Dominator Proliferation: Illusion Control

[Uun]

If you haven't seen the new patch on the beta server.

 

 

[Major_Decoy]

The only question now is "Do I make an Illusion Control/Martial Assault when page five launches, or do I wait for Street Justice to be proliferated to Dominators?"

[Xiddo]

So excited for an Illusion/Energy dom. I’ve never actually used illusion in the years I’ve been playing, this will finally tip it for me

[Yaliw]

I JUST leveled an illusion controller to 50! Leave me alone, illusions!

[TygerDarkstorm]

5 hours ago, Major_Decoy said:

The only question now is "Do I make an Illusion Control/Martial Assault when page five launches, or do I wait for Street Justice to be proliferated to Dominators?"

I thought about Ill/Martial myself, but /Martial just feels so bad on doms, imo. It's lacking something that makes it feel like it has some oomph to it compared to some of the other secondaries (though it's probably better than /Elec and /Thorny), but maybe Illusion will be the primary it needs to shine a little more.

[DocMidknight]

sooooo many options......soooo many slots

 

[Luminara]

1 hour ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

I thought about Ill/Martial myself, but /Martial just feels so bad on doms, imo. It's lacking something that makes it feel like it has some oomph to it compared to some of the other secondaries

 

Damage.  The word you're looking for is damage.

 

It's not bad at 50... with Musculature Radial/Core Paragon, Assault Radial/Core Embodiment, Assault, the chance for +Dam ATO and a pile of +Dam set bonuses.  Then it's okay, for casual play.

[Mezmera]

8 hours ago, Xiddo said:

So excited for an Illusion/Energy dom. I’ve never actually used illusion in the years I’ve been playing, this will finally tip it for me

 

This is what I went ahead and crafted on test.  The thing is an absolute animal.  

[TygerDarkstorm]

1 hour ago, Luminara said:

 

Damage.  The word you're looking for is damage.

 

It's not bad at 50... with Musculature Radial/Core Paragon, Assault Radial/Core Embodiment, Assault, the chance for +Dam ATO and a pile of +Dam set bonuses.  Then it's okay, for casual play.

Thank you, I suppose damage is the word I am looking for. 😛 It's such a neat assault set, but even paired with powerhouses like Plant, it just plays so... meh. I do wonder if an Ill/Rad dom might be fun though.

[blue4333]

I made mine a /Fire dominator on Test. The combination sticks to ranged.

 

Illusion control could use an AOE Immob just to keep things tidy but I guess that's just the nature of illusion control. 

[Xiddo]

2 hours ago, blue4333 said:

I made mine a /Fire dominator on Test. The combination sticks to ranged.

 

Illusion control could use an AOE Immob just to keep things tidy but I guess that's just the nature of illusion control. 

whack a slow set in sleet and that might help? The new one. I’ve forgotten the name…. But might help a bit? I’m planning on testing this weekend properly but also thought the soft controls on the PA would help stop people a bit.

[Major_Decoy]

On 10/5/2022 at 2:53 PM, Luminara said:

 

Damage.  The word you're looking for is damage.

 

It's not bad at 50... with Musculature Radial/Core Paragon, Assault Radial/Core Embodiment, Assault, the chance for +Dam ATO and a pile of +Dam set bonuses.  Then it's okay, for casual play.

I've got Rageless super strength tankers, but after trying Illusion/Martial Assault on test, I probably will wait for the Street Assault port. I know it's not even on the radar right now, but I don't want to settle.

[Luminara]

2 minutes ago, Major_Decoy said:

I've got Rageless super strength tankers, but after trying Illusion/Martial Assault on test, I probably will wait for the Street Assault port. I know it's not even on the radar right now, but I don't want to settle.

 

I did some Trick or Treating with my Dark/Martial this evening.  I was planning to skip it with this character, but I just had to know how it would perform.  Safe... but I ran out of endurance so many times, it wasn't funny.  Even with all of the +Damage I've piled up, it just doesn't hit hard enough to defeat those new EBs before bottoming out, and that's with 3.71 EPS Recovery (2.91 net).  I'll have to remember to grab the +Recovery empowerment buff before I make another run.

 

I love /Martial, but it's a get in, get off, get out set, not a set good for an extended fight.

[Uun]

11 hours ago, Luminara said:

I did some Trick or Treating with my Dark/Martial this evening.  I was planning to skip it with this character, but I just had to know how it would perform.  Safe... but I ran out of endurance so many times, it wasn't funny.  Even with all of the +Damage I've piled up, it just doesn't hit hard enough to defeat those new EBs before bottoming out, and that's with 3.71 EPS Recovery (2.91 net).  I'll have to remember to grab the +Recovery empowerment buff before I make another run.

