Coyote

Also, Skull Soccer and Hellion Punting.

All Freaks do this. Even the ones who Fly.

I don't want to speak about "engaging" because that's a player preference thing. But for balance, here is the reason: A MM who doesn't take or use attacks does about 66% of their max damage via their pets. Pets take no animation time on the part of the MM in order for them to do their damage. If an MM gets stuck in having to spam heals or debuffs, they are still doing a good portion of their max damage (and even 100% of it, if they didn't take personal attacks). Other ATs who switch to a full-defensive mode using their secondaries generally stop doing damage, or only what they are doing with their secondary. This means that the animation-time pressure on MMs is lower than every other AT in the game... they can switch to spending 0% of their time doing damage, and STILL do most of their damage. Now, a MM loses a henchman here and there, and has to re-summon... the % of their time that they use in summoning and buffing is still lower than every other AT unless somehow they're spending 50% of their time resummoning (basically, a full resummons every 20 seconds or so). So even with time taken to summon and buff, they still have by far the lowest animation pressure from their damage primary. And people still ask to lower this because there is too much time spent on buffing? How don't you realize that it's not reasonable compared to how other ATs have to choose between animating heals or attacks?

Gadget control. Sorcerous Blast (because I want Magic Missile in my superhero game). Spell Summoning (because the Animus Arcanae are too cool to keep them in Night Ward forever) Telekinetic Blast (or Gravitic Blast, or Magnetic Blast). Throwing opponents around and throwing items at them is only available as individual powers in powersets, not as full on concepts. Though Gravity Control comes close. Protective Magic, because Rune of Protection should be just one of many protective spells. Chain control. Because villains need powersets, too 😉

A build can TAKE RoP and have it ready for use as a reactive Break-Free replacement. A different build can RELY on RoP because it's part of cycling Instant Healing - MoG - RoP - MoG - repeat (or with Hybrid Melee - Shadow Meld - RoP - SM again), so that it's relying on the Resistance bonuses of RoP to have a defensive cycle that permanently allows it to run above its normal "no non-perma powers" defensive stats. So @Replacement was asking, "what kind of build RELIES on RoP?". Of course, the answer is that second type of build. Usually a melee character trying to alternate multiple non-permanent powers to end up with a permanent "above baseline" defensive stat line.

Agreed. I can totally understand their viewpoints and desires, even if I don't agree. I like the complexity, but simplifying the summoning procedure wouldn't solve the MM high-level issues (and I don't think they have issues before max level). And I can understand the argument for "MMs USED to be balanced at high levels when fighting 54s was NOT the new normal, but now that it is, the level drops of their pets really makes them suffer". And I actually agree with THAT argument. They're different arguments, though.

I feel it's NOT a great problem, is what I meant to say. Have we lost the ability to Edit our posts in the new message board format? 😞

I can run Bots/EA at +4/x8, so I don't know how badly MMs are hurt at the top levels... granted, it may take a strong defensive build to not have to constantly re-summon minions (I don't know if I could think of a Ninja build that I'd run at +4/x8), but +4/x8 is not a really reasonable benchmark for an AT, where you say "if every combination can't do it, the AT is broken at the high end". I think most every MM build should be able to run at +2/x8 at the high end (which means being able to handle spawns that are +3 in absolute level and +2 after the level shift), so I feel it's not a great problem. I'm not saying that the pet level vs level 54 mobs isn't an issue, but I don't know that it's such a major issue. Especially for sets that don't depend that much on their Tier 1 pets. However, while it could be argued that MMs DO have some issues vs Level 54s... these aren't really a matter of "but I have to re-buff the minions after summoning them". Remember that the changes we're discussing lowered the Endurance costs a lot, and also the Recharge of the summons... if you're in a situation where you have to keep summoning pets into the grinder, you can now do it. And having to choose "do I upgrade or do I use the secondary to help defend better" is still a reasonable choice to have to make. MMs aren't going to be "saved" by auto-upgrade if you think they're broken. Frankly, if this is a major issue that you would like to argue about, seeing that the GMs have already considered this thorougly and made a pretty concrete decision, I would suggest this: Ask to see if it's possible to speed up the buffing animations. Endurance costs are already lowered, some of the summons were sped up, if you want to summon/buff fast, 2-slot the powers with End Red so you can handle the burn... and if the Dev team can manage to speed up the animations, you'll be pretty fine. I mean, looking at my Demons... I can summon/buff them all now faster than I could summon them all and NOT buff them before. Animation changes can be used to get you partway to what you want: having them quickly summoned and fully ready for fighting.

