UnicyclePeon

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I personally fall on the 'increase the duration' side of the line, simply because of the difference in cost. To 'go faster' usually means spending quite a lot on IO sets to increase recharge, while 'increasing duration' with a secondary w/ powerboost simply costs 1 extra power choice (which I usually have room for anyway). I know that I *could* probably earn the money to IO out a dom if I tried, but I'd rather spend the time and energy feeding my altitis.

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Same here. And frankly, even with massive recharge, I'd still prefer having Power Boost to make the lockdown that much more insane esp against multiple groups.

Also, to Natsuki, I can understand how a Mind Dom wouldnt care about PB. You have at least 2 trivially perma AoE control powers in the set. But for anyone else, if, as you say, Doms do so much more damage now so your controls lasting longer doesnt matter, I say that if you are killing that fast, you dont need BU either.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll like the set regardless, but I prefer PB, so I'm pretty happy right now.

Lewis

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I would have rather seen Build Up, seeing as how it's a pretty melee oriented set.

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I prefer PB specifically because it is a melee set. If you are going to live in the hot zone (melee range) then its nice to have your controls lasting longer. I think Doms hit plenty hard, even without BU.

Lewis

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Nobody will settle for anything less than a 6 person team. They would rather stand around for another hour, if that's what it takes, than enter a mission door with fewer than 6.[*]If you persuade, say, a 3 person team or a 4 person team to enter the first mission, every single one of them will quit if you don't have a 6-8 person team by the time they finish the first mission ...

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Dude, I know. OH MAN I hate this. Honestly, thats one of the reasons I dont like teaming, even when I am NOT the leader. You cant just try to get past your own reclusive nature and hop on a team of just 2 or 3 people. No. Because someone is going to want to bloat the team size up to something crazy, and will insist on standing around until it bloats up real good.

Bah humbug!

When I *am* indecisive on what I want for the evening and therefore join a team, I HATE it when this happens. Cant we get just a good little trio going or something?! But NO. NO you cant.

*spit*

I dont start teams out of a combination of 3 things:

1. Selfishness
2. Guilt
3. A General Dislike of Others

Specifically, I tend to be selfish and so I do what I want to meet my gaming goals. If I happen to want to get a character up a couple levels, or do an arc, or do whatever I want, then that is what I want to do. So, if I invite someone and start a team, they HAVE to do what I want to do. Because I'm a bit of a [censored].

Because, NO, I dont want to help you with your Maria Jenkins arc right now. And no, I dont really want to go to crey's folly and kill 30 DE. And no, I dont really want to run over to some other zone and fight rikti or zombies. I mean, who even turns on their Hero/Villain event message to be bothered by such things anyway. And NO, I certainly dont want to do a task force with you. That takes, like, an hour. Maybe 2. I have a job and friends and social obligations and so this next 2 hours is MY private time, one of those little moments where I get to do what *I* want. Finally!

But that makes me feel guilty, as I said, for being a bit of a [censored]. Or more than a bit of a [censored]. If someone gets on my team and they suddenly want to change directions and do other stuff, guilt makes me feel compelled to do it. So, I'm THINKING all the "no" stuff above, but I usually (with regret) go along and help. Next thing I know, I'm out 2 hours because of guilt.

Now, I make an exception for people I actually know pretty well, and also for most of them, my goals correspond with theirs anyway. But its an exception.

Occasionally, I decide to team with someone when I'm not sure what I want to do. I figure, that'd be a good time to meet someone and do what they want since I cant decide anyway. But invariably, I get tired of being on the team with a stranger for more than 30 minutes.

All I can do is chalk that up to my 3rd entry, the general dislike of people, or at least strangers.

So, really, you dont want me starting a team or even being on your team (tho if I do get on, I'll stick it out and give it my best, out of guilt, so it wont be all bad).

Lewis

Yes. Water spout flings the baddies in the air. At least I think so. I usually have my foes locked down with Fire Cages, but occasionally, someone is still alive after the 10 seconds of -knock from Fire Cages, and I seem to recall they go up. But its rare, so I'm not 100% sure. I usually have killed them all before that.

Lewis

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I'm also finding it hard to believe that they're putting Fissure in there? Perma Mag 6 stuns FTW?

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Well, on the controller epic Fissure, its just a chance to trigger, and it isnt a high chance. Not to the point of being reliable anyway. I expect the devs may simply set the change even lower, or to zero, and have it be a pure damage power.

Lewis

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Wow, if that's the actual set.. Then, this is going to be the first Dominator set that has a Target AoE (ala Ball Lightning, Fireball, etc) with Fissure being the Tier9.

