Earth/Ice dom... Not taking stone cages... Does it make sense?
By
Catharctic,
Posted on: 2009-10-08 07:22 in Dominators
YES! There is no reason to take stone cages. It has the worst damage of any immob and it cancels knockdown which means your Earthquake will become pointless. Earthquake and quicksand keeps enemies in one spot AND keeps them from killing you. All cages does is "Hey, there's a mezzer! Let's kill him!"
Plus you'll have a lot more endurance to work with for attacks that actually do damage. I'd suggest taking the Leviathan epic for waterspout and it has a cone aoe to go with your frost breath and a pretty high damage pet.
Doms are real slow starters but stick with it man they get sick late game.
"The bird of Hermes is my name. Eating my wings to make me tame." -The Ripley Scroll
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Hey, thanks.
Good to know I'm not crazy by skipping that power. It just feels weird to have more secondary powers picked at level 6 than primary powers...
Anyway, I'm sure I'll be back sooner or later with even more questions.
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It's not a stupid question at all. A LOT of people make the mistake of taking cages. Most make the argument for them in between begging for awakens.... lol
"The bird of Hermes is my name. Eating my wings to make me tame." -The Ripley Scroll
Check out my Deviant Art: http://darkauthor81.deviantart.com/
Quote:
Not to mention that the type of enemies that resist knockdown from things like Ice Slick and Earthquake also tend to resist immobilization anyway.
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Originally Posted by Mid_Boss
YES! There is no reason to take stone cages. It has the worst damage of any immob and it cancels knockdown which means your Earthquake will become pointless. Earthquake and quicksand keeps enemies in one spot AND keeps them from killing you. All cages does is "Hey, there's a mezzer! Let's kill him!"
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what about using the controller tactic of cages and the aoe stun?
I have an Earth/Ice and am irritated by the damage, I know Ill take Stone cages for a Cages--->Water Spout--->Frost breath chain eventually.
http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/n...stumes%202011/
Quote:
On a controller, you're getting extra damage from Stalagmites (as well as the stun.) On a Dominator, you're not. If you don't want them wandering around (or wandering much,) use Earthquake, Quicksand or VG. |
Originally Posted by Shadow Wail
what about using the controller tactic of cages and the aoe stun?
I have an Earth/Ice and am irritated by the damage, I know Ill take Stone cages for a Cages--->Water Spout--->Frost breath chain eventually. |
You're a Dominator - you *are* damage.
There are (in general) very few Doms I take the AOE immob on. Plant/Thorn, absolutely - to keep confused mobs together, to keep them there for Creepers and Fling Thorns, etc. But for most doms... the AOE immobs are pretty skippable.
but wouldnt the AoE Immob, Waterspout, Frost Breath, Bile spray combo with an added TAoE stun be lethal? I mean I could replace Cages with VG and still be effective
http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/n...stumes%202011/
Quote:
If you were running a Fire/ dom I'd say sure grab the AoE immobilize. Fire Cages + Flashfire = a very reliable AoE hold. However, as an earth dom there better options...as you've already pointed out. Most experienced doms skip AoE immobilizes, they tend to draw aggro without mitigating much damage.
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Originally Posted by Shadow Wail
but wouldnt the AoE Immob, Waterspout, Frost Breath, Bile spray combo with an added TAoE stun be lethal? I mean I could replace Cages with VG and still be effective
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My level 50 Dominators:
Madame Mindbender 50 Mind/Energy
Fly Agaric 50 Plant/Thorn
Nate Nitro 50 Fire/Psi
Ok, I guess Ill drop cages? I've been using Stone cages and Stalagmites to keep them stunned and in place though.
http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/n...stumes%202011/
Just use quicksand to keep them in place instead of cages. It recharges relatively quickly, and it's auto-hit to boot (unlike cages). You should be using it on every spawn anyway, so it's no big hassle to lay it out after you hit stalagmites.
@MuonNeutrino
Student, Gamer, Altaholic, and future Astronomer.
This is what it means to be a tank!
Ugh...The I am doing something definitely wrong because they run away far to fast from Quicksand.
It does recharge fast enough that I can create carpets of Quicksand in a room and when I am with a /Dark Corr I can slow down the entire mod down to a crawl.
How many IO's should Quicksand get I have two in it currently, 2 Slow and 2 Rech Redux.
http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/n...stumes%202011/
That sounds reasonable, 2 slow 2 rech should work pretty well.
What level of foes are you fighting? Quicksand with 2 slows ought to put up to +3s at the 10% runspeed floor, if they're not resistant. Sure, normal mobs will wander out eventually, but stunned ones ought to be stuck in there pretty good, considering that they don't move *that* fast even without quicksand.
@MuonNeutrino
Student, Gamer, Altaholic, and future Astronomer.
This is what it means to be a tank!
I was just talking to someone about this being my next Dominator combo. I appreciate this thread for the Cages tip!
I am able to solo fairly easily using either Stun+Immob or Stun+Slow. The Mass Immob isnt something I use often in batle but I do use it as a combo when its avaiable.
Does QS stack? I am able to pull off about three applications to create one large...LARGE patch of QS but I dont think itll be able to stack just create a large zone of slow effects.
http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/n...stumes%202011/
Quote:
I'm pretty sure the -def from Quicksand stacks. I'm not so sure about the slows. I would suggest checking some of the guides in the Controller forum. It's been around longer so theres a plethora of information there.|
Originally Posted by Shadow Wail
I am able to solo fairly easily using either Stun+Immob or Stun+Slow. The Mass Immob isnt something I use often in batle but I do use it as a combo when its avaiable.
Does QS stack? I am able to pull off about three applications to create one large...LARGE patch of QS but I dont think itll be able to stack just create a large zone of slow effects. |
Oh and I didn't know you were stacking AoE stun w/Earth cages. If that's working for you no need to change tactics, IMHO. Or at the very least try the build out on the test server or as an alternate build, before committing to it. Nothing like changing your build based on forum advice, only to find out it doesn't suit your playstyle.
My level 50 Dominators:
Madame Mindbender 50 Mind/Energy
Fly Agaric 50 Plant/Thorn
Nate Nitro 50 Fire/Psi
The glory of Earth Control is that it has so many control options, you can afford to ignore some of them. If you like EQ enough and find it up often enough? Bam, no need for Stalagmites or Stone Cages.
I tend to go for both, myself.
I know!
ST Hold/Immob (I didnt take the ST Immob)
AoE Hold/Immob
TAoe Stun
PBAoe Sleep
TAoE Knockback/down
AoE Slow
I usually find myself creeping around a corner and throwing down the Slow and then EQ and using some AoE goodness from Frost Breath and as soon as I get to Patron Level Ill pair it up with Bile Spray and Stone Cages so that Water Spout doesnt make them move around and get tossed like a ragdoll. As soon as I see Waterspout blinking Ill toss the AoE Hold and go back to theBile Spray and Frost Breath and when VG dies Ill slow and stun them and reapply a AoE Immob.
my only problem is the damn pet, I took him for the dmg but I heard he has some serious ADD issues...
http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/n...stumes%202011/
Title says most of it.
I've finally decided on a dominator concept I can run with, so I'm making my first real attempt at a dominator and need a bit of advice from someone who knows what they're doing.
I know as a controller, stone cages is pretty much the tool to set up containment. But since dominators don't need silly containment to do damage, would it make sense to skip stone cages? I plan on making good use of earthquake, which would be negated by the cages.
Are there any synergies with earth/ice I may not be aware of? Will it be able to pull off perma dom without hasten?
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.