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[u]Earth Control[u]
I really wish I had room in my build for every single Earth power. Yes, even the much maligned Salt Crystals. That being said I have almost never had room for all of them. This combo is control Nirvana, but planning your build, choosing powers, and figuring out slotting is Hell. Hope some of my experience with these powers will help in your decision making.
Stone Prison The basic single target immobilize. Has a -fly, -knockback and -def attached to it. This is one of my favorite powers to bring to an AV fight. AV's are just downright hard to control. While they cannot be perma held/disoriented by normal means, most of them can be perma immobilized. This is a lot more useful than it sounds. Keeping an AV right in front of the tank is extremely important. The melee members of your team will not be chasing the AV all over the room, and the squishies will not have to worry about getting bum rushed if the Tank dies or loses aggro. Stone Cages can perform the same function, but not quite as well. It is a lower mag, the recharge is longer, and the endurance cost is significantly more. Not something I want to be spamming over and over during an already exhausting AV fight.
The fly component is also extremely nice to bring any flying opponent down into melee players reach.
It also makes a good addition to Stone Cages for when it misses a baddie or two, which can be very important as I will get to later.
Not so useful in the early levels, as stone cages is better at controlling groups of enemies. If you plan on fighting a lot of AVs I would take it in your late 30s or early 40s. If not it is a pretty optional power.
Rating: 
Can easily be left out of some builds depending on personal taste, but a very good utility overall.
Slotting Suggestion: I recommend minimal slotting. I haven't had anything but one acc in it for a long time and it serves my purposes. Many, many other things to spend slots on in this build.
Fossilize Your single target hold. A great power that is useful from level 1 to 50. Take it at level 1, and slot it quickly. Not too much else to say here. If you are new to controllers, know that you can hold minions and lieutenants with one application, and bosses with two applications (from any hold power). A great tool for anyone you miss with AoE controls or anyone that gets outside of your target AoEs.
Rating: 
You will use this in almost every fight in your controllers career.
Slotting Suggestion: I feel most comfortable with 2 acc/3 duration/1 recharge. 1 acc is probably fine, but I do not like to miss with my hold. Always better in my opinion to have more duration than recharge. I would rather wait a bit longer between castings than have to worry about re-applying. With this slotting, you can easily hold 3 or so people for a decent amount of time.
Stone Cages The AoE Immobilize. One of the visually "loudest" powers in the game, and one of the reasons some people leave the Earth set. "I can't see anything..." or It makes me lag. I personally love the over the top graphics of the set. Anyway, it is very beneficial to take this power early on as you will be short of any *real* way to control the mobs. Once you get this you can combine this with gale to do some poor mans controlling. Use gale to blow the baddies around a corner or anywhere out of line of sight, then pop your head around the corner and hit them with cages. Its a good tactic for keeping additional mobs immobilized *and* unable to shoot you. Cages has the -fly, -knockback, and -def that stone prison has. If you have a group of flying baddies (like the cabal) it is a beauty. Note that early on, improper use of this power is one of the main ways to get yourself killed. Do not charge in and hit a mob with this first thing, unless you plan on hiding afterwards. It is a very big aggro magnet. By itself it doesn't do much to save your butt, but is one of the best "combo" powers in the set. Combined with Stalagmites, it is as good as an AoE hold.
Keep in mind that the knockback will cancel out Earthquakes main function. Use the two powers separate from each other. Or cast quake after the 10 second knockdown protection has worn off.
Rating: Get this, and at level 12 when you get stalagmites, you have your first AoE hold.
Slotting Suggestion: Again, I would go minimal and save your slots for the bigger controls. One or two acc, an endurance reducer if you are going to be using any of the tactics that require you to spam it.
Quicksand -fly, -jump, -def, -speed. Quicksand is extremely useful. Again, in the early levels when you have no way to mez more than one target, a location based slow can be a life saver. You can cast it around a corner (use it with the gale+cages combo also), and be safe from aggro while your team can pop their heads around the corner and blast at their leisure. Almost all the earth powers have a -def to them, but quicksand's is a quite a bit heftier. This is very useful in combination with your other Location AoEs since people can occasionally run out of your Quake and Volcanic Gases. Slowing that down is a big help.
