Storm Summoning. Earth/Storm is just ridiculously good and fun.
Except for low-level, but why would you do that on a Controller of all things to begin with anyway?
Have to agree, earth/storm is great fun and being able to lock critters in stone (or crystal
) means your storm powers are much more team friendly.
And then you can take the fire app and be a full elemental earth, wind and fire!
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Just 'cause you may already have a */Rad doesn't mean you can't roll up another one . . . I have Ill/Rad, Earth/Rad, Fire/Rad and Plant/Rad all at 50, with a few more lowbies. |
Originally Posted by xhris
I can't resist rolling an Earth troller anymore, especially now with the awesome crystal customization option. The thing is, I don't really know what to pair it with. I already have a /rad and I was thinking /kin for concept mostly. However, feel free to suggest everything.
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No mater what your secondary is, take a look at my Earth/Rad guide, as it has a lot of good information about the Earth Primary and some strategy discussions.If you really don't want to do another Rad, I would suggest Storm next. Storm gives an Earth Controller a lot of good defensive options and more offense than any other secondary. You get to stack stuns, with Stalagmites and Thunderclap. Stone Cages plus the ToHit Debuff in Hurricane works almost like a hold when other things may be recharging. The main downsides are a lack of a self-heal and a heavy endurance use. I am working on two of them, at 43 and 37. I have chosen to skip Stone Prison, Salt Crystals and (reluctantly) Snow Storm in mine.
If you want the character with the most ranged AoE control in the game, try an Earth/TA. Some folks really like Earth/Sonic, using a seismic earthquake kind of theme. I also have heard good things about Earth/Therm, though I haven't tried one myself. Resistance Shields stack with Rocky's already high resistance to make him very, very hard to kill.
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'm going to have to second Local_man's input here. I've been using his Earth/Rad guide to build my troller, lvl 24 Mr. Zong. He's doing great so far and so incredibly team friendly. I've been playing it with my SG mates and have said "AFK" a couple times to see how they hold up battling mobs without me and let me tell ya, Earth/Rad makes ALL the difference.
I too have played Rads before. I have a lvl 45 Rad/Sonic Def, a lvl 30 Rad/Dark Def, and a lvl 20 Rad/Rad.
Altho I like all of those toons.. none of them have been as fun as my Earth/Rad and look forward to making a Earth/Stormie one day.
I'm currently between /Storm and /Rad righ now, but wondering: How would an Earth/Kin go??
I think Earth/Storm is the way to go, though Earth/Trick Arrow is awesome too. Earth/Rad is nice, but you are avoiding /Rad.
Lewis
Random AT Generation!
"I remember... the Alamo." -- Pee-wee Herman
"Oh don't worry. I always leave things to the last moment." -- The Doctor
"Telescopes are time machines." -- Carl Sagan
Quote:
Not much synergy. Earth works best as a ranged controller, as it has 3 ranged AoE controls -- they draw a lot of aggro, and the range cuts down on the damage you take. Kinetics is generally played in or close to melee. Kinetics works best with a Primary that has a fair amount of damage, so the buff from Fulcrum Shift and Siphon Power has a larger base to multiply. Earth has very low damage.|
Originally Posted by xhris
I'm currently between /Storm and /Rad righ now, but wondering: How would an Earth/Kin go??
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I have an Earth/Kin named "Dirt Napper" that I have pretty much abandoned. He died a lot since I was trying to play him as a melee character. Back when you could Speed Boost your pet, you could turn Rocky into a killing machine with Speed Boost and Fulcrum Shift. While I'm sure I could do better now than I did when I started him, the fact that the Recharge in Speed Boost no longer works on controller pets makes the combo far less appealing. Still, I know several folks who really like their Earth/Kinetics controllers, so if you want to try it, go for it.
