Can anyone suggest a Dom AT combo?

[foosbabaganoosh]

Hello fellow heroes and villains,

 

Looking to roll a Dom and was hoping the forums could suggest a good combo. Mainly looking to do iTrial content, maybe 2-man some task forces but assume level 50 content (not intending to do much exemplaring). Is there a great AT combo that has good synergy (such as ill/rad for controllers, etc.)? As a dominator should I expect to be a melee fighter who uses mezzes to primarily stay alive, or are there ranged Dom builds? I want to be an asset when on teams and easily stay alive, but also be confident running smaller-team missions with some survivability when I could be the target of aggro.

 

Please let me know your thoughts, any and all insight is welcome! 

[Six-Six]

Mind/Savage may fit your bill. Mine's a vampire =). The range attacks aren't so good, so you're stuck with melee. Dark/Martial is another fun one. Earth/Earth is another good one, but it tends to get noisy with all the rumbling. And I've heard good things about plant and thorns, but I haven't tried them myself.

[TygerDarkstorm]

Imo, doms work best when they're blapping, but there are some people who have made all ranged doms to success. Unlike trollers who spam their controls for damage, a dom's controls are just there to set up the battlefield to make use of their secondary.

 

Unfortunately, I haven't done any incarnate or level 50 content on a dom, so I can't speak much to that. Mind/Fire is a fairly classic combo. I'm rather fond of my Ice/Ice/Ice dom. Plant/Fire, Plant/Savage, Plant/Psi, Dark/Dark, Dark/Savage are all fairly strong pairings. I'm not sure how useful Earth/* is at top-tier content, but it's a solid control set with lots of tools for locking down a battlefield. 

 

Most of my doms are babies, so let me page @oedipus_tex and @Voltak as I believe they're both familiar with doms as well as playing them at the upper echelons of content.

[Meknomancer]

My goto is a plant/dark, plant makes everything easy and on the odd occasion i take a hit i have life drain but its pure ranged. My melee domi is an elec/earth tough enough to toe to toe with av's, elec is nice and safe, forget the end drain its the regen that keeps it up and earth hits harder than most of the other secondaries, very blapper like. Safest toon i played on itrial content was an old skool mind/energy but you don't feel like your contributing as much the kb effects can annoy team mates with no immob in primary.

[Voltak]

1 hour ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

Imo, doms work best when they're blapping, but there are some people who have made all ranged doms to success. Unlike trollers who spam their controls for damage, a dom's controls are just there to set up the battlefield to make use of their secondary.

 

Unfortunately, I haven't done any incarnate or level 50 content on a dom, so I can't speak much to that. Mind/Fire is a fairly classic combo. I'm rather fond of my Ice/Ice/Ice dom. Plant/Fire, Plant/Savage, Plant/Psi, Dark/Dark, Dark/Savage are all fairly strong pairings. I'm not sure how useful Earth/* is at top-tier content, but it's a solid control set with lots of tools for locking down a battlefield. 

 

Most of my doms are babies, so let me page @oedipus_tex and @Voltak as I believe they're both familiar with doms as well as playing them at the upper echelons of content.

All right, @TygerDarkstorm  I will oblige.    You can make any Dominator work.  The Dominator I think is right at the top or at least competes at the highest of difficult challenges is Dark in the combo Dark/Dark. 
That said, Plant, Mind, Earth are all amazing. 
If you are looking to do extreme challenges in small teams, I would recommend Dark, Plant, Mind, and earth is not too shabby either there.  
But generally, in this game, possession or confuse is the single most powerful form of control in the field of dominators. 
Having the enemies in your team is the most powerful control or domination you can exert, especially because they help kill all other enemies. 

That's how I took my dark/dark dominator to solo the LRSF 54x8 , no inspirations, no deaths and beat all the Arch Villains at the final fight - I posses one and then use him or her to kill the others.  But Dark has 3 pets which further pushes your dmg vs single hard targets.  Dark is a strong force at debuffing enemy to hit chances.   Dark is missing a sleep and a power similar to earthquake or Ice Slick.  

