Coyote

I have one suggestion, and it's that due to its long Recharge, Paralytic Poison will have a 90% chance to proc damage IOs... this means that at 50, a damage Proc will average 64 damage, and 3 of them take it to 190 damage. Add in a purple proc (if you're using the ATO set for your Hold), and it does about 280 damage while also helping to stack Holds on a Boss. Doing this will then allow you to set up your Dominate for damage, probably 3 Thunderstrikes and 3 damage procs (you could go 2 & 4 if you prefer, note that Dominate will get less damage from each proc IO since it has a shorter Recharge). This will allow you better single-target damage, that also sets up Containment for other attacks (note that PP won't need Containment), so you have better damage and more Containment and more Holds. Poison Gas Trap should have been an excellent place to place damage procs, turning it into a PBAoE damage power... but Frosticus had some testing with the Traps version that implies that damage Procs don't work well in that... so probably they won't work in Poison Gas Trap, either.

Hm. Disruption Arrow has a 20s recharge and a 30 second duration, but it should stack, no? I mean, it's flagged as "not stacking from the same source", but since the source is a DIFFERENT "origin point" pet from each arrow, they should be counted as different sources, and stack. So, firing it more often than every 30 seconds should be beneficial.

They could have just worked on the powersets that weren't leveling up at a decent rate pre-pets. Liking giving Mind something to boost damage... maybe extra damage boost on Terrify if the mobs are also Slept or Confused, etc. And then revisited the damage done by the Immobs for Earth and Ice, which seem like they could also use a damage boost. It didn't have to be an AT-wide reorganization.

Whoa, that opens up a Can of Worms(tm)... some powersets can manage more different types of mezzing than others can without having to depend on allies to fill in the Sleep or Stun or Immobilize hole. And it's easier to add in Stun effects into a powerset that doesn't have them. You'd almost force a rebalancing of all of the attacks that benefit from Containment.

One interesting trick for any /Dark (and /Rad) Dominator: stick a Theft of Essence +Endurance proc in Life Drain / Radiation Siphon. This will do a great deal to fix Endurance problems while leveling up. Without Global Recharge (which will only help), the proc will return .58 or so Endurance per second, if the attack is spammed. That's like a 2nd slotted Stamina. And if you're not spamming it, you're probably not in a hot combat. Life Drain is more consistent as a heal, but Radiation Siphon can also be slotted with Achilles Heel, and then it becomes a superb attack, giving about -18% Resistance, returning Endurance, healing sometimes, and also doing damage. If not for its animation time, it would be ridiculous.

Jolting Chain is doing proc damage to subsequent targets. I didn't notice whether Endurance Drain is limited to the first target or not.

Tornado is calculating as a single cast of a single-target "placement" power, with one chance to cast. Same for Lightning Storm with regards to FF, but the damage procs should be based on its Bolt attack with its 5' AoE. This makes them both have a 90% chance to proc FF, with Recharge enhancing up to +100%. Bonfire and Earthquake should have the same effect, BTW. AFAIK, Ice Slick doesn't have access to Knockback sets. Oh, and I did ignore the "time-blocking" issue where the previous FF prevents you from activating a new instance of it. You don't get to extend the period, so once you activate FF once, you're blocked from activating it for the next 5 seconds. This means that if you have a build that somehow averages 6 procs of it a minute (which happens easily with Tornado/Lightning Storm/Arcane Bolt), then you're not really averaging 30 seconds of FF uptime. Instead, the 1st proc gets 5 seconds... the 2nd proc has a 5/60 chance to clash with your first activation, and thus only averages (55/60 * 5 seconds = ) 4.58 seconds of uptime. Then the 3rd proc averages (5 seconds * (60-5-4.58)/60 ) 4.2 seconds or so. So you do get diminishing returns with multiple sources. You also get diminishing returns with multiple uses of the same power, if you can use it during the first FF's duration, such as Arcane Bolt... it's possible for AB to trigger FF while FF is active from its last cast. And it's possible for Tornado to clash with Lightning Storm, but Tornado's FFs can't clash with themselves, nor can LS clash with themselves. And both clash with AB, and vice-versa. It got too complicated for me to calculate it all, though I do have a formula to approximate it. Also, I forgot to mention... AB only procs on a hit. So you lose at least 5% of its theoretical average compared to an auto-hit power like a pet placement.

