What Would You Change About Dominators?

[Mezmera]

2 hours ago, oedipus_tex said:

The place you'll really notice the gap is if you try to create two versions of the same character on a Controller vs a Dominator. Controllers have a better Defense modifier, so powers like Maneuvers, Combat Jumping, Weave etc make it easier to reach defense benchmarks. Since you also don't get any +Defense in your primary or secondary, just the APP Armor or (if you pick Psi) Link Minds, its a balancing act. 

 

Dominator is just in a weird place. They are a melee archetype that can't melee with the main targets where that damage is really needed. I don't know that we can or should completely fix that, but it feels to me like they need a better base foundation to build from.

Not everyone's experience is the same.  I live in melee with my dom and thirst to alpha every attack.  I love tanking AVs right in their faces and alpha zerg the 8 Heroes at the end of LRSF all the time.  

 

Coyote is a bit right in that it's sometimes combination of powersets with the ATs that usually define your experience in general.  A fire/atomic blaster is going to play a whole hell of a lot better than say a AR/devices blaster.  I'm all for subtle tinkering with powersets like they did with the revamped assaults.  What I'm not okay with is blanket statements about an AT that I'm able to perform exceedingly well contrary to what is being stated. 

 

I think it's more a lack of creativity and the ability to adapt to some of the nice new toys out there.  For instance I never took Rune of Protection for the longest time since I had no experience with it and I didn't like the idea of wasted mez protection plus I tend to chase defenses anyways but when Unleash Potential came along I gave it a shot and sure as hell I'd been gimping my potential for like 4 months that this game was back by not giving the Origin pools a chance.  

Edited August 27, 2020 by Mezmera

[oedipus_tex]

I hear your points.

 

IMO the difference versus a Blaster is all of the Blaster sets have full attack chains in their primaries. Any melee attacks they have are extras in their secondary. Dominators do not have a Blast set as a primary, although Gravity and Mind Control do have a couple of blast-like powers, and the single target Hold/Immoblize can be purposed for this.

 

I'd also argue most of the Blaster melee attacks are truly skippable. I never take them unless forced to. With Dominators, I always take them, because otherwise damage output is too low, and for most sets there is nothing better to fill the gap. 

 

It's true Blasters aren't well armored. However Blasters are also capable of dropping dead and then popping back up having lost very little. This isn't the case for Dominators. The Domination bar needs to be protected. That's why I keep promoting moving mezz protection out of Domination and some minor break in favor of Dominators in terms of survivability. They have a high stakes power to maintain and the best way to do that is often not to take risks.

Edited August 27, 2020 by oedipus_tex

[oedipus_tex]

6 hours ago, Coyote said:

I agree that there is a bit of a general argument that any AT that uses melee attacks quite a bit SHOULD have some defenses, even if they only come in the form of a HP boost. And therefore, that Doms should get some boost in base non-active survivability, as Blasters did twice (HP increase, Sustain powers). But I think that there is some difference between agreeing that they are slightly below where they should be defensively, versus saying that they're a melee AT that can't survive in melee.

 

I agree with you and respect your POV.

 

IMO there are creative ways to boost an AT if the developers feel uncomfortable messing with the core AT. One way to accomplish it would be to improve the Dominator ATO so that Fiery Orb added some survivability. The Defender, Tanker, Stalker, and a few other ATOs are fantastic and add a lot to the AT. They are strong enough to factor into evaluating the effectiveness of the archetype.

 

More than anything I think just registering it in the developer's mind that survivability is something Dominators need is a worthy goal. Build options for this archetype are stretched very thin. It needs to hit a "magic number" of Recharge while trying to have enough Defense to survive at close range while also trying to make up for relatively low damage with procs. It's a lot to ask of a build. I don't feel like this archetype has the flexibility of most other archetypes.

 

I still enjoy the class and will play it. I recently retooled a Elec/Psi Dom in a way that patched many of his issues and he's been performing well, and I have a Dark/Martial Dom I'm excited by.

[ZeeHero]

On 8/2/2020 at 3:58 PM, oedipus_tex said:

Nihili is a long time player who's been around for ages and whose opinion I think highly of. I'm sure animation time is what was meant. 🙂

That's a relief lol.

 

as far as survivability, I think it can be fixed one of 2 ways. More base HP for doms, OR make most of their CC abilities NOT miss. or maybe have a 1% chance to miss as the minimum miss chance rather than 5%. mind control claims to be "more accurate" its a lie.

