Earth Control/Earth Assault Dominator help

[Trademarked Name]

A lot of build help requests are Optimize my 50! This is going to be odd because I've got a strange request in that I want some help with a toon that is level 17 and I'm probably going to cap around 20 for thematic purposes: because I don't care about any of the higher tier of powers and I like the idea of having a Class C superhero toon (the homage he represents was also pretty weak in the comics).

 

There aren't any bad ideas you can post because this isn't a min/max issue so much as a "Well, he can do (power) because he's able to blah blah the whatsit" or a "You should dump X because it sucks unless you can 6-slot it and you've already got Y that does the same thing basically for thematics and you'll find you'll never hit that button".

 

The toon is an homage to an Earth controlling mutant who can move earth, push things around, create tremors, push columns of earth into the air, and such. Dominator appealed to me because of the earth/earth option and the higher damage/lower support rank than controller so I can solo him. Maybe a bad train of thought to have to begin with.

So far, the animations remind me of the comics greatly. A couple of these are not really an option (Lev 1) or a no-brainer thematically.

 

Right now he's got (level taken):
(1) Fossilize

(1) Stone Spears

(2) Stone Mallet: He never did this in the comics, but I needed a level 2 power and it's not bad damage.

(4) Tremor: nice AOE, but he's pretty squishy, so he tends to only use it for the KD effect to get out of dodge!

(6) Super Jump: Needed a good thematic vertical travel. He can cause the earth to lift up beneath him flinging him into the air

(8) Combat Jumping: Because I needed a filler- as well as wanting Acrobatics +DEF, but it turns-off his super jump traveling ability so I'm luke-warm to it. Probably won't mind if I make a bind that toggles between the two.)

(10) Hurl Boulder: I love this animation. I even love watching other people do it.

(12) Stalagmites

(14) Acrobatics: It has insane KB prot. Earth control, you shouldn't be able to knock him off of his feet. I know there's other ways to get it but at level 20. it's a bit of work.

(16) Hasten: A nice power for any AT.

Next level (18) Earthquake <-I want this badly, though i feel it will disappoint me greatly when I get it, simply because of that desire to shake the ground.

(20) <- I got nothing. No power appeals to me previously or at his level. So you can't make a bad recommendation here. Stone cages? ‾\_(ツ)_/‾

 

Right now I'm slotting Health with: Regenerative Tissue (+25% Reg) , and Panacea +Health/+End (He's 17, so he can't get Miracle or Numina's).

And Stamina is Performance Shifter: End Proc, and Perf. Shift: Endurance Modification.

 

So now that you have all of this build-out. And I have to ask the questions. Assume he's going to solo most of the time, but I really don't mind if his noteriety stays -1/x0 from now until the servers burn-up. 

What powers would you toss or add in to make it more "survivable" without hurting the thematics?

And then, how would you slot this toon? Realize there's only 18 "assignable" power slots at level 20. And 2 of those 18 slots are being used by health and stamina (1 ea).

Assume Influence is no object: He has 4 of each ATO already but I can sell or get others, whatever is needed.  (Should I 6 Slot Earthquake and who cares about everything else??!?)

 

[Coyote]

Stone Cages have a nice "smash" feel to them, and if you add the Controller ATO to them they even have a purpose.

 

I would drop Acrobatics and just put a KB protection IO in Super Jump.

 

Air Superiority is a pretty generic animation that may fit with every character and guaranteed knockdown powers are fun.

 

I think at 20 you get Heavy Mallet if you liked Stone Mallet. Stoney smash always looks fun to me.

[Galaradian]

Now I have to remake mine....grrr

Why do I wander into these forums!!?

[Trademarked Name]

Lots of stuff learned this week.

Well, i broke off from my NoXP plan when I blew past 20 on a team running radio mishes and now he's upto level 30. I still don't see a lot of powers I want for this toon, but I have now started to like it for a lot more than just the thematic benefits of the power sets and how he reminds me of the comic book hero.

I've come to realize the earth/earth combination is a bit offensive. That is to say....this combo is ALL offense. One reason i was having trouble deciding on powers is that I'm used to having 5 or 6 primary offensive powers that I mash buttons during combat. Earth/Earth gives you about 12. No defensive armors, no resist toggles, no debuffing powers. Which is why it feels so squishy. I STILL do not like Stone Cages. It rarely comes in handy as most opponents have a ranged power that kicks-in when you immobilize. But it has been my "stay back" so I can backpeddle out of range power. Also there are these rare "Oh Wait! none of these guys left have any range. They're so scre$%^!" realization moments. There's also a satisfying damage tick when it releases.

A lot of the powers are Knockdown or knockback, so working in Force Feedback: Rech Reduction Proc on multiple powers is very nice for speeding things up. He can stone spear opponents; repeatedly upending them with that 1 power before they can set themselves to take shots. The damage # is unimpressive, but he can upend a single opponent 5-8 times before they get a shot off or rotate in Hurl Boulders for more damage and more force feedback recharge. 

With fossilize, I can manage 2 opponents effortlessly. Lock-down one with Fossilize, and concentrate upending the other with Hurled boulders and Stone Spears. When I feel like the first guy's Fossilize is about to wear-off; fossilize the guy I've widdled down to near death and start upending his partner, or hold him again. This tactic actually works with up to 3 opponents (when solo) as well, if they aren't purple to me and aren't overwhelming my health. A Lockdown: Mag 2 Hold that a fellow superhero gave me helps drastically with this.

 

I've also realized that due to the near non-existant damage mitigation that I very much dislike being in close to most mobs and prefer the ranged effects. So the hammers were let go out of my power choices. On teams, tanks/scrappers/stalkers/brutes can have that position and they don't need me getting in their way. My job now on teams is 1) lock down 2) get the hell out of the way of the sluggers and that job is best done STAYING at range.

Fossilize, Stone Spears, Stalagmites, Hurl boulder and Earthquake are all Ranged (not great distance, but still not feeling their stinky breath) and either do okay damage+knockdown, hold, or stun <-my forte so to speak. Tremor is "cool" and does knock folks over but it puts me in the "red zone" of aggro just like the hammers. Having said that, i STILL took it, because there are times when enemies are either engaged with team-mates or just locked down from multiple Dominating Fossilizes and I see no reason not to run into the middle of the fray and let loose a Tremor and watch the bodies drop.

For primary and secondary powers I'm NOT taking, that means working in Power Pool powers. I worked in Tough and Weave for defense and resists. These are both great mule slots for Procs.

The low KB protection in super jump is lackluster, as I've found a single Mag 4 to be in other builds and I respecified Acrobatics back in. The toggle effect isn't the worst. Not all opponents do KB, and I can toggle the power off when I need END more than KB protection. So I've come to like acrobatics more now that I control it. The first time I get up-ended it gets toggled on. With it on (Mag 10 protect?), 5th column barages of grenades are not even shrug worthy.

 

I had blaster and tankers back in live 6+ years ago so this dominator has been a big learning curve for me. In this earth/earth choice at least. 

Edited September 6, 2019 by Rocketeur

[MunkiLord]

I loaded up Seismic Smash with procs and when I have Hybrid Assault running I hit for over 1000 damage(without it's like 850-880ish). I know you don't want to live in melee, but that is a hell of a power. Plus it has a high chance for applying a hold.