Local_Man

One other thing I forgot to mention before: put an EndRdx in Fly instead of the Flight. Fly is already at cap, so the Flightspeed does nothing. Put a Run Speed in Swift. (The only thing Flightspeed enhancements are good for is to make Hover faster.)

If you are going to think about slotting some cheap IOs, one of the easiest to start with is 4 Dark Watcher in Hurricane -- you can get that set cheap. The Fear and Confuse sets are cheap, too. Also, "frankenslotting" is almost always going to give you more enhancement per slot than SOs. Two Acc/Dam provide more enhancement than an Acc and a Dam. So, for example, 4 Acc/Hold/Rech is pretty good slotting for Flash. Three Acc/Conf/Recharge is a lot better than 1 Acc, 1 Conf, 1 Rech.

Leveling up my Ill/Storm, I also used Steamy Mist+Super Speed in place of Superior Invis or Group Invis. I happen to really like Super Speed on a Stormie -- it make "Herdicaning" easy. It also lets you run into melee fast to cast Lightning Storm. However, if you don't like Super Speed, you can accomplish getting full Invis with a Stealth IO in a Sprint power. Sprint will take either the Celerity (run) Stealth or the Unbounded Leap (Jump) one, the the Jump one is usually cheaper. Even easier is to earn them with Hero Merits.

Eventually, I added in GI to my Ill/Storm even though I usually don't use it because it makes a good place for a Luck of the Gambler +7.5% Recharge IO. GI works just as well as SI most of the time and lets you cast Invis on the team so they don't have to stay in your mist.

A few points about how you have slotted things -- keep in mind the effect of ED. The first two slots get full benefit, but the third has deminished effect. As a result, you are often better using 2 and 2 rather than 3 and 1. For example, the way you slotted Tornado. I would make it 2 Rech, 2 Dam if limited to 4 slots. There are times, however, when the third slot may make a fairly small difference but that difference is enough to merit the slot, like a 3rd Rech in PA or Freezing Rain.

Blind: What you have is good for solo or a more damage-oriented build. Blind is most often used as the lead-off and Containment-setter for Spectral Wounds. Once you have the foe held, then the damage is most useful. (If I want to control a single foe for a while, I generally use Deceive -- it lasts a lot longer.) Another option might be 2 Acc, 2 Dam, 1 Hold, 1 Rech if you are going up against higher level foes.

Air Sup: I generally start with 2 Acc because its knockup is an effective control. Nothing wrong with 1 Acc, 1 Dam, though.

Freezing Rain: The damage in Freezing Rain is very, very small. Each of those "-1" you see is actually about -.3 in reality. You get a lot more benefit slotting Recharge first, then damage procs than slotting for damage. I recommend using the Achilles Heal Chance for Resist Debuff first. Then later add other procs (Posi Blast, Lady Grey) if you have room.

Phantom Army: SO slotting for PA should be 3 Recharge, 2 Damage, 1 Accuracy. After much testing, folks have discovered that works best if you want it up as much as possible. If you are simply looking to maximize damage, then 2 Recharge, 3 Damage, 1 Acc.

Flash: 2 Acc first, then 2 Rech, 2 Hold is best. If limited to 5 slots, I'd probably go for 2 Acc, 2 Hold, 1 Rech -- but 2 Rech, 1 Hold isn't bad.

The order of taking powers in this latest build is good. The first thing I would suggest is to pull the two extra slots out of Fly. Since I-18, Fly is automatically at the flight speed cap so slotting Fly for flightspeed is worthless. You can choose to put a Zephyr -knockback or a Stealth proc there, but I generally put the -knockback in Steamy because you can use a Karma or Steadfast, both of which are a LOT cheaper. The Stealth IO can go in a sprint if you want one.

Spectral Terror only needs its default slot unless you are slotting it for sets. You can choose to add some more Recharge to be able to move to a new area sooner, but those slots can be used somewhere else. Once you have an IO build, then it may need 5 slots for the set bonus, but the power itself doesn't really need all those slots.

I see nothing wrong with 5 or 6 slotting Spectral Wounds. 1 Acc, 3 Damage is the minimum, but adding a Recharge or two will help it come back faster. You can also 6-Slot Blind to include some Damage.

I would put a minimum of 3 in Deceive, but I use it a lot. Personally, I would lean towards 5 slots. In an IO build, you will probably want 5 slots.

