Liliaceae

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Potential new one here for Plant Control: Giant Fly Trap

I've been watching Seymour carefully for 10 levels now, and the issue isn't (only) that his attacks are hard to see. Seemingly at random, the GFT will pause while out of melee range and do nothing. Really nothing - no Entangle, no thorns, nada.

The GFT is apparently *detecting* the enemy, because if my Dominator runs past the target (putting more distance between the GFT and caster), Seymour doesn't follow like a respectful pet, he remains stationary...apparently focused on...err, whatever he thinks he's doing.

Maybe the AI is telling the GFT that it's attacking when it's not? That would certainly produce the observed effects.

I team regularly with a couple of fellow Plant doms who've had similar experiences. Can any other Plant doms confirm or offer additional insights?

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Hmm, I'll take a look at it. She definitely does behave oddly.

BTW, the Fly Trap is female, this is necessary to ensure all pronouns are used equally: Jack Frost = he, Fly Trap = she, Singularity = it, Fire Imps = they. This is the real reason Dominators have not received Dark Control, there are no third person pronouns left!

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I searched the thread and didn't see this:

Ice Control

Arctic Air's confusion is not boosted by Domination.

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Just tried this out, looks like you're right. Also, the purple bubbles don't appear on enemies confused in Arctic Air.

[/ QUOTE ]The lack of pink bubbles is a little annoying, but I think Domination not boosting the confusion duration of AA is a non-issue. You're talking about a 3 second confuse. Even if you had it 3-slotted for Confusion duration and used Power Boost, Domination would still only be a 5s difference, and that'd really only matter for things that wandered out of the radius of the power.

Moreover, I'm 90% sure that the reason Domination doesn't affect AA's Confuse duration is because implementing it that way would make AA get two chances at confusing any individual mob in the cloud while Domination was up. I.e: instead of a simple duration boost, you'd get a duration boost and nearly twice the odds of confusing anything that's in your field of chilly death. It'd be massive disparity between Domination Up/Domination Down.

I dunno. Maybe no one would see anything wrong with that. But that's my 2 infamy.

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When I went to test it out I realized where the imbalance lies, Arctic Air doesn't affect bosses under Domination. And that's how I tested it, fire off Domination and run it next to a boss, they didn't get confused once for several runs. Perhaps my test is wrong, and it is working as you say, but the lack of visuals makes it bloody hard to test. As for a massive difference, that's what Ice needs, it has crap for other powers which are boosted by Domination, STH, immobs, sleeps, and the famous AoE hold.

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I don't know if this could be an issue as its more a graphics glitch than anything else. But if you use one of the base buffs, as soon as domination becomes able to be clicked on all throughout its duration until it is over, the domination activation animation continously loops. It doesn't seem to affect perfomance other than making the dom look like they are having convulsions.

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This is already there, either in the list or buried somewhere in the preceding pages. Thanks for reporting.

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I searched the thread and didn't see this:

Ice Control

Arctic Air's confusion is not boosted by Domination.

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Just tried this out, looks like you're right. Also, the purple bubbles don't appear on enemies confused in Arctic Air.

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Didn't they decide plant's hold was a problem?

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yes, that's mentioned earlier, in a separate section.

Here's the results of the PvP issues thread.

<ul type="square">[*]Having high damage powers late in the secondary makes the Dominator weak when malefactored for PvP, notably in Siren's Call and Bloody Bay.[*]Suppressing extra player graphics hides hold and other mez graphics on enemy players, making it difficult to see what is happening.[*]Ground based powers will not affect an enemy who is constantly jumping: Ice Slick, Bonfire, Thorntrops.[*]Pets are problematic in PvP, they tend to attack the wrong enemies, they are slow to get to the fight, and their long recharge means they often won't be there for a Dominator who is defeated regularly.[*]Slows have less practical effect against jump than other means of travel.[/list]

Looks like I can take the Flares issue out, yay!

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And, actually, yes I do think Incinerate needs to be changed.. I rarely use it on my /Fire Dominator, and now I know why. Incinerate does not feel right for being Incinerate.. If it was Cremate instead, I wouldn't have an objection.

