Controller synergies?


Archy

 

Posted

I am considering playing with a new controller and I am really unable to decide which of the multiple possibilities to choose.

First I must tell you that I don't PvP and that I mostly team (probably will duo a lot) but that I occasionally solo.
Also, my main controller is a lvl 42 (nearly 43) Mind control / Empathy and I love it. I love the hard controls, I love the fact that I always have something to do in a team situation (hate to sit idly at the keyboard) and I like to be able to do some damage (yes, Mind control does enough damage to solo).

So far I have created three new controllers to try something new:

Cosmic String - Gravity / Kinetics - leveled to 14
Susan von Doom - Illusion / Force Field - leveled to 6
Gaia. - Earth /Storm - just created. level 3

I would like to know if those combos can offer good playing synergies, if they are very difficult to solo, what's your advice on highly skippable powers and must-have powers...

Maybe the combos are not the most efficient... but they make sense to me in a "concept" kind of way: gravity + kinetics plays with the forces of gravity in the primary and secondary. Earth + storm is the power of mother Earth. And for Illusion + FF I have an alternate dimension Susan Storm (of the Fantastic Four) that met and married Victor von Doom instead of Reed Richards: she has the invisibility and force field powers... and some more. 8)

For what I have read in the boards, here and the US ones, the combos that seem "cooler" are Fire/Kin, Fire/Rad and Illusion/Storm, but those doesn't offer me good concepts to work with.

Anyway, forgive my ramblings... I am asking for advice about build and power synergies... cyes, I want a "concept" character... but I don't want it to be gimped if possible!
One last thing: do not tell me "Try all of them for some levels and then decide". If I had time to do that... I would not be asking for advice!! 8)


 

Posted

Illusion/FF is highly defensive, it will take you a long time to kill anything with it. Illusion works best with a debuff secondary, since Phantom Army can't be buffed but can still kill a debuffed foe faster. Those would be /Rad, /Sonic, /TA or /Storm. Personally I find FF a dull powerset to play anyway.


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Posted

Yes, I have noticed... FF is not a very "active" secondary, and I like to do things constantly. It would be good if paired witha very active primary, but then Illusions also has several "fire and forget" powers (Phantom Army, Phantasm, invisibilities...). Furthermore, I already have one controller with psi damage...

Regarding the other combos... I just noticed that Earth seems to be nearly the same than Ice with different secondary effects and type of damage:

Fossilize = Block of Ice
Stone Prison = Chillblain
Stone Cages = Frostbite
Quicksand = Shiver (patch vs. cone)
Salt Crystals = Flash Freeze (PBAoE vs Targeted AoE)
Earthquake = Ice Slick
Volcanic Glasses = Glacier (Location AoE vs. PBAoE)
Stalagmites != Arctic Air <=== difference
Animated Stone = Jack Frost

For what I have read, it seems that Jack Frost is better than Animated stone. Cold damage is less resisted than smashing damage. Reduced recharge (on enemies) is better than reduced defense (offers more protection)... so it seems that Ice is better than Earth in all respects.

The only thing I do not know about these two is: animations, which are cooler? (no pun intended).
Also, Stalagmites being a Disorient would stack nicely with Thunder clap from Storm Summoning, but I do not know if this synergy alone makes Earth better pairing than Ice...

Need some serious advice to help me decide here...


 

Posted

Earth/Storm is a control powerhouse and synergizes perfectly.

On paper Earth and Ice look very similar but plays quite differently. As you pointed out yourself the main difference is Stalagmites vs. Arctic Air and this is a BIG difference. Stalagmites recharges fast and coupled with Stone Cages you effectively got another AoE hold (stun).

Earth/Storm is a tight build and one of the absolute skippable powers is Thunder Clap as it only stuns minions and you need to be in melee to use it. The ranged Stalagmites is vastly superior.

About animations. Nothing imo really compares to Earth when you spam you powers on large mobs like DE in small quarters


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CRACK68:
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Posted

[ QUOTE ]
(...) Stalagmites recharges fast and coupled with Stone Cages you effectively got another AoE hold (stun).

Earth/Storm is a tight build and one of the absolute skippable powers is Thunder Clap as it only stuns minions and you need to be in melee to use it. The ranged Stalagmites is vastly superior.


[/ QUOTE ]

But... but... I precisely was thinking on chosing Earth and not Ice TO STACK Stalagmites with Thunder Clap and be able to Stun Bosses! And you tell me to skip it...

On the other hand, Arctic Air seems to offer some nice benefits, too. I am still more confused (and mesmerized).


 

Posted

Believe me...you'll have PLENTY of other options to deal with bosses. Only thing Thunder Clap has going for it is the awesome animation.

Arctic Air looks good on paper but really isnt worthwhile in PvE.

Both combos are good and fun...but nothing really compares to Earth/Storm imo


SingStar:
"Extremists LOVE to fish to get us annoyed so we break the forum rules."
CRACK68:
"The origin of life wasn't planned either, should all life be declared a bug and wiped out?"
Lionsbane:
"You know me.Ever the realist"

 

Posted

Artic Air can be 6 slotted with procs...


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Posted

Ice/Sonics seems like a decent fit to me (at least on paper). Mainly for the new Jack melee biased AI combined with the sonic shields and the ally targetted -resist debuff.

Grav/TA has good synergy at higher levels. Takes a while to get there though. Nothing like a immobilised bunch of enemies stuck falling over on a burning oil slick while you throw debuffs at them.


 

Posted

I am still trying to decide between Earth/Storm and Ice/Storm...
I imagine Stamina is required for both, though.
Please, please please, I would like to have more oppinions regarding which is the best to go with /Storm, Ice/ or Earth/.

Thanks!


 

Posted

Earth, without a doubt IMO.

Scary combos available there


 

Posted

Both have good synergies and will work fine. The main resaon to take Ice would be for stacking slows and -rechg (along with Snow Storm and Freezing Rain). An Ice/Storm will basically slow everything to a crawl. In addition, Jack does a bit more damage although Mr Poo is good for tanking/alphas. On the other hand, VG is better than Glacier, and Earth allows you to stack 2 AoE stuns if you take Thunder Clap (although as Archy said, it's not that great on its own). In terms of secondary effects, Earth gives some nice -def and -tht which can be useful as well as -fly. Both sets have -kback in their AoE immobs which is handy for Tornado/LS, but can interfere with Ice Slick / EQ.

Edit: and Arctic Air is good, don't listen to Archy...


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>

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Earth, without a doubt IMO.


[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, I'll choose Earth.
But if at level 32 I find that the walking rock pet whatshisname is VERY inferior to Jack Frost… I will go to your house and... and... slap you with a glove!… TWICE!

I do not know if I will be able to ascertain said inferiority, however, as I have never had a Jack Frost...


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Artic Air can be 6 slotted with procs...

[/ QUOTE ]

True...and then you'll run out of endurance faster than Okton can say "I'm a n00b!"

Dmg procs in PBAoEs really isnt that great. Looks good on paper but doesnt work too well in actual play. If you want agood dmg PBAoE...roll a fire controller.


SingStar:
"Extremists LOVE to fish to get us annoyed so we break the forum rules."
CRACK68:
"The origin of life wasn't planned either, should all life be declared a bug and wiped out?"
Lionsbane:
"You know me.Ever the realist"

 

Posted

Animated Stone is certainly tougher than Jack Frost but doesn't cycle his attacks as well. At least he actually closes to melee these days rather than hanging back and throwing a rock at a corpse every minute or so...


Octavian Vanguard
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Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Artic Air can be 6 slotted with procs...

[/ QUOTE ]

True...and then you'll run out of endurance faster than Okton can say "I'm a n00b!"

Dmg procs in PBAoEs really isnt that great. Looks good on paper but doesnt work too well in actual play. If you want agood dmg PBAoE...roll a fire controller.

[/ QUOTE ]

Whs said damage procs? try it with Chain Confusion. Yeah, in reality I wouldn't slot more than 4 procs.

I prefer Ice to Stone because with the stone hold graphics you can't see what's happening.

the stone pet is tougher, and will tank for you. the ice pet is more vicious and will kill for you.


I really should do something about this signature.

 

Posted

Earth all the way. Mobs cant move when my earth/storm starts cycling attacks. :]


 

Posted

Hey,

Can't help you with the Earth or Ice / Storm debate, as I only have one toon, and that's a Grav/Kin.

You said at the beginning you have one of these and I would like to suggest not giving up on it. For my first toon in this game I have found it adequate for all I've needed of it.

Kinetics means you are always, always busy in a team. There is some lovely satisfaction when the group is hugged well, to see first of all, the green bars all flash to full with a transference; a second later all the blue bars flash to full with a transfusion. There's also Fulcrum to be doing near every pack, speedboosts, and density's. And this is to be fitted around your Gravity controlling, in my eyes, the neatest of holds (floating gently in the air without great obscuring graphics).

If there's no other healer/defender around, then you'll be very busy trying to keep folk alive with transfusion, but it is possible as it is such an awesome heal. Just make sure it's well slotted for accur, rech and heal.

If you want a bit more damage, propel is a nice power, although I've not bothered myself, as I've taken the blow to my soloing to make my team contribution a bit better. I don't pvp either.

Oh.. and Grav's pet (singularity) is awesome )

Happy Playing.


 

Posted

I love love LOVE my grav/storm troller. With storm, there's always something to be done (whether it's a debuff - so many to choose from - or tank (with herdicane - esp if teamed with an emp/sonic for CM/Clarity - or even throw the odd heal [O2 boost can be very useful]). Grav, IMO, is a very fun set to play too. For a start IIRC, it's got the only AoE immob that DOESN'T affect powers such as ice slick (so crushing field combined with an ice's ice slick holds them in place plus has the knockdown feature - any other AoE immob negates ice slick), it's got an awesome pet (singy spams holds like there's no tomorrow) and has a high damage ranged attack (albeit rather slow). Also there's an array of stuns at your disposal. Start off you've got wormhole (aoe TP plus it stuns) then there's thunder clap (meh, it's not bad - OK for using when wormhole's stun is going to wear off), there's tornado (wicked mini-pet, especially when soloing as he doesn't need accuracy checks) and lastly lightning storm. And finally, as Otkon said above re: ice, grav too has great slows. The immobs and the hold both slow (even if the bad guy has resistance to hold/immob - say for example a boss which requires 2 applications of a hold, or a warwolf which is resistant to immobs, even if they resist them, the slows still work). Combined with Storm's snow storm (even freezing rain too) then you've got them at slow speed cap.

