Onlyasandwich

This for sure! When they go to melee each other, they clump tighter. An aoe hold just freezes them where they are, which may not always be ideal. Alternatively, just combine Fold Space with any dom and immob/stun to your heart's content. 😉

I agree with @Hedgefund here. OF KD proc is good because if it goes off once, you get a tangible benefit. Most any mob gets knocked down unless just immune. Cupid's crush is only Mag 2, so luits and bosses won't see any effect at all, unless you happen to have some other confuse effect that you are, by luck, applying to that target currently. I can see some utility slotting it in a long-recharge aoe with high proc rate to mitigate minion tag back, or maybe if you have a slot to burn in a confuse heavy build and want to toss it in there for stacking at random. Mastermind pets have some aoes that would inherit the proc and have more noticeable impact. However, pet slots are already at a premium, and are better served with base enhancement or damage procs more often.

I think it's at least above average aoe for a stalker, maybe even excellent. Guarded spin procs super well, so you end up with two very nice aoes, which is not the case for most other stalker primaries. I agree that it's not a revelation of superiority, but feel like it's one of the better stalker sets in general, not just "best on this at but still blah."

Welcome! If you want a reference point for slotting ideas, here's a Marine/Seismic defender I spooled up recently in a thread. Defender (Marine Affinity - Seismic Blast).mbd I haven't even found the performance shifter proc necessary in Toroidal on my own iterations. Even my extra thirsty Thugs/Marine MM gets along nicely using his end-guzzling attacks. Once you get Depths and some of your other end support slots rounded out, I think you'll find the same on your corruptor. I really like your idea of using the ATO +end proc in Shifting tides! I'm not 100% certain how it will work in practice. I know gaussian in shifting tides works sort of like in tactics (ie new proc chance to self-buff you per target hit/10 seconds). I would guess the ATO proc might work the same way, and pop frequent +end aura bursts centered on you? I'm not sure, but it may be sneakily good in practice. Would love to hear how it works when you try. If it works really well, you'll be absolutely swimming in blue - very in theme!

@Nemu Toroidal's end benefit isn't so much about slotting it with end enhancement (give it resist slotting love instead!), but instead the baseline end bonus it provides without enhancement, and the additional spot for a performance shifter proc. The performance shifter has a chance of going off on cast, giving you a larger swing of end injection. I wouldn't spam it on cooldown, but it's a nice bonus to keep you stable. A 20 end injection every 20 seconds or so is pretty strong - even better that your whole team gets it! If you don't need it at a given time, just wait to rebuff. The main component is the +res after all. Focus on keeping that up. Otherwise, recovery returns are better invested in stamina slots. Power of the Depths indeed makes a very big difference at later levels as well. Few sets provide +end in such quantities, and it synergizes well with your existing recovery bonuses, making them stronger. Some broad input on the build: Personal preference - Soothing Wave is much more useful than Shoal Rush. Shoal is a puny power for procs. The -def is decent enough, but missable, and you have other ways to start your frenzy (whitecap into shifting tides mainly). Soothing wave heals both you and your mates, and has a healthy -damage debuff component. It fills the gaps in your defenses nicely. Power of the Depths could use some love. Its baseline power for +end is pretty strong already. I recommend maxing out its Healing enhancement and recharge. If relying purely on Power Boost to beef it up, some local recharge would be good as a baseline. White cap is begging for more proc love. You'll be cycling it so much more than soul drain - I would recommend the armageddon proc at least in white cap.

Tap + in the selection interface, while hovering the enhancement you want to boost. Each plus is a level of boost.

Final final build (for now) 😉 I settled on keeping Bonfire. I've run enough messy fun TFs so far with this guy that I see its utility even with dom up, and the damage is a nice bonus then as well. I also found that I was going over rule of 5 on F/C resist and my Slow res bonuses. Moved things around and gained some recovery, more damage in Fire Ball, and worked an annihilation proc into Fissure. Here it is: Dominator (Fire Control - Earth Assault) fire version.mbd If anyone has further improvements to suggest, I'd love to hear as always! I feel like it's basically in its final form now.

