Good domination combos that can survive in melee

[KaizenSoze]

So, I have been checking out Dr. Aeon's Strike force on beta. The higher difficulties are well pretty difficult.

 

I like to play hybrid ATs, VEATs primary, where you have a mix of ranged and melee. Pure ranged/melee builds bore me after awhile.

 

I am looking for a durable combo that can live mostly in melee. Durable or control heavy enough to survive at +4 in most TFs.

 

Examples, sapper builds, heavy control builds, debuff builds, others I haven't thought of.

[Uun]

Earth/Earth dom. Earth primary has great control and 6 of the powers in the secondary are melee (3 of which hit HARD).

[Voltak]

1 hour ago, KaizenSoze said:

So, I have been checking out Dr. Aeon's Strike force on beta. The higher difficulties are well pretty difficult.

 

I like to play hybrid ATs, VEATs primary, where you have a mix of ranged and melee. Pure ranged/melee builds bore me after awhile.

 

I am looking for a durable combo that can live mostly in melee. Durable or control heavy enough to survive at +4 in most TFs.

 

Examples, sapper builds, heavy control builds, debuff builds, others I haven't thought of.

How well the dominator survives above the default settings, or extremely difficult challenge settings (which is all I plan to do, strivede for) is all dependent on 

1. Primary of the dominator (the sets of instruments for war are essential)
2. Skills
3. Build. 
4. Given the higher difficulty settings, they will be set at settings I practice a lot in already - no inspirations , you will want a healing source
5. Debuffs to mitigate in addition to your controls 

__________________________________________________

Given my vast experience doing extremely difficult things as a Dominator, I have to make the case here again for a combo that is prepared for extremely difficult challenges and who is also self sufficient and does not depend on inspirations so much to hold it's own. 

The Dark/Dark Dominator. 

Dark/Dark provides 

1. A primary as strong as it can get
2. A very versatile set of instruments including the most powerful instruments of controls 
3. A huge amount of to hit debuffs
4. Additional help ( 3 pets) 
5. Self heal *** this becomes critical the harder and harder the situation gets or difficulty gets 

Edited November 13, 2021 by Voltak

[Uun]

I really like Dark/Dark and agree with everything @Voltak said, however, I don't find it to be a pairing that lives mostly in melee.  There are only 4 melee powers (if you take them all) while there are 3 cones and lots of ranged attacks. I find that I jump into melee to fire Heart of Darkness and/or Engulfing Darkness, then jump back out and fight mostly at range.

[oedipus_tex]

I'm still digesting the changes in the next issue. Some stuff is still in flux so take my comments with a grain of salt.

 

 

• Since the highest difficulties in the next page limit inspiration use, Dark Assault is probably the premier set for Dominators in this content. It is the only set with a reliable self heal. 
  • Psi Assault is potentially still viable, as long as you can survive at melee enough to pull off Drain Psyche. The bonus here is DP also covers your endurance bar, which may be important if you've traditionally relied on blue inspirations. Note DP only really works against packs of enemies, its not going to power you through an encounter with a single AV.
  • Savage Assault has a mediocre self heal, but even a mediocre self heal might help given being locked out of green inspirations.
• The two control sets that continue to be S Tier for me are Dark Control and Plant Control.
  • Plant has the best reliable hard control (Seeds of Confusion) and an excellent knock/damage patch in Carrion Creepers. Higher enemy damage numbers and less ability to heal matters less if you turn enemies against each other.
  • Dark has -ToHit debuffing to accompany its controls, has amazing uptime with Fearsome Stare, and still retains a Stun power that differs from Fire/Grav/Earth only in being PBAoE.
• Hibernate, which was already a pretty good power, is a lot more useful in the context of not having inspirations for emergencies. Ditto Power Sink, Surge of Power (Mu), and Indomitable Will (Psi).

 

Anyway, since you asked about a build that can live in melee with these changes, the option I'll recommend is Plant/Psi. You presummon Creepers, then hit Seeds > Drain Psyche > Sleet (if you have it) Psy Shockwave > AoE. For single target throw in Psi Lance > Mind Probe > TK Thrust. 

