[ QUOTE ]
If you're facing a boss or better, you're dead because they ignore controls.
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They do not *ignore* controls, they require a higher mag, achived by stacking.
(Edit: Terminology, just to be sure.
Mag - Magnitude. You should be familiar enough with this by watching your own "real numbers." See Paragonwki listing for Hold to see the mag you must overcome for each rank. Minions and LTs generally are held with one application, bosses take two, and so forth. This is Stacking.... again, something you should be familiar with just from inspiration use. Your hold is Mag3, a boss has Mag3 protection - you have not overcome it. Once you hit 4+, then he will be held.)
Fighting a boss? Depends on the controller, primary/secondary and what's around. Hold-levitate-hold, confuse them, confuse the things around them, stay out of range, carry breakfrees like any squishy, don't melee.
As grav/kin, at some point you have siphon speed. It affects recharge. Yours is faster, theirs is slower. Guess who gets to stack holds faster?
As far as the build... where's Siphon Speed? Siphon power? I'd say, as a first Controller, don't bother with your "homage" concept, but build an effective character - which (to me) that doesn't exactly look like. See about getting a stealth IO if you want one, or wait 'til 15, hit Bloody Bay and do the patrol (20 for combat invis in Siren's.) Save a power choice there.
Grav distortion - don't worry about damage. It's your hold. My typical (non frankenslotted, that is) slotting is 2acc, 2rech, 2hold. If anything, I slot the single target Immob for damage, since it recharges rather quickly on its own. Longer hold = more chance to stack, less chance of retaliation.
You may want to consider Ill/Rad as a first 'troller... and come to think of it, that may not be a bad combo for the good doctor. Illusion has a lot of really nice tools for handling the baddies, check out Local Man's new Ill/Rad guide for some thoughts on build and strategies.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
Ill/Rad is a great Dr. Strange
For Gravity Control, treat Lift and Gravity Distortion as controls, and slot them accordingly, and Crush and Propel as damage powers.
The classic slotting for a single target hold is 2 Acc-2 Hold-2 Rech, you can nowadays get that in 4 slots with 4 Acc/Rech/Hold IOs and add in an extra Hold and Recharge.
But the important thing is to have that hold coming back quickly to stack on bosses. For your teens I recommend slotting Recharge and acc rather than hold duration - it has a good duration out of the box, even if it needs to be double stacked.
My level 50 Grav Controller can use Lift, and then get off two holds before the target gets up off the floor, if Hasten is active.
Dealing with Madness Mages at low levels is just rough - I dont think there is any magic tactic to get you through this. Your best bet is to pack a break free for any mezzing boss, and hold them twice as quickly as possible.
Heh, I took on a Madness Mage with my whole tray full of breakfrees (10 in total), and still got toasted. Just couldn't do any real damage, but then, he was an orange, and I did miss a lot...
I had actually thought about going Illusion/Rad, the rad effects remind me of the various green glow effects of the Circle of Thorns. Something about Illusion just didn't feel quite "right," somehow, and I've never liked Kinetics. The speed boosts are incredibly aggravating so I skipped right over them. Too bad there's not a Psychic secondary set...
Maybe Grav (which I think has good special effects to represent magical attacks) and Rad might be a better combo...
Let me work up a build with that, and I'll report back...
Grav/rad would certainly give you an easier start. Grav and kin are both late bloomers so pairing them makes for a rough 20 some levels. With /rad you're going to have the benefit of a damage debuff and a tohit debuff for when controls aren't working and those both come early. Be warned, though, it's endurance heavy.
As for dealing with bosses, gravs a little tricky in low levels. With mind, for example, it goes: dominate, levitate, dominate. The boss usually gets one shot off before he's thrown in the air and held before he gets up. The trouble for grav is that its hold applies a -kb effect. So once you apply the first hold, your knockup isn't doing squat for mitigation. So your options really are limited to stacking that hold fast or using a quickly recharging Lift to ragdoll them around.
