Mr_Grumpums

Hmm...Unless there's a big reason to skip Frostworks I'll probably take it in lieu of Super Speed to help buff up Phantasm a bit more. Superior Invisibility and Arctic Fog seem like enough stealth, unless having both gives some kind of incredible ability like allowing one to run under the radar High Perception enemies like Rikti Drones.

For a solo troller, I don't think you can go wrong with Plants as the primary. It has fantastic early powers, solid damage (for a controller), and it doesn't cost a huge amount of powers/slots to be very effective, allowing you to free up space in your build for your secondary.

As for an Earth/Fire Dom, it's also a very solid choice. Quicksand helps you ensure that your attacks will hit, and the control is able to hold things down well as you obliterate enemies. There are a whole lot of powers that you'll want to take, but the ones that I suggest you skip are:
-Blazing Bolt, because the animation time on a snipe will only slow down your fiery rampage.
-Stone cages, because the -Knockback component will render Earthquake useless, and the point of a dominator is that enemies shouldn't be able to hit you, not to keep them from moving but leave them able to fire shot after shot into your squishy dominator body. If you want a way to keep enemies from wandering around while they're stunned with Stalagmites, why not just use Quicksand and get it's wonderful -defense debuff on your unsuspecting victims at the same time?
-Salt Crystals, because no matter how nice a sleep power is, one AoE attack will wake every single opponent up, and the odds are that you're going to team with people who shoot first and ask questions later, if at all.

Basically, you use your myriad controls to keep enemies locked down while you pump fire down their throats. Using your rocky pet as a tank isn't hard to do at all. Picking the Fire Mastery APP will give you access to Rain of Fire and Fireball, which gain the 80% damage bonus from Fiery Embrace, meaning that you'll be dealing blaster-level damage on a regular basis while hordes of opponents are languishing in your various mezzes.

Decided on Ill/Cold, and it's pretty solid so far at level 8. Having prior experience with my Ill/Rad has helped make power choices fairly easy. So far I have Blind, Spectral Wounds, Deceive, Infrigidate, Superior Invisibility, and Ice Shield. This guy already holds his own in a team, and solo is so simple that it's boring.

What strikes me first is how FAST Cold Domination animates. I'm used to my Ill/Rad, where RI leaves you rooted for what feels like forever. Since Infrigidate *IS* my RI/EM for the next thirty levels, I'm glad it fires off as fast as Flares. Missing the the ability to heal myself, but I've taken a more cautious stance when going through missions and haven't actually died since I joined a lv 41 Morality mission team about thirty seconds after I rolled up the character (I asked for an invite as a joke, advertising the controller as being level 1, and they took him anyway).

Now I want a Blaster to duo with...

I was wondering...How easy is it to go Perma PA on an Illusion/Cold Controller versus an Illusion/Radiation? You have a lot more places to put LotG: Recharges into the Ill/Cold build, but you lose AM.

Also, How many slots should I put into Infrigidate and Frostworks? My tentative power selection is, currently, this:

+----------------------------------------------------------------
+ Built with SuckerPunch's Online Planner v5.0
+ http://planner.cohtitan.com/planner
+----------------------------------------------------------------
Archetype: Controller
Primary: Illusion Control
Secondary: Cold Domination
+----------------------------------------------------------------

01: Blind => Empty(1)
01: Infrigidate => Empty(1)
02: Deceive => Empty(2)
04: Ice Shield => Empty(4)
06: Spectral Wounds => Empty(6)
08: Superior Invisibility => Empty(8)
10: Glacial Shield => Empty(10)
12: Hover => Empty(12)
14: Fly => Empty(14)
16: Hasten => Empty(16)
18: Phantom Army => Empty(18)
20: Arctic Fog => Empty(20)
22: Frostwork => Empty(22)
24: Flash => Empty(24)
26: Spectral Terror => Empty(26)
28: Benumb => Empty(28)
30: Snow Storm => Empty(30)
32: Phantasm => Empty(32)
35: Sleet => Empty(35)
38: Heat Loss => Empty(38)
41: Fire Blast => Empty(41)
44: Fire Ball => Empty(44)
47: Consume => Empty(47)
49: Fire Shield => Empty(49)

+----------------------------------------------------------------
+ Inherent Powers
+----------------------------------------------------------------

01: Brawl => Empty(1)
01: Sprint => Empty(1)
02: Rest => Empty(2)

Hi there!

I'm on a controller kick right now, and I'd really like your suggestion on this.

Ill/Cold or Elec/Cold?

These two sets, after years of playing this game, are without a doubt my two favorite control sets. I've played every single set into the thirties (after writing this statement, I went back and verified it was true, which honestly horrified me and made me promise to myself that I'd go outside more), and these two are the only ones I've ever kept up with enough to run through Incarnate trials.

