SBeaudway

I think Local Man summed it up nicely. Not much to add. I have a 50 Gravity/Storm. Solos reasonably well with it's single target attack chain. Prefers to initiate the fight and use terrain to make kill/control zones. Very flashy sfx.

I have played often with pals who have the other combos. Earth is very control-y (though can also be made into a damage proc monster), Fire is a pbaoe damage machine (for a controller), illusion is the master of semi-controlled chaos. It's fun, chaotic and flashy and no melee character will ever want to team with you (but a team of Ill/Storms) is hilarious. Earth and Fire are more team friendly. Earth solos the slowest throughout, Illusion will will solo well at start, but fall behind the Fire when it can maximize pets+aoe attacks+containment.

Any of those combos would be fun to play regardless.

I do think Traps/Ice has great synergy. Better than AR. Very safe character to play. I only used AR as it was a remake of my AR/Devices Blaster.

If your main goal is soft capped defenses, it will be easier and cheaper on a Defender. Plus oddly Defenders solo quite well with their +30% self damage buff when solo. So wierdly, I think Defenders shine solo and on small teams, where their self damage buff can matter and their team buffs matter more. On a team of 8, either will be great, with the Corr doing more damage. Though on a fast moving team of 8, /Traps or Traps/ does not fully realize its potential.

I am playing my level 33 Traps/AR with a fellow Traps/AR and a Traps/Pistol. Lots of fun! We set up the kill zone and shoot it up. It's not that fastest team, but victory is always assured.

My Traps/AR is actually a remake of my AR/Devices. It's better (as a Corruptor would be) in every possible way. The Devs should just remove Devices from the game...

I think at this point people are arguing to argue. Illusion has less hard controls and no immobilize. We all know that. It's fine to point that out for the BAF. But this isn't a a new issue or a problem, it's just how the set works. It's always better vs smaller tougher spawns than larger "normal" spawns. It has never been a "lockdown" controller. I thinks it's time to move on.

I could point out how my controller using three pbaoe toggles and a pbaoe heal, at -4 levels, on the Lambda and BAF has gotten me killed. But no one would be surprised about that either...

Personally, I'd slot Stamina with perf shifter end mod, perf shifter proc, and an end mod. I'd also slot AM for recharge and end mod. With the levels of global recharge that you have, I'd get perma hasten and perma AM. Fire/Rad uses a lot of end. Mine has perma AM, stamina 4 sloteed (including the perf shifter proc), miracle +end proc, numina +end proc and I still took the cardiac alpha slot for more end.

Otherwise ought to work. I did not go for as many LotG +recharge, nor the defense you have. But I have a similarish build otherwise.

Of those I'd lean towards the SS/Shield Brute. Good survivability, good aoe damage, good single target damage, +to hit for higher conning foes, good soft control. But the best advices I can give is the one that you enjoy playing the most. Expensive IOs won't make a hero you don't like much into one that you do.

I think Rad is a bit more versatile esp. if you are willing to sit on the foes with choking cloud. AM is a great all around team buff and Dark doesn't have anything like it. I think Dark is safer with the ability to stay at range and post 32/38, double healing and double to-hit debuffing with you and dark servant.

I think it's really hard to objectively say one is always better. I have played both to 50 and rank them both in my top 5 and probably top 3 of the buff/debuff sets in CoX. My main is a Fire/Rad controller and I am doing Dark Miasma again to 50, on a Corruptor this time (having done a MM and a Defender).

The only thing three Fire/Rads really lack is mez protection. But then that's what Indom Will is for. Three Fire/Rads may not be as interesting as some other combinations, but it's really synergistic and effective.

Forgot about Howling Twilight. Dark Miasma has a better rez than Rad. But although the sets do similar things, they don't do the exact same things and so really it's just a playstyle preference. Both are awesome!

Oh and team stealth. Dark Miasma has that too.

