OneWhoBinds

Okay... I'm not the best with controllers, but I think I can see a few tweaks:

Crush: Out of the box, this has a 27.5 second duration, a 4 second recharge, a 90% base accuracy, and 7.8 end cost. Really, you can work jut as well with this having only four slots - 1 accuracy, and 3 damage.

Radiant Aura - I'd try to get slots into this before the 40s, myself.

Propel - it has a base accuracy of 75% - you might want to put another Accuracy enhancements in this, rather than a range.

Radiation Infection: Slot To Hit debuff over Defense debuff; After you get Enervating Field, you're going to stop using this as much - so you shouldn't count on its -Def to compensate for accuracy.

Crushing Field - Flip this with Gravity Distortion Field; This isn't going to be tremendously useful until you have Wormhole (for a Ghetto Hold) or an AoE Attack (For Containment.) Get Gravity Distortion Field here, instead; it's pretty pathetic out of the box, but you can start working in slots when you can.

I'd get Enervating Field before Lingering Radiation; it's going to be your primary debuff toggle. You're going to find that most of the time, putting both this and RI on is a waste of effort (At least, in my opinion.)

Gravity Distortion Field - as I mentioned, you should probably pick this up earlier. I'd also throw some Recharge into it - but that's me. This will always remain more of a panic button than anything else...

Singularity - I'm not sure its worth slotting this for Immobilize; another Hold duration would probably serve you better...

Hasten - If you're going to take these, shouldn't you try to get it up as often as you can?

Conserve Power - Similarly, if your taking it, you want it available as often as you can. Recharge, not End Reduction, and try to get three in there.

Assault - um... why? Why even bother with this pool if you only take one power? Personally? Go ahead and take Mutation - your teams will love you for it.

All just my opinions, of course.

Inv/SS is a great combo...but it can be very painful to start.

Invulnerability doesn't really become a comprehensive defense until you get Invinciblity... at level 18. Before that point, you are going to feel every weak point in your armor.

Super Strength doesn't have much to recommend it (Damage wise, at least) until you get KO Blow. Even then, it doesn't really pick up until level 28, and Rage. And, of course, you have to wait until 38 to get Foot Stomp - one of the best PBAoE attacks in the game, and the only AoE in the set.

As a suggestion - Pick up Air Superiority! Even if you aren't taking Flight, get Air Superiority. In the early game, being able to juggle an opponent nearly indefinitely will provide you that little extra bit of survivability to reach the early 20s. AS and Haymaker combined will keep your target on his back for the majority of the fight.

Once you've got Invincibility, Stamina, and KO Blow, you're career as a Inv/SS Tank really takes off. And you will dominate everything in your path... until you get to the late 30s, and start encountering things that can exploit your remaining holes. (Try to get Resist Energies, at least, before you hit 40...)

Well, you've got three winners there.

Fire: Damage and more damage. No other effects, but hey - more damage! And it even comes with a click buff that gives you - EVEN MORE DAMAGE! You have an End-recovery power (Consume) to keep piling the damage on longer. Disadvantages? Fire has a lot of DoT effects, and those might disrupt your primary controls. It's also got a Snipe... that comes too late in the build to be useful as anything other than an IO mule.

Ice: All the attacks have a -Speed and -Recharge component, making this a way to debuff the enemies for some added safety. It also comes with Power Boost - a click buff that effects... well, everything you've got. It will basically double the duration of all your control powers, as well as having a few other benefits. Disadvantages? Like all Ice sets, it's rather End-heavy.

Elec - Well, Elec's secondary effect is End draining the enemy and giving you a little of that back. Some of the powers may even put some mobs to sleep for a bit. And Thunder Strike has a stun component. Elec also brings with it Build Up! That's always useful. It also gets its snipe early enough that it may actually be useful... if Snipes are agreeable to your play style. Disadvantages - the secondary effects aren't reliable enough to build for... even with Static Discharge you're not going to be a sapper. Also, it's big damage power is Thunder Strike - a melee attack. Instead of a big-damage ranged attack, Elec has to make do with Voltaic Sentinel, a much denounced pseudo-pet.

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I am aware that /Fire doesn't mesh well with Mind/.

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No, it doesn't mesh "well." It meshes *superbly.* Mind/Fire is one of the most fun characters I've ever rolled on either side of the game.

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So... the DoT in fire doesn't play too much havoc against the Sleeps and Fear powers that are central to Mind Control?

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Also, and I'm not super-proud of this, you can put it on auto and go AFK for a bit with a boss.

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You literally are not a true Dominator until you've done this at least once.

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Why would you use mesmerize for that, when you have access to confuse? It actually stacks in case of misses, and doesn't give the boss a *chance* of cheap-shot (like, say, a counter-mez).