I think the above build is more or less where I've settled. One question remains - Rise of the Phoenix or Bonfire? Pros for Rise: PM proc mule, erases mistakes, is fun. Pros for Bonfire: Useful in super overaggro situations to throw out for extra mitigation and damage over time. Useful when exemping below perma-dom. Visually fun.

That's more or less what I suspected - thank you for sharing your experience, @Caimie! I wonder what an optimal swap might be. Considerations include: Power Up. No useful secondary effects to boost, but the damage is at least something. On occasion, the extra duration beyond what dom already provides may be useful. Stealth for an extra lotg mule. I probably won't bother running it for the defense. Smoke. -perception can be handy at times. The -tohit isn't much to consider. Misdirection. A decent little aoe resist debuff! Pretty long cooldown though, especially considering I won't have slots to devote. The placate effect might come in handy as an extra pause here and there. Surge of Power. Not super thematic for this guy, but another emergency button might be nice. Could mule Steadfast +def here for kicks. I could always keep it of course. I'll test it for a while and see how much it comes in handy. Actually, I think an epic swap may indeed be the way to go! 2 end/sec + perf shifter, panacea procs, and dom injections should be reasonably sustainable without the extra crutch of power sink. I jimmied up a Fire APP version for comparison here: Dominator (Fire Control - Earth Assault) fire version.mbd The main downside here is that the resist profile isn't as desirable. However, I get more damage, a handy self-rez, a mule for the PM proc, and a debuff I'll actually use in Melt armor. The whole thing is more on theme as well.

Ran some DFB, posi 1, and a sutter last night and have this guy up to 24 so far. He's a blast! I settled on a fun character concept and costume to match, which is 70% of the battle for fun anyhow. 😄 Feeling pretty good about the endurance situation. Even without my end support slotted up yet, I get along decently well with dom refills. Depending on how it all goes, I might even consider an epic swap, but for now the idea of Power Sink as a backup for such an end hungry character is still appealing. I'm glad you all are enjoying the combo as well! I was a little surprised to see basically zero topics about Fire/Earth in the dom forums. It seems like such a natural thematic fit. @MoonSheep, what is your concern with exemping and procs? They function just fine even if exemped below their set level. I absolutely understand the other fun goals one could achieve by backing off on procs (achieving meaningful defense, perma-dom without hasten are big ones). However, with this type of character where I'm relying on other measures to protect myself, this is my basic strategy for slotting procs: First, absolutely maximize effective damage per application through the most optimal combination of ED and procs (some powers have better return on ED up to cap, others are much higher with procs from slot one). Evaluate if I have enough accuracy. If not, adjust accordingly. Slot my other powers in the build. Have I achieved my goals? If so, then excellent! If not, then I'll revisit the hyper-focus on damage in procced powers, and replace with sets until I have achieved what I want. I start my revisit with the powers where procs have the most marginal return. In this way I maximize the potential damage of everything possible while still getting where I want to be on everything else. After playing with this guy, I've determined I'm keeping the Teleport pool. The new "gloop" animation for combat teleport is amazing! I colored it orange and it looks like I'm melting into lava and reforming. Still though - what do you think about Bonfire on a dom these days? It's such a long animation time, and only so-so as spawn control with the reduced chances when KD converted. Do you find it a useful supplement? If you have it, do you even bother using it?

