oedipus_tex

FWIW, Synaptic Overload is coded to skip targets that are Confused, so the way it functions with Contagious Confusion slotted are hard to measure. Generally its good to have the proc if fighting a big group, and bad if its a small or isolated group because the proc triggering can block the power from propogating. Does make me wonder how folks would react to Seeds of Confusion that Replaces or Ignores rather than Stacks. It's the only existing AoE Confuse that's feasible to self stack. Synaptic mostly doesn't, as mentioned above, Arctic Air can't self stack, and Mass Confusion is mostly Recharge limited. I'm not sure I have enough fire resistant armor to withstand the reaction if Seeds got that nerf, but it's how the other confuses mostly work.

Oh I forgot something. The new Stealth is full invis. So take the Stealth IO out of super speed, put a Winter Recharge Resist IO there, or just a Zephyr -KB to avoid KB if out of Dom mode.

This is the cheapest build I Earth/Earth/Ice build I could create in 30 min that hits most of the important points. Perma soft capped to Slash/Lethal Close to soft capped to Ranged, soft capped while Power Up is up, or enemy other than an AV is within a quake Perma-dom Damage procs in heavy hitting long recharge powers (Fissure and Seismic Smash) Dominator +damage ATO in a power likely to fire it often (Stalagmites) It did require three purple sets to pull off: the Dom ATO, Hecatomb, and Armageddon. I deliberately avoided any of the Winter's Gift sets. Weaknesses, nothing major but just to be aware of: No real HP recovery tools to speak of Very low resistance Endurance management difficult, will require support from an iPower (I recommend picking Destiny for this and Musculature with +End Mod for Alpha) No -Recharge resistance or Psi defense leaves build very open to being knocked out of permadom from Psionic powers This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7 https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Dominator Primary Power Set: Earth Control Secondary Power Set: Earth Assault Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Concealment Ancillary Pool: Ice Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Fossilize -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-Acc/Rchg(3), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(3), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(5) Level 1: Stone Spears -- Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(7), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Thn-Acc/Dmg(9) Level 2: Stone Cages -- EnfOpr-Acc/Rchg(A), EnfOpr-EndRdx/Immob(11), EnfOpr-Acc/EndRdx(11), EnfOpr-Immob/Rng(13), EnfOpr-Acc/Immob(13), EnfOpr-Acc/Immob/Rchg(15) Level 4: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(19) Level 6: Super Speed -- Clr-Stlth(A) Level 8: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 10: Hurl Boulder -- Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(21), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(23), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Thn-Acc/Dmg(25) Level 12: Stalagmites -- SprAscoft-Rchg/+Dmg%(A), SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(25), SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(27), SprAscoft-EndRdx/Rchg(27), SprAscoft-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(29), SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(29) Level 14: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 16: Power Up -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 18: Earthquake -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb(31), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/Rchg(31), DarWtcDsp-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(31), DarWtcDsp-Rchg/EndRdx(33) Level 20: Heavy Mallet -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(33), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(33), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34) Level 22: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(34) Level 24: Stealth -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 26: Volcanic Gasses -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-Acc/Rchg(36), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(36), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(36) Level 28: Seismic Smash -- Hct-Dam%(A), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Hct-Acc/Rchg(37), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(39), UnbCns-Dam%(39) Level 30: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(34), LucoftheG-Def(39) Level 32: Animate Stone -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(40), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(40), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(42), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(42) Level 35: Mud Pots -- Arm-Dam%(A), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Arm-Acc/Rchg(43), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(43) Level 38: Fissure -- PstBls-Dam%(A), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(45), PstBls-Dmg/Rchg(45), PstBls-Acc/Dmg(46), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(46) Level 41: Sleet -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 44: Frozen Armor -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(46), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(48) Level 47: Ice Storm -- Artl-End/Rech/Rng(A), Artl-Acc/Rech/Rng(48), Artl-Acc/Dam/Rech(48), Artl-Dam/Rech(50), Artl-Dam/End(50), Artl-Acc/Dam(50) Level 49: Hibernate -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Domination Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(15) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(17), EndMod-I(17) ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1345;627;1254;HEX;| |78DA65935B6F125110C7F7B0BBA5509062B9945BB9D9428BA5AD6FDE624C5B0DA62| |468135FC98A846E8240D8D5D8471F7CD7AAD1447BD10FE08BB1A55EBE85974FA1AD| |97771C76FE42936E20BF9D993333FF73CE6CF1FE92EBEDD5079724E159AC6B86515| |E6ADED11B9AD96CAB45ADA65764891E3BFDE3FD4079B1D930DBCD7A7E596B9B6BFF| |AD23F1CB86A1DDAD9B88C3929CA526E5ACB6AAD5DB6EEBF58A5E5B33F546CD65592| |B55AD4586D7320A8D7BBAA1DFD2EBBAB91E5E6EE9957CA1522D1735C3ACB6D70712| |C77BBAE81FB654F69EAE2C7DB149524C916C5FC16F4CE53BF385BBBF5695DE10162| |8F69A39B4036E3387B7C04D6684FA08E48A47C2F2391F831B4CD713F019F3C45366| |8A0E51B692BB42CE71BD93609A622AC724D561B37C01F2D9E1B3FBB9C64BD2EE407| |F07B4FBA0DD07ED01680F40FB38B44F90F611E48E7C9639F68919FE087E6046F7C1| |0E5390163EB6AEE4EED223BD22D3038F07BB88D3622FFB14EF43DEC5C42EB807769| |8897DE626D519C3CD8D9508298A5D076F3093AB4C9954F87182FEA0B06E33798615| |BA2916C46905715A090A85503B84A948632AD2988A34A6628B7444385F8DE458DBA| |919701ACC32A7326081A950EF18E7DA62E89D1C654EF960CB3CA9BDFAF103CECB1C| |82BFC0DFCCE93FE05FE636694B717D257511B10BCC99F3E039F02C73877226D16FB| |2C3F7737A0FDC05DF3367DF813695A7822E318BBBCDE26E23E4CB618F39EC71167B| |9BC35EA3B4268F9EF961AE35670787980B2AA880323344B9F3E8398F9E51A5FFA5D| |2AF3775A981A7BB722C5A52FA5FA7242CCF0F2779C451CFC1C023C4357AC9D0177A| |93F5FF3CB6FA70E0B189E77CB2A31B608255FE034315CEA0| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

