Local_Man

I agree that getting mezzed is a big problem for a Fire/Rad. Both Choking Cloud and Hot Feet get turned off even if you immediately pop a break free, it still takes a few seconds for HF and CC to recharge.

I took care of the problem of getting mezzed long before IO sets became available by using Indomidible Will from the Psi pool. It is difficult to get perma . . . so I usually saved it until I was just about to run into battle. The Psi Pool also gave me Mind Over Body and Psi Tornado. Now, of course, you can get the Clarion power in the Destiny slot for mez protection.

You have seen my character? His name is "Time is an Illusion," and his battle cry is "Lunchtime doubly so!"

(For those of you who don't know, that's a reference to a line in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The original line, "Time is an Illusion," is credited to Einstein, but it may actually be a paraphrase of "...for us physicists believe the separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one.")

To the OP: I have an Ill/Time and find it to be a great combo. It is actually easier to get Perma-PA than Rad, but you have to wait until level 38 for the build to start to mature. Time adds some additional control, especially slows, when Illusion is a little bit weak on control. I decided to proc-out the slow patch, Distortion Field, so it contributes some damage. It is good at taking out tough targets because the combo of Time Crawl and Slowed Response provides extra -Resistance. I use the Ice APP with Ice Blast, Frost Breath, Ice Shield and Hibernate. I was able to softcap to S/L quite easily without sacrificing any performance. TiaI is just starting on his Incarnate journey.

Plant/Time should be good, too, but you will get less benefit from the Slow powers due to Plant's AoE Immob. Plant has plenty of AoE control and damage, but is lacking single target damage.

Horse Cap? Horses usually don't like wearing hats . . .

Well, let me see if I can help a bit. As a disclaimer, I have to say that I have a Grav/Storm at 50 and part way up the Incarnate ladder. I have a Dark/Dark Controller who is still "in the works," so I don't know that I'm much of an expert on the Dark secondary -- except that I have played a LOT of Dark Miasma. (The original Local Man is a Dark M/Elec Defender.)

Unlike the melee sets you are familiar with, Controllers are far more varied in powersets, builds and playstyles. Gravity is really a ranged single target damage specialist with somewhat weak AoE control. Against your instincts, you will want to stay OUT of melee. Ultimately when you get to level 32, you will find that Singularity is a really tough pets who can draw a lot of aggro, so you can rely upon Singy to make up for your lack of AoE control. I have found invisibility to be very valuable to lead Singy into groups while not drawing aggro, so you may want to consider some kind of invis. Gravity gains more from its pet than any other control set other than Illusion and Phantom Army.

Dimension Shift is the most skippable power -- it was recently improved, but it is still a situational power that can be skipped. Crush can be skipped, but you may want to eventually pick it up as an additional damage power that also Immobilizes and sets Containment. I would take everything else in Gravity.

Dark is a very nice secondary that has strong -ToHit, some nice defense and many very useful powers. You have a strong self AoE heal, an AoE Stealth (1/2 of invisibility), an AoE rez with some nice secondary effects, and even an extra pet. Tar Patch is a key power because it has 30% Damage Resistance Debuff, so you want that to recharge as fast as you can. Black Hole is the skippable stinker in the set, but everything else is worth taking eventually.

(There are a few people who actually LIKE Intangibility powers like Dimension Shift and Black Hole, and find strategic uses for them. Personally, I dislike those powers -- I have actually tried them and hate them.)

Hasten is usually recommended for controllers as Recharge is always needed. If you take Super Speed, its 1/2 stealth will combine with the 1/2 Stealth in Shadowfall to give you full invis. or you can take a different travel power and slot a Stealth IO. Other pool powers depend widely upon build and playstyle. Recovery is another important bonus to look for -- you may want to play to get a Miracle +Recovery proc and the Numina's Proc for Health.


Opinions differ about slotting while you level. If you have some influence to play with, you can Frankenslot in lower levels unless the Final Build you want has some lower level IOs, in which case you can slot those at the level they become available. Example: Lots of people use 4 Basilisk's Gaze, which caps out at level 30, for Hold powers in their final build because of the good Recharge buff. You can slot these at, of course, level 27. Some people like to slot their builds to be able to Exemp down while retaining set bonuses. That's a personal choice.

I'd slot Crush (if you take it), Lift, Propel as ranged damage powers. GD can also be slotted as ranged damage, but also as a hold or a combo of Hold and Damage (which is the one I prefer) -- 4 Baz Gaze and then some additional Acc and as much damage as you can fit into two slots. GD is also a good spot for the Will of the Controller set. Crushing Field, the AoE immob is nice to combine with Darkest Night -- the foes can't move and they can't hit you as much -- this can help make up for your low AoE control, and it is a nice combo to use after Wormhole before the stun wears off. Standard SO slotting for an AoE Immob is 2 Acc, 2 EndRdx.