Rating: 
. Love this power. Simple, cheap, fast recharge but great.
Slotting Suggestion: I put 3 slows in it. That should hit the slow caps on most mobs. I also like to have 1 recharge in there if I have the slot to spare. You can keep it down in one spot permanently out of the box, but being able to cover an entire room with it, or two separate mobs is very nice. It also has a very low end cost.
Salt Crystals The least liked power in the Earth set. Why? It is a PBAoE sleep. So you have to run into the middle of a mob, and then cast a sleep and hope someone doesn't use an AoE right after you do. And who doesn't use AoE's that has them? Personally, I love the power. It is hard to get used to, and can be frustrating. I have teamed with a lower level Earth/Storm, and she used salt crystals every mob... and just about every time, I would be the one to break them... and immediately slap myself on the forehead. It is just a hard power to use unless you are teaming with people that understand it. And even then, like in my case, if you dont let them know you are using it, they may already have an AoE attack queued up. Most people see the controller doing something, and then just let loose on the mob. If you take this power and like it, here is my suggestion to you. Use it as your "break glass in case of" power. When an extra mob gets aggrod, jump over to them and cast salt crystals. Make a bind with it if you prefer, saying "Finish the first mob before starting on these guys" or something similar. Just use it to hold off an incoming attack from a mob that your team isn't ready for. It is extremely useful this way, since your team wont have to deal with 2 mobs at once, and you will still have all your main control tools to deal with the mob that you are fighting.
However, I do not recommend this for a high level Earth controller. There are too many other great powers that you need to take and slot to be worrying about whether or not people pay attention to some bind.
This could also be a great tool for a solo Earthie, at least until level 12.
Rating: 
If you are going to take it, try it on the test server. Most of you will probably hate it.
Slotting Suggestion: If you take it, and like it
I would honestly just wait until every other good control is slotted out then see what you have left and spend it on accuracy, duration and/or recharge.
Stalagmites Your AoE disorient, and the first great control power you get. Take it as soon as you can. Even after it took a huge hit in recharge/duration in Issue 5, it is still the best "opener" in the set. It may not be ready to open on every mob, but every other mob isnt so bad. The mob tends to wander as they will with disorients, but with stone cages, quicksand or quake that can be controlled. As with all controls, it takes two disorients to affect a boss (see thunderclap for a boss disorienting combo).
Rating: . It used to be much better with the old duration, but it is still one of the sets Bread and Butter Powers. Although unlike other sets, almost every power in both of these sets is your Bread and Butter.
Slotting Suggestion: 2 Acc/2 Duration/2 Recharge. Again, I hate missing with the *real* controls, so 2 acc is going to be the norm for me. Yes Earth has great def in it, but that is usually something I lay down for the rest of the team. My opening controls dont benefit from a def debuff that comes two powers later. I will get into strategy a little here; Stalagmites is the best opener in the set because it is very quick. If you hit everyone in the mob, there will be no time for the mob to attack you. Its aggro-less control! I have had great success using this solely as an opener, without regard to duration. I will use it to initially disorient the mob, which will give me time to apply holds, earthquake, volcanic gases etc... things that would normally get me shot if they weren't disoriented. By the time the disorient wears off, I will have had them otherwise controlled. So I can definitely see a benefit in slotting it 2acc/1duration/3 recharge, or 3 acc/3 recharge if you want to use it just as a short duration alpha control. This is also extremely beneficial because it will most likely be up for every single mob, depending on how fast you and your team goes through them.
Earthquake Location based knockdown. My personal favorite power. You can only have one out at a time now *mumbles about the old days*. Use it around corners with quicksand to keep them on top of it. Again, simple power, good power, 'nuff said. Take it when you get the option.
Another huge bonus to this power is that it doesnt need an accuracy check to work. I was in the Ernesto Hess TF, and was exemped to the lowest person on the team. Everything was a +4 or +5 to me
and I was still an extremely useful member of the team. Quake will keep anything on their backs (as long as they arent knockback resistant
like jaegers
*shivers*). This plus quicksand was really all I could use, which made it boring
but after I came back from a disconnect, everyone was dead. Coincidence? I think not. Not saying Im that good
Im saying quake is that good.
