MoonSheep

on test i've been finding shield/ice surprisingly good for AoE and reasonable ST damage too

i’m not sure i agree with this, looking at the post i’m not sure the defender AT will give OP the expected playstyle. sonic is one of the most laidback def sets, building it for combat and defence says to me “i want to play a scrapper, how do i make my defender a scrapper” well, by playing a scrapper i suppose support ATs shine the best when they are built to maximise the benefits of the AT. trying to turn a defender into a scrapper just makes something not as good as either

i think things read quite harshly in text rather speech which is perhaps why nemu saw it as a strong response - more of a genuine suggestion than bitterness 😀 for me, i play my defenders as support as that’s what they’re best at - and what makes them the most enjoyable. the fun of being the only support on an 8 person team and keeping things going (or allowing a death for powerboosted veng) i leave the aggro taking / tanking to the specialist ATs as that’s their natural ability

looking at the build and comments posted by OP, the individual seems to be keen on playing a ranged defense:attack class rather than a support role, therefore a sentinel would be the best fit for their playstyle and experience

perhaps play a sentinel instead

during the next rikti invasion i’m locking you outside

ooh, excited to see what stone melee is like on scrappers

just run it on enemies buffed, tends to get people paying attention

The comments below are purely my thoughts as someone who mained a Mind/Fire dom on live and now again on Homecoming since May 2019. I play almost nothing else, much to the amusement of my friends on Excelsior. It currently sits on 8,300 merits having played every TF on the game multiple times, every ouro mish and just about everything going several times over. It outlives any AT or build time and time again Opinion warning: some of the thoughts may differ to the status quo. Defense My first opposition is that building for defense and following the fad for squishies taking Tough/Weave shows the biggest misunderstanding of the character. This is a shame as it's near enough one of the strongest characters in the game when played by indivdiuals who want a dominator, not a scrapper/blaster. The majority of people on CoX play combat classes and play them a lot. This results in a playerbase which is entirely focused on a defense:attack mechanic, with little knowledge or experience of other playstyles. This is not what a dominator is about however. Think of an elite ninja, with all its deadly abilities and skills. If the ninja was to be advised by the average Homecoming forum builder, it would be equipped with a bullet proof vest, handed a hammer and told to stand in the mob and start swinging wildly. It would do some damage sure, but it misses the point of the elite ninja entirely. A playstyle that advanced dom players such as @Voltak showcase. When played as a dominator, doms will outlive any AT. Every single power on a mind/fire dom is ranged, apart from incinerate (nobody takes combustion, sorry combustion). As such, the mind/fire dom can stay far, far away from the chaos and choose what it interacts with. This means it takes almost no damage in combat The opener to most fights starts with either a hold or a confuse - Lets assess how much damage a +4 paragon protector deals after 1 application of Dominate as a permadom: 0. How about confuse? Also 0. Thus, building for defense and using a large amount of slots on defense gives us zero value or return on investment. Individuals who take tough and weave on a mind/fire dom are likely better suited to playing a sentinel or scrapper as a dominator is not a defense:attack achetype. It is comparable to a tank building itself as a team buffer and healer. There are nuances and techniques to playing a dom, such as identifying the most disruptive enemy in a mob and applying mez on that foe as battle opens. With a rapidly recharging confuse, this can be done on several foes before anything is even aggroed. AV's can be perma confused through PTOD, they deal 0 damage. Moreover, mind has several powerful AoE mez powers available, any combat situation can quickly be completely shut down with the click of a button. You have been promoted to the position of: Corpse A simple post cannot convey the sadness I feel when I see 8 vibrant, full health bars on a team. Do my teammates not know the hidden benefits of their nutrient rich, vengable body? Choose Assault and TP Target. The death of a team member is not only a price I'm willing to pay, but also one I actively encourage and orchestrate. I may be a hero, but I'm still a dominator. Psi Damage A smaller opposition, Mezmemize should be slotted as an ST psi attack. It is incredibly useful during instances where foes pop a +Res All But Psi power, it cuts very nicely dealing several hundred damage whilst team mates are pinging it for 2's and 3's. Mastery Lastly, and another biggie, which in my opinion adds to my case that someone who would play the above build doesn't really 'get' dominators: the mastery. Doms have access to two of the best masteries in the game and the individual was somehow able to miss them both of them. A buffet of the worlds finest steaks was on offer and ya’ll managed to pickup a hotdog. Ice Mastery provides some amazing powers - most importantly, defender strength Sleet. I've preached heavily on the greatness of this power, the main takeaway is that it's hugely powerful in -def and -res and can be slotted for a -res proc. Not taking it is criminal as with Sleet you now have on your dom the best power on a Storm defender, combined with a well slotted Veng for powerful team +Def, with incredible ranged Mez powers to deploy and the most damaging dom assault set at your disposal. This is the strength and glory of the mind/fire dom: it's incredible versatility, changeable playstyles and abilities. It is not a one dimensional defense:attack class. The other wortwhile mastery is Soul, which as @Mezmera will testify, brings doms to another level. Soul Drain when slotted combined with the +rech of an average dom sustains a near +70% dmg buff for 30s, taking the same amount of time to recharge. Ontop of Fiery Embrace (+68%), this puts a /fire dom in an extremely strong position. In summary, the mind/fire dom is one of the most powerful AT combinations in the game, but only when played by someone who logs on to play a dominator.