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Looks like there is an issue here of some sort. How about this:

Incinerate compares poorly with the other second tier melee attacks. It is entirely DoT, which takes 10 seconds to happen, and yet only does slightly more damage. The Brute and Tanker versions of Incinerate have endurance discounts, and improved damage relative to similar attacks.

On a related note, Fiery Assault has always felt strange to me. Flares activation time is awful, Incinerate's DoT aspect makes it annoying, Fire Breath is not a particularly good staple attack, Fire Blast is pretty weak, Fiery Embrace's recharge time is too long, Combustion I never took because I didn't find it great on a Tanker and Blaster in a past life, Consume is an occasionally useful utility power, Blazing Bolt heh, and Blaze has a short range. Fixing Flares and Incinerate would probably make all the difference.

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Have no idea if this is already in the list, but Propel shows different objects to different players. All of those brilliant jokes, wasted!

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The dev's have commented on this before. The server doesn't send the data for what object is used, nor how the objects move. (So, you could push a car to one side, and someone would see a trash can on the other side).

Reasoning being that it would bog down the servers to have all of that controlled server side when not everyone has the Particle Physics running.

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Yeah, figured it would be something like that. I can understand why they wouldn't want to upgrade the protocol for such a small issue, but it still sucks. I remember this time I propelled 4 forklifts in a row . . .

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Minor issue, but it's a bug I've been able to duplicate:

If you're in flight and not moving (that part's important), then if you fire Whirling Hands, the character glitches out after the animation. You'll spasm every second or two with your arms out. It goes away once the pink pom-poms fade on their own, or if you move at all (or your character plays any other animation for any reason, including the "dodge/weave" movement when an enemy attacks you).

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Confirmed, nice find.

Have no idea if this is already in the list, but Propel shows different objects to different players. All of those brilliant jokes, wasted!

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Also, this isn't really Dominator specific but Consume stinks. It should either have the same recharge time as Power Sink (60 seconds instead of 180 seconds) or the same damage as Dark Consumption (~32 base damage instead of ~16 base damage adjusted to Dom melee damage).

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Consume has the low endurance cost, like Dark Consumption, which is extremely useful in the face of endurance draining enemies, but it has a much larger radius, 20ft instead of 8ft. It would be nice if it recharged faster, but it's not all that bad.

The thread is flaming, and without a red-name post. woo hoo!

From the PvP issues discussion, this belongs in the regular section:

Strangler is severely disadvantaged in PvP because an enemy that just keeps jumping will not be affected at all.

I've spun the PvP issues off into their own thread in an attempt to gain more support.

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very good read; in your opinion what is the most fun for your playstyle? What, again, in your estimation, is the "best?"

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Is that a trick question?

Although I've never actually tried the combination, I think I would like Mind/Icy most of all. I really enjoyed Mind Control for its wealth of control powers, and Icy Assault for its no DoT fast activating attacks. Mind/Thorny would come second. And yes, I am planning a Mind/Icy.

Finally I have posted my comprehensive Dominator Powers Guide

7. Glossary

<ul type="square">[*]Confuse is an effect which causes a mob to attack friends instead of foes. Although damage from confused enemies does reduce xp received, it is not directly proportional to the amount of damage, and instead favours the player. Furthermore since it reduces the amount of time spent in each fight it actually increases overall xp gain by time.
[*]Hold is an effect which drops toggles, prevents movement and prevents power activation.
[*]Immobilize is an effect which prevents movement.
[*]Fear usually means Terrorize, but can also mean Flee.
[*]Flee is an effect which causes attempts to leave an area of effect. This does not affect players.
[*]-Fly is a debuff effect which prevents flight.
[*]Mob is a mobile object, including friend and foe.
[*]Sleep is an effect which drops toggles, prevents movement and prevents power actvation, but which is ended by healing, damage and many status effects, importantly excluding sleep.
[*]STH is an abbreviation for Single Target Hold.
[*]Terrorize is an effect which prevents movement and prevents power activation, but whose effects are temporarily suspended when attacked.
[*]PBAoE is an abbreviation for Point-Blank Area of Effect, meaning it covers an area centered on the caster.[/list]

6. Pool Powers

Power pools should be chosen based on player preference, there is no must-have pool, although some are extremely beneficial. The most important pool powers, which all Dominators should consider, in order: Stamina from the Fitness pool, to help with endurance problems; Hasten from Speed, because it boosts the recharge of Domination; Acrobatics from Leaping, because knockback can kill; and Aid Self from Medicine which is particularly useful in PvP. The Power Pools which should be avoided except for concept reasons are Fighting, because the values are so low, and Presence, because Dominators get much better powers in their primaries.

