Choosing a Controller Build, V2

Choosing the Controller
That's Right For You, V2!

I. INTRODUCTION
II. UNCHOOSING
	a. Everything is fun!
	b. Other ATs
III. BROAD GENERALIZATIONS
IV. CHOOSING YOUR PRIMARY
	a. Common Denominators
	b. Primary distinctions
		i.   Gravity
		ii.  Earth
		iii. Ice
		iv.  Fire
		v.   Plant
		vi.  Illusion
		vii. Mind
	c. Unique Powers
V. CHOOSING YOUR SECONDARY
	a. Basic Functions
	b. Secondary distinctions
		i.   Empathy
		ii.  Kinetics
		iii. Sonic
		iv.  Radiation
		v.   Thermal
		vi.  Storm
		vii. Trick Arrow
		iix. Forcefield
VI. COMBINATION SYNERGY
	a. Mitigation and Aggression
	b. AoE Damage
	c. Solo Function
	d. Small Team Function
	e. Long Recharge Hard AOE Controls
	f. AoE Stun
	g. Holds
	h. Positional Synergy
	i. Positioning Ability
	j. Aggro Extremes
	k. Pet Buffability
	l. Teammate Savoir-Faire
	m. Bugs!
	n. Knock*
Appendix A: Terminology
Appendix B: My Experience

CHOOSING YOUR PRIMARY
The controller primaries control the enemy, changing his behavior and generally keeping him from hurting you and your allies. Plus, they do a modest amount of damage. Additionally, each set has specialties and secondary effects. This section details what control sets do generally, what distinguishes each set, and breifly discusses the unique powers.

WARNING: Jargon Ahead. Please see Appendix A: Terminology.


Common Denominators

All the control sets have three things: A single target hold, a long-recharge AOE Hold, and an AoE Aggro Management tool (usually a sleep).

Nearly every set has a Pet.

Most sets have a Single Target and an AoE Immobilize.

A few sets have AoE Disorients on a fairly fast recharge.


PRIMARY DISTINCTIONS

Gravity Control
Secondary effects include movement slow. Damage type smashing. AoE Stun with foe teleport built in. Has an AoE intang rather than a sleep for aggro management tool. It also has Propel and Lift, a pair of single-target damage + knockback tools.

Earth Control
Secondary effects include defense debuff. Damage is mostly smashing. AoE Hold is actually a cascading pseudopet that throws small area holds. AoE Stun, pulsing knockdown field, Quicksand.

Ice Control
Secondary effects include move slow. Damage type is cold. Pulsing Knockdown Field. Arctic Air. Shiver.

Fire Control
Secondary effects include extra damage. Damage type is Fire. Has an AoE -Per rather than sleep for aggro management tool. Hotfeet. Bonfire.

Plant Control
Secondary effects include extra damage. Damage is smashing and lethal. Seeds of Confusion, Carrion Creepers, Spirit Tree.

Illusion Control
Lacks ST and AoE Immobs. Damage type mostly Psi. Has a PBAoE ally + invis rather than sleep as aggro management tool. Has a ST damage with healback, ST Confuse, Cone Terrify casting pseudopet. Phantom Army. Superior Invisibility.

Mind Control
Lacks ST And AoE Immobs, lacks Pet. Damage type mostly Psi. ST Dmg + Knock, ST Confuse, Terrify Cone. Mass Confusion, Telekinesis, Mesmerize.

Unique Powers

Quicksand is a placed AoE that reduces movement rate, debuffs defense, and has an afraid effect.

Shiver is a cone -move -recharge.

Arctic Air is a complex PBAoE toggle power with -move -recharge, afraid, intermittent confusion and foe -stealth.

Hotfeet is a small PBAoE power with ticks of damage, -move, and afraid.

Bonfire is a placed AoE that does damage and knockback.

Seeds of Confusion is a fast-recharge cone confuse that causes aggro.

Carrion Creepers is a complex placed AoE power that does some entangles, and an invisible pseudopet that follows you and for its duration summons vines-- stationary pets-- to attack your foes.

