Freezing and Melting Technique
Guide to a Ice/Fire Dominator

Index:

1. Introduction
2. Whats a dominator? My Point of view
3. Questions!
4. Ice Control
5. Fiery Assault
6. Example Build

Introduction
Ah, you¡¯ve picked the dominator. In particular, the ice/fire dominator. Good choice! If this is your first time through as a dominator, or an old veteran domi, you¡¯re going to enjoy this build. You can solo, you can team, you can solo on teams. There¡¯s nothing quite like this! I hope that this guide will help you make important decisions when playing up your ice/fire dominator! Also note this is my first guide: i'm probably totally embarrassing myself! So, let me down easy!

Whats a dominator?
Disclaimer: the bolded text is purely my point of view. My opinions.

There are many ways to look at your ice/fire dominator. The two most popular are a lock down god (with some minor blasting), a full blown blaster (with some control), or half and half. A little of this and a little of that. I play mine half and half. I control some, and I blast some (a lot, actually.) In the end, your play style is your play style. You have to play your domi the way you envision it!

Questions/Help
I¡¯m going to answer some questions that I had when I started my ice/fire dominator.

1. Can I replace stamina with consume.
No, no, and no. I love consume as a power, but the recharge is dreadful, even with enhancements. Between arctic air, attacks, and whatever else you run, you would be out of endurance before you could spell ¡°dominator.¡± Even with domination¡¯s endurance refilling effect, you can¡¯t rely on consume. Get stamina.

2. I see there is a snipe at 35 (blazing bolt). Should I pick this up?
Optional. I love this power on my fire/dark corruptor, but it¡¯s different on a dominator. You need to be locking down mobs and dealing as much damage as you can with your quicker attacks. I¡¯d take this if you intend to solo a lot in the upper levels.

3. I got arctic air at 6, and I can¡¯t keep my endurance up! Whats wrong with my dominator?!
Arctic air has a huge endurance cost.. There is nothing wrong with your domi! I actually held off getting AA until 22, because I had stamina. I still run out of endurance frequently - enhancements and all.

Got a question? Need some help? Post or PM your question and I¡¯ll gladly post it up in this section!

On to the fun stuff!




Ice Control

You can draw moisture from the air to create Icy formations. With these abilities, you can control ice with remarkable precision to dominate your foes.



Chillblain

Level: 1
Effects: Single target immo, -rech -fly -speed, moderate DoT, fast rech
Rating: **
Notes: I don¡¯t see the point in this power, since frostbite is available at level 2. I skipped it. It¡¯s more of a personal preference.

Slotting:
1-2 Acc, 1-2 Immo



Block of Ice

Level: 1
Effects: Single target hold, moderate damage, -speed -rech, moderate recharge
Rating: *****
Notes: If you don¡¯t get this power at level 1, don¡¯t bother with dominator! This is one of the 4 necessary powers of ice control!
Without it, you are not a freezer, only a burner.

Slotting:
2 Acc, 2 Rech, 2 Hold Duration


Frostbite

Level: 2
Effects: aoe immo, minor dot, -speed, -rech
Rating: **
Notes: Easily skipable. This contradicts ice slick. And we don¡¯t want that. The team wants ice slick! I took it, then dropped it in my respec at 24, because it¡¯s usage was scarce after ice slick came into the picture.
Slotting:
2 acc, 2 immo, 1 rech


Arctic Air

Level: 6
Effects: -speed, confuse, -rech, -stealth, Toggle.
Rating: ****
Notes: The next ice control necessity. This is what keeps the fight together (literally). All of the mobs running in slow motion like the Matrix is great. Only problem with this power is the endurance cost.


Shiver

Level: 8
Effects: -speed, -rech, Very Wide Cone
Rating: *****
Notes: This the next necessity. This has the widest cone I¡¯ve ever seen. Ice slick, stand back, then shiver - the whole group is slowed. This is an excellent PvP power as well. Don¡¯t skip this.
Slotting: 1 rech, 1 confuse, 1 slow


Ice Slick

Level 12
Effects: Ranged aoe knockdown, -speed
Rating: ********************************************************************************
******************************************
Notes: This power is 1000000000% necessary. If you don¡¯t take this power at 12, delete your dominator. Knocksdown everything on the big patch of ice. This is, undisputedly, the best aoe control at your disposal.
Slots:
3 rech


Flash Freeze

Level 18
Effects: Targeted AoE Sleep, Minor Dmg,
Rating: **
Notes: This is *not*, I repeat, *not* like mass hypnosis. It does damage, so If the baddies wake up, they do know what hit them. I skipped this power, because I¡¯m team based. Sleeps are border line useless on a team. However, if your going to solo a lot, this power could be your golden gate to glory.
Slotting:
2 rech, 2 sleep



