Before Local Man shows up and answers this definitively, I'll throw in my 2 cents.
It really depends what you want to do. Ill/Rad is prolly the more popular, and more useful. Lots of great powers that can turn mediocre teams into great teams.
Ill/Storm is a whole other beast. It's like trying to bareback ride a rabid lion. If you are fairly new to controllers I would not recommend it, however, if you've played controllers for a while, the wild chaos can be VERY VERY fun. It's probably the controller combo with the least "control" but it still can be extremely powerful in the right hands.
What was it about /therm that turned you off?
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My first controller, which I love, is an ill/storm. Bone's comment about chaos is right. Storm doesn't have a lot of really wonderful powers, but what it has are good in the right situation. I'm not slapping a "situational" label on the powers, but I don't use Hurricane [Herdicane] that much. Teams appreciate when I block hallways with it, or cram six Rikti into a corner.
Storm gives you another pet, Tornado. "You guy let me know if Tornado is helping or bugging you, K?" I don't have it as a keybind, but I say it alot.
Illusion is sweet though.
My alpha is Phantom Army, [pause to get enemies on them], Spectral Terror, Freezing Rain. Now, Tornado works against Spec Terror. And Phantasm is always around looking creepy and blocking my view [can't see cursor through him].
Local should show up and spaz about ill/rad now. Go see his guide, which is great.
I have an Ill/Storm, but I've played */Rad and Rad/*. In terms of fun, I'd go with Ill/Storm.
Rad is powerful, but can take some set up time with the debuff toggles. At the high level game where teams have damage galore, I find that I don't get to use them often for run of the mill spawn groups. Especially, when things go bad.
However, Storm has a lot of "tools" for a lot of situations and is especially good when things go bad. It's very satisfying to say "and screw you too!", summon everything, then run around with Hurricane and Gale'ing.
Teams are the number one killer of soloists.
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Just didn't feel like I had a lot of control, it's more of a heal/buff set which is something I try and avoid, just not the way I like to play the game, I'm more of an offensive player, I like to be in the center of the battle, always have control, dealing the damage.. things like that.
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Originally Posted by MaHaBone23
What was it about /therm that turned you off?
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This is a good, and amusing, answer. I have both at level 50. And I really like them both.|
Originally Posted by MaHaBone23
Before Local Man shows up and answers this definitively, I'll throw in my 2 cents.
It really depends what you want to do. Ill/Rad is prolly the more popular, and more useful. Lots of great powers that can turn mediocre teams into great teams. Ill/Storm is a whole other beast. It's like trying to bareback ride a rabid lion. If you are fairly new to controllers I would not recommend it, however, if you've played controllers for a while, the wild chaos can be VERY VERY fun. It's probably the controller combo with the least "control" but it still can be extremely powerful in the right hands. What was it about /therm that turned you off? |
Ill/Rad is, in my opinion, the most flexible build in the game. Works great solo, small team or large team. It adds to any team, regardless of the make up of the team. You won't solo the fastest, but you can solo at a decent pace with not much danger. You can be the key player on a small team, providing whatever the team is lacking. You can contribute in many different ways to a large team, adding damage, control, buffing endurance and speed, healing, stealthing, etc. The only team buffs are AoE (the AoE heal and Accelerate Metabolism -- not counting the rez, Mutation), so you don't feel like a buff-bot. My guide sets forth the benefits, so I don't need to repeat it here.
If you are new to controllers, an Ill/Rad is pretty easy to play, and yet complex enough to use some advanced strategies for maximizing your effectiveness for an experienced player. Casual Players can have a lot of fun with an Ill/Rad since there are several "set it and forget it" type powers. Power players can maximize the build to get Perma-PA with the goal of being able to solo AVs. Leveling up an Ill/Rad is also less frustrating than many controllers because you get many of the better powers early, but still have very good powers coming late.
On the other hand, Ill/Storm is a lot of fun, with lots of flashy powers from the Storm Secondary. The best part, as well as the biggest problem, is the chaos. Without any kind of -knockback power, a badly played Ill/Storm can frustrate a team to no end by sending the foes flying every which way, angering the Melee players and aggroing more and more foes. On a large team, an Ill/Storm needs to substantially limit his/her use of many of the Storm powers to limit the knockback. Solo and on some small teams, this is less of a problem.
Ill/Storm has no self-heal, so you need to take that into account. This, combined with the chaotic nature of the Storm powers, makes Ill/Storm better for a more experienced player. You have to learn how to limit the aggro directed toward you to avoid frequent faceplants. Storm does not have a debuff to Regen, so it is not an ideal AV killer. Storm is also very tough on Endurance and has no endurance recovery powers.
On the other hand, Ill/Storm can be a heck of a lot of fun to play. The storm power mix with the Illusion powers well, mainly thanks to the debuffs in Freezing Rain and the several pets that do damage. A solo Ill/Storm can throw out 3 Phantom Army guys, 1 Phantasm with his Decoy, plus a couple of Tornados and Lightning Storms if he/she has enough recharge. Nine pets running around doing damage while the Controller stands in the middle of the chaos and cackles in delight. Using the Storm powers well takes strategy and practice, but is lots of fun when you work it out.
One big advantage of Storm is the added damage from the later storm powers, Tornado and Lightning Storm. Rad has a very situational damage power in Fallout, and Trick Arrow has a slow-to-recharge and slightly fickle damage power in Oil Slick Arrow, but Storm provides the most damage from the secondary.
The bottom line is that both are really fun characters. Ill/Rad is more all purpose, while Ill/Storm is more crazy. Ill/Storm's weaknesses are easily offset by the fun factor.
LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
Thank you for the replies, I decided to go Ill/Rad.
Out of curiosity, with an ill/kin, would some of the speed, etc, buffs work on Phantasm or the PA?
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Phantom Army cannot be buffed. This is why Ill/Rad and Ill/Storm are so popular -- the debuffs on foes work like buffs on PA. All those nice buff powers in Kinetics will not affect Phantom Army.|
Originally Posted by Postagulous
Out of curiosity, with an ill/kin, would some of the speed, etc, buffs work on Phantasm or the PA?
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Phantasm can be hit with Speed Boost, but it only speeds up his travel, not his recharge. I guess it boosts his Recovery, but I've never noticed his endurance being a problem. Increase Density can be used to break Phanty from mez, but he really doesn't get mezzed all that often thanks to his decoy. Siphon Power and Fulcrum Shift will buff Phanty's damage, but it is sometimes hard to get him in range, since he tends to knock any foes back. Siphon Power works OK, but the danger of Phanty knocking back your target for Fulcrum Shift and the other siphon powers where you have to be close to the target (Transfusion and Transference) causes some Ill/Kins to not even use Phantasm.
These are two of the several synergy problems with Ill/Kin.
LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
I have a 50 of each. My Ill/Rad is retired. I love the sheer hell I can bring forward with Ill/Storm (fire for my epic). Properly IO'ed Phantom Army is only down about 5 seconds even without Accelerate Metaoblism to call upon. I solo set to +3 and +8 and don't break a sweat.
My 50's
Prickly Darkness - Spines Dark
Flame of Enforcement - Fire/Fire Blaster
Lady Vahalla - Illusion/Storm
(plus 27 others)
I want to make a new controller, and I've played just about every primary except for Mind Control, I had a Ill/Therm but it just wasn't what i was looking for, I like Illusion Control though and wanted to try it again. after looking over the forums, both /storm, and /rad seemed to be the key choices to pair with Ill/. So I was wondering which one is better?