Vid-szhite's Guide to the Mind/Energy Dominator
By
Angry_Citizen,
Posted on: 2006-07-29 21:25 in Player Guides
[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 Staminait 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 beenit'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 therethe 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 numbersif 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 ToHitAccuracy 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 afkyou 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 Treka Tricorder, I've heard it calledand 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 /Soniceven 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 powersunlike 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 SOswhich 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]
[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)
---------------------------------------------
[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 himConfused 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 anywayonly 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 anymorehit 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.
Wow! What an excellent guide! Glad to see that you took your time on it!
Awesome to see a dom guide, They are far too rare. Thanks for an awesome guide. Great info, well done.
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
just to note, you can, infact, afk-travel with SJ, just use your autorun key (by default R, or make one /bind key ++forward) and a automatic jump key (I used j, so it would be /bind j ++up) activate them both, point in the general direction of your destination, and afk as you will.. with any luck you won't have accidentally gotten stuck on a building or something (though, usually I just alt tab to irc or the forums when traveling, so.. I check every once in a while)
I'd do that if my missions weren't primarily in Grandville. 
[ QUOTE ]
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 numbersif we had Defender numbers we'd be giving everyone a full extra SO of damage, including ourselves.
[/ QUOTE ]
I tested this the other day. The benefit is only +11.25%, not +11.5%, and it's just an ordinary damage buff (i.e., it adds 11.25% of base damage, not total damage).
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.
[ QUOTE ]
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.
[/ QUOTE ]
I love your guide, great information really helped me with my Dominator build and understanding the intricacies I was unable to grasp with my Dom's during the RV event (I was able to hold Scrappers several times, I just didn't understand exactly how, now I do).
I do have one little dispute, you say Mass Hypnosis checks Psy Defense only. Have you tested this recently? Or is it a change since I7 ?(Mighta missed it, been on a hiatus)
Because during the RV event, at one point the Heros created like 12 FF's (some Def, some Con). I grinned, thinking they were weak to Psy, I forget if I had Domination up at the time or not, but I fired Mass Hypnosis on them and saw "Deflect Deflect Deflect Deflect Deflect Deflect Deflect Deflect Deflect Deflect" =/
Otherwise, the single target Mind mez's do seem to check Psy only, and ignore any Ranged Positional Defense.
Damage Proc Mini-FAQ
Just noticed Damage Proc Mini-FAQ wasn't working with new forums, it's been updated.
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.
<Nods> Yah, I was able to hit with Dominate and such, but that could have just been lucky hits. I'm just a little suspect of the Prima Guide. Though, its not like I could get many Dominate's off, and they had little effect of course.
If Dispersion really is giving Psi Defense now, then that would be why. I just never realized they gave it Def(All). Thought it was all but Psi. So, I'll retract my question for now due to inadequate testing, but it'll be something I'll try out sometime, see if Dispersion has no holes at all, or if its the Single Target mez's that bypass Positional Defense only.
I'll keep you posted on any findings I come across.
Damage Proc Mini-FAQ
Just noticed Damage Proc Mini-FAQ wasn't working with new forums, it's been updated.
Hey, just wanted to say thank you so very much. I had mentioned that I finally decided on my Dominator, she's up to 14th level already, Mind/Ice (Your guide helped me with the Ice powers due to their very similar nature's). Been loving every minute of playing her, and, I haven't been tempted to play my Brutes! Eek, hehe.
Every Saturday (yesterday that is) I have an RL friend over. I didn't notice I was doing this at all until he started to comment on it "Alright, what villainous thing are you doing NOW?". Since I've started this Dominator I've been having fits of villainous laughter IRL.
Now, there is one thing I just remembered I wanted to ask ya about, increasing the KB Magnitude on Levitate. Have you had any experience with KB Enhancers in Levitate and PvP? Or do you find Power Boosts KB Enhancement (though not always on) is all you needed?
Damage Proc Mini-FAQ
Just noticed Damage Proc Mini-FAQ wasn't working with new forums, it's been updated.
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.
I believe Jorgun was trying to get a CAT off his face. Nice guide man I was thninking of making a Mind/NRG for PvP. Everything I need is her. Thanks!
Excellent Guide...a couple of questions on slotting...
Once you hit your 40's, the missions seem to always have an elite boss/hero at the end (sometimes more than one). Evidently, according to this post, Powe Boost alone won't be enough to toss around an Elite Boss so you will need to have either knockback SOs or domination up in order to toss them around. While I haven't personally tried this I have a hard time soloing elite bosses and my build is based upon your guide. I'm wondering if knockback SO's would make any difference in this situation?
Secondly, have you ever tried slotting confuse with range enhancements? One thing I noticed that the range on confuse sucked compared to mezmerize and almost always required me to get in "perception range" of mobs in order to use it which pretty much negates the fact that confuse doesn't aggro. I've found that by adding range enhancements to confuse I was able to lock down bosses by hitting them twice with it before the fight even starts.
This is really good guide. I'm actually thinking about scrapping my Mind/Psi and rerolling with this powerset combination.
Dark Forsaken: Clearance Level 50 Fire/Fire Blaster
Infinity
Officer of Fox Force Five
@The Dark Forsaken
Great Guide! Will help my Fire/Energy. Your comparison of Bone Smasher and Power Burst was particularly enjoyable.
Doom.
Yep.
This is really doom.
Great guide.
a couple of personal observations from someone who runs a mind/energy exclusively in PvE and on teams
Because I'm always on a team, my mez durations were being wasted as teams rip through mobs so quickly. So, I slotted Mez and dominate for Damage instead. Couldn't be happier since I did. You just attack, attack, attack! the fact that mobs get held/mezzed is just a bonus. I found confuse needed nothing more than 1 ACC.
Also, on teams I almost never had an opportunity to use bone smasher. I kept cycling through all the range powers. eventually I just respec'd it out. Probably very important when solo or PvP, but I it did me no good whatsoever on large teams.
Hasten makes a HUGE difference when you want Power Boost available.
I also took SS and Stealth so I can maneuver myself with less risk to open the attack with Mass Confuse/TD.
no need for medicine pool when there is always a cpl corruptors around.
205723: A Different DESTINY
When Soldiers of Arachnos got their names added to the Destiny List, Longbow managed to get a copy of the list and began rounding villains up. But one name on the list shocked them...
Could you post a more up-to-date layout of your Mind/Energy Dom? yours only goes to lvl 40 but your sig says your lvl 46. I am interested to see how you encorporate your Patron powers.
Also, in your guide, you mention taking Stamnia and just 3-slotting it, with barely any if not none, EndRed's in your powers. What is your End consumtion like during PvE?
/bump (need to add it to my favorites >.<
[ QUOTE ]
The best part about Confuse in PvP is watching Sergeant Shootemup set up his Device fortress. Cast Confuse on him and laugh as all his mines send him flying across the horizon, with a little Pokemon-style twinkle when he blasts off again.
[/ QUOTE ]
That line made me get Decieve again on my Controller (I had to drop it for Acro), but I couldnt find anything to switch it for
Anyway, great guide... I think Im going to go make a Mind/NRG Dom now xD
excellent guide, i really got few things out of it that helped quite a bit. thanks a lot.