In the late game, especially after level 40, enemies with status effects become very common. AoE mez attacks generate a lot of aggro, which means that Dominators are likely to experience a lot of these status effects. Being mezzed or knocked back can be deadly for a Dominator because rapid response often makes the difference between defeat and victory. For these reasons, many Dominators look to the power pools for additional status protection (for when Domination isn't available). Chief amongst the status protection powers is Acrobatics, which protects from knock* and hold. Hover provides a more limited form of knock* protection, turning it into a falling over effect, without the movement. Aid Self provides an unwieldy stun protection, Health provides sleep resistance, and Tactics provides fear resistance.

The high risk of being mezzed also reduces the utility of toggle powers, since dropped toggles are very frustrating. This is an important factor to consider when choosing pool powers, because there are many more toggles in the power pools than the primary and secondary sets.

6.1 Concealment

Concealment is primarily a matter of preference for Dominators. Stealth is a useful power for opening fights with a well placed AoE control, notably Plant Control's Seeds of Confusion, or convincing a pet to engage the enemy and take the alpha strike. Beyond that, Concealment has no benefit specific to Dominators.

6.2 Fighting

Fighting is a poor choice for Dominators. The additional attacks do not provide significant benefit compared to attacks already available in the secondary. Tough and Weave provide low resistance and defence values which make little difference because Dominators have no other defence powers to stack them with until level 41 when patron shields become available. Additional control powers from the primary are usually a better choice for enhancing survivability.

6.3 Fitness

The majority of Dominators will want to take the Fitness pool for Stamina, since solo Dominators tend have endurance difficulties due to the low damage/endurance ratio of the assault sets. Dominators with confuse powers, high damage pets (Fire Imps), or high damage secondaries may find that Stamina is not necessary. Those with Icy Assault will almost certainly want to take Stamina, because its short activation times make endurance problems even more acute. Any two of the other powers can be taken depending on preference.

6.4 Flight

Air Superiority is a melee attack which provides guaranteed knockdown, making it very useful in early levels to fill in gaps in control, and in later levels against bosses specifically. Accuracy slotting is suggested, or standard attack slotting if desired. Hover is useful for its limited knockback protection. It has also been reported that Wormhole works well when airborne, because it can be directed straight down thus reducing the problem of knockback. Suggested slotting for Hover is 1 - 2 additional slots with 80 - 95% flight speed. Group Fly can also be used with Fire Imps for humourous effect. Suggested slotting is 3 - 4 additional slots with 35 - 80% endurance reduction, and 35 - 95% flight speed.

6.5 Leadership

While Dominators don't receive the best bonuses for the Leadership powers, they are quite acceptable and can be useful on larger teams. The biggest drawback to leadership is the notable endurance cost. Assault provides an appreciable bonus for its endurance cost on large teams, and is somewhat beneficial with Fire Imps. Suggested slotting is no additional slots with 35 - 40% endurance reduction. Maneuvers defense bonus is very small, making it not particularly worthwhile since Dominators have very few other defense powers to stack it with. Tactics is a nice substitute for additional accuracy enhancements, and its perception bonus is useful in some circumstances. Suggested slotting is 0 - 3 additional slots with 35 - 40% endurance reduction and 0 - 95% to hit buffs. Vengeance can be a very useful power on occasion for a teaming Dominator, and is of particular interest for /Icy and /Energy Dominators, because Power Boost can boost it to being significantly better than any other villain's Vengeance. Suggested slotting is 1 -2 additional slots with 35 - 95% defence buff.