Why /Cold? I've never MADE a /Cold anything that lasted more than a few levels. I would always pair it with ice for thematic reasons and then get mad and quit because I'm not fond of Ice Blast (except on Blasters) or Ice Control.

I'd say -Res. Most enemies in the PvE game aren't able to muster enough defense for it to be a significant form of protection solely on its own, and in the mechanics for defense in PvP (cue announcement that PvP is broken) render its effects far less useful than resistance.

Now, I'd never turn -Defense AWAY if it was offered, but if given the choice between one of the two, I'd choose -Resistance. It's one of the reasons I love seeing Rad/Sonic defenders so much. They can utterly debilitate an enemy group with the primary, including -Res debuffs, and then you throw in the magnificent -Res debuffs which come standard with Sonic Blast.

Same thing goes for the Incarnate procs. There is a reason that 90% of Integration Powers in use are Reactives, especially with AoE-centric characters.

Thanks for your input, Local Man! I'll revisit the build when I've got a little more time, but for now:
-I agree with you that the damage on this build is quite Low. I considered going for Mace Mastery in order to add debuffs and Disruptor Blast (And additional S/L defense), but finally gave up doing that in a build because suckerpunch doesn't have that as an option and the number of slots it requires would have been prohibitive.
-Thunderstrike in Crush is an awesome idea. Thank you!
-I DID have Lockdown 6-slotted in the build, but Suckerpunch somehow cut it out.
-I'll restructure power choices in order to bring Crushing Field into the build at a lower level.
-Repulsion Bomb, thought you can't see it on this build, was slotted for the Chance for -Recharge Proc, along with accuracy, endurance, and recharge. Its purpose, the way I have it slotted, is to knock down enemies. I was running low on slots, and had to remove more from it than I wished to.
-I'd slotted PFF that way for the IO bonus, but I'll look for an alternative.

Hmm...Well I've made a build with Suckerpunch, but it's outdated and doesn't give numbers, so I have no idea if I've actually hit the softcap. I HOPE I have. If someone could plug this into Mids (I'm on a mac, otherwise I'd do it myself) and churn it out so that I could see the bonuses, I'd be very thankful. My biggest concern is that the number of toggles that this build has wouldn't be sustainable in combat.

Doing it by hand, I added up 29.343% Ranged Defense in the IO bonuses, in which case I'd need to have somewhere around a combined 15.657% Ranged Defense from Dispersion Bubble, Maneuvers, and Weave.

Any questions, comments, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

+----------------------------------------------------------------
+ Built with SuckerPunch's Online Planner v5.0
+ http://planner.cohtitan.com/planner
+----------------------------------------------------------------
Archetype: Controller
Primary: Gravity Control
Secondary: Force Field
+----------------------------------------------------------------

01: Crush => Trap_of_the_Hunter(1), Trap_of_the_Hunter(43), Trap_of_the_Hunter(43), Trap_of_the_Hunter(45), Trap_of_the_Hunter(50), Trap_of_the_Hunter(46)
01: Personal Force Field => Red_Fortune(1), Red_Fortune(15), Red_Fortune(17), Red_Fortune(46), Red_Fortune(13)
02: Gravity Distortion => Lockdown(2), Lockdown(5), Lockdown(7), Lockdown(11), Lockdown(15), Lockdown(9)
04: Force Bolt => Accuracy(4)
06: Deflection Shield => Luck_of_the_Gambler(6), Luck_of_the_Gambler(7)
08: Hasten => Recharge(8), Recharge(9)
10: Insulation Shield => Luck_of_the_Gambler(10), Luck_of_the_Gambler(11)
12: Hover => Luck_of_the_Gambler(12), Karma(13)
14: Fly => Blessing_of_the_Zephyr(14)
16: Maneuvers => Luck_of_the_Gambler(16), Luck_of_the_Gambler(17)
18: Gravity Distortion Field => Lockdown(18), Lockdown(19), Lockdown(19), Lockdown(40), Lockdown(46)
20: Dispersion Bubble => Red_Fortune(20), Red_Fortune(21), Red_Fortune(23), Red_Fortune(23), Red_Fortune(39)
22: Boxing => Pounding_Slugfest(22)
24: Tough => Reactive_Armor(24), Reactive_Armor(25), Reactive_Armor(25)
26: Wormhole => Stupefy(26), Stupefy(27), Stupefy(27), Stupefy(37), Stupefy(37), Stupefy(33)
28: Weave => Red_Fortune(28), Red_Fortune(29), Red_Fortune(29), Red_Fortune(43), Red_Fortune(50), Red_Fortune(46)
30: Crushing Field => Trap_of_the_Hunter(30), Trap_of_the_Hunter(31), Trap_of_the_Hunter(31), Trap_of_the_Hunter(31), Trap_of_the_Hunter(33), Trap_of_the_Hunter(33)
32: Singularity => Expedient_Reinforcement(32), Expedient_Reinforcement(33), Expedient_Reinforcement(34), Expedient_Reinforcement(34), Expedient_Reinforcement(34), Expedient_Reinforcement(37)
35: Repulsion Bomb => Force_Feedback(35), Force_Feedback(36), Stupefy(36), Stupefy(36)
38: Force Bubble => EnduranceDiscount(38), EnduranceDiscount(39), Recharge(39)
41: Power Blast => Thunderstrike(41), Thunderstrike(42), Thunderstrike(42), Thunderstrike(42)
44: Conserve Power => Recharge(44)
47: Temp Invulnerability => Reactive_Armor(47), Reactive_Armor(48), Reactive_Armor(48), Steadfast_Protection(48)
49: Power Boost => Recharge(49), Recharge(50)
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+ Inherent Powers
+----------------------------------------------------------------