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Okay, even I can answer this one.

Confuse doesn't do damage.

Mesmerize on auto, only target is a boss? Go AFK a while and come back to a defeated boss.

Gah!

So many tools... not enough slots!

Here's the build as it currently stands after reading all this... Any suggestions?

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Level 50 Mutation Dominator
Primary Power Set: Mind Control
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Assault
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Levitate -- Acc-I:35(A), Dmg-I:35(11), Dmg-I:35(13), Dmg-I:35(15)
Level 1: Flares -- Acc-I:35(A), Dmg-I:35(9), Dmg-I:35(17), Dmg-I:35(43)
Level 2: Dominate -- Acc-I:35(A), Hold-I:35(3), Hold-I:35(3), Hold-I:35(5), RechRdx-I:35(5), EndRdx-I:35(7)
Level 4: Mesmerize -- Acc-I:35(A), Dmg-I:35(9), Dmg-I:35(17), Dmg-I:35(43)
Level 6: Confuse -- Acc-I:35(A), Conf-I:35(7), RechRdx-I:35(48)
Level 8: Swift -- Flight-I:35(A)
Level 10: Fire Blast -- Acc-I:35(A), Dmg-I:35(11), Dmg-I:35(13), Dmg-I:35(15)
Level 12: Hover -- Flight-I:35(A)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I:35(A)
Level 16: Health -- Heal-I:35(A)
Level 18: Total Domination -- Acc-I:35(A), Acc-I:35(19), Hold-I:35(19), Hold-I:35(31), RechRdx-I:35(34), RechRdx-I:35(37)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I:35(A), EndMod-I:35(21), EndMod-I:35(21)
Level 22: Mass Hypnosis -- Acc-I:35(A), Acc-I:35(23), Sleep-I:35(23), Sleep-I:35(46), RechRdx-I:35(46), RechRdx-I:35(48)
Level 24: Fire Breath -- Acc-I:35(A), Dmg-I:35(25), Dmg-I:35(25), Dmg-I:35(40)
Level 26: Terrify -- Acc-I:35(A), Acc-I:35(27), Fear-I:35(27), Fear-I:35(37), RechRdx-I:35(37), EndRdx-I:35(40)
Level 28: Consume -- Acc-I:35(A), Acc-I:35(29), EndMod-I:35(29), EndMod-I:35(40), EndMod-I:35(43), RechRdx-I:35(46)
Level 30: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I:35(A), RechRdx-I:35(31), RechRdx-I:35(31)
Level 32: Mass Confusion -- Acc-I:35(A), Acc-I:35(33), Conf-I:35(33), Conf-I:35(33), RechRdx-I:35(34), RechRdx-I:35(34)
Level 35: Incinerate -- Acc-I:35(A), Dmg-I:35(36), Dmg-I:35(36), Dmg-I:35(36), Acc-I:35(48)
Level 38: Blaze -- Acc-I:35(A), Dmg-I:35(39), Dmg-I:35(39), Dmg-I:35(39), RechRdx-I:35(50)
Level 41: Combustion -- Acc-I:35(A), Dmg-I:35(42), Dmg-I:35(42), Dmg-I:35(42), Acc-I:35(50)
Level 44: Scorpion Shield -- EndRdx-I:35(A), DefBuff-I:35(45), DefBuff-I:35(45), DefBuff-I:35(45)
Level 47: Personal Force Field -- EndRdx-I:35(A)
Level 49: Telekinesis -- EndRdx-I:35(A), EndRdx-I:35(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- EndRdx-I:35(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I:35(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:35(A)
Level 1: Domination



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I am aware that /Fire doesn't mesh well with Mind/. But I think I'll stick with this combo anyway.

So... any suggestions on tweaking this build to make things easier? I primarily solo, although I team when I can.

And this topic creeps out again...

Primaries:

There aren't any 'Bad' primaries for Solo play, but Dark/, Ice/, and Sonic/ all have tools that make soloing easier. (-acc and AoE Immobilize in Dark; -Spd, -Recharge, and single target holds in Ice; -Resistance, an AoE Sleep, and a single target stun in Sonic.)

Secondaries:

/Dark Miasma, /Radiation Emissions, and /Storm Summoning are all just as effective solo as in teams.

/Cold Domination and /Kinetics are also both quite capable soloing sets. In the case of these sets, they loose some key powers... they have different play styles when on teams.

/Traps is rather like /Devises for blasters. If you're willing to work with it and take your time, it can be very safe to use when solo.

/Pain Domination, /Sonic Resonance, and /Thermal Radiation are all poor choices for soloing. They will have few powers that can be used solo, rendering most of the set completely useless. It can be done, but not easily...

Okay, sounds like it will be in my build, but I'll probably be holding off on it for a while.

