Grav/ Psi and Doms in General

I like running the iTrials a lot and have played heaps of melee toons and I tried a few doms ages ago but didn't follow through with them because I was only solo'ing back then. I must say that it seems to me that the doms I teamed with were having a lot of fun on the trials so I thought I'd give them a go. I chose grav/psi for pure holds and dps and I should get to 50 sometime this week, if people would like to post their builds thats fine but I'm really after tips and tricks for the trials thankyou.

I may try out some others as well but I'm not sure that sleep or confuse would work too well on 50+ foes.

I always enjoy playing my doms on the trials. If you are playing a combo with some nice aoes, or aoe mezzes, it can be really fun with so many targets about. Well..until you accidently piss way to may off of course!
Can also be fun working out little tricks to do in the various trials with control/dom sets. Such an bonfires to clear terminals in keyes, wormhole for the same, even better on TPN. TK to hold back ambushes on baf, mass hypnosis to make crate soloing a breeze on lams..so many nifty things

Oh, as for confuse and sleep..if its a ST sleep or confuse, dont bother using it on an AV, even the Greater Dev ebs in underground..need 2 hits with confuse and in general, is not worth the time (unless your are split off in a small group etc). Aoe sleeps are great, with domination up, st confuses are excellent for Hard bosses in mobs..vickies, warwalkers, heavy commanders (so when they nuke, it wont hit anyone) those pesky Sybils on lambda.

Just get a feel for how much quicker your mezzes last, vs 54 stuff, instead of the more usual +1/3 mobs you get playing up to 50.

Thinking about it more...
I dont claim to be a dom expert, but I have a few. You said you made it grav psi for dps and holds right?

Grav is generally viewed as one of the least 'good' control sets, more so on doms, which dont really need the extra damage from propel and lift. Both those can still be nice soft control though. Wormhole is also..iffy. Now it fires with no aggro, which is great, but unless there is a wall handy, the scatter can be very annoying ( unless that was the idea). Dim Shift..I REALLY like now..you can do some really neat tricks with it..BUT its still teeth grinding when some idiot complains without seeing what your doing.

I have not used the psi set myself..but I dont think it is amazing damage? Maybe someone can chime in..but I heard after PSW got nixed..the set lost some shine. Also, the pbaoe is a danger on a squishy dom. And most of the trial mobs heavily resist psi..Just some more things to consider.

Back to trial tips..the BIGGEST thing I can suggest is..do not be spammy with your aoe immob. Now I am sure some people have it procced out and get some nice damage out of it..but I think thats a bit silly with an entire damage secondary at your fingertips. Also, and this applies to any team, I see so many doms and trollers lead with an aoe immob..and get flattened by the return fire. Even MORE so if the mobs are +4 bosses. Not to mention, it locks mobs down in their spread out positions..making aoes less helpful.

Hold off with your aoe immob (my doms dont even have them) and let some helpful meatshield (even better if its a silly ss fire who you can veng off) get their attention, then lock em down.

First things first, for doms in general: immobilizes are situational. Controllers live on them for damage, dominators shrug at them. They are low damage controls that allow all aggroed enemies to keep shooting at you, and are often aggro-heavy enough to make certain that it is you they want to be shooting at. They are still good at strapping foes down that want to run up and play a game of melee, but this value is dependent on enemy groups. Ranged enemies like council it's far less handy, while nasty close-quarters foes like warriors become way easier.

ST holds are always you bread and butter "hold still and die helplessly" power, AoE holds are so-so panic buttons unless you build for recharge, in which case they become more reliable not just through availability, but through pairing them with a more available domination button. Bam! boss-class group hold, with better duration.

Sleeps are situational, usually as a 'saving them for later' control for when a group could be a problem but your team doesn't want to wipe 'em out yet. Confuses are pure sweetness, even better than on controllers, as they work on just about anybody and last a looong time and work well with your 'kill stuff' secondary. Confuse, then get in there and do as much damage as you can. Or, if you were going to ignore them, let them thin themselves out.

