Dark/Earth

[Sweetcake]

Hi,

 

I'm new to doms and was hoping for some advice.

I like to have a build ready for before I hit 50 but as this is the first dom I have used outside of my farmer on live I am unsure on the power choices or if I should be focussing on procs once I have high enough recharge rather than defence/res.

Please be constructive with criticism rather than just "go play scrapper" and let me know what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks in advance 🙂

 

This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.2.17
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Dominator
Primary Power Set: Darkness Control
Secondary Power Set: Earth Assault
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Dark Grasp -- SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(A), SprAscoft-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(11), SprAscoft-EndRdx/Rchg(13), SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(13), SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(15), SprAscoft-Rchg/+Dmg%(15)
Level 1: Stone Spears -- Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Dcm-Acc/Dmg(3), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg(3), Dcm-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Dcm-Build%(5)
Level 2: Living Shadows -- SprDmnGrs-Rchg/Fiery Orb(A)
Level 4: Tremor -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A)
Level 6: Possess -- CrcPrs-Conf(A), CrcPrs-Conf/Rchg(7), CrcPrs-Acc/Conf/Rchg(7), CrcPrs-Acc/Rchg(9), CrcPrs-Conf/EndRdx(9), CrcPrs-Conf%(11)
Level 8: Super Speed -- WntGif-ResSlow(A)
Level 10: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 12: Heart of Darkness -- Arm-Dam%(A), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 14: Fearsome Stare -- CldSns-ToHitDeb(A), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb(17), CldSns-Acc/Rchg(17), CldSns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(19), CldSns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(19), CldSns-%Dam(21)
Level 16: Power Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), TtnCtn-ResDam(21), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(23), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(23)
Level 20: Heavy Mallet -- Hct-Dmg/Rchg(A), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Hct-Acc/Rchg(43), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Hct-Dam%(46)
Level 22: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(25), Rct-ResDam%(25), Rct-Def/EndRdx(34), Rct-Def(46)
Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 26: Shadow Field -- UnbCns-Hold(A), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg(27), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg(27), UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold(29), UnbCns-Dam%(29)
Level 28: Seismic Smash -- Lck-Acc/Hold(A), Lck-Acc/Rchg(31), Lck-Rchg/Hold(31), Lck-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), Lck-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(33), Lck-%Hold(33)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-Def(33), Rct-Def/EndRdx(34)
Level 32: Umbra Beast -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(34), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(36), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36)
Level 35: Mud Pots -- Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Erd-Acc/Rchg(39), Erd-%Dam(39), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(40), EndRdx-I(40), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 38: Fissure -- OvrFrc-Dam/KB(A)
Level 41: Dark Embrace -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), TtnCtn-ResDam(42), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(42), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(42)
Level 44: Soul Drain -- Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(45), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(45), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Obl-%Dam(46)
Level 47: Dark Obliteration -- Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(48), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Rgn-Knock%(50)
Level 49: Stealth -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Domination 
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Health -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Pnc-Heal/+End(37), Mrc-Rcvry+(37)
Level 1: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PwrTrns-EndMod(36), PwrTrns-+Heal(37)
Level 8: Speed Phase 
Level 50: Nerve Core Paragon 
Level 50: Born In Battle 
Level 50: High Pain Threshold 
Level 50: Invader 
Level 50: Marshal 
------------

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Edited April 20, 2022 by Sweetcake
The colour of build made it unreadable

[oedipus_tex]

Hello, thanks for sharing your build.

 

Overall, you're hitting some impressive Defense and Resist numbers, which is difficult for a Dominator, The build you have is very sturdy, at least for a Dominator. I can tell from your slotting you've got some experience, because a lot of the slotting is clever, and the power choices are sound.

 

Where I think you have room for improvement is slotting to some specific skills.

 