I've been playing a grav/storm so I generally hit them with immobs and toss them around with Lift and Gale. When I solo or work on a small team they rarely get more than a shot or two off. I then save the hold for the second most dangerous target.
P.S. Not sure how many agree, but I always take Hasten with a troller. Speed is key to stacking magnitude and the later AoE hold has a hefty recharge.
I have a Grav/Storm, and I usually use Gale and Lift to keep enemies occupied while I slap down my holds, stuns, and immobs. I do have Hasten, and I love it.
They way I see it, Gravity needs a little bit of control or debuffage from its secondary to hold its own compared to other controllers. Kinetics is a good set, but it works best with more "standard" controller sets like Fire, Ice, and Mind whose powers can stand alone more easily. I'd suggest Radiation, Storm, or Trick Arrow to pair up with Gravity.
Too many alts to list.
My strategy had been to slot for RANGE, and then hold them in place before moving in to actually do damage. The trouble began when the Madness Mage had longer range than me, and was unaffected by the hold.
That may be an advantage to Mind, it seems to me that the sleeps have higher mag. Then it's sleep, hold, sleep and you're golden.
Anyhow, here's a quick Rad variation... I'll revamp it yet, as it leaves out some valuable early stuff. Hard to decide what to leave out...
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]
Dr. Solomon: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Gravity Control
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Teleportation
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Crush -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(3), Immob-I(3), Immob-I(5), RechRdx-I(5), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 1: Radiant Aura -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(7), Heal-I(9)
Level 2: Gravity Distortion -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(9), Hold-I(11), Hold-I(11), RechRdx-I(13), RechRdx-I(13)
Level 4: Lift -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(15), Dmg-I(15), Dmg-I(17), Dmg-I(17)
Level 6: Propel -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(19), Dmg-I(19), Dmg-I(21), Dmg-I(21)
Level 8: Crushing Field -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(23), Immob-I(23), Immob-I(25), RechRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(27)
Level 10: Grant Invisibility -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(27), DefBuff-I(29)
Level 12: Swift -- Flight-I(A), Flight-I(29), Flight-I(31)
Level 14: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(31), Heal-I(31)
Level 16: Accelerate Metabolism -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(33), EndMod-I(33)
Level 18: Gravity Distortion Field -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(33), Hold-I(34), Hold-I(34), Hold-I(34)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(36), EndMod-I(36)
Level 22: Hover -- Flight-I(A), Flight-I(36), Flight-I(37)
Level 24: Invisibility -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 26: Wormhole -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(37), Dsrnt-I(37), Dsrnt-I(39), Dsrnt-I(39)
Level 28: Recall Friend -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Teleport -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(39)
Level 32: Singularity -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(40), Hold-I(40), Hold-I(40), Immob-I(42), Immob-I(42)
Level 35: Choking Cloud -- Hold-I(A), Hold-I(42), Hold-I(43)
Level 38: EM Pulse -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(43), Hold-I(43), Hold-I(45), Hold-I(45)
Level 41: Indomitable Will -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 44: Mental Blast -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(45), Dmg-I(46), Dmg-I(46), Dmg-I(46)
Level 47: Psionic Tornado -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(48), Dmg-I(48), Dmg-I(48), Dmg-I(50)
Level 49: Team Teleport -- Range-I(A), Range-I(50), Range-I(50)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
I hate to sound like a build-dictator, but taking accelerate metabolism at 6 is a must. I would couple it with hasten so that its recharge, recovery, and damage bonuses our up more often. With both and some set bonuses making them permanent is an achievable goal.
It seems like you're pretty set on being invisible there so I'll provide this alternative. Take one of the stealth procs + superspeed and you're effectively invisible in pve. Assuming you take superspeed you could put the proc right in it. In the spirit of Dr. Strange, you could consider it slowing time as you move around with the enemy unaware.
Also, Propel is a power both fun and frustrating. It's a wonderful grab bag of degrading things to throw at the enemy, but you'll often find that it activates much too slow while on teams.
