Need a secondary for dark. Energy? More Dark? The mysterious Other?

[Random Axis]

I want to make another alt that's a dom. I already have a Fire/Earth dom, but wanted to branch off ofr this one. I have a semi-rigid rule to minimize power re-use, so dark is what I'm using for the primary. Like the title says though, I'm not sure about the secondary. I'm leaning towards /dark or /energy, but feel free to chime in with another option if you think it's a must have. I'm not looking for build since A) I'm not entirely sure about the power and haven't even made one to submit for inspection and B) leveling builds aren't 50 builds. Again, feel free to toss one in though. I'm sure a future dom will appreciate finding it in the archives even if it's not what I choose in the end.

 

Preamble aside, how far off base am I in how the secondaries work?

 

Dark: seems much more ranged than the /earth set is. Seems like the character would be hovering at the edge of the battle dropping DoTs, debuffs, and CC while waiting for a target to swoop in and throw a punch at.

 

Energy: a bit more of a melee fighter, but I can't tell if energy focus coming off regular attacks is worth chasing. Only one energy attack (and boxing with kick if I spend the slots for it) has stun and after the stun I'd need energy focus to proc. I'm not sure most mobs will last that long when doing missions with a group, and the EB and AV that have long fights are tough to stun in the first place.

[Mezmera]

1 hour ago, Random Axis said:

Energy: a bit more of a melee fighter, but I can't tell if energy focus coming off regular attacks is worth chasing. Only one energy attack (and boxing with kick if I spend the slots for it) has stun and after the stun I'd need energy focus to proc. I'm not sure most mobs will last that long when doing missions with a group, and the EB and AV that have long fights are tough to stun in the first place.

 

Yes Energy is a melee fighter but Power Burst and Snipe are quite the strong ST blasts, its no slouch in ranged attacks.  To get the full potential out of Energy though you'll need to make use of Total Focus' 100% chance to build the mechanic, it hits hard so regardless you'll be wanting to use it often when you're needing to build the mechanic.  After TF you follow up with either a Power Burst for nasty damage or Bone Smasher for a nice debuff (and decent damage).  I alternate these two releases on AV fights.   

 

If you play Energy get in the habit of using Total Focus after you've locked things down then Power Burst and Snipe the things still standing without having to move.  Total Focus, Power Burst, Snipe and Bone Smasher is a wicked amount of damage, you won't need other attacks outside of aoe which I dip into the epic pools for those.  

Edited November 2, 2022 by Mezmera

[Random Axis]

1 hour ago, Mezmera said:

 

you won't need other attacks outside of aoe which I dip into the epic pools for those.  

What about whirling hands? I'm not sure if it's awesome because it has a decently long recharge to trigger procs and gets instant recast with energy focus, or if it's a trap to make me burn up a third of my END bar on two mediocre AOE attacks. Does the instant recharge change time being zero make the proc chance zero?

 

Any epic pool suggestions? And thanks for the reply!

[SeraphimKensai]

My dark control domi has thorns. It fit a character concept well enough, and the pairing has some great tools.

 

It's not the world's strongest Domi, but far from the weakest as well.

[serxiom]

/energy is a ST burst secondary. The DPS output is impressive in a Dom and also the releasing energy mechanic is great for a dps chain. 

/dark is a different animal. Doesnt have the burst but you have some good ST powers and more important a single ST heal that is helpful not to add the inherent -to hit.

 

4 hours ago, Random Axis said:

Any epic pool suggestions? And thanks for the reply!

 

When i build my dominators my priorities are:  a) Recharge Permadom b) Sofcap Def  (Ranged mostly + Melee + AoE as much as you can). Due Defense softcap i always pick Psionic Mastery for two reasons: 1- Mind Over Body: A decent Shield +Resist toggle that helps taking hits if something goes through my defense. 2- Link Minds what stacks with your +Def and having a good amount of +Rech you preety much have the +Def bonus from this power permanent.

 

My main Dominator is a Dark/Rad ( i have other 7) and running the Psionic Mastery + Incarnates is on 55% Ranged Defense... pretty much untouchable for +4 content.

Edited November 2, 2022 by serxiom

[DocMidknight]

  Have you considered dark/savage.......very fun combo. I've leveled dark/earth, dark/dark, dark/psi up to 50 as well but the dark/savage was just a fun ride.

 

[Frosticus]

I always recommend taking a look at /savage if for no other reason than it has feral charge which is unique to doms and call hawk is really cool. If you embrace feral charge the experience is like no other in the game. It has good st damage and is on the higher end for aoe (for doms). Blood Frenzy can be a great buff and is an interesting mechanic if you desire a bit more engagement. The heal is ideal for fixing a mess up while you reestablish control, hence why it is heal+HoT (and unfortunately) on a long recharge. 