I am far from being high level character yet, but still curious why your builds do not have Haste? I mean, having your strong melee attacks turn into non stop chain from just burst damage, having ability to lock things down faster with dominate/confuse, getting domination every other fight while recovering your end... Whats not to like? Plus it saves you from having to take and slot up few extra attacks to form a continuous chain...
I think Haste is a lot more beneficial then for example Power Blast which has nearly same DPS as Power Shot (according to Mid's) and sucks at building up domination with its slow recharge. Plus who cares about ranged attacks when you play as energy...
Very entertaining and informative post, thanks. You are a funny guy. I will paste my favorite part:
"Let me put it this way: Bone Smasher is like a romantic dream dateone that'll give it to you any way you want it on the first date, in the restaurant if need be. You won't know what life was like without it. It's not a first-timer, either: it starts off good, and through time, only gets better. You're with it so long, though, that you might start to take it for granted as you move on up, and look for something more.
Now, on to Power Burst. It's the kind of power that you can't take your eyes off of, and what's more, it's got a rep. It's like a hot supermodel that somehow agrees to go out with you. You saw it when you were a wimpy, noodle-armed loser, and you vowed you'd work out and get as much cosmetic surgery as you needed so you could get its attention and finally hook up with it. Much time later, when you're a lean, mean, dominating machine, you ask it out and it says yes!
But it knows it's good, and it's tired of all the losers who've used it in the past, and it doesn't CARE that you've already worked your tail off to be worthy, so it refuses to put out until it agrees to marry you.
Yikes.
It's also spoiled and picky, and very very rich, so you have to shower it with gifts to get the end result.
Crank.
The whole time you're with it before level 40, you're thinkin: GOD! Just MARRY ME so we can get it overwith already! and once you finally tie the knot, it turns out it's only a smidgen better your level two poweryou can barely tell the difference. Many quit because of this, let down because that all that work was for what reward? Bragging rights? Well, you brag at first, and then you see that poindexter Psi Assault you used to pick on back in high school again and realize he ain't a poindexter anymore. He's married to a power that's hotter than yours and is ten times better in bed.
Suddenly, you feel jipped. Horribly, horribly jipped.
While Bone Smasher is immediate pleasure and did what you wanted when you WERE a noodle armed loser, Power Burst needs a lot of attention, even though you could have any power you like. By the time you fully slot Power Burst, you no longer take Bone Smasher for granted, and remember the early levels when you could two shot things with it and Power Bolt. You start to miss that magic, and you take a liking to it once again.
An odd way of putting things, I know, but that's the kind of feeling these powers give you."
[ITR]This guide is best viewed from the Villain page
<
You can see it all now: you have a great concept for this guy. He's got the power of Mind Control, and he ain't afraid to use it. He can go straight at them where they can't defend themselves. He can hurl people into the air by sheer force of will. He's probably got some wicked glowing eyes, and maybe even a giant evil brain.
But you don't want him to be a stinkin' /Psi Poindexter, oh no; [ahhnuld]you want heem to have MUSCLES! You want to be able to punch people in the face with glowing red fists. You want to toss them around with your body AND your mind. You want them to beg for their mommies and stampede over themselves running for cover when they see you wind up. You want to feel big and strong![/ahhnuld]
(And if your concept was for a female character, the glowing auras around your fists can be pink pompoms. Same physical strength appliesvillainesses are scary).
But more than anything, you want to see this in the higher levels:
[ QUOTE ]
Nice to see a good Dom once in a while.
[/ QUOTE ]
Brute, Team Leader, in tell.
[ QUOTE ]
All right, a Mind Dom! I <3 Mind Doms.
[/ QUOTE ]
Team, glad I was there.
[ QUOTE ]
Wow your build is awesome.
[/ QUOTE ]
Stalker, in tell.
[ QUOTE ]
How the @%#& did you break through PB!?
[/ QUOTE ]
SR Scrapper, experiencing Domination firsthand.
Hold up!
Before you go diving into Dominators so you too can earn adulation from your shocked teammates, you need a good idea how to build and play one! The leading cause of "Doms suck" posts on our forum (And if you've never been there, watch your step) happen to stem from not knowing how to build one or play one right. And believe me, it's harder than it looks! I screwed my first one up so bad I had to delete and reroll him because his build was so awful. It took two respecs with some reslotting to get my build to where it is now, and I can finally say I'm 90% happy. Why not 100%? I'll get into that later.
But you didn't come here to listen to me talk about myself or about my experience. You came here to learn about Mind Control and Energy Assault combined together, so let's get to it! Along the way, I may even give tactical advice and important caveats from the imaginary pages of my notebook, but I will not go over patron powers.
[TOC] Table of Contents >> To use, Press Ctrl-F and search for the letters in the []s to jump straight there. Search for TOC to come back. Try it now: search for PWMC to skip the Table of Contents.<<
>>>>> [ITR] Introduction
>>>>> [PWR] Power Info/Ratings/Comments (includes recommended slotting variations)
>>>[PWMC] Mind Control
[PWM1] Mesmerize
[PWM2] Levitate
[PWM3] Dominate
[PWM4] Confuse
[PWM5] Mass Hypnosis
[PWM6] Telekinesis
[PWM7] Total Domination
[PWM8] Terrify
[PWM9] Mass Confusion
>>>[PWEN] Energy Assault
[PWE1] Power Bolt
[PWE2] Bone Smasher
[PWE3] Power Push
[PWE4] Power Blast
[PWE5] Power Boost
[PWE6] Whirling Hands
[PWE7] Total Focus
[PWE8] Sniper Blast
[PWE9] Power Burst
>>>[PWRP] Power Pools
[PWPCO] Concealment
[PWPFL] Flight
[PWPFT] Fighting
[PWPFN] Fitness
[PWPLE] Leadership
[PWPLP] Leaping
[PWPMD] Medicine
[PWPPR] Presence
[PWPSP] Speed
[PWPTP] Teleportation
>>>>>[SBLD] Sample Builds
>>>[BLDL] Low level Sample
>>>[BLDT] Teen level Sample
>>>[BLDH] High level Sample
>>>[BLDV] My Build: PvP/PvE Hybrid
>>>>>[DOMN] Domination
>>>>>[TACT] Tactics
>>>[TCTS] Solo Tactics
[TCS1] Mobs that resist Levitate
[TCS2] Dealing with Nemesis
[TCS3] Soloing Elite Bosses
>>>[TCTT] Team Tactics
[TCT1] Teams with Brutes and/or MMs
[TCT2] Teams without Brutes or MMs
>>>[TCTP] PvP Tactics
>>>>>[CNC] Conclusion
[PWR]
Powers
[PWMC]
Mind Control
I can feel it! I control every mind on the planet! Mwa ha ha ha! EVIL RULES! Emperor Zurg
Excerpt from Vid-szhite's Notebook:
[ QUOTE ]
Mind Control is the most versatile Control set. It's got a great amount of soft control (Sleep, Fear, knockup) while also having a good amount of old fashioned hard control (Confuse, Hold). It has a stupid amount of long-lasting single-target control, and a generous amount of area effect control. While it has no super strong set-defining power like Seeds of Confusion, it does have a huge bag of tricks to draw frommany of which don't draw any aggro at all. It gives up its pet for increased Controlcontrol that ignores positional (ranged, melee, AoE) defense altogether.
