Dominator Healing Options and Mez Protected mobs during Leveling

[RothenOrderCOH]

I've played Controllers for a a long time. I never tried Dominators on live, so now I figured I was going to give it a shot. When I come up against groups that can't be mezzed or take a couple of applications to hold them, I go to hit my heal button. Ops, I'm not a Controller and I don't have a heal button anymore. I pop inspirations like candy at that point. I can hit them with Possession (Dark Control) and Fear, but mobs like Thorns Spirits, can really beat the snot out of me. I'll run and try to get more under control as I'm retreating. Since I run solo most of the time, I was wondering if there were more tricks I could try? I'm in my mid teens, and I am starting to get more crafted enhancements slotted. I will lead with possess and then fear what I can, then start locking down groups and hitting them with my attacks and holds, but sometimes, I'll miss and one will break free and then everything starts going south. I guess my Controller secondaries have made me soft.... 

[Coyote]

1: Possess the mobs that give -ToHit, then they'll hit the other guys for you.

2: With the -ToHit from Dark Control, pre-emptively using a Luck will stack with the Defense and probably do more than several Respites.

3: Yes, compared to Controllers, Dominators are faster... but also harder. They do mroe damage but have fewer defenses, so... when things go well they go faster, and when things don't, they go to the hospital faster 😛

[Ankylosaur]

And of course Domination - some save it for times like that - to break free from a mez, or lock down difficult mobs. Others pop it as soon as possible. Getting hasten will be handy to keep Domination up more often (as it is possible to fill your bar before the power has recharged). I don't really know the Dark set, but some things that get often skipped on Controllers, like group sleep, can be helpful too for those times of soloing panic.

[lobster]

I'd say that doms are one of the most complex (if not the most complex) classes to play, so it can take quite a while to find your groove.

 

More than any other class except maybe blapper style blasters, a good dominator has to be aware of : positioning, recharge times on powers, durations on powers, how many applications of a power it takes to lock a particular monster down, and how many attacks it takes to defeat a given opponent class (min/lt/boss).  It's a lot to juggle, and not for everyone.   There's also the playstyle changes that come with perma-dom (which you should absolutely aim for as a dominator), which can be significant.

 

If you really want a heal, you could try /savage or /psi secondary.

 

In addition to what the others have said, since you are dark, when fighting hold resistant monsters, you could try dropping confuse, then shadow field from around the corner - if you get lucky it will tick on the boss or resistant monster and you can follow up with dark grasp, locking them down.   Slotting fearsome stare for -tohit can help too.  You can also stack 2 confuses on the resistant monster before engaging.

Edited August 10, 2019 by lobster

[Dark Current]

Nemesis Staff kb is a great opener against a mez-resistant boss / target. Hit with that, then throw first app of hold. By the time it's standing up, your hold is recharged and you can hit again.

[oedipus_tex]

A sneaky move that is important to learn is the 'around the corner' psuedo-pet drop.

 

Powers that summon psuedo pets don't require line of sight to the location where you drop the pet. As long as your camera can see the drop location, you can place the pet even if your actual character wouldn't be able to see it.

 

Shadow Field is an excellent candidate for this opening move on enemies that are too tough for you to launch an alpha head-on. The enemies won't be able to shoot back because they dont have LoS to you.

 

This works better on some powers than others. Powers that also include a Slow effect (Ice's Ice Slick) or a mezz (Electric's Static Field) are extra good at this.

 

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by oedipus_tex