 

Any combo of Dark or Plant Control with Dark or Psi Assault is likely to be a very high performer, with a fairly similar routine.

 

(Fire Assault is also a high performer, but mainly because it can avoid melee, so its not a great option for you probably).

 

 

 

As for the the three Control sets with PBAoE auras, Fire, Ice, and Electric Control, I'd be surprised to see any of them as top choices for this new style of content. If you do go with one of these I'd for sure combo it with Dark or Psi Assault to try to offset the danger with HP recovery. Of course if you team with healers, you can bring anything you want, but IMO at least some self sufficiency is still likely to be prized.

Edited November 13, 2021 by oedipus_tex

[oedipus_tex]

I wrote all that above and then had another thought.

 

I'm going to put Dark Assault a further step ahead of Psi Assault, mainly because the more I think about how end game arch villain fights work, I can more easily picture a player caught on a team with no healer really leaning on Drain Life in a way you probably wouldn't on Drain Psyche,

 

 

Drain Psyche is still good. It's just more of a crowd survival tool than an AV survival one. Psy is still more of a melee set than Dark though, even if Dark does have one good melee attack (Smite).

Edited November 13, 2021 by oedipus_tex

[KaizenSoze]

Thank you all for the feedback.

 

I know the Mind Control is a touchy subject here.

 

So, I am not trolling when I ask, with the new sleep changes has anyone tried Mind or Plant:Spore Burst.

 

I have a grav/psi dom which I ran the new SF on beta for a few missions. Even with Spirit Ward if I left Singy unsupported he took quite a beating because of all the -resist. The benefit to Singy is the ease of locking down an EB with the extra controls.

 

I am familiar with Dark Melee, not Assault, and the usefulness of LifeDrain. Drain Psyche is great, but I find it difficult to use well w/o the crutch of Wormhole. So, Dark Assault looks like the better choice for me. I am undecided between Plant and Dark.

 

Has anyone run ASF at high difficult? What was your experience?

[Voltak]

4 hours ago, Uun said:

I really like Dark/Dark and agree with everything @Voltak said, however, I don't find it to be a pairing that lives mostly in melee.  There are only 4 melee powers (if you take them all) while there are 3 cones and lots of ranged attacks. I find that I jump into melee to fire Heart of Darkness and/or Engulfing Darkness, then jump back out and fight mostly at range.

You don't need a set full of melee powers to be in melee.  There's no magic number that tells you the set will work fine and do challenging things. 


How long you live in melee is up to the player for the vast majority of cases. 
It's up to you to control how much distance you want. 


If you do want to stay close enough, Dark/Dark will work with no issues at all and work fine.  
Dark Control has a  super good Stun that works very well at melee range. 

Dark assault, it's highest DPA attack is a melee attack, and midnight grasp hits for very good dmg.  
You can use the other powers while at melee range, even if they are not melee. 
You don't have to use any power from range just because the power is a range power.  You can fire it while at melee distance. 


I am talking form experience here. I am not making theories. 

I have played at melee and at range. 
Experience and results tell me that Dark/Dark works fine at both and can and will do very difficult things. 

With the additional and vastly significant to hit debuffs dark/dark has, it will do well at melee or at range and with the rest of the instruments of Dark/Dark, it can compete with any other combo for the spot at the top.  

Edited November 13, 2021 by Voltak

[KaizenSoze]

Voltak from your video, you obviously figured out all the strategy for the Live TFs.

 

I look forward to you trying out Doc Aeon's SF. It's been designed to minimize a number of the common tactics.

 

Over level 51 some of the mobs run tactics which severely reduces the duration of confuse and fear. My Fortunata could not keep any confuse on key mobs due to tactics.

 

Pretty much everything flies, so no avoiding melee. One of the reasons I wanted a melee durable build.

 

It will be fun to see players adapt.

[oedipus_tex]

22 hours ago, KaizenSoze said:

Thank you all for the feedback.

 

I know the Mind Control is a touchy subject here.

