Vidszhite

[ QUOTE ]
RV AVs are more powerful than normal AVs. They are built to be zone events. It doesnt change the fact that very few MMs would ever surprise me in their wupp arseness.

There is an easy way to curb inflation. Make the Auction House bid only, without a minimum bid, require all transactions on bids occur thru the Auction House (to place an Item up for bid it must be handed over and winning bids must ay the Auction House) and link bidding and selling to global handles. Inflation requires setting an artificially high cost. Supply and demand means that any market will eventually become flooded reducing the value of the goods. The only way that people can become dependant upon outside agents for in-game items is if they allow it to happen. Unfortunately, many people fail to utilize the power at there command to achieve their desires and simultaneously fall to the demands of greed. Ultimus can do much mor than I have a desire to, but that doesnt mean I, in any way ,shape, or form require IOs or recipes. I have yet to be required to be HO slotted on any of my 6 lvl 47+ toons in any PvE or PvP situation.

Ultimately we have to take responsibility for ourselves and stop worrying about who has more than we do. Someone will always have more. Someone will always have less. It is not what you have, it is what you make of it. (This comes from over 30 years of RL experience of poverty. If I could hande being homeless in my youth, I can handle not having any ub3rl337l007.)

[/ QUOTE ]

*standing ovation*

[ QUOTE ]
Whatever the solution, I do hope it's generalized enough to deal with a related problem: Accolades which require a badge which is in turn granted in a specific mission.

I don't min/max. I do bother, though, with trying to make my Heroes / Villains as tough as I can without breaking out spreadsheets and poring over tables and percentages. I don't carefully plan my Contacts.

I just play.

Now, when I get a toon to 50, it's because I enjoy plaing that toon. So I tend to continue to play them.

Finding out that it's TOO LATE to go off and get a badge because I didn't plan ahead (hundreds of hours ago) and hunt down a particular mission when I was level 15-20 is unnecessarily frustrating.

I can see the appeal, from a Dev point of view, of including cool things inside special missions.

However, there needs to be a solution to the consequent frustration of feeling that if you don't hunt those special missions down when you're the appropriate level, you're left with no option but to hang around a particular map and broadcast every few minutes, spam-begging for someone with a particular mission to please let you join their team.

Yeah, you can get it that way, but there just has to be a better way than that.

[/ QUOTE ]

An surefire way is to roll an alt, get the mission, get a friend on the team, let him enter, give him the star, log out, then get on the guy you want the badge for (making sure he is in the same zone as the mission before logging on) and then blowing through until the mission is over. Voila, badge on both your characters.

These are pretty cool! I don't think I'd actually spend actual power picks on them, but they're very cool ideas!

HELL no. Give us back our ultra Toggle Dropping and I MIGHT be able to stomach that.

Yes, I know you were joking. Still. >.>

True. I'm sure even the devs are raising an eyebrow because the ONLY thing that changed in I8 for Domination...was the one extra point we get per attack. We got the mez protection/PvP build speed buff in I7.

[ QUOTE ]
While not in the upper levels of the Dominator tree (mines Grav/En, since hes wearing a tech suit I figured it fit.)
I actually found malicious harder than vicious, Ruthless harder than Relent etc etc. Due to the number of enemies.

1 target.. I could take (unless it was an elite boss or AV) but if there was more than 2 I was always in trouble. So in a group I'd often pick a lt to keep held the entire battle, and throw a boss all around the place so he couldn't hurt anybody. (lift, power push and propel rotation)

Dominators I actually found rather powerful but overwhelmed easily. I also found the playstyle matches the whole sadist description in the manual, as you very slowly, incapacitate and destroy 1 target. (Does make solo'ing take a long time tho lol)

Only lvl 20 atm, so this is just what I've seen so far. Liking the increase in Domination too.

[/ QUOTE ]

You will like the higher levels when you can two-shot mobs and hold bosses easily.

IIRC, Siphon Speed doesn't buff those around you. It only buffs you.

You know the only thing that changed to Domination was we get one more point per attack, right?

I found Morcalivan7's old guide. The I7 guide he wrote was not placed in the Player Guides section and got eaten by Auto-deletion, and the link leads to nowhere. It is his early I6 guide, so it is very much out of date, but it is a testament to the guy who helped me start my own dominator:

He has sadly been gone since June of last year and cannot put this here himself.

Thanks muchly Necrosis. Seems lighthouse got on it too.

:O

Where's my pen, I need to sign this!

In fact, I have proof pictures that I took months ago the first or second time I solo'd a Ballista on Relentless.

Dead Ballista

Difficulty Setting

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Dominators need a buff so that they are always a viable AT. And yes, Positron that means being able to solo on Invincible easily. If one AT can do it then they all should be able to.

[/ QUOTE ]

I defy you to show me a Dominator who has his difficulty set to Invincible, or is even capable of doing so.

[/ QUOTE ]

umm...hello.

<-

I solo non-triangle EBs on Relentless (Invincible). In fact, I say it's actually fairly easy for me to solo a Longbow Ballista on Relentless while several of my Brute friends need help even finishing one on Vicious. It just takes a long [censored] time.

You know, I can't see how you people think Doms can't solo on Relentless. Most of us on the dom forum do it easily post-32. Mind Control does it before then, but we don't pick up speed and rocket off on Relentless like Fire/ doms do at 32.

If you ever need to throw someone so high in the air they hit an airplane on their way down, Power Boost is all you need. I've never personally needed it at all to begin with. I slot levitate as an Attack. I have never tried slotting it for KB, though when I was a newb I wanted to throw people so high they took falling damage.

You can slot it for KB if you like, but I found it completely unecessary.

If they were running Dispersion Bubble or PFF (which are +def to all) then yes, it will deflect Mass Hypnosis because they INCLUDE Psi defense. One FF Defender or Controller isn't going to do much because DB doesn't give much more than 10% defense...but TWELVE? Oy vei. 12 Stacked DBs is basically giving everybody PFF-level defenses with no holes.

AND they all had insane mez protection.

Since FF anything isn't normal to see grouped together (because FF is an irritating powerset for most), I say FF Defenders aren't much of a threat and pretty rare, but for the RV even when you autoleveled to 40? I'm not surprised you saw so many.





EDIT: I got my information via the Prima Guide, and unless it is mistaken in that aspect I'm sure that all mind mezzes check only against Psi defense. You hit with your other powers? Maybe Mass Hypnosis is the exception.

No, they're probably just linked to the Villain side, which IS still down.

EDIT: For example, right-click mine, copy and paste it into your address bar, and replace "Villains" with "heroes" and it comes up. It was never meant to be viewed through the Hero side but that's only to hide the shortcut text.

Then the information I got mine from was incorrect. Whoever it was that had assault and said it was total damage lied. I may have to make a new version of this guide in a couple of months @.@ I noticed some big typos that I didn't catch in the draft because they were last minute additions.

Yes! Perfect guide. It adequately describes exactly what it takes to have the most fun and be at peak effectiveness in CoX, and being a Dominator I can relate entirely to the central example. Five stars for you, buddy.

Love it! Only thing I didn't like was almost all of your "too"s should have been "to"s.

Other than that, pure genius.

I'd do that if my missions weren't primarily in Grandville.

And it just occurs to me NOW after the edit time has elapsed that I made a major typo in the EB Soloing section:

[color=#663300][TCS3]
[ QUOTE ]
By design they shouldn't be fought by teams with 3 or more members, but once you get stronger and more skilled you can solo them.

[/ QUOTE ]

By design, Elite Bosses are supposed to be taken by teams of 3 or more. That's why every time your contact gives you a mission with an EB in it, he tells you to bring some friends or words it some other way that basically means "get a team."

@.@

Last minute additions FTL

Vid-szhite's Guide to the Mind/Energy Dominator

Had to cut the first post four times to make sure it fit, but I did it!

Interestingly enough, it seems the maximum character limit goes down if you edit the post, whether you marked it as edited or not.

EDIT: Fixed the link so it goes to the FIRST post of the guide and not the last one.

