what is your favorite controller build? and why?
By
Aquathing,
Posted on: 2009-05-19 12:15 in Controllers
Illusion/Storm.
It is great for single target damage and just amazing for chaos.
Earth/TA/Primal. There is nothing that offers more control in the game plus it has a very nice mix of defense and resistance debuffs.
The only thing it doesn't do is lots of damage but that's what team mates are for.
-Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein.
-I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo Galilei
-When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. - Thomas Jefferson
my plant/storm/stone.
Lvled it faster than any character i've yet to create i think. Love the (literally) controlled chaos the combo brings, Stone rounds out with a few nice attacks and ups my survival (rock armor and earths embrace). has all lead to a character that is a lot of fun to play and decimates those huge clusters of minions in cimerora and the like.
Combat Kangaroos, Justice Server. First 50's
Jirra Roo Plant/Storm/Stone/Musculature Controller
Combat Kangaroo Rifle/Energy/Mace/Spiritual Blaster
Kung Fu Kangaroo Martial Arts/Reflexes/Body/Spiritual Scrapper
Tribal Arc Shield/Elec/Mu/Spiritual Tanker
My overall favorite is Ill/Rad. It is the most flexible build in the game. It can easily solo, team with small groups or large teams. While Ill/Storm comes close, I find that I have to limit my use of the Storm powers when on a large team, as the chaos tends to upset (and rightfully so) other teammates.
Fire/Rad is another one of my favorites. I have actually been teaming with my buddies on a team of 5 Fire/Rads lately, and they plow through stuff like no other build with very little effort. I call it the "Lazy 'Troller" build with Choking Cloud + Hot Feet and Fire Imps. Fire/Kin does huge amounts of damage, but dies a lot more than Fire/Rad.
And I also have to give mention to Earth. It is the best AoE controller I have played (and I have played all the primaries to at least 32, except for Grav -- I just have trouble getting into Grav). Earth pairs well with any secondary, but especially Rad, Storm and TA. It contributes to any team with its great AoE control powers and its Defense Debuff, helping teammates hit more reliably. Damage is low, so you will almost always want to be on a team, but on a team, Earth is amazing. See my guide for more details.
Frankly, all the controller primaries have something going for them, making each one a little different and fun to play. Everyone has their favorites for different reasons. In many cases, it may be the first character they took to 50. There are good reasons to really like Plant, Mind, Ice, and yes, even Grav.
On secondaries, there are good reasons to like each of them, but my favorites are Rad because it is the most flexible, and Storm because it is so much fun visually and adds damage at the end. Kin adds a lot to a team focused on damage, but I get tired of the "buff-bot" role. TA adds lots of control and debuffs, but lacks buffs. Therm is flexible, but the debuffs come so late in the set . . . but it is visually nice. Sonic and Ff also have their benefits . . . FF has one of the best panic button powers in the game as its first power.
My suggestion? Try 'em all. 
LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
Heh, I know this is going to sound stereotypical, but honestly, my favorite character so far is my fire/kin
She's able to do tons amounts of damage (for a controller at least), and the build that I finally decide on allows to her to PvE excellently and do great in PvP (it's a little iffy though because there are some powers that are useless in PvP... like fulcrum shift, except for going up against MMs)
So she's able to PvE, PvP and farm all on one build
(Being able to beat up thousands of enemies within a couple of seconds also appeals to me, especially on a non-damage based toon)
Another favorite of mine is my plant/storm
for some reason, I could never find a good combination for either plant/ or /storm... and so I decided "What the hell?" and rolled it... it's INCREDIBLY fun!!! Roots + Seeds of Confusion + Freezing Rain = ZOMG
My plant/storm is only around... 26ish right now, but it'll definitely be my next 50 
Sentimental and all around favorite- Earth/Rad- my first controller to 50 and has a flexibility to fit in almost any situation.
Pure control- Earth/TA- go ahead and overaggro
Favorite concept- Ill/Thermal (Flashpowder Jane, stage magician [especially after the magic pack])
Best for tough fights or tfs- Fire/Kin- surpisingly this is the one I turn to as default
Most fun- Fire/Storm
Most clickie- Mind/Sonic
Latest project- Plant/Kin (39) its a blast.
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
Illusion/Storm and Earth/Storm are my favorites.
Fire/Rad is a close #3, and Plant/Storm is #4.
Lewis
Random AT Generation!