Rating: . That is all.
Slotting Suggestion: Recharge is all I would put in it, but it does take tohit and def debuffs, which are both very low base values. Not worth slotting in my opinion. If you are thinking about putting anything other enhancement than recharge or maybe an end reducer in this, I can show you much better places for them.
Volcanic Gases Location based AoE hold. Awesome power. Unlike some other set's holds, if you run up to a mob and use this on them by itself, you will catch some aggro, as it is a pulse hold and takes some time to go into effect. Some other baddies may also have time to run off of it. But you now have 3 location based powers that you do not need line of sight to use. Stand around a corner and start with quicksand, quake, and then this. They won't be able to get out and run over to you, and the slow/knockdown will keep them there long enough for the hold to kick in. Also, this is another extremely useful power for AV's. Use stone prison to keep them perma immobd and keep volcanic gases under him as much as you can. This way you don't have to put your nose against the monitor to watch for the terribly designed AV triangle system. Throw a fossilize out every now and then, and when his mag protection drops down, he will be held until it goes back up. You dont have to pay attention to the triangles at all. Also great for just bosses. Lay this down at the feet of a boss, then queue up fossilize while the animation is still going and you will have a held boss within seconds.
Rating: . I havent played many other controllers, but it seems to me this is the best hold in the game. You dont click it once and hope it works. You lay it down, and it continues holding people the entire time its down. If another mob runs into it, no problem, they are held.
Slotting Suggestion: I dont put accuracy in mine. I usually have quicksand down first, and I have never noticed it just not working. Sure the first pulse may miss from time to time, but thats the great thing about it. Just wait a second or two and problem solved. I like 3 duration/1 end/2 recharge. It is expensive, but you want it up ASAP.
Animate Stone: I have ranted about him for a very long time. But when it comes down to it, he is very useful. He does decent damage. If I didnt have the extra damage from the Storm set I would be a bit disappointed in my soloing rate, but it is certainly better than Pre-32. He is extremely tough, and is Immune to Psi damage which comes in very handy late game. One of the main uses I have for him these days is an alpha sponge. Before a mob is aggrod I will cast him right into the middle of them. They will all attack him, and melee opponents will get nice and tight around him. Then I start to lay on the controls. Now you have two ways of starting out a fight with absolutely no danger of serious alpha aggro on yourself. Be aware that he is tough, but he can be killed. On large teams and/or higher difficulty, his health can vanish fast when used as an alpha sponge. If he dies, the mob will find that little tag on his collar that has your name on it, and turn straight towards the unlucky owner of one dead Animate Stone. A good way to prevent this is by getting O2 Boost and using it to keep him alive in between controls. A targeting bind helps with this a lot, seeing how it might be hard to click him when he is surrounded by enemies
He has three attacks. Hurl Boulder, Heavy Mallet, and Stone Fist. He will aggro on mobs pretty far away and usually begins by using Hurl Boulder. He has a real hard time figuring out that he should cycle attacks, and will sometimes stand *behind* you playing a blaster rather than getting into melee and acting like the tank pet he is. You can run to the other side of the mob to drag him into melee, use Recall Friend, or just get close and /em slap him. That last one might not do anything, but it sure is therapeutic.
He is a great tool that is very rough around the edges.
*mumbles something about giving Animate Stone mudpots*
Rating: When they nerfed our pets from almost 3 perma stones to 1, I was so upset I respecd out of him completely for more control. I have never hated a build more. As stupid as he is, I believe he is essential for almost every Earth controller. And the only reason he isnt getting a better rating is because I saw what he was capable of when he had one or two siblings out with him, and he has some pretty bad AI issues at times.
Slotting Suggestion: 1acc/3dam/2rech. With all the def you have, he will hit plenty. And the recharges are great for making use of the above mentioned alpha sponge.
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"You're the sun and the moon to me..."
My Antiquated Earth/Storm Controller Guide!
