Local_Man

Admittedly, one of the strengths of */Storm is that it has so many good powers that you can contribute without even worrying about your primary. The control and debuffs of Freezing Rain, the positioning and debuffs of Hurricane, the slow and -Recharge from Snow Storm, the damage from Lightning Storm and Tornado.

On my Grav/Storm, I don't use Tornado much on teams, but use it a lot solo. The chaos isn't a problem when your focus is ranged single target damage. But even on teams, there are times when Tornado, as an autohit damage power, is wonderful to take down hard-to-hit foes (like Paragon Protectors who hit MOG). So I agree with you there. I also agree with you that Hurricane should be saved for situational use.

I skipped Thunderclap on my Ice/Storm, Ill/Storm and Mind/Storm, none of which had another stun to stack with it. But I like Thunderclap on my Earth/Storm and Grav/Storm. It should be really, really good for a Dark/Storm which has a PB AoE stun in the primary. (I rolled one up, but haven't played it yet. I got a great name: Dark Stormy Knight, which is a reference to the classic Bulwer-Litton line, "It was a dark and stormy night.")

I agree -- When the best power from each set conflict, it's a problem.

It was a character I made a long time ago before I realized how little synergy there is between the sets. But it does have one nice aspect similar to Grav/Storm . . . since most of the damage is single target, Hurricane provides protection while doing single target damage. And the added damage from Lightning Storm is really nice in those late levels when the damage form Mind Control is leveling out. Still, Mind/Storm is not my favorite combo.

I've played a LOT of storm (Ice/Storm, Earth/Storm, Ill/Storm, Grav/Storm, Mind/Storm all at 50). Storm is a great secondary, adding some badly needed Damage from two pets in late levels. While the advantage of Chain Fences + Freezing Rain is tempting, Static Field is quite a bit better as AoE control. Gravity really neeed the Crushing Field+Freezing Rain combo for control because it lacked any other, better form of AoE control.

Then you look at the rest of the set . . . Conductive Aura and Hurricane conflict. Tornado is less effective with no -knockback. And the biggy -- Freezing Rain will disrupt the sleep in Static Field, making Static Field almost useless. Electric doesn't have another stun to stack with Thunderclap.

Grav/Storm really worked because Gravity's strength is ranged single target damage and positioning. So Hurricane was wonderful, keeping foes away and debuffed while using the Gravity primary to clobber single targets. That same strategy really doesn't apply to Electric. The stun in Wormhole could stack with Thunderclap. And Gravity isn't bothered all that much by knockback since the damage is mostly single target and ranged.

It may be that Electric/Storm will be a good character, but I would expect some synergy problems.

If you are going to use Total Domination to set Containment, you might as well do:

Total Dom > Terrify > APP AoE Attack > some single target attacks until Terrify recharges > Mass Hypnosis > Terrify.

As Oedipus Tex mentioned, Power Boost may let you get in a second Terrify before the AoE hold runs out. This is one of several reasons that the Primal APP is a good choice for a Mind Controller.

Father X-mas -- you may be the guru on hardware, but I disagree with you on several of your points on Illusion.

An Illusion controller is one of the better damage controllers . . . assuming you know how to take advantage of the mechanics. That Illusory damage you mention allows Illusion to do lots of damage, as long as you can do it quickly before the heal-back. This is why I worked out the strategy of killing Minions FIRST, then Lieutenants and then Bosses.

The usual practice for many characters, especially melee fighters, is to take on the Boss first since he is the most dangerous to you and will do the most damage to you. But Illusion can distract the Boss with PA or Deceive. That's the key, and why PA are the REAL key power for Illusion. PA pull the attention of foes while you pick them off one by one. If you cast PA into a group, random chance (and a little positioning) determines if the PA will attack Minions, Lieutenants or Bosses. When you use your attacks on Minions first, you can usually wipe them out in one or two attack chains (depending upon your level and your build). If one of the PA were going after that Minion, then you wipe him out faster AND get to keep that Illusory damage from PA and your Spectral Wounds before the heal-back.

As you wipe out the Minions and then the Lieutenants with your Blind-SW-vet attacks, or later Blind-SW-APP Blast-SW attack chain, the PA will then concentrate on the Bosses, keeping the bosses distracted. Then you can use your attack chain on the bosses. PA's damage combined with yours can really add up, especially since the Illusory damage done in the last few seconds won't heal back if the foe is defeated.

Ultimately, PA do a substantial amount of damage (shown by Herostats). And you can increase that damage by using the strategy I described because then you keep more of the Illusory damage.

Deceive, while one of the better powers, is not the KEY power in Illusion. Phantom Army is. While Deceive can be skipped in a build (you would be missing out on a great control power), anyone who skips Phantom Army has a gimped build. That would be like skipping Seeds of Confusion on a Plant controller or Static Field on an Electric Controller.

Flash can be a decent control power and is more useful that you suggest. 2 Accuracy (SOs or better) is enough while leveling up (standard slotting is 2 Acc, 2 Hold, 2 Rech). After Flash can be fully slotted with at least SOs, Flash makes a good control filler for when PA are recharging. Run in while invisible, hit Flash, and then attack -- and add Spectral Terror only if you can't wipe them out before Flash expires. Then in upper levels, Flash lets you set AoE Containment for an AoE damage power from your APP set. It is skippable, but can be very useful.