"I remember... the Alamo." -- Pee-wee Herman
"Oh don't worry. I always leave things to the last moment." -- The Doctor
"Telescopes are time machines." -- Carl Sagan
Most Fun - Ill/Storm
Most useful on a team - Plant/Therm
Most brutal on my video card - Fire/rad
Best for when you want to see absolutely, positively every nasty in the room look "Falling-Down Drunk" - Earth/Storm
Best Pet - Earth
Best Primary - don't ask me to pick
Primary I just can't get into, no matter how hard I try - Mind
Primary I should give a second chance - Grav
primary I most frequently see abused by new players - Fire (seriously, they're all attacking you because YOU SET THEIR FEET ON FIRE)
Best Secondary - rad or storm
Secondary I hated for the longest time, and now love madly - Storm
Secondary I'm falling in love with all over again - rad
Secondary I should love, but just haven't rolled the right toon - kin
Secondary I just can't get into, no matter how hard I try - TA or Sonic
Secondary I avoid like the plague - FF
Secondary I most frequently see abused by new players - Storm
My First 50 - Ice/Rad
My Latest 50 - Ill/Storm
My next 50 - Earth/Storm, although Fire/Rad is fast becoming a contender
Stay Gold, Paragon. Stay Gold.
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.
Earth/Storm and Illusion/Storm are tied for most fun and most capable. Actually anything /Storm has been fun. I'll give a nod to Earth/TA as another one that's really fun and very different.
Ill/Storm/ Earth/Storm Plant/TA.
Ill/Storm: Because it rocks, she survives well. She's decent in PvP
Earth Storm: Because it rocks, she survives well She's great teaming
Plant/TrickArrow: Because she rocks, she survives well. (I love the frickin plant pet) and she's uber control.
Out of all of them people who see them in action I get the most comments that the Plant/TA must be fun to play. She is but the other ones are as well. None of these really play the same either.
http://tiny.cc/ArcaneDefenseItems
This is a bug, nothing more. Please put away the tin-foil hats, there's nothing sinister going on here.-Protea
http://tiny.cc/WhatBeatsADragon
I'd like to echo that statement. although we all have our favourite controller sets, even under the same player, they do not play the same. even if one of the sets is the same. Its really a nice thing to see in this game
Combat Kangaroos, Justice Server. First 50's
Jirra Roo Plant/Storm/Stone/Musculature Controller
Combat Kangaroo Rifle/Energy/Mace/Spiritual Blaster
Kung Fu Kangaroo Martial Arts/Reflexes/Body/Spiritual Scrapper
Tribal Arc Shield/Elec/Mu/Spiritual Tanker
I've got to agree with the forum favorite...
Ill/Storm is so verstile, awesome and effective that you almost have to make one.
Other favorites of mine include Fire/TA (Imps dont work in OSA so be warned), Grav/TA is a boatload of fun too but I'd be hard pressed to say why that's the case. Oh, and Fire/Rad also highly effecitve/fun.
When there is no room left in Hell, the Dead shall walk the earth.
And as the odd one out pretty much anything *but* Illusion. Not enough actual, hands on control for me. Big fan of... well, every other set, though Mind's more of a dom favourite for me.
My ice/storm and my fire/kin are two of the most potent and fun on my roster.
Ill/rad. Hands down. I have never felt as much like a god with any other character. I have easily been able to solo any Giant Monster in the game except Kronos (psi resistant) and Adamastor (because so far I have not been able to find him when I have soloed outside of missions, and he is a wimp in missions).
I have been able to solo every AV at 50, and most at 51 and 52, 53 is pushing it, but I managed that too in a few cases with shivans and Heavies.
I completed a mothership raid (shields down, bomb planted) with just two other ill/rads and no help from anyone else.
I soloed the LGTF, ITF, riktispec, Mender silos on invinc, the praetorian arc on invinc, and the first four mission in the STF (I could not beat doctor aeon at the end of the fourth mission soloing).
Not only that, but is is kickass teaming too, just that it's a lot harder to describe how good it is teaming.
Mind you, in pure dps terms, especially when it comes to large numbers of mobs, other controllers will beat ill/rads, and they will beat ill/rads in the ability to set up containment (ill/rads suck at that). However, for general effectiveness both teaming and soloing I have never found anything that comes close.
Infinity:
Ellen, 50 MA/Inv Scr
February Night, 14 Ice/Ice Blstr
Guardian:
SilverSwordmaid, 29 Kat/Rgn Scr
Vicious Killer, 33 Emp/Enrgy Def
Electromagness, 40 Rad/Rad Def
Sense of Humor, 50 Fire/En Tank
Virtue:
Kickfest, 50 MA/SR Scr
Freedom:
Glorious Ending, 29 EM/DA Bru
I love all my trollers.
My grav/kin is fantastic on teams and tfs. The sets have great synergy. I've had more fun playing her than almost any other alt.
My plant/storm can solo well, or team well. Love the druid.
My fire/therm plays well with others and is nice thematically.
My ill/emp is always popular in big groups, especially with all of the invisibility powers.
My earth/TA is fantastic, and I haven't even got to oil slick arrow yet. Rock solid control.
Ill/Rad and I'll tell you why:
1. Great in teams, great Solo.
2. (and this is huge) is fun and powerful from level 1-50, Some builds (Fire/Kin) are almost unplayable untill you reach a certain level, others become less impressive at high levels. Ill/rad starts strong and stays strong.
