Learn to juggle.
A Blaster's most effective focussing on one target till they're down, then the next. A Controller does the opposite - mez one target, then switch, mez another and keep each one occupied by refreshing your controls.
For a Mind Controller, its good to know that Confuse lasts much longer than Dominate - once a target is confused leave them alone to contribute damage.
Mesmerise has an insanely long duration, assuming the slept target doesnt get woken up. You can ever use Rest to top your end back up if you need to in front of a freshly slept target.
Use Containment.
If you're solo-ing (and Mind/Rad is good at this from early on), then Levitate is your highest damage attack. Use Dominate or Mesmerise first to double its damage.
Use Confuse on Bosses
Confuse doesn't draw aggro. This and its long duration, mean you can stack it on bosses from level 6 onwards if you sneak up on them.
Watch your endurance
Controllers have very poor damage per endurance. With controls and a self heal, you wont die often, but you will find yourself gasping for breath early on. Accelerate Metabolism will ease this while its up, of course. Your control powers have base accuracy bonuses of 10 to 20% so slot end redux over accuracy for your training enhancements.
They were my top 4 when I made the jump from Blaster to Controller.
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Yes, I have a good piece of advice for you.|
Originally Posted by DSlice
Ive been playing CoX for just over a year and im making my 3rd attempt at playing a controller. I've basically played only blasters and am looking for a change of pace. My friend plays only controllers and gave me a basic rundown of all the primaries. Today I made a mind/radiation controller. Any tips/advice for someone that is used to just throwing pew pew at everything?
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If your used to Blasters, it would be better to move to a Defender, or a Corruptor, before trying to do a complete 360 and logging in a Controller.
Main reason why I say this, is because a Controller does far less damage in the same situations as any Blaster can do.That, and the fact that not knowing how to use full containment, may prove hazzardous to your self, and others in a team setting.
Iv heard alot of people make statements like "im not used to this Scrapper yet, im used to my Tanks.", while they are face first laying on the ground, and someone else asks if they need a "Wakie".
You get more of a Blasterish feel on a Defender, and many Defenders can do a very good Containment job, or grouping job like a Controller can, they just lack pets, unless you pick Dark Miasma primary for a Defender, which I would suggjest for you.
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Originally Posted by DrMike2000
Use Confuse on Bosses Confuse doesn't draw aggro. This and its long duration, mean you can stack it on bosses from level 6 onwards if you sneak up on them. |
I wanted to make one small commentary on this post before addressing the general thread topic:
XP loss due to confuse isn't a big deal, provided you do your share of the damage. However, confusing bosses often means they one shot their buddies, leaving you with nothing gained on that kill. The general advice, and one I agree with, is to not confuse bosses and instead layer holds or sleeps on them. Sleeps work well on bosses at an early level as well, and allows you to use confuse on Lts who wont one shot their buddies and often have useful tools they will use on you instead! After you've eliminated everything else, then you can come back for the boss.
Going from Blaster to Mind Control is either really easy or a somewhat difficult transition.
Easy: A mind controller, especially early on, can play a lot like a Blaster. Mesmerize, Dominate, and Lift provides an early ST attack chain and you'll likely slot them early on as attacks. A lot of people, very successfully, play a Mind Controller almost like a BlasTroller using the various AOE powers in rotation and the ST abilities as blasts.
Difficult: You may not fully commit to what makes a Controller different from a Blaster if you use Mind Control as it is a very different kind of controller than most. It has no pet and very little to consistently set up containment with. Terrify is often slotted not as a mez, but as your AOE attack. You can quickly gain the feeling that you aren't playing so much a controller but something that feels like a gimpy blaster.
What makes a Mind Controller fun?
1) Stacking effects. Look at the powers: 2 holds (+telekinesis), 2 confuses, 2 sleeps. Entire spawns of bosses can be locked down by Mind controllers where they could give other controllers some serious difficulties.
2) Good damage. Where most controllers must wait till 32 to start really feeling they do damage, mind controllers can come right out of the gate feeling they are contributing in this regard.
