Please critique this build

[Speed Freak]

I just hit 50 with my Mind/Dark Dommie. The build below was Frankenstitched together from a couple of different posts I found on this forum (Thanks @Mezmera!)  but I don't know that what I've done is the optimum way for the 2 sets to play together. Your thoughts, comments, and suggestions would be welcome.

 

Frank build - Hero Dominator
Build plan made with Mids' Reborn v3.7.5 rev. 21
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• Primary powerset: Mind Control
• Secondary powerset: Dark Assault
• Pool powerset (#1): Speed
• Pool powerset (#2): Force of Will
• Pool powerset (#3): Leadership
• Pool powerset (#4): Fighting
• Epic powerset: Energy Mastery

──────────────────────────────

Powers taken:

Level 1: Mesmerize

• A: Apocalypse: Damage

Level 1: Dark Blast

• A: Decimation: Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• 3: Decimation: Accuracy/Damage
• 3: Decimation: Damage/Endurance
• 5: Decimation: Damage/Recharge
• 5: Decimation: Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge

Level 2: Dominate

• A: Superior Ascendency of the Dominator: Accuracy/Control Duration
• 9: Superior Ascendency of the Dominator: Control Duration/Recharge
• 11: Superior Ascendency of the Dominator: Endurance/Recharge
• 11: Superior Ascendency of the Dominator: Accuracy/Control Duration/Endurance
• 13: Superior Ascendency of the Dominator: Accuracy/Control Duration/Endurance/Recharge
• 13: Superior Ascendency of the Dominator: Recharge/Chance for +Damage

Level 4: Hasten

• A: Invention: Recharge Reduction
• 15: Invention: Recharge Reduction

Level 6: Mighty Leap

• A: Unbounded Leap: Jumping

Level 8: Confuse

• A: Coercive Persuasion : Confused
• 15: Coercive Persuasion : Confused/Recharge
• 17: Coercive Persuasion : Confused/Recharge/Accuracy
• 17: Coercive Persuasion : Recharge/Accuracy
• 19: Coercive Persuasion : Confused/Endurance
• 19: Coercive Persuasion : Contagious Confusion

Level 10: Maneuvers

• A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 12: Kick

• A: Force Feedback: Chance for +Recharge

Level 14: Weaken Resolve

• A: Achilles' Heel: Chance for Res Debuff

Level 16: Gather Shadows

• A: Invention: Recharge Reduction

Level 18: Total Domination

• A: Unbreakable Constraint: Hold/Recharge
• 21: Unbreakable Constraint: Hold/Recharge/Accuracy
• 21: Unbreakable Constraint: Recharge/Accuracy
• 23: Unbreakable Constraint: Hold/Endurance
• 23: Unbreakable Constraint: Chance for Smashing Damage
• 25: Neuronic Shutdown: Chance of Damage(Psionic)

Level 20: Tactics

• A: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control: To Hit Buff
• 25: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control: To Hit Buff/Recharge
• 27: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control: To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
• 27: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control: Recharge/Endurance
• 29: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control: To Hit Buff/Endurance
• 29: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control: Chance for Build Up

Level 22: Tough

• A: Unbreakable Guard: +Max HP
• 31: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance
• 31: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance/Endurance
• 31: Unbreakable Guard: RechargeTime/Resistance
• 33: Steadfast Protection: Resistance/+Def 3%

Level 24: Unleash Potential

• A: Shield Wall: +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
• 33: Shield Wall: Defense/Recharge
• 33: Shield Wall: Defense/Endurance/Recharge
• 34: Shield Wall: Defense
• 34: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 26: Mass Confusion

• A: Malaise's Illusions: Accuracy/Recharge
• 34: Malaise's Illusions: Endurance/Confused
• 36: Malaise's Illusions: Accuracy/Endurance
• 36: Malaise's Illusions: Confused/Range
• 36: Malaise's Illusions: Accuracy/Confused/Recharge
• 37: Malaise's Illusions: Chance of Damage(Psionic)

Level 28: Engulfing Darkness

• A: Eradication: Chance for Energy Damage
• 37: Eradication: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• 37: Eradication: Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• 39: Multi-Strike: Damage/Recharge
• 39: Multi-Strike: Damage/Endurance/Recharge

Level 30: Life Drain

• A: Superior Winter's Bite: Recharge/Chance for -Speed & -Recharge
• 39: Superior Winter's Bite: Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime
• 40: Superior Winter's Bite: Damage/RechargeTime
• 40: Superior Winter's Bite: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• 40: Superior Winter's Bite: Accuracy/Damage/Recharge

