MentalMaden

The greatest dog I ever had was one I rescued from a shelter. If you want a dog, go save one. You get rewarded with such love.

Hi JG.

Hi Toonies
Hi Shadow

Last I remember you can still "double bubble" by zoning.

Guardian is the Cookie Server.

Just ask all the l337sters that come in and complain about all the cookie talk and why they just had to move to [insert server of choice] yet still feel compelled to come into Guardian threads to remind us how much they dislike the server just because someone wouldn't pay them any attention and trash talk with them in RV one day.

I'm confused, Staccato.

First you comment "Just more of NCsoft telling us how we should play. "

But then you say that you are glad to know that the exploit is fixed.

And if you want a AE arc to play, try Coulrophobia (Fear of Clowns) #1178. Hate clowns? Do something about it!

Welcome to Controllertown, Arcanaville.

I have a 50 Earth/TA so I guess I'll weigh in here with a few points.

APPs-

APPs typically offer a Single target damage, aoe (or cone) damage, a shield, a utility power, and an extra utility or damage power.

In general for controllers I have a few little "rules" for APPs.

If the character is more single target oriented, I'll first go for single target APP attacks.
If the character is more aoe control oriented, I'll try for the aoe APP attacks. I'll usually take the shield, but in control heavy builds shields aren't really that necessary, in my opinion. None of my 50 earth trollers have their shields and to be honest, I'm not so sure I miss them. (and read below)
If I feel I have a "hole missing" I'll take the utility powers. i.e. since I don't have the shields on my earthies I do give them some layer of protection. Earth/Rad has earths embrace for when things get hairy and my earth/TA has hibernation for the same reason.

I also have a couple of "rules" for standard power pools.

Fitness and stamina- I don't think I have to say this, you all know my answer. (and if you don't, stamina is mandatory on all of my builds.....long live the blue bar!)
Hasten is almost always a "must have power" my one exception is my Earth/TA thanks to the redundancy of the sets (as well described in Locals post) I'm rarely ever "needing" a power to be recharged because I always have something that will do handy. BUT, that's not to say that it is a mistake to take hasten and it's also not to say that if I respecced the build (it is an old old build, by the way and one during pre IOs when I was on an acrobatics kick for -kb, if I ever respec, I'll likely go out of acro and right into hasten) BUT, thankfully earth/TA is easy on the slotting so pretty much every power is maxed at recharge.
Personally, I think leadership should be a "nothing else to pick" set and shouldn't take the place of a primary or secondary pick. (sorry Sagamemnon) Do I have it on a few controllers? Yes, but never at the expense of any control. If you have a defense shield I think you can make an argument for it, but I'm not so sure its a strong argument as controller maneuvers is so weak and you could easily get those bonuses with IOs. And while I'm at it I'm not a big fan of softcapping controllers, unless it's a farming build...and even then I think it's just a neat "trick" more than a neccessity.

As far as Earth/TA fire mastery is the obvious choice; I originally went power master for energy damage to light my oil slick, but was underwhelmed by the set. (Also its magic origin for the energy damage of apprentice charm) Surprisingly though, I ended up with Ice mastery. WHA???? Yep! I found with recharges being close enough, and a ton of control I could light OSA a very easy way and one where I didn't have to create a keybind or macro to aim at the oil slick. Volcanic gases is the perfect power to put under (or over) OSA. It "attacks" it on its own and is pretty reliable and I can make my Death Sandwich:

OSA--->QS--->Disrup arrow--->Acid arrow--->volcanic gases--->Ice storm = watchem die.

I believe Local meant two power selections for your travel power (i.e. prereq and the travel power), not that you need to take two different travel powers.

Gratz, pl meh.

The epic consume is pretty meh. Personally, I'd go for set bonuses for recovery first, then recharge.

I'm still feeling all itchy...................blech!

Happy Buh-rthday.

I think you may be missing the fact that we too, understand the mechanics of using a wakey and as controller types still say......meh. Now I have it on my Ill/Therm as I've stated before but as a 49 power as the only time I see a need for "rez nao!" is late game AVs, TFs or raids. Also we are saying is that in the controller world hasten has a premium over other ATs because your value is controlling a situation and your safety is in control as opposed to a scrappers damage or a tanks hit points. Having your most valuable (and typically slow recharging powers) up often is much more important than making sure your friend is rezzed in the middle of a typical fight that your team can finish off without them. Rarely in this game do fights take very long and waiting for a spawn to be finished or tp to safety really isn't a priority for a controller. Your mileage may very of course, playstyles and all, but you did come here asking the controller experts for advice and well: we're advising. Take it for what its worth.

Edit- And regarding wakies and thermals. You have many tools to help a person using a wakey. They rez with wakey....you thaw....cauterize to heal the hps and shield them in case of incoming fire until they can retoggle (if they have toggles). All they need to do is wait for their end to recover and it's off to the battle.

Thunderclap is lower magnitude than stalagmites, but where it pays off well is in a build with another stun (like your earthie) so you can stack stuns for lts and bosses.

Goodness, don't skip melt armor or heat exhaustion. With inspiration combining nowadays the rezz can be skipped or saved for 49 as it's really not that useful except for late game raids and/or TFs.

Happy Pixie B-day!

Don't worry about def debuff slotting in your control powers. Acc/Rech/Mez in that order (end reduction after acc in cages). (earthquake it's fine) but your other powers need to hit, comeback quickly and last long enough to be effective.

Stalagmites are win smothered in awesomesauce with whipped goodness and sprinkles.