[TACT]
Tactics

Building a Dominator is only half the journey! You gotta know how to play one right, and if you've ever played a Controller and try to play a Dominator just like that, you will fail. You gotta play aggressively, in the fray, but carefully so. Dominators don't have the big bag of tricks a Controller has to fall back on when things go south. Your only source of Defense is your primary. If that fails, you're in trouble.




[TCTS]
Solo Tactics

Mind Control is very easy to solo with because by level 6 you have all the powerful single target control you'll ever need. Let's say you're level 10, and your build is identical to the low level sample. You are set to Malicious (difficulty level 2). You enter the mission, and look around for mobs. You turn left and you see a single spawn of three. You look around briefly to make sure nothing around the corner's going to surprise you. Nothing. Time to go to work.

You stand reasonably far from the spawn, and mesmerize the furthest mob from you. You tab towards the second furthest mob and throw Confuse on him—Confused mobs will ignore all sleeping mobs unless there is nothing left to attack, so he should immediately begin to attack the third mob. The last mob should have noticed you by now, but that's not a problem. Throw a Dominate on him.

If all your powers hit, and they should have, Levitate the Dominated mob and close to melee range. Smack him with a Bone Smasher and finish him with your other attacks, tag teaming with the confused mob. Re-confuse the confused guy once you kill the held mob just for good measure, and then hold the sleeper. Cycle your attacks as needed, making sure the non-KB melee attacks and Levitate go first so you don't have to chase anyone down. Once he dies, thank the Confused mob for his time.

You fight on, repeating this process as many times as necessary. If a mob gets loose, leave melee range and try to knock him back until you can hold or sleep him.

But you've come to the final room, and the Boss is sitting pretty with his minions surrounding him. But crap, you had to go afk because you'd just eaten some chili dogs and your backside was reaching critical meltdown. Thanks to that, your Domination bar has waned slightly. Not enough to fire it off. Good thing for you, you've got mesmerize. You cast Mesmerize on the Boss, confuse one of his minions, and hold the second minon if there is one. You jump in to beat on his minions, but in your hurry you didn't see the OTHER boss standing right next to him.

Crap.

RUN like hell until you can Levitate the second Boss into the air, and once Mesmerize recharges, throw one on him too. Begin fighting the minions, reapplying mesmerizes to each boss, alternating to make sure neither one wakes up. Now that you've taken care of his minions, your Domination bar is ready to fire. Fire it off, and hold the first Boss with one shot. Beat the tar out of him, reapplying mesmerizes to the second boss as needed, and finish off the first one.

Domination wore off. Shoot! No matter, that just delays the inevitable. You've got Mesmerize and Levitate. Each time you levitate the last boss, you might blast him with a Power Blast or smack him with a Bone Smasher before you immediately recast Mesmerize on him before he gets back up. Eventually, he dies. Collect your exp and call up your contact for the next mission.



Be careful around Arachnos mobs, though, as Wolf Spider Huntsmen are able to shake this tactic entirely: they're so resistant to controls that it takes a mesmerize WITH Domination to affect them, and two holds while under it to lock him down. Most arachnos bosses are like this, the exceptions being Toxic Tarantulas and Mu Guardians. Everything else has Elite-boss level protection.

Well, I guess it's only fair. That's the same level of mez protection you have while under Domination.

Anathema-type mobs like Aberrant Rectors are resistant to Holds, but are vulnerable to fear and confuse. Same with Fortunata Seers, but not so for Fortunata Mistresses.



Once you get to around the 20s, you should have this down to a rhythm. This strategy generally works for most mobs. Be warned that machine mobs are immune to sleep and fear, while Nemesis soldiers are immune to fear and confuse. Nemesis Warhulks are not fully machines, so they don't count, but Malta Titans do.


[TCS1]
Mobs that resist Levitate – Creatures with more than two legs (or can fly) are just as easily tossed in the air by Levitate, but they will not be on their backs for very long. Nemesis Jaegers in particular will flip upside down in the air and land right back on their feet the moment they touch the ground, letting them move and attack again.

Flying mobs don't get knocked down at all: ones that toggle fly on and off like Longbow Eagles will flip in the air and fall from the sky the minute they take damage from the attack, but they are still able to attack throughout and will not take falling damage. Things like The Council's Zenith Hoverbots and Arachnos' Mu soldiers that fly by default will be thrown into the air as high as you can send them, but it will not impede their attack pattern.

Some mobs, like Malta Titans, Elite Bosses, and Archvillains, will not get tossed in the air at all. They still take damage because Levitate is an attack, but they will never move as a result of it.


[TCS2]
Dealing with Nemesis – Nemesis mobs will make you scream. It's almost as though they were designed to make your life miserable. Normal soldiers, the ones that look like a cross between Dark Ages and WWI rejects, are resistant to Fear and Confuse. It takes two apps of either to affect a minion or a LT (but one under Domination).

They are not resistant to sleep or holds, though, so this is where Telekinesis, Total Domination, and Mass Hypnosis come in handy. Jaegers are completely immune to fear, and possibly sleep. Even with Domination up you can't affect them. Confusion works, but Fear never does. Nemesis Automations are the same way.


Excerpt from Vid-szhite's Notebook:

[ QUOTE ]
I don't have mesmerize in my build, if you'll recall, and I aggro'd two Nemesis spawns on Relentless the other day. All the mobs were +3 (red) to me. I managed to quickly kill some of them before realizing there were three other Jaegers and a Soldier attacking me, and my health fell into the red. I jumped around a bend and powerboosted an Aid Self, bringing me back into the green, but I immediately knew that if I didn't stop them all that instant I'd never make it.






As they came around the corner a brilliant idea hit me: the walls were positioned perfectly for sliding them around with Telekinesis, and there was a corner right behind them. I flipped on Telekinesis (which I almost forgot I had since I so rarely use it) and pinned them, beating them one by one until I got to the anchor. Remember, when killing things under Telekinesis, it does you no good if you kill the anchor (the mob you initially stuck it on) first!

Mind your surroundings. You never know when you'll find that perfect corner.


[/ QUOTE ]



[TCS3]
Soloing Elite Bosses


First: Levitate doesn't affect them at all. Don't try it.


Now that we've covered that, look at your EB very closely. Pan the camera around so if you zoom out all the way you can see them in it. Watch them for a few seconds. Do they have purple triangles that periodically swirl around their heads? If so, it's probably a bad idea to solo them as those triangles will make them impossible to hold while they point upwards (literally, not even Telekinesis will work), but if you choose to solo them, make sure you have 4-8 purples, some blues, and maybe a few reds, and set the mission to Villainous (reset it if need be). Build Domination, and once you get to the Hero (downgraded to an EB), cast Confuse over and over until the triangles fall and they slaughter their own spawn. Once they finish that, pop half of the purples, hit Domination, pop some reds, and go crazy. Use your holds sparingly, and only if your attack chain has a pause in it. If your purples wear off, use the other half of them.

You will have to set it down to Villainous to stand a chance against a Hero downgrade. The triangles of death kill our holds.

Now, for the non-triangles EBs, such as Longbow Ballistae, it is usually recommended that you get a team. If you still choose to go solo, grab all the blues you can get your hands on. You don't have to turn the difficulty down after 30 but don't try it on Relentless unless you're positive you'll win. You'll NEED Stamina and full SOs in your powers to win solo 90% of the time. Most ATs can't solo an Elite Boss at all pre-stamina (some not even pre 38) but if you can solo them, pat yourself on the back. It ain't easy. By design they shouldn't be fought by teams with 3 or more members, but once you get stronger and more skilled you can solo them.

Go up to the EB, just within range of Confuse. Cast Confuse until it takes effect, and use Power Boost as needed. Watch to make sure it doesn't wear off immediately, and once you're sure he's confused enough, hit Domination (you don't need it but it's very highly recommended) and stack holds on him as fast as you can. Once he's held, go nuts, stacking a new hold each time it recharges. If Domination wears off, he should remain held indefinitely if your hold is properly slotted and you don't miss. Use your blues sparingly as you start to run out of end to give yourself a big boost in DPS. Hit Domination as many times as you can until your attack chain kills him.

If you miss a hold, fall back on Telekinesis until you have three holds stacked again.