Level 32: Vengeance

• A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 35: Energy Transfer

• A: Hecatomb: Chance of Damage(Negative)
• 42: Hecatomb: Damage
• 42: Hecatomb: Damage/Recharge
• 42: Hecatomb: Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
• 43: Hecatomb: Recharge/Accuracy

Level 38: Moon Beam

• A: Sting of the Manticore: Accuracy/Damage
• 43: Sting of the Manticore: Damage/Endurance
• 43: Sting of the Manticore: Damage/Interrupt/Recharge
• 45: Sting of the Manticore: Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• 45: Sting of the Manticore: Chance of Damage(Toxic)

Level 41: Temp Invulnerability

• A: Gladiator's Armor: TP Protection +3% Def (All)
• 45: Gladiator's Armor: Resistance
• 46: Gladiator's Armor: End/Resist
• 46: Gladiator's Armor: Recharge/Resist
• 46: Gladiator's Armor: Resistance/Rech/End

Level 44: Weave

• A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• 48: Luck of the Gambler: Defense

Level 47: Conserve Power

• A: Invention: Recharge Reduction
• 48: Invention: Recharge Reduction
• 48: Invention: Recharge Reduction

Level 49: Energy Torrent

• A: Sudden Acceleration: Knockback to Knockdown
• 50: Explosive Strike: Chance for Smashing Damage
• 50: Positron's Blast: Chance of Damage(Energy)
• 50: Javelin Volley: Chance of Damage(Lethal)

──────────────────────────────

Inherents:

Level 1: Domination

Level 1: Brawl

• (Empty)

Level 1: Sprint

• A: Celerity: +Stealth

Level 2: Rest

• A: Invention: Endurance Modification

Level 1: Swift

• A: Invention: Flight Speed

Level 1: Hurdle

• A: Invention: Jumping

Level 1: Health

• A: Miracle: +Recovery
• 7: Numina's Convalesence: +Regeneration/+Recovery

Level 1: Stamina

• A: Performance Shifter: Chance for +End
• 7: Invention: Endurance Modification
• 9: Invention: Endurance Modification

Level 6: Takeoff

Level 49: Quick Form

──────────────────────────────
Accolades:

• Freedom Phalanx Reserve
• Portal Jockey
• Task Force Commander
• The Atlas Medallion

──────────────────────────────
Incarnates:

Agility Core Paragon

Void Core Final Judgement

Carnival Radial Superior Ally

Diamagnetic Core Flawless Interface

Assault Radial Embodiment

Barrier Core Epiphany

Frank - Dominator (Mind Control - Dark Assault).mbd

Edited Saturday at 04:45 AM by Speed Freak

[MoonSheep]

hey - i would suggest playing the character for a good few levels in game before making a build so that you have a sense of what's useful and what would benefit the alt. from the powers you've chosen it seems you may not be familiar with the archetype or the powersets, e.g. your two primary damage dealing attacks are missing (gloom and midnight grasp) and the overall build doesn't make much sense for a dominator

 

i would also suggest looking at rolling something like an ice blast sentinel, it may fit what you're looking for from a playstyle. ice blast has 2 holds and a whole secondary for defense which looks to fit better with your aims, else you may be disappointed to play a character which isn't inherently set up as a attack:defense playstyle

Edited Sunday at 08:54 AM by MoonSheep

[EnjoyTheJourney]

A few thoughts below on tweaking the build ...

 

Recharge, defense, and resistance totals are reasonable for the kind of build you're putting together. 

Building on what MoonSheep mentioned, smite, gloom, and midnight grasp all offer better damage per second of activation time than life drain and dark blast. 

 

Terrify is a bread and butter power for mind doms. This is true because total domination and mass confusion have recharge times that are too long for swapping between them for each spawn unless the rate of progress through missions is very, very slow. 

 

Build efficiency can be improved by looking at more builds to figure out the maximum impact places to use damage procs; on that note, putting a damage proc into a power that doesn't recharge more than about once per minute tends to be less beneficial than putting damage procs into powers used regularly as part of an attack chain. 

 

Putting a third generic recharge IO into a power is probably overkill. It tends to be more efficient to put in two level 50 generic recharge IOs, then boost them both to +3 or +5, and to then put that third slot elsewhere. 

Hopefully these thoughts help. 

