Hey back from 6 months and making a Troller
By
Battlebabe,
Posted on: 2009-06-07 20:37 in Controllers
Oh and as a side note I'm a soloer at heart with minor group ambitions.
[ QUOTE ]
What's the FoTM and how are Illusion controllers holding up? There hasnt been a guide about them since I9 from the looks of it.
What ae people enjoying these days and what kind of advice can you give to a newcomer to the Trolling profession?
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm working on an Ill/Rad Guide if I can ever find time.
Ill/Storm is very popular, especially for a solo 'troller. Ill/Rad is still the best all-around most flexible build. Ill/TA and Ill/Therm are very good, also. Ill/Kin is powerful even if it has some synergy problems.
The Fire/Kin is still the most popular controller because it can "farm" well. It is sometimes "looked down on" because many (most) of the Fire/Kins are power-leveled. Ill/Rad probably comes in at #2, although Plant is very good. Storm has become a more popular secondary.
Earth is generally the best AoE control set, but Plant is very good for AoE control and damage beginning as early as Level 8 (Seeds of Confusion is awesome, and the AoE Immobilize does more damage than others.).
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
How about Gravity controllers? what are theier limitations and how do they stack up?
[ QUOTE ]
How about Gravity controllers? what are theier limitations and how do they stack up?
[/ QUOTE ]
Their biggest limitations are only getting their main AoE control at 26 instead of 12, and lowish damage due to Singularity being more of a controller-tank than a damage pet. Singy's great at what it does, but what it does isn't damage. I'd say the two best pairings for it are /TA and /Storm; both add control and damage.
Arc #40529 : The Furies of the Earth
Fire/Rad solos pretty well, imho, even before pets. Lots of damage to get the job done, and debuffs to keep you alive while doing it.
I gotta say, on all my attempts at Trick arrow, I've been pretty underwhelmed. Even when teaming with other TAs, I haven't been blown away. I'm not saying it's not a valid or solid set. I'm saying the reality < the hype.
Stay Gold, Paragon. Stay Gold.
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.
[ QUOTE ]
I'm not saying it's not a valid or solid set. I'm saying the reality < the hype.
[/ QUOTE ]
Isn't the hype mostly "it's awful" ? I'd call it better than it's reputation, actually.
Arc #40529 : The Furies of the Earth
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm not saying it's not a valid or solid set. I'm saying the reality < the hype.
[/ QUOTE ]
Isn't the hype mostly "it's awful" ? I'd call it better than it's reputation, actually.
[/ QUOTE ]
Trick Arrow actually teams with Illusion quite well. Think about it. TA adds an AoE Slow, a second ranged single target hold, a ranged single target immobilize, an AoE sleep, an AoE knockdown (with fire damage) and a ranged AoE Hold, none of which Illusion has. All of TA can be used from range, and everything in Illusion except Flash is ranged -- and Flash is skippable for an Ill/TA.
Phantom Army gives an Ill/TA plenty of time to fire off those ranged debuffs and controls by pulling attenting to themselves. The debuffs make Phantom Army better. A well-played Illusionist doesn't get hit much, so the lack of a heal is generally not a problem. Oil Slick Arrow provides a nice control/distraction for when Phantom Army is recharging, plus it gives Illusion an AoE damage power, something Illusion does not have. Plus, since Phantasm and Phantom Army can attack from range, they are less affected by the Oil Slick Arrow bug (that causes pets to run away -- this is a real problem for Fire Imps or Earth's Rocky).
My Ill/TA was created specifically because I wanted to experience the Trick Arrow set. It worked great both solo and teamed. While I like Rad and Storm better as secondaries for Illusion, I can't think of any primary I would like better with Trick Arrow than Illusion. It really took advantage of all of TA's bag of tricks.
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
[ QUOTE ]
How about Gravity controllers? what are theier limitations and how do they stack up?
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm probably not the person to talk about Gravity . . . it is my least favorite control primary. There are three interesting powers: Propel looks cool, does good damage but takes FOREVER to animate -- on teams, the target is often dead before you can hit him with a car or forklift. Wormhole is a unique tool for positioning and stun. Singularity is a unique kind of pet. Other than that, Grav is kind of boring, and severely lacks AoE control. I'm working on a Grav/Storm just so I can say that I have leveled up all the Controller primaries, but it is slow going.
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
I have a Plant/Rad in the 30s now that is awesome. Her holds and immobs even work when everything around her is purple. Now As for Ill/ Not sure how much has changed while you were away but I have several variations of Ill/ (Ill/Emp, Ill/Thermal, Ill/Rad) and they solo very well. There are only a couple of things that see through Superior Invisibility (Rikti Drones, Knives of Artemus, those HUGE eyeball thingies in the Shard.. to name most). So I can stealth in, confuse mobs, and unleash my Phantom Army and Phantasm to clean up.