Plant Dominator in a duo beats any other duo of dominators. Plant in a duo will leave Dark and Mind in the dust. 
Seeds in a pair of Dominators is using the most powerful form of control but in mass at a fast recharge rate, outside of seeds, Plant is not a big deal at all.  But seeds makes Plant, when combined in numbers, even just two, into something to behold. 
Creepers is an amazing AoE dmg instrument. 

Mind has a ST and AoE confuse, but the AoE confuse is on a LOOONG recharge.  Mind control without creepers it's not doing nearly the AoE dmg as Plant.  Roots is perhaps the hardest hitting AoE immob in the game.  Mind has no immob power.  
Without pets, it's not going to beat Dark in ST hard target dmg if you are up vs an AV. 
Mind has sleep in two forms and they are now auto hit , like all other sleep powers.  
Mind will confuse an AV faster than any other Dominator and will stack holds faster than any other dominator vs an AV. 

The confuse or possession is what sets the above - plant, dark, and mind, ahead  of the rest. 

Earth has lots and lots of controls, it's just missing the most powerful ones. 
But in things like the ITF, earth has something the other's don't -  Cimerorans may be able to break free of holds or confuse but they can't break free from the combo of earthquake and quicksand.  It's a great form of control and it kills their ridiculous high level of defenses, it also kills Nemesis defenses when their vengeance start stacking. 

Check out my channel on YouTube.  I have plenty of videos with dominators, I don't have anything with Mind, but I have seen plenty of other players use them. 

For mind, I suggest you also seek  @FUBARczar and @Mezmera.  

For secondaries, at the highest levels of difficult challenges, I always favor sets with self heals, therefore 
1) dark assault
2)Psionic assault
3) Radiation assault

If you don't care for self heals, then besides Dark assault, please consider - Fire, Energy, and even Savage. 
Psionic assault will be the assault set to go to if you are not going to use Ageless as your Destiny incarnate power. 

Edited June 17, 2022 by Voltak

[foosbabaganoosh]

@Voltak Wow, just wow, thank you so much for detailing all of that. I'm leaning towards Mind/Psy or Dark/Dark given what you wrote. They both sound very tempting as playstyles. I think what I'll do is play around in Mids with each of these combos and see if I can tailor some builds to a playstyle that sounds like a good time.

 

Man I love this community, thanks all for the insight!

[foosbabaganoosh]

Did a Mind/Psy/Psy build, can anyone help critique it? Was aiming for great defense while getting a good recharge enough to get perma-dom and then some. Helps with the cool down from the Psy epic pool powers. Kinda ignored psionic dart as it was a forced-choice power, and didn't really slot Terrify as it wasn't a power I focused on. Last power choice I didn't know what to do so I went with World of Confusion just for an extra confuse power I guess, but am uncertain about it. Any tips are welcome!

Dom Mind-Psy-Psy.mxd

[oedipus_tex]

That's not a starter bad build at all @foosbabaganoosh. 

 

 

Personally I think Mind Control is one of the harder Dominator powersets to get used to. It's very good at very difficult challenges, but in most of the content you're going to fight, most of the time, I think it lags significantly versus some of the other sets. Dark Control in contrast I feel handles well versus difficult single targets and large groups. If you're committed to going with Mind in order to play something different or for concept reasons of course that's valid.

 

FWIW if you were to combine the differences and go with Dark/Psi you'd have a powerball of a Dominator. Quite different from a Dark/Dark, not as much of an AV fighter, but it covers your endurance bar, which can be very useful on this class.

 

 

 

If you stick with the Psi APP, I wouldn't bother taking World of Confusion. You probably do want some kind of AoE blast though. Psionic Tornado isn't the heaviest hitting AoE blast, but its serviceable, and more importantly, the only ranged AoE blast you'll get with that APP, so may as well take it.