Spirit Tree is a placed AoE power that is ally +Regen.

Phantom Army summons 3 mobile pseudopets that draw aggro and do damage, but cannot be damaged.

Superior invisibility is a self +invisible.

Mass Confusion is a long recharge AoE confuse.

Telekinesis is a toggle small-AoE hold with repel.

Mesmerize is a high-mag single-target sleep.



IV. CHOOSING YOUR SECONDARY

Compared with primaries, controller secondaries are much more varied, and have a lot more impact on what your character will be capable of.

They're also a lot harder to neatly compare, as they have few real common denominators. There are by my count roughly 18 basic functions/power types that appear twice or more across the eight sets:

Basic Functions

• AoE Ally Heal: Empathy, Kinetics, Radiation, Thermal
• Single target ally heal: Empathy (x2), Storm, Thermal
• Ally Mez (all) resist buff: Empathy, Sonic, Kinetics, Thermal
• Resurrect: Empathy, Radiation, Thermal
• Ally resistance or defense buff (bubbles): Thermal, Forcefield (x2), Sonic (x2), Empathy (A-)
• Ally recovery or endurance buff: Kinetics (x2, A+), Empathy (x2,A-S+), Radiation (S-)
• Ally damage buff: Radiation, Kinetics (x2), Empathy (A-), Thermal
• Ally reharge buff: Empathy (A-), Kinetics (A+), Radiation (S-)
• Attacking Pseudopets: Storm
• AoE Foe Resistance Debuff: Radiation, Trick Arrow (S-), Storm, Sonic, Thermal (S-)
• ST foe resistance debuff: Sonic, Thermal
• Foe regeneration debuff: Radiation, Kinetics, Thermal
• AoE Foe Slow: Trick Arrow, Radiation
• PBAoE Knockback: Kinetics, Sonic, Forcefield, Storm
• Kitchen Sink Field: Sonic, Storm.
• Foe ST intangibility: Sonic, Forcefield
• Repel: Kinetics, Storm, Sonic, Forcefield
• AoE Hold or Stun: Radiation (x2, S-, A-), Storm (S-), Trick Arrow (A-), Sonic (S-), Forcefield

V. COMBINATION SYNERGY

Herein, I will discuss combinations of these powers from my point of view. This is not a comprehensive review of all possible sets. If combinations you're interested in don't get mentioned, or if you have doubts about what I say, refer to Appendix B when you wonder if I know what I'm talking about. Also, I'm not even sure all these items are really "synergy" so much as "things I've noticed." YMMV.

Mitigation And Aggression
Primaries that are exceptionally good at mitigation, mostly AoE control (Ice and Earth), versus the particularly aggressive (Fire, Illusion, Plant) can be combined with either the sets that are best at defensive de/buffing, controlling, or healing (Empathy, Thermal, Sonic, Forcefield, Trick Arrow) or otherwise (Storm, Kinetics and Radiation).

Decisions to combine good AoE controllers with strong defensive sets should take the following into account:

• Once foes are well controlled, defensive powers from secondaries are largely useless-- and to a lesser extent, vice-versa.
  
• The game is rarely very dangerous in ordinary play; 4 out of 5 archetypes ordinarily bring more defense than they need to play (Blasters would be the exception).
  
• Debt is negligable and often, defeat isn't even a significant nuisance.

• Even the most aggressive controller build brings more than its fair share of defense to a team, whereas
• The usefulness of aggressive powers is much more gradually capped than those of defensive powers.

APPENDIX A: TERMINOLOGY

This section explains some of the terms and abbreviations commonly used to discuss controllers.

AoE: Area of Effect. Except where otherwise noted this means that with this power, you select a foe at range, click the power, and every foe within so many feet of the targeted foe is affected by the power.

Single-target, ST: With this power, you select a foe at range, click the power, and the foe is affected by the power.

PB(AoE): Point Blank. Means that the effect of the power is centered on the person who casts the power.