To some degree, it depends on the team. If you don't have much AoE DoT or -Knockback, then Electric Control works great for teams. It teams well with Illusion and Mind controllers. Static Field and Jolting Chain are quite good at stopping the Alpha Strike, and then Static Field and the endurance drain can provide continual control. If you have enough time to let the chain effect happen, Synaptic Overload is even better at stopping the Alpha Strike. The +Recovery for any teammate who is in Static Field is wonderful for melee teammates, especially ones who are single-target focused (Energy Melee, Martial Arts, etc.).

As for Dominators, even though Electric Control gets limited benefit from Domination, it still can provide powerful continual control with Static Field and Endurance Drain with Chain Fences to keep foes in the zone. This gives you lots of time to take down foes one-by-one, and the recovery buff really helps. I found that many of the Dominator Assault sets are a bit endurance heavy, so the fact that Conductive Aura uses no endurance is a little benefit, too.

Illusion/Rads were soloing AVs long before IOs. Without Perma-PA, it takes a little bit of skill . . . knowing where to position yourself while PA are out, and when to run away for a few seconds. Phanty's Decoy helps a lot, too. I did it a few times on my Ill/Rad/Fire.

Of course, the reason is that PA pull all the AV damage, and then the Decoy would pull the damage when PA were recharging. I would stay at range to attack, and hopefully use the landscape to duck when PA were recharging. This was also in the days when Phantasm was a little smarter than he is now . . . he stayed out of melee. Phanty would cast his decoy, then shoot from range. He was really good at re-casting his decoy on a regular basis.

I wouldn't count on Shadowfall, even though it has a 40 ft radius, as the Gremlins run around a lot. When attacking a single foe, you should be able to stay close enough to add that defense, but the Gremlins will often run around outside of the Shadowfall area when they are running free.

My opinion is that it is best to slot for Damage and Recharge. Those Gremlins will get wiped out on a regular basis. Being able to re-cast them more quickly is probably better than trying to add some resistance or defense.

But there are lots of different opinions.

For a Fire/Storm, you had better plan on one of the most endurance-hungry builds in the game. Get low level Miracle and Numina's procs to slot as soon as possible.

As Muon suggested, there's a huge difference between playing a control set as a Dominator, where the control is just to keep foes occupied until you can take them down, and a Controller, where you often have to rely upon your control set for control AND damage while your secondary buffs and debuffs. Storm and Trick Arrow are the only secondaries with significant, non-situational damage. Rad has Fallout, which is very situational. FF has Repulsion Bomb, which is pretty lame. Emp, Therm, Kin, Dark and Sonic don't have any damage from the secondary, although they have buffs and/or debuffs that will improve damage from your primary.

I wrote this summary of Electric Control for Controllers mostly because there were no controller guides on Electric. Several powers useful to a Controller is far less useful to a Dominator, like the single target Immob. I can see where you would feel Jolting Chain is less useful on a Dominator.

There are a few downsides to Dark Secondary: No Defense Debuff. The heal requires a foe to siphon off of. It lacks the 30% Recharge buff, so you have to find that extra 30% from sets -- usually from 3 purple sets. The Recovery buff requires you to siphon off of a group of foes. The -Resistance is a patch on a long recharge, while Rad's is a foe-anchored toggle that recharges quickly. Even if you are able to "stack" Tar Patch, that's not going to help you except against really hard foes who stand still -- and Illusion does not have an Immob.

Yes, there are a lot of good things about Dark, too. You get some Defense from Fade and Shadowfall. The heal is large. Fluffy is nice. HT is a group rez with other goodies.

Overalll, I think Rad matches up with Illusion best, but folks should play what they enjoy the most.

Two or three issues ago. However, so many powersets have the best powers at 35 and 38, that you don't see it all that often.

You can see it in Mids.

I put up with getting mezzed until I got Indomidible Will at 41. Fortunately, between Static Field and Synaptic Overload, it didn't happen all that often.

I must admit that I never considered Sonic because the two times I have tried the Sonic Secondary, I just couldn't stick with it. But I like your description of how Elec may be the best primary for Sonic even though Sonic isn't the best secondary for Electric . . . I say the same thing about Trick Arrow with Illusion.

Nice point on the use of Jolting Chain -- too many people on the forums have said that Jolting Chain is skippable, but I really like it. You are correct that it is the perfect thing to use to prevent attacks while waiting for the next Sleep pulse from Static Field.

As for the Tempest proc . . . frankly, I completely forgot that proc exists. I never found any use for it. It never occurred to me that Jolting Chain is just about the only place where that proc might be useful (other than maybe an Elec Blaster or */Elec Defender). I will try it out in Jolting Chain, as it sounds great. Thanks for the great tip!

I went with Elec/Rad because of the combination of Static Field+Conductive Aura+Choking Cloud. The stacking types of control are pretty awesome. Choking Cloud's problem has been that it takes a while for the hold to work, so you need something to start the control cycle. Then foes will sometimes drop out of the hold. Electric Control handles it well, because Static Field handles the initial control, and then the endurance drain keeps foes controlled when waiting for another hold pulse to hit.

Plus you get all the other goodies from Rad: Defense and Resistance debuffs, a great combo buff from AM, a self heal and that great panic button hold from EM Pulse.

I went with the Psi APP pool for Indomidible Will. That mez protection is needed to keep Choking Cloud from being turned off. Psi Blast and Psi Tornado helps a little with the damage, and Mind Over Body for some Damage Resistance.