RE slotting in some specific powers if you stay with Mind Control:

 

• The sleep portion on Mesmerize is autohit. Probably want damage here if you slot it at all, tho that may depend on your build.
• Dominate should probably be procced out for damage. It casts very fast and with solid procs in it can take the place of one of your ranged Blasts.
• You'll want to think about where you want that Dominator +Damage ATO proc. You want it somewhere you can trigger it constantly. For Mind/Psi that's possibly Subdue. It cant (currently) go in Psionic Shockwave tho I have heard that's been added to the list of items to fix, so if that changes you might want to jump on it. That ATO doesn't provide damage to the power its slotted in so may just want to single slot. You'll lose the ranged def bonus but do a lot more damage. OTOH if you prefer to just keep it in Mass Hypnosis, you can do that. Just make sure to cast Mass Hyp often. You won't be able to proc it as frequently as in a faster recharge power, but if you're consistent you can at least keep one to two stacks up most times.

Edited June 18, 2022 by oedipus_tex

[Errants]

A vote for Dark/Psi...

 

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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Daemonox: Level 50 Magic Dominator
Primary Power Set: Darkness Control
Secondary Power Set: Psionic Assault
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Dark Grasp -- Apc-Dmg:50(A), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(3), Apc-Acc/Rchg:50(3), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(5), Apc-Dam%:50(5), SprAscoft-Rchg/+Dmg%:50(7)
Level 1: Psionic Dart -- Acc-I:50(A)
Level 2: Mind Probe -- Hct-Dmg:50(A), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(9), Hct-Acc/Rchg:50(11), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx:50(11), Hct-Dam%:50(13), Mk'Bit-Dam%:30(50)
Level 4: Kick -- Acc-I:50(A)
Level 6: Possess -- SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear:50(A), SprAscoft-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg:50(13), SprAscoft-EndRdx/Rchg:50(15), SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx:50(15), SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg:50(17)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(17)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def:50(19), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(19), Ksm-ToHit+:10(21), Rct-ResDam%:20(21)
Level 12: Heart of Darkness -- AbsAmz-Stun/Rchg:50(A), AbsAmz-Acc/Stun/Rchg:50(23), AbsAmz-Acc/Rchg:50(23), AbsAmz-EndRdx/Stun:50(25), AbsAmz-ToHitDeb%:50(25)
Level 14: Tough -- UnbGrd-Max HP%:20(A), UnbGrd-ResDam:50(27), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx:50(27), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:50(29)
Level 16: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def:50(29), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(31)
Level 18: Haunt -- CaltoArm-Acc/Dmg:30(A), CaltoArm-Dmg/EndRdx:30(31), CaltoArm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:30(31), CaltoArm-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg:30(33), SlbAll-Dmg/EndRdx:50(33)
Level 20: Drain Psyche -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux:50(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg:50(33), Pnc-Heal/Rchg:50(34), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg:50(34), Pnc-Heal/+End:10(34), TchoftheN-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:50(40)
Level 22: Assault -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def:50(36), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(36)
Level 26: Shadow Field -- BslGaz-Acc/Rchg:30(A), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold:30(36), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(37), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(37)
Level 28: Subdue -- Dcm-Acc/Dmg:40(A), Dcm-Dmg/EndRdx:40(37), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg:40(39), Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:40(39), Dcm-Build%:40(39)
Level 30: Fearsome Stare -- SprDmnGrs-Rchg/Fiery Orb:50(A)
Level 32: Umbra Beast -- SlbAll-Dmg:50(A), SlbAll-Dmg/Rchg:50(40), SlbAll-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(40), SlbAll-Build%:50(42)
Level 35: Link Minds -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), AdjTrg-Rchg:50(42), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP:10(42), ShlWal-Def/Rchg:50(43), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(43)
Level 38: Psychic Shockwave -- Arm-Dmg:50(A), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(43), Arm-Acc/Rchg:50(45), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx:50(45), Arm-Dam%:50(45), FuroftheG-ResDeb%:10(46)
Level 41: Mind Over Body -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(A), StdPrt-ResDam/EndRdx:30(46), GldArm-3defTpProc:10(46), GldArm-ResDam:50(48)
Level 44: World of Confusion -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg:50(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx:50(48), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(48), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(50), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc:50(50)
Level 47: Indomitable Will -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A)
Level 49: Vengeance -- Prv-Absorb%:20(A)
Level 1: Domination 
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I:50(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- UnbLea-Stlth:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Heal-I:50(A)
Level 1: Swift -- Run-I:50(A)
Level 1: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 1: Health -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+:30(A), Mrc-Rcvry+:20(7)
Level 1: Stamina -- PwrTrns-EndMod:50(A), PwrTrns-+Heal:21(9)
Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon 
Level 50: Ageless Radial Epiphany 
Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment 
Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface 
Level 50: Marshal 
Level 50: Invader 
Level 50: High Pain Threshold 
Level 50: Born In Battle 
------------