Hi there, thanks for sharing your build. Here are a few thoughts at a glance. First thing I noticed right away is you didn't take Power Up. Take this, its one of the best reasons to go with a Earth Dominator. Specifically, hit Power Up before every Earthquake for -ToHit boosted quakes Lose one slot in Volcanic Gasses, the 5th Basilisk's isnt contributing much Seismic Smash is screaming for a 6th slot with a damage proc. Put the purple Hold proc here for insane damage. Move the Dom ATO currently in Fossilize over to Stalagmites. 6 slot this. That gives you an extra +5 Ranged defense for the sixth slot. Now every time you hit Stalagmites you're practically guaranteed to trigger the +Damage Dom ATO proc. Fossilize: Probably change to x4 Baslisks's Gaze You have a lot of single target melee attacks Drop either Boxing or Kick, you don't need both Probably drop Cross Punch, its not adding much to this build. Your damage type is already Smashing Probably drop one of the two Mallet attacks1 Replace stuff above with powers of your choice. Earthquake: change to x4 -ToHit IOs, x1 chance for 100% recharge 2 slots in Hasten, not 3 Stone Cages: Unless you really are desperate for +Recharge, slotting purples here is usually not worth it IMO. Two options: Just put one Accuracy here if you have to and leave it alone Slot for Ranged or S/L defense depending on what you need

IMO lessons learned from Gravity and Mind Control are that "blast" style powers on Dominators belong in Assault sets and not Control sets when ported over. For me, that means a ported Illusion Control would forfeit Spectral Wounds and (probably) Phantom Army to an Illusion Assault set. The resulting Assault set would then be balanced around having Phantom Army (that is, low damage) versus trying to balance Illusion Control itself around a theoretical secondary Assault set. I think it could work. Spectral Terror would need to Dominate, and there'd need to be an actual control thrown in to replace PA. Any form of AoE Stun or Confuse would work. [Note in this arrangement you could still play a Illusion Dominator with Phantom Army, but you'd have to roll it as Illusion Control/Illusion Assault. You could also roll Illusion Assault with any other Dominator primary The damage of the Assault set itself would be balanced around access to Phantom Army.]

If I got a chance to re-design Judgement, part of what I'd be looking at is the timing. I think what's disruptive about them right now is the damage is upfront. I think they'd work better with a built in delay. One idea is for them to be player version of doom patches. You mark the ground and the power only lands X seconds later. Others like Ionic could mark the target but not actually launch until 30 seconds later. Or others could do X damage after Y second delay. The main idea being that the guaranteed investment isn't as strong. Right now, because Judgement acts so fast, on many characters its always the best power to cast if it is recharged and fresh enemies are in sight. Call it the Energy Transfer gamble if you will: with some delay built in and less guaranteed pay off, you have to think a bit more about where and when to deploy this kind of power. Doing this would mainly raise the damage of low DPS teams instead of multiplying the speed of already good performers.

