What's a dom that's fun while levelling?

[wesslen]

I keep eyeing dominators and want to like the class, but haven't fully clicked with any.

 

They can clearly become monsters at the endgame, but that's where I lose interest in the character and start a new alt. Are there any suggestions for dominators that are actually good and fun to play on the journey there?

 

Context: I really like an active playstyle - surviving via controls and debuffing. Passive defences are boring. I like soft controls over hard ones. More than half of my characters are controllers and most of the rest are defenders. I solo a lot but also want to be useful in a duo or in the occasional task force. I tend to sponsor new characters with ~10-20 mil for a few procs and ongoing frankenslotting, but mostly just use the inf I earn through playing missions while levelling to gear them. If I really like the character I'll make a decent build at 50, and play through most of the incarnate levelling, then invariably lose interest when getting too far into it, after which all characters feel the same.

 

I want a character that will be capable and fun to play through the journey, not one that becomes invincible at the end of it.

Most successful attempts so far:

* dark/dark: lost interest in the 30s - just felt like a worse version of similar troller/defenders I already have

* ill/psi: shelved in the 20s - liked this one a lot so far, but illusion control is already by far my most used powerset from controllers, so it felt redundant

* ice/savage: liked the sound of this combination from Darkir's post but am not following his build. Still playing it so far (25 now), but I'm not sold on it. Leaning so heavily on the confuse aura feels like fights are decided by luck too much for my liking.

 

Any suggestions for other powersets to try?

Edited February 2, 2023 by wesslen
typo

[Arcadio]

I haven't played this as a combo yet, but you might like Elec/Psi. Sapping will be your soft control, and drain psyche will let you sap some pretty strong targets especially at lower levels. DP also patches recovery holes that a lot of doms rely on incarnates for, so it's a pretty strong secondary for less-than-maxed play.

[wesslen]

4 minutes ago, Arcadio said:

I haven't played this as a combo yet, but you might like Elec/Psi. Sapping will be your soft control, and drain psyche will let you sap some pretty strong targets especially at lower levels. DP also patches recovery holes that a lot of doms rely on incarnates for, so it's a pretty strong secondary for less-than-maxed play.

 

That sounds promising. I'm actually experimenting with my first sapper character right now (elec/elec def), and liking it so far. Definitely up for trying another version and seeing which clicks more... and I really liked what I've seen of /Psi so far.

[brasilgringo]

Savage/Dark -> faceripping fun

[Meruk]

Fire control and Earth control are the best control wise for me, they have a really good targeted aoe stun with a short cooldown and decent radius which comes in handy to stun lock the enemies before immobilizing and dropping Bonfire/Earthquake on their feet for endless knockdown(you will need a KB/KD enhancement here), it is specially fun in TFs like ITF where the enemies come in waves. Plant control is great for DPS, the vines are awesome for crowds, the only downside being that it rellies on a narrow coned confuse as its main control power. Ice control is just as you said, it rellies a lot on your luck, you basically have to stay on melee and the fact that it doesn't have any decent hard control other than the hold, makes it less appealing, at least for me. I haven't played with the others, only Symphonic, but it had so many cones that i dropped it early on, despite the fact that it probably has the best DPS, for control, in general and Mind, which I played a lot on live, but sadly sleep has lost most of its appeal. As for the secondaries, i'm a bit biased to be honest, Drain Psyche is so overpowered that I don't even bother looking at the rest, it pretty much fixes every regen/recovery problem you may have and makes you an AV/GM killer, so I end up picking Psionic most of the time.

[smnolimits43]

have you tried sympony/sonic, i have three characters, and love them all.

[wesslen]

7 hours ago, Meruk said:

Fire control and Earth control are the best control wise for me, they have a really good targeted aoe stun with a short cooldown and decent radius which comes in handy to stun lock the enemies before immobilizing and dropping Bonfire/Earthquake on their feet for endless knockdown(you will need a KB/KD enhancement here), it is specially fun in TFs like ITF where the enemies come in waves. Plant control is great for DPS, the vines are awesome for crowds, the only downside being that it rellies on a narrow coned confuse as its main control power.

