Help with doms

I've decided after watching some doms who I've teamed with that I'd like to roll one, however I've never tried them before and I'm confused to say the least, if anyone could help answer any of my questions that'd be great!

Thinking of survivability do I need to look to soft cap defence, or can I aim for say, one purple insp away, or do I even need that and can I rely on mobs being mez'd anyway? Also, what defence should I build for, whilst other archtypes its obvious what to aim for, I don't know whether to aim for Ranged, Melee or s/l? Is it even possible to softcap whilst having permadom?

Also, which powersets should I go with that will allow me to mez a spawn and then rain down aoe hell upon them, Plant looks great and I've also had a look at Mind, then I have no idea what to pair them with. I've had a look at /Thorny and /Fire but is there any set that really stands out as having good aoe and having synergy with either of the above? I'm open to anything really, it doesn't have to be anything I've already tired.

Thanks for any help, I'd really like a good dom but have no clue!

I play my doms to control the mobs before being attacked... works great until you're up against something that resists your control For those situations, I have RotP as part of my attack chain.

Plant/fire is a solid aoe machine, no doubt about it.

What other characters have you played and enjoyed? this may help us give you better advice.

Thanks for the reply! Well my favourite has definitely been my elec/shield scrapper, so I'm used to being in melee, just worried if I'd be able to survive it.

given that, I'd look at fire/psi/??? build for recharge. From about lvl 12 you'll be able to stand in the middle of spawns and aoe 'em to nothing while they stagger around and slowly try to get away if they're not stunned.

edit: oh, and if you want them to slowly try to get away if not stunned... do not use your aoe immob while in the middle of them.

Had a look and wow, fire/psi seems great! Exactly what I wanted thanks! Came up with this build too, hope it looks alright!

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Elec/Earth is really awesome very Brute-y.

There's also Fire/Martial Assault. Martial Assault will drop when I24 hits

I'm totally new and naive in the ways of doms myself. Most of my toons have been melee or long-range hover blasters. However, I've recently gotten a fire/fire dom up to lvl 32, and I can't say enough good things about her (name is Burnt Our Baby, and she's on Virtue redside). The new universal damage kb->kd proc is amazing in bonfire, even after the quite understandable nerfing. Imps are wonderful. Flashfire is huge fun.

As far as I can tell, being a fire/fire dom is all about creating a chaotic flaming pit of doom around your opponents where everyone is choking, fleeing, bouncing, burning, and falling over dead. There may be more elegant ways to operate, but I doubt that there are more entertaining ones. As soon as I can add an epic power pool, I'll be going fire/fire/fire.

I'm running redside so I can use Frenzy alignment power which refills the domination bar when used. Plus, I can't imagine how I could run a fire/fire dom in a nice, friendly, wholesome blueside manner. It would take all the fun out of it.

Ok as a long time Dominator player,
-Set Bonus to shoot for, Recharge, many doms shoot for this in order to become Perma-Doms. Even before becoming a perma-Dom this does have beneifits, it increases the availibility of various AE control powers and Domination, and helps stacking mez on a mob

-Primary wise, really any of the control primaries are fine for the most part, although I'd stay away from Gravity for a first time Dom, the problem with Grav is that you have to wait until 28 to get your soft AE control power( Wormhole), much less slotted. Unfortunately you'll need AE soft control well before then. People do tend to favor Plant due to getting Seeds at 8, but really the other sets are fine.

-Seconary wise, at this point all of the assault sets are fine, it just depends on what you want here, and your concept. You want melee? Try Earth Assault, it hits like a freight train in melee, but comes up short with ranged. You want AE damage? try Fire, Thorns, or Psi

This is my Fire/psi/psi...it steamrolls something fierce...

