Time to try a dom again...

So, for some unknown reason, after a handful of failed attempts, I've decided to try to play a Dominator again. So far, I've just not been able to get used to the AT. Doesn't matter at this point, I've started having fun with her.

My only problem is, I don't really know how to slot Doms. I know recharge is always good (I don't expect to hit Permadom. I don't have that kinda of money.), but considering the endurance issues I was having, I decided to aim for recovery first, then recharge (mostly).

I have no idea how this build would even work. I know I'm missing three powers (44, 47, 49), but I also, as of now, have no slots to put into them, so whatever I get, it'd have to be used as-is. If I could snag 3 LotG +Recharge, it'd be perfect...But I'm not that lucky. If I had two more slots, Hasten would help...But I currently don't.

Either way, I figured that, if nothing else, I would try and see what people thought of the build. She's only sitting at level 21, so I have plenty of room to tweak.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.621
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Level 50 Natural Dominator
Primary Power Set: Fire Control
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Assault
Power Pool: Fitness

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Char -- BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Hold(3), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(5), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(5), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(7)
Level 1: Flares -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19), Dev'n-Hold%(34)
Level 2: Ring of Fire -- Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob(A), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg(11), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob(11), Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx(13), Enf'dOp-Immob/Rng(13)
Level 4: Fire Breath -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(15), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(15), Posi-Dmg/Rng(17), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17)
Level 6: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 8: Fire Cages -- Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob(A), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg(19), Enf'dOp-Immob/Rng(21), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob(21), Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx(23)
Level 10: Fire Blast -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(27), Dev'n-Hold%(34)
Level 12: Flashfire -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(27), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(29), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(29), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(37)
Level 14: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A)
Level 16: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 18: Cinders -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(33), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(33), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(34)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(31), EndMod-I(31)
Level 22: Hot Feet -- Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(36)
Level 24: Combustion -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 26: Bonfire -- KinCrsh-Dmg/KB(A), KinCrsh-Acc/KB(39), KinCrsh-Rchg/KB(40), KinCrsh-Rechg/EndRdx(40), KinCrsh-Dmg/EndRdx/KB(40), KinCrsh-Acc/Dmg/KB(42)
Level 28: Consume -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(37), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(39), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(39)
Level 30: Smoke -- DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(A)
Level 32: Fire Imps -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg(A), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx(33), BldM'dt-Acc/EndRdx(42), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), BldM'dt-Acc(43), BldM'dt-Dmg(43)
Level 35: Blazing Bolt -- Mantic-Acc/Dmg(A), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Mantic-Acc/ActRdx/Rng(45), Mantic-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg(45), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 38: Blaze -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Dev'n-Hold%(48)
Level 41: Incinerate -- C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(50), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(50)
Level 44: [Empty] -- Empty(A)
Level 47: [Empty] -- Empty(A)
Level 49: [Empty] -- Empty(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Domination
Level 4: Ninja Run

Have you made any controllers? I would go with a set you're familiar with. I can't stand fire control...well until I got the imps and then it was very tolerable. A Fire/Fire Dom is devastating but I don't care for the build much. I feel that Fire/ has a lot of control holes in it... and /Fire seems lacking in making up for those gaps.

I felt safer with a Plant/ and Earth/ fire. It might be best if you team heavily til you get to lvl 32.

Everyone plays their doms in many ways...but I tend to play them like this...

Control > Ranged Blast > Melee

Like a controller-blaster

what bugs you most about playing a dom?

Only controller I've decently played is an Ill/empathy...So no luck there.

But part of what I realized on this dom is how much I could treat it like a blaster with a few statuses...And blasters I work with quite well.

The Controls > Ranged > Melee is how I do it, too. So far, I only go into melee on teams with Hot Feet running, just to play with the slows and the PBAoE hold.

And as to what bugged me the most? It just never clicked for me. But I keep trying, because I'm crazy like that...And I started having fun with this one. Sure, I die all over the place, but now that I have SOs, things are going much smoother...Albeit I'm still dying.

Wow, Incinerate at 41? I took it at level 2. It's much more important than squeezing in Ring of Fire that early; immobilizes on Doms are something you take late if at all. You certainly shouldn't be taking both immobilizes, especially that early, and especially not using up so many slots on them. Remember; Doms are not Controllers, they don't get Containment damage. Taking one or both out also lets you squeeze in Hasten, which Doms really benefit from.

And Dom melee attacks do more damage as well; another reason to take Incinerate.

Incinerate is/was that late because I hadn't intended to be in melee range often enough for it to be an issue, hence why the immobs are both there. I *might* move it up in place of Combustion at some point, but right now, neither of them serve much purpose except for a few random set bonuses.

Also, I mentioned Hasten above, but I'll say it again. Since I wasn't building for recharge, Hasten would have only done so much on it's own. Were I aiming for Permadom, I would grab it...But as of now, I'm not. Hasten would be stuck with one slot, with one Recharge, which does...Very little, really. With the one slot, Dom's recharge is under the 90 seconds, but hasten is well outside it's range, so it doesn't do much.

