Filth_EU

Can I have your salvage?

Power Boost is one of the powers I would take Ice Assault for. If anything I would drop Levitate to get it looking at your current build. Definitely dump Concealment pool and stick a stealth IO into Teleport (or wherever), if you want to PvP this would free up a pool for Medicine.

"Pure Plant"? do tell - what in heavens name are you talking about?

It has legs & follows you about pretty reliably. It's "melee" attack of Bite is a bit better than Skewer for damage. It uses Roots, darts and Fling Thorns (cone) for ranged attacks.

You're right right hasten isn't a priority, it does have benefits though.

A big benefit is keeping Embrace Earth available and active much more often. Every heal enhancer you slot in EE will increase your maximum health by that enhancers's %, with SOs and 3 slots this becomes significant since it will also buff the Regen you get from Rooted which works from your current maximum health.

In addition Taunts and attacks are available that much more often which can be useful if you are affected by lots of slows.

Hasten becomes important post level 32 if you plan to use Granite. Hasten will offset the -Recharge from granite to a more 'normal' level. If you don't have hasten the -Recharge will drive you nuts.

The other thing I would say that you have virtually all you need from your primary before granite. I wouldn't bother taking Brimstone, Minerals is more useful but maybe a bit marginal, Crystal I would take.

If you play in teams a lot I would go for the AoE attack since this will contribute the most and generate the most aggro, if you solo a lot get a bit hitter.

I would go for another attack, a heavy hitter - Swoop looks good, maybe the AoE Whirling Axe as well; and you have pool space to get Hasten.

Your "I'm the only [non-granite tank] in the village" shtick is wearing a bit thin Rooks. The reality is if someone is prepared to stay glued to you keeping you alive you don't need any of your primary, it depends on the circumstance. If you're sensible you spend as little time in Granite as possible, but use it when you should.

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Yeah I think I'm the only Stone Tank left, everyone else being Granites, its a shame, because the other armours are great, and with buffs granite is not really necessary, I tanked a whole STF without using Granite once, had all the agro, tanked Recluse, it was fine.

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Salt Crystals are great! if, you know, no one on the team uses AoEs.

Anything that breaks Rooted also breaks Granite - so that includes CJ.

Don't forget to plan for exemping below level 32 for SFs or whatever. I never took Brimstone when leveling up anyway, the only armour I dropped was Crystal, and I kept Rock and Minerals. Stone/Stone has good control with Fault which can keep you alive with running Rooted only in lots of cases.

I've discovered Fault has great IO match with "Stupefy" which is a Stun invention - some nice set bonuses in there, worth at least 5 slots, I've always 6-slotted Fault in any case.

The self-buffs for heroes and villains are doubled when they are in the Ancillary/Patron Powers. Check out Consume for Controllers or Dark Consumption for Defenders - both 360s, same for villains.

Earth Mastery is mostly about control compared to the other tank mastery sets, but in fact Stalagmites *is* a ranged AoE damage power not a control power.

Shannon's comparison is not a reasonable one! Even with the poor ranged modifier, it does not compare well to any of the dominator AoE or cone attacks. I don't think it's a *terrible* power though, it's just not as good as the area attacks dominators already have - so it is strange to get another one in the patron pool. It does depend how much AoE damage you want to do, if you wanted to boost this then one of those attacks might be OK.

I think the problem with the dominator patron pools is the limited choice - Mu is significantly better than the others. All patron pets should have the same recharge as standard pets and they should not expire. Possibly some of them should have their abilities buffed.

If Cryptic were to change things like the recharge in the patron pools, they would have to revise all the hero epics as well since they have the same problem.

There are duff powers in every set, how about Salt Crystals (a PBAoE Sleep) in Earth Mastery for tanks?

As far as doms go, patron powers have one real stinker which is Soul Mastery, the others all have their good points, Mu Mastery being great value.

I don't know of any power being removed and changed for another since I've been playing.

Energy Assault is pretty underwhelming for Doms, you might find Ice better if you still want Power Boost.