01: Brawl => Empty(1)
01: Sprint => Empty(1)
02: Rest => Empty(2)
02: Health => Numina's Convalescence(2) Healing(5)
02: Stamina => Performance Shifter(2) Recovery(2) Recovery(2)

I rolled up a Grav/FF controller on...I believe it was Sunday. It's currently sitting at level 33, and even though I'm well aware that it's far from the most amazing build ever played, it's still a whole lot of fun. Singularity makes it even more so. I actually managed to stack my character's Lift power with that of my Singularity pet, causing the enemy to do what looks like a double-jump on an open map!

I plan on going for Primal mastery in order to get Conserve Power and Power Boost, while snagging Temp Invulnerability and Power Blast on the way just to increase damage and resistance.

However, when I stop and think about how I'm going to IO out this character, I blank. The same thing happens when I think about its incarnate powers, other than Diamagnetic to weaken enemy ToHit on top of the character's own buffs.

For a way to look at power selection, for you Mids Users (I'd be one if I wasn't on a mac), I'll just say that I got every power from Gravity Control aside from Dimension Shift, every power from Force Field but Repulsion Field and Detention Field, and then grabbed Hasten, Hover, Fly, Teleport Foe, Teleport Friend, and the above mentioned Primal Mastery APP.

Any help, suggestions, or builds would be appreciated.

Journal II:

Real life has taken strong hold, and I haven't logged into the game since I last posted here until 6-8am this morning. Playing solo, I went from level 9 to level 12, and am close to level 13.

After careful consideration, I decided that Will Domination was weak, useless, and took way too long to recharge. I swapped into my alternate build at level 10 and picked the following:
-Psionic Dart
-Power Thrust
-Mental Blast
-Telekinetic Blast
-Build Up
-Energy Punch
-Psychic Focus

This went over far, far better. Psychic Focus (Which is Aim for Psychic Blast) and Build Up are a huge part of this guy's damage dealing potential, which is a departure from the two Blasters I stuck with all the way to 50 (Sonic/Mental and Fire/Mental). While using Aim and Build Up on those blasters was always NICE, the impact wasn't as dramatic as it is with Psychic Blast.

I ended up playing Barbatos as a head hunter. He'd take out a single enemy at a time, killing groups in order from strongest to weakest. When enemies got too close for comfort, I'd duck around a corner and use Energy Punch and Power Thrust, then go back to the ranged hits. In the long sewer corridors, I ended up blapping my way through when Build Up and Psychic Focus were recharging, and otherwise simply blasting away at range.

I have to say that this was actually a lot of fun. I didn't die once, though there were several close calls where only inspirations kept my blaster from eating dirt. The Resistance, with their G.I. Joe cartoon lasers, are biggest problem enemies due to their crazy firing squad nature when the whole mob locks onto you, but hopping into melee and sending two of them flying with Power Thrust and TK Blast cuts down on the number of active attackers. The target of TK Blast would go down first, and by then Power Thrust would be recharged and used on the next enemy while TK Blast would hit the first target of Power Thrust who would just be standing up.

After a while, I figured out how to time Energy Punch so that it could hit a mob flying through the air from Power Thrust if it hadn't yet flown beyond the 7 ft range of the attack. THAT was a lot of fun, and usually a Mental Blast can finish off a minion given that treatment.

At level twelve, I can already see that Psychic Blast isn't going to be a powerhouse. In fact, I'd say it's right there with Radiation Blast for Blasters as a mediocre set with light AoE (that suffers from long animation times). It isn't BAD, and I'm having a grand time, but it's extremely different from Fire Blast, where everything in a thirty foot radius can be effected by your powers consistently. As a matter of fact, Psychic Blast is far worse off than Radiation Blast in terms of AoE, because Rad has the relatively quick-animating Irradiate to throw around in melee range, while Psychic Blast has...Psychic Tornado, a low damage AoE that sends enemies flying and has too long an animation to bother with when enemies are up close. Psychic Tornado, a good nuke, and nothing else.