It should work 38+ even on Relentless, but until then it's best if you try it on Villainous-Vicious to make sure your holds last as long as they can. It is VERY hard to do as a Dominator on Relentless because +2 Elite Bosses are highly resistant to your damage, so they'll run you completely out of endurance for a very long time, and can easily one-shot you and can knock you down if the first shot didn't immediately kill you. It is a joke on Villainous post-30, though, and a somewhat decent challenge on Vicious.



SPOILER NOTICE (highlight this text to view it): Biff the Super-Arachnoid from Terrence Dobbs' story arc is not normally soloable by anybody because of his INSANE regen rate, so don't get down if you can't solo him. It's not you being a Dominator that's causing your loss (despite what others will tell you).




[TCTT]
Team Tactics


Teaming as a Dominator is not as simple as you would think. We've got Control, and then we've got damage. We do too much Control and we won't do enough damage. Do not enough control, though, and we get too much aggro, easily dying in melee range from doing said damage, with a lot more aggro from our Control. You'll feel like Dominators somehow got Tanker punchvoke by mistake. Teaming as a Dominator and not dying is rather hard to do, but a few main tactics will help you on your way to team safety.

Never expect to lock down the entire spawn in your hard Control for the entire fight. That kind of mitigation died in Issue 5 and isn't needed, especially if there are Masterminds and Brutes on your team.



[TCT1]
Teams with Brutes and MMs

Tip #1 – Avoid Taking the Alpha. As in, try not to use something that brings any aggro to yourself before someone else has already. If you lock down with an AoE hold before a Brute charges, chances are you'll not only end up with all the aggro when it wears off, but that Brute won't get any Fury, and without Fury, a Brute can't SMASH. Though Brutes almost never complain about it (why should they? you're just doing your job after all), I always get the feeling that they're getting mad at me if I didn't let 'em charge in first.

If they express gratitude for your holds, though, it means you're doing a good job. They're still getting a good amount of Fury and you're making sure they don't get killed due to over-aggro. Brute armors aren't impenetrable, and they know it.



Tip #2 – Mass Hypnosis is the exception to tip #1. MH is taking the Alpha away, because it draws no aggro to anyone. Not all Brutes can survive a massive salvo from an 8-man spawn on Relentless, so Mass Hypnosis is a boon to them. They can still get fury by punching mobs in the face to wake them up, and if the Corrs and MMs laid down debuffs on them, the Brute can SMASH them all at once with an AoE attack so he takes the alpha for mega fury anyway—only now he's much safer!



Tip #3 – Use Terrify Smartly. But you should have known that already if you didn't skip over my power commentary. Right? Refer to [PWM8] to find out why opening with Terrify is bad.* However, for Brutes especially, USING Terrify is good. It lets them get fury from mobs they hit, and if they need to stop to activate a self-heal, most of the mobs will stop attacking as well. It's the most Brute-friendly Control, and it can be made permanent.



Tip #4 – Use Mass Confusion Smartly. Isn't Mass Confusion the ultimate Control? It is, but that's the problem: it lasts so long with just one Confuse SO and speeds the fights up so much it will almost never allow a Brute to gain fury from anything but attacking mobs. If the Brute is terrified of taking the alpha, and Mass Hypnosis isn't helping his courage, then it becomes a good idea to use Mass Confusion before the Alpha. If he likes the standard lineman rush approach, wait until just after the mobs all take a shot at him, then use it.



Tip #5 – Don't use your melee attacks until you're ready. Though it's recommended that you USE them, they should not be the first thing you do unless you just used Mass Confusion. Being in melee range is a dangerous place, and sometimes just being there draws negative attention. A generally good idea is to start off with your Controls: Dominate, Levitate, Mesmerize, and Confuse, and while each of those recharges, throw in a few ranged attacks. After a few seconds, if it looks like the aggro is under control, and the mobs are Controlled enough to not shoot back, start meleeing. If needed, use Bone Smasher and Total Focus to Disorient mobs, making use of our Secondary's control. Stack them both right on top of each other and even a Boss will succumb.



Tip #6 – Mastermind's aggro control abilities are weaker than a Brute's. Brutes can get Taunt. Every mob a Brute hits gets punchvoked. Brutes also do massive damage all on their own, and can draw and keep aggro with that. Masterminds, though damaging, can't tell their pets to take Taunt. Their pets can die from taking too much damage, and don't automatically aggro everything they hit. Until their third tier pet it probably isn't a good idea for them to try tanking all by themselves.

For this reason, be more cautious when you have no Brutes and just one MM. Multiple MMs can take the aggro more reliably, though, and make your life easier in that sense. However, multiple MMs can increase your lag, so if you have a weak computer, be careful.



Tip #7 – Too Many MMs = no melee range for j00! It's not that you shouldn't melee when there are too many MMs, it's that you sometimes can't melee because of all the damn pets. This is incredibly irritating when you're trying to position for Terrify. For this reason, continue attacking at range and controlling as needed. If there are too many MMs present, it might be a good idea to find another team, as the number of pets can also make it hard to click-target your enemies, instead of using the standard method of tab-targetting (which is great for random controlling but sucks for when you NEED to hit that Sapper).

If the MMs you team with are good, tip #7 goes away somewhat. Melee pets like Ninja and Zombies will still get in the way, though.



Tip #8 – Mass Control rules change when there are no brutes. If you have Mass Hypnosis, use it as the fight opener. If you have Mass Confusion, don't wait for a pet charge, use it when everyone says they're ready. If you've got the AoE Hold, while it's not a great idea to open with it, use Power Boost and lock 'em down so the pets can charge in more safely if you absolutely have to. Do not open with Terrify.*

*Without a Patron Shield.



[TCT2]
Teams without Brutes and MMs


Though rare, as there are so many MMs you can't take a step without landing on a group of eight, there are times when you team with Corrs and Stalkers. Stalkers are less common, as they tend to solo, but Corrs are very common, and are usually the team leaders. What happens when you have no frontline? I'll let you know.


Tip #1 – Try to remove the alpha. If you have no frontline, the usual Corr who hasn't been around a Dominator might not know what the heck Mass Hypnosis, Mass Confusion, or Total Domination does, and as such she might try to pull every single mob. Don't let her. Try talking to them about strategies involving Mass Hypnosis and Mass Confusion.



Tip #2 – Have an open mind. If they have their own ideas, try em out and see if they work. Sometimes they might pull spawns with an anchored debuff into a patch of traps. If that's their plan and it works, go with it. After the traps go off, and everyone flings their AoE attacks, let loose with your Controls. Try not to use them too early, or use Telekinesis when there are no corners to be found. Corr-heavy teams tend to thrive on big AoE attacks and anchored debuffs, so scattering is a bad idea.



Tip #3 – Don't use a Hold on a mob that a Stalker is winding up an Assassin Strike for. If he used Build Up at all, even a Boss will fall in one or two hits. Your hold will be wasted.



Tip #4 – Melee range is more dangerous than ever. Even with a lot of debuffs going on and Stalkers ASing the big threats, closing to melee range before enough controls are down can mean death. Be very wary, as nobody is trying to gain aggro onto themselves on purpose, and Dominators generate the most aggro of all the squishy types just by being there. Only enter melee range when you're sure nothing scary will shoot back.



[TCTP]
PvP Tactics

Before you begin to PvP, you need to understand that PvP isn't even remotely fair. Anything goes. To get a fair warning of what you should expect, refer to BuffyASummers' guide titled: The Harsh Reality of PvP. That is not a joke. You WILL experience all of them, possibly all at the same time. Buffy's statement at the end of that thread that sums it all up nicely:

[ QUOTE ]
PVP is like playing Poker. You never will be any good at it until defeat (money) means nothing to you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now that you know what to expect, let's talk tactics.

Tip #1 – GET A TEAM. Never. Ever. EVER try to PvP without a team and expect to succeed. You can solo against easy targets, but most of the time you will get owned in solo PvP.



Tip #2 – Always Hold the Defenders, Blasters and Controllers first. They are the easiest to kill, and the easiest to hold and if you read Buffy's guide like I told you, you'd take advantage of those “unfair” things. Once you've locked down the squishies, it becomes easier to defeat them. Your team should have gone after the held squishy first thing, and because they were held they posed no threat.