Thank you for taking the time to review, Moonsheep! It sounds like we have pretty different build goals for doms, which is just fine of course. I find the trade-off in hastenless perma-dom to be too great for my own goals. Specifically here, such a focus would keep me from proccing powers as I like, as well as remove a decent chunk of my slow resist. I'm happy enough to use my rotating auto-fire bind to keep dom rolling. Power up is a 34% damage buff for 10 seconds. This isn't nothing, but not worth a power pick all by itself for me here. I don't have any secondary effects worth boosting to take advantage of its other effects. The aoe immob is a pretty big part of an efficient solo strategy! Judicious usage (ie waiting for things to clump, or just not using it at all there) on teams keeps it from being a bother. It is also the best place for my Fiery orb, as well as a mule for an important set that I'm relying on. Seismic Smash is a very proc friendly power. As currently slotted, it has a 90% fire rate for 3.5 ppm procs, which is why I have it more proc focused in my slotting. I have the purple hold proc in Char instead, as the damage difference for both powers is roughly the same (about 30 more damage on average per application compared to a non purple proc), and char is rotated more often, so more net benefit. Phase shift is a capstone for my investment in Concealment, and a really great power! -perception powers like Smoke can be pretty useful in certain types of rooms, but I'd be more interested if it had a better secondary effect. -3.75% tohit just isn't doing it for me, especially since I am not running defense to stack it with. With phase shift, if things get nasty I can just pop into another dimension and wait for a big control to finish recharging, then pop back out and go to town. One change I'm currently mulling over is: Drop the entire teleport pool, pick up Weaken Resolve, Mighty Leap, Unleash. Drop Bonfire, pick up Power Up. I can steal the slot in fold space and the OF KD proc in Mud pots for Unleash. Now I can pop Power Up > Unleash and achieve 30% defense, as well as get an extra end boost. This is further helped along by all the FFBack running. The big losses would be Combat Teleport (not a huge deal for a build that doesn't need to line up cones), Fold Space (very mighty, but not essential), Bonfire (is it madness to drop bonfire? Maybe it's not as important on a dom?), and Phase Shift (goodbye emergency button, but hello another more proactive emergency button). I'd also lose one lotg in the trade. Not sure! I actually love Unleash on doms, especially due to Power Up. I feel like I'd be trading a lot of utility to get there though.

Hi there Dominators! It's your best friend sandwich, back for another round of whips and chains with our favorite AT. This time, I'm keen to try on Earth Assault. I have my fair share of fire controllers, but see some special appeal in this mix: Really fun theme! Tons of FFback opportunity in Earth to fuel controls. Super procable. Two slow/damage auras! I know a lot of folks poo poo Mud Pots as a waste of end, but I am an aura appreciator, and think we can make it work. My goals with this build: Max hit chance against +3's. Max out my Slow res. Permadom of course, but I'm okay relying on some amount of FFback firing to get there. Pile on any easy to grab resists where I can get them. Proc out choice attacks and controls. I could go more ham with this, but am relying on a few purple sets to achieve other goals. What I don't care about: Defense! Obviously soft cap builds are great, and even chasing some lower amount is useful. This guy is a rock - he isn't dodging anything. The goal is to rely on domination powered controls, a whole mess of knockdown, and a few backup plans. I'm not saying this is necessarily the optimal plan in all cases, but it works great on teams. It also gives me an edge of challenge that I enjoy, and feel defines the Dominator experience for me. Hearing how much you don't like Fiery Orb. I like it! It looks pretty, is thematic here, and has a sneakily decent contribution in many battles. On second thought, tell me how much you hate it! It fuels me. I realize it's not everyone's thing. 😉 Concerns and potential areas of improvement: End sustain. I actually think I have it decently in hand between dom refills and Power Sink. Hoping I don't have to lean too far on Power Sink though, as it's awkward/slow. I am missing Hurl Boulder! It's a really great power on doms. I had it originally, but needed the slots, and also wanted to proc out Char as a real attack. Char basically holds its place now. Extra bonus that char achieves similar DPA while stacking holds with Seismic, and triggering constant ATO +damage procs. If you see a clear swap for Hurl, I'd value the perspective. Bonfire. How useful do you find it now that KD conversion guts the KD rate? I still have it on my fire/storm, but honestly there's so much going on there that it hardly matters how much bonfire is making things flop, so it's hard to tell. I could rely on Cages spam to keep it KD and keep the rate up, but that is very rough on end, and takes focus away from other powers I'd prefer to be rotating. I could remove the KD conversion and use it as a positioning tool or safe zone! Much more situational at that point though. Fun tricks: The aforementioned ATO proc in Char. Not really a trick - just kinda how doms work. I don't often get to utilize it so directly though! I'm frequently relying on the set bonus from my ST hold instead. Double KD procs in Mud Pots, KD proc in Ball Lightning. If you haven't tried double KD procs in a damage aura, give it a shot! I have tested it extensively, and even when they trigger back to back, they don't seem to stack mag, or at least the chance of them stacking mag is diminishingly low to the point it doesn't matter. Every other thing I throw does KD, even when I'm not doing anything at all! I cooould swap the Overwhelming proc to Imps instead - what do you think? General plan of engagement: Get dom rolling, engage with Flashfire, port in, hit cages, Fold Space when it's up, Bonfire, start spamming my aoes. If things get tight, I have several backup plans in Cinders or Phase shift. Remember Phase shift? It's that power we used to put in builds long long ago when you could perma it and do dumb stuff. It's actually still really nice! Do I like bulleted lists too much? You decide. While you're at it, I'd love to hear your feedback, or areas you see for further optimization! As always, I have disabled non permanent buffs, and disabled procs in FFback powers. Turn them on once at a time for local damage totals. Build: Dominator (Fire Control - Earth Assault).mbd Picture: Text:

