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Just a quick tip for the Illusion powerset, for my travel power I decided on Flight, so instead of taking hover at lvl 6 I took air superiority instead. I have found this attack works great as a filler while waiting for spectral wounds to recharge, and when used with Blind for instance it does double damage.
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You know, although Hover has the +DEF, I've rarely used it since about level 10, but I still kept it during my last respec. This sounds like a great way to get some extra damage, and your use of it while spectral recharges sounds ideal.
As for general 'troller tips, I'd recommend expanding the active power display on the team window, so you can keep a close eye on your secondary buffs running out. I never used it until I got Speed Boost, but now find it invaluable.
One other tip: Decieve...yep, great for when getting a mob to fight for you (and don't forget, decieve causes no aggro even when you miss), but it's also a great passive hold.....find a lone boss, conning orange or red, even purple, from a distance apply Decieve (with Bosses this will take 2 applications normally) the Boss is then harmless, hit em with blind followed by AS and Spec Wounds, hit em again with decieve and follow the attack cycle through again until the Boss is defeated......it works wonders, oh and decieve any type of healer enemy first (i.e Tsoo Sorcerers) they will heal and buff you 
Hover is awesome. It's the single reason I beat Plight Trawler in the arena, and also why I do much better than I should really in PvP (I'm gravity/empathy ffs!).
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I have just made a Grav/Storm combo, was that a poor setup?
Aiming to make him a holder so the team i'm with can do there stuff.
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No. Grav/Storm is awesome, and don't let anyone tell you different.
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Will be making a grav/storm myself in the near future............ give me some of those rag doll physics I say
"Well, they found my diary today.
They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
spider, brilliant!"
Yeah Grav/Storm has so far been the most fun Ive had in the game to date. - The Grav set (if used correctly) can offer the best set of holds there is, (Max slot for +ACC) and you wont go far wrong. Storm on the otherhand is a tricky one, lots of knockback powers, use the grav to lock them down, and simply Unleesh the storm!.
I have heard so many times on here that the Tornado power is the worst. - well I'd like to clear up a point.. tornado is one of the best powers that a Strom troller can have. for PVP it offers -slow and disorient and does good DOT damage. Its more of a situational power or a panic button. for example, never use it in a team if you have tanks or scrappers present..you wont be too popular. But for AV's and for Solo/purple Bosses etc its awsome. and the same goes for PVP. for those that complain about it are not using the storm set correctly, or dont have the ability to lock a group down first.
If you get the Fire mastery at 41, you will soon be doing more damage than a scrapper and a tanker put together. 
I'm going for Psy, I want status protection.(and fits character concept) But yeah fire mastery I think puts controllers at the higher end of damage out of most ATs now.
"Well, they found my diary today.
They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
spider, brilliant!"
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I'm going for Psy, I want status protection.(and fits character concept)
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The psy status protection sucks for PvP. I can quite happily stack enough holds to break it, and then you don't have any protection for about 2 minutes.
Being quite experienced with controllers there are a few suggestions i could give..
1) Take Kinetics - its the most underrated set IMO.. not only are its buffs on par with empathy but Fulcrum Shift is amazing with the new Containment inherant power. In the later levels a real winner for me is mass immob, fulcrum shift and fireball.. easily takes down minions.
2) controllers are weak at the start and endurance is apalling as with all ATs at that stage.. be very careful with your mass immob as you can attract tonnes of aggro which you cant take. If you need to immob, run after and let them cool down.
3) Your a controller... mass hold is essential.
4) When choosing sets look at all the powers, pick out the key ones, and think about good combinations. Not only does it give you something to look forward to and drive you forward but it helps you to map your character.
5) Don't bother with the single target immob first power.. its quite useless ive found. Much better off taking the single target hold first thing
6) finally... IMO, the best 2 sets are fire kinetics for pure fun, the best hold set is gravity (good for Hamidon) and the best set for general control is mind. (I'm not a fan of Illusion because it doesnt have the good combinations that other sets have, only damaging pets)
If i think of some more i'll post them
(Criticise me.. i know what your thinking!! "HES NUTS!")
