Camel

I’m sorry if my “did this turn into a troll thread” seemed directed at you. I wasn’t intending it to be that way. I read your responses and looked at some of your post history, determined that you have been playing this game for a bit, and then thought maybe you were just having a little fun. I genuinely thought that maybe you flipped the switch on us and saw an opportunity to confuse us is all. As I said before, take Heightened Senses. It’s a great power. Just ignore the text! 😎

Did this turn into a troll post?

Maybe a Grav rework is in the books for Doms? I’d like to see a rework similar to how Controllers got Darkness Affinity.

The powers text is very misleading. And oftentimes, the details won’t tell you everything. I can’t think of an example off the top of my head but I know for a fact a lot of powers do more than what it says in the details. Some aren’t even accurate.

Gravity/Psionic would be fun. You could Wormhole mobs into an orderly, tight pile and get full stacks of Drain Psyche, follow it up with Psychic Shockwave and everything will be stunned. I have been hearing good things about /Energy on Doms, might be a fun combo.

I was once called intellectually ignorant and lazy for not being a numbers cruncher. Elitists are going to elite. Just sayin’. 🤷🏼‍♂️ I get it though, sometimes I get passionate about this game and think “you’re wrong! Why would you do that?” But I always quash it right then and there. It’s easy to think our way is the right way, especially with how much experience we all bring to the table. Anyways, to the OP, take Heightened Senses. And good hunting! Also, for the record. Over a decade ago when Willpower came out, I had the EXACT same thoughts as you. I was brand new to the game and I thought environmental damage was flames, falling from extreme heights, etc. The text confused me as well.

Things to note. Assault isn't 'really' needed. But it is a damage boost, and even a measly 10% goes a long way when you are (hopefully) surrounded by mobs and spamming AoE. Also, when and if I get my Ageless to T4, you could drop some of the slots in Health and Stamina since you shouldn't have end problems. My Ageless is not T4, so there is some downtime. Which means I do have to be aware of end management. It's not a huge issue, even at +4 when all my toggles drop I still don't die. Every attack outside of T1 is fully slotted. The T1 is only used when a boss is left standing, but normally I just pull that boss to the next mob, your T1 still comes in handy though. I would also recommend not putting the Superior Frozen Blast set in a power that does NOT immobilize. You want to control when the mobs get locked down, hence why I put it in Electrifying Fences, so I can control when I want mobs to not huddle around me, which is never. I use Ball Lightning to herd mobs and get aggro, then use Fences only when I am surrounded. It pains me to say it, but Ripper and Impale are not needed when farming. Take Ripper when leveling up, slot it with a Force Feedback chance for +recharge proc. It helps a lot when power leveling yourself. (You can 100% do that by the way, I made my Brute and got him to level 50 by myself in about 4-5 hours give or take) But once you hit 50 and get a full IO build, Ripper is just too slow for a pure farming build. That's about all I can think of off the top of my head in regards to a Spines/Fire build and what to do/what not to do. Cheers!

This is the route I went. Tried to get a good balance of Fire defense and +recharge bonuses. The Leadership pool is great, Tactics makes all the difference in the world when spamming the less accurate AoE attacks on +4 mobs. I would recommend taking it. There's not a need for travel powers when AE farming. This build is strictly for AE farming. I made my Brute, spawned in Atlas Park, and he's never left. Not even once. I even named him 'Generic Farmer' hit the randomize button once in the costume creator (he has the full Insect Armor lol) and never looked back. On average, this build clears the Big Dawg fire map in 4 minutes or less. My best time is 3:39, but that's only when I pay attention, which I don't do often when I'm farming because.... farming. Hero Plan by Hero Hero Designer 2.23 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Brute Primary Power Set: Spines Secondary Power Set: Fiery Aura Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Barb Swipe -- HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(50) Level 1: Fire Shield -- Ags-ResDam(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(7), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(7) Level 2: Blazing Aura -- ScrDrv-Acc/Dmg(A), ScrDrv-Dmg/EndRdx(37), ScrDrv-Acc/Rchg(40), ScrDrv-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), ScrDrv-Dam%(43), HO:Nucle(45) Level 4: Spine Burst -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(45), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(46) Level 6: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50) Level 8: Healing Flames -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(9), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(9), Prv-Heal/Rchg(11), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(13), Prv-Absorb%(15) Level 10: Temperature Protection -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(11) Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13) Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(15) Level 16: Plasma Shield -- Ags-ResDam(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(17), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(17) Level 18: Quills -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), SprBrtFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), SprBrtFur-Rech/Fury(37), SprUnrFur-Rchg/+Regen/+End(37) Level 20: Consume -- MckBrt-Taunt(A), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg(21), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(21), MckBrt-Acc/Rchg(23), MckBrt-Taunt/Rng(23), MckBrt-Rchg(36) Level 22: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 24: Tough -- Ags-ResDam(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(25), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(25) Level 26: Weave -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(27), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(27) Level 28: Burn -- Arm-Dmg/Rchg(A), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Arm-Acc/Rchg(29), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Arm-Dam%(33), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(33) Level 30: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(31), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31) Level 32: Throw Spines -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(33), PstBls-Dmg/Rchg(34), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), PstBls-Dam%(34), ImpSwf-Dam%(48) Level 35: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36) Level 38: Electrifying Fences -- SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg(A), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx(39), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(40), SprFrzBls-Rchg/ImmobProc(40) Level 41: Ball Lightning -- Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(42), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Rgn-Knock%(43), Ann-ResDeb%(48) Level 44: Tactics -- HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(48), GssSynFr--Build%(50) Level 47: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 49: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Fury Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(5), Mrc-Rcvry+(5) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-EndMod/Acc(3), PrfShf-End%(3) Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon Level 50: Pyronic Core Final Judgement Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment ------------