Fully agreed here! Doubly so on a primary with one of the best to-hit debuffs in the game in Rad Infection. With the updated faster animation time, it's easy to put down on every spawn. By going for a heavy defense approach, you are losing out on a lot of the power budget already afforded you by your powerful debuffs. If you rely more on your debuffs, you have much greater freedom in your build to proc out attacks or pursue other slotting strategies. Granted, I know that RI has a limited radius and floating on ranged defense is an easier approach that is less reliant on mob positioning. Still, Rad is one of the best soloing Defender primaries even without a single IO in the build. Lingering Rad is typically enough to keep things clumped and at range until they are dead.

My default is Musculature Radial, and it would be a decent option for both. Probably the best option for Shield/DM. Cardiac core is a solid consideration for Dark/elec as well if you build around it to optimize Res values and not overcap. I personally prefer to set my Alpha as a "bonus" rather than a lynchpin of my build. Typically this means I don't like to rely on it for accuracy, resist, or defense goals. I also want to at least be most of the way to my endurance goals without the Alpha, even if I will appreciate the extra it provides. This is just my personal approach given the amount of exemping I do.

Subjective there for sure! I find Super Strength super fun, but can appreciate why you wouldn't be inspired by a "vanilla" combo like this. The aoe in EM is pretty solid these days, especially with Power Crash in Energy focus mode. On my own EM, I personally just have Whirling +epic aoe. It's not going to win any aoe competitions, but it gets along fine, and with outstanding ST damage of course.

All of the above options are very good! Remember also that you can place Ice Slick out of line of site. You can set up a really safe engage when you have a line of site blocker this way. Don't "sleep" on Flash Freeze either! Ho ho ho. Really though it's a great setup when solo. Not amazing on teams, but solo it lets you sneak in there and give Arctic Air a chance to get rolling. I haven't found it needed myself, and just plop Ice Slick or Cold Snap, but it works well if you need an extra layer of safety on the engage.

In case anyone is curious, the build below is where I landed. Controller (Ice Control - Empathy) WW version.mbd I couldn't resist, and doubled down on theme with this guy. He's an ice dancer, so Whirlwind is a must, even though quite honestly it doesn't bring much to someone with such a wide array of control tricks. If I actually use it at some point, it would be pretty redundant with Ice Slick if I use a KD converter, so keeping it as KB. I suppose it may be a useful emergency button, though I have a lot of those! It's mostly for showing off. Since I'm already there, Burnout too! There are actually quite a few good uses for Burnout on this combo (back to back Glacier, Regen Aura, double up on Adrenalin boost, really anything else) so it's not a bad tool to have in my pocket. Call him the master of backup plans! I'm happy enough to leave it at base slot, as it really is a super emergency button, and shouldn't be needed often. I ended up being really low on slow res anyhow, so decided to abandon the winter sets altogether in pursuit of other bonuses, as well as decreasing cost quite a bit. Ice Slick is shown as empty because I have the full Cupid's Crush set in it. This is very much a team build, but already at 41 competently solos most content at +1X8 with a little careful control management. Combat Teleport is the best quality of life ever on an Empath. Buddy going down or just out of range for a buff? Bamph over and release heals/buffs. Also very handy for repositioning when shooting off my cones. A very fun little fact I discovered and confirmed with further testing! The Controller Psi damage ATO proc fires in both aspects of Cold Snap (the slow and the fear). This means it's doing double duty! Cold Snap is really snappy indeed with this setup.