The comment about Domination not affecting sleeps and confuse is important but since Electric control is low damage, I think Dominators benefit better as the attack secondary is more helpful. Plus sapping and the sleep is quite effective, with a good single target attack chain, you can solo with a high degree of safety by sleeping the spawn and taking them out one by one.

It's not that hard to open on a spawn either. I have a 23 Electric/Earth Dom and I open with the Jolting Chain knockdown then follow up with the Static Field sleep and Chain Fences aoe immobilize while I sap all their end. My sleep is nearly perma now and can be made perma easily with SOs.

That said, I do think an Electic/Rad Controller would be awesome in a low damage, high control + debuff way.

Many times in your life you will once again confirm the people are stupid. Ignore the stupid ones. Deceive is one of the best controls in the game. Fairly cheaply purple-able. The contagious confusion proc is amazing. I'm happy some people hate confuse and deceive powers in a way. It makes them rarer and thus the IO recipes cheaper. So just avoid playing with people that tell you how to play and have fun deceiving!

I would not make a Fire/Rad without both powers. I'd drop Cinders over EM Pulse if I had to drop something. I have all three as my Fire/Rad is all about egregious amounts of control.

Choking Cloud simply synergizes with the Fire/Rad playstyle if sit in the middle of spawn with the Imps and Hot Feet 'em. It must be 6 slotted for acc/hold/end and the +2 hold proc. i.e. if you're going to take it, you really want to invest in heavy slotting. I use 4 basilisk gaze IOs, the +2 proc and a hold/end.

EM Pulse is just better than Cinders in everything except the end recovery penalty. But it's a better "Oh Crap!" power by far.

But necessary, no. Nothing is. I just can't see what would be better to take instead.

I'd also suggest a Dominator. They tend to play like a blaster with controls. PLus they get mez protection and endurnace with Domination. So, I'd post your questions on the Dom boards with the addition of your playstyle preferences. i.e. do you prefer AOE or single target attacks. Do you want more control or more offense. Do you want more melee or more ranged.

I am playing an Electric/Earth Dominator and am loving the control+blapper feel. The "bl-" part comes from my veteran attacks though as Earth is very scrapper-y.

Disagree, all ATs can fully experience the game's content. Obviously each AT has its strengths and weaknesses.

Both are fine. Both can trivialize content in CoH unless running at very high difficulty settings. Powerset choices will make one AT of the other slightly better. The only real decision is do you like the fury mechanic or the crit mechanic more? And which mechanic better suits the types of missions and teams you'll be on. I'd base my decision on that.

I think Ill/Rad is always better than Fire/Rad if you only want to solo. It excels vs small numbers of harder foes. Fire/Rad is better vs larger numbers of slightly less hard foes and in any team. I much prefer Fire/Rad but then I don't solo much. Illusion is certainly better early soloing with it's spectral wounds + blind + deceive combo. Fire/Rad will eventually certainly do more damage vs a large spawn with containment + hot feet + an epic AOE attack.

I often use Ninja Run until I take a travel power at 6 or 14 or even much later. I only have two characters where I plan to only use ninja run as a travel power. One is a martial artist, and the is an agile cat person. But yes, I do use it on nearly every one at the lower levels.

A Grav/Rad & Bots/Traps duo sounds awesome! Wormhole to the traps for the win! I've always wanted /Traps for controllers, for a Grav/Traps, for the same reason.

Have fun!

Good point. Except time bomb is still garbage when you could just place a 2nd or 3rd trip mine and pull to them solo and not waste a power pick and slots, but I digress.

I love static field even at DO levels. Even is a large team tossing aoes around, most mobs will spend most of the time sleeping and not attacking back.

As others have said, it really depends on your definition of good. I think they can be good, with good powerset synergy. I think traps/sonic with it's defense + mez protection + stacking resist debuffs + sleep and stun could be really good. Through in aid self and + defense set bonuses and you'd be pretty unstoppable.