Thanks!

Early on, most controllers' damage comes from layering their Single Target Immobilize, and their Single Target Hold on an enemy. Mixed with Pool or Veteran attacks, when applicable.

Don't expect to move your difficulty off of Heroic for quite a while. You probably won't have the tools needed to survive a group of more than 3 or 4 enemies until after level 20.

So until then, your tactic is limited to - get containment, and then plaster all that you can onto them.

I'd recommend slotting the Single-target immobilize as an attack... their recharge and duration are good out of the box, so you can concentrate on making it hit and doing as much damage as possible.

The Single Target Hold also has a decent duration and recharge, but Hold Duration will probably make you safer than putting more damage there. If you've got extra slots, though, a Damage or Two here won't be wasted.

Illusions, Mind Control, and Gravity all have direct damage options available to them. If you choose one of these primaries, you'll have a somewhat easier time with the early levels.

'lo, all.

I'm thinking of (*Gasp!*) Rolling up a Dominator. And, in looking things over, I want to try out a Mind Control/Firey Assault Dom.

But that leads to my question... is Mesmerize (Single target sleep) even worth taking? I'm rather dubious of a single target sleep for any situation, but I thought I'd check if there's some aspect of the power I am unaware of, before I disregard it for my build.

Thank you.

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I have had people tell me I'm the best kins they've seen all because no buffs dropped (Fulcrum, ID, Siphon power).

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O_o

Okay... wait... how can you manage to get ID cover on a team of eight, and still have time to do... well, anything else?

I mean, it takes... what, 20 seconds to cover ID over seven teammates... and it only lasts 60. That one seems more self defeating than anything else!

Seriously, though... I make no promises to refresh SB in the middle of a battle, but otherwise, I try to keep it on my teammates.

On the other hand, I wish more people wouldn't go crazy when SB is on them. I swear, a little SB and a Tank thinks he's a scrapper... and often only realizes he's not when the SB ends, and he realizes that he's let the squishies die while he was in his SB-induced high.

Honestly, I think Dual Pistols would be more like Claws from scrapper sets - lower damage, faster recharge attacks. Unlike Claws, I suspect it will be mostly single target.

But that's just my thought on the matter.

Personally, I forsee/hope that Dual pistols will be mostly single target, fast recharge, lower damage, shorter range attacks... sort of a ranged version of Claws.

What I really, really hope for is that the tier 7 or 8 power being a 2-minute To hit buff, kinda like Rage, but using Aim numbers. Of course, that's probably a pipe dream, but hey, I can hope, can't I?

And did anyone notice that Desdemona is supposed to be a Demon summoner? Is there a new Master Mind primary in the works?

Personally? All Grav needs is a few touch-ups.

First off, lowering the animation times of Propel (From 3.5 seconds to maybe 2 or 2.5 seconds) and Wormhole (3 seconds to 2 seconds) would be a big help, right there.

Making the effects of DS visably obvious would go a long way to helping that power out. If Shifted opponents suddenly glowed bright blue, it would be a whole lot easier to tell what opponents were still viable... and thus, remove probably the biggest complaint against the power.

Finally, if Crushing Field did a higher rate of damage than it currently does, that would be quite nice. (Maybe scale it to the same level as Roots from Plant Control?)

With those tweaks, I think Gravity would need nothing more.

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QFT, the lag in atlas is nothing compared to hami or RWZ

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I am painfully aware of this fact. As demonstrated by the Anniversary event, where I had to leave after 20 minutes of being able to only do two things reliably - Stand Around and Die.

Now... if I could only figure out how to FIX the problem...

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Oh, I probably will, from now on. That's not going to help too much when I need to get my Cape and/or Aura missions. Or get told I need to speak to Azuria or Smythe. Or to head to the Vanguard building. Or to (if I ever actually can) get a Sewer Trial...


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Wait. Wait. Wait! WTF.

How exactly is this affecting your ability to get a sewer trial?

1.) You need like minded individuals to run it anyway. You don't just grab a random PuG from anywhere and try to run that unless you just desire failure.
2.) There is no need to go to Atlas.

Sooooo? Please explain.

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Havn't ran a Sewer trial recently have you?

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Sewer_Trial
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The majority of the Trial is designed to take place in the Abandoned Sewer Network. The contact (Mairenn MacGregor) is located near the Atlas Park sewer entrance.


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They moved it from Founders?

My apologies on point 2 then as its invalid. Point 1 is still very valid though. This isn't just something you jump into with random people and expect success.

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I know that. It's just... one of those things I want to do, but have yet to successfully manage. I've never done the Sewer Trial, A Hamidon Raid, an Eden Trail, a Mothership Raid, or Statesman's Task Force. I want to do this things... but hell, I suck at building PuGs for normal missions I know by heart. I have no idea how to go about building a team for these things.