That said, though, Mind Control is a very difficult set to master. The best way to use each of its powers is not very obvious, and it may take the entire course of your journey to fully learn what each and every power does, and what situations those powers are best suited for. Experience is not something one can teach, but I can point you in the right direction to make the learning curve less steep, and to give you an idea of how best to approach each situation.
[/ QUOTE ]
[PWM1]
Level 1: Mesmerize - Mesmerize assails a target with painful psychic energy, resulting in unconsciousness. The target will remain asleep for some time but will awaken if attacked. Damage: Moderate, Recharge: Moderate
AKA, how to put an ADHDing 2-year-old to sleep after he's been fed coffee ice cream.
Vital Stats:
Damage@ level 50: 36.14 Psionic
Inherent Accuracy: 110%
Range: 100'
Activation: 1.67 seconds
Recharge: 6 seconds (Does not accept Recharge Enhancements)
End Cost: 5.2
Special Effects: Foe Sleep (100%. PvE Mag 3.5, PvP Mag 4)
>>Duration @ level 1: 30 seconds (@ 50: 45 seconds).
*All numbers are listed unslotted, and will be listed as such to the end.
Mesmerize hits the target as hard as a first-tier blast (like Power Bolt). Unslotted, its duration is 30 seconds at level one. At level 50, its base duration is 45 seconds thanks to level scaling. Since it's mag 3.5, it can sleep anything except an Elite Boss, resistant Arch-villain (it sleeps most of them), or a Lost/Arachnos Boss in one shot. The only gripe I have about this power is it doesn't accept recharge enhancements. But since it recharges faster than Dominate anyway, that isn't really a downside.
For soloing, this power is indispensable. It will allow you to easily solo bosses without Domination, and when fighting a regular 3-mob spawn, it's one of the keys to total lockdown. This sleep lasts so long, unslotted, that you could use it on a boss, rest to full, and still not have them wake up on you. If you plan on soloing at all, take it.
For PvP: This power has its uses, but against most people, it isn't worth it. Its base duration in PvP is shortened to 10 seconds, and since it breaks when you damage, it can't stack with itself. Its one use is to punch through a Force Fielder's mez protection. Force Field is rather uncommon in PvP, so in pure PvP builds, it's skippable. Either way, you can break their protection with a Dominate and Telekinesis/Total Domination.
Rating: (on a scale of 1-5)
Recommended Slotting: Acc (PvE, Bare minimum)
Acc/Acc (Recommended for PvE and Minimum for PvP)
Acc/Acc/Dmg/Dmg/Dmg (PvP, Damage)
[PWM2]
Level 1: Levitate - You can send a single target violently into the air, then slam your foe to the ground for Smashing damage. This power can bring flying foes to the ground. Damage: Moderate, Recharge: Moderate
Nothing's more villainous than throwing someone two stories into the air with your mind and watching them land with a fence in between their legs.
Vitals:
Damage@ 50: 47.71 Smashing
Inherent Accuracy: 100%
Range: 80'
Activation: 1.87s
Recharge: 6s
End Cost: 6.864
Special Effects: Foe KnockUp (100%)
This power does as much damage as a tier-two blast (like Power Blast), and has the added effect of being a 100% knockup. This power starts off awesome and never gets old. In the very low levels it can take off 1/2 of a white con minion's HP in a single shot, all while stopping them from shooting at you until they manage to get off their face. It works on 90% of the bosses you'll ever meet in the game. Even Arachnos and Lost bosses, who are normally super-resistant to mezzes, will get flung into the air, defenseless. Even though this power does decent damage, it is best used as a Soft Control. If you have another attack ready and the mob you're fighting is held, use that attack instead.
The only downside to using this power for damage is how long it takes to see its end result. Most attacks immediately show you how much damage they do the moment they hit. In Levitate's case, it doesn't "hit" until they hit the ground--which is well after it unroots you and lets you shoot again. Slot this power with anything less than two accuracy SOs and it'll seem like it has an inherent acc penalty (which it doesn't; its misses are just more irritating).
The good news is, Levitate is virtually impossible to defend against when it doesn't inherently miss. It only checks against Psionic defense. Not Ranged/Psi defense, not Smashing Defense, just Psi defense. This means Super Reflexes Scrappers and Regen Scrappers running MoG have a huge gaping hole in their defenses that you can easily exploit--this power is a tier two blast, if you'll recall me saying.
Against held players, use this to keep them from using Break Frees for a short time. Even if they use one, toss em into the air again to run/keep attacking. Break Frees don't protect enough against Knockback/up/down to stop Levitate on their own.
Excerpt from Vid-szhite's Notebook:
[ QUOTE ]
Things aren't all rosy in the land of Mind Control. ALL your powers only check against Psi defensewhich means the Carnival of Shadows will make you want to maul your monitor in rabified frustration, and Stone Tankers in Siren's Call who were smart and took Mineral Armor will leave you swearing at your monitor.
[/ QUOTE ]
Rating:
Suffers from minor flaws, but it's still a must-have, for all levels of the game. I respec'd out of it and after a few levels I realized how much I missed it. Don't go respeccing out of it until you slot it up with at least two accuracies and three damages--all in Green SOs. You may regret it if you do.
Recommended Slotting: Acc/Acc/Rech/Dmg/Dmg/Dmg (PvE/PvP)
Acc/Acc/End/Dmg/Dmg/Dmg (PvE/PvP, marathon slottingI use this)
[PWM3]
Level 2: Dominate - Dominate painfully tears at the mind of a single foe. It deals Psionic damage and renders a foe helpless, lost in his or her own mind and unable to put up any defense. Damage: Moderate, Recharge: Moderate
Word of advice: do not look in the mirror and use it on yourself. It feels like a Vegas hangover.
Vitals:
Damage: 36.14 Psionic
Inherent Accuracy: 120%
Range: 80'
Activation: 1.1s
Recharge: 8s
End Cost: 8.528
Special Effects: Foe Hold (100%. PvE Mag 3, PvP Mag 4)
>>Duration @ level 1: 12 seconds (@ 50: 17.88 seconds)
Like Mesmerize, it deals as much damage as a tier-one blast. However, since it's your Single Target Hold, do NOT slot it for damage. This power is your staple move, and it's a good one at that. Any Mind/ build without it is instantly gimped. It's probably the best hold I've ever used, and I've tried em all. Effect is instantaneous, leaves no room for stray shots, and animation is very short (and cool).
Downside is, if you aren't right next to a mob when you use it, you might not notice them clutching their head like they just saw your grandma naked. It's not an obvious effect, and if the mob has a rifle drawn, they will go into a continuous shooting animation loop, so it looks even LESS obvious. Probably not a good idea to go Mind/ if you want to be thanked for your holds (even though I WAS thanked for my holds once, and there was an Ice/ Corr on the team. >.>
This is probably the best hold for PvP, since nothing but full on Psi defense can protect against it. You can Kill a Regen Scrapper running Moment of Glory using only this power. SR Scrappers want to nerf Dominate like you wouldn't believe.
