oedipus_tex

I do like the idea of there being more range-closing powers. This game is based on comics, and watching most melees casually walk over and punch things really takes me out of the moment. I'm not sure I'm sold on turning Confront into this, but it's interesting.

It's always struck me as strange that Shadow Maul and similar powers roll ToHit once at the start of the animation and not for each punch. It seems like a serious of rapid ToHit rolls would be more appropriate. Then again that might break too many systems to change.

I wish there was an IO set that featured damage and Endurance Mod together. While there are a lot of powers that do damage that have a secondary effect where enhancing the secondary effect is difficult, endurance mod bonuses are so poor, and the lack of damage procs so accute, that no one really slots for it. Putting a damage proc in that set would also make electric powers competitive with -Defense and-ToHit sets.

It doesn't work, no. But it's no biggie because Controllers don't have a lot of attack powers anyway. Tornado and Lighting Storm are pets, not blasts, so don't benefit from Scourge/Impact/Containment etc.

Whirling Hands deals double damage if you are in the special Energy Focus mode. There's a small chance to enter that mode when you use low level Energy attacks on enemies are stunned. However, with Total Focus you have a 100% chance to enter the mode, which is why you want to cast it just prior to Whirling Hands and can deal double damage.

Good call on adding Power Up in there prior to Fearsome Stare. That will increase the -ToHit and the Fear/Immobilize duration.

The 30ft aura on Chilling Embrace is the awesomest thing in the game. When I first read that number I thought it was wrong. 30ft is huge. For reference, that's 5ft wider than the Ice Control aura power Arctic Air. 5ft doesn't sound like much, but looking at the area of a circle: 25ft radius = circle with area 1963.5 30ft radius = circle with area 2827.43 So, measured as a circle, the area of Chilling is 44% bigger than a 25ft power. Of course these powers are actually spheres and not circles. If you decide to Hover a lot, that 44% bigger translates into a lot of extra area.

I would probably do Fearsome Stare >> Living Shadows >> (run in) Heart of Darkness >> Total Focus on a boss >> Whirling Hands. One unfortunate thing is your immobilize is a cone while your main AoE is PBAoE, but this non-synergy ("enervy?") is built into Dark Control anyway with Fearsome/Heart so no huge worries there.

I can't pull up the build right now but this looks like a pretty good start. A few things I can tell from reading just the forum post: Conductive Aura probably needs some Accuracy. APPS: I would go Mu Patron Pool over Ice. But doing this you'd lose your s/l shield. So, the trade off may be too substantial for you. Still I consider Power Sink (plus an extra pet with lightning attacks) so good paired with Electric Control that I have to mention it. Power Up >> Power Sink is a thing to be feared. Especially since Power Sink is auto hit. You should easily be flooring Elite Bosses in two clicks with that combo. That leaves any enemy at close range unable to use melee attacks and provides probably better safety than actual s/l armor. Static Field: Not worth slotting this with 5 slots. I'd move these slots to your AoE damage power Ice Storm (or whatever AoE damage power you end up with): Move the slots from Static Field to here. Chain Fences: Slot as an attack Seismic Smash: Probably worth exchanging the set bonuses for damage procs even if it lowers your overall defense

Whilring Hands was updated for Homecoming with some additional mechanics that were not in the original version of the power. When you are in "Energy Focus" mode the power deals extra damage. You have a small chance to enter Energy Focus mode when you punch an enemy that is Stunned. (This is the possible synergy with Dark Control). If you punch an enemy with Total Focus you have a 100% chance to enter Focus mode. I haven't run the numbers or played Energy Assault much, but from what others have posted, the damage boost is substantial.

I've never tried this pairing but everything about Dark Control suggests it should work well. Open with Fearsome Stare, then run in with Heart of Darkness. This puts you in range for Total Focus >> Whirling Hands. With this combo I'd probably I'd go with an APP with a Resist shield. The Psi APP in particular is attractive because of 2 slots for Luck of the Gambler +Recharge while still getting a Resist shield, plus the chance for +100% Recharge in Psinado. You'd also get around +6 defense to all from Link Minds.

It's on my wishlist of items that the Impact mechanic in Gravity Control carry over to Assault powers. Gravity is intended to be the Blast-y control set and that works on Controllers, who don't have a blast-y secondary. If Impact worked with Assault powers, Gravity would be the premier damage set on Dominators its intended to be.