 

So, I am not trolling when I ask, with the new sleep changes has anyone tried Mind or Plant:Spore Burst.

 

I have a grav/psi dom which I ran the new SF on beta for a few missions. Even with Spirit Ward if I left Singy unsupported he took quite a beating because of all the -resist. The benefit to Singy is the ease of locking down an EB with the extra controls.

 

I am familiar with Dark Melee, not Assault, and the usefulness of LifeDrain. Drain Psyche is great, but I find it difficult to use well w/o the crutch of Wormhole. So, Dark Assault looks like the better choice for me. I am undecided between Plant and Dark.

 

Has anyone run ASF at high difficult? What was your experience?

 

 

If you're on the fence and ready to roll now, I'd say go with Plant/Dark. Plant Control has Carrion Creepers, which is one the most amazing powers in the game. There are lots of ways I can picture future content hindering various control powers, but short of the developers outright taking an axe to Plant Control, the combo of Seeds and Creepers is likely to always be a top performer due to the extremely generous Recharge on Seeds and the relative invincibility and high damage of the Creepers.

 

Keep in mind yet another option would be to roll this character as a Controller instead of a Dominator. If you still want to be a melee character, you can take the Earth APP for Seismic Smash. There are a lot of questions about how Dominators will perform in this new content. No questions about Controllers though--their buff sets will be in huge demand. Especially sets like Dark Miasma, Kinetics, Thermal, and Time Manipulation, which provide you with a reliable heal that also heals your teammates.

 

Plant/Kinetics/Earth for example is a melee focused character that when saturated with enough targets does damage close to or better than a Dominator, and contributes superior team utility as well. 

Edited November 14, 2021 by oedipus_tex

[Mezmera]

Yes I've been running relentless runs with my Mind dom.  All of the control I bring to the team makes the runs much easier than they usually are.  My Mind dom is Nrg/Soul for lots of melee and pbaoe, Soul is a good pool to target if you want good melee attacks.  

 

Heavy control build is very favorable to have on that hard mode stuff.  I usually go with Total Domination, Mass Confusion and usually Terrify for the added damage and soft control.  But with all of that aggro introduced I gave Burnout a try, pretty great all of that instant control at your fingertips.  The baddies also have real high defense which I've found some of my control missing quite a bit more.  I tried soloing some of it on Relentless, it's fantastic that Mass Hypnosis is auto hit to stop 16 baddies in their tracks.  

 

My Mind dom has been playing great as an off tank to control all of that extra aggro before it gets to the team.  Mind control is very well suited for this.  

 

Edit: 

Also don't discount things like Power boost and Unleash Potential.  If you're going to survive you HAVE to get some defenses built in, not much cheesing like the regular old stuff.  

Edited November 14, 2021 by Mezmera

[oedipus_tex]

The fan on my PC fried so I haven't been able to look at the hard mode stuff in a while, but I'll back Mezmera up on Mind Control raising a rank or so faced with the kinds of stuff in those challenges. Right now my general rankings would look something like this:

 

S Tier: Dark, Plant

A Tier: Earth, Mind

B Tier: Elec, Fire 

C Tier: Ice, Grav

 

 

Electric in particular is in a really weird spot because on the one hand endurance drain is really useful in this context; on the flip side its end drain is PBAoE where it is dangerous to be. I am going to be thinking about whether speccing back into Power Sink is a good idea, and going full-bore sapper. One big bonus about sapping is it disregards enemy rank, so Electric Control can sap Elite Bosses (I've occasionally bottomed out the entire group of Cyclopses in the ITF, its just that people rarely care because its not really needed). Might be different in this new content if Electric can remain standing faced with such difficult enemies. Previous experiences with very tough enemies in the AE raise my doubts a little, but I'm willing to try it.

[Voltak]

On 11/13/2021 at 11:40 PM, KaizenSoze said:

Voltak from your video, you obviously figured out all the strategy for the Live TFs.

 

I look forward to you trying out Doc Aeon's SF. It's been designed to minimize a number of the common tactics.