But we gave up a pet for our enhanced control, so screw them.
Rating:
Take this power at level 2. No later. Slotting this takes highest priority of all your powers once you have two accuracy in each of your attacks.
Recommended Slotting: Acc/Acc/Rech/Hold/Hold/Hold (PvE and PvP)
[PWM4]
Level 6: Confuse - You can Confuse an enemy into believing his or her friends are not who they appear to be. If the Confuse is successful, the enemy will ignore you and attack those friends. If you Confuse someone before you've been noticed, your presence will continue to be masked. You will not receive any Experience Points for foes defeated entirely by a Confused enemy. Recharge: Moderate
Vitals:
Inherent Accuracy: 120%
Range: 80'
Activation: 3.37s
Recharge: 8s
End Cost: 8.528
Special Effects: Foe Confuse (100%. PvE Mag 3)
>>Duration @ level 1: 20 seconds (@ 50: 29.8 seconds)
Remember when I said we gave up our pet for enhanced control? I lied.
Don't overlook Confuse simply because the power help text says it reduces your exp--every point of damage done decreases it by a miniscule amount, so that only 25% of the mob's damage counts. You get more exp than you earn with this power, so it speeds up your leveling process instead of slowing it down. Don't stop your group to take mobs out of the fight, though, as it is uneccessary, DEcreases your exp/time, and your team will hate you. They'll hate you even more if you use it while there are AFK members and they can't immediately fight for whatever reason.
Excerpt from Vid-szhite's Notebook:
[ QUOTE ]
I'm a guy from back in I6, and I remember when this power had a freaking six-second long animation, leaving you unable to use inspirations at all for the entire period. Now, that time is cut in half, and this power couldn't be mightier. It has gone from "power you use only at the start of the fight to remove LTs" to "Second ST Hold." It lasts longer than your hold does, and if given six slots it'd be without a doubt the strongest control in your arsenal.
But one of the perks of Confuse is it only needs three slots to be as effective as or more effective than your hold.
[/ QUOTE ]
Virtually nothing grants Confuse protection, but even then, it's only useful when facing teams or Pet users in PvPConfuse the owner and the pet turns on him too. It just so happens, though, that Trip Mines are pets, and so are all location AoEs.
The best part about Confuse in PvP is watching Sergeant Shootemup set up his Device fortress. Cast Confuse on him and laugh as all his mines send him flying across the horizon, with a little Pokemon-style twinkle when he blasts off again.
Rating:
Trip Mines. Nuff said.
Recommended Slotting: Acc/Acc/Confuse/Recharge.
Uber 1337 overkill slotting: Acc/Acc/Confuse/Confuse/Confuse/Recharge.
[PWM5]
Level 8: Mass Hypnosis - Hypnotizes a group of foes at a distance and puts them to Sleep. The targets will remain asleep for some time but will awaken if attacked. This power deals no damage, but if done discreetly, the targets will never be aware of your presence. Recharge: Slow
It's like watching school board meetings, only without the brain damage.
Vitals:
Inherent Accuracy: 100%
Range: 80'
Activation: 2.03s
Recharge: 45s
Area of Effect Radius: 25' (Max Targets: 10)
End Cost: 15.6
Special Effects: Foe Sleep (100%, Targetted AoE. PvE Mag 3, PvP Mag 4)
>>Duration @ level 1: 12 seconds (@50: 17.88 seconds)
This is an often overlooked power, simply because it's a Sleep. Its unslotted duration is about as long as Dominate's--12 seconds at level 1 and 18 seconds at level 50. This power's duration doesn't matter that much, though, because its main use is to eliminate the alpha strike. It generates no aggro, and can be used at range, so it also doubles as an "Ah, crap! The friggin Stalker touched the glowie!" button.
When used to negate the alpha strike, instruct your teammates to hold off on attacking first. The Corruptors and MMs should lay on the debuffs, including big ones like Fulcrum Shift, you can start using Dominate and Confuse on key targets, and THEN everyone can start shooting. At high levels you could probably do this without talking (there are exceptions), but the lower levels require some instruction (again, exceptions).
To negate extra spawns, simply target the middle and fire away. It'll even take Archvillains out of the fight with Domination up, so for the Recluse Strike Force it is a must take.
Excerpt from Vid-szhite's Notebook:
[ QUOTE ]
Do not use this in the middle of the fight on the spawn you're fighting. Ever. The downside to this power is exactly why it's overlooked: it's a Sleep. It does nothing once the fight has already started and AoE attacks are being flung everywhere. Though it can be made perma with six slots, it isn't necessary to do so. It does, however, make a good power to use on a second spawn you didn't see on your way in or for an ambush that came by surprise.
[/ QUOTE ]
This power has no PvP value whatsoever.
Rating:
Not a must have unless you do the Recluse Strike Force (important if you want SHOEs).
Recommended Slotting: Acc/Acc (Minimum)
Acc/Acc/Sleep/Sleep/Rech/Rech (Best)
[PWM6]
Level 12: Telekinesis - Telekinesis lifts a foe and any nearby foes off the ground and repels them. The targets are helpless, unable to take action, and will continue to hover away, picking up any passing targets, as long as you keep this power active. Keeping up this level of concentration costs a lot of Endurance. Recharge: Slow
Vitals:
Inherent Accuracy: auto-hit (Toggle)
Range: 50' (300' once activated, while target lives)
Activation: 0.3s
Recharge: 60s
AoE Radius: 10' (Max Targets: 5)
End Cost: 1.56 per half-second tick
Special Effects: Foe Hold/Repel (100%, anchored AoE. PvE Mag 3, PvP Mag 1.5)
>>Hold effect suppresses when target is attacked in PvP
A Quote from Veni. Vidi. Vici: The Complete Guide to Domination :
[ QUOTE ]
Telekinesis will devour your end like a soul sucking Hell field from the 7th plane of the underworld.
[/ QUOTE ]
That's putting it lightly.
This power is probably the most difficult power to use in the entire game. Target a mob with this power, toggle it on, and he will float away from you, with a mag 3 hold on him. Up to four other mobs that are near him will get the same effect. However, the direction the mobs float is based on their position relative to you, meaning they will all float in different directions. Unless you have a wall or a corner, they'll float right out of the effect's range, and they'll charge at you like a frothing bulldog that's just got his favorite bone taken away.
This is a great hold if you want to perma-hold something, but your teammates will hate you for it unless you're really good at it and had a corner nearby, and unless you watch all your floaters closely, you might float them right into another spawn.
And that other spawn won't like you.
Don't take this power before level 20 if you really want it. Take it after you get Stamina. With Stamina and two End Reduction SOs, its end cost is still prohibitive, and it's hard to use. It's very unwieldy in PvE, so it's probably skippable if that's all you do.
However, in PvP this power shines. While nearly everyone has hold resistance, almost nobody has repel resistance. Single Breakfrees can't stop it, and Scrappers will be left running in place. Pin him against the wall and you have yourself a sitting duck. It can even detoggle Personal Force Field if the guy using it aren't running Dispersion Bubble. Its strength, however, is reduced to mag 1.5 in PvP, barely enough to hold someone without any mez protection. Thanks to this, many say it doesn't count towards mag stacking. It does, it just really sucks at it. The Hold effect also shuts off the minute you attack him again, so it's mainly there for the Repel. Use it last if you plan on stacking mag
Rating:
Meh. Could be better.
