Magentrix

I'm guessing 'lighter' = less effective.

In truth, Dom controls are 20% shorter in duration to controller equivalents. Doesn't really bother me, however, since my Dom's enemies tend to drop over more than 20% faster.

Tell them it works exactly like a brute's fury bar.

Move that difficulty slider south and you'll see fewer bosses.

My Dom will definitely be going Blue. It's my favorite toon, and most of my friends play Blueside, so....

As for how they'll stack up to controllers, they'll do fine. Defenders make better debuffers for the slot than Controllers, and for single targets (you know, the dangerous stuff), Dom's damage is to be respected, right up there with Blaster damage now.

Do yourself a favor, skip it. 6 slot your AOE immoblize with 5 pieces of Positron's Blast (including the proc) and one trap of the hunter proc (or impeded swiftness's proc if you're ice or grav). It's got more area, a bigger target cap, a faster recharge, and can be used at range.

Okay, why are Dominator/Controller controls better than blaster controls? Some simple answers:

1) Damage. While many other ATs get access to some single target holds and immobilizes, they come equipped with rather perfunctory damage at best. Every Dom/Controller hold/immob comes delivers modest but still substantial damage. This damage can and should be slotted for additional damage, for reason 2.

2) Duration. Non-controller controls have roughly half the duration of the control primary ATs. This means that they get as much duration out of their control powers as other ATs will get after slotting. And with the addition of IO/HO enhancements, you can actually have your cake and eat it too, enhancing both damage and control duration in excess of what any other class can enjoy. For example, my dom's Gravity Distortion is slotted with 4 piece Devastation and 2 piece Lockdown. Result: nearly 90% damage and recharge, plus 40% hold duration, with solid accuracy and end reduction to boot, plus 6% +damage in set bonus from ONE POWER. Bottom line, Blasters, Defenders, et al, can hold enemies in lieu of damage. Controllers and Dominators damage their enemies with their holds.

3) Area of effect. Control ATs are the only ones with access to AOE immobilize, one of the most underrated controls in the game, and their spammable soft controls can render enemy groups helpless, in many cases without exposing the controlling character to an alpha strike. Defenders have some access to AOE controls, but at a lower magnitude, and blasters have some others, with smaller radii. But at the day's end, control ATs are the kings of AOE control.

4) Pets. While they're a late blooming effect of control primaries, (for most sets), pets are a game changer, especially for gravity control. In addition to a big source of damage, pets come equipped with both active and implicit controls that must be respected.

At low levels, yes, Dominators play an awful lot like blasters, but once you're in your 20s and 30s, the playstyles really begin to diverge. Where the blaster begins to leverage more and better AOE, the Dom stacks more and more options to turn the enemies into pinatas.

Please don't feed the knockback trolls. You'll never change their minds, and they'll never change their attitude.

Grav is a set that's well suited to operating at range. It's best t single target damage and control, having the weakest AOE control choices of any Dominator primary. It's also a set that's fairly late blooming, with the full scope of control powers only becoming available at level 28 or beyond.

1) Lift: Post i15, this power is a powerhouse. 100% knockup, fast animation, decent recharge and solid damage. While it's only soft control, bosses and even most EBs are vulnerable to it. You can use it on hard to control enemies like Fortunata Seers and Night Widows, foes that other control sets might have difficulty handling. On my Grav/NRG dom, I can lift a Night Widow and 2 shot her with Bone Smasher and Total focus before she'll finish standing up.

2) Gravity Distortion. Your single target hold, a staple of every control set, and probably the most important power you'll ever have. Because Gravity control is weak, getting the most from this power is all the more important. I've got mine slotted with 4 devastation and 2 Lockdown. This gives it solid damage, decent damage and fast recharge, all critical for stacking mag on hard to handle bosses and EBs. And 6% in damage set bonus from just one power.

3) Crushing Field. Ah, the oft maligned AOE immobilize. The 'suicide button' reviled by most players. Let me tell you something about crushing field: It's the best control power of any AT, Red or Blue side. I have used crushing field to beat back unstoppable hordes of enemies that have broken the rest of my team. What turns the suicide button into the victory button? Terrain. If you can use a simple corner or obstacle to hide behind, you can immobilize a huge mob and tackle them piecemeal. With regular spamming, you can easily hold 30 to 40 enemies indefinitely, and if you slot damage procs into CF, you can turn it into a respectable damage power to boot. AOE immobilizes aren't just for breaking up ambushes. Your teammates love them too. Got a Mastermind on your team who likes to plan burn patches? They'll LOVE CF. Got an earth or ice Dom who wants to bounce enemies with Earthquake or Ice Slick? No problem, CF doesn't grant Knockback protection. Mine is slotted with 5 Positron's Blast and 1 impeded swiftness, chance for smashing. That's two procs for damage plus 6.25% global recharge. Pure win.