Glacier

Level 26
Effects: PBAoE Hold, -rech, -speed
Rating: ****
Notes: When you first get this power (get this power), you will be disappointed. When you slot this power, your jaw will drop. With proper slotting, this is one of your best attacks. Until it is slotted up to satisfaction, use it as a panic button.
Slotting: 2 Hold, 2 Rech, 2 Accuracy



Jack Frost

Level 32
Effects: Pet Summon
Rating: *****
Notes: Who ever said Jack was a ¡°bad pet¡± had obviously never played an ice control before. I¡¯ve never seen a pet do as much damage as Jack (imps don¡¯t count!). He¡¯s packing a hold, ice sword, greater ice sword, and ice blast. He can solo groups all on his lonesome. Like you, he has a knack for taking lots of damage.
Slots: 2 rech, 2 acc, 2 dmg

Fiery Assault
Fiery Assault allows you to conjure up flaming melee attacks and hurl devastating fiery projectiles. Fiery Assault powers tend to set foes ablaze for added damage over time.



Flares

Level 1
Effects: Minor dmg
Rating: ***
Notes: Flares was recently changed to have a much quicker animation. That changed this whole power. It¡¯s very good, especially at level 1. It builds domination very quickly.
Slotting, 1 acc, 1 dmg


Incinerate

Level 2
Effects: Melee, high damage DoT
Rating: ****
Notes: It isn¡¯t my most used power, but it¡¯s still good for damage dealing. I took this over frost bite and have no regrets.
Slotting: 2 acc, 2 dmg


Fire Breath

Level 4
Effects: ¡°moderate¡± damage cone, close range.
Rating: **************
Notes: Your bread and butter of Fiery Assault. At medium range, this power does remarkable damage. I love this power on my corruptor, and I love it on my dominator!
Slotting: 3 acc, 2 dam


Fire Blast

Level 10
Effects: moderate, single target damage.
Rating: ****
Notes: Your second bread and butter attack. This is a well rounded power, good for filling in your attack chain.
Slotting: 2 acc, 2 dmg



Fiery Embrace

Level 16
Effects: +fire damage, +all dmg
Rating: ******
Notes: Essentially build up. It increases damage of fire attacks by almost 2 times. This is domination for fiery assault!
Slotting:
3-4 rech


Combustion

Level 20
Effects: PBAoE moderate DoT
Rating: *
Notes: I got this power with the idea it would build domination quicker. Boy, was I wrong. I was very unimpressed by this power.
Slotting: don¡¯t. It¡¯s not worth the infamy.


Consume

Level 28
Effects: PBAoE minoer Dot, self +endurance
Rating: ****
Notes: Has a very slow recharge, and it does not replace stamina. See question/help section.
Slotting: 4 rech



Blazing Bolt

Level 35
Effects: Snipe, Extreme fire dmg
Rating: **
Notes: This is not a teaming power, at least for a dominator. You¡¯re not responsible for the pulls. Leave it to the brutes. If you¡¯re going to solo, however, pick up this power, slot it, and love it!
Slotting: 1-2 rech, 1-2 accuracy, 1-2 damage



Blaze:

Level 38
Effects: High dmg, single target, close range.
Rating: ********************************************************************************
****************************************************************
Notes: Alright, so it¡¯s not PSW, but it sure does end fiery assault with a bang. This is the best power of the set, hands down. Imagine this: breath of fire and 2 fire blasts. All at once. Behold Blaze!!!
Slotting: 3 acc, 3 dmg


Power Pools

I¡¯m not going to cover every single power pool, that would be redonkulous of me! I¡¯m going to cover more of the sensible ones.

Flight
Flight is good for the lazy, chatty player. Hover gives +def, air sup has modest damage and a knockdown (good for that stubborn freak who just won¡¯t cooperate with the slick).
I especially suggest it for the Rogue Isles (vertical lift nightmare)

Speed
I went speed for hasten. It helps a LOT. Flurry isn¡¯t a very good power, avoid it. Super Speed is a good travel power in CoH, but this is CoV. You¡¯ll have a tough time with it in the Rogue Isles.

Leaping
The way I went. Combat jumping has +def and +res to immobilize. Super jump is a good power, especially in the Rogue Isles. Acrobatics is a nice buff too. Avoid jump kick (or whatever it¡¯s called!)