Anchored: Means an AoE that is centered on something other than the caster, usually a toggle. Foe-anchored effects center on foes. There are even three defeated-ally-anchored powers: Fallout, Vengeance, and Power of the Phoenix.

Cone: An "arc of fire," a power that affects every foe within a certain distance and radius from a centerline between the person using the power and the foe selected when the power is clicked.

Placed: Means that clicking the power gives you a location placement reticle, that you can move around with the mouse cursor to anywhere you can see within a certain range, then click the mouse to select where the power will have effect. In this parlance, placed effects are immobile. Other powers also provide the location placement reticle, e.g., pet summons and powers that teleport others.

Toggle: Powers that persist in an active state, once clicked, as long as you can pay the endurance, someone comes along and uses a power that can turn your toggles off, or you turn it off yourself.

Long Recharge/Fast Recharge: Distinguishes a class of powers that have "cooldown" periods of 240 seconds or more, from those that recharge significantly faster.

Buff/Debuff: Powers that improve the details of allies' fighting ability, or worsen foes'.

Aggro: Situations where foes become aware of yourself or your allies, and begin attacking. Nearly every power that affects foes causes aggro, but a few don't.

Aggro Management tool: A power that can prevent (groups of) foes from attacking your team, but NOT while your team is attacking them.

Pet: An independent mobile object summoned by a power. Usually follows the person who used that power around. Pets do various things, but usually add at least somewhat to damage output, and usually split some aggro off for themselves. Some bring extra control. They're also buffable.

Pseudopet: An independent power summoned by a power. Often but not always immobile and invisible. Often indistinguishable from a(n ordinary) placed power.


Control Type Effects

Here's what various control type effects do to foes:

Hold: Stop attacking, stand still, and drop toggles, for a given length of time.

Confuse: Stop attacking and start buffing your allies, and stop buffing and start attacking your foes. IOW, changes the alliegance of a foe. Ordinarily these do NOT cause aggro.

Disorients/Stun: Stop attacking, meander slowly about, and drop toggles, for a given length of time. The two words mean the same thing, interchangeably.

Intang(ibility): Stop attacking, stand still, and become immune to all attacks, for a given length of time.
Sleep: Stop attacking, stand still, and drop toggles, until he next takes damage, or for a given length of time, whichever comes first.

Terrify: Stop attacking and stand still, except while he's being attacked, for a given length of time.

Afraid: Prefer to move away from an area (the power), for a given length of time.

Immobilize: Stand still. (Also, in most cases, become immune to knockback.)

Move slow: Move more slowly.

Foe teleport: Change foe's position.

Knockback: Moved in line away from person using power, a fixed distance, and momentarily stops attacking while getting up.

Knockup: Knockback that points upwards.

Fractional Knockback aka Knockdown: Falls to ground, momentarily stops attacking while getting up.

Pulsing knockdown field: AoE effects with an ongoing chance to cause knockdown every fraction of a second, for a given length of time.

Repel: Moved in a line away from the person using the power, while the power is on. (Does not cause foe to fall down or otherwise stop him from attacking).

Ally + stealth: Reduces the distance foes are able to see allies, and therefore, distance of aggro.

Foe -Per: Reduces distance able to percieve your allies, and therefore, distance of aggro.

Foe -recharge: Reduces the speed at which powers "cooldown" and become available to use again.

Foe -stealth: Counteracts the reduction in distance a foe is visible due to +stealth powers.

Metaterminology

Slow: A power that has both Move Slow and Foe -Recharge

Mire: A power that has both Move Slow and Afraid.

Hard: Control powers that prevent foes from attacking, even while they're being attacked. Includes stuns, confuses, holds, immobs, Slows and Mires.

Soft: Control powers that only prevent foes from taking actions while they're not actively being attacked-- includes sleeps, Terrifies, and Intangibilities, and by extension, foe -per and even ally +stealth-- although most would not agree with calling an ally buff a soft control.