On teams, I'm going to have to see how best to utilize this Blaster. I'm worried that players will look at Barbatos and see AoE minion/lieutenant clearing, which he really isn't built for.

Matter of fact, this blaster is almost more of a Boss/Lieutenant/RAE (Really Annoying Enemy) Disabler/Killer simply by virtue of his powers. Seems like it would also be fun in PvP, though not as good as my Elec/Ice Dom when it comes to gathering missiles in Warburg due to his lack of a Confuse. The range is decent, and with Boost Range, I could probably have him blow up Stalkers, Dominators, Corrupters, and other Blasters before they can successfully get away...

Anyway, I'm having fun with my baby Psy/EM Blaster. Looking forward to maybe logging in tonight and getting him to level 14.

Here are some KM Observations/Highlights for your reading pleasure.

Pros:
-Hits like a truck for "Burst" damage, meaning your powers are, individually, very hard hitting.
-Attacks can debuff enemy damage, as well as stun or knock back.
-Incredibly cool animations.
-Ranged attacks give you a bit of versatility when chasing down running enemies, or attacking when health is low.
-Power Siphon is awesome.

Cons:
-High endurance cost
-Weak on the AoE side. The ranged cone has a huge endurance cost and little damage, making it the most skippable power in the set. The PBAoE is like a weaker Footstomp that can be used in midair.
-Comparatively low average damage per second despite the high damage of its attacks due to long animation times.

Tips:
-Avoid Repulsing Torrent as a general rule, though I'm sure there are builds that make very good use of the power.
-This set works very well with secondaries that have damage Auras, like /Fire, /Dark, and /Elec. Power Siphon's damage boost does wonderful things to them.
-Avoid high-cost secondaries unless you have a plan to somehow gain huge amounts of endurance reduction or recovery.
-Hasten is your friend. You'll want to have Power Siphon up as often as possible.
-Don't ignore Focused Burst because it's a ranged attack. It's also one of your heaviest damage dealers.
-Burst is a great way to keep enemies on their backs instead of punishing you. Slot in at least one recharge.
-SLOT FOR ENDURANCE RECOVERY IN YOUR POWERS!
-Concentrated Strike, despite its high endurance cost, should be used often. When this power crits, it reapplies Power Siphon.

Good combinations with KM:

KM/Elec offers a very balanced amount of benefits to KM. It has Energize to help take the edge off of endurance issues (as well as heal), solid if unremarkable resistances that KM's -Damage debuffs will make more effective, a damage Aura, solid mes protection, and a built-in recharge bonus to help keep Power Siphon up and running.

KM/Shield offers big damage with the combination of Against All Odds and Power Siphon, as well as great defenses and additional AoE with Shield Charge. One of the better combos, if you can tolerate the altered animations.

KM/WP lets you combine KM's lovely damage debuffs with Rise to the Challenge for a VERY durable character. Add in Quick Recovery for steady endurance management and Strength of Will for your crashless T9, and you have another very, very solid scrapper with nice damage.

If you're willing to get close enough to enough enemies to make WoC worthwhile, then it can be a decent enough means of holding off minions, especially with Coercive Persuasion: Contagious Confusion slotted in.

Personally, I'd just get Dominate and Mass Hypnosis. Mass Hypnosis to put anything short of bosses to sleep, whereupon you can zip in, sap the boss down to zip with Transference, fire off Fulcrum Shift, and either take everything down one by one or throw your holds and Transferences around to keep the worst at bay while blasting things to pieces.

I love my Fire/Kin to death, and it's still my favorite solo Corr. On teams or solo, its damage is ridiculous, and it only ever stops to rest when it faceplants. Huge damage, but sometimes I wish it had mez protection. ANY Mez protection.

Fire/Dark has extremely cool powers from start to finish. No feeling of having to wait around for one single power that will make you into a god. Everything is good, and everything contributes to the survival of yourself and the team. Excellent and highly survivable with high damage due to a combination of debuffs, mezzing, self-healing, a pet, and consistently high damage (for a corrupter).

Fire/Cold seems like a very fun debuff character. I can't say that I've ever made one, unfortunately, and I don't know how it would perform due to lack of experience with /Cold.

I went for Rebirth Radial, and I think it's added a good bit to the survival of my Elec/Ice dom. Rebirth Core didn't look as good to me, what with the +Health instead of the +Regen...

Elec/Cold is -very- fun at higher levels, especially after getting the character fully IO'd out. That being said, it has a few problems that you, the player, might have issues with.