6.6 Leaping

Combat Jumping provides nice mobility and protection from immobilize for a low endurance cost. No extra slots needed for this power. Jump Kick is a poor attack with a long activation time, and knockback which isn't guaranteed. Super Jump is the premier PvP travel power because there are very few powers that hinder it. Acrobatics is an excellent protection power, and can greatly increase survivability at later levels. Suggested slotting is 0 - 1 additional slots with endurance reduction.

6.7 Medicine

Aid Other provides some utility for a Dominator with pets, and can be appreciated on teams. Suggested slotting is heal, recharge, and interrupt reduction to taste. Stimulant provides a lot less utility, because mez is usually harder to identify, only a problem in combat when the risk of the power being interrupted is high. Aid Self is often useful, depending on play style, and may improve efficiency when solo. It is also significantly improved by Power Boost. Aid Self is particularly popular in PvP, where taking significant damage is unavoidable. Suggested slotting is 3 - 5 additional slots with 0 - 80% recharge reduction, 0 - 80% interrupt reduction, and 35 - 95% healing. Resuscitate is a very mediocre rez power, largely due to it's extremely long recharge time, and a Dominator would be better served by a power to prevent the defeat in the first place.

6.8 Presence

Challenge and Intimidate are very poor powers for Dominators who typically have enough aggro, and cannot survive it well. Intimidate is a weak single target fear power, with a long recharge, which is not even guaranteed to always affect lieutenants. Invoke Panic is PBAoE with a long recharge, and only affects lieutenants who are weak to fear. Both Intimidate and Invoke Panic are boosted by Domination, at which point they will affect bosses, and are quite usable control powers. Considering their limited usefulness outside of Domination, that fear is one of the weaker forms of control, and that a taunt power is required to open the pool, these powers are not a particularly good choice for Dominators.

6.9 Speed

Flurry is a weak attack, with a long recharge time, and a low chance for disorient. Hasten is an excellent power, providing noticeably increased effectiveness when it is active. Hasten is of particular importance to Dominators, because it makes Domination recharge more quickly. It is also an important component in attempts to achieve perma-Domination, where Domination recharges before it runs out. Suggested slotting is 0 - 2 additional slots with recharge enhancements. Super Speed is a stealth power as well as a travel power, which can be useful in the same ways as Stealth from the Concealment Pool. However, it can be a very frustrating travel power in vertical terrain. Suggested slotting is endurance reduction. Whirlwind is a useful power on occasion, when extra control is needed, as well as being quite entertaining. It can also be useful with drop powers (Ice Slick, Bonfire, Carrion Creepers, Thorntrops) to keep mobs in the patch location. Suggested slotting is 0 - 2 additional slots with endurance reduction.

6.10 Teleportation

Recall Friend can be of use to Dominators with pets, to get them into melee, save them from bad situations, or position them near enemies to start the fight. Teleport Foe is occasionally useful to break up closely grouped enemies, although a ranged attack is almost always sufficient for such a task. Team Teleport can be used to great effect with Singularity, because when teleporting directly into the middle of a group of enemies it will take the majority of the aggro.

5. Patron Powers

The Patron powers are by and large disappointing, because many of them are similar to, but weaker than, existing Dominator powers. The Patron Power Pools are similar by design, the biggest differences being in the first power of each set.

5.1 Shared Powers

<ul type="square">[*]Dark Embrace, Scorpion Shield, Shark Skin, and Charged Armor are the Patron shields. They all provide a high level of resistance or defence for low endurance cost, and are decent powers. Suggested slotting is 0 - 2 additional slots with 35 - 95% resistance. Of course there are many other possibilities with Invention Origin enhancements.
[*]Dark Obliteration, Disruptor Blast, Bile Spray, and Ball Lightning are the Patron attacks. They are very disappointing, and less effective than available powers in the secondary due to their long recharge times. They bring limited new
abilities: ranged AoE instead of PBAoE or cone, minor accuracy
debuff, and endurance drain. They are only appropriate for a Dominator who has taken all the AoEs from their secondary and wants more. Standard attack slotting is suggested.
[*]Fortunata Seer, Toxic Tarantula, Blue Coralax, and Mu Guardian are the Patron pets. They suffer from the drawback that unlike existing Dominator pets, they are not permanent, and as such are more suited to special situations. Their damage output and survivability is not particularly impressive. Suggested slotting is to taste, depending on preferred use.[/list]
5.2 Leviathan Mastery