4) Gravity Distortion Field. It's the oh sh*t button. Every control primary has one, Grav's is right up with Mind and Plant in that they can be used at 80 yard range. It does no damage, so this is where you slap your Unbreakable Constraint for 10% global recharge.

5) Wormhole. Love it or hate it, Wormhole is the most set-defining power for Gravity. I'm not going to lie here. Wormhole needs a buff, specifically in terms of radius. It's got a 16 person target cap but I defy anyone to actually fit 16 enemies in a circle that tiny. Other criticisms of the power, however, are full of cr@p. Anyone who can't abide knockback in a super-villain game needs a time-out to think about their attitude, and while you often CAN throw enemies to the other end of the planet with Wormhole, you don't HAVE TO. In fact, you can throw them into a corner, or off a cliff, or right back onto the tank. You can take a crowd of irritating Nemesis Riflemen and toss them under your Brute for a quick curbstomping. Solo, Wormhole combines well with Total Focus to lay a mag 6 stun on enemy bosses before they can react. Great for dealing with tough enemies like Carnie Illusionists. Wormhole is flexible, powerful and fun, with only one real drawback the area of effect.

6) Singularity. Here's the reason why Grav is the king of single target control. Singy is part tank and part controller, but mostly he's there to stack mag on those irritating purple triangles that would otherwise send you to the hurt-locker. He's the perfect companion for a flying Dominator, because unlike other horrible pets, he'll never get you in more trouble. He won't run off and start fights with new groups, he won't go chasing runners to the end of creation, because anyone he's fighting can't run. His repel bubble is a tiny zone of sanctuary that you or your teammates can use for cover when things start to look shakey.

As for the powers I didn't mention: Don't take em. Beef up on your secondary, or get patron powers, or pool choices. Take leadership to boost your team's accuracy and damage. Take your patron armor to suck up the odd stray blast from uncontrolled enemies.

Some last thoughts about Gravity. Grav is a great set for people who like to do a good job without making a big fuss. Your animations are subtle, so often no one will notice that the enemy they're fighting has turned into a pinata. You've got lots of options usable from afar, so there's little reason to go mixing it up with the brutes and stalkers. Just hover above the battlefield, identify threats and neutralize them. Quickly, quietly, and efficiently.

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without the damage boost from domination being up

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You do realize the domination damage boost is what you have ALL THE TIME now? The Dom buffs are great, loving every minute.

The same Grav/NRG dom I play now.

The only Dom attack I'd go out of my way to proc for damage is the AOE immobilize. With a wide area of effect, low base damage, high target cap, and fast recharge, it's perfect to proc heavily.

Solo, yes. Grouped, less so.

Mez protection, Extra magnitude, Added Mez Duration, Free end bar refill.

Sarcasm doesn't transmit will over the internet, but yeah, Night Widows are a special case. Honestly, I just pop purples and reds and burn them down.

Yeah, ragdoll physics are often suppressed if the mob is engaged in another animation. I'm not 100% sure of the mechanics, but I avoid the issue by not spamming lift on the same target twice in a row.

I thought about your points, Lil, and I have to concede my gut instinct that auto-stun effects on energy powers being overpowered is, at best, not easily expressed objectively, using stuff like math.

However, on reflection, I also don't think it's really what dominators NEED. As we've discussed in another thread, MOST doms don't suffer for control, it's just that the gameplay window where control is relevant and useful on teams is rather narrow. Stacking more control on our primary control isn't going to fix the problem, any more than knockback's soft control fixes the problem.

I really don't think it's Ice's recharge debuffs that make it a superior choice to energy, it's the faster animations, which in turn results in higher DPA, to say nothing of more and better AOE. The same could be said of the other sets, with the added benefit of a build-up like power.

Here's a notion to muse upon: What if the devs went and did for PVE what they did for PVP, namely make damage powers execute in proportion to their animation time (disregarding secondary effects like fire's DoT)?

Predictable mez on your secondary is, quite simply, something you will never see implemented, regardless of whether it's balanced or not. I also don't think it's balanced, but that's just my opinion.

Anyway, you've already seen my earlier post on what NRG needs to bring it out of the basement, my views have not changed.

I don't think it's necessary for Energy to match Fire for DPA, but it can definitely be brought closer to parity than it is now without any kind of balance concerns.

Screw the cottage rule. It's not my fault the designers made bad set choices.

Replace Whirling hands with torrent. Fire and Cold get cones, why not energy?

Pushing the recharge and damage of power burst is definitely a strong move. Doms already have no problems filling an attack chain.