Local_Man

New Update March 30, 2012
Official Guide Post Editor for the update was Local_Man

This thread is for posting Guide or FAQ links for Controllers. Please create your guides in the "Player Guides" forum (since posts in that section do not roll off) and link the thread here. Also, do not post your guide in this thread - only the link to your guide. For non-Controller guides, check the master list of all Guides in the Guide to Guides.

Failing any clear identifier from the poster, we will go by the original post date vs. Issue releases (I-1: 6/30/04, I-2: 9/17/04, I-3: 1/5/05, I-4: 5/5/05, I-5: 9/1/05, I-6: 10/28/05, I-7: 06/06/06, I-8:11/28/06, I-9: 5/1/07, I-10: 7/24/07, I-11: 11/28/07, I-12: 6/20/08, I-13: `12/2/2008, I-14: 4/8/2009, I-15: 6/29/2009, I-16: 9/15/2009, I-17: 4/28/2010, I-18: 8/16/2010, I-19: 11/30/2010, I-20: 4/5/2011, I-21: 9/13/2011, I-22: 3/6/2012) - e.g., if it was posted in March/05, it is an I3 Guide.

Guides appearing here were gleaned from links posted in one of the "Guide to Guides" threads (the Controller GtG or the GtG threads in the "Player Guides" forum). We cannot sift through the hundreds of individual threads to find a posting, so be sure to 1) place your guide in the "Player Guides" forum, nowhere else and 2) post a link to it in a "Guide to Guides" thread!

A few important notes: When some changes were made in the forums, authors were able to go back to their previously posted guides and edit posts. Guides that show any "edit" after the original post date will be designated as "Updated" and then the issue that matches the update date. The author may or may not have fully updated the guide through that issue.

City of Heroes has gone though a lot of changes. Early guides may have some useful information, but will not include many of the changes in the game. Some changes were to the game as a whole, while other changes apply specifically to controllers. In particular, the early guides will not take into account Enhancement Diversification, Invention Origin enhancements or Containment. Middle guides may not include inherent Fitness, AoE Team buffs or the addition of Patron Power Pools to the Ancillary Power Pools.

CONTROLLER (Be sure to check the Defender guides for your secondaries! Also, Dominators share some of the same primaries, so Dominator guides may be helpful.)
GENERAL
Choosing a Controller Build, V2 (Enantiodromos) [I-15]
Splatroller: An Overview (Enantiodromos) [1-15]
The Splattroller Field Guide (Omniverse) [I-14]
WhisperWitch's Guide To Controller Primaries Damage Vs 1 Target (magicj) [I-14]
WhisperWitch's Video Guide to Telekinesis (magicj) [I-14]
Arcane Controller Primary Powers FAQ (Enantiodromos) [I-12] Updated in [I-16]
Comparative Analysis of PBAoE and Ranged AoE Holds (Mystic_Amethyst) [I-8]
Controller Damage Overview (Enantiodromos) [I-6]
Choosing the Controller that’s Right for You (Enantiodromos) [I-6]
CONFUSION AND XP/TIME (v2) (Enantiodromos) [I-6]
Guide to being a Healer (Enantiodromos) [I-8] Updated [I-15]
Guide to the word \Necessary\ (Enantiodromos) [I-8]
A guide for solo controllers (Ishtar) [I-4]
cforce’s Guide to Confusion v.1.0 (cforce) [I-3]
5 Best Solo Controller Builds (Pilcrow) [I-2]
The Unofficial Strategy Guide for Controllers (Ubah_Weasel47) [I-2]
Magnitude – or, why Johnny can’t hold Dr. Vahzilok (GlaziusF) [I-1]

DARK CONTROL
Guide to Darkness Control and Dark Assault for Dominators and Controllers (Blue_Fenix) [I-22]

ELECTRIC CONTROL
(No Guides Yet)