Chilling Embrace is extremely valuable. Maybe less so on Stalkers since it can stop you from entering hide. The mitigation it provides is excellent. Permafrost is also great since you can slot the two unique +def IOs without neutering any other power and it also gives you slow resist. My builds are extremely tight sometimes, but I’ve never had to gimp a build to have both Chilling Embrace and Permafrost. Just a personal preference, especially taking Permafrost. But I would highly recommend finding some way to incorporate it.

Good luck! With inspiration from @Doomrider I managed to make my own unique build for my Warshade. Patience is key, especially if you have no experience. It took me much longer than any other build to even get an acceptable baseline for what I wanted it to be. I also got really lucky, my Tri-Form build exceeded all of my expectations and I haven’t found a need to change anything... YET. As others have stated, even with experience, it can be a lot to micro-manage while playing. I played my Warshade for weeks and still sometimes found myself overwhelmed by what I could potentially do next. It was the hardest AT I’ve ever had to learn, but also the most rewarding. I have zero binds (I’m a clicker, but a pretty darn good one I’d imagine) and I was actually surprised at how click friendly it became once I got the muscle memory down. Just be patient, and put the work in, you won’t regret it!

Not at the computer right now but will post my Spines/Fire/Mu Brute when I can. I’ll explain why I did what I did and my personal experience with how well it does.

For farming or general content? Because those two builds will look drastically different.

Totally forgot to post this. This is the Rad/Time/Power build I had mentioned. I opted to make the build more viable by utilizing a 'play in melee' approach like you mentioned and not a 'gimped focus on melee attacks only' build. With this build you shouldn't have many issues being right in melee. I went Power Mastery to give you a decent melee attack in Total Focus, which pairs wonderfully with the stun from Cosmic Burst. Hero Plan by Hero Hero Designer 2.23 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Corruptor Primary Power Set: Radiation Blast Secondary Power Set: Time Manipulation Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Power Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: X-Ray Beam -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25), GldJvl-Dam%(33), TchofLadG-%Dam(33), ShlBrk-%Dam(33) Level 1: Time Crawl -- Acc-I(A), ImpSwf-Dam%(42) Level 2: Irradiate -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), Arm-Acc/Rchg(3), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Arm-Dam%(5), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(7) Level 4: Temporal Mending -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/Rchg(40), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(40), Prv-Absorb%(42) Level 6: Time's Juncture -- DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb(A), DarWtcDsp-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(7), DarWtcDsp-Rchg/EndRdx(9), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(9) Level 8: Proton Volley -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Apc-Acc/Rchg(34), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Apc-Dam%(36) Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11) Level 12: Aim -- GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(36), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(36), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(37), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(37), GssSynFr--Build%(37) Level 14: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(15), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(15) Level 16: Distortion Field -- SprEnt-Rchg/AbsorbProc(A), Lck-%Hold(46) Level 18: Cosmic Burst -- SprMlcoft-Acc/Dmg(A), SprMlcoft-Dmg/Rchg(19), SprMlcoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), SprMlcoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21), SprMlcoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21), SprMlcoft-Rchg/Dmg%(25) Level 20: Super Speed -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A) Level 22: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(23), Rct-ResDam%(23) Level 24: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 26: Neutron Bomb -- Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(27), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Rgn-Knock%(31) Level 28: Farsight -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), HO:Cyto(29), HO:Cyto(29) Level 30: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(31), HO:Ribo(46) Level 32: Atomic Blast -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(42), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(43), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Obl-%Dam(46) Level 35: Slowed Response -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A) Level 38: Chrono Shift -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/Rchg(39), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(39), EffAdp-EndMod/Rchg(39), EffAdp-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(40) Level 41: Power Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 44: Temp Invulnerability -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(45), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), UnbGrd-Max HP%(45) Level 47: Total Focus -- Hct-Dmg/Rchg(A), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Hct-Acc/Rchg(48), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Hct-Dam%(50) Level 49: Weave -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(50), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(50) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Clr-Stlth(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Scourge Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(13), Mrc-Rcvry+(17) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-EndMod/Acc(11), PrfShf-End%(13) Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 50: Vigor Core Paragon Level 50: Ion Radial Final Judgement Level 50: Reactive Radial Flawless Interface Level 50: Clarion Radial Epiphany Level 50: Melee Core Embodiment ------------

