Attack strategies for elec/elec (solo and teams!)

[queequeg77]

Hi all,

After many, many tries, I finally have a dominator that I enjoy playing - elec/elec/mu. I'm at level 36 so far (which is the highest I've ever gotten a dom.)

 

I'm still muddling through trying to find the best attack strategies, both solo and on task forces/strike forces.

 

Solo, I build up & snipe the most troublesome enemy, then drop Static Field and/or Synaptic Overload to create chaos. Then it's Zapp/Thunderstrike/Havoc Punch/Static Discharge etc. until the Gremlins have finished everything off.

 

I have found the damage to be decent single-target, but lousy AOE (hopefully Ball Lightning will help once I've unlocked and slotted it.)

 

Solo, it's very survivable but slow going at +2/x2, even without perma-Dom.

On teams, I get crushed if I do anything other than my two AOE controls (Static & Synaptic) or single-target ranged attacks.

 

So I've got (too many) questions:

-Is Jolting Chain worth anything? The damage was terrible, knockdown undependable, so I dropped it.

-What's the best use of Chain Fences? I find myself rarely using it.

-Is Voltaic Sentinel worth the power pick and slots? I'm very much on the fence so far.

-Sapping is pretty effective solo, even with just a single EndMod IO in Conductive Aura. Is that going to continue to be useful?

-And what in the world do I do to contribute on teams/Task Forces? Static and Synaptic are great solo, but don't seem to add much on teams. And I'm too squishy to dive into big packs for melee... so I feel like a kinda crappy blaster.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

[Dauntless]

It is weird, given how un-plussed I am with electric control, that I have 3 toons with it as a primary.  

 

Solo, at your level, it is pretty much up to you.  I've typically   My bread and butter controls are the hold and confuse (synaptic overload), I'll use the sleep (static field) if confuse is down or I'm expecting adds.  And then burn things down.  I usually have conductive aura running to help with endurance management.

 

On teams, it doesn't have a good reliable "oops" control.  Sleep is alright, it is a location AOE, but I'm sure if you try harder than I do you can macro/bind more snap-worthy faster ability to place that location than trying to manually spot it in a pinch.  Confuse can get most of a spawn of mobs, but it takes some time.  The no-aggro is your friend here.  The AOE hold is your only real oops button, and it is subject to the problems in common with all of the AOE holds.  I tend to focus on locking down difficult targets and blasting - I'll put up confuse and/or sleep as the tactical situation permits but I'm generally not achieving the "master of the AOE controls" I typically do with my other doms.


Now on to your specific questions:

Most dom assault sets are lacking with AOE.  The good news is most epic picks can fill that hole nicely.

One thing to mind on teams to help keep from getting crushed is control causes aggro - not as much as a tank's multiplier but you should be able to pull aggro on nearly anything that isn't a tank, brute, or scrapper (with a tank-esque aggro aura).  You have to understand your group's dynamic before you open up freely with aoe control while you level, in the beginning you are better off holding what you hit but as you level you should learn what you are capable of handling and try to stay within that range.  (Or be like me and always push to be the hero as a way to help fund debt badges. 🙂

I don't use jolting chain very often, especially as I've leveled up.  But the knockdown is a reliable one-shot "control" for most bosses, even if it only lasts a few seconds.  It is often enough time to hold -> jolting chain -> ???? -> hold to lock down and average boss before he hits you too much.  Or you can chain -> hold -> ??? -> chain -> hold, with a little recharge and some lucky rag-doll effects you won't get clobbered at all.

Chain fences is a mag4 immobilize, it'll one-shot immobilize not only your average boss but also your average AV.  Your typical AV does not have high immobilize protection.  In theory that is helpful when facing AVs who like to run amok across the map, but in practice those AVs tend to have protection or resistance to immobilize.  I used to use it to catch Crimson on that one red-side mission, otherwise just treat it like a low level blast.  I usually skip it.

I tend to take the AOE immob though, slot it full of damage procs, and use it for damage.  They are usually very wide targeted powers.    You can probably do the same thing with the STI, but I've never really tried before.

I find voltaic sentinel helpful solo, but I usually forget to resummon him on a team.


If you are on a team where there isn't much of a demand or need for your controls, either other toons with easier to use controls or you are just speed-rolling, just sit back and enjoy it.  Even without a "what's a tank" presence like my mind dom can bring you can still contribute significantly to your team's bottom line.  I've run Manticore's task force a fair amount lately.  The smoothest run by far was the one with literally just one electric dom - she managed to hold nearly every paragon protector and I think we had to deal with only 1 or 2 MOGs the entire time.  It was easily the fastest run of them all. 

[Uun]

15 hours ago, Dauntless said:

Chain fences is a mag4 immobilize, it'll one-shot immobilize not only your average boss but also your average AV. 

Chain Fences is a mag 3 immobilize. Electric Fence is the mag 4 immobilize.

[queequeg77]

Thank you for the feedback!

I'll have to mess around with procs in Chain Fences to see if that makes it feel any more valuable.

 

Where's the best spot to slot the Ascendancy of the Dominator set? As far as I can tell, I can only put that into primary powers. Maybe that could make Chain Fences or Jolting Chain a decent power use?

 

It looks like the Dominating Grasp set doesn't have real useful bonuses. But would it's proc help out my damage as an Elec/Elec? With a different damage type, if nothing else?

[Dauntless]

9 hours ago, Uun said:

Chain Fences is a mag 3 immobilize. Electric Fence is the mag 4 immobilize.

 

Shoot, did I get them backwards?  Single target immob = mag4, aoe immob = mag 3.  STI can actually catch a surprising amount of foes in one shot, just not usually the AVs famous for running away.  AOE immob is better as an attack when slotted correctly.  Fill in the silly names as you see fit.  😄

[Dauntless]

33 minutes ago, queequeg77 said:

Where's the best spot to slot the Ascendancy of the Dominator set? As far as I can tell, I can only put that into primary powers. Maybe that could make Chain Fences or Jolting Chain a decent power use?

 

It looks like the Dominating Grasp set doesn't have real useful bonuses. But would it's proc help out my damage as an Elec/Elec? With a different damage type, if nothing else?

 

I have competing thoughts about ascendancy of the dominator - either in my opening AOE mez so it acts like a mini-build up (those typically recharge for 30ish seconds once slotted, perfect for the proc) or in my single target hold so it is part of my attack chain.   The opener makes it a reliable proc but the STH puts it into my normal attack chain, hopefully maximizing its single target use.

At the end of the day either is probably fine and I'm just inconsistent.