<ul type="square">[*]Water Spout summons a short-lived, unkillable, very aggresive pet which throws enemies around, disorients them, and deals high damage. It is useful for dealing with situations that have got out of hand, initiating difficult fights, and dealing damage to tough foes with knockback protection. The immobilizes or holds available in four of the primaries may be used to pin foes down to be damaged by the Water Spout. Suggested slotting is 0 - 5 additional slots with 35 - 95% recharge reduction, 0 - 95% damage, 0 - 95% disorient duration.
[*]Bile Spray is a typical patron cone attack, see the Shared Powers section.
[*]Shark Skin is a typical patron shield, see the Shared Powers section. It resists smashing, lethal, and cold damage.
[*]Blue Coralax is a typical patron pet, see the Shared Powers section.[/list]
5.3 Mace Mastery

<ul type="square">[*]Poisonous Ray is a single target debuff with a decent resistance and tohit debuff, as well as some damage. It is useful in the toughest fights such as against AVs and Heroes.
[*]Scorpion Shield is a typical patron shield, see the Shared Powers section. It has good defence against smashing and lethal attacks, ok defence against energy attacks, and ok resistance against toxic damage. In many ways defence is better for Dominators than resistance, because it can prevent some mezzing attacks from ever landing.
[*]Disruptor Blast is a typical patron attack, see the Shared Powers section. It has a small chance to cause knockback.
[*]Toxic Tarantula is a typical patron pet, see the Shared Powers section.[/list]
5.4 Mu Mastery

<ul type="square">[*]Power Sink is a small radius PBAoE endurance drain and recovery power on a long recharge. It is auto-hit, which makes it very dependable for refilling endurance in combat, but has a high endurance cost, which reduces its utility against endurance draining enemies who tend to fully drain endurance. It is an acceptable, if unwieldy, power. Suggested slotting is 0 - 5 additional slots with 0 - 95% endurance modification, 0 - 80% endurance reduction, 0 - 95% recharge.
[*]Charged Armor is a typical patron shield, see the Shared Powers section. It provides good resistance to smashing, lethal and energy damage.
[*]Ball Lightning is a typical patron attack, see the Shared Powers section. It has a small endurance drain.
[*]Mu Guardian is a typical patron pet, see the Shared Powers section. It does have a single target heal which it will use on the summoner or other pets.[/list]
5.5 Soul Mastery

<ul type="square">[*]Dark Consumption is a small radius PBAoE endurance recovery which causes a small amount of damage to affected enemies. It has an absurd six minute recharge time, which makes it a very marginal power. Suggested slotting is 1 - 5 additional slots with 35 - 80% accuracy, 35
- 95% endurance recover, 0 - 95% damage, and 0 - 95% recharge.
[*]Dark Embrace is a typical patron shield, see the Shared Powers section. It provides good resistance to smashing and lethal damage, and okay resistance to toxic and negative energy damage.
[*]Dark Obliteration is a typical patron attack, see the Shared Powers section. It has a minor to-hit debuff.
[*]Fortunata Seer is a typical patron pet, see the Shared Powers section.[/list]

4.6 Thorny Assault

Overview

Thorny Assault is a high damage assault set, with very good single target damage attacks, and ok AoE attacks. Its secondary effects are a good defence debuff, and toxic DoT. However, the attacks deal primarily lethal damage which is resisted by many enemies. Also, the attacks have an associated thorn animation on the caster, which can interfere with some costumes, has a tendency to look odd on small and large characters, and which frustrates some people due to its redraw animations.

Essential powers: Thorn Barrage

Disappointing powers:

Thorny Assault is the most melee oriented of the Dominator secondaries, its cone attack has a shorter range than the other cones, Impale has a frustrating long activation time, and its level 35 power is a cone melee attack.