1: Domination does refill the blue bar. If you're running perma-Dom, assuming you're going from half a bar up to full every 90 seconds (could be a bit faster, too), that's .55 EPS recovery, better than many other +Recovery powers. Although it's a lot less smooth than a constant +Recovery, over a long time it's pretty strong. 2: Domination has gone through a lot of changes, but Dominators went through a major balance pass a year and a half ago, and Domination wasn't changed. I would be shocked it if were revisited for major changes at this time after it was left unchanged then.

Get a room 😛

Clearly and succintly stated.

Would it be possible to make the same change for Robots? They have a Full Laser Auto version that takes a whopping 6s. And also a Flamethrower version that also takes a whopping 6s.

This deserves a 12 Full Auto salute. I only hope that the same fix is going in for the Robots, though, as they also have a Full Auto Laser that also has a ridonkulous 6.3 second animation time. And the AssBot's Flamethrower is also at 6+ seconds animation time.

I like having to buff after summons, because it does increase the tactical complexity of the game. This may not be the case for all MMs, but some like a /Kin who is in a fight where they lost some henchmen... likely the fight is busy. They still have to throw out a Heal often, maybe Siphon Power/Speed, and some other powers. The Buffs eat into your animation time, and to me THIS IS FAIR. You want your henchmen buffed, that's fine, but take the time to do it. Making it automatic removes a tactical choice of using an attack right now to defeat one mob sooner and reduce incoming damage, OR throw out an AoE HEAL, OR buff the new summons so they start doing more damage sooner, etc. The only really good argument for making buffs automatic would be that it would free up two power slots that right now have very unimaginative powers. Every MM gets them, all at the same levels, and they all do about the same thing... if we got them automatically (but had to click to use them), then we could get 2 new and hopefully more interesting powers for each set. But that's a character building issue, not a play issue, because even then I would still want the powers to be auto-GRANTED to the MM, but not auto-CAST on the new summons. Yeah, doing otherwise would be simpler and easier. Simpler and easier is sometimes better, and sometimes not. IMO, the tactical choice of "do I immediately buff a new summons or do I do somethign else to win this fight sooner and buff afterwards" is a choice that makes the AT more complex and thus more interesting to play. I like complexity... YMMV.

It's not a very strong argument to say, "The AT is fine if you get your IO sets". What about lower levels when you don't have enough slots to rack up enough +Defense bonuses to matter much? What about novice or poor characters? Should they have problems with the AT because it only works fine if you are rich and know how to build using set bonuses? No, not a strong argument at all. I'm not sold by Luminara's argument that the controls aren't strong enough, either, though... should they really be strong enough to defend at +2/x6 without depending on set bonuses? That seems a bit going towards being OP, also. I think that at more reasonable levels of +1/x3 difficulty, single-target controls can generally keep about half the spawn controlled, and that means that the Dominator's defensive clicks are mitigating half the damage (or more, as you'll prioritize the more dangerous mobs). The issue now is that the defensive clicks are eating up animation time, which is why I'm suggesting that when you DO have time to activate a pure attack from the secondary, that attack should hit very hard. And since usually that means a longer base Recharge on that attack, it looks to me like this will do a good job of making the AT work a bit more like I think it's intended: 1) Spend much of your time controlling opponents, which also damages them a bit 2) When you have a bit of free time, throw an attack and HAMMER someone down hard Right now, #2 is using relatively weak attacks with base Recharges of 4-8 seconds, and that's just not enough damage. Unless, granted, another option would be to increase the mitigation from those weak attacks... higher mez/knockdown chances, stronger debuffs, etc. It's an option that could work, but it's not my preferred since it really leans more into the "more control", which helps at the lower levels but doesn't scale as well in effectiveness towards the higher levels. I mean, even if you take that 8 second Recharge attack and increase its Knockdown chance from 50% to 80%... that's nice at the lower end. At the higher end, the target is most likely mezzed, and I'm using it for the damage. Increasing KB chance isn't making the attack more useful, then.

If you're not yet past 24, Maestro is available in Striga Isle. Not sure if Striga counts as OG, though.

Like @TheSpiritFox said, you're better off putting into just one henchman. The Tier 1 mercs have 3 sources so they're more likely to apply the debuff, but are -2 to your level so it's about 2% worse as a debuff than putting it in the LTs. The LTs are -1 to your level, so the debuff from them is about 2% than from the Soldiers but 2% worse than from you, but they have 2 sources trying to apply it. Personally, I'd put it in the Soldiers, but it depends on your slotting as you want all of them to still have good Accuracy and damage procs help them a lot. So it may be more of a question of which can spare the IO slot than in outgoing debuffing.

Do you have an Alpha that increases Range?