One interesting trick to do with an Electric, that you should be able to start at reasonably low levels, is to slot up Jolting Chain with damage Procs. Each proc averages more damage than Jolting Chain does even if's fully slotted for damage and with Containment, while also draining Endurance... and there is the fun time of knocking down mobs regularly. You can end up with 3 damage Procs in it for about 150 damage. One is the Apocalypse, so that has to wait, but Explosive Strike and Gladiator's Javelin can be slotted early. I had also slotted a couple of the starting Veteran IOs with a chance to Proc damage until level 20, and they made it a great attack early on. Once you lose their damage effect at 21 it goes down to a 2-proc power, which is equivalent to about 100 damage at Level 50... for a multi-target attack with 8 second recharge, that's already pretty good, and great for a Controller.

If a FF activates once a minute, then it provides an 8.33% averaged global recharge boost (averaged over the minute). With a 90% proc chance, that's a 7.5%, or equivalent to a LotG. So, casting Tornado 3 times in a minute makes it 3x as effective as a LotG proc. Lightning Storm usually gets cast 2x a minute (approximately), and Tornado 3x. So, when looking at Recharge, I would always suggest to put a FF in Tornado and LS. It's a better return on the slot than any IO set, or LotGs except for powers used to mule it where the first slot is free. The real cost isn't the "character" slot, it's the "power" slot, because you really like both Tornado and LS to have 7-8 slots. So you're losing an important slot in an important power. In this case specifically, I don't think that the extra damage Proc in Tornado will do as much as some mixture of Damage/Recharge/Endurance. Damage procs in Lightning Storm should be worth it since they will test every time it tosses a Lightning bolt. Also, if you're chasing Ranged Defense, I would always suggest putting in Coercive Persuasion into your first Confuse power. Because Roots does more damage than most AoE Immobs, and because of the large Area Factor in it, I would slot it up for Accuracy/Damage/Endurance rather than put Damage Procs into it.

Attacking a Feared mob unlocks its Fear for one attack. This is true whether you hit it once or three times, as long as you get all of the hits in before it finishes its attack. But you damage it with another attack after it finishes its retaliation and goes back into Fear mode, then it gets unlocked again.

Are you sure you didn't misunderstand? Maybe a Water/Cold BLASTER? Dominators have Icy Assault as a secondary, but it doesn't have "Cold" in the name. Similarly, they have Ice Control as a primary, but nothing with Water. He could also have meant a Water Blast/Cold Domination CORRUPTOR, or a Cold/Water DEFENDER.

Neither did I, but /Storm has way more sources of AAAAH!!!! FEAR!! than /Rad. I think that there is so much stacking Fear that the AV runs despite a hit or two from Phantom Army, and PA has to really hit it several times to over-Taunt through the Fear effect. I also noticed that the AVs didn't run as much before I had Tornado, which stacks 2-3 times. So it's definitely something that is more applicable to /Storm. I may have to end up testing fights without using some powers, just to see if the AVs stay in place without FR, or without Tornado.

If you're going for perma-Dom, then Haunt can easily be made permanent or nearly so, as already said. Earth Assault is melee- range only (the ranged attacks are really bad), so you have to plan on that. Fearsome Stare and Living Shadows are useful powers which you won't be able to leverage well except at the start of the fight. Living Shadows is useful to spam for -ToHit and with the Fiery Orb ATO to try to summon a lot of Orbs, but you can get by without it. Fearsome Stare is a must-use, but its ToHit debuff does last for 20 seconds, so it can be used as an opener and then you go into melee. Heart of Darkness is a PBAoE Stun, but more interestingly to me, it can take PBAoE damage Procs. This can turn it into a mini-nuke (it gets 64 damage from each non-Purple Proc as long as you don't put more than 55% Recharge Enhancement into it), as 4 damage procs get it to about 256 damage. With good global Recharge it can be up (once) for every fight and also adds in a nice Stun and -ToHit effect. So it looks to me that Darkness/Earth should be a reasonable pairing. Darkness can work well as a ranged build using the cones and ranged attacks, or as a melee- range build opening with the cones and then going in with Heart of Darkness.