Every build plays different. Wildly different, which is what makes Controller such a rich class. My Ill/Storm is a completely different experience from my Fire/Rad, from my Plant/Therm.
So I guess the question is, beyond Doc Strange, what do you want to do? Do you want to solo? Do you want to make any PuG a pack of demigods? Do you want to do damage and live to tell about it? Do you want to uncork chaos? Do you want to be a lockdown beast?
Stay Gold, Paragon. Stay Gold.
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.
Quick feedback on your /Rad build: drop the Stealth pool, drop Lift. Add Radiation Infection, Enervating Field, and Lingering Radiation (the /Rad Holy Trinity of debuffs). Radiation Infection + Crushing Field = excellent early-game mitigation.
Well, the Invisibility set is more for Phase Shift (supposed to represent his tendency to use his astral form), so I expect to keep that. Also, I do tend to primarily solo (another reason I tend to leave out buffs I can't use myself).
I'll tinker some more, though. Much good advice here.
Ok, here's a new one. I spent a little more time on this one, so it should look a little better.
I was considering a little swapping, because it's hard to leave out Propel entirely. I thought of dropping EM Pulse, then moving Wormhole to L38 and Propel in at L26. Alternatively, I could leave out Propel and put in Lingering Radiation.
It does seem to me that this would be a character more oriented to teams. With so many toggle debuffs, and AOEs at that, I'm going to have no endurance and lots of aggro, which is never a very pleasant situation for a squishie...
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]
Doctor Solomon: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Gravity Control
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Teleportation
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Crush -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(3), Immob-I(3), Immob-I(5), Dmg-I(5), Dmg-I(7)
Level 1: Radiant Aura -- RechRdx-I(A), Heal-I(7), Heal-I(9), Heal-I(46)
Level 2: Radiation Infection -- DefDeb-I(A), DefDeb-I(9), DefDeb-I(11), ToHitDeb-I(11), ToHitDeb-I(13), ToHitDeb-I(13)
Level 4: Accelerate Metabolism -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 6: Gravity Distortion -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(17), Hold-I(17), Hold-I(19), Dmg-I(19), Dmg-I(21)
Level 8: Crushing Field -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(21), Immob-I(23), Immob-I(23), Dmg-I(25), Dmg-I(25)
Level 10: Enervating Field -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 12: Swift -- Flight-I(A), Flight-I(34), Flight-I(36)
Level 14: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(27), Heal-I(27)
Level 16: Grant Invisibility -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(29), DefBuff-I(29)
Level 18: Gravity Distortion Field -- RechRdx-I(A), Acc-I(31), Acc-I(31), Hold-I(31), Hold-I(33), Hold-I(46)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(33), EndMod-I(33)
Level 22: Hover -- Flight-I(A), Flight-I(34), Flight-I(34)
Level 24: Recall Friend -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 26: Wormhole -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(36), Dsrnt-I(36), Dsrnt-I(37), Dsrnt-I(37)
Level 28: Teleport -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(37)
Level 30: Invisibility -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 32: Singularity -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(39), Hold-I(39), Hold-I(39), Immob-I(40), Immob-I(40)
Level 35: Phase Shift -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 38: EM Pulse -- RechRdx-I(A), Acc-I(42), Acc-I(42), Hold-I(43), Hold-I(43), Hold-I(43)
Level 41: Indomitable Will -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 44: Mental Blast -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(45), Dmg-I(45), Dmg-I(45), Dmg-I(46)
Level 47: Psionic Tornado -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(48), Dmg-I(48), Dmg-I(48), Dmg-I(50)
Level 49: Team Teleport -- Range-I(A), Range-I(50), Range-I(50)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Dmg-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Containment
As MaHaBone23 said, controllers can be build many different ways. First, I suggest you take a look at some guides. For your Radiation secondary, I humbly suggest you take a look at my Draft Illusion/Radiation Guide.. I'm not sure what guide to recommend on the Gravity side.