Elec Control Pros:
-Sapping endurance
-Excellent, outstanding A+ control from a variety of sources (An AoE Confuse, a constantly reapplying Sleep Patch, sapping enemies dry so they can't attack, AoE Knockdown, AND solid holds? Yes please).
-Great recovery/regen power on Conductive Aura
-Jolting Chain is a lot of fun
-Decent Pets

Elec Control Cons:
-BIGGEST? Knock back will ruin your grouping. No means of blocking it, enabling all those Energy Blasters to knock that huge mob right off of Synaptic Charge.
-Low Damage output compared to Mind or Fire control.
-AoE Knock down and Confuse powers are chains, which means that they take practice and careful grouping to use properly.

Ice Assault Pros:
-Solid ST blasts with a lightly resisted damage type.
-Solid ST Melee attacks.
-Solid Melee AoE in the form of Ice Sword.
-Movement/Recharge debuffs.
-Power Boost.
-Chilling Embrace helps lower enemy attack time when in melee and keep enemies from fleeing Static Field when in melee range.
-Short Animation times on ranged blasts lets the damage pile up quickly.

Ice Assault Cons:
-High endurance cost on ranged blasts.
-Low damage when compared to /Fire or /Elec.
-Lacking in AoEs.

As you can see, while this is a Dom with high control ability, it's biggest weaknesses come from difficulty handling errant knock back on teams, high endurance cost from the secondary, and comparatively low damage with a lack of AoE. This is all more or less fixable, however, with the right Incarnate Powers and IO slotting.

First off, Permadom. Once you hit it, you'll be getting big piles of endurance back as soon as Domination recharges. The global recharge boost also increases how fast you can sling your powers, which means you'll be attacking and mezzing much, much faster.

Musculature Alpha not only boosts the attack power of all your powers (including Chain Fences, which is highly spammable for an AoE damage boost), but increases your powers' Endurance Modification, which both boosts recovery and increases the effect of your sapping.

Judgment lets you wipe out up to 40 enemies every time it's up. I'd call that a damage boost.

Integration can offer a lot to an Elec/Ice, but I went and leveled up two divisions of the power. Reactive gives higher damage by giving your powers a Proc to reduce the resistance of whomever your target is, as well as adding DoT to your hits (this can hurt the effectiveness of Stasis Field at times). Diamagnetic offers Procs that debuff ToHit and Regeneration, which is great for fighting solo with a defense toggle or on teams where being able to make enemies miss can keep people alive. I tend to keep Reactive on unless doing constant AV hunting with a group.

As for Lore, well I chose the Seers. They have Psychic Damage, which is rarely resisted, as well as healing for your character when things get bad. They even cast Fortitude on you.

Destiny gives a lot of potential buffs, but I took Rebirth to cover the lack of a self-heal in my build.

So yes, Elec/Ice is awesome, but it isn't going to be everyone's ideal choice.

Electric/Electric has more sapping potential, as does Electric/Psychic (Stacking Conductive Aura with Drain Psyche anyone?). Electric/Earth gives more melee-oriented ST damage, and big hammers.

Fire/Fire is also solid. It has more damage than other primaries/secondaries available to Doms, plus solid control and Fiery Embrace, which boosts your damage into the stratosphere for a significant around of time. It's a lot like playing a Fire/Fire blaster with the primary/secondary swapped.

Elec is pretty easy to Permadom, especially with the "cheap" Very Rare Recipes you can throw in. My build has five each of Gravitational Anchor, Coercive Persuasion, and Unbreakable Constraint, which took me shockingly little time to do. As a matter of fact, selling a single Ragnarok recipe I obtained as a drop in a Strike Force paid for all five Coercive Persuasions!

Mind looks easier to softcap than my very fun Elec/Ice Dom, which is why I'm so frustrated that I haven't been able to get into it. Maybe it just isn't shiny enough?

Well, Cheetatron, I'd say it's a strong combo for Stalkers and Scrappers for the same reasons. Why some people like the set for Stalkers is because KM's long animation times lend itself poorly to overall DPS, despite the high power of its attacks. Also, it lacks somewhat in AoE when compared to a Fire/Shield Scrapper, for example. It's just part of the set.

If you hate the animations of a KN/Shield so much that it ruins your fun with the character AND you want to swap to a stalker, I'd would probably go for either /WP or /Nin.

There are a lot of ways you can take advantage of KM's damage self-buff/enemy debuff. The three "best", in my opinion only, are the following, for the following reasons.

KM/Willpower - KM's damage debuffs stack incredibly well with the regen in Rise to the Challenge to make enemies unable to drop this combo. Not only that, but Quick Recovery will help handle the slightly high endurance cost of the primary. Solid protection and low downtime, but, unfortunately, no bonus to damage. This won't let you kill as quickly as the other two, but you won't need to IO it to crazy extents in order for it to do a great job.

KM/Elec - While the damage aura isn't as nice as /Fire, this build offers more protection, added recharge, more steady recovery/regeneration via Energize, and a T9 that will let you stand toe to toe with an AV for its duration, and then ends with a mini-nuke. It won't be as protected as a KM/Willpower, but you'll find yourself dealing more damage and still being able to hold your own.