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Only technically. The "range" on Fissure, if you can call it range, is very short. Functionally it wont be much different from the other close range cones, except it might be less irritating to line up.


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and ugh not another Power Boost set...

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What?! You dont like increasing the length of your holds, or increasing your other secondary effects?! Weird. I mean, I can understand liking Build Up or Aim more, I just dont get the "ugh" part.

I personally LOVE Power Boost. I'd rather be "slow and sure" on my control vs damage. Doms get plenty of damage without build up or aim, anyway, IMO. At least now they do.

Lewis

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My personal favorite Confusion story was throwing Mass Confusion onto one of those little groups of a Warrior cowering from a group of Freaks you see all over Talos. The Warrior completely wrecked the Freaks in moments.

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Nice! Its about time, too. I wish there were some actual good warrior stories, and I mean primary stories, not just little side things where you run into a few in an arc here or there.

Lewis

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It would seem to me that you may want to take the stone APP instead of fire. You will likely be in melee range anyway (since you're a fire/), so fissure works out very well.

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Except you have to be on the ground for fissure. If he is, then fine. However, I prefer Hover, because siphon speed with hover is a pure delight. If you want Earth's Embrace and you dont hover, then fine. I can never resist the temptation of Hover on a Kineticist. And you cant use fissure unless you are on the ground. At least, if I recall correctly.

Lewis

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Realistically you can farm with common IOs.

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This is totally true. Even aside from Fulcrum Shift, the reason /Kin is good for Farming, or for any gameplay generally, is because you can replenish your own life and endurance. I farm occasionally on my Fire/Kin (maybe 5 hours a month at most) and I have almost no global recharge at all.

Now, Smurphy said you don't need recovery on a Kin, and you don't, but mine happens to have about 50% recovery in addition to stamina. It is nice for making it where you dont even need to click transference. However, I am NOT recommending you do this. I'm pointing out that my build is about as incorrectly IOed for farming as you can get, but I can do it just fine. I dont do it as fast as others, but its still fast enough. So you dont have to go for anything. The only reason I have recovery bonuses in my character at all is that I usually just IO for frankenslotting, because it is cheaper than going for recharge, and yet recovery bonuses are often low hanging fruit, needing only 2 set bonuses. So, it is pretty trivial to sneak recovery in. So, I managed to get more than 25% from low hanging fruit set bonuses, and I just happened to have room for a miracle and a numina for the the other 25%.

But you dont need ANY IOs on a fire/kin.

To be optimized, I'd say go for recharge first, and anything else is gravy. But again, you dont need IOs at all.

Lewis

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...I hope we get a power like sNOWstorm...just beige and all levels of ToHit Debuff and Slow..

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This sounds like a job for ... LETTERMAN!

Lewis

Well, I can see the point about Dimension Shift. I think the single target intangible powers (from Force Fields and Sonic Resonance) are more practical more frequently than the AOE kind.

Still, I love Dimension Shift as a griefing power on my own friends. You know how it is, your friends are on some big 6 man team steamrolling Carnies or Freaks or CoT or whatever. Maybe they are about to run the ITF. Its all good. They see you on, ask you to bring a character and hang out. You get out your gravity storm controller, and then about 5 or 10 spawns in, you throw the dimension shift right AFTER your friends have started the crazy explosions and powers and WHIZ BANG WHAM. You time it just before the vast majority of them are dead, and suddenly you get that whole "what the hell is going on here"? See how long it takes for them to figure it out.

Heh, heh.

Lewis

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What does "held" mean?!?!"

Heheh.

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Right. By not playing the AE, at least you learn what foe types to whine about and refuse to ever fight again.

However, to be fair, the AE .... *can* ....though often does not .... offer foes that are MUCH harder than what you encounter in normal missions.

Lewis

If you did go with a Defender, because maybe you want more and varied attacks, I'm not sure I'd do /Electric. I dont like snipes or the re-summon aggro magnet voltaic pets, so that really leaves only 2 single target attacks. I mean, some like /Elec but I'd pick /Sonic Blast or /Ice Blast first.

Aside from that, if you want to max out team support, with safety, an Illusion/Empathy Controller is pretty good. Aggro-free single target confuse + unkillable periodic pet plus invisibility for self and team plus empathy powers = NICE.

Lewis

Bael,

I think that WAS what he was talking about. The proc may have a chance to trigger when you cast, when the invisible pet does stuff, and when the sub vines do stuff. But he wasnt sure, and neither was I. But the chance for the proc enhancements to trigger is probably more complex on this power than on just about any other.