Recommended Slotting: End/End/Rech/Rech (PvP)
End/End/End (PvE)
[PWM7]
Level 18: Total Domination - This power tears at the mind of a target foe and those nearby. Total Domination renders all affected foes helpless, lost in their own minds and unable to defend themselves. Recharge: Very Long
If only this power was as cool as it sounds.
Vitals:
Inherent Accuracy: 80%
Range: 80'
Activation: 2.03s
Recharge: 240s
AoE Radius: 20' (Max Targets: 10)
End Cost: 15.6
Special Effects: Foe Hold (100%, Targetted AoE. PvE Mag 3, PvP Mag 4)
>>Duration@ level 1: 8 seconds (@50: 11.92 seconds)
Out of the box, with one accuracy slot, this power blows. It has a triple whammy of -20% accuracy, short 8-second duration, and loooooooong four-minute recharge. Domination recharges faster than it does. For this power to be effective at all, it needs slots. Six of them. Without slots, this power is worthless except as a panic button when Domination is up. Remember when I said I wasn't 100% happy with my build? Well, I wish I had this, but I don't have the slots for it.
With slots, however, this power is all right. Two accuracies is enough to make up for its horrid base (most of the time), two hold duration SOs are enough to make it last a decent amount of time, and two recharges lets it recharge faster, so it's up at least every third fight. A lot of people show great disappointment with this power, but compared to the other AoE holds it ain't so bad. It's ranged, targeted, and only checks against Psi defense. Even then, this power is not for everyone; especially if your build, like mine, is very short on slots.
Excerpt from Vid-szhite's Notebook:
[ QUOTE ]
For us, though, this power is better than just ok. In addition to your [MUSCLES!!] and your red laser beams of doom, Energy Assault gets Power Boost to double the secondary effects of any power. That doesn't include accuracy and damage, but it does include heals, debuffs, and hold durations. The best part is, you get Power Boost two levels before Total Domination, so for you, TD is actually very good. Power Boost recharges in half the time to begin with, so there is no reason to use Total Domination without it. It turns this gimptastic panic button into a respectable area hold you can use every time it's up.
Because of this added utility, there are many ways to slot this power. Some go for all recharge and accuracy so they can use Power Boost to mimic three duration SOs and have it up as often as possible. Others go 2/2/2 so they don't skimp on anything and they get the most bang out of their SOs (the third one drops off in power very slightly because of ED). Others slot it for accuracy and duration and use it only when the fit hits the shan. This power benefits fantastically from acc/hold SHOEs, allowing for 3/3/3 slotting that this power begs to have.
[/ QUOTE ]
Rating: (Without Power Boost):
(With Power Boost):
Power Boost makes a huge difference. Don't take this power without it.
Recommended Slotting: Acc/Acc/Acc/Rech/Rech/Rech (PvP and PvE, Power Boost duration slotting.)
Acc/Acc/Hold/Hold/Rech/Rech (PvP and PvE, 2/2/2 slotting, my personal favorite)
Acc/Acc/Hold/Hold/Hold/Rech or Acc/Acc/Acc/Hold/Hold/Hold (PvP and PvE Panic Button slotting. Definitely serves its purpose.)
[PWM8]
Level 26: Tauntuh...Terrify This power Terrifies foes within a cone area in front of you, causing them to tremble in Fear uncontrollably. The effect is so frightening and overwhelming that the target takes real damage from the physiological response to this Psionic attack. Damage: Minor, Recharge: Slow
They have nothing to fear but fear itself. Since you are fear itself, you just have to worry about their retaliatory salvo.
Vitals:
Damage: 36.14 Psionic
Inherent Accuracy: 90%
Range: 60'
Activation: 2.03
Recharge: 40
Arc: 90° (Max Targets: 10)
End Cost: 20.8
Special Effects: Foe Fear (100%, Targetted Cone. PvE Mag 3, PvP Mag 4)
>>Duration @ level 1: 15 seconds (@50: 22.35 seconds)
Used correctly, this power is excellent. It does Mesmerize-level damage, is easy to aim, can be made permanent on even cons and +1s with five slots, and only allows mobs to attack once when they have been attacked themselves. Few mobs resist fear, and fewer players do as well. This is the only power guaranteed to stop a solo, non-DA melee in one shot. Sleep 2.0. Its small -10% accuracy penalty is easy to make up for.
Excerpt from Vid-szhite's Notebook:
[ QUOTE ]
This power is a terrible fight opener. It generates a TON of aggro, and thanks to it doing a small amount of damage, it lets every mob hit by it get one free shot off at whoever they hate the most before they cower. If you led the charge with this power, that guy is you. It can never replace Mass Hypnosis as an alpha strike mitigator, since it forces you to take it if you charge in first, usually ending in:
[ QUOTE ]
Vid! Stop dying! Don't make me spank you. SG leader.
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Gah!! SG friend. She likes saying Gah!! even when people just log on and say hi.
[/ QUOTE ]
If you use it after someone else has taken all the aggro, though, you'll mitigate plenty of damage and not get hit once. For damage mitigation, it's better than Mass Hypnosis: it breaks during damage, but only for one attack. For this reason, Terrify is a mid-battle time cushion. Use it early in the fight (but not during the alpha!) to give you time to tab around to find the Lieutenants and Bosses, and once you find them, cast full on holds and confuses on them, or if they're recharging, stun 'em with Bone Smasher or Total Focus. It's almost better than the AoE hold. Just don't use it after a Mass Confusion, it doesn't do anything. If the mobs are shooting themselves already, they aren't going to stop.
[/ QUOTE ]
Rating:
It's just fun to watch them cower. It helps when earning damage and debt badges, too.
Recommended Slotting: Acc/Acc/Fear/Fear/Rech. (PvE and PvP) Add a second recharge if you want, but it isn't necessary. Do not slot with ToHit debuff, it has no visible effect.
Other Dominators Chime in: Quote from the Forums
[ QUOTE ]
Since I've gotten Charged Armor and slotted it up, against many things I can open with Terrify with impunity. Power Boost --> Terrify --> Wait for spam of attacks to die down --> Aid Self to return to full.
It works pretty well. Mind you, I don't really need to do that, but I like to just to make fun of the Masterminds who are too scared of losing their individual tier 1 pets to send them in and take the hit.
Real men open with Terrify.
[/ QUOTE ]
Mal'rathad
So it seems that there IS an exception to the rule. Never open with Terrify.*
*Unless you have a patron shield.
[PWM9]
Level 32: Mass Confusion You can cause Mass Confusion within a group of foes, creating chaos. All affected foes will turn and attack each other, ignoring all your allies. If you Confused your foes before they noticed you, your presence will continue to go unnoticed. You will not receive any Experience Points for foes defeated entirely by Confused enemies. Recharge: Very Long
Riot-in-a-can; it's like throwing a chair into a crowd.