For trials:
Each trial has spots that different controls sets do well or badly against, many times changing dependent on team build/behavior.

BAF: Immobilizes are great vs. the minion escapees. All controls fail vs. the lieutenants that try to escape, though. Confuses are handy for the boss' reinforcements, as you turn the nasty unwanted reinforcements on each other. Immobilizing them, however, is dangerous at the least. Sleeps work on ambushes if the league is ignoring them. Stun, holds are, well, just that. The higher the level shifts, the handier they becomes. (Controls scale in duration vs. levels) The AV's are uncontrollable, but drain psyche still helps vs. their regen.

Lambda:
Confuses help thin the ranks of foes, and group confuses can help dispatch crates/containment cells even. Stuns/holds give time and safety to take out those glowies too. Immobilizes can slow down ambushes inside, but will draw aggro to you. Immobilizes are also handy as Marauder jumps around, holding mobs back to his previous locations as the team moves on. Confuses turn them on each other, and can remove single problem targets. (I hate augers, love them once confused) sleeps also hold them back snoozing as the team moves on. No controls work vs. marauder, though he is vulnerable to psy, even when enraged, and drain psyche helps with -regen.

Keyes:
Wormhole can clear 'guarding' enemies from around consoles so that they can be charged up ASAP. Sleeps are great for grabbing glowies in the first reactor, as are holds/stuns. Confuses help get guarding bots to help clear each other. Sleeps help pacify bunker respwans to just run back in and grab more glowies in the third reactor, and stuns/holds can do the same but don't last as long, so you must hurry. No controls work vs. anit-matter, though drain psyche does help kill his regen.

UG:
Nothing special here. Sleeps see little to no use, except for groups the team can bypss, but the trial has so many kill portions this is not frequent. Immobilizes are also less used.Confuses help speed, and holds/stuns protect. Drain psyche rocks, controls are 'meh' vs. the AV.

MoM:
Confuse helps thin the minions that show up out. It also is handy against the mirror versions of the players that show up in the portal portion. Holds/stuns help protect Aurora. Wormhole and TK can be used to force eyes of the storm into position against Penny Mayhem. In the well portion, TK can push Tilman away from the well once she can be controlled, turning the whole trial around if done right. Drain psyche rocks, controls are 'meh' vs. the AV.

DD
Again, stuns/holds/confuses are handy to protect from mobs. Sleeps and immobilizes less so, as the league will usually move in and kill stuff in fixed locations. Drain psyche rocks, controls are 'meh' vs. the AV.

Magi;
See above.

Mind/psi it is then. I want to be a good debuffer on teams so i will be spamming mass confuse and drain psyche looks great. I may try out dark/dark too.

Thanks guys.

It may be just me, but I prefer not to have the same damage type in my primary as my secondary. It does work thematically, but I find the doms that I can stick with are mixed. My dark/dark got to 17 and sits waiting to be deleted when a new fancy strikes. My mind/psi got to about the same level... that one is retired to a server I`m never near. My dark/psi is 50 and relatively quickly for me.

Dark control is really good I found. I just finish a dark/fire off with trials. The pet is meh, but the aoe hold is flat out insane. because it is a patch, with a duration, it is oh..about 100 times more useful than single shot aoe holds, vs nasty mobs. It is always a huge (relative) debuff, so it does something vs AVs. With perma dom levels of rech, I can 'almost' stack it.

I started an Earth/Psi last night. So far he's a lot of fun, and I think the combo will work well together. I generally find Earth/ to be more AoE friendly when soloing than Mind/.

I won't be soloing I will be getting to 50 with the help of a 'very close friend' and then jumping straight into the iTrials.

After playing her up a bit, I fell in love with my Plant/Electric Dom. Seeds is stupidly sexy and if you want to confuse mobs, it's hard not to suggest you do it with Plant. The only issue is that you grab aggro with it as opposed to Mass Confusion. Just a thought.