Azra

From the other grav en thread...I liked Oedipus' domi summary. I rank priority like this in the current meta: 1) Enough recharge to become perma-dom 2) ~32 defense (either Ranged or S/L) 3) Procs 4) Soft capping (if possible) Mill check out your updated build. I just noticed your edit. Azrael.

I'll have to look out for that. That would be handy. Azra.

A coupe for energy. Tried it on en/grav Dom. Fun and impressive. Azra.

Yes.

I still view the game as SO based prior to the arrival of IO sets. Crafting. So I try to build an optimal AT build out of that. To understand how it works, how to optimise the attacks and defence sets and reduce end usage to make the build end sufficient. Once I'm happy with that. I go to general IOs to 'lock' or 'optimise' around the 'SO' build. Saves paying for SOs and upgrading them. Overall, with the bonuses being slightly ahead of SOs it produces a smooth around build. I do this at L35. But there's no reason that can't be at L22. Adding a performance shifter and numina to that. Really helps with the stamina return. That's just two set specific IOs. And the return is significant. At that, I'm reasonably happy to play CoH based upon the skill I can bring to the challenge. That said, I only +0 x1 (even con) from 1-50 so I get a constant baseline of each AT/Dice Roll compared to another. Plus, as the AT grows in power, it seems more 'super' over time. (Instead of raising the difficulty bar each time to negate the progress to a standstill.) I can understand now, with 'Attuned' IOs that you can, relatively cheaply, replace SOs or general IOs quite early on with bonuses that start (see example above) to be quite noticeable. My point being, I usually wait to L50 and then build the uber build. But this recent idea was brought to my attention that you can build as you go along with Attuned because they scale with you going up and down (to what level is on the Attuned IO if you hover over it.) And, true enough. I've seen quite a few builds rocking the house with IO sets earlier than 50. I'd see lower levels and think, 'How are they doing THAT?' Because? Attuned sets. This means you can get an 'attuned' and optimised 'set build' experience of CoH quite early on as opposed to TOs/DOs and taking a knee or running out of end and 'face planting.' Though, to me, TO, DO, SOs are the way of the game upto L22. Then general IOs at L35 (though it can be done earlier e.g. 25s? With 'nominally' less bonuses vs SOs...) And set build at 45 onwards. But that's just the way my current path is. Having more experience in general of IO sets, the planner and coming around to the idea of Attuned sets, there's scope to play the 'early' game in a more optimised way. Flipping my 'taunt' at Frost Fire in the process. So, like you say, you can get a lot of experience building as you go and getting familiar with what the sets offer. Some people like to plan ahead (you can see everything/outcome at a glance and tweak to get the result you want without the expense of any missteps) with the planner and 'build as they go' but there's another alternative. It's called experience. The 'feel' of what is needed based upon having done something loads of time before. (I came to IOs LATE in the CoH game, just a year before closure. So, I can take a build somebody else has made, modify it...or build around my SO inspired build. Haven't done anything from the ground up or 'built as I have gone alone...' But I'm starting to venture down that path as I get more 'experience.'_ But I'll note your advice re: the dominator sets and the defence bonuses. I thought, 'Yes. Makes sense. I'll try that.' General domi advice you can apply in principle to most builds. I like retention of most of the powers from the other guy that was making the point about 'only' needing perma Domination. Sure, it's not essential to have defence on high if you have Perma DOmi...you'll own 'most' of the time. But I take your point, that a reasonable buffer of defence stops your dominator getting 'owned' in or two shots by Mr. Random Mob who gets through. More over, that 90% recharge global is fine and if it gets you Perma Domi. Perma hasten. Not essential. Personally, I'd like to have my perma-Domi, defence and perma hasten cake and eat it. A three ring circus for when I want to 'p-own' carnie on +4 x8. That possible..? I owe that Master Illusionist...a beat down. A z r a.

I don't know about that poster. I came to using IOs and set builds late in CoH. (In the last year before shutdown.) Never used Mids. I've started opening builds from forums to see how it works overall. (I have the newer version.) Modifying builds. Seeing how it works. And, no doubt, using the planner can save time and influence in terms of making expensive mistakes and think about what you really want from an AT. The planner could do with supporting higher resolutions. (Uneasy on the eye...) I have to drop the resolution on my monitor to get it looking easier to read. It's taken a while to play with the planner to see how it all works. A z r a.