Powers

<ul type="square">[*]Thorny Darts is a typical first tier blast, see the Shared Powers section. It recharges slightly faster than other blasts, and deals the same amount of damage for less endurance cost.
[*]Skewer is a typical second tier melee attack, see the Shared Powers section.
[*]Fling Thorns is a decent damage cone attack with a good defence debuff. It has a much shorter range than the other cone attacks. Standard attack slotting is suggested.
[*]Impale is a typical fourth tier blast, see the Shared Powers section. It deals the most damage of all the fourth tier blasts, has an immobilization effect and a very long activation time.
[*]Aim is a short self-buff to damage and accuracy. Its best use is as a damage boost for initial spike damage. Although it can be used to improve AoE controls, by reducing accuracy slotting in favour of other aspects, much like Power Boost, this does not work out very well in practice, because an AoE control power with poor accuracy is almost useless, and the utility of both powers is reduced by this dependency. Suggested slotting is 0 - 2 additional slots with recharge.
[*]Thorn Burst is a decent damage, decent radius, PBAoE attack with a good defence debuff. Standard attack slotting is suggested.
[*]Thorntrops is a drop power which causes decent damage, and slows run speed. Reports are that it does greater damage than Blaster Caltrops. Suggested slotting is 0 - 4 additional slots with 0 - 80% recharge, 0 - 95% damage.
[*]Ripper is a high damage, melee range cone attack with a chance to knockdown. It has special spin in the air animation, and consequently a bit of a long activation. Standard attack slotting is suggested.
[*]Thorn Barrage is a typical 9th tier blast, see the Shared Powers section.[/list]

4.5 Psionic Assault

Overview

Psionic Assault is the lowest single target damage assault set, and is also the second weakest AoE set until level 38 when Psychic Shockwave makes it extremely effective. Its attacks have longer range than the other assault sets, as well as an appreciable recharge debuff. All of the attacks but one are pure psionic damage, which means that psionic resistant foes, who are usually heavily resistant, such as robots and undead, take a lot more effort. Several of the attacks have slow moving projectiles as well, meaning that the damage occurs quite a while after the attack is launched. Its lower single target damage means that Psionic Assault is more suited for large team play than solo.

The ranged blasts are arranged differently in Psionic Assault compared to the other assault sets. Mental Blast, its fourth tier, blast matches the other first tier blasts of the other sets in endurance cost, damage, and recharge; Psionic Dart, its first tier blast, is a faster less damaging blast, and its third blast, while weaker than the others, is available at level 28 instead of 38. Despite these differences, the blasts fill similar roles within the set. Overall this results in slightly degraded single target damage. Psychic Shockwave at level 38 does more than compensate for this.

Essential powers: Psychic Shockwave

Disappointing powers: Psionic Lance, Mental Blast

Powers

<ul type="square">[*]Psionic Dart is a first tier blast, see the Shared Powers section. It is quite different from the other first tier blasts, with less damage, a much shorter recharge time, and a greater range. Its slow moving projectile, long range, and short activation make it an excellent tool for pulling. In addition to the usual accuracy slotting for first tier blasts, endurance reduction may prove useful.
[*]Mind Probe is a typical second tier melee attack, see the Shared Powers section.
[*]Telekinetic Thrust is a melee range low damage attack with guaranteed knockback, and a slightly higher endurance cost. It is more of a control power than an attack, although it does provide some smashing damage which may help in those siutations where psionic damage is being resisted. Like Power Push, it may benefit the control sets with fewer single target controls, namely Fire Control, Plant Control, and Ice Control. Suggested slotting is 0 - 4 additional slots, with 35 - 80% accuracy and damage if desired.
[*]Mental Blast is a fourth tier blast, see the Shared Powers section. Its low damage and long activation make it a mediocre power which is primarily a stop gap until level 28 when Subdue is available. It also has a slow projectile, but not a fast activation time, so it is not appropriate for pulling.
[*]Psychic Scream is a huge cone decent damage attack with a good recharge debuff. Standard attack slotting is suggested.
[*]Drain Psyche is a click PBAoE regeneration and recovery debuff, which increases the caster's regeneration and recovery for each foe affected. It is a useful power when solo to help with endurance problems, and on teams it can help out when things go wrong. Its regeneration debuff is also very useful against Hero and AV class enemies. Suggested slotting is 5 additional slots with 35 - 80% accuracy, 35 - 95 % recharge, 0 - 95% endurance modification and 0 - 95% healing.
[*]Subdue is a good ranged attack with a chance to immobilize. It deals almost as much damage as Mind Probe, and is an important part of the sets single target damage potential. Standard attack slotting is suggested.
[*]Psionic Lance is a typical sniper attack, see the Shared Powers section.
[*]Psychic Shockwave is a high damage, large radius, PBAoE attack with a chance to disorient. It is the best Dominator attack, and arguably the best attack in the game. Take it. Standard attack slotting is suggested.[/list]