 

[Speed Freak]

Thanks for your replies and helpful suggestions, I'll take them into account on the next iteration of the build 😃

[EnjoyTheJourney]

I don't have a mind / dark build handy. But, in case you want to try stitching something together here are a couple of different builds, one with mind control and another with dark assault. There are ideas you might find useful in both builds (or decide that you don't like, that's always up to you). 

The mind / fire build is defensively conservative, giving up a noticeable amount of damage to softcap ranged defense. The second build settles for lower ranged defense and relies more on a combination of controls, to hit debuffs, aggro control, and healing from life drain to minimize defeats. 

 

PS: The triple dark build is noticeably flawed, with insufficient accuracy in soul consumption. Slotting for that power should be carefully evaluated if you decide to take dark mastery. 

 

PSS: It's possible to drop gloom and replace it with dominate if you proc up dominate. Then you can put the apocalypse set into moonbeam. I haven't done those calculations. But, a quick look suggested that might lead to higher single target damage. It's also helpful to have a single target hold in your single target attack chain; a lot of mobs (right up to AVs) can end up being held a noticeable percentage of the time if you're constantly stacking holds as part of your single target attack chain. You'll still want enough recharge, though, so you'll want to carefully balance those considerations. Finally, life drain is worth keeping if you can fit it in because it will sometimes save your dom from being defeated. 

 

 

Dark Humour - Dominator (Darkness Control - Dark Assault - Dark Mastery),v2.mbd

Dominator (Mind Control - Fiery Assault - Fire Mastery),SoftcappedRange.mbd

Edited Monday at 02:25 AM by EnjoyTheJourney

[EnjoyTheJourney]

I had a little time, so I put together a mind / dark / fire build. There are some ideas in here that you may like. Or not, of course. 

Hopefully you have a blast with your mind / dark dom, however you build.

 

Dominator (Mind Control - Dark Assault - Fire Mastery).mbd

Edited Monday at 03:12 AM by EnjoyTheJourney

[Speed Freak]

2 hours ago, EnjoyTheJourney said:

I had a little time, so I put together a mind / dark / fire build.

Thank you so much! I have PTSD which causes me issues with math and memory. I'm trying to work on making my own builds but it's a slog.

[EnjoyTheJourney]

Glad to be of help. 

To get a better sense of how the mind / dark / fire build is intended to work, look at the "totals" tab on the bottom left hand side of the screen. Then toggle on gather shadows and unleash potential. Then look again at defense and recovery totals in the "totals" tab. You'll see both defense and recovery totals spike. The key to getting that to happen in-game is to cast gather shadows first, followed by unleash potential before the buff from gather shadows runs out. That combination is intended to provide good "peak survivability" when the going gets too rough for an occasional use of life drain to keep your dom in the fight. It can also help to fix endurance problems when a domination end bar refill won't happen for a while.

Barrier core tier 4 also helps with peak survivability, as does melee core tier 4 hybrid. Stagger when you use them and unleash potential so you always have at least one of them running when taking on dangerous content. If you'd like to carry this idea even further, you can get the demonic aura accolade, then convert to hero-side to make it Geas of the Kind Ones if you'd rather run a hero or vigilante, for a 1 minute buff to help cover periods when your other "peak survivability" tools are not enough or not available.

This way of organizing peak survivability helps quite a bit when in melee against archvillains, giant monsters, or elite bosses. 

Also, the "chance for +damage" proc in midnight grasp can get up to 3 stacks if you're chaining together single target attacks. That can add noticeably to damage, so bear that in mind when figuring out which single target powers to use and in which order. 

None of these ideas tie you to trying out the build provided above, though. By all means, borrow and/or adapt whatever you like and ignore whatever you don't. 

[Championess]

I've got one of these.  First glance I'd take Smite its one of the best dpa attacks doms can get and at lvl 1 at that.  Gloom and Midnight Grasp are whatever.  You want 3 beefy ST attacks the rest should be your controls and aoe.  The attacks I'd use are Smite, Moonbeam and ET (likely proc'd out).

 

With your strong epic armor I'd likely skip Fighting in lieu of Stealth, should save you 2 power picks there.  Also with the change to TK I'd likely take that along with the combo move Levitate.  Its a unique type of mitigation you get there.  I compare its utility to say Terrify.  Of all the powers in Mind Control I could see not taking are Mesmerize and Mass Hypnosis.  The rest all bring a unique flavor.

Edited Monday at 05:30 PM by Championess