[foosbabaganoosh]

2 hours ago, oedipus_tex said:

RE slotting in some specific powers if you stay with Mind Control:

 

• The sleep portion on Mesmerize is autohit. Probably want damage here if you slot it at all, tho that may depend on your build.
• Dominate should probably be procced out for damage. It casts very fast and with solid procs in it can take the place of one of your ranged Blasts.
• You'll want to think about where you want that Dominator +Damage ATO proc. You want it somewhere you can trigger it constantly. For Mind/Psi that's possibly Subdue. It cant (currently) go in Psionic Shockwave tho I have heard that's been added to the list of items to fix, so if that changes you might want to jump on it. That ATO doesn't provide damage to the power its slotted in so may just want to single slot. You'll lose the ranged def bonus but do a lot more damage. OTOH if you prefer to just keep it in Mass Hypnosis, you can do that. Just make sure to cast Mass Hyp often. You won't be able to proc it as frequently as in a faster recharge power, but if you're consistent you can at least keep one to two stacks up most times.

 

Awesome thank you for the tips! Mind if I pick your brain on more time?

 

Scrapped slotting Mesmerize as I wasn't aware of the auto-hit, also its effect says the sleep is cancelled on damage so I guess sleep duration isn't too big of a deal (especially with the quick recast time).

 

Swapped the Dom ATO to Subdue due to the power's quick recharge.

 

Put Fortunata Hypnosis on Mass Hypnosis to recoup the lost set bonuses from taking Unbreakable Constraint off of Dominate. Left six empty slots on Dominate as I'm not sure how best to proc-slot it (do I do some enhancements like accuracy, or all damage procs, etc?)

 

Left six empty slots on Psionic Tornado (realizing now I inadvertently took two off of health), any tips on that last slotting for that power?

 

Regarding incarnates:

-Alpha: Most likely Nerve

-Judgment: Any

-Interface: Degen

-Lore: Any

-Destiny: Ageless doesn't seem needed for endurance due to perma-dom, the added recharge is always nice. It's either that or barrier which really pumps up def/res.

-Hybrid: Is control worth it for the +1 mag on controls? Support could be nice for the extra defense, but assault is always good for extra damage.

 

New Dom Mind-Psy-Psy.mxd

[foosbabaganoosh]

5 minutes ago, Errants said:

A vote for Dark/Psi...
 

 

Ugh that's a VERY tempting build you've got there, the pets in Dark are probably the strongest pull for me as I'm a sucker for pets. And I DEFINITELY don't need two highly similar dominators...right...??

Edited June 18, 2022 by foosbabaganoosh

[Errants]

Just now, foosbabaganoosh said:

Ugh that's a VERY tempting build you've got there, the pets in Dark are probably the strongest pull for me as I'm a sucker for pets. And I DEFINITELY don't need two highly similar dominators...right...??

 

My first Perma-Dom (couldn't afford it in Legacy), and he's a monster. Defenses aren't maxed, but between spamming Dom'd Stuns from PSW and HoD, as well as adding in -ToHit...

I play him like a scrapper.

[oedipus_tex]

30 minutes ago, foosbabaganoosh said:

 

Ugh that's a VERY tempting build you've got there, the pets in Dark are probably the strongest pull for me as I'm a sucker for pets. And I DEFINITELY don't need two highly similar dominators...right...??

 

 

Mind and Dark are sufficiently different that you could play both and they feel different.

 

I would say if you are at all on the fence that Dark is the way to go. It's a lot more forgiving for a first time character, with powers that unlock in a much friendlier order. Dark/Psi specifically is good for self leveling up since you can use Drain Psyche to keep your blue bar afloat easier. Dark gets its key powers by level 12, where Mind Control has to wait til 26 and 32. 