Edited August 27, 2020 by ZeeHero

[Coyote]

11 hours ago, oedipus_tex said:

 

I agree with you and respect your POV.

 

IMO there are creative ways to boost an AT if the developers feel uncomfortable messing with the core AT. One way to accomplish it would be to improve the Dominator ATO so that Fiery Orb added some survivability. The Defender, Tanker, Stalker, and a few other ATOs are fantastic and add a lot to the AT. They are strong enough to factor into evaluating the effectiveness of the archetype.

 

More than anything I think just registering it in the developer's mind that survivability is something Dominators need is a worthy goal. Build options for this archetype are stretched very thin. It needs to hit a "magic number" of Recharge while trying to have enough Defense to survive at close range while also trying to make up for relatively low damage with procs. It's a lot to ask of a build. I don't feel like this archetype has the flexibility of most other archetypes.

 

I still enjoy the class and will play it. I recently retooled a Elec/Psi Dom in a way that patched many of his issues and he's been performing well, and I have a Dark/Martial Dom I'm excited by.

 

It's true, I have nice Dom builds that are softcapped to two range bands, with some resists behind that, and with easy perma-Dom even before Force Feedback, and with a couple of attacks procced for damage.

But to achieve that, fat really gets trimmed, and a lot of default powers and build options are used, leaving little wiggle room in the builds for fun powers, interesting slotting options, etc. It's possible to min-max Doms pretty well, but other ATs often can min-max while having more utility powers, or fun powers.

And the ATO is a solid IO for low-difficulty play. It's a mixture of damage via DoT and a bit of mezzing and a bit of aggro pull... for Doms without a good build who play at lower difficulty levels, it makes a big difference. That's because its damage is more noticeable if your damage isn't that high, and if your damage isn't that high, mobs survive longer to take more of the DoT, and if you're not at high difficulty, then the Orb survives longer. But at higher difficulty settings, it does a couple of weak ticks of damage, then gets clobbered either by a couple of single-target attacks (at least it absorbed those), or by some AoEs. You don't get its full damage, or mezzing ability, and if you're playing at higher difficulties then probably your personal tanking ability is so much higher than the Orb's that anything that is a threat treats it kind of like an origami speed bump.

It's not a bad ATO for weak builds that can use it to help, but as the rest of the build gets better, it gets less and less effective. I usually do slot it early, but also usually get rid of it in the 30s or 40s. Improving it in some way (and distinguishing it from the Controller version) wouldn't be a bad idea... maybe turning it into a PBAoE debuffer with -Dam/-ToHit, or +Def aura, or a DoT healing aura.

[VV]

On 8/27/2020 at 5:06 AM, oedipus_tex said:

One way to accomplish it would be to improve the Dominator ATO so that Fiery Orb added some survivability.

The Dom ATOs are gaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrbage. Mostly because they are enhancements for a damage class that add no damage. Even Tanker ATOs add damage. And I'm not takling about the procs, or set bonuses, I mean the actual benefit from the enhancements. Dominator ATOs add to mezz time, rather than damage.

[Mezmera]

1 hour ago, VV said:

The Dom ATOs are gaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrbage. Mostly because they are enhancements for a damage class that add no damage. Even Tanker ATOs add damage. And I'm not takling about the procs, or set bonuses, I mean the actual benefit from the enhancements. Dominator ATOs add to mezz time, rather than damage.

Ascendancy of the Dominator is a very nice set, all of the bonuses are fabulous.  The proc boosts your all around damage by 21% for every stack up to 5x.  Typically I'm running around with 1-2 stacks always so lets say a 32% damage boost on all of my attacks, yes I'll take that thank you.  This set needs nothing changed.  

 

The set with Fiery Orb is junk I'll give you that.  If there were an overhaul the Orb would need to be made a bit better and some set bonuses would need reworked.  

 

The Stalker ATO's are the bar.  If they aim for that type of transcendence for the Orb set but come up short that'll be fine with me.  

[oedipus_tex]

The main silly thing about both Dom ATOs is what VV says, they can be slotted in control powers and not attacks. For most other ATs, the ATOs go in attack powers and are very competitive with other available options.

 

With +10 Recharge and +5 Ranged defense, Ascendancy of the Dominator is pretty good.