 

Earth I just can't get over the sound and visuals for, so that's out. Plant feels like too much of a one-trick pony (played it on a controller.)

 

I don't think I've given Fire enough of a chance, so that's an option. Endless knockdown would be the main draw for me.

 

7 hours ago, Meruk said:

I haven't played with the others, only Symphonic, but it had so many cones that i dropped it early on, despite the fact that it probably has the best DPS, for control

 

3 hours ago, smnolimits43 said:

have you tried sympony/sonic, i have three characters, and love them all.

 

I haven't tried Symphony on a dom. Did try it a bit on a controller that got shelved for symph/dark playing too similar to dark/dark, but I'd be open to trying again on a dom. I don't mind cones.

 

[tidge]

Does it have to be a Dominator?

23 hours ago, wesslen said:

I want a character that will be capable and fun to play through the journey, not one that becomes invincible at the end of it.

 

Any suggestions for other powersets to try?

 

The reason I ask: Dominators don't necessarily become "invincible" at the end of the journey (don't @ me), but there is a huge shift when they reach perma-Domination that more-or-less will always be something to build towards. You don't have to pursue permadom, but if you have it the Dominator will feel like a different character.

 

I have a very active Mind/Poison Controller that I have a lot of fun playing at all levels, and was fun while leveling too. shown is the final build, but the power choices were roughly the same while leveling (pre-page 5). Two particular build/play choices contributed to making this character fun to solo (and PUG) pre-50:

• I used P2W temporary AoE attacks to speed up missions (Plasmatic Taser, hand Grenade) ... they still do Controller damage scales, but they help.
• The build includes a lot of %damage, leveraging the use of debuffs; much of the %damage is easy to include as you level up.

 

Spoiler

Primary Power Set: Mind Control

Secondary Power Set: Poison

Power Pool: Fighting

Power Pool: Force of Will

Power Pool: Concealment

Ancillary Pool: Primal Forces Mastery

 

------------

Level 1:                 Levitate              

 (A) Gladiator's Javelin - Accuracy/Damage/End/Rech: Level 50+5

 (*) Gladiator's Javelin - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50+5

 

Level 1:                 Envenom            

 (A) Shield Breaker - Chance for Lethal Damage: Level 30

 (*) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff: Level 30

 (*) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Defense Debuff: Level 30

 (*) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff/Endurance/Recharge: Level 30

 (*) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage: Level 50

 

Level 2:                 Dominate           

 (A) HamiO:Nucleolus Exposure (Accuracy/Damage) Level 53

 (*) HamiO:Peroxisome Exposure (Damage/Mezz) Level 53

 (*) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 50

 (*) Neuronic Shutdown - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 30

 (*) Gladiator's Net - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50

 (*) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative): Level 50

 

Level 14:              Weaken Resolve            

 (A) HamiO:Lysosome Exposure (Accuracy / -Defense / -ToHit) Level  53

 (*) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage: Level 50

 

Level 6:                 Confuse              

 (A) Coercive Persuasion  - Confused: Level 50+5

 (*) Coercive Persuasion  - Confused/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Coercive Persuasion  - Accuracy/Confused/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Coercive Persuasion  - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Coercive Persuasion  - Confused/Endurance: Level 50+5

 (*) Coercive Persuasion  - Contagious Confusion: Level 50

 

Level 8:                 Mass Hypnosis

 (A) Fortunata Hypnosis - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Fortunata Hypnosis - Sleep/Endurance: Level 50+5

 (*) Fortunata Hypnosis - Sleep/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Fortunata Hypnosis - Accuracy/Sleep/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Fortunata Hypnosis - Chance for Placate: Level 50

 (*) Call of the Sandman - Chance of Heal Self: Level 50

Level 10:              Boxing 

 (A) Gladiator's Strike - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50+5

 

Level 12:              Mighty Leap      

 (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points): Level 50

 