 

Over level 51 some of the mobs run tactics which severely reduces the duration of confuse and fear. My Fortunata could not keep any confuse on key mobs due to tactics.

 

Pretty much everything flies, so no avoiding melee. One of the reasons I wanted a melee durable build.

 

It will be fun to see players adapt.

The huge advantage that Dominators have over other ATs is the unique ability to stack high magnitudes fast. 

I look forward to trying it.  

Cool.  I feel you. 
___________________________

About melee builds.  A melee durable build only means that a build can survive when at melee distance. 
That's all you need. 

You don't need melee attack powers to ensure melee survival.   Since any attack can be launched at melee range. 

You just need survival instruments and strategies when you are placed at melee 

The other part is figuring out how to stay away from melee as much as possible. 
____________________________________________________

Dark/Dark will probably still be top combo for me for Aeon but I have no final verdict until I have hands on. 

I am recovering from surgery so play time is limited now or I have none. 

First, the higher you go in difficulty, or challenges the more you will need a self heal. 
When inspirations are disabled a self heal is a must for consistent or reliable results in game doing challenging stuff. 

When soloing the ITF and the LR SF with no inspirations, you better believe that having a self heal at times paid off. 

About Plant Doms.   Seeds is terrible vs EBs because of the long recharge.  
Dark will have enough Possess  MAGs already on an EB by the time Seeds recharges on a Plant dominator.  
Plant confuse is good on bosses and below.  For higher Mags, you want Dark or Mind.   

The rest of the times when doing difficult stuff, it was my to hit debuffs and my controls that carried me through. 

There is no combo for dominators in the game that will even come close to the TO hit Debuffs possible with Dark/Dark.
TO put it in perspective , a Dark/Dark dominator will rival a hurricane from a defender when it comes to the To Hit debuffs. 

I wrote about this on another post. 
Shadow Field is extremely potent, only dominators summon two of these when placed on the ground when domination is up. 
Then add the AoE fear, then add gather shadows, by now, you will match or beat a defender running hurricane in the To Hit debuff field.
If you use Clarion Radial, like I do many times, you are looking at much higher than a defender running hurricane.  

I understand that tactics carried by the enemy will be a challenge.  It's better to have this To Hit debuff stacking than to not have that at all.  

This is one of the reasons I place Dark's fear higher than the Fear of Mind.  
The Fear of Dark brings a strong to hit debuff, add gather shadows and it's even better. 

Then you have reliable dmg to kill +4 AVs.  

If it can be done, it will be done.  I just have to find out if it can be done. 

I have been challenged before on the LRSF, and I did it on my first try at +4.  

So I am looking forward for the chance to get on test server and figuring this out. 

Edited November 16, 2021 by Voltak

[Uun]

1 hour ago, Voltak said:

There is no combo for dominators in the game that will even come close to the TO hit Debuffs possible with Dark/Dark.

On my Dark/Dark I took Diamagnetic Core Interface, which adds a 100% chance of a -5% tohit debuff to all damaging attacks, and stacks up to 4x.

[Voltak]

5 minutes ago, Uun said:

On my Dark/Dark I took Diamagnetic Core Interface, which adds a 100% chance of a -5% tohit debuff to all damaging attacks, and stacks up to 4x.

Given the numbers I wrote about on another post, this might be overkill.  Especially if you take clarion radial.  
I still prefer Degen to kill AVs or hard targets. 

Dark/Dark on its own has hefty size of To hit debuffs servings to go around. 

[Uun]

2 hours ago, Voltak said:

Given the numbers I wrote about on another post, this might be overkill.  Especially if you take clarion radial.  
I still prefer Degen to kill AVs or hard targets. 

I took Barrier (I rely on Domination for mezz protection), but I do have Hybrid Support Radial. My issue with Degenerative and Reactive is that they've become very popular and easy to max out on a team against an AV, so I've been exploring alternatives. I have the T4 Diamagnetic, so that provides 50% chance of -regen in addition to the -tohit. 