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(Criticise me.. i know what your thinking!! "HES NUTS!")
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Why would we think that? I wasn't thinking that. Not that I agree completely with your post.
Illusion plays different than most other control sets but it still has some very nice powers.
Group invisibility is great for when your team wants to sneak a mission. Superior invisibility gives you the power to go where you want to go (although I would stay away from those pesky Rikti Drones).
The Phantom Army can be a real lifesaver in the bigger teams. A HUGE mob or one with that much PSI-damage that your tanker is contemplating committing Hara-Kiri to save time. Sneak closer and use your Phantom Army in the middle of them(or use your army before and just run through but this can have very bad effects on the rest of the fight since it tends to scatter the mob).
Deceive is a love/hate power as stated before. Ah, the Malta just used a auto-turret, let's blast them with their own weapon. Does wonders on DE eminators as well.
And Phantasm gives you the power to use an awaken in a hostile place from time to time (the decoy phantasm has a higher threat level than the controller and often holds aggro long enough to use the awaken/break free combo. It is the one pet that doesn't despawn on the controller's faceplant AFAIK).
Downsides on it are pretty much you said Duffy. Flash is a lousy group hold in my opinion, even with a SO ACC in it and an Insight-inspiration I often still had several minions walking around.
The pets aren't controlled as the Mastermind's pet so you can pull another group on you just by standing in the wrong place or by having your lovely Phantasm using his knockback to reunite those poor mobs with their other friends (Well that doesn't actually aggro them I think, but the next attack does though).
PS: I always thought that Kinetics was one of the more popular powers.
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The Phantom Army can be a real lifesaver in the bigger teams. A HUGE mob or one with that much PSI-damage that your tanker is contemplating committing Hara-Kiri to save time. Sneak closer and use your Phantom Army in the middle of them(or use your army before and just run through but this can have very bad effects on the rest of the fight since it tends to scatter the mob).
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I have never seen them scatter the mob im fighting unless im fighting -10 or so. But I do think some of their inheirent punchwoke have been removed. But in combination with other powers it works good enough to keep aggro of your team mates. PA is the best power of the illusion set.
Btw its often better to use it behind the mob.
50s
controllers: Ill rad , grav rad, fire kin, ice kin
blaster: ice em
scrapper: spines sr
Well after reading it again I see my last post was wrong, I was tired and on my way to bed.
You can get a small scatter effect if you use it before the mob and run past it with invis, but it isnt that much if you use other powers at the same time.
PA like I stated should normally be placed behind the mob your going to fight as this will reduce initial aggro on you team when they run in cause the mob is looking the other way.
I suggest you never use the run into mobs with invis and let the PA get the aggro unless you have used it on the former mob and they still have some time before they despawn as its much harder to control that aggro.
Here is a little tip when fighting next to an illusion controller, the PA can keep most of the aggro, but if your a blaster using those big AoE's you can get alot of aggro. But if you use mostly single target attacks and only go for baddies you can kill(eg don try to defeat that 3+ boss if you cant do it alone as you will just pull him back to youl), that PA will keep the attention of the others.
Speaking of illusions control part.
People often talk of illusion laggin control, this really isnt quite true. It looks much more caotic but I think only the illusion set can permanent keep an 8 man spawn set to unyielding or invincible occupied. Simply because the duration on PA is longer than any hold vs. 3-4+(except a powerboosted em-pulse and even then its close), and in the downtime use holds and other kinds of control. We do however lag control to gain enough containment. If only fear gave containment then illusion would be da uber.
