I found another Dom I like! Woo! (Mind/Sonic)

[Spaghetti Betty]

So, for anyone caught up on my lore, you already know that I am a Melee player at heart. I struggle finding toons from other ATs to play.

 

Dominators are an especially tough cookie for me to crack, due to one big crippling principle that, honestly, stops me from enjoying a lot of potentially cool toons. If I can't enjoy it at a low level, I don't wanna play it! I hope I can save myself a little bit of typing by trusting you know how this mentality doesn't mesh well with Dominators.

 

My one and single Dominator across all my years of playing that finally made it to 50 was an Ill/Sav/Ice. That's a very fun toon to play! Very unique in its approach.

 

Well, I'm happy to say it's joined by a second Dominator: A Mind/Sonic/Ice!

 

I'm not sure exactly what made me want to give this combo a whirl, but whirl I did. Lately I've been throwing myself a bone with alts and bumping them to 27 so I can start with IOs, but not so many slots that powers start overperforming before I've really learned how to use them. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with how well Mind Control functions outside of Domination. This is critical for me. I'm a loud and proud complainer of how Doms can feel like a wet napkin outside of Domination. Mass Hypnosis is incredible for the ardent soloer. Sometimes it's not about blowing up a mob as quickly as possible. Sometimes simply containing them and picking them off one by one is the way to go. Of course, Terrify as it's BnB soft control is great for this too. Feared mobs won't attempt to attack as long as you don't hit them. I use Mass Confusion as a panic tool just in case things go awry.

 

Speaking of the single target approach, Sonic Assault is great for that as well! The melee attacks are great. Shout is incredibly strong. And their hold components benefit from Domination. And there's a ton of -Res here too, between Disruption aura and the blasts. /Sonic alone allows me a nice spot as a Debuffer on my team along with the strong offensive options available.

 

Now, what does the build look like? Great question! My build goals for this came after extensive a little no testing on my part! And I still enjoy it! Here it is below:

 

Corvis - Dominator (Mind Control - Sonic Assault).mbd

 

Wow! What a crazy person walking around with almost no protection like that!

 

But I really didn't want it.

 

What really appealed to my goblin brain was how massive of a return you get from proccing Earsplitter and Shout. They each hit like moving vans, which is only amplified if you don't mind getting real snug with your enemy. Levitate, because it's funny. And Ice Mastery is just too good of a pool to pass up on. Those D-Syncs in Ice Storm are actually dirt cheap Dam/Rech ones, and it really helps when I need some AoE damage. Speaking of AoE, it's something I only really bust out if I desperately need to clear a mob quickly while solo, or if I'm in a team and need to help dump some damage.

 

It really does feel like a Blaster with some control, and I'm all for it!

 

Would I recommend this combo to anybody? Absolutely! Would I recommend this specific build to anybody? No!

Edited August 15, 2023 by Spaghetti Betty
fixed word choice

[MoonSheep]

glad you’re enjoying the primary,   mind/fire/ice is my main for many years now. i’d highly recommend picking up the ST confuse. you can confuse AVs through PTOD nullifying them, even the crystal titan can be confused - it’s an incredibly strong power

 

confusing rikti guardians and other ememies which can buff you will become a fun hobby. it also gives you access to a fast recharging power which doesn’t aggro enemies but takes them out of action, e.g sappers.

 

at lower levels, having both an ST hold and ST confuse readily available makes a big difference

[carroto]

On 8/14/2023 at 4:16 AM, Spaghetti Betty said:

Mind/Sonic/Ice

 

I wonder if you have any thoughts as to what make the power sets work of your two Doms you've stuck with that separates them from the others you've tried?  Obviously Mind Control is a uniquely powerful soloer, able to do so in safety that no other primary matches, but for me a lot of that comes from Mezmerize and Confuse, both of which you skipped.  I might have thought the commonality between Ill/ and Mind/ primaries that made them work for you is the confuse, but since you skipped it maybe not.  I wouldn't know how to even begin to guess at other power set combos to recommend based on those two.

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by carroto

[Spaghetti Betty]

On 8/14/2023 at 7:03 AM, MoonSheep said:

i’d highly recommend picking up the ST confuse

 

I want to, but I'm wondering what I should trade out in return. It wasn't too big of an issue in my trials, but I'm leaning on trading out Total Domination for it. I hardly ever press that button.