 

 

Dominating Grasp on the other hand, I agree is a very poor option. Here's its readout:

 

 

 

Even if I wanted to slot that, it has to compete with the set bonuses available in Hold, Sleep, Confuse or Stun sets, which are better. Also, the ability to slot this is limited; it needs to go in a power that needs recharge, accuracy and mezz, but not damage, the same type of power as Ascendancy.

 

I made a list of powers below that take the ATOs. I've marked where I'd likely put Ascendancy for each of them with a *. 

• Ice (*Glacier, Flash Freeze, Arctic Air)
• Gravity (Wormhole, *Grav Distortion Field)
• Plant (Seeds of Confusion, Spore Burst, *Vines)
• Earth (*Stalagmites, Salt Crystals, Volcanic Gasses)
• Fire (*Flashfire, Cinders)
• Electric (Synaptic Overload, *Static Field, Paralyzing Blast)
• Dark (Fearsome Stare, *Heart of Darkness, Shadow Field, Possess)
• Mind (Total Domination, *Mass Hypnosis, Confuse, Mass Confusion)

 

Ascendancy usually takes up the first power. There are better slotting options for most of the powers listed above, if players take them.

 

Also, poor Ice. Glacier is the 240 second Hold and Flash Freeze is the AoE Sleep power no one takes. You can put Ascendancy in Glacier for the set bonuses, but Ascendancy's global damage proc will be triggering far less frequently than for Dominators who can put it in a power with a shorter recharge. Electric and Mind make out somewhat good here, assuming they're willing to spam their Sleep powers.

Edited August 29, 2020 by oedipus_tex

[Nyghtmaire]

12 hours ago, VV said:

Even Tanker ATOs add damage.

Seconded. And Tanker ATOs (like Defender ATOs admired earlier upthread) boost the ATs secondary powers - damage, while providing a proc that complements their primary’s function. 

 

8 hours ago, oedipus_tex said:

but Ascendancy's global damage proc will be triggering far less frequently than for Dominators who can put it in a power with a shorter recharge.

Yes! The set bonuses compete with slotting options, forcing presenting a choice between maximizing damage by placing the proc in a more spammable power vs 6-slotting the entire set for the ranged defense bonus. And since the 5-piece bonus is so valuable (10% recharge) AND permadom is so critical for survivability, it’s a hell of choice.

 

What primaries is permadom and the recharge chase less valuable? Ice and (too a lesser extent) electric? Both primaries have the least number of powers that benefit from the boost. And yet they are two primaries with auras that really treasure the mez protection. 

[Nyghtmaire]

11 hours ago, Mezmera said:

The Stalker ATO's are the bar.  If they aim for that type of transcendence for the Orb set but come up short that'll be fine with me.  

I’d add that the tanker ATOs are a close second. Might of the Tanker opens up so much in build options for resistance and defense set alike, allowing resistance sets more flexibility in slotting for damage and enabling defense sets (*cough* SR) to build for broader levels of survivability. Very elegant design.

 

The other ATs’ ATOs at least don’t work against the respective ATs’ design goals.

[oedipus_tex]

1 hour ago, Nyghtmaire said:

What primaries is permadom and the recharge chase less valuable? Ice and (too a lesser extent) electric? Both primaries have the least number of powers that benefit from the boost. And yet they are two primaries with auras that really treasure the mez protection. 

 

Perma-dom is extra important to Ice and Electric, because for most builds it's their source of anti-mezz. Getting mezzed cancels Arctic Air and Conductive Aura. You can make builds to get the mezz protection from elsewhere, but usually it's a big opportunity cost. 

[VV]

On 8/29/2020 at 12:42 AM, Mezmera said:

Ascendancy of the Dominator is a very nice set, all of the bonuses are fabulous.  The proc boosts your all around damage by 21% for every stack up to 5x.  Typically I'm running around with 1-2 stacks always so lets say a 32% damage boost on all of my attacks, yes I'll take that thank you.

Wait what? Whoa, I had no idea the damage boost was so high! I'm still not a fan that the set boost Mez rather than Damage, but I guess that works for some people...

[Mezmera]

2 hours ago, VV said:

Wait what? Whoa, I had no idea the damage boost was so high! I'm still not a fan that the set boost Mez rather than Damage, but I guess that works for some people...

Um the bonuses are 4% damage, 8% mez, 15% accuracy, 10% recharge and 5% ranged defense.  Those are some mighty fine bonuses.  On top of that there's the stacking damage boost from the proc.  