[Voltak]

27 minutes ago, Uun said:

I took Barrier (I rely on Domination for mezz protection), but I do have Hybrid Support Radial. My issue with Degenerative and Reactive is that they've become very popular and easy to max out on a team against an AV, so I've been exploring alternatives. I have the T4 Diamagnetic, so that provides 50% chance of -regen in addition to the -tohit. 

Clarion Radial is not for mez protection, not the reason I take it. 
Clarion Radial is a power boost. 

That's why I take it. 

Confuse last longer
Holds last longer
Defense buffs become greater
To hit debuffs greater

It's the incarnate close cousin of power boost. 
 

____________________

The regen of diamagnetic is not even worth it compared to how low it is.
Degen is sooo good, practically it is an additional -regen to the enemy and  it will not max out vs an AV.  Everyone with Degen will do the same thing to the AV.  So, for me, it's almost not worth taking anything else when facing AVs in the interface incarnate. 

Since the to hit debuffs are huge in dark/dark, I did not even consider diagmagnetic.  

With clarion the to hit debuffs are bigger as well 

Assault hybrid and degen are great combined 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Voltak

[subbacultchas]

My favorite melee centric dom so far has been Fire/Savage. Fire has good controls on good timers, and aoe damage toggle, and pairs well with the melee centric Savage to boot. If you haven't tried Savage on a dom yet, I highly suggest you do so. It's got good sustain, a self-heal, a couple of AOEs including Savage Leap which is the bees knees (AOE plus teleport).

[oedipus_tex]

6 hours ago, Voltak said:

About Plant Doms.   Seeds is terrible vs EBs because of the long recharge.  
Dark will have enough Possess  MAGs already on an EB by the time Seeds recharges on a Plant dominator.  
Plant confuse is good on bosses and below.  For higher Mags, you want Dark or Mind.   
 

 

 

I'd still give Plant credit here, because in most situations Carrion Creepers should be able to keep the enemy occupied for the couple of seconds you'd need to stack the effect. I think you need Mag 6 to Confuse an Elite Boss, which should be doable against most with 2 applications of Seeds. On a good Plant build that will take about 15 seconds. Against all logic, Seeds of Confusion is a Scale 20 Confuse, the same Mag as the single target Illus/Mind/Dark Confuse (and also Mass Confusion) so it shouldn't have any issues with duration ratios. There's also chance you could miss. OTOH if I'm correct about Mag 6, you could hurl Vines + ST Hold. 

 

It's good to see Mind Control redeemed a bit here too. It's technically in the safest boat, with three powers that don't alert enemies. That probably matters more solo than on teams of course. 

 

Dark of course can stack Fearsome Stare if it gets into a pinch, and the -ToHit is likely to be very helpful.

 

Even Electric Control kinda has a role here, even if its the least sneaky of the Confuse-ers. Synaptic is Scale15. I probably wouldn't try to solo a endgame TF with Electric Control, but its nice that it has that fallback to be a semi-Mind Controller if stuck.

 

 

Semi off topic, I wonder if the change to make Sleep powers autohit will make powers like Spore Burst more attractive. It's technically not a bad power, just always been poor in context. Spore Burst has 45 Recharge and IMO is a lot better than the Earth or Ice sleeps, you could easily get that to 12 sec recharge if these newer TFs called for it.

Edited November 17, 2021 by oedipus_tex

[Voltak]

1 hour ago, oedipus_tex said:

 

 

I'd still give Plant credit here, because in most situations Carrion Creepers should be able to keep the enemy occupied for the couple of seconds you'd need to stack the effect. I think you need Mag 6 to Confuse an Elite Boss, which should be doable against most with 2 applications of Seeds. On a good Plant build that will take about 15 seconds. Against all logic, Seeds of Confusion is a Mag 20 Confuse, the same Mag as the single target Illus/Mind/Dark Confuse (and also Mass Confusion) so it shouldn't have any issues with duration ratios. There's also chance you could miss. OTOH if I'm correct about Mag 6, you could hurl Vines + ST Hold. 

