Local_Man

Yes, dumb me . . . I wasn't thinking. Fallout is skippable on almost all Rads. Sometimes fun to have, but skippable.

My wife went out and bought herself a Mac because all of her snooty writer friends said that they were better. Every time I her her complain about things that she can't do on her Mac, I have to hold in the laughter and I-told-you-so comments . . .

As for the news . . . more choice is always good. Choking Cloud is skippable on lots of Rad builds (but not Fire/Rad, Elec/Rad or Ice/Rad), and EM Pulse could easily be postponed. It won't help Kin or Cold. Most of the others have a power that could be skipped or postponed to fit in an Epic earlier.

In Mass Confusion, the proc increases the mag so that you MIGHT be able to get a boss or two confused. In the single target Confuse (which I use a lot), it turns a single target confuse into a mini-Mass Confuse when it hits. The single target Confuse lets you take foes out of the fight before it begins, including foes outside of your AoE, ambushes and adds, etc.

I think the Proc is more useful in the single target confuse.

And World of Confusion is pretty much an auto-skip power unless you want it as a set mule. However, the proc is wonderful in Arctic Air.

While I mostly agree with Enant's analysis, one down-side of Kinetics is survivability . . . since you are in melee most of the time, */Kinetics controllers tend to faceplant a lot more. Even if you are not drawing the aggro, you can get caught in the AoEs that are fired at the melee folks. A well-played Kin will boost the overall team performance more than any other secondary. Plant/Kin in particular is a very, very effective team controller, but once Seeds is thrown, it can be pretty vulnerable. With a good Tank or other aggro-gatherer, it is a fantastic build.

Earth/Rad has great AoE control from range, a great deal of flexibility to handle any kind of situation, and is pretty good at survival. But it does diddly-squat for damage until Rocky, and never does all that much. And it's ability to boost your team's damage is far less than Kinetics.

And I have to admit that adding Storm to either Plant or Earth is pretty sweet. Both are a lot of fun and the Resistance Debuff from Freezing Rain is pretty nice. But a badly played Stormie can hurt more than help.

Illusion, I agree, is not a lock-down controller. But it contributes a lot to a team regardless. It works great as a second controller on a team.

Personally, I haven't been all that impressed with Electric control. There are too many conflicts . . . anyone with AoE damage, especially AoE with DoT, or a lot of knockback will neutralize many of Electric's Controls. My Elec/Rad is 47, and I find it easier to solo even though the damage is kind of low. Without the Gremlins, the damage would be non-existant.

That may have been what you meant, but it is not what you said. You said "they kill on tough single-target fights." Someone who doesn't know the Rad set might think that RI and EF are the same as Cold's Infridgidate and Benumb, which actually ARE single target debuffs.

No question that an Ill/Rad can handle tough single target fights, but those debuffs also provide an AoE benefit. If you can get it applied before AoE damage powers are fired off, it can add decent debuffs to the entire group around the anchor. Even if the anchor is killed, the debuffs did their job.

Which was my point.

No, they are AoE debuffs. They affect foes in a 15 ft radius around the anchor. Ill/Rad can be very, very effective on teams killing groups even though it does not have, until the APP sets, any real AoE damage. EF + an AoE damage power (like Fireball) can add some decent AoE damage, especially if you can double the damage with Containment.

Take a look at my Illusion/Rad guide, linked in my sig. Throughout the guide, but especially in the last section, there are strategy suggestions. I have included discussions about using PA, how to choose your anchor for the debuffs and the problems with Phantasm.

I feel strongly that Ill/Rad is best played at range. Stay out of melee as much as possible. In some cases, play from overhead using Hover. The only powers you have that require melee are Flash and EM Pulse, and those are, quite frankly, situational powers. One huge advantage of staying at range . . . Phanty's knockback is rarely a problem. When a foe comes toward you, Phanty is there to knock the foe back towards the rest of the group. (I haven't had a teammate complain about Phanty's knockback in a very, very long time.) If Phanty does knock a foe away, then that's the one you should take down.

Staying at range also lets you get a better view of the fight. It also helps Phantom Army stay together. The pets have a kind of "invisible leash" that keeps them near you. If you stay back out of melee, the room for them to "roam" is less and they will tend to stay more concentrated.