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.958
http://www.cohplanner.com/

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Colossal Phoenix : Level 50 Mutation Dominator
Primary Power Set: Fire Control
Secondary Power Set: Psionic Assault
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Char -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold:30(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg:30(3), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(3), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(5), Apoc-Dmg:50(5)
Level 1: Psionic Dart -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx:50(A)
Level 2: Fire Cages -- Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), GravAnch-Hold%:50(11)
Level 4: Mind Probe -- Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg:50(A), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(7), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg:50(7), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx:50(9), Hectmb-Dam%:50(9)
Level 6: Stealth -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A)
Level 8: Hot Feet -- Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(15), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx:50(15), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(25)
Level 10: Mental Blast -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(A), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg:50(11), Dev'n-Hold%:50(13)
Level 12: Flashfire -- SAotDominator-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear:50(A), SAotDominator-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg:50(13), SAotDominator-EndRdx/Rchg:50(43), SAotDominator-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx:50(43), SAotDominator-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg:50(43)
Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 16: Psychic Scream -- Posi-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:50(17), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(17), Posi-Dmg/Rng:50(19), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(19)
Level 18: Cinders -- Lock-%Hold:50(A), BasGaze-Acc/Hold:30(31), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg:30(34), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(34), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(46)
Level 20: Drain Psyche -- Panac-Heal/EndRedux:50(A), Panac-EndRdx/Rchg:50(21), Panac-Heal/Rchg:50(21), Panac-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg:50(23), Panac-Heal:50(23), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg:50(25)
Level 22: Fly -- Winter-ResSlow:50(A)
Level 24: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A)
Level 26: Bonfire -- Posi-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:50(27), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(27), Posi-Dmg/Rng:50(29), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(29), OvForce-Dam/KB:50(50)
Level 28: Subdue -- SAotDominator-Rchg/+Dmg%:50(A), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg:50(37), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(37), Apoc-Acc/Rchg:50(40), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(40), Apoc-Dam%:50(50)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), LkGmblr-Def:50(31), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(31)
Level 32: Fire Imps -- S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg:50(A), S'bndAl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(33), S'bndAl-Acc/Rchg:50(33), S'bndAl-Dmg/EndRdx:50(33), S'bndAl-Build%:50(34)
Level 35: Psionic Lance -- Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(A), Mantic-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg:50(36), Mantic-Acc/ActRdx/Rng:50(36), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), Mantic-Acc/Dmg:50(37)
Level 38: Psychic Shockwave -- Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg:50(A), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(39), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg:50(39), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(39), Armgdn-Dam%:50(40)
Level 41: Link Minds -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), LkGmblr-Def:50(42), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(42), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg:50(42)
Level 44: Mind Over Body -- GA-3defTpProc:50(A), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(45), S'fstPrt-ResKB:30(45), Aegis-ResDam:50(45), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx:50(46), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg:50(46)
Level 47: Psionic Tornado -- Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg:50(A), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(48), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg:50(48), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx:50(48), Ragnrk-Knock%:50(50)
Level 49: Indomitable Will -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Domination
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+:40(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%:50(A)
Level 50: Agility Core Paragon
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Ion Core Final Judgement
Level 50: Degenerative Radial Flawless Interface
Level 50: Cimeroran Core Superior Ally
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To the OP: Some Dom combinations can be a bit end heavy. Some will also serve your endurance bar with an eviction notice at the character creation screen (i'm looking at you, Ice Control). That being said, don't think of Domination as just an emergency power. It also works great as an end refill. Pop it when you need it. If later you find yourself with Domination on cooldown and a Boss grinning like a jackal at you, just pop some Lucks and go to town.

Too many doms try for soft cap def and forget about what they're supposed to be doing:

1) control
2) damage

Get permadom. It's so easy now to put together 70% recharge + Hasten that to not do it is kinda dumb.

Get your AoEs. PB and T. Don't forget your APP/EPP AoE. That's probably where you'll get the most AoEage. I hardly ever see a build that focuses on this.

Have a ranged and melee chain. You'll have times where you need to stay at range. You'll have times when it's safe to close to melee. Ignoring one or the other shuts down half your game.

If you manage to do those, then worry about defense or whatever.

Personally, I shoot for layered resistance as I don't like Mace Mastery (one defense shield set) and Ice Mastery only goes with so many themes (love the set though). So therefore, I'm usually getting a resistance shield from my epic. To boost that up, I've been hitting the Fight Pool a lot and getting Tough. Tough + Epic shield will give you 50-60% resist to SL and another 30-40% resist to X. With the set bonus changes coming with I24 those numbers will only increase.

Seriously. If you have controls and you do AoE damage, then have a layer of resistance, what do you need soft cap defense for? The foes are held, dead and you're shrugging off half their damage anyway. I find it way easier to build for that and for a much reduced price.