Vitals:
Inherent Accuracy: 80%
Range: 80'
Activation: 1.67s
Recharge: 240s
AoE Radius: 25' (Max Targets: 16)
End Cost: 26
Special Effects: Foe Confuse (100%, Targetted AoE. Mag 3)
You won't know what you did before you got this power when you join a large team and see it. This thing has a massive area of effect and a high target cap; if there are two spawns next to each other, a couple mobs in the other one might get hit with it too. It causes no aggro to you, and any harm you cause to them while they are confused is immediately forgotten when it wears off. It's like they wake up and think the whole thing was just a dream. This thing isn't just aggro-free, it's -aggro. It has the same base duration as regular confuse, so one duration slot is all it needs.
Downside? It has Total Domination's long recharge, and its negative accuracy too. It's still a good power regardless, but it does have its drawbacks. In PvP, it is the bane of Fire Controllers, and unlike other mezzes, can stack with holds.
Rating:
You will take this power, and you will love it dearly.
Recommended Slotting: Acc/Acc/Confuse/Rech/Rech/Rech (All)
Acc/Acc/Acc/Confuse/Rech/Rech (If you find yourself missing)
[PWEN]
Energy Assault
MUSCLES...TOO HUGE. CAN'T REACH FACE! Jorgan, discovering that giant muscles and small children on your face don't mix.
Excerpt from Vid-szhite's Notebook:
[ QUOTE ]
Energy Assault has some of the most wicked graphics of all the secondaries. Nothing is quite as satisfying as shooting beams of glowing energy straight into your target, and watching him fly into a wall from the sheer force of it. The trees shake when a shot goes by, and things along the ground are pushed away by the force of the impact. All its attacks are part Energy and Smashing, and none of them follow any strict formula for how much of what they do. Its ranged attacks all knock things back, with varying chances for each. Its melee attacks all leave your opponents dazed, stumbling around like drunks at a bar. The best part: all your blasts and punches are red. Mind Control, meet Energy, the most versatile of the Assault sets.
If you want an all-ranged build, Energy Assault is not for you. Fire and Ice Assault can get away with not taking melee attacks because their ranged attacks are better and their melee attacks are nowhere near as monstrously powerful. Even then, they do sacrifice some damage. Dominators have melee attacks for a reason, and that reason is they hit much harder. Our melee scale is .75 Blaster Damage, while our ranged scale is .65.
If you're not a number wizard, you're probably thinking, Huh? What does all that mean?
It means our ranged attacks, while important for damage, do less damage than our hard-hitting melee attacks. The very fact that we get a beast like Bone Smasher at level 2, the same level as Brutes and Stalkers get it, is a sign that you should never skip the Melee attacksnot the good ones, anyway.
[/ QUOTE ]
[PWE1]
Level 1: Power Bolt This quick attack rapidly hurls small bolts of energy at foes, sometimes knocking them down. It's fast, but does little damage. Damage: Minor, Recharge: Fast
Vitals:
Damage: 7.22 Smashing/28.91 Energy
Inherent Accuracy: 100%
Range: 80'
Activation: 2s
Recharge: 4s
End Cost: 5.2
Special Effects: Foe Knockback (20%)
All cowards worth a thousand points! --Vegeta.
This power is average. At level one it's all you got, and it's not bad. It's almost completely energy damage, so at least it doesn't get resisted often. Its fast-recharging action makes it a great tool for PvP Domination building, and for the lower level zones, you should consider slotting it like you would one of your other attacks. It uses very low endurance, so even at the higher levels with no damage slots, it's a good power for when the mob has 10 health left and you don't feel like using your slower, more end-heavy attacks.
Rating:
You have to take it, but at least it's not as bad as Flares.
Recommended Slotting Acc/Acc (Minimum if you plan on using it for anything)
Acc/Acc/Dmg/Dmg/Dmg (Lower Zone PvP, PvE)
[PWE2]
Level 2: Bone Smasher This melee attack can be slow, but it compensates by dealing a good amount of damage and having a better chance to Disorient than Whirling Hands. Damage: High, Recharge: Moderate
Vitals:
Damage: 38.92 Smashing/24.91 Energy
Inherent Accuracy: 100%
Range: 5' (melee)
Activation: 1.5s
Recharge: 8s
End Cost: 8.528
Special Effects: Foe Disorient (60%. Mag 3)
I'm not sure why the help text compares it to Whirling Hands.
Despite what the help text says, it is not slow. Bone Smasher is one of the fastest-to-fire melee attacks in the game, and it deals a hefty amount of damage. Its recharge is a little long, but it's livable for the amount of raw power it's got. It's got a good chance to disorient at mag 3 60%, and it is boosted by Domination, meaning you will get the floating orange text when it goes off. A nice bonus to an already great power. Because of this, you can actually use your secondary to help you control single targets while dealing great damage, further bolstering your arsenal of ST controls.
Bone Smasher is the mainstay of your arsenal. The brunt of all the damage you'll be doing over the course of your Dominator's life will be through this power. Don't underestimate it just because you get it at level 2, or because it's a melee attack. This power will last you through all 50 levels and still be great when you get there.
In PvP, this power has a 5% chance to knock off one toggle power at random. This isn't very useful, though, because that toggle could just have been Sprint. If you get extremely lucky and manage to knock off his protection toggle with that 5% chance, his other toggles will fall along with it because of the Disorient effect. Don't rely on it, though. Use Bone Smasher for damage, not for Detoggling, and only use it on a foe who is defenseless, and under the effect of some kind of Control. Entering melee range before you're ready will get you killed for sure.
Excerpt from Vid-szhite's Notebook:
[ QUOTE ]
I have Bone Smasher set on auto, where it's been since I was level 4, and that was before I leveled him to 16, deleted, and immediately remade him in his current incarnation. I've taken it off only when absolutely necessary. I love this power. To me, the other attacks are just there for when Bone Smasher is down. They are there to back it up when it doesn't finish the job on its own. I cringe when I hear it miss. Even at level 40, this power continues to be the favorite out of all my attacks. Power Burst is a close second.
On a minor note, I don't quite know why people say Energy Melee attacks look like you're swinging around pink pompoms, they clearly look like red balls of crackling energy with an inner white glow. Must be the gamma.
[/ QUOTE ]
Rating:
Get it. Slot it. Love it. --Lord Morcalivan.
Recommended Slotting: Acc/Acc/Rech/Dmg/Dmg/Dmg (PvE and PvE)
[PWE3]
Level 4: Power Push This ranged attack deals little damage but sends the target flying for a great distance. Damage: Minor, Recharge: Moderate
Man, them Derringer bullets are weak.
Powerful weak.
Vitals:
Damage: 7.22 Smashing/7.22 Energy
Inherent Accuracy: 140%
Range: 70'
Activation: 1.1s
Recharge: 8s
End Cost: 8.528
Special Effects: Foe Knockback (100%)
Power Push is redundant, plain and simple. It does just a hair over Brawl's damage, knocks things away from you, and costs as much endurance as Bone Smasher. While other Dominators might get some use out of it, keeping bosses on the ground so they can hold them more safely, a Mind/ Dominator gets nothing he (or she) doesn't already have. Levitate does the same thing for a lower endurance cost, far higher damage, and less irritation. Levitate at least keeps mobs close to where they were before you threw them in the air. Power Push knocks em flying, and in a group that could send it flying into another spawn, causing a double aggro and a team wipe if you aren't prepared for it. Some debated that it had a chance to detoggle in PvP before I7, but whether that was true or not, it sure as heck doesn't detoggle now.