You should generally Confuse enemies who have annoying powers that can injure you badly, or powers that will contribute to defeating the rest of the group. As a Controller, your Confusion is Mag 3 with a 20% chance for +1 Mag. You can stack it, but this can take a while. Assuming the power hits, Lieutenants are usually the best targets on a fast-ish moving team. (Dominators in Domination mode in contrast usually prioritize Bosses). Some generally good targets for mid to late game enemies are: Malta Sapper (Minion) Gunslinger (Boss) Nemesis Note this enemy group is more difficult to Confuse than many others. I wasn't able to find out how much Confusion protection each unit type has. The big power you're usually trying to avoid is Vengeance (when one of their allies dies they get +ToHit, which wrecks Defense builds), which all of the enemies below have: Major( (Lieutenant) Subaltern (Lieutenant) Lance Corporal (Lieutenant) Colonel (Lieutenant) Carnies Illusionist (Lieutenant) Master Illusionist (Boss) - Confusing her also confuses her summons Freakshow Super Stunner (Boss) Tank (Boss) Council Warwolf (Boss) Arachnos Night Widow (Boss) - Note she has Hold protection, so Confuse is extra useful Tarantulas Rikti Communication Officer (Minion) - Confusing him will confuses his summons Portals - Confusing it also confuses its summons Mentalist (Boss) Longbow Warden - Note there several different kinds. I am unsure if it is easier to Confuse some than others.