O2 Boost: 2 slots is enough -- I really don't expect to be a team healer.

No question -- Gravity is better on a controller. The slow single target attacks work better with Containment and debuffs. Propel with containment hits pretty hard, while it is pretty skippable on a Dom. Gravity pretty much stinks on a Dom.

I would say Fire is generally better on a controller -- Fire/Kin and Fire/Rad especially. The Buff and debuffs help Fire do more damage and makes the character more survivable.

Illusion, of course.

Other than that, I think it depends on what you want out of your character. If you are looking for damage, then Dominators will generally do better, obviously, since their secondary is entirely devoted to damage. Containment will only help on powers that do a lot of damage (or fast damage), and will rarely provide more damage than a Dom's secondary. However, if you are looking for a great, all purpose team controller, then Earth/Rad can't be beat with its AoE controls, debuffs and buffs. Ice/Rad is pretty darn nice, too. But neither one will do much damage.

The buffs and debuffs from a controller's secondary can be a force multiplier for a team. If you want to kill AVs faster, the anything/Cold will add those debuffs to make it work great. The Control+Buff/Debuff combo helps a team kill faster AND in greater safety.

My limited understanding is that Creepers is a Pseudopet (who follows you, but fairly slowly and invisibly). The Pseudopet then casts other pseudopets who create the vines you see. The secondary pets are the ones who do damage and cast the Immob and knockbacks.

I believe your Fulcrum Shift cast before casting the power will only affect the first pseudopet, who does not do damage. Fulcrum Shift must be cast either just before or just after the second pseudopets to have an effect on the damage, but since you can't see or control the casting of the second pseudopets, that's kind of hard to judge.

Have you taken a look at my Illusion/Rad guide? Link is in my sig. My Perma-PA build is in there, along with an explanation of why I chose what I did. Take a look at the guide for some possible improvements to your build. For example, I went with the Fire APP instead of Psi . . . it provides more damage and a different damage type for those Psi-resistant foes, and Fire Blast and Fireball are faster than Psi Blast and Psi Tornado. Frankly, the only reason to go with the Psi APP is Indomidible Will for mez protection (and there is less of a need for that now).

Want to do more damage? Look at my guide for slotting some Damage into Blind, and for use of the Blind-SW-Blast-SW attack chain. The guide explains how you can take better advantage of the Illusory Damage in SW and PA.

As for the Incarnate stuff: Alpha, I went for Spiritual for Recharge, healing and Slow, but Cardiac has some good stuff, too, with EndRdx, Resist damage and Range. If you are already slotted for capped Damage, then Musclature doesn't really add much. Nerve isn't that helpful, either.

Judgment: I went Pyronic, but Ionic is also tempting. The other two aren't as useful to me.

Interface: I went with Reactive, just to add more damage. Diagmagnetic is also worth considering, but Reactive really stands out. Remember that most of your damage is Psi, which is resisted by a number of foes including Robots. Reactive is Fire Damage.

Lore: Doesn't really matter that I can see, as any pet that adds damage can be useful. I went with Warworks because that was the best at the time, but I haven't really checked out all the new pets. Eventually I would like a Rularuu.

Destiny: This is the really interesting one. I went with Clarion because I had no other mez protection. I rarely get mezzed with my Ill/Rad since the PA take most the aggro, I stay Invis most of the time and use Deceive a lot, but the option of Mez protection without having to take the Psi Pool is just too tempting. I can See where Barrier would be tempting, but only if you have other Defense that you can build on -- i.e. you went with a Defense armor and build for Defense bonuses. Ageless is certainly tempting, too, for the Recharge and Recovery buffs. Ageless lets a less-than-perma-PA build get to Perma-PA.

You could slot it for both Control and Damage . . . with Hami-Os. 1 Acc/Dam, 1 Acc/Mez, 2 Dam/Mez, 2 common Recharge IOs.

I don't recall Gravity ever having anything other than Smashing Damage. Maybe it was different in Beta, but I wasn't there. I do recall there being discussion that several things were changed on the Gravity set during Beta, like replacing a team teleport power with the Singularity pet.

My first thought was a Plant/Storm controller. My Ice/Ice Blaster has strong single target control and damage, but is only so-so on AoE damage. Plant/Storm has good AoE damage, good debuffs, good defensive powers (like Hurricane) to keep foes at range, team stealth (Steamy Mist). It should work very well.