Tip #3 – Prepare to Die. A lot. PvP is nothing at all like PvE. PvE, you are designed to help your team out so that nobody dies, trying not to die yourself. Mobs are designed to be beaten, even though they provide a challenge. Their sole purpose is to allow you to level up. In PvP, winning is all about killing guys on the other team before they kill you. And it just so happens that holds are the ultimate debuff. Nobody is invincible in PvP, not even a Stone Tanker running Granite Armor. Since you are a squishy, the one that can not only mez them and turn them into cannon fodder, but if left alive too long you become virtually unmezzable, can hold just about anything, and have great damage to boot, it should be obvious that you will be the first they go after. This is why Aid Self is essential. You will be attacked and you WILL die constantly, but Aid Self will fix you right up when someone shoots you.



Tip 3b – You + multiple Thermal/Cold/Sonic Corruptors = Tankmage. You will die a lot...without these guys. Get some shields from them and you'll be practically invincible AND a major threat. If you have some friends or SG mates with Corruptors that can buff you, team with them and your power will go drastically up.



Tip #4 – Domination is your ultimate weapon. Make a strategy to build it as fast as possible. Under Domination, though you remain squishy, you are extremely difficult to Hold (though two or three Controller hold stacked on top of each other will do the trick), your damage reaches respectable levels, and your holds will punch through mez protection toggles like they aren't even there.

Because of the nature of PvP, though, Dominators couldn't stay alive long enough to use Domination before Issue 7. Now, however, landing a successful hit with a power from your secondary (Energy Assault) will not only give you the standard +2 Domination, but will grant you another +8. It builds insanely fast, but you have to make a ranged chain that can take advantage of it to make sure you do actually stay alive long enough to use it.

My favorite way of doing it is by using Telekinesis on a Scrapper, and blasting him while he's pinned against a wall. It's guaranteed to get you a full bar in less than 20 seconds. However, it does not work on Spines Scrappers. They have strong ranged attacks that can immobilize you, and if they crit they can two-shot you at range.



Tip #5 – Learn how to deal with Spines Scrappers. They can kill you more easily than any other damage AT. Telekinesis don't stop 'em forever, because they can still shoot back. Lucky for us, most Spines Scrappers don't go /Dark Armor. Use Terrify to take the Spines Scrapper out of commission, and let some of your other teammates worry about him. Always do it with Power Boost: Terrify's duration is cut in half in PvP. Which brings us to Tip 6:



Tip #6 – Your Controls won't last as long as they normally do. Plan for that. Dominate and Mass Hypnosis' base durations are cut to 12 seconds, enhanced it's only 24 seconds at level 50. Terrify is cut to 8 seconds. Total Domination is cut to 6 seconds. Confusion is the only mez that isn't cut in duration when used against a player.



Tip #7 – Ever heard of mez suppression? Read on. Though the suppression period begins once you cast the Hold, and if you use Power Boost and Domination together, your holds may outlast it altogether, if you use any sort of Control except Confusion against another player, there will be a short time period where you cannot affect players with any controls. Perma-holding someone is impossible. What does this mean? While your ST Hold might be a part of your attack chain in PvE, once a person is held, it only wastes endurance to keep stacking holds on them unless they're running Practiced Brawler or Indomitable Will.

Any Break Free usage resets the Suppression timer, so keep stacking if they don't have any strong ranged attacks.



Tip #8 – Terrify will make melees scream at you. You use Terrify, and it will pass straight through their mez protection toggle 99% of the time. And you know how Terrify works in PvE. In PvP, though, it's slightly bugged...sometimes when you attack them, it doesn't let them attack you back. And you thought it was going to be more bad news. Terrify is easily one of the most powerful Controls in your arsenal. If you're fighting a melee, this is where Total Focus' detoggling ability will come in handy, because it doesn't matter if you hit their protection toggle anymore—hit their resistance/defense/regen toggle and your next attacks will do more damage.

Use their immobility to your advantage. In PvP, you need unsupressable combat speed, so you should have taken Hurdle and Combat Jumping. If you did, then you can jump right up to your target with a Melee attack queued up and hold down the back button right as you reach melee range. If you did it just right, you should jump backward and watch your attack's animation play in midair while you land 50 feet away from him. Against a Spine Scrapper, he will obviously Impale you, so try to avoid attacking them yourself and let a Stalker on your team take advantage of the situation.



Tip #9 – Levitate prevents the use of Break Frees, and is not stopped by them. If you manage to hold ANYONE in PvP, expect them to use a break free. Levitate will send them flying into the air before they have the chance to pop one, and throws them to the ground for a long enough time that you could use Total Focus without fear of retaliation. And if they do pop a break free, just hit Levitate again. They probably didn't turn on their protection toggle yet because the only thing they had time to do was hit the Break Free.

This is a very useful psychological tool as well. When you hold someone, they usually go for the break free and think nothing of it. Send 'em flying into the air and suddenly they can't use that Break Free anymore. ”Oh crap get up get up get up he's using Total Focus on me!” [mashes the inspiration button]. [break free popped] ”whew” [is levitated again]. “#@%&!”. He'll be shaking and sweating by now. Use this time to run away and wait out the Break Free (their duration is very very short and they give a blue glow around their head). Count fifteen seconds, then look for him again and see if the attacks you used while he was held and on the ground were enough to build Domination. If it was, it's showtime.



Tip #10 – You won't be able to see your hold's effect animation if you turn on suppress player effects. However, there is one giant clue: in PvP, everyone is jumping around and running this way and that. If the guy stops moving, falls short during a jump, or falls out of the sky because he was flying, immediately hit Levitate because your Hold just locked him tight. If Levitate didn't work, then he was faking you out and you should keep your distance. Nobody's that smart, though, so expect to see Levitate work immediately.



Tip #11 – Stalkers are the most complained about AT in PvP. Think of the destruction you could cause as a duo. I mean it. Team with a Stalker and both your lives become instantly better. The easiest way to avoid a Stalker is to stand still. If their target runs away, they don't get their rep. If you come into the picture, however, the other players now have two people to worry about: that Dominator that's going to stop them from moving so that Stalker can gank them, or that Stalker that's running at them with their Assassin Strike ready. Telekinesis is instant gratification. Terrify too. Against squishies, hold them and the Stalker doesn't have to worry about being Debuffed/Blasted/Mezzed and can slice them wide open. Prey upon loners who were too dumb to get a team. Prey upon those loners when they team up to try and STOP your team. The more of them that come, the more uber you'll feel.



Tip #12 – Clear Mind will make you cry. Clear Mind makes anyone affected completely immune to you. Empaths like to stand in the Siren's Call hospital and hand them out. Simply put, if you face a team with Clear Mind on, hold the Empath first and kill him to make sure he doesn't keep using it. Other than that, try to contribute damage until you see the glowing heads wear off. Nothing much you can do against Clear Mind except use Telekinesis and try to pin a lot of them against a wall.



Tip #13 – Carry Break Frees. But I thought Break Frees were the enemy! No. They help us get free from mezzes just like they do for everyone else. Everyone has some type of mez in PvP, even a Tanker (be thanking God that Scrappers can't get Energy Melee. Our secondary borrows from it. If they had double their power without a critical, do the math). Never go suggesting that the devs get rid of Break Frees until you experience life with and without them in a world where Energy Melee and Ice Blast are common powersets.




[CNC]




So you think you're ready to join the ranks, soldier? Well, if you're not... you must not have read the guide right. START OVER!

I'm kidding. It's a 4 post long guide (50 pages in OpenOffice). Just use the table of contents if you ever need to find something immediately.

I thank you very much for reading all the way through. I may not be able to teach experience, but I can at least say I did my best to try. You, too, for that matter. Without your willingness to finish, you'd have never learned all that. Be proud of yourself, soldier. Now go out there and show 'em what you got. You're ready, and I've not a doubt in my mind you'll grow strong.

Who knows? You may even write a guide of your own someday.