KM/Shield - This is the ultimate, high octane build for a KM character, in my opinion. Let's see what we've got here:
-Defense you can softcap with IO's? Check.
-Resistance for the 5% of enemy attacks you can't dodge? Check.
-Damage debuffs to lower the 5% of enemy attacks you can't dodge, effectively boosting your resistance? Check.
-Health boost so that you can take more weakened enemy punches when they DO get through your defense AND resistance? Check.
-Self damage boost in the form of Siphon Power? Check.
-Self damage boost in the form of Against All Odds, a toggle that stacks with Siphon Power to turn you into a kinetic cannon? Check.

Yep. While this combination lacks a heal, it has extremely hard hitting attacks thanks to the combination of Against All Odds and Siphon Power, and can take a major beating with the layered defenses of /Shield. Make your build to softcap defense, and then focus on recovery and recharge. If you can stand the one-handed KM animations (the shield is in the other hand), you'll have a scrapper that hits like a truck while shrugging off almost everything the game can throw its way.

KM/SR and KM/Regen are also great combos, but if I had to lay my top three down, the three I've described in detail would be my suggestion, especially KM/Shield (for those of you with deep enough pockets to give it the IO'ing it needs to become fully rounded).

Figured I'd throw this out here after having made the toon on a whim. I made a Psy/EM Blaster before inherent Stamina and loathed it due to constantly bottoming out on endurance. Now, with Incarnate powers and Stamina at level 2, I'm hoping it will be more fun.

Rolled him up, picked Psionic Dart and Power Thrust, played with colors/animations, and named him Barbatos at my girlfriend's suggestion (Fallen angel, duke of the bad place, the usual). Dark blue blasts and pom poms of doom for me. So far so good.

Started up in Praetoria, and ran through the Veteran's tutorial for a quick level 2 and chance to pick my Alignment (Loyalist). When I got out, I met my girlfriend's toon (an Illusion/FF controller), snagged Mental Blast, and formed a team with two Nin/Nin Stalkers, a Plant/Storm Troller, a DS/Therm MM, and a Sonic/Sonic Corr who just happened to be looking.

Needless to say, this met the same fate of PUGs everywhere, and we had a rough time. The Plant troller spammed Roots, grumbled about how he was drawing aggro and how he liked his Brute better, and eventually quit. The stalkers dropped like flies, and then dropped the team. The remaining team did much better by virtue of buffs (Therm Shields, Sonic Shields, and FF bubbles) and playing to one another's strengths, but we still had a lack of damage that Barbatos, with his three mighty powers, wasn't able to help push through.

The team disbanded when the MM finally quit. Praetorian missions seem oddly difficult compared to red or blue side, and we came into an oddly high number of bosses, as well as extremely large numbers of enemies, even at +0/x0. As for the ambushes, well is -is- Praetoria.

By the time it was down to just my ladyfriend and myself, Barbatos was level 7 and her controller was level 8. Another friend of ours, also playing a Psy/EM Blaster, joined us for more storyline missions, which went well. Barbatos is on the Power Storyline, and the evil things he does during those arcs are quite amusing.

When I logged out due to real world commitments, Barbatos was level 9, and had picked up Telekinetic Blast, Build up, and Will Domination. TK Blast and Power Thrust are probably my favorite powers so far, since they allow me to juggle bosses and Lieutenants up and down the map until they meet their untimely demises, and Build up is always nice for clicking before opening fire.

Will Domination is good for activating and then immediately following up with Telekinetic Thrust for a fast damage spike against enemies (the damage has a delay before it reaches the target, it seems like), but not much else due to its low damage and unreliable sleep. I was pretty disappointed, and might jut use my level 10 build as a freespec to get rid of the power.

I was surprised that the Praetorian Clockwork don't seem to have much Psy Resistance, but I certainly wasn't complaining. The Resistance were the most frustrating enemies to face. They show up in big numbers and never seem to miss with those damn laser guns. We had more trouble fighting Resistance enemies than any other group.

Psionic Dart was extremely useful over the long run, while Mental Blast seems vanilla. TK Blast's knockback has come in quite handy, and by focusing it on one target at a time, I bet I can keep from making the melee characters squeal.

I hope to get to level 14 at least, tomorrow. As for now? Bed.

If you're using Soul Mastery on a controller, I'd think it would be on a higher damage combo with strong lockdown in order to best make use of Soul Drain. Plant/Storm seems like it would be well-suited to a damage upgrade via Soul Drain, after throwing down Roots and Seed of Confusion. Walk into the middle of things, fire off Soul Drain and Dark Obliteration, and spam your DoT powers along with Dark Obliteration until everything dies.

Fire/Storm would also work well. Stack Flashfire to Thunderclap in order to stun everything, then use Soul Drain, Fire Cages, Tornado, and Sleet, along with Dark Obliteration, until everything drops.

