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I'm playing (still gaining levels via standard content) a DP/Cold Corruptor; this is the general goal I am aiming for. I've already been leveraging %-Resistance in the primary, and I think Infrigidate may be my favorite "forced secondary" power pick (after Stalkers' Hide). I have some questions about slotting Sleet, how is it as an actual %proc power? Is it a pseudopet? Do the %procs trigger only on cast (which ought to make the %proc chances high) or as a pseudo pet (which would probably make them mediocre)? I am having one (conceptual) problem with this build: I can't decide which powers should get what sets/procs! My build has Hasten penciled in, but I'm not shooting (heh, DP) for it to be permanent... I just want it for certain situations. Here is my first pass at certain powers, I have only made a casual analysis of %proc chances. (1) Dual Wield: 6-slots of Malice of the Corruptor ATO (1) Infrigidate: 3-slots (Achilles %-Res, Shield Breaker %Lethal, Accuracy IO) (2) Empty Clips: 6-slots (Achilles %-Res, Positron's %Energy, Javelin Volley %Lethal... after those Range/Damage/Acc) (10) Bullet Rain: 6-slots, I was thinking 5xRagnarok, and a Force Feedback %Recharge) (18) Executioner's Shot: 6-slots of Scourging Blast (26) Piercing Rounds: The cone is so narrow! I have pencilled in 6xFrozen Blast, but I am wondering if 6xAnnihilation would be better (I like the Endurance bonuses) here for more %-Res? (28) Benumb: 3-slots, 2xRecharge 1xAccuracy (32) Hail of Bullets: 6-slots, 5 for Armageddon, and the last slot will probably be Force Feedback %Recharge... although the Fury of the Gladiator %-Res is possible... I just don't like the recharge time associated with this particular %proc in this power (35) Soul Drain: 6-slots. I REALLY miss not having a "Build Up", and so I want this before Sleet. Recharge times look somewhat miserable for Soul Drain so I am going to test play swapping this and Sleet at 35. I was originally planning 6xGaussian's, but I think this will be 2xRecharge IO, Gaussian's %Build Up and 2x%Damage and the Fury of the Gladiator %-Res (38) Sleet: 6-slots. I have 6xAnnihilation pencilled in (I like those Endurance set bonuses!)... but if this is actually a good %proc power I would reconsider for MOAR %-Res (41) Heat Loss: 2-slots 2xRecharge.

+1 Chasing perma-Dom really is worth it. Other players may not feel the same way, but IMO using the 'modern' tools to get the necessary Global recharge via set bonuses is something I see as a sacrifice Dominators have to accept. I personally enjoy flexibility in builds... not just in powers, but also in number of slots and what I put in those slots... so I always feel like I've lost that when I choose to go for permadom. Among those who recommend (non-Dominator) builds there is a general sense of "MOAR Recharge gud, dummi!", I can see from my own playstyle (in teams, and solo) that there isn't much in the game that really needs as much Recharge as gets recommends. For non-Dominators YMMV, especially for key debuffs or buffs. I definitely recommend trying to hit the global recharge numbers without relying on the (effective) Force Feedback: Chance for +Rech %proc. There are a significant number of AoE powers that make this reliable, but personally I don't enjoy having to act like a Brute (i.e. continually chasing targets), or spamming patches, to keep Domination up.

Guitars.

No real comments on the build, I just wanted to comment that I played a WM/Invuln Scrapper past 50. It is very durable, but I was less than excited about the attack chain. It really only came together with lots of global Recharge.

I also never really thought of Elric as 'edgy', except in the context of him being a physical weakling, aligned with chaos, with a soul-sucking sword. At a meta level, all of Melniboné was a sort edgelord spin on Tolkien's faerie. Yyrkoon was the Edgelord.

I definitely encourage the part of the quote I bolded above. Keep in mind that Dominators play very differently at different levels of the game, because perma-Domination is so transformative. I think a case can be made that Dominators are better at Control in 50+ content than other ATs, for what that is worth. Your mileage will vary for different content levels.

When not considering AT: Defense is generally better than Resistance. One of the key components that bring Resistance into the discussion for Tankers (and Brutes) is that those AT have such large Max HP caps, that it is possible(*1) to recover HP at a rate that is roughly on the order of damage taken. As others have written: layering both Defense and Resistance is a good strategy, but it is possible to play a Tanker through a lot of content without worrying about maximizing both/either. It can be valuable to monitor combat attributes (defenses, resistances) during play to understand how different enemy types are affecting you. (*1) check with your doctor when facing certain enemies before deciding if Resistance is good for you.

I really like Invoke Panic and Unrelenting and I never mind having to take any one of the first three... its just that taking two of the first three makes one of those (even more?) useless, and it is downright painful to burn four slots in a pool under those circumstances. Imagine if we all had to take Boxing, Kick and Tough to get Weave!

Lean into builds two (and three!)