But let me give you a few pointers on the build. Do you intend to mostly solo? Mostly team? Exclusively team? PUGs or a standard group of regulars? And if regulars, what characters will you be teaming with? All these factors can affect your build.
Especially in low levels, Grav is weak on AoE, but has decent single target damage and control. It is a good idea to try to get a little AoE protection. Radiation can provide that in Radiation Infection, with its -ToHit Debuff. So, you probably want to fit in RI and Accelerate Metabolism fairly early in your build. AM provides many benefits, with the main ones being Recharge and Endurance Recovery before Stamina.
On Grav: Grav has four single target powers early in the set. Always take the single target hold ASAP, and you did. How you slot it depends on whether you solo, team but focus on damage or team focused on control. Standard slotting for control of most control powers is 2 Accuracy, 2 Hold (or whatever it does) and 2 Recharge. For solo or damage oriented, you can replace the Holds with Damage. Now let's look at Crush, Lift and Propel.
Single target Immobilize powers are not that useful in and of themselves when you have a single target hold. There are two reasons to take the single target immobilize -- as an early damage power (slotted like a ranged damage power, 1-2 Acc, 3 damage) or late in the build to immobilize bosses and AVs. The one thing that is unique about Crush is that it does NOT have -knockback like other immobilize powers.
Lift is kind of underwhelming -- less potent than Mind's Levitate, it still has the benefit of taking a foe out of the fight for a short time. Propel, on the other hand, is a huge amount of damage with knockback . . . but an equally huge animation.
On teams, it is common for teammates to kill off your target before the animation finishes. So, for a team-oriented build, Lift is better. For a solo-oriented build, Propel is better. But you don't really need both when you could use that power choice for a Radiation power.
My suggestion to start is: Take Crush, but slot it for damage, not immobilize. Radiant Aura: eventually 3 heal, 1 Recharge, maybe an EndRdx depending on how much you use it. If you want a team build, take Lift. For a solo build, take Propel. Fit in AM and RI. Slot AM for 3 Recharge first, then EndMod in much higher levels. Slot RI for ToHitDebuff and some EndRdx first, then Defense Debuff later -- remember you want it more for defense.
Skip the invisibility pool. Want Stealth? Take Hasten/Super Speed and get a Stealth IO to get full invisilbility without using up power choices. Delay Gravity Distortion Field until after Stamina -- it has a long recharge, short duration, so it really doesn't get usefull until you can slot it up with SO-level enhancements -- and even then, it is mostly a "panic button" or filler power.
In your later build, you completely skipped the holy trinity of Rad debuffs. These powers are very, very useful. In addition to Radiation Infection, you need to take Enervating Field and Lingering Radiation. Skip Choking Cloud -- my guide gives you a lot of information on it, and you really can't get much benefit from it. I only recommend Choking Cloud for Fire/Rad and Ice/Rad -- maybe Plant/Rad, but it isn't really needed.
The Psi APP set is good, but IW needs to be slotted up with 3 Recharge to have it up as much as possible. Get rid of Team Teleport. Too many other good choices.
EDIT: You posted a new build while I was commenting on the old one.
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 ]
Well, the Invisibility set is more for Phase Shift (supposed to represent his tendency to use his astral form), so I expect to keep that. Also, I do tend to primarily solo (another reason I tend to leave out buffs I can't use myself).
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If you want a phase shift for concept reasons, you can get a renewable one quickly and easily running patrols in Warburg. And the beauty of the Rad buffs (and debuffs) is that they're all very soloist-friendly. The to-hit debuff from Rad Infection and the resist debuff from Enervating Field combine to stack up to fairly impressive mitigation, and Accelerate Metabolism helps you manage your end nicely. (The fact that these things are all popular on teams doesn't change how useful they are to the soloist). Your basic strategy is 'drop Radiation Infection (and EF later, when you have Stamina slotted up), use Lingering Radiation/Crushing Field/Crush to keep enemies bunched up near the anchor, and forklift them to death individually'. At 26, once you pick up Wormhole (it's a signature power - don't delay it) this changes to 'surprise Wormhole the spawn into a corner from out of Line of Sight, apply immob/slow/debuff, insert forklift to check for doneness'.