4.4 Icy Assault

Overview

Icy Assault is a well balanced assault set, with good single target and AoE attacks, good ranged and melee attacks, and an effective slow secondary effect. It falls in the middle for damage, below Fiery Assault and Thorny Assault with their damage secondary effects and self damage buffs, and above Psionic Assault and Energy Assault. It is characterized by its fast activating single target attacks, and notably has the best first tier blast, with a good activation time, good damage, and a fair endurance cost.

Icy Assault's biggest drawback is that it is very endurance intensive. Its fast activating attacks can quickly eat through endurance, and its AoEs, notably Ice Sword Circle, have a high endurance cost.

Essential powers: Bitter Ice Blast

Disappointing powers:

Powers

<ul type="square">[*]Ice Bolt is a typical first tier blast, see the Shared Powers section. It has a shorter activation time than the other first tier blasts.
[*]Ice Sword is a typical second tier melee attack, see the Shared Powers section. It has good damage and a short activation time.
[*]Ice Sword Circle is a PBAoE attack. It has a short range, high damage, and a high endurance cost. Its high damage makes it a very effective power for a melee oriented Dominator. Standard attack slotting is suggested.
[*]Ice Blast is a typical fourth tier blast, see the Shared Powers section. It has a short activation time.
[*]Power Boost is a short self-buff, see the Shared Powers section.
[*]Frost Breath is a cone attack. It has a standard sized cone, an accuracy bonus, longish activation time, and decent damage. Standard attack slotting is suggested.
[*]Chilling Embrace is a toggled PBAoE slow effect. It has a small radius, reaching slightly beyond melee, not nearly as big as Arctic Air or Hot Feet. It has a low endurance cost. It does not have a damage debuff like the Tanker version, although its recharge debuff is greater. While not a spectacular power, it has some utility.
[*]Greater Ice Sword is a decent single target melee attack. It is 20% greater than Ice Sword in all aspects, including a 20% accuracy bonus. Graphically it is much larger than the regular Ice Sword, to the point of absurdity. Standard attack slotting is suggested, with a little less need for accuracy.
[*]Bitter Ice Blast is a typical 9th tier blast, see the Shared Powers section. Unlike the other Icy Assault powers, Bitter Ice Blast has a respectable to-hit debuff in addition to the standard slows.[/list]

4.3 Fiery Assault

Overview

Fiery Assault is the most damaging of the Dominator secondaries, with exclusively fire damage. Its only secondary effect is additional damage, which combines with Fiery Embrace to assure its status as the leader in damage. It does decent AoE damage, although both of its AoEs (Breath of Fire and Combustion) are somewhat difficult to use.

Fire resistant foes can be problematic because no alternative damage type is available. The fact that many attacks include DoT creates compatability problems with sleep and terrorize powers. For best efficiency, damage over time attacks, like Incinerate, should be used first, so that additional damage ticks are not wasted on defeated foes.