EARTH CONTROL
Leveling Up an Earth/Storm Controller (GGG247) [I-14]
Local Guide to Earth/Rad Controller (Local_Man) [I-10] Updated [I-17]
Eternal_Wilting Earth/Empathy (Eternal_Wilting) [I-8]
Guide to Earth/Storm Controllers V. 2 (KokopelliJoe) [I-8]
C_dog’s I7 Guide to Earth Control/Force Field Controllers (C_Dog) [I-7]
I Feel the Earth Move- A Guide to the Earth/Sonic (HotButteredSoul) [I-7]
Kaigame’s Guide to Earth Controlling V2.0 (Kenshin) [I-4]

FIRE CONTROL
Striking the Match, a Fire/Kin’s Guide (Star_Sentinel) [I-11]
Elemental Chaos The i10 Guide to Fire/Storm (Eldandil) [I-10]
Fire Blaster’s Guide to Fire/Rad Controllers (LivingHellfire) [I-9]
Fire/Rad PvP Guide (Choff) [I-8]
Guide to soloing a fire/rad (Switchgear) [I-7]
Fire Control, Storm Summoning, and synergies (DaemonDivinity) [I-7]
Eldandil Tauro’s I7 guide to the classic Fire/Storm/Fire Troller (Eldandil) [I-7]
Fire/Storm Splattroller Build Guide (Enantiodromos)[I-6]
Ardent Emissary Torches the World: A Fire/Rad Guide (vI6.1) (Funky_Pink) [I-6]
Foxmaiden’s Ultimate Fire Control Guide (Sakura_Kitsuki) [I-6]
Brimstone Gale’s Guide to Fire/Storm Controllers (BrimstoneGale) [I-3]
Slotting Fire Pimps (Booom) [I-2]

GRAVITY CONTROL
Quantums Arrows i10 Guide to Grav/Trick Arrow (Carnifax) [I-10]
A Guide to the Gravity/Radiation Controller (FunkyWaltDogg) [I-10]
Eddy’s in the Space/Time Continuum- Grav/Kin (husdonsmith) [I-9]
Controlling Time and Space-Grav/FF (Bunny_Man) [I-9]
Grav/Storm Guide 3.0 (Reinman) [I-8]
Quick Guide to Gravity/Trick Arrow (anachrodragon) [I-7]
Ubiquity's Guide to Gravity/Empathy Controllers, (Baryonic_Cell) [I-6]
The Guide to Gravity Control [v1.20051101.0] (Arinara) [I-6]
Gravity/Storm Controller Guide (Zloth) [I-3]
Gravity/Force Field Controlling: Zen and the Art of Knockback (Doctor_Gravity) [I-1]

ICE CONTROL
Ice/Storm - Looking at Jack Frost and the sets.... (Adam_Amp) [I-14]
Craigen’s Guide to the Ice/Kinetics Controller (Craigen) [I-11]
Frost Storm’s Guide to Ice Control/Storm Summoning (EmeraldRain) [I-7]
Frost’s I6 Ice Control, Empathy, and Kinetics Guide Revision 2 (Frost) [I-6]
Purple Heart’s Guide to Ice/Empathy, VI6.1 (Funky_Pink) [I-6]
Lopp Syded Ice/Radiation Emission Controller Guide V3.0 (PurplePplEatr) [I-4]
Snowlock’s Ice/Storm Controller Guide V2.0 (Snowlock) [I-1]

ILLUSION CONTROL
A Local Guide to Ill/Rad Controllers (Local_Man) [I-15] Updated [I-21]
A Blinding Empowered Light - The Illusion/Kinetics/Primal Controller (Nalrok_Athzim) [I-18]
Thriving on Chaos as an Ill/Rad Controller (Extor_Prime) [I-13]
Illusion Control/Radiation Emission Guide (Ishtar) [I-12]
Lady Lumi's I12 Guide to Illusions and Empathy (_Blu_ ) [I-12]
Issue 9 guide to Illusion Control (Energy_Aura) [I-9]
The selfish Illusion/Sonic controller (CaptainSpud) [I-9]
Lights and Sounds- Illusion/Sonics (3rd times a charm) (Muad Dib) [I-9]
Mogura’s guide to Illusion/Kinetics (Mogura) [I-9]
Smoke and Mirrors- Illusion/Storm Guide (Tal_N) [I-8]
Illusions/Kinetics for PvP (Dubya) [I-8]
Illusions/Kinetics for Solo and Team Success. (Zombie_A_Go_Go) [I-7]
Tanzier’s Guide to an I6 Illusion/Storm Controller (Tanzier) [I-6]
The Illusion Control and Empathy Synergy Guide (TIEDestroyer) [I-6]
Tom’s Foolery, Guide to Illusion/Rad solo in I6 (Q_Arkhan) [I-6]
Pilcrow’s Phantom Army (PA) Guide (Pilcrow) [I-4]
Desyncher’s Post-I3 Illusion/Radiation Guide 0.5 (Trinary) [I-3]
Uberness, Thy Name is Illusion! Illusion/Kinetics Guide V2.0 (Spectral_Ops) [I-3]