Fire/Kin is the FoTM (been that way so long it really isn't right to call it of the month lol) but as mentioned a LOT of the players that have them did so simply to farm. Others that are trying them don't really play them too well... Stacking 4-5 SBs on a scrapper in a cave mission is a serious NO NO. But some of the bad ones seem to think if a little SB is good a WHOLE LOT just has to be better. Tanks and Blasters love Kins for the quicker pace (tanks) and faster attack recovery (Both) and all my Blasters are SB Junkies (unless I am in a cave.. I hate touching my controls and finding myself in the middle of a huge mob when all I wanted to do was move up a few feet so my shorter ranged attacks would fire).
Hey hope that helps and welcome back 
�We�re always the good guys. In D&D, we�re lawful good. In City of Heroes we�re the heroes. In Grand Theft Auto we pay the prostitutes promptly and never hit them with a bat.� � Leonard
�Those women are prostitutes? You said they were raising money for stem cell research!� � Sheldon
[ QUOTE ]
Stacking 4-5 SBs on a scrapper in a cave mission is a serious NO NO.
[/ QUOTE ]
None of the effects of Speed Boost stack from the same caster. If your scrapper is running with 4-5 kins, I could see movement being annoying, but on the other hand, your attack chain would then be Tier 9, Tier 9, Tier 9, and that has to count for something.
If you're really wanting to do Gravity, I would suggest Grav/Storm or Grav/Rad. My Grav/Storm soloed well out of the box, and after Freezing Rain was able to group really well too.
For Grav/Storm you open with Freezing Rain, then the aoe immobilize( which doesn't stop knockback so they keep flopping in the rain ), then Snowstorm to lower their return fire to nothing after freezing rain wears off. During the whole process, you single target hold and Propel them to death one by one. It's quick and effective both for solo and teams.
It really helps to have a couple procs in the aoe immobilize and in freezing Rain, and one in snow storm to whittle down crowds quickly. With the 5 procs in those three powers things are half dead by the time you get around to finishing them off. I didn't take lift. I found that the single target hold, Propel, and a veteran attack are enough of an attack chain to drop even bosses pretty fast.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm not saying it's not a valid or solid set. I'm saying the reality < the hype.
[/ QUOTE ]
Isn't the hype mostly "it's awful" ? I'd call it better than it's reputation, actually.
[/ QUOTE ]
Not around here, at least not in the threads I've read. I've also teamed with more then a few TA's that were quite... impressed with themselves.
Stay Gold, Paragon. Stay Gold.
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm not saying it's not a valid or solid set. I'm saying the reality < the hype.
[/ QUOTE ]
Isn't the hype mostly "it's awful" ? I'd call it better than it's reputation, actually.
[/ QUOTE ]
Trick Arrow actually teams with Illusion quite well. Think about it.
[/ QUOTE ]
I don't need to think about it; I have one. And a Bot/TA, Fire/TA, Thugs/TA, Mind/TA, and Grav/TA. I was commenting on the attitude I've seen from others; I rather like /TA.
Arc #40529 : The Furies of the Earth
Gravity is not as bad as its reputation would suggest. In fact it can be very effective. I have a Grav/Kin which is one of the best trollers I have played.
Singularity when slotted for damage does a good amount. Importantly he does it safely is really tough to take down. He doesn't do as much damage as most pets but he does do good damage. Many times he has killed people before I even get to them.
Gravity has a great single target attack solo. Propel is arguably the most powerfull singl target attack in any set. Yeah it has a longish activation. But when you target is held its not a problem.
Wormhole is a great power, but you get it very late.
Your not an AOE machine but you are a single target destroyer. Lift gives a great mitigation power at a slightly lower damage value but its a fast attack.
Its not the easy road however. It takes some good workings to be really good. Singularity is honestly that good. While it is slightly lacking in damage it more then compensates with great mitigation, Knockup- Knockback, Holds. Repel.
I went with kin because of the great set up. Siphon speed bring up everything faster. Speed boost to make singy go faster. The heal is also top notch and fulcrum shift on the singularity is a sight that should be witnessed.
I have wowed many a troller with my effectiveness on a team/tf. However on a team propel will be mostly useless. They will die before your activation fails.
Just my opions mind you and YMMV.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Stacking 4-5 SBs on a scrapper in a cave mission is a serious NO NO.
[/ QUOTE ]
None of the effects of Speed Boost stack from the same caster. If your scrapper is running with 4-5 kins, I could see movement being annoying, but on the other hand, your attack chain would then be Tier 9, Tier 9, Tier 9, and that has to count for something.
[/ QUOTE ]
Lol, tier 9, tier 9, tier 9. That's actually pretty funny.
What's the FoTM and how are Illusion controllers holding up? There hasnt been a guide about them since I9 from the looks of it.
What ae people enjoying these days and what kind of advice can you give to a newcomer to the Trolling profession?