Level 14:              Wall of Force    

 (A) HamiO:Centriole Exposure (Damage/Range)Level  53

 (*) D-Sync: Guidance (Accuracy/Range) Level 53

 (*) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 50

 (*) Bombardment - Chance of Damage(Fire): Level 50

 (*) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50

 (*) Explosive Strike - Chance for Smashing Damage: Level 20

 

Level 16:              Elixir of Life       

 (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All): Level 50

 

Level 18:              Total Domination           

 (A) Superior Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Mezz: Level 50

 (*) Superior Will of the Controller - Mezz/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Superior Will of the Controller - Endurance/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Superior Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Mezz/Endurance: Level 50

 (*) Superior Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Mezz/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Superior Will of the Controller - Recharge/Chance for Psionic Damage: Level 50

 

Level 20:              Tough  

 (A) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP: Level 50

 (*) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance: Level 50+5

 

Level 22:              Terrify 

(A) HamiO:Centriole Exposure (Damage/Range)Level  53

(*) Bombardment (Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge): Level 50

(*) Bombardment - Chance of Damage(Fire): Level 50

(*) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 50

(*) Glimpse of the Abyss - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 50

(*) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50

 

Level 24:              Paralytic Poison              

 (A) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 30

 (*) Neuronic Shutdown - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 30

 (*) Unbreakable Constraint - Chance for Smashing Damage: Level 50

 (*) Gladiator's Net - Accuracy/Hold: Level 50+5

 (*) Gladiator's Net - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 50+5

 (*) Gladiator's Net - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50

 

Level 26:              Mass Confusion              

 (A) Cacophany - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 30

 (*) Malaise's Illusions - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 50

 (*) Superior Overpowering Presence - Accuracy/Mezz/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50

 (*) Superior Overpowering Presence - RechargeTime/Energy Font: Level 50

 (*) Superior Overpowering Presence - Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50

 (*) Superior Overpowering Presence - Accuracy/Mezz/Endurance: Level 50

 

Level 28:              Weave

 (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50

 (*) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage: Level 50

 (*) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All): Level 50

 (*) Shield Wall - Defense: Level 50+5

 (*) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance: Level 50+5

 

Level 30:              Poison Trap       

 (A) Unbreakable Constraint - Hold: Level 50+5

 (*) Unbreakable Constraint - Hold/Recharge: Level 50+5

 (*) Unbreakable Constraint - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge: Level 50+5

 (*) Unbreakable Constraint - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50+5

 (*) Unbreakable Constraint - Endurance/Hold: Level 50+5

 

Level 32:              Alkaloid              

 (A) Preventive Medicine - %Absorb: Level 50

 

Level 35:              Power Blast       

 (A) Apocalypse - Damage: Level 50+5

 (*) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance: Level 50+5

 (*) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic): Level 50

 

Level 38:              Temp Invulnerability    

 (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%: Level 30

 

Level 41:              Energy Torrent 

(A) HamiO:Centriole Exposure (Damage/Range)Level  53

(*) D-Sync: Guidance (Accuracy/Range) Level 53

(*) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 50

(*) Bombardment - Chance of Damage(Fire): Level 50

(*) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50

(*) Explosive Strike - Chance for Smashing Damage: Level 20

 

Level 44:              Unleash Potential          

 (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50

 

 

Level 47:              Stealth

 (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50

 

Level 49:              Maneuvers        

 (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50

 

Level 1: Brawl    

 (A) Empty

 

Level 1: Containment    

 

Level 1: Prestige Power Slide     

 (A) Empty

 

Level 1: Sprint   

 (A) Unbounded Leap - +Stealth: Level 50

 

Level 2: Rest      

 (A) Interrupt Reduction IO: Level 50+5

 

Level 1: Athletic Run      

 

Level 2: Swift    

 (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50+5

 

Level 2: Health 

 (A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance: Level 50

 (*) Miracle - +Recovery: Level 40

 

Level 2: Hurdle 

 (A) Jumping IO: Level 50+5

 

Level 2: Stamina              

 (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End: Level 50

 (*)Performance Shifter - Endurance Modification: Level 50

 

------------

 

 

 

[wesslen]

24 minutes ago, tidge said:

Does it have to be a Dominator? [...] I have a very active Mind/Poison Controller 

 

Well... for the purpose of this post it kind of has to be a dominator. I don't have a problem coming up with new characters to play in general, and already have multiple login pages of controllers. I was asking about dominators because they seem like they should be fun, and I've tried a handful or more, but can't seem to get one to stick.