Another aspect of PA . . . nobody, but nobody takes an alpha strike better than PA. Really good tanks understand this and are willing to let PA take the first hit against hard foes. Most don't. When coming up against something that hits hard, the team should let PA go in first. In other parts of the game, PA work as a great secondary tank, gathering the aggro near the edges of the tank's aggro area. Instead of asking them to act as a main tank when you already have one (and it might hurt the Tank's ego to learn that PA are a better tank than he is), cast them to the side to draw the aggro from a few straglers who might otherwise choose to shoot at the squishier characters who stay at range, like Defenders, Blasters, Corruptors, etc. After they have been cast, you lead them around (while you stay invisible) into the edge of the tank's aggro, helping to protect your teammates while doing damage.

As far as the Rad anchor are concerned, my first choice is to always use EF. It has a significant Resistance Debuff that will help me and the team take down foes faster. It is far more important on a fast moving team than LR, that provides Slow, -Recharge and -Regen. RI is great, but the animation time is so slow that the target is usually dead before you finish, so I save RI for only the toughest targets. When choosing an anchor, try to understand your team. You want to pick an anchor who will live the longest to provide the debuff for as long as possible . . . but ultimately the goal is to defeat the foes, so if your anchor gets defeated, it should be no big thing.

Most players tend to kill groups front to back. Scrappers and single-target Blasters tend to focus on the toughest guys, like bosses. AoE guys usually try to wipe out the minions quickly. So often the best choice for an anchor is a lieutenant near the back of the group. Hit him with EF and then don't worry about the other debuffs until the team slows down in killing speed.

As a general rule, when I get to a group I take a look to see if there are any problem foes (mez or significant debuffs). Sappers are a main target . . . for Decieve. Take them out before the team aggros the group. If you have a moderately competant Tank, then I let him gather the aggro (while deceiving a guy or two), and then pick my Anchor for EF. Then I usually pick some minion or Lieut nearby to hit with my Blind-SW-Blast-SW combo (you do have one of the APP Blast powers, don't you?). Minions usually drop with one chain. Lieut may take two. Phanty should stay back with you to act as a bodyguard, knocking back any foes who get near you.

This strategy needs to be adjusted to a lot of other situations, but staying at range makes an Ill/Rad far more effective.

Even if you are using an AoE with -knockback, Hurricane will push the foe back. They kind of slide while still immobilized. However, if you trap them into a corner, you can use the Hurricane Debuff and Arctic Air at the same time. Also, there is a small area on the outside edge of Hurricane that applies the ToHit Debuff without applying the Repel. With some practice, you can learn the range to "kiss" foes with the edge of Hurricane without pushing them back. The ToHit Debuff is huge and has a signficant effect.

Mass Confusion is very good for some parts of the I-Trials. For example, during the Grenade and Acid phase of the Lambda, a lot of squishier characters get killed. Lead off with Mass Confusion (which does not draw aggro), and your teammates can clobber that Grenade or Acid with far less concern about taking damage. You can Mass Confuse one group and then Total Dom the next (but that one draws aggro). Mass Hypnosis works without drawing aggro too, but only if your teammates know not to use AoE attacks.

If you have used Mass Confusion, then it only takes one application of Confuse to control a Boss, too. And again, you can do it without drawing aggro.

Most of the time, AVs aren't standing all by themselves. (Well, unless you build it that way in Mission Archetect.) Plus, Spooky adds a 15% ToHit Debuff. With the AV resists, it doesn't amount to much, but as others said, it is also a good set mule for very, very cheap sets.

Personally, I think building for one and only one purpose is kind of lame, especially such a limited one. I can see some folks making a build for certain types of farm missions, but just for AV killing? Solo, he's going to have to handle the large groups before he gets to the AVs. On teams, what's he gonna do for the rest of the time . . . just sit in the back waiting for AVs to appear?

I agree with most of this post. There is no single "best," as the game makes some characters weak against some kinds of content.

My favorite overall controller is my Ill/Rad. He is the most flexible character in the game. On the Lambda, his PA can tank Marauder and his attendants. Deceive can take foes out of the fight and turn them to help you. Ill/Rad is great on large teams, small teams and solo. BUT, the phase of the BAF where you chase down the prisoners, he feels far, far less effective -- this turns him into a single target hold-blaster. Confuse and Fear are worthless. Without an AoE Immob, Ill/Rad is poor at controlling the minions. However, that is only one part of one trial. The rest of the time, he provides HUGE contributions.

Earth/Rad is my favorite overall ranged AoE controller for teams. He has three different types of AoE controls to handle all kinds of situations, plus the patch Slow to provide back-up to each of these. Rad provides a flexible bunch of tools to help any team. You can read a lot more about it in my Earth/Rad guide, linked in my sig. But that doesn't mean that he will be the "best" in all situations -- he will be better than most in most situations.