Hey! I'll join a rando thread to casually mention a couple of AT-specific issues that have affected me. I agree that the VEAT inherent (Conditioning) simply doesn't feel like it is performing much. I've seen the arguments about the Recovery numbers... but I'm not persuaded that it really is all that great. Maybe a +MaxEnd bonus instead? Something on the scale of the later available accolades? The VEAT redraws are an issue, and the ever-present Crab backpack falls into this same QoL category. I definitely think that Mastermind primaries should NOT need to take the level 6 henchmen boost power... especially when two of the henchmen summons come AFTER level 6... the level 6 enhancements should just be baked into the henchmen upon summoning. Masterminds should have some sort of power (available at level 6) that allows all of them to slot the enhancements that provide global bonuses for henchmen... it's a jerk hacking move that some primaries/secondaries have to sacrifice actual henchmen slots to get these bonuses. Something (subtle?) needs to be done with the Presence pool. I suggest making Invoke Panic available as a second power pick, because requiring two choices of Pacify / Provoke / Intimidate is simply cruel... as all three work against each other. Pacify is a real stinker, if kept it ought to at least be able to act like Placate (for classes with such powers). If that is too complicated, convert it to a variant of (old Concealment pool) Stealth... at least then we could slot something useful in it. The other powers are fine as is, including recharge times.

@Bopper covered a lot of what I would write, especially about not needing/using Hasten. There are several sets on my (favorite) Fortunata that provide Endurance discounts: Annihilation, Preventive Medicine, Reactive Defenses. ATO Spider's Bite provides a bump to MaxEnd. Along with accolades, and a SG bump to recovery, I don't even have pieces from Miracle or Numina slotted.

You obviously don't need any feedback from me, and I don't know the build details. There are a couple of times in the video where my heart skipped a beat waiting for the self-heal to recharge... one element I have in a favorite Fortunata build is to have Unrelenting (Presence pool) as an extra self-heal (and damage boost).

You need to spend more time as a sidekick to @Snarky ; it was pretty silly to suggest Aim when the power sets don't include the power. You may have skipped my comments on the levels at which I play, and how the 'set defining' powers are stacking up at the high levels. Keeping in mind that picks occur at 32, 35, 38, 41, 44, 47, 49: (primary) Hail of Bullets earliest possible at 32 (secondary) Sleet earliest possible at 35 (Patron Soul Mastery) Soul Drain earliest possible at 35 (secondary) Heat Loss earliest possible at 38 (presumably this is skipped/delayed until 44?) (epic) Dark first power choice earliest possible at 35 (I suppose the @DreadShinobi proposal is to take at 38) (epic) Soul Transfer (Dark's second power choice) earliest possible is after the first Dark power choice (so at 41?) Like I wrote many times... I am playing this character through content, and it is usually during the (hero) accolade collections in levels 40+ that I alternate between builds to check on synergy so I will be giving different things a try... but my initial expectation (for my solo, leveling play) is that I want Heat Loss and a Build Up ASAP. If I was only running x8 content at lvl 50+, I certainly am far less sensitive to when (level-wise) in the build I pick specific powers... but (tangentially) I would still be faced with the issue of coming up with enough extra slots for the first Dark Mastery power pick... because both options for powers look like ones I would want (at least) 5-slotted. The Patron choice (Soul Mastery) has power choices that don't require much in the way slot investments (a resistance toggle).

Let me know the precise level my Dual Pistols Corruptor should take Aim.

On my Bots/Traps, I use the OF %proc in Photon Grenade as a soft control (along with %-Res debuff)

Yes, the %-Res unique was penciled into the Nuke. I was planning on Soul Mastery (Soul Drain) ... I can consider Dark Mastery but I don't want to have to take 2 additional powers to get Soul Drain... I like the Dark powers, but this is working against it in my mind (keep in mind, I am still getting comfortable with the character): I don't play enough content at 40+ that I would want to delay the power pick I would want to put a LOT of slots in those three powers from Dark (also neither Dark nor Soul is really my character concept... but I am pretty sure I can recolor Soul Drain to look like "snow") that I don't otherwise have available. My rough plans have a lot of powers I want "stacking up for landing" staring at level 35... including Sleet and Heat Loss in addition to whatever I will do with the Epic/Patron pools. I appreciate the feedback, I usually burn through (on average) three respecs between 35 and 50 to try different aspects of the build. I was planning on Power Boost, does it affect debuffs from %procs or just those from powers?

Just my opinion: Build Up is worth 6-slotting with Gaussian's own its own merits. The extra offense is something I personally value higher for a Blaster as opposed to an extra 0.6% positional Defense. I suppose the extra boost to a travel power isn't nothing, but the extra slots in Kick certainly are nothing-adjacent.

Ayup. This is a 'player' whose got pre-conceived notions (not unreasonable) and takes enough offense when the world dare upset those preconceived notions to post on almost every AT (not reasonable) is not worth getting upset about. The player has demonstrated that they are really good at having hurt feelz.