If rolling Time, I'd favor Defender over Corruptor. Defender base Defense values are too good to pass up and leave more spots for damage procs. Here's a quickly put together Time/Rad/Soul build. I didn't fully vet it for perfection. I aimed for procs wherever they'd go. Global recharge has Chrono Shift 8 seconds from perma. Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Defender Primary Power Set: Time Manipulation Secondary Power Set: Radiation Blast Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Temporal Mending -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(46) Level 1: Neutrino Bolt -- Dmg-I(A) Level 2: Time's Juncture -- DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb(A), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/Rchg(3), DarWtcDsp-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(3), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(5) Level 4: X-Ray Beam -- SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBst-Dmg/Rchg(7), SprDfnBst-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprDfnBst-Rchg/Heal%(11) Level 6: Irradiate -- TchofLadG-%Dam(A), AchHee-ResDeb%(11), ShlBrk-%Dam(13), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg(13), SprVglAss-Dmg/Rchg(15), SprVglAss-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15) Level 8: Distortion Field -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(17), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(17), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(19) Level 10: Time Crawl -- ImpSwf-Dam%(A) Level 12: Time Stop -- UnbCns-Dam%(A), Lck-%Hold(19), GldNet-Dam%(21), NrnSht-Dam%(21), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(23) Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 16: Proton Volley -- ShlBrk-%Dam(A), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx(23), StnoftheM-Acc/ActRdx/Rng(25), StnoftheM-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg(25), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(27), StnoftheM-Dam%(27) Level 18: Farsight -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(29), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(29), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(31), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31) Level 20: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%(A) Level 22: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 24: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), StdPrt-ResKB(50), StdPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(50) Level 26: Slowed Response -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), TchofLadG-%Dam(31), ShlBrk-%Dam(33) Level 28: Cosmic Burst -- TchofLadG-%Dam(A), ShlBrk-%Dam(33), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), Apc-Dam%(34), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprVglAss-Rchg/+Absorb(34) Level 30: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(36), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(36), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(36), Rct-ResDam%(37), Ksm-ToHit+(46) Level 32: Chrono Shift -- EffAdp-EndMod/Rchg(A), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(37) Level 35: Neutron Bomb -- Rgn-Knock%(A), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(39), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(39) Level 38: Atomic Blast -- TchofLadG-%Dam(A), ShlBrk-%Dam(40), Erd-%Dam(40), Obl-%Dam(40), Arm-Dmg(42), ScrDrv-Dam%(42) Level 41: Soul Drain -- Arm-Dam%(A), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(43), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Arm-Acc/Rchg(43) Level 44: Summon Mistress -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(45), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(45), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(46) Level 47: Dark Embrace -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(48), UnbGrd-Max HP%(48), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(48), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(50) Level 49: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Quick Form 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 -- Empty(A) Level 1: Vigilance Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), PrfShf-End%(5) Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon ------------ ------------ Set Bonus Totals: 6% DamageBuff(Smashing) 6% DamageBuff(Lethal) 6% DamageBuff(Fire) 6% DamageBuff(Cold) 6% DamageBuff(Energy) 6% DamageBuff(Negative) 6% DamageBuff(Toxic) 6% DamageBuff(Psionic) 9.13% Defense(Melee) 7.56% Defense(Smashing) 7.56% Defense(Lethal) 6% Defense(Fire) 6% Defense(Cold) 12.25% Defense(Energy) 12.25% Defense(Negative) 6% Defense(Psionic) 14.75% Defense(Ranged) 6% Defense(AoE) 7.2% Max End 8% Enhancement(Heal) 10% Enhancement(Range) 91.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime) 39% Enhancement(Accuracy) 2.5% Enhancement(Max EnduranceDiscount) 160.2 HP (15.76%) HitPoints Knockback (Mag -4) Knockup (Mag -4) MezResist(Confused) 32.5% MezResist(Held) 32.5% MezResist(Immobilized) 32.5% MezResist(Sleep) 32.5% MezResist(Stunned) 32.5% MezResist(Terrorized) 32.5% MezResist(Teleport) 100% (20% chance) 14% (0.23 End/sec) Recovery 32% (1.36 HP/sec) Regeneration 11.75% Resistance(Smashing) 11.75% Resistance(Lethal) 20% Resistance(Fire) 20% Resistance(Cold) 11.75% Resistance(Energy) 11.75% Resistance(Negative) 8% Resistance(Toxic) 8% Resistance(Psionic) | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1483;710;1420;HEX;| |78DA6594594F135114C7EFB45390B2D3B20965C7B248EDB0B81B13168D028680898| |F93099D96494AA7E912519FFC003EF9E03730F1C5071730BEF9014C6415D417135F| |05229AA889A9A7F77F2CC49964F29BF99F7BEE39FF7BEFCCF4D278D9D3ABF72F0BA| |5622C6EA4D3FAB81935131133E5993662D6BCC85FC574B7FED3F5D16C341ABA692D| |9AFAB491B092D9B891B1ECC4617CD648C4CC4868D6885832A28FD2BC19E19DB1ED7| |8682E699A9172F978C58A2D64AC44AC52BE4D990625A717AC640DA2766ADED4EDA8| |7ECB8AC79B2692D67C68CC4EA5B2C98C9DD2E7EC6C9CAAA73366EA4E033517A47BD| |32FF8CA29A28BA0A96280B9EA2AC4840840DBA2F18A2235B7B2EC929A6B85F90A54| |5F836B0437F23DEE676EA9153D67BE008FBD642E83DE15709D723D9CEB798BF9BC6| |F883E559415D1980031AC4ABD42630E82DB7E2C7EBEC7E20D971C5BB5CDDC026BDE| |831B34B6843D963C56A4B6435A2934B5F41A6AD7FC06FD13E8CF6F606CDDA222DF3| |BA86039D64594F763AD3629A5923D5472CF75EF106B5865AE81C7D7991BE007EAA1| |1AF3A9D5B5A8D1EC6756812DD54C1F98B7E6632FBE27E857A1BE6A59ABCDD125DCA| |4D46366577D3D5C680DCC3AF023556F4496AB9157BD8577A18D9DE417B089DD35FD| |176B1BC24EB46BD0DB87F97D0454A987007AF004D85D27BBEB64779D9358E9AE037| |0E08F90737FA2DE5A91ABB43EC0FC5D0FC1FC2677F0CE759CE1D869F0C430738439| |04EE10BAD94737FB08B28FE02E4E4950A087DEB388F7DEC32EDD26B9477E0E39B5E| |712C72E827DE798E79917C0BB94D3CF3DF6EF413BB9CF3C607E03073EA3EE1221C4| |A7213408EDD477E62FE60F50FB097E291322CC3B1FE613D9AC1EF9A2E56998EC2B2| |8B93E4734EC50348732E450861DCA9443B99157E02837A3F2234515192DA92AFC39| |725FBD853F0E47F78E2AD7E921A88A5DC7A8FD434551DAE05F7D84759DA2CF44E3E| |A7F01216CFBA7| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

Radiation Blast sort of forces this. It's not, strictly speaking, a top performing set. But to do your AoE damage, you will need to get right in the middle of things. I suggest a build like Time/Radiation/Soul. Time is probably the safest PBAoE Buff set because it has a -ToHit aura with 25ft range (bigger than the hold auras in Rad or Nature), has a good +Defense buff in Farsight, and a heal. In fact, it's the only buff set that has both +Defense and a reliable heal. Time/Dual Pistols can also be played at close range and is probably stronger than Radiation Blast due to better proc options. FWIW I do think -Defense is a somewhat underrated secondary effect. Since most teams these days consist of 2 or 3 50s carrying underleveled sidekicks, any source of +Accuracy or -Defense likely has a very high impact on overall team performance because otherwise teammates constantly miss.

