Winterseed's Guide to Plant/Ice Dominators

Your primary powers don¡¯t last as long as a full-blown Controller, which means you¡¯ll need to cycle more powers to achieve the kind of lockdown you want: equally, your secondary doesn¡¯t offer the synergies that the Defender sets often provide (such as Storm¡¯s Freezing Rain, Dark¡¯s Fearsome Stare, or TA¡¯s Glue Arrow, and etc.). Added to this, your offense isn¡¯t going to be amazing even after SOs ¨C it¡¯s a long-running gripe that Dominators need to be given some additional punch as an ¡°assault¡± class. Adding insult to injury, your powers are also endurance-intensive which, combined with needing to cycle them multiple times to knock out your foe, can be a real headache.

Daisy Sez: Rrrrrgh! (crunch, crunch, spit)

Right, Daisy. It sounds pretty dire, doesn¡¯t it? Well here¡¯s the good news: you¡¯re not a Controller or a Blaster, sure, but you don¡¯t need to be. Your talents are invaluable in a team, and pretty strong solo as well: your damage isn¡¯t amazing, but it¡¯s a lot better than it sounds on first read. Your primary is a major source of damage mitigation in COV and you¡¯ll never be second-fiddle on a team, especially in the higher levels; and your attacks will definitely let your team knock out their targets that vital bit faster. Solo, use your head and there¡¯s nothing you can¡¯t handle, given a little time ¨C from Freak Tanks to Carnie Ringmistresses, the world is your evil oyster.

Be aware of the drawbacks of the Archetype and you¡¯ll find it a lot easier and more enjoyable to work within those limits ¨C and admit it, haven¡¯t you always wished you could Strangle, Freeze, Crush or Terrify those Longbow while also being the one cutting them down?

Domination: Not Your Nuke

You know how blasters jump in now and then and annihilate everything in one massive wave, then say ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting all mission for a good moment to let loose?¡± Right. Don¡¯t treat Domination that way. The temptation is to think of the power as a panic button or boost for only tough fights; this is a good way to slow yourself down, decrease your damage and controls, and probably to have less fun (which we should avoid at all costs).

Domination, especially on a team, but even solo, recharges quickly. It¡¯s an effect that last 90 seconds, and recharges in 200; so without any other factors, solo, you could have Domination up almost half the time.

It does make sense to look for some strategic situations to pop Domination, or to wait up if you think it¡¯s close to the end of the task and you need to Hold that boss first-off; but spend some time using domination to push through medium-tough fights or just refill your Endurance bar, and see how it feels for you. All in all, you¡¯re not ¡°losing out¡± by using it ¨C much like saving BuildUp or Aim or Enrages only for the end of a mission doesn¡¯t ¡°save¡± you anything at all.

**Note also that Invention Enhancement Set bonuses ¨C global recharge ¨C will let you recharge Domination faster. For more math on this, see Brev¡¯s guide to Perma-Dom. Yes, it¡¯s possible, just very pricey and requires a very specific build.**

The Plant/Ice Dominator: Let¡¯s Get Specific.

Your primary is beautiful to watch and effects in general are easy to identify even in the biggest battles. You have a good hold with a bonus to accuracy and a great deal of AOE control, including Carrion Creepers, an AOE pet/effect unique to Plants. You can enjoy a good taste of Mind Control¡¯s last power, Mass Confusion, at level 8 ¨C being green was never this easy. It¡¯s a powerset with amusing flavor, if you enjoy concept and bios, as well as a surprising degree of versatility.

Your secondary allows some good AOE and reasonable damage, with the nice effect of slowing movement of your targets, and that lovely ¨Crecharge effect. Each secondary offers a Build-Up/Aim-style click power to make your other abilities a bit better: for Ice, you get to enjoy the lovely Power Boost, which can help you make your AOE Hold much more effective, as well as perhaps tossing out a few single-target Holds that will last half of forever. And of course, you can simply boost the Slow effects of your attacks on that Elite Boss or Freedom Phalanx foe tormenting your team.

Between the hard control (holds) and soft control (creepers, confuse) in your little hothouse of horrors and the debuff, effects-boost and AOE damage of your cold, chillingly lethal weaponry, you¡¯ll never be at a loss to cripple your enemies.