Nyghtmaire

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - Chinese Rock

That’s how good the power pool is! 😂

It’s the alignment power for being a villain after switching sides or reaffirming your alignment in morality missions. https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Alignment_Powers#Frenzy

No, not directly. Alpha only impacts the enhancable attributes of a given power, consistent with the diminishing returns ceiling of a given tier of the Alpha ability. Think about it as: Universal Enhancements “The Alpha Slot Incarnate Abilities give their aspect enhancement to every power that a character has that can utilize it. “ https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Alpha_Slot_Abilities

Caravan - Be All Right / Chance Of A Lifetime

Oh man I want a cannoli...

I’m away from my computer for my Mids build, but this is the basic chassis for any Necro mastermind I construct. Tier 1 Overwhelming Force proc in zombies; Max Accuracy and damage; good place for 4-set Superior Command of the Mastermind (for 10% recharge). Tier 2 Achilles Heel -res, 2 piece Superior Mark of Supremacy (10% recharge); Shield Breaker of Lady Grey proc; Soulbound Allegiance proc; Max damage remainder. Tier 3 Again, 2 piece Superior Mark of Supremacy (10% recharge); Cloud Senses proc (triggered by almost all attacks; an HO to buff controls along with accuracy or damage based on need; aim for at least ~60% accuracy (rely on Supremacy and tactics for remainder, or if talking about Storm, freezing rain). The damage is pretty pathetic - relatively - for the Lich. The proc helps. For soul extraction, final 2 piece Superior Mark of Supremacy (10% recharge) and remainder of protective unique IOs. For Necro/Storm, your pets serve as bodyguard fodder during the times the chaos is less severe. Storm will be the heavy lifting on damage. Usually, global recharge is the focus to get more lightning storms, freezing rain patches, and tornadoes out. Grave Knights will be useful for surgically targeting hard targets for focus damage. @Frosticus has a viscous demon/storm build somewhere on the forums. Definitely search that up for more ideas. For APP/patrons, either fire for bonfire (with proc) or Mu for a targeted AOE immobilize. Have fun!

Generally, the AT suggests an active level of engagement, jumping in and out of melee range. The damage secondaries pair cone and pbaoe attacks with a blend of range and melee single target abilities. For primaries, fire, ice, and elec each have pbaoe auras and lean towards being in melee. Of the three, fire does more damage innately. The aura (hot feet) adds good damage and promotes being in melee. And bonfire with proc is a fantastic level of mitigation. Plant - with seeds of confusion - is brutal until you run into mobs resistant to confusion. But plant is powerful very, very early since seeds arrives at level 8. If you hate pets, mind runs without a level 32 pet. For secondaries, anything /psi tends towards promoting an up-close-and-personal playstyle, almost entirely due to Drain Psyche (Level 20 ability). To +Regen mitigates a lot of incoming damage. This also addresses one of the weaknesses of the AT generally (almost no primary or secondary mitigation beyond controls). Similarly, /dark has a heal in life drain. Fire, like most ATs, has quick damage (but oddly relatively crappy AoEs). I don’t have personal experience with savage or energy (heard good things though), so I’ll leave that for someone else to comment upon. Im sure you’ve read through the forums here. It’s worth stressing that building a dom is (for high level, min/max play) recharge all the way. Many follow with a focus on either soft capping S/L or range defense. The protective benefits of permadom is very seductive (mez protection mainly, followed distantly by increased mag of controls). With Barrier’s tier 4 persistent buff, it’s possible to softcap to both S/L AND range for regular, non-incarnate content. But that’s a very tight build and not as conducive to exemplering at lower levels. Based on your criteria, I’d recommend plant with either psy or fire. If you want to as much debt as a Legacy blaster, try fire/fire!

Um... different discussion?

This. All the time. Otherwise, what’s the point? Playing to meta gets you stuck in a farm somewhere. I like the city...

Rocket from the Tombs - What Love Is

In addition to the above, it can depend on the primary/secondary and strategy. (And so many times yes on 8/3 for speed and pet control). I primarily run Necro/Dark (very old school). Overwhelming force in Tier 1 for knockdowns, Oppressive Gloom stacking stuns with Howling Twilight, pulling with Darkest Night in Tar Patch (holding pets back until the spawn is grouped), and so on. Target selection. Dual holds (one with the proc for boss holds, the other for problem lieutenants). Without knowing your build and primary/secondary, hard to say more. And for real, there are some combinations that just lag behind in solo play on higher difficulty (looking at you ninja/TA)...