Teleport
*Very* team friendly. Recall friend will win you some brownie points for sure. TP foe is purely for pvp. Teleportation can be a difficult power, I recommend a bind, such as:

[codebox]/bind <key> ¡°powexec_name Teleport¡±[/codebox]

That allows you to press the binded key to bring up the toggle for TP. Click and go!


Medicine
Good for soloing and teams, however I do not have a lot to comment on, since I lack experience in this pool.

Fitness
This is necessary for this build. You just can¡¯t rely on consume!!! AA and the rest of your attacks will suck your endurance down fast.


Leadership
Some VG¡¯s require or recommend you to take leadership. It can¡¯t hurt. I, myself, have no room in my build for it, but if I did, I¡¯d probably go down this pool. Good for teams or solo. Another reason to take Fitness too.

Sample Build

Bear in mind that his is a sample build. It's not necessarily right, it's not necessarily wrong, but it works out great for me!


Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.30
http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php

Level 40 Magic Dominator
Primary Power Set: Ice Control
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Assault
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Block of Ice
(A) Hold Duration IO: Level 40

(3) Hold Duration IO: Level 40

(3) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(5) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(5) Accuracy IO: Level 40

(7) Accuracy IO: Level 40

Level 1: Flares
(A) Accuracy IO: Level 40

(7) Damage Increase IO: Level 40

Level 2: Incinerate
(A) Accuracy IO: Level 40

(9) Accuracy IO: Level 40

(9) Damage Increase IO: Level 40

(11) Damage Increase IO: Level 40

Level 4: Fire Breath
(A) Accuracy IO: Level 40

(11) Accuracy IO: Level 40

(13) Damage Increase IO: Level 40

(13) Damage Increase IO: Level 40

Level 6: Combat Jumping
(A) Jumping IO: Level 40

Level 8: Shiver
(A) Slow IO: Level 40

(15) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(15) Accuracy IO: Level 40

Level 10: Fire Blast
(A) Damage Increase IO: Level 40

(17) Damage Increase IO: Level 40

(17) Accuracy IO: Level 40

(19) Accuracy IO: Level 40

Level 12: Ice Slick
(A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(19) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(21) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

Level 14: Super Jump
(A) Jumping IO: Level 40

(21) Jumping IO: Level 40

(23) Jumping IO: Level 40

Level 16: Hurdle
(A) Jumping IO: Level 40

Level 18: Health
(A) Healing IO: Level 40

Level 20: Stamina
(A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 40

(23) Endurance Modification IO: Level 40

(25) Endurance Modification IO: Level 40

(39) Empty

Level 22: Fiery Embrace
(A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(25) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(27) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

Level 24: Arctic Air
(A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 40

(27) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 40

(29) Confuse Duration IO: Level 40

(29) Slow IO: Level 40

Level 26: Glacier
(A) Hold Duration IO: Level 40

(31) Hold Duration IO: Level 40

(31) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(31) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(33) Accuracy IO: Level 40

(33) Accuracy IO: Level 40

Level 28: Hasten
(A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(33) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(34) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

Level 30: Super Speed
(A) Run Speed IO: Level 40

(34) Run Speed IO: Level 40

Level 32: Jack Frost
(A) Damage Increase IO: Level 40

(34) Damage Increase IO: Level 40

(36) Accuracy IO: Level 40

(36) Accuracy IO: Level 40

(36) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(37) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

Level 35: Consume
(A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(37) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(37) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

Level 38: Blaze
(A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(39) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40

(39) Damage Increase IO: Level 40

(40) Damage Increase IO: Level 40

(40) Accuracy IO: Level 40

(40) Accuracy IO: Level 40

Attack Chain

In case you were curious how I go about combat, here it is(!):
1. Activate Arctic Air - I don't run with on when i'm between mobs.
2. Ice Slick
3. Shiver
4. Run into the group, target your victim
5. Block of Ice
6. *Fire Blast
7. *Flares
8. *Incinerate
9. *Breath of Fire
Repeat steps 5-9, putting down slick when necessary. Jack covers the rest usually.

Things to remember



Play and build your domi like to your own liking!
-It's important that you maintain a play style you like, since a dominator can support so many, take advantage of that!

You are not a brute!
-I don't know if anyone else has this problem. Maybe it's because I made this toon fresh after my scrapper got 50!

You are not a controller!
-Don't expect to have such a hard core grasp on control like a controller. You powers may be the same, but the end effect is different.


Anything i'm forgetting?

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked my guide. If you have questions or need help, my global is @Stablae. Or you can reply to the thread or PM me. I'll get back to you as soon as possible! Also note: this is my first guide ever! Please, play nice! If it's bad, I blame the register date. *points to my register date*

:sad:

Thanks again for reading!!!!!!!!!!!