Mind doesn't need a secondary... it's that good.
I solo'd my Mind/FF a fair amount of his career, and FF is probably one of the worst secondaries for soloing.
Storm brings a few interesting things to the solo controller, and since it's mostly about debuffs/controls, you can use almost everything in the set (just not O2 boost) Mine's currently 23 and rather a beast (though a bit tight on power selections)
Mind/Kin, very strong combo. Mass Hypnosis -> Fulcrum Shift -> Terrify is just sick. That being said, I deleted mine at about 22 because it's a *very* clicky combo.
Therm is not really a solo set, however, it's better than FF because you get a couple debuffs at 35 and 38. Not sure how it works with trollers, my only experience is on a Corr, but it's a very solid solo set starting at 38.
TA is a good set, Mind/TA brings a stupid amount of control, but I think it's probably a bit more team oriented, it can work as solo...
So... there you have it, I know I didn't say which one to roll... but... they're all so good!
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I think you underestimate our fools, sir.
Why /duel is a bad idea
Wait until 16 and you can pick up cold domination 
Of the three you mention interest in, Mind/Kin's the only one I've played extensively. It's heaps of fun, and can definitely tip a bad fight in the opposite direction. Only thing not to like about it is the up-close and personal, accuracy intensive nature of Kin, versus the range and fewer issues with accuracy of mind. Aside from the fact that you can Mass Hyp mobs before you walk in to FS them, in the late game, and the fact that extra recharge is nice to have with mind's pair of long-recharge AoE controls, I don't see any special synergy, but Mind's a fun and powerful-feeling set, and Kin is a monster. You can hardly go wrong.
Though I'm a huge fan of storm, what I can't get over about Mind/Storm, and the reason I'd never play it, is the fact that Storm has one AMAZING power, freezing rain, whose core feature is its huge area resist debuff-- which magnifies AoE damage. But a Mind/Storm is going to have durable large AoE containment set only half as often as FR is available. In absolute terms there's nothing wrong with Mind/Storm, but compared to nearly any other /storm troller, it has this big drawback.
Mind/FF probably makes an interesting soloist, and like mind/emp and mind/sonic, is liable to make awful pick up groups survivable.
But for competent team play, I think Mind is much better matched with Kin or Rad.
Choosing a Controller V2 | Splattrollers | Plant/Rad | Fire/Storm | Mind/Emp & Mind/Rad
Weird Controller Powers | Conf & XP/Time | Controller Damage
Being a Healer | The word Necessary | Natural Concept Characters
If you want something different you could try a mind/TA. At first it seems like mind/ta might suffer from the same problem as mind/storm, since TA's primary debuff (acid arrow) also has a dot in it. However acid arrow has a smaller radius and is up more often so I find it compliments minds single target focus much better than storm. With standard LT+Minion spawns my favorite tactic is to confuse the minion, hold the LT and wait for the minion to run up to the LT, then drop acid arrow on both of them, entangle the minion and finish them both off either with dominate+levitate+mezmerize or move up and use the sands of mu vet power (if you have it) since acid arrow will have debuffed thier def. Since acid arrow is up every spawn (if not multiple times in a fight with a little recharge) it is very flexible, a lot more so than freezing rain which takes a lot of recharge to be up every spawn. With glue arrow for an AE slow, which is great for taking on EB's that you can't lock down, disruption arrow for some more AE debuff and ice arrow to stack with domination for instant hold on bosses you have a lot of tools at your disposal. After 35 you can alternate oil slick arrow with total domination and mass confusion and do some awesome AE damage to groups.
I have played a mind/kin up to the late 20's and found it to be just to clicky and far to dependant on hitting things. Siphon speed isn't to bad but I find siphon power to almost be a waste of time - in the time it takes you to get a 20% damage buf you could have thrown out an extra mesmerize or levitate and done a lot more damage. In a group siphon power is awesome because it buffs everyone around you but solo you are probably just as well off with assault for the 15% buff that doesn't require a to hit roll. I also don't think you really see serous benefits until you get fulcrum shift at L38 and while mind is certainly good enough to carry you to 38 solo I hate waiting that long for the good stuff. Storm feels the same way - except for freezing rain, which I do love, it feels like you have to wait for 35 and 38 for the goodness that is storm (tornado/lightning storm). Most of this is because all the other nice powers that storm offers (snowstorm, hurricane, etc) are not needed for a mind controller as you are pretty much going to lock everything down anyway.