Essential powers: Blaze

Disappointing powers: Blazing Bolt

Powers

<ul type="square">[*]Flares is a typical first tier blast, see the Shared Powers section. It does less damage at a shorter range than the other first tier blasts and has a frustratingly long activation time, making it the worst first tier blast.
[*]Incinerate is a typical second tier melee attack, see the Shared Powers section. It deals good damage, but it is spread over many ticks. To get the best efficiency out of Incinerate it should be used as an opening attack, rather than a finisher.
[*]Fire Breath is a high damage cone attack, with a longish activation time, and an accuracy bonus. The cone is narrow and not long, but the damage is good. Typical attack slotting is suggested.
[*]Fire Blast is a typical fourth tier blast, see the Shared Powers section. It has a nice short activation time.
[*]Fiery Embrace is an excellent self damage buff. It significantly increases the damage of all the fire attacks for 30 seconds, and moderately increases the damage of all non-fire attacks for 10 seconds. It makes a dramatic difference in the damage potential of the set and is highly recommended. It has a much longer recharge rate than the other Dominator self buffs, but its effect has a much longer duration. Suggested slotting is 0 - 2 additional slots with 35 - 95% recharge reduction.
[*]Combustion is a PBAoE which deals acceptable damage in a 15' radius. Most of its damage is DoT, which means that it appears less effective than it actually is. It has a long activation which can also cause frustration. Typical attack slotting is suggested.
[*]Consume is an endurance recovery power with additional minor PBAoE damage. It has a negligible endurance cost, minor damage, long recharge, and recovers a medium amount of endurance. It requires the investment of slots in order to make it an effective endurance recovery power, and so is only recommended to characters who are having endurance problems. Its negligible endurance cost makes it very useful in situations where endurance has been fully drained. Suggested slotting 3 - 5 additional slots with 40 - 80% accuracy, 35 - 95% endurance recovery, and 0 - 80% recharge reduction.
[*]Blazing Bolt is a typical sniper attack, see the Shared Powers section.
[*]Blaze is a typical 9th tier blast, see the Shared Powers section. It has a short activation, high damage, and a fast recharge, making it the best of the 9th tier blasts.[/list]

4.2 Energy Assault

Overview

Energy Assault is a primarily single target assault set, with smashing and energy damage types, and secondary status effects of knockback and disorient. It is a very weak AoE set, with only a single melee-ranged AoE with low damage. Despite its weakness at AoE damage, it is also weak at sustained single target damage, and only excels in initial burst single target damage. It a very endurance friendly set, due to its large damage from the more efficient melee attacks, and long animation times. The damage mitigation secondary effects are somewhat beneficial, and may reduce dependence on the primary, allowing further focus on damage.

While Energy Melee enjoys a powerful reputation in PvP, Energy Assault is not nearly as impressive, mostly because it lacks Build Up and Energy Transfer. However, the fact that it has its second high damage melee power at level 28, instead of 35 like /Thorny and /Icy, makes it more attractive for PvP in Siren's Call.

Essential powers: Total Focus, Power Burst

Disappointing powers: Whirling Hands, Sniper Blast

Powers

<ul type="square">[*]Power Bolt is a typical first tier blast, see the Shared Powers section. Its activation time is longer than the average, and its secondary effect is a chance to knockback.
[*]Bone Smasher is a typical second tier melee attack, see the Shared Powers section, with a decent chance to disorient.
[*]Power Push is a ranged knockback attack with very little damage, but very high accuracy. It is more of a control power than an assault power, and as such should be taken only to fill a lack in the primary set. Fire Control, Plant Control, and Ice Control in particular can benefit due to lack of single target controls. Suggested slotting is 0 additional slots, with recharge or endurance reduction.
[*]Power Blast is a typical fourth tier melee attack, see the Shared Powers section. Its secondary effect is a chance to knockback.
[*]Power Boost is a short self-buff, see the Shared Powers section.
[*]Whirling Hands is a melee range AoE which does low damage and has a chance to disorient. Its small range and low damage make it a very disappointing power.
[*]Total Focus is an extreme damage melee attack with a guaranteed stun. It is highly recommended due to its high damage. Its biggest drawback is that it has an extremely long activation time, enough to make Bonesmasher more efficient as damage/activation time. Typical attack slotting is suggested.
[*]Sniper Blast is a typical sniper attack, see the Shared Powers section.
[*]Power Burst is a typical 9th tier blast, see the Shared Powers section.[/list]