@KokopelliJoe
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[u]Storm Summoning[u]
Just like the Earth set
I wish I could have every one of these powers. There isn't a bad apple in the bunch. There is a lot of very nice synergy between these two sets. Not to mention that it is a very cool theme. If you take the Fire Epic Pool, you will almost have a Captain Planet! (God I hope I didnt run anyone away from the sets with that
)
Gale No choice here, gotta take it. Might as well learn how to use it! Great in the early stages when all you have is a slow, an AoE immob and a hold. *Use corners* Like I mentioned earlier, use gale to blow a mob back in a hallway, quicksand the area between them and you, and stone cage them. Then you and your team can sit around the corner and attack them when you want. Also great for knocking extra mobs or stragglers onto your location based controls, which is still something I use at level 50.
And something that is completely useless
Knockback distance scales with level difference (you will knock a level 10 farther back than a level 20). Nothing quite like blowing lvl 6 Trolls off rooftops in the Hollows as a lvl 50. Ragdoll physics makes it even more enjoyable.
Rating: Definitely does what its supposed to, and is actually a decent tool when used correctly.
Slotting Suggestion: 1 Accuracy... 2 if you *really* love the power.
02 Boost A heal, and a disorient/sleep protection. Also has endurance drain protection! Great for everyone else on your team when fighting malta. Very good power if you are going to do some duo-ing, but once you get into larger teams of people you don't know... they may start asking you to "heal me, heal me!" While you should be concerned with your teammates health, you cannot be a healer for even a midsize team with this one power. Concentrate on control and your teams health will hardly move. This is the one power I have dropped and taken back more than any other. I have it once again, and love it for the previously mentioned tactic with Animate Stone.
Rating: If you use the Animate Stone as an alpha tool, I would recommend it.
Besides that, it comes down to if you want to have a heal or not. Easily skipped, or if taken you can leave it with the default slot and it is still useful for the protections it offers.
Slotting Suggestion: I have mine 3 heal/2rech/1 end. I duo with my wife a lot still, and I want the freaking heal badges. Medicine Man fits perfectly
Snow Storm A target based toggle AoE slow and -recharge. In the early levels it is nice, but the end drain can be a pain. It has all the issues related to anchors, which can be mitigated with just an immobilize. The -recharge is the selling point since you already have a great slow with quicksand, but in normal length mob to mob fights, they are mezzed for the majority (if not all) of the fight, so -recharge might as well be -hair growth in those fights.
Rating: Very useful in lower levels. Another fantastic slow.
Slotting Suggestion: One or two end reducers and 3 slows. Quicksand and Snow Storm both being slotted for slows is redundant, since you can just about slow cap mobs with either power. You can easily leave this at 2 end reducers. I personally like to have the option of slow capping *two* mobs or a split mob. Also, 3 slotting both powers with SO slows brings them to the cap. But from level 6 up until you get those SOs, two stacked slows is a very nice thing. Note that the recharge in Snow Storm is not affected by enhancements.
Steamy Mist Love this power for one thing... team stealth. The fire, cold and energy resistance bonus is very nice and worth slotting if you have room, the defense is almost not there.
Rating: Does what it advertises! Nothing special, but good to have.
Slotting Suggestion: 1 or 2 end reducers, or you want to slot for resistance. Don't slot for defense, since the base is around 3%.
Freezing Rain: In my opinion, the most important power in the set. Great defense debuff, resistance debuff, more knockdown (much less effective than quakes
so get both) and a slow. On top of that it is another location AoE. Get this when it is available. Your team will hit more often and for more damage, which is an unbeatable benefit. Make sure they are otherwise controlled or the rain will cause them to scatter.
Rating: More damage more often, more control, more location AoE combo possibilities. Great power.
Slotting Suggestion: Dont slot for damage. You can slot for defense debuffs, but your Earth powers should be helping you out plenty there. It takes accuracy enhancers, but really doesnt need them. I primarily use the power for its resistance, which is unslottable. So I slot with a combination of recharges and endurance. Right now I have it 3rech/3end. It is up all the time, and is dirt cheap. Another fantastic tool for AVs, GMs, or just tough enemies in general.