Well, while my character tears through non-AV content, I'm having a serious problem with AVs now. Between stacking Tornados, Freezing Rains, Spectral Terrors, and Enflames... there is so much "run-away" style Fear output that AVs run like little girls. Little girls who are track stars on steroids. Then, Nosferatu comes back and 2-shots me before the decoys can grab aggro. :( Worse... I could handle the defense aspect with Lucks since they don't have to last long, but I'm not kidding about the "little girls" joke... they run FAR. By the time they come back, they've regenerated a large chunk of HPs, and when they have a big self-heal like Nossie, well, it makes their regen unbeatable. Chasing Nosferatu through cave maps isn't working. I tried. It's kind of funny, an army of decoys, Phantasm, three Tornados, and my little red wisp also, running with me after Nossie in a tight 5th Column map... but then he turns around aggroed on me, and the humor leaves the building since he's moving fast enough to leave the Decoys behind... so I have to fight him for quite a while until they turn up. Eh, it's a funny story so far, but I've meandered far enough... my question is, does anyone know of a useful source of Immobilize that I can add? I hate to lose a slot on Tornado since that power wants 7-8 slots anyhow, but I'm even considering the weak Razzle Dazzle: Immobilize proc in there, plus a Frozen Blast: Immobilize in Enflame, and hope that with multiple Tornados plus Enflame out, I can Immobilize him a reasonable percentage of the time. Even if he moves around on occasion, as long as he doesn't go on his marathon sprints across the map, I'm willing to give another try at staking his undead behind to the ruins of one of his warwolves. Other than those two procs, I've got nothing... and the Mag - duration of them seems kinda weak :(

Wow, I did not realize that Enflame is so good. Thanks for the info. Now I'll have to find a way to squeeze it into the build... and I hope that with 5 Ragnaroks and a -Res it'll still be good, as I need the Recharge bonus from the set.

To get back to procs in Arcane Bolt, I figure the average damage of a proc in Arcane Bolt if AB has no recharge slotting as: 37 damage for a normal 3.5 PPM proc 73 for a purple 4.5 PPM proc For Stone Prison as a representative Immob, it's 24 and 48 damage, respectively.

Take your time ;)

I use the same slotting as Maxzero, and it's the reason why I suggest Arcane Bolt. Because it has a longer cycle time (recharge and animation) than single-target Immobilizes, it will gain more damage from each proc IO. If you do NOT plan to put multiple procs in it, or do not have a great reason to take it for the FF, then as 5099y_74c05 says, it's not a great attack statistically. It's solid but not better than that, but it's a very good user of procs. I use it on my Ill/Storm, since squeezing out extra recharge via the FF proc is useful to a build that wants perma-PA but doesn't have +Recharge in the secondary. It's also useful for my Earth/Cold. My Dark/Dark is not taking it, nor is the Grav/Traps.

Arcane Bolt is a good attack, and you can also put a good amount of Procs in it for extra damage. It also takes Force Feedback for builds that are looking for more Recharge.

One note about Force of Thunder: you can put a Force Feedback in it, and using it will then net you a higher average Recharge buff than a LotG. It will use up some animation time, but depending on how it's coded, you may be able to get the FF to fire even if you're between fights (depends if it spawns a pet or it's enemy-targeted... but if it's enemy-targeted, then its chance to activate goes up as spawn size goes up).

The AI for Phantasm has it going into melee range quite regularly, despite having nothing but ranged attacks. I understand that AI fixes are very difficult, but it seems that it would be easy to add an attack power to Phantasm, with a 1.5 second recharge... this would mean very low damage due to the very short Recharge, but it might prevent it from advancing since it will have an available attack much more often.