50s
controllers: Ill rad , grav rad, fire kin, ice kin
blaster: ice em
scrapper: spines sr
The point about the AOE is a great one and one people teaming with Masterminds should pay attention too as well. Basically if an enemy has nothing better to do they will attack a PA / pet / meleer in range, even if they aren't being attacked by them. But as soon as you AOE you're the chief damager on that enemy so he's going to focus on you unless a tank or someone grabs the aggro.
When soloing I'd reckon on getting 2 close groups of mobs with the same casting of Phantom Army. You get a feel for when they are about to drop. So occasionally I will do the Invis run to drag the PA into another group, especially on smaller, damage heavy teams where the fights are short and furious.
My most common death is the PA dropping since you get the aggro they were holding once they drop. The Pets window is useful here as you can spot straight away when they've dropped in a chaotic battle and do something about it (like scream like a little girl )
And if Fear gave containment we would indeed be too powerful I think.
superior invis + PFF FTW!!!111!! 
anyway, illusion control has pretty good control but works different and really needs some adjusting for the controller. It doesnt work with mass holds, immobs etc like other controller powers. PA is great to keep aggro away from you and keep mobs busy. My fav tactic is to cast PA behind a mob, let them aggro a few, sorta "herding" them. After they are busy fighting PA, cast spec terror in the middle to fear them (the "new" fear is a great holding power). Use blind or flash to hold those pesky guys that evade the above or if there are some tough bosses around you deffo dont wanna slip away from your control. After that I just let my phantasm, spec wounds and later on my psi tornado/blast clean up the mobs.
O and gravman, if you say illusion control aint that good a "controller" power, I'm never gonna fight mother mayhem with you again :P
"god, how many devs did hami have to sleep with to get ED?"
Total Cat @Stagefright
if used correctly, a mind/storm controller can really destroy groups. throw in mass hypnosis/mass confusion and you got yourself a party!
with more then one mind/ controller, the group wont be awake long enough to attack, and with 2 /storm controllers, they will be too busy with all the bad weather. lightning storm/tornado/gale at the same time with a mass confused group, perfect!
I am the Blaster, I have filled the role of Tank, Controller and Defender
Sometimes all at once.
Union EU player! Pip pip, tally ho, top hats and tea etc etc
When playing a Controller, you should never ever attack Scrappers. They are impossible for you to defeat, and if the KO you they will delete your character. Seriously.
Just backing up what Kaya said, be aware of your surroundings and what his happening.
If someone's health is going down, chances are they have the mob targetted, and assuming you have the team window open (why wouldn't you?), target through that person.
As for powers, go for which one you like, just experiment - I have numerous controllers, but I dunno, fire control just isn't "for me" :P
Also depends on how your play style is.
@Under Control
Look out for team mates, if someone asks for help, do your best,
don't be the person to arrive on a team then go afk at the door.
If a member of a sg asks for help, so so, they'll return the favour.
Visionist LVL 50 Ill/kin
Adventurist Lvl 50 BS/Sr Scrapper
Destructionist lvl 48 elm/dark armor Scrapper
63 month Veteran
I'm an Ice/Storm controller and loving it. Anyway, I have a tip that should work well independently of what control powers you have:
Get "Punch" from the pool power "Fighting" as soon as possible.
And that would be at level 6
Controllers cause double damage to any controlled mob. But very few of the controller attacks have decent damage, and those that do have slow recharge. So getting punch is just brilliant - with double damage going on (cause you ever only want to punch held target anyway, right?), you get a decent damage output even on low levels. In my experience, soloing without punch is just impossible. With Punch I can take on fairly large groups of mobs, lock them down and weed them out quite nicely. It is smart to do this with melee based mobs predominantly; mobs like the Vahzilok with their crossbows and the clockwork with their long-range electric charges should be avoided whenever possible.
Punch is my favourite power as a controller, well that and Block of Ice, Frostbite and Ice Slick. Oh, and arctic air I guess.... I love all my control powers it seems
I have put auto-attack on my Punch and slotted it for damage only. You put a power on auto-attack (spam) by holding down control and left-clicking the power. That way, it will lauch immediately at the target mob if it is within reach.