 

It's good to see Mind Control redeemed a bit here too. It's technically in the safest boat, with three powers that don't alert enemies. That probably matters more solo than on teams of course. 

 

Dark of course can stack Fearsome Stare if it gets into a pinch, and the -ToHit is likely to be very helpful.

 

Even Electric Control kinda has a role here, even if its the least sneaky of the Confuse-ers. Synaptic is Mag 15. I probably wouldn't try to solo a endgame TF with Electric Control, but its nice that it has that fallback to be a semi-Mind Controller if stuck.

 

 

Semi off topic, I wonder if the change to make Sleep powers autohit will make powers like Spore Burst more attractive. It's technically not a bad power, just always been poor in context. Spore Burst has 45 Recharge and IMO is a lot better than the Earth or Ice sleeps, you could easily get that to 12 sec recharge if these newer TFs called for it.

I don't think anyone is taking credit away from Plant.  

I specialize in soloing or very small teams (2-4) 

If we are talking about doing very challenging settings and not using inspirations, I am speaking from experience.

If doing solo without inspirations I would not go the Plant for the ITF or the LRSF or the Aeon SF. 

Dark/Dark would still trump plant 
First and foremost, it's already been tried and tested in those settings. 

I have done the ITF solo now on my Dom 4 times.  
I have done the LRSF solo +4x8 no inspirations , no deaths, no temps, on my first try. 

Having Possess recharged in 2 seconds.  At the time the animation is over, you can click it again.  Then the EB has been possessed.   That is a big deal 

 If I may very respectfully say, I think you are talking from imagining or trying to picture how the fight will go in a solo setting. 
I am not.  In task forces, solo or small teams, I know how they go from experience. 

Two applications of seeds to confuse an EB... 
Problem here, Seeds is  about 17 seconds to be recharged on a good build (without Ageless).  
Possess is only 2 seconds recharge FROM a MUCH LONGER range than Seeds.  
In 8 seconds I will possess 2 EBs , in 16 seconds, I will possess 4 EBs.  
While the duration and magnitudes are still high and right on top of each other to be able to renew them. 

Seeds is not the way to go if you want to solo an AV or use an AV to kill another AV. 
You want Mind or you want Dark to solo an AV if you are going to use Confuse or Possess to start the engagement, but as you might guess already, when it comes to soloing an AV +4,  Dark/Dark is proven and true (with no inspirations) and it's great. 

The to hit debuffs from the combo of Dark/Dark is just too good for challenging content. 
Just the fear alone from Dark is about 20% TO hit debuff 

Shadow Field To Hit Debuff is 39% unslotted 

That's with Gather shadows without using clarion.   Both of them stack. 
That's already 59% TO hit debuff.  That passes hurricane , that passes radiation infection, and so on. 
Your Pet , all of them, they also stack TO Hit debuffs.  

Yeah.. no... I will take Dark/Dark over pretty much anything else in this scenario. 
I am betting, not sure yet, that Dark/Dark, if AEON SF can be solo'd at all by a Dominator, then  I am betting Dark/Dark can do it and do it better. 
_______________________________

When teams are brought up, this discussion becomes irrelevant.    In teams so many things will work.   The team adds so many variables and so much more potential.
I have shown and proven how Earth/Rad dominators (who have no confuse) will do very well in very challenging settings with no inspirations even in melee range. 





 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Voltak

[oedipus_tex]

5 minutes ago, Voltak said:

If we are talking about doing very challenging settings and not using inspirations, I am speaking from experience.

 

 

Well, in fairness, we are talking about a "melee Dominator build" which I don't picture as something running solo Task Forces. 

 

As good as Dark is, if I had to pick between a Dark and Plant teammate who said they were going to play in melee range, I'd assume they meant they are going to melee only the AoE portions against easier enemies, and not that they are going to solo the whole TF that way. Dark is good, definitely S-Tier. I forget how many Plant and Dark Dominators I have total, but its enough where I feel comfortable saying which one I'd push someone toward. 