Maybe someone will chime in who is totally sure about the details. My plant dominator and my plant controller both happen to lack procs currently so I cant answer with certainty.

Lewis

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How many had multiple dominators 30+? Even fewer.

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I had 8 dominators from 35-50 meeting your condition. Not that it matters.

I'm just chiming in. Lunch break time. Gotta do something!

Lewis

Congrats! Enjoy your character. Remember, there is no harm in trying out ALL the powers. In fact when one or more power sets are new to you, it is a good idea. Later, say in the late 20s or early 30s, you can respec and drop the ones you didn't like.

Have fun!

Lewis

I would consider reading some controller guides that talk about the various Storm powers. Look at the sticky threads in this forum and find the thread about the controller guides.

Try to look through all the guides to build a picture of what Storm summoning is like. Also, review the primaries. Gravity/Storm is powerful, but it is a bit of a late bloomer. It is a decent soloing set, though, if you have to.

Just as a quick bullet list on the storm powers:

Gale: you have to take this at level one. It is the only power you cant skip. It is a cone of force that launches from you but it can knock back multiple enemies. It has a bit of an accuracy penalty but once you get to the more powerful enhancements like SOs, one accuracy is all you really need in this power. Basically, you DONT HAVE to add slots here. It is fun, but later more subtle tools will largely replace it, though I always keep the power on my power tray for MAX FUN!

O2 Boost: its is a very minor heal, but it also protects against endurance drain and it can remove stuns on allies. I usually skip it, or else I take it later in my career (30s or higher) when the protection against endurance drain is more important. Putting a total of 3 or 4 slots here is enough if you are tight. Again, you can totally skip it.

Snow Storm: you target an enemy and activate this power. It makes a snow storm all around that enemy, which also slows all the other enemies nearby it, and makes them mad at you. It is nice for slowing down enemies, and it is decent to combine with Freezing Rain to make enemies less able to run from Freezing Rain. I personally usually only put 1 extra slot here, so that I can have 2 endurance reducers in it. The end cost is a bit heavy.

Steamy Mist: this gives you and your party stealth, a minor bit of defense, and good resistance to fire and cold and elemental type stuff to the whole team. Early on, if you are struggling to have enough slots, you can just have 2 slots for endurance reduction. Eventually, you can have 4 or 5 slots in it, and buff it for resistance. That way you can increase the protection vs fire andcold that it provides to the team.

Freezing Rain: this is one of THE BEST storm powers. Get it immediately at level 16, and at level 17, add 2 slots to it. At a minimum, you'll want 3 slots in this power, all with recharge enhancers, so that it is up as much as possible (more than 3 recharge doesnt help much). OH as for what it does, you target the ground somewhere and rain falls all around that point. The enemies will be slowed, be easier to hit, be more vulnerable to damage, will slip down a lot, and will try to run away from it. This is why combining this with snow storm can help. Later if you want, you could add other slots to this power, like endurance reduction, defense reduction on the enemy, slow enemy speed, or special IO enhancements for more -resistance.

Hurricane: this power makes a circular wind field around you that pushes back enemies and makes them inaccurate for a few seconds (10? or as long as you keep them in it) when attacking. I like 3 or 4 total slots in this. 1 endurance reducer, and 3 "hit debuff" enhancements to make foes miss more. You can practice pushing guys around, and if your primary control set has an area effect immobilize (like Crushing Field from Gravity) then you can push them around easier since they cant run.

Thunder Clap: this makes a thunderous boom and flash around your person. It only affects minions, not LTs or bosses. It will make the minions stunned and they will wobble about for a while. Some people skip this but I really like it. It is nice on a controller if your primary also has a stun. Gravity does (Wormhole), and also Earth and Fire Control have stuns to combine with this. By combining, you can affect LTs and Bosses by using Wormhole AND Thunder Clap. It has a bit of an accuracy penalty, and if you do take this, you'll want 5 or 6 slots in it (2 accuracy, 1 or 2 recharge, 2 stun).

Tornado: this summons a little tornado that scatters guys and knocks them all over the place. It can be chaotic but fun. It really works well on many bosses once they are the last foe left, as well as Arch Villains. Start with just 1 endurance reduction. Then you can add recharge or more endurance reduction or stun or damage if you really want to. There are a lot of things you can do with this power. Look to the storm guides for uses. But take it at level 35 and play with it,using an endurance reducer for the default slot.

Lightning Storm summons a fixed position lightning cloud above your head that lasts a while and blasts lightning at bad guys, knocking them down (usually). You want to 6-slot this as soon as you can, and take it as soon as you can (level 38). Try 3 recharge and 3 damage, or use set IOs to blend all the recharge and damage you can with some endurance reduction.

