everyone has one already..i mean i know alot of people...they all have earth trollers at 50 already
i think its not that they dont have one its that they already made the trip
Earth is still a strong controller. I love my earth storm, who is also a nice damage dealing controller, thanks to cages and tornado.
All controllers got nerfed since issue 4. You'll have half of the duration AND double the recharge time of what you remember in issue 4, along with enhancement diversification, aoe limits, and global defense changes.
I don't recall if containment was around in Issue 4. I don't think it was, but it basically gives you double damage if you attack a foe with specific status effects. (hold, immob, and stun IIRC)
Quite a few other minor changes, but those will be the majority of what you will see.
It doesn't really hurt THAT bad, it just means you can lockdown 3 spawns instead of 5.
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson
Earth is alive and well. Plenty of people play Earth.
The hard things I can do--- The impossible just take a little bit longer.
If numbers are so much more important than a teammate who is fun to play with, forget about the game altogether and go play with a calculator instead. -Claws and Effect-
And take heart, now fly trap is the dumbest pet. Stony's AI has actually improved.
Earth control is alive, well, respected, capable, and quiet. (As far as commentary goes.) See a recent thread here acclaiming it as the queen of area lockdown. It doesn't have the peculiarities of grav, mind, plant, or illusion; it doesn't have the damage of fire. But it gets the job done very, very well without calling for too much comment.
If you haven't seen earth controllers about, keep looking. They're around, spending time keeping teams extremely safe more than grandstanding.
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everyone has one already..i mean i know alot of people...they all have earth trollers at 50 already
i think its not that they dont have one its that they already made the trip
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Indeed. An earth troller was my first 50
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I remember having a earth/storm controller on a long lost account now, level 32. Way back in issue 4 or so.
Since coming back I have seen a grand total of zero earth controllers and pretty much no earth advice or discussion as of late and it's hisheartening, has it received a nerf? Or have other "Damage Troller" sets overshadowed it like in the past?
It's a shame because I really love this combo and I'm remaking it, sure. Stony was the dumbest and perhaps slowest pet next to jack frost (Sorry ice 
) but I was a controlling fool. No enemy could do anything in my presence. Reguardless of enemy group.
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That's funny. I have been responding to a number of Earth threads lately where folks have had questions about the combo or had earth-related discussions. I have even been running into several Earth controllers in game. Still, I find other combos to be more frequent -- mosly Fire/Kins and Fire/Rads.
And for good reason. The game mechanics have been more turned towards doing damage, and those two combos do a LOT of damage. Illusion and Plant are also more focused on damage. And, of course, some folks hate the "poo" graphics that can obscure vision. But with more folks coming to appreciate Storm for the damage in the later stages of the game, I see a lot of Earth/Storm builds. I'm working on one myself, after taking Ice/Storm and Ill/Storm to 50, and I expect it to be a better build than my Ice/Storm.
Rocky is much improved. With improvements to his AI and the change from Stone Mallet to Seismic Smash, he has an effective attack chain now and provides better tanking. Seismic gives him a Mag 3 hold. Plus, you can buff his Resistance by 20% with two procs, making him virtually unkillable. Even more, you can use either Sonic or Therm to boost that resistance even higher.
In fact, with his better AI, better damage and high resistance, is there a better pet?
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
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That's funny. I have been responding to a number of Earth threads lately where folks have had questions about the combo or had earth-related discussions. I have even been running into several Earth controllers in game. Still, I find other combos to be more frequent -- mosly Fire/Kins and Fire/Rads.
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I don't reply to many threads regarding Earth anymore, but i do read em all 
I'll pretty much just repeat what LM says anyways 
If you think things can't get any worse, it's probably because you lack sufficient imagination
Kenshin - lvl50 Scrapper Katana/SR
Kaigame - lvl50 Controller Earth/Emp
Mayfair - Lvl50 Defender Kinetic/Psy
Kai's Guide to Earth Controlling **Old**
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I'll pretty much just repeat what LM says anyways
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Heh, yep, same here.
But I have two Earthies at 50 and to be honest, if I didn't love variety so much, I'd have one of each secondary. It's taken all my willpower to not roll an Earth/Storm especially given my love for /storm too.
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
QR--
It seems as if IOs have in general made other controllers more appealing. With SO slotting, a Fire controller couldn't usually have a good control power available every spawn, where an Earth controller could.
Get enough global recharge and accuracy bonuses, and you don't need much more than Flashfire now, which is a great control power. With Cinders in reserve.
So IOs have made it easy for Fire to have "enough" every spawn control, but haven't done nearly as much for +damage in Earth. Not that damage procs in Earthquake and such aren't fun, but if a Fire controller has sufficient control for the vast majority of situations and far more damage, I see the appeal.
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I'll pretty much just repeat what LM says anyways
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Heh, yep, same here.
