tidge

IIRC, Enhancement Diversification was implemented in the same issue that released City of Villains (issue 6?) and IOs were something like issue 9. While I appreciate the bluntness of Redlynne's post, I can't offer a 'like' as it is calling for a nerf of Domination by calling for the prevention of Permadom. The post should be congratulated for a higher level of self-consistency than I see in the many posts asking for fundamental changes to the way Domination works that allow for Permadom under radically different circumstances. Personally I don't think that Permadom is 'something for nothing', as it requires the initial filling of the bar (small hurdle, but it is there nonetheless) and it requires serious consideration of not just power choices but also the slotting of the power choices to achieve Global Recharge. As demonstrated in the Dominator forum (and in the game itself) there are many different ways to this, and chasing Global Recharge does mean that PermaDoms must sacrifice in other areas.

While it might be fun to have VEATs with more pool options, in the specific case of resistances it really isn't necessary. Widows in particular can have softcap+ positional defenses (i.e. >45%) by very straightforward slotting and power choices. I believe the amount of incoming damage (from an even con enemy) taken by a character with 45% defense and 10% resist is something like 9%, while the same defense with 30% resist would be around 7%. My experience with Widows (both paths) is that this really isn't worth worrying about. My experience with Fortunatas is that positional defenses can be soft-capped (non incarnate) without Mind Link, and I didn't bother trying to get Mind Link 'perma'. Night Widows have a much easier time getting Mind Link 'perma' (because of Mental Training). As a further aside: As the Soldiers of Arachnos share patron pools with Brutes and Tankers, it is likely that they'd only have access to the same Epic pool choices as Brutes and Tanks. There are a few good powers in them, but I'm not sure any of those sets would truly benefit any of the Soldiers. There are many ways to improve the survivability of your widow; if it is resistances you crave consider the Reactive Defenses Scaling Damage Resistance proc. You won't have the resistance at full health, but you will start to get it in fights against all opponents except those which would one-shot you.

I believe the 10% from the Superior ATO sets is in the same pool of Recharge bonus as the 10% from the Purple sets, so if you are chasing Global recharge and already have 5x10% from Purples, you may not want to catalyze the ATOs.

This is an excellent point. It is very common for my characters (all of which play mission content while leveling, YMMV) to use pick powers and assign slots differently than are planned in the lvl 50 build. The most prevalant reason in my cases is that the lvl 47 and 49 picks sometime serve as 'mules' for IO choices, but I actually want those IOs way before I hit lvl 47. I sometimes suspect that some fraction of 'nerf X' threads have heat generated in them because folks don't recognize the explicit difference between a levelling build and a post-50 build. For example: before level 50, there is no reason to consider slotting Purple sets. After level 50, the Purple sets drop pretty regularly (at least in solo play against a large number of mobs). The effect of post-50 builds may also be contributing to the perma-Haten threads for other powers and effects.

Disclosing niches is one of the few areas of EbilTM which are not discussed. Disclosing the other areas of non-disclosure is among the other things not discussed.

For the record, I don't think Dominators are the only ones who suffer from 'lack of ATO choice': It has always struck me as odd that both Tanker ATOs are damage-based, as there are primaries that can't slot them at all. Now, about my little Fiery Orb: I found this to be most useful at lower levels specifically to take aggro. At higher levels (once Defense values are significant) that particular aspect is less important, but it still takes aggro. At x8 incarnate content I use the Orb(s) to judge how much damage I could be taking. I agree that it is difficult (aside from logs) to tell if it is doing anything else. The only issue I have with the Fiery Orb (and to a lesser extent the Controller's Energy Font) is a variant of the issue I have with the Winter ATO procs (and Lore pets): I avoid those choices if the special FX don't otherwise match the concept of the character. Some customization would be nice, but I have no idea how we could customize the visual effects spawned by an Enhancement.