OK, thats a fast overview of storm. There are a lot of comments I didnt make or other approaches or views, but it will get you started. I also didnt mention all the ways it interacts with gravity control. Still I hope it helps. I hope I didnt ramble on too much.

Lewis

Skarmory,

A Dark Miasma for Controllers without Fearsome stare pretty much sucks. Dark Miasma isnt any more effective than Rad Emission, and wouldnt be any more unbalanced for controllers, and Rad is strong, but fine. Don't suggest neutering the Dark Miasma set. Just adjust the numbers/recharge if needed. Don't drop powers. Then it isnt Dark Miasma.

Lewis

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I like dark as well but find it TOO easy, I like things to be somewhat challenging.

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Try Ninja/Dark then. I have one at level 33 and I find that one pretty challenging. Maybe its me, since that was my first Ninja combo, but my pets keep getting torn up. Well, by comparison.

Lewis

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Hmm, I don't see it folks.

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The two dominators I am seriously working on are a plant/fire and a mind/electric.

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Again, I only personally really have an issue on it with Dominators that run Hot Feet. I can no longer easily sustain it.

I have a level 42 or so Plant/Fire and a level 26 or so Mind/Electric and I dont have end problems on them either. They dont run hot feet (obviously) so they are fine.

I am somewhat concerned my Ice/Psy will have issues running AA and attacking full out also, but I havent checked.

Lewis

An additional update ... a different DUO I am playing is not seeing this for team position #2. It seems to be only my Fire Dom trio's #2 team slot.

As to the question about more drop frequency, vs same number but greater values, I dont know. If I get my trio out again this weekend, I'll check. I've been doing my duo since I've been re-watching all the Harry Potter movies on the 3rd computer (iMac).

Lewis

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I'm not sure how to solve my current issues with dominators short of through hundreds of millions, even over a billion inf at them. At which point I'm forced to ask myself, what's changed?

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I do have to agree that the endurance costs seem more. I do kill quicker. Overall it is ok. I do find the changes frustrating on any of my Fire Dominators who actually run hot feet. I pretty much turn it off now. The ones who dont run hot feet yet, I'm getting by and enjoying more.

Since I do a lot of level 50 content with my 50 Fire/Thorns, I may look into farming some to purchase a Miracle and a Numina. I think she needs it if I want to run Hot Feet and not restrain myself on my attacks. Of course, I could simply avoid running hot feet, but I prefer to run Hot Feet. (She currently only has Stamina + about 15% recovery from set bonuses).

My non-Hot Feet doms are decidedly better, despite the end costs. I do like the changes, but I almost wish they would have left the recharge and end costs alone and simply factored in as much damage as they'd be willing to add in with recharge and end cost unchanged.

Oh well. I certainly like my /Energy Doms more (my Fire/Energy doesnt run hot feet at all, so she is OK).

Lewis

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Dark Control/Dark Miasma for Controllers
Dark Control/Dark Assault for Dominators
Dark Blast/Dark Manipulation for Blasters


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I think this is made a lot easier if you just say "there isnt a dark control set" ... therefore you simply port Dark Miasma to Controllers as a secondary and dont make a Dark Control primary. Instead, give Illusion Control to Dominators. The power customization will let people tint the powers to be dark to match. Then you only have to worry about a dark assault set for Dominators. And frankly, with color customization, you really dont, since one could color the energy blasts dark.

Lewis

Yes, Grav/Rad is a great combo. It is one of the better gravity combos, in fact.

While Gravity Control *eventually* gets as much area control as other sets, it gets it late. Plus, to actually have the slots to fill up that control takes a while. So, in the early to mid levels, Gravity Control can feel a little lacking in actual control.

Radiation Emission has really good damage mitigation which overlaps with the gaps in gravity to create a really effective and safe controller.

Specifically, one early combo you'll get that is really nice at low levels, and available every fight, is the combo of Crushing Field (Area effect Immobilize) and Radiation Infection (enemy hit debuff). Basically, every fight you can keep bad guys from going anywhere, while you keep an AoE toggle on them that makes them miss.

Plus, you get an AoE heal as well as an AoE slow and a team buff and eventually an AoE hold to stack in and combo with all the controls you'll eventually unlock in Gravity Control.

( EDIT: On top of that, you can get enough single target damage from your primary that you can solo decently, and of course your actual radiation and gravity powers make you desirable on teams. It is a well rounded character. )

It is a most excellent ride!

Lewis