This is typically how I go, unless I just don't care about ranged defense for whatever reason. If you are going ham on a well built blaster, you can still suck wind even with the sustain running! Doubling down here gives you a lot more freedom to run expensive toggles, open up slotting on attacks, and free up other end support slots. You can even pull a Nemu and run whirlwind all day - do what feels good. 😉

I'd be going Dark/Electric myself just for the goofiness of it all. Just so many fun little powers to play with. Electric Melee is definitely not a typical go-to for me on tankers, as it is frustratingly weak on ST damage. However, nothing gives quite such an oddball assortment of neat powers to play with! You have a funky chain knockdown, a porting nuke, and a KD/Stun that would make most controllers jealous. Dark of course gives you the stun stacking baseline in OG. As always, theme and fun win the day! Go with what tickles your fancy. Shield/DM would probably be the most meta/powerful if fully optimized for softcap with a careful balance of procs mixed in.

A fun challenge build, and a well put together backstory! Is there a specific reason you didn't roll this as a Defender? Is it purely a challenge run? A Defender with traps would have superior values and access to all the powers you are actually using.

That would be a completely different build, as you'd have to select fortunada instead of night widow. But yes, Forts are outstanding! Check out the veat forums and you'll find many scrappy forts. Fortunadas are not quite as tough, but defenses are still outstanding, you get a nuke, and of course some solid controls.

I would add a few more! If you can focus on procs without sacrificing other goals, why not? For example Time with power buildup can easily hit softcap, and also has some baseline tohit in their kit. This allows them to slot attacks such that they both maximize ED and proc potential with extremely minimal trade-off. If you are on a heavily team focused build and less concerned about personal defenses for soloing, you have more freedom to make room for procs in your attacks, as you are less reliant on offensive power IO sets for defenses. Similar to the above, if you have many lotg and FFback opportunities, this mitigates the need for global recharge from IO sets in attacks, allowing you more freedom for proc focus. All that being said, ED is important! When choosing your procs, check to be sure there isn't greater return on further ED, or something "close enough" that mixes Damage/Endredux.

Definitely a classic there! I have a fun theme going for ice/Emp, which is always a good starting point. I do love Arsenal Control! My absolute favorite is my Arse/TA controller - don't want to draw any comparisons with Emp. It would only come up short. 😄