• Heart of Darkness. This is one of your main controls. You'll likely want Accuracy, Recharge, and Stun Duration. Alternatively, it can be slotted with Damage procs. I usually land somewhere down the middle. If you plan to always cast Gather Shadows before casting this, you can skimp a tiny bit. But I still like the duration on my hard controls to be long. 
• Seismic Smash. This is one of the highest damage attacks in the game. There are two main ways to approach it: procs or damage slotting. Personally I like procs here, because you can put the Dominator ATO proc, plus two purple procs into it, resulting in crazy damage. If you do proc it out, make sure you pick up some Accuracy and ToHit elsewhere in the build.
• Fissure. This power is unlikely to hit with just one slot. If you take it, slot it for Accuracy and Damage. You can also opt to proc this out. 
  • Personally I rarely find in a Dominator build room to proc out more than about 2 attacks, and that's pushing it. IMO Seismic is the better one for procs, and Fissure is usually better for basic set slotting. But other folks may have reasons to disagree.
• Stealth. This is fine to take, I usually do. Just make sure you've set the Attacked flag in Mids Options. That will show your build after you've been Attacked (lost the Stealth bonus). Doing that currently drops your Ranged Defense to 39%, which is below soft cap. That's fine as long as you're aware of it--especially since Dark Control will be debuffing enemy ToHit. 
  • If you decide to increase your Ranged defense a bit, change the purple set currently in Shadow Field to x4 Basilisk's Gaze. You'll lose a small amount of Recharge but gain some Ranged defense back, plus regain a slot and be able to move the Purple damage proc to Seismic Smash.
• Dominator +Damage ATO. It's currently in Dark Grasp, which is fine, as long as you use that power a lot. I mentioned above possibly putting it into Seismic Smash, but it's up to you.
• Fearsome Stare. You included a damage proc here which is fine to do. Just keep in mind the damage procs means Fearsome Stare means enemies will shoot back at you (similar to Mind Control's Terrify). Without that proc, if they Fear'ed they normally lose the ability to respond. It's always a difficult choice whether to keep or lose the proc here.
• Mud Pots. This is an aura with low proc chances. I'd consider slotting with x5 Ice Mistral's Torment. That will provide some +recharge, +slow resist, and provide some endurance discount, while also increasing the slow run speed of the Mud Pots, somewhat useful for you as a Dark Control to keep enemies from staggering away from your Heart of Darkness.
• Manuevers. It's probably not worth the 2 slots you have here just for some minor additional Defense. I'd move these to Heart of Darkness.
• Super Speed. Fine to take this, just making sure you know you can gain invisibility from Super Speed with a Celerity proc, in case you want to drop Stealth for Combat Jumping, which costs much less endurance to run. Some players do like to take both Stealth and Super Speed, so really up to you.

 

 

You pick Nerve. Personally, I'd consider changing that to Intuition, for the Damage, Range (for your cones) -ToHit (Dark powers), and more Slow Movement (Mud Pots).  

 

 

 

 

 

[EnjoyTheJourney]

Below is another take on this combination. It incorporates some suggestions from tex's carefully thought through feedback, and some other ideas as well.

 

The plan for defenses is to rotate between a "power up" boosted unleash potential (up about 1/3 of the time) and castings of barrier (so its period of peak effectiveness covers part of the time unleash potential is down and recharging). The demonic aura and eye of the magus clickie accolades can fill gaps if heavy fire is coming in when defenses are at a low point in the cycle. Melee core hybrid helps to further strengthen defenses.

 

Regarding damage, seismic smash does 682 damage per hit without power up engaged, without soul drain, and with one +damage AT IO stack. But, when using seismic smash soon after it becomes available will tend to lead to 2+ stacks of bonus damage. Also, soul drain will be up close to 50% of the time and power up will be up about 40% of the time. When there is just one +damage stack, soul drain hits just one mob, and power up is activated, seismic smash does 824 damage. Damage will be noticeably higher with multiple soul drain stacks and multiple +damage stacks from the AT unique +damage IO. Plus, heavy mallet does 440 points of damage without power up or soul drain, with 1 +damage stack; hurl boulder does 382 damage with those same conditions. Average damage will be higher because soul drain and power up have pretty good uptime. Single target damage will be quite respectable, even with a low damage power like stone spears being used as part of the attack chain. 

 

AOE damage is not this build's strength. All AOE comes quite late in the build, as well, which isn't ideal. But, AOE damage is at least not terrible. When soul drain, fissure, and dark obliteration are cast together there is about 450 hit points of damage without any +damage stacks from the AT unique IO and without power up. When damage is boosted that goes up, making for some decent burst AOE from time to time. 

 

Regarding build challenges, the only source of -defense is weaken resolve, which has only a single accuracy IO in it. Mobs that stack defense can be challenging for this combination. On a connected point, dark consumption needs to hit from time to time for endurance costs to be manageable because earth assault drinks endurance pretty fast.  So, Cims with their defense-boosting shouts and relentless difficulty mobs may need some team help and/or yellow inspirations to be more manageable. For lower notoriety content and especially without strong defense bonuses, though, this build should do just fine. 

 

Good luck with your dominator, however you decide to build him or her. 