The one use that I can see working for us is its low as heck activation time and insane Inherent Accuracy bonus (+40%!). In PvP, only secondary attacks generate extra Domination (I'll talk about that in a later section). Power Push works excellently with very few slots (base slot is all that is needed), works fast so you don't have to stay rooted in place for very long (rare for an /Energy ranged attack) and recharges in a decently short amount of time. Of course, PvP builds tend to be very tight, with little room for extra powers. If you can fit this into your build and do well in both PvP and PvE, I admire your resourcefulness, if not your build planning skills.
Rating:
It just doesn't do anything for us that we can't do better with our primary. Since you should have taken Dominate at 2, take Bone Smasher or Levitate/Mesmerize (whichever you didn't already get) at 4.
Recommended Slotting: Acc (it does not need a second because of its massive inherent accuracy).
Other Dominators Chime in: Quote from the Forums
[ QUOTE ]
Power Push gets a bad rap lol. It is quite useful if you like to use TK alot, so its specifically nice for Mind/Energy.
For instance I often duo with a fire/kin, so there are around 5 mobs per group on ruthless (perfect for TK). First I'll sleep 'em all then get in a nice cone for TK, to bunch them up. Sometimes 1 or 2 mobs sneak out, so I just angle him in my TK herd and Power Push him right in. Viola, all mobs are floating. The corruptor hits Fulcrum and goes to town with absolutely no risk.
It eases the use of TK knowing that I do not need to snag _every_ mob in one big sweep. This is on top of same strategy used for Levitate. You can Power Push while laying more holds on a boss. This is all with no additional slots, since it has a bonus to accuracy.
[/ QUOTE ]
Glycerine
Synergy. Beautiful synergy.
If used to augment Telekinesis, Rating (both powers):
TK is a very powerful hold that is ready nearly every fight. Its main drawback is you usually need to get everything in one sweep. With Power Push, just angle it up and fire away. It will come in handy if you decide to PvP and need to build Domination at range, as well.
[PWE4]
Level 10: Power Blast A much more powerful, yet slower version of Power Bolt, Power Blast sends a focused beam of energy at a foe that deals a Knockback. Damage: Moderate, Recharge: Moderate
Don't bind or macro GALLIC GUN!! into this power, no matter how tempting it is. Teams will slap you. I will slap you. Hopefully you don't know how to make a keybind anyway, so I didn't just give you an idea like an idiot.
Vitals:
Damage: 11.56 Smashing/36.14 Energy
Inherent Accuracy: 100%
Range: 80'
Activation: 1.67s
Recharge: 6s
End Cost: 6.864
Special Effects: Foe Knockback (30%)
The help text lies again. This power fires slightly faster than Power Bolt and looks like, you guessed it, a red Gallic Gun (Vegeta's Kamehameha). It does decent damage, hits much sooner than Levitate, recharges in a fairly short amount of time, and costs a low amount of endurance. Power Blast is good the moment you get it, but becomes just average later on in the game. Even then, though, it's good and will be your second most-used attack, and unlike Bone Smasher, it does mostly energy damage and is ranged, meaning safer Domination building in PvP. This should be an obvious choice for all parts of the game.
Excerpt from Vid-szhite's notebook:
[ QUOTE ]
Energy Assault tends to have slight gaps in its attack chain without recharge enhancements, so I used to six slot my attacks with acc/acc/rech/dmg/dmg/dmg. However, using so many attacks in nonstop, quick succession will quickly leave you drained of endurance, even with Stamina (as it says in the manual, which is right for once). However, the manual is incorrect when it says you should slow yourself when you use your powers: you want all the DPS you can get without sacrificing the safety of your holds (but you DO want to use your powers smartlydon't use Total Focus on a mob with 1 HP left, for example).
The solution? Endurance reduction slots. I know that sounds like a bad commercial to some of you, and you know who you are, but you may find that along the way not all of your attacks need recharge. Slot a couple of them up with endurance reduction instead. But which ones to slot? The ones you use the most. Bone Smasher is too valuable for DPS to warrant an endurance reduction slot, but one each in quick-recharging powers you use constantly like Power Blast and Levitate will make a huge difference in how hard you can fight. Don't turn your nose up at endurance reduction until you've tried it in a couple of your attacks. You may find you like being able to run toggles while you solo.
[/ QUOTE ]
Rating:
It might be average, but it's a good power to have.
Recommended Slotting: Acc/Acc/Rech/Dmg/Dmg/Dmg (PvP, DPS slotting in PvE)
Acc/Acc/End/Dmg/Dmg/Dmg (PvP/PvE, marathon slottingI use this)
[PWE5]
Level 16: Power Boost This power greatly boosts the secondary effects of your powers. Your powers' effectslike Heals, Defense buffs, Endurance drains, Disorients, Holds, Immobilizes, Knockbacks, and moreare all improved. The effects of Power Boost last a short while, and only the next couple of attacks will be boosted. Recharge: Long
Rainbow Powers ACTIVATE!
Vitals:
Activation: 1.17s
Recharge: 120s
End Cost: 7.8
Special Effects: +Special (+100% to all secondary effects for 15 seconds)
Everything from Aid Self to Fly is doubled while you're under its effect. It stacks with Domination, but it does not increase magnitude (so it is not a mini-Domination), but it does mean your holds last for a very long time. It can turn a once-useless AoE hold like Total Domination into a lockdown machine. If you ever need to increase your hold durations, pop this and even though you'll twinkle like a rainbow colored Christmas tree for 15 seconds, your hold times will make even Controllers jealous. Use this in tandem with Domination, and guys with level 50 Controllers will ask how the hell the Lieutenant that you confused at the start of the fight and ran off into another spawn is still shooting people 20 minutes later.
Rating:
Do not skip this power.
Recommended Slotting: Rech/Rech/Rech (If you have slots to spare)
Rech/Rech (Only 8 seconds longer than with 3)
Rech (If you don't have slots to spare. It's up almost every fight anyway.)
[PWE6]
Level 20: Whirling Hands By focusing your energy into the muscles in your arms, you can launch a dizzying flurry of attacks against every foe in melee range. Some foes may be hit hard enough to be Disoriented as well. Damage: Moderate,
Recharge: Slow
Vitals:
Damage: 23.35 Smashing/15.57 Energy
Inherent Accuracy: 100%
Range: 8' (melee) (Max Targets: 10)
Activation: 1.67s
Recharge: 14s
End Cost: 13
Special Effects: Foe Disorient (30%. Mag 2)
Power Boost ain't gonna save this one, folks.
Let's see, high endurance cost? Check. Long recharge? Check. Small area of effect? Check. Weak damage? Double check.
