BW: Dominator Gear

[xxstealthxx]

Has anyone played around with Dominator gear on their BW? Specifically, is the 5-piece bonus (Evasive - 10% chance of detaunt on hit) working? I can't seem to get it to proc.

1). If it were to proc, would it show as a buff on your enemy (like Smoke Screen)?
2). How long is the detaunt supposed to last? Same 15 seconds (as long as you don't cast damage spell) as Smoke Screen?
3). Is it supposed to show in combat log? (I haven't seen any reference to it here, either).

Any info would be appreciated.

[Gerv]

It would yes, show as a debuff on the enemy it would be a small green box called "Evasive". You could also, if you run buffhead, set trackers - hostile - always show - "Evasive" then look for it again as a green box.

[Aurandilaz]

Keep in mind that DoTs now remove detaunt. Previously you could throw out 3-5 DoTs easy peasy and then Detaunt target and run away while they only do 50% dmg to you, but now if your DoT causes dmg the detaunt breaks.
Not that I've ever seen a BW nor a Sorc run Dominator gear. Just look at armory and sort by highest ranked chars and see how many of them have Domi gear.

The Sc set is the "off set" for many classes, whereas the RvR Anni/Conq set is the "main" set for many classes like BW/Sorc, which in this case means max glasscannon. The sc set would offer some defensive stats, but the question is why would you want to turn a class designed to be a machine gun that shoots massive damage from distance and requires a crew (dedicated healer and sometimes guard) to operate, and turn that one into a defensive "cannon"?
And after that armor bonus etc, you still won't survive anyone jumping at you unless you have healer nearby. You just end losing lot of damage for choosing Domi over sets that actually give offensive values.

[Penril]

A mix of Beastlord/Dominator is amazing for solo/puggers who lack heals or guard. With an armor pot/talismans you can push 3.5k armor, and combined with potions and maybe even Absorb Vitality, your survivability increases by a big margin.

And thanks to your mechanic, you still deal good damage and will keep stomping unguarded pugs.

[Aurandilaz]

A mix of Beastlord/Dominator is amazing for solo/puggers who lack heals or guard. With an armor pot/talismans you can push 3.5k armor, and combined with potions and maybe even Absorb Vitality, your survivability increases by a big margin.

And thanks to your mechanic, you still deal good damage and will keep stomping unguarded pugs.

Sometimes I really wonder at the specs/gear advice people give on forums, and it makes me think we might be playing almost a different game at times, which may not be far from truth when you compare things like EU and NA populations.
Sure enough, I did check what the top 20 RenownRanked BWs wear, only one guy there had 2 piece Dominator equipped, rest were either full Conq or Conq-Merc-Ruin combos with some 3 pc BL sets thrown in.
Then I checked top 20 RRanked Sorcs, again 1 in 20 had any Dominator pieces equipped.

Every class has good sets they use in T4 and some "medium" good sets, and possibly 1-2 bad sets most of the players playing that class tend to avoid. Defensive set on BW/Sorc just feels so alien to me, the class is designed as a cannon, you don't stack armour plates on one but you make it shoot harder, faster and further.

Penril is right to certain extent, Dominator can "work" if you play your class in an environment where you lack heals, guards, protection, organization and group support, which is about all that can go wrong when playing on a BW or Sorc.

So in other words, equip Domi only if it is your last resort.

[Penril]

First of all, top 20/10/5 rr means NOTHING. In RoR for example, we have Zarbix who is rr63 and he is much better than 90% of the top rr BWs you mentioned (all rr70-80). And if I remember correctly, he used to run full defensive spec/gear on live while still dealing mad damage. Also remember, there were several rr100 players on live that were complete trash; i don't need to say their names, we all know a few. Tl;dr: Renown rank means nothing

Having said that, I clearly specified: "solo/puggers who lack heals or guard". Specially once you start making a name for yourself and people start focusing you; if you are full glass cannon and solo in a SC, you will die as soon as they focus you. If you run a mix of BL/Dom pushing 3.5k armor, detaunt proc, heal pot x2, etc. you will survive several situations where you would have exploded otherwise (say, if you were running full Merc or even full Conq).

I also did say: "keep stomping unguarded pugs". Which is true. As for getting kills on good premades with heals and tanks that swap guard? Hell, even full glass cannon Sorcs with BiS gear and group support have trouble doing that.

[Arbich]

I think somewhere on this forum is still this old video about korze where he seemed to be very def-specced with his sorc. But sorc at least has a disarm.

Having a def-set as BW and slotting armor-talis helps somewhat against SH (thats ok) and against melee-dps in melee-range, what you should avoid at all costs.

Searing Vitality is also not worth a tactic slot. It would heal you for around one explosion damage.

Forget about def-set as bw. If you want more def, get it through renown-points.