/Dark Build Ideas

VoidWolf3 · July 7, 2019

Hi there all,

Long time lurker/player but 1st-time poster.

Not much of a Dominator specialist let alone /Dark so I'm handing this off to people with more experience than I. Is there a reason you don't see (at least in my experience) many /Dark Doms around? The reason I ask is I've just created a Fire/Dark in the hopes that I'll be able to enjoy all content (solo/group/farm) without having to make your stereotypical Fire/Psi or Fire/Kin etc. I do enjoy the Splattroller style of gameplay I must say hence why I chose Fire/Dark to begin with (seeing a PBAoE and high ST Damage powers gets me excited) I just don't have much of a clue as to what exactly is skippable in /Dark.

I can post the build (at least power pick wise) that I've started down if that'll help give people an idea of where I'm coming from.

Cheers in advance,

Void

Vulpoid · July 7, 2019

There are at least 3 other threads about this below, but I don't blame you, I am trying to get information as well! ;)

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/index.php/topic,6130.0.html

I have also been encouraging expert players to post more "Leveling" type guides instead of finished builds that require economic support from a farmer.

I like getting advice as to what to pick at level 12, when you are level 12... that kind of thing.

I wish we could skip Dark Blast. I am going to pass on the AOE Immobilize, I think it is called Living Shadows. When I am on a large group, I find the target of Possess often gets killed before the confuse can really help. Solo I like it a great deal, because it does not aggro other mobs or when it misses. I like Fearsome Stare, it gives me time to get into melee for a bit.

Anybody else?

VoidWolf3 · July 7, 2019

Thanks for the reply Vulpoid!

yeah, I read that post last night and actually asked if someone could share a build from it...nevermind :)

How is the /Dark attack powers working out for you? what level are you currently at? as mentioned before /Dark isn't my strong suit but it appears to have an array of abilities that fit my play style!

Vulpoid · July 7, 2019

I played a DM/SR scrapper and a Dark/Dark Defender to 50 way back when... The Dominator Dark Assault choices are a mix of those 2 attack groups.

I have played with all of them, but have settled on Smite, Gloom, Nightfall, Life Drain, Gather Shadows and Midnight Grasp as must have powers.

I don't slot Dark Blast or have it in my tray, but do use Sands of Mu and Blackwand to fill out my attack chain. So far I am lv 23, and have not used the higher stuff with this character, but have on previous ones years ago.

Mezmera · July 7, 2019

Hi my main and favorite character to play is my Mind/Dark dominator. I play it A LOT and do some extraordinary things with it. Aside from Life Drain and Gather Shadows there's no real reason to play /dark. You'll get better AoE and ST damage elsewhere in the secondaries.

BUT it does have some comparably strong powers. Moonbeam for instance is a really strong attack as it is you'll just want to go leadership for tactics and put a kismet into something like weave, cj or hover, this way when you click Gather Shadows it's secondary boost will get you above that +22% to-hit for the instant snipe. The PBAoE is standard, nothing too special about it, it's nice to have when you're surrounded, so take it and at least 5 slot it with the purple set for the recharge bonus. You have to take Dark Blast, it's an okay attack. The negative to-hit is a decent side bonus to your attacks which help with builds including good defenses from IO bonuses.

Now on to the bread and butter of why to go /dark. Life Drain is fantastically reliable, 6 slot that with 3 being Touch of Nictus for max healing and 3 being the purple ranged damage set for maxing out it's damage as well. It's an I'm in trouble power lets attack and heal all in one. Then there's Gather Shadows and all its uberness. This power makes your primary so much more effective along with your heal, defenses, tohit, etc. It also give your attacks 30% more damage. These two powers are the backbone of why to go /dark dominator.

As for what to take and not I'll give you the bare bones of what to take and leave the rest for you to decide. You need to take Dark Blast, then there's Gather Shadows and the PBAoE attack. You'll also want Moonbeam and Life Drain for your good ST damage and healing. Everything else is pretty much skippable. I don't take the t9 melee attack since it's not great damage and it's tics. When I go into melee I like to have a thumper and no Dominator secondary has a single target attack like Energy Transfer which you can get from the Epic Pools. The drawback of ET is that on a squishy you don't quite have the HP to just keep throwing out ET's with the constant loss of HP but it synergies so well with Life Drain. ET is my main source of damage followed up with Life Drain to heal me back up.

In short /dark lets you make some unique choices later on in your epic pools. Gather Shadows and Life Drain are great, Moonbeam is standard, and -tohit is not OP but does have an effect.