As I wrote earlier in the thread, there is a positive feedback between Global Recharge and being an awesome Dominator aside from the magnitude of the controls: 1) Golbal Recharge -> Frequent Domination -> Endurance refill -> More Control/Attacks, and 2) Global Recharge -> More Control/Attacks The other two effects of Domination ALSO contribute positively to being an epic Dominator, but not as much IMO 3) Domination -> Higher Magniutude Controls -> Higher Ratio of Attacks to Controls 4) Domination -> Mez resistance -> Lower likelihood of having an attack/control chain broken I feel that the 'under-performance of non-perma' argument is really sidestepping (3) and (4). I see the last step in the chain as being something that most support ATs build towards as part of the game progression... it's just that Dominators have the unique AT inherent that allows them to get to it using the mechanic of Global Recharge. Part of what I see as a core misunderstanding of Permadom is that it focuses on the increased Magnitude of controls... sure this is a positive, but it is the short-timed reliable Endurance bar refill that is the true benefit. Most other character ATs are specifically trying to achieve (1) and (2) through standard build techniques: Procs which rebuild Endurance, Accolades that increase Endurance, Hasten to increase Global Recharge, IO choices for Endurance Reduction/Recharge reductions, IO sets with bonuses, etc. Dominators have a wonderful trick available to them. The suggestion to just make Domination a click power with no bar at all really wouldn't change the power at all, except in this way: All Dominators (regardless of level) wouldn't have to build the 'charge' for Domination. This seems to me to be overkill, as once the bar is filled Domination is already a 'click power'... you don't have to use it immediately! Having played Dominators through a lot of low-level content: part of learning the AT is to learn the optimal time to use Domination...it's so much more than just Build Up or Aim.

The OP might find better suggestions in the Roleplay forum, especially if there is SERIOUS commitment to always taking Patron power pools. I've used Patron pools on two of my 'goody goodies': The Robotic/Traps MM wanted a peak at Black Scoprion's tech (and got in over his head); the Grav/Kin's powers were corrupted after running into Ghost Widow in Cimerora. In both cases I wanted to think of them as 'good', so I ran them through morality missions to get them back to blue side. Aside from my villains (and VEATs, who can ONLY take Patron pools) I've gotten more mileage from the classic Epic pools. If the goal is to take a Patron Pool for claiming a level of power not available to the character, and the player has RP qualms about their hero taking that path... I say the system is working as intended.

Not a control set, but there is Invoke Panic from the Presence Pool.

Unrelenting, when used outside of a defeat, gives a massive boost to Regen, Recovery and Damage for 30 secs. If you are defeated, you can use Unrelenting as a Rez (assuming it has recharged). The regular boosts kick in, so you will have lots of Health and Endurance.

Would World of Confusion help at all against the AV? The base duration of the confuse is very short, but it ticks often. Confuse magnitudes can also be extended with Incarnates like Hybrid Control while durations can be extended with Alpha vigor.

Since you asked for some pointers, when you wrote: You really missed the point (or at least the sarcasm), as your initial reply to my post about "why aren't you buying from Tidge" was Reveals a deep ignorance of how the Auction House actually works.

If you are seeking employment as a mind reader, or as just a reader, you are not demonstrating excellence. You have to warn me? Am I in trouble? Is something bad going to happen to me? Is what follows an indirect indictment against me? Is it a direct indictment of me but not a personal one? Your delivery is really uneven. Sometimes it really is better not to put in writing everything you are thinking. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, and I didn't see a lot of those accusations in this thread. (I'm pretty sure it was someone named "jranger" that was called lazy.) You probably could sit out this thread for a while and feel a little better about things. Roll up a new toon go hunt kill skulz. At the risk of upsetting you further, before returning to the thread maybe you should spend some time googling logical fallacies, starting with the "double-barrelled question" and "false dichotomy".

My reason, as I have stated, is to not mess with the core mechanics of the game (this is an AT inherent power, not a pool power choice)... especially when the problem as stated is straightforward to overcome. All Dominators play by the same rules. Now, why did you dodge my question?

We've each demonstrated our ability to perma-post. Let's let some other folks participate shall we?

Don't read more into my response than is intended. I don't worry about trying to fix things that I am not convinced are problems. Fairness isn't a consideration here when it is fairly easy to get to 123%.

Procs are a bit of a trap. Too many procs and you sacrifice set bonuses. Powers with inherently short recharge times won't proc that often. Sometimes you just want the slot that might go to a proc to go somewhere else. I like procs, but attention must be paid to them. A proc on a T1/T2 power that doesn't work below level 30 is not always a good choice. I understand that NOBODY likes my use of Chronos on auto. It is firing every 22 seconds (or less) giving me 10 seconds of the boost plus the build-up proc firing (if not all the time it is at least 5-out-of-6 times... everytime I look for the little mauve fist I see it). I want extra damage ALL THE TIME, and I am settling for getting it HALF THE TIME rather than just SOME OF THE TIME. If heaven forbid I WANT THE EXTRA DAMAGE but for some reason I'm not in the heat of battle ALREADY, I'll wait for it... probably because the extra wait is also now going to give me the Sniper's Shot bonus, because I WANT THE EXTRA DAMAGE. I can always delay the auto-firing by having another attack queued. You don't have to play my way. Hasten is already relatively deep-perma on my build, it is ready for a click long before it is going to expire.