With an Illusion/Rad controller, drop Spectral Terror and your Rad debuffs, then confuse/hold enemies, Soul Drain, and spam your attacks while Phantom Army and Phantasm hurt things.

I honestly prefer Fire or Cold from that sort of attack standpoint. They're strong, have both ST and AoE attacks, and can be used from range.

Level 28 now, and while I'm certainly feeling the difference in attack strength between Corrupters and Blasters, as well as the difference in debuffing between Corrupters and Defenders, I have to say that this is a REALLY fun character. Half of the time the Rifle is like a Flamethrower that occasionally sprays bullets, especially when Hasten is up. Acid Arrow, Glue Arrow, and Disruption Arrow are usually fired by a single Ice Arrow on a Lieutenant and then Ignite/Flamethrower, Buckshot, and a few single target shots until everything is dead.

I am amused.

Thanks very much for the replies! In response to runt9, I very much enjoy busy toons.

I don't have Mids, but I'm thinking that my power selection will be (In no particular order):
-Burst
-Entangling Arrow
-Slug
-Glue Arrow
-Buckshot
-Hasten
-Ice Arrow
-Aid Other
-Super Speed
-Maneuvers
-Flamethrower
-Acid Arrow
-Tactics
-Flash Arrow
-Ignite
-Disruption Arrow
-Aid Self
-Full Auto
-Oil Slick Arrow
-EMP Arrow
-Power Build Up
-Temporary Invulnerability
-Conserve Power
-Assault/Stealth/Combat Jumping (undecided)

As for IO slotting...I have no earthly idea. I guess I'll go for recharge, recovery, and see about softcapping some kind of defense? I don't know if that would even be possible with this build.

No Mids to post a build, but I'll post some info.

Pros to Fire/Kin:
-Incredibly strong Ranged Single Target and AoE Damage
-Large Damage/Recovery buffs
-Inherent Travel powers that aren't restricted during combat.
-Near-unlimited endurance
-Can self-heal
-Able to boost your own Recharge
-Strong solo or on teams. ESPECIALLY on teams.

Cons to Fire/Kin:
-Almost zero damage mitigation.
-You'll be spending a good deal of your time giving people Speed Boost on teams.
-No Mez Protection
-Almost all your powers have a ToHit check, including your best buffs, your heal, and your endurance recovery power.

Powers you MUST HAVE From Fire Blast:
-Flares/Fire Blast: You have to pick one, and I'd honestly flip a coin. I heard something about Flares being much better than Fire Blast for Blasters, but I don't know how that translates to Corrs. 4-5 slots.

-Fireball: This is the AoE that people pick Fire Blast to get. Strong damage, added DoT, quick recharge...There is no reason to skip this power. 5-6 slots.

-Blaze: Strongest Single Target power that Fire blast has to offer, and it decimates enemies. When running with stacked Fulcrum Shifts this power can one-shot Lieutenants and nearly do the same to bosses. 5-6 slots.

-Aim: You don't get Build up as a Fire/Kin Corr. That's what Siphon Power and Fulcrum Shift are for. This power will make sure that your powers land, which is VERY important for a Fire/Kin. 2-3 slots.

Powers you might WANT from your Primary:
-Rain of Fire: This power works extremely well with Scourge, and the damage it dealt with the Reactive Integration Incarnate proc is simply staggering. This power is a patch, so you drop it in the middle of a mob. The scattering that enemies do can act as some control, but not very much. They'll still shoot you dead if given the chance. 3-6 slots.

-Inferno: It's a nuke, and one of the strongest nukes available. Bump it up with Fulcrum Shift and then let it rip. It certainly isn't the best overall power choice, but it sure is fun. 4-5 slots.

Powers you should probably skip from your primary:
-Fire Breath: The cone is narrow, the range is short, and the animation is long. Some other ATs might benefit from this power, but Fire/Kin Corrs can't afford to be rooted for too long, lest they be shot full of holes.

-Blazing Bolt: While there are plenty of good snipes, and Blazing bolt is some of them, Fire/Kinetics Corrupters do their best work at a closer range in order to make use of Transfusion, Transference, and Fulcrum Shift. Staying at that range will essentially turn you into a Fire Blaster with gimped damage.

Powers you MUST have from your secondary:
-Transfusion: You have to take it, and it's a great power. While you have to be a bit close to enemies to use it, and it does have a ToHit check, it's still a nice heal and has the added bonus if lowering the regeneration rate of the enemy you've targeted. Great for staying alive and debuffing AVs. 4-6 slots, and make sure at least one is an accuracy.

