Grav/Martial dominator, any good?

[Aquatica]

I'm considering doing Grav/Martial, the idea being like, using magnetic power to throw the shurikens as a theme. Is this a decent power combo? I don't play dominator a lot. I love Grav on controller, though.

[Six-Six]

I have a Grav/Energy and a Dark/Martial. Grav is great... if you know how to maximise it. I don't so I make up for it with /Energy, which I'm better at. Same goes for the latter. I'm quite familiar with Dark, but Martial is a new power set for me. My Dark/Martial is currently at 37 and I still haven't figured out her attack groove yet. I like dominators because you can combine control, range, and melee attacks and supplement it with a bit of armour. However, the downside is with so many good powers, you simply can't pick all of them. If you do manage to pick all that you want, you won't be able to devote enough slots to all of them. I feel you have to specialise one way or the other and sacrifice an aspect to be effective. Otherwise, you become a well-rounded but luke warm toon.

[Aquatica]

Hmmm... I might go electric instead? It's got an 'around me' aoe power, which seems like it'd work nicely with the cool melee attacks?

[Six-Six]

Don't take my word for it. I'm no expert. It's just what I've experienced myself... which isn't much to go by 😃
If you have a concept for it, go for it. I usually test drive my bright ideas until level 15 or so. It's easy to level up to 15 or 20 even without XP Boost or enhancements. If by 20, you still like how it handles, chances are, you're going to enjoy it until 50. If not, then not much was invested in it for you to try another power. Not all my concepts end up working out. I think part of the fun is just trying things out 😃

[EdgeOfDreams]

Personally, I think Gravity is much better suited to Controllers than Dominators. Compared to most other control sets, Gravity has fewer control/debuff powers in exchange for Lift and Propel, two direct damage powers. On a Controller, those get boosted by Containment, so they add substantially to your single-target DPS. On a Dominator, Lift and Propel don't benefit from Domination, and you've already got plenty of direct attacks in your secondary.

 

That said, if you want to play a primarily ranged Dominator, Grav/Martial does makes thematic sense. You can take all the shuriken powers, plus Propel, and be a master of projectiles.

[oedipus_tex]

Grav/Martial is a case that might work, depending on what you want out of the character.

 

Here's a layup of the DPA from Grav Control and Martial:

 

 

 

So Lift, Thunder Kick, Trick Shot, Dragons Tail, Masterful Throw would be your likely attack picks. Maybe Propel or Explosive Shuriken, neither is really that great for a Dom.

 

IMO though like EdgeOfDreams said, I think Gravity Control is all around better on a Controller. The Dominator above likely does have higher single target DPA (because of the snipe) and gets a some AoE damage. However the sacrifices is large. You lose the utility of a buff/debuff secondary of a Controller. Also, the Impact mechanic on a Dom pushes you to use the low-DPA Gravity Distortion to set up the attack chain, which feels natural on a Controller but awkward on a Dom.

 

If you do roll Controller and still want some close up AoE/melee action you can take the Earth APP, which gives you Fault and Seismic Smash. Fault rolls two independent 50% chances to Stun that will stack with Wormhole to stun bosses, mostly obviating the benefits of Domination. Seismic Smash thanks to proc rules can deal astronomical damage. There are even a few Controller secondaries that effectively function like an Assault set, in particular Storm, but also Trick Arrow, Traps, or Poison.

 

Martial Assault itself I find to be a mediocre set overall. Not strictly bad. But nothing great either.

 

In the end you should roll what works for your concept. Martial does have some cool animations. This character will be playable, that is true. I personally probably would be drawn to a different combo of powersets though.

[Aquatica]

THank y'all! I think I'll go for electric, then. Still fits the (electro)magnetism angle, and I like the idea of getting close to knock em out with sleep field and then *kicking people in theface.* (maybe metal armor, 'making it hit harder with magnetic pull/push' or something.)

 

[oedipus_tex]

If you absolutely wanted to roll a Grav Dominator, you could make Grav/Psi work. It potentially works because Drain Psyche is a very powerful self buff, balanced around Psi having low damage ranged attacks, a hole that Gravity patches. Wormhole also combos nicely with Drain Psyche.

[Nightmarer 2]

13 hours ago, Aquatica said:

I'm considering doing Grav/Martial, the idea being like, using magnetic power to throw the shurikens as a theme. Is this a decent power combo? I don't play dominator a lot. I love Grav on controller, though.

One of my first 50s is a grav/martial. It's really fun to play, although number wise might not be the best combo but I certainly find it fun to play

 

[VV]

On 12/11/2020 at 12:42 AM, Aquatica said:

THank y'all! I think I'll go for electric, then. Still fits the (electro)magnetism angle, and I like the idea of getting close to knock em out with sleep field and then *kicking people in theface.* (maybe metal armor, 'making it hit harder with magnetic pull/push' or something.)

 

Yeah, I think Elec/Martial would work well and be a lot of fun. I agree with others, Grav is better for a Controller. I know some people are not fans of elec/, but I have an elec/nrg dom that freaking rocks. All the KB from Jolting Chain is a lot of fun. And Static Field is such a great power, I think really underrated.

[Coyote]

I'm a fan of Electric, it's surprisingly high damage for a Control set (if you don't over-leverage End Drain so that the mobs can keep attacking, and spread AoE Confusion everywhere), it's very strong defensively (especially if you over-leverage End Drain), and visually it's pretty nice. And it works best with melee-oriented secondaries... mine is Ele/Earth, but Ele/Martial would also be a very good combination.

 

With Ele/Martial, I would do my best to fit in the Overwhelming Force Knockdown proc in Trick Shot. Because 20% Knockdown chance on a spammable attack, along with Jolting Chain, is just too much chain-knocking fun to pass up.