3) Endless tactical options. In the end, what separates controllers from some of the other ATs is an extreme case of versatility. Controllers deal in situations, not optimum attack chains. You'll rarely find a controller pressing 1,2,3 in an endless loop. Few primaries offer the array of available options that mind control does.
4) It goes with just about everything. My personal favorite pairing is Mind/TA, but it really works well with any secondary.
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I am currently playing a Mind/Rad as well, so rather than give half-baked advice, I recommend looking at the guides section and scroll down the mind guides to one called "building a WarTroller". This guide may be a bit out dated, but you may get some pretty good ideas on how to synergize the two powersets.|
Originally Posted by DSlice
Ive been playing CoX for just over a year and im making my 3rd attempt at playing a controller. I've basically played only blasters and am looking for a change of pace. My friend plays only controllers and gave me a basic rundown of all the primaries. Today I made a mind/radiation controller. Any tips/advice for someone that is used to just throwing pew pew at everything?
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If you were building for "pure damage" I might suggest a Mind-Kin over a Mind-Rad, or a Mind-FF for a more defensive Mind-Blaster. Radiation seems somewhere in the middle between the two combinations. Mass-Hypnosis + Fulcrum Shift + Terrorize + Fireball just seems unfair (to the Villains).
Having played Mind controllers a lot (around game launch), I can vouch for Confuse being a "pseudo-hold". IMHO Confuse powers are VERY powerful, even on teams.
With Radiation, you have to decide how well you will like toggle-debuffs. On teams, your debuff anchors (RI and EF) WILL get defeated. If you are able to deal with this aspect of radiation, then you will enjoy it as a powerset immensely, since it will perform just as well solo as on a team. Additionally, and the very reason I chose Radiation over some other secondary, is that it contains TWO additional powers which help you set up containment (Choking Cloud and EMP).
This will help out considerably I estimate.
Good Luck
BIOSPARK :: DARKTHORN :: SKYGUARD :: WILDMAGE
HEATSINK :: FASTHAND :: POWERCELL :: RUNESTAFF
I suggest you take a look at my Illusion/Radiation Guide, linked in my sig, for tons of information about your Rad powers and some good information about Confuse, with strategies. Illusion's Deceive is the same as Mind's Confuse.
There are some really good special things about Mind Controllers -- If you take the first four powers early, you get a really effective single target attack chain of Dominate-Mesmirize-Levitate plus the awesome power of Confuse. Using this attack chain will virtually guarantee that you have Containment before Levitate, your biggest hitter. For a standard group of three foes (when soloing), you can take the group down in complete safety by confusing two without drawing aggro, and then using Dom-Mez-Lev to take down the unconfused foe. Refresh Confuse on one, then take down the other.
Make sure you slot Mez as a damage attack! I like to balance Dominate between Hold and Damage.
Early on, Mind Control is very strong on single target controls but weak on AoE, with only Mass Hypnosis, a sleep, for AoE control. Later, you get Terrify, Total Domination and Mass Confusion for AoE control. Telekinesis is a situational power which is nice to have but skippable. (Telekinesis and Choking Cloud are the only two toggle hold powers in the game, but they have huge endurance costs and have quirks about how to use them.)
On your Rad side, I suggest you plan to skip Choking Cloud, Fallout and Mutation. Mutation is nice to have for a team build, but also skippable.
Don't expect to kill stuff fast. Once you know your powers, you can expect to kill stuff in relative safety, but not fast. Take your time and be more strategic than you would be with your blaster.
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 mind/kin guide here that, while only 50% of it would be useful to you, is the most complete and up-to-date guide on the Mind primary you'll find. It also covers a lot of Controller-based concepts as well, so it's worth a read just for that.
As others have intoned, going Mind is either a logical choice for you or the worst one you can make if you're trying to get a feel for how a controller plays different than a blaster. However, I think it's more of a middle ground. Mind plays LIKE a blaster with its attack chain, but it doesn't dish out huge damage like Fire or Plant. Conversely, you have Stone and Ice which have less attacks but throw in a good deal of chaos and might be a bit tricky to wrap your head around at first.
