Looking for a good, updated Plant/Fire build...

[Story Archer]

I've been trying to put one together using the Experimentation pool (Thematic fit) for Speed of Sound, Corrosive Vial (proc'ed out) and Adrenal Booster, but every variation I've come up with has proven difficult to fine tune.

 

Pets or no pets? Fighting or Leadership? Which Epic Pool compliments best? It's driving me nuts because I feel like there's a really amazing character somewhere in there. Figure I'll be solo'ing 50% of the time.  Any help would be much appreciated.

[...]

I mean there's a 1000 ways to make this character. 

 

I prefer fire epic with 45% ranged defense and close to 75% smash lethal. 

 

I do combat jumping, fighting toggles, maneuvers, speed for hasten and super speed. 

 

I slot the full ATO set with the damage proc in the hold and the full purple is confuse into seeds. 

 

There are many other ways to build, such as relying on your controls and playing carefully. But your controls generally mean shit in AV fights, so I like to have the defense and resist. 

 

YMMV. 

[Caimie]

There are many ways to build Dominators, it all comes down to what concept and intended use/ play-style is.  Pets aren't mandatory, but they 'can' help and are a decent power to slot in 4 pieces of a set for recharge bonus.

 

There are those that get Fighting or Fighting & Leadership to bolster their survival, but the downside is added strain to to an already Endurance intensive AT when Domination isn't up to replenish it.  Your Controls are your best defense and damage resist, imo.

 

Yes, you can crutch Incarnate powers to help, and it is an option if needed.

 

I tend to make my Doms Perma-Dom and fairly exemplar friendly and they do solo fairly well. 

 

In that, Dominators are late bloomers (Plant/ is an exception to a point) and can struggle with EB's and AV's.  I tend to avoid AV's, but there are those that fight them and tune their builds to do so.

 

I'll include a Mid's EXAMPLE template, of one way I could build it, with your requirement for the Experimentation Pool, and you can see if it helps you with a build. 

 

There are some Powers. Epic pool included, that are essentially mules for things like LotG global +recharge (Maneuvers is one, since I never run it), so keep that in mind.

I chose sets with the intention of going Perma-Dom and bolstering Hit Points and resistances a bit, to soften some stray attacks that get thru.

 

 

 

 

Template-Dominator (Plant Control - Fire Assault).mbd

Edited December 25, 2024 by Caimie

[MoonSheep]

i main a mind/fire for the last 5.5 years (and for a few years on live) which isn't too dissimilar to plant/fire - both are primarily almost completely ranged based which gives you a lot of survival potential. not being in the middle of combat means you'll take far less damage

 

if i was to build this combo it would look very similar to @Caimie's build, i can't see much i'd majorly change given you want the experimentation pool so i'm not going to list any IO changes i'd prefer to have as it's personal preference. the only change i'd make is to take the ST immob rather than AoE immob to keep your team mates happy, an AoE immob is rarely appreciated thesedays

 

the build isn't too different to how i run my mind/fire either - a primary focus on recharge and damage. i wouldn't place much thought on building for defense as it's not needed when you have permadom and playing at range - a mezzed enemy deals no damage

 

plant is one of the strongest dom control sets out there and fire assault is the most damaging secondary (sorry @Mezmera! - i think the low activation times and fiery embrace give it an edge over our mutual friend energy assault) so you'll be in for a great ride

 

- i personally wouldn't use the pet much as i don't like to be tied down, but it'll be handy to have it at times

- go for any epic set you like, they're all reasonably average thesedays to be honest. i recently respecced mine to have mace mastery, i slotted the achilles heel -res proc in poisonous ray and it fires quite reliably and turns it into quite a strong -res debuff against AVs. i placed LoTG mules in scorpion shield and personal force field like how Caimie has done with psi mastery

- once you've played the alt a while, you'll find on some teams you'll be focusing heavily on control and keeping the chaos low, on other teams things will be well handled by the tank and you'll be mostly a damage dealer. a dom like this is 2 characters in one - a blaster and controller - stay tuned into what will help the situation. as a spoiler: seeds of confusion is usually the answer!

 

i'd reccomend levelling it organically and becoming familiar with it - it's one of the most powerful alts you'll play and will be great for any content

 

hope you enjoy it

[Onlyasandwich]

16 hours ago, ... said:

There are many other ways to build, such as relying on your controls and playing carefully.

This was my strategy! Your thoughts regarding AVs are correct though. A dom needs a thicker layer of beef if they plan to solo AVs. On a team, the damage optimized strategy that relies more on controls will be more effective.

 

My build hasn't been updated in a little while, but I don't see much I would change! I love my Plant/fire dom - one of my favorite fellows.

 

Squeezing in Experimentation would be a little bit tricky, but here is my build for comparison:

Dominator - Plant Control - Fiery Assault mk2.mbd

 

I like that everything can contribute good damage here, including the controls. No matter what you do, consider the Carrion Creepers slotting in this build. This power is an absolute monster when procced out with targeted aoe.