Hurricane: Extremely useful power. I don't use it much, because it doesn't suit my play style well. It has a great tohit debuff (-30%). It has knockback and repel, and has a pretty high end cost. You can use it a variety of ways. Stand directly in front of the backline folks, and it will protect them from incoming melee attacks. Herd people into a corner and keep them repelled with lowered accuracy. Push mobs around to corral them onto your location controls. On a boss or AV and stand just close enough to where the debuff will affect him. This power can make things a bit messy, so do practice with it before you take it into a team setting. Even when folks are in stone cages and have knockback resistance, you can still move them around with the repel (the cages will stay in place, but you will push the mobs around anyway), so be cautious when you use it or you may end up scooting the mob *off* your location powers.
Rating Now I know some of you swear by hurricane, but to me it isnt an every fight kind of power. When I did have it, I didnt use it that much. If mobs needed to be corralled into location controls, I used gale. Much cheaper. The to-hit debuff is the selling point to me.
Slotting Suggestion: The tohit debuff is the most beneficial thing to slot, I would go 3 of them, and 2 end reducers, or 3/3.
Thunderclap PBAoE disorient that only affects minions. You may say "What? That sucks!" I used to also. If for some reason you had a mob of 5 bosses (in, you know, example land)... you could disorient all of them in two clicks (so long as they hit).... stalagmites + thunderclap. Unbeatable benefit. Granted, you will take quite a good licking in between the time you cast the two powers. The majority of almost every mob is minions, and if all you do is take them out, you are still saving yourself and teammates from a lot of damage. Dont use this as an alpha, as the Lts and bosses dont like you being up in there faces. Use stalagmites from range, then rush in (or TP in, very effective) and thunderclap them. You will probably take a hit from them since the animation is long, so make sure you arent doing this against +4s.
Now, this is a useful power
but there are many much better ones available. Take it only if you will have room for it in addition to all the better powers in the sets. Which you probably wont.
Rating: It is good, but if I had to rank all the powers in both sets, this would be second from the bottom, right above Salt Crystals.
Slotting Suggestion: 2 acc/2 duration/2 recharge or something similar.
Tornado A tornado that chases around baddies and throws them in the air. Fun to watch, but dangerous. There are two circumstances I use this in. I slot it for damage, and spam stone cages every 10 seconds to keep up the -knockback. The tornado will rip through them like paper (especially with freezing rain). The second is if it is about to be a team wipe, I will just throw it out there to create a little bit of chaos among the enemy ranks so we can make a getaway. The tornado+stone cages is best for soloing, but works great. If you miss someone with stone cages, hit them with stone prison, as even one guy getting tossed away can be disastrous if the tornado decides to chase him (which it will).
Rating: Can be easily skipped. The damage is nice, but is a little annoying to have to spam stone cages so often. Great tool for a solo troller or as a panic button.
Slotting Suggestion: Depends on what you want it for. For damage I have mine 3 dam/2 end/1 rech. The recharge is extraneous, but I like this technique a lot and use it often. If you want it as a panic button, just 1 or 2 end reducers.
Lightning Storm: Great power. Pretty simple too
it stays in one spot and deals damage and knockback. Great for use in hallways, doorways or to position around the backline to keep people off them and support them with damage. Does quite a bit of damage, and is a key reason I can solo on Invincible.
Tip - If you cast it standing on the ground, it will knock mobs back. If you hover/fly above a mob and cast it, it will knock them down instead. If you can immobilize a mob when they are packed tightly, one strike from LS will hit most of them. A good combo is to use the Animate Stone alpha sponge to pack them tight, immobilize them, then cast it above them so they dont get separated from the knockback.
You can also use it to keep baddies on your location AoEs. Lay your controls down, possibly in a corner, gale them into it if need be, then cast lightning storm in a spot where the knockback will send them into the AoEs should they manage to step out of them.
Rating: My second source of damage, more control, and great graphics.
Slotting Suggestion: 3 damage and a mix of endurance and recharge. You can have a few out at a time this way with enough recharges. It takes accuracy, but really doesnt need it. It also has an end drain component on it that can be slotted
but meh. Id rather them be dead.
Ok so again, wish I could take them all. You now have 4 location based AoE powers to combo. Quicksand, Earthquake, Volcanic Gases and Freezing Rain. From complete safety you can cast these on a mob and then let your team know when they are ready. Add to this the fact that you can cast your pet from safety also. Might be overkill, but it's fun and safe! Your combos will depend on your play style, so just try out the powers and what works together for you.