Standard SO slotting for your AoE Hold, GDF, is 2 Acc, 2 Hold, 2 Rech. 4 Baz Gaze and if you can get a 5th slot, an Acc/Hold/Rech from another set like Essence of Curae, works well. Some people use this power a lot while others don't. Start with 2 Acc, and add the other slots later.

Wormhole is an odd power, but uniquely fun. The knockback makes it more situational than I like, but you have to develop strategy on how and when to use it. SO slotting is 2 Acc, 2 Stun, 2 Rech, but fitting some Range in there is nice, too.

Singy can be slotted for damage and/or control . . . but adding some Damage Resistance to its already high resistance really helps with survival. I go with 4 Expediant Reinforcement (including the +10% Resistance proc), the other pet Resist proc, and then I threw a Dam/Mez Hami-O in the last slot. There are lot of other ways to slot Singy depending upon the bonuses you want to go for.

As for Dark, Accurate healing for Twilight Grasp. Darkest Night needs ToHit Debuff and EndRdx, and 4 Dark Watcher works. Tar Patch needs 2-3 Rech and Howling needs just 1 Rech. Shadowfall can be slotted for Defense or Resistance plus EndRdx -- I think Defense is better. Fade is Defense+Rech. Soul Absorb should slot EndMod set, as you already have a heal so you don't need Regen as much. Finally, Dark Servant a/k/a "Fluffy," can be slotted lots of ways, but I prefer the Accurate ToHitDebuff set, Cloud Senses.

Yes, solo on a controller does take long . . . remember that Controllers are the ONLY AT in the game without a powerset dedicated to damage. You want to take advantage of Containment -- use an attack combo of GD-Lift-Propel for single targets. You can add Crush for some DoT. But don't expect Controllers to solo with a lot of speed -- the focus is more on keeping them controlled while you slowly take them down.

A Fire/Rad controller is an awesome character even without tons of Defense. Why not try it and see? The goal is to control groups from range (Flashfire+Fire cages, or that new proc with Bonfire), then run in with Hot Feet+Choking Cloud to take down foes while they are controlled. What do you need Defense for if the foes are controlled?

Even better, see if a few buddies will also roll up Fire/Rads, as a team of Fire/Rads are almost unstoppable.

The problem with the Mace Attack is the recharge. Fire Blast's recharge is 8 sec base, so you can get it down to about 2.5 sec. Blind and SW both activate in 1.1 sec, and Fire Blast activates in 1.2, so you can see how this can be a very fast attack chain. Mace's Poisonous Ray recharges in 24 seconds base, so you can get that down to about 9 seconds, and the activation is 2 seconds. That simply won't work in a Blind-SW-Blast-SW continual attack chain. The debuffs would be nice, but I consider the non-stop attack chain to be more important.

I have a few personal preferences over the build above. I like Frost Breath over Ice Storm because it is faster to recharge and not DoT. If the OP wants to keep GI, he could consider dropping either Recall Friend or Hibernate.

I dislike slotting Fluffy with Baz Gaze, as slotting him with ToHit Debuff is very effective, but I didn't change it because of the Recharge.

Overall, it is very hard to get Perma-PA without using several purple sets since Dark does not have a Recharge buff like Rad or Time. A purple set in Ice Blast or Ice Storm/Frost Breath would not only increase the Recharge but also free up another 6.25% slot out of the "Rule of Five."

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I recently got the proc for my level 27 Fire/Storm. At that level, it is not yet perma without some additional Recharge. I haven't had much time to play her with the proc yet, but I expect that it will make the character a lot more effective. Game breaking? Not sure yet. Certainly in some areas but not in all.

I suspect that I will still use the Flashfire+Fire Cages combo when they are up since that will give me Containment. The Bonfire+KB2KD proc will fill in whenever Flashfire is recharging. Without the Imps to help killspeed, it takes a while to kill off groups with the damage from unslotted Bonfire and Hot Feet.

if you want Singy to be more of a controller, replace the Acc/Dam Hami-o with an Acc-Mez Hami-O! The nice thing about using an Acc/Mez (or a Dam/Mez) in pets who use more than one control power is that it buffs ALL of the control powers. So for Singy, it would buff the Hold and Immob.

I suggest you take a look at my Ill/Rad guide, linked in my sig. It has become one of the more popular guides on the forums. There is a TON of information, suggested builds (including leveling-up builds) and options. It also has a lot of strategy hints on how to make better use of the powers.

One of the reasons Rad is such a good secondary for Illusion is the Recharge buff in Accelerate Metabolism. Poison doesn't have a self-recharge buff. Time also has a self-recharge buff, but you don't get it until level 38. Other good combinations with Illusion are Dark, Cold, Storm and Trick Arrow. However, none of those have the recharge buff.

Actually, Illusion works well with all secondaries, but the combos above have the best synergy (in my opinion).