist any inspiration, however, which will double the duration of your control powers.
-
Quote:Fire isn't a 'better' secondary than Energy.Originally Posted by Killer_of_All
thank you for taking the time to write such an informative explanation as to why fire is better over all.
thanks
Fire does better damage than Energy. However, Energy has Power Boost, which doubles the duration of most control powers. It also doubles the strength of heals if you take anything from the medicine pool, and it doubles the effect of other power effects too.
It's a trade-off: which would you rather have -- better damage, or double-duration controls?
In making your decision, you should consider that level 50 teams will be doing Incarnate missions, which are always +4 to the team level. This level difference dramatically shortens the duration of control effects. These missions need all of the survivability help that they can get, and a Dominator who doesn't have Power Boost will have their survivability contribution marginalized.
Also: I say 'most control powers', because some are unaffected by Power Boost -- Earth's Volcanic Gases and Earthquake are two examples, because the powers create a psuedo-pet that performs the status effect, and the pet isn't affected by Power Boost. Stalagmites and Salt Crystals, on the other hand, are affected by Power Boost because there's no pseudo-pet involved.
Edit:
It should be noted too that Energy, Earth, and Icy get Power Boost. -
Hi,
I'm curious to know: is it possible to solo the Imperious Task force as either a Controller or Dominator *without temp powers*? Or, for that matter, is it possible to solo the ITF at all with any AT without temp powers?
Here's my thinking on it. There are two phases that have to be dealt with: the regular mobs, and the AVs at the end:
1. Regular Mobs:
These have inherent resistances to disorient, sleep, hold, knockback/up, repel, and immobilize effects. Additionally, some mobs have a 'Shout of Command' power which provides resistance to disorient, hold, sleep, immobilize, fear, and confusion. Source: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Cimeroran_Traitors
The holes here are fear and confusion, until Shout of Command is issued. The interesting hole is confusion, because if a group is AoE confused prior to Shout of Command being issued, then it should be nullified for the mobs. Additionally, the AoE confuse powers can be slotted with a Contagious Confusion proc for stacking confuse. Perma-doms can issue a double-magnitude AoE confuse with a Contagious Confusion proc.
Are AoE confuse powers a way to handle the regular mobs?
My thinking is that a Plant would likely be the best primary set candidate, because Seeds of Confusion is very fast recharging. Mind is interesting too, but the long recharge on Mass Confusion (down to 60 seconds) would seem to hamper it. Both also have sleep power(s) for dealing with the Nictuses.
2. The AVs:
It's been a while since I've done the ITF, but I seem to remember that the strategy for dealing with them is to sleep the Nictuses, pull the AV away, and then take him down. Taking the AV down solo would then be a matter of having a -regen power, and then having enough survivability to go for the win.
As far as secondaries:
a. Controller: Radiation or Kinetics stand out for having good both personal survivability and -regen. What about other secondaries? I'm not familiar enough with the others to comment.
b. Dominator: Psionic Assault stands out, since it has -regen in Drain Psyche.
So -- would a Plant/? Controller or Dominator be able to solo the ITF? -
That worked perfectly -- thank you!!