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 respect Local Man's opinions, but personally consider Earth/Kin a fine team buffer, if not perhaps the best tool for converting an average team into a steam roller. The defense debuff in Earth makes the Kinetics powers hit more reliably and causes enemies to be easier to tag while the Kinetics makes things hit harder. It relies on your teammates a lot. A solo Earth/Kin is just alright, where a team that passes up adding an Earth/Kin to their lineup is really missing out.
But I'm known to have other crazy opinions. Mainly, lately, that too much attention is afforded to "synergy" (how powers play together) over "reach" (the total capabilities of a character when all powers are combined). Lots of power combos that don't have "synergy" per se have a lot of "reach"; in the case of Earth Control I'd say every possible combo excels at one or the other.
I have several Earth/* including 3 Earth/Storms. Given the way at least one of the Earth/Storms plays I'd say you could be a very effective Earth/Kin right smack dab at the epicenter of the mob. She's often unloading her "ranged" controls at her feet or at mobs within melee distance, while unleashing Fissure, Seismic Smash, Thunderclap etc. with mobs all around her. She'd absolutely drool for a Fulcrum Shifted Seismic Smash!
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Not really disagreeing with you . . . Earth is a great team set, and Kinetics is a great team set. Put them together and Earth's -Defense helps Kinetics hit more often. You have a great team set . . . |
Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex
I respect Local Man's opinions, but personally consider Earth/Kin a fine team buffer, if not perhaps the best tool for converting an average team into a steam roller. The defense debuff in Earth makes the Kinetics powers hit more reliably and causes enemies to be easier to tag while the Kinetics makes things hit harder. It relies on your teammates a lot. A solo Earth/Kin is just alright, where a team that passes up adding an Earth/Kin to their lineup is really missing out.
But I'm known to have other crazy opinions. Mainly, lately, that too much attention is afforded to "synergy" (how powers play together) over "reach" (the total capabilities of a character when all powers are combined). Lots of power combos that don't have "synergy" per se have a lot of "reach"; in the case of Earth Control I'd say every possible combo excels at one or the other. |
But you miss out on some of the benefits teaming one powerset with another. If I'm gonna play an Earth Controller, I would pick Rad, Storm, TA or Therm over Kinetics. If I'm gonna play a */Kinetics controller, I would pick Fire, Plant or Ice over Earth.
I just think that those sets work together better. One of the best reasons to pair Kinetics with Earth was lost with that pet recharge nerf. There are certainly benefits to any controller pairing, and any controller primary with Kinetics is going to provide a huge benefit to any team. It is kind of like Illusion/Kinetics . . . there are some synergy problems with that combo, but it doesn't stop it from being a very effective controller. You just learn to work around the issues.
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 think comparing the limitations of Illusion/Kin to those of Earth/Kin is a stretch. The knockback caused by Phantasm is a direct detriment to Illusion/Kin. Phantasm knocks enemy targets out of range of your kinetics powers, often just at the moment you really needed them. Earth/Kin has no such negative. Local Man just doesn't happen to like the combo because he prefers to play Earth Control from range. That is a valid preference, but it isn't the same thing at all as the issue with Illusion/Kin.
Earth Control is equally valuable from ANY range (since I don't value its point blank sleep power enough to ever take it). It isn't any weaker just because you get close. You may (or may not) have survival issues (my Earth/Kin doesn't), but the level of effectiveness is the same. You can't say that for Fire Control or Ice Control. Those sets lose quite a bit of effectiveness (damage and control, respectively) if you play them from range.
So, Earth/Kin is a fine combination. I play mine in close without many deaths. The accuracy requirements of /Kin combined with the defense debuffs of Earth are pretty nice (even if it is the only true synergy). Fulcrum Shift on Animate Stone is still nice. Combining 2 team sets is still nice. Being able to fulcrum shift your own damage is still nice. Earth/Kin is an excellent set.
That said, I still prefer Earth/Rad, Earth/Storm and Earth/Trick Arrow, but only because I favor control-heavy secondaries. Earth/Kin is still a good controller if you want to go that route.
