Ice Blast and Cold Domination - Def or Cor?

Yep, time once again for one of the forums 'favorite' topics... which AT is better for a particular combination of Powers!

In this case, the question is... will combining Ice Blast and Cold Domination work better on a Corruptor or a Defender? I do understand that they both have a thematic continuity (obviously) and there actually is a synergy in the powers.

I guess this question will come down to... does Ice Blast perform particularly better on Corruptors? Or will the better beff/debuff numbers and unlocking the CD powers faster on a Defender behoove me more?

Corr.

Both get blaster mods on rain powers, but corrs get scourge (scourging rain powers are dead sexy), and better dmg on their other blasts.

Heat Loss and Sleet don't benefit from defender's higher buff mods, and neither does the -regen in benumb. Sleet and HL come later for corrs (26vs35 and 32vs38 respectively), but in the end, it doesn't really matter. The only thing that defs have over corrs in cold domination is higher defense in their shields, but in this day and age of softcap, ios, and stacked maneuvers it likely won't be noticeable.

Corruptor.

Defender Cold Domination gets the wrong pet from Sleet. It should get the same one as Defender Storm Summoning does. Instead it incorrectly inherits the same pet as Corruptors get.

But even if that is ever fixed, still Corruptor.

As the owner of a Cold/Ice Def, I'll 3rd the suggestion of Corr due to reasons already stated (Scourge on Rains and same Sleet). The main advantage of the Def is easier to get personal high def due to higher +def values for Weave, Arctic Fog, Maneuvers and Scorpion Shield (CJ too). In fact, selecting those powers and enhancing them to ED levels for +Def will get you a smidge beyond s/l soft cap, no IO enhancement needed.

OP you asked if power availability mattered and for leveling up it certainly will. It's a long wait from 26 to 35 and 32 to 38 for the best stuff Cold has. If you're a solo grinder you'll notice. If you crank out tfs and trials maybe not as much.

Echoing Corruptor, entirely due to Scourge on the rains and the fact that you're not getting extra -resistance in Sleet and Heat Loss; the wait to 35 for Sleet sucks (Dominators get it at the same level as Corruptors and Controllers!) but the extra damage from Scourge and ability to build an attack chain earlier helps.

That said, my first 50 heroside was a Cold/Ice Defender and it really depends on how you want to use your character - if you're going to try to lock everything down, the Defender gets a lot more use out of Freeze Ray (Defenders and Dominators share mez modifiers while Corruptors are either tied for or at dead last) and the solo +damage from Vigilance puts the damage roughly equal at typical ED-capped slotting until Scourge kicks in. They'll both solo well, but the Corruptor will finish things off a touch faster (Scourge) and the Defender will likely be safer (longer duration holds = easier stacking or more things affected).

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Corruptor because of scourge damage with Blizzard.

I have to echo what others are saying. The set is great on a corr.