What goes with Illusion Control?

All the guides have disappeared because of the forum relocation. I'm wanting to do an Illusion Controller, but have no idea what to pair with it. What are the suggestions and why?

My three favorites :

Ill/Rad : Very powerful jack of all trades; someone soloed Lusca with one.

Ill/Storm : Master of chaos control. Spectactular and powerful. Freezing Rain helps Phantom Army hit hard, Tornado juggles anything without -KB, and eats anything that has it.

Ill/TA : Trick Arrow adds controls, and the debuffs make Phantom Army hit harder. Fry enemies with Oil Slick Arrow when Phantom army isn't ready; choose Tech or Magic origin to light it.

Ill/Rad has become somewhat cliched by now, because they just go together so well. As a control set, Illusion doesn't have all that much hard control, so the heavy debuffs in /Rad help provide extra security. Phantom army is awesome but can't be buffed and has a long recharge, so AM gets it back up faster and the debuffs help them hit harder.

Other solid options are /Kin, mostly because Siphon Speed will let you get PA closer to perma; Storm, because you are the ultimate chaos controller and it can add a lot of damage; and TA, for MOAR DEBUFFS!

Hi,

I went for /Rad, here's why;

One of the strongest things in Illusion is Phantom Army, they're ACE . However as they can't be buffed, de-buffing gets alot more out of them. You also want them up as much as possible, so re-charge is king.

Rad gives you both, plenty of de-buff and access to AM to buff re-charge. I've also found that Ill/ shines in small teams / solo. Phantasm, phantom decoy and phantom army are mostly single target, if they can choose from many single targets, they will . Against one strong target (EB, not hit any AVs yet), they will focus fire.

Rad however works well against large spawns, so whilst you don't get aoe damage, you can support aoe damage. The other thing I'd note is the knockback from phantasm. It's fairly random, and I find it annoying enough, I'd hate to have to live with it as a /kin.

Cheers,

Mike.

I hate to be so naive but...maybe i need to roll a ill/rad and see how well they can pair up...can anyone give me a combo example? lol

Illusion goes with anything...

Ill/Rad is probably king, though I really enjoy my Ill/Sonic.

If you look at the end of the Guide to Guides thread, there is a post with fixed links. The front page still needs to be fixed, though.

Take a look at my sig for a very, very comprehensive guide on Illusion/Radiation. And the link is good. Illusion is my favorite primary. So far, I have gone up to 50 with Ill/Rad, Ill/Storm and Ill/TA. I have an Ill/Kin and second Ill/Rad I'm working on, and also an Ill/Therm.

Illusion/Radiation is the classic build for a good reason. Phantom Army is the key power in Illusion, and PA cannot be buffed directly -- the only way to make them hit harder or more often is to use debuffs on the enemy. So, you look for Resistance and Defense debuffs. Also, you want PA to be available as much as possible, so boosting your recharge is essential. Radiation is the ONLY secondary with a Recharge boost, a Resistance debuff and a Defense debuff.

Ill/Rad is a great all-purpose build -- I think it is the best all-purpose build in the game. It works great solo, on small teams or on big teams. An Ill/Rad is always welcome on a team, and can always contribute substantially. You might make small changes to the build for solo play, but geneally your playstyle will be the same no matter what the situation. Also, it is pretty easy to play well, yet gives you tools to use a lot of strategy. Also, Ill/Rad is not a late-developing build -- You don't have to wait for level 35 or 38 to get your best powers.

Ill/Storm comes in pretty close. Storm has so many fun and flashy powers, with nice added damage powers at the end. Storm's Freezing Rain provides a substantial AoE Resistance and Defense Debuff. Storm does NOT have a Recharge boost, and the two damage powers come late in the build. The big complaint about Ill/Storm is that it can be very chaotic -- especially on large teams, you either have to choose not to use several of your Storm powers, or you will probably get the team ticked off with you. Ill/Storm is great solo and small team, however.

Illusion/Trick Arrow would be my next recommendation, although Ill/Therm is also a pretty good. Both have good debuffs but no Recharge buff. My ill/TA had a fully ranged style -- send in PA, then stand back and shoot arrows. Worked well solo and teamed. A lack of a heal caused me to give up a couple of APP powers to fit in the Medicine pool.

Ill/Therm gets its debuffs late, and is more of a team support build. Heals and Resistance Shields help the team, but not Phantom Army.