 

Only thing extra you could ask for is the 3% hp bonus.  The mez bonus is there to be identifiable to your control AT which is fine with me for all that other win in the set.  

[VV]

33 minutes ago, Mezmera said:

Um the bonuses are 4% damage, 8% mez, 15% accuracy, 10% recharge and 5% ranged defense.  Those are some mighty fine bonuses.  On top of that there's the stacking damage boost from the proc.  

 

Only thing extra you could ask for is the 3% hp bonus.  The mez bonus is there to be identifiable to your control AT which is fine with me for all that other win in the set.  

Eh, the set bonuses are okay, though I'd rather have a Res or Def bonus instead of the Mez. But, as I've tried to point out a few times, I am not talking about the set bonuses here. I am pointing out the actual benefits that the enhancements give, like Acc/End/Rech. I'd rather see them buff damage. Mezz duration is long enough on the powers unenhanced. Dominators are supposed to be a damage class, more or less, and would benefit more from additional damage. 

[Mezmera]

2 minutes ago, VV said:

Eh, the set bonuses are okay, though I'd rather have a Res or Def bonus instead of the Mez. But, as I've tried to point out a few times, I am not talking about the set bonuses here. I am pointing out the actual benefits that the enhancements give, like Acc/End/Rech. I'd rather see them buff damage. Mezz duration is long enough on the powers unenhanced. Dominators are supposed to be a damage class, more or less, and would benefit more from additional damage. 

Well it is what it is.  Control AT's get control ATO's.  Leave Ascendancy as it is, if you want to make a case for Dominating Grasp, the other ATO set, to be switched over so it can fit into attack powers that's fine.  But you'll also need to help the devs balance a second set for all AT's so now everyone gets a set that fits into defense powers, resistances, heals and other support powers.  Then what if blasters and stalkers don't want to have their second ATO sets changed so that it looks all nice and balanced for everybody?

 

I'm fine with the weaker ATO set being reworked into a damage set for doms but know that's a huge can of worms that'll get opened.  

[FUBARczar]

On 7/28/2020 at 11:10 AM, oedipus_tex said:

Dominator is probably my favorite class, but I have to admit there's stuff about the archetype I would change. I'm wondering what other people would change.

 

• 1. Make all powers Dominate. Meaning the obvious stuff like Synaptic Overload and Static Field, but also Ice Slick, Earthquake, Arctic Air etc should have extra ticks. The arbitrary distribution of powers that can Dominate or not has always irked me. 

 

• 2. Front-load most DoTs so that they do single-hit damage. This is an archetype that is supposed to specialize in damage dealing combined with controls. Yet the Assault sets are loaded with DoT powers that interfere with Sleep and Terrorize. 

 

• 3. Give the AT a mezz protect toggle similar to an armored character. This is likely to be controversial. But the reason I've come to believe this is necessary is perma-Dominators basically have this. The gap between perma and non-perma Dominator feels too wide. I wish this class just had a straight up anti-mezz toggle or clickable and the main benefit of Domination was, well, Domination. This would greatly reduce the pressure for the player to achieve huge amounts of Recharge just to make the class good,

 

• 4. Don't force us to play villains to get auto-refill Domination. I hate red side. I hate the way it looks, the red screens you get, really all of it. I really dislike that such a powerful ability forces me to be a red sider. I know the developers created it to entice people to red side, but the fact that it's so powerful and still players stick to blue side should say something.  

 

• 5. Fix the tier 1 Assault power. The Tier 1 attack powers are almost universally terrible. Most of the time I remove them from my bar as soon as possible. These powers feel like they should have some special utility. A minor vampiric heal, endurance recovery, something. An option would be for them to strip mezz resistance from a target so that mezzes last longer.  

 

 

How about you? What would you change?

This is one of the worst takes on tweaking/modernizing an AT that I have seen.  

1) This is ridiculous, Domination is only for Mez powers.  It's like you don't understand the AT or game at all.

2) Valid

3) silly and seems based purely on your feelings/preferences.  I think this is probably b/c you die too much.  But either way, there is a gap b/c Domination actually does something  YAY!

4) What?  You do not need to play redside as a Dom. Ever.  Besides no one wants to base any changes based on how you feel about redside.

5) Valid

 

On 7/29/2020 at 10:03 PM, oedipus_tex said:

Nuke damage has gone up, lowering the value of long recharge controls.