Mind/Rad would also make a good soloing build. Rad is one of the few secondaries that does nearly as much solo as it does for a team - I find its biggest problem solo is the time to set up all the toggle debuffs as RI takes forever to activate. With mind however you don't really need RI most of the time since you are going to lock everything down and can probably get by with EF (for the damage boost) and AM + Hasten.
Globals: @Midnight Mystique/@Magik13
I have been playing a Mind/FF mostly solo, and really find it has a few advantages:
- Mind has so many good powers, it really doesn't need anything from the secondary. If everything is mezzed, you don't reallly need debuffs. Only one power is really "skippable," Telekinesis, and that one is situationaly useful.
- Also, most secondaries have so many powers you really feel are needed, it is hard to fit in the key powers of the secondary with the key powers of the Mind primary. However, FF only has a few key powers. You have to take PFF. The two ally bubbles make you welcome on any team for when you don't solo. Dispersion Bubble gives you defense and mez protection. Everything else is optional. But if you are mainly going to solo, then the various knockback powers can be quite effective.
- Mez protection. One of the biggest problems when you solo a controller is getting mezzed. Dispersion Bubble protects you from several types. Add in Combat Jumping for a little more defense and protection from immobilize. You have a big hole for sleeps, but other than that, it is pretty good.
- PFF is one of the best panic button powers in the game. You get hit about 5% of the time, but that's it. (My Mind/FF got a Nuke in Warburg easier than any other character . . . )
- Want a heal? It is easy to fit in the Medicine Pool.
While FF doesn't do anything to make your primary more effective, it is certainly effective as a secondary for soloing.
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Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
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Of the three you mention interest in, Mind/Kin's the only one I've played extensively. It's heaps of fun, and can definitely tip a bad fight in the opposite direction. Only thing not to like about it is the up-close and personal, accuracy intensive nature of Kin, versus the range and fewer issues with accuracy of mind. Aside from the fact that you can Mass Hyp mobs before you walk in to FS them, in the late game, and the fact that extra recharge is nice to have with mind's pair of long-recharge AoE controls, I don't see any special synergy, but Mind's a fun and powerful-feeling set, and Kin is a monster. You can hardly go wrong.
Though I'm a huge fan of storm, what I can't get over about Mind/Storm, and the reason I'd never play it, is the fact that Storm has one AMAZING power, freezing rain, whose core feature is its huge area resist debuff-- which magnifies AoE damage. But a Mind/Storm is going to have durable large AoE containment set only half as often as FR is available. In absolute terms there's nothing wrong with Mind/Storm, but compared to nearly any other /storm troller, it has this big drawback.
Mind/FF probably makes an interesting soloist, and like mind/emp and mind/sonic, is liable to make awful pick up groups survivable.
But for competent team play, I think Mind is much better matched with Kin or Rad.
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I think the posters here have done well addressing Mind Control. It is a good set, slot Levitate, Mesmerize and Dominate for damage and with clever use of mass hypnosis and confuse, all other powers are just icing on your very quickly made cake.
As for Mind/Storm, Enantiodromos is correct, the biggest issue you will face here is lack of containment. However actually, /Storm goes a long way to resolve this itself.
Thunderclap is an amazing power which is often overlooked because it only hits minions. However it is minions which AoE attacks are most suited for.
What thunderclap brings to a Mind controller, is a reliable, long duration, fast recharging containment which actually fills one of its biggest gaps. What you often don't hear about Thunderclap, is that it has a much longer duration then Flashfire and Stalagmites. It has a much shorter recharge of 45 seconds not 90. It also has a bigger radius. Mine recharges in about 20 seconds and lasts for much longer.
