A sacrifice for the volcano god

I'm interested in making a tribal 'Volcano god' type character, using the lava effect on Earth and using Fire. The trouble is, while I'm pretty sure I want the alt to be a Dominator, I'm not sure if I want earth/fire or fire/earth.

I've played an earth/ controller and a fire/fire dominator before, though I didn't like the latter much due to fire having weak controls. On paper, Fire/Earth has some synergy with the AoEs Mud Pots, Hot Feet, Cinders and Tremor, but these all have different ranges, and Hot Feet seems to be better than Mud Pots in every way anyway. Earth/Fire has good offense and all of Earth's yummy debuffs, but really doesn't have an awful lot of obvious synergy.

Does anyone have experience with either of these sets?

I would say an earth/fire/fire dom. Earth has some good controls (while I NEVER understood why people though fire/ lacked control) and /fire will have very good aoe and ST damage, and Embrace of Fire will help Rain of Fire and Fireball in the APP set. Good damage, good control, and lots of lava/fire goodness. I'm not sure if stoney can be turned into a lava golem though, but that would be great for this concept.

I've played Fire/Earth. It does indeed have a lot of AoE yumminess, though you need to be a little careful with Fire Cages, since knockup/knockdown is a huge part of /Earth's survivability. Char animates stupidly fast, though, so it's very possible to keep two guys held and a third on their back indefinitely from a very low level. And while the PBAoEs all have different ranges, "Immobilise everything then get as many things as you can in Mud Pots range" is a pretty good guide.

Power Boost is fantastic - Power Boost + Domination + Flashfire will leave an entire spawn reeling for almost a minute from level 20, while a Power Boosted hold on a boss is a beautiful thing. Add in Seismic Smash, and you have truly amazing levels of safety without really sacrificing damage potential.

As far as Earth/Fire synergy goes, Earth is probably the safest control set. It sacrifices damage for debuffs and extra control. It's great at keeping enemies out of range and unable to hurt you, while vulnerable to counterattack. Fiery Assault complements that fantastically, giving you heavy-hitting ranged attacks that don't provide much mitigation. Even /Fire's lack of a ToHit debuff is made up for by Quicksand, an autohit defense debuff. Rather than power combos, Earth/Fire is just a matter of the two sets meshing really well, playing to strengths and covering weaknesses.

Frankly, either is good. Fire Control and Earth Assault are mainly melee sets, and so work very well together. Earth Control and Fiery Assault are mostly ranged sets, and work very well together. On the other hand, Earth/Earth has most of its damage in slow-recharging attacks, while Fire/Fire could probably use another heavy hitter, and both of them will be bouncing around the battlefield, with some powers best at range, and others right in someone's face.

Earth/Fire and Fire/Earth are both pretty good combos. In both cases, added control from the Earth set will compensate for Fire's lacking, and the Fire set will add damage. The best way to look at it in terms of range preference, really. Earth/Fire's going to be almost an entirely ranged set, while Fire/Earth will focus on getting up close and personal.

Hmm. Sounds like the hard part of this character is going to be making a good costume for them, then! Good to hear that both will be effective, though I'm leaning toward Earth/Fire now.

Also worth noting for extra fun factor Earth Assault almost all the attacks have hard smashing sound effects. Really makes you feel like your character is smashing faces with super strength if that is how you imagine your character.

looking forward to seeing your dom!

I've said this several times, but my Earth/Fire Dom was one of the most fun characters I had before I got her to perma. /Fire does ridonkulously good damage, and Earth has so many controls that if Plan A fails, you can fall back on Plans B, C, D, E, and F. When Domination is up, you can take alphas for an 8-man team against most factions without flinching.

My main is Earth/Fire/Fire and I love the synergy. Quicksand and Earthquake both debuff and then you scorch whole groups with Firebreath, Fireball and RoF if the group is big enough. throw in stalagmites for a long stun and volcanic gases for the sweetest group hug and your all set. Also comes with your own boulder throwing minitank.

I'm starting to get excited by this character, the only nitpick I have is that Fossilize is so much more vibrant than any of the other effects on the Lava set... I've been playing with Mids trying to get a good build. Once I can find a backstory that doesn't involve praetoria and explains 20 levels of villainy before reforming... tentative build plan posted....


Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.81
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Kolkuthka: Level 50 Magic Dominator
Primary Power Set: Earth Control
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Assault
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Fossilize -- Empty(A), Empty(3), Empty(7), Empty(25), Empty(43)
Level 1: Flares -- Empty(A), Empty(5), Empty(9), Empty(34)
Level 2: Stone Prison -- Empty(A), Empty(3), Empty(7), Empty(25), Empty(43)
Level 4: Fire Breath -- Empty(A), Empty(5), Empty(9), Empty(34), Empty(50)
Level 6: Quicksand -- Empty(A), Empty(15), Empty(17)
Level 8: Hasten -- Empty(A), Empty(15), Empty(17)
Level 10: Fire Blast -- Empty(A), Empty(11), Empty(11), Empty(34)
Level 12: Stalagmites -- Empty(A), Empty(13), Empty(13), Empty(31), Empty(40)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Embrace of Fire -- Empty(A), Empty(21), Empty(23)
Level 18: Earthquake -- Empty(A), Empty(19), Empty(19), Empty(31), Empty(40)
Level 20: Incinerate -- Empty(A), Empty(21), Empty(23), Empty(37), Empty(43)
Level 22: Assault -- Empty(A)
Level 24: Tactics -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Volcanic Gasses -- Empty(A), Empty(27), Empty(27), Empty(31), Empty(40)
Level 28: Consume -- Empty(A), Empty(29), Empty(29), Empty(37)
Level 30: Vengeance -- Empty(A)
Level 32: Animate Stone -- Empty(A), Empty(33), Empty(33), Empty(33), Empty(37)
Level 35: Blazing Bolt -- Empty(A), Empty(36), Empty(36), Empty(36), Empty(46)
Level 38: Blaze -- Empty(A), Empty(39), Empty(39), Empty(39), Empty(50)
Level 41: Rain of Fire -- Empty(A), Empty(42), Empty(42), Empty(42), Empty(46)
Level 44: Fire Ball -- Empty(A), Empty(45), Empty(45), Empty(45), Empty(46)
Level 47: Melt Armor -- Empty(A), Empty(48), Empty(48), Empty(48), Empty(50)
Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix -- Empty(A)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Domination
Level 4: Ninja Run

Planning on picking up Assault/Tactics/Vengeance in i19 and moving a few slots around. But this is my current build:


Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.81
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

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

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Fossilize -- G'Wdw-Acc/Rchg(A), G'Wdw-EndRdx/Hold(3), G'Wdw-Acc/EndRdx(3), G'Wdw-Acc/Hold/Rchg(5), G'Wdw-Dam%(5), G'Wdw-Hold/Rng(7)
Level 1: Flares -- Acc(A)
Level 2: Incinerate -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(9), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(11)
Level 4: Fire Breath -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(13), Posi-Dmg/Rng(15), Posi-Dam%(15), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 8: Quicksand -- P'ngTtl--Rchg%(A), ImpSwft-Acc/EndRdx(23), ImpSwft-Dam%(23), ImpSwft-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(29), ImpSwft-Acc/Slow(31), ImpSwft-Rng/Slow(33)
Level 10: Fire Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Build%(25), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(25), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(27), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29)
Level 12: Stalagmites -- Rope-Acc/Rchg(A), Rope-EndRdx/Stun(17), Rope-Acc/EndRdx(19), Rope-Stun/Rng(19), Rope-Acc/Stun(21), Rope-Acc/Stun/Rchg(21)
Level 14: Super Jump -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 16: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Heal(34), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(34)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(31), EndMod-I(31)
Level 22: Earthquake -- LdyGrey-%Dam(A), LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(33), LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg(33)
Level 24: Embrace of Fire -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 26: Volcanic Gasses -- Lock-%Hold(A), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(36), Lock-Acc/Rchg(36), Lock-Acc/Hold(37), Lock-Rchg/Hold(37), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(37)
Level 28: Consume -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 30: Stealth -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 32: Animate Stone -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(40), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(40), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(42), ExRmnt-+Res(Pets)(50)
Level 35: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 38: Blaze -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg(43), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Dev'n-Hold%(45), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45)
Level 41: Rain of Fire -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(43), Posi-Dmg/Rng(48), Posi-Dam%(50), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50)
Level 44: Fire Ball -- JavVoll-Dam%(A), JavVoll-Acc/Dmg(46), JavVoll-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(46), JavVoll-Dam/Rech(46), JavVoll-Acc/End/Rech(48), JavVoll-Dam/End/Rech(48)
Level 47: Acrobatics -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix -- RechRdx-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Domination
Level 6: Ninja Run

I actually have an earth/storm, so I'm well-aware of the effects that the cages can have. I only picked the single target for that reason, it's to spam on single fast, melee-centric enemies like warwolves and force them to stay in the quicksand.

I've been seeing a tendancy to pick up the Leadership line of stuff in exchange for Fitness being an inherent. I wonder if we can find more people branching out and trying things like Stealth, Fighting, or Presence...