_Malk_

<3

Truth.

I'd vote for traps, dark miasma, and a radiation emission defenders.

Not typically.

Lies, lies, and more lies! I shall make another team oriented storm/energy just to spite you!

/e caresses your face and holds you closely, whispering softly

Welcome, my nubile, experimental friend, to the ghetto controller that isn't a grav/energy dominator. You will have fun with this one.

I love me my stormies, and I am particularly fond of being able to fling my foes about whilst making my teammates shed tears. Why? Because I need their salty, salty tears to power my freezing rain. I jest, I jest. Truth be told, there's very little flinging around. Hover is going to be your bestest, besty-best friend with this power combination, and so will corners. When you're battling in wide open spaces, utilize the vertical and blast from on high. This effectively changes your knockback powers (for there are many!) to knockdown. Your teammates will love you for smacking things down, but not away, from the rest of them. Think of them as your naughty playthings; you want to throw them down on the bed (or whatever), not around the room where you or your group (kinky) cannot reach them. When dealing with indoor maps (yay!), utilize corners to their maximum potential. Knock enemies into the corners with hurricane, gale, energy torrent, and power push, slap down freezing rain and a tornado, and wonder aloud what happened to your tank. Ingest tears as needed to replenish power.

If you're not big on your teammates' feelings, slot explosive blast, torrent, power push, and gale for recharge, end, and accuracy. Laugh hysterically as needed, but learn to like the taste of linoleum.

*flails arms wildly, weeping*

Me! Take me too! *sobs*

Don't apologize. It's GLORIOUS.

Ugh, I would be a god with that power...

Which would make zero sense. There's nothing wrong with the redraw. If it bothers you that much, don't play it.

I disagree; they actually do. The OP asked what we thought the best all around controller was, and there's no technically correct answer other than the one that I've given.

I love controllers -- they're a phenomenal class and I enjoy having them on a team. I don't care which power sets they've chosen. I really don't. A person shouldn't be slumping their shoulders, stuffing their hands in their pockets while comically kicking a rock sadly and muttering, "Aww, nertz..." because the 'troller that joined their team "isn't the bestest(!)". It's simply silly. As Oedipus_Tex has pointed out already in this thread, there are multiple combinations that are great at different things. When the OP asked,

I answered,

This is an entirely legitimate answer because it takes into account that the OP has already recognized that he had not considered that different controller combinations can be "the best" at different things. The next logical step, then, is to comment on the players and play styles, which is what I did. If I had to rephrase, I would answer this way:

"The one that throws down with the rest of the team and gets their hands just as dirty as ours."

The one that participates to the fullest and doesn't slack off.

Also doesn't go with Teleport, Super Speed, Fly, or Super Jumping. Ninja run at least gives you the option of being able to get places quickly without having to justify leaping (overly) tall buildings, blazing feet, defying gravity, or warping space-time.

You have three things to really consider:

1. Debuff values;

2. Scourge; and

3. The order in which you take your powers.

Both of these toons will be very, very decent, doing respectable damage and bringing a fair amount of utility to the team. A lot of people complain that trick arrow's debuffs are underwhelming and, to be honest, there's a glimmer of truth to that. Compared to other sets, your TA debuffs will do less than say radiation emission or dark miasma. That said, every single power you have as a TA/DP or a DP/TA is essentially a debuff when you swap ammo. As a defender, poison gas arrow and various chemical ammo shots are going to reduce the incoming damage noticeably. Teams will have nothing to complain about when there is less incoming damage, and that aura-rocking emp with likely find themselves being asked, "So, what is it you're doing here?" (this is satisfying). If you primarily want to team and focus on your debuffs, go this route.

On the other hand, the corruptor path is all sorts of fun. Fun, however, does not equate to being easier. Your debuff values are lower, and you're going to get one of your set defining powers (oil slick arrow) six levels later than your defender counterpart, although in exchange you get hail of bullets sooner than they do. Is it worth it? Mmmm, I dunno. As soon as I got OSA, everything changed -- I became an engine of destruction that garnered many a "Whoa..." from my teammates. To be entirely fair, though, I was lighting it with hail of bullets and incendiary rounds, which is pure joy and hilarity. The corruptor version of this power combo will rely more heavily on ice arrow, stunning shot (which, when using swap ammo, becomes a hold rather than a stun), glue arrow, and entangling arrow (which isn't as underwhelming a tier 1 ability as many think it is) until you get OSA, but it's still ridiculously safe solo toon that can bring quite a bit to a team. Your inherent, scourge, will level out the damage between 32 and 38 until you get that wonderful arrow.

Personally, I would go with a corruptor. There are a lot of powers that you really need to take from both of these powersets (or if you find 'need' to be an inadequate term, 'want' may be a suitable alternative. You really do want to take almost all of the powers you're able to). There really is no choice between entangling arrow and flash arrow -- you're going to take them both. For a character that has no means of healing himself without taking additional power pools, both of these will be essential for your survival. The clincher for me was actually in pistols. It's not an awful tier 1 blast power, but it's not all that useful at higher levels. As a corruptor, you can take it initially if you want, and then respec out of it later in favor of executioner's shot. Defenders are forced into it.

Overall, I would put my money on the corruptor version of this powerset combo. As scourge procs, you'll see your damage outpace the defender's. Even though their debuffs are better, yours are still no slouch. In all honesty, I think it's the choice of taking pistols which broke the camel's back for me, which is actually kind of sad...

Regardless of which you choose, the ability to mitigate the incoming damage is going to be essential for survival. You will need the following TA powers to survive long enough to get to OSA:

Entangling Arrow -- the enemy doesn't move!
Flash Arrow -- the enemy doesn't see (well)!
Ice Arrow -- lulz, block of ice.
Glue Arrow -- bitchez be slowed (but together, like a family)
Stunning Shot (combined with swap ammo is a hold) -- that's right, Penelope, you're going to hold bosses.
Acid Arrow -- who are we kidding? Debuffing defense is crucial.

Skip them all, go with ninja run.

Fixed.