Well, some great advice here, although not much love for the stealth pool...
I'm thinking about deleting the Grav/Kin and replacing him with Grav/Rad, but I'm having great difficulty squeezing things in.
I wonder if someone could post a suggested build (normal IOs, as I dont' have the support mechanism to purchase billions of inf worth of special sets).
As I say, the requirements of the character include some form of flight (Hover is sufficient), teleportation including team teleporting, and some way to do the astral form thing, which to me means the stealth set (I would take Stealth until Invisibility is acquired, at which point I'd respec Stealth to Grant Invisibility) for Phase Shift.
Leaving out Propel is unpleasant because it does good damage and because it's fun to use. However, it's hardly required with holds doing good damage, and access to the Blackwand.
I even considered leaving out the Fitness pool (GASP!), as Accelerate Metabolism might well cover any endurance issues (which is the whole reason for taking the pool - for most of my characters, Hurdle and Health fit the concept well, for this one, it's not really part of it).
I do solo primarily, but I hope to be useful to teams as well. Of course, I can make an alternate build for teaming...
Here's a shot at a draft build. Working in Stealth and Teleport made things interesting 
I put off the teleport pool until quite late, just because it was hard to squeeze in earlier - you could play around with the order of things in the Stealth pool, I guess. Crush is slotted up as an attack, and Propel has a range enhancer in it (much as I love Propel, it can be a little irritating that its base range is 20' lower than everything else you have). Mental Blast and Indomitable Will are there for flavour - they seemed Sorceror Supreme-ish, and Mental Blast gives you a non-smashing damage type late game, which is nice. You could drop one of them for Hasten if you wished.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]
Level 50 Technology Controller
Primary Power Set: Gravity Control
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Teleportation
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Crush -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(5), Dmg-I(13), Dmg-I(17), Dmg-I(19), EndRdx-I(23)
Level 1: Radiant Aura -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(34), EndRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(43), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 2: Gravity Distortion -- Acc-I(A), Hold-I(3), RechRdx-I(3), Hold-I(5), RechRdx-I(13), Acc-I(15)
Level 4: Radiation Infection -- ToHitDeb-I(A), ToHitDeb-I(31), EndRdx-I(31), DefDeb-I(46)
Level 6: Accelerate Metabolism -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(7), RechRdx-I(7), EndMod-I(36), EndMod-I(36), EndMod-I(37)
Level 8: Crushing Field -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(9), EndRdx-I(9), EndRdx-I(37), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 10: Propel -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(11), Dmg-I(11), Dmg-I(15), Dmg-I(17), Range-I(19)
Level 12: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 14: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 16: Hover -- Flight-I(A), Flight-I(43), Flight-I(43)
Level 18: Grant Invisibility -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Enervating Field -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(23), EndRdx-I(37)
Level 24: Lingering Radiation -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(25), RechRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(36), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 26: Wormhole -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(27), Range-I(27), RechRdx-I(29), RechRdx-I(29), Dsrnt-I(31)
Level 28: Invisibility -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Phase Shift -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Singularity -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(33), Hold-I(46), Hold-I(46)
Level 35: Recall Friend -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 38: EM Pulse -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(39), Hold-I(39), Hold-I(39), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 41: Teleport -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(42), Range-I(42), Range-I(42)
Level 44: Team Teleport -- EndRdx-I(A), Range-I(45)
Level 47: Mental Blast -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(48), Dmg-I(48), Dmg-I(48), Dmg-I(50)
Level 49: Indomitable Will -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50), RechRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Your grav/kin will be a feast. One of my favorite troller combos. I have commented on its versatility and power many a time.
I had no problems soloing at any point in my career. NONE.
