Local_Man

It depends on your definition of "Soft Control." Some folks consider "soft control" to be anything that does not set up Containment -- which means Sleep and Immob are "hard controls." Some folks consider "soft control" to be anything that does not prevent the foes from shooting back, which make Sleep, confuse and fear into "hard controls." Some Folks consider "soft control" to be anything that draws the attention of foes that is not a Hold or Stun.

I consider the "distraction" from Phantom Army to be a "soft control," to some degree because PA is in a Control powerset. It is, in some ways, similar to a confuse power causing the foes to waste their powers on somebody other than me and my team.

To get even stupidly pickier, Phantasm also spawns his own pet. But the Decoy is also a invulnerable unbuffable type.

To find my Ill/Rad guide, just click on the link in my sig. Even if you do not have Radiation as your secondary, there is a lot in there that might interest you.

No, most other stealth powers do not supress . . . but they are Stealth, and not full invisibility. I think the idea behind the supression is that once the foe knows you are there, the foe is more likely to hit you. But regular Stealth powers only work from range, so suppression isn't needed.

I was able to get a Perma PA build without having to take GI as a mule power. The only purples I have is the fairly cheap Confuse set. Take a look at my Perma-PA build near the end of my Ill/Rad guide, and it might give you some ideas.

I hate having to waste a power choice just as an IO mule. I really didn't want to take Combat Jumping on my build, but at least it provides good maneuverability and Immob protection -- which is better than an invis power you don't need. Did you take Hover? That might provide at lease some benefit over GI.

Yes, the defense can stack . . . but the defense in SI gets suppressed to half whenever you do most actions, like attack, click a glowie or get attacked. So, of the total 4.5% Defense, you only keep 2.25% after suppression. If you are only going for the Defense, then Combat Jumping provides the same amount of Defense (2.25%) after suppression for a LOT less endurance. Maneuvers gives 2.625%, but that minimal extra amount costs a lot more endurance (but you can share it across the team).

GI keeps its Defense, but it is only 1.875%. Again, if you are going for Defense and not Invis, then Combat Jumping is better, and you get immobilization protection, too.

Both SI and GI go past the Stealth cap, so stacking them provides almost no benefit -- you might be able to get a little bit closer to a foe with +Perception, but that is probably not worth a power pick.

Well, thank you. I'm glad it was a help!

Storm is my second favorite secondary, and not by a large margin. However, I had been in the game for a while before I finally started my Ice/Storm. It is more challenging than other secondaries because the powers can be misused to create far more problems than benefits -- it takes some strategy and practice to get the most out of the wide range of tools. If you throw out everything at once (like you can do with Rad, for instance), you will end up with a mess. And since the set has no self-heal, you have a thinner margin for error than others.

Storm has a few powers that are situational, and it takes some consideration on when to use them right. Hurricane is a situational power, but can be a huge help for (a) re-positioning foes, (b) applying a substantial -ToHit Debuff -- with practice, you can learn to "kiss" foes with the outside edge of the 'cane to apply the debuff without the Repel, or (c) panic button moments when you need a "get out of my face" power. However, if you leave it on all the time or do what you originally suggested, you'll be blowing foes all over the place.

Some of the powers in Storm may be important or not important, depending upon your primary. My Grav/Storm skipped O2 Boost because he can't heal his pet. My Earth/Storms skipped Snow Storm because they already have a great AoE Slow power in Quicksand -- but they miss the -Recharge from Snow Storm. Thunderclap was skippable on my Ice/Storm because Ice has no stuns to stack with it, and T-clap is only a Mag 2 stun.

Expect a learning curve. But Storm is so much fun, too. It is very flashy and very, very effective -- but plan to slot for Recovery.

I think that will be a terrific combo. I would have suggested Earth/Storm but for your comment that you had already played Earth. (I not only have my Earth/Rad at 50, I also have two Earth/Storm controllers, on different servers, in the upper 40's).

But you don't generally want to open with Quicksand, as it will draw aggro. Neither Quicksand nor Tar Patch have -Recharge. Most of the time, whenever it is up, you will want to start with Stalagmites+Stone Cages. Then throw Quicksand underneath and Freezing Rain on top. She can then use Tar Patch if it is up, and her Rain of Fire+Fireball will wipe out groups. If you have a lot of Bosses, you can follow Stalagmites with Stone Cages and Thunderclap -- T-clap will stack its stun with Stalagmites.

