Fire/Earth?

Hi gang. 84 month vet here with tons of experience playing almost everything else and very little experience playing doms. I have a 43 fire/elec that I've decided I just don't like very much primarily because all the kb in elec assualt knocks mobs out of my hot feet. I'm thinking of doing a fire/earth because fire control, while it has plenty of damage, doesn't seem to have enough control to keep me alive very well. Earth assault seems like it would offer that. Thoughts on this combo? Also, can I run both hot feet and mud pots at the same time or are they mutually exclusive as damaging, slowing auras? I know they're very expensive but basicaly I can afford to buy anything I need to help with end, so I think it's doable with miracle, numina's, end reduction, etc.

I have a Fire/Earth who's tons of fun. There's plenty of synergy there, though you have to be a little careful about power choices. For example, /Earth has a lot of knockdown, so you'll want to skip the immobilizes except as a panic button, since they negate such. Char and Seismic Smash are great for stacking holds really fast, and powers like Fissure and Smoke help ensure you get a powerful first strike in.

Prepare to play almost exclusively in melee, since /Earth's two ranged attacks are fairly underwhelming (though personally, I use Stone Spears a ton anyway, just for how cool it looks). /Earth was advertised being a Brute-like set, and it's definitely that. You'll be up close, and smashing hard.

One last point is regarding Hot Feet/Mud Pots. It sounds awesome on paper (it's even the reason I originally built my own Fire/Earth), but in practice, it doesn't synergize particularly well. The problem is that Hot Feet has a much wider radius and an Afraid effect. Mud Pots will only hit enemies standing right up in melee range with you, and Hot Feet will basically scatter, albeit slowly, everything you're not directly engaging. For that reason, Mud Pots is actually fairl skippable.

My fire/earth has just hit 32 - been having a lot of fun. Like Lazarillo said, the only real problem I've come across is that you don't get the damage mitigation from the kd when you use your immobs, but without the immobs you'll be constantly chasing things that are running (slowly) away from Hot Feet. I'm finding that as I level up I'm using the AoE immob more and more though - between Flashfire, Cinders, Char and Seismic Smash you've usually got enough mitigation to make it worth throwing out there.

You don't really have to worry about the Fire Cages interfering, assuming you cast Power Boost, Flashfires and then Fire Cages. The -knockback component from Fire Cages only lasts 9 or 10 seconds, but the immobilize effect will last much longer. But not having knockback during the first 10 seconds of your attack wont usually be a problem since the foes will be disoriented anyway.

Now some foes resist stuns. In that case, use Cinders + Fire Cages instead; if they resist holds also, then fine ... in that case it makes sense to avoid Fire Cages and lean on the knockdown. But in 95% of situations, you can keep your foes mezzed (stunned or held) during the brief period of -knockdown caused by Fire Cages, so it generally won't matter.

I played up to level 50 and I can barely recall the times the -knockback had a negative impact on me.

Lewis