The big culprit here is the Crone Matriarch that spawns Lightning Storm. Lightning attack has a big -end that will drain you if you stay in range. Since the Lightning Storm can't move, pull the EB away from the storm or around a corner. Also, the Arisen Mummy hits you with a debuff (similar to Vahzilok Wasting Disease) that has -recovery and -end.

[Luminara]

1 hour ago, Uun said:

The big culprit here is the Crone Matriarch that spawns Lightning Storm. Lightning attack has a big -end that will drain you if you stay in range. Since the Lightning Storm can't move, pull the EB away from the storm or around a corner. Also, the Arisen Mummy hits you with a debuff (similar to Vahzilok Wasting Disease) that has -recovery and -end.

 

Nope.  I run dangerously low on endurance in tip/scanner missions.  It's a combination of rapid animation times (1.056, 1.32, 1.32, 1.716 and 1.584), 150% global +Recharge and 89.92% Recharge in every attack (except Masterful, only 42.4%).  Over the course of a full chain, I'm averaging ~1.3s per attack, and my Recovery can't sustain that, especially with /Martial being AoE-heavy (which was exactly why i wanted to play it).  In contrast, all of my other characters, even with lower net Recovery, have no trouble maintaining a constant string of attacks for an indefinite period, because I'm spending much more time in animations, typically averaging 2s or more per attack.

 

But in tip/scanner missions, I can mow down a spawn and allow my Recovery, or the next Domination pop, to refill my bar while I'm running to the next spawn.  Can't do that with bullet sponges.  There is no commercial break, you're in the action for the long haul.

 

It's a great set for visual appeal and pumping out a pile of attacks in rapid succession, but it sucks on that endurance bar like a dying person would a sweaty bandana.  Granted, the problem wouldn't be as readily apparent if I were playing this character more traditionally, with pets, but that merely glosses over the issue of heavy endurance use, it doesn't actually make the set consume less endurance when you use the attacks.

 

It could definitely use a balance pass.  I'm not going to stop playing it if that never happens, because I really do love it, but it does vex me at times.

[roleki]

On 10/6/2022 at 12:08 AM, blue4333 said:

I made mine a /Fire dominator on Test. The combination sticks to ranged.

 

Illusion control could use an AOE Immob just to keep things tidy but I guess that's just the nature of illusion control. 

That's why I was thinking Ill/Thorn, as Thorntrops is a reasonable clumping agent. 

[BrandX]

On 10/5/2022 at 8:29 AM, Xiddo said:

So excited for an Illusion/Energy dom. I’ve never actually used illusion in the years I’ve been playing, this will finally tip it for me

 

This is what I'm rerolling my Illusion/Traps Troller too 🙂

[laudwic]

On 10/5/2022 at 10:29 AM, Xiddo said:

So excited for an Illusion/Energy dom. I’ve never actually used illusion in the years I’ve been playing, this will finally tip it for me

 

I just leveled (ie soloed) a Symphony/Energy to 50.  Energy is a beast damage wise.  Early play it was nice to use Confounding Chant to give Disorient to help get energy focus, but, man, once you have Total Focus and Power Burst, it is almost like being a Blapper for the amount of damage you'll be doing.

[biostem]

Hmm... wouldn't sonic assault be a good mix, since the -res would benefit the phantom army?  There are a few extra holds in there that could benefit from domination...

[Xiddo]

Would power boost increase the -tohit of spectral or not because it is a pet?

[Uun]

1 hour ago, Xiddo said:

Would power boost increase the -tohit of spectral or not because it is a pet?

Haven't tested it, but wouldn't be for the length of the summon, just 10 seconds at best.

[Xiddo]

Very much theory crafting (until I fix my loader) but now wondering if it’s worth going Ill/dark to stack the -tohit and because psi & neg aren’t brilliantly resisted.

I’m avoiding /psi as I have a plant/psi but it is thematically well suited…

[Ringo]

Spooky's -tohit and fear is great on controllers.  Complementing him with Dark Assault seems like a win

[Xiddo]

Just had a play on test. Bar a couple of animation things, and the wish that dom

made terror better, this is a pretty solid set and could be in live now. I’d recommend pairing with secondary that benefits from dom. Gleam is great. Light show flash fire. I’ve not used Illusion before but this felt very safe and with some power exec location macros will be a winner. 

[Cheveyo]

On 10/5/2022 at 7:29 AM, Xiddo said:

So excited for an Illusion/Energy dom. I’ve never actually used illusion in the years I’ve been playing, this will finally tip it for me

 

 

Illusion/Energy is something I've always wanted to play. Even way back before Dominators were a thing. I always thought "man, energy blast would be sick to have with this set."

 

Now I finally get to make it happen.