Hi all, I've updated these descriptions again. Please continue to chime in with corrections or comments.

You have a lot of options here, and almost any secondary will work. I have to admit Electric Assault (and Thorny) is my least favorite Assault set, but you could make it work. The only real interesting power in Electric Assault is Build Up, and its not that interesting. 🙂 I wrote a post that lists the various interesting oddball powers available to Dominator secondaries, with short videos showing how the power works.

If you are in to min/maxing I'd roll Dark/Psi before Mind/Psi. A few reasons: Lots of late game mobs heavily resist Psi damage, so its a good idea to mix damage types. Dark Control is overall very similar to Mind Control, but mostly superior. You lose a non-aggro Sleep, the long recharging Mass Confusion, and the mystery power that is Telekinesis. Not overall bad powers, but.... In Dark you gain 2 pet powers, AoE immobilize, a hard Stun on a 90 second cooldown, and a superior AoE hold. Dark's -ToHit debuff keeps you safe even when mezzes dont work. (Mind Control has no secondary effect, not even the -Recharge on the Blast/Assault sets). Because of the -ToHit, Dark has better proc slotting options too. I'd love to see updates to Mind Control to bring it into alignment with the new meta. You can still play it if you want. But in terms of min maxing its hard for me to recommend it over Dark.

This. Traps was never enabled for Controllers because the developers at the time believed it would be too good an AV killer, and they marginally cared about such things at the time. Traps has a boat loads of debuffs, the highest base Defense of any Controller secondary barring Power Boosted Farsight/Fade, a single target immobilize, and mezz protection to Hold and Stun. It is built to flatten AVs. Paired with Illusion, the ultimate AV tanker set, and you've got a very strong AV slayer.

I can't imagine a build where you are unable to take both. Can you share with us the rest of your power list? It seems almost certain there would be a better power to drop than either of these.

Fair point. I should have caught that, but its been so long since I really messed with it. That gets back to the reasoning of why it's not a bad power to take while leveling up. Later on the Hold recharges so fast and you have other attacks to cycle in there, not to mention your AoEs and other Controller-y duties.

The main reason to take it early is to make a better attack chain, cycling between the Hold and Immobilize. Once you fill that out with better powers and more Recharge to fill in the gaps, jettisoning the Immobilize just makes sense.

It's not a bad idea to take the T1 while leveling up and spec out of it later. The TI1 has the same Recharge and Damage as the T2 Hold. In most but not all cases it does animate faster, so technically it deals more DPA. Just not in most cases enough to justify taking it over the Hold power which is a) a Hold and b) accepts much better slotting.

As an Ice Control Controller you will want mezz protection as you get into level 35 and above. Your main options are: Psi Pool, Indomitable Will Destiny: Clarion (only available from level 50 onward, and protection only up to Mag 3 for majority of the time) Sorcery Pool - I don't believe this can be perma'ed Getting Arctic Air detoggled in the middle of a heated battle is the number one killer of solo Ice Controllers. Indom Will is the most reliable source of mezz protection available to Controllers. Also, the attacks in the Psi Pool provide -recharge that stacks with your Ice powers. So if there is any way to pivot to an Ice/Ice/Psi build it may do you good in the long run. Note that Ice/Storm will need significant endurance support from the Alpha slot and or Destiny slot, so prepare for that too.

Unfortunately, Gravity Control on Dominators doesn't allow the Impact mechanic to affect the Assault set powers, so on a Dominator you can end up with an Assault set that does less damage than your primary. Then you run into the issue that a lot of the high damage Assault sets have mechanics that benefit the secondary but not the primary, e.g. Fire, Energy. So it's overall just a poorly matched powerset for its archetype. If they ever make Impact affect Assault sets though Gravity Dominators would be beasts. If they get time to do that among the hundreds of other things we've suggested it would be worth investing in. 🙂