MIND CONTROL
WhisperWitch's Intro to Canonical Mind/FF/Primal (magicj) [I-20] (link to videos)
Katerinae's Guide to Mind/Storm Control (Katerinae) [I-13]
WhisperWitch’s Tactics For Mind Control, Version 2 (magicj) [I-11]
No Pet? Suck it up! A Mind/Kin Guide (EmperorSteele) [I-11] Updated [I-18]
Mind/Storm guide (Azoth_WindMage) [I-8]
Mind w/ Radiation and Empathy v 2.3 (Entantiodromos) [I-8]
cforce’s Guide to Mind Control/Storm Summoning (cforce) [I-6]
WhisperWitch’s Guide to Building a WarTroller (magicj) [I-5]
WhisperWitch’s Tactics for Mind/Force Fields (magicj) [I-5]
Hedon’s Guide to Mind Control/Telekinesis (Hedon) [I-3]

PLANT CONTROL
The Plant/Cold/Stone Controller - Death from All Sides [I-16]
Plant/Thermal Controller Guide (Coldmed) [I-12]
Plant/Rad Splattroller Build Guide (Enantiodromos) [I-12]

SECONDARIES
Silas Plays Support and So Can You! (Silas) [I-16], Updated [I-20]
Playing Kinetics on Large Teams (Amberyl) [I-15]
Empathy – How to Buff (Psyonico) [I-11]
Trick Arrow Enchiridion (Luminara) [I-11]
Controllers and Defender Primaries : A Guide to Playing with Other People’s Toys (Blueeyed) [I-6]
WhisperWitch’s Guide to Herding with Force Fields (magicj) [I-4]

Dark Control seems to be a moderately low damage, fairly high control powerset. I have been having fun leveling mine up . . . but mine is Dark/Dark. (Call Me Awesome and I are actually teaming most of the time, but I'm at 33.)

The one build I would really like to make is Dark/Storm . . . except for the fact that I already have five */Storm controllers at Incarnate levels, and by playing Dark/Dark I get to try both new powersets. I think that there could be some really great synergy between the Dark Control and Storm Summoning sets.

• Imagine stacking PB AoE Stuns with Heart of Darkness (Mag 3) and Thunderclap (Mag 2).
• The cone AoE Immob has -knockback, so Tornado will be a great damage power.
• You want some damage? Imagine loading up both Living Shadows (the cone AoE Immob) and Freezing Rain with 4 procs EACH. Then you get Lightning Storm to help with your pets (Haunt and Umbral Beast). Considering the substantial -Resistance in Freezing Rain, and this combo should be able to deal a substantial amount of damage. I have been impressed with Living Shadows with 4 procs, but to have Freezing Rain with the Achilles Heel, Posi Blast, Lady Gray and Impeaded Swiftness procs, too . . . wow!
• Dark Control has ToHit Debuff, which would stack with the ToHit Debuff in Hurricane. You really wouldn't need defense, or you could focus on only Ranged Defense.
• The Stealth from Steamy Mist will help you get in position for the various powers in Dark Control that need positioning, like the cone AoE Immob or the PB AoE Stun. Then you can bunch up the foes with powers like Hurricane and even Gale. One advantage of the stealth is that you will get less ranged attacks, so you can get by without Ranged Defense. Combine Steamy Mist with Super Speed or a Stealth IO for full invisibility.