Earth/TA is probably the highest AoE control character in the game, thanks to the added AoE control in TA. But it does not have the useful heal or buffs from Rad.

By the way, Speed Boost from Kinetics is now a Team buff. This means that it is far, far less frustrating to have to buff the team. You no longer have to feel like a buff bot. Plant/Kin is a great character that will provide a huge benefit to most teams . . . but I have found on mine that I sometimes float overhead, using all my buff/debuff powers and almost ignore the Plant Control . . . because that would benefit the team more.

When I pulled up your build in Mids, it showed PA recharging in 60.5 seconds, while my build had it recharging in 59.7 seconds. I took out that PvP set slotting in Flash giving 7.5% recharge in 5 slots (very expensive set), swapped sets with Blind and then added the Baz Gaze set (7.5% Recharge in 4 slots) with 1 slot left to add damage. I also added an extra Expediant Reinforcement to Phantasm (an extra 6.25% set), but had to change the set in Spectral Terror to a 5% recharge set due to the Rule of 5. The net effect was an extra 5% recharge. So my version has 205% Recharge with Hasten active.

You may be losing a damage bonus, but you are GAINING damage in Blind and a single target blast, which will, by far, offset the loss in damage bonus. Gaining the ability to do a lot more damage is far better than a 10% damage bonus on fewer damage powers. And that bonus does not affect PA, so the overall effect is smaller. However, by putting the chance for Build Up in PA, you get 3 phantom guys with a chance for build up, which adds to another nice damage bonus.

But if you are happy with your build, so be it. It could be better, though. That Blind-SW-Blast-SW attack chain results in a HUGE amount of damage, in part because it kills things fast enough to retain the Illusory damage from Spectral Wounds.

I messed around with your build a bit and made some changes that I think make the build better. I got rid of the useless Invis powers, and added Combat Jumping (provides Immob protection and jumping maneuverability). I put a LotG and a Karma -Knockback into Steamy Mist. That allowed me to add O2 Boost, which is handy for healing or unstunning Phanty and teammates. I moved purple Hold set to Flash, put a Baz Gaze set into Blind and found an extra slot to add a decent amount of damage into Blind. I traded out the Fire APP for Ice, giving you (a) a fast single target blast for the Blind-SW-Blast-SW attack chain, (b) a place for a Luck of the Gambler Recharge, (c) some decent S/L defense, and (d) Hibernate to take care of when you have either endurance or health problems.

I still would like to get rid of the Ragnarok set in Freezing Rain and the Absolute Amazement set in Tornado, but I didn't figure out how to do that. Tornado should be slotted for Damage. Freezing Rain shouldn't be slotted for Damage -- procs do more damage in it.

And by the way . . . I got you more Recharge than you had before.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.942
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Mutation Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Ice Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Spectral Wounds -- Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg(3), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(9), Apoc-Dmg(11)
Level 1: Gale -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Blind -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(5), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(5), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(9), HO:Nucle(13), Dmg-I(40)
Level 4: Deceive -- CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(A), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(7), CoPers-Conf/Rchg(7), CoPers-Conf%(11), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(13)
Level 6: Super Speed -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 8: Flash -- UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(A), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(15), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(15), UbrkCons-Dam%(21), UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(27)
Level 10: Superior Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 12: Group Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 16: Freezing Rain -- Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(A), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(17), Ragnrk-Dmg(23), Ragnrk-Knock%(23), Achilles-ResDeb%(37)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- S'bndAl-Build%(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(19), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(25), S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg(25), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(37)
Level 20: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(21)
Level 22: O2 Boost -- Heal-I(A)
Level 24: Steamy Mist -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(27), LkGmblr-Def(29), LkGmblr-Rchg+(31), Krma-ResKB(34)
Level 26: Spectral Terror -- U'spkT-Acc/Rchg(A), U'spkT-EndRdx/Fear(29), U'spkT-Fear/Rng(31), U'spkT-Acc/Fear/Rchg(33), U'spkT-Stun%(34)
Level 28: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Hurricane -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(A), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(31), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(33), DarkWD-ToHitDeb(33)
Level 32: Phantasm -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(34), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(36), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), HO:Nucle(36)
Level 35: Tornado -- Amaze-Acc/Stun/Rchg(A), Amaze-Stun/Rchg(40), Amaze-Acc/Rchg(42), Amaze-EndRdx/Stun(42), Amaze-Stun(42)
Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(39), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(40)
Level 41: Ice Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(43), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(45)
Level 44: Hibernate -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 47: Frost Breath -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48), Posi-Dmg/Rng(48), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Frozen Armor -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def(50), LkGmblr-Rchg+(50)
Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(37), Mrcl-Heal(45), Mrcl-Rcvry+(45)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(46), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(46), P'Shift-End%(46)
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 14% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 14% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 14% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 14% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 14% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 14% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 14% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 14% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 2.5% Defense(Energy)
• 2.5% Defense(Negative)
• 1.25% Defense(Ranged)
• 4.5% Max End
• 63% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 2.2% Enhancement(Terrorized)
• 4% Enhancement(Confused)
• 136.3% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 5% FlySpeed
• 110.6 HP (10.9%) HitPoints
• 5% JumpHeight
• 5% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -4)
• Knockup (Mag -4)
• MezResist(Confused) 5%
• MezResist(Held) 5%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 10.5%
• MezResist(Sleep) 5%
• MezResist(Stun) 5%
• MezResist(Terrorized) 5%
• 28% (0.47 End/sec) Recovery
• 64% (2.71 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 9.13% Resistance(Fire)
• 9.13% Resistance(Cold)
• 2.5% Resistance(Negative)
• 5% RunSpeed
• 1.5% XPDebtProtection