Whirling Hands is one of the most pitiful attacks I've ever seen a Dominator get, so it's better as a utility move. Slot it up for end reduction and recharge, set it on auto when you or someone on your team idles, and it will slowly but surely build Dominationyou can use it without targeting anything. On its own it can build a full bar in 22 minutes. If you didn't go afk, though, you'd have built it faster by actually fighting with your other powers. It does as much damage as Power Bolt, and its stun is only mag 2: minions only.
In PvP, don't actually try to hit someone with it. If they move, as people in PvP tend to do, it will miss. In PvE, it pulls too much aggro for what little it does.
Rating:
I really don't like this power. Some may consider its Domination building ability before an AV fight good, but I can get a better effect with Confuse and not have to waste a power slot.
Recommended Slotting: Rech/End
[PWE7]
Level 28: Total Focus Total Focus is complete mastery over Energy Assault. This melee attack is a very slow but incredibly devastating attack that can knock out most opponents, leaving them Disoriented. Due to the exhausting nature of Total Focus, recharge time is very long. Damage: Extreme, Recharge: Long
The Devastation from your Total Focus deals a Whopping xxx points of energy damage.
Vitals:
Damage: 38.92 Smashing/99.65 Energy
Inherent Accuracy: 120%
Range: 5' (melee)
Activation: 3.3s
Recharge: 20s
End Cost: 18.512
Special Effects: Foe Disorient (100%. Mag 3)
This attack is the reason you keep coming back. With some mobs, it hits so hard that a Bone Smasher follow up can kill the mob in question. It deals exactly the same amount of Smashing damage that Bone Smasher deals, but its energy component is more than tripled. Once you get it, don't stop slotting it until it's got at least two accuracy and three damage. This power ALWAYS disorients its target with a mag 3 stun. Stack it with Bone Smasher and you can stun a Boss.
This monster does have its drawbacks, though. It has an animation time that matches Confuse's down to the last tenth3.3 seconds. It also has a veeeery long recharge time for an attack: 20 seconds. Its endurance cost is also huge, as it costs nearly three ticks of endurance.
Excerpt from Vid-szhite's Notebook:
[ QUOTE ]
While solo, use this power as an opener on a mob you either haven't controlled yet, or the mob closest to you. If it comes up again in time for the last mob in a spawn, don't use it unless he's still around or above half HP. On teams, try not to use it on a Minion that has anyone's attention. Use it on Bosses and still-healthy LTs, because they have more health and won't likely be slaughtered by your more damaging teammates while you're in the middle of your freaktastically long windup animation.
[/ QUOTE ]
This attack does have a good chance to detoggle in PvP64% chance to drop one toggle. Even then, try not to use it on an unheld melee, but against squishies (Defenders, Blasters), knock yourself out. The good news is, this power is available in Siren's Call.
Rating:
Hits like a freight train on the highway. That's a great analogy, isn't it? >.>
Recommended Slotting: Acc/Acc/Dmg/Dmg/Dmg/End (PvEif you use it like I do, recharge is wasted)
Acc/Acc/Dmg/Dmg/Dmg/Rech (PvP, because you NEED to have your hardest hitting attack up ASAP)
[PWE8]
Level 35: Sniper Blast A focused Sniper Blast can travel great distances with high Accuracy. This is a sniper attack, best fired from a distance, as it can be interrupted. Damage: Superior, Recharge: Slow
Vitals:
Damage: 27.47 Smashing/72.29 Energy
Inherent Accuracy: 120%
Range: 150'
Interrupt Time: 3s
Activation: 1.33s
Recharge: 12s
End Cost: 14.352
Special Effects: Foe Knockdown (50%)
Remember how in Dragon Ball Z, one of the characters usually spends three episodes powering up his ultimate attack? And misses? This'll jog your memory, then.
Sniper Blast is not a weak attack. It is the strongest blast you can get, and it has the longest range as well. However, it just feels, looks, and sounds wimpy. It's a focused blast all right, so focused it looks like a single Power Bolt shot.
It takes way too long to fire. For what damage it does, which is lower than Total Focus, it should fire in half the time. Since you spend most of your time in melee range, and you get much better DPS and EPS (end per second) out of using Bone Smasher, Power Blast, and Levitate as follow-ups, this is probably not going to be your cup of tea, either.
It's not even good for pulling, as the 50% chance for a knockdown immediately aggros mobs around your target.
Rating:
This power is trying very hard to be good, and we're trying very hard to like it, but as Yoda said: Do, or do not. There is no try.
Recommended Slotting: Acc/Acc/Dmg/Dmg/Dmg/Range (PvP Sniping)
[PWE9]
Level 38: Power Burst This is a short-range, devastating attack. Damage: High, Recharge: Slow
Vitals:
Damage: 36.14 Smashing/40.48 Energy
Inherent Accuracy: 100%
Range: 20'
Activation: 2s
Recharge: 11s
End Cost: 10.4
Special Effects: Foe Knockback (60%)
You are now officially the king of Dominator Single-target burst damage! Well, not yet.
Fully slotted, this power is incredible. It may work off our ranged scale, but treat it as a melee attackone as strong as Bone Smasher. In fact, fully slotted, it's stronger than Bone Smasher. Use it in your melee chain as the final shotit knocks back often and it knocks back HARD. It has a magnificently sick animation. Plus, it's red.
So why is it second fiddle to Bone Smasher on my list of favorite attacks?
Let me put it this way: Bone Smasher is like a romantic dream dateone that'll give it to you any way you want it on the first date, in the restaurant if need be. You won't know what life was like without it. It's not a first-timer, either: it starts off good, and through time, only gets better. You're with it so long, though, that you might start to take it for granted as you move on up, and look for something more.
Now, on to Power Burst. It's the kind of power that you can't take your eyes off of, and what's more, it's got a rep. It's like a hot supermodel that somehow agrees to go out with you. You saw it when you were a wimpy, noodle-armed loser, and you vowed you'd work out and get as much cosmetic surgery as you needed so you could get its attention and finally hook up with it. Much time later, when you're a lean, mean, dominating machine, you ask it out and it says yes!
But it knows it's good, and it's tired of all the losers who've used it in the past, and it doesn't CARE that you've already worked your tail off to be worthy, so it refuses to put out until it agrees to marry you.
Yikes.
It's also spoiled and picky, and very very rich, so you have to shower it with gifts to get the end result.
Crank.
The whole time you're with it before level 40, you're thinkin: GOD! Just MARRY ME so we can get it overwith already! and once you finally tie the knot, it turns out it's only a smidgen better your level two poweryou can barely tell the difference. Many quit because of this, let down because that all that work was for what reward? Bragging rights? Well, you brag at first, and then you see that poindexter Psi Assault you used to pick on back in high school again and realize he ain't a poindexter anymore. He's married to a power that's hotter than yours and is ten times better in bed.
Suddenly, you feel jipped. Horribly, horribly jipped.
While Bone Smasher is immediate pleasure and did what you wanted when you WERE a noodle armed loser, Power Burst needs a lot of attention, even though you could have any power you like. By the time you fully slot Power Burst, you no longer take Bone Smasher for granted, and remember the early levels when you could two shot things with it and Power Bolt. You start to miss that magic, and you take a liking to it once again.
An odd way of putting things, I know, but that's the kind of feeling these powers give you.
Rating: