Ill/Bubble Controllers; where are you all?

Greetings Folks,

I'm a new Hero; Yittle level 15ish ill/bubble controller on Union.
I've been looking at the guides and the powers of my fellow controllers; astonished to find no other players seem to pick my powers. Just wondering why, anyone got a reason?

All the best.

Y.

I saw couple of Ill/FF trollers out there, even i had one once. But i find it too boring to play. Ill never sound a true controller set to me. Actually only true control set for me is Mind. Lock, lock, lock and more lock down the bad guys.

Dosn't seem boring to me. I'm often in combat directly stunning/confusing and killing - illusion damage is pritty nice.
Being able to stack invisibility & personal bubble is a good "oh no!" defence to.
Cant wait to get pets - i think ill/bubble control will come from keeping enemies occupied rather than stunned - or on their rear-ends from knockbacks.

So long as there is no fundemental flaw in my plan.

There are some illusion/bubblers around, but there are a couple of reasons why they are not common.

1) Phantom Army can do very good damage but is not buffable. Thus the power synegises best with powers which debuff resistance. this means taking /rad or /TA or /Storm as a secondary.

2) For some people bubbling a team is the most tedious (but important) activity possible in game (that would be me for one).

I have both bubble and sonic Controllers, but to be fun to play, you have to have some synergies between the primary and secondary. Secondaries that give mez resist are most interesting for primaries that rely on toggle control - that would be fire and ice control (Hot Feet and Arctic Air).

It is very easy to make a Controller with too little synergy. My first 50 was Ice/Kin - a very nice toon, but effectively half a defender and half a controller. I now made an Ice/FF, and she feels much more solid.

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There are some illusion/bubblers around, but there are a couple of reasons why they are not common.

1) Phantom Army can do very good damage but is not buffable. Thus the power synegises best with powers which debuff resistance. this means taking /rad or /TA or /Storm as a secondary.

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Or /sonic. You can also anchor Disruption Field on PA.

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2) For some people bubbling a team is the most tedious (but important) activity possible in game (that would be me for one).

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ME TOO! Although Stage seems to enjoy his ill/FF

Hmm i love my FF, TA or Storm defenders. But don't love these sets with controllers. They are more likeable in the hands of a defender for me.

On the other hand, nowadays i am making toons with boring defender sets(kinetic and empathy) as controllers. This have two advantages solo-ability and having nice mind control powers.

You guys like throwing around the term synergy.
Never crossed my mind really when i was producing my controller that my primery and secondery powers would be best selected for a sort of meshing.
Isn't there something to be said for having diversity in your powers though? Now i've slotted invisibility and Personal force field a bit i can use both to be very indestructable. I've been ignoring team-buffing shields for the moment in favor of personal effects simply because i wont have need to shield my phantom army. I'll probably back-track and pick up those powers once i've gotten my PA.

I heard hasten was a good power to get for an ill controller; so i invested in it and it has been useful - i took one step further and got super speed, i plan to get super jump later on if its possible.

Bit late to ask but what do you all think is the best controller travel power(s)? And i guess slotting the fitness pool for health/endurance is a must too right?

Actually fitness pool choices depends on your travel power mostly. If you get SS, with hasten in your build it will be an economical choice, you will probably want hurdle and swift. With Fly also swift is a option to speed up your flight. With Super Jump you will also want Swift+Hurdle combo. Health don't recomanded by most for squishy types (blasters, controllers and defenders) but sometimes i will add it to my builds. You know every little bit helps.

I don't know your exact build but if you can't squeeze SJ into your build try to get jump pack from KR bank mission or if you have Good vs. Evil extras, bonus jump pack will be handy for you.

I had Invisibility + PFF combo on my FF/Psi defender which was my first hero, i love it. You are the king of ghosting now. As i always say with this combo you can even steal bad guys' undies while they trying to hit you patheticaly.

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ME TOO! Although Stage seems to enjoy his ill/FF

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oh sure, drag me into this will ya

anyway, my thoughts on ill/ff vary a bit from time to time. Yes, I did have the patience to get one to 50 in any case you guys are wondering

Thing with ill/ff is.. dont expect to solo at higher lvls. Illusion damage is pretty good at lower lvls, but once you hit the 30s or so, that significantly drops. You'll be spamming attacks n controls like there's no end just to take one down. In teams is where you'll shine.

Indeed like you said, ill/ff concentrates on occupying the mobs while you knock those down on the floor that are stubborn. PFF + invis indeed is also a very powerful combo. I don't know if its a bug or something, but with both PFF and invis running, even snipers wont see you.. Not to mention dispersion bubble offering that valuable mez-resist to controllers.

Not to mention in PvP ill/ff can be a pretty dangerous enemy. Once more, you might lack damage and got stupid pets that wont attack once someone gets pushes away by forcebubble . However all those bubbles can be pretty dangerous if used right. You'll laugh at puny MMs trying to hide in bodyguard mode. Stalkers trying to AS you when you got forcebubble running...

As for travel powers, I got fly + ss for pvp purposes. If you dont pvp, i'd say any travel power would do. There is no need to get SJ for acro in PvE as you get dispersion bubble, which practically gives you better protection than acro.

As for stamina.. well you need stamina really, what powers you pick before then is your choice.. I'd say swift/hurdle, however you can also pick health and later on put a Numina's convelescence +recovery/+regen in it, seeing your end will be a b*tch at higher levels

Stage,

Any wisdom direct for a ill/ff controller. Anything i should/shouldn't bother getting/doing?
And in general; Perma-hasten; Perma-PA are these possible nowerdays (cant find a simple answer on the forums)

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Perma-hasten; Perma-PA are these possible nowerdays (cant find a simple answer on the forums)

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Perma-Hasten is feasible if you can get to a constant +275% recharge buff via enhances, IO bonuses or (self-)buffs. This means that except for kins, controllers won't be able to get it by themselves (and trying to get close would involve some huge sacrifices in your build anyway). Same goes for PA really. I would say +rechg (including Hasten) is good for all controllers builds so get as much as you can from IOs, but not at the expense of a bad build or other bonuses (e.g. additional +def in the case of FF).
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in PvP ill/ff can be a pretty dangerous enemy.

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OH RLLY?

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Perma-hasten; Perma-PA are these possible nowerdays (cant find a simple answer on the forums)

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Perma-Hasten is feasible if you can get to a constant +275% recharge buff via enhances, IO bonuses or (self-)buffs. This means that except for kins, controllers won't be able to get it by themselves (and trying to get close would involve some huge sacrifices in your build anyway). Same goes for PA really. I would say +rechg (including Hasten) is good for all controllers builds so get as much as you can from IOs, but not at the expense of a bad build or other bonuses (e.g. additional +def in the case of FF).


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I have near perma hasten/AM on my Mind Radiation controller. Not always up but for full team i can relase AM between everyfight even between fights. Not anymore unluckily, i forgot to put hasten into my build durin respec. As i can handle myself well without it for now, i will leave it to later stages of the build.

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PFF + invis indeed is also a very powerful combo. I don't know if its a bug or something, but with both PFF and invis running, even snipers wont see you

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I have never been seen by a sniper with SI running, it's invis from pools what they spot thru, afaik

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There is no need to get SJ for acro in PvE as you get dispersion bubble, which practically gives you better protection than acro.

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Dispersion bubble didnt grant knockback protection last time I checked

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Not to mention in PvP ill/ff can be a pretty dangerous enemy

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They soooooo can

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PFF + invis indeed is also a very powerful combo. I don't know if its a bug or something, but with both PFF and invis running, even snipers wont see you

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I have never been seen by a sniper with SI running, it's invis from pools what they spot thru, afaik

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Hm, i havent had sup invis in my build for a while.. though nemesis snipers used to spot right through sup invis when i had it, unless i had PFF running as well...

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There is no need to get SJ for acro in PvE as you get dispersion bubble, which practically gives you better protection than acro.

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Dispersion bubble didnt grant knockback protection last time I checked

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ah yes, my bad... forgot bout kb.. more meant dispersion bubble protects from more mez effects than acro. Though if you get fly rather than SJ, you still got some form of kb "protection", the infamous flip in the air..

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Stage,

Any wisdom direct for a ill/ff controller. Anything i should/shouldn't bother getting/doing?

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All depends, you want to focus on team-build only (meanin you will rely on a team for the damage and killing most of times), PvE, PvP? All require different builds (and i had em all )

I guess i'm mostly PvE - not currently very team friendly with the lack of helpful bubble powers; but my plan is to aquire them a little after getting PA at 18.
What i'd mainly like to know is how to slot to get the most offencive effectiveness out of my powers.
Are there any powers with dubious usefullness you can think of? (I'd not choose group invis just because i've never found a use for such a thing so far.)
And slotting; i cant find much in the way of slotting examples for ill/ff, any wisdom there would be appreciated.

That's the thing with /FF as a secondary. It ranks with Empathy as the most low offence pro team secondary available to controllers.

It can keep you alive, but is can do nothing for your damage output.

The staying alive part is my #1 goal really.
Shields are also pritty passive in their use; which allows me to focus on using powers to attack and control.
I wont be healing people or buffing that often which is how i like it; heh.

You shouldn't tho. You are a controller. For all ATs here is a motto "My primary is my primary". People when invite you into teams mostly want you to controll enemies not heals or buffs. In search screen if people needs a bubbler or empath they look for defenders so put the weight of your build to your primary.

One thing about your PBAoE bubbles; when you run PFF your team loose their bonuses also it applies other powers like Leadership pool powers etc.

Sloting bubbles is easy. 3 defbuffs and one end rdx to Dispersion Bubble. If you planning to get Repulsion Field and Force Bubble put 3 endrdx to them. For PFF: it is even good without any extra slotting. But in my defender i put 2defbuffs and 3 rechrgs. Force Bolt needs minimum sloting also, 1 acc and 1 recharge should be enough. Only power in FF set you use cautiously is Force Bolt. Remember 2 rules: Never shoot tankers or scrappers targets and always look where you kb your enemy; if you throw him into other mob you can find yourself facing extra aggro.

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The staying alive part is my #1 goal really.
Shields are also pritty passive in their use; which allows me to focus on using powers to attack and control.
I wont be healing people or buffing that often which is how i like it; heh.

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You shouldn't really need shields to keep you alive very often though. Illusion has plenty of tools to prevent the mobs even considering attacking you.

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The staying alive part is my #1 goal really.
Shields are also pritty passive in their use; which allows me to focus on using powers to attack and control.
I wont be healing people or buffing that often which is how i like it; heh.

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I prefer teaming with people who say "Keeping the team alive is my #1 goal" personally.

With your motto you may aswell stay at the back of the group in a PFF, do some fun emotes and hope nobody notices your conspicious lack of efficacy.

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There is no need to get SJ for acro in PvE as you get dispersion bubble, which practically gives you better protection than acro.

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Dispersion bubble didnt grant knockback protection last time I checked

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ah yes, my bad... forgot bout kb.. more meant dispersion bubble protects from more mez effects than acro. Though if you get fly rather than SJ, you still got some form of kb "protection", the infamous flip in the air..

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Sticking a Karma KB protection in Dispersion Bubble and/or on of your other shields will help with knockback quite a bit

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The staying alive part is my #1 goal really.
Shields are also pritty passive in their use; which allows me to focus on using powers to attack and control.
I wont be healing people or buffing that often which is how i like it; heh.

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I prefer teaming with people who say "Keeping the team alive is my #1 goal" personally.

With your motto you may aswell stay at the back of the group in a PFF, do some fun emotes and hope nobody notices your conspicious lack of efficacy.

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As killing/confusing/blinding goes i'm a good teammate; and you also dont have to worry about me if my health starts to drop - i can just invis/pff and heal up (usually by moving to a defender; instead of expecting them to find me)
I find it works anyhow.
I'd be a much less effective soloer if i'd spent 2 powers on the team shields so far too; and with illusion as my primery power i guess thats even more understandable.

My plan is to switch round sometime around or after i get phantom army; so i have the friendly bubbles - but before then would mean i'm far less useful in an active way if you ask me. And i like to be active. Bubbling every teammate twice i have no problems with - but i dont want to be teamed on that basis; and nobody's had a problem with it yet.

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The staying alive part is my #1 goal really.
Shields are also pritty passive in their use; which allows me to focus on using powers to attack and control.

I wont be healing people or buffing that often which is how i like it; heh.

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I prefer teaming with people who say "Keeping the team alive is my #1 goal" personally.

With your motto you may aswell stay at the back of the group in a PFF, do some fun emotes and hope nobody notices your conspicious lack of efficacy.

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"Seeing if i can take on that entire bunch and survive" is my motto for any of my controllers, generally by dumping as many AOE controls & debuffs on them as possible.

I tend to die a bit but there's generally a medic around to rez my sorry [censored].

I think controllers secondaries are equally important as the primaries. But I tend to stick with the debuffing ones, they're more fun