That doesn't change the fact that, as traffic-heavy as Atlas is right now, even moving through the zone can be a chore of choppy graphinc, rubberbanding, and disconects. So, even in the off chance I could gather enough interest in the Sewer Trial... I fear that half the team wouldn't last to getting to the sewers.

That's all I meant.

You can't include a named boss in an ambush. (Like from several missions through the new Midnight Squad contact... whos name I have forgotten.)

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heres an idea. roll new toons in galaxy.

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Oh, I probably will, from now on. That's not going to help too much when I need to get my Cape and/or Aura missions. Or get told I need to speak to Azuria or Smythe. Or to head to the Vanguard building. Or to (if I ever actually can) get a Sewer Trial...

Atlas is always going to be central to a lot of the content of the game, for those of us inclined to play that. As such, it has always been busy, and will always be busy. But MA has stepped that up by an order of magnitude. Heaven forbid I actually start a Peacebringer, and be FORCED to go to Atlas for my content...

Who knows... maybe the traffic there will start lowering again in the future, but right now Atlas is a chore to try and force my way through.

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No. you could try..i dunno. being proactive about teaming and realize the ONLY zone on most servers with AE spam period is atlas park?

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Haven't been to Talos during peak hours, have you?

I'll admit, it's nowhere near as bad as Atlas has become (which is the designated place for 'level 1-50 in a day!' players) But I've regularly seen Farm Spam in Talos and Steel Canyon.

I know it's probably wishful thinking, to remove the AE buildings from those zones, but I'm afraid the onlyother solution would be to drastically cut back the rewards for MA missions - at which point it would be reduced to another feature of the game that no one really uses.

I've got to personally agree with the "Remove AE from Atlas" group, here.

I just started a new toon. I went to Atlas. And found it crowded as all heck. Calls for Farms blaring across Broadcast, when people weren't getting into arguments, or laughing at the poor sod asking if there were any Sewer Teams forming.

The traffic was so bad that I was rubberbanding so much it took me more than three minutes to move 200 feet.

And this is on Victory. Not one of the major populated servers.

Atlas is simply too central too the game. Characters from all levels were always heading back to Atlas for one reason or another. With the AE showcase there... I'm getting bogged way down.

I don't care about the farmers. I don't do it myself, but hey, to each his (or her) own. But when the farmers are so prevelant that I can barely move my character?! That's a problem. And the only solution I can see to this is to shut down AE in the normaly heavy-traffic zones.

For the record, the idea was that the players are trying to track down a virus in the AE system, thats infected several other missions. They've managed to isolate the virus to a single map in each mission, but the Player (&amp; Group) has to go in and clear out the infected enemy groups.

The first four levels would each have a different group based on stereotypical video game enemies. The final level would be a confrontation with the virus itself.

So I couldn't divide these by rank. The first mission would just have Ninjas, for example.

I've kept the basic concpet, but have cut it down to three groups - The Virus group, for cetain... I'm still trying to decide if I want to make the other two as Pirates and Ninja... or as Robots and Zombies. Or maybe Aliens and Demons...

Hmm... so many choices...

Well... drat.

Guess that's another mission arc down the tubes before it's even begun.

Hmm... maybe I can recycle some of the concepts...

'lo, all.

I have a question regarding custom enemy groups.

You see, I had an idea for what I think would be an awesome arc. However, to pull it off, each mission would need its own set of enemies. That's at least 3 enemies a group, and one group for each mission. Five missions... a minimum of 15 custom enemies.

And that's the minimum. On a couple of these groups, I'd prefer to have four or even 5 kinds of enemies.

However, then I remember that a single group of enemies (that, admittedly, had 8 general enemies, and 2 unique enemies) took up around 60% of the available arc space...

So, would it be feasible to make this? Or would I not have any space for actual missions after I added 5 different custom enemy groups...

I'm not sure this is the correct place for this question, but it's more of a Roleplay question than anything else...

As I understand it, each of Lord Recluse's enforcers control a major faction of Arachnos troops... but who controls what?

I mean, yeah, Scirocco is nominally the authority of the Mu Mystics, and Ghost Widow is the leader of the Widows and Fortunatas... but what, exactly, do Mako and Black Scorpion control?

Um... this is normal, even in regular missions.

AR and Traps don't have any real synergy at the best of times. But the big issue with it right now is the overall weakness of /Traps at the moment. With the current weakness in Poison Gas Trap (It was, admitedly too strong, but now it's too weak) 1/3 of the real power the set had in total is gone. The remaining powers don't make up for the lack.

I'm honestly certain the Dev's will eventually get around to re-balancing Traps again. However, at this poing, it may not be until after Issue 15 is finished.