Come to think of it, staying out of Melee and Hot Feet almost seem to contradict each other, but I've already run into mobs where it's been an issue (my accuracy is horrid right now...), so I'm keeping it as is.

To be honest, I've got 4 different /Fire Dominators, 2 of them in the low 40s and 2 at level 50. I didn't take Incinerate on any of them, and I don't miss it. I had a harder time WITH it in my build due to my playstyle not meshing well. None of Fire's other attacks are melee attacks so it is just awkward to me. I didn't even like it on my Fire/Fire (level 50). It's not my bag.

So, waiting until level 41 or whatever, shouldn't be a big deal. IMO.

Lewis

You're avoiding melee, but you're taking 5 melee powers (hot feet, incinerate, combustion, consume and cinders). Doesn't make sense. If you want to play at range, don't choose fire control.

Smoke and ring of fire are optional. Taking one of them on a whim I could see, but both? Same could be said for the snipe, but for ranged build it makes sense. Of course returning to the choice of fire control being a melee-centric set would rear its ugly head again.

Lastly, not taking Hasten is the real head scratcher. Recharge is the name of the game for dominators. Especially fire control where you have 2 AoE controls that are worth a damn - cinders and flashfire, both of which have medium to long recharge times.

TBH, I'm not surprised you've had troubles with dominators. The power selections you're listing are all over the place and don't mesh the primary and secondary together well.

Thanks guys...lol you took the words right out of my mouth.

Fire if you are looking for a quick ranged build Mind/Fire is the way to go.

Fire/ Doms are really designed to be in the thick of it. Start off with Flashfire, next jump in with hotfeet running and imps right behind you, and then spam your damage powers. That's the essence of playing a Fire/ dom.

So if you want to be ranged a fire/ primary might not perform so well. Mind/ , Plan/, and Earth might all have what your looking for. Grav isn't too bad for a ranged dommie once you have Singularity tanking for you. Hope this makes some sense and is helpful.

I play my Fire/Fire Dom in the thick of things, but Cinders, Hot Feet, Consume and Combustion aren't single target or melee range attacks. I dropped Incinerate, play in melee range, and I don't miss it.

Lewis

Okay, from the top...

Fire/fire is working for me, since I'm having fun. I'm not going to run up a new combo just to see how it works.

I have so many melee-oriented powers since I took *all* of them. Unless I know the power is going to be useless, I'm not going to skip it. I don't know how well they work, and I know that some are underslotted for overall usefulness, and some are apparently overslotted/useless...Perhaps I will drop Ring of Fire at some point, but not yet. I know how Smoke works, it's basically the same as Flash Arrow, hence no extra slots.

I'll note that the doms I *had* problems with I was building specifically for recharge, Hasten and everything, only taking powers that made sense...And I got bored of them, and they still didn't seem useful to me. It just never clicked. So of course I'm going to be playing around. I did mention the fact that, as of now, I'm not building for recharge, since I've seen what that takes, and I do not have the money to do so efficiently. I already know recharge is one of the most useful things Doms can build for. I just don't know if I can work

Most of this so far is experimentation on my part. I did notice the fact that quite a few powers are melee based, and I plan around that eventually, but not right now. Perhaps when I hit the patron respec I'll have an overall better understanding of what works and what doesn't. Right now, I'm flying mostly blind...Which, again, is why I'm asking here.

Also Snipe is only for the 5-slot 7.5% recharge bonus, for the most part. I already know it's not going to be a useful opener like on my blasters (yes, I find snipes useful.)

No, I'm not ignoring advice. I'm listening, then seeing if *my* experience matches. My current set-up, not here, hijacked a slot from Fiery Embrace and Combustion, and nabbed Hasten to see where I was at. Pretty sure 145% recharge isn't enough for much, but i can work with that. Endurance is less of an issue right now, since I seem to not have a problem with it now that I have SOs.

So here's the thing. I just tried building a recharge-based one, no purples...And I needed *four* LotG +Recharge to perma hasten...That's not really acceptable to me, so unless there's some other way to go around with it, Perma-dom is out, unless I get seriously lucky somewhere.

You don't really need purple sets, nor LotG's to reach permadom.

Here is a quick build I threw together as an example. It also only uses one set of Obliterations. The Basilisks are expensive, but with the money you'll be saving on using cheap Entropic Chaos', you may be able to splurge and get them. However, by switching a few things around, you can avoid them entirely.

Note that this build is not perfect. For instance, I would want Fiery Embrace to be slotted more so it's up often as possible, especially on a Fire/Fire. Use it as a loose guide, and see what you can come up with.

Also: I wouldn't open with the snipe in most cases. Flashfire is far better in giving you that quick burst of mitigation you need to survive the alpha. After everything is locked down, you should be able to fire it uninterupted anyway.

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Looking at the build, it's...Mostly capable of what I expected, but I did make a few tweaks, and still don't have Hasten permanent...Which affects Permadom, I believe.

I dropped all the travel powers, and the Patron powers, and picked up Bonfire, six-slotted with Kinetic Crash. Gets more recharge than Positron's Blast, plus has KB protection, making karma not really needed...But then I'm still short powers, and hasten still isn't permanent. Ah well. Food for thought, though.