But I have two Earthies at 50 and to be honest, if I didn't love variety so much, I'd have one of each secondary. It's taken all my willpower to not roll an Earth/Storm especially given my love for /storm too.
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<<Looks at his Earth/Storm controllers on both Guardian and Freedom>> I couldn't resist, after taking both Ice/Storm and Ill/Storm to 50 . . .
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
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Since coming back I have seen a grand total of zero earth controllers and pretty much no earth advice or discussion as of late and it's hisheartening, has it received a nerf?
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Yes, Issue 5. From the patch notes:
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* Controllers have a new Inherent Ability called Containment. All Controllers will do double damage (+100% unenhanced base Damage) to a target (non pvp) that is Immobilized, Disoriented, Slept or Held. Increasing the non-Pet damage potential of all Controllers. This change is intended to give them a more balanced and even game-play experience throughout all of their levels.
* Controller AoE Holds, Disorients and Sleeps (and a few others like Quicksand and Ice Slick) recharge times have been increased and duration reduced, to balance the new increased damage
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In particular, Stalagmites (your AoE stun) takes twice as long to recharge and has half the duration. Your Stone Cages are capable of doing double damage, though.
So Controllers typically build for damage these days, and aren't particularly interested in control. They pick damage heavy sets (like Fire control and Kinetics) and don't care much for the control heavy ones (like Earth control and Trick arrow). That's the general population, of course -- forumgoers are usually good at both, but we're sadly the minority.
Earth Control is as valuable as ever on experienced teams, though. So I hope you don't get discouraged. We really need more support builds in the game, and fewer DPS-centric farm builds.
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Sorry about the long post, and I don't intend to derail the thread, but I just wanted to mention something to illustrate how the metagame has changed for controllers. If I'm looking for defense/support, I don't recruit controllers into my pugs anymore, unless they have something like "earth" in their LFT message. I only look for defenders who are clearly not "pure healers" (debuff defenders are great!), and controllers who are clearly not "pure DPS" (earth ice and mind controllers are great!). Because otherwise there's a big chance the pug is going to be "supported" by a rock-the-aura pure healer or all-damage-no-control controller. Hilarity (and debt caps) ensue.
Worse, I get the feeling that a lot of the general population have forgotten that controls and debuffs are among best defenses in the game. Architect farm teams rarely, if ever, look for controllers. They just want tankers and healers. It's like the gamebase has forgotten all but those two forms of defense in this game.
I'm going to have to agree with the growing sense of people don't realize what controllers do. I love Earth as a set, rolled my Earth dominator the day it was proliferated. But these days, it's all about steamrolling specially picked wimpy mobs. People want their farms, and you don't need lots of hard control to take down weak enemies. On the flip side, against AVs in the endgage, a lot of controller tools are irrelevant.
i have a 34 earth/rad troller and love him. Choking cloud with volcanic gasses and earthquake rocks my world.
hehe don't worry about the earth controllers. they are recognised as a very solid control set I have a Earth/Thermal in the works actually
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
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On the flip side, against AVs in the endgage, a lot of controller tools are irrelevant.
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Please elaborate.
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson
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Worse, I get the feeling that a lot of the general population have forgotten that controls and debuffs are among best defenses in the game. Architect farm teams rarely, if ever, look for controllers. They just want tankers and healers. It's like the gamebase has forgotten all but those two forms of defense in this game.
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I often hear Architect teams advertising for Controllers in Atlas Broadcast on Virtue.
"Level 50 Boss AE team lfm Tanker and Controller" - that sort of thing.
Virtue always seems to have a heavier Controller/Defender playerbase than other servers Ive been on, though.
On the original topic. Ive got an Earth/Kinetics Controller on the go at the moment. He's brilliant, one of the few characters I've made a dual build with (for Ice and Fire epics just for fun). Level 42 now.
Ive just never really had any questions to ask about Earth Control though, it just seems like a really solid set. Volcanic Gasses is awesome, I dont always take AoE holds but this one is good enough for me to consider it mandatory.
Actually, a common question asked in the forums is
"Whats the best controller for control purposes" or words to that effect.
The usual answer is Earth/Trick arrow
Earth control is a good set, and when im playing my Earth/TA i tend to make comments like
"You know what I love about earth control....... its subtle, really realy subtle" *Sounds of booming earthquakes drowning out my voice.*
Crime of Fashion Level 50 Rad/Rad Corrupter
My Toons
My Rad/Rad Corrupters Guide
Mindscape - Reworking
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On the flip side, against AVs in the endgage, a lot of controller tools are irrelevant.
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Please elaborate.
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Well, purple triangles are a big deal. If you build for hard control, most controllers are going to be less relevant than they'd like to be against these guys... I think a lot of people estimate the impact of a controller on an AV fight as somewhat low. Generally this is wrong, but there it is.