@Force Reduxgave a GREAT distillation. If you want some more tips, this guide from the legacy version of the game is quite helpful for general advice: https://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2012/01/gd-mastermind.html?m=1 Bear in mind that IO builds is an entire mini-game of its own. There are many samples of builds on these forums. Feel free to mix and match, building to your play style and preferences. One caveat, many of the builds are geared towards max-level solo play at the highest levels of difficulty. That is an edge case and not the norm, nor necessary for grouping. Welcome to the game!

Good point. While I like the “free” damage, it certainly shows the age of the design. Very creative proposal.

Almost any secondary would work if you drill down into your concept (drugs are result of radiation therapies twisted for illicit aims = Rad; Breaking Bad style uppers/meth = Time or Kinetics; Dark - opioid style depressants; and so on), and strongly agree that Thugs is the immediate primary you’re seeking that pairs well with almost everything. However, demons or zombies would work if you’re role playing the side effect/result of hallucinations from the illicit stock. Ninjas could be gang members that watch too much anime (which explains why they fold so fast 😂). Basically, hone in on your concept and the combination will suggest itself. What type of criminal are you building?

That brings back memories (like when me and my band “upgraded” our long locks to waspafarian dreadlocks 😂 The 90s ... oh boy)

@Marine X thanks for posting that! Utterly enjoyable to see!!! Were those mullets being sported?!?

Kinski - Rhode Island Freakout

Of the three, Time has the most synergy. Like your FF:live experience, you will softcap your Bots with the addition of soft capping yourself to all positions with minimal/moderate set investment. You gain recharge for yourself, AOE heals for yourself and pets, plenty of slows and a smattering of -regen, a single target hold and a hold patch. You’ll also have a damage boost that can be cycled through your pets (it also boosts recharge which does nothing for your pets and regen which does little due to low HP). Finally, you some a -resistance at level 35. Basically, time + bots is VERY tanky, with far more tools than were available to you in FF. Very comfortable pairing. I’m not much of a fan with resistance or reactive secondaries paired with bots. However, your play style may be very different.

Editing is the unsung hero of creativity. Keep it up! *deletes two characters in solidarity*

The damage buff was removed in Issue 15.

Spitballing with you idea, have tanks lose mez protection or floor resistance when their bar drops? Force tanks to build for global recharge at the expense of another attribute? I know, it’s a counter proposal that’s obviously ridiculous, and an attempt to acknowledge the real penalty for dropping domination that any other AT would lose their minds over if they had to build around. The issue with current dominator building is that it locks all IO set players on the same path. The forums - here and legacy/live - all have the same advice: slot as many LotG uniques as you can, max out as many 5-purples (10%) as you can afford, Basilesk Gazes (7.5%) in your holds, fill in with any sets granting 6.25% bonuses, and add hasten. It’s not a skill to make and play a permadom, just a shopping list. Edit: I understand the fun aspect. If the game isn’t fun, what’s the point? I like it too.

THIS! A mere recharge adjustment would go a long way to reversing its suckiness.

This always seems like the greatest gift of domination in its current form. In reimagining dominators, Decoupling the AT from recharge dependence would be a net positive. Instead of building domination to click, I’d be curious to see a mez protection mechanic that built up as you attacked. Remove the click altogether. The higher the bar (similar to fury), the greater the protection (as a random number - equivalent protection to current domination at 33% fill, increasing in magnitude the higher you go). Similarly, provide an endurance discount the higher the bar is filled, capping at ~15% (base recovery is what? About one 15th endurance per tick?) Last issue - when to increase control mag? So long as above whatever arbitrary percentage of the bar. The design goal though would be to promote a more aggressive style of play - keep attacking, keep engaging - so as not to let the bar drop. The more engaged, the more you keep mez protection, your powers cost less to activate, and the stronger your controls are. All this needs balancing, but the thrust is that dominators would have significantly more flexibility in build design rather than chasing recharge like a bunch of meth heads. (That said, I love the AT and am comfortable with the current design. Many good proposals in the thread.)

@Nafsmar ugh Roblox. Same age; same response from the heir. I just don’t get the draw...