 

In hindsight it wasn't clear from the original post as I only mentioned the reasons for dropping the doms I've gotten furthest with, but usually I find doms too fragile, with not enough payoff for it. I'm sure that changes with permadom, but that's too late for me - I want to have fun and feel effective on the way there.

 

I tend to like most controllers, so not worried about coming up with a new one of those, but I'll keep your suggestion in mind 🙂 I haven't used poison before.

[Outrider_01]

Dark/Psi , skipped pets and went more blap - troller.  Psi has 2 attacks with status secondary effect, one is immb and the other is stun, that are affected by Domination.

[SeraphimKensai]

 I have a lot of Dominator experience. Way back when CoV first came out my first villain was a Grav/Fire Domi, and I've had probably another 30 domis since.

 

Here's some fun combos that I've enjoyed:

• Elec/Psi
• Plant/Earth
• Fire/Energy
• Dark/Thorns
• Ill/Savage

These are ones that work well enough leveling up, the Fire/Energy and Plant/Earth seemed a little end heavy until slotted.

 

Try a few combos on test, see what suits your play style and come up with a concept that works for you and you'll quickly have a fun toon.

[Gunnert3]

Anything / Savage or Anything / Earth. Both can be played as melee only, range only or a mashup of melee/ranged. The self heal in Savage is nice, and Earth has Powerboost. Both procced out are very nice damage wise so it's a win either way.

[Chi]

Maybe try the busy combo's . 

Earth/Fire  Hot Feet + Mud Pots 

and

Ice/Ice     Arctic Air + Chilling Embrace

Two styles of play 

 

a love and hate Dominators at play . 

[UltraAlt]

On 2/3/2023 at 12:25 PM, wesslen said:

I was asking about dominators because they seem like they should be fun, and I've tried a handful or more, but can't seem to get one to stick.

 

I'm a character conception player.

If you have a character conception, I think it will be more likely to "click" and be fun to play.

 

You can start with an archetype'/power set or start with a conception and find a power set that fits.

In this case we are working from the archetype.

 

So we have a control set primary and a ranged secondary.

This is personal and it needs to fit something that you are interested in. 

 

What kinds of things do you want to manipulate and why?

What kind of ranged attacks do you want to be able to do?

Do I want to theme the character around the primary T9 pet power (if the set has one)?

Who are you?

Why are you a hero/villain? How did you become a hero/villain?

Make that costume! Make a cool one in the character creator and once you are in-game immediately make a couple of costumes. I suggest one to be your IB (innocent bystander) costume.

Once you have a theme and a character conception, stick to that vision. Don't start jumping into mids or mini-maxing. Try to pick powers as you go that fit that vision of the character.

Pick mission paths as much as possible that fit your character conception. Target mystics if you are a mystic. Target street-level and gun-toting gangs if that is your thing. Want more monster encounters go after the Vazh and the lost.

 

And maybe most importantly, try to team up with other players. Run task forces, but recruit team to join you on the kind of missions that fit your character conception. There is a very good chance that others will join you if you ask (be wary of the level 50s that may want to bulldoze your missions because that is what some of them will do).

 

But, let's go back to the costumes for a minute.

 

Here's my costume "cheat sheet":

 

Every 10 levels you can go to a different Icon rep for an additional costume slot : level 20 steel, level 30 IP, level 40 founders
You can get another costume slot with the four parts of Halloween salvage by turning them into a vendor in Croatoa. These parts are cheap, but, if you yell out in help, you probably can get someone to send  you the parts. (I, for one, have tons of the stuff and have given the part away more than once when people asked)

 

Costume macro variables

name = name of your macro

cce # = slot # first slot is 0, second is 1, etc

ccemote = one of these below

 

/macro name "cc #"

This one simply changes your costume to the slot #. The change is instantaneous with no special effect.