[SBLD]
Sample Builds

First, we'll talk about a pure PvE build or two:

When starting out, before Dual and Single origin enhancements become available, it's suggested that you slot only accuracy and endurance reduction. Damage enhancements don't offer a significant bonus yet, while Accuracy enhancements will make a noticeable leap in your ability to hit. Because it will take four Training Origin enhancements to equal one Single-Origin enhancement, and you probably won't have that many slots until much later, it is highly recommended that you don't talk to a Fortunata Fateweaver to change your notoriety (difficulty) until at least level 12. Remain on Villainous until you feel you are either not being challenged enough or just want to see what it's like. And, this goes without saying, but avoid teams running missions on Relentless until later.

That said, from 1-10 you should be doing so much damage you'll swear the other ATs are UNDERpowered.

Don't buy new enhancements to combine with the old ones. You want to spend as little infamy as possible on Training Origins so you'll have the money for Dual Origins, which are quite harsh on the pocketbook even if you did save up. Unless you have a higher level character to get infamy off of, o' course.

[BLDL]
Your build up to level 12 should look something like this:




---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: PvE Pre-12
Level: 12
Archetype: Dominator
Primary: Mind Control
Secondary: Energy Assault
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Mesmerize==> Acc(1)Acc(3)
01) --> Power Bolt==> Acc(1)Acc(3)
02) --> Dominate==> Acc(2)Acc(5)
04) --> Bone Smasher==> Acc(4)Acc(5)Acc(7)
06) --> Levitate==> Acc(6)Acc(7)Acc(9)
08) --> Confuse==> Acc(8)Acc(9)ConfDur(11)
10) --> Power Blast==> Acc(10)Acc(11)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
01) --> Domination==> Empty(1)
---------------------------------------------


Pick a power from the pool you want your travel power from, and for the sake of completeness, let's say you wanted Fly. I'll pick Hover since it doesn't use many slots and is light on the endurance, so you can rest in the air if you get too low.




Now, we come to the DO levels. At level 12, go to Cap Au Diable and find the store that sells enhancements your origin can use. I imagine your jaw will drop when you find out that even though you saved over the course of your entire pre-12 career, you can only afford to buy two or three of them.

Don't try to PvP just yet, even if you are sent to Bloody Bay by a contact. You need as many slots in your powers as possible with full green SOs, and no matter what level you are when you enter the zones, you keep all your slots (but not your powers, so slot up Power Bolt by 50 if you want to PvP in Bloody Bay and Siren's Call a lot).

Since these are Dual Origins, you can go to either of the three stores that sell your enhancements (for example, if you're a Mutant, you can get your DOs from either the Science, Mutant, or Magic stores, as long as your origin is one half of the enhancement. This is also where mob origins start to play a bigger role: depending on which ones you kill, you'll get different DO enhancements occasionally.

This is also where mobs start getting much harder. They jump in power as you go on up, because they are designed to be handled with dual origins. Dominators suffer in the teen levels because mob HP goes up while the power of our attacks can't keep up with it, and many new Dominators quit around their teens in frustration, though some don't experience it at all. It depends on the person. You may start fighting elite bosses around these levels, and if you find one, do not attempt to take him on without Domination. You might even have to get a team (this is true for every AT, as most cannot solo EBs before SOs and Stamina). If you can successfully make it past the teen levels as a Dominator, things will only improve as you move on up.

[BLDT]
Your pre-SOs build should look something like this:




---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: PvE Pre-22
Level: 22
Archetype: Dominator
Primary: Mind Control
Secondary: Energy Assault
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Mesmerize==> Acc(1)Acc(3)
01) --> Power Bolt==> Acc(1)Acc(3)
02) --> Dominate==> Acc(2)Acc(5)Hold(15)Hold(15)Hold(17)Rechg(17)
04) --> Bone Smasher==> Acc(4)Acc(5)EndRdx(7)EndRdx(13)
06) --> Levitate==> Acc(6)Acc(7)EndRdx(9)
08) --> Confuse==> Acc(8)Acc(9)ConfDur(11)
10) --> Power Blast==> Acc(10)Acc(11)EndRdx(13)
12) --> Hover==> Fly(12)
14) --> Fly==> EndRdx(14)
16) --> Power Boost==> Rechg(16)
18) --> Total Domination==> Acc(18)Acc(19)Acc(19)Rechg(21)Rechg(21)
20) --> Swift==> Run(20)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
01) --> Domination==> Empty(1)
---------------------------------------------





As stated before, don't waste your money combining enhancements unless they're about to turn red. You need as much as you can get so you can afford SO enhancements.

Now that you've reached 22, don't immediately try to make all of your enhancements SOs. If you have the money to do so, you did better than I when I was that level. As with DO enhancements, SOs will be such a jump in price that you can probably only afford one or two, where DOs will be actually quite affordable. By now, you should be able to fully slot your Dominator with DOs, while being able to afford some SOs.

If your DOs are starting to turn yellow, now is a good time to turn them all green again before moving up to SOs. SOs are insanely powerful, yes, but they come at quite a price. If you've been doing only newspaper missions for your levels, stop that practice and try to do as many Story Arcs from your contacts as you can get. Each one you successfully finish will give you a free SO, sometimes one that you can choose yourself.

If you've been doing missions on Villainous up to this point, you will not need more than one accuracy SO in each power. If you've been doing them on Vicious, two accuracy is recommended but not needed. If you plan on succeeding on the Relentless notoriety setting, team or solo, or if you want to PvP at all, you'll NEED two accuracy SOs in every power. (PvP base accuracy is much lower).

If you really hate missing, you can go two accuracy/three damage, or if you are short on slots, two accuracy/two damage. Damage SOs make a gigantic difference, though, so only use that slotting in emergencies.

[BLDH]
Your build to 40 should be something like this:




---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: PvE Build @40
Level: 41
Archetype: Dominator
Primary: Mind Control
Secondary: Energy Assault
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Mesmerize==> Acc(1)Acc(3)
01) --> Power Bolt==> Acc(1)Acc(3)
02) --> Dominate==> Acc(2)Acc(5)Hold(15)Hold(15)Rechg(17)Rechg(23)
04) --> Bone Smasher==> Acc(4)Acc(5)Dmg(7)Dmg(13)Dmg(40)
06) --> Levitate==> Acc(6)Acc(7)Dmg(9)Dmg(31)Dmg(40)
08) --> Confuse==> Acc(8)Acc(9)ConfDur(11)
10) --> Power Blast==> Acc(10)Acc(11)Dmg(13)Dmg(17)Dmg(34)
12) --> Hover==> Fly(12)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14)
16) --> Power Boost==> Rechg(16)Rechg(31)
18) --> Total Domination==> Acc(18)Acc(19)Rechg(19)Rechg(21)Hold(21)Hold(23)
20) --> Swift==> Run(20)
22) --> Health==> Heal(22)
24) --> Stamina==> EndMod(24)EndMod(25)EndMod(25)
26) --> Terrify==> Acc(26)Acc(27)Fear(27)Fear(37)Rechg(37)
28) --> Total Focus==> Acc(28)Acc(29)Dmg(29)Dmg(31)Dmg(37)
30) --> Aid Other==> Heal(30)
32) --> Mass Confusion==> Acc(32)Acc(33)Rechg(33)Rechg(33)Rechg(34)ConfDur(34)
35) --> Aid Self==> Heal(35)Heal(36)IntRdx(36)IntRdx(36)
38) --> Power Burst==> Acc(38)Acc(39)Dmg(39)Dmg(39)Dmg(40)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
01) --> Domination==> Empty(1)
---------------------------------------------





or, if the Medicine pool isn't your thing:




---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: PvE Build @40
Level: 41
Archetype: Dominator
Primary: Mind Control
Secondary: Energy Assault
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Mesmerize==> Acc(1)Acc(3)
01) --> Power Bolt==> Acc(1)Acc(3)
02) --> Dominate==> Acc(2)Acc(5)Hold(15)Hold(15)Rechg(17)Rechg(23)
04) --> Bone Smasher==> Acc(4)Acc(5)Dmg(7)Dmg(13)Dmg(40)
06) --> Levitate==> Acc(6)Acc(7)Dmg(9)Dmg(31)Dmg(40)
08) --> Confuse==> Acc(8)Acc(9)ConfDur(11)
10) --> Power Blast==> Acc(10)Acc(11)Dmg(13)Dmg(17)Dmg(34)
12) --> Hover==> Fly(12)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14)
16) --> Power Boost==> Rechg(16)Rechg(31)Rechg(36)
18) --> Total Domination==> Acc(18)Acc(19)Rechg(19)Rechg(21)Hold(21)Hold(23)
20) --> Swift==> Run(20)
22) --> Health==> Heal(22)
24) --> Stamina==> EndMod(24)EndMod(25)EndMod(25)
26) --> Terrify==> Acc(26)Acc(27)Fear(27)Fear(37)Rechg(37)
28) --> Total Focus==> Acc(28)Acc(29)Dmg(29)Dmg(31)Dmg(37)
30) --> Telekinesis==> EndRdx(30)EndRdx(36)EndRdx(36)
32) --> Mass Confusion==> Acc(32)Acc(33)Rechg(33)Rechg(33)Rechg(34)ConfDur(34)
35) --> Power Push==> Acc(35)
38) --> Power Burst==> Acc(38)Acc(39)Dmg(39)Dmg(39)Dmg(40)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
01) --> Domination==> Empty(1)
---------------------------------------------




Don't forget, though, that these are only samples. Your build can contain whatever you want. Don't want a power? Don't take it. Want to take Leadership? Hey, if you can fit it in there, go right ahead. As for my build?