Another choice would be a solid tank with good AoE damage . . . maybe an Ice/Fire tank. Nobody can gather aggro better than an Ice armor tank, with two aggro auras. Fire Melee for tanks has pretty good damage (for a tank) and two great PB AoE damage powers. Build Up-Fire Sword Circle-Combustion can wipe out or nearly wipe out minions . . . give it an extra second or two for Icicles to get a couple of ticks and the minions will be dead. (I have an Ice/Energy Tank at 49, an Ice/Ice at 32 and a Stone/Fire at 50.)

I have done this several times and there are lots and lots of combinations that can be amazingly effective. I've done 3 Fire/Dark corrupters, and it is great. 3 Fire/Rad controllers are also a great combo. Three good AoE scrappers are great, too.

But here's a combo I suggest: Elec/Shield Scrapper, Plant/Kin Controller, Fire/Dark Corrupter. The scrapper needs to get his defenses up quickly, but once he can handle it, the scrapper runs in to gather all the aggro and bring the spawn into a tighter group. Then the Plant/Kin steps up (but get Super Speed + Stealth IO for Invis) to hit the group with Seeds+Roots+Fulcrum Shift. The Scrapper can then hit the group with the double whammy of Lightning Rod+Shield Charge, or the Corr can hit the group with Tar Patch and the Fire AoEs. If Seeds is Recharging, the Fire/Dark has the option to control the group with Fearsome Stare and the debuffs.

This group gives great AoE control and damage, with back-ups in each of those areas. Kin has a great melee heal for the scrapper, while the Fire/Dark has a great heal for the Controller and Corrupter who can stay back out of melee or go into melee when the group is controlled.

Welcome to the Forums! We're always happy to see a new <victim> Poster!

First, your build posted with the link dead, so we can't pull it up in Mids. This is not uncommon, as if you go back to edit a post you made, it kills the link. I suggest you post the Data Chunk as well as the short form build to avoid this problem.

Now a few things about the build. I have an Earth/Storm at 50, plus several other Earth Controllers and several other */Stormies at 50, so I have a fair amount of experience with the sets. However, my playstyle may not be consistant with yours, so these are all suggestions that you may choose to ignore if it suits you. Also, there are a lot of legitimate choices that can be variable. I haven't tried the PPP sets on any of my controllers yet, so I can't say how well they work, while I have had plenty of experience with all of the hero-side APP sets.

Plus, I'm assuming that you are mostly building for a team controller than can, when needed, solo. How much you solo can affect your power choices. Also, I feel that the order of powers is important because you may, on occasion, want to exemp down. Since the lower level TFs are occasionally set as the WSF, I find that I exemp down now and then.

Fossilize: Consider 4 Basilisk Gaze, an Acc/Dam Hami-O and a common Damage. The Ghost Widow set is somewhat meh, and the damage proc does less damage than slotting the power for actual Damage. This slotting gives you a great Recharge bonus, so you may be able to reduce your Recharge somewhere else.

Gale: I rarely use it, but it needs Accuracy first. Gale has an accuracy penalty. I mosly use this once in a while as a positioning tool or a "get out of my face" power, but Hurricane is more effective for both.

Stone Cages: 5 Grav Anchor is great, but replace that Immob with the Chance for Hold. That proc is wonderful in a fast-recharging AoE Immob. Then, if you can find another slot, add in a damage proc like the Posi Blast Chance for Energy. Here, the damage for Stone Cages is so low that procs do more damage than slotting the power for damage.

Snow Storm: I find Quicksand to be more useful, so I would move this back farther in the build -- take O2 Boost here. Quicksand has a huge Defense Debuff and the location-targetted nature lets me cast it underneath all of my other AoE controls. I skipped Snow Storm leveling up, but then added it back in when Inherent Fitness came into the game. I like it mainly for its -Recharge and -Fly, and I tend to use it a lot on the ITF when other controls are less effective. I slot it with 2 EndRdx if I use it a lot, or 1 if I don't. If you really want to proc-out, you could put the Impeaded Swiftness Chance for Smashing Damage here.