I was digging on one of the perennial "empathy is not so great" threads over on the Defender forums and inspiration struck. I haven't made an emp since live days - let's get something going! Defender buff/heal values are of course superior, but it occurs to me that a certain type of controller would make for a more complete character, for a few reasons: If you're going to be doing the things that justify being an emp (Keeping Fort up, Clear Mind spam where appropriate, etc), a decent amount of your time is taken up by clicking your support powers. This is at odds with the Defender's entire blasty secondary! Sure Controllers can be plenty busy, but many primaries can set things in action and refocus on other powers during the engagement. Ice seems especially decent here, as a good portion of their power is invested in a completely passive effect - Arctic Air. You have a lil buddy on which to use those buffs when solo. Note that I'm not trying in any way to advocate for Ice/Emp as some amazing meta combo. I'm just thinking about the best ways to use Empathy in day to day gameplay without impinging on other priorities. I also don't intend to just spam Emp buffs all day and nothing else. The idea is to mitigate the impact of any Empy buff spam I do on other things I can bring to the team. Anyhow, here I am with an Icy guy! I'd love your review and perspective. Here are some goals: Recharge first and foremost. Get those controls rotating easily, keep Fort and AB up as much as possible. Proccy damage in a few key powers where they are worth leveraging. I'm not trying to be a damage monster here, but I want the time I spend clicking for damage to really count. Max hit chance against +3's. Outside of this, it's basically just "good stuff" ie all the big defense and resist bonuses of any kind I can get with minimal side-tracking from the above goals. I'm not going for softcap on myself. I anticipate this being a so-so soloer at best, though most controllers can solo decently at higher levels anyhow on the strength of their controls alone. A side mission of slow resist. I haven't hit the totals I prefer here, but don't want to go too far out of my way to bend the build for it. Little tricks I have in mind: Endurance looks really bad off the bat! With my current recharge, I can rotate RA and Conserve Power and always have one or the other up as long as I'm careful with my timings. I think this should work pretty well! Do you disagree? If so, why? Jack is softcapped. Not much to say there - it's just something he gets with a secondary that provides decent defense. Go go Jack, do stuff! The Overwhelming force I have in Ice slick is a placeholder for the new chance for confuse proc from the Spring Fling event. I'm not sure if this is worth it at all! I dunno - I just sort of want to play around with it, and the occasional confuse stacking opportunity to hit bosses might be nice. Do you see a better place for this enhancement, or something tremendous I could otherwise do with the slot? Ice actually lacks a good slot for it. I know - no rez! I'm all for hearing arguments to grab it. I'm fine just leaning on the START power when it's truly needed. For me, I'd rather go all-in (veng+tp other+rez) or not at all, and none of the powers are easy drops for it. Doesn't help that Emp rez just isn't very interesting. As always, note that temporary buffs and powers with FFback are toggled off. Also note that Cold Snap does significantly higher proc damage here, as Mids doesn't reflect the Controller ATO damage proc. Build: Controller (Ice Control - Empathy).mbd Picture: Text:

It's been a while since I've had a build I'm satisfied with enough to share to this thread, but here we go! I've been on a CoH kick for a couple months, and recently revisited my Widow. I'd love to hear more about your recent "perfect builds" too, but am inspired to share. 😄 His original build was a Fortunata, and is of course super fun and effective. However, he lacks the absolute staying power in tougher content, even with maxed out defenses. After a certain point, you really need some meat behind that hard shell. Now he's living in Night Widow mode and loving it! What I especially like about this build: ST attack powers are absolutely maximized for damage within the bounds of what those 6 slots will allow. Without outside buffs, this is as far as they are going no matter what your other goals! Widows have several powers with outstanding DPA potentially, especially after stacking follow-up. Even with proc maximization, I still have max hit chance against +3's, even without follow-up accounted for. I hit max S/L resist at around ~50% health through my scaling resists. Other resists across the board are starting at ~30% base, and will max out at little above 30% health. Psi resist will max out from the scaling proc alone at ~90% health. The only hole is toxic, but even here I have a solid baseline. Completely immune to slows. Excellent end sustain for a Widow. (2.59 end/sec without accounting for Perf shifter and panacea procs). Though not totally seamless, very strong aoe rotation with (hidden) > spin > combat TP 40 feet up > Psy scream > Placate > Spin > follow-up > repeat. Despite Widow's low DDR, loads of extra defense pad to help with cascades in melee. Don't have to try very hard on widow for this of course. Smoke Grenade's unresistable debuff makes up the small difference for flooring incarnate hit chances as well. The only thing I would want but didn't squeeze in is Tactical Training: Assault. I could swap Smoke Grenade, but I think I'm happier with the utility and extra defensive tool. This guy can swim in pretty much any +4X8 content and stay afloat with no issue as long as I keep up the attack! I've revisited it a million times and found new improvements with each review, but I think he's finally at a point of near perfection for my goals. Night Widow is a great time! As always, I have disabled temporary buffs, as well as hidden status to reflect accurate damage and tohit totals. Build: Arachnos Widow (Night Widow Training - Widow Teamwork).mbd Picture: Text: So what builds have you pored over and come out with shining like a perfect gem lately? The one you just knew had an extra 2% defense in there somewhere, and after a a moment of inspiration the pieces fell into place and you found it, and the heavens rejoiced - you know what I'm talking about. 😉