I'm slowly leveling up a DP/Cold Corruptor; I have Soul Drain penciled in as the level 35 pick to serve as the Build Up surrogate power. I haven't quite decided on slotting, I plan to 6-slot it and initial plans will be for all 6 to be the Gaussian's set (a favorite of mine for set bonuses which also leads to good cycle times) although I will probably experiment with %damage too.

Costumes are a low priority for me. When I think about costume pieces, my mind wanders to: There are certain pieces *I* want, for specific character ideas (ehem, turbans) but the lack of the costume doesn't mean I can't still make the character. HC has already provided options I wouldn't have asked for, but are still kewl (asymmetries) Other players (and artists, and devs) will think of things I wouldn't even consider... and will do their best to make sure that they work.

That is simply rude, unless there was a specific desire for a particularly difficult badge effort. Even so, I would expect that to have been announced. About half of the Imperious TF I join have characters way below level 50 playing for XP, it isn't as if a lack of set bonuses is going to break the TF.

The closest things I've ever seen to in-game critiques/comments regarding a player's build have been: "Whoa, that's a lot of set bonuses" "Whoa, that's a lot of temporary buffs" "This particular Incarnate choice is optimal for this Incarnate TF" The only recurring play advice (specific to AT) I can recall seeing in-game: "We are on Positron 1, you may need to actually Taunt enemies if you want to tank" (on ~1% of TF runs, only with a very specific sort of player/AT depending on team) "Dear MM, you may want to keep some fraction of your henchmen on Bodyguard mode for this content" (everybody can faceplant, but it is relatively common to see MM get in over their heads from being too 'aggressive' in team action) On Homecoming, I want to note that I haven't seen the following (classic) in-game complaints: "You are taking too long to herd"/"Y'all aren't waiting for me to herd" "Too much knockback, slot better" "Stop locking down enemies before I group them" "Get your pets out of my way" (when they almost always mean "henchmen") YMMV... I certainly have read complaints like the above on the forum, but in-game I haven't seen those grumpy-pants.

I won't bother posting my Thugs/Thermal/Heat (character concept) build, but I will say this: I don't really enjoy playing it. I'm pretty sure I know what the problem (for me) is. The pools chosen are Fighting (Kick/Tough/Weave) / Leadership (Maneuvers/Tactics) / Sorcery (Spirit Ward/Mystic Flight/RoP) / Speed (Hasten) What I think disappointed me is that the character held off on any offense until Heat Mastery (Bonfire / Fire Ball / Char). I certainly don't have an expectation of the MM doing much offensively, but playing the game (relatively old school missions and TF for XP) felt like I was supporting the henchmen instead of them supporting me. By the time I had some actual attacks, they were typical (i.e. less than stellar, even with %proc) MM performance and didn't offer the amount of control/debuff I enjoyed with Robots/Traps. I particularly found Bonfire to be disappointing when compared to equivalent powers on other ATs. Chalk this up to the choices not meeting my expectations and preferred play style. I'm not going to call for an overhaul of Thermal Radiation, but I will write this: I don't like the relative recharge-to-duration times of Heat Exhaustion and Melt Armor. It feels to me that as single-target attacks (requiring a ToHit check) that the recharge times are simply too long and the durations aren't long enough, except possibly on enemies below Boss level. Maybe I am downplaying (or ignoring!) balance issues, but these don't feel like they are really contributing to map clear times or against single hard targets.

I enjoy the Soldier VEATs; I don't think of them as melee characters. I've used all three available builds on my Soldier VEAT, and the melee based one is the one I enjoy playing the least. It survives very well, but its clear times are pitiful. I found this build to be the most embarrassing to play on teams, as it could survive large rooms with max aggro on SF/TF turned way up, but it couldn't hold any sort of aggro (even with the Presence pool) and couldn't defeat enemies fast enough to make a difference. In solo play, I simply found this to be boring... I keep meaning to respin this build to still be a survivor but to double-down on team bonuses and enemy debuffs. The Soldier Attacks are pretty seamless for my Bane, and I have all of my core attacks by lvl 18, with Shatter for the hard targets (I delayed this pick until lvl 41). I usually run this on teams. The Crab has even more AoE, and went the Crabbermind route. I tend to play this one more solo. The pets are fun, but I consider this to be somewhat niche, YMMV I will write this about the Soldier VEATs: because of the possibility of different builds, these (even more than the Fortunata/Widow) gave me a much better personal understanding of certain game mechanics (like aggro, enemy debuffs) than I had from just playing more 'classic' ATs. In particular: if a tricked-out Soldier/Bane/Crab has trouble holding aggro in x8 content with the Presence pool, I can't see why a "Tankermind" would find Provoke to be useful. On paper, it looks like a no-brainer, but in practice I find it to be quite niche. Full disclosure: I really like the Presence pool, and often 5-slot Provoke.

I put odds at 10-to-1 against the notion that this wager was formed without a full consideration of what it means to "bet".