Just one final note: if people didn't ever try the non-ideal combinations of powersets, there would be a lot less variety in the game. Earth/Kin, Fire/TA, Illusion/Kin, etc. Heck, even Gravity/Empathy! It's all good.
Lewis
Random AT Generation!
"I remember... the Alamo." -- Pee-wee Herman
"Oh don't worry. I always leave things to the last moment." -- The Doctor
"Telescopes are time machines." -- Carl Sagan
Quote:
The point I was trying to make is that Illusion/Kinetics is certainly viable, but the combo has some issues that keep it from being one of the better combos. However, those issues can be overcome to make it an effective controller. Same with Earth/Kin. If you are going to use the Kinetics secondary, you would ideally have a primary that either has good AoE damage (Fire and Plant) or lends itself to being in melee (Fire and Ice). Sure, Earth can be played in melee, but there is a benefit to staying at range that you give up when you pair Earth with Kinetics. While Earth/Kin can certainly be effective, other pairings with Earth work better with the primary.|
Originally Posted by UnicyclePeon
I think comparing the limitations of Illusion/Kin to those of Earth/Kin is a stretch. The knockback caused by Phantasm is a direct detriment to Illusion/Kin. Phantasm knocks enemy targets out of range of your kinetics powers, often just at the moment you really needed them. Earth/Kin has no such negative. Local Man just doesn't happen to like the combo because he prefers to play Earth Control from range. That is a valid preference, but it isn't the same thing at all as the issue with Illusion/Kin.
Lewis |
I agree with the rest of your post. A good player can make any controller pairing into an effective character, and sometimes the challenge of leveling a less-than-ideal character is especially fun.
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
Having a level 50 E/Kin myself, I can say there is much fun to be had with it. Truthfully damage will mostly come from your power pool (I chose stone). Simple put, Stalagmites/Fissure = lots of stunnage.
Fissure(pretty close range) also benefits massively from hold/immobilize containment which earth offers in spades, seismic smash is a great attack(melee), and rock armor + weave handles alot of incoming damage from smash/lethal (BM farm *smirk*).
Add in Fulcrum Shift is all just gravy, still won't be fast as fire/kin. Yet with the other control elements Earth offers(QS, EQ, and VG), I've taken on 2/3 mobs without so much as a care on BM farm. Of course one farm doesn't make your toon a viable build to consider for top choice, but my toon is no more a slouch on any other mission types than any other kinetic toon.
I have 4 rad toons, as I'm a proponent of radiation emission as much as Local Man. Yet I did Earth/Kin pretty much to see it, and I like to say I've inspired many others 
.
My toon is Seismic Mite on Freedom.
Freedom Bound!!!
I quite like my Earth/Cold, as long as you never, ever want to solo before 32.
My Earth/kin is in the mid 20s. I frankly love it, I find there is good synergy between the two. With the -def in earth some the the bag of debuffs/buffs in kin is a very nice combo together.
Also Pooman loves SB and ID.
Though through my disappointment with Ice Shields and Power Boost, I still really enjoy my Earth/Cold Dom as well. AoE controls, including knockdown as mitigation, makes you sitting at about 5 different AoE control options. Earth cage when you're not focusing on the Earthquake/Sleet aspects for knockdown and you should be doing quite well. I find just rotating Earth Cages, Volcanic Gases, Earthquake, Stalagmites, and Sleet (using Sleet as often as possible even if paired with the others) works quite well. However, I also have a Earth/Rad and she's also quite fun to play. The Cold being 47 and the Rad being 45.
Ice buff rocky ftw!