My favorite Scrapperlock memory is also in mission 3 of the ITF. As soon as I entered the mission I had the sudden urge to give Romulus and Requiem a piece of my fists. So off he went, my DM/Shield Scrapper, to face them down. I jumped up to the platform, pulled as many mobs as I could and started chipping away on both AVs at the same time. 5 generals, 4 generals, 3.... and then they were defeated. I soloed them at +3 before my 7 teammates made it to the computer. Was it greedy? Yes. Was it necessary? Yes. Why? Yes. Scrapperlock!!

My Fire/Time has essentially zero endurance issues. I run Superspeed and Sprint at all times and with only Cardiac it’s rare that I have issues, the only time I do is extremely extended fights (solo AVs) but if I turn off Superspeed and Sprint I don’t have issues. Ageless is great, but Clarion boosts your effects to insane levels when stacked with PBU or Power Boost and gives you mez protection 3/4 of the time. Do whatever you want, but definitely don’t take Agility, or do, but other options would be superior. Cardiac, Musculature or the one that boosts Heal, Acc, End Redux (forget the name, have not taken it on a toon yet) would be the way to go in my opinion.

The Clarion that boosts secondary effects is phenomenal too. Make sure to use it before Power Boost or Power Build Up, I haven’t tested it in months but I recall the values for Farsight are substantially higher if you use Clarion first. Not sure why.

Pick up Cardiac for Alpha. I went agility initially on my Fire/Time but noticed my end dropping substantially because of how quickly I could spam my powers.

On a side note, all of my Defenders/Corrs play in melee range. I’ve just always been super aggressive and typically take Soul Master for Soul Drain, so once I Soul Drain I kind of plant my feet 😛 maybe not the safest, but very fun!

I would go Time/Rad/Force or Rad/Time/Force. (Both are the same, former is a defender, latter is a corruptor) Time gets a PBAoE debuff which is perfect for a melee Oriented build, Time is incredibly tanky to boot. So you should have no issues surviving. Rad has 2 stellar PBAoEs and after those two picks it’s up to personal preference. Force gives you Total Focus, which will be your bread and butter melee attack, stuns, which would pair very well with Cosmic Burst. It also gives you Power Build Up which will boost all of your secondary effects, but more importantly, will boost Farsight to insane levels. I’ll make a proposed build when I get home from work tonight.

When you say “melee” do you mean you want the character to play in melee range? Or utilize melee only attacks?

I think they are incredibly important on Controllers. They’re available very early and are, in a lot of cases , one of your better ST attacks. Sometimes I’ll drop it for an APP ST ranged attack, but they typically do the same damage, don’t immobilize, and are not available immediately.

Rad Armor is unreal. I have a Dark/Rad Scrapper and he can cap his recharge with all the +recharge buffing going on. Has Shadow Meld and Unleash potential for some crazy high defense as well as capped res to S/L and almost capped res to others. So fun!

You may appreciate a Fire/Dark controller. I haven’t made another Fire/ controller, Fire/Dark ruined pairing that primary with anything else. Fire/Rad would be fun. As far as Dom combos, I’m loving my Plant/Psi/Ice. If you get everything set up perfectly mobs just melt and you are practically untouched. My ST damage is surprising, especially since people on the forums gave me the impression that it was lackluster. Sometimes my snipe hits for upwards of 1,000 on +4 enemies (obviously debuffed, but have noticed these numbers on teams where we had one other debuffer)

If you are only buying cheap, but effective IOs, then Arcane Bolt is perfect. You can put a Force Feedback +recharge proc in it and make the build a bit speedier. It can also take several damage procs as well.

Katana is one of the OG pairings. I’d recommend Katana since you said Dark Melee is out of the question. Psionic would be fun too. But the damage mitigation you’d get in Divine Avalanche is far superior IMO.