Slotting is now up in the air because of Inventions; for example Health is now a prime candiate for IO slotting, which you've chosen not to take.

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I heard they reactivated everyone's account for the weekend...

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[censored] off Chives you [censored] [censored].

8D

I find the lack of any vertical mobility just as much a problem as speed, which means that you still need to teleport to move up a tiny ledge without breaking mez resist.

I'm sure a bit of a boost from IOs will be nice, but not great because runspeed isn't everything. Rooted is -90% runspeed, GA is -70%. Swift is +35% base.

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You seem to think that Stalkers are the only PvPers of villains (or atleast seem it) But why not be better equiped for everything villains can throw at you? Get the medicine pool.


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Stalkers are by far the majority in the zones. There aren't many heroes that get a +Per power in one of their power sets, Ice tanks are one of them. Just having Glacial Armour means you won't see Stalkers with Hide + Stealth; add tactics to that and you will.

The reality is most of the time tanks are going to be relatively bad in PvP, being able to light up Stalkers is something an ice tank can do well, as well as debuff and get some big hits in.

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I mean with +perc anyways you can see stalkers with jus invis which u get in time for Sirens Bloody bay. I mean Def will help with stalkers as not being to hit you is good an with icicles slotted right you should interupt some stalkers (mainly regens)


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Good luck relying on your +Def shields against a double AS. Icicles won't help you.

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Medicine helps an with Hoarfrost to keep u at full or atleast a decent amount of health with hibernate too u will just laught at stalkers.


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Hibernate is great - at high level. It's also a phase shift, so you take yourself out of the fight by using it.

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on the subject of Epics im guna go Earth with the Mass immmob but only for PvE(So i can herd them up an keep them there if some in the team has alot of KB) i think tactics on a tank is just plain a bad idea. IMO

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There's no Mass Immob in the Earth Epic - you might be thinking of Salt Crystals which is a *sleep*, Stalagmites is a low (10%) stun with minor AoE damage.

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Well to be honest, time was of the essence here. I wanted to make use of the my free respec before the next one is issued in May. I have respecced but would still appreciate any observations on my current build.

Stone Skin (dam Res x3)


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That's insane. Drop Stone Skin from your build & replace it with Rock Armour with 3 Defs.
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Earths Embrace (Heal x1; Dam Res x1; Recharge x1)


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With 3 slots I would go all recharge, the next 3 with heal.
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Mud Pots (end Redux x2; Dam x 1)


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that seems fine.

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Rooted (Heal x 1; End Redux x2)


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Replace that with Healx3, maybe one endRed when you have a spare slot.

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Gash (Dam x2; Acc x1; Rechage x 1)
Beheader (Damx 2; Acc x 1; Recharge x 1)
Taunt (acc x 1)


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Don't slot your attacks with Recharge - replace that with EndRed. You only need ACC in taunt in PvP, in PvE slot with taunt.

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TP Foe (acc x 1)
TP self (end reduc x 3)

Swift (running spped x 1)
health (heal x3)
Stamina (end mod x 3)


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You've over-slotted Health at this level - move the slots to EE for example.

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This has obviously reduced my end drain dramatically. However, I do have reservations about dropping Stone Armour from my build (how will people know I'm a stone tank???).

Will have another free repsec tomorrow (1stMay) to try again, so any comments on my foolhardiness are welcome.

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Do not get rid of Rock Armour - it's far, far better than Stone Skin for protecting you against Smashing/Lethal. If you have space, maybe get Stone Skin with one slot, it's a pretty marginal power - Rock Armour is miles more important pre-Granite.

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As we're on the subject, I have a few questions regarding Dominators in pvp:

Do dominator pets have any use in PvP?


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Yes. For example the Flytrap from Plant does decent damage especially at close range. It's also another target if you're using Seeds of Confusion. Anything that might draw attention away from you is good.
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What about the epic pets, are they worth bothering with?


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The Mu Guardian is great, as is the whole Mu set. Mu gives you a very efficient +End power, a good shield and a pet healer that is better than Aid Self. Since the pet now allows Heal enhancers to be slotted it makes sense to fully slot it for recharge; before if you wanted to slot it your only option was to go for attack power and if you did that you gimped recharge. The Guardian will pump out a heal every 20 seconds.