[MoonSheep]

i’ve never been disappointed in my mind/fire/ice dom, is pretty much all i’ve played for the last 3 years

[Nexros]

I haven't seen this suggestion, but electric/psi is an extremely good combo for clearing fast. I've seen it paired with fold space to great effect. 

[Voltak]

13 hours ago, foosbabaganoosh said:

@Voltak Wow, just wow, thank you so much for detailing all of that. I'm leaning towards Mind/Psy or Dark/Dark given what you wrote. They both sound very tempting as playstyles. I think what I'll do is play around in Mids with each of these combos and see if I can tailor some builds to a playstyle that sounds like a good time.

 

Man I love this community, thanks all for the insight!

Very welcome.  Please check out my YouTube Chnl -  NIA MAC.  Plenty of videos of feats, videos of play using doms, from plant to Dark, to earth. 

I want to second that Dark/Psi would be an amazing combo as well.  Definitely the way I would suggest if you don't want Ageless as a Destiny. 

Of course, my favorite is Dark/Dark if I am going to be soloing content to include AVs in the mix of things being solo'd.   But Dark/Psi would be something I endorse as well. 

 

[Uun]

While Mind and Psi are both good, they're tough to play together. I've got one (along with Earth/Earth, Dark/Dark and Plant/Martial) and it's my least favorite dom.

[Voltak]

16 hours ago, foosbabaganoosh said:

@Voltak Wow, just wow, thank you so much for detailing all of that. I'm leaning towards Mind/Psy or Dark/Dark given what you wrote. They both sound very tempting as playstyles. I think what I'll do is play around in Mids with each of these combos and see if I can tailor some builds to a playstyle that sounds like a good time.

 

Man I love this community, thanks all for the insight!

Because ... DARK / Dark dominator is awesome 
 

 

Edited June 18, 2022 by Voltak

[foosbabaganoosh]

1 hour ago, Voltak said:

Because ... DARK / Dark dominator is awesome 
 

 

 

So this is HIGHLY awesome. And also desirable as it kinda represents one of my end goals, being that if population of servers declines, it could mean I could double-box and get certain TF badges on my main badger as long as I have patience. What would you attribute most to being able to do this with Dark/Dark, beyond just using confuse to turn enemies on each other?

[Voltak]

7 minutes ago, foosbabaganoosh said:

 

So this is HIGHLY awesome. And also desirable as it kinda represents one of my end goals, being that if population of servers declines, it could mean I could double-box and get certain TF badges on my main badger as long as I have patience. What would you attribute most to being able to do this with Dark/Dark, beyond just using confuse to turn enemies on each other?

The dmg both have is strong enough to get it done, that's top reason.  Serves no purpose to get to the final fight and not being able to kill the AV would be very bad. 

If I had used a different build, I could have had 3 pets.  Instead of doing that, I used a build that gave me a safeguard in case I could not get Yin off my back.  Yin's PSI dmg is very scary.   I was too worried about that.   In retrospect, that could have been done differently.  
But dark assault has by itself very strong dmg, top tier indeed. 
Had I blended that with all 3 pets from dark, it could have been done faster. 
During the hardest fights vs range targets, the to hit debuffs certainly shined.   One such fight was vs Chronos or Kronos.  Soloing him is no joke.  
He has good range attacks that hit very hard.  
So, I feel like that helped there.  
No other combination of dom powers debuffs to hit values like dark/dark does. 

The healing from dark assault was immensely helpful, especially boosted from gather shadows.  

Gather shadows from dark assault helped to ensure that Possession lasted much much longer which allowed for easier stacking. 
Dark/Dark is a very very proc friendly combination, if not the most proc friendly of all of them. 

 

Edited June 18, 2022 by Voltak

[FUBARczar]

On 6/18/2022 at 6:15 AM, foosbabaganoosh said:

 

Ugh that's a VERY tempting build you've got there, the pets in Dark are probably the strongest pull for me as I'm a sucker for pets. And I DEFINITELY don't need two highly similar dominators...right...??

There is room for MOAR! 

 

I often have repeat sets just paired differently.