Back on live. I had an elec/elec/elec domi. It cost 3.5 billion influence. I had perma hasten. Perma domi. And about 35% defence. I had 3 pets, plus 2 incarnate pets...and 1 mu epic patron pet. The new Force of Will power set offers a power that will give you a good chunk of defence for 30 seconds. So that's an option. I didn't go the defence capped route because I didn't want to rip out half the powers that made playing the 3 sets fun for me. Also? Because if you have an invulnerable hero where is the challenge? I didn't get hurt often but when it did it woke me up and made me play better. So having that 'window of vulnerability' still adds a bit of narrative tension to my play. An alt doesn't have to be invulnerable to 'pain' or the enemy mobs. (Where's the challenge otherwise?) If you have Domination then you're God like and it's the skill in using that despite the brittle ness of the AT in taking damage. But domination, good play, the epic temporary shield and res/defence from Set IO building as well as the tertiary sets give plenty of scope to take the 'edge' off that brittle ness to take a punch or two (or three.) Pet's like the animated stone, singularity and others also offer that 'another layer' of 'soft armour.' You don't need to be defence capped to be a formidable adversary. Equally though, having sufficient def/res to let perma dom sing is prudent, a platform to perform without getting sucker punched with the 'one shot' that gets through. I aim to rebuild my 1st dominator since live. Perma domi and 30-ish defence numbers. Higher for ranged def would be good. Perma hasten? I had it on live. So it's possible. A z r a.

Build? A z r a.

I'll check out the builds with Perma Domi AND good defence, 32% or higher sounds good. So when things get through you have some 'soft armour' mitigation when things get chaotic. And they invariably do. Currently doing a Grav' Energy domi. Loads of fun. Lots to do. L38. Very kinetic combo. Hold them or throw them. Hasten, SS. All the primary and 2ndary powers. Missing Leadership. I tend to take tactics and assault. Might respect to have those and get Victory Rush whilst I'm at it. Fitted with general IOs. A bit end thirsty on the later energy attacks but I haven't locked them down with x2 END REDS yet. I like the sound of the Epic with Energy Transfer in it. A z r a.

I'm trying one. L38 so far. Very 'kinetic.' Lots of choice. Lots of combos... Loads of fun. Lots to do. Hold them. Throw them. Great synergy. It's a beat down. I like the new energy store and spend mechanic on the Energy Dom'. A z r a.

Auroxis, An excellent read and a sound guide. Will try this for my Empathy Sonic Defender. A z r a.

I'd still like to choose my taunt type. 'Hur!' or 'Ahhh..!' 'Ha, hah...' 'AARGHGHGHGHGHGHGH!' (Amazonian scream.) Sick bucket sound vs the grand standing. I just find the 'Hurr' one annoying. Personally, I don't like the 'Hur' one. It seems prevalent on my tanks and brutes. I'd much prefer to pick the 'Ahhh' if it was an option. /taunt 1 or /taunt 2 would be nice...as an option. A z r a.