Hover: I assume you want it as a mule for a Luck of the Gambler, but I would move it much later in the build or find a way to skip it. Stalagmites requires you to be on the ground. If you ever need to fly, use a Raptor pack. Instead, take Quicksand at 6, as the -Defense is a huge help when exemped down. The slow patch has a lot of strategic uses. (By adding some other Recharge bonuses, you should be able to skip Hover.)

Hasten, Steamy Mist, Stalagmites and Super Speed are fine. I like Super Speed on my Earth/Storm, not only for the Invis when stacked with Steamy, but also for the maneuverability in battle and its effectiveness for "herdicaning." I didn't see any -knockback in your build, and you can slot either a Karma or Steadfast -Knockback in Steamy.

Freezing Rain doesn't need more Defense Debuff, especially if you use Quicksand a lot -- there is a limit on how much Defense Debuff is effective, and since Earth Control has lots of Defense Debuff there is no need to add more. I slot Freezing Rain first for Recharge, then procs starting with the Achilles Heel Chance for Resist Debuff, then your choice of Posi Blast, Lady Grey or Impeaded Swiftness. If you have Infl to burn and slots to spare, even the PvP Javelin Volley proc can go here. Those procs can add up to a lot of damage.

Earthquake: As I said above, don't bother to slot for Defense Debuff. A better slotting in Earthquake is ToHit Debuff, but since slots are in short supply, this is a power that can get by on a single Recharge in the default slot if you have enough Global Recharge. You can also slot an Achilles Heel Chance for Resist Debuff here.

Hurricane is slotted fine.

O2 Boost: I suggest taking this earlier, but it really is a bit of an optional power. The heal is kind of sucky, but it can be handy to heal up Rocky or take the stun off of a teammate. You can save a slot or two by slotting it with just 2 Numina, the Heal and Heal/End.

Quicksand: I suggest taking it earlier at 6. With a high Recharge build, it only needs a Recharge in the default slot. If you have slots to spare (and depending on how often you use it), you can slot it with the Impeaded Swiftness Chance for Smashing. Don't bother slotting for Slow, as that only affects run speed up to the 90% slow cap . . . and you have more slow in Freezing Rain and Snow Storm to take it way over the cap. Since I use this underneath my other AoE controls, the slow has minimal benefit. (Plus, the Spiritual Core enhances slow.) So there are two more slots for other places.

Volcanic Gasses: The Unbreakable Constraint set is great here, but I used the Acc/Rech in place of the Hold to get it recharged a little faster. Adding another slot for the Lockdown +2 Mag is nice here, or another damage proc.

Thunderclap and Maneuvers are slotted fine. I didn't take Maneuvers on mine to avoid the endurance drain. (I do have, however, the Medicine Pool for Aid Self, which I find useful.) My personal experience is that the Leadership toggles just use too much endurance for a */Stormie.

Animate Stone: Rocky already has high Resistance, but you can make him much tougher by slotting him with both Chance for +10% Resistance procs. You could slot 4 Expediant Reinforcement, the Sovereign Right proc and then some add Acc/Dam. Or you could go with 4 Soulbound and the two Resistance procs.

Tornado: You skipped it. I like it as the damage it puts out is, in effect, the only -Regen a Stormie has. It is an AUTOHIT damage over time power that also acts as a pet and can be a panic button power with its chaotic ability to throw foes every which way. One of the best aspects of */Storm is the two damage powers you get at 35 and 38, to make up for low damage primaries like Earth. I have it slotted with another Expediant Reinforcement set for Recharge. (But I went with Cardiac for my Alpha slot.)

I won't comment on the PPP set as I don't have experience with it. I went with the Fire APP on my Earth/Storm, mostly because I had to go with the "Earth, Wind and Fire" theme -- her name is "Ella M. Ental." However, if I wasn't locked into Fire due to the theme, I would probably go with Ice for Ice Blast, Hibernate, Ice Armor and Ice Storm.

