Hmm...what to play, what to play...

So after years of playing almost exclusively blue side I've finally been getting into the red side of things. Got my first 50 villain a week or two ago, and surprisingly enough it was the fastest 1-50 trip I've ever taken despite being almost exclusively solo. So, I'm getting more interested in playing a variety of villains. Quite enjoying my Widow but I think I'd like to get a dominator going also. Just having trouble narrowing down the choices as I don't have a lot of familiarity with the AT. The recent changes don't help make the decision any easier, since a lot of the information out there appears grossly out of date.

The most important criteria for me in selecting the sets are: a good selection of AoE control and damage (not novarific, just good) and blooming reasonably early (pretty much anything except "this becomes really really awesome once you hit 35/38!"). I'm likely to want to solo reasonably large-group missions come I16.

For primaries, I've played most of them to 50 and the rest into high 30s on controllers so I have a good idea how they work, though not necessarily how they function with the peculiarities of dominators. With that in mind I'm probably considering the following primaries:

Earth--awesome pick for aoe control and becomes effective very early. This is a strong contender for me.

Fire - nice damage but I think I want more tools than the set provides.

Mind - this is a maybe. Good mix of controls and at least a little AoE damage in terrify. I'm concerned that the number of ST controls mixed with ST blasts from the secondary is overkill.

Plant - I realize I could practically meet my criteria above without any secondary at all so this is a definite possibility. I think I'd prefer earth if--big if--the secondary provides the AoE damage I want.

As for secondaries I have hardly any idea, getting just a quick impression from perusing the powers in game. I think I would want fiery, thorny or psionic. The first two should provide very nice AoE damage; the last is decent for AoE but waits for it to develop, but may get a very noticeable increase in survivability and sustainability from drain psyche, which looks to me like an awesome power for dominators.

So I probably have it narrowed down to earth/ or plant/ with /fiery, /thorny or /psi. Any thoughts on the ins and outs of these combinations and which may appeal to me the most?

Plant/Psi is almost scrapper like in it's ability to handle large spawns. You have a tool for every situation and the damage to back it up.

Really any combo of Earth/ or Plant, with /Psi or /Fire is going to give you the AoE control and damage you are looking for.

I have a plant/fire and i can assure you fire provides plenty of aoe damage. Firey embrace+fire breath+combustion will take care of even con minions before the damage finishes ticking. Take whatever primary you want, just put recharges in fiery embrace.

Given the choice of Earth and Plant, I'd go Earth. Seeds is very, very good, but Earth gets at least three tricks to Plant's one and a far superior pet as well.

Additionally, Earth gets tonnes of -def which works really well with the Vet reward attacks, which you should have plenty of with your history blueside.

As for secondary, Fire will do more damage than Psi, but Drain Psyche really does make up the difference. Psi also has some nice secondary effects with its -recharge and even Telekinetic Thrust is a good power these days.

Don't overlook /thorns for AoE dmg.

Thanks to everyone for their responses. It's interesting that earth/psi and plant/fiery have been specifically mentioned since these are two that I had fiddled with for a level or so already.

The plant/fiery appears to have my attention for now. Although it's pretty early (teens right now) I'm a compulsive planner and already looking towards a mature build. Have a few questions to help me along the way:

Incinerate - how useful do people consider this? Does it make a big difference soloing EBs? Currently I find myself with little reason to get close enough to use it though that may change after I get Combustion.

Fly Trap - while I'm familiar with it from my controller I'm wondering how much impact it would have for a dominator. I found its main use on my plant/rad to be helping with ST damage for tough enemies but I'm not sure how necessary that is here. Still, it's a pet, and I generally assume they're a gimme. Thought it was worth asking though.

Power pools - I'm pretty sure I'll have enough space in the build for either Tough or Aid Self. My instinct is to say the first if I take a resistance toggle from my PPP or the second otherwise. Any thoughts on these?

PPP - speaking of which, is there an obvious pick for PPP? If I were to maintain enough interest in the character to invest heavily in IOs I'm assuming recharge is the clear way to go, and for that reason I thought Mace might be ideal for the LotG options it provides. How do the various pets compare, and how useful is the power assuming a heavy recharge build?

Thanks for all the help so far. I'm certainly enjoying the character to this point and could see myself spending substantial time on it.