VoidWolf3 · July 8, 2019

Wow I didn't expect to read that there's so much wiggle room in /Dark with only 2 set defining powers. I've currently picked up everything except Night Fall on my Fire/Dark :P I mean the ST attacks are well above average, the PBAoE is the hardest hitting one of all Dom assault sets with the exception of Atom Smasher from Rad Assault (but that has a smaller radius admittedly). This is all coming from Pines so whether in game is different I don't know yet. Also, I enjoy being amongst it hence the decision to pick Fire/ and the power picks I made (looking to be able to do similar things the Fire/Psi can do farm wise whether that's viable?). Unless I can be swayed otherwise I'm open to options on power picks though :)

Grabbed the Ice EPP for Sleet/Frozen Armor/Ice Storm (makes it easier to slot for LOTG+Recharge it seems for the purpose of permadom/hasten otherwise I would've liked to pick the Fire EPP.)

Mezmera · July 8, 2019

Didn't mean to come off as slighting or overly embellishing the power set. I'd say it's working as it is intended. The set offers good single target damage which the best you can get would be in /fire but it's up there. The snipe is the standard hard hitter you can get nowadays in most doms secondaries. The AoE power is yes probably by a margin the strongest hitting one of the bunch and like you say it is a smallish area though so if your aim is AoE it's probably found to be better in other sets but the strength of this one lets you compete.

Basically in that long winded run down of powers it boils down to Gather Shadows and Life Drain which differentiate the secondary from the others as you can tell. It has above average ST damage and AoE damage but really shines because you can heal while attacking and your primary along with some damage is boosted from Gather Shadows.

I'd recommend looking at the Primal Forces Epic, Energy Transfer's damage on a dominator is just incomparable to any other attack you can get and /dark is best suited to make full use of it.

Riverdusk · July 9, 2019

Dark blast is actually one of the better t1 dom attacks. Be thankful you don't have to put up with psi dart.

VoidWolf3 · July 9, 2019

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Ok so the above is a very...VERY rough draft on simply trying to achieve permadom without gimping too much on defense (as well as limiting purples). Either way, though this seems a very slot hungry combo and don't mind the missing slots etc...i'm still working out how to get the best out of my EPP. Testing with Primal thanks too Mezmera's advice :) Stealth is simply there as a LOTG set mule. Please any advice on power picks would be muchly appreciated as I'm wracking my brain on how I can make this work!

Mezmera · July 9, 2019

Purples and all IO's aren't really all that hard to attain compared to how much of a grind it was on live. If there's any AT that screams build it right it's putting the best you can into a dominator. I gun for good enough recharge around +85% from bonuses and as much ranged defense I can pull out on top of that.

For /dark I go with 5 slotting Dark Blast with decimations (don't have this power in my attack chain). 2 slots on Gather Shadows, 5 on the pbaoe with the purple set. 6 on Life Drain, 3 touch of nictus with healing and accuracy and 3 from the ranged purple set to max out damage and accuracy. And finally 6 slots on Moonbeam with 5 being the maticores and the last being the purple ranged proc.

As for the regular pools you'll be able to get lots of gambler mules from some defense heavy sets. You have to take hasten and you can take Super Speed as your mode of travel then. I love leadership always have, you get maneuvers and vengeance, you can throw a gambler in and call it a day and take tactics to boost your to-hit. Vengeance is just so good in teams. Usually I go with fighting for tough and weave to hold any more uniques I'd like to have like kismet, gamblers and the resist uniques. I have tough and weave 3 slotted at the moment. You could do stealth pool or leaping with Combat Jump. Last pool is up to you I don't even need to go for anything specific so I play around with the sorcery and the presence pools for fun.

For the Epic I have ET 5 slotted with the purple set with the proc and I have 6 slots on the armor with full set of gladiator armor.

Nor sure your primary but control sets get lots of love from what they're able to put purples into. I try to 6 slot anything that'll get me both recharge and ranged defense. The one ATO set into your ST hold is good and any confuse sets if you can.

VoidWolf3 · July 10, 2019

This is my attempt at permadom from the advice above albeit sacrificing some defense using the Fire EPP in this instance. Would love if people could go over it for me and see if there's anything that needs to be improved in either a power pick or slot distribution area. Am open to changing EPP's also as I've reached 50 and am keen on a respec. Lastly, advice on Incarnates (mainly just alpha slot)

Cheers all,

Void

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.962

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Pyrul Noir: Level 50 Science Dominator

Primary Power Set: Fire Control

Secondary Power Set: Dark Assault

Power Pool: Speed

Power Pool: Leaping

Power Pool: Leadership

Power Pool: Concealment

Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery

Villain Profile:

Level 1: Char

(A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold
(3) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge
(3) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold
(5) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold

Level 1: Dark Blast

(A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
(5) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
(7) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
(7) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
(9) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge

Level 2: Smite

(A) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage
(9) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance
(11) Crushing Impact - Damage/Recharge
(11) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(13) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

Level 4: Super Speed

(A) Run Speed IO

Level 6: Fire Cages

(A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
(13) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
(15) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
(15) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
(17) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

Level 8: Super Jump

(A) Jumping IO

Level 10: Combat Jumping

(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed

Level 12: Flashfire

(A) Stupefy - Accuracy/Recharge
(17) Stupefy - Endurance/Stun
(19) Stupefy - Accuracy/Endurance
(19) Stupefy - Stun/Range
(21) Stupefy - Accuracy/Stun/Recharge

Level 14: Maneuvers

(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
(48) Kismet - Accuracy +6%
(48) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance

Level 16: Hasten

(A) Recharge Reduction IO
(21) Recharge Reduction IO
(23) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 18: Cinders

(A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold
(23) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge
(25) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold
(25) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold

Level 20: Engulfing Darkness

(A) Armageddon - Damage
(27) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge
(27) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(29) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge
(29) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance

Level 22: Tactics

(A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
(31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
(31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
(31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
(33) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
(33) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up

Level 24: Hot Feet

(A) Obliteration - Damage
(33) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
(34) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
(34) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(34) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge

Level 26: Bonfire

(A) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown
(36) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Endurance/Recharge

Level 28: Life Drain

(A) Touch of the Nictus - Healing
(36) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Healing
(36) Touch of the Nictus - Heal/HitPoints/Regeneration/Recharge
(37) Apocalypse - Damage
(37) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge
(37) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge

Level 30: Gather Shadows

(A) Recharge Reduction IO
(40) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 32: Fire Imps

(A) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Recharge
(40) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage
(40) Expedient Reinforcement - Damage/Endurance
(42) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(50) Expedient Reinforcement - Endurance/Damage/Recharge
(50) Expedient Reinforcement - Resist Bonus Aura for Pets

Level 35: Grant Invisibility

(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed

Level 38: Midnight Grasp

(A) Hecatomb - Damage
(42) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge
(42) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(43) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Recharge
(43) Hecatomb - Damage/Endurance

Level 41: Fire Ball

(A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
(43) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
(45) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
(45) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
(45) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

Level 44: Rain of Fire

(A) Ragnarok - Damage
(46) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge
(46) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(46) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Recharge
(48) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance

Level 47: Invisibility

(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed

Level 49: Vengeance

(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
(50) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge

Level 1: Brawl

(A) Empty

Level 1: Domination

Level 1: Prestige Power Dash

(A) Empty

Level 1: Prestige Power Slide

(A) Empty

Level 1: Prestige Power Quick

(A) Empty

Level 1: Prestige Power Rush

(A) Empty

Level 1: Prestige Power Surge

(A) Empty

Level 1: Sprint

(A) Empty

Level 2: Rest

(A) Empty

Level 4: Ninja Run

Level 2: Swift

(A) Run Speed IO

Level 2: Health

(A) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
(39) Numina's Convalesence - Heal

Level 2: Hurdle

(A) Jumping IO

Level 2: Stamina

(A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
(39) Performance Shifter - EndMod
(39) Endurance Modification IO

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

Mezmera · July 11, 2019

Not too bad looking. I've not played the fire side of control so not much to add to that side of the equation, looks fine enough with all the other purple sets you have going on.

A few questions I'd have for myself when building this.

First why not take the Epic Shield in the fire mastery in case some damage gets through? What with all the vet temp travels do you really need more than Super Speed? Leaping pool seems a waste to your build. I've been experimenting with Sorcery it looks pretty nice the 30% resist all damage and a travel to boot. If your going the Invisibility pool all you really need is stealth and super speed and the stealth IO to be purely invisible. I prefer super speed + stealth IO which frees up another pool, BUT you can slot gamblers into that pool so I get it. Gather Shadows, take that as soon as it's available at 16.

I would definitely not take midnight grasp over moonbeam. Smite is good put the hecatombs in that and take Moonbeam. You already will have the kismet + tactics running you'll be able to max out your to hit for so much more damage on Moonbeam than you ever will on Midnight Grasp.

There's some wasted slotting. Vengeance only needs the Gambler + recharge. Health I put the numina and miracle + recoveries, the regen from health as a dominator is marginal if that. Hasten only needs 2 slots now thanks to the ability to 50+5 your IOs. You can probably slot the Stealth IO into sprint or Super speed so you can turn it on when you want the added stealth.

Just a small critique to give you a baseline for reasoning on choices. By all means keep your flavor.

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