Keep in mind, there are several very costly powers in both sets. Endurance reducers should be pretty common among them, and you will probably want Stamina.
There are so many different ways to play an Earth/Storm it is hard to keep track. The good thing is, you just take the powers you like, and the play style forms itself.
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"You're the sun and the moon to me..."
My Antiquated Earth/Storm Controller Guide!
@KokopelliJoe
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[u]Power Pools[u]
With so many great primary and secondary powers, it is very hard to find room for Pool Powers. Here are my thoughts on each.
Concealment
Stealth and Invis turn off Steamy Mist. Grant Invis could be useful, but you have team stealth, and I wouldnt want to waste a power pool on that one power. I dont think any Earth/Storm will find much value in Phase Shift.
Fighting
The two attacks might have some use to a solo controller, but Air Superiority is much better for those purposes. Tough and Weave: no thanks. You dont need the end drain, and you give yourself much more survivability by just mezzing the mobs.
Flight
I love hover in combat, and 3 slotting it and swift is very nice. But with an Earth/Storm, I dont think you have the slots for it, not to mention most people like to slot up Fly. Travel power is down to personal taste, but if I took this pool, I would do it for Air Superiority and/or Fly. Also, remember that one of your main opening powers, Stalagmites, requires you be on the ground to use - kind of conflicting with using hover in combat. And again, getting up into the air away from baddies is great, but you have a ton of other ways to protect yourself.
Leadership
Assault: you increase the damage of your team with Freezing Rain. Maneuvers: again, mezzed mobs dont hit people. Tactics: You have more def in the entire Earth Set and with Freezing Rain than you will really need. Not to mention you just dont need toggles. And Im not taking 2 powers I dont want or need to get to Vengeance, no matter how nice it is.
Leaping
Nothing here worth getting unless you chose SJ for your travel power. Then I would probably go with jump kick and SJ. See above for reasons to skip combat jumping. The knockback/immobilize protection from the set is nice, but you really wont need them.
Medicine
You have 02 boost, which is much, much better than aid other. Getting stimulant and aid self would be useful. I like taking Aid Self on characters and slotting it 3heal/1rech/2interrupt reducers so I can use it in combat. This one just comes down to personal choice.
Presence
You dont need the quasi-taunts, and you dont need more control.
Fitness
You will most likely want Stamina. Sure you could not take it and be cool, but in my opinion, you will be a *much* less effective controller (*waits for the Stamina is the devil posts*). Either you will have to spend *way* too many slots on end reducers, or you will be out of gas after one mob. Taking it makes you a better controller, because you can constantly pump out control, and that might make the difference for the team that is depending on you. Being able to spam your powers over a lengthy fight is a benefit that is too great to ignore. And times like those are when the team is really going to need everything you have.
I love Hurdle and Swift. Steamy Mist slows your movement speed. Swift makes up for that, and Hurdle is just plain handy for getting around.
I used to take and slot Health, because, by God thats what people do. I dont have it anymore. And I havent noticed much difference. It doesnt make you more survivable in a fight. If someone is going to kill you, it is going to happen regardless of if you have Health or not. The only thing this helps with is downtime. Pop a green, or just stand there a few seconds longer. Either of the auto movement powers would be a better choice in my book.
Teleportation
My travel pool for concept reasons mainly. TP has some synergy with Salt Crystals and Thunder Clap, but most people skip those powers anyway. Recall Friend is always a great tool to bring to a team. 3 range enhancements in TP make travel something I dont even have time to think about. TP foe
TPing someone into your location AoEs is fun, but kind of pointless when you can safely take on two or three mobs at once. And I generally dont like pulling. Team TP
no thanks.
Speed
I hate the hasten visual effect, and didnt take it until I was in my 40s because of it. I will never respect out of it. Especially since the duration/recharge nerf to our AoE controls, anything that brings them back faster is my best friend. Helps with my Stoney tactics too. It would be much simpler if I took SS instead of TP so I could save a pool and slots, but concept is important to me. SS also works well with steamy mist to make you even harder to see.
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Jerrys
erm
Joes Final Thoughts
Im not going to give thoughts on the APPs, because Ive only used two of them extensively, and these, even more than the normal pools are about personal taste. There is plenty of good advice to be had on these just by asking.