Grav has the best solo damage power. Propel. People knock it, they turn their noses at it but make no mistake it is key. It also has a huge KB component that many people miss. So it does huge damage and acts a soft control by knocking your mob away. Since your immob doesn't prevent this you get extra mitigation.
Even the dreaded ruin mages were nothing. The good thing is that propel does huge damage with a long activation, in this case it works well for you low levels.
My encounters went something like this. Immob-propel.
By the time the ruin mage hit me with a hold propel was activating. I was held during the activation and he was dead soon after. If propel didn't defeat him he was knocked into a wall which gave me time to propel his [censored] again since his hold wares off, usually before he gets to his feet.
Seriously with just basic damage IOS at lvl 12.
Rad is definatly gonna be a beast. That being said don't feel as tho you can't make grav/kin work. It works really well. Just takes a different approach and is a breed you don't see very often.
Now again I have to state that propel is terrible on teams for the most part since they kills stuff fast. Unless your on a slow moving team.
Oh and Siphon Power makes propel that much more dangerous since it has huge damage it gets really good mileage from it.
Stick it out with the grav/kin and you will be rewarded. I am not gonna tell you it is the OMG combo of year but it is very effective. I enjoy it, ymmv.
In that regards.
1) Crush (6 Slots) & Transfusion (6 Slots)
2) Gravity Distortion (6 Slots)
4) Siphon Power (2 Slots)
6) Propel (6 Slots)
8) Hurdle
10) Hasten (2 Slots)
12) Siphon Speed (3 Slots)
14) SS
16) Health
18) Gravity Distortion Field (4 Slots)
20) Stamina (3 Slots)
22) Speed Boost
24) Grant Invisibility
26) Wormhole (6 Slots)
28) Invisibility
30) Phase Shift
32) Singularity (6 Slots)
35) Transference (6 Slots)
38) Fulcrum Shift (6 Slots)
Slotting is a matter of preference I won't get too far into that as tastes vary.
That gets you the powers you want. Makes you good on teams & Solo.
Very Dr. Strange-esque.
Hope this helps.
One little thing to keep in mind: If you build to a concept, then you usually give up some utility to make the character comply with the concept. You shouldn't overall judge the effectiveness of controllers based on your experience making a concept-based character. Of course, if the character is fun to you, that is exactly what you should do.
I just wanted to point that out because you indicated that this was your first controller that you expect to level up. When I started this game, controller was the last of the five archtypes I tried, because it was the only one that didn't have a powerset dedicated to damage . . . and it turned out that it is by far my favorite. 60% of my level 50 characters are controllers, and more are nearly there. I like controllers because there is such a variety of strategies needed. Scrappers, Tanks and Blasters mostly involve getting in position and firing off the same cycle of attacks, but controllers have to adjust to the situation much more. I think there is also a much wider range of builds with controllers.
I admit that I don't make "concept" builds . . . I like to make characters very effective, and then fit the concept to the build. I just wanted to point out that if you find this character to be somewhat lacking, it may not be because the archtype is lacking. You may want to try another controller. I have found that each one is substantially different, often with the same primary. (I have Ill/Rad, Ill/TA and Ill/Storm all at 50, and they all play differently. I also have Fire/Rad and Earth/Rad at 50, and Plant/Rad almost there. Again, each is substantially different.)
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
A Madness Mage on a low level Grav/Kin is just a bad bet period. The Grav/Rad may be able to deal with it, but honestly till you get your pet, dealing with mezzing bosses is always going to be dangerous. If that was all you were worried about ( killing a mezzing boss solo at level 8 ) you may want to go with defense inspirations instead of break frees, to keep him from killing you till you can manage to stack the second hold on him.
To me Grav/Kin seems to have some of the lowest synergy I can think of. Grav has some serious holes in it's control, and sets like Storm, Rad, and Trick Arrow will probably work better against what you are struggling with.
The problem with /Kin is that it's major way of mitigating the damage mobs are dealing to you is to heal it back for the most part, which isn't going to work so hot against a Madness Mage because you are held. Siphon Speed and Siphon Power will help some, but really mezzing bosses are just dangerous opponents for controllers in general and especially dangerous for Grav/Kin.