[Mezmera]

On 12/25/2024 at 11:42 AM, MoonSheep said:

i main a mind/fire for the last 5.5 years (and for a few years on live) which isn't too dissimilar to plant/fire - both are primarily almost completely ranged based which gives you a lot of survival potential. not being in the middle of combat means you'll take far less damage

 

if i was to build this combo it would look very similar to @Caimie's build, i can't see much i'd majorly change given you want the experimentation pool so i'm not going to list any IO changes i'd prefer to have as it's personal preference. the only change i'd make is to take the ST immob rather than AoE immob to keep your team mates happy, an AoE immob is rarely appreciated thesedays

 

the build isn't too different to how i run my mind/fire either - a primary focus on recharge and damage. i wouldn't place much thought on building for defense as it's not needed when you have permadom and playing at range - a mezzed enemy deals no damage

 

plant is one of the strongest dom control sets out there and fire assault is the most damaging secondary (sorry @Mezmera! - i think the low activation times and fiery embrace give it an edge over our mutual friend energy assault) so you'll be in for a great ride

 

- i personally wouldn't use the pet much as i don't like to be tied down, but it'll be handy to have it at times

- go for any epic set you like, they're all reasonably average thesedays to be honest. i recently respecced mine to have mace mastery, i slotted the achilles heel -res proc in poisonous ray and it fires quite reliably and turns it into quite a strong -res debuff against AVs. i placed LoTG mules in scorpion shield and personal force field like how Caimie has done with psi mastery

- once you've played the alt a while, you'll find on some teams you'll be focusing heavily on control and keeping the chaos low, on other teams things will be well handled by the tank and you'll be mostly a damage dealer. a dom like this is 2 characters in one - a blaster and controller - stay tuned into what will help the situation. as a spoiler: seeds of confusion is usually the answer!

 

i'd reccomend levelling it organically and becoming familiar with it - it's one of the most powerful alts you'll play and will be great for any content

 

hope you enjoy it

 

Actually.  There was a test of Dominator assaults a little while ago.  While it was easy to ascertain the more pets the better damage output on a single target i.e. Illusion and Patron pets, there was a wide range of testing of the various assaults.  It seems the assaults are all pretty well balanced, capable of various things depending on what you want it to do albeit there is more ST focused sets and other more AoE oriented. 

 

 

My Energy assault dommie was not outdone once by a dom with Fire assault.  That was left to the Martial assault dommie....                             

 

Envenomed Blades allowing pets to get in on the proc'd extra damage ticks is pretty nifty, who knew?!

 

Fire assault is quite fine, especially if you like to play at range.  If you don't mind getting your hands dirty the dpa on Total Focus, Power Burst and Snipe are hard to match, even factoring in Total Focus' longer animation.  What let other sets keep up to Energy mostly is being able to get the pvp -res proc into a nice consistent firing chain which Energy doesn't have a good pbaoe power it would fire well in.  Plus Energy can't get its pets to cheat.  

 

Also, If you go Fire assault you're almost shoehorned into taking Fire Mastery.  Where Energy and most other assaults can pick an epic pool at their leisure.  

 

Plant/Fire is a solid dommie.  Top overall control set and Energy's little brother assault.  

Edited December 29, 2024 by Mezmera

[MoonSheep]

5 hours ago, Mezmera said:

 

Actually.  There was a test of Dominator assaults a little while ago.  While it was easy to ascertain the more pets the better damage output on a single target i.e. Illusion and Patron pets, there was a wide range of testing of the various assaults.  It seems the assaults are all pretty well balanced, capable of various things depending on what you want it to do albeit there is more ST focused sets and other more AoE oriented. 

 

 

My Energy assault dommie was not outdone once by a dom with Fire assault.  That was left to the Martial assault dommie....                             

 

Envenomed Blades allowing pets to get in on the proc'd extra damage ticks is pretty nifty, who knew?!

 

Fire assault is quite fine, especially if you like to play at range.  If you don't mind getting your hands dirty the dpa on Total Focus, Power Burst and Snipe are hard to match, even factoring in Total Focus' longer animation.  What let other sets keep up to Energy mostly is being able to get the pvp -res proc into a nice consistent firing chain which Energy doesn't have a good pbaoe power it would fire well in.  Plus Energy can't get its pets to cheat.  

 

Also, If you go Fire assault you're almost shoehorned into taking Fire Mastery.  Where Energy and most other assaults can pick an epic pool at their leisure.  

 

Plant/Fire is a solid dommie.  Top overall control set and Energy's little brother assault.  

 

i’d say fire, energy and earth stand out with their impactful burst damage. i focus mostly on bosses when playing my dom - mez them and remove them from combat, the luts/minions tend to dissolve from the rest of the team

 

i’ve never been a fan of fire mastery, i think it’s a one trick pony of a set. if you want more AoE it’s fine, but i prefer to try other things

[Onlyasandwich]

2 hours ago, MoonSheep said:

one trick pony of a set. if you want more AoE it’s fine, but i prefer to try other things

It's a pretty decent trick!

 

The other powers within are very worthwhile as well, and require minimal slot investment. Even Melt armor is workable after the buff pass. Previously it was the trashiest res debuff out there in epics.