I am also not going to give you an example build as I practically have with the slotting suggestions. I also think that Earth/Storm has some of the most diverse options in builds while still making an effective controller. There are many different ways to go with Earth/Storm, and the best way to decide what that is for you is to go try all the powers.
I cannot emphasize enough how nice it is to have the test server (even though this is my only emphasization of it
and emphasization isnt even a word.) Since there are a few love/hate powers in the sets, when you level up, copy to the test server so you can feel out your choices and save yourself a respec or two. I am always relieved to find out on test I hate a power I was going to take. Now I dont like forming builds for people and saying do this, but if you want me to look at your build or help you come up with one, dont hesitate to PM me.
Enjoy!
"You're the sun and the moon to me..."
My Antiquated Earth/Storm Controller Guide!
@KokopelliJoe
Nice lil description and rating system you have, all and all handy guide and gives me a pretty good idea of what im going to do with my earth/storm
Freedom
50 Icey Bolt ice/energy blaster
50 Dr Devastation spine/regen scrap
50 lil one inv/ss tanker
50 Eloquent Blaze fire/kin farmer
39 Eloquent Ice ice/rad Corr
37 lllusionary ill/rad troller
33 Daydreamz EM/Nin stalker
31 Legendary Bot 8 Ice/em Tank
29 Eloquent Earth/storm troller
Snow Storm actually isn't that great on AVs due to the fact that they resist it's effects rather well(75%-95% IIRC). Iakona's data will back this up. I have put it on an AV only to watch them run around as if it was never there. Tornado, however, is great for AVs.
[ QUOTE ]
Snow Storm actually isn't that great on AVs due to the fact that they resist it's effects rather well(75%-95% IIRC). Iakona's data will back this up. I have put it on an AV only to watch them run around as if it was never there. Tornado, however, is great for AVs.
[/ QUOTE ]
Changed to reflect that.
And I knew the slow didn't affect them, but was specifically talking about the -recharge, which I was pretty sure did. *shrugs*
"You're the sun and the moon to me..."
My Antiquated Earth/Storm Controller Guide!
@KokopelliJoe
Man I hate you lol. I just got my Earth Rad to 30 (which I love) and now I'm going to have to roll a Earth Storm. But really thanks for the great guide.
@MarvelatMee and @COL Burn
24 - 50s
Too many ALTs
Joe, thanks for reviving the guide that I used to lay the groundwork (pun intended) to grow the Earth side of my controller.
My 35 Storm Summoning defender found your secondary section right on as well. Nice insight into the Stalagmites + Thunderclap approach. Sounds good on paper, but....
Excellent guide. My only exception is that I think tornado should get a higher rating. Of all the builds that can truly get the fullest use of tornado, it is an earth controller. I play my 50 earth/storm two ways:
1. "Lock'em down and pound'em" - Stalag/Cages/Sleet/thunderstorm/tornado/other AoE damage powers...repeat cages as needed. This is how I play most of the time. I slot Tornado dam/dam/dam/end/rech and love to watch it chew away at the baddies in cages.
But sometimes I just...
2. "Keep'em on their butts" - Alternate QS/EQ, FR/SS, and VG and let others blast away - I do this a lot less, but if we already have a lot of damage and I don't need to bring out "Wendy" or "Stormy", it really mitigates team damage.
Thanks for all the great comments.
I have effectively retired from playing CoX. I come back every so often, but I have no working knowledge of IO's or many of the other changes that may effect this guide. So this will be the last update by me. Anyone that is willing is more than welcome to use any or all of my guide and fill in the holes.
Hope that this still benefits someone or encourages someone to roll an earth/storm. Been a fun run...
Joe
"You're the sun and the moon to me..."
My Antiquated Earth/Storm Controller Guide!
@KokopelliJoe
FYI, the following build doesn't include anything outside of common IOs. If there is 3 of the same type, ie damage, then they are level 30. If it has anything less, then it's level 50. You could probably go to level 35 with the level 30s, but that's up to you.