For controllers, Fighting just rules. I am getting the rest of the set too, that is for sure, I am giving Fighting priority over my other controlling powers for now. If later powers turn out to give decent damage output, I might respec it out, but for now it is my most effective power.
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As for powers, go for which one you like, just experiment - I have numerous controllers,
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And they all miss you in the Overlords...
CoX 50s: <ill/rad> <ice/ice> <fire/kin> <grav/sonic> <ice/storm> <earth/kin> <kin/elec> <cold/psy> <thugs/dark> <fire/dark> <dark/elec> <night widow> <EM/ninj> <mind/icy>
This might seem a bit strange but i find that the best controllers are the ones that look like their conducting an orchestra. This is from observing a Grav/kin controller for a whole Tf and a few other controllers. The point is that the more fluent their moves are the better their doing. Its like Bach.... control/control/buff control/buff debuff/.... If you thinks im nuts then try watching a Grav/kinetics controller at work
Or maybe its that im easily amused... who knows
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Get "Punch" from the pool power "Fighting" as soon as possible.
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I couldn't possibly disagree more without coming off as offensive. Punch for controllers?! I don't think I even need to bother writing out a reason why this is a bad choice. If you need damage, then take air superiority. At least that way, it leads onto a travel power AND it's -fly.
Most other controllers, however, won't need it as they already have a single-target damaging attack.
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And they all miss you in the Overlords...
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Heh, I'll be back...some day
@Under Control
Hm, ok... I am probably doing something wrong then, because I am finishing mobs more than twice as quickly since I got Punch, and I can risk taking on fairly big groups of mobs now also without getting faceplanted. In my opinion, Punch has a fast recharge and low endurance cost... and, with the double damage from the innate ability, very decent damage. I can't see how this is stupid or wasted, but I guess I am being stupid not seeing the problem with this.
The one attack I have that does decent damage in my "regular" power set is Block of Ice, and it is medium recharge and quite costly endurance wise, so I cant rely on that for my damage output. Maybe this is different for the other controller power sets? Maybe you are talking about Chilblain as a damage output controller attack (or some corresponding single-target power in other sets). I fing Chilblain at least to be worthless compared to Punch, basically it gives almost no damage... but maybe I am wrong on that account as well.
I have not experimented much with air superiority, will get that too and figure out which one is best... maybe use both! But I am not very interested in group fly, so Hoover and Flight should serve me well for now... don't particularily need Air Superiority as a prerequisite. The defensive features of Hoover are welcome for a squishy like me, even though I hear they are almost non-existent?
I guess I am just a noob and an idiot for suggesting Punch, but it has been a very good power for me... and I would in fact like to hear just why it is so horribly wrong for a controller to pick this power. So far it fits my playstyle like a glove, so I clearly must be doing a lot of stuff very wrong!
The problem is that as you face tougher mobs, you will not be wanting to get too close to them, so punch is not a great choice (also, it doesn't lead to any other useful power in that pool, so it's a bit of a waste). I assume you want to solo quite a bit, because in teams, you are much more effective (for now) by using your holds/slows than by trying to kill off mobs. After 32, you get Jack Frost, and things are very different then...
CoX 50s: <ill/rad> <ice/ice> <fire/kin> <grav/sonic> <ice/storm> <earth/kin> <kin/elec> <cold/psy> <thugs/dark> <fire/dark> <dark/elec> <night widow> <EM/ninj> <mind/icy>
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I have just made a Grav/Storm combo, was that a poor setup?
Aiming to make him a holder so the team i'm with can do there stuff.
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Ive a Grav/storm and there great fun. Grav gives you great holds and your backed up by your pet hold wise. Storm is tricky but great fun. Some of the powers in the storm set can [censored] of your team mates so be carful. That said its great watching a scrapper chase after a foe being tossed about my your tornado