Illusion/Kinetics seems like it should be good, as both Illusion and Kinetics are great powersets. But there are some synergy problems. One of the big ones is Phantasm's knockback has a tendency to knockback your target for siphon powers. Kinetics has a Recharge buff whenever you have a foe to siphon off of, but no debuff powers to make PA better (Fulcrum Shift does not affect PA). And, of course, Kinetics get two of its best powers at 35 and 38.

Ill/Sonic can provide a Resistance debuff, but no Defense debuff or Recharge. However, you can anchor one of the Resistance debuffs on Phantom Army, which is kind of cool. Ill/Emp has long been seen as a good battlefield healer, but has no debuffs or Recharge. Ill/FF has nothing for Phantom Army either. These are all team-oriented builds.

Illusion goes well with ANY secondary, even if some combos work better than others. Kind of like how Radiation goes with any primary. Of course, these are my opinions -- others love their combos and have good reasons for doing so.

Local Man covered most of it. My 50 is Ill/Storm and I love playing that character. It is chaotic depending on the skills you use. Harder to play then Ill/Rad, but more rewarding when I do it well. To me, /rad is doing the same thing over and over and I like that storm offers a wide variety of skills for different situations. I have almost everything in it. Some teams/maps you may not use a lot of it though, others you'll use everything. It is a lot of fun solo, at least more so then rad IMHO. I'm not a huge fan of TA, but I think Illusion is one of the primaries it goes better with as they have some skills that fill in holes. Just make sure you pick an origin to light the oil slick.

I'll second his opinion on /kin too. I see a lot of people play them, but there isn't good synergy there. I'd save it for a different primary.

I'm looking at Illusion/Sonic is there a guide. I've never done Sonic and I think I could figure out a back story. Is there a guide so I can see how it plays as it gets bigger.

I really really really love my latest 50 Illusion/Trick Arrow gal. This was my first exposure to playing TA, and it melds wonderfully with Illusion.

I have both an Ill/Rad and an Ill/Storm at 50. The Ill/Rad was actually my first 50.

For me, Illusion and Storm paired together is literally the most fun character I have played. Always something to do. WAY more FUN than the Ill/Rad combo. As someone posted, Ill/Rad gets really repetitive.

But, as always, play what's fun for you!

Illusion: best controller primary.

Radiation: best controller secondary.

The rest is a no-brainer.

I have an Illusion/Storm at level 50, and he is tied as my favorite character in COH (tied with my Earth/Storm controller). However, Illusion/Sonic is decent too. I have one around level 44-45 or so, I believe. I havent played her in a while.

Its a decent combo, in the sense that any Illusion combo is decent (tho Illusion/Kin is awkward). I enjoy Illusion/Empathy, Illusion/Rad, and Illusion/Storm more (the other combos I've played to high levels).

I'm not sure if there is a guide.

Here is a sample build. I put in cheap sets, but I tried to slot it in an order where SOs and generic IOs would at least be functional. Power Boost (BTW) doesnt work on Sonic Shields, or it used to not do so. I just took it for the heck of it, in this build. It isnt even the epic I picked on my character (I went psi). Oh, also, yes you can cast Disruption Field on the Phantom Army, or you used to be able to. That is a nice ability to have.