-Siphon Power: When leveling this power is a godsend. It simultaneously Debuffs the damage of a target while buffing the caster and anyone within several feet of the caster. After getting Fulcrum Shift, the damage debuff is more useful on enemies with high damage than the actual damage buff, but it helps fill in any damage buff gaps left when Fulcrum Shift misses. 3-5 slots for accuracy, recharge, and maybe endurance reduction.

-Siphon Speed: This power dramatically slows an enemy and reduces its recharge rate while boosting your own. This is Super Speed on a timer, and helps you keep up with your Speed Boosted team mates while also raising your recharge rate. There are several tactical advantages to Siphon Speed due to its unrestricted combat usage. You can fire off a power at close range and immediately zip out of the thick of fighting. 1-5 slots, depending on whether you want this power to stack for recharge bonuses. This power CAN miss, so you might want to add some Accuracy.

-Speed Boost: As annoying as it is to buff everyone on the team every minute and a half, this power is one of the two mega buffs that people love /Kins for. It gives a large recovery and recharge boost while also raising their run speed to near-super speed levels. While you can run circle around them with Siphon Speed, without it you'll find them running way ahead of you. Some people dislike this power because they have trouble moving their characters when under the power's effect (Due to slower machines or difficulty handling the added speed in combat). 1-3 slots, depending on how much recovery you want to enhance into this power. It doesn't need recharge.

-Transference: Target an enemy and then watch its endurance fly away, filling up the blue bars of any ally close to the target. This power is wonderful to use against irritating enemies, EBs, and other baddies who need their blue bars sucked dry. It also keeps you and your team rolling in endurance for more nonstop fighting. 4-6 slots, and make sure to put in accuracy, because thie power CAN miss.

-Fulcrum Shift: This is the strongest damage buff in the game, and at level 38 your new priority becomes firing this power to maximum effect. It's like Siphon Power, only the buff radiates from the target and it adds additional damage for every enemy near the target. When used on a tightly packed mob on a +8 team, the added damage to your team is simply devastating. 5-6 slots for recharge, accuracy, and maybe endurance reduction.

Powers you might WANT from your secondary:
-Increase Density: This power boosts Resistance to some of the most common damage types and bestows mez protection on targets. If you could use this power on yourself, things would be much nicer. Good for toughening up characters, but the short duration means that you'll have to constantly reapply it, so not recommended for use on the whole team at all times. Also good for knocking an ally out of hold, sleep, etc. 1 slot is all this power needs.

-Inertial Reduction: This is a click super jump that also bestows its effect on nearby allies. A single recharge enhancement is all this power needs to recharge before the effect is up. This power works even during combat, and makes for a nice getaway power. Combined with Siphon Speed, you'll find yourself to be highly mobile.

Powers from your secondary to SKIP:
-Repel: This power is sort of silly. A Fire/Kin Corr works best with tightly packed mobs, and this power scatters them all over the place without adding much in the way of mitigation.

Pool powers you'll want to take:
-Hasten: It's Hasten. More powers recycled at a faster rate, and that means more Stacked Fulcrum Shift, more Fireballs, more Transference and Transfusion, more Siphon Speed...Just take the power!

-Leadership powers: These powers don't require much to work, help your team out, and their endurance cost is easily offset by Transference. Vengeance is a great benefit to teams in the higher levels.

Patron/Ancillary Pools you might want to choose:
-Psychic Mastery: This epic pool gives you access to powers that stop enemies in their tracks, which is very important when soloing due to the lack of mitigation in the primary and secondary. Mass Hypnosis is especially useful because powers like Fulcrum Shift and Siphon Power don't wake enemies up, enabling you to safely gather large buffs before unleashing your fire attacks at a safer distance. This pool gives access to a Single Target Hold, a Resistance Aura, an AoE sleep, A Confuse Aura which also deal minor damage, and Telekinesis (a power which repels enemies at a slow rate in a single direction).

-Soul Mastery: This pool gives you both Power Boost and Soul Drain, as well as a Resistance toggle and a ST hold.

Mace Mastery: This set offers a defense toggle, which is a must-have if you're planning of softcapping your smashing/lethal defense. It also has an AoE Immobilize which can be useful when paired with Rain of Fire, and a Single Target Hold.

WHAT BONUSES SHOULD I FOCUS ON?
A Fire/Kin Corr does best with high recharge in order to spam its attacks, buffs, and debuffs, but if you can manage to softcap either ranged or smashing/lethal defense, then I think you'll find the expense worthwhile. Regeneration and +Health bonuses are also helpful for adding to your character's survivability. Accuracy bonuses would be very nice, considering the importance of having your powers land on their targets for healing and buffing/debuffing.

Recovery bonuses aren't as needed for Fire/Kins as they are for some other sets due to Transference, but don't go out of your way to skip them, either. The same goes for damage bonuses.

My order of priorities would be Recharge-->Defense (softcap)-->Accuracy-->Regen/+Health-->Recovery.

Hope some of this was helpful. Good luck!