[BLDV]
This is how I'm built now, and it is my PvP/PvE Hybrid example:




---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: Vid-szhite
Level: 41
Archetype: Dominator
Primary: Mind Control
Secondary: Energy Assault
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Levitate==> Acc(1)Acc(3)EndRdx(17)Dmg(21)Dmg(31)Dmg(34)
01) --> Power Bolt==> Acc(1)Acc(11)
02) --> Dominate==> Acc(2)Acc(3)Hold(5)Hold(5)Hold(7)Rechg(7)
04) --> Bone Smasher==> Acc(4)Acc(9)Rechg(13)Dmg(15)Dmg(15)Dmg(19)
06) --> Confuse==> Acc(6)Acc(9)ConfDur(37)
08) --> Combat Jumping==> DefBuf(8)
10) --> Power Blast==> Acc(10)Acc(11)EndRdx(13)Dmg(17)Dmg(19)Dmg(21)
12) --> Aid Other==> Heal(12)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)
16) --> Power Boost==> Rechg(16)
18) --> Hurdle==> Jump(18)
20) --> Health==> Heal(20)
22) --> Stamina==> EndMod(22)EndMod(23)EndMod(23)
24) --> Telekinesis==> EndRdx(24)EndRdx(25)Rechg(25)
26) --> Terrify==> Acc(26)Acc(27)Fear(27)Fear(37)Rechg(37)
28) --> Total Focus==> Acc(28)Acc(29)Dmg(29)Dmg(31)Dmg(31)EndRdx(40)
30) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(30)
32) --> Mass Confusion==> Acc(32)Acc(33)Acc(33)ConfDur(33)Rechg(34)Rechg(34)
35) --> Aid Self==> Heal(35)Heal(36)IntRdx(36)IntRdx(36)
38) --> Power Burst==> Acc(38)Acc(39)Dmg(39)Dmg(39)Dmg(40)Rechg(40)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> EndRdx(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Acc(1)
01) --> Domination==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------

[PWRP]
Power Pools

[PWPCO]
Concealment

Stealth – Stealth doesn't prevent you from being seen completely, but it does lower the range at which mobs will aggro you. It decreases your run speed enough that Sprint or Swift will negate it. It grants 2.5% defense while you attack, 5% if you were still stealthed when that first attack went at you. It's not a great power on its own, but it does help when trying not to aggro on the way to the Bank on Mayhem Mission maps. Stack it with Superspeed and it grants the same effect as Stealth in PvE, but it doesn't really do much in PvP. It's all right, but not the best. It will suppress when you touch a glowie, so be careful. It does stack with other Stealth-granting powers, though.

Grant Invisibility – Grants the effect of Invisiblility to other players. This is actually very nice for teaming and stealthing missions, or for getting everyone to the bank during Mayhem Missions. It's very much stronger than Stealth, and does not slow the target's run speed. It is a one-time bonus, though, so if the guy you used it on attacks or is attacked, or touches a glowie, the stealth is gone until you reapply it. Lasts about two minutes, recharges in three seconds, and unlike regular invisibility, it stacks with other stealth type powers.

Invisibility – Invisibility is a very strong type of stealth. It doesn't suppress movement speed, is powerful enough that most mobs won't see you at all, and it opens up new battle tactics: using this, you can position yourself perfectly for Telekinesis and Terrify, wait for the alpha to be taken, and then let 'er rip. This power works so well with Telekinesis positioning that it brings it up to a 5- power. Some use it in PvP to get the drop on unsuspecting players, because we have a good chance of winning with the element of surprise on our side. This power doesn't stack with any form of self invisibility-granting powers, sadly, and grants no bonus to defense should you be detected (which makes little sense). It does, however, stack with another player's Grant Invis and Shadow Fall, for example, so you can evade even the best of detectors with their help.

Phase Shift – It's not a bad tier four. Though it does have a bit of an activation time where you are still in this dimension (3.3 seconds), once you phase out, you are untouchable and slightly transparent. You may heal yourself using Aid Self, and you may use as many inspirations as you want, but you cannot use Rest with it. Use it for when things go south and you know you can get it up before you get killed, like when that Blaster is about to die and he uses a Breakfree, ready to use Defiance against you. Levitate him into the air and toggle this power on to wait out the Break Free, then go in for the kill when he least expects it. It automatically shuts off after 30 seconds, but that's plenty of time. Stack it with Stealth and it gives just a hair more -perception than Invisibility.

Rating:




[PWPFL]
Flight

Hover – Don't take this power if you want to fly in the early levels of the game. It's so slow unslotted it'll be tomorrow morning by the time you fly up 10 feet. Three slotted with Fly speed SOs, you move a hair faster than base run speed. Its main purpose is staying aloft in the air, protecting yourself from knockback, and letting you shoot from high up without burning through your endurance. It's handy to have when you're a Teleporter, too. It uses almost no endurance, and its defense bonus is tiny, so those aren't worth slotting for.

Air Superiority – This is actually a very good pool attack. It's Bone Smasher without the Energy damage. It has a 100% chance to knockdown, animates quickly, recharges VERY quickly, and can fill small holes in your attack chain. It disables flight for 30 whole seconds, essentially gutting flying opponents of their speedy getaway, and as such it is a popular attack.

Fly – Fly is a popular travel power because hey, you can fly! Realistically, while it is much better than Sprint, it's the slowest travel power, and without slots you may find it too slow for your liking. Power Boost doubles its speed, though. Careful when using Fly without Stamina—it can drain your end bar on its own if you leave it on too long. If you want to go for concept and safety in PvE zones, I say it's a good choice. If you want to PvP, pick a different travel power. Fly is too easily disabled by a power in its own pool. It does suppress when you attack, but it has no accuracy penalty. If you want fast, pick Superjump. However, if you want to be able to go afk and make a sandwich on the way to your missions, or just don't want to have to pay attention to where you're going, get Fly.

Group Fly – AKA “The Griefing Power.” Everyone in the area of Group Fly's effect gets a -20% accuracy penalty. Though it doesn't suppress, people don't want to miss against tough mobs. Turn this power on and your team will hate you. By the time you get it, level 20, everyone will already have a travel power, so they won't need it.

Rating:




[PWPFG]
Fighting

Boxing – Probably the only good thing about this set is the first attack in it is pretty decent. This is what Brawl should have been—it's a fast punch to the gut that recharges insanely fast and does a moderate amount of damage. If you want a filler attack, though, take Air Superiority. Flight is a better pool overall.

Kick – This is almost exactly the same power that The Family uses on you, only it has a far lower chance to knock something back (and it knocks things back a long way). Air Superiority is better in every way. Even Punch is better.

Tough – This does give a small amount of Smashing/Lethal resistance, but only about 10%. Most of the time, we'll be fighting held enemies, and won't need the resistance. When you come against a mob strong enough to resist your holds, 10% smashing and lethal resistance isn't going to save you because Dominators have very low HP. I guess if you want it so you can increase your smash/lethal resistance on top of the patron armor, go ahead, but on its own it isn't very good.