Lewis

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Sonic Resonance
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Ancillary Pool: Primal Forces Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Blind -- EoCur-Acc/Hold/Rchg(A), G'Wdw-Acc/Hold/Rchg(3), Lock-Acc/Hold(3), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(7), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(7), Ruin-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(11)
Level 1: Sonic Siphon -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(36), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 2: Spectral Wounds -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Dev'n-Hold%(11)
Level 4: Deceive -- Pplx-Acc/Rchg(A), Pplx-EndRdx/Conf(13), Pplx-Acc/Conf/Rchg(13), Pplx-Rchg/Conf(34), Pplx-Acc/EndRdx(34), Mlais-Acc/Conf/Rchg(36)
Level 6: Sonic Barrier -- EndRdx-I(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(15), ResDam-I(31), ResDam-I(37)
Level 8: Sonic Haven -- EndRdx-I(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(15), ResDam-I(34), ResDam-I(37)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 12: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 14: Super Speed -- QckFt-EndRdx/RunSpd(A)
Level 16: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(19), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), Dmg-I(21), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(23), EndMod-I(25)
Level 22: Sonic Dispersion -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(25), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(27), EndRdx-I(27), EndRdx-I(37)
Level 24: Disruption Field -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(31)
Level 26: Spectral Terror -- Abys-Acc/Rchg(A), Abys-EndRdx/Fear(40), Abys-Acc/EndRdx(43), Abys-Fear/Rng(46), Abys-Acc/Fear/Rchg(50)
Level 28: Hover -- Flight-I(A), Srng-Fly(29), Srng-EndRdx/Fly(29)
Level 30: Superior Invisibility -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(31)
Level 32: Phantasm -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg(A), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), SvgnRt-Acc/Dmg(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(33)
Level 35: Clarity -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 38: Flash -- Para-Acc/Hold/Rchg(A), NrncSD-Acc/Hold/Rchg(39), EoCur-Acc/Hold/Rchg(39), G'Wdw-Acc/Hold/Rchg(39), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(40), Lock-%Hold(40)
Level 41: Liquefy -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg(42), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(42), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(42), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(43), DampS-Rchg/EndRdx(43)
Level 44: Power Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Dev'n-Hold%(46)
Level 47: Temp Invulnerability -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(48), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(48), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(48)
Level 49: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50), RechRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Containment



| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|MxDz;1418;693;1386;HEX;|
|78DAA593594F135114C7EF74A1748152D94BCBD64259DAD2B EB93C9808929048D28|
|87109486DEB00938C33A4331879F303F8EA2311308AEF262A FA118C7E01D767228A|
|261AE4A59EE5B6D0679BF4FF9B7BEEFF9C9973E7CCECBDA98 010F7CF0BA565522F5|
|8567ED234ECB2A9EB6AD93D5B58D64AC22384881D47AB86F4 8CAEAF599A69540391|
|139E0B6B4B4BE939D3D04AF929B5088BD08CB1A29655C34E5 72F7C39138ACCADAAE|
|AED005D4E6BB6A15A969F17BAB6BC6287E87AC6B8AB595A51 D3357B3D7C71552BA5|
|7365ED4E41CF4F9BE5926AE5670B96AD96D7BBE03947E1BFA 908F9ABB8C5322CB2C|
|2A1337E3B100D878CBF04DF437026C4B5E32C87080BDC8949 8C131E81419165950D|
|0AB936195B84C66DC60EC1F78CB005294E99E5FC464F11D86 71C10067E32BE13627|
|F08D741DD9CE5740F50A1E631DAE94DD22ACEB801318FF479 EA7C0375BE41307965|
|735E6EA7A50E0D60F0537715E11FE1B621D4C439A2A9818EC A03A1A07405E3E47A0|
|2CB90EC2FF4835CA70E18BF086D5F0151D116257B07DFAE11 0AB57221476B3FEF30|
|BA180BB0D9CE655DEDDC431723CCFD85B9DB38631E629D6C5 73A39D4CB780A3BDDB|
|250F7074A4D7C248C7D22A43E13B25F085E78B01E79503D31 AA1039A49DC811E1B1|
|82DDF09DA27577DA819D3EF92EFAF628D4BFCF3890A003590 4DFA03CD7414EDD86D|
|0903CC4A179BAC3F02D06CFEF30CF6F8227367144C8436C44 668DBCA0D0E84BC62B|
|C62E61EC35E339E12D4CE3B8CC1AE7314EF21827798C933CC 6291EE3148FF13BC84|
|AF30B73A6F90D4C6418BD0A7E3E1371C27BF065E4F965F85D 67EB1071D53E33213F|
|B34B2743290AE55CB56F4D289C183D76FDD76F3750ADE3BDE C03BD829243B98AB28|
|072136511A580524429A154DED4B283A7F181CEA09C453987 F2004D1E3F881F2580|
|D284D28C124469416945E94009A36CA054FE01B1A3022B|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

I have an Ill/Kin in the high 40's and I find it a good combination. I'll admit that I chose my Illusion as it doesn't require micro-managing and therefore made a good match for Kinetics. I've seen too many people taking a high-maintenance primary for controllers and adding Kinetics - it's very hard to keep on buffing the entire team with SB & ID and keep up your primary mezzes/controls as well.

So I'm quite happy with Ill/Kin and it does indeed kick butt very nicely. YMMV of course.