All that matters though is that you have fun! As long as you PLAY your character and don't just PL, you'll adapt to the playstyle adjustment just fine!
-STEELE =)
Allied to all sides so that no matter what, I'll come out on top!
Oh, and Crimson demands you play this arc-> Twisted Knives (MA Arc #397769)
I am at Lvl 10 now and doing the Midnighter arc and I feel so powerful. Nothing is touching me. I'll confuse the mob(usually 2 or 3) and then hold the boss/lt and cycle through confusing them again and mezmerize/levitate until they are all down. I have a new love for controllers
I'm a Mac user, no Mid's for me
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Gitta out my forum, boy! Viva la control!|
Originally Posted by Fire_Minded
Yes, I have a good piece of advice for you.
If your used to Blasters, it would be better to move to a Defender, or a Corruptor, before trying to do a complete 360 and logging in a Controller. Main reason why I say this, is because a Controller does far less damage in the same situations as any Blaster can do.That, and the fact that not knowing how to use full containment, may prove hazzardous to your self, and others in a team setting. Iv heard alot of people make statements like "im not used to this Scrapper yet, im used to my Tanks.", while they are face first laying on the ground, and someone else asks if they need a "Wakie". You get more of a Blasterish feel on a Defender, and many Defenders can do a very good Containment job, or grouping job like a Controller can, they just lack pets, unless you pick Dark Miasma primary for a Defender, which I would suggjest for you. |
Anyway, that silliness out of the way, making the transition from blaster to defender to controller isn't going to ease things, IMO. I love controllers, but have deleted every defender I've ever attempted. I find the protection they offer weaker than a controller (especially when it comes to protecting themselves) and their damage even more anemic. You may learn a bit about buffing and debuffing, but that's only half a controllers job and probably the easier half of it.
The most important thing is what EmperorSteele mentioned. You have to play through with the character. Control is as much about knowing your enemy as it is knowing yourself. You have to learn which mobs need to be neutralized first (or in the case of confusion, which can help you the most), and what mezzes work on particular mobs. (It also helps in the case of toggled debuffs to learn which mobs are going to be the last standing. People tend to dogpile bosses and sometimes it's worth tossing it on a lieutenant.) I'll point to Nemesis as an example.
I absolutely detested fighting Nems on my first controllers. They have a wide range of units with varied protections against stuns, fears, sleeps, and confusion. For my mind, Mass Hypnosis became something reserved for soldiers, and it was worth it to stack confusion on that Werfer Jaeger because of all the extra fire power it carries. My earth troller started relying on Earthquake more against them and reserved the immobilize until after I had enough stuns stacked. Plant had to open with Creepers from around the corner rather than the standard Seeds of Confusion. I didn't realize all this the first time I faced them or even the second. (How would I know after playing my earth controller that they have protection against confusion?) Each primary brought a different way to deal with them.
For me controllers have a depth of game play that other AT's lack. You can control. You can buff. You can debuff. You can deal damage. You may not be the best at all of those things, but you have lots of ways to contribute to a team.
A good transition from blaster to controller in my opinion would be Ill/Rad. At lvl 50 my ill rad starts fights with his debuffs and pets then for the most part just pew pews for the rest of the fight. I dont mess around with the AoE controls so much in 90% of the situation since the debuffs from rad and the phantom army take care of alot of it. Deceive will take out the one or two trouble spots in a mob and the rest is me running thru blind, spectral wounds, and my powers from the fire APP. its really fun and rewarding, makes for a great soloist, and definitely has a blaster feel to it with the 4 attacks i run in my single target chain. tho mind is good too. i like mind. just like ill/rad more....thanks alot local_man for getting me addicted to the toon.
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Originally Posted by Griff Mender
....thanks alot local_man for getting me addicted to the toon.
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. . . Glad to be of service!
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
Ive been playing CoX for just over a year and im making my 3rd attempt at playing a controller. I've basically played only blasters and am looking for a change of pace. My friend plays only controllers and gave me a basic rundown of all the primaries. Today I made a mind/radiation controller. Any tips/advice for someone that is used to just throwing pew pew at everything?
I'm a Mac user, no Mid's for me