So to answer Enantiodromos' question, if you can hold out till 28, a Mind/Storm gets a very reliable AoE containment for you to shower your freezing rain on.
Mass Hypnosis -> Dominate Lieutenants -> Thunderclap minions -> Freezing Rain -> AoE.
The only thing I miss on thunderclap is the chance for the +1 mag. :-)
Also, storm brings a few other advantages.
i) Steamy Mist. The addition of stealth with aggro free controls such as confuse can make your character very stealthy. Especially as you have no pet to blow your cover.
ii) Hurricane. While it is good for rounding up foes, I find it best used against Elite Bosses and AV's who would otherwise avoid your holds. The -acc is critical to soloing an Elite Boss.
iii) Lightning Storm. Again, a great power especially for those harder fights when you need an extra edge. Unfortunately its knockback on every strike means it is likely to be a power you reserve for more difficult encounters.
/Storm compliments Mind Control very well. It is a late bloomer for a Controller, but that keeps your character interesting as Mind/ is a very early bloomer.
I really like the Trick Arrow Idea. I have Storm and my only worry is the fact that Mind has sleeps that can be broken with about 3 of storms powers. Tornado, Lightning Storm, Freezing Rain. All very good and important powers and all with AoE damage. Trick Arrow has holds with no damage allowing you to pick off the sleepers one by one if you wanted and the debuffs are real good with the ability to keep sleeping mobs sleeping. Just my two cents.
Demonfest - 50 - Demon / Thermal Mastermind
Covered Shadow - 50 - Dark Melee / Shield Scrapper
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So to answer Enantiodromos' question,
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I don't recollect asking a question, but then my attention span's flaky these days.
Thunderclap's hardly comparable to the AoE Immobs one is obviously looking for something comparable to. The AoE Immobs are 30' radius (like FR), peg half of all bosses in one hit, and the other half in 4-8 seconds. Containment on lieuts and bosses certainly *does* matter, regardless of whether it gets you a defeat on them at the same time as the defeat on the minions.
Thunderclap's 25' (30% less area), and a mind/storm will never go above mag 2 with it. Plus they're PBAoE-- and while PBAoEs can be fun on a Fire/ or /kin 'troller, they're rather dismal with a mind/, unless they're just monster sized (think EMP).
And BTW... why does red tomax say FR's 20' radius? Anyone? Did they nerf the size of the thing redside when they ported it?
Choosing a Controller V2 | Splattrollers | Plant/Rad | Fire/Storm | Mind/Emp & Mind/Rad
Weird Controller Powers | Conf & XP/Time | Controller Damage
Being a Healer | The word Necessary | Natural Concept Characters
Originally though you said something along the lines of 'how does FR work when the only reliable containtment Mind/ has is sleep?'
I was merely pointing that actually /Storm gives a great source for containment in thunderclap. I know it has its flaws, especially on paper. However in practice it is still a very large radius, long duration, fast recharge minion wipeout.
Using if it is a pack of 4 minions and a lieutenant, I follow thunderclap with a dominate on the lieutenant and then an uninterupted FR. You should really try it. For containment, /Storm gives a lot of oppertunities to a Mind/ ;-)
I'll throw in my vote for mind/ta.
Though intensely clicky, you get insane controls and safety beyond any controller I've ever played. My only controller to keep my interest for 50 levels thus far as been Mind/TA, I found it neat that I could get EVERY kind of control when I considered my Nem staff as my KB, and my epic pool (earth) to give me disorient!
I could do anything!
(Also, my attention span is getting better, I got another troller to 49, woo ice/sonic!)
Hi folks! Back again for more of your sage wisdom!
I'm in the planning stages of a new MC controller, and I was wondering which secondary you thought was best for soloing it. I already have a MC/Rad wich is pretty great, but I'd just like to try something a little different.
Looking at the boards I didn't see a whole lot about Mind/ without /Rad.
I'm especially interested in FF, Storm, and Kinetics, but curious about Thermal and Cold now that it's coming. Not so interested in Emp, TA, or Sonic...did I miss any of them?
Thanks for any advice you can give!