Primary: Electric Control is your best bet for a primary that does well in melee. You can put down Static Field and fight in it, and use it plus Conductive Aura to sap opponents. Jolting Chain and Electric Fences (? The AoE Immob ) together add to the draining, and before long the entire spawn is drained and will rarely attack. Fire Control is another option, since it has Hot Feet for damage, but it's not a strong defensive secondary and I wouldn't recommend it unless you are good at controlling. Ice Control also has PBAoE options, if you prefer it. Arctic Air will reduce incoming attacks both due to -Recharge and to Confuse. Secondary: Earth Assault and Martial Assault both do well in melee, with AoE knockdowns and with no cone AoEs (other than melee AoEs) so you dont have to back out of melee to set up cone areas. Both will knock down and Stun/Hold mobs that you hit, reducing incoming damage. Martial does more AoE damage, Earth has more single-target and more control. Personally, I would suggest Electric/Martial, but Electric/Earth will also work well.

1: Living Shadows has a long enough Immobilize duration that it's not worth slotting it up. Either slot it as a -ToHit power, or as a damage power using procs. In either case, put the Energy Orb ATO into it so that you constantly put out Orbs... at level 50, each Orb does 66 damage in an AoE over its lifetime. This sounds sucky, but getting 66 AoE damage out of one slot is worth it. Another option is to put Siphon Insight into here. 2: Fearsome Stare should also be slotted for -ToHit. I would put 4xCloud Senses in it, and then either the last 2 Cloud Senses for Ranged Defense, or 2 Damage Procs (because they'll actually go off a bit more with this power's longer Recharge). 3: Poisonous Ray doesn't need -Def enhancing, but it's a GREAT spot for an Achilles Heel proc. If you slot it up for Damage (3 slots for Accuracy/Damage/Endurance), 1 Achilles Heel, and 2 Damage Procs, I think it averages over 200 damage with a 90% chance to proc Achilles Heel. So it's a Damage/-Resist attack, not a -Defense attack. 4: ALWAYS put a Performance Shifter: Chance for +Endurance IO into Stamina.

Fire/Dark is a great combo, and you probably CAN solo GMs with it when built right :p Fire does a lot of damage but faceplants a lot early... and Dark is one of the strongest defensive secondaries starting from early levels and improving regularly. It's a great combination, possibly the strongest Controller in the game when considering soloing, soloing farms, and soloing AVs. And it also does fine with a team.

To add, /Fire and /Rad both work well at range for Doms. /Martial is a good melee set since it has good AoEs in melee, BUT Fire primary is not a strong controlling set that can stop incoming damage well. So, just the idea of running into melee with these characters is generally iffy, except for Fire/Martial... and Fire/Martial would be a high-AoE damage set, but not a strong defensive set. Dark Dominators should open with Possess on a LT (or twice on a Boss if there is one), and then use Fearsome Stare (slotted for -ToHit, NOT Fear) to make it harder for mobs to hit you. Then advance and Immobilize the mobs with Living Shadows, which will give them more of a -ToHit penalty. Now Possess is recharged, hit someone else with it, and also throw the Hold at another target. At this point, 3 mobs are mezzed and not attacking you in any case, and the others have huge ToHit debuffs. Go in the middle and hit Heart of Darkness, which Stuns everyone but Bosses (and Bosses should be Confused or Held). This gives you a good amount of time now to kill them, but don't forget to keep throwing Possess and the Hold whenever they come up. Earth Control opens up with Earthquake since it makes mobs fall down and gives them a to-hit penalty. Follow with Stalagmites to Stun the group and start with the Hold on the Boss if there is any. Advance to melee and proceed with damage. Fire... good luck until 26 when you get Bonfire. You can start fights with Flashfire, but you can't depend on its duration that much or on anything else from Fire, so you will have to keep the difficulty down a bit until you get Bonfire. Again, stack Holds on the Boss, and try to kill mobs fast before Flashfire ends. One more thing that is very important for Dominators: your defense is in mezzing mobs. You can advance to mobs that are controlled, and start hitting them in melee, safely. If they're NOT controlled, then DON'T advance to melee range. Hold one at the edge of the spawn, advance to that one, and pound it with melee... don't go in the middle of active mobs. If you want to go in the middle to use AoEs, then first hit them with an AoE mez. Otherwise, THEY pound YOU, and unlike melee ATs, you don't have the defenses to take hits. Again, your defense is in preventing the hits from coming in the first place.