 

I agree Dark is very good at soloing, largely on the strength of the single target Confuse and the -ToHit in the set. As good as it is, Seeds of Confusion and Carrion Creepers are just ridiculous powers. They'd never get re-released in that form if they were created today. 

[Mezmera]

The enemies fly and have high perception.  You can still stealth around but you better be careful you don't bump the wrong Boomer because they just might see you then they will call all of their flying buddies.  Which also means ground location powers like bonfire will have less impact.  These things WILL be in your face a great deal.

 

Most of the crucial points you can't just sit there stealth confusing, you're team will need big contributions.  Stealth control is good for the first strike to soften up surrounding groups before your team catches all of their aggro.  

 

The OP started this topic after they correctly assessed how harsh this is going to be if you're not varying your build because it doesn't matter if you want melee or not, melee is coming to you.  It's viable to build in max stealth sure but you're going to need to chase those defense bonuses and powers, take shields available to you, contemplate leadership powers, use things like Barrier, and be ready to toss out all kinds of aoe control.  

 

If the purple AT isn't pushing out the control available to them I'd rather have a defender or corruptor teammate.  

Edited November 17, 2021 by Mezmera

[KaizenSoze]

So, after lots of testing on the beta server. Unfortunately, solo as it's hard to get groups.

 

My test routine goes like 4x8 DA "radios", 4x8 PI Radios, Oroboros Trapdoor mission, then 50x8 ASF first 2-3 mission.

 

I tested Mind/Dark, Mind/Savage, Mind/Martial, but the winner is...

 

Mind/Thorny/Psi... what!..did you give the wrong envelope again! No really, this was the best?!?!

 

Let me try and explain and you all more experienced folks can tell me how insane I am.

 

Mind is well awesome, the new sleep auto hit is amazing for stopping everything, even with the small AV nerf it got in the last build. Plant and Dark are better soloers, not arguing, but I have done relentless runs with other ATs. @Mezmera is accurate about how useful the amount of control Mind brings to ASF at that difficultly.

 

Thorny Assault works best for my play style. You can fight at range or melee on the edge of the group with Terrify and Fling Thorns cones. So, it does not required jumping into the middle of the fight and back out like savage. Lots of utility to the group with -defense, it has massive amounts of -defense and -fly/jump to keep the mobs nearby. Also, Impale and Thorn Barrage proc really well. Thorn Barrage in particular procs extremely well for force feedback. The build is a bit wobbly on end in long fights, but domination comes back quickly because of the force feedback proc, so it's manageable.

 

Spoiler

This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.5.6
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Dominator
Primary Power Set: Mind Control
Secondary Power Set: Thorny Assault
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Mesmerize -- CaloftheS-Acc/Rchg(A)
Level 1: Thorny Darts -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Skewer -- Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(7), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(7), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Mk'Bit-Dam%(9)
Level 4: Fly -- WntGif-ResSlow(A)
Level 6: Dominate -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(11), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(11), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15)
Level 8: Confuse -- CrcPrs-Conf(A), CrcPrs-Conf/Rchg(15), CrcPrs-Acc/Conf/Rchg(17), CrcPrs-Acc/Rchg(17), CrcPrs-Conf/EndRdx(19), CrcPrs-Conf%(19)
Level 10: Mass Hypnosis -- FrtHyp-Sleep(A), FrtHyp-Sleep/Rchg(21), FrtHyp-Acc/Sleep/Rchg(21), FrtHyp-Acc/Rchg(23), FrtHyp-Sleep/EndRdx(23)
Level 12: Impale -- ShlBrk-%Dam(A), AchHee-ResDeb%(25), ImpSwf-Dam%(25), TraoftheH-Dam%(27), GldJvl-Dam%(27), TchofLadG-%Dam(29)
Level 14: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(29), LucoftheG-Def(50)
Level 16: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Total Domination -- SprDmnGrs-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(A), SprDmnGrs-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(31), SprDmnGrs-EndRdx/Rchg(31), SprDmnGrs-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(31), SprDmnGrs-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(33), SprDmnGrs-Rchg/Fiery Orb(33)
Level 20: Fling Thorns -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(33), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(34), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), PstBls-Dam%(36)
Level 22: Stealth -- Rct-Def/EndRdx(A)
Level 24: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 26: Terrify -- PstBls-Dmg/Rng(A), PstBls-Dam%(36), GlmoftheA-Dam%(36), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(37), JvlVll-Dam%(37)
Level 28: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(37), GldArm-End/Res(39)
Level 30: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 32: Mass Confusion -- SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(A), SprAscoft-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(39), SprAscoft-EndRdx/Rchg(40), SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(40), SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(40), SprAscoft-Rchg/+Dmg%(42)
Level 35: Ripper -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Dam%(42), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Arm-Acc/Rchg(43), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(43), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(50)
Level 38: Thorn Barrage -- Apc-Dmg(A), FrcFdb-Rechg%(43), ExpStr-Dam%(45), GldJvl-Dam%(45), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(45), Apc-Dam%(46)
Level 41: Link Minds -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(46), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(46), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(48)
Level 44: Indomitable Will -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 47: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(A), LucoftheG-Def(48), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(48)
Level 49: Mind Over Body -- UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(A)
Level 1: Domination
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- EndMod-I(A)
Level 1: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 1: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 1: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(3), Prv-Absorb%(3), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(34)
Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(5), EndMod-I(50)
Level 12: Afterburner
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon
------------