Darn, I may have to roll one up after all . . .

In terms of an SO/common IO build, here are my suggestions:

Different people have different playstyles, as I said before. Some of this reflects my playstyle.

Dark Grasp: Frankly, your single target hold is a key power and really deserves 6 slots. Like other Single Target Holds, it has a 20% Accuracy bonus. You can get by with one accuracy until you are battling higher level foes. You want some Recharge so you can stack it on bosses. You also may want some damage in there . . . even on a team build, you want to kill off a foe every now and then. 1 Acc, 1 Hold, 2 Dam, 2 Rech. If you have trouble missing a lot, change one Recharge for a second Acc.

Twilight Grasp: My standard slotting is 2 Acc, 2 Heal, 2 Rech.

Living Shadows: This one has a 20% accuracy PENALTY, so it needs 2 Acc. Immob really isn't needed, as it recharges before the immob runs out, so you can just re-cast. The damage is low, so this power really works for damage procs. Before procs, I would say 2 acc, 1 EndRdx, 2 Rech.

Tar Patch: The Slow is not all that important because -- you have Immobilize! The slow only affects runspeed, which is meaningless if foes are immobilized. Tar Patch is a huge Resistance Debuff, which is why you want it up as much as possible. 2-3 Recharge is all. Maybe an EndRdx, but only if you have slots to spare.

Darkest Night: 3 ToHit Debuff, 1 EndRdx. Maybe 2, but I usually get by with 1. By the way, the Dark Watcher set is cheap, so there's really no reason not to slot 4 of them.

Possess: I love confuse powers, and this one is great. It also has a 20% Accuracy bonus, so it only needs 1 Acc. You want Recharge so you can stack it or re-cast when it misses. (Remember that it does not draw aggro -- take a look at the descriptions of the uses of Deceive from my Illusion/Radiation Guide.) Use Possess to take foes out of the fight before it begins. 1 Acc, 2 Conf, 2 Rech.

Howling Twilight: I only use 1 Rech. The stun is only Mag 2, and I really don't use it all that often. I mostly save it as a Rez, but occasionally use it to stack Stun on a boss after Heart of Darkness.

Heart of Darkness: Depending upon your playstyle, I think this is worth some slots. 2 Acc, 2 Stun, 2 Rech. If you don't use it every group or nearly every group, you can reduce a Rech.

Shadowfall: -Knockback and EndRdx are most important. I prefer to slot it for Defense after that. Note that 1 -Knockback (4 Mag) handles about 90-93% of the knockback in the game. Very few knockbacks in the game are in the 4-8 range. To get more benefit (in the 95-98% range), you really need three -knockback (12 Mag). Personally, I don't think it is worth it. One is enough.

Haunt: This is a key source of damage as well as a distraction (similar to Phantom Army, but not invulnerable). Haunt is great to take the alpha, and does a lot of damage if they survive. 1 Acc, 2-3 Damage, 2-3 Rech.

Fade: 2 Defense, 2 Rech minimum.

Super Jump: I would drop this and take Super Speed earlier. Why? Shadowfall + Super Speed provides full invisibility. If you don't want to use Super Speed, then get a Stealth IO to go with Shadowfall. Slot Super Speed with a single EndRdx. My Dark/Dark has Fly with a Stealth IO.

Drop Stealth. It is worthless in this build. You can't run Stealth and Shadowfall at the same time, and Shadowfall is much better in every way. Maybe add Combat Jumping for the Immob protection and a good place to slot IOs like the Luck of the Gambler Recharge. CJ uses almost no endurance and that Immob protection is very nice. You could choose Maneuvers to add more Defense if you are going for a Defensive build.

Shadow Field: standard slotting for controls is 2 Acc, 2 Hold (or other control), 2 Recharge.

Soul Absorption: This power has a 20% Accuracy bonus, so only really needs 1 Acc. 1 Acc, 2 Rech as minimum slotting. I don't see Regen as a big need since you have a great heal already. Maybe add some EndMod.

Move Super Speed earlier.

Umbral Beast: 1 Acc, 3 damage minimum slotting. Rech is not needed since it is persistent.