 

This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.1.2.5
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Dominator
Primary Power Set: Darkness Control
Secondary Power Set: Earth Assault
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Force of Will
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Dark Grasp -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(5), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(11), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(21)
Level 1: Stone Spears -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Apc-Acc/Rchg(37), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(37)
Level 2: Living Shadows -- SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(A)
Level 4: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(25), Rct-ResDam%(50)
Level 6: Possess -- CrcPrs-Conf(A), CrcPrs-Conf/Rchg(7), CrcPrs-Acc/Conf/Rchg(7), CrcPrs-Acc/Rchg(9), CrcPrs-Conf/EndRdx(9), CrcPrs-Conf%(11)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13)
Level 10: Hurl Boulder -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(15), Apc-Dam%(19), FrcFdb-Rechg%(21), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(29)
Level 12: Heart of Darkness -- AbsAmz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(A), AbsAmz-Acc/Rchg(13)
Level 14: Fearsome Stare -- CldSns-ToHitDeb(A), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb(17), CldSns-Acc/Rchg(17), CldSns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 16: Power Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 18: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 20: Heavy Mallet -- TchofDth-Acc/Dmg(A), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx(34), TchofDth-Dmg/Rchg(39), TchofDth-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), TchofDth-Dam%(46)
Level 22: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(33), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(23), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(23), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 24: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(25), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(34), ShlWal-Def(34)
Level 26: Shadow Field -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-Acc/Rchg(27), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(27), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(29)
Level 28: Seismic Smash -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), TchofDth-Dam%(31), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Hct-Dam%(31), UnbCns-Dam%(33), SprAscoft-Rchg/+Dmg%(33)
Level 30: Mighty Leap -- WntGif-ResSlow(A)
Level 32: Weaken Resolve -- Acc-I(A)
Level 35: Unleash Potential -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RechRdx-I(46), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 38: Fissure -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(39), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(39), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), PstBls-Dam%(40), FrcFdb-Rechg%(40)
Level 41: Dark Embrace -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(42), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(42), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(42), UnbGrd-Max HP%(43)
Level 44: Soul Drain -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(45), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 47: Dark Obliteration -- Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(48), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Rgn-Knock%(50)
Level 49: Dark Consumption -- PreOptmz-EndMod/Acc/Rech(A)
Level 1: Domination 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 1: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 1: Health -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Pnc-Heal/+End(5), Mrc-Rcvry+(3)
Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(3)
Level 30: Takeoff 
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon 
Level 50: Barrier Core Epiphany 
Level 50: Melee Core Embodiment 
Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface 
------------

Edited April 21, 2022 by EnjoyTheJourney

[Sweetcake]

Thanks for the in depth responses.

Usually I would choose fly/hover over super speed but I noticed a couple of the Earth powers need you grounded to activate.

It did not even occur to me to use celerity which I am surprised by as it's normally a 'go to' proc for me when levelling characters.

I wasn't sure what attack chain I would be using as it's barely into the teens at the moment.  A lot of my previous characters utilise early powers in the chain so thought that Grasp would be a safe bet for the ATO.

I'm also unsure why I had the 'Attacked' function unchecked, it was the reason I chose Nerve as it would have put the build over softcap ranged.

I had no idea about aura's being poor for proc rate so that is helpful for some of my other toons too.

Unleash potential seems to give much more benefit than I thought it would and so it's something I will need to look at.

I noticed that you chased melee defence over range, does dark/earth lend itself better for close combat at end game combat?

 

Thanks again both of you, you've given me some things to think about 🙂

 

 

 

 

[EnjoyTheJourney]

Earth assault only really delivers on its damage potential while in melee. Melee attacks from most mobs are both more damaging and more frequently used, overall, than ranged attacks. That said, more ranged defense would undoubtedly be helpful if there's a way to get it without giving up much. 

 

Still, IIRC barrier adds 5% to both resistances and defense even at its lowest ebb for buffs provided. So, the numbers given in Mids don't tell the whole story for defenses. Also, when power up is cast defenses get noticeably better for 10 seconds (and it has about 40% uptime). Finally, rotating barrier, melee hybrid, and unleash potential generally means that your dominator ends up being surprisingly tanky, given the constraints of the AT. In most situations inspirations and team buffs become bonuses that just make you even tankier, rather than being crutches on which you depend to avoid rapid and repeated faceplants. 

[Sweetcake]

Awesome, I'll give a go at making a melee defence build later then.  With the changes Tex suggested the best I could get for range def was 32% with hardcap s/l resist.

Unfortunately doing so put recharge down to 145.25% with hasten active, is that enough for perma dom?

[EnjoyTheJourney]

You'll probably be OK a lot of the time because you'll have force feedback +recharge procs going off fairly often. But, you'll probably still drop permadom from time to time with 145.25% global recharge. Two key reasons for this is that the longer hasten is down (and it's not perma at 145% global recharge), the more recharge time is slowed down. As well, sometimes mobs will debuff your character's recharge, especially when negative energy damage or psionic damage are involved; when those debuffs start to stack up losing permadom can be the result. 

 

One key reason to try to get some resistance to slow and recharge debuffs is to keep permadom engaged. This is why you'll see parts of winter sets in a fair number of dominator builds (including the one given above).  

[Sweetcake]

Thanks again for the response, I decided to try out a build on the test server and you were not joking about it being an end hog.  I was planning on soloing with this but I will likely only team with it now.