When I get around to a respec, I'll toss Snow Storm for something else most likely Stone Prison to help keep AVs in place. Assume Hasten takes it's place where I would put it. Hurricane was skipped due to the mass amounts of control this build currently has and using it is just way too distracting. It's almost like when you use it you have to stop everything else and just focus on it. Some other slots can be tweaked for sure and certainly when you factor in IOs. Towards the end I was literally tossing around slots knowing the difference would be minor. Stamina comes at 22 because if you sit back and rotate the controls you use very little end. Late game is much different as you can really burn through end much quicker.
1. Fossilize: 2 acc, 2 hold, 2 recharge
1. Gale: 1 acc
2. Stone Cages: 2 acc, 1 end reduc
4. O2 Boost: 3 heal, 1 end
6. QS: 3 slow
8. Hurdle: 1 jump
10. CJ: 1 jump
12. Salag: 2 acc, 2 disorient, 2 recharge
14. SJ: 1 jump.
16. FR: 3 recharge, 2 tohit debuff, 1 end reduc
18. EQ. 3 recharge
20. Health: 1 heal
22. Stamina: 3 end mod
24. Steamy Mist: 1 end, 3 resist
26. VG: 3 recharge, 3 hold
28. Snow Storm: 1 end reduc, 3 slow
30. Acro: end reduc
32. Stoney: 1 acc, 3 damage
35. Tornado: 3 damage, 2, recharge, 1 end reduc
38. LS: 3 damage, 2 recharge, 1 end reduc
41. Fireball: 2 acc, 3 damage, 1 end reduc
44. Fireblast: 1 acc, 3 damage, 1 end reduc, 1 recharge
47. Fire Shield: 1 end reduc, 3 resist
49. Hasten: 3 recharge
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- If you actually take this power, you need to lead it into a dark alley and murder it.
Probably not something many of you will want. May be valuable to certain play styles.
A Decent Power. Nothing special or extraordinary about it, but gets the job done.
Powers that most everyone should take. Useful in most situations.
This power is the father of your first born.
Kokopelli Joes Guide to the Earth/Storm Controller
If you are reading this, it is presumably because you are interested in making a Controller that has either the Earth Control primary, the Storm Summoning Secondary, or hopefully, both!
As of writing this, I have logged over 1000 hours on my Earth/Storm controller. I have also had every power in both sets at one time or another. That does not make me an expert, and that doesnt mean you should take my word on everything. I am writing this guide because I have had a blast playing this combination, and I want to share what I have learned from that previously mentioned unhealthy amount of time. Hopefully after reading this, you will go roll up a brand new Earth/Storm controller if you havent already!
Earth/Storm is a very potent combination, and is an extremely satisfying combination to play. It is one of the best control builds in the game.
A few disclaimers first:
This is not a solo friendly combo. Once you get your pet, some storm powers, and get them slotted you will be able to solo on Invincible with no problem. But before you hit 32, it is probably one of the worst solo combos in the game. You can solo a low level Earth/Storm, but it will be a challenge even with containment. This is just the price you have to pay for all the control you will end up with. Be aware of that going into any Earth control character.
I do not slot my control powers for damage. All the slotting suggestions are coming from a level 50 character with other means of damage. Furthermore, I got my Earth/Storm to 50 before containment was put into effect, so I will not be giving advice on how to slot to best benefit from containment for pre-32 controllers. I am sure that there are other forum goers that can help with any containment slotting questions you might have.
I will likewise not be including any major PvP builds, thoughts or strategies in this guide. I have done some PvP with my Earth/Storm between friends, and it seems like a very capable set. However I do not consider myself a PvPer and I have only ever used a PvE build, built for teams and soloing. Once again, I am sure there are many people in the PvP forums that can help you with this much more than I can.
I am not going to list all the minute details of every power. If you want to know exact numbers, I highly suggest Red Tomaxs Guide to City of Heroes. It is the most extensive collection of game data available.
The Guide
I will be listing each power in both sets one by one. I will give my thoughts, advice and general information about the power. Then I will give it a rating and suggest slotting that I have found beneficial.
Remember that all this is based on my own personal experiences. I will try to present facts about the powers and ways to use them, but as always, your mileage may vary.
Each Rating will have 1 to 5 smileys.
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"You're the sun and the moon to me..."
My Antiquated Earth/Storm Controller Guide!
@KokopelliJoe