 

 

 

 

[Voltak]

9 hours ago, oedipus_tex said:

 

 

Well, in fairness, we are talking about a "melee Dominator build" which I don't picture as something running solo Task Forces. 

 

As good as Dark is, if I had to pick between a Dark and Plant teammate who said they were going to play in melee range, I'd assume they meant they are going to melee only the AoE portions against easier enemies, and not that they are going to solo the whole TF that way. Dark is good, definitely S-Tier. I forget how many Plant and Dark Dominators I have total, but its enough where I feel comfortable saying which one I'd push someone toward. 

 

I agree Dark is very good at soloing, largely on the strength of the single target Confuse and the -ToHit in the set. As good as it is, Seeds of Confusion and Carrion Creepers are just ridiculous powers. They'd never get re-released in that form if they were created today. 

But, like I said earlier, this is the fact -- 

To play a toon melee, you just need to be in melee (whenever you want). 
You can take and use range powers, not just melee to be at melee range. 

Again, not taking credit away from Plant at all. 

I am just saying that vs EBs and above, seeds might not be all of that. 

A Dark/Dark team mate can debuff enemies in melee or AoE or range , debuff their to hit chances  ( in addition to the control instruments of dark) 
Mind cannot do that, even the fear for Dark , in that sense is better, the strong to hit debuffs placed on the enemies. 
 
I repeat again what I said towards the end of my last post -- 

The fact is that when talking about teaming, just about anything goes.   Even an Earth/Rad dominator will work and great stuff. 
So, in teaming, I wold say go for it, pick whatever you want , in teams -->

Earth
Mind
Plant
Dark 

These all work fine , and it is pointless here to say which one is best because in the end the team make up and the skills of the players is a lot more important. 
_____________________________

I do have to say that for the new changes , Electric control becomes a damage buffer, a serious damage buffer, to all others in the team who have electric blasts. 

Elec control will drain endurance faster than even electric affinity.  In fact, elec control is the fastest endurance drainer. 

So given the new changes to electric blasts, with an elec control in the team doing quick end draining, their damage is getting buffed thanks to the bonus damage being applied which are IN ADDITION, functioning like Hybrid Assault Radial.   So the bonus dmg is not affected by the dmg cap 

_________________________________

As the new difficulty changes are implemented, when inspirations are disabled, assault sets with self heal will leave the others behind. 

Being self sufficient is important when inspirations are off. 

Utility trumps all else as difficulty gets higher and higher. 

 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Voltak

[Voltak]

7 hours ago, Mezmera said:

The enemies fly...

All the more reasons for me to prefer control sets that will ground the enemies. 
That will make a great contribution to your teammates who have patches on the ground to help defeat the enemies.