This is valid point

[FUBARczar]

On 8/29/2020 at 8:08 PM, oedipus_tex said:

 

Perma-dom is extra important to Ice and Electric, because for most builds it's their source of anti-mezz. Getting mezzed cancels Arctic Air and Conductive Aura. You can make builds to get the mezz protection from elsewhere, but usually it's a big opportunity cost. 

The AT is working as intended, you are not just a control AT as a Dom.  A Dom is also an Assault class.  With Domination up Dominators add control to their assault, and w/o domination a Dominator still has the full array of assault.  

 

I think your view and appreciation of the AT is too narrow.  You seem to feel a Dom should be played one way forever and always without adapting to different characteristics of the AT and to the various situations a Dom may find itself in (such as Domination up or down...).  Your temperament seems more inclined to play a controller, or a scrapper.  They are more straight forward.  It's like you want domination-lock, à la scraper-lock. 

 

If mezz protection is all important to you then build around perma-domination, if you need more than take the Psi Epic power pool for Indom. Will, or take Clarion Destiny.  It's not so hard.  And yes choices have opportunity cost (not so big) so decide your priorities and run with them.  Personally I manage perma-dom pretty damn well and don't cry for extra mez protection: Not even on my Blappers.  

 

President Truman---

"If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen."  

"I'll stand by [you] but if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."

"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen"

 

Edited August 31, 2020 by FUBARczar
rewording

[oedipus_tex]

14 hours ago, FUBARczar said:

1) This is ridiculous, Domination is only for Mez powers.  

 

Synaptic Overload, Static Field, Volcanic Gasses, and Arctic Air are all mezz powers. They don't Dominate mainly because the tech at the time didn't support it. As far as I know there isn't any balance reason. 

 

Ice Slick and Earthquake are not "mezz powers" in the classic sense but there isn't any reason they can't still benefit from Domination if the developers decide to make it so. They serve a mezz-like role, which is good enough justification for me. Maybe you disagree, which is fine. I agree it's a bigger stretch than adding Domination to the true mezzes. However I also don't think I'm alone in thinking Ice Control, in particular, could stand to see more benefits from Domination.

 

Right now, in some sets all of the powers benefit from Domination and in others only a handful do. 

 

I also think having to explain the mechanics of mezz powers in terms of their internal parts is confusing. "Synaptic Overload Dominates the first target because that part is a direct cast but the chains do not Dominate because those are psuedo pets." There should be some kind of internal consistency; Seeds of Confusion Dominates all targets, Synaptic should too.

 

13 hours ago, FUBARczar said:

If mezz protection is all important to you then build around perma-domination, if you need more than take the Psi Epic power pool for Indom. Will, or take Clarion Destiny.  It's not so hard.  And yes choices have opportunity cost (not so big) so decide your priorities and run with them.  Personally I manage perma-dom pretty damn well and don't cry for extra mez protection: Not even on my Blappers.  

 

So we disagree on a point. Hopefully we can do that respectfully.

Edited September 1, 2020 by oedipus_tex

[oedipus_tex]

BTW RE: Arctic Air, I think the fix is to modify it like so:

• 30% Chance of Mag 3 Confusion for 3 seconds (only when Domination is not active)
• 30% Chance of Mag 6 Confusion for 4 seconds (only when Domination is active) [33% longer duration follows Domination rules]

 

That would provide better representation of what the power is supposed to do versus just slapping an extra 30% chance for Mag 3 Confuse the way other powers do.

 

Regardless, something should be done because right now Dominators get a penalized Confusion duration versus the Controller version (which follows Dominator rules for out-of-Domination mode providing a shorter duration) but can't upgrade to the longer duration and mag Dominate. At least for powers that don't Dominate because they are psuedopets the duration is not penalized. AA on the other hand both gets the penalty and no bonus.

Edited September 1, 2020 by oedipus_tex

[FUBARczar]

1 hour ago, oedipus_tex said:

Synaptic Overload, Static Field, Volcanic Gasses, and Arctic Air are all mezz powers. They don't Dominate mainly because the tech at the time didn't support it. As far as I know there isn't any balance reason. 

You don't see issues with a toggle auto hit power like Artic Air getting domination?   *edit - not to mention it also has many other benfits like stealth, -spd, -rech

 

Targeted Location AoEs like Static Field may have issues as well, not to mention it's more than a mezz, it also does -end, -rech, -spd and it's probably balanced around those things as well.