My grav/storm has been soloing +3 carnies without even breaking a sweat. She rocks in PvP (although I see that you don't PvP - but if you ever did, it'd be a great combo to break in with).

Just something else to throw into the mix and think about


 

Posted

The Grav/Kin is worth sticking with for sure. Grav/Storm and Grav/TA also are great fun, but seeing as you have the grav/kin why not stick with it?

The only thing with that toon will be it gets powerful later than most (/rad say), wormhole comes at 26, before you get wormhole crushing field is of questionable use really... and of course controller kinetics isn't really much use until 39 when you can get some slots into fulcrum shift.

Personally I ditched propel in the 40s and took earth epic pool to up the damage, the foot stomp stacks well with wormhole for bosses, and hurl boulder does TONS of damage after FS (with an activation time even longer than propel heh).

Like Wondergran I also ruthlessly picked on carnies, especially post 45, by then you'll have all the tools to make them a total walkover.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
...crushing field is of questionable use really...


[/ QUOTE ]

I used to think that (used it purely to get containment on an entire mob)... until I found the wonders of procs! Now my crushing field is slotted with Trap of the hunter (chance for lethal damage), Impeded swiftness (chance for smashing damage), Posi's blast (chance for energy damage) and Pacing of the turtle (chance for slow). That's THREE damage procs that have a chance to hit EACH mob member (sometimes you see just piffly 2s and 3s appear when you hit - but almost every time, there's at least 2 or 3 big numbers that appear above the bad guys' heads, indicating that my procs are working). So it can be great to deal a huge amount of damage (if you work on the DPS principle) for relatively little endurance cost. It's been known for my troller to take out a +2 minion purely with crushing field and then propel (if all 3 damage procs hit - then instant containment for double-damage on propel).

It's just something to think about - and when you hit lv 50 you can also whack a Gravitational anchor in there (chance for hold) - and you've got a pretty good chance of holding some of the mob too.


 

Posted

earth/storm is a control powerhouse, mainly thanks to stalagmites and volganic gasses, which ticks holds, rather than just 1 tick of hold like glacier, meaning you'll hold bosses easily. In teams you'll be one of the "strongest" chars in your team. Imo nothing can beat the lockdown capability of earth/storm.

However, as said it got some downsides. First of all, its a pretty defensive set. In a way it doesnt deal much damage. Meaning that if you want to solo, this aint the toon for you. Its ace in teams, but lacking alot solo. Though i suppose it'll pick up a bit after your epics and containment. Even though it has been decreased in power.

The other one like PRAF said is the animation. No doubt the animations look cool, and you actually FEEL you got em in complete control. However the shiny graphics can overwhelm your screen easily and especially in small maps you sometime might lose track where youre going. Suppose its a double-edged sword


"god, how many devs did hami have to sleep with to get ED?"

Total Cat @Stagefright

 

Posted

I have begun playing with my Earth/Storm controller and... it is VERY FUN!
Also, I found that I help my team a lot with damage... yes, yes, with damage.
At low levels, a lot of attacks (roughly 25%) don't hit the baddies due to unslotted or poorly slotted (TOs) accuracy, but when I lay Quicksand and Stone Cages, everybody in the team hits all the baddies, even if they are +2s.
I am only level 9 at the moment, but I think this controller will ding 50 in the future...

Thanks for asll the advice!


 

Posted

yeah, you'll greatly improve the damage capabilities of your team, you just wont deal damage yourself that much
I suppose earth/storm is as "pure" a controller you can get lol


"god, how many devs did hami have to sleep with to get ED?"

Total Cat @Stagefright

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
I have begun playing with my Earth/Storm controller and... it is VERY FUN!
Also, I found that I help my team a lot with damage... yes, yes, with damage.
At low levels, a lot of attacks (roughly 25%) don't hit the baddies due to unslotted or poorly slotted (TOs) accuracy, but when I lay Quicksand and Stone Cages, everybody in the team hits all the baddies, even if they are +2s.
I am only level 9 at the moment, but I think this controller will ding 50 in the future...

Thanks for asll the advice!

[/ QUOTE ]
Does this mean I'm avoiding the glove slapping?

Excellent.

Just wait until you get all the fun powers in the teens. Stalagmites, Volcanic Gasses and Freezing Rain. Mmmmm.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Imo nothing can beat the lockdown capability of earth/storm.

[/ QUOTE ]

i prefer earth/rad for out and out control.