Consume or Blazing Bolt?

My Earth/Fire Dom is almost at level 35 and I'm unsure as to which power to pick next. I originally planned on taking Consume and 6-slotting it, but this alt has practically no END issues at all, so I think I may be wasting a pick.

Blazing Bolt looks promising to take in its place, as I like the idea of starting a fight with some major damage (my Blaster sensibility), but I wanted to see what other players thought before making a final decision.

For the record, I've already taken the Fitness (soon to change), Medicine, and Flight pools, and I have:

Fossilize, QS, Stalagmites, EQ, VG, Animate Stone, Flares, Incinerate, Fire Breath, Fire Blast, and Fiery Embrace.

This is a pretty nice character to play, as he really came into his own once Stoney was slotted up.

My personal recommendation is to go with Blazing Bolt, particularly if you're not having any trouble with End. You've got Domination to refill the End bar if it comes to that, and that makes Consume nice, but only as a filler while you're waiting for Domination to come up again.

Sniper attacks on Dominators recently got a huge boost, so they do almost as much damage as a Blaster's Sniper, even with the Dominator's lower ranged damage mod. You don't have Aim + Build Up to go along with it, but IMHO it makes for a good opener.

OTOH, there are Dominator players who insist that Sniper powers are useless on a Dom, and would never think of taking it. Either way, it's a situational power you'll only get use out of every once in a while. The only reason I'd go with Consume is if conceptually you wanted more of a melee-oriented, AoE damage Dom, and wanted it for a little additional damage on top of Combustion.

I'd go with Blazing Bolt. It's always nice to soften up a boss/EB/AV.

If you aren't having end issues I wouldn't pick either as both will be highly situational for you. I'd recommend something that will be useful all the time such as combat jumping or stealth.

Since you've chosen the flight pool you may also want to consider Air Superiority. Its a decent melee attack and has nice secondary effects.

Hasten, to get all those lovely AOE mezzes recharged.

I would say either Hasten, or Blazing Bolt. I don't actually recommend USING Blazing Bolt, but its a great way to fit in the absolute dirt cheap Sting of the Manticore set for an easy +7.5% recharge.

Frankly, I'd lean strongly towards neither. If you've got your end problems solved, then Consume is useless, and BB is, IMO, alway useless (as are all snipes regardless of AT), unless you've got a load of free slots to use it as a set mule. You can do more damage in less time by using your other attacks.

My recommendation, going by the list of powers you've got, would actually be Combustion. In fact, I'd recommend you take that a hell of a lot earlier than level 35, but I guess it's too late.

consume. hands down.

I would say Hasten if you dont have it, and combat jumping if you dont have that.

It it really comes down between the two, I'd say Blazing Bolt. I see a lot of hate here for it, and my Earth/Fire hasn't needed it, but my Grav/Fire uses it all the time. If you want a really good opening shot that can whack a minion outright (with the Fiery Embrace) that will be a super long range pull, its pretty good. It also just looks cool and my Grav/Fire uses it all the time even in normal fights once everything is immobile/helpless.

But yeah ... Hasten.

Lewis

By the way, in case it is helpful, here is the build I am playing with. I'm level 42 if I recall correctly.

As you can see, I have Blazing Bolt at level 47. I guess I just can't decide what else I'd take. Maybe I should take the point blank sleep, but .... meh. Thanks to Electric Control, the Purple Sleeps aren't so cheap anymore. So I think I'll get 7.5% recharge there by using the cheap snipe sets.

Anyway, here is a sample build. It isn't cheap, but the slotting and level choices are functional from 1-50 without a respec. I've been following my plan and even slotted with generics, its been working great.

Lewis

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Wild Warlock: Level 50 Magic Dominator
Primary Power Set: Earth Control
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Assault
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Fossilize -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(9), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(9)
Level 1: Flares -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(7), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(21)
Level 2: Stone Cages -- GravAnch-Immob/Rchg(A), GravAnch-Acc/Immob/Rchg(40), GravAnch-Acc/Rchg(43), GravAnch-Immob/EndRdx(46), GravAnch-Hold%(46)
Level 4: Fire Breath -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(5), Posi-Dmg/Rng(17), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34)
Level 6: Quicksand -- TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(A)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(37), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 10: Fire Blast -- Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 12: Stalagmites -- Amaze-Stun(A), Amaze-Stun/Rchg(13), Amaze-Acc/Stun/Rchg(13), Amaze-Acc/Rchg(15), Amaze-EndRdx/Stun(15), Rope-Acc/Rchg(17)
Level 14: Super Speed -- QckFt-EndRdx/RunSpd(A)
Level 16: Embrace of Fire -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(23), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 18: Earthquake -- UndDef-DefDeb/Rchg(A), UndDef-Rchg/EndRdx(19), UndDef-Rchg(19)
Level 20: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 22: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 24: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(25), EndMod-I(25)
Level 26: Volcanic Gasses -- UbrkCons-Hold(A), UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(27), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(27), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(29), UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(29)
Level 28: Combat Jumping -- Krma-ResKB(A)
Level 30: Combustion -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(31), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 32: Animate Stone -- ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(A), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(33)
Level 35: Incinerate -- C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(36), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 38: Blaze -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(39), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 41: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(42), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), Posi-Dam%(43)
Level 44: Rain of Fire -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dam%(46)
Level 47: Blazing Bolt -- Mantic-Acc/Dmg(A), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Mantic-Acc/ActRdx/Rng(48), Mantic-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg(48), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 49: Fire Shield -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam(50), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Domination
Level 4: Ninja Run

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