I think they should hit harder. For sustained burst. I'm quite open to all ATs being 'damaging' - for me, it's just a question of how they get there. Controllers control. Blasters blast. Tanks/almost Tanks (Brutes) Scrappers melee. etc. I rolled a tank (Invul/DMelee) and 'tough' enough in early Brickstown. L28. But very end heavy and the attacks feel very 'tippy tappy.' You can box yourself out to death or a stalemate. Your attacking ability doesn't seem to be able to survive your defence. Playing the brute in the same small mobs of 2-3 in Bricks/Founders. Sure, I get hurt quicker but having a DoT toggle in my armoury and the fury bar AND the BU button is an embarrassment of riches. Mobs don't last long. You only have to get the fury bar to 30-50% and it has enough bite to have a satisfying crunch to your attacks. Solution? Role a brute and IO the resists and defences. And you'll have the tank you dreamed of. Solution to tanks? Put a 'Might' bar in there. Builds up like Domination. Builds up via mob aggression and taunt....herding and punchvoke. Then? BOOM! Might gives you a 1 minute damage buff. Tanks? Problem solved. Sure, Brutes might spit their dummy out but I'd argue that.... Tanks defences (at peak) outweigh a brute. Brutes attacks (at peak) outweigh a tank. It's an inversion. It's just a question of how much. At the moment I'm not playing tanks. I had to take 3 incarnate powers, make them level shifted, take musculature AND 'assault' to get my ice tank worthy of doing some actual respectable damage. To get that 'feel' of a brute in an attacking sense. That's a long way behind a brute to me. Too far. I don't think their damage out put should be the same. But the disparity is too great and the play stats of ATs prob' reflect that. Along with the enticing fury mechanism (which was originally intended for tanks.) I don't think it would be outrageous to put that mechanism onto a tank. Bet there'd be no one playing brutes. 😛 What's a brute? A scrapper with a fury bar but no crits? I like playing Blasters that are set built. But in SO terms. The Sentinel is great. To have a blaster that hits as hard as a Defender but doesn't get mezzed because it can take a hit like a scrapper. But I can't expect to hit as hard as blaster. Ofc. I understand that. Brutes can be damage monsters all the time if you get them 30-40% and higher. Can the tank have a mechanism whereby their damage is 40-50% higher with a slightly different method to fury in that the tank's play style builds aggression for a sustained burst rather than a higher and lower ebb and flow mechanism which the Brute has. Just helicopter air lift the Domination mechanism onto the tank. Call it might. Try it privately, Dev's and see how it works. It would end this debate one and for all. Tanks with Damage. For a 1 minute. So, I have a domination bar and button fetish. 🙂 Another thing to consider. Is time and space. Certain ATs use the mind. Some blast. Some melee. IT takes time to close to melee. Mind is a direct hit. Blasting has projectile time which is shorter than running to an enemy. There's the possibility of making some ATs slower or faster than others. If you're slower in your attack rate you hit hard. (Generally, as an AT.) Brutes may be quicker, tanks slower. Or could be. I'd like the idea of tanks hitting harder as they seem quite slow to me. I think a sustained burst of damage mechanism would spice up the AT. 3 things transformed blasters from being completely borked. Auto SNIPE! HIT LIKE A TRUCK OR HIT INSTANTLY. Self Buff. Rinse Repeart Novas. You don't get nudged off snipe in battle and die or have a snipe you 'can't' use in combat situations in the mix of the melee. You don't have to die. There's enough self buff to keep you healed or rocking instead of depleted and defenceless. And in case of emergency? BOOM. And you can mix and match those 3 things in attack situations. Snipe and Nova. Snipe and Torrent. Snipe and Energy punch...snipe with chips, snipe with fries...snipe with steak...and with incarnates you can double nova and snipe an nova and snipe and energy punch and... These 3 things were transformative. *And yes, they can really tank if you IO set build and Incarnate them. Further amplifying the changes. Tanks. 3 things that would be transformative. 1. Big end. *nods. 120 end. So you're no longer the 'big out of shape' boxer who punches him self out. 2. Double taunt from 5 to 10 to put clear day light between you and the upstart brute boy. 3. SUSTAINED DAMAGE MECHANSIM. You taunt, you take a hit, you get in a fight and after several mobs of being kicked around? You lose your hair for little while and BOOM, red cloud MIGHT button. Press it and dish out that 'Punch in the face' to sort it out. ie. You're not just a glorified trash talker that stands like a giant door stop whilst the rest of the team roll teh mob for you whilst you land a few token hits. Your big attacks are slow. But they are excruciatingly damaging. If you hit something, it gets rocked to its core. Adding a mechanisms would add some moisture to the dryness of tanks. Make him last the fight. Make him king of taunt. Make him able to be influential with a punch in the face. Sure, he's not the fastest, he's not the most damaging in terms of peak overall volume of damage output. Tanks are slower. They don't nova nor do they have the battery of attacks a blaster does. But if he lands a blow or two or three on you? You're in deep, deep trouble or laying down or laying in a wall. A z r a

Well, Tanks don't do enough damage. It seems like the developers have talked themselves out of doing what needs to be done. 120 end. More damage. The rest is nice, amplifying the tanks's stand there and 'take it' utility. But playing Brutes vs Tanks, it's painfully obvious why brutes are more popular. 'TeH DSMAGE!' To me, it's quite easy. Tanks and Brutes are similar because the original fury mechanism was meant to be on a tank. In hindsight that is obvious. Brutes had most enough of the survivability of tanks, the taunt and damage that far outstripped a tank. A simple 'aggro' bar that builds up from the amount you taunt and herd and pops to give you 'Might' for 1 minute. A buff to hit and to damage. So build up becomes a fun mechanism auto power. Replace or in addition to. Like a DOmi bar. Combat builds the bar and hey presto, MIND GOD. Builds up on a tank? You become a 'MIGHT GOD.' I think it come down to this. Tanks out aggro a brute at peak efficiency with it's defences. Brutes out damage a tank at peak efficiency with it's fury bar. The problem is the discrepancy in the latter is too great. Solution? Take the mean average of the brute's damage on the fury scale i.e. 'the middle point' and give that to tanks with the builder bar for 'Might' above. So Brutes, like the Hulk would only out damage the tank from the 51% onwards up to 100% range i.e. at peak efficiency. To compensate that for Brutes, they keep their lower fury bar for longer...and it builds quicker. A 50% boost like a protracted BU for 1 minute would go a long way to closing the gap with Brutes. And I'd call it a day at that. The other 50% of fury damage the Brute has is compensated to Tanks in the form of a bigger fuel tank. 120 end. Tanks are gods that don't do any damage. It's simply not good enough. On Homecoming live. It's 'ok' on Beta. But could be better. Ezra.

Yeah. That's what I meant. They are forced to come in close thus reducing their ranged attacks and damage (they can't do either if they are forced to come in close to you?) so you can mash them in the face...with love tap damage. I still want the 'ahhh...' not the 'urgh!' Azra.