Local_Man

I believe in angles . . . triangles, quadrangles . . . (I think you mean Angels).

I suspected that you had Fissure . . . which means that you do not have the lovely Blind-SW-Blast-SW attack chain that maximizes the benefits of Spectral Damage, and all from range. Hurl Boulder is just too slow. I use Fire Blast and Fireball. I don't know if one build can out "DPS" the other, but I know that my Fire Blast/Fireball build is very flexible, and does a great job doing a lot of damage on single targets, while having decent AoE damage. I suspect that my build takes down single targets quite a bit faster than yours. And since I stay out of melee range, Phantasm contributes a great deal to my damage without being a knockback problem. Phanty contributes control as well as damage with his decoy and knockback. With a ranged build, Flash becomes a nice luxury, but not a necessity.

I don't even try to farm with my build . . . that's not what it is built for since other builds are much better at farming. My build is an all purpose build that is effective at taking down AV's solo, and equally good at contributing to teams with a mix of control, debuffing/buffing and blasting. I tend to go more for higher difficulty on fewer foes.

If I have just used Spectral Terror, then I don't need to run in and use Flash -- the foes are already under control and my teammates are already safe. (There are a few exceptions, granted.) Besides, most of the time I use Flash is as an Alpha, so I'm invisible before the Flashy Thing goes off -- I don't need to worry about personal safety.

So the only reason to use Flash in the situation you described is to set up AoE containment. Illusion itself doesn't have any AoE Damage powers, so the only time you can benefit from containment on the AoE hold is when you can use an AoE damage power from the APP sets. With his single target blast and cone torrent, I bet that Phantasm probably does more damage overall than Containment from that AoE damage power (at best, half of the AoE damage power's overall damage, but in reality far less because the AoE damage power recharges faster than the AoE Hold). Plus, the decoy provides more distraction and some spectral damage.

I would say that not having to run in and out of melee is more efficient than what you describe. Not only that, but the time you spend casting Spectral Terror, then running into melee, firing off Flash, and then running out, I can spend attacking. The damage from Phantasm is significant, and I don't find his knockback to be a problem. My guess is that you hate his knockback and have developed a playstyle to avoid using Phanty. I like knockback as a form of control and my playstyle keeps Phanty away from the AoE crowds to avoid irritating my teammates (most of the time).

Most folks find Flash to the the second most skippable power in Illusion after one of the invisibilities. I have it on my Ill/Rads and Ill/Kin, but I skipped it on my Ill/TA (who has EM Pulse Arrow and Oil Slick Arrow, and is never in melee) and my Ill/Storm (who uses Thunderclap -- only Mag 2 but it recharges much faster).

I use the Chance for Hold proc in Lightning Storm on most of my Stormies. It has a chance to hit with each lightning strike, and Tesla Cages pop up frequently.

Leveling up, I usually frankenslot Lightning Storm with 2 each from Entropic Chaos, Thunderstrike and Devastation, with Dam/Rech and Dam/EndRdx/Rech from each set (except the Chance for Hold proc in Devastation). It gives some decent Regen and Recovery.

I would never skip Tornado. Over time, Tornado puts out a lot of damage when you add up all those DoTs. Add in the fact that it seems to be Autohit, and it is really useful. (I think City of Data lists it at 1.3 accuracy, but it seems to hit even better than that -- I find that it is one of the best powers to use when a Paragon Protector has fired off his MOG.) Tornado does enough damage to offset the Regen on most AVs. Plus, Tornado makes a good "panic button" power when the team gets overrun or when Mez is flying all over the place.

Phantasm can be a problem only if you spend a lot of time in melee or close range. If you stay back from the group, then Phanty tends to knock foes back into the group. In fact, he becomes an effective positioning tool. And even if he does knock back a foe or two, you can either use Deceive to have that foe or two rejoin his buddies or decide to take that foe down with your Blind-SW-Blast-SW attack chain. The added damage that Phanty brings, combined with the added distraction of his decoy and his "body guard" behavior of knocking foes away from you, makes him an important part of an Illusionist's tools. I almost never put Phantasm away during team play.

Because I mostly stay out of melee, Flash is less useful. On characters who do not have Perma-PA, Flash becomes a valuable fill-in control while PA is recharging. However, I have learned when and how to use it while avoiding the knockback problems from Phanty -- understanding Phanty's attack cycle makes it simple to run in and hit Flash before Phanty can react.

I agree with some of your suggestions on strategy with PA . . . A good tank can recognize the value of PA taking the Alpha and pause long enough to let them do the job. Or, as you said, PA can act as a second tank to draw the aggro of a nearby group.

I, also, disagree with Oedipus_Tex's assessment of Illusion's ability to help on a team. Illusion is wonderful on teams, and can go all out. Between PA and Spectral Terror, sprinkled in with a little Flash when needed, Illusion does a great job an handling large groups. Illusion does at least as well with add-ins as a Plant controller . . . once Seeds has been used, Plant's options are limited.