 

/energy is great. The only drawback is it hits your blue bar harder than enemy health bars, which is impressive because it does quite a bit of damage. Energy focus is a satisfying mechanic. You aren't required to be in melee range all the time, but TF triggering focus is hard to pass up. It has a lot of single target attacks which you wont end up needing.

 

/dark is also great. It does pretty decent single target damage especially considering the utility it provides. The heal is up all the time for chip damage and the ability to powerboost it can get you through situations where other secondaries might falter. 

 

I enjoy my dark/sav/fire a lot more than my dark/dark/psi, but there are other /sav combos I like even more, so ymmv.

 

 

[Mezmera]

8 hours ago, Random Axis said:

What about whirling hands? I'm not sure if it's awesome because it has a decently long recharge to trigger procs and gets instant recast with energy focus, or if it's a trap to make me burn up a third of my END bar on two mediocre AOE attacks. Does the instant recharge change time being zero make the proc chance zero?

 

Any epic pool suggestions? And thanks for the reply!

 

When they first revamped Energy Assault Whirling Hands release mechanic allowed it to do double damage but you were locked out from building Energy every 15s.  When they removed the lockout they had to nerf WH as it would be silly constant damage.  As it is I skip Whirling Hands, that instant recharge gimmick is meh since it recharges fast enough anyways, it's not worth getting caught up doing twice that animation.  

 

I go Soul Mastery and get all of my aoe from Soul Drain, Dark Obliteration and Dark Consumption (which can detonate some nasty procs AND refills your endurance if you ever need it)

[DocMidknight]

20 minutes ago, Frosticus said:

I always recommend taking a look at /savage if for no other reason than it has feral charge which is unique to doms and call hawk is really cool. If you embrace feral charge the experience is like no other in the game. It has good st damage and is on the higher end for aoe (for doms). Blood Frenzy can be a great buff and is an interesting mechanic if you desire a bit more engagement. The heal is ideal for fixing a mess up while you reestablish control, hence why it is heal+HoT (and unfortunately) on a long recharge. 

I enjoy my dark/sav/fire a lot more than my dark/dark/psi, but there are other /sav combos I like even more, so ymmv.

 

 

    

     On my dark/savage dom I originally had a proc'd version with heart of darkness, rending flurry and feral charge all proc'd out. Tactic was to leap in with feral charge and then hit HoD followed by rending flurry and watch everything drop, was so much fun

[Frosticus]

17 minutes ago, DocMidknight said:

    

     On my dark/savage dom I originally had a proc'd version with heart of darkness, rending flurry and feral charge all proc'd out. Tactic was to leap in with feral charge and then hit HoD followed by rending flurry and watch everything drop, was so much fun

You know it. I usually tossed in a viscous slash too to unlock boosted rending flurry. I took /fire app on mine to add in fireball (also proc'd). aim+guassian is a pretty good damage boost (110%) for all that aoe+proc'd goodness.

 

A surprisingly good amount of aoe from an AT that tends to struggle in that department.

[Random Axis]

5 hours ago, Frosticus said:

I always recommend taking a look at /savage if for no other reason than it has feral charge which is unique to doms and call hawk is really cool. If you embrace feral charge the experience is like no other in the game. It has good st damage and is on the higher end for aoe (for doms). Blood Frenzy can be a great buff and is an interesting mechanic if you desire a bit more engagement. The heal is ideal for fixing a mess up while you reestablish control, hence why it is heal+HoT (and unfortunately) on a long recharge. 

I did look at /savage and the only reason I took it off the table is my arbitrary "I want to try new sets" rule since I already have a brute with savage. I know they're not exactly the same, but I didn't find the dom version compellingly different. I completely agree that savage is great fun and really feels like you're dishing it out.

[oedipus_tex]

Dark Control is a really solid set you can pair with almost anything, but there are a couple of stand out features that might drive your decision.

 

Main thing to know is that Dark's -ToHit effect is greatly increased by Power Boost effects. Power Boost is extra effective in + - ToHit (and + - Defense) powers because the boost applies to all stats equally, where enhancements for ToHit and Defense are much more limited in effect. That means any time you can pair a -ToHit set like Dark with a Power Boost effect you squeeze more value out of it than may be initially apparent. Sets that have a Power Boost style effect are Energy, Dark, Icy, Earth, and the new Sonic. 

 

In addition to these options, there are a few other sets that I think do particularly well:

• Savage was mentioned above and is just an overall fun and satisfying set, with some reasonably useful tools for managing heals/recovery
• Fire Assault has excellent single target damage, can be played mostly at range, and has fewer struggles with endurance than other sets
• Psi Assault, if you invest a lot of recharge IOs, covers both endurance and hp/sec due to its Drain Psyche power, which in combo with Dark's -ToHit makes you very difficult for enemies to kill

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by oedipus_tex