I'll post my planned build below just for you to compare. (I don't have all the IOs saved up yet, as I have too many 50's.) I went with Cardiac Alpha not only for the EndRdx (which is HUGE on this character), but also the Resistance helps both Steamy Mist and Fire Shield. I'm not quite at Perma-hasten, but I'm close enough for my uses. I have added a lot of Regen which I find helpful. Solo, I tend to let Rocky tank to draw the aggro (I can lead him in while invisible), and then let loose. On teams, I usually let the Tank go in to draw aggro, then use one of my three AoE controls and Quicksand, then Freezing Rain, then Fireball.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.942
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Ella M. Ental: Level 50 Science Controller
Primary Power Set: Earth Control
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Medicine
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fossilize -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(3), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(5), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(9), HO:Nucle(43), Dmg-I(43)
Level 1: Gale -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Stone Cages -- GravAnch-Immob/Rchg(A), GravAnch-Acc/Immob/Rchg(3), GravAnch-Acc/Rchg(5), GravAnch-Immob/EndRdx(7), Posi-Dam%(7), GravAnch-Hold%(25)
Level 4: O2 Boost -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(9)
Level 6: Quicksand -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 8: Super Speed -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 10: Steamy Mist -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(11), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(11), LkGmblr-EndRdx/Rchg(25), S'fstPrt-ResKB(46)
Level 12: Stalagmites -- Amaze-Stun(A), Amaze-Stun/Rchg(13), Amaze-Acc/Stun/Rchg(13), Amaze-Acc/Rchg(48), Amaze-EndRdx/Stun(48)
Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 16: Freezing Rain -- RechRdx-I(A), Posi-Dam%(17), LdyGrey-%Dam(17), Achilles-ResDeb%(19), ImpSwft-Dam%(46)
Level 18: Earthquake -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(19)
Level 20: Hurricane -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(21), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(21), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(23)
Level 22: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 24: Aid Other -- Heal-I(A)
Level 26: Volcanic Gasses -- UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(A), UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(27), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(27), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(31), UbrkCons-Dam%(31), Lock-%Hold(34)
Level 28: Thunder Clap -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(29), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(29), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(37), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(40)
Level 30: Aid Self -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(31), Numna-Heal/Rchg(50)
Level 32: Animate Stone -- S'bndAl-Dmg(A), S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg(33), S'bndAl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), S'bndAl-Acc/Rchg(33), SvgnRt-PetResDam(34), ExRmnt-+Res(Pets)(34)
Level 35: Tornado -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(36), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(36), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(37)
Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(39), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Dev'n-Hold%(40)
Level 41: Fire Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), HO:Nucle(42), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(42), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Decim-Build%(48)
Level 44: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(45), Posi-Dmg/Rng(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 47: Rise of the Phoenix -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Fire Shield -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(50), Numna-Heal(50)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), P'Shift-EndMod(23), P'Shift-End%(37)
------------

Set Bonus Totals:

• 7% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 7% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 7% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 7% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 7% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 7% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 7% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 7% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 2.5% Defense(Energy)
• 2.5% Defense(Negative)
• 1.25% Defense(Ranged)
• 4.5% Max End
• 3% Enhancement(Stun)
• 63% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 81.3% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 5% FlySpeed
• 118.3 HP (11.6%) HitPoints
• 5% JumpHeight
• 5% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -4)
• Knockup (Mag -4)
• MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
• MezResist(Held) 2.5%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 8%
• MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%
• MezResist(Stun) 2.5%
• MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%
• 21.5% (0.36 End/sec) Recovery
• 72% (3.05 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 20% Resistance(Smashing)
• 20% Resistance(Lethal)
• 29.1% Resistance(Fire)
• 29.1% Resistance(Cold)
• 20% Resistance(Energy)
• 20% Resistance(Negative)
• 20% Resistance(Toxic)
• 20% Resistance(Psionic)
• 5% RunSpeed

Interesting builds. Personally, I would suggest that you get single target blast from the APP set for the Blind-SW-Blast-SW attack chain. The single target blast will, when considering faster killing speed means more Illusory damage saved, will result in more total damage than the AoE damage powers. I would also take powers in a different order, with Deceive at 6, for when you exemp down. In the low levels, Deceive is far more useful than Flash.

In Blind, you can replace one of the common Damage IOs with an Acc/Dam Hami-O. You get slightly less damage for a lot more accuracy.

In Maneuvers, why not put 4 Luck of the Gambler for the additional bonuses? That 9% Global Acc helps powers like Flash hit more often. Get enough global Acc and you can easily skip Tactics and avoid that added endurance drain.

With a perma-PA build, Ling Rad works great with only an Accuracy in the default slot.

Do you really need a Run speed in Super Speed? or you could put two Zephyr in there for some more Ranged Defense.