50s: Bla- Arch/Mental Cont- Mind/FF, Earth/Cold, Ill/Therm, Earth/Rad Dominator- Plant/Psi, Elec/Earth Corr- Fire/Storm, Arch/Sonic, Rad/Kin, Beam/Sonic, Psi/Time Stalker- Elec/SR Def- Storm/Dark, Emp/Psi, Dark/Elec, FF/Arch, TA/Ice, TA/Elec, Kin/AR, Cold/DP, Traps/Psi Scrap- Fire/Shield Tanker- Dark/Mace, Ice/Kin Brute- Claws/WP, SS/Energy, BS/Elec
Quote:
The only thing SB does for Rocky is boost his run speed -- pets don't get the Recharge buff anymore. However, ID boosts some of his resistances including his resistance to Smashing Damage, which is his lowest resistance at 40%.
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Originally Posted by Mylia
My Earth/kin is in the mid 20s. I frankly love it, I find there is good synergy between the two. With the -def in earth some the the bag of debuffs/buffs in kin is a very nice combo together.
Also Pooman loves SB and ID. |
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
Quote:
Why do you talk such nonsence about a "Earth" troller, as plant is the only troller type that matters.|
Originally Posted by xhris
I can't resist rolling an Earth troller anymore, especially now with the awesome crystal customization option. The thing is, I don't really know what to pair it with. I already have a /rad and I was thinking /kin for concept mostly. However, feel free to suggest everything.
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But, since your insisting having one, I agree with Local, Earth/Rad (or anything /rad) is the way to go, Rad's buffs/debuffs provide everything you need team or solo.
Another similar (but not nearly as good IMHO) is Earth/TA, monster controll's and when you can get Oil Slick to hit some nice damage.
I'm really enjoying my Earth/Sonic now I have the Golem. Golem's resistances along with those granted by the Sonic shields means that he will get softcapped resistance to, I think, pretty much everything and a lot of mez protection from, again, its resistances and from Sonic Dispersion. The resistance debuffs from Sonic go really well with the defence debuffs from Earth. Then there's Liquefy to go along with Quicksand, Earthquake and Volcanic Gasses.
Before lvl 32 I couldn't solo; it was almost as difficult as my Ice/Cold controller, but now I have the Golem it's easier even if it is a bit slower.
really everyone should know you go earth/storm
just saying..hell everyone i know has one.
I don't..........but I will.
I have the buzzsaw that is fire/storm.
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
Quote:
Hence why Plant is better, once you get seeds you can solo to your hearts content.|
Originally Posted by Snowzone
Before lvl 32 I couldn't solo; it was almost as difficult as my Ice/Cold controller, but now I have the Golem it's easier even if it is a bit slower. |
Oh, but Earth is good too?
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I have one, I agree it's execellent and Earth's controls help make storm more group friendly.
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Originally Posted by Severe
really everyone should know you go earth/storm
just saying..hell everyone i know has one. |
So a lot of ppl say Earth/TA is control overkill. Well, not always, as I found last night, duoing (w/a scrapper) Malta at +1/x6. The Malta wasn't too bad, except I got really lackadasical once and got blindsided. Then, the arc (Crimson's) threw us some Knives. Who can see through stealth. Who have insane aggro ranges. Who, now, seem to all mez a ton (stun, hold, sleep) w/their attacks. Who throw down caltrops to drive your pet insane (that includes my pet scrapper btw 
).
W/the Earth/TA combo, I had just enough control that I could handle 2 big groups aggroing at once, which happened like all the freakin time in that map. And I needed hard control most of the time, cuz any mob that I missed would end up mezzing me (fire pool, no IW for me). Soft controls had to be layered thick, and preferably fired around corners. This was also the first mish in a while w/my Earth/TA that I was regularly using my EMP Arrow, not just for kicks, but for actual survival! Fun tho.
Anyway, a vote for Earth/TA. Supreme control, and a lot of damage once you get up in levels. Not as much as Earth/Storm, but VG + OSA + EQ, and lighting the whole thing w/a Fireball w/Acid & Disruption... well, things melt very nicely when you do that.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
I can't resist rolling an Earth troller anymore, especially now with the awesome crystal customization option. The thing is, I don't really know what to pair it with. I already have a /rad and I was thinking /kin for concept mostly. However, feel free to suggest everything.