/macro name "cce # ccemote"

This one changes to costume slot # but also has a costume change emote.

 

name = name of your macro

cce # = slot # first slot is 0, second is 1, etc

ccemote = one of these below

 

/macro IB  "cce # ccemote$$goto_tray 9"
/macro Super "cce # ccemote$$goto_tray 1"

ccbackflip cchowl ccevillaugh ccspin ccnuke 
cclightning ccprestochango ccdrinkformula 
ccsmokebomb ccninjaleap CCDimensionShift ccfurburst 
ccsalute ccvanguardsigil cccast ccsuperserum 
ccenergymorph ccrapidboil ccfeatherburst 
ccfurspin ccoilstrike ccpressurerelease 
cciceblock ccstoneblock ccfireworks 
ccpureenergy ccnuke ccmurderofcrows 
ccconfettithrow ccgiftburst ccinnerwill 
cclightmagic ccrainbow ccfurburst

 

So some examples:

I want to make a werewolf character.

I make the full wolf form in the creator.

When I come out into the game, I go to the P2W and the icon. At the P2w I get beast run and athletic run. I get beast run for the first slot, I make slot 2 a more human character with a werewolf head and I'll use beast run for this one as well. Both of these will use my main attack trays. I'll also make a full human form in slot 3 that I will use athletic run with and have full human form.

 

I'll set up tray 9 as my IB (innocent bystander/human form) tray and tray 1 as my main attack tray.

I'm set up the two macros to go from the IB slot 2 costume to the wolfperson slot 1 costume. I'm going to make two buttons for the wolfperson change and one for the change back to IB form. And I'll make a third macro to change into full wolf form. All 3 of my form changes are going to go into a non-power tray. One of the ones that us is for the change to wolfperson form will be in the IB tray; I'll also have related non-superpower attacks in this tray - like brawl, the inherent throwing power, and some P2W stuff.

 

Switching back to human, I want to get rid of all that excess fur, so I'll go with 

/macro IB  "cce 2 ccfurburst$$goto_tray 9"

 

I decide that I want to have to drink a potion to go into wereperson form so I'll go with
/macro Were "cce 1 ccdrinkformula $$goto_tray 1"

 

... and, finally, I want to let out a wolf howl when I turn into full wolf form

/macro Wolf "cce 0 cchowl"

 

Now I can run around the city as a human and change into a wereperson or werewolf when I go into combat.

It allows more "playing" the character which helps getting more attached to the character - which to me - makes a character more fun to play and worth sticking with, but I like creating characters and there is no telling when I'll get the idea or feeling to make a new character just because I enjoy making comic book characters.

 

 

Edited February 9, 2023 by UltraAlt

[Not Surprised]

On 2/3/2023 at 10:25 AM, wesslen said:

Well... for the purpose of this post it kind of has to be a dominator. I don't have a problem coming up with new characters to play in general, and already have multiple login pages of controllers. I was asking about dominators because they seem like they should be fun, and I've tried a handful or more, but can't seem to get one to stick.

 

Yeah, they seem like they'd be fun. But the main reason to play a Dom is if you want to be a Blaster that doesn't get beat up all the time because you can make your enemies stand there and watch you beat them up.

 

I've tried a ton of Dommies and my favorite is a ninja-themed Illusion/Martial. I spend most of my time kicking things in the face, throwing ninja stars, and summoning ninja clones, occasionally tossing controls, the ghost face, etc. It's not the most powerful Dom, but it's fun. My other fave was Mind/Savage, but then I realized I only really liked Savage and re-rolled as a Savage/Bio Brute. I have a Fire/Fire that's also decent fun, but because of concept.

 

Based on what you're describing, try Gravity / Energy. You want soft control? Five energy blasts with knockback, plus Lift and Propel. If you don't want the KB for some reason just drop the mass Immob and then blast and punch away. You can Power Boost - Hold a boss then Total Focus his face.  Wormhole everyone straight up in the air and giggle when they land and bounce. 

 

Or just keep trying out combos 'till one sticks.