3. Minimal downtime, Rad gives you a recovery boost and a self heal.
4. Awsome synergies. two sets compliment each other nicely, Rad debuffs backing up your unehanceable phantom army.
5, A tool for every situation. A wide variety of control/buff and debuff options. rewards for strategic use of power options.
I love all my 50 Trollers:
StormScorch (Fire/Storm) 1st 50
Fixxit (Ill/Emp)
Chrissy Snowblower (Ice/Rad)
Fixxalicious (Mind/Emp)
Spectral Passion (Ill/Thermal)
Naughty Farm Girl (Fire/Kin)
Hyrsteria (Ill/Storm)
Microbot-GK6 (Grav/Kin)
Psycho Radiologist (Ill/Rad)
Chrissy Snowthrower (Ice/Kin)
Psycho Radiologist (Ill/Rad)
I think my favorite is Chrissy Snowblower (Ice/Rad)... She seems to be able to do everything I need/want I haven't really ever gotten into Earth, BUT it will be my next troller.... still stuck between secondaries to pair Earth with though
Mind/Trick Arrow- Very active, able to handle massive mobs solo, great damage coupled with great debuffs. Just a lot of fun. Getting NUKES in Warburg is such a breeze. Best thing is you have a tool for every occasion. Slow, Sleep, Confuse, Terrify, -res, knockdown. Only downside sooo many great powers you can't actually take them all. Great thing about mind is it has no weak powers and trick arrow is just awesome.
Grav/Kin- So much fun. Singularity is awesome in melee. With siphon speed Wormhole is actually up a good share. Hitting people with objects never gets old. Watching singularity vault people to the sky then hitting them with those objects even better. Grav is a really fun set once you accept its limitations. Propel slotted for damage is really fantastic.
Ice/Sonic- Such a great buddy or team player. Lotsa -res, shields. Plus watchin a whole team of cheetos whoop villains is amusing. Enemies just melt with the combo on a team.
Fire/Storm- I went for pure chaos carnage. Took superspeed just so I can take the whirlwind. Running around dropping tornados, lightning storms, bonfires, and hopin around like a whirling dervish is just fun. Tho on teams it is much more subdued. But solo man is it fun especially on small room maps.
I'm still playing my Mind/Storm, although the storm nerfs have really disappointed me. I feel like the devs have stolen the bread and butter powers, thrown it to cold domination, then kicked the unique/fun powers down. Ah well, c'est la vie...
I prefer using my Ill/Emp more AV-heavy work though (especially if a friend is requesting my help). I just don't trust most "random emps" they recruit to keep up the buffs, for good reason.
"Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty." -- Plato
Playing Gods (51106) - Heroic Lvl 5-20
What Rough Beast (255143) - Villainous Lvl 40-50
My favorite is my Mind/rad contoller because there is nothing he cant do.
Want damage? am,hold, ef...
want debuffs? Rad has great ones in enervating field, rad infection and lingering rad.
want heals? rad has a never miss heal that doesnt require accuracy slotting..
want holds and control? Mind can sleep/hold/tk them into an obvlivion.
and pvp? omg...with no io whatsoever invested mind/rad jus rocks anyway!
Plant/Kin - Because I'm a sucker for DoT damage, and Seeds of Confusion is just wrong. Carrion Creepers takes a full instruction manual to explain, but one click to play about the most fire and forget thing there is. Kinetics pumps it all up and gives you lots of heat of battle decision options with buffs that leverage off of debuffs. It plays fine first seven levels, and after eight it never looks back.
Personally I like Ice/TA. It just rocks the controls/debuffs all around, and can hold bosses no problem at all. The animations are one of Ice are my favorite in the game, and the simplicity of TA's animations are slick.
Second would have to be my Mind/TA or Ice/Rad or Ice/Thermal (ice/therm may actually be my favorite...). I love the TA set and the Rad set provides awesome debuffs/support to my team. Thermal is just awesome all around. It offers team support and debuffs later on in the set. Once I get to level 38-40, I'll let you know if I love it enough for it to be better than Ice/TA.
Third is most likely my Grav/Sonic. Though the Sonic secondary has become less of a good thing in the later parts of the game, Gravity is as amazing to me as it was when I first started him. Wormhole is one of my favorite powers in the game, if not my favorite, and Singy is my favorite pet after Jack.
I just got my Fire/Rad to 35 last night, and it just may have beaten out my Ill/Storm or Earth/Storm for fave controller. Choking Cloud + Hot Feet + Cages + Infection = reckless, deadly, stupid, suicidal, and FUN! I love standing shoulder to shoulder to the tank, stealing his aggro, and surviving by the skin of my teeth. Sure, I ate more than my fair share of floor, but it was totally worth it!
Stay Gold, Paragon. Stay Gold.
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.
what is your favorite controller build? and why? i want to know this from ppl whom have played as a controller to help me decide how to build a controller if i decide to make one.