Never made a Dom, need some pointers

[Mike Honcho]

Hi, all!  I'm about to make my first ever Dom and I'm not really sure where to start when it comes to in-general game play and slotting during leveling.  Any pointers or links to guides would be much appreciated. 

 

Back on live I normally played scraps, stalkers, corrs and blasters with my main being a fortunata and have done pretty much the same thing after coming back in May of this year. 

 

Based on the concept I want I'm planning on going with Mind as primary and possibly Fire as secondary but would happily accept other secondary advice.  I want to be able to solo content effectively of course but I especially want to contribute in teams.  Thanks in advance for any help!

[TJBC]

I’m not the best to answer I only have one fully fleshed out Dom, but I’ll will drop my two cents.

 

Doms are fun but they aren’t great until you get perma-Dom, and even then I always feel like I could be contributing more if I was on a different toon.
 

 For me being a Dom is all about entertainment not efficiency. It’s like the Harlem Globetrotters. You can do really fun stuff but you are playing a different game than the pros.

 

I assume and kinda hope I get a lot of people arguing against me as I want to feel like my Dom is useful but I just haven’t got there yet.

 

Oh, more on point (finally), a really fun build is Mind/Energy. You can get massive global recharge from Force Feedback in multiple powers and it’s not super expensive.

Edited October 7, 2021 by TJBC

[Mezmera]

5 hours ago, Mike Honcho said:

Hi, all!  I'm about to make my first ever Dom and I'm not really sure where to start when it comes to in-general game play and slotting during leveling.  Any pointers or links to guides would be much appreciated. 

 

Back on live I normally played scraps, stalkers, corrs and blasters with my main being a fortunata and have done pretty much the same thing after coming back in May of this year. 

 

Based on the concept I want I'm planning on going with Mind as primary and possibly Fire as secondary but would happily accept other secondary advice.  I want to be able to solo content effectively of course but I especially want to contribute in teams.  Thanks in advance for any help!

 

Understand that in the early levels say up to 30 your role is strictly control.  Dom's are late bloomers since they get most of their best attacks from 28 and after plus by 30 you start getting enough slots to start filling out some of your better powers.  

 

As you're leveling it's good to experiment with the powers in your primary and secondary so you can get some familiarity with the ones you notice are highly effective and the ones that are redundant.  Typically until 30 I will concentrate on taking control powers with some of the better earlier attacks and then around those later levels I will respec out those early now ineffectual powers and start slotting for perma dom.  

 

The goal is to make efficient use of the primary and secondary powers and then build yourself through pools targeting lots of defense powers.  I'll not usually have more than 6 powers from my primary or secondary. 

 

Mind control is quite fun on doms.  Hope this helps!

Edited October 7, 2021 by Mezmera

[Mike Honcho]

Thanks!  I noticed very early on that the best attack powers seem to be well down the list so, like you said, I've been focusing more on control.  I didn't even play controllers on live so the gameplay will take a lot of getting used to.

[Six-Six]

Doms are fun. You get range attacks, melee and control and even pets. The problem I have with Doms is not their lack of defence, but their overabundance of good powers. I simply can't decide which powers to pick without sacrificing some.

I solo more than I team, so playing doms I tend to limit control powers and pick most of the attacks. A lot of dom's powers also tend to be end-guzzlers, so some of those powers, though available early on, I tend to postpone until I get my endurance sorted out. I also tend to favour a good offence over defence, so slotting is prioritised to attacks and control. enemies can't harm you when they're held. 😃 

I have 7 doms, 4 of which are 50. Not one of them had perma-domination. almost all of them were late bloomers (real potential only showing around mid- to late-30s), though, primarily because of how much of a noob I am with builds. 2 of the level 50 ones can kill *some* AVs by themselves, but I wouldn't call them AV killers, while the rest are poorly built earlier toons. However, two of my more recent project toons are really strong early on: one doesn't train at all and stays at level 1 with only T1 primary, T1 secondary, brawl, health, endurance and sprint -- all with just one slot each; and the other stopped training at level 10, so it has only 7 chosen powers and very limited slots. both haven't died a single death at (equivalent level) 20.

just remember, the costume and concept plays a huge part whether your dom will be an AV killer or not 😃

[MoonSheep]

i main a mind/fire dom and in my (probably outspoken) opinion, focus on playing a dom and not trying to force the build into some weird “S/L softcap” scrapper hybrid which still falls flat on its face instantly 

 

during mob interactions, mez the enemies which cast the most debuffs or hit the hardest rather than simply running in and wailing at everything without rhyme or reason. shutting down the foe types that deal the most harm really changes the dynamic of battles but it needs some thought

 

the majority of people on CoX should stick to playing scrappers/brutes/tanks. playing a dom as a dom is a very rewarding experience and makes you realise how powerful they are when you switch to something else

[oedipus_tex]

IMO Dominators are really two different classes. There is the Dominator base class, which is generally weaker than other base classes, and the Dominator end game class, which is only slightly weaker than the other end game classes, and actually has its own weird niche where in very specific circumstances it outperform anyone. That said, the gap and playstyle difference between the base class and the end game class is significant.

 

In addition to Sleet in the Ice APP, the other monster performing set is the Psi APP. It provides you with better Psi Defense than you can find even on most actual armor classes. It's held back by low AoE damage. But, if survivability is your game only Controllers can claim to have a similar leg up, and they (generally) don't bring the damage of a Dominator. Like I said, a niche.

 

IMO if you are the sort of player who likes seeking out weird, specific builds that can master unusual circumstances not often seen in normal missions, you'll love Dominators. If you're looking to crush farms, down pylons, or standard mission content I'd look elsewhere. For iTrials I'd look at any other class.

  

Edited October 14, 2021 by oedipus_tex