*/Fire is a good all around set - it has a great single target ranged chain (flares, fire blast, blaze) and the best cone that dom's get. However, I think earth assault takes the single target damage crown - stone mallet + heavy mallet + seismic smash makes for insane single target damage and seismic stacks a mag 3 hold on top of that.
Mind is pretty much the best single target control set that dominators get. Mesmerize will hold bosses in a single shot even when domination is down (3.5 mag sleep) and confuse is great long term control, since a dominator doesn't have to worry about containment like a mind controller would. Domination is a fairly standard single target hold but between the 3 you have a lot of control. Mind can also leverage good AE control if you get enough recharge - a perma-dom Mind will be able to alternate Mass confusion and Total Domination on every 2 out of 3 spawns for complete lockdown.
Plant is also a good alternative to mind. It doesn't have all the single target controls but seeds of confusion is easy to get up every spawn and is a very long control out of the box. You can also leverage carrion creepers for AoE damage so you don't have to be ALL single target.
Globals: @Midnight Mystique/@Magik13
Energy Assault does very respectable single target damage both at range and close up, as well as packing a good amount of incidental control through knockback and stun.
The downside is that it provides little in the way of area damage.
I'd choose between Energy or Earth Assault.
Go with Energy. Area damage is overrated for a Dominator. Let the other AT's focus on squishing minions, your job as a Dominator is to subjugate the actually dangerous foes.
Incidentally if you go with Energy Assault, the primal forces APP has 2 nice matching ranged aoes for you to make up for your lack in the assault set.
Jem - Ill/Rad Controller Lv 50+3 Nic - Mind/Psi Dominator Lv 50+3 Lady Liberation - Invuln/SS Tanker Lv 50+1 Invicitx - Demon/Pain Mastermind Lv 50+1 Celeste - Emp/Arch Defender Lv 50+1 Nightsilver - DB/WP Scrapper Lv 34 Dusk Howl - StJ/Regen Brute Lv 32 Kyriani - Time/Energy Defender Lv 41Psifire - FF/Psi Defender Lv 50
Star Lighter - LB/LA Peacebringer Lv 30
Fire/Fire/Ice.
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/Fiery
I don't think there is even a contest. /Fiery has fiery embrace and both fire blast and blaze have higher base damage than before.
2nd and 3rd place are debatable. Earth Assault's ST dps isn't that high. It has good burst damage.
I actually think /thorn has good st damage. It is just slow. Those dot damage do add up.
/Energy's ST damage may be a bit less than /Earth but at least it has many range attacks. /Earth only has melee for good dps.
I've always liked Ice Assault though. I love the ice swords.
I don't know the real numbers but if you want me to guess:
#1 Fiery
#2 Electricity (if Volt is hitting the same target)
#3 Earth
#4 Thorn
#5 Energy, Psionic and Icy
What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.
If you're alright with knockback, Gravity/Energy makes for a strong ST dominator.
What is the best ST damage set on a dominator? I heard mind/fire was one of the best dom sets.