I gotta say: I think you've been slacking lately on buying some of the items I recently posted. It's been like 12 hours and they haven't sold. That's on you bro'. Cut out the jibber-jabber and get back to spending that sweet sweet inf.

I didn't miss the question, I didn't want to answer it because my reasoning isn't germaine to the beautiful metamorphosis some folks refer to as a cliff! I shall now think of Permadom as a quinceañera. I'm generally not a fan of extra bars, or combo-builders or anything else on the HUD that I'm supposed to pay attention to, but even so I'm less inclined to support changes to the ATs, especially for something so fundamental. The (relatively) late brouhaha about changes to Bruising in the recent Tanker updates comes to mind. Different kettle of fish perhaps, but I still wouldn't want to poke in it.

Outside of teaming, at lower levels it was taking my Dominator quite some time. He couldn't handle large mobs, and didn't have the end or recharge or damage to be particularly quick about the groups he faced. Even now when running Incarnate content solo (from memory) it takes me about 3 groups in Heather Townshend's first map (at x8). But even this is on a character with enough Global Recharge for permahasten as well as permadom. Keep in mind that during that arc there are plenty of cutscenes, and I will stop what I'm doing to craft items or use the AH or answer questions in Help. There won't be taking breaks of any kind under the proposed change, and I simply see no need for that change.

There is no good reason to use Pacify when teaming... a bad reason would be that the team has wiped! You would have to be paying close attention to notice the difference between Provoke and Confront. The fears can be slotted with damage procs, which make Mayhem missions even more fun. Unrelenting is crazy fun, but you have to have the Recharge to get the most out of it. I realize the Presence pool is unloved, but it has utility for certain builds. If you have a Widow or a SR scrapper, try it out on the test server (or just use a second build). I suppose some Mastermind builds might have the slots for it: Provoke is favored for Tankerminds anyway, so burn a choice on the ST fear but use the PBAoE fear to further lock down critters you have aggroed?

While my Dominator was leveling up, I used Domination as a boost much like Aim or Build Up for certain combat situations. At low levels, I didn't have many powers to even take great advantage of Domination, much less run from fight to fight. Attacks aren't that powerful, endurance costs are real, cycle time on powers aren't that great. Running from fight to fight would have been a trip to the hospital five times out of eight. As I wrote earlier: I didn't get permadom 'naturally' until level 31 or so... and it was nothing magical: Hasten, LotG Global Recharge, a set bonus and a +Recharge proc. At level 50 I change my slotting, added Purples and permadom is now available at lower levels... but I certainly encountered non-exemplar Dominators who were permadom much sooner than lvl 31. When I play really low level content with PUGs, I barely miss having Permadom (and I'm surprised when it ticks off!) One thing I don't think that has been mentioned: The current means of attaining Permadom (high Global Recharge) and the effects of Permadom (Endurance bar recharge, Mez resistance, increased Control) are a positive feedback loop that allows for more attack spamming (with many-slotted powers) and more control spamming (with many-slotted powers) all while being less concerned with actually taking damage... these are the effects that make the Permadom player that much more impressive. I feel that without the Global recharge there would still be a significant difference between Doms... and under what I think of as the proposed Brute-bar-model it might be difficult to refill a dumped bar without resorting to large Global recharge... and at a large enough value of Global Recharge the character would have achieved permadom under the current system anyway.

I often swim in the Presence Pool. I never take both Provoke and Pacify, but either is useful. I prefer Provoke to the single-target Confronts. Once a toon is soft-capped for defense, Provoke can go a long way towards helping teammates. The best (IMO) use of Pacify is limited to long 1-on-1 fights in which you need a breather. The single-target Intimidate is my least favorite power in the set, but the PBAoE Invoke Panic is a very nice control option. Unrelenting (with enough Global Recharge) is either a strong offensive boost, a strong recovery tool or both. In terms of IO mules, 6-slotting Unrelenting with Preventive Medicine has been common for me when I take it. The most effective use of Presence in my experience has been on low-resist, high defense characters like a Fortunata. The taunt is better (YMMV), the PBAoE fear is another control mechanism that fits nicely with the other controls and attacks, Unrelenting is there for extra damage or for those times when the massive defenses aren't holding. The short straw is Intimidate; it is pretty much only used to help stack fear (from myself or a teammate) when necessary.