Shadowy Binds: Best use of this power is as a damage power. It also has a 20% Accuracy bonus. 1 Acc, 3 damage.

Dark Servant: The most valuable thing to slot in Fluffy is ToHit Debuff. 1 Acc, 3 ToHit Debuff minimum. You could slot Recharge but not really needed. You could slot Heal.

The Psi APP is OK, and a good choice if you want mez protection. But World of Confusion sucks. Pretty simple. It is horrible. A few folks use it as a set mule for the purple confuse set, but it otherwise sucks. The radius is tiny and the effects are minimal. It is a waste of endurance and a power pick. Take Psi Tornado instead.

First, you will generally get more responses if you post the build in addition to the Data Chunk. Some people read the forums at work or on computers that don't have Mid's installed.

Second, I tried to import the Data Chunk into Mids and only got errors, so I couldn't see it.

Try downloading Mids and making a build yourself, then post it. Folks will generally be more willing to help when you make a reasonable attempt, even if you are way off base.

Different people have different playstyles. Some play mostly solo, while others mostly on teams. Some like to build for maximum damage, while others want to build for maximum control. Some folks consider defense to be essential, while others feel control and the ToHit Debuff make Defense less needed or not needed at all. These choices affect whether you take certain pools (Leadership, Fighting) or whether you take situational powers.

I have taken Fire/Kin and Plant/Kin up to 50, as well as a Kin/Elec Defender and a Kin/Sonic Defender.

My favorite is the Plant/Kin.

The Kin/Elec Defender was designed to be an endurance drainer -- it was only moderately successful, (Electric Control is much better) but was a good buffer. The Kin/Sonic was a beast team damage -- with the Kinetics buffs and the Sonic debuffs, everything melts. But both of these are pretty weak solo -- Kinetics is almost all offense and very little protection (Defense, Resistance or Debuffs). I've run a Kinetics Corrupter some too, and it had the same problem of all offense and almost no protection.

Fire/Kin is very popular for a good reason -- it is great for killing lots of foes in large groups, but I didn't find it all that much fun to play. AFire/Kin certainly makes a good farmer. Admittedly, I never finished up a fully IO'ed out build, but I found that my Fire/Kin would either wipe out groups or get wiped out herself -- again, a lack of protection.

But the Plant/Kin had great AoE control to provide the "protection" that Kinetics lacks. With Seeds, Creepers and Vines, I found it to be a lot more survivable than my other versions of Kinetics, even solo. The character (named "Flora the Explorer") was initially designed to be part of a duo with an Elec/Shield scrapper, but she didn't stay in the duo after about level 26. It is a great combo, especially once I added Super Speed with a Stealth IO. Full invisibility let me get into position for optimal use of Seeds.

I haven't tried Dark/Kin. I think it will have some nice synergies, with the PB AoE stun, Haunt to draw aggro, the AoE hold and lots of To Hit Debuff. Hard to say how it will compare with Plant/Kin. The downside is that it is fairly low damage, but it provides a lot of "protection."

Everyone seems to have their own set-up. I use my mouse to steer by holding down the right button, while using only W and S for forward and back movement. Then I have easy reach to the number buttons for my main attacks on 1-7 in Tray 1.

I also have a Razer Naga Mouse with 17 buttons, so I bind powers on long recharges to buttons on the mouse. I use CityBinder to manage my binds, which makes it easy to set up a standard pattern for my binds. Since I use the mouse to steer, all of the buttons on the mouse gives me easy access to 11 buttons for powers (I save three for travel powers).

At this point, I have Plant/Rad (Pot Holder), Plant/Kin (Flora the Explorer) and Plant/Storm (Zephyr Lilly) controllers. I would say that solo, the Plant/Storm is great. There is a great synergy with Storm's ability to position foes and the Plant powers. The added damage from the secondary really helps.

However, on larger teams, the Plant/Kin really shines. It is very, very busy/clicky with all the buffing, but it really helps teams wipe out crowds in almost no time. The Earth APP adds more AoE (Fissure) and single target (Seismic Smash) damage attacks. The cone nature of Seeds works pretty well since I use Super Speed with a Stealth IO, which lets me get in great position for Seeds, and then run in for all the great buffage. I have plans to soft-cap to S/L Defense (with Rock Armor), but I haven't gotten there yet.