Wondering if I have enough flame protective material to say this out loud: Ionic Judgment is overpowered as all hell. All the Judgments are really, but this is one just overdoes it. I had posted a while back about my Vet Level 100 Elec/Psi Dominator ending up on a Market Crash Task Force that I abandoned about 10 minutes in. I was on a team with three outfitted Blasters and after watching the team demolish the first mission I couldn't find the energy to keep going, because it was clear I wasn't doing anything but sucking XP from the team. Synaptic Overload couldn't chain because things died too fast, and I couldn't drain the enemies of endurance as fast as they died. I started to look into how something like that could happen: Each Blaster had a nuke (145 recharge reduced by x3 on a good build brings this to around 48, with the potentially reach speeds of 40-45 recharge with the team buffs being thrown around). So to make the math easy, lets say these powers had 45 Recharge each. 45 Recharge hits cleanly within Judgement cycles (90 sec): 2 true nukes per cycle However, Judgment hits up to 40 targets. In a saturated environment with Ionic, hitting 40 is virtually guaranteed. On this Task Force though let's round way down and say it was hitting an additional 16 +8 enemies. That means we effectively are getting half of one extra Judgment per cycle. so 1.5 Judgments and 2 true nukes within 90 seconds. To get rid of the fraction, I'll double that and just say 7 nukes in 180 seconds. Three blasters armed with 7 nukes over 90 seconds = 180 / 21, which equates to a nuke every 8.5 seconds, which tracks exactly with my and many other folks gameplay experience of being completely locked out of participating in this sort of scenario. * EDIT: Fixed a math error that had the math showing a nuke every 7.5 seconds, should be every 8.5 seconds.

This isn't a fleshed out suggestion, it's a fact finding mission. 🙂 If an Insect or Swarm Control powerset were to get made, what are some existing end-game assets it could reuse? I only know about a few powers: The Tier 1 attack in Savage Assault The "Swarm" enemy unit that could potentially serve as a pet Are there other obvious assets? How far off is this dream? 🙂

For situational awareness, the number 180 is a good one to know as a benchmark. It's about number of seconds required to lunch two Judgments. It also happens that a decent benchmark for most long Recharge powers on a pretty good build is a x3 reduction in Recharge which brings a 145 Recharge power to about 48 Recharge. That fits almost cleanly into 4 "true" nukes per 2 Judgment cycles. All of that averages out to a bit under 6 nukes launched in 180 seconds, or a nuke every 30 seconds. This is also the same rate a tip top tier Ice Dominator can place Ice Slick. 😄 * [ *Of course that Dominator can actually drop 6 Ice Slicks over 180 seconds, and also launch 2 Judgments, so its not an entirely fair comparison. Used to illustrate how fast nukes are firing. ]

Related to this, I think it would be hilarious is if Masterminds had to worry about minion loyalty and wages.

This is definitely an "it depends" situation. If you really do end up on a very well outfitted team, most of your assumptions hold true. This mainly will apply to the two Task Forces that require an Alpha slot, Apex and Tin Mage. It'sa very safe assumption most people in there is on a very strong build. It's much more of a gamble on the ITF, which a lot of people bring mid level characters to to level up. If the TF happens to be Lady Gray, it's likely to be so easy that what nobody brings even matters. Same is true of Market Crash other than the last boss. For these TFs nukers carry the day just to make them speedier. For level 50 tips missions, like I've been hosting occasionally, its a mix that can tip rapidly between a very well outfitted team and a team in need of a lot of extra support depending who is cycling in or out of the team at the moment, and the difficulty of the tips mission.

Ok on rereading, I admit I haven't been totally fair to Fire Dominators. There is one additional reason to go with them over Blaster variants: Fire Cages. Although Fire Cages doesn't do amazing damage, it is the true that being able to lock enemy movement down is a thing some people, including me, are fans of versus allowing stuff to just run around. You don't need to spam the power too often, just tap enemies with it once they're in a position you like. If you decide to take Fold Space you can even pre-lock them and hoover them into position.

I posted a pretty basic one up thread. Big picture, on a Dominator I'd probably recommend skipping the Fire APP. It's not terrible, it does give you two AoE blasts, which Doms are sorely lacking. It's just that by going with that you're not really embracing one of the main reasons (IMO) to go Dom over a Blaster: Ice APP for Sleet, which brings you in a Controller/force multiplier direction. I can't understate how much Sleet evens the ball game. Psi APP for Link Minds and Indom Will, Defense bonuses on an archetype that really needs them and mezz protection insurance in case something with -recharge disrupts your Domination cycle (a constant threat in difficult end game play) Leviathan APP for Water Spout, a power available on a few other archetypes that only true shines on Dominators IMO due to how the combo of safety + damage it adds UPDATE: Have to backtrack a little on Fire APP in this scenario. For some reason I thought the Fire damage bonus in Embrace of Fire was nerfed on Homecoming from 30 seconds down to 10 seconds. However, Mids says 30 seconds, and I just looked in game, and its still 30 seconds. I don't know why I thought Homecoming had a weaker version. Given that, the Fire APP may make some sense when paired specifically with Fire Assault.