Weave – This power was nerfed to oblivion long long ago, so it now it only gives a paltry 3.5% defense to Scrappers, and they get the good numbers. Its immobilize protection is A) available to us through Domination in better numbers, and B) can be more easily acquired through Combat Jumping. B also applies to its defense numbers. Don't take the fighting pool.

Rating:




[PWPFN]
Fitness – This is probably the most important pool in the entire game.

Swift – Lets you run at Sprint level speed at all times. Though it's great if you want to remove it from your tray altogether, Hurdle is much faster and generally more useful. It's totally up to you on this one, though. Not everyone likes hopping around.

Hurdle – Slot this up with three jump SOs, and you can jump faster than Fly ever goes, and the best part is it doesn't suppress when you attack like Fly does (get Combat Jumping to go at full speed immediately). This can be used as a travel power for you all-naturals out there—the masses call it Super Hop.

Health – Don't bother slotting it. The reason you'd get Health isn't for the regen increase, which isn't much at all, you get it for the sleep resistance. You'll be dying for it in the higher levels, may as well take it now.

Stamina – OH GOD YES! TAKE IT! In most builds, try to fit it in right at 20. For those of us that can't do that, fit it in by 24. No later. As a Dominator, you will be running out of endurance constantly if you don't slot end reduction in your powers. If you slot all of your attacks with endurance reduction, though, and I do mean all of them, you won't need Stamina. However, if you plan on PvPing at all, using Telekinesis, or soloing an Elite Boss, this is a must have power. I hate having to spend three power slots on it, too, but it's worth em.

Rating:




[PWPLE]
Leadership

Maneuvers – Bleh. Not even worth the endurance it burns. Force Field Defenders use it primarily to eke the last bit of defense out of their force fields to floor mobs' accuracy, but since we should be defending our allies with our Control powers, AND this power grants a pitiful 3.5% defense, it isn't worth taking. Total Domination without slots is better than this.

Assault – It doesn't grant a huge amount of a Damage bonus, and cannot be improved by enhancements. For Defenders it actually grants a great amount, 18.5% Sadly, Dominators have the second lowest numbers for all Leadership powers, so we get 11.5%. It does use a noticeable amount of endurance, and though I wouldn't take it either, it's far better than Maneuvers. It can make up for a single SO of damage, since it works off of total damage and not base like damage SOs do, and it does so for your whole team. I just wish we had better numbers—if we had Defender numbers we'd be giving everyone a full extra SO of damage, including ourselves.

Tactics – If only we had better buff numbers from Leadership. As it stands, though, Tactics isn't so bad. You CAN slot this thing to up its power, which for us starts at +7.5% ToHit. That may not seem like much until you enhance it to 11.5%, and even though Assault has those same numbers, 11.5% is direct ToHit—Accuracy SOs multiply the effect of ToHit powers, so it can actually do better than another accuracy SO. It requires three or four slots itself, but it definitely helps, and it can even help against Night Widow mobs, who lower your team's perception to crap. I'd fit it into my build if I had the room. However, do note that Tactics and Assault eat up a lot of endurance.

Vengeance – Target a dead teammate, click this, and you and all allies within 100 feet of him become nigh invincible. Even though we give the second lowest numbers, the buffs are so strong to begin with that it doesn't really matter. The best use of this power is during the Recluse Strike Force, at level 50, because eight level 54 heroes that can AoE one shot, have linked aggro rules and can't be controlled means much death. It does not stack with itself. I'm not going to judge anyone who takes Vengeance for anything else, as it might help in a tight situaion, but if you find yourself using it constantly, that's a red flag stating you need to focus more on your Control. and if you ARE focusing on your control, congratulations on your latest pickup group! ;point ;laugh. Make up some farfetched excuse like “oh crank there's a poisonous rabbit on my keyboard! Gotta go!”

Rating:




[PWPLP]
Leaping

Jump Kick – Worst. Attack. Ever. An easy way to spot a newb is to check if he has Jump Kick or Flurry. I've seen a Corruptor with both who made it to level 40 and skipped his teir-9s, sad to say. Stupidly long animation, weak damage, and leaves you extremely vulnerable. Even if you knock the guy back, you spend the time that he's on the ground doing somersaults. Next question please.

Combat Jumping – You wouldn't think this power is any good right off the bat, but stack it with Hurdle and by golly it makes a fast travel power. It increases your Air Control, meaning you can change direction mid-jump, and if you use it with Fly on, it decreases the inertia, allowing for on-the-dime turns, stops, and accelerations. It doesn't give very much defense, but it does grant Mag 8.3 Immobilize protection, so Spines Scrappers won't instantly win if they use Impale. It also helps a lot in Grandville, where everyone and the fleas on the back of their Grandmother's dog has Web Grenades. Use in tandem with Hurdle for fast, unsupressable Combat speed.

Super Jump – The most efficient overall travel power. It gives you great vertical movement, and just a tad less speed than Super Speed. Since the Rogue Isles (all of CoV) is very SS-unfriendly, Superjump is the way to go. It's a FUN travel power, but you can't leave it on and go afk—you have to hold down the spacebar the entire time. That can often be a pain in the rear when something comes up and you're about to fall into a large spawn of high level mobs. It's not very good to use indoors, either, as you'll hit your head on the awkward cielings. It does not stack with Combat Jumping, so you have to make a choice if you're going through a zone of mobs or players with immob powers.

Acrobatics – This is the reason half the people who take the Leaping pool take it. While its Hold protection isn't much (-2, enough to stop one hold) it does have great Hold resistance (48%, cuts their duration by that much) for when you pop Domination, but the crowning reason to get it is its insane Knockback protection (100 points). There are a lot of mobs that use Knockback powers in City of Villains, and as a Dominator, being on your back means you aren't able to control that forker, nor are you able to heal yourself or run away. It's a very good power to have. It has an average end cost, so if you find yourself running out, slot your attacks with endurance reduction one by one until the problem goes away.

Rating:




[PWPMD]
Medicine

Aid Other – Some of you looked at this and immediately thought, “Ew. I don't want to be a h34lz0r.” Well, good news: Aid Other sucks so bad you won't be yelled at for not taking it (though you might get yelled at FOR taking it).

Now, for those of you who looked at Aid Other and said “All right! My Dom is a[n] (check all that apply) empath/wizard/witch/healer and I needed this power!” I hate to burst your bubble even further. Aid Other looks like something out of Star Trek—a Tricorder, I've heard it called—and it heals your ally with a green laser beam. ALL the medicine powers use this tricorder, so if you're of magic origin, it might look a liiiiitle out of place.

It IS good to have, though, because sometimes the brute just gets way in over his head and the corruptor happens to be /Cold or /Sonic—even though it's not a great power, it helps some. With Power Boost, even with only one heal slot, it can heal a Brute 2/3s of the way to full health. Not too shabby. However, it can be interrupted, so you might have to spam the button to get it to go off during combat, and you have to stand completely still. It's also very short range (15 feet) so you have to stand next to the guy you want to heal. If you want a preview of what it looks like before you take it, go to Cap Au Diable and check out the Science Quartermaster. He's always using it.

Stimulant – Well, you don't have many good choices for first-tier powers in the Medicine pool, sadly. Stimulant doesn't heal anyone, but it does free them from mez effects, and gives them high mez protection for 45 seconds. It has its uses when you fight mobs with control powers, but in my opinion, Aid Other is more universally useful. This power does not disappoint, unlike Aid Other, but it isn't useful all the time. Your choice, though. Some people swear by Stim and will yell at you for not having it, but it's really a matter of preference.

Aid Self – This is the whole reason you get the first two powers—unlike both of them, Aid Self doesn't suck. Many Brutes take it when their secondary doesn't have a self-heal in it. Some who DO have self-heals skip their resistance auto powers for Aid Self.

It's a great heal. It heals about 1/3 of your max HP when you need it, and when you stack it with Power Boost, it heals you almost to full. In PvP, this power is a must. You're going to get hit a lot, and this lets you heal back that damage to let you finish your fight and keep your Domination bar. In PvE, it can save your fanny from the frying pan when you pull too much aggro with Terrify. Corrs normally get mad at people who run when they try to heal you, but if you have Aid Self, they'll at least be happy you healed yourself. When there are no Corrs with heals on your team (not all the secondaries get heals) it fills in that hole.