The Plant/Rad is certainly a good character, as Rad is flexible enough to fit any primary well. Maybe it didn't thrill me because I already had an Ill/Rad, Earth/Rad, 2 Fire/Rads all at 50.

I like the Acc/Dam in Dark Grasp, as 4 Baz Gaze is a bit low on accuracy against high level foes . . . and it is often used an an alpha against single targets to set Containment. Consider using an Acc/Dam Hami-O for higher numbers.

I finally got to see John Carter on Saturday. I read the books as a kid, and then re-read them a few years ago. While there were certainly changes from the books, I was not disappointed by the film at all. I thought is was a fun action-adventure film taking most of the good stuff from the book and solidly in the spirit of the books.

I'm very disappointed that it has not done better at the box office. I'm certainly doing my best to give it good word-of-mouth.

I want a Woola!

(Hmm, just thought that we should get a Barsoom Mastermind set . . . )

You would likely get more responses if you:

(a) posted the build instead of just a data chunk -- some people don't have access to Mids when they are reading the forums, and some people want to take a look at a build before bothering to load up Mids to see if it is worth responding. Some people have such different goals in mind than I do that my advice would not be relevant to their goals.

(b) explained what you were trying to accomplish with the build, your playstyle and what your goals are. You mentioned that you want Perma-PA, but is this a team build or solo? Aggressive melee or cautious Ranged? Recharge and utility focused, or Defense focused? Regular utility use, including exemping down, or only Incarnate level stuff?

One other advantage of a second single target hold . . . you can use it as a IO set holder. It's not quite a "mule" since the power has some uses, but close. If you are slotting for Recharge, it is another place for a Baz Gaze set. You can get Ranged Defense from it as well.

On any controller combo that has a second single target hold, I find that I usually take that hold leveling up (before I have a lot of recharge), but then drop it with my final build unless I need it to hold an IO set. The points made above are valid that the power can be skipped once you have enough Recharge in your build, and the controller primary single target hold is better.

So far, my favorite suggestion is "Scooby Boo." "Scooby" fits the two-syllable, ending "ee" trend, and I like the little bit of a joke.

A build that only puts one slot in the single target hold would be questionable in my book. Controllers should, uh, control. The ST Hold is a key control power. It can be slotted for damage (and I do slot it for damage), but its main purpose is control.

Yes, the Immob does a little bit more damage, but the control is much worse. If you plan to solo, I agree that it is a great idea to add the single target Immob to your build.

I'd be curious about your build if you can't fit in more slots for the Single Target Hold and even fit in the single target Immob, too.

Oddly enough, I'm one of those folks who doesn't support the current trend to turn Controllers into super-duper damage machines. I prefer my controllers to focus on control and support. If I wanted to make a damage dealer, I would pick a different AT. There's nothing wrong with making a controller into a damage dealer, if that's what you want to do, but I'm kind of a purist. So, if that's what you want to do, just ignore me . . .

On the other hand, I do have a few of my controllers who are designed to maximize damage, and those usually take the single target Immob (if available).

I pulled out my Grav/Storm for a short time last night, just to see how the changes affect it. This is a solo build with mostly common IOs -- It has nice slotting for Singy (4 Expediant Reinforcement including the Resist proc, the other Resist proc and a Dam/Mez Hami-O). I have a few set IOs for frankenslotting, but mostly common IOs. I don't have Lift in my current build, but use GD-Crush-Propel as my attack chain. I then use Frost Breath and Ice Storm for AoE Damage.

Wow. The shorter animation on Propel is really nice. But even better is the change to Wormhole . . . since it no longer notifies foes before the stun, it is far, far more useful! I no longer have to hide behind things! I can set up Lightning Storm and Singy in against a wall, and then Wormhole in a group of foes, even in open areas. The larger AoE is wonderful, too.

This definitely makes me want to play this character a lot more, and I may take the time to make a full set-IO build. Now I need to figure out how to take Lift and get some slots in there.