 

11 minutes ago, carroto said:

I wonder if you have any thoughts as to what make the power sets work of your two Doms you've stuck with that separates them from the others you've tried?  Obviously Mind Control is a uniquely powerful soloer, able to do so in safety that no other primary matches, but for me a lot of that comes from Mezmerize and Confuse, both of which you skipped.  I might have thought the commonality between Ill/ and Mind/ primaries that made them work for you is the confuse, but since you skipped it maybe not.  I wouldn't know how to even begin to guess at other power set combos to recommend based on those two.

 

I wish I could tell you! To this day, there is little to no synergy in the choices I make on what toons actually survive the climb to 50. Sometimes a concept just clicks.

 

14 minutes ago, carroto said:

ardent?

 

Yup. That's the word, thanks. Brain no worky after wakey.

[MoonSheep]

8 hours ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

 

I want to, but I'm wondering what I should trade out in return. It wasn't too big of an issue in my trials, but I'm leaning on trading out Total Domination for it. I hardly ever press that button.

 

i’d remove evasive manuvers, ice storm or an attack

 

definitely keep total domination, there will be times when having total dom, mass confuse, sleep and terrify will change the course of battle and make you feel god like

[Panache]

Commenting for updates as this is relevant to my new hyperfocus (Mind/Sonic/Psi). Definitely went with a different build direction (chasing capped Ranged + S/L Resists and permaHasten; took Mez and Confuse), but the Sonic slotting/strategy is really the trick with this combo. That set seems made for dual builds.

[Frosticus]

I could see not taking/using single target confuse on a mind/sonic. 

 

Same reason I almost never use it on my ill/sav. 

 

You have better openers and you want to get in the middle of the spawn asap. So single target confuse just ends up being counter to your aims. 

 

It is great while leveling and nice to have in some situations where it is the best you can do though. 

[Spaghetti Betty]

1 hour ago, Panache said:

Commenting for updates as this is relevant to my new hyperfocus (Mind/Sonic/Psi). Definitely went with a different build direction (chasing capped Ranged + S/L Resists and permaHasten; took Mez and Confuse), but the Sonic slotting/strategy is really the trick with this combo. That set seems made for dual builds.

The only thing I've changed since posting the original build was I swapped Levitate for Mesmerize with the same slotting. I'm hard pressed to get rid of much else in fear of disturbing my barely adequate global recharge.

 

I didn't really care much for trying to build defense as I like feeling blasty as a trade-off. It does lead to solo encounters being a bit meticulous but I think I enjoy that more, and I'm not the kind to have sour grapes over a few faceplants.

[Panache]

Oh for sure, I'd probably skip the ST Confuse if this wasn't a very theme-heavy build. I solo far more often than I team, so going the sturdier route is a playstyle choice.

[Rinwen]

Sorry for a bit of a tangent, (though my Mind/Psi & Grav/Energy Doms, with Perma-Dom, are my favorites), can you now bump your levels on the regular servers like you can on Test? I've been gone for about 3 years, so I apologize if this is a stupid question... or do you do this, and play, on Test?

 

I tend to create every character in which I may have interest as a level 50 on Test, then kit them out with cheaper enhancements, up through multi-billion Inf trust fund baby sets to see which I think are worth my time... but I'd love to get into either SO or IO sets right out of the gate on the regularserversif possible. .

[Spaghetti Betty]

4 hours ago, Rinwen said:

can you now bump your levels on the regular servers like you can on Test?

No. By "bump" I mean run a couple of farms on my alt account to skip the lower levels. I'm not one to "skip content" per se, but giving myself a little head start has been saving a lot of my toons from an early grave.

[Snarky]

On 8/29/2023 at 1:18 PM, Spaghetti Betty said:

No. By "bump" I mean run a couple of farms on my alt account to skip the lower levels. I'm not one to "skip content" per se, but giving myself a little head start has been saving a lot of my toons from an early grave.

I regularly take new toons through one or two ten minute "S tunnel" farms.  This gets them to high teens/low twenties.  Then a run through DFB for badges and start the "march through the TFs" in pretty much level order.  I just find this a lot easier than the choppy adding powers and slots every two minutes at 1-15.

[MoonSheep]

On 8/22/2023 at 7:48 PM, Spaghetti Betty said:

The only thing I've changed since posting the original build was I swapped Levitate for Mesmerize with the same slotting. I'm hard pressed to get rid of much else in fear of disturbing my barely adequate global recharge.

 

I didn't really care much for trying to build defense as I like feeling blasty as a trade-off. It does lead to solo encounters being a bit meticulous but I think I enjoy that more, and I'm not the kind to have sour grapes over a few faceplants.

 

 

that’s a smart choice in my view - i slotted mesmerize for damage, i use it as a reasonably useful psi attack against things like paragon protectors and the EBs on ITFs when they pop unstoppable