In fact, one of the best parts of Illusion on teams is that Illusion's controls rarely conflict with the controls of other controllers. On an Earth or Ice controller, how often have you had a Fire Controller use Fire Cages to stop the knockdown of Earthquake or Ice Slick? Ever played a Grav Controller and have somebody else place a location-AoE control just as you fired up Wormhole? Illusion doesn't have that problem -- it works well with all other controllers most of the time.

Dark Astoria . . . many of the foes in Dark Astoria are weak to fire damage.

No, we don't want to get into that. There are a lot of other sets that need "looking at" long before Illusion. People don't farm with Illusion. A Perma-PA build is very expensive, and only a small percentage of Illusionists actually achieve it.

Illusion is fine as it is. It is pretty balanced with high survivability and decent single target damage, but low AoE damage and a unique kind of control.

Thanks for the translation . . . Angelburst must have had a mental burst. Must have taken the "Cryptic" name to heart.

The big problem I see? fighting AVs. An AV with 25% HP still needs the Decoy cast at it.

Uh, No. No need for this change.

In my experience, Earth is the best AoE controller for teams but low on damage. Works great with Rad, TA, Storm, Therm. Earth/TA has more AoE control than than any other controller.

Ice is great for supporting melee characters, but lags behind Earth for ranged AoE control. Ice is also low damage. Rad, Storm, Kin.

Fire is the best for AoE damage, but you need to be melee. Kin, Rad, then maybe Storm, Therm

Plant is a nice mix of ranged AoE control and damage, but somewhat limited by relying so heavily on Seeds of Confusion. Rad, Kin, Storm, Therm, maybe Cold

Illusion controls with distraction rather than hard controls, but has good single target damage. Pair with anything, but especially Rad, Storm, TA, Cold, then maybe Kin, Therm

Grav has good single target damage, but is weak on AoE control. Has three unique powers . . . good solo with the right secondary. I like my Grav/Storm, but never could pair it with anything else. Others like Rad, Kin, Therm, Cold, and even TA and FF.

Mind -- truthfully, it is my least favorite primary. It has great single target damage in low levels, and great AoE control in upper levels. However, the lack of a pet makes this very tough to solo in high levels. I have a Mind/FF and Mind/Storm, but it can also pair with Rad (Everything goes with Rad), TA, Kin, Therm, Cold. Mind has strong control, and really doesn't need much from the secondary.

You forgot to use the /sarcasm tag . . .

My Grav/Storm is a lot of fun for solo play, but not exactly the best team 'troller.

Lots of options. In Singularity, you can use the two Call to Arms Triples. Those cap out at level 30.

In Tornado, leveling up I mostly slot for Damage and Recharge, with some EndRdx in there if I can. As a general rule, I don't slot damage procs into a power that does decent damage until and unless I have fully slotted the power for damage, since usually damage slotting will do more damage than the proc. Once you have hit ED cap on Damage slotting, then the proc will give you a little more. The exception to this is low damage powers, like most AoE Immobs where the proc does more damage than slotting for Damage.

In a nutshell, Controls and buffs are proactive, heals are reactive.

I assume by now that your character is high enough to have the key powers for Plant control in low levels: Strangler, the single target Hold; Roots, the Area of Effect Immobilize that does damage over time; and Seeds of Confusion, a cone confuse power that is the key to the entire Plant Control set.

Ideally, your teammates will help to gather the foes into a tight group, so that you can step up and cast Seeds on the group, then immobilize them in place with Roots. Except for the few foes that might have been missed and the Bosses, the entire group should be waiting for your team to clobber them. Meanwhile, you keep throwing out Roots to add more damage over time and try to hold Bosses and escapees with Strangler. Pretty simple, really. The hardest part is deciding when the right time and place to throw Seeds might be. Once Seeds has been used, you are mostly limited to your single target Hold and immobilizing a group . . . but foes who are only immobilized can shoot at you even if they can't move.

Eventually, Vines gives you another option to hold groups. And even better, Carrion Creepers lets you distract foes before you throw Seeds. And finally, Venus Fly Trap (also known as "Chompy" or my favorite, "Twoey" based upon the man-eating plant in Little Shop of Horrors named "Audrey II.") is probably the coolest looking pet in the game -- but not the most effective. Still, Twoey can help with some damage and some immobilize and drawing the attention of foes.

The other Plant powers are optional. All three (Entangle, Spirit Tree and Spore Burst) have their uses, and different people will give you different opinions on which are worth taking.

There are several ways to deal with it. One of them is to re-cast Phanty about 10 seconds before PA despawn, as the first thing Phanty does is cast his Decoy. Another is to use a hiding place out of line of sight. Cast PA near the target while the Target can't see you. Sometimes you can get away with being behind the Target . . . by the time he finds you, a fresh trio of PA will have already gotten his attention. (It helps if you don't fire off an attack just as PA are despawning.)

As for the duration of PA . . . frankly, I haven't tested it. I was just repeating the "general wisdom" that has been repeated on the boards for a long time. I have never had less than 206% Recharge on my Perma PA build, so I haven't tested whether a lower amount is OK.