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Are there any general tactics that work well?


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Since Issue 7, in PvP (only) each assault attack power which hits another player adds +8 (last time I checked) to Domination build up. This changed the game for Dominators in PvP; the issue 8 changes to do with recharge (mostly) seem to be confused with this. Getting hits on heroes with assault attacks as fast as you can until you have Domination ready to trigger is important.

You've made some good first choices. I wouldn't bother with any of the passives until you are well into using SOs and have all your key powers, then see what you think.

I would get Heavy Mallet asap, at 12 if possible. Stone Melee if a very heavy hitter early on and having both Mallets will let you steam through missions solo, and make you a big damage dealer on a team. Not taking it just makes you level slower, and if you do get on a team with Speed Boost or AM available, you aren't going to do much with that extra endurance and recharge.

Yes, endurance is a problem - get used to filling your tray with Blues and Resting. Stamina is a must, once you have it slotted things become much easier. Pre-Stamina and SOs you have to rely on insps and End buffers like Radiation users and Kinetics.

Do not bother slotting toggles with EndRed until your attacks have EndRed in them. I would slot ACC then EndRed then DMG in attacks in that order.

I think you've over slotted Stone Fist and under slotted Dull Pain, but, no biggie. Knockback is only worth slotting for laughs. When you get there, Fault becomes a key power in Stone Melee for tanks; once it's slotted (worth 6 slots) it's extremely powerful and it also complements Invincibility - Fault will keep most dudes stunned, and even if they do take a shot at you they will likely miss because of your high Def.

Don't worry about not being very tanky at low levels, pre-SOs you're a slow and dumpy scrapper who isn't even very tough and gets tired all the time. All that changes in the 20s.

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I've just got Carrion Creepers on my Dominator and I'm loving it but I find it a bit mystifying. It's an AoE power that follows you around?


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Yes. You can see it move in water, it works like an invisible PbAoE pet - it's not quite an aura since there is a lag with it following you. Doesn't have a visible form but you can hear it - a bubbling sound.

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Can any one give me a bit more insight into what's going on here? What are the rules that it follows? (i.e. do the vines continue to spawn near the casting toon for a fixed period of time?)


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It follows you around, if a visible target is within it's area a creeper may sprout up and attack that target. It's possible that a single target which moves multiple times in the same patch will generate multiple creeper tentacles.

It's no good for attacking Stalkers or other hidden targets you can't see, however, it will sprout creepers if there is an invisible target in the aura, but the creepers won't be able to attack it and they won't 'reveal' the target.

For as long as it is active, creepers may sprout and the debuffs will...debuff. You don't get an icon with it, but you should always be able to hear it if it is near you and active.

A sensible slotting for the Mu shield (i8) is 1xEndRed 3xDmgRes.

You don't need more than one EndRed since you have Power Sink.

Acro is great for KB protection and does OK for protecting you from Holds in PvE, and to an extent in PvP (works for Blaster, Defender & Corruptor holds, for what that's worth).

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You will want your Mu Guardian out as much as possible: find him 3recreds from somewhere.

(I assume your shield slotting is a typo).

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Yeah, that 4 equal enhanc are a mistake, sorry :P, was meant to be 2 endrdx and 2 defs.

Concerning Mu Guardian, I will take the slots from Flash Freeze out and move everything accordingly to find some Recgh for it

I took Acrobatics for KB protection, do you think it's a good choice?

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Idris wrote one in Player Guides .

If I was interested purely in leveling doing missions, I'd do something like this up to 35 and then respeccing, slotting order is a bit screwy. I've found I don't need a travel power into the 20s because of the temp travel powers.

You need to maximise your AoE damage and you need stamina to keep going.