absolutely - thank you for inviting further comment, i’m looking forward to adding a perspective in a few hours after work

a big thumbs down from me, misses the point of a mind/fire dom source: main for many many years is a mind/fire dom

i do enjoy making a huge herd, bringing it to the tank and observing the chaos from a far. once someone dies i spam all my AoE control powers and hit up the veng the nutrient rich corpse of the fallen team mate blesses us all for many minutes 🙏

being squishy is part of the fun, makes the control powers feel that much more special and besides, my dom outlives any other dom, scrapper or tank as i’m permanently juiced up on T3/T4 insps 😂

i don’t bother. in my opinion the whole squishies with silly tough and weave builds is a fad that needs to die out mez something if you don’t want it punching you, pop a medium purple if things get spicy really frees up your build to be the best dom you can & enjoy the niches you have, whether that’s procs, fun pool powers, sets you like the look of etc

i haven’t got any videos, though the key points would be: - every power is ranged, helps you stay out the way of chaos, only +rech is needed in the build to be effective and have a good time - very high damaging attacks with some of the lowest animation times in the game. it’s great fun obliterating bosses which is your main role in a team - mind has so many powers to lock down huge mobs. the AoE sleep is a great one to have as it’s a nice enemy toggle dropper - psi damage is handy for foe which pop a +all res type power. i slot the ST sleep for damage i’ve played my dom solidly for over 2 years and have amassed over 8,000 merits from playing so many TFs. now that i’ve finally made my third alt (a scrapper) i really realise the power of a dom a key dom takeaway for any combination is that you’re mez and damage. sometimes the most effective thing to do is mez (e.g CoT ghouls with -acc), sometimes dishing out the massive ST damage on bosses is what helps most i have veng and sleet on my dom - therefore it has mez, high damage, team buff and group debuff, very good fun

aw yis, melee defenders would be fantastic. would love me a kin/stone melee def, amazing completely agree with you regarding elec affinity. great to have people volunteering and creating new content, spending their own time to add to the game but.. yeah, not really sure what happened with that set, dead on arrival

edit: read some more, my post is no longer required but can’t figure out how to delete it

mind/fire, why choose anything but the best? 😇

i’m not sure i’ve worded my post too well, the new ‘trinity’ TFs would be completely optional to play and would be added to the existing pool of TFs/trials rather than taking away or changing any content anyone would be able to play them too, it would just have certain benefits to mixing up the team structure and playstyle a bit - inspired slightly by the challenges on L4D2

i haven’t got any fully fleshed out ideas, but perhaps TFs with mechanics that periodically deal unresistable damage or have the team start at 1hp each mission due to the storyline lore would encourage more AT-diverse teams for me and many players, the sub lvl 30 game is the most enjoyable as teams benefit from the different attributes each AT brings to the mix

the proposal is a request for new TFs where the trinity has significant advantages, rather than a change to existing TFs as to not impact the existing style of play. anyone would be free to play them if they wanted to, however there would be mechanisms which favour cooperation / teamwork of different ATs

yeah it’s pretty easy - confuse lasts a lot longer than holds so it’s easy to stack, as people have also mentioned it doesn’t aggro the AV either on my mind/fire dom i let the confuse stack for a minute before engaging in battle, 1 attack, 1 confuse, 1 attack etc. keeps the AV confused even with purple triangles of doom - very safe you can also confuse the crystal titan at the end of the eden trial and therefore not need any ambrosia for the team

perma confuse them as a mind dom instead

quoted for truth people want an automatic “You Win!” button as soon as they log on thesedays. the game is far too easy and there’s often very loud opposition to anyone who suggests amending anything or trying something different to improve the game and retain/attract players - it would be great to see meaningfully challenging content on the game - additional rewards for TF challenges, e.g. enemies buffed - new TFs which require classic trinity play for those who enjoy it - new badges for challenging content, challenging settings etc

a fire tank + kin seems like a far superior duo than the classic entry level brute setup much greater AoE = more death