Try reading Airhammer's post . . . you know, the one I quoted? That explains what I was responding to.

I frequently see builds with just Lockdown or 4 Baz Gaze in the single target hold . . . which is a main source of damage for most controllers. I frequently see builds with the Fighting Pool while skipping useful control powers. I see builds that skip the AoE hold to fit in Stealth slotted for Defense. I see choices like putting a 6th Stupify in Flashfire for the defense bonus, even though the proc is counter-productive to the effective use of the power and using a Recharge would bring the power back faster and be more useful.

As I said, I always start with an effecive controller. If I can fit in Defense, then that's fine, but I won't sacrifice my ability to control to fit in more defense. We have lately seen way too many builds that focus on Defense at the cost of control.

Dude . . .

I wasn't responding to your post or your build. I didn't even look at your build. I agree that it is possible to create a build that provides good slotting for the Powers AND some Defense, especially S/L with Ice or Rock armor or S/L/E with the armor from the Mace PPP.

Mine was just a general rant about the trend on the forums.

Try button4 and button5. Button3 is the button associated with pressing down the mousewheel, and is used to lock the position of the character so that you can use the turn keys to swing around and see the side or front of your character; I usually don't use that one in binds.

I use a Naga Razer mouse, that has a total of 17 buttons on it. Only 5 of the buttons are defined: Lbutton, Rbutton, Button3, Button4, and Button5. All of the other buttons have to be re-mapped to other keys. I use U, I, O and K for my re-mapped bind controls, with Shift and Control to extend their use.

My standard layout for most of my characters includs binding any healing powers to button4. For example, on a */Rad controller, I use:
/bind button4 powexecname Radiant Aura

Then I also bind Accelerate Metabolism to the same key with the Shift:
/bind shift+button4 powexecname Accelerate Metabolism

Mental Maden and I have had this discussion many times. Folks seem to want to turn their Controllers into Tanks by capping Defense. Yes, that will improve survivability, but it reduces the ability to actually benefit the team by providing controls, buffs and debuffs, and damage. Slotting for high Recharge and decent Recovery allows a Controller to use his controls more often, benefitting the entire team -- a well-played Controller can become a force multiplier on the right team. I have seen builds where folks were able to effectively slot the powers AND add a lot of Defense, and that's OK. But in the builds above, Hot Feet and Char, two of the key powers for a Fire Controller, are underslotted.

Some of the problem, I suppose, may be focus. I view Controllers as mostly a team character whose job is to help the team defeat foes more. I like to be able to solo, but that's not the main focus of my builds. Many of the builds I see are, from my view, selfish and focused upon personal survival over benefitting the team. Frankly, debt is so insignificant in the game today that I don't mind faceplanting once in a while if I can help the team defeat stuff faster.

One example is the Fighting Pool. I see lots of Controller builds posted with the Fighting Pool. That is three powers devoted only to personal survival, and the amounts aren't that high -- granted, stacking it with other Defense will add up. But that is three power pics and slots that could be used to choose powers that could benefit the entire team. Even some situational powers can be used to provide a benefit for the team, like Bonfire. I find lots of uses for Bonfire that don't irritate the team by knocking back foes in the wrong places -- with practice, I have learned when to use and not use the power.

I have somewhere around 12 level 50 Controllers, and not a single one of them has capped Defense. A few have a fair amount of Defense that I could fit in at the same time that I slotted the powers to be effective, mostly S/L defense that I got starting with the APP or PPP shields. And I contribute a LOT on all the teams I join.