Excellent advice, I thank you all.
Hm. You know, like I said, I've never really cared for the Kinetics pool. The speed boosts and things just don't appeal to me, and as you saw, I skipped the great majority of the pool. I think I'll rebuild as a Grav/Rad, and I'll try to take the advice here to heart. Once again, my thanks to all.
By the by, if anyone cares to post further advice or suggestions, I'm happy to see them. I will doubtless be referring back to this thread in the near future.
Grav/kin is a team player, period. If you want to solo pre transference, yeah, rethink your secondary.
Went to the Grav/Rad, and I have to say, I'm preferring it so far, though it's astoundingly endurance heavy. Radiant Aura goes through endurance like nobody's business, when you're teaming...
I'm looking forward to seeing this fellow progress!
Well, I made a controller. I've been playing for nearly 4 years, and haven't played one, but in trying to make an homage to Dr. Strange, I chose to try one. He's Grav/Kin (and will have several other pools, I'll post the build). If anyone has any suggestions (I'm not 100% sold on the grav/kin as being a good Dr. Strange homage, so I'm open to suggestions here as well...), I'd love to hear them.
I'm finding it a rather strange class to play. It seems you're either god or you're dead. If your hold misses, you're dead. If you're facing a boss or better, you're dead because they ignore controls.
I'm not sure what to make of it. How do people play Controllers, especially solo? What do you do against bosses, especially controlling bosses like Anaethemae or Madness Magi? I fought a Madness Mage, and it was no contest. I used Crush, and then was asleep and held for the rest of the fight because he was immune to the hold.
Anyhow, here's the build.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]
Dr. Solomon: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Gravity Control
Secondary Power Set: Kinetics
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Teleportation
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Crush -- Immob-I(A), Acc-I(3), Acc-I(3), Dmg-I(5), Dmg-I(5), Dmg-I(7)
Level 1: Transfusion -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(7), Heal-I(9), Heal-I(9), Heal-I(11)
Level 2: Gravity Distortion -- Hold-I(A), Acc-I(11), Acc-I(13), Dmg-I(13), Dmg-I(15), Dmg-I(15)
Level 4: Lift -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(17), Dmg-I(17), Dmg-I(19), Dmg-I(19)
Level 6: Propel -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(21), Dmg-I(21), Dmg-I(23), Dmg-I(23)
Level 8: Crushing Field -- Dmg-I(A), Acc-I(25), Acc-I(25), Immob-I(27), Immob-I(27), Immob-I(29)
Level 10: Stealth -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(29), DefBuff-I(31)
Level 12: Swift -- Flight-I(A), Flight-I(36)
Level 14: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(31), Heal-I(31)
Level 16: Increase Density -- RechRdx-I(A), ResDam-I(33), ResDam-I(33), ResDam-I(33)
Level 18: Gravity Distortion Field -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(34), Hold-I(34), Hold-I(34), Hold-I(36)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(36), EndMod-I(37)
Level 22: Hover -- Flight-I(A), Flight-I(37), Flight-I(37)
Level 24: Invisibility -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 26: Wormhole -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(39), Dsrnt-I(39), Dsrnt-I(39), Dsrnt-I(40)
Level 28: Recall Friend -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 30: Teleport -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(42), EndRdx-I(42)
Level 32: Singularity -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(42), Hold-I(43), Hold-I(43), Immob-I(43), Immob-I(45)
Level 35: Transference -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(45), EndMod-I(45)
Level 38: Fulcrum Shift -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(46)
Level 41: Indomitable Will -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 44: Mental Blast -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(46), Dmg-I(46), Dmg-I(48), Dmg-I(48)
Level 47: Psionic Tornado -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(48), Dmg-I(50), Dmg-I(50), Dmg-I(50)
Level 49: Team Teleport -- EndRdx-I(A)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Dmg-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Containment