When Stalagmites is not up, you have other options. She will have one of the better AoE control powers anywhere, Fearsome Stare -- it is a large cone fear with pretty good -ToHit in it. If she can get in the right position, it will control an entire group easily. Or you can use Earthquake or Volcanic Gasses from range and even from around a corner. Both of those can draw a little aggro until the effects stop foes from attacking you.

You'll want to use the combo of Quicksand+Freezing Rain a lot -- pretty much with every other AoE control. You don't need to slot Freezing Rain for Defense debuff at all.

Stealthiness is very, very helpful for my Earth/Storm. Why? Because the pet, Rocky, is such a good tank. I combine Steamy Mist with Super Speed for full invisibility -- it makes it easy to run into the group of foes to lead Rocky in to draw the aggro. Then I can back out quickly to fire off Earthquake(+Quicksand) or Volcanic Gasses(+Quicksand). I also like Super Speed because it lets me "herdicane" easily, by running around the outside of a group with Hurricane to push them into my AoE controls (and her AoE damage powers).

Personally, I wouldn't bother with Maneuvers. You will already have so much -ToHit and control, you probably won't get hit much. For example, just opening with the combo of Fearsome Stare and Earthquake will be, unslotted, -25% ToHit. If you really want to take Leadership, Assault will do more by adding to your damage. You shouldn't need Tactics with all the -Defense you have.

Don't forget that in low levels, Stone Cages + Darkest Night will almost be an AoE Hold -- The foes can't move and they can't hit you. Very similar to the Stone Cages+Radiation Infection combo I discussed in my Earth/Rad guide.

In one of the early Xanth books by Piers Anthony, he had a Sorceress who made very, very powerful illusions. She protected her private island with illusions of storms and magical creatures. I don't see why that wouldn't work as a concept.

Jeeze . . . I don't know about that, but it is a very nice sentiment. I mainly pass on the information that many other people work hard to figure out. I try to be helpful and enjoy sharing my opinions. I also make my share of mistakes . . . and try to admit it when I have made a mistake.

On the Question about Blind's sleep component . . . There are no indications that there have been any changes to the power. If it seems to be happening more, it may be that you are getting foes to bunch up more closely, or maybe you are noticing it more.

I have noticed it happening a few times lately, but I'm not sure it is more frequent. My main Ill/Rad has been my favorite to earn Hero Merits, so I have been running him through a number of Tip missions.

That is consistant with the time that I tried it . . . I now remember having that proc on my Ill/Rad and going into a mission with Nemesis. Ugh. I like to confuse tough foes at the beginning of the fight, and with Nemesis, you need two applications of Deceive generally. I would use Deceive, and immediately get aggro -- I died a few times and decided that the proc had to go.

Personally, I like the Contagious Confusion proc on the single target Confuse over Mass Confusion. Why? Mass Confusion has such a long recharge that it can only be used once in a while. Confuse is a fast recharge, and for the endurance cost of a single target confuse, I get a mini-Mass Confusion -- so the proc overall provides more benefit in the single target confuse power.

However, the one place that the proc seemed to make the biggest difference was in Arctic Air. It seemed to me that the Contagious Confusion proc in Arctic Air doubled (or more) the effectiveness of the power.

The positive about Ill/Kin? With Siphon Speed you CAN stack buffs up to three times, giving you 60% Recharge . . . but it isn't all that easy to do it and you need foes handy to siphon off of, and you have to hit.

The negative? None of your awesome Kinetics buffs will buff Phantom Army. To improve the Army, you need Resistance and Defense Debuffs on the foes since PA cannot be buffed other than what is slotted in the power. One of the main reasons Illusion/Radiation is so popular is that Rad is the only secondary that provides BOTH a recharge buff and debuffs for Resistance and Defense. Several other sets provide very good debuffs but no Recharge buff. Kinetics provides the Recharge buff, but no debuffs. The buff from Siphon Speed, however, can be more than the Recharge buff from AM if you stack it.

Just be aware that a Fire/Kin takes a LONG time to mature. It does not become as good at dealing damage as everyone says until the 40's, and then it is very vulnerable to damage -- Kinetics has almost no defensive powers, all offense. That's why folks talk about "softcapping" using IO sets. Once you spend enough to get your defenses up high, then you can do a lot of continual damage without too much worry about taking damage.

War_Admiral was right, I missed Fissure as part of the equation.

And Panzer is right, too . . . I actually like my Fire/Rad better. He is more flexible, even though he does not kill as fast.

Actually, Containment + Hot Feet + Fulcrum Shift is a huge part of the damage. It is AoE damage, so the foes are all taking damage together.

Once you get Containment with Fire Cages and/or Flashfire, you get double damage 75% of the time . . . fulcrum shifted, that adds up.