A Dominator usually has enough Global Recharge for their attacks to recharge faster. So, if they have an attack that does 200 damage and recharges in 8 seconds BASE... now you change that attack to recharge in 10 seconds. Because attacks follow a formula that determines how much damage they do, the damage of the attack goes up. Say, to 240 damage. But it's the same attack, so it animates in 2 seconds, like it did before... except that now it does 240 damage in 2 seconds instead of 200 damage in 2 seconds. Yes, it will now recharge in 5 seconds after global recharge bonuses instead of 4 seconds, but in most cases Dominators have enough attacks that they can easily have a full attack cycle. So they're not hurt by having longer recharges because they still attack constantly, but now they're doing more damage per second spent animating an attack. Look at Ice Bolt (5 sec rech) vs Ice Blast (6 sec rech)... Ice Blast takes a bit longer to recharge, but does a bit more damage. In either case, the Recharge isn't an issue because you have enough attacks, so Ice Blast is better. Now, imagine if Ice Blast had a Recharge of 8 seconds instead... it would do even more damage, and become better. ATs like Controllers can't afford to have their attacks (controls) on longer Recharges because they don't have enough of them. But Dominators do have enough attacks, and not enough animation time to fire them all... so increase the base Recharge, which increases the damage, and now you're making the same attack cycle but doing more damage from it.

Pets do take recovery buffs, and do benefit from slotting Endurance Reduction. A lot of henchmen don't burn through Endurance, but some others do... I do see my Beasts running down (once I get Transference that'll no longer be an issue), and I think I recall some Demons also having Endurance problems. Robots and Mercs don't have Endurance problems, because their attacks take too long to animate so they can't burn through Endurance fast enough.

Perhaps you might want to do your math before reacting mistakenly. Longer recharges = more damage per animation time. More damage per animation time = higher DPS and higher burst damage. Increasing recharge on attacks = more damage. In my world, more damage is not exactly a nerf to offense. Where is this objection even coming from?

I've always said that Dominators need to have their SECONDARY powers on longer recharges, not their CONTROLS. The controls are defense, but also take up animation time. So unlike Blasters, they don't need to have such a full damage-oriented attack cycle, because they are intended to fill in part of their animation time with their controls. But when they do attack, it should hit harder because you might be delaying a defensive click in order to do damage, so throwing a weak attack with a 4 second recharge is really slow. Especially when many primaries already have a 4-second-recharge single-target attack that Immobilizes. In many cases, by the time you're level 10, you have access to 3 different attacks with a Recharge of about 8 seconds, as well as 2 more with a Recharge of 4 seconds. That's kind of too many light fast attacks, already... and you don't even have Hasten, Recharge bonuses, or the later attacks. Dominators suffer from having so many early attacks be completely superfluous... not only their T1 attack from the secondary, but ALSO their T1 attack from the primary, are almost always superseded. Push up the Recharge for all Dominator attacks by 2 seconds, and without changing their base AT modifiers, I think they will play a lot better. And especially so at lower levels, since this will have a greater effect upon the lighter attacks that are more usually used at the lower levels, and that's exactly when they can use the boost.

Bopper's link has current power statistics, including new powerset changes like the new Energy Melee versions.

They made some major changes to the Teleportation pool, breaking the Cottage Rule a bit in some cases... and now a pool that was very rarely taken is now popular enough to merit a thread about the overuse of Fold Space. It's hard to argue against changes that seem so popular. And if it's true that I don't really know how popular they are because there will be a good subsection of players who don't post anything... by the same token, how could anyone complaining know that they really are representing a sizeable minority rather that just a tiny fringe group? In the end, though, the short answer is that the dev team: 1) is and has been trying to make changes that improve the game (both in powers and powerset and other types of changes like easy access to Enhancement Converters) 2) has never claimed that they will keep the game frozen and run a "classic", no-changes server. So, adding 1 and 2... it's hard for me to see any reason in such a generic "change is bad, mmmkay?" post. Now, arguing about a particular change that you disagree with, that's fine, that's what this forum is about. But directionless "I hate changes, don't make any" rants are just 🙄

In most ways Rad is solid enough, but suffers compared to Dark in two HUGE areas. Actually, literally in areas. Radiation Infection has a 15' radius, which is kind of small for your primary defensive measure against most spawns. Meanwhile, Darkest Night has a 25' radius, and Fearsome Stare is large enough to cover the entire spawn. So your -ToHit debuffs from Dark Miasma cover a large spawn, while for Radiation, they do not. For this reason, I really like /Dark on MMs... but not /Rad. /Rad works better on a Defender, Corruptor, or Controller, who draw attacks to them and therefore can pull back to a corner or use an obstacle to block LOS... this pulls enemy mobs to a small area to fight you soon as they get LOS on you, which bunches them for Radiation Infection. But as a MM with melee pets, it's a lot more awkward to have them retreat and pull back to a corner. But if you let them fight, they'll go and fight outside the 15' radius, and then aren't protected by RI even against melee opponents.