Only problem with it is you have to hold completely still to use it, as it can be interrupted; but slot it with interrupt reducers and you can even use it while under DoT ticks. Don't ever try to use it while standing in any location AoEs, it will automatically interrupt Aid Self and you'll waste away your end bar.

Resuscitate – An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, as the saying goes. I don't recommend it. It's not that it's a bad power, as it's much better than using an Awaken, it's just you have much more important things to choose from in your Primary and Secondary powersets. It CAN come in handy if one of your allies falls in battle (say, the Corr(s) with a rez), but it's generally a better idea to focus on Primary and Secondary powers, and leave the resurrection jobs to the Corrs, MMs, and people with Awaken inspirations.

Rating:




[PWPPR]
Presence – No. Just skip it. You have to take a TAUNT to get to the fears, and the fear powers suck anyway. Next question please.




[PWPSP]
Speed

Flurry – I remember this power. When I was new, I took it. After using it eighteen times, I realized what a horrible mistake I'd made. For a power in a pool that's all about SPEED, it has the longest animation time of all the pool powers. Miss with it, as most early levelers tend to do, and you're standing around whiffing at air for about four seconds. The worst part: its damage SUCKS. You'd think with all the punches it makes, each one would be as strong as Brawl, right? Well, I thought so too. Until I saw each damage tick: 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, and 2.

Hasten – This is one of the main reasons the Speed pool is so popular. Hasten improves your rechharge rate by 70%. For a Dominator, this means those nasty, long-recharge AoE control powers like Toal Domination and Mass Confusion recharge like they've been given two extra recharge SOs—which isn't reduced by Enhancement Diversification. For stacking holds in PvP, the difference is night and day. Your hold will come up so fast you'll break through a Stone Tanker's mez protection before he even realizes you're there. Definitely a good reason to pick up Superspeed as your travel power, and even if you don't plan on taking the travel power, take it to give you that edge.

Super Speed – The fastest straight-line travel power there is. If there's nothing to impede your running, like a wall or a dumpster, you will outrun everyone save a Teleporter without even any slots. It even has a stealth component to it, so though it doesn't grant you full Stealth-level concealment, it does prevent mobs from shooting you.

If you want to get around Grandville easily at the end of the game, Superspeed is a poor choice. Fly actually does the best there because the zone is vertical, and HUGE at that. Most of City of Villains is actually very unfriendly towards SS, because the terrain is more jagged and running by so many highly detailed terrain objects might cause more than a bit of lag. However, you can avoid most of the hassle by swimming around in the water until you reach the closest point to your destination, since every zone in CoV is an island (or many small islands).

This power does not need any slots to be FAST. Maybe an end reducer so you can leave it on all the time, but if you turn travel powers off during missions, put a run speed increaser in the default slot.

Whirlwind – Whirlwind works against us, plain and simple. It reduces your run speed and looks a little ridiculous, and it knocks away anything that comes into melee range. It's nothing more than a pool version of Repel. Repel is annoying to melee-types, and since you should have taken Bone Smasher and Total Focus, you belong to that group. Take only for concept. Whirlwind is a stinker.

Rating:




[PWPTP]
Teleportation

Recall Friend – Teams LOVE this power. If you're at a mission first, and people are still getting there, ask them if they want a “TP” and many of them will leap in their seats for joy. Its range may not be infinite, but you won't know the difference. It's so long it may as WELL be infinite. When nothing good is avilable, or if you just want to take the Teleport travel power, get it. It does nothing for you solo, so if that's all you plan on doing, don't take it.

Teleport Foe – TP Foe has a long cast time (still not as long as Sniper Blast though), a VERY long recharge time, doesn't affect a mob if it's too high a level, getting worse the higher the mob's rank (Minions will be teleported if they are +3 to you or lower, but for it to affect a Boss, that boss has to be -2 levels compared to you). Sometimes, it fails and will aggro the entire spawn to you. It has no accuracy penalty, thank heaven, but that doesn't make its misses any less painful. It's nigh useless before Single-Origin accuracy enhancements are available at 22.

Solo, on the other hand, since you rarely fight more than Minions, you can use TP foe to pick apart spawns that are too close together, or would be too hard if you charged straight in, and you can kill the minions around their boss one by one. You can even use it from around a corner. If you solo and want the teleport power, take this instead of Recall.

According to Gail_Sieht and ShrikeX, if you activate, move, activate, move, and repeat so that it interrupts itself repeatedly, it will build Domination very quickly and without aggro, though at a high cost to endurance. Sniper Blast does this as well.

In PvP it affects nearly everyone. It's actually part of a good tactic: get a team together, target a single hero on the other team, use TP foe, and kill them quickly. It will make the fight with his buddies much easier, and all of you get increased rep. Never mind the fact that you will be called a cheater for doing so, even though that's the power's only function and it is available to everyone at level 6. That is just the nature of the PvP zones.

If you plan on taking it, slot it with two accuracy and some recharge. It'll serve you well if you use it in the right situations.

Teleport – The fastest travel power there is. It uses the most endurance, though. For fast and easy usage, type /bind lalt + lshift “Powexec_name Teleport” (with the quotes). Hold down Left Alt and Left Shift, and click at where you want to go as many times as you want (not too rapidly, though), and Teleport will send you there VERY quick; it will even give you a four-second hover effect. In PvP, it's hard to catch a Teleporter because he could have gone anywhere and you probably didn't see what he was aiming at. You can even use teleport through immobilization powers and to get out of Caltrops patches (which are VERY common and annoying 40+ when you fight the Knives of Artemis).

It is best used with Hover, as it will be much faster than Fly and gives you all the vertical/horizontal movement you need without you plummeting to your doom when you run out of endurance, and it needs to be slotted with Endurance Reduction ASAP, but it is INSANELY fast, and is the best power for travel. Sadly, unlike the leaping pool, its tier-4 doesn't give you hold and knockback protection. More pool powers need to be as good as Acrobatics, dangit.

Team Teleport – As useless as Group Fly. It's an AoE TP self and not a mass recall friend. I can think of one good use for it in one mission at the very end of the game, but other than that, don't bother with it.

Rating:




[DOMN]
DOMINATION

90 seconds of Godhood. That's all that needs to be said. While under its effects, you gain a +75% buff to damage, a +50% increase to all control durations, and all controls that you fire off will essentially have double their original magnitude. Almost nothing can resist a hold that hits them under Domination, and if it does, it won't for long.

In addition to gaining all that power, you become virtually immune to all Control effects for its 90 second duration, and if you're under the effect of a control already, pop Domination and you'll get free. Nothing, and I mean nothing will be able to bring you down without first killing you. Knockback, Repel, Fear, Confuse, everything is protected against. (This will be added in a future patch according to Castle, and is already on the test server).

Every move that's not a self-buff generates two points of Domination, regardless of whether you hit or miss, but if you hit a player character with an attack from your secondary, you gain ten points instead. Every 7.5 seconds, one of your Domination points will decay. This means it takes a million years for it to completely disappear, but if you go afk, it is enough to stop you from using Domination until you build some more points up.

According to the devs, the true design of Dominators is trying to acquire and use Domination as often as possible. Although you can save it for the final boss, and that practice is recommended in the levels before SO enhancements, on 8-person teams it's a good idea to use it as often as possible to lock down the Bosses and increase the damage you do.

Though its damage bonus only works off of base damage (sadly) its duration bonus works not only off of enhanced duration, but it stacks with Power Boost as well. If you need a pre-I5 AoE Hold again, Domination + Power Boost will let you hold a spawn for well over 50 seconds. Not such a wimpy power anymore, is it?

There is only one slight problem with Domination: its side effects include a massive upsurge of Leeroy syndrome. For those of you who don't know all about Leeroy Jenkins, that means you'll be tempted to charge straight into the next spawn without waiting for the others on your team to be ready. Leeroy syndrome is a very serious malady, and is often terminal. Be very wary of this when using Domination. Even the best of us suddenly become overwhelmed with the power, my God the power it's the only time I feel alive! HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHHHAHAAAAAAAA... Ha... ha.... [AHEM]