The fact that you can shut down the AV 1/3 of the time (when the PTODs drop) may not be interesting to them. The potential use of Immobs and sleeps might seem limited to most, and...
well...
We're talking about earth, one of the few sets that actually CAN still control an AV through a very tough taunting stoney, especially if you throw some shields on him and have a set with a heal...
Those unique res IOs are so very very inexpensive after all...
The cake is a lie! The cake is a lie!
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I'll pretty much just repeat what LM says anyways
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Heh, yep, same here.
But I have two Earthies at 50 and to be honest, if I didn't love variety so much, I'd have one of each secondary. It's taken all my willpower to not roll an Earth/Storm especially given my love for /storm too.
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Oh roll an earth/storm. You know you want to. DO IT! DO IT! hehehe.
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I'll pretty much just repeat what LM says anyways
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Heh, yep, same here.
But I have two Earthies at 50 and to be honest, if I didn't love variety so much, I'd have one of each secondary. It's taken all my willpower to not roll an Earth/Storm especially given my love for /storm too.
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Oh roll an earth/storm. You know you want to. DO IT! DO IT! hehehe.
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Oh, I have no doubt it will happen. 
Right now, I'm finishing up my Plant/Kin (48) then I have several more late 30s/early 40s that need attention. But next troller may likely be Earth/Storm........although I still want to do something gravity-ish..........arghhhhhh!
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
My earth guy is a gal accually, and a villian. >.> Earth/Fire Dom, lvl 41 currently, having a lot of fun, and really starting to dig my "poo man" lacky. The control from earth is very impressive. But since i've made an earth dom, chances are I won't make an earth hero. I'm trying not to repeat sets anymore. As such, the only 2 Primarys left for me are Ice and mind. (LvL 50 Grav/Kin, Fire/Emp, ILL/Sonic, Plant/TA, and my up and coming Earth/Fire Dom.)
I have an Ice/Storm i'm toying with ATM. pretty fun. After that... I'm thinking seriously on a Mind/Psy dom... and calling it after that. One of each, is good enough for me.
@KingSnake - Triumph Server
@PrinceSnake
My common sense is tingling... ~ Deadpool
If you can't learn to do something well... learn to enjoy doing it poorly...
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On the flip side, against AVs in the endgage, a lot of controller tools are irrelevant.
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Please elaborate.
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Well, purple triangles are a big deal. If you build for hard control, most controllers are going to be less relevant than they'd like to be against these guys... I think a lot of people estimate the impact of a controller on an AV fight as somewhat low. Generally this is wrong, but there it is.
The fact that you can shut down the AV 1/3 of the time (when the PTODs drop) may not be interesting to them. The potential use of Immobs and sleeps might seem limited to most, and...
well...
We're talking about earth, one of the few sets that actually CAN still control an AV through a very tough taunting stoney, especially if you throw some shields on him and have a set with a heal...
Those unique res IOs are so very very inexpensive after all...
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Being able to control an AV about a third of the time is meaningless if the team can't survive the other two-thirds of the time, and if they can survive that, they can probably survive the whole time.
So you're looking at a control set that now offers only a handful of things. Limited damage, very limited debuffs (due to resistances), and a pet that may be useful, but is as likely not to be.
But what about their secondary? Their secondary is irrelevant to this comparison, because by definition, defenders do it better and have better base numbers than trollers.
To me, the value of trollers/doms to a team is being able to steamroll through mobs without fear of full-power alphas or obnoxious singles like Sappers or many Bosses.
I do find teaming with a blobs of Fire/Kins who rarely show any interest in locking anything down extremely annoying.
I'm going to have to dissagree on the utility of the pet against hard targets. Stoney is great when there's no tank
I'll dissagree on the utility of shutting down an AV for 1/3 of the time. It's certainly not great, but it gives everyone a chance to rest/regroup. Normally this isn't an overt thing, just a subtle pause that lowers the chance of a death or a problem. I'd also emphasize again that immobs and sleeps can be of utility.
I'll have to dissagree on the utility of the secondary. Generally speaking, controller debuffs are quite strong ENOUGH to do the job. They contribute ENOUGH to turn the tide against an AV.
I'll agree on limited damage though. Earth is not going to heap up piles of bodies any time soon, or even ever.
The cake is a lie! The cake is a lie!
I remember having a earth/storm controller on a long lost account now, level 32. Way back in issue 4 or so.
) but I was a controlling fool. No enemy could do anything in my presence. Reguardless of enemy group.
Since coming back I have seen a grand total of zero earth controllers and pretty much no earth advice or discussion as of late and it's hisheartening, has it received a nerf? Or have other "Damage Troller" sets overshadowed it like in the past?
It's a shame because I really love this combo and I'm remaking it, sure. Stony was the dumbest and perhaps slowest pet next to jack frost (Sorry ice