 

I don't play earth (I have Fire, Mind, Dark, Grav Doms) does Stalagmites Dominate?

Edited September 1, 2020 by FUBARczar
added

[oedipus_tex]

3 minutes ago, FUBARczar said:

You don't see issues with a toggle auto hit power like Artic Air getting domination?   *edit - not to mention it also has many other benfits like stealth, -spd, -rech

 

Targeted Location AoEs like Static Field may have issues as well, not to mention it's more than a mezz, it also does -end, -rech, -spd and it's probably balanced around those things as well.

 

I don't play earth (I have Fire, Mind, Dark, Grav Doms) does Stalagmites Dominate?

 

I would see an issue with Arctic Air Dominating if it followed the traditional Domination rules, which tack on a second Mag 3 mezz when in Domination mode. For mezzes with 100% chance to trigger, that isn't an issue, but for Arctic Air it would operate like 2 copies of Arctic Air. That's why I think there should be a Mag 3 Confuse when out of Domination mode and a Mag 6 Confuse when in Domination mode. Right now AA on Dominators is being penalized twice, having both a shorter mezz duration and also not Dominating. 

 

RE: Static Field, yes it also has some secondary effects, but that shouldn't factor into whether it Dominates. Fearsome Stare and Heart of Darkness do -ToHit, but still Dominate. I do think it's possible Static Field that dominates on every pulse might be too good. It might be possible to have it only Dominate on first cast, using the rules from Shadow Field, which Dominates at the moment the power fires but does not Dominate after that.

 

RE: Stalagmites, yes, it Dominates. 

[oedipus_tex]

Forgot to add: Mind Control's Telekinesis power is an autohit toggle that Dominates. There's isn't a rule about either toggles or autohit powers Dominating.

[FUBARczar]

why not change the melee damage modifier to 1.125 and range to 1 (blaster reversed).  The Dominator's control is fairly equal to Blaster's inherent (more damage), crashless nukes and sustain powers.

[oedipus_tex]

13 minutes ago, FUBARczar said:

why not change the melee damage modifier to 1.125 and range to 1 (blaster reversed).  The Dominator's control is fairly equal to Blaster's inherent (more damage), crashless nukes and sustain powers.

 

Rather than directly modifying the base damage, I think we'd be more likely to see an update to the ATO or to specific powers. I also think improved Defense/Resist modifiers are more likely than Damage modifiers, but I'm not holding my breath for them.

 

Having mezz protection decoupled from Domination would go a long way toward improving the damage though. I'd be more willing to take risks if so much didn't ride on Domination. In sandbox content, things are fine, I can roll through missions. On iTrials or anywhere the enemies can 2-shot me due to lack of armor I'm hanging back. Yes, mezz protection is available from specialty apps, pool powers, or Destiny choices, but mezz protection is just one hole you're trying to cover in an AT that needs Defense, Resist, Recharge and Damage. It's a big stretch to make.

 

Dominators originally were known as the "squishy with mezz protection," it's part of their identity, I just think that mezz protection should be decoupled from the Domination power itself. Domination would still be powerful/useful, it's just that hitting +90% Recharge from IOs and delicately managing not to die would be less emphasized.

Edited September 1, 2020 by oedipus_tex

[FUBARczar]

1 hour ago, oedipus_tex said:

I would see an issue with Arctic Air Dominating if it followed the traditional Domination rules, which tack on a second Mag 3 mezz when in Domination mode. For mezzes with 100% chance to trigger, that isn't an issue, but for Arctic Air it would operate like 2 copies of Arctic Air. That's why I think there should be a Mag 3 Confuse when out of Domination mode and a Mag 6 Confuse when in Domination mode. Right now AA on Dominators is being penalized twice, having both a shorter mezz duration and also not Dominating. 

 

RE: Static Field, yes it also has some secondary effects, but that shouldn't factor into whether it Dominates. Fearsome Stare and Heart of Darkness do -ToHit, but still Dominate. I do think it's possible Static Field that dominates on every pulse might be too good. It might be possible to have it only Dominate on first cast, using the rules from Shadow Field, which Dominates at the moment the power fires but does not Dominate after that.

I still think an auto-hit toggle with multiple effects would be OP.  

 

For Toggles and on targeted location AoEs I think first pulse is the only acceptable timing/place for Domination to apply.  Which probably rules out domination on toggles.