It might work with the Earth APP. Maybe. Thunderclap + Fissure has a reasonable chance to Stun lieutenants and bosses. It honestly just sounds very painful to me though. Way way back in the day I used to main a Mind/Cold. This is before I valued soloing anything. I've changed as a person since those days. 🙂

I do wonder if things would end differently for those movie heroes if they were using City of Heroes powers. [universe ends because of Electric Control's Gremlins]

I don't think it would be that bad. You can already Wormhole or Fold Space stuff on to people. If they really wanted to tho they could add a confirm dialog.

Well they could make it so that you could cast Telekinesis so that it behaves differently depending on who you cast it on. Enemy: Repel from me Teammate: Pull toward this person

Here's a really basic one I started a while back for Water/Fire/Fire Blaster. I'm not a Blaster expert so I just threw it together without thinking too hard about attack chains or optimal DPS. Defense isn't soft capped, but its one Purple away from that to Smash/Lethal/Ranged and Melee. Has Hot Feet and Bonfire. Hasten not quite perma, made up for some with Bonfire's chance for +100% Recharge. While this lacks a Flashfire style power, it picks up a ranged nuke that recharges in about 36- 40 seconds depending on the Hasten cycling. With Tidal Forces and Build Up it will wipe out the enemy spawn. No idea if putting the Blaster ATO damage proc is best slotting, I was just slapping stuff into place. With more thought should be able to make this a lot more scary. Anyway yeah, take Flashfire on that Dom build. Or reroll to Blaster and nuke stuff into orbit.

TBH I don't think anything is likely to happen to Seeds. Roots is bugged so I can see changes there, and Carrion Creepers is a likely target because the proc rate is dizzying. As we're writing this though I'm looking at a Water Blast build that's half finished but has Geyser recharging in 35 seconds. Seeds recharge and duration hardly matter when Blasters can nuke as frequently as the top tier Ice Dominators can drop an Ice Slick.

Are you going by what the readout in game says? That won't reflect your global recharge, just locally slotted recharge. It does that because global recharge is also affected by stuff like Speed Boost etc.

Total Domination doesn't fill Mind's control hole IMO. It's just too inaccurate. I've never found any of the AoE Holds other than Earth or Dark's modified versions to be worthwhile while leveling up. They have a place once I've got a lot of global Accuracy from set bonuses, in most cases as a back up to a back up. It's possibly true that the "always up" control Mind is missing is Telekinesis and not Mass Confusion. Its Recharge certainly suggests that. The fact that an unmodified version of Telekinesis exists in the Defender APPs may speak otherwise, though. You wouldn't see, say, Flashfire in an APP (though Tankers do get a version of Stalagmites, so I could be wrong). I never did get to play with the original, no target cap Telekinesis. I bet that was fun.

Seconding and thirding what was said upthread. Flashfire is the reason to roll a Fire Dominator. If you're going to skip Flashfire, reroll as a Blaster, and go with Whatever/Fire/Fire. You'll still get Hot Feet and Bonfire, pick up Burn, do a ton more damage, get decent self healing and have a much more manageable blue bar. Blasters don't get Flashfire though--that's the reason to go Dom, mainly.* Fire Dominators are a tricky beast. At least as a Fire/Fire you don't have to worry about your endurance crashing. I rolled a Fire/Ice Dominator thinking the to damage auras would combo okay together, but I'm about to rename him "He Who Has No Blue Bar." [*Edited to add: Blasters also don't get Sleet, Water Spout, or Link Minds, the three other biggest reasons to go Dom IMO.]

Not enough Like buttons.

Like others said, there's no right answer here, but Plant/Kin/Earth probably qualifies. I think that role might be outclassed by Mind/Storm. 😄 I don't think there's any feeling of greater sadness than running Mind/Storm on Penny Yin Task Force (level 25).

I'm wondering about the Defender's Bastion: Chance for PBAoE Heal on a Dominator. I've never outfitted a Defender completely (I'm just realizing this--it surprises me as much as anyone 😉 ) but I've heard this proc triggers a lot. Is that true? Could really use that on a Dom given how few Assault sets provide sustainability. I have a few Defenders sitting in that level range but not the cash to outfit them. I wonder if I could justify outfitting one really good Defender with this proc tho. Maybe a Trick Arrow toon? Or Storm?