Total: Powers that, if effective, entirely prevent foes from taking actions against your allies. Includes stuns, confuses, holds, sleeps, Terrifies, and Intangibilities.

Partial: Powers that, if effective, only partially prevent foes from taking actions against your allies. Includes Immobs, Slows, Mires.

Hard Total Control: Stuns, Confuses, Holds
Soft Total Control: Sleeps, Terrifies, and Intangibilities
Hard Partal Control: Immobs, Slows and Mires, pulsing knockdown
Soft Partial Control: NONE

Note that knock* powers are difficult to place in this scheme. They are total controls, in the sense that they completley stop a foe from doing things. But they don't drop toggles, and they are ordinarily very short duration, and when they are pulsing knockdown fields, are probably more accurately described as hard partial controls.



APPENDIX B: MY EXPERIENCE

To give you a gague of my experience, here's the list of controllers I've played to 14+ (at least, the one's I've not deleted, and rarely do I delete anything that makes it to 20):

Fritter: Fire/Storm L50
Dr. Maningzhoue: Mind/Empathy L50
Chigung Princess: Mind/Kin L50
Genesis Factor: Plant/Storm L50
Dandeleona: Plant/Rad L50
Actaeon: Mind/Rad L44
Fre0n: Ice/Rad L39
Orbital Resonance: Gravity/Sonic L38
Dr Phlogiston: Mind/Empathy L29
Mars Atmosphere: Gravity/Storm L21
L'Alchimiste Vert: Plant/Kinetics 20
Captain Oxygen: Fire/Kin L14
Abominable Huntsman: Ice/TA L14

I've been playing since release, and actually got to use confusions back in the day before their XP yeild issue was fixed, and certainly for quite a while before containment and the global defense nerf. There's still a part of me that's an oldschool controller at heart-- safety first! But at the same time, I'm reasonably adaptable, and have had a lot of fun with the high-aggression builds. Concept and effectiveness are my reasons for playing a particular combo. Lack of concept has kept me away from Illusion and Earth, not their effectiveness. Likewise, concepts have kept me in Mind/ builds, not their effectiveness. Meanwhile obviously raw power is what led to me coming up with concepts for many of the builds I've played, especially secondary choices-- Fire, Plant, Kin, Storm, and Rad have always been rewardingly effective, in my experience.

If I had to make final recommendations to somebody looking to play 1-3 controllers in order to experience the AT, I guess this is what I would come up with:

Make sure to play 1 classic power controller: Fire/ or Illusion plus /Kinetics or /Radiation.

Make sure to play 1 splattroller: Fire/ or Plant/ plus /Storm or /Radiation

Make sure to play one of the heavy AoE controllers: Earth/ or Ice/ with pretty much anything. (Take Ice if you've already played Fire.)

Consider playing a more versatile or small-team controller with good defensive buffing stuff, I'm thinking probably /Empathy or /Thermal, probably with Mind/ or something you've not played yet from above.

Fantastic job!

Refreshing guide to say the least.

Very nice guide, indeed! You hit all the key points dead on... make sure you get this linked in the Controller guide to guides!

Very informative guide in respect to why you picked certain powers and decided to play them.

Personally, I like to see the MIDS build behind the toons to get a better feel for how you slotted them and what kind of defense and resistance they are bringing to the table.

Add this to your already nice guide and I'm a happy camper.

Thanks for sharing!

Global Name � @Doom Diva

I just noticed: In "Ally resistance or defense buff (bubbles)", you neglected to mention Kinetics. Increase Density has +smash/energy resist built in, as you stated later on when detailing Kinetics specifically, so it's disclusion from the category is strange.

Excellent, detailed guide, good work.

Thanks for the guide. It has helped in my determinations of which build to pursue.

Great job!

I dont have time to fully read it now, but I will surely do along the day. One quick comment: Seems you forgot Ice Domination as secondary? Is a beast set, with ally +def buffs, aoe stealth, +recovery buffs, and killer debuffs. It may very well compete with Radiation as AV killer