+---------------------------------------------
+ Built with SuckerPunch's Online Planner
+ http://www.cohplanner.com
+---------------------------------------------
Name: N/A
Level: 35
Archetype: Dominator
Primary: Plant Control
Secondary: Psionic Assault
+---------------------------------------------
01 => Psionic Dart ==> Acc(1)
01 => Strangler ==> Acc(1),Hold(5),Hold(5),Rech(15),Rech(15)
02 => Mind Probe ==> Acc(2),Dam(3),Dam(3),Dam(7)
04 => Roots ==> Acc(4),Acc(7)
06 => Hasten ==> Rech(6),Rech(9),Rech(27)
08 => Seeds of Confusion ==> Acc(8),Acc(9),Confuse(11),Confuse(34),Rech(34),Rech(34)
10 => Mental Blast ==> Acc(10),Dam(11),Dam(13),Dam(13)
12 => Hurdle ==> Jump(12)
14 => Spirit Tree ==> Heal(14)
16 => Psychic Scream ==> Acc(16),Dam(17),Dam(17),Dam(19),Range(19)
18 => Health ==> Heal(18)
20 => Stamina ==> EndMod(20),EndMod(21),EndMod(21)
22 => Drain Psyche ==> Acc(22),EndMod(23),EndMod(23),Rech(25),Rech(25)
24 => Super Speed ==> Empty(24)
26 => Carrion Creepers ==> Rech(26),Rech(27),Rech(29)
28 => Subdue ==> Acc(28),Dam(29),Dam(31),Dam(31),Rech(31)
30 => Vines ==> Acc(30)
32 => Fly Trap ==> Acc(32),Dam(33),Dam(33),Dam(33)
+---------------------------------------------
01 => Sprint ==> Empty(1)
01 => Brawl ==> Empty(1)
02 => Rest ==> Empty(1)

I didn't think those little legs could go this far....dratz... 8)

Bilharzia.

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Oh I thought TF was at 35 lol

Sniper Blast, what the hell is that doing at 35 lol.

Bit of a one-trick-horse though, /energy, and TF leaves you vulnerable. No aim or BU or any dmg buff save for domination either.

/ice is a bit poor in sirens too, adding to my list.

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Most Doms are fairly low on damage in Siren's since most get two heavy hitting attacks for their last two attacks. It's a bit like every Dominator plays like an Energy Melee tank with the best attacks back loaded until the late game (35&38).

Ice Assault even at level 30 is good - decent attacks and a double debuff of -Speed and -Recharge, and it has Power Boost. Stupidly good.

But yes, I concur with Blue Note, Radiation Assault is a winner.

I don't know if I would call Aid Self a must-have since it's a long time since I tried to PvP without it. I played in PvP mostly solo before the I7 changes to domination build up where I'd spent 10-15 minutes building up dom fighting heroes, where I'd attack swing around, heal, circle back around attack, and so on... not having a heal doing that is impossible.

Aid Self heals about 1/3 of your health when slotted - to make best use of it I slot it 3/3 interrupt reduction/heal, with this slotting it's possible to heal through damage ticks. The recharge on Aid Self is fast so if you also Hasten you shouldn't need recharges. Stimulant does actually come in handy a few times since anti-mez powers are hard to come by on villains side.

I can see it's possible to manage without it, especially if you have a more ranged style. Because of Seeds of Confusion I have to get into point-blank range anyway, so I needed leaping pool for Acrobatics in PvE, I was used to getting bashed around a bit although I didn't feel like I needed a heal until I got into PvP where the only thing you can rely on is your controls won't work :P.

With Plant/Thorns the soft controls aren't that great - say compared with Ice & Psi with their -Recharge and Slows, so you have almost nothing in defensive help from secondary effects. */Psi is a strong contender for not needing Medicine - long range attacks to build dom & Drain Pscyhe to recover.

YMMV!

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screw all the heals and protection and get some really good holds and immobs

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whoda thought Doms have Holds and Immobs?

The reality is for Doms in PvP that success depends on having staying power since you need time to build domination and survive, and endurance enough to spam controls